The White Sox have the best record in baseball at 43-25 after taking two out of three against the Rays at Guaranteed Rate Field, but are they strong enough to stand pat with the July 30 trade deadline looming?

Should they go for the jugular instead regardless?

“I think it’s the expectation,” general manager Rick Hahn said. “You want to maximize your chances to win. … Chances to win are sacred, and we’re going to treat this one accordingly.”

But the Sox — aiming for multiple World Series shots in this championship window — will be careful not to give away the farm. Also, it would help to have a more complete picture of what they have to work with.

They know second baseman Nick Madrigal is out for the rest of the season. They know Eloy Jimenez, who tore a pectoral muscle in left field in spring training, has resumed baseball activities at the team’s complex in Arizona but won’t be ready to rejoin the Sox’ lineup until at least August. They know less than that about center fielder Luis Robert and the strained hip flexor that has kept him under wraps since early May 2.

“Over the course of this summer, for the next several weeks, we’re going to find out a lot more about what our own internal options are capable of doing,” Hahn said.

Hahn is “very optimistic” that both Jimenez and Robert will play again this season. For Jimenez, the biggest hurdle likely will be discomfort in the extension of his swing. For Robert, — who roams far, wide and ever so fast in the outfield — it’s about getting back up to full, unfettered running speed.

Whatever the Sox do, there’s going to be a great deal at stake.

“We’ve talked about it all along: making sure the juice is worth the squeeze,” Hahn said. “The juice this year may be a team that’s capable of winning it all, so that’s pretty big juice. Is the squeeze going to be worth it to increase those chances?”

Still a bit hamstrung

Reliever Michael Kopech threw a bullpen session Tuesday that had “a lot of positives to it,” according to manager Tony La Russa, but it’s still too soon to mark a return on the calendar. Kopech hasn’t pitched in a game since straining his left hamstring against the Cardinals on May 26.

“There’s just one little spot in his delivery where he feels it a little bit, and we’re not going to mess around,” Hahn said. “Until he feels 100% in his delivery, we’re just going to continue to treat and progress until we get there. But he’s in a good spot. There’s not long-term concern here.”

Rimshot, please

Overheard, Part 1: a fun, smart-alecky exchange between closer Liam Hendriks and Hahn as the latter prepared to give an on-camera interview with MLB Network near the Sox dugout.

“Don’t mess it up, Rick,” said Hendriks as he walked past.

“If I do, you can come in for the save, Liam,” Hahn replied.

Cheap-shot seats

Overheard, Part 2: a fan, seated in the 300 level just below the press box, giving himself the business after failing to catch a foul ball.

“I feel like a Cubs fan!” he shouted, drawing laughter from his neighbors.

ON DECK: SOX AT ASTROS

Thursday: Dylan Cease (5-2, 3.38 ERA) vs. Jose Urquidy (4-3, 3.77), 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH, 1000-AM.

Friday: Carlos Rodon (6-2, 1.89) vs. Luis Garcia (5-4, 2.98), 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH, 1000-AM.

Saturday: Lance Lynn (7-2, 1.51) vs. Framber Valdez (3-0, 1.42), 7:10 p.m., Fox-32, 1000-AM.

Sunday: Dallas Keuchel (6-1, 3.78) vs. Lance McCullers Jr. (3-1, 2.89), 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH, 1000-AM.

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Soldier Field will be at full capacity this season — and vaccinated fans won’t have to wear masks. Fans who are not vaccinated will be “encouraged” to wear masks.

The Bears made both expected developments official in a letter to season ticket-holders on Wednesday. In the letter, president/CEO Ted Phillips said Soldier Field will have hand sanitizer available and conduct deep cleaning and disinfecting of often-touched areas. Tailgating will return to parking lots.

The Bears also said that they’ll allow a very limited number of fans at training camp, which starts July 27 at Halas Hall. The Bears will give further information about how to get free tickets later this month.

The Bears will also hold their “Family Fest” practice on Aug. 3 at Soldier Field, as they did in the years before the pandemic.

A full Soldier Field was expected after Major League Baseball teams in Chicago did the same.

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As cases tumble and states reopen, the potential final stage in the U.S. campaign to vanquish COVID-19 is turning into a slog, with a worrisome variant gaining a bigger foothold and lotteries and other prizes failing to persuade some Americans to get vaccinated.

“The last half, the last mile, the last quarter-mile always requires more effort,” Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday.

While two of the states slammed hardest by the disaster, California and New York, celebrated their reopenings this week with fireworks and a multimillion-dollar drawing, hospitalizations in parts of Missouri are surging and cases are rising sharply in Texas, illustrating the challenges the country faces this summer.

One major concern is the highly contagious and potentially more severe delta variant of the coronavirus that originated in India. While health officials say the vaccines are effective against it, the fear is that it will lead to outbreaks in states with lower vaccination rates.

The delta variant has increased from 2.7% of all cases in May to 9.7% this month, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a call for governors on Monday, according to details provided by the Washington governor’s office.

At the same time, states are convening focus groups to better understand who is declining to get vaccinated, why, and how to convince them that getting the shot is the right thing to do.

“It’s a race between the vaccines going into people and the current or future variants,” said Kansas Health Secretary Dr. Lee Norman.

Average deaths and cases per day have plummeted 90% or more across the U.S. since the winter. But the picture is uneven.

In Texas, the rolling average of newly confirmed infections has climbed from about 1,000 per day on May 31 to nearly 2,000 this week.

A swath of Missouri is seeing a big rise in cases and hospitalizations as tourists eager to get out after being cooped up for a year make their way to popular destinations like Branson and Lake of the Ozarks. Health officials said more than 200 people were hospitalized with the virus in southwestern Missouri, nearly double the number at the start of May. The number of patients in intensive care units in the region has tripled.

Health experts cite two factors driving the surge there: the faster-spreading delta variant and a reluctance among residents to get vaccinated.

The U.S. is expected to fall short of President Joe Biden’s goal of dispensing at least one dose to 70% of American adults by July 4. The figure stands at about 65%.

Among the states that don’t expect to hit the goal are Kansas and Idaho. In Idaho, some counties have adult vaccination rates under 30%, said Elke Shaw-Tulloch, public health administrator for the state Department of Health and Welfare.

To increase vaccinations, several states are working to break up large shipments of vaccine into smaller lots, which can then be distributed to doctors’ offices. Health officials see primary care physicians as key to easing people’s concerns.

“People want to hear it from their doctor, their medical providers, people that they know and trust,” Norman said.

Big, splashy giveaways such as lotteries have gotten a lot of headlines and dispensed millions of dollars. In Maine, home of the outdoor wear company L.L. Bean, Bean gift cards were a big hit. But elsewhere, there has been skepticism about such programs.

Shaw-Tulloch said some businesses in Idaho had offered financial incentives for employees to get vaccinated but didn’t get many takers. Instead, she said, the key is making it easy to get a vaccine by turning it into part of a person’s “daily flow.”

Some people’s attitude is that “if a vaccine were to fall out of the sky and hit me in the arm, I’ll get it. But I’m not going to interrupt my busy daily life to make that effort and go in and get a vaccination,” she said.

She added: “That’s why we’re really focusing on walk-in clinics, pop-up clinics where, wherever they turn, there’s a place that’s easily available for getting the vaccine.”

Elsewhere around the world, there have been glimmers of hope, as India reopened the Taj Mahal amid a decline in new infections. In France, where virus cases are below 4,000 per day — down from 35,000 in the spring — authorities eased the requirements on wearing masks outdoors and said the nightly curfew will end this weekend.

“We have not known such a low level of virus spreading since last August,” Prime Minister Jean Castex said.

Meanwhile, South Africa imposed tighter restrictions on public gatherings and liquor sales as hospital admissions due to COVID-19 increased by 59% over the past two weeks, authorities said. New cases there have nearly doubled.

The recorded U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 600,000 on Tuesday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, it stands at 3.8 million, though both numbers are thought to be a significant undercount.

___

Associated Press writer Rachel La Corte contributed to this report.

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Get ready to pack the coolers, load up the grills and brush on the face paint.

Tailgating is set to make a return to Soldier Field parking lots this fall.

The Bears on Wednesday announced its plans to welcome back fans to Soldier Field at full capacity for the 2021 season as well as the return of other pregame festivities, including tailgating.

That means 61,500 fans will have an opportunity to pile into Soldier Field to watch Matt Nagy & Co. this season.

“Your patience and loyalty over the past 15 months is appreciated,” team president and CEO Ted Phillips said in an email to season-ticket holders. “We are thankful and humbled by the unwavering passion you have shared with us. Once again, it’s time to enjoy Bears football in-person!”

The Bears will continue the health and safety guidelines that were put in place last year amid the pandemic, according to the email. That includes deep cleanings of the stadium and constant sanitizing high-touchpoint areas, like railings and elevator buttons.

Fans will not be required to don masks, though unvaccinated people are encouraged to wear face coverings, which is in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

“The health and safety of our fans will remain our number one priority,” Phillips said.

Additional details and updates to guidelines will be made available closer to the season.

Fans have an opportunity to get a first look at the Bears this summer when training camp opens at Halas Hall in late July. It’ll be the first time fans will be at a Bears’ training camp in Lake Forest since 1983.

Information regarding a “very limited” number of free training camp tickets will be shared later this month, the team said. The Bears will also soon release information about a fan fest at Soldier Field scheduled for Aug. 3.

The news comes just two days after the Fire said Soldier Field would be open to full capacity, starting with their match against Atlanta United FC July 3. They joined the Cubs, White Sox and Sky, who’ve already lifted their capacity restrictions.

Bears fans responded enthusiastically to the news on social media.

The only thing that would make the news better (at least for some fans)? If the Bears would name first-round pick Justin Fields the team’s starting quarterback.

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WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve signaled Wednesday that it may act sooner than previously planned to start dialing back the low-interest-rate policies that have helped fuel a swift rebound from the pandemic recession but have also coincided with rising inflation.

The Fed’s policymakers forecast that they would raise their benchmark short-term rate — which affects many consumer and business rates, from mortgages to auto loans — twice by late 2023. They had previously estimated that no rate hike would occur before 2024.

But at a news conference after its latest policy meeting, Chair Jerome Powell sought to dispel any concerns that the Fed might be in a hurry to withdraw its economic support by making borrowing more expensive. The economy, Powell said, still hasn’t improved enough for the Fed to reduce the pace of its monthly purchases of Treasury and mortgage bonds. Those purchases have been intended to hold down long-term loan rates to encourage borrowing.

The Fed has said it will keep buying $120 billion a month in bonds until “substantial further progress” has been made toward its goals of maximum employment and inflation sustainably above 2%.

“We are a ways away from substantial further progress, we think,” Powell said Wednesday. “But we are making progress.”

For the same reason, the chairman said, it’s too early for Fed officials to discuss when they might raise their benchmark short-term rate from its record low near zero. But he did note that many of the policymakers think the central bank’s goals “will be met somewhat sooner than previously projected.”

In his remarks, Powell drew a mostly positive picture of the economy. The inflation spikes of the past two months, he said, will likely prove temporary, and hiring should accelerate through summer and into the fall as COVID-19 recedes further with increased vaccinations, schools and day care centers reopen, which will allow more parents to work, and supplemental federal aid for the jobless ends.

“There is every reason,” Powell said, “to think that we will be in a labor market with very attractive numbers, with low unemployment, high participation and rising wages across the spectrum.”

In its statement after the policy meeting ended, the Fed said it expects the pandemic to have a diminishing effect on the economy as vaccinations increase, thereby allowing for more growth.

“Progress on vaccinations has reduced the spread of COVID-19 in the United States,” it said. “Amid this progress and strong policy support, indicators of economic activity and employment have strengthened.”

The central bank raised its forecast for inflation to 3.4% by the end of this year, from 2.4% in its previous projection in March. Yet the officials foresee price increases remaining tame in the following two years.

Fed officials expect the economy to grow 7% this year, which would be the fastest calendar-year expansion since 1984. They project that growth will slow after that, to 3.3% in 2022 and 2.4% in 2023.

Soon after the Fed issued its statement Wednesday, U.S. stocks fell further from their record highs, and bond yields rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose from 1.48% to 1.55%.

The Fed is grappling with a dilemma: Inflation is rising much faster than it had projected earlier this year. And America’s increasingly vaccinated consumers are now comfortable venturing away from home to travel, go to restaurants and movie theaters and attend sporting events. Solid consumer spending is accelerating economic growth, and manufacturing and housing have significantly strengthened.

Yet hiring hasn’t picked up as much as expected. Monthly job growth has remained below the 1 million-a-month level that Powell had said in April he would like to see, though employers are clearly interested in hiring more, having posted a record number of available jobs.

Economists generally expect the Fed to continue discussing tapering its bond purchases and then — by late August or September — to outline specifically how and when it would begin. That would set the stage for a reduction in bond purchases to actually begin near the end of this year or in early 2022.

Last week, the government reported that inflation jumped to 5% in May compared with a year earlier — the largest 12-month spike since 2008. The increase was driven partly by a huge rise in used car prices, which have soared as shortages of semiconductors have slowed vehicle production. Sharply higher prices for car rentals, airline tickets, and hotel rooms were also major factors, reflecting pent-up demand as consumers shift away from the large goods purchases many of them had made while stuck at home to spending on services.

Prices for such services, which had tumbled at the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak, are now regaining pre-pandemic levels. With more people gradually returning to work in person, the reopening of the economy has also forced up prices for clothing. Yet such price increases may not last.

Another key consideration for the Fed is whether inflation persists long enough to affect the public’s behavior. If Americans begin to expect price increases, those expectations can trigger a self-fulfilling cycle as workers demand higher wages, which, in turn, can lead their employers to keep raising prices to offset their higher labor costs.

So far, bond yields and consumer surveys suggest that while higher inflation is expected in the short term, investors and most of the public expect only modest price gains in the long run. Powell has long maintained that the public’s perceptions of future inflation evolve only slowly.

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The fate of Arlington International Racecourse has been narrowed down to a list of potential buyers for the storied suburban track.

Churchill Downs Inc. closed its bidding period for Arlington on Tuesday, with representatives for the horse racing-turned-gambling corporation saying only that it received “strong proposals from numerous parties” interested in taking over the 93-year-old oval.

Arlington Heights Mayor Thomas Hayes said Wednesday he’d met with “less than 10” possible bidding groups before the deadline, and only one of those, led by former Arlington Park president Roy Arnold, has gone public with an offer that promises to keep the horses running beyond Sept. 25.

A spokesman for Churchill Downs declined to say how many proposals were submitted. The corporation said it would “provide an update on the sale process at the appropriate time in the coming weeks.”

The bids could mark the final turn for horse racing at Arlington, one of Illinois’ three remaining racetracks — an outcome few predicted two years ago when Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a massive gambling expansion into law that allows tracks to install slot machines and casino table games.

Churchill Downs stunned the state’s foundering horse racing industry in the summer of 2019 when the corporation announced it wouldn’t make Arlington a “racino” as it had long fought to do.

That was viewed as the ultimate stab in the back by the horse owners and trainers who run at the track, and who have accused the corporation of trying to stifle competition against the other nearby gambling house owned by Churchill Downs: Rivers Casino in Des Plaines.

After denying reports the track would be put up for sale, Churchill Downs officially put Arlington on the block in February. The Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association has since urged Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office to open an antitrust investigation into the corporation for alleged “efforts to neutralize the threat of major gaming competition.”

The only bidding group to publicize their proposal says they’d turn Arlington into a racino “consistent with the intent” of the state’s gambling expansion — and keep the ponies running well into the future.

Sun-Times file

The group led by Arnold, a hospitality consultant who served as president of Arlington from 2006-11, also includes the Loop development firm Sterling Bay and other “high net worth individuals,” he said.

“We have the capital and the passion to make thoroughbred racing work at Arlington Park,” Arnold said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing the legacy that is Arlington.”

Their bid for the 326-acre plot also calls for a mid-size arena “suitable to host a minor league hockey team,” plus an entertainment district, a 300-unit housing development and 60 acres of industrial space.

Arnold declined to disclose their offer price.

Other bidders remain unknown, but the highest profile dark-horse candidate might still be in the race: the Chicago Bears.

Representatives for the team — who have conspicuously declined to quash suggestions the team could make a move to the northwest suburbs — did not respond to requests for comment on whether the team or anyone in its ownership group made an offer for Arlington.

Hayes, the suburban mayor, said a Bears bid “remains a possibility because neither they nor anyone else has told me it’s not going to happen.”

“Until someone tells me that, I’m going to consider it on the table,” Hayes said. “A professional sports team would be exciting. Even if they were to come, you’d see some other redevelopment prospects as well.”

Village Board members passed an ordinance in May barring certain uses for the property, including warehouses, distribution facilities, gas stations, “adult uses and other things that are not befitting our community and the legacy of the property,” said Hayes, who added that keeping horse racing alive remains a priority for him.

“Arlington Park has been a big part of our community for almost 100 years. We have a horse head on our village flag. It’s a huge part of our community from an image, an attraction and an employment standpoint,” he said. “We want to see it put to its highest and best use.”

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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 sunny with a high near 76 degrees. Tonight will be mostly clear with a low around 56. Tomorrow will be mostly sunny with a high near 91.

Top story

Pritzker makes Juneteenth a state holiday, an ‘essential step in our journey toward justice’

Following Chicago and Cook County, Illinois has made June 19 — known as Juneteenth — a state holiday.

In addition to signing a bill today commemorating the date the last slaves were freed in Texas in 1865, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the state will fly a Juneteenth flag to honor the date every year starting Saturday.

“These advancements are yet another essential step in our journey toward justice,” the governor said. “With this new law, no longer can a child grow up in Illinois without learning about Juneteenth in school. With this change, the people of Illinois will have a day to reflect on how the freedom that we celebrate just two weeks later, on the Fourth of July, was delayed to Black Americans and in many ways is delayed still.”

Pritzker urged Illinoisans to learn more about the history of Juneteenth, a 1908 race riot in Springfield and the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People as the holiday approaches.

The governor said he hopes that will help residents understand “the reasons why our beloved dream of freedom and opportunity for all is not yet truly, fully realized.”

Pritzker was joined by Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and state legislators at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum for the signing of House Bill 3992, which creates the Juneteenth National Freedom Day.

The governor signed the bill near a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln. That 1863 document freed slaves in Confederate states.

Read Rachel Hinton’s full story here.

More news you need

1. The terrible toll of the mass shooting in Englewood yesterday could be felt through reactions from the victims’ friends and family. Many expressed pain and anguish over the loss of loved ones in the shooting that left four dead and another four wounded.
2. Celia Meza, the first Hispanic woman ever to serve as Chicago’s corporation counsel, vowed today to improve the Law Department’s dismal record of minority hiring and speed compliance. Meza also sparred with Ald. Jason Ervin over whether she could effectively represent both the mayor and City Council at the same time despite their occasionally divergent interests.
3. A security guard has been released from custody after police said he shot a man during an argument near Grant Park last weekend. The state’s attorney’s office and the Chicago Park District, which employs guards in the area of the shooting, did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
4. James “Jim” Buckner, a longtime dentist and soccer coach in Chicago who also ran a number of businesses, died earlier this month at age 86. Buckner also served as president of the Chicago Urban League, for which he lobbied to get more Black workers into the building trades.
5. Someone tagged one of the Art Institute of Chicago lions with spray paint last night. A museum spokeswoman said the Art Institute’s conservation team was working to remove the damage.
6. The Bronzeville-based South Side Community Art Center will celebrate its 80th anniversary as a home for Black creatives tomorrow. Our Evan F. Moore spoke with officials from the center about its legacy and future.

A bright one

CPS grad Roshaan Khalid barely spoke English 5 years ago. He is headed to Princeton on a full ride this fall.

To say Roshaan Khalid’s had a difficult transition when he moved 7,000 miles to Chicago five years ago from Pakistan is putting it mildly: When Khalid enrolled in eighth grade in Chicago Public Schools, he knew little English and wasn’t sure how he’d be able to learn much.

“The whole [school] system was different. I wasn’t fluent in English, so that was a challenge,” Khalid, 18, says now. “I couldn’t understand my teachers, so I spent more time on my studies.”

Khalid ended up studying so hard that he not only aced his classes at West Ridge Elementary and later Mather High School, he was accepted to the Ivy Leagues. This fall he will head to Princeton University, where he won a full scholarship and plans to major in computer science.

Brian Rich/Sun-Times

“What’s amazing is that he’s had a very difficult life, and he’s worked so hard to get to this point,” said Paige Stenzel, Khalid’s high school counselor for three years. “The universe is just going to open up for him.”

Khalid graduated Saturday. He is the salutatorian of his class.

Read Nina Molina’s full story for more on how Roshaan discovered his love for computers and earned an Ivy League scholarship.

From the press box

Your daily question ?

How do you feel about the city and state making Juneteenth an official holiday?

Email us (please include your first name and where you live) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

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 did you enjoy the first weekend in Chicago without pandemic restrictions in over a year? Here’s what some of you said…

“Mass Effect trilogy. Nothing has come close for the story, an excellent RPG with FPS elements.” — Daniel Schleier

“Fallout: New Vegas. It’s been out for over a decade, yet I keep returning to it. I swear that it is the one thing that got me through grad school as a coping mechanism. F:NV has some of my favorite, albeit ultra-specific, themes: nostalgia for a time you never existed in, unique and varied interpretations of history’s heroes and villains, and the anxieties of nuclear destruction.” — Colee Wong

“Goldeneye 007 for N64. We used to do bets and play for hours, good ol’ days.” — Kenneth Lopez

“Super Mario World for sure. It is a timeless classic.” — CJ Morgan

“Defender from the early 80s. The whole concept was awesome for the time, flying around and shooting the landers before they picked up the people, or they would turn into mutants!” — Seth Dominick

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

Sign up here to get the Afternoon Edition in your inbox every day.

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Jacqueline Creekmore fired a gun at her husband after finding him in a car with another woman a few weeks ago, Cook County prosecutors said Wednesday.

No one was injured in that incident.

But when Creekmore fired at Kevin Neely again on Monday morning, she didn’t miss, Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin DeBoni said.

Before he took his last breath, Neely, 43, made a “dying declaration,” telling responding Chicago police officers his wife shot him in Englewood, DeBoni said.

Neely, who was shot in his chest and thigh, died after he was transported to University of Chicago Medical Center.

Creekmore, 44, was charged with Neely’s murder after she was taken into custody at her home later that day, DeBoni said.

The couple had a history of domestic disputes over Neely’s alleged infidelity.

But it was not immediately clear what led to the deadly shooting, DeBoni said.

Earlier on Sunday night, Neely was hanging out in a front porch drinking and smoking marijuana with Creekmore and others. At some point, he gave the gun Creekmore eventually used to shoot him to another person at the gathering, asking her “to hang on to it,” DeBoni said.

That person “wasn’t comfortable” holding the gun and gave it to Creekmore, DeBoni said.

By 2:30 a.m. Monday, Neely and Creekmore were left alone on the porch, DeBoni said.

Chicago police

A surveillance camera later recorded Neely’s car from a distance as it stopped at 73rd Street and Wentworth Avenue about two hours later. The footage showed the passenger door open slightly before the car “sped in a complete circle in the intersection” and crashed into a light pole, DeBoni said.

Neely and Creekmore were seen getting out of the car and arguing before Neely got into the driver’s seat, DeBoni said.

A witness heard Neely ask Creekmore if “she was going to grab the gun” and saw her with the gun before the shooting, DeBoni said. Another witness allegedly heard the shots and then heard Neely say he had been shot.

When Creekmore fired the gun three times before firing a fourth shot about a minute later, the shots were picked up by a ShotSpotter gunshot-detection system, DeBoni said.

Creekmore walked away and Neely tried to drive off before he crashed into a fence at Periwinkle Park in the 6500 block of South Perry Avenue, DeBoni said. Neely then collapsed after walking to a nearby porch.

An officer’s body-worn camera recorded Neely giving the officer Creekmore’s first name and saying she had shot him.

Creekmore was the victim of abuse by Neely — “a violent individual” who had served time in prison, an assistant public defender told Judge Mary Marubio Wednesday.

Creekmore, a home healthcare aide, has no previous criminal background, the defense attorney added.

Marubio ordered Creekmore held without bail.

Creekmore is expected back in court July 7.

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It gives one pause when one finds oneself on the same page as Matt Nagy. The Bears head coach has made a number of odd/bad decisions the past few years, many of them having to do with the offense, so the instinct is to go in the opposite direction of whichever way he’s headed.

The page that Nagy and I have landed on says, in bold letters, that there is zero reason to have rookie Justin Fields as the Bears’ starting quarterback when the season opens Sept. 12. I took it a step further last month, declaring that Fields and the franchise would be better off if he spent the entire season learning as a backup to Andy Dalton. This has earned me a good amount of condemnation, and I have alternated between wearing a scarlet letter A (for Andy) and mourning clothes when in public, such is my shame and sadness.

I’m glad Nagy is being smart about this and not giving in to the raging public sentiment that Fields is the savior who will deliver the Bears from their long, painful quarterback poverty. When the team traded up to take the Ohio State star with the 11^th pick overall in this year’s draft, fans and media reacted in a way that suggested an armored truck had spilled its contents in front of them.

Believe me, I get it. Or at least I get some of it. The logic goes like this: Fields was a fine college quarterback. The Bears need a quarterback. Therefore Fields should be the starting quarterback in Week 1.

The argument against it, also using logic, is WHAT’S THE BLEEPING RUSH?

Nobody gets hurt by being prudent — OK, not exactly a slogan for a marketing campaign. And, yes, we all understand how rookie contracts work and the importance of getting as much out of a would-be star before he’s in line for a massive pay raise. But if the goal is what’s best for the kid and the franchise, making sure he’s absolutely ready for the job is the right way to go. I’ve seen many more unprepared young quarterbacks than I have built-for-the-moment young quarterbacks.

Nothing in OTAs or minicamps is going to tell the Bears that Fields is ready. No amount of receivers’ rhapsodic quotes about the welcoming properties of a beautifully thrown ball from Fields is going to change that. There’s a chance Nagy will see more from the kid in training camp. Two thoughts: A) That would be great and B) He should resist the temptation to go back on his plan to start Dalton.

There is little downside to having Fields watch for a while or even for a season, unless you consider having to watch a mediocre Dalton a massive downer of a downside. I get that, too. You’re in it for the entertainment value, and how much more exciting could an athletic 22-year-old quarterback be than a 33-year-old quarterback with a career passer rating of 87.5?

But entertainment value shouldn’t be the criteria here. Readiness and what’s best for the Bears long term should be.

The Start Justin Fields Now crowd doesn’t like when Patrick Mahomes’ path to stardom is brought up, possibly because it’s too neat and tidy, and possibly because, as an argument, it resembles a slam-dunk. But Nagy was on Kansas City’s coaching staff when Mahomes was a rookie in 2017 and saw it firsthand. Alex Smith started 15 games at quarterback that season, and Mahomes started one (when the Chiefs chose to rest Smith before the playoffs). The next season, Mahomes was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.

That’s not an example of cause and effect. No one can know how Mahomes would have played if he had been a full-time starter as a rookie. What we do know is how the Chiefs’ approach to their young quarterback worked out: pretty good, if you consider a Super Bowl title in Mahomes’ third season pretty good. Learning in the background can do wonders.

The risk of starting a young quarterback too soon is greater than the risk of not starting him and missing out on a year of excellence. I’d call that common sense, but I know there are too many other factors involved than a common-sense approach. With his job in jeopardy after two 8-8 seasons, will Nagy feel pressure to get Fields on the field? Will general manager Ryan Pace feel that same pressure? Will the franchise feel pressure to inject energy and panache into what has been a dull product?

It would be silly to suggest that those things won’t play a role this season. But Nagy’s first instinct is the right one: Let Fields watch and learn for a while, perhaps for a longer while than the fan base and media would like. Then we can watch a fully prepared Fields. Then we might learn what it’s like when a good quarterback takes the field for the Bears. Finally.

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The first Hispanic woman ever to serve as Chicago’s corporation counsel vowed Wednesday to improve the Law Department’s dismal record of minority hiring and speed compliance with a consent decree guiding federal court oversight of the Chicago Police Department.

Celia Meza was Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s counsel and senior ethics advisor when the mayor promoted her to replace Corporation Counsel Mark Flessner, who was forced out in the political fallout from the police raid on the home of social worker Anjanette Young.

At the time, Lightfoot claimed not to know about Flessner’s attempts to block WBBM-TV (Channel 2) from airing bodycam video of the raid, which showed a crying, naked Young repeatedly asking officers what was going on as they continued to search her home. Police, it turns out, had raided the wrong address.

During Wednesday’s confirmation hearing before the City Council’s Committee on Budget and Government Operations, Black Caucus Chairman Jason Ervin (28th) asked Meza how she could possibly provide legal representation to the mayor and the City Council when the two groups, at times, have divergent interests.

“You serve at the pleasure of the mayor. … How do we, as City Council, get assurance that our issues, our concerns can be adequately addressed by someone who serves at the pleasure of someone else?” Ervin said.

Meza vowed to “maintain the interest of the corporate entity at all times.” If the mayor’s legal needs ever run counter to those of aldermen, Meza said she would be the “first to authorize” counsel for “whoever needs representation.”

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That wasn’t enough to satisfy Ervin. He wants aldermen to have their own legal counsel.

“Why not create a situation where that representation already exists — especially in an environment where members of our body may not feel that the corporation counsel truly can effectively represent them with the guillotine hanging over your head,” Ervin said.

Meza stood her ground.

“I guarantee you I can effectively represent you. Theoretically in my career, there’s always been a guillotine over my head. At any given point, the client can decide they don’t want you,” she said.

“Should you guys, the Council, have your own own representation or somebody similar to the mayor’s counsel role that I had? By all means. I’d recommend that we hire a Latina and/or an African-American to do so. But, like everything else in this city, we run on what’s available in the budget.”

As the first Latina ever to serve as corporation counsel, Meza is more sensitive than her predecessors to the need to diversify the Law Department’s 295 staffers, most of them attorneys.

She got her start as law clerk for Alan Page, the former Bears and Vikings defensive end who went on to serve as chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.

“I have tasked individuals with providing me with up to date statistics on the number of diverse attorneys and hires we have in the department — the diversity percentage of our outside counsel and the diversity of any retained experts,” she said.

“The Law Department must do better. Not can. Must.”

Meza noted she and an African American were the only minority law clerks who worked for the Minnesota Supreme Court. Both were hired by Page, who is now retired.

“It is up to those individuals in charge of hiring to make the change that is needed. There are qualified minority candidates to be hired. And the individuals responsible for doing so must make it their priority to make that hiring happen,” she said.

“Justice Page did that for me. And I have made it my personal mission to do that for others.”

The promise to improve minority hiring was music to the ears of Ald. Howard Brookins (21st), an attorney specializing in criminal defense.

“After I talked to her, I’m sure she meant that they `shall’ do better,” Brookins said.

“We’ve been fighting with the corporation counsels in the past … [about] how there’s been a paltry amount of African-American and Latino representation in the Law Department for both summer internships and attorney positions. … I look forward to helping her recruit and retain qualified African-American applicants.”

Meza accepted the “correction” from Brookins.

“I shall do better,” she said.

As for CPD’s slow walk toward consent decree compliance, Meza said speeding up the process is of “utmost importance.” That’s why the Law Department has two attorneys — and soon will hire a third — to “handle all matters related to the consent decree.”

Indicted Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11th) was “glad to hear that.”

He pointed to “the millions of dollars that we spend each year in settlements and lawsuits, a lot of that being the police department.”

“The consent decree is absolutely critical. I’m glad to hear that commitment that you have to staying on that, making sure that we’re meeting the document production. Making sure that we’re doing the reforms that we need,” he said.

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