Videos

Severe Weather Sundayon June 21, 2021 at 3:07 pm

Chicago Weather Watch

Severe Weather Sunday

©2021 CTMG – A Chicago Tribune website –
Crafted by the News Apps team

Read More

Severe Weather Sundayon June 21, 2021 at 3:07 pm Read More »

What vegetarians eat needn’t be mystifyingon June 21, 2021 at 3:21 pm

Retired in Chicago

What vegetarians eat needn’t be mystifying

©2021 CTMG – A Chicago Tribune website –
Crafted by the News Apps team

Read More

What vegetarians eat needn’t be mystifyingon June 21, 2021 at 3:21 pm Read More »

The massive lie about Illinois’ pension indebtednesson June 21, 2021 at 3:49 pm

The Barbershop: Dennis Byrne, Proprietor

The massive lie about Illinois’ pension indebtedness

Read More

The massive lie about Illinois’ pension indebtednesson June 21, 2021 at 3:49 pm Read More »

How Asperger’s makes you different and how it got categorized as autismon June 21, 2021 at 3:52 pm

Marching to a Different Drummer

How Asperger’s makes you different and how it got categorized as autism

Read More

How Asperger’s makes you different and how it got categorized as autismon June 21, 2021 at 3:52 pm Read More »

Supreme Court rules that colleges cannot put caps on education-related benefits for athletesJessica Gresko | Associated Presson June 21, 2021 at 2:52 pm

The Supreme Court ruled that NCAA limits on the education-related benefits that colleges can offer athletes who play Division I basketball and football can’t be enforced.
The Supreme Court ruled that NCAA limits on the education-related benefits that colleges can offer athletes who play Division I basketball and football can’t be enforced. | Scott Applewhite/AP

Under current NCAA rules, students cannot be paid, and the scholarship money colleges can offer is capped at the cost of attending the school. The NCAA had defended its rules as necessary to preserve the amateur nature of college sports.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court decided unanimously Monday that the NCAA can’t enforce rules limiting education-related benefits — like computers and paid internships — that colleges offer to student athletes.

The case doesn’t decide whether students can be paid salaries. Instead, the ruling will help determine whether schools decide to offer athletes tens of thousands of dollars in those benefits for things including tutoring, study abroad programs and graduate scholarships.

The high court agreed with a group of former college athletes that NCAA limits on the education-related benefits that colleges can offer athletes who play Division I basketball and football are unenforceable.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the court that the NCAA sought “immunity from the normal operation of the antitrust laws,” which the court declined to grant.

Under current NCAA rules, students cannot be paid, and the scholarship money colleges can offer is capped at the cost of attending the school. The NCAA had defended its rules as necessary to preserve the amateur nature of college sports.

But the former athletes who brought the case, including former West Virginia football player Shawne Alston, argued that the NCAA’s rules on education-related compensation were unfair and violate federal antitrust law designed to promote competition. The Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling barring the NCAA from enforcing those rules.

As a result of the ruling, the NCAA itself can’t bar schools from sweetening their offers to Division I basketball and football players with additional education-related benefits. But individual athletic conferences can still set limits if they choose. A lawyer for the former athletes had said before the ruling that he believed that if his clients won, “very many schools” would ultimately offer additional benefits.

The NCAA had argued that a ruling for the athletes could lead to a blurring of the line between college and professional sports, with colleges trying to lure talented athletes by offering over-the-top education benefits worth thousands of dollars. Even without the court’s ruling, however, changes seem on the way for how college athletes are compensated. The NCAA is trying to amend its rules to allow athletes to profit from their names, images and likenesses. That would allow athletes to earn money for things like sponsorship deals, online endorsement and personal appearances. For some athletes, those amounts could dwarf any education-related benefits.

The players associations of the NFL, the NBA and the WNBA had all urged the justices to side with the ex-athletes, as did the Biden administration.

Read More

Supreme Court rules that colleges cannot put caps on education-related benefits for athletesJessica Gresko | Associated Presson June 21, 2021 at 2:52 pm Read More »

Pitbull is balancing the worlds of NASCAR and musicTeresa M. Walker | APon June 21, 2021 at 3:14 pm

After spending most of the year focused on his NASCAR team, Pitbull is preparing to return to the stage.
After spending most of the year focused on his NASCAR team, Pitbull is preparing to return to the stage. | Nell Redmond/AP

Pitbull’s new tour titled “I Don’t Know About You But I Feel Good” starts July 25 as the Grammy-winning rapper moves from the racetrack back to the stage.

LEBANON, Tenn. — The man known as Mr. Worldwide is ready to get back to his main business, even as he spends more and more time with his latest investment in NASCAR.

Pitbull’s new tour titled “I Don’t Know About You But I Feel Good” starts July 25 as the Grammy-winning rapper moves from the racetrack back to the stage. He said he knows everyone wants to dance, escape and enjoy the world again.

“Everything that happened in 2020 is something I think is a tremendous lesson and story for the whole world that they should appreciate life and now I can share that with the public,” Pitbull said.

Pitbull has been very busy in racing since becoming a co-owner of the new NASCAR team Trackhouse Racing in January before the Daytona 500. He attended Sunday’s Cup race at the Nashville Superspeedway and praised the devotion of NASCAR fans.

“To see the passion, to see the loyalty, to see the willingness to just run through a wall for the team that they love,” Pitbull said.

He related an experience at the Daytona 500 in February when someone approached him at a chain restaurant across the street from the speedway and told Pitbull he didn’t dress like a NASCAR owner. The rapper bought the man a couple shots — “I said yeah, but I do drink like a NASCAR owner, don’t I?” — and after a few more rounds and selfies, the fans paid the bill.

“And that just showed a lot to me,” Pitbull said. “Not too many people do those kinds of things, especially in today’s day and age where it’s all about instant gratification; grab your photo, grab your video, do this for me, do that for me. Just that sense of gratitude showed me a very pleasant experience and it’s been amazing.”

Pitbull said he loves both NASCAR and music and the two are part of his vision to unite people and show the opportunities that exist for all cultures.

“Everyone here is a human being,” Pitbull said. “And if I can use a car, NASCAR, the races and music to do that, to unite people, that is an honor, a tremendous opportunity and a tremendous platform to be able to do that.”

Daniel Suarez, the driver for Trackhouse Racing, said he has known Pitbull for about three years after the two were introduced by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. Suarez said the rapper brings energy and a different perspective and he isn’t afraid to share when he has the opportunity.

“I didn’t know he was going to be this involved,” Suarez said. “He’s a very busy person, and I mean he’s been to a handful of races already this year. He loves racing.”

Suarez in front of his new boss finished seventh at Nashville for just his third top-10 of the season. He’s excelled this season at tracks that have had practice and qualifying because it gives the new team critical information ahead of the race.

Pitbull’s entertainment expertise already is proving helpful for Trackhouse. Co-owner Justin Marks is a Nashville resident who wants the team operating in Music City in the heart of its downtown entertainment district by 2023 to connect with fans wanting to check out a NASCAR team at work.

The team raced at the superspeedway with sponsorship by famed honky tonk Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge. The No. 99 Chevrolet featured a pair of large orchids matching Tootsie’s iconic building on Lower Broadway for the first Cup race in the Nashville-area in 37 years.

The Nashville touches even included Suarez’s fire suit with the feet looking like black and white cowboy boots.

“I never had a suit with boots,” Suarez said. “I’m going to be honest, I’m not a huge boot person, but these things look pretty good on me.”

Read More

Pitbull is balancing the worlds of NASCAR and musicTeresa M. Walker | APon June 21, 2021 at 3:14 pm Read More »

Iran’s president-elect says he won’t meet BidenAssociated Presson June 21, 2021 at 3:51 pm

Iran’s new President-elect Ebrahim Raisi waves to participants at the conclusion of his press conference in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 21, 2021. Raisi said Monday he wouldn’t meet with President Joe Biden nor negotiate over Tehran’s ballistic missile program and its support of regional militias, sticking to a hard-line position following his landslide victory in last week’s election.
Iran’s new President-elect Ebrahim Raisi waves to participants at the conclusion of his press conference in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 21, 2021. Raisi said Monday he wouldn’t meet with President Joe Biden nor negotiate over Tehran’s ballistic missile program and its support of regional militias, sticking to a hard-line position following his landslide victory in last week’s election. | AP

The White House did not immediately respond to Judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi’s statements. Raisi will become the first serving Iranian president sanctioned by the U.S. government even before entering office, in part over his time as the head of Iran’s internationally criticized judiciary.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s president-elect said Monday he would not meet with President Joe Biden or negotiate over Tehran’s ballistic missile program and its support of regional militias, sticking to a hard-line position following his landslide victory in last week’s election.

Judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi also described himself as a “defender of human rights” when asked about his involvement in the 1988 mass execution of about 5,000 people. It marked the first time he’s been put on the spot on live television over that dark moment in Iranian history at the end of the Iran-Iraq war.

“The U.S. is obliged to lift all oppressive sanctions against Iran,” Raisi said at his first news conference after Friday’s election, a contest widely seen as a coronation after his strongest competition found themselves barred from running.

Raisi, 60, sat in front of a sea of microphones, most from Iran and countries home to militias supported by Tehran. He looked nervous at the beginning of his comments but slowly became more at ease over the hourlong news conference.

Asked about Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support of regional militias, Raisi described the issues as “nonnegotiable.”

Tehran’s fleet of attack aircraft date largely back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, forcing Iran to instead invest in missiles as a hedge against its regional Arab neighbors, who have bought billions of dollars in American military hardware over the years. Those missiles, with a self-imposed range limit of 1,240 miles, can reach across the Mideast and U.S. military bases in the region.

Iran also relies on militias like Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group for counterbalance against enemies such as Saudi Arabia and Israel, respectively.

On a possible meeting with Biden, Raisi curtly answered: “No.” His moderate competitor in the election, Abdolnasser Hemmati, had suggested during campaigning that he might be willing to meet Biden.

The White House did not immediately respond to Raisi’s statements. Raisi will become the first serving Iranian president sanctioned by the U.S. government even before entering office, in part over his time as the head of Iran’s internationally criticized judiciary.

The victory of Raisi, a protégé of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, came amid the lowest voter turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history. Millions of Iranians stayed home in defiance of a vote they saw as tipped in Raisi’s favor after a panel under Khamenei disqualified prominent reformist candidates.

Of those who did vote, 3.7 million people either accidentally or intentionally voided their ballots, far beyond the amount seen in previous elections and suggesting some wanted none of the four candidates. In official results, Raisi won 17.9 million votes overall, nearly 62% of the total 28.9 million cast. Tehran had a 34% turnout, far lower than previous years, with many polling stations across the capital noticeably empty.

Raisi’s election puts hard-liners firmly in control across the government as negotiations in Vienna continue to try to save a tattered deal meant to limit Iran’s nuclear program.

Then-U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdraw America from the landmark agreement in 2018, setting in motion months of tensions across the region. In response, Iran has abandoned the limits of the deal and is now enriching uranium at 60%, its highest levels ever, though still short of weapons-grade levels. Representatives of the world powers party to the deal returned to their capitals for consultations following the latest round of negotiations on Sunday.

Raisi’s victory has raised concerns that it could complicate a possible return to the nuclear agreement. In his remarks Monday, Raisi called sanctions relief as “central to our foreign policy” and exhorted the U.S. to “return and implement your commitments” in the deal.

“No matter the timing, a U.S.-Iran agreement in Vienna leaves unanswered whether the United States can achieve a broader rapprochement with an Iran led by an avowed proponent of the core tenets of Iran’s Islamic Revolution,” the New York-based Soufan Center said in an analysis Monday.

On Sunday, Iran’s sole nuclear plant at Bushehr underwent an unexplained emergency shutdown. Previously, Iranian officials had warned that U.S. sanctions affected their ability to get parts for the facility.

On Saudi Arabia, which has recently started secret talks with Iran in Baghdad over several points of contention between the regional heavyweights, Raisi said that Iran would have “no problem” with a possible reopening of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and that the “restoration of relations faces no barrier.” The embassy was closed in 2016 as relations deteriorated.

Raisi struck a defiant tone, however, when asked about the 1988 executions, which saw sham retrials of political prisoners, militants and others that would become known as “death commissions.”

After Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini accepted a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, heavily armed by Saddam Hussein, stormed across the Iranian border from Iraq in a surprise attack. Iran ultimately blunted their assault.

The trials began around that time, with defendants asked to identify themselves. Those who responded “mujahedeen” were sent to their deaths, while others were questioned about their willingness to “clear minefields for the army of the Islamic Republic,” according to a 1990 Amnesty International report.

International rights groups estimate that as many as 5,000 people were executed. Raisi served on the commissions.

“I am proud of being a defender of human rights and of people’s security and comfort as a prosecutor wherever I was,” he said. “All actions I carried out during my office were always in the direction of defending human rights.”

He added: “Today in the presidential post, I feel obliged to defend human rights.”

Read More

Iran’s president-elect says he won’t meet BidenAssociated Presson June 21, 2021 at 3:51 pm Read More »

Chicago Bulls: 3 players from Philadelphia 76ers to pursueon June 21, 2021 at 3:27 pm

Chicago Bulls (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Chicago Bulls (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Next1 of 4Prev post
Use your (arrows) to browse
Chicago Bulls, Thaddeus Young

Chicago Bulls (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

In the end, there can only be one NBA champion. The Philadelphia 76ers now join our Chicago Bulls and the rest of the eliminated teams watching the rest of the postseason from home, but they had a decent run just before missing out on the Eastern Conference Finals.

Going into their own offseason, the questions will abound for the Sixers. This was supposed to be a super team that could contend for a title. Instead, Philadelphia’s roster that consists of three players getting paid $29 million or more annually is headed for an early exit once more.

Do the Sixers break up the trio of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris?

If they do, which player or players get dealt? And for what price? Do the Sixers attempt to re-tool around a couple of key players? They still seem so close, yet haven’t been able to connect the dots. This summer, they’ll have some key decisions to make on a few players and if the Bulls wanted to, they could get in on attempting to bring some of them to Chicago.

Should the Chicago Bulls go after any 76ers players this offseason?

Chicago has a solid young core featuring the likes of Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic and Patrick Williams. Their big question, this summer, is what to do with restricted free agent Lauri Markkanen.

Should the Bulls want to allow Markkanen to leave, they could opt to replace him with one of several options. Along with replacing Markkanen, the Bulls will have to fill in a few spots on their roster.

Do any of the following Sixers make sense for Arturas Karnisovas and company?

Next: 1. Mike Scott

Next1 of 4Prev post
Use your (arrows) to browse

Read More

Chicago Bulls: 3 players from Philadelphia 76ers to pursueon June 21, 2021 at 3:27 pm Read More »

GGTB A Chicago White Sox Podcast – Episode 109 – Humble PieNick Bon June 21, 2021 at 2:50 pm

The White Sox had a rough weekend as they were swept by the Astros in dominant fashion. Where do the White Sox go from here and what changes might we see? The GGTB crew breaks it all down!

The post GGTB A Chicago White Sox Podcast – Episode 109 – Humble Pie first appeared on CHI CITY SPORTS l Chicago Sports Blog – News – Forum – Fans – Rumors.Read More

GGTB A Chicago White Sox Podcast – Episode 109 – Humble PieNick Bon June 21, 2021 at 2:50 pm Read More »

‘Craziest 45 seconds of my life.’ Tornado tears through western suburbs, over 100 homes damaged, several people injuredJermaine Nolenon June 21, 2021 at 2:46 pm

Bridget Casey sits in the driveway of her severely damaged home on the 7800 block of Woodridge Dr. In Woodridge with son Nate, 16, and daughter Marion, 14 at approximately 2:30 am Monday morning.
Bridget Casey sits in the driveway of her severely damaged home on the 7800 block of Woodridge Dr. In Woodridge with son Nate, 16, and daughter Marion, 14, at approximately 2:30 am Monday morning. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

The tornado appeared to start in Naperville, then cut a destructive path through Woodridge, Darien and Downers Grove.

A tornado ripped through the western suburbs late Sunday night, damaging more than a hundred homes and injuring several people, including a woman in critical condition.

The tornado touchdown was confirmed about 11:10 p.m. near Route 53 and 75th Street in Woodridge, the National Weather Service said. The tornado — packing winds of more than 100 mph — also hit portions of Naperville, Downers Grove, Darien and Burr Ridge, smashing cars, ripping roofs off homes, downing power lines, shearing off garage doors, uprooting large trees and spewing debris thousands of feet into the air.

Naperville reported at least five people taken to Edward Hospital, one of them in critical condition. At least 125 homes were damaged, 16 of them considered uninhabitable. In Woodridge, three adults were taken to hospitals, according to Lisle-Woodridge Fire District Deputy Fire Chief Steve Demas.

Emergency crews continued going door to door checking on residents into the morning. As the sun rose, more and more people came out of their homes, some walking their pets as they surveyed the damage, many taking photos and videos in disbelief.

“Unbelievable,” a woman said while staring at a home missing its roof and a wall in Woodridge. Around her, generators hummed and a tractor began clearing streets and pushing away fallen trees.

Many people said they were already in bed when the sirens went off. Some recalled the moment of silence before the rain and wind picked up fiercely.

One neighbor called it the “craziest 45 seconds of my life.” Others said it sounded like a train passing over their homes and they could feel the vibrations. “As fast as it came, it was gone,” Joseph Palacios said.

A completely demolished home on Princeton Circle in Naperville’s Ranchview neighborhood Monday, June 21, 2021.
Rich Hein/Sun-Times
A completely demolished home on Princeton Circle in Naperville’s Ranchview neighborhood Monday, June 21, 2021.

“This doesn’t happen around here,” Palacios said. “This is something totally new and it’ll probably never happen again… It’s shocking to see the devastation, all the trees are just gone, people’s houses — you don’t see this here.”

Palacios comforted his wife as she wiped tears from her eyes. “It’s hard seeing it in the daylight,” she said.

“It definitely is because it’s home,” her husband added. “It’s quiet, it’s peaceful here… Just to see it torn up, it’s obviously never going to look the same ever again.”

Nate Casey, 16, strummed his guitar as he sat in a lawn chair with his mother, Bridget Casey, in their driveway around 4 a.m. The entire second floor of their house was gone, and their garage was partially destroyed.

The home is in the 7800 block of Woodridge Drive, believed to be one of the areas hit hardest by the storm.

Nate said he was watching TV when the storm rolled through. “I just heard a loud crash and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, what are my brothers up to?’ I go look and I see the sky, and then I hear my brothers screaming from the room.”

Nate, a student at Downers Grove South, helped his mother get his three younger siblings to the basement. He grabbed some of his camping equipment and scout gear just to be safe before going down himself.

“I just can’t believe it happened, you know? It’s not something that you see too often or at all, and it’s just scary that everything just comes crashing in,” Nate said. “Something that I was happy to see, that was not broken, was my dad’s ashes, but there’s really nothing else. It’s all material, I’m still worried about the bearded dragon that’s stuck up there but we’re going to get him in the morning.”

He said he was waiting for the streets to be cleared so his aunt could get them.

“It’s been long,” Bridget Casey said as she pulled a blanket tighter around her shoulders. “Just trying to make sure that we can get everything taken care of, we have all the important stuff and waiting for the roads to be cleared enough so my sisters can come.”

Bridget Casey said she plans to live with her sister while their house gets repaired, though she doesn’t know how long that will take.

“I was just happy that everybody was OK,” she said.

A person who lives behind Casey, brought her some personal items, including pictures and her children’s birth certificates, that he found in his backyard. “That means the world to me,” she said. “They didn’t have to do that.”

Down the street, Donna Suchecki joined a few of her neighbors in a driveway around 3:30 a.m. They sipped wine and moonshine out of blue plastic cups and talked about the damage.

“It’s overwhelming, I think we’re … all of us are like, ‘Oh my God, this really happened.’ It’s kind of a dream, you see it on TV, you see shows, you see stuff like that on tornados and … then you come out here and you see the cops, you see the fire trucks and stuff and you’re just like, ‘Wow.’ … We got lucky, it could’ve been something really seriously,” Suchecki said.

Heaps of trees covered Suchecki’s front lawn, but “luckily nothing hit” the house, she said. Her fence was smashed under a tree, though she said it needed to be replaced anyway.

“When I see this in the morning tomorrow, we’ll deal with it when we have to,” Suchecki, 45, said.

Across the street, two cars sat untouched on a slab of cement where the garage once was. Suchecki said it was uprooted and tossed into the backyard, where it hit a power line, leaving the block without power.

A completely demolished home on Princeton Circle in Naperville’s Ranchview neighborhood Monday, June 21, 2021.
Rich Hein/Sun-Times
A completely demolished home on Princeton Circle in Naperville’s Ranchview neighborhood Monday, June 21, 2021.

“It could be worse,” said Suchecki. “It’s crazy to go through this, that’s a traumatic event.”

The tornado lifted debris 10,000 feet into the atmosphere, “a clearcut sign to us that we have a tornado of some significance,” said weather service meteorologist Matt Friedlein.

Based on the damage, the tornado’s wind speeds were likely between 111 and 135 mph, Friedlein said. Surveyors were inspecting damage Monday to confirm if other potential tornados hit areas including Aurora and Hobart, Indiana.

In Naperville, officials said they were still assessing the damage and checking on residents.

“Our first priority was making sure that the families were OK, but now we are moving on to handling the damage,” said Linda LaCloche, Naperville communications director.

“We have power outages in the area and have electrical teams checking on that. We also had some gas leaks reported, so Nicor Gas is going door to door to shut off all the gas lines.”

Crystal Porter was on her way home from her mother’s home in Joliet when she got a tornado warning alert. She said it took her five attempts to find a way to her home in the 2700 block of Everglade Avenue.

Ultimately, the retired military veteran had to move a tree to do so. After checking her dogs, Porter walked around the streets to assess the damage.

“I couldn’t believe it. I’ve lived here for 27 years and I’ve never seen trees come down here like this. Ever,” Porter said.

Porter noticed firefighters doing a search and rescue at a partially destroyed home and removing a cage filled with doves. With the owners not home, Porter grabbed a dog crate from her garage and rescued the birds.

“At least they’re not left out in the street,” she said.

Last year, a tornado touched down on Chicago’s North Side and traveled three miles into Lake Michigan. Winds of 110 mph took down trees and cut power to thousands, but no serious injuries were reported.

In 2015, five people were injured in a a tornado that hit Coal City, about 50 miles southwest of Chicago.

In 1990, the strongest tornado ever recorded in the Chicago area tore through Plainfield, killing 29 people and injuring more than 300. The twister cut a 15-mile swath on its way to Crest Hill.

Read More

‘Craziest 45 seconds of my life.’ Tornado tears through western suburbs, over 100 homes damaged, several people injuredJermaine Nolenon June 21, 2021 at 2:46 pm Read More »