Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will be mostly cloudy with a chance of showers and thunderstorms and a high near 84 degrees. Similar conditions will continue tonight with a low around 71 and tomorrow with a high near 82.

Top story

‘The dawn of a new day’: New Illinois law allows student athletes to be compensated for use of name, image

Student athletes soon can be compensated for the use of their name or image under legislation signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday.

Senate Bill 2338, the Student-Athlete Endorsement Rights Act, allows athletes at colleges and universities to retain agents. The law also outlines when a student athlete may be compensated.

The legislation allows student athletes to “take control of their destiny when it comes to their own name, image likeness and voice,” Pritzker said at the bill-signing ceremony at the State Farm Center on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Pritzker was joined by state legislators and the athletic directors from U of I, Northwestern University and DePaul University.

Illinois Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, said the bill is about “autonomy” and fairness.

A former defensive lineman on the football team at Illinois, Buckner sponsored the legislation in the House and said the “long overdue” law modernizes the college athletics landscape.

Rachel Hinton has more on the game-changing law here.

More news you need

1. A group of Chicago-area activists is urging President Biden to rethink his plan to send a strike force to help police stem the flow of illegal guns into the city, saying federal forces would only worsen things. The group is calling for, among other things, a congressional hearing in the city with testimony from local mothers who’ve lost children to gun violence.
2. A federal judge found today that a Pilsen man invoked his right to counsel when authorities tried to get him to identify himself as the person wearing a “Joker” mask during the May 2020 protests downtown. The ruling renders some comments he made unusable by prosecutors.
3. Across Illinois, 1.3 million children claimed as dependents on taxes will be eligible for Child Tax Credit payments starting July 15. Elvia Malagon spoke with local parents to hear how they’re feeling about the payments.
4. Members of the Chatham and Park Manor communities met last night to discuss fears and solutions following a mass shooting on 75th Street earlier this month. One solution, suggested by Ald. Roderick Sawyer, would be to deploy drones equipped with cameras and speakers to disrupt perceived criminal activity.
5. The company that owns a Dolton plant that processes chemical solvents agreed to pay $350,000 to settle government allegations that it improperly handled hazardous waste. This comes after the EPA threatened to take legal action against the company following numerous problems identified in a 2019 inspection.
6. Plans to build an outdoor roller rink in West Garfield Park are getting a mixed reaction in the community, with some residents citing safety concerns. Cheyanne M. Daniels has more on the complicated debate surrounding the rink here.
7. Food trucks selling everything from truffle BLTs to catfish strips are coming back to Daley Plaza. A rotating lineup of six food trucks will set up between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily from July 30 through Oct. 15.

A bright one

‘The show must go on’: Stormy weather couldn’t dampen Pride in the Park celebration

A late-morning torrential downpour and a tornado warning couldn’t rain on the parade of thousands of festivalgoers who flooded Grant Park Saturday for Pride in the Park.

The storm delayed the kickoff to the two-day music festival by two hours. Still, throngs of people decked out in rainbow attire and ponchos poured into the downtown park to celebrate as Pride month nears its end.

Performers included drag queen Alyssa Edwards and Chicago’s own Miss Toto. Chaka Kahn performed on Sunday.

“Rain was not going to keep me away,” said Mark King, 42, who wore a multi-colored speedo and sequined jacket. “I thought there was a very good chance it was going to get canceled, but the show’s gotta go on, we’ve got to celebrate as a city.”

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

With rain continuing steadily into the evening, some huddled together under umbrellas in an attempt to stay dry, while others embraced the weather and danced on the muddy swamp-like grounds. Most were mask-less, bringing flashbacks of pre-pandemic times.

“It’s just exciting,” Kim Belizaire said. “It’s good to see people getting out and trying to live life again. It is a sense of normalcy again, I haven’t done something like this in so long.”

Belizaire, 20, said she took a train from Skokie with friends and was drawn to the celebration for its “good vibes.”

Belizaire’s friend, 19-year-old Evan Numan, who recently came out as gay, emphasized the importance of embracing inclusivity and diversity at the event.

“All these people are coming to celebrate the same thing, so it’s really just meaningful and honestly [an] overwhelmingly good experience to see all these people that are either part of my community or support me,” Numan said. “It’s just a beautiful feeling knowing that you’re accepted, you’re loved by [others] and you mean something.”

Read Madeline Kenney’s dispatch and see Ashlee Rezin Garcia’s stunning visuals of the celebration here.

From the press box

Your daily question ?

With the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 reportedly spreading in Illinois, do you plan to take more precautions again Tell us why or why not.

Reply to this email (please include your first name and where you live) and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday, we asked you: How concerned are you about the effects of climate change on Chicago weather? Here’s what some of you said…

“I am concerned in general about the extreme weather due to climate change. Scary. If we have to wait for the masses to educate themselves I am afraid we’re screwed.” — Nana Holla

“In the Midwest, we will be ok for now. It depends on how the upcoming administrations want to handle climate change.” — Jose Osorio

“I’m concerned that people don’t realize that climate change is real and that without a concerted effort from everyone to make changes to help the environment, our future generations won’t have a nice world to call their home.” — Gisella Montuano

“So far it seems manageable, I mean unless we had a considerable magnitude earthquake.” — Walter J. Dominiquez

“The midwest region always had bad weather. Some people think that a tornado won’t touch down in the nearby suburbs and in the city, but it can and it will. Be prepared and take watches and warnings seriously.” — Erika Hoffmann

“Very. I have absolutely no idea what can be done to mitigate the growing issues with global climate change, but I know that something must be done before it’s beyond repair.” — Chris Vaughn

“I am concerned. The amount of information and personal experiences that I’ve paid witness to is leading me to some very uncomfortable decisions. Leaving the city not just for things like the economy and better work opportunities, but also a hostile climate environment. You see the news and the big headlines with droughts, wildfires, and massive floods. The real crisis that threatens all of us is human-influenced climate change.” — Valentin Galvan

“Over the next 50 years, I expect the population of Chicago to increase substantially as populations in Florida and New York relocate to higher ground. Many will follow their corporate bases whose flagship high-rise HQs lose value as the foundations become compromised by sea level.” — Douglas Black

“In my opinion, any conversation must start within the context of restorative, ecological justice for those communities most impacted by the degradation of the region’s single most important natural resource: healthy water.” — Paul Grajnert

Thanks for reading the Chicago Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.

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WASHINGTON — Veteran forester Randy Moore has been named chief of the U.S. Forest Service, the first African American to lead the agency in its 116-year history.

Moore, 66, replaces Vicki Christiansen, who has led the agency since 2018.

The Forest Service, a division of the Agriculture Department, oversees 193 million acres of public lands in 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands.

Moore has been a regional forester for the California-based Pacific Southwest Region since 2007, with responsibility for 18 national forests in California and Hawaii.

He will take over from Christiansen as head of the 30,000-employee agency when she retires July 26.

They’ll be working together on what’s already shaping up as a severe wildfire season in the West, where an epic drought, complicated by climate change, has made putting out fires more challenging and strained firefighting resources throughout the region.

In the Pacific Northwest, where an extended heat wave has triggered record-breaking temperatures in Oregon and Washington state, fire crews have been positioned in high-risk areas, and cities and counties have imposed burn bans.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who appointed Moore, called him “a catalyst for change and creativity” in carrying out the Forest Service’s mission to sustain the nation’s forests.

As a regional forester, Moore has been on the forefront of dealing with the effects of climate change, notably leading the region’s response to the dramatic increase in catastrophic wildfires in California over the past decade, Vilsack said.

Before heading the Pacific Southwest region, Moore was regional forester in the Milwaukee-based Eastern Region, where he oversaw forests in 20 states, including Illinois.

He sttarted his federal career in 1978 at the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in North Dakota and has worked at national forests in Colorado, North Carolina and Missouri, a national grassland in Kansas and as an administrator in Washington.

Moore’s appointment comes as Congress and the Biden administration push to increase firefighter pay and convert at least 1,000 seasonal wildland firefighters to year-round workers as fires have grown more severe. President Joe Biden has called for an increase in pay for federal firefighters, who start out making as little as $13 an hour.

“That’s a ridiculously low salary to pay federal firefighters,” Biden said. “That’s going to end in my administration.?

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Nine-game Fall 2021 Season Membership and Parking Packages are now on sale for Chicago House AC’s inaugural Fall season in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA,) which kicks off at SeatGeek Stadium against New Amsterdam FC on Saturday, August 21st, 2021 at 7:35pm. Fall 2021 Season Membership packages, which include a variety of benefits, start at $108 (just $12 per match) for nine home matches. These ticket packages represent up to a 20% savings compared to buying tickets on match days. Fall 2021 Season Parking is available at $16 per match for a total of $144 for the nine Fall season home matches.

Fans can choose to pay for their Fall 2021 Season Memberships in full or spread the payments over three months (July, August and September) with the club’s interest-free payment plan.

Fall 2021 Season Membership packages include the following benefits:

• Access to nine Fall 2021 Season home matches at SeatGeek Stadium
• Honorary membership of the 1790 Founders Club with additional benefits
• Access to the best seats in the House with up to 20% savings compared to match day pricing
• Three-payment interest-free payment plan (June, July & August)
• 10% off discount on merchandise purchased on club website
• 20% off discount on half-season parking package price
• Ability to exchange and forward tickets as part of the “No Wasted Ticket” Program
• Ability to purchase additional single game tickets at the Fall Season rate
• Dedicated House ticket representative
• Access to Tickets.com online account management
• Chicago’s Fall 2021 Season includes nine home matchups at SeatGeek Stadium starting with New Amsterdam (8/21) and Detroit City FC (8/29) followed by LA Force (9/17), Michigan Stars (9/24), 1904 FC (10/9), Chattanooga (10/13), Maryland (10/23), Stumptown AC (11/13) and Cal United (10/20).

The first 1,790 fans to purchase a Fall 2021 Season Membership Package will automatically become members of the club’s 1790 Founders Club with additional perks and benefits.

Members who had previously purchased Full 18-match season ticket packages for the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 seasons will see their season packages and pricing honored through to the end of the 2022 Spring Season. They will also be provided with an option to add the Fall 2022 season at 2021/2022 Full season prices when 2022 Season Tickets go on sale later this year.

PURCHASE Chicago House AC Season Memberships & Parking:

Fall 2021 Season Membership Packages (9 matches)

Fall 2021 Season Parking Package (9 matches)

Chicago House AC – 1790 Founders Club

• The first 1,790 fans to purchase a Fall 2021 Season Membership will automatically become members of the 1790 Founders Club.
• “1790” was chosen in honor of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the first permanent non-indigenous settler of what would later become Chicago and is recognized as the founder of Chicago. 1790 is the earliest known record of Point du Sable living in Chicago, though he may have settled in Chicago in the late 1780s.
• 1790 Founders Club members who register a season ticket before the start of the inaugural season will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win one of these great prizes:
• Opportunity to deliver the match ball and take part in the coin toss for Chicago House AC’s inaugural match
• Opportunity to win a team-signed match ball used in the inaugural match
• Opportunity to win a team-signed inaugural season House authentic match jersey
• Exclusive 1790 Founders Club member benefits include:
• Receive a specially designed, exclusive, limited-edition “Point Du Sable” scarf
• Receive a specially designed, exclusive, limited-edition 1790 Founders Club pin
• Name placed on Founders Club member Roll of Honor page on House website in perpetuity
• 1790 Founders Club member certificate
• Invitation to a special Founders Club member event during the 2021 season
• For more information on Season Membership packages, Season Parking and the 1790 Founders Club, please contact Roberto Diaz on (773) 818-1009 or email [email protected]

ABOUT Chicago House AC

Founded in 2020, Chicago House Athletic Club is a community-based professional soccer team which will begin play in Fall 2021 at the 20,000 capacity SeatGeek Stadium at 71st and Harlem in Bridgeview, Illinois. The team will compete in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA,) a U.S. Soccer sanctioned third division league. Led by Managing Partner, President & CEO Peter Wilt, Chicago House AC is a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) committed to transparency and working with its constituents to use its platform for social justice, diversity, equality, inclusion and community improvement. For more information, contact us at [email protected], visit www.chicagohouseac.com and follow on social media @ChicagoHouse_AC. “Our City, Our House.”

For more information about Chicago House AC’s partnership with Nike, check out our article here.

Featured Image Credit: Chicago House AC on Facebook

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As the pandemic disrupted the comic book industry in April 2020, Devil’s Due Comics founder Josh Blaylock could see changes on the horizon. Creators previously resistant to experimenting with technology or crowdfunding sites suddenly needed income as publishers called for “pencils down.”

“COVID forced a lot of creators to start using platforms like Kickstarter and Patreon, and they found out they could be successful,” Blaylock says. “It was a great ripping off of the veil of any gatekeeper model or barrier that had existed before.”

Out of this destruction, Blaylock’s self-described “hybrid agency/studio” PopCultivator was born. To be clear, PopCultivator is not a comic book publisher. Instead, it exists as a crowdfunded management entity that gives fans part-ownership stake in the business while connecting comic book creators with publishers.

“We’re not beholden to any publisher, and we’re not trying to create our own universe. We’re artists,” Blaylock says. “We look at each comic on a case-by-case basis and decide what’s the best route for that title to take.”

For the modern comic book creator, the number of those routes alone can be overwhelming. One path is creating an independent webcomic. Another is taking three completed issues to a publisher like Image Comics. PopCultivator’s potential strength lies in its ability to approach comics that creates a win-win situation for both comic creators and publishers.

“From the creative side, PopCultivator can fund the artist being able to produce the rest of the book without any stress. We bring in an entire team with expertise in different areas to help develop the property,” Blaylock says. “From the publishing side, PopCultivator is bringing a book that’s ready to go, with a vetted creator that’s already being funded and marketed.”

In this new venture, Blaylock is acting as CEO. His surrounding team–which he describes as “the Avengers of the comic book/pop culture world”–includes chief business development officer Michael Horn, COO Stuart Bernstein, director of all-ages content Jose Garibaldi, talent management director/contributing editor Kit Caoagas, events director Alma Silva, entertainment development director/story editor Shawn DePasquale, accounting vice president Debbie Davis, and consulting editor Mark Powers.

Each person brings a range of experience with them. Garibaldi has worked in animation on Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Dav Pilkey’s The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants. Powers is a former senior editor from Marvel Comics. Horn has previously licensed merchandise with properties such as South Park and G.I. Joe.

Like the rest of the PopCultivator team, Horn says he has “been in and out of the comic-book business my entire career.” When approached by his longtime friend Blaylock, Horn was intrigued by the crowdfunded model.

“We’re rewriting the rules, and saying, ‘We can do whatever we want with this,'” Horn says. “At the end of the day, it’s about creating great content. What you do with that content is unlimited.”

To date, PopCultivator has raised nearly $100,000 through its WeFunder website. That money will be spent on four books, including Blaylock’s Arkworld and The Encoded, as well as Garibaldi’s kid-friendly Gabby G.E.A.R.S. and History as Written by Victor.

For Garibaldi, the creative freedom piqued his interests. Throughout his career, the creator-artist has worked for brands and companies tied to shifting trends, budgets, and creative pipelines. For example, while working as a character designer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, he couldn’t create elaborate creatures. Instead, executives, editors, and producers would make notes on designs, keeping an eye on budgets and if the content would track well with certain age groups. Working with PopCultivator, he has certain standards he’ll follow due to the nature of his books being available for all ages. Other than those guidelines, Garibaldi has free reign.

“PopCultivator gives me freedom and more space to work on my characters,” Garibaldi says. “Working on a creator-owned project and having it crowdfunded, it’s nice to be able to see how far I can take some ideas.”

The next six months will be devoted to “buckling down and making comics,” Blaylock says. Fans who donated will get updates through the WeFunder page. If PopCultivator isn’t making good on what has been promised, Blaylock hopes fans will keep everyone in check.

“At the end of the day, if we’re not doing good deals with those creators or not monitoring the situation, we’ll hear about it from our investors,” Blaylock says. “These aren’t random stockholders. All the people involved in the company are true comic book fans, making this a true check-and-balance-type system.”

How far PopCultivator can go will be a matter of time. Horn, the optimistic entrepreneur, is already imagining a world full of the company’s brands.

“I’d love to see it become an IP powerhouse where the business creates brand after brand after brand, and the comics are simply the launching point,” Horn says. “I’d love to go sit in a movie theater and see the PopCultivator logo on the screen, or go into Target and see action figures for sale . . . That’s the goal.” v

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When Rebecca Baruc was 11 years old, she began to show her drawings from her journal to a teacher, Barbara Herzberg. For eight years, Baruc would study alongside Herzberg where she would focus on still lifes and draw from reality. It wouldn’t be until college–at Skidmore in New York–that she would begin to dive into abstraction, sculpture, conceptual art, and performance art. Growing from this exploration, she began to draw the people she loves.

But the pandemic halted that.

“I had just left a full-time job as music program curator at Uncommon Ground to pursue my visual art career and was excited to build community through pastel portraiture. Strangely enough, COVID-19 gave me exactly what I had asked for,” says Baruc. Even though things slowed down and gave Baruc the chance to build her creative career she had to “halt the pastel portrait project, a social and intimate process by nature,” due to quarantine. “Isolated, I nurtured the relationships I could control–that to myself and my art,” she says.

As a response to little human contact, Baruc worked with reference photos and videos of herself in motion. She drew the figurative gestures, scanned them, and digitally collaged them.

This process resulted in Baruc creating more intentionally, “and with much longer bouts of existential dread in between productive moments.” During the pandemic, she was able to incorporate a daily discipline. She says, “Key word: practice; lots of failing involved. I certainly became more empathetic to myself, slowed down, and realized nothing monumental happens in a rush nor in a vacuum.”

“The Color of Normal” opened June 17 at a new Pilsen space created by Chicago Public School educators called the Juliet Art House. In the exhibition, pastel portraits of Baruc’s friends–who are also artists or creative people–line the walls. Baruc’s process involved inviting the artists over, having a cup of tea, and encouraging them to make their own music playlist while she set up the lighting. “The portraits were completed in three hours. The subject would sit for 20 minutes, then five-minute breaks. It’s actually pretty arduous and intense. Most people find themselves going into a pretty meditative state. And because I know these people, I help prompt a certain pose or gesture that denotes their personality. And of course I make sure they are physically and mentally as comfortable as can be. The result is something deeply personal,” she says.

Baruc says that when she decided to exhibit these works, she had to create something more meaningful than a display of her friends. “I wanted to take these 2D images and help tell a 3D story of these people and the past year, helping viewers also reflect on an inimitable time in their lives,” she explains. After she drew her friends, she decided to incorporate interviews after everyone was vaccinated. Baruc says the experience was healing and very therapeutic.

When you enter the gallery, the pastel portraits of Baruc’s subjects greet you, alongside QR codes that folks can scan in order to listen to recorded interviews with the artists. On the labels for each piece, there is an excerpted quote as well. The piece Dan has a quote that says, “I think I’m just mourning that sense of community I had before everything happened, when I was still stoked about posting and getting responses from people . . .” Next to the piece Jordanna the subject says, “What I am hoping to find is acceptance for myself, for who I am in all of my flaws, and I want to come to peace with myself, and maybe discover some truth about myself,” when discussing their upcoming hike on the Appalachian Trail.

On the back wall of the gallery are paintings that touch on themes of nudity, intimacy, and relationships. In one piece, two figures are intertwined on an abstracted background. Geometric shapes fill up the background space and hard lines outline the bodies. As Baruc notes earlier, she worked with images and videos of herself moving in order to create some of the digital prints. Her silhouette creates a shape as she draws a background with similar outlines and curvatures to her body. Here, Baruc is examining herself. In the first half of the show we meet Baruc’s colleagues and friends; in the back half of the gallery, we meet the artist.

The two halves of the exhibition don’t necessarily exist separately. Sure, they utilize different mediums (one being digital and the other being pastels) and the subject matter is slightly different but it is uniquely Baruc’s work. Her style is colorful–she works with vibrant hues to maximize detail and shadow. And her strokes evoke movement, even in her subjects who are posing from the artist. Connecting these two parts of the exhibition is exciting and shows the vastness of Baruc’s talents–from capturing herself to capturing her peers.

“I hope these portraits paired with the interviews, as well as the self-portraits in the latter half of the show, make small but significant shifts in the hearts of the viewers,” says Baruc. “Motivating the execution and editing of the interviews, the selection of quotes on display, and the overall curation of the show, is a deep love for the people around me, and a deep desire to communicate our zeitgeist.” v

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Student athletes soon can be compensated for the use of their name or image under legislation signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday.

The Student-Athlete Endorsement Rights Act allows athletes at colleges and universities to retain agents. The law, which goes into effect Thursday, also outlines when a student athlete may be compensated.

The legislation allows student athletes to “take control of their destiny when it comes to their own name, image likeness and voice,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at the bill-signing ceremony at the State Farm Center on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“With this law, Illinois is at the forefront of taking some pressure off of talented kids who are torn between finishing their degree or cashing in on the big leagues,” Pritzker said. “But to be clear, the benefits of this law don’t stop with kids bound for the NFL, or the NBA.

“Any student athlete can partner with businesses in their college towns, as well as brands big and small, to see a financial benefit from the hours they pour into their craft … This isn’t just a win for student athletes, it’s a win for the future of our entire state.”

Pritzker was joined by state legislators and the athletic directors from U of I, as well as Northwestern University and DePaul University.

State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, said the bill is about “autonomy” and fairness.

A former defensive lineman on the football team at Illinois, Buckner sponsored the legislation in the House and said the “long overdue” law modernizes the college athletics landscape.

“This is not just a win for the star quarterback or the star point guard. This gives the women’s tennis player an opportunity to be compensated for teaching lessons back in her hometown during summer breaks. This creates an apparatus for the women’s softball player to lend her image to the local pizzeria for fair market value,” Buckner said.

“This is the dawn of a new day, and today we have created the change that our student athletes deserve.”

The law also bars organizations, such as the National Collegiate Athletic Association, from preventing student athletes from being paid for the use of their name or image.

It also allows higher education institutions to set “reasonable limitations” on the dates and times that a student competitor might participate in endorsement or promotional activities.

Eva Rubin, who plays on U of I’s women’s basketball team, said as a student athlete she and others spend many hours in class and on the sport “that you get to watch us play on television.”

The new law will likely allow her to do more for her community.

“I’m actually a Type 1 diabetic and, with my small platform that I’ve been able to kind of build for myself here at the University of Illinois, I’ve had many opportunities to work with diabetes research foundations,” Rubin said. “With the [bill] being passed, I can only imagine the opportunities that I’ll be able to create for myself and build for myself and ways that will help me give back to my community.”

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in a 9-0 opinion that the NCAA can’t enforce rules limiting education-related benefits — such as computers and paid internships — that colleges offer to student athletes but didn’t make a ruling on whether students can be paid salaries.

Buckner said that decision is a sign that things are changing for college athletes.

“I think we don’t know what everything will look like in the coming months and years, but I think what this signals is that we’re poised and ready to be at the vanguard and be at the front of the charge” for making things more equitable for college athletes, the South Side Democrat said.

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A group of Chicago-area activists is urging President Joe Biden to rethink his plan to send a strike force to help local police stem the flow of illegal guns into the city.

“In Chicago, the problem is not the end result of the person who pulls the trigger on the gun, as much as it is the system that allows him to have the gun,” said the Rev. Marvin Hunter, the senior pastor at Grace Memorial Baptist Church in the North Lawndale neighborhood and a great-uncle of Laquan McDonald, the 17-year-old murdered by a Chicago police officer in 2014.

Hunter and other activists are calling for, among other things, a congressional hearing in the city — with testimony from local mothers who have lost children to gun violence.

Hunter said sending federal forces into violence-plagued neighborhoods on the West and South sides would only make things worse.

“We do not need to be attacked. We need to be heard. We need to be helped,” Hunter said.

Activist Paul McKinley urged Biden to come to Chicago.

“The only way you can solve this problem: you’ve got to talk to the victims of the problem,” McKinley said. “You can no longer sit in the White House — in his ivory tower — and say, ‘I know what the answer is.'”

The Justice Department earlier this month announced the launch of “five cross-jurisdictional firearms trafficking strike forces to help reduce violent crime by addressing illegal gun trafficking in significant firearms trafficking corridors.”

The five strike forces will “focus on significant firearms trafficking corridors that channel guns into New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, D.C.,” the Justice Department said, to be led by U.S. attorneys “who will coordinate with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and with state and local law enforcement partners in places where firearms originate and where they are used to commit crimes.”

Brian Rich/Sun-Times

Sandra Bland’s mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, was also among those who spoke. Bland, 28, of Naperville was in Texas for a job interview in 2015 when she was pulled over by a state trooper for failing to signal a lane change. The traffic stop quickly escalated; police dashcam video shows trooper Brian Encinia drawing his stun gun and Bland laying on the ground screaming. She was found hanged three days later while still in custody; her death was ruled a suicide.

“People are pissed, people are tired and we are not playing games,” Reed-Veal said.

She also urged the president to come to the city.

“Mr. Biden, you know you need to be here. You’re going to send a task force to do what? How about you send a task force and tell the [U.S. Department of Justice] to do what they’re supposed to be doing in these cases,” Reed said.

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Chicago Comics: MCA & Chicago Culture Center exhibits take a serious look at the funnies

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By Carole Kuhrt Brewer,
today at 12:59 pm

Chicago’s major contributions to the comic industry are unparalleled.  The art form which through the ages has not always gotten the respect it deserves is finally being recognized the way it deserves to be with two major exhibitions running in Chicago.

The Exhibitions

• Chicago: Where Comics Came to Life (1880–1960) at the Chicago Cultural Center (CCC)
• Chicago Comics: 1960s to Now,” now through October 3, 2021 at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA)

Overview

For over a century, Chicago has nurtured the art of comics and has been home to some of the most important cartoonists in the world.

Together the two, not to be missed exhibitions, explore the art and artists of this period cover 140 years comics.

Although the exhibitions can be covered in any order. To view them chronologically, one will want to start on the 4th floor of the Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington) for the free admission exhibit, “Chicago: Where Comics Came to Life from 1880 to 1960” before viewing the MCA exhibition which spans 1960 to now.

The two exhibitions were designed and planned as an intentional historical companion to the concurrently appearing survey of contemporary Chicago comics at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in which Ware’s work also appears.

Even though the exhibits vary in style, scope and emphasis, they were designed and planned as companion to run concurrently as an introspective historical exploration of comic art.

The CCC exhibition curated by artist and author Chris Ware and the City of Chicago’s Cultural Historian Emeritus, Tim Samuelson, deals with Chicago’s role in the development of the early comic strip. The exhibit showcases popular strips of the day along with the importance of African-American cartoonists, the first woman cartoonists with small scale graphics and commentary.

The MCA exhibit, organized by comic historian and curator-at-large for Dan Nadel from and MCA Chief Curator Michael Darling, focuses on rediscovering the work of women and BIPOC comic artists, showing comic art as a democratic medium using a variety of media including 3D and large scale reproductions.

1880 to 1960

A significant but often overlooked contribution to American art and culture is highlighted in the CCC exhibition.

The exhibition focuses on the origins of the comics in popular publishing, the importance of African-American cartoonists and publishing, the first woman cartoonists and editors and the first daily comic strip.

Visitors will be treated to many forgotten comics of the past including the work of Frank King’s “Gasoline Alley” (launched in 1918 & pictured above). King’s popular captured not only the rhythms and tone of everyday existence in his characters that aged not only at the same daily rate as its newspaper readers, but were also fictionalized versions of real people.

WHEN: June 19–October 3, 2021, open daily 11am–4pm*

WHERE: Chicago Cultural Center (77 E. Randolph St.), Sidney R. Yates Gallery, 4th Floor North

1960s to Now

Chicago’s pivotal role as a national and innovative center for comics and cartooning is the focus of the MCA exhibition.

Over 40 cartoonists, from the tradition of Dick Tracy to Lynda Barry, Lilli Carré, Daniel Clowes, Nick Drnaso, Edie Fake, Emil Ferris, Nicole Hollander, Charles Johnson, Kerry James Marshall and Chris Ware, among many others are represented by comics, graphic novels, zines, original drawings, dioramas, commissioned films, installations, rare ephemera, and books.

The exhibition focuses on rediscovering the work of women and BIPOC comic artists, this major exhibition presents the last 60 years of the city’s artful cartooning history, showing how comic art is a democratic medium that allows artists to speak directly to people in relatable ways.

The exhibition is divided into four key sections spanning Chicago comic history, including 1960-70s: The Underground; 1980-1990s: Alternative Weeklies, Comic Books, and Zines; 1990-2000s: Graphic Novels and Community; and 2010-Now: Chicago Rising.

WHEN: June 19–October 3, 2021, open daily 11am–4pm*

WHERE: Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave.

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TAMPA, Fla. — NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman cast doubt Monday on whether the league will send its players to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, citing safety and logistical concerns as well as a tightening time frame.

“We have real concerns about whether or not it’s sensible to be participating,” Bettman said during his annual pre-Stanley Cup Final session with the media.

“We’re already past the time that we hoped this would be resolved,” he added, in noting the league still intends to release its schedule for next season — with or without an Olympic break — before holding the draft on July 23. “We’ll deal with it, just as we’ve managed to be agile and flexible over the last 15 months. But we’re getting to be on a rather short time frame now because this can’t go on indefinitely.”

Bettman said one of the only reasons the NHL is still in discussions with Olympic officials is because the league made a commitment to make every effort to participate in the 2022 Games as part of extending its collective bargaining agreement with the NHL Players’ Association last summer.

The NHL participated in five consecutive Olympics beginning in 1998 before skipping the 2018 Games in South Korea.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly called discussions with Olympic officials a work in progress. The outstanding issues include health questions regarding the coronavirus pandemic, and including COVID-19-related insurance issues.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty and unknowns that we’re trying to grapple with, and that takes time,” Daly said.

Previous issues that led to the NHL balking at competing were health insurance and travel costs, as well as access to marketing rights. The NHL also expressed concern over the benefit of shutting down its regular season for two weeks when the Olympics are held in Asia. Games are played in the early morning hours in North America because of the time difference.

International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel told The Associated Press he hoped a resolution can be reached with the NHL and its players to compete in Beijing. He said the NHL currently has two schedules in place for next season, one featuring an Olympic break and another one not.

“Things are going back and forth, but no stress. We’ll see,” Fasel said by phone. “I cannot speak for the NHL and I just hope they will say they will come. That’s it.”

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

Bettman confirmed the economic hit the NHL sustained as a result of the pandemic has led to the league altering its approach toward supporting a women’s professional hockey league in North America. Bettman urged the National Women’s Hockey League and Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association to bridge their differences first.

“If you’re going to make a go of a new league, you’ve got to have all ducks in a row,” Bettman said. “And our hope is the women’s professional landscape can be more unified going forward.”

That’s a switch from Bettman’s previous stance in which he said the NHL would only step in to support a pro women’s league should the two entities — the NWHL and now-defunct Canadian Women’s Hockey League — step aside.

Bettman said the NHL has “been a little distracted” over the past 15 months, in referring to the scheduling and economic challenges raised by the pandemic.

“We are extraordinarily supportive of women’s hockey going forward,” Bettman said. “And at the right time and under the right circumstances we see a role for us to the extent we’re invited.

DIVERSITY WATCH

The NHL pledged to spend $5 million over the next 18 months on diversity and inclusion efforts in a league that remains primarily white and has no Black coaches or general managers. Daly also said a hotline established for players, coaches and staff to report racist behavior after Akim Aliu shared his story about former coach Bill Peters has been “up and running” for several months.

“Part of the dynamic of introducing a hotline like this is making potential people who want to engage with it comfortable in engaging with it, so that is by definition a process of time,” Daly said. “I do think it’s been well-received.”

2021-22 SCHEDULE

The league announced it will hold All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas in 2022, with exact dates to be determined.

The Minnesota Wild will host St. Louis in the 13th Winter Classic at Target Field, the home of Major League Baseball’s Twins, on Jan. 1. The Wild had been awarded the 2021 showcase but the schedule was shortened to 56 games and play didn’t begin until late January. The Wild hosted an outdoor game in 2016, against Chicago at the University of Minnesota’s football stadium.

The NHL Stadium Series will see Nashville host Tampa Bay on Feb. 26 at Nissan Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.

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LONDON — Most people wouldn’t volunteer to walk through a minefield. Princess Diana did it twice.

On Jan. 15, 1997, Diana walked gingerly down a narrow path cleared through an Angolan minefield, wearing a protective visor and flak jacket emblazoned with the name of The HALO Trust, a group devoted to removing mines from former war zones. When she realized some of the photographers accompanying her didn’t get the shot, she turned around and did it again.

Later, she met with a group of landmine victims. A young girl who had lost her left leg perched on the princess’s lap.

The images of that day appeared in newspapers and on TV sets around the globe, focusing international attention on the then-languishing campaign to rid the world of devices that lurk underground for decades after conflicts end. Today, a treaty banning landmines has 164 signatories.

Those touched by the life of the preschool teacher turned princess remembered her ahead of what would have been her 60th birthday on Thursday, recalling the complicated royal rebel who left an enduring imprint on the House of Windsor.

Diana had the “emotional intelligence that allowed her to see that bigger picture … but also to bring it right down to individual human beings,” said James Cowan, a retired major general who is now CEO of The HALO Trust. “She knew that she could reach their hearts in a way that would outmaneuver those who would only be an influence through the head.”

AP

Diana’s walk among the landmines seven months before she died in a Paris car crash is just one example of how she helped make the monarchy more accessible, changing the way the royal family related to people. By interacting more intimately with the public — kneeling to the level of a child, sitting on the edge of a patient’s hospital bed, writing personal notes to her fans — she connected with people in a way that inspired other royals, including her sons, Princes William and Harry, as the monarchy worked to become more human and remain relevant in the 21st century.

Diana didn’t invent the idea of royals visiting the poor, destitute or downtrodden. Queen Elizabeth II herself visited a Nigerian leper colony in 1956. But Diana touched them — literally.

“Diana was a real hugger in the royal family,” said Sally Bedell Smith, author of “Diana in Search of Herself.” “She was much more visibly tactile in the way she interacted with people. It was not something the queen was comfortable with and still is not.”

Critically, she also knew that those interactions could bring attention to her causes since she was followed everywhere by photographers and TV crews.

Ten years before she embraced landmine victims in Angola, she shook hands with a young AIDS patient in London during the early days of the epidemic, showing people that the disease couldn’t be transmitted through touch.

AP

As her marriage to Prince Charles deteriorated, Diana used the same techniques to tell her side of the story. Embracing her children with open arms to show her love for her sons. Sitting alone in front of the Taj Mahal on a royal trip to India. Walking through that minefield as she was starting a new life after her divorce.

“Diana understood the power of imagery — and she knew that a photograph was worth a hundred words,” said Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine and author of “Diana: An Intimate Portrait.” “She wasn’t an intellectual. She wasn’t ever going to be the one to give the right words. But she gave the right image.”

And that began on the day the 20-year-old Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles, the heir to throne, on July 29, 1981, at St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Elizabeth Emanuel, who co-designed her wedding dress, describes an event comparable to the transformation of a chrysalis into a butterfly, or in this case a nursery school teacher in cardigans and sensible skirts into a fairytale princess.

“We thought, right, let’s do the biggest, most dramatic dress possible, the ultimate fairytale dress. Let’s make it big. Let’s have big sleeves. Let’s have ruffles,” Emanuel said. “And St. Paul’s was so huge. We knew that we needed to do something that was a statement. And Diana was completely up for that. She loved that idea.”

But Emanuel said Diana also had a simplicity that made her more accessible to people.

AP

“She had this vulnerability about her, I think, so that ordinary people could relate to her. She wasn’t perfect. And none of us are perfect, and I think that’s why there is this thing, you know, people think of her almost like family. They felt they knew her.”

Diana’s sons learned from their mother’s example, making more personal connections with the public during their charitable work, including supporting efforts to destigmatize mental health problems and treat young AIDS patients in Lesotho and Botswana.

William, who is second in line to the throne, worked as an air ambulance pilot before taking on full-time royal duties. Harry retraced Diana’s footsteps through the minefield for The HALO Trust.

AP

Her influence can be seen in other royals as well. Sophie, the Countess of Wessex and the wife of Charles’ brother Prince Edward, grew teary, for example, in a television interview as she told the nation about her feelings on the death of her father-in-law, Prince Philip.

The public even began to see a different side of the queen, including her turn as a Bond girl during the 2012 London Olympics in which she starred in a mini-movie with Daniel Craig to open the games.

More recently, the monarch has reached out in Zoom calls, joking with school children about her meeting with Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. What was he like, ma’am?

“Russian,” she said flatly. The Zoom filled with chuckles.

AP

Cowan, of HALO, said the attention that Diana, and now Harry, have brought to the landmine issue helped attract the funding that made it possible for thousands of workers to continue the slow process of ridding the world of the devices.

Sixty countries and territories are still contaminated with landmines, which killed or injured more than 5,500 people in 2019, according to Landmine Monitor.

“She had that capacity to reach out and inspire people. Their imaginations were fired up by this work,” Cowan said. “And they like it and they want to fund it. And that’s why she’s had such a profound legacy for us.”

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