Welcome to our highlights for concerts, festivals and live music in Chicago. From free shows at Millennium Park to large festivals like Ravinia and Lollapalooza, and intimate shows at small local venues, our guide has all the latest music entertainment. Bookmark this page and check back for updates on concerts and events.

Buffalo Nichols

Mike Dunn Photo

When: 7 p.m. July 23, Space, 1245 Chicago, Evanston ($20); 7:30 p.m. July 30, The Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia ($10)

What: Until last year Milwaukee-based Carl Nichols was best known as one half of the folk duo Nickel & Rose. Inspired by the classic blues music he grew up loving as well as the gospel and African music he would later play, he has rebranded himself as Buffalo Nichols focusing on acoustic blues and returning it to his songwriter roots. “I always related to the blues,” Nichols says. “I grew up in abject poverty. I experienced racism. And when I would sit down with a blues record, I could hear that in the songs. Now I want to be that person that I never got to see on stage.”

More information: evanstonspace.com; hideoutchicago.com

Chicago Latino Jazz Festival

Courtesy of Luiz Ewerling

When: July 23-24

Where: Outside the Humboldt Park Fieldhouse, 1440 N. Humboldt Blvd.

What: The Jazz Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Park District present a family-friendly free event. Performing both nights are Brazilian drummer and composer Luiz Ewerling & AMADA (6 p.m.) followed by James Sanders’ Conjunto (7 p.m.) performing new Afro-Latin music written during the COVID-19 quarantine .

More information: jazzinchicago.org

Opera Festival of Chicago

Provided photo

What: The festival returns with three works at three different venues. First up is Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s whimsical one-act opera “Il Segreto di Susanna” at 7 and 9 p.m. July 24 (Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport, $15-$75) with Stephen Powell as Count Gil and Emily Birsan as Susanna. Next is “Dante 700,” which celebrates the impact Dante and his “Divine Comedy” has had on opera’s rich history, at 8 p.m. July 28-29 (Artifacts Events, 4325 N. Ravenswood, $15-$35). The festival concludes with Puccini’s tale of loss, love and betrayal “Il Tabarro” at 7 and 9 p.m. Aug. 5 (Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport, $35-$75).

More information: operafestivalchicago.org

House City Series

Courtesy Chicago Park District

What: The Departments of Cultural Affairs and Special Event’s tribute to house music continues with House City, a new series of free events popping up throughout the summer in the neighborhoods that helped create the house music genre over 35 years ago.

When/Where: vent dates and communities are July 23 in South Shore, July 31 on the Southeast Side, Aug. 14 in Humboldt Park, Aug. 28 in Englewood, Aug. 29 in Lakeview, Sept. 12 in South Shore and Sept.19 in Bronzeville. DJs playing include Traxman, Lori Branch, Deeon, Elbert Philips, Duane Powell and more.

Info: For locations and times, visit chicagohousemusicfestival.us

Courtesy Origin Records

Chris Foreman at the Green Mill

What: The Green Mill has reopened and that means the return of Chris Foreman, a Friday night fixture at the popular jazz club. Foreman, a jazz organist blind since birth, is a master on the Hammond B3 and regarded as Chicago’s best. His playing is a blend of blues-gospel and jazz honed in his professional experience, which has included work with Hank Crawford, Albert Collins, Bernard Purdie, The Deep Blue Organ Trio and The Mighty Blue Kings.

When: 5-7:30 p.m. Fridays

Where: The Green Mill, 4802 N. Broadway

Cost: No cover charge

Visit greenmilljazz.com

Ravinia Festival

What: The Ravinia Festival, the oldest outdoor music festival in the country, returns with reduced capacity. As usual, the lineup is a varied slate of music from classical to pop, jazz and rock. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra returns for a six-week run with conductor Marin Alsop leading seven concerts in her first season as Ravinia’s chief conductor. Also on the roster are: Garrick Ohlsson, Cynthia Erivo, Counting Crows, Kurt Elling, Brian McKnight, John Hiatt and the Jerry Douglas Band, The Roots, John Legend, Madeleine Peyroux, Midori, Joshua Bell, Pinchas Zukerman, the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Joffrey Ballet.

When: July 1-Sept. 26

Where: Highland Park

Tickets: prices vary

Visit: ravinia.org.

Grant Park Music Festival

Patrick Pyszka

What: The Grant Park Music Festival is fully open for capacity audiences in the seated area and the lawn.

When: July 2-Aug. 21

Where: Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Michigan and Randolph.

Admission: free

Visit: gpmf.org

Chicago Philharmonic

Courtesy of AdrianDunn.com

What: Chicago Philharmonic returns with a three-concert outdoor chamber series at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts parking lot, 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie. The opening performance at 7 p.m. June 27 is “Chicago Phil Brass: Brass with Sass” and features Edward Elgar’s “Chanson du Matin,” Astor Piazzolla’s “Oblivion,” Fats Waller’s “That’s a Plenty,” Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young” and more. There’s also a free streaming concert “Redemption” (June 29-Aug. 27), which features spirituals and gospel songs conducted by Adrian Dunn.

When: Subsequent concerts are July 25 and Aug. 5.

Tickets: $36-$42

Visit: chicagophilharmonic.org

Summer Nights with Northlight

What: Summer Nights with Northlight is a cabaret series held at Evanston restaurants to benefit Northlight Theatre. The performers are Alexis J. Roston and Kelvin Roston Jr. (June 10, Good to Go Jamaican, 711 W. Howard), Linda Solotaire (July 27, Sketchbook Brewing Company, 4901 Main, Skokie) and Heidi Kettenring (Aug. 24, Peckish Pig, 623 W. Howard).

When: Performances times are 6 p.m.

Tickets: $60 includes light dinner and select drinks. Visit northlight.org.

Tuesdays on the Terrace

Copyright MCA

When: 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays June 1-Aug. 31

Where: Museum of Contemporary Art’s outdoor sculpture garden, 220 E. Chicago

What: Tuesdays on the Terrace returns to the Museum of Contemporary Art’s outdoor sculpture garden. The popular jazz concert series features an array of Chicago jazz musiciansFirst up on June 1 is Alexis Lombre’s Ancestral Awakenings. Free with advance reservations. Visit mcachicago.org.

Labyrinth Arts and Performance Collective

What: Labyrinth Arts and Performance Collectivepresents “Emerge,” a new cabaret series featuring music, drag performance, comedy and spoken word.

When: every second Friday of the month

Where: Porkchop, 1132 W. Grand

Tickets: $20. Visit labyrinthartsperformance.com.

Lollapalooza

When: July 29-Aug. 1

Where: Grant Park

What: Lollapalooza returns to Grant Park July 29-Aug. 1 with Foo Fighters, Post Malone, Tyler, the Creator, Miley Cyrus, Dababy, Marchmello, Journey, Megan Thee Stallion, Roddy Ricch, Kaytranada and more. $375+/festival pass. Visit lollapalooza.com.

Pitchfork Music Festival

When: Sept. 10-12

Where: Union Park, 1501 W. Randolph

What: The Pitchfork Music Festival returns to Union Park, 1501 W. Randolph. Performers include Erykah Badu Phoebe Bridgers, St. Vincent, The Fiery Furnaces, Angel Olsen, Kim Gordon Waxahatchee, Flying Lotus, Thundercat and more.

Tickets: $90/day, $195 festival pass. Visit pitchforkmusicfestival.com.

Riot Fest

When: Sept. 17-19

Where: Douglass Park, Chicago

What: Riot Fest is back, this year with Nine Inch Nails, The Smashing Pumpkins, Run the Jewels, Pixies, Faith No More, Devo, Lupe Fiasco and more.

Tickets: $125+/day $155+/festival pass. Visit riotfest.org.

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Welcome to our roundup of movie screenings and events in Chicago. Bookmark this page and check back for updates on shows and activities.

International Queer Film Festival

Ariztical Entertainment

When: July 18-Aug. 14

Where: Online

What: Featured are 29 films from eight countries streaming online in four separate programs. The diverse selection explores the range of queer life topics ranging from comedy to drama to science fiction and Zoom dating. Three programs of short films each run for a week with the festival’s final week devoted to “Boy Meets Boy,” a new feature by German filmmaker Daniel Sanchez Lopez about two men who develop a deep connection over one long night in Berlin. Tickets: $12 per program.

More information: pridearts.org

‘Movies on the Lawn’

When: To July 31

Where: Lincoln Yards, Ada and Concord

What: Last summer Lincoln Yards launched a popular drive-in movie series, but this summer moviegoers will be able to walk up for a picnic-like outdoor movie experience on a first-come, first-served basis. The roster for the series, a collaboration between Sterling Bay and Lincoln Square’s Davis Theater, is “Field of Dreams” (July 15), “The Wizard of Oz” (July 16), “The Karate Kid” (July 17), “Caddyshack (July 22), “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” (July 23), “Jurassic Park” (July 24), “National Lampoon’s Vacation” (July 29), “Raya and the Last Dragon” (July 30) and “”Dirty Dancing” (July 31). Tickets: $10. Bring a chair/blankets to sit on, and you will need an FM radio or cell phone to tune into the audio.

More information: davistheater.com

‘Movies in the Parks’

When: To Sept. 14

Where: In parks throughout Chicago

What: The Chicago Park District’s series returns with films ranging from Hollywood classics to retro childhood favorites and family-friendly offerings from recent years. Admission is free.

More information: For a complete list of films and parks, visit chicagoparkdistrict.com/movies.

Garden Movies

Music Box Theatre

When: All summer long

Where: 3733 N. Southport

What: The Music Box Theatre is screening films in its expanded courtyard under the stars. Tickets: $9.

More information: musicboxtheatre.com

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The Blackhawks’ 2021-22 regular-season schedule was released Thursday.

The Hawks will play a full 82-game slate, with 41 home games at the United Center and at least one home and away game against every other NHL team, in a refreshing return to normalcy.

The season begins Oct. 13 on the road against the Avalanche, the start of a three-game road trip that includes visits to the Devils and Penguins. The Hawks then begin a four-game homestand, starting with the Oct. 19 home opener against the Islanders.

The schedule includes a break from Feb. 3-24 for the All-Star Weekend and Winter Olympics, but NHL Olympic participation is not yet certain. A second version of the schedule without an Olympic break was also distributed to teams Thursday but not made public, Hawks general manager Stan Bowman said.

As a result of the February break, the regular season will run longer than usual: through the end of April. The Hawks’ home finale will be Apr. 27 against the Golden Knights; their season finale will be Apr. 29 at the Sabres.

The Hawks will face the expansion Kraken for the first time Nov. 17 in Seattle and host them for the first time Apr. 7. Rivalry home games include Oct. 24 against the Red Wings and Nov. 26 and Feb. 27 against the Blues. Holiday dates include hosting the Stars on Dec. 23 and visiting the Predators on Jan. 1.

The Coyotes will join the Central Division this season because of the Kraken’s addition to the Pacific Division. The Hawks will face every Central team four times except for the Stars and Jets (three meetings each), every Pacific team three times and every Atlantic and Metropolitan team twice.

The Hawks will also play a six-game preseason schedule from Sept. 29 to Oct. 9.

A full calendar of the schedule can be seen below:

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The launch of a new federal effort to combat gun violence across the country brought Attorney General Merrick Garland back to his native Chicago, where he called gun violence an ongoing tragedy Thursday and said, “I feel it particularly in my home town.”

Garland’s first official visit as attorney general to Chicago came in the wake of three mass shootings in a single day. One of them took place just down the street from St. Agatha Catholic Church, where Garland met with community members Thursday and talked briefly with reporters.

Shortly before Garland arrived at the church, a police chase erupted outside.

Pool, Getty

“Here, today, the threat of violent crime, particularly gun crime is a tragedy that is just ongoing. I feel it particularly in my hometown here,” said Garland, who was raised in north suburban Lincolnwood and graduated from Niles West High School in Skokie.

It’s the second time this month such a visit has been marred with gun violence. President Joe Biden arrived in Chicago on July 7 right after a Chicago police officer and two federal agents were shot while working undercover.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot huddled with Biden during that visit. And now, Garland has come to town to help the Justice Department launch what it’s calling a set of cross-jurisdictional “strike forces” in five key areas across the country, including Chicago.

The new program does not deploy new personnel into those areas, unlike with President Donald Trump’s “Operation Legend” in 2020. Rather, a key goal is to link law enforcement in cities like Chicago, where the violence occurs, with their counterparts in regions where guns first begin to make their way into the hands of criminals, through so-called straw purchasers.

Chicago-based U.S. Attorney John Lausch will lead the effort here, and Garland told reporters Thursday that Lausch has connected with his counterparts in potential gun source areas in downstate Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

“Straw purchasers and unlicensed gun sellers enable violence,” Lausch said in a statement, adding that the new program will “enhance our longstanding efforts to hold accountable individuals or groups who illegally traffic firearms into Chicago.”

After landing at Midway Airport, Garland visited the 11th District police station on the West Side along with Lightfoot, Lausch, Chicago Police Supt. David Brown, and Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman who joined Garland on his flight to Chicago.

Pool, Getty

There they toured the Strategic Decision Support Center, 3151 West Harrison St. Garland then moved on to St. Agatha, where he met with members of the Heartland Alliance and READI Chicago, which directly engages with people at high risk of experiencing violence.

It all amounted to the latest federal effort to address another wave of violence in Chicago. A 15-year-old boy was killed and 28 other people were wounded here Wednesday, when the city saw three mass shootings. The first and fatal shooting took place at Douglas and Christiana — a few blocks from St. Agatha, 3147 W. Douglas Blvd.

Lightfoot called the need for federal help “a matter of incredible urgency” after she met with Biden during his visit earlier this month. But she also insisted she did not want “federal troops” who “don’t know how to do local law enforcement.”

Brown also met with Biden and Garland at the White House last week, where Brown said Garland made a “significant commitment” to help the city. Meanwhile, the superintendent is also creating a new team of about 50 officers who are also expected to target gun traffickers, separate from the federal effort.

Contributing: Lynn Sweet

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Chicago Bears: New Aaron Rodgers news is exciting for Bears fans by Ryan Taylor

Just two days ago, Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant was pulled in the fifth inning of a game versus the St. Louis Cardinals.

Bryant was pulled due to “hamstring fatigue,” we later learned. That, in and of itself, was an odd descriptor and set off a small alarm in some fans’ heads.

What some may also remember is that same day, a report came out via ESPN’s Jeff Passan which stated that Bryant was “as good as gone.” The rumor mill then began churning faster than ever.

Isn’t it funny that, in the same day that report came out, Bryant was pulled in the fifth inning against the Cubs’ bitter rival? Something isn’t quite right.

It could be a giant coincidence, but the Chicago Cubs may also be very close to a Kris Bryant trade.

If Bryant was truly suffering from tightness and fatigue in his hamstring, then pulling him was the right call. But, he’s also sat out since that night and was not in the lineup for the second straight game.

Kris Bryant is not in #Cubs lineup for 2nd straight game with right hamstring fatigue/heavy legs.

Ross said he’s available off bench & should be back in lineup tomorrow. He acknowledged cautious approach: “I’m never going to put somebody in harm’s way.” https://t.co/fPXTO5SnU1

— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) July 22, 2021

Now, the reports are not only fatigue, but “heavy legs.”

This is getting stranger by the day, and with the MLB trade deadline right around the corner, one has to ask a few questions.

Is Bryant actually hurt? Or, are the Cubs very close to a trade and unwilling to risk a legitimate injury?

If he is hurt, then the Cubs have to be holding him out because they are close to a deal — right? David Ross says he is not willing to risk Bryant’s health, and that’s the right call. But, for something that seems so minimal, so trivial… have we, in fact, witnessed Bryant’s last game in a Cubs uniform? The answer to that question could wind up being an unfortunate, yet understandable, “yes.”

Bryant has had a mostly strong season, all things considered. He has bounced back from a couple of down years in a big way, reverting to the guy Chicago once saw finish as the NL MVP.

On pace for over 30 home runs and nearly 100 RBI at this point, Bryant is slashing .264/.346/.489 through 86 games in 2021. His OPS is also up nearly 200 points since 2020, sitting at .834.

One of the top rumored candidates to land Bryant is the New York Mets, and they make perfect sense. The question, still, is whether or not the Cubs have named their price for the All Star. Depending upon the price, the Cubs could net a pretty decent return for Bryant. But, Thursday morning, ESPN’s Buster Olney stated Chicago had yet to give a firm asking price for guys like Bryant and Craig Kimbrel.

Next: Cubs: 3 under-the-radar trades for Kris Bryant

It seems no one knows the truth at this point, but many of these rumors and reports are starting to add up. Bryant appears to be out, and very soon.

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Disturbing new details about former Blackhawks video coach Bradley Aldrich’s May 2010 sexual assault of an anonymous former Hawks player have come to light.

Amended versions of both lawsuits against the Hawks were filed Thursday and obtained by the Sun-Times. The first amended lawsuit claims Aldrich forced the Hawks player, identified as “John Doe 1,” to have nonconsensual sex — a specification that was previously unclear.

The lawsuit alleges Aldrich invited Doe 1 to his apartment “under the premise that Aldrich would go over game clips” with him. Upon Doe 1’s arrival, however, Aldrich allegedly turned on pornography and began to masturbate in front of Doe 1.

When Doe 1 tried to leave the apartment, Aldrich allegedly “blocked the only exit” and “physically threatened” Doe 1 with a souvenir Cubs baseball bat, telling him he would “never play in the NHL…if [he] did not engage in nonconsensual sexual activity with Aldrich at that time,” according to the lawsuit.

With Doe 1 “paralyzed in fear,” Aldrich then allegedly “exposed himself” to him, “forcibly touch[ed]” him, performed other “lewd and lascivious conduct” and finally “ejaculated on” him, according to the lawsuit.

Hawks skills coach James Gary later convinced Doe 1 he was responsible for the incident, according to all versions of the lawsuit.

Another skills coach, Paul Vincent, allegedly told a group of Hawks executives — including then-president John McDonough and current general manager Stan Bowman — about the incident on May 17, 2010, but the group refused to notify police. The Hawks claimed in a motion to dismiss earlier this month that they had no “statutory duty” to report the incident to police because Doe 1 was not a minor, not disabled and not in a care facility.

Bowman spoke publicly Thursday for the first time since the original lawsuits were filed but before the amended lawsuits were filed.

Bowman said he does “not condone or tolerate harassment or assault of any type” but won’t talk extensively about the allegations until an investigation currently being conducted by Chicago law firm Jenner & Block into the matter concludes.

“We need to give the experts [investigating this] the necessary time and the latitude to do their job well,” he said. “I am eager to speak about this in more detail in the future, but for now I have to respect the pending litigation and the independent review that’s underway. I’m not going to be able to make any comments about that at this time. We have to let the process play itself out.”

Bowman said he will give the investigation his “full cooperation” but dodged the subject of whether the investigation’s findings will be made public, a clarification the Hawks and NHL have repeatedly avoided providing over the past month.

Other upper-level executives and coaches who were employed by the Hawks at the time but now work for other teams — including Panthers coach Joel Quenneville, Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin and Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff — have denied knowledge of Aldrich’s alleged assault but said they will participate in the investigation.

The lawsuit filed against the Hawks by the man identified as “John Doe 2” — a Michigan high school student, then 16 but now an adult, whom Aldrich confessed to sexually assaulting in 2013 — was also amended Thursday.

The primary change in that lawsuit was alleging the Hawks provided a “positive review and/or employment verification” of Aldrich specifically to Houghton High School, where Doe 2 was a student and Aldrich worked in 2013 as a volunteer coach. That is intended to refute the Hawks’ motion to dismiss that case, which called the lack of allegations of a reference specifically to Houghton High a “fatal omission.”

The Hawks did not respond to a request for comment after the amended lawsuits were filed.

Aldrich left the Hawks after the 2010 Stanley Cup championship parade. He briefly worked in 2012 as an assistant coach at Miami (Ohio) University, and two allegations of Aldrich forcing unwanted sexual contact there have also surfaced this summer; the university is conducting an investigation into his tenure there.

Meanwhile, more new details described in the amended Doe 1 lawsuit provide additional context about what happened before and after the alleged May 2010 incident.

In April and May 2010, Aldrich “repeatedly invited young interns” working for the Hawks “to his private apartment” to “watch various sporting events,” according to the lawsuit. Hawks management and coaches were allegedly “aware of this behavior and believed it to be quite unusual,” but did nothing about it, according to the lawsuit.

And in the years after the alleged incident, Doe 1 was allegedly subject to homophobic and “humiliating trash talking” relating to the incident at hockey practices and scrimmages at which Hawks-employed coaches were present.

The Hawks “permitted its players to repeatedly harass [Doe 1]” by calling him slur words and asking if he “wanted to suck someone off,” according to the lawsuit.

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It’s been a little more than seven months since Democrat Tammy Wendt joined the Cook County Board of Review, but she’s already being accused of “flagrant nepotism” — and firing back that her fellow commissioners are “territorial” bullies who haven’t exactly rolled out the welcome wagon.

The fireworks on the obscure panel that handles appeals to property tax assessments started when Wendt allegedly hired her first cousin, Todd Thielmann, for a cushy $150,000-a-year job as her chief of staff office.

“This flagrant nepotism flies in the face of the transparency and good government that Cook County taxpayers deserve,” Board of Review Commissioner Michael Cabonargi said in a written statement Thursday.

Wendt fired back that “this an attempt to silence me because I am not part of the ‘Good ‘ole Boys’ network.”

Wendt is best known as a member of former Chicago cop Jason Van Dyke’s defense team. She was elected to the county panel last year, and it doesn’t appear to have been a smooth transition.

During a contentious meeting of the three-member board last month, Wendt’s staffing decision came under scrutiny as a violation of the county’s ethics rules and the appeals board’s own newly amended ethics policy.

Both Cabonargi and the third member of the board, Commissioner Larry Rogers, tried to question Wendt about the apparent ethics violation, but Wendt refused to directly address their questions, saying “I’m not on trial here.”

Screen images.

On Thursday, Cabonargi said in his statement that he informed Wendt that hiring Thielmann was a violation of the county’s ethics policy “which forbids hiring and managing a first cousin.”

“It has also come to my attention that Commissioner Wendt advocated for Mr. Thielmann to have a starting salary above and beyond what a first year Chief of Staff should make,” Cabonargi said.

“Mr. Thielmann should be fired immediately and Commissioner Wendt’s handling of this situation should be investigated by the Cook County Inspector General.”

Records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show Thielmann’s salary was bumped from $135,000 to $150,000 in January.

Wendt issued her own statement on Thursday, neither confirming nor denying that Thielmann was her cousin, but arguing she “hired the best person for the job who has extensive experience and qualifications.”

She also said that she consulted one of the “nation’s top election attorneys” and was told the hiring “did not violate any policies.”

During the board meeting last month, Cabonargi and Rogers sought to amend the property tax appeal board’s ethics codes to bring it more in line with Cook County’s ethics rules surrounding the hiring of familial relationships, specifically adding first cousins to the board’s list.

Wendt didn’t vote to approve the change, which would specifically bar her hiring her first cousin. She also repeatedly refused to discuss it with her fellow Democratic commissioners.

Screen image

Wendt objected that the office should have a qualified, unbiased attorney involved in reshaping the ethics policy and others in the office.

Rogers pointed out to Wendt that all three of them are lawyers. But she fired back that none of them specialize in ethics law.

The discussion went further south when Rogers asked Wendt if she agrees the board should conform to county ethics codes. When Wendt didn’t directly address the question, Rogers asked if she knew of any violations of the ethics policy.

“I’m not answering your questions,” Wendt said during the June meeting, which is posted on YouTube. “I’ve answered as much as I’m going to answer.”

During the meeting, Cabonargi said he put Wendt on notice about violating the policy in her third week in office.

Wendt accused Cabonargi and Rogers of hiring each other’s family members.

The two commissioners denied the accusation, though the county’s inspector general previously found the office’s hiring process pulled in politically connected workers, including the child of one commissioner’s law partner.

Wendt accused the two fellow Democrats of working against her since she joined the board and not “welcoming me with open arms.”

Antonio Perez/pool/Chicago Tribune

“You have been nothing but bullies, to be frank, since I got here,” Wendt told Rogers and Cabonargi. “I don’t know if it’s because I’m a female. I don’t know what the problem is, but you’re both very territorial.”

Wendt elaborated on that in her statement on Thursday.

“I did not hire who was sent to me nor do I owe any political favors,” she said. “The effort to change the [Board of Review’s] Ethics policy is an obvious attempt to control and silence me while ignoring other practices that are not in the public’s best interest.”

She went on to say she welcomes a “county-wide, independent, public investigation into all hires at the BOR and the county, insider tax favors given to cronies and ‘exchange hires’ of family and business associates.”

The Chicago Sun-Times reported earlier this month that the FBI is investigating a Cook County Board of Review employee who allegedly used his position to lower property assessments in exchange for thousands of dollars in cash bribes, according to a federal court affidavit.

That employee also said the money would be split with others in the office, insisting that, “I’m just the middle guy.”

Cabonargi and Rogers both responded to the revelation by vowing to open an internal investigation. Wendt called for a “full forensic accounting,” saying at the time, “I hope this serves as a wake-up call to everyone.”

Wendt is a former assistant Cook County state’s attorney best known for being part of the defense team that represented Van Dyke in the 2014 shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Van Dyke was convicted of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery.

In November, Wendt was elected to the Board of Review, which reviews and potentially modifies property assessments in Cook County. She ousted the board’s lone Republican Dan Patlak.

“I am looking forward to filling my staff with qualified professionals who I can lead into this next chapter with the Board of Review,” Wendt said after the final votes were tallied.

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A party bus shooting at a Lincoln Park gas station that wounded eight revelers prompted the local alderman to propose Thursday that all Chicago party buses by curbed at 10 p.m.

“I’m working on an ordinance right now,” Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) said Thursday afternoon. “They would have to stop driving people around at 10 o’clock.”

In the latest attack, three cars pulled up in the 1600 block of North LaSalle Drive shortly before midnight and gunmen began firing at the group of people from the party bus, Chicago police said.

It was the third mass shooting of the day and occurred just hours after two attacks on the West Side wounded a total of 10 people, including a 14-year-old boy who died.

Police did not say if the victims were on or off the bus and released no other details of the shooting. No one was in custody and police released no description of the attackers.

Hopkins said the 10 p.m. curfew makes sense because “a lot of the trouble we’ve had on party buses has occurred around midnight. This incident was like five minutes to midnight. It just seems to be a recipe for disaster when you have 36 people, lots if alcohol, potentially some narcotics as well. And as the hours go by, the likelihood of trouble increases. It may time to put a limit on how long these buses can operate.”

Hopkins acknowledged the City Council has imposed countless crackdowns over the years aimed at preventing party bus rides from turning violent.

That includes requiring party buses that carry at least 15 people drinking on board or making multiple bar stops to install security cameras or hire more security personnel.

But, after the Wednesday night shooting, Hopkins argued that it’s time for yet another crackdown.

Hopkins argued that the earlier crackdowns made an impact — even during the Wednesday night shooting.

“There was a security guard present. Obviously, he wasn’t in a position to stop this incident from happening. But arguably, he prevented it from being worse than it was because both of the vehicles that pulled in during this attack — one of them actually fled without firing a shot and the other one that fired a number of shots did it very quickly. Didn’t stay. It was very much a hit and run,” Hopkins said.

“It turns out that the driver of the bus was also armed. He has a concealed-carry license. And he felt that part of his role was to provide security and prevent this sort of thing from happening.”

In the incident, a 24-year-old man was shot in the arm and a 26-year-old woman was shot in the leg, police said. Both were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital; the man was in fair condition and the woman was in serious condition.

A 23-year-old man struck in the groin also was taken to Northwestern in serious condition, police said. Two men, 42 and 52, both struck in the leg, were taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital in fair condition.

A 27-year-old man struck in the chest was later dropped off at Northwestern in critical condition, police said. A 29-year-old man struck in the arm went to Rush University Medical Center, then was transferred to Stroger Hospital in fair condition.

A 26-year-old woman shot in the hand drove to Jackson Park Hospital, where she was in good condition, police said.

Retiring Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Commissioner Rosa Escareno said she’s not certain Chicago needs another party bus crackdown. She noted Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s sweeping pandemic relief package included enhanced requirements for party bus companies.

That includes, “doubling-down on the requirement of a security guard and requiring the itinerary to be made available on the vehicle at all times.”

“Over the years, Chicago has been very strong on the party bus regulation and requirements of those companies. … We believe that, thus far, we have ample, if not more regulation than most other cities,” Escareno said.

Escareno said when problems persist, the issue generally “is not your licensed industry. It’s really been your rogue, unlicensed actors. This is really more of a criminal issue.”

Escareno’s spokesperson later told the Sun-Times the party bus involved in the Lincoln Park shooting was “licensed and insured” by the city’s department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.

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Perhaps you recall the eminent “Judge Starr” of Republican legend and song, a pious Christian avatar of justice and sexual propriety. Back when he was dutifully investigating President Bill Clinton’s sex life — “our job is to do our job,” he’d tell TV crews staking out his suburban driveway, a soft-handed househusband obediently taking out the trash — Kenneth Starr posed as a man of firm moral views and unimpeachable integrity.

Fawning newspaper profiles depicted Starr as an uxorious fellow whose favorite pastime was going for Sunday drives with his equally pious wife, singing hymns together. Never mind that said profiles were often written by the same reporters to whom independent counsel Starr’s prosecutors had been leaking damning, albeit misleading, tidbits about Bill and Hillary Clinton’s impending indictment for “Whitewater” crimes.

Indictments that never came, for the simple reason that bringing trumped-up charges against prominent people endangers prosecutors more than defendants. The same psalm-singing crusader eventually published the infamous “Starr Report,” narrating in near-pornographic detail each and every one of Bill Clinton’s furtive grapplings with Monica Lewinsky.

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh mostly wrote it.

Forcing a shamefaced Clinton to face a nationally televised sexual inquisition probably saved his presidency. Millions of sinners in the TV audience cringed to see it, a possibility that never seemed to have occurred to the sanctimonious Starr or his journalistic enablers. Angry with Clinton for being such a damn fool, I never saw it coming myself.

So now comes Starr’s professed former mistress to drive what should be the last nail in the rotting coffin of his reputation. Former GOP public relations executive Judi Hershman has published an essay entitled “Ken Starr, Brett Kavanaugh, Jeffrey Epstein and Me” on Medium.

I confess I never thought the man had it in him for motel room romance.

That Starr is a world-class sexual hypocrite has long been obvious. Do you know how hard it was for a name-brand Republican holy man to get himself fired as president of Baylor University, the world’s largest Baptist university? Covering up gang rapes by the school’s football team did it. Even Starr’s practice of running onto the field in a cheerleading costume couldn’t save him after the truth emerged in 2016.

To hear her tell it, Starr’s former mistress is anything but a woman scorned. “Our affair ran its course after a year or so of occasional encounters and a steady exchange of affectionate texts and emails,” she writes. “No fireworks, no drama.” Rather, it was watching a recorded interview with one of the Baylor victims that “helped me understand how I could have been blind for so long to the pattern of misogyny coursing through Starr’s career.”

Shedding crocodile tears, Starr made a show of empathy, but then proceeded to do nothing on the victim’s behalf. “Shamelessly and effectively,” Hershman writes, “he shoved rape allegations under the carpet in the name of Christianity.”

Starr’s role in helping negotiate a sweetheart deal for serial child rapist Jeffrey Epstein (13 months in jail with daily 12-hour passes) also troubled her. “I confess I did not recognize Jeffrey Epstein’s name at the time, but I knew what statutory rape was,” Hershman writes, “and I couldn’t understand why Ken Starr would be involved with him. ‘Is this a church thing?’ I asked. ‘Are you trying to “cure” him? Why would you do this!”‘

“Everyone deserves representation, Judi,” Starr responded, adding, “He promised to keep it above 18 from now on.”

As the world knows, Epstein failed to keep his promise. A man would have to be painfully naive to think a convicted pedophile ever would. Or deeply cynical to pretend to believe him. Take your pick. Starr’s efforts on behalf of the billionaire child rapist also included a covert smear campaign against the female prosecutor who’d prepared a 60-count federal indictment against his lowlife client.

“Somehow,” Hershman comments, “Starr’s role as the nation’s parson always comes back around to sex.”

Also money, I’d add. Not for nothing was Starr once a tobacco company shill. I’d also observe that for a woman with no ax to grind, Hershman deploys some awfully sharp edges.

She even recounts a 1998 episode in which Kavanaugh, then Starr’s prosecutorial understudy, staged a full-on primate rage display: physically intimidating and chasing her around a conference table over a disagreement she doesn’t describe. She says she’d all but forgotten his “feral belligerence” until she watched him go ballistic over Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations at his Senate confirmation hearings.

She thinks he’s got no business on the Supreme Court.

But at least Starr himself never got there, to his eternal regret and the nation’s good fortune. Instead, he ended up in that shyster’s purgatory: defending Trump against impeachment.

“It’s not just the hypocrisy,” Hershman thinks, “it’s the damage Starr’s sham moral authority has done — to our nation, to our people.”

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A 14-year-old boy was a key witness who identified one of three gunman who wounded his older brother and killed the older brother’s friend in Englewood, Cook County prosecutors said Thursday.

The boy saw the April 5 shooting from the window of his grandmother’s apartment and ran out when he thought the gunmen finished firing in the 6100 block of North Marshfield Avenue, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.

That’s when he saw 22-year-old Jamelle Carraway pull down his face mask as he stood over Vonshea Norman, Murphy said. Carraway then allegedly fired 10 more times into 20-year-old Norman’s body.

Carraway locked eyes with the boy, raised his gun, but then fled with two other gunmen, Murphy said.

The boy’s 20-year-old brother was also shot in the chest and legs but survived. Police recovered 30 shell casings at the crime scene, Murphy said.

Before he was killed, Norman drove to the neighborhood to show the teenage boy’s brother his new car, Murphy said.

The longtime friends were standing near the front passenger side of the car when a silver Volkswagen pulled up on the street and Carraway and the two others got out, Murphy said.

When one of Carraway’s cohorts said “yeah,” the teenage boy’s brother immediately recognized voice as someone he had known since the third grade, Murphy said.

That man, Carraway and the other gunman then pulled out their weapons with extended magazines before opening fire at Norman and the boy’s brother, Murphy said.

Right then, the 14-year-old looked out the window.

Chicago police

The boy gave police a physical description of Carraway and Carraway’s nickname. The teen later identified Carraway in a photo array, Murphy said.

Carraway made posts on social media about Norman’s murder on the day of his funeral, Murphy said. Cellphone data also shows his phone moving from the south suburbs toward the crime scene. The phone was turned off right before the shooting a mile away. But then 45 minutes later, the cellphone — still in the same area — was turned back on, Murphy said.

Detectives tracked Carraway’s cellphone again later that month when he went to Midway Airport and got onto a flight to Atlanta, Murphy said.

Carraway was taken into custody at his home Wednesday by police and U.S. Marshals on a warrant for Norman’s murder, his arrest report said.

Carraway lives with his two brothers and has been unemployed since he was laid off from his job at Krispy Kreme during the coronavirus pandemic, his defense attorney said.

Judge Mary Marubio cited the boy’s identification of Carraway in her decision to hold him held without bond for murder and attempted murder charges. Marubio warned Carraway there would be “zero tolerance” for him, or anyone else who attempted to contact witnesses in the case.

The Chicago Sun-Times asked the state’s attorney’s office Thursday if any services or protection had been offered to the 14-year-old witness through the its Victim Witness Unit, but a spokeswoman for State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said the office cannot comment on pending cases.

‘We have to figure out how to cope’

A year ago, a group of South and West side ministers hand-delivered a letter to Foxx’s office asking for the county to create a new program to better protect witnesses in violent crime cases and called the current resources “an abysmal failure that needs to be trashed.”

Foxx’s spokeswoman was not immediately able to provide information about any changes that have been made to the program since the letter was delivered.

Earlier this week, Cleopatra Cowley, the mother of Hadiya Pendleton — the teen gunned down at a South Side park in 2013 weeks after she performed at President Barack Obama’s inauguration — also called on the county to do more for victims and their families as they cope with the impact of violent crime has on them.

“No one reaches out to help us. We have to figure out how to cope,” Cowley told reporters at the courthouse Tuesday following a sentencing hearing for the getaway driver in Hadiya’s murder. “No one is saying “here, here, here’s this free counseling, here’s this program … I want to appeal to those that are in charge to make it a priority.”

Carraway is expected back in court Aug. 11.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

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