TAMPA, Fla. — It only took scoring once for the Tampa Bay Lightning to strike twice and repeat as Stanley Cup champions.

Backstopped by their playoff MVP goaltender and the only two Tampa Bay players on the ice without their name on the Cup, the Lightning won it all for the second time in 10 months by beating the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Andrei Vasilevskiy had a series-ending shutout for an NHL-record fifth consecutive time dating to the 2020 final. Finishing with a handful in a frantic final minute, he made 22 saves to remain undefeated in games after a loss over the past two playoffs, both contested during a deadly pandemic with the Lightning coming out on top each time.

“It’s unbelievable,” captain Steven Stamkos said. “This group, to go back to back after everything we went through last year in the bubble, to go through this year ups and downs it’s amazing.”

Minutes later, Stamkos paraded the Cup around with fans cheering and pyrotechnics going off behind him.

Ross Colton and David Savard weren’t around last year and made sure to put their stamp on Tampa Bay’s latest title run. Savard set up Coleman’s goal midway through the second period past Canadiens stalwart Carey Price that fired up the crowd of over 17,000 fans at Amalie Arena.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said of Tampa Bay winning a championship, “It feels like things are normal.”

“To do it in front of our fans and our families, it’s so special, special,” defenseman Victor Hedman said. “It’s out of this world. Winning a Stanley Cup is one thing. But doing it in front of our fans, family means the world.”

The scene couldn’t have been any further from the mirthless, empty arena where the Lightning won the Cup last September in a quarantined bubble across the continent in Edmonton, Alberta. Tampa Bay joined Pittsburgh as the only back-to-back Cup winner in the salary-cap era, but even more impressively did it amid virus protocols with the shortest span between championships in the long history of the NHL.

Never losing twice in a row thanks to a combination of Vasilevskiy’s brilliance and one of the deepest rosters constructed since the cap was implemented in 2005, the Lightning solidified their status as a modern-day dynasty.

How deep? Nikita Kucherov had 32 points to join Mario Lemieux as the only players to lead the postseason in scoring two years in a row, and Brayden Point scored 14 goals through three rounds. Kucherov, Point and Hedman all played through injuries, too.

It was just to much for the Canadiens, who relied again on Price to keep them in a game. He finished with 29 saves — one too few to prevent a Cup celebration for Tampa Bay.

The sunbelt franchise in a nontraditional market that didn’t even exist until 1992-93 went through the NHL’s most storied franchise to do it. The Lightning won the Cup for the third time in franchise history and denied Montreal a 25th league championship banner.

The Lightning also added another title for “Champa Bay,” with this title coming on the heels of Tom Brady leading the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl victory in February. The Tampa Bay Rays went to the World Series last fall.

Tampa Bay’s mayor had suggested the Lightning lose Game 4 on the road so they could win at home, and she got her wish as coach Jon Cooper’s team became the first since Chicago in 2015 to hoist the Cup on home ice.

That paved the way not only for fans to roar in approval but for families to join in the celebration, something that wasn’t possible in the bubble. Patrick Maroon became the fourth player in NHL history to win the Cup three years in a row with two teams while Kucherov joined Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky as the only players with 30-plus points in back-to-back playoffs.

The back-to-back title run was spurred by the adversity of the team overcoming the shock of getting swept by Columbus in the first round of the 2019 playoffs. They learned from each loss after that to build up a resolve that’s hard to maintain over as playoff hockey takes a toll.

The Canadiens ran out of gas in what was an otherwise surprise playoff run for a team that opened the postseason with the worst record of the 16 qualifiers. Montreal rallied from a 3-1 first-round series deficit against Toronto and eliminated Winnipeg and Vegas in reaching the final round for the first time since winning the Cup in 1993.

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Three people were wounded, one critically, in a shooting Wednesday night in East Garfield Park.

They were on the sidewalk about 7:30 p.m. when someone opened fire in the 3500 block of West Lake Street, Chicago police said.

A 35-year-old man suffered multiple gunshot wounds on the body and was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, police said.

A 24-year-old woman was grazed by a bullet in the thigh, police said. Her hospitalizations were unkown. Another woman, 27, was shot in the back and taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in critical condition.

No one is in custody as area detectives investigate.

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At least one member of the Cubs’ bullpen likes to wear a shirt with “Failed Starter” emblazoned across the chest, but it’s not likely that Alec Mills will be donning one himself. His vision for his future involves pitching every fifth day.

Mills’ start Wednesday against the Phillies — which helped the Cubs to an 8-3 victory that snapped a hideous 11-game losing streak — was his fifth in a row since sliding into the rotation in mid-June. He pitched five scoreless innings before allowing three runs in the sixth on Bryce Harper’s RBI double and Andrew McCutchen’s two-run homer.

In all, Mills (4-2) went 5 2/3 innings with the three runs, five hits, five strikeouts and a walk, giving the bullpen a much-needed rest after relievers were called upon to pick up 7 2/3 innings in a 15-10 loss Tuesday night. Cubs starters have struggled to go deep into games this season, and the strain on the bullpen shows in a 6.75 ERA among relievers since June 21. The pen had 332 1/3 innings entering Wednesday, the seventh-most in baseball.

Mills’ outing continued a recent trend for him. Against the Reds on July 2, he struck out nine in 5 2/3 innings while allowing just two runs. On June 20, he threw five scoreless innings against the Marlins.

Last September, he tossed a no-hitter against the Brewers.

“He’s done nothing but give us a nice start,” manager David Ross said before the game. “I have a lot of confidence when he’s out there. He throws strikes. He works quick.”

He also sees himself as a permanent member of the rotation in the future, even though he has started just six times in 18 appearances this year — consistent with the way the Cubs have used him since he joined the organization in 2018.

“Multiple roles, very versatile,” Ross said. “Kind of a Swiss Army knife — he fills in in the bullpen, [and] even though he wants to start, he’s willing to do what’s best for us.”

With the Cubs’ pitching situation in flux, Mills probably stands to play a bigger role going forward. Starter Jake Arrieta went on the injured list Wednesday with a hamstring issue, and although Trevor Williams was activated Tuesday, Ross said the plan for the near future is to use Williams in long relief because that’s where the bullpen is thin.

If Arrieta’s hamstring keeps him out of the rotation for a while and Williams continues to be needed out of the pen, Mills might see more time as a starter.

“That guy’s got extreme confidence in himself, and I have a lot of confidence in him,” Ross said. “He’s been a huge piece in our organization and our team that you rely on, and knowing that you can fill him in a lot of spots and you kind of plug some holes.”

The Cubs picked up on offense where they had left off the previous night, when they scored 10 runs for the first time since May 29 against the Reds. They lit up Phillies starter Zack Wheeler — who had a 1.15 ERA in his previous six starts — for five runs in the first two innings and added two more runs in the sixth after Wheeler was pulled.

A call reversal in the first inning set up the Cubs’ first three runs. On a line out by Willson Contreras, Kris Bryant was originally called out at second in what would have been an inning-ending double play. Instead, he was ruled safe upon review and then scored on Jason Heyward’s single. Nico Hoerner and Rafael Ortega followed with RBI singles before the inning was over.

Bryant left in the fourth with tightness in his right hamstring.

Anthony Rizzo’s at-bat in the second was interrupted by a 12-minute rain delay, but when play resumed, he hit an RBI triple, his third three-bagger of the season, then scored on a single by Contreras.

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Community activists on Wednesday called on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to declare a state of emergency decree for gun violence after Chicago recorded its deadliest and most violent weekend yet this year.

Standing outside Chicago Police Department’s headquarters in Bronzeville, activist and former mayoral candidate Ja’Mal Green and founder of My Block, My Hood, My City Jahmal Cole were joined by two other community activists as well as a mother whose 18-year-old son was fatally shot in 2006.

Green called gun violence a “public health crisis” and said “it’s clear” city leadership can’t get a handle on the situation. That’s why, he said, the group is asking Pritzker to step in.

“We are in a state of emergency in our neighborhoods and we need some help,” Green said, noting that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday declared gun violence in his state a disaster emergency.

Cole, who’s running for Congress, agreed with Green and called for “commonsense gun control laws to make sure we put an end to this madness.”

“We got babies dying left and right, we got more technology in our light poles than the classrooms, you got to order your breakfast through bulletproof glass. It’s been a state of emergency,” Cole said.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, 104 people were shot — 19 fatally — in Chicago, and at least 13 children were wounded in the shootings. The violent weekend prompted Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) — whose ward has seen an increase in shootings this year compared to 2020 — to call for the deployment of the Illinois National Guard.

Green disagreed with Beale’s proposal, saying the South and West Side communities plagued by gun violence need more federal funding, not more force.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

“We’ve seen police try to tackle crime by increasing the police department’s numbers every year. What does that do? They put officers on overtime on holiday weekend, we still had the most violent weekend, so whether they’re in the neighborhoods or not, that’s not going to decrease the number,” Green said.

Green and Cole believe, with Pritzker’s help, that they can address some of the root causes of gun violence, including the lack of mental health facilities, job opportunities and funding for small businesses. Green asked for $1 billion worth of federal funds to be used as an investment into communities in need as well as support organizations embedded in those neighborhoods.

“We need funds for publicly funded mental health services, we need some resources, we need our block clubs to get back to work,” Cole said.

Green said, “We need this now. We can’t take another month, we can’t be doing this press conference in another week, after another bad weekend of violence, after another holiday of gunfire. We got to step in and we got to step in now.”

The group has recently reached out to Pritzker and is still waiting on him to act on their request, according to Green.

In a statement Wednesday evening, Jordan Abudayyeh, a spokeswoman for Pritzker’s office, did not mention Pritzker issuing a state of emergency decree, though she said the Democratic governor is committed to a “comprehensive approach to gun violence,” which includes investing in programs that produce pathways to better education, careers and safe communities.

“The Governor believes we have to treat the epidemic of gun violence as a public health crisis, which is why since day one his administration has significantly increased funding for violence interruption and prevention programs,” said Abudayyeh, noting that Pritzker increased funding to these programs by $50 million in his first year in office.

Abudayyeh also said this year’s budget allocates $128 million for violence prevention programs.

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Rhett Miller Looks Back On Nearly 30 Years Performing In Chicago Ahead of Sunday Set At City Winery

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By Jim Ryan,
today at 9:36 pm

For Old 97’s songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Rhett Miller, a career which began in 1993 has brought with it a variety of highs and lows.

A number of the highs have come right here in Chicago, one of the first major markets the Dallas group was able to crack outside Texas, thanks to a ravenous audience soon fed by regular radio airplay on Chicago’s WXRT.

Upon signing with Chicago-based Bloodshot Records in 1995, Old 97’s recorded their second studio album Wreck Your Life in Wicker Park, performing frequently at venues like Double Door.

Since then, the group has referenced the Windy City in the lyrics of the 1997 classic “Barrier Reef” with Miller going on to name check Chicago in “The El,” a cut from his second solo album The Instigator in 2002.

“They liked us before any other town liked us. And we liked them,” said Miller of Chicago. “I feel like there’s something about Chicago that is just really authentic. And people are not afraid to be earnestly excited about whatever it is they’re doing. And, in the early days of our band, people were earnestly excited about our band in a way that made us think, ‘Maybe we could do this…’”

I spoke with Rhett Miller about returning to the stage this Sunday night at 8PM for a solo set at City Winery, cutting his teeth at Chicago venues like Delilah’s and Empty Bottle, a fond memory in Grant Park at WXRT’s free 4th of July concert and the writing process behind the group’s pointed 2010 track “Champaign, Illinois.” A partial transcript of our phone conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows below.

Let’s start with the $64,000 question: What’s it been like getting back on stage in front of actual people this year? 

RHETT MILLER: I’ve only played one night of solo gigs – an early show and a late show on April 2 in Manhattan. According to the New York Times, that was the first ticketed, live music event in Manhattan. And that was so strange. That was City Winery so they’re incredibly conscientious. They almost overdo everything with regards to the safety – which I was grateful for. I think it made me feel a little less trepidation about the reentry. 

The 97’s have done a handful of dates in Texas. And that was really weird too. I don’t feel like I’ve done a show yet that felt like a real, proper show from the before times. 

So I wonder what this is going to be like? I don’t know. I’m definitely looking forward to it.

Well, it’s quite a relationship now you’ve cultivated with the City Winery chain and certainly the Chicago venue in particular. What’s it like being able to finally get back to Chicago to play there again this Sunday? 

RM: When I was first starting to do solo acoustic gigs, there was a place in Los Angeles called Largo. It’s still there in a newer incarnation. Now it’s a theater – but, at the time, it was a tiny little dinner theater/listening room. And then there was a place in New York City called Fez, which was a similar set up: dinner, tables, banquettes, listening room vibe. 

When I was really young, that business model – the idea of people just, full stop, sitting down while I’m playing? No thank you. What am I old?

But, at a certain point, the idea of people sitting and listening at a comfortable table and having dinner and drinks, that just felt right. “This is cool. I can still rock out, I can still be loud and maybe there’s people that will get inspired to go stand up on the outskirts of the room and dance around if they need to.”

There’s just something so cool about the vibe of that kind of a listening room – it’s just so encouraging and safe feeling. And Michael Dorf and the folks at City Winery have been able to do that on a large scale. And now I’m able to go play rooms that feel like the best put together venues in America in Boston and Philly and D.C. and obviously in Chicago and New York and Nashville or Atlanta. 

And it’s great. I know all the people in these places. The audience knows that they’re going to get a super good experience with great food. And they’ve figured out a business model that makes it so they can pay artists well. I’m really grateful for it.

It’s a long way from the first gigs I would do. I remember doing a gig in high school. And I had to wait around for the club owner to pay me on a school night. And I waited until like 2:30 in the morning. I think he just thought that I would leave and he wouldn’t have to give me the fifty bucks he had promised me – which, to me, seemed like the most money I was ever going to make. Finally, at 2:30 in the morning, he got pissed off and he came downstairs and he gave me fifty bucks in quarters. Yep. 

From solo tracks like “The El” to Old 97’s cuts like “Barrier Reef,” Chicago has long been kind of a consistent character in the storytelling that defines your songs. What makes the city such a good backdrop or setting within your music? 

RM: When we started the Old 97’s, we figured out that we had to get out of Dallas. Unlike Austin, Dallas, as a town, has a way of championing something that is the opposite of honest art. It’s a very commercial town. It’s a very money driven environment that we come from in Dallas. So we decided we had to get out of Dallas.

I-35 north, we would go through St. Louis. And Chicago very early on was the town that… I don’t know, they liked us before any other town liked us. And we liked them. And those long drives back down 35, we would try to figure out, “Why is Chicago so cool?”

At that point, we finally had been out to L.A. and New York. And what we settled on is that Chicago is the biggest city in America that isn’t full of itself.

New York and L.A. are both industry towns. They’re both chock-full of people that are making cool things. Chicago is too. But the folks in New York and L.A. tend to be really over it and jaded and cynical. I don’t mean to sh-t on them. I lived in both of those places and I love them. But I feel like there’s something about Chicago that is just really authentic. And people are not afraid to be earnestly excited about whatever it is they’re doing. And, in the early days of our band, people were earnestly excited about our band in a way that made us think, “Maybe we could do this…”

Then we signed to Bloodshot Records. We made a record in Wicker Park. All of the shows that we would do at the Double Door and the Empty Bottle climbing up and up to the Vic and the Riv. Boy do I love Thalia Hall right now. Obviously, the Metro – all of the great memories at the Metro. Yeah, I don’t know but there’s something really special about Chicago.

I announced a save the date for it, and the details will come out in the next few days, but I’m doing a songwriting retreat in Chicago on October 22, 23 and 24, 2021. Eventually, I’ll probably do them in a few different places. But I went back and forth. I looked at Woodstock, New York. I looked at doing one in Dallas. But, in the end, there’s something about Chicago. I really thought it was kind of a fun and meaningful place for me to ask fans, and aspiring songwriters who might want to learn from me, to go.

Chicago just felt like the right place. It’s just very creative. 

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Some might argue that the flip side of that would be Champaign, Illinois. I went to college in Charleston, IL which is about 40 minutes south of Champaign – which made Champaign, technically, “the big city” – which is, maybe, a little frightening. Listening to your song “Champaign, Illinois,” and noting its connection to Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row,” I’ve always been curious just how bad your experience in that town was that it led to that song…

RM: (Laughs) Oh, man… You know, I’ve felt bad over the years that I made a punchline out of Champaign!

Really, my thought process with it was… Do you remember the Richard Linklater movie Slacker? Growing up, Austin, TX was always that – a lot of artists but also just a lot of people that kind of got arrested around the time of college age. And they just wound up forever living in this weird sort of purgatory of being intellectuals, waking up at noon, walking down in their bathrobe to the local coffee shop and arguing about Kierkegaard or whatever.

So, to me, it wasn’t so much like being stuck in Champaign, IL was like being stuck in hell, it was more like being stuck in this purgatory, right? You can’t grow up – but you’re no longer a kid.

Whether it’s eating, performing or anything else, is there a fond memory in Chicago that sticks out? 

RM: I remember an XRT 4th of July show in Grant Park. We’ve done a few of those now. But I think the very first one we ever did was – I can’t even remember – maybe 1999? And just looking out across that field full of people in this city where we had started at Delilah’s! We climbed up step-by-step through the venues and wound up getting to play in front of this field full of these really cool, happy young people. And it just felt like everything we had dreamed of.

I know that the business fell apart at a certain point, right around the time when the Old 97’s were peaking or whatever. The industry collapsed. So that idea of the brass ring – that idea of getting a million dollars or whatever – we had to make peace with that going away. But when you think about success, I don’t think it’s about a million dollars. I think it’s about feeling like you’ve done the thing that was your dream. 

You had a vision: “I want to stand on a stage in front of all of these people and sing songs that I wrote and feel like we’re all in this together and they’re singing along and I’m dancing around and this is a dream come true.”

So Chicago has been really good over the years about making dreams come true for me and the Old 97’s.

______________________________________________________________________________

Rhett Miller
______________________________________________________________________________

Sunday, July 11, 2021

City Winery

Doors open at 6PM
Show starts at 8PM

Tickets: $25 – $35

To purchase tickets, click HERE
______________________________________________________________________________

Filed under:
Interviews

Tags:
Champaign, City Winery, Old 97’s, Rhett Miller

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Jim Ryan

Jim Ryan has written about music in print and online for a variety of Chicagoland publications for over fifteen years. In addition to duties filling in as Traffic Anchor on CLTV or in the helicopter on NBC 5, you can also catch him Sunday afternoons at 3PM central as host of “The Rock N’ Roll Radio Program” on AM 1420 WIMS (streaming at wimsradio.com and via the free TuneIn Radio app on any computer, phone or device).

Jim has also worked locally for WXRT-FM, lives within walking distance of the Metro and is an avid White Sox and Blackhawks fan whose first live concert experience came at Comiskey Park in 1984 during the Jacksons’ “Victory” tour.

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WASHINGTON — Chicago’s unrelenting gun violence — with two ATF agents and a Chicago police officer shot hours before President Joe Biden landed at O’Hare for his first presidential visit to Illinois — underscores the urgent need for his administration to speed up the timetable for help promised last month.

As Air Force One was flying to O’Hare — and knowing Mayor Lori Lightfoot was waiting for Biden on the tarmac — White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, “The administration is in touch with the mayor of Chicago about the shootings overnight and offered condolences for the families.”

The Biden presidential visit — he was en route to Crystal Lake to promote his domestic agenda in Trump territory and boost Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill. — forced rivals Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to stand feet from each other as they waited for their solo tarmac time with Biden.

After Biden spoke at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake, Psaki said in a statement — using a bit of Washington shorthand to describe the very brief meeting — “During a greet with Mayor Lightfoot on the airport tarmac, President Biden expressed his personal support for the two ATF officials and the Chicago police officer who were shot earlier today.

“He reiterated his commitment to working with the Mayor and leaders in Chicago in the fight against gun violence and conveyed that the Department of Justice would soon be in touch about the strike force announced just a few weeks ago that will be working with cities like Chicago.”

This “soon be in touch.” What is soon? The July 4 holiday weekend was the most violent of the year so far in Chicago, with 104 shot and 19 of them killed.

On June 23, Biden unveiled proposals to curb gun trafficking in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area and Washington, D.C.

The promise was for the Justice Department to create “five cross-jurisdictional firearms trafficking strike forces within the next 30 days to help reduce violent crime by addressing illegal gun trafficking in significant firearms trafficking corridors.”

A DOJ spokesperson told me Wednesday the strike forces are still being developed and will launch later this month.

The idea, said the spokesperson, is for the Biden strike forces to be different from Operation Legend, a Trump administration temporary surge of law enforcement officials to Chicago and other cities that ended, according to the spokesperson, in December.

“The strike forces announced on June 23 are a separate effort to stem gun violence,” the DOJ spokesperson said. “They will represent a sustained and focused coordination among federal, state, and local law enforcement partners across jurisdictions in significant firearms trafficking corridors.”

The aim is to “disrupt” the flow of guns before they get to Chicago.

The sooner the better.

ON TRUMP TURF, BIDEN SPOTLIGHTS UNDERWOOD, DOMESTIC AGENDA

The White House designed Biden’s trip to Crystal Lake — in McHenry County, in one of the redder, Trumpier parts of the very blue state of Illinois — to rally national support for his two massive domestic packages pending before Congress.

“I know it’s a boring speech,” Biden said after his address at McHenry County College. He didn’t need that touch of self-deprecating humor, but there it was. Before he spoke he did a photo line backstage, with a bunch of Democratic elected Illinois officials.

In his speech, Biden talked about the billions of dollars people and local governments already got from COVID-19 stimulus bills — and more to come for child care, education and traditional infrastructure projects like roads and bridges if deals can be made in Congress.

And in Illinois, under a program Biden signed into law, thousands of families with adjusted gross incomes of less than $150,000 will find on July 15 new money in their bank accounts. “You’ll get cash,” Biden said.

The money will be payment of an enhanced child tax credit of between $250 and $300 for each child under the age of 17. The monthly payments will run through December; Biden wants to extend them to 2025.

According to the Illinois Department of Revenue, in McHenry County there are more than 32,000 children under age 17 listed on taxpayer returns with an adjusted gross income of less than $150,000.

Underwood represents part of Crystal Lake, and Biden’s recent travels have been to congressional districts with vulnerable House members like Underwood. The Democrats control the House with only a four-vote margin.

Biden came to McHenry County to bolster Underwood, with that county, a sort of Trumpian stronghold, Underwood’s political Achilles heel. Her team wants to, in the pending remap, create a new congressional district that cuts out McHenry County.

Still, the Biden spotlight helps Underwood in fundraising and stature. Said Biden during the college tour, pointing to Underwood, “This woman here, hang on to her.”

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Community activists on Wednesday called on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to declare a state of emergency decree for gun violence after Chicago recorded its deadliest and most violent weekend yet this year.

Standing outside Chicago Police Department’s headquarters in Bronzeville, activist and former mayoral candidate Ja’Mal Green and founder of My Block, My Hood, My City Jahmal Cole were joined by two other community activists as well as a mother whose 18-year-old son was fatally shot in 2006.

Green called gun violence a “public health crisis” and said “it’s clear” city leadership can’t get a handle on the situation. That’s why, he said, the group is asking Pritzker to step in.

“We are in a state of emergency in our neighborhoods and we need some help,” Green said, noting that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday declared gun violence in his state a disaster emergency.

Cole, who’s running for Congress, agreed with Green and called for “commonsense gun control laws to make sure we put an end to this madness.”

“We got babies dying left and right, we got more technology in our light poles than the classrooms, you got to order your breakfast through bulletproof glass. It’s been a state of emergency,” Cole said.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, 104 people were shot — 19 fatally — in Chicago, and at least 13 children were wounded in the shootings. The violent weekend prompted Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) — whose ward has seen an increase in shootings this year compared to 2020 — to call for the deployment of the Illinois National Guard.

Green disagreed with Beale’s proposal, saying the South and West Side communities plagued by gun violence need more federal funding, not more force.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

“We’ve seen police try to tackle crime by increasing the police department’s numbers every year. What does that do? They put officers on overtime on holiday weekend, we still had the most violent weekend, so whether they’re in the neighborhoods or not, that’s not going to decrease the number,” Green said.

Green and Cole believe, with Pritzker’s help, that they can address some of the root causes of gun violence, including the lack of mental health facilities, job opportunities and funding for small businesses. Green asked for $1 billion worth of federal funds to be used as an investment into communities in need as well as support organizations embedded in those neighborhoods.

“We need funds for publicly funded mental health services, we need some resources, we need our block clubs to get back to work,” Cole said.

Green said, “We need this now. We can’t take another month, we can’t be doing this press conference in another week, after another bad weekend of violence, after another holiday of gunfire. We got to step in and we got to step in now.”

The group has recently reached out to Pritzker and is still waiting on the Democratic governor to act on their request, according to Green.

Pritzker’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening.

“I know it’s in his heart,” Green said. “I know [Pritzker] is progressive, and he needs to do something to show that he cares about our neighborhoods, and this is the right thing to do right here.”

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At least two people are in custody Wednesday evening in connection with the shooting of a Chicago police officer and two federal agents who were working undercover on the Southwest Side, a source said.

Police spokesman Tom Ahern said in a tweet that one person was being interviewed by detectives but gave no other details. A source told the Chicago Sun-Times that at least one other person is also in custody.

Police had found a white Chevrolet Malibu believed to be used in the shooting near 89th Place and Indiana Avenue. Officers had been looking for a suspect there, and a “drone command van” was sent to assist in the search.

The shooting happened shortly before 6 a.m. as the three were getting onto the northbound lanes of Interstate 57 near 119th Street, about a mile from the Morgan Park police station, police said.

The police officer was grazed in the back of the head, an agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was shot in the hand, and another ATF agent suffered a wound to his side, police said. All were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center.

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Police Supt. David Brown told reporters the three “were conducting an investigation. They were all together in one vehicle when they were fired upon.”

Brown gave no details about the undercover operation. He said one of the ATF agents is a woman. The police officer and the other ATF agent are men.

All three were released from the hospital as of Wednesday evening, a source said.

Illinois State Police troopers were called to assist with the investigation.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

The two wounded ATF agents and police officer are among five law enforcement officials shot in Chicago over the past three days.

Chicago police Cmdr. Patrina Wines and a sergeant were wounded by bullets fired into a crowd of revelers in the 100 block of North Long Avenue in Austin at about 1:30 a.m. Monday. Wines was struck in the foot, and the sergeant was grazed in the leg.

Brown said 36 Chicago police officers have either been shot or shot at this year.

“We have more than 100,000 gang members in the city of Chicago,” Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th) said Wednesday. “They are emboldened and have nothing to fear from law enforcement. The police are under siege.”

O’Shea, whose ward includes the area where the shooting occurred, said the police department is struggling with a shortage of manpower because of a record number of retirements this year.

Pat Nabong / Sun-Times

“We’re at a critical point in the city of Chicago. We need help. Police can’t do it alone,” he said, appealing to President Joe Biden, who visited Crystal Lake on Wednesday.

“In some communities, mothers and fathers are scared to let their kids out in front of their house,” O’Shea said. “We continue to have these episodes here on the South Side, and today was another example of the utter lawlessness we see in the streets.”

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For years, until the pandemic shut everything down, the weekly shows hosted at the Odyssey East by bassist Joe Pratt and his Source One Band made the cozy venue one of the most important remaining strongholds of blues and soul-blues on the south side. Pratt’s resume includes stints with the likes of Artie “Blues Boy” White, Otis Clay, and Johnnie Taylor, and his bandmates include keyboardist Stan “Preacherman” Banks (who formerly played with blues legend Koko Taylor) and drummer Lew Powell (who currently plays with R&B singer Benny Latimore). At this show, they’ll lead a musical tribute to Sir Walter Scott, the Source One Band’s lead guitarist, who passed away last year. A member of one of the most important families in Chicago soul and R&B, Scott began his career during the doo-wop era; along with his brother Howard, he led some of the city’s finest show bands, most notably the World Band, who backed virtually every blues and soul-blues vocalist to appear in major south-side venues from the 1960s till the ’90s (and accompanied many of them on the road). Scott also became a first-call session man, appearing on myriad soul and R&B recordings. Over the decades, he worked with luminaries such as Bobby “Blue” Bland, the Manhattans, the Jackson 5, Natalie Cole, the Dells, Ike & Tina Turner, the O’Jays, Denise La Salle, Tyrone Davis, and the Chi-Lites (for whom he served as musical director).

The featured vocalists at this tribute will be New Orleans Beau and Honeydew, two of Chicago’s premier soul-blues stylists. As if to acknowledge Scott’s irreplaceability, two guitarists will join the group for the night: Randell Mathews (formerly of the Albert King band) and Lee Holloway. The list of guest performers is subject to change, but among those confirmed according to Pratt are emcee Mr. Lee Kirksy & Company, guitarist Max Valldeneu (World Band, Platinum), and a whole raft of singers: Marshall Thompson (founding member and former leader of the Chi-Lites), Gurtha Scott (Sir Walter’s niece), Vickie Baker, Louisiana Al, Joe Barr, Randy Johnson, and Jesi Terrell (formerly of the World Band and now a rising star in contemporary southern soul-blues). Howard Scott will be in attendance, and the Source One Band will honor his and Thompson’s musical legacies during their set. The evening also includes a special tribute to Sir Walter from PUBLIC i, who are returning to Chicago for the occasion; they currently work as a show band in Las Vegas, but Pratt has played with them for more than three decades. This is a free outdoor event with catering from Shirley Scott, who’s married to Howard. You’re welcome to bring your own chair, but no coolers are allowed–the bar will be open for drink service. v

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The 34-year-old was traveling about 1 p.m. on the northbound lanes of I-94 near 147th Street when someone in another vehicle opened fire.

By

Sun-Times Wire

Jul 7, 2021, 6:13pm CDT

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