If the Prairie State coal plant owned by municipal utilities in Winnetka, Naperville, Batavia and other towns is forced to shut down, it would be the end for a big source of air pollution.

After more than a decade of controversy, a move to force the closing of a Southern Illinois coal plant owned by municipal utilities in Winnetka, Naperville, Batavia and dozens of other towns across the state is one of the final sticking points in Springfield over a major energy bill.

If the Prairie State plant is forced to shut down by 2035, as Illinois legislators have proposed, it would begin the final chapter of a saga that led to the construction of one of the country’s last new coal plants, one that became a major source of air pollution.

“Prairie State, by itself, makes up a significant portion of the power-sector emissions in our state,” says J.C. Kibbey, a clean energy advocate for Natural Resources Defense Council in Illinois.

Beside being dirty, the plant left the operators of some locally owned electric utilities in the Chicago area furious over unfulfilled promises of competitive prices. In exchange for the guarantee of reliable power with predictable pricing, the utilities took ownership in the massive plant, signing up for decades of debt.

If the plant is forced to close, they, as owners, will have to continue repaying the debt even as they have to find and pay for replacement sources of electricity that could lead to much higher electricity bills.

Over the past week, the plant emerged as an obstacle to passage of key energy legislation in Springfield, a bill that would include an expansion of subsidies for nuclear plants, more funding for renewable energy projects and a ramping-up of climate targets that would include a phaseout of coal power.

Going beyond a May 31 deadline to finish their work, lawmakers are trying to find a way to respond to concerns about the financial ramifications of closing Prairie State.

Environmental advocates say the state can’t afford to let the plant continue to operate if Illinois is to meet climate goals. Lawmakers backed by environmental groups are considering a state bailout of more than $600 million of three Exelon nuclear plants.

Tensions are high because many participants see past clean energy legislation as having fallen short of promises.

Prairie State has been the single biggest source of carbon dioxide emissions in Illinois, 12.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2019, the most recent year for which federal data are available. The plant ranks ninth in the country for carbon dioxide releases.

No other power plant in the state comes close to Prairie State’s emissions. And most of the other coal-fired plants already are scheduled to close, including all five plants owned by Vistra Corp, which has said it will shut them down by 2027.

“It’s not particularly a surprise that this plant wasn’t going to live out a typical lifespan,” says Emily Grubert, an energy systems researcher at Georgia Tech.

The plant’s combination of high emissions and high costs means it’s difficult to justify keeping it open, Grubert says.

It cost about $5 billion for construction, including about $1 billion in cost overruns.

Prairie State, which began operating in 2012, was one one of the last large, coal-fired power plants built in the United States before market forces shifted against coal because other sources of electricity — like natural gas, wind and solar energy — were becoming less expensive and because of the rising likelihood that the state or federal government would pass stricter emissions limits.

Among this last generation of coal-fired electric plants, Prairie State is in a category of its own because it initially was developed by a coal company, Peabody Energy. The idea was to buy coal from an adjacent mine, with Peabody selling the electricity through long-term contracts with municipalities and rural electric cooperatives that might have been less well equipped to assess the risks than large energy companies would be.

The plant’s customers and co-owners include about 200 communities in a footprint that stretches from Missouri to Virginia. In the Chicago area, they also include Geneva and St. Charles.

Environmental advocates warned early on that Prairie State was almost certain to be an environmental and financial disaster.

Provided

The Illinois Municipal Utilities Association, a trade group for utilities that signed up with Prairie State, says the state still needs coal “until technology can support fully renewable energy.”

The plant’s customers have paid prices nearly double the equivalent prices they’d have paid in regional markets, according to an analysis last year by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, which does research to advocate for a transition to clean energy. Prairie State customers are paying down billions of dollars in principal and interest on the bonds used to buy their ownership shares.

“The power from the plant is way too expensive and is causing financial hardship for the communities,” says Sandy Buchanan, executive director of the institute.

Buchanan previously was executive director of Ohio Citizen Action, a role in which she warned local government officials in the 2000s of the risks of investing in the plant.

Prairie State Generating Co. executives say they’re committed to providing “reliable and environmentally responsible electric power..”

“Prairie State and its owners have been engaged with lawmakers for years about how to ensure the best path forward,” company spokeswoman Alyssa Harre says in a written statement.

In 2007, Naperville signed a deal with Prairie State for electricity that ends in 2035, which is also the schedule for paying off the bonds. So closing the plant by that date would have less of an impact than it would on, say, Batavia, which took one of the biggest stakes in the coal plant.

Batavia is on the hook until 2042 to keep paying off the debt it incurred through bond sales to buy in to Prairie State. Batavia officials are unhappy with the deal struck years ago. But they say any legislative mandate to close the plant should also include provisions to help the governments that would be affected.

Even if the plant is closed, local utilities are on the hook for millions of dollars a year in bond debt, says Laura Newman, Batavia’s city administrator.

“We tried to get out,” Newman says, referring to past legal attempts to be freed from the agreement. “We left no stone unturned to find out if we can undo this.”

For the city of Rochelle, about 80 miles west of Chicago, a benefit of having a contract with Prairie State has been that it kept electricity rates predictable, according to Jeff Fiegenschuh, the city manager there.

If the state forces the shutdown of Prairie State, Rochelle wants state compensation for its costs because it can’t spread its expenses over a large customer base the way larger utilities can, according to Fiegenschuh.

“We are in favor of more renewables, no question about it,” he says of transitioning to renewable energy sources. “But we participated in this project for electricity reliability and long-term stability.”

Brett Chase’s reporting on the environment and public health is made possible by a grant from The Chicago Community Trust.

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‘He told our stories,’ actor Edward James Olmos says of the Chicago writer of corridos some called the ‘Chicano Woody Guthrie.’

Jesus “Chuy” Negrete composed hundreds of corridos — Mexican folk ballads.

“Some people used to say he was the Mexican Bob Dylan,” said U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, D-Ill., for whom he once wrote a corrido urging people to vote for him for mayor of Chicago.

Others “called him the Chicano Woody Guthrie,” said actor Edward James Olmos, a friend who said Mr. Negrete “was like a brother” to him.

“His ability to make you laugh and make you cry was superb,” Olmos said. “He told our stories.”

Mr. Negrete, 72, died May 27 of congestive heart failure at Glenbrook Hospital in Glenview, according to his wife Rita Rousseau.

He would write his ballads for any occasion. He composed one in 1983 for the funeral of slain Chicago activist Rudy Lozano.

“Your death has not been in vain,” he sang. “The ideas you left are in my hands. . . . Your people continue with you.”

Al Seib / Sun-Times file

Another, ”La Tragedia de Tucson” told the story of the 2011 mass shooting in Arizona in which six people were killed and more wounded, including former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords.

A folklorist and folksinger, the Rogers Park resident was a teacher and administrator at Chicago–area schools. But he traveled widely, using his guitar and harmonica to share stories of Mexican history.

“He was an educator of the highest extreme,” Olmos said. “He would go to prisons. He would go to schools. He would go to universities.”

In 1988, Mr. Negrete sang at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Hispanic Heritage Week celebration.

He’d often perform for prospective students at the University of Houston. After listening to his stories and songs of pride and resilience, many enrolled, said Lorenzo Cano, retired associate director of the school’s Center for Mexican American Studies.

“That kind of sewed it up for a lot of students,” Cano said.

In 1993, the Tucson Citizen described college audiences cheering as Mr. Negrete shouted: “You are Olmeca, Tolteca, Azteca, Chichimeca! You are Mestizo!”

He told students there that, in pre-Columbian days, “We were architects, engineers, mathematicians, botanists, surgeons, philosophers. Yeah, we had a lot going for us, not just frijoles and tortillas.”

Barry Jarvinen / Sun-Times file

“He sang these corridos he wrote, walking you through 500 years of history,” said Sarah Zenaida Gould, interim executive director of the Mexican American Civil Rights Institute in San Antonio. “It was a story of colonial power, a story of oppression, but also a story of resistance and resilience. I suspect his performances were part of many Mexican American university students’ political awakening.

“He was actually the very first person to explain my middle name to me,” Gould said of the name that’s been handed down for generations. “In Mexico, ‘Zenaida’ is part of a resistance corrido associated with the Mexican Revolution.”

“Chuy Negrete introduced thousands of people to the history and the experience of Chicanos in the U.S. through his innovative delivery of corrido ballads and bilingual storytelling, which were at once humorous and deeply critical of our society,” said Juan Díes, co-founder of the Sones de Mexico ensemble. “Chuy’s legacy will be reaching scores of young Latinos who felt lost in American society.”

Garcia said he met the folksinger in 1974 while attending what’s now called the University of Illinois at Chicago. Mr. Negrete worked at the Rafael Cintron Ortiz Latino Cultural Center there and “always had his guitar in his office and his ranchero hat,” the congressman said.

People often asked him to compose corridos about their loved ones for funerals. He wrote and performed the elegies for free.

Mr. Negrete’s more lighthearted ballads might name-dropped a local personality or describe “a love story or an elder lecturing you about your bad Spanish,” Garcia said. “He was masterful at the Spanglish idiom, and he would always make people laugh.”

Mr. Negrete was born in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, the only boy of five children of Melesia and Bernardo Negrete. When he was a year old, the Negretes undertook a perilous crossing of the Rio Grande into the United States.

His mother “told us they got in a little boat with us kids, and she was worried the boat would tip over,” he once told the Chicago Tribune.

His parents toiled as migrant workers, his wife said, before his father landed a job at Republic Steel. They settled in South Chicago.

Young Chuy graduated from Chicago Vocational High School and got a bachelor’s degree in education at UIC and a master’s in education from Chicago State University. He was a bilingual teacher for the Chicago Public Schools and a teaching assistant at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He worked in Chicano studies at Malcolm X College. He also taught as an adjunct faculty member at what was then Robert Morris College, Roosevelt University, Indiana University Northwest in Gary and the University of California, Berkeley, according to his wife.

His music was influenced by the civil rights movement and by California’s El Teatro Campesino, which started with farm workers performing street skits to dramatize their struggles. Later, Luis Valdez, the theater’s artistic director, created “Zoot Suit,” a stage sensation that incorporated Mexican American history and indigeneous symbolism. Olmos’ career took flight after he starred in the play.

In the 1970s Mr. Negrete helped found Teatro del Barrio, often performing in the street theater troupe with three of his sisters. Its musical presentations included one on the women of the Mexican Revolution and another about Cesar Chavez, the labor leader who fought for better conditions for farm workers.

They performed at culture festivals, including one staged at the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon near Mexico City, according to his sister Rosa Negrete Livieri.

His work on the road led to his friendship with Olmos.

Later, Mr. Negrete performed with Livieri and others in the group Flor y Canto — Flower and Song.

In 1988, he met his future wife at the National Museum of Mexican Art. He was moving from exhibit to exhibit, singing.

“He caught my eye, and I followed him,” she said. “And I caught his eye, and he said, ‘Stick around.’ ”

Both were in their 40s and had never married.

“We were thrilled to find each other,” Rousseau said.

In addition to his wife and his sister Rosa, Mr. Negrete is survived by his sons Joaquin and Lucas Negrete-Rousseau and sisters Martha N. Bustos, Juanita Negrete-Phillips and Santa Negrete-Perez.

A memorial service is being planned for the fall at the National Museum of Mexican Art.

“He could wind you up, are you kidding me?” Olmos said. “Tell you stories about the revolution and the difficulties of what had been done to the people, our ancestors, our culture, his guitar never stopping. He was a real troubadour.”

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An 18-year-old boy was killed after he got into an argument with a male in the 6700 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue.

A person was killed and five others wounded Thursday in shootings across Chicago, including four teenagers 18 or younger.

In the day’s only fatal attack, a 18-year-old man was killed in a shooting with a male who returned fire Thursday night in Park Manor.

About 8:50 p.m., the teen got into an argument with a male in the 6700 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue, Chicago police said.

The male took out a handgun and threatened the teen who also took out a handgun and began shooting, police said. The male then returned fire striking the teen in the abdomen, police said.

The male fled the scene and the teen was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said. His name hasn’t been released.

In other shootings, a 15-year-old girl was critically wounded in a shooting on Lake Shore Drive Thursday night.

The teen girl was traveling in a vehicle with her relatives about 11:45 p.m. in the 500 block of Lake Shore Drive, police said. They were stopped at a red light and as the light turned green someone inside a red Ford Expedition began firing shots at their vehicle.

One of her relatives told officers they did not interact or had any altercations with the people inside the Ford, according to police.

The girl was struck in the stomach and her relative took her to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, police said. She was later transfered in critical condition to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.

A 17-year-old boy was wounded in a shooting in Archer Heights on the Southwest Side.

The boy was traveling in his vehicle in the 5000 block of South Pulaski Road about 8:25 p.m. when he heard several shots and felt pain, police said.

He suffered a graze wound to the head and was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital where his condition was stabilized, police said. He was unable to provide any further details on the incident, according to police.

Minutes earlier, 36-year-old man was shot in Washington Park on the South Side.

Just after 8 p.m., the man was inside a vehicle parked on the street in the 5600 block of South Wabash Avenue when someone shot him in the left hip, police said.

He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in fair condition, according to police.

Thursday morning, a 14-year-old boy was shot in the foot in Lawndale on the West Side.

Two gunmen in their 20s exited a gray car and one of them opened fire about 7:50 a.m. in the 3900 block of West Fillmore Street, near Pulaski Road, according to Chicago police.

The boy was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition, police said. The gunmen left in the car and were not in custody.

In the day’s first reported shooting, man was shot during a robbery on the Near North Side.

About 2:10 a.m., the man, who is between 20 and 30-years-old, was walking in the 500 block of North Wabash Avenue, when he was approached by a male who demanded his personal belongings, Chicago police said. The man complied, and the robber attempted to run away.

The man gave chase and the robber fired several shots before getting into a silver sedan, police said. The man was struck once in the hip and brought to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where his condition was stabilized.

Thirteen people were shot, 2 fatally, Wednesday in Chicago.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

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The teen got into an argument with a male Thursday in the 6700 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue.

A 18-year-old man was killed in a shooting with a male who returned fire Thursday night in Park Manor.

About 8:50 p.m., the teen got into an argument with a male in the 6700 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue, Chicago police said.

The male took out a handgun and threatened the teen who also took out a handgun and began shooting, police said. The male then returned fire striking the teen in the abdomen, police said.

The male fled the scene and the teen was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

His name hasn’t been released.

No one is in custody as Area One detectives investigate.

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Moon Alert

There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The moon is in Aries.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

You have a strong need to communicate lately, which might be prompted by the fact that once again, you’re in touch with old friends and relatives. Nevertheless, you are restless and taking short trips. (Again?) Look for ways to bounce your ideas off someone.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

You have money on your mind — cash flow, earnings, assets, and, of course, your possessions. In fact, you’re thinking lot about this right now. Today things are nicely balanced in your mind because some behind-the-scenes news or research makes you feel better. Good.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

Today everything is pretty copacetic. The sun is in your sign dancing nicely with the moon in Aries. (It’s a friendly combo.) Naturally, with Mercury retrograde taking place in your own sign, things are frustrating. Silly errors and misplaced items! Oy! Courage. This is small potatoes.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Even though you’re happy to take a backseat at the moment, Venus and Mars are both in your sign pushing you to be sociable, friendly and physically active with others — even competitive! The main thing is Venus will smooth all your relations with everyone.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)

You want to socialize with others, especially people who are far way or different. In part, this is because you want the stimulation of talking to someone fascinating as well as a chance to learn something new and expand your world. Smart choice.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

With the sun still at high noon in your chart casting you in a flattering spotlight, you are unstoppable! Go after what you want because you look good to others, especially bosses and VIPs. Timing is everything. That’s why now is the time to make your pitch.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

It’s Friday and this is a great day to schmooze with everyone! Be prepared to go more than halfway when dealing with others because the moon is opposite your sign. (Aries and Libra are 180 degrees opposite.) Make sure that whatever you do is stimulating and a tad adventurous. Hmmm?

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Do yourself a favor. It’s the end of the week and the planetary energy right now will help you to finish some kind of job or project, perhaps related to your work or some financial matters. Whatever the case, do what you can to get this stuff off your plate. Just do it.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

It’s Friday and you’re in a playful mood! Enjoy fun times with kids, sports activities and entertaining diversions. Ex partners might be back in the picture, which could complicate things — or not. Your breezy style will probably take everything in stride.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Be patient with partners and close friends because with Mars opposite your sign, it’s easy to be annoyed with someone. (Of course, they might be annoying!) You’ve been working hard, which is why you want to cocoon at home. It figures.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

TGIF! You’ve been in party mode this week and perhaps enthused about sports events or fun activities with kids. Romance is also looking cozy! That’s why today, you are eager to talk to others and get the latest scoop on what’s happening. (“Yeah, yeah, who wants to know?”)

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)

You have been strongly focused on home and family, in part because relatives might be in touch again. Today you are balancing money and how to handle your possessions and keep everyone happy. Fear not because you will you be able to do this. Why? You bring the magic!

If Your Birthday Is Today

Imprisoned Russian activist, lawyer Alexei Navalny (1976) shares your birthday. You have the charisma to be convincing and draw people to you. You are restless, versatile and lovable to others. You are also trustworthy and reliable. Domestic responsibility will be your theme this year, which is why you will be focused on your obligations to home, friends and family. Finances and romance look promising.

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Davies allowed four runs over 4 1⁄3 innings on Thursday against the Giants. It was the first time he’s allowed three earned runs in a game since April 26.

SAN FRANCISCO — Zach Davies had a lot of things go right during his bounceback in May, but he didn’t have as much success in his first start in June. Following a 1-2-3 first inning, it was a battle for the Cubs’ right-hander who had traffic on the bases all night Thursday against the Giants.

Davies got out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, allowing only one run to score, but San Francisco made him pay in the fourth and fifth innings.

Manager David Ross removed his starter from the game in the fifth inning after he allowed two singles and a walk, but reliever Rex Brothers came in and promptly served up a long three-run blast to Brandon Crawford to give the Giants a three-run lead.

Davies finished the game going 4 ⅓ innings allowing four runs on eight hits, walking two batters and striking out four. It was his first start allowing more than three earned runs since April 26.

Heyward, Marisnick getting close

All reports are trending in the right direction for Jason Heyward and Jake Marisnick, and the Cubs’ outfielders could be back soon.

Heyward went 0-for-2 with a walk and Marisnick was 1-for-3 with a double in the first game of their rehab assignment on Wednesday. Heyward added a home run on Thursday in their second game on Thursday. Both could return to the team by the weekend.

Right-hander Alec Mills (lower back strain) made his third rehab start in Wednesday’s game for Triple-A Iowa, tossing six scoreless innings.

“The guys had a nice game,” manager David Ross said.

“Mills threw the ball really well. The trainers said everything went well. No negative repercussions from playing in the game.”

Down on the farm

It’s going to be a while before Brennen Davis is playing in the big leagues, but he is beginning to make a push toward Chicago.

Davis, 22, is the Cubs’ No. 1 prospect and baseball’s No. 48 prospect overall, according to MLB Pipeline. He made an impression during major-league camp during spring training and got off to a fast start at Advanced-A South Bend, sporting a .321/.406/.607 slashline with two homers. Davis was promoted to Double-A Tennessee on Tuesday.

The Cubs’ 2019 second-round pick, second-base prospect Chase Strumpf, also was promoted to Double-A Tennessee and started out strong, going 1-for-4 with a walk and a two-run home run.

Pitching prospect Ryan Jensen tossed five hitless innings with seven strikeouts for Advanced-A South Bend on Wednesday. The right-hander, who is the Cubs’ No. 8 prospect per MLB Pipeline, is 2-2 with a 3.57 ERA in five starts this season.

He said it

“It’s a blessing. It’s a great opportunity to be here with this team. Being able to play for the Chicago Cubs is something that I’m really fortunate for and excited about. … This clubhouse is very united. There’s a lot of unity here. They’re supporting you through the highs and the lows. If you get a hit, if you don’t get hit, they’re always giving you feedback support. It’s [a clubhouse] that I’m very grateful and happy to be a part of.”

— Sergio Alcantara, Cubs infielder

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Davies allowed four runs over 4 1⁄3 innings on Thursday against the Giants. It was the first time he’s allowed three earned runs in a game since April 26.

SAN FRANCISCO — Zach Davies had a lot of things go right during his bounceback in May, but he didn’t have as much success in his first start in June. Following a 1-2-3 first inning, it was a battle for the Cubs’ right-hander who had traffic on the bases all night Thursday against the Giants.

Davies got out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, allowing only one run to score, but San Francisco made him pay in the fourth and fifth innings.

Manager David Ross removed his starter from the game in the fifth inning after he allowed two singles and a walk, but reliever Rex Brothers came in and promptly served up a long three-run blast to Brandon Crawford to give the Giants a three-run lead.

Davies finished the game going 4 ⅓ innings allowing four runs on eight hits, walking two batters and striking out four. It was his first start allowing more than three earned runs since April 26.

Heyward, Marisnick getting close

All reports are trending in the right direction for Jason Heyward and Jake Marisnick, and the Cubs’ outfielders could be back soon.

Heyward went 0-for-2 with a walk and Marisnick was 1-for-3 with a double in the first game of their rehab assignment on Wednesday. Heyward added a home run on Thursday in their second game on Thursday. Both could return to the team by the weekend.

Right-hander Alec Mills (lower back strain) made his third rehab start in Wednesday’s game for Triple-A Iowa, tossing six scoreless innings.

“The guys had a nice game,” manager David Ross said.

“Mills threw the ball really well. The trainers said everything went well. No negative repercussions from playing in the game.”

Down on the farm

It’s going to be a while before Brennen Davis is playing in the big leagues, but he is beginning to make a push toward Chicago.

Davis, 22, is the Cubs’ No. 1 prospect and baseball’s No. 48 prospect overall, according to MLB Pipeline. He made an impression during major-league camp during spring training and got off to a fast start at Advanced-A South Bend, sporting a .321/.406/.607 slashline with two homers. Davis was promoted to Double-A Tennessee on Tuesday.

The Cubs’ 2019 second-round pick, second-base prospect Chase Strumpf, also was promoted to Double-A Tennessee and started out strong, going 1-for-4 with a walk and a two-run home run.

Pitching prospect Ryan Jensen tossed five hitless innings with seven strikeouts for Advanced-A South Bend on Wednesday. The right-hander, who is the Cubs’ No. 8 prospect per MLB Pipeline, is 2-2 with a 3.57 ERA in five starts this season.

He said it

“It’s a blessing. It’s a great opportunity to be here with this team. Being able to play for the Chicago Cubs is something that I’m really fortunate for and excited about. … This clubhouse is very united. There’s a lot of unity here. They’re supporting you through the highs and the lows. If you get a hit, if you don’t get hit, they’re always giving you feedback support. It’s [a clubhouse] that I’m very grateful and happy to be a part of.”

— Sergio Alcantara, Cubs infielder

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Popped an unfiltered Zwickelbier from Germany Radeberger.Read More

The Cubs were lights out in May, but they’re not looking in the rearview mirror with a lot of baseball remaining.

SAN FRANCISCO — As the calendar turned to June and more than a quarter of the season passed, the Cubs’ situation has gotten a lot more interesting. Not only have they found themselves in first place in the National League Central, the Cubs have flipped the script on what many believed would be a season of finality for the team’s collection of stars.

After several weeks of chasing the target of topping the NL Central, the Cubs now have a target on their backs as they try to continue their strong run of good baseball into what is shaping up to be a crucial stretch against some of baseball’s best.

As they start their stretch of games against several teams currently in the chase for a postseason spot, the Cubs must ensure that their hot month of May isn’t followed by a letdown in June.

“I think there’s a lot of that talk in the media and outside about teams that are having success this year and the West Coast teams that have been really good,” center fielder Ian Happ told the Sun-Times. “Everybody knows the standings and the teams that have played good baseball.

“But at the same time, baseball’s an amazing game because any team can be anybody at any time.”

The Cubs began their West Coast swing on Thursday against the NL West-leading Giants. The team’s confidence is high after sweeping the Padres last weekend, and on Sunday, manager David Ross said he thought his club was “pretty damn good.”

Through Wednesday, the Cubs are 14-9 against teams over .500. They’re also 11-1 against the Padres, Cardinals, Mets and Dodgers, and the Cubs will play each of them again later this month.

But the Cubs have made a point not to let results of the past give them a false sense of accomplishment, especially with more than 60% of the season remaining. Ross, like most managers, takes the “one game at a time” approach, regardless of which teams are on the upcoming schedule.

“I think our goal is to play our best baseball night in and night out and continue to get better,” Ross said. “The more we do that … I think we’ll have some success with the talent level that we have.

“I’ve been on some really good teams that have been beaten by some of the worst teams in the game, and I’ve been on some bad teams that swept a team that may be the hottest team. … When you just roll out and think you’re going to beat somebody because you have names on the back of the jerseys and hardware and all that, it doesn’t work like that in this game.”

The Cubs came into the season with very few expectations, but now that they’re one of the best teams in baseball, those expectations seem to increase by the week.

And if the team’s winning ways against the NL’s best continue as the month rolls along, those expectations should continue to grow.

“I think it’s that holistic mindset,” Happ said. “It doesn’t really matter who you’re lined up against. I don’t think that our team puts any more stock in wins against the Padres than wins against the Pirates. We’re just focused on going out and playing baseball every day.”

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“You can’t come out walking at nights because there is shooting everywhere,’ said Jessica Martinez, 38. “I’m scared to take my babies to the park.”

Maria Medina was on her way to tend to her backyard when she saw a young teen walking her dog with her boyfriend.

She recognized the 14-year-old girl, her family were nice people from the same Back of the Yards neighborhood where Medina has lived for over 30 years. From the back of her house Medina heard two gunshots and, when she thought it safe, ventured to the front to find paramedics trying to save the seventh-grader’s life.

“It’s so sad,” Medina, 76, said in Spanish.

The teen and her boyfriend had just bought snacks from a store at the corner of 48th and Wood streets around 6 p.m. Wednesday when they were confronted by three young gunmen, according to police and the alderman of the ward.

They asked if she was in a gang and she said she wasn’t, at which point the three chased her half-way down the block and opened fire, according to Ald. Ray Lopez (15th), who said he got the details from police.

The gunmen jumped into an SUV and sped off. The girl was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head, police said. She underwent surgery Wednesday night.

No one was in custody.

Anthony Vázquez / Sun-Times

A classmate of the girl said she’s outgoing and always befriending new people. She’s an avid drawer and part of their school’s art club, the classmate noted.

“She could talk to anyone and make you feel so comfortable,” the classmate said. “And she really loved her dog.”

Police have said little publicly about what led to the confrontation. Medina said that, in all her years living in the neighborhood, she’s never seen anything like it.

The Back of the Yards neighborhood has been a hot spot for homicides over the years, but within the last year they have significantly dropped. In 2020, the New City community area — which includes Back of the Yards and Canaryville — had 11 homicides. It has seen only 3 so far this year.

Even so, some residents say shootings have gotten worse recently.

“You can’t come out walking at nights because there is shooting everywhere,’ said Jessica Martinez, 38. “I’m scared to take my babies to the park that’s nearby, and I don’t understand what’s going on.”

Lopez tweeted that he heard shots near a grade school as he watched police work the scene where the girl was shot.

“What the hell is going on tonight?” he asked. “I’m still on scene for the gang shooting in Back of the Yards and now 17 rounds fired off in front of Shields Elementary School in Brighton Park.”

Others at the scene were clearly on edge.

Mariah McClinton, 20, said she heard two gunshots and ran to the window to see what was going on. The shooters had already left, but she saw a crowd gathering near the girl and shouting that one of the gunmen had run into her apartment building — which wasn’t true.

“This guy, I don’t know who he was, but he ran up in our building and he started banging on my door,” McClinton said. “I was terrified because he was banging on the door so loud and kicking it that I thought he was going to break it down. I didn’t know if he was one of the shooters trying to hide or who he was. I thought me and my daughter were going to get shot.”

McClinton was alone in the apartment with her 3-year-old daughter. As the banging grew more intense, she pushed her refrigerator in front of the door.

“I called the police telling them there is some man banging on my door, that they need to send someone to stop him,” McClinton said. “But the operator just said it might be the police since they are investigating an incident nearby and I should probably answer the door.

“I knew it wasn’t the cops,” she added. “After what seemed like forever, officers came and stopped the man.”

McClinton said her landlord just informed her that her rent is going from $500 a month to $1,200. But after Wednesday’s shooting she is preparing to move.

“I get they are trying to make this neighborhood more high-end because it has gotten somewhat better in terms of crime, but there is still too much of it here,” McClinton said.

Lopez said a new gang in the area has been recruiting from neighborhood schools — focusing on kids 15 years and younger. He blamed the glorification of gang culture for violence in his ward.

“This elevation of gang life has to come to an end. It’s not cute. It only comes to one outcome, what we saw last night,” he told the Sun-Times.

The girl’s classmate, who’s in eighth grade, said the new gang had been encroaching on the block, with members in both high school and middle school. The classmate once saw them on the block talking to young people.

“She was friends with everyone and tried to be if she could, even people who were affiliated with the old and the new gang,” the classmate said. “I think it’s related to that, and I just want police to know this information.”

On Thursday evening, dozens gathered on the corner of 48th and Wood for a vigil.

Lithzuly Pizano, a friend of the wounded teen, spoke out against statements made by officials attributing the shooting solely to gang violence, arguing that violence in neighborhoods like Back of the Yards stems from disinvestment.

“I think it’s important to note that this is all a result of a lack of investment and a lack of importance being placed on our children in low-income neighborhoods such as Back of the Yards,” Pizano said. “There is so much that she could have done and there’s so much that she will be doing. There is hope.”

Pizano said her friend spends most of her time with her younger sister and used to participate in park district programs that were temporarily cut due to COVID-19. Pizano wouldn’t comment on the young girl’s condition but said her friend “is a fighter.”

Berto Aguayo, executive director of the community organization Increase the Peace, shared a similar message that regardless of background, the lives of all children in Chicago matter.

“There is no way or no reason why in our community it should be this normal for young people to continuously be lost to the streets,” Aguayo said.

Since last week Thursday, at least 10 people 18 or younger have been shot in the city.

Through the end of May, 1,386 people were shot in Chicago, a jump from 1,116 during the same time in 2020. Murders have risen 5% compared to 2020, with the police department reporting 252 murders so far this year.

Anyone with information about the shooting can call Area 1 detectives at (312) 747-8384.

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