If you won’t visit the Chicago battle ground, at least acknowledge their deaths.
Police work the scene where a 48-year-old man was fatally shot July 5, 2021, inside a home in the 8600 block of South Aberdeen Street. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
At least 108 people were shot in Chicago over the long Independence Day weekend, including two police officers; children, including 5- and 6-year-old girls; and a group of six people early Monday in the Washington Park neighborhood — where a man was killed hours later in an unrelated shooting.
He was one of at least 17 people who died from injuries suffered in shootings from about 5 p.m. Friday to just after 1 a.m. Tuesday, according to police information and Tribune data.
The names aren’t given in the Tribune and Sun-Times stories about the shootings, but I’m sure the president–all knowing that he is–knows them. You can read about them, one-by-one, in the Tribune and Sun-Times.
Here’s a sample:
In one of the weekend attacks, a 15-year-old boy was critically hurt in a drive-by shooting Monday evening at 5:50 p.m. when a dark-colored car drove by and someone from inside pulled out a gun and fired shots in the 6600 block of South Langley Avenue in Woodlawn, police said….
A friend began driving the wounded man to a hospital but as they drove they arranged to meet paramedics in the 5700 block of South Calumet Avenue. He was then taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he died. Information on his identity had not released by the Cook County medical examiner’s office Tuesday morning….
The earlier Washington Park shooting left two men dead, two women wounded and a 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy with gunshot wounds. They were in the 6100 block of South Wabash Avenue at 1:05 a.m. Monday when someone drove past, opened fire and fled….
Case after case, victim after victim…the list goes on and on. People of various ages. All hours. Sitting on a porch. Standing on a sidewalk. Riding in a car. Read it all, and if the length of the list of those shot and killed over the weekend doesn’t sadden and shock you… Well, you’d probably prefer to eat ice cream in Crystal Lake with Biden.
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DUTTON, Mont. — Vern Greyn was standing in the raised bucket of a tractor, trimming tree branches, when he lost his balance.
He fell 12 feet and struck his head on the concrete patio outside his house in this farming town on the central Montana plains.
Greyn, then 58, couldn’t move. His wife called 911. A volunteer emergency medical technician showed up: his own daughter-in-law Leigh.
But there was a problem. Greyn was too large for her to move. She had to call in help from the ambulance crew in the next town over.
“I laid here for a half hour or better,” Greyn said.
When help finally arrived, they loaded him into the ambulance and rushed him to the nearest hospital, where they found he had a concussion.
In rural America, it’s increasingly difficult for ambulance services to respond to emergencies like Greyn’s. One factor: Emergency medical services are struggling to find young volunteers to replace retiring EMTs. Another: There’s a growing financial crisis among rural volunteer EMS agencies. A third are at risk because they can’t cover their operating costs.
“More and more volunteer services are finding this to be untenable,” said Brock Slabach, chief operations officer of the National Rural Health Association.
Rural ambulance services rely heavily on volunteers. About 53% of rural EMS agencies are staffed by volunteers, versus 14% in urban areas, according to the NRHA. And more than 70% of those rural agencies report difficulty finding volunteers.
In Montana, the state Department of Public Health and Human Services says about 20% of EMS agencies frequently have trouble responding to 911 calls for lack of available volunteers; 34% occasionally can’t respond.
When that happens, other EMS agencies must respond, sometimes having to drive long distances, though a delay of minutes can mean life or death. Sometimes, an emergency call will go unanswered, leaving people to drive themselves to a hospital or ask neighbors.
Sixty percent of Montana’s volunteer EMTs are 40 or older, and fewer young people are stepping in to replace older volunteers.
Finding enough volunteers to fill a rural ambulance crew isn’t a new problem. In Dutton, EMS crew chief Colleen Campbell says it’s been an issue for most of the 17 years she’s volunteered.
The Dutton crew has four volunteers. In its early days, the ambulance service was locally run and survived on limited health insurance reimbursements and donations. At its lowest point, Campell said, her crew consisted of two people.
That made responding to calls, doing the administrative work and organizing the training needed to maintain certifications more than they could handle. In 2011, the Dutton ambulance service was absorbed by Teton County.
Dutton EMS Crew Chief Colleen Campbell at the Dutton ambulance barn. Aaron Bolton / KHN
That eased some of Campbell’s problems. But her biggest challenge remains finding people willing to do the 155 hours of training and take the written and practical tests in this town of fewer than 300 people.
In addition to personnel shortages, about a third of rural EMS agencies in the United States are in jeopardy because they can’t cover their costs, according to the NRHA.
Slabach said that largely stems from insufficient Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements, which, on average, cover about a third of the cost to maintain equipment, stock medications and pay for insurance and other fixed expenses.
Many rural ambulance services rely on patients’ private insurance to fill the gap. Private insurance pays considerably more than Medicaid. But, because of low call volumes, rural EMS agencies can’t always cover their bills, Slabach said.
“So it’s not possible in many cases without significant subsidies to operate an emergency service in a large area with small populations,” he said.
This all means rural parts of the country no longer can rely solely on volunteers but must find ways to convert to a paid staff.
Jim DeTienne, who recently retired as the Montana health department’s EMS and trauma systems chief, said sparsely populated counties still would need volunteers, but having at least one paid EMT could be a huge benefit.
DeTienne said EMS needs to be declared an essential service like police or fire departments. Then, counties could tax residents to pay for ambulance services.
Glacier County EMS paramedic Robert Gordon (left) and EMT Camas Rinehart put together advanced life support bags for their ambulances. Glacier EMS is one of the few paid services along Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front that responds when volunteer agencies can’t and provides advanced life support transfers from critical access hospitals to larger facilities miles away.Aaron Bolton / KHN
A Montana health department report suggested other ways to move away from full-volunteer services, such as having EMS agencies merge with taxpayer-funded fire departments or having hospitals take over the programs.
In the southwestern Montana town of Ennis, Madison Valley Medical Center absorbed the dwindling volunteer EMS service earlier this year.
EMS manager Nick Efta, a former volunteer, said the transition stabilized the service, which had been struggling to answer every 911 call. It recently had nine calls in 24 hours, including three transfers of patients to larger hospitals miles away.
“I think, under a volunteer model, it would be difficult to make all those calls,” Efta said.
Rich Rasmussen, president and chief executive officer of the Montana Hospital Association, said an Ennis-style takeover might not be financially viable for many of the smaller critical access hospitals that serve rural areas. Many small hospitals that take over emergency services do so at a loss, he said.
“What we need is a federal policy change which would allow critical access hospitals to be reimbursed for the cost of delivering that EMS service,” he said.
Under Medicare policy, federally designated critical access hospitals can get fully reimbursed for EMS only if there’s no other ambulance service within 35 miles, Rasmussen said. Eliminating that mileage requirement, he said, would give the hospitals an incentive to take on EMS and “dramatically improve EMS access all across this country.”
A federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services pilot program is testing the elimination of mileage minimums with select critical access hospitals.
The rural EMS crunch places a greater burden on the closest urban ambulance services. Don Whalen, who manages a private EMS service in Missoula, Montana’s second-largest city, said his crews regularly respond to outlying communities 70 miles away and sometimes across the Idaho line because volunteer agencies often can’t answer emergency calls.
“We know, if we’re not going, nobody is coming for the patient because, a lot of times, we’re the last resort,” he said.
Whalen said communities need to find ways to stabilize or convert their volunteer programs, or private services like his will need financial support to keep responding in other communities.
In Dutton, the EMS crew chief is thinking about her future after 17 years as a volunteer. Campbell wants to spend more time with her grandchildren, who live out of town. If she retires, there’s no guarantee somebody will replace her. She’s torn about what to do.
“My license is good until March of 2022, and we’ll just see,” she said.
KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism on health issues.
Chicago’s top cop found himself under fire from the chief judge and prosecutor of Cook County Tuesday after he once again blamed them for the city’s rising gun violence, including a holiday weekend that saw over 100 people shot.
Police Supt. David Brown complained at a news conference that the court system in Cook County releases too many violent criminals by setting low bonds and relying too much on electronic monitoring.
“Chicago police officers are doing their job by arresting people and charging them with murder,” Brown insisted. “That’s doing our part. And what’s happening in the courts, it’s creating this unsafe environment for all of us.”
But Judge Timothy Evans, chief of the Cook County court system, dismissed Brown’s criticism as simplistic. “Speculation based on isolated cases is not the same as reality based on a complete picture,” he said in a statement.
State’s Attorney Kim Foxx turned Brown’s criticism against himself, saying police need to make more arrests for violent crimes.
“It starts with apprehending those who pull the trigger,” she said in a statement. “Police must make an arrest before a case reaches the courthouse door.”
Amid the heated exchange of words, an alderman once again proposed sending in the National Guard, an idea Mayor Lori Lightfoot described as grandstanding. “I don’t think I need to say anything more about that,” she said.
The police department said it would have no other comment about the weekend violence beyond what the superintendent said at the news conference.
Both Brown and Lightfoot have repeatedly questioned the decisions of prosecutors and judges as this year’s violence continues to outpace 2020, which was the most violent year in the city since the mid-1990s.
In making his case yet again, Brown pointed to more than 90 people who’ve been charged with murder but were later released back into their communities on electronic monitoring.
“If the cops’ productivity was down and not unprecedentedly high, I would be arguing we need to do more as police officers, that’s not the case here,” he said, noting officers recovered 244 illegal guns over the holiday weekend, resulting in 86 arrests.
The superintendent did not say if police had made any arrests in any of the weekend shootings, including attacks that wounded at least 13 children 15 years of age and younger.
This holiday was the most violent Fourth of July weekend since 2017, when at least 101 people were shot, 14 of them fatally. However, that holiday was on a Tuesday, so the tally covered four full days, not three like this year.
Many of the shootings were in the Calumet and South Chicago police districts on the South Side, in neighborhoods that have seen more violence this year than last, according to Sun-Times data.
Brown was quick to point out that violent crime in other major cities has increased dramatically more than Chicago, both last year and this year. “It’s a violent crime wave that’s happening in this country,” he said.
So far in 2021, murders are up nearly 18% nationally, according to statistics compiled by crime analyst Jeff Asher, while Chicago has seen an increase of nearly 4% from the same period last year.
However, murders last year in Chicago jumped by more than 50%, much higher than the national increase of 30%.
The nearly 800 killings in Chicago in 2020 was still short of the city’s annual tolls during much of the 1980s and 1990s, but it marked the highest number of slayings in 20 years.
“No one would do the job that Chicago police officers do right now, no one would wade into large crowds and risk being shot,” Brown said. “No one would go down these dark allies that officers go down.”
Two officers — a commander and a sergeant — were wounded on the West Side early Sunday while dispersing a crowd. One was hit in the foot, the other grazed in the thigh.
Brown said he wasn’t engaging in “finger pointing” by blaming the courts, but seeking to spur further debate. “I think people should hear this,” he said. “This is a worthwhile debate here and in all places around the country.”
But Evans insisted that “bail reform has not led to an increase in crime. Looking at individual tragic cases in isolation may contribute to the speculation that releasing individuals before trial rather than incarcerating them — whether by placing them on electronic monitoring or other forms of supervision — means an increase in crime.”
There were 100 murder defendants on electronic monitoring as of Tuesday, out of 3,500 on such restraints, according to the sheriff’s office. Of the entire group, 72% were facing charges for violent crimes.
In July 2017, before new policies limiting limit pre-trial jail time for all but the most dangerous defendants, there were 2,200 on electronic monitoring, 32% of them facing charges related to violent crime, the office said.
Foxx, after taking a swipe at the low number of arrests by Brown’s department, argued that “finger-pointing instead of talking honestly about the violence plaguing our city doesn’t help bring solutions that make our communities safer.
“The violence we are experiencing is not the result of a slowed down court system; it is a larger and more complex issue (both locally and nationally), that requires all of the criminal justice stakeholders to work together rather than engaging in deflection and blame-shifting,” she said.
Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell said the messaging by Brown and Lightfoot might be politically expedient, but detracts from programs that seek to suppress crime through community outreach.
Mitchell watched Brown’s press conference online, and disagreed with the superintendent’s assessment that the large number of people charged with murder on electronic monitoring devices are “driving the violence.”
“If you are charged with something as serious as murder, you probably have posted a very high cash bond and are still subject to all sorts of restrictions. You’re being monitored on GPS, so we know exactly where you are. You have curfews. You have to check in with the court,” said Mitchell, whose office represents roughly 90% of all criminal defendants in Cook County.
“This idea that if the courts would just ‘do their job’ and we would all be safer flies in the face of numerous studies,” Mitchell said. “Crime is up in cities all over the U.S. right now, and that covers cities with conservative bond policies and bond reform.
“I feel for the superintendent. He has a very difficult job,” he added. “But we have to get away from asking what the superintendent is going to do on a Thursday to stop violence over the weekend.”
Meanwhile, Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) called for the deployment of the Illinois National Guard “immediately to get a handle on this city.”
He said the Guard wouldn’t be tasked with patrolling neighborhoods and streets, but rather be used to “secure the perimeter” around the downtown area, allowing more police officers to be sent to communities.
Asked about critics who say they don’t want their neighborhoods turned into armed camps, Beale responded, “I get that but my question to them is, what’s your plan? I’ll be more than willing to listen to anybody who has a plan going forward. But just complaining and not having a plan doesn’t resonate with me.”
When the Supreme Court takes up gun violence in its next term, we hope the justices will remember Chicago’s real-world experience over this Fourth of July weekend, when 104 people were shot and at least 19 killed.
We all need to take a step back from the sometimes facile exercise of looking at trends — how many shootings this year compared to last year, let’s say, or how many shootings in Chicago compared to other cities — and think hard about what just happened.
More than 100 Chicagoans were shot on what should have been a pleasant holiday weekend.
When the Supreme Court reconvenes in September, it is slated to decide whether to give people greater rights to carry firearms in public. The court could settle on a range of options, but gun violence opponents worry, for good reason, that the new conservative majority will upend a New York law at the heart of the case. If the court strikes down the century-old law, which places restrictions on who can carry guns, the result could be a scaling back of laws across the country, including in Illinois, designed to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.
For the most part, lower courts now take public safety into account when evaluating challenges to gun laws. But a small minority of judges takes a narrower view, based on whether a modern law, in their view, has a historical precedent from the nation’s founding or the ratification of the 14th Amendment or is analogous to laws from those times.
That interpretation would not allow for consideration of whether a gun law enhances public safety. And that, as Eric Tirschwell, managing editor for the gun safety group Everytown Law, told us, poses “a real risk to any number of important gun safety laws.”
Such an interpretation also would violate the idea that government should be responsive to the people, said Lee Goodman, a Chicago lawyer and author of “Too Many Rights and Too Many Guns.”
“If democracy is going to mean anything, it has to be relevant to the people in the times,” Goodman said. “There’s no point in trying to have a government from 250 years ago.”
Advocates on both sides of the issue will make their case to the Supreme Court. But what the justices can’t afford to do — not if our nation is serious about reducing gun violence — is adopt a rigid ideological stance that ignores what’s happening on the streets. People are being shot and killed by the hundreds every day.
In Chicago, 15th District Police Cmdr. Patrina Wines and a police sergeant were wounded by bullets sprayed by a man who fired into a crowd of West Side revelers at around 1:30 a.m. on Monday, police said, even though police were out in force.
Activist Paul McKinley speaks at a June 29 press conference responding to President Joe Biden’s dispatching a federal task force to Chicago to stem gun violence. Mothers who have lost children to gun violence stand behind him.
Brian Rich/Sun-Times
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo greets supporters and declares a state of emergency Tuesday due to the ongoing violence on in New York City. The new declaration by Cuomo will come with millions of dollars for gun and violence prevention programs across the state. The governor also announced that he will be signing a law that bars individuals with active warrants from buying a gun in the state of New York. Over the July 4th holiday weekend, 51 people were shot in New York.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
15th District Cmdr. Patrina Wines is sworn in during a promotion ceremony at Chicago police headquarters on July 15, 2020.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
On May 27, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo stops to view a makeshift memorial for the rail yard shooting victims in front of City Hall in San Jose, Calif. San Jose officials passed a new gun law, that requires gun owners to carry liability insurance and pay a fee to cover taxpayers’ cost associated with gun violence.
Haven Daley/AP
Khayan Reed, an outreach worker with Stand Up to Violence, walks as he and members of Stand Up to Violence canvass and hand out ice cream at the Bronx River Houses on June 30 in the Soundview neighborhood of Bronx borough in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Meanwhile, as we wait on the Supreme Court to act, Chicago, Cook County and the Illinois Legislature should do everything they can to reduce gun violence.
Over the weekend, as hospitals were struggling to treat gunshot victims, mothers on the West Side camped outside a vacant bank to “pray against violence.” Last month, the Legislature sent a bill to Gov. J.B. Pritzker requiring background checks on private sales of firearms.
But in Cook County and Chicago, officials still are blaming each other over who is responsible for the violence. In remarks on Friday before the City Council, Police Supt. David Brown repeated his complaints about the local criminal courts, which he says release violent offenders on electronic monitoring, only for them to commit more crimes. Brown repeated that complaint at a press conference on Tuesday, and was quickly rebutted by the state’s attorney, chief judge and public defender.
It was a sad reminder that the mayor, state’s attorney, police chief, chief judge, public defender and sheriff are still failing to work as a team with a single plan to reduce gun violence. Instead, they point fingers.
The Biden administration has announced such anti-gun-violence initiatives as tougher federal enforcement of gun laws, regulation of untraceable “ghost guns,” a crackdown on trafficking of illegal firearms and money to hire more police officers. The Justice Department will create a new strike force to slow the flow of illegal firearms in Chicago. But Congress has a poor record of enacting significant reforms.
A weekly overview of opinions, analysis and commentary on issues affecting Chicago, Illinois and our nation by outside contributors, Sun-Times readers and the CST Editorial Board.
Gun advocates argue for their unfettered right to carry guns wherever they wish, arguing that this would make everyone safer. But guns are already everywhere. If more guns made us safer, we would be the safest nation on Earth.
Instead, gun shootings in the U.S. this year, as of Tuesday afternoon, have claimed 22,676 lives, according to the Gun Violence Archive. In New York on Tuesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a disaster emergency because of the extreme gun violence there.
More than 100 people were shot in Chicago over the Fourth of July weekend. We can’t go on this way.
Some perch reports in southern Lake Michigan highlight this sprawling raw-file Midwest Fishing Report; but there is also the usual summer mix of steelhead, bass, coho, catfish and bluegill around Chicago fishing.
Last week, guide Mike Norris texted the photo at the top and this from Big Green Lake in Wisconsin:
Leighton Cooper from Northfield with a Big Green Lake smallmouth she caught with a swim jig
He added
“She was a gamer!”
Norris’ usual weekly report on the Green Lake area is below.
SOUTHERN LAKE MICHIGAN PERCH
Some are around.
CHICAGO: Stacey Greene at Park Bait at Montrose Harbor texted:
There has been perch off and on. I’ve got a couple guys that have been finding some everyday, and the ones they are catching are really nice size. Last week before the storms there was a couple mornings early that a few guy’s got there limit but that was before all the weather changes. Basically it’s pretty hit or miss you just got to get out there and give it a try. . . .
WAUKEGAN: Capt. Scott Wolfe emailed:
. . .
Harbor fishing turned really, really good with nice perch and bass caught. Perch wanted little panfish jigs dressed with waxies. . . .
Perch fishing getting better every day. Some anglers have been limiting out in a couple of hours; others have had a more challenging time with limits being caught after fishing most of the day. Regardless, they are being caught! Beemoths, red worms, crawfish, & smaller minnows are what we’ve been getting the most requests for.
. . .
SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN: Staff at Tackle Haven in Benton Harbor said winds kept perch guys off the lake on Monday and Tuesday, but before then some were being found in 23-50 feet off the pumphouse south of the St. Joe pier.
DERBY NOTE
The Kankakee River Fishing Derby was moved to Friday, July 9, to July 18. Click here to check updates
ILLINOIS FROG SEASON
Illinois’ bullfrog (only) season runs through Oct. 15. A fishing license is required. “Bullfrogs may be taken by hook and line, gig, pitchfork, spear, bow and arrow, hand, or landing net.” Daily bag limits eight, possession limit 16.
LAKEFRONT PARKING
Chicago Park District’s parking passes for the fisherman’s parking lots at DuSable and Burnham harbors are on sale at Henry’s Sports and Bait in Bridgeport and Park Bait at Montrose Harbor.
Readers suggest SpotHero app downtown. Otherwise, here are some basics: Foster (free street parking or pay lot); Montrose (now a mix of metered and free street parking); Belmont (pay lots on north and south sides); Diversey (pay lot or street parking); DuSable Harbor (pay lot or fisherman’s lot); Northerly Island/Burnham Harbor (meters, pay lot or fisherman’s lot); 31st/Burnham (meter parking between McCormick Place and 31st Street Harbor); Oakwood/39th (meters); 63rd Street/Casino Pier (pay lot); Steelworkers Park (free street parking at east end of 87th); Cal Park (free parking).
AREA LAKES
It’s summer, go for largemouth early and late with topwaters; otherwise, fish bluegills on the weed lines or weed pockets.
And think big, as in see this note from the Forest Preserve District of Will County:
Forest Preserve’s Big Fish Contest begins July 1
The Forest Preserve District of Will County’s Big Fish Contest begins Thursday, July 1, and runs through Tuesday, Aug. 31, at Monee Reservoir.
Prizes will be awarded in three categories for biggest bass, catfish and panfish by length. Even if you don’t have the biggest fish in one of the three categories, there is a chance to win a prize just for entering because one overall winner will be chosen at random from all entries. The contest is free and for ages 16 or older. Registration is not required.
To participate, just bring your catch to the Monee Reservoir Visitor Center, and staff will measure, photograph and record the fish to enter you in the contest. All the fish photos will be included on the visitor center’s Big Fish Contest display. Winners in the 2021 contest will be announced September 1.
The 248-acre preserve features a 46-acre lake. The lake is stocked with bluegill, black crappie, largemouth bass and channel catfish. And the visitor center offers fishing poles for rental and fishing licenses for purchase. The visitor center also offers bait, tackle and snacks for sale. Monee Reservoir is located on Ridgeland Avenue, south of Pauling Road in Monee Township.
BRAIDWOOD LAKE
Open daily 6 a.m. to sunset. Click here for the preview.
CHAIN O’LAKES AREA
Staff at Triangle Sports and Marine in Antioch said largemouth moved off beds to shallow weeds; crappie are suspending in open water; bluegill are shallow, some are still on beds; catfish are best at night in the river; a few walleye, best in the river north to Wisconsin line.
NOTE: Check updates on water conditions at foxwaterway.com or (847) 587-8540.
NOTE 2: The Stratton Lock and Dam is open 8 a.m. to midnight through Sept. 30.
CHICAGO RIVER
Jeffrey Williams with a nice crappie from the Chicago River.Provided
Jeffrey Williams messaged the photo above and this on Sunday:
Multi species were caught, 2 crappies(11 and 12 in), a decent size rock bass, a green sunfish(beautiful colors underneath him), all were caught on a underspin jig with gulp minnows. Carp was the last fish caught as i was packing, he was 8 lbs
DELAVAN LAKE, WISCONSIN
Dave Duwe emailed:
Delavan Lake 7/5/21 through 7/12/21
Fishing remains excellent. With the warmer weather, the northern pike have been biting very well. Northern Pike have been great. The fish are off the weedline anywhere between 20-25 ft of water. Look for the fish by the gray condos, willow Point or the west end by the island. The best approach is lindy rigging suckers. I fish the suckers on a 6500 Abu Garcia with a bait clicker, so when the fish bites, it will click out line and indicate that a fish is on.
Walleye fishing has been average. The fish are on the weedline in 15-24 ft of water. The fish I’m catching are on nightcrawlers fished on either a lindy rig or a split shot rig. This week it was kind of a battle to catch a legal fish. Every trip out I caught a couple but nothing to brag about. The best locations are by Browns Channel or west of the Yacht Club.
Largemouth bass can be either caught on the deep weedline in 17-20 ft or on top water lures first thing in the a.m. The best bait is chug bugs or white buzz baits. It’s best to work a depth of 8-10 ft. The fish I’ve been catching on the deep weedline, I’m catching on split shot rigged nightcrawlers. You want to concentrate on inside turns or the points on the weedline. A few fish have also been caught drop shotting Berkeley Gulp.
Bluegills are done spawning. They have moved out on the deep weedline. The nicer fish are in the 22-26 ft depth. Fishing so many nightcrawlers, I catch many right off the weedline. Some of the fish are in excess of 10 inches. Nightcrawlers or small leaf worms are the best approach.
Crappies have pulled off the weedline. They are suspending in 15 ft of water. The best approach has been purple plastic. Look for the fish over by Browns Channel or west of the Yacht club. I use a 1/32 oz Arkie Jig and a 3/0 split shot 1 ft above the jig. That allows you to cast a good distance and the fall rate is very effective.
Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050
DOWNSTATE
POWERTON: Hours are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Sept. 30.
EMIQUON: Access permits and liability waivers are again required. They are available Tuesday to Saturday at Dickson Mounds Museum, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This week, the water level on the Fox River in Montgomery has returned to the extreme low levels we were at prior to the rain storms 2 weeks ago. The fishing picked up above the dam briefly while the water level was up but has since declined. However, our customers have had good success fishing below the dam. I’ve included a photo of Simone Ziller, 6 years old, who caught this 20 lb catfish off the bank of the Fox near Oswego. The photo was submitted to us by her father, Bernard.
Pete Lamar emailed:
Hi Dale,
I fished a couple of different Fox tribs before the extreme heat of the holiday weekend hit. One of the streams was still high and off-color from recent rains. I couldn’t fish my usual “milk run,” so I headed way upstream, near the source, until I found water clear enough for fly fishing. No smallmouths up there at the moment but I did get an assortment: chubs, shiners and rock bass. At least I know what the smallmouths are eating to get so big. I tried a different stream to the northeast of the first stream the next day. It is a higher gradient and usually clears up quickly enough after rain. It had dropped, but was still more off-color than I’d have liked. I did catch some sunfish and a few small smallmouths. And I do mean small: the two weight, my usual brook trout rod, was not too much gun for them. Judging from his reaction, I really startled a kingfisher who was patrolling under the canopy of trees; he must not have expected anyone to be there.
GENEVA LAKE, WISCONSIN
Arden Katz said there are two good bites now: a night bite for smallmouth in 15-20 feet on the south side of the lake on drop-shots or early or late in Geneva Bay for largemouth.
Dave Duwe emailed:
Lake Geneva 7/5/21 through 7/12/21
Fishing continues to be excellent. The bass bite is very steady and other species are now starting to turn on! The only problem has been excessive boat traffic with the holiday weekend but we’ve come to expect that.
The largemouth bass I’ve been catching are in medium depth weeds in 12-14 ft of water. The best presentation has been an Arkie Finesse jig with a green pumpkin Yum Houdini worm. The bass have been biting on the fall and on the initial shake of the rod. I vibrate the rod 5-6 times as soon as the jig hits the bottom and then check the weight and usually the fish is on the bait. During some guide parties the jigs have been out performing nightcrawlers. The best location has been Trinkes or in Williams Bay.
Smallmouth bass fishing has been slow for me. They started to move deep and I haven’t been catching many. I would look for them on the drop off near the spawing flats. The Military Academy and Rainbow Point are good locations to start with. I would use Lindy rigged nightcrawlers and start in 18-24 ft of water.
Lake Trout are biting in the main lake basin. I’ve been fishing 100-120 ft of water catching suspended fish at first light. The bait of choice are nickel and blue spoons. The fish have been suspended 85-95 ft down. The average weight thus far has been around 10 lbs.
The big bluegills are still aggressively hitting. The best depth is 17-19 ft of water. Most of my success is coming off of leaf worms or 1/2 nightcrawlers. I’ve been straight lining the worms underneath the boat with a small hook and split shot. The best location has been Elgin Club and Maytag Point.
Some Walleyes are being caught at night while trolling crank baits. Use Bandit shallow Walleye crankbaits or Rapala’s fished on planer boards. There has been a lack of floating weeds on the lake so trolling has been fairly easy. The best locations are Abbey Springs or Fontana Beach.
Northern Pike will be picking up in about 10 days once the Thermocline starts. I’ll be starting to try for them the 2nd week of July.
Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050
GREEN LAKE AREA, WISCONSIN
Guide Mike Norris emailed:
Fishing Report 7/5/2021
Mike Norris
Big Green Lake – The bass have moved deeper, and we are catching both largemouth and smallmouth bass early in the day on topwater lures out to 40 feet of water. Right now, an Evergreen Custom Topwater lure in the bone color is luring in bass up to 5 lbs. Walleye fishing is good early and late in the day with crawler harnesses trolled over and just outside the deeper weed edges.
Little Green Lake – I am getting reports that largemouth bass fishing has slowed with the warmer weather, but muskie fishing remains good. Crappies are still the main attraction out in deep water, but bluegills are hanging in and around fallen trees along the shoreline and can be caught on redworms suspended on a small jig beneath a float.
Fox Lake – With weed growth maxing out, many anglers have turned to the frog bite to battle Fox Lake’s largemouth bass. Try the grass matted areas in “The Jug” with an artificial frog. Bass can also be found around Dead, Elmwood, and Brushwood Islands. Cast a Senko to the shoreline and work it back slowly.
To book a guide trip reach out to me via my Facebook page at mike.norris.7773 or email me through my website at www.comecatchsmallmouth.com
Bob Johnson’s daughter Taylor caught and released fine smallmouth bass on Heidecke Lake.Provided
Bob Johnson emailed the photo above and this;
Dale -I had an opportunity to get my daughter back on the lake before she heads home to Texas. It was a pleasure watching her land some quality Smallmouth from the smallmouth factory, Heidecke Lake. I switched up lures going to a 3/8 ounce jig tipped with a crawfish tail in black and blue. Taylor used soft baits Green Pumpkin or black finesse worked well. ” Catch and Release” for another day.
Open 6 a.m. (6:30 bank fishing) to sunset. Click here for the promising preview.
ILLINOIS RIVER
River on a steady drop down below flood stage at Starved Rock and LaSalle
KANKAKEE RIVER
See derby info at the top.
George Peters caught largemouth bass in the backwaters of the Kankakee River.Provided
George Peters emailed the photo above and this:
Hi Dale, . . . coming down to fishable level. Backwaters clearing enough to get Largemouth close to banks. Without big rain east in Indiana or south toward the Iroquois river, conditions should be ok by the weekend. G. Peters
Bernard Ziller with the bounty of Lake Michigan.Provided by Dicky’s Bait Shop
Spotty perch reports come from shore anglers, while boaters and charters report changing but generally good salmon/trout.
Capt. Scott Wolfe emailed the photo below and this:
Things changed quickly this week. We had the best fishing of the year early with a typical catch attached. Limits were the rule in 80 to 120. Things got tougher as the week went on. I know from my Chicago buddies things picked up fir them so I assume the Waukegan fish moved South. There are still coho and kings around on 60 to 100 mainly. They are coming in really shallow to feed but not staying there. Running flies from Jimmy Fly and Lake Michigan Angler in Blue, Aqua and Green 3 or 4 inches behind Red or chrome stubby Dodgers from 10 to 50 feet took the coho. For some coho and kings, Warrior XL size spoons in Those same Blues, Aqua and Green were good. Lance’s Two Face and Two Face continue to be standouts.
Harbor fishing turned really, really good with nice perch and bass caught. Perch wanted little panfish jigs dressed with waxies. The bass I saw were on live minnows, artificials weren’t working.
Fishing was outstanding out of Waukegan a few days ago.Provided by School of Fish Charters
Capt. Bob Poteshman of Confusion Charters said fishing is as good as good as it can be, lots of coho around off both Chicago and North Point, primarily in 60-120 feet for coho, there’s a couple kings interspersed once in a while and a couple steelhead; ; Chicago is still good for lakers, too. “Definitely a good time of the year and there is a lot of bait around so we should keep the fish,” he said.
No perch reports. River fishing improving. A few crappie reports still at wolf lake. Not much else. Take care
Stacey Greene at Park Bait at Montrose Harbor texted:
There has been perch off and on. I’ve got a couple guys that have been finding some everyday, and the ones they are catching are really nice size. Last week before the storms there was a couple mornings early that a few guy’s got there limit but that was before all the weather changes. Basically it’s pretty hit or miss you just got to get out there and give it a try. There are some really nice rock bass at the mouth of the harbor. The Smallmouth are just swimming by and teasing, seems like the weather’s got them not wanting to hit either. I haven’t heard anything else. Have a great week!
LaSALLE LAKE
Open daily 6 a.m. to sunset. Click here for the preview of prospects.
Ken “Husker” O’Malley emailed, “A peaceful morning coming to an end.”Provided
Ken “Husker” O’Malley emailed the photo above and this:
Hey Dale,
Here is a recap of this past weeks fishing.
Southern strip pits have been very good for bass. Many 1 1/2 pounders could be had. Work top water bait at first light across the top of the weeds.. Best bait has been a Berkley choppo. As the sun becomes higher in the sky, work a senko wacky rigged along the outside weedlines.
Here is the nature pic of the week. A peaceful morning coming to an end.
TTYL
—
Ken “Husker” O’Malley
Husker Outdoors Waterwerks fishing team
Both units are open for fishing 6 a.m. to sunset.
Ken “Husker” O’Malley emailed, “A peaceful morning coming to an end.”Provided
MENOMINEE RIVER, WISCONSIN
Guide Mike Mladenik emailed, “A big river smallmouth crushing a topwater bait is as good as it gets!”Provided
As I predicted the topwater bite has been excellent. Topwater fishing on the Menominee River will peak in late July and August. Prop baits are working best.
Case Magic Stiks and Wacky Jacks are hot when smallmouth are tight to the bottom
feeding on crayfish. The 1/0 Spearpoint GP Finesse Hook is a must when rigging Wacky Style. When the bite it tough my River Swimbaits are getting the job done. When using swimbaits we have also catching some walleyes and pike.
Great weather for the celebration of the 4th of July brought lots of people to the Northwoods and lots of boats (of all types) to the lakes of the Northwoods. Hot weather has shot lake water temps up over the weekend, with reports of surface temps over 80 degrees!
Largemouth Bass: Good-Very Good – Early in week, following high pressure and cool nights, mornings were tough, but as temps rose action increased. When things were tough, slowly working Wacky Worms or Ned Rigs through the thick weeds enticed reluctant bites. As things warmed, working swim jigs, tubes a little quicker and high through weeds better. Hot evenings providing good top-water action on Frogs, Pop-R’s and Jitter Bugs!
Smallmouth Bass: Good-Very Good – Heat pushed some Smallie action out on humps where drop-shotting and fishing football jigs/creatures producing. Also working deeper coontail edges using the same techniques and heavy tubes also picking up nice fish in 14-18′.
Bluegills: Good – Gills active in cabbage of 8-12′ taking small leeches, worms or Mini-Mites tipped with waxies.
Musky: Good – Fast bucktail retrieves, swim baits moving fish still in weeds. Top-water action improving with heat, Top Raiders and Whopper Ploppers catching fish.
Northern Pike: Good – Spinner baits, chatter baits and Rattle Traps worked at weed top level popping fish. Swim baits in the 4″ range, especially those on a lipped jig head producing well.
Yellow Perch: Good – 1/2 crawlers, frozen soft-shell craws and medium leeches in deeper cabbage pockets (8-12′) and along coontail edges with sandgrass nearby in 18-22′.
Crappies: Fair-Good – Some very big slabs (13-15″) being caught in unusual areas! Anglers finding these fish in 3-5′ weeds, very unusual with surface temps as high as they are. Mini-Mites, tiny tubes and small Gapen Fresh Water Shrimp jigs tipped with waxies, under very small floats or without with long cast needed not to spook fish.
Walleye: Fair – Bite windows small. Locations vary by lake type and even on same lakes! Some weed fish by working redtails or full crawlers on weedless jigs. Others out over off shore humps of gravel or sandgrass using big leeches or Walleye suckers on Lindy style rigs.
A cool down following this hot weekend, with some rain, and lows in mid-40’s with highs in mid-70’s will make for pleasant weather, but once again, plan for changing patterns or bites due to this unstable pattern.
Kurt Justice
Kurt’s Island Sport Shop Like us on FaceBook
NORTHWEST INDIANA
See the Fish of the Week, caught by Robert Buckmaster, for an idea of the steelhead that are around.
Capt. Rich Sleziak posted on the Facebook page of Triplecatch Lake Michigan Sportfishing, “Happy 4th of July from Triplecatch!! 30 salmon by 8 AM! Thank you Jessie and crew.”Provided
Capt. Rich Sleziak of Triplecatch Charters texted the photo above and added this note:
Still great action in 70ft of water. This was July 4
Here is his general fishing report from Slez’s Bait in Lake Station:
Action around the 3 corners area still good dodgers and Flys and spoons doing the job.
Some perch action in 15 to 30ft of water west of the mouth of burns ditch and east of the doughnut. You must move around and pick away at them
Catfish good at night in deep river and burns ditch triple s stinkbait does the job.
Hi, Dale! I hope you & your family enjoyed the holiday. Here’s what’s happening in our area:
Perch fishing getting better every day. Some anglers have been limiting out in a couple of hours; others have had a more challenging time with limits being caught after fishing most of the day. Regardless, they are being caught! Beemoths, red worms, crawfish, & smaller minnows are what we’ve been getting the most requests for.
Bass are doing pretty well recently; Smallmouth Bass started quite an upswing as of late, with nightcrawlers, larger minnows, & crawfish being the baits of choice. They’ve been very close to shore in shallow waters, on the hunt for the smaller fish fish that hug the shoreline.Stripers have also been caught in huge numbers, with shad & shrimp working well.
Channel Catfish are doing great! Pine Lake, Wolf Lake, & Burns Ditch have been hotspots as of late. Large-sized catches are the norm, with Liver, Green & Jumbo Nightcrawlers, & Dough/Stinkbait having the most success.
ROOT RIVER, WISCONSIN
Click here for the Wisconsin DNR’s report, usually on Tuesday or Wednesday.
SHABBONA LAKE
Staff at Boondocks reported bluegill are close to shore and in the trees; crappie and walleye are mostly in the trees; smallmouth and walleye are along the dam face; hybrid stripers are going on jigheads and chicken liver, mostly in deeper water.
All concessions are going. Site hours through Oct. 31 are 6 a.m.-10 p.m. daily
SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN LAKEFRONT
Click here for the southern Lake Michigan reports from the Wisconsin DNR.
SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN
Staff at Tackle Haven in Benton Harbor said winds kept perch guys off the lake on Monday and Tuesday, but before then some were being found in 23-50 feet off the pumphouse south of the St. Joe pier; a few steelhead off the pier; it is mainly catfish and some smallmouth in the river.
The water is starting to drop, with temps holding in the mid to upper 70’s. Crappie are in the wood and near current breaks. Bluegills should start any day. Walleye action has slowed.
Every time we turn on the news, the Chicago media (typically) shows the worst of Black teens and young adults. For Generation Z, our local news reporters can’t see “the ‘hood” for the ratings. It’s all sensational reporting designed to promote fear-mongering of black juveniles. For years, I was guilty of judging those same young people- until I realized that I used to be one of them.
CLEVER AS A “FOX” NEWS
Being a lifelong resident, I’ve seen that Chicago is liberal on the outside- but conservative on the inside. Don’t let our voting patterns fool you; this city still has a lot of racism being practiced by whites of all political parties. That’s not an opinion; that’s an immutable fact. Equity and diversity are just buzz words in most parts of our city. Our “allies” say that they care but rarely back up their words with actions. In my opinion, it’s the main reason why Sunday’s gathering in the Loop occurred.
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When I was growing up, the Taste of Chicago was the premiere summer event held in Grant Park. Millions of people came and there weren’t usually problems until the late 2000s. In fact, I was there that night in July 2008 when a shooting occurred at the Taste. Since then, the City has shortened the festival and changed the start date (until after the 4th). Still, it hasn’t addressed the growing racial and socioeconomic inequities going on in this city.
DEBUNKING THE MYTHS
Most black teens in this city are good kids. As a former sub for Chicago Public Schools, I know this as a fact. I’ve taught at over 30 schools and some of my best students come from the worst neighborhoods. Yet, the “bad” students tend to be products of their environments. It’s not their responsibility to be born to the right parents. Instead, it is our duty to provide hope and resources from them to build appropriate social skills. When we fail to do that, their “idle minds” cause them to turn Chicago’s elite neighborhoods into the Devil’s playground.
Young people don’t have places where they can gather without the police shutting it down. On the South and West Sides, they can’t gather for pop-up block parties without the police shutting it down. So, they head downtown to a larger space that it designed for large crowds. Even then, they get turned away. However, the media won’t tell you that part of the story because that doesn’t fit the narrative.
CREATING A NEW NARRATIVE
We should have more events downtown for youth. Chicago Public Schools should partner with CPD and private security firms to create a safe environment for our kids to have fun. This is their city, too. They have been pushed away from the Water Tower, pushed back on to the CTA Red Line Trains, and pushed out of activities that white Chicagoans enjoy.
As Labor Day approaches, Chicago’s DCASE (Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events) should partner with Kids Off The Block, My Block, My Hood, My City, and Good Kids, Mad City to create events downtown to show youngsters the RIGHT WAY to enjoy our beautiful city. Instead of being criminalized, they deserve a little more hospitality. Take off the handcuffs and give them a helping hand.
You wouldn’t do white kids like this. Treat our kids with the same love and respect and you will get it right back.
After nearly a year and a half of Zoom dance class and virtual performances, Chicago Tap Theatre is trading in clap emojis for applause from a live audience in a return to the big stage with their new production, Tap Secret!, which will be performed in two shows at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts on July 10.
“We kind of felt like it’s been a tough enough couple of years for all of us, and what everybody deserves right now is cotton candy,” says Mark Yonally, CTT’s artistic director and choreographer of Tap Secret!. “There certainly is some subtext to this show, but taken on a surface level it’s just a joyful, funny kind of show.”
To maintain social distancing, only 350 tickets from this 1,000-seat theater will be available for purchase per show. While Tap Secret! will not be livestreamed, the company is planning to film a high-quality rendition of the show that will be released at a later date.
Founded by Yonally in 2002, Chicago Tap Theatre has set itself apart from other dance companies through its story shows: a play with an original story line conveyed through tap dance.
“We have done story shows that were kind of heavy before. We’ve done ones that were dealing with really tough subjects,” Yonally says. “We made a very conscious effort that this is not that.”
While a play that replaces dialogue with tap dance may seem unconventional, CTT dancer and rehearsal director Sterling Harris views tap dance as a very clear form of storytelling.
“Tap has a very innate ability for communication. When I’m watching tap, I can really tell what someone’s emotional consciousness is behind a certain step,” Harris says. “Even though we don’t have words, the rhythm of our feet can do a pretty good job of taking over.”
While tap dance is used as the primary storytelling medium in Tap Secret!, audiences can also look forward to a one-of-a-kind story line and original score from beloved Chicago artist and CTT’s music director, JC Brooks.
Many fans know Brooks as the lead singer in JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound, a soul and funk band that tours across the U.S. and internationally. But alongside his work with his band, Brooks carries a robust love for musical theater and performance.
“Theater’s been a constant thread through my life, even with the band,” Brooks says. “As far as trying to score a piece, I never imagined doing that 20 years ago when I was getting a degree. So that’s a little bit of a departure, but it’s also something that at this point feels inevitable because of my love for music and musical theater specifically.”
The director of Tap Secret!, Mike Weaver, also comes from a unique musical background. In addition to holding degrees in filmmaking and piano jazz performance, he is one of the most well-known show choir choreographers in the country and the coauthor (with Colleen Hart) of the book Sweat, Tears, and Jazz Hands: The Official History of Show Choir from Vaudeville to Glee.
Collectively, these artists hope to craft an original yet vibrant viewing experience for their live audience. From the very beginning, their creative process has relied upon collaboration as they bring together elements of tap dance, music, and storytelling.
“We took JC’s plot, and Mike turned it into a script. Then, I worked with Mike to play with some of the story details to make everything work and to play to some of the strengths of tap dancing to tell the story,” Yonally says.
Tap Secret!, which is set in the 90s, follows Paulie (played by Harris), a sound engineer who embarks on a journey to save the music industry with his love for rhythm. Paulie starts to become alarmed by the rise of over-manufactured pop music that is overshadowing “the beauty and intricacy of music rooted in polyrhythm,” Yonally says.
“He works in a lab where they’re testing out some new technology, but he sees that it is actually hypnotizing people and is conflicted about it and wants to do something,” Brooks explains. “He gets recruited by a group of rhythm spies to help defeat this new evil plot to enslave the world through pop music.”
Even more, the music conglomerate that Paulie works for is called “EmptyV.” Sound familiar?
From the very beginning, Brooks knew he wanted to set the story line in an easily identifiable time period. Ultimately, he landed on the 90s due to his own personal connection to that era.
As he crafted the score for Tap Secret!, Brooks drew from familiar pop sounds from the 90s in addition to more intricate rhythms such as jazz and Afrobeat.
“I was trying to draw the dichotomy between this Max Martin style of overproduced pop and the polyrhythmic world,” Brooks says.
Along with Brooks’s compelling score and story line, audiences can look forward to enthralling choreography from Yonally and his dancers. Recently, some younger, fresh faces have joined the company’s ranks, but unfortunately the pandemic has limited their performance opportunities. Now, they can finally share their passion for tap dance with a live audience.
“We got some pretty heavy-hitting talent right now,” Yonally says. “So I think people are really going to enjoy the level and sophistication of the artistry and technical prowess that these dancers are capable of.”
In Tap Secret!, CTT’s company members aren’t just dancers, but musicians and storytellers. This unique expression of artistry is something that audiences should look forward to, Harris says.
“I think the show is very exciting. It’s a way to experience a story line that may be unique to you, and familiar at the same time,” Harris says. “It’s full of energy and it’s full of joy and it’s full of tap dance.” v
Chicago’s most important news of the day, delivered every weekday afternoon. Plus, a bonus issue on Saturdays that dives into the city’s storied history.
This afternoon will be sunny with a high near 92 degrees. Tonight will be partly cloudy with a low around 73. Tomorrow will be partly sunny with a 50% chance of thunderstorms and a high near 85.
After the most violent Fourth of July weekend in four years, Chicago Police Supt. David Brown once again blamed the court system in Cook County, complaining it releases too many violent criminals.
“Chicago police officers are doing their job by arresting people and charging them with murder,” Brown said today, a day after a long holiday weekend that saw more than 100 people shot, 19 of them fatally.
“That’s doing our part,” he said. “And what’s happening in the courts, it’s creating this unsafe environment for all of us.”
It’s an argument both he and Mayor Lori Lightfoot have repeatedly made as this year’s violence continues to outpace last year, which was the most violent for the city since the mid-1990s.
Brown pointed to more than 90 people who’ve been charged with murder but were later released back into their communities on electronic monitoring.
“If the cops’ productivity was down and not unprecedentedly high, I would be arguing we need to do more as police officers, that’s not the case here,” he said, noting officers recovered 244 illegal guns over the holiday weekend, resulting in 86 arrests.
This holiday was the most violent Fourth of July weekend since 2017, when at least 101 people were shot, 14 of them fatally. However, that holiday was on a Tuesday, so the tally covered four full days, not three like this year.
Larry Hoover, convicted of ordering a murder in 1973, was denied a sentencing break today by a judge who cited concerns the Gangster Disciplines co-founder could still “convince others to commit illegal acts on his behalf.” Hoover, 70, is serving a life sentence in a federal “supermax” prison.
Four Chicago artists say they hope to inspire kids to reach for and achieve their dreams with a new mural in Austin that features Maya Angelou and other Black figures.
Barrett Keithley, Missy Perkins, Ahmad Lee and Dwight White included seven figures in the mural at Chicago and Lockwood avenues: Angelou, Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Harriet Tubman, the fictional superhero Storm and a Black woman and girl not based on any particular person.
Chicago artists Barrett Keithley, Missy Perkins, Ahmad Lee and Dwight White created this mural at Chicago and Lockwood avenues in Austin. It spotlights prominent Black figures. Provided
For Keithley, working on the mural felt like he was paying homage to his ancestors and all Black Chicagoans. Growing up, he says, he didn’t see many Black people doing this type of art. He says he hopes it can inspire kids to reach for their own dreams.
Lee says that, as a Black American, he feels connected to all the imagery of Black Americans in the mural.
“That wall was just a beat-up wall on the side of a rundown store until we had a chance to actually throw some historical figures on there, some superheroes,” Lee says. “Just showing the youth that you can be whatever you want to.
How do you feel about the fireworks fired off throughout the city during Fourth of July Weekend?
Reply to this email (please include your first name and where you live) and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
On Friday, we asked you: What song sounds like summer to you? Here’s some of what you said…
“‘Summer Nights’ from Grease. So cheery and upbeat. Positive energy.” — Nicholas Franghias
“‘Whispering Waves’ by Donna Summer — chirping birds that are perched in the stunted trees in my front yard, the silence of the searing hot afternoon sun.” — Maria Victoria Casanova Ante
“‘Hot Fun in the Summer Time’ by Sly and the Family Stone, ‘Saturday in the Park’ — Chicago, ‘For those who like to Groove’ –Ray Parker Jr., and Radio, ‘The Smurf’ — Tyrone Brunson, ‘Just a Touch of Love ‘ — Slave, and ‘Come and get your love’ — Redbone.” — Francois Bossier
“‘Dancing in the Streets.’ I graduated in 1965 from high school in Chicago, Wendell Phillips. That was the song that summer.” — Walterene Coleman Martin
“‘Incense and Peppermints’ by the band Strawberry Alarm Clock — it just fits.” — Elliott Avant
“‘Lit Up by Buckcherry’ or ‘Been There Lately’ by Slash’s Snakepit. It takes me right back to the summer I first heard them.” — Nick Goldsmith
“‘Summertime’ — DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince. The lyrics paint a picture of summertime in the neighborhood like no other. Best song ever for summer vibin’.” — Darlene Gordon
“‘Cruel Summer’ by Bananarama. It just sounds like an open fire hydrant in the 80s.” — Wolfy Hernandez
“‘Beach Baby’ by First Class. Used to ride around Chicago and the suburbs waiting for it to come on.” — Melinda Vaughn
“‘Reality’ by Lost Frequencies — you feel like you are on the road traveling.” — Jo Na Lyn
“‘Brandy’ by Looking Glass — no specific references to summer, but it just evokes the feeling of strolling down a pier or boardwalk.” — Elyce Block
“‘Southern Girl’ by Franky Bev. & Maze. Just sounds like a hot summer day song.” — James McCreary
“‘Summer Nights’ by Lil Rob because it’s something I love to cruise to with my lady, enjoying life.” — Jude Quesada
“Seals and Crofts’ ‘Summer Breeze.’ A classic summer song. 1972, No. 1 hit and still a hit with me.” — Pat Vogt
“‘Saturday in the Park’ by Chicago. It reminds me of an afternoon at Ravinia back in the 1970s, when I was in high school. It was a magical day.” — Tom Griffin
“Santana’s ‘Oye Como Va’ always brings memories of sitting on my cousin’s boat at their home in Paw Paw, Michigan. Used to go there for my mom’s family reunion. We’d water ski on the lake, and take turns riding the Sea-Doo!” — David Kowalski
You can stream readers’ picks for song of the summer in a Spotify playlist we’ve pieced together here or press play below:
Thanks for reading the Chicago Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.
Robert Buckmaster caught this 32-inch, 15.5-pound steelhead last week.
” Trolling a deep-diving crankbait in fire tiger in 32 feet of water out of Burns Ditch in Portage, Indiana,” he emailed. “Hope you can use it.”
I can use it. After all, steelhead are in and near the streams and creeks in northwest Indiana. That was well documented in the Skamania Mania the last weekend in June in Michigan City. Click here to see the listing on winners in Skamania Mania.
It’s worth a second look.
Robert Buckmaster caught a big steelhead in Indiana for Fish of the Week.Provided
FOTW, the celebration of big fish and their stories (the stories matter, as this one shows) around Chicago fishing, runs Wednesdays in the paper Sun-Times. The online posting here at https://chicago.suntimes.com/outdoors goes up at varied days of the week, depending on what is going on the wide world of the outdoors.
In reply to Margaret H. Laing:I guessed. I took the clue from the people (e.g. Democrats) who blame Republicans for the shootings.
You would think Biden would not want to disappoint some of the 81 million, many of them black, who voted…
Dennis, you make some good points here, but I must argue with one. Did you find a way to quiz…
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