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Hey moderates, how do you like your Joe Biden now?on April 16, 2021 at 4:03 pm

The Barbershop: Dennis Byrne, Proprietor

Hey moderates, how do you like your Joe Biden now?

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Hey moderates, how do you like your Joe Biden now?on April 16, 2021 at 4:03 pm Read More »

Despite Moratorium Chicago Foreclosure Activity Hits A One Year Highon April 16, 2021 at 4:45 pm

Getting Real

Despite Moratorium Chicago Foreclosure Activity Hits A One Year High

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Despite Moratorium Chicago Foreclosure Activity Hits A One Year Highon April 16, 2021 at 4:45 pm Read More »

Breaking down Week 5’s top high school football gamesMike Clarkon April 16, 2021 at 3:08 pm

Phillips’ Jacoby Erving (3) runs the ball through Westinghouse’s defense.
Phillips’ Jacoby Erving (3) runs the ball through Westinghouse’s defense. | Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times

A look at the best high school football games this week.

No. 25 Phillips at No. 1 Loyola, 4:45 p.m. Friday

It’s the fifth consecutive ranked opponent for the Ramblers (4-0), and the second straight game scheduled on the fly because of COVID-19 disruptions. These teams last met in a memorable 2017 game at Gately Stadium, when Phillips held on for the biggest regular-season win by a Public League team in years. The Wildcats (2-0) have a talented young quarterback in junior Tyler Turner and a pair of Division I defensive backs: Deavion Pierce (Miami, Ohio) and Willie Jones (Bowling Green). Vaughn Pemberton’s running and a lockdown defense have been an unbeatable combination for Loyola.

No. 16 Prospect at Buffalo Grove, 7 p.m. Friday

The Mid-Suburban East title is on the line, with both teams coming in 4-0 overall and in league play. Prospect has been dominant, averaging 46 points a game. Senior quarterback Gary Moeller, who announced Wednesday on Twitter he’ll be a preferred walk-on at Wisconsin, accounted for six touchdowns last week vs, Hersey (four passing, one rushing, one interception return). Cornell recruit Ayden Anderson has been a spark for Buffalo Grove’s offense.

No. 11 Glenbard West at No. 9 Hinsdale Central, 7 p.m. Friday

Glenbard West (2-0, 1-0 West Suburban Silver) returns to action for the first time since week two in one of the most anticipated games of the season in the west suburbs. As usual, the Hilltoppers like to spread the ball around among a variety of backs running behind a line anchored by Syracuse-bound guard Wes Hoeh. Quarterback Michael Brescia, a Colgate recruit, paces a potent offense for Hinsdale Central (4-0, 3-0), which averages 41 points a game.

New Trier at No. 8 Maine South, 7 p.m. Friday

The Central Suburban South title goes to the winner with both teams coming in 4-0 overall and in the conference. Maine South has one of the state’s premier tight ends in 6-5 junior Chris Petrucci, a three-star prospect who committed to Northwestern on Wednesday. Hawks quarterback Luke Leongas, who returned home after playing last fall at North Fort Myers (Florida), is sidelined after re-injuring his right knee against Glenbrook South last week. Brody Roth has been a difference maker on both sides of the ball for New Trier.

Kenwood vs. No. 23 Simeon, 3 p.m. Saturday at Gately

Simeon (2-0, 2-0 Illini Red Bird) has the Public League’s best lineman: 6-8, 300-pound offensive tackle Cameron James, a Minnesota recruit. Three-star senior wide receiver/defensive back George Gumbs and sophomore receiver Malik Elzy, who has a Michigan offer, are two more to watch for the Wolverines. Kenwood (1-1, 1-1) also has a pair of receivers to keep an eye on: Jalil Martin, the Public League’s top junior prospect, and sophomore Logan Lester.

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Breaking down Week 5’s top high school football gamesMike Clarkon April 16, 2021 at 3:08 pm Read More »

Police trying to identify gunman, motive in FedEx shooting that left 8 dead, others woundedAssociated Presson April 16, 2021 at 3:11 pm

Police stand near the scene where multiple people were shot at the FedEx Ground facility early Friday morning, April 16, 2021, in Indianapolis. | Michael Conroy/AP

Authorities said Friday they had not yet identified a gunman who stormed a FedEx facility near the Indianapolis airport, killing eight people and wounding several others before taking his own life.

INDIANAPOLIS — Authorities said Friday they had not yet identified a gunman who stormed a FedEx facility near the Indianapolis airport, killing eight people and wounding several others before taking his own life.

Deputy Chief Craig McCartt of the Indianapolis police said the gunman started randomly shooting at people in the parking lot and then went into the building, where he shot himself shortly before police entered.

McCartt said the shooting took just a couple of minutes. Five people were hospitalized, according to police. Another two people were treated and released at the scene.

“It did not last very long,” he said. McCartt said police do not yet know the motive for the shooting.

It was the latest in a recent string of mass shootings across the U.S. Last month, eight people were fatally shot at massage businesses across the Atlanta area, and 10 died in gunfire at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.

It was at least the third mass shooting this year in Indianapolis alone. Five people, including a pregnant woman, were shot and killed in January, and a man was accused of killing three adults and a child before abducting his daughter during at argument at a home in March.

A witness said that he was working inside the building when he heard several gunshots in rapid succession.

“I see a man come out with a rifle in his hand and he starts firing and he starts yelling stuff that I could not understand,” Levi Miller told WTHR-TV. “What I ended up doing was ducking down to make sure he did not see me because I thought he would see me and he would shoot me.”

Gov. Eric Holcomb ordered flags to be flown at half-staff until April 20, and he and others decried the shooting, with some noting how frequent such attacks are.

“We wake up once more to news of a mass shooting, this time in Indiana. No country should accept this now-routine horror. It’s long past time to act,” Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who is from Indiana, tweeted.

Family members gathered at a nearby hotel to await word on loved ones — and some employees were bused there for tearful reunions. But some people said they still had no information about their relatives hours later. Most employees aren’t allowed to carry cellphones inside the FedEx building, making contact with them difficult.

“When you see notifications on your phone, but you’re not getting a text back from your kid and you’re not getting information and you still don’t know where they are … what are you supposed to do?” said Mindy Carson, holding back tears. Her daughter, Jessica, works in the facility and she had not heard from her.

Chris Bavender, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Indianapolis office, said that they are helping the police with the investigation.

Attorney General Merrick Garland was briefed on the shooting, and the White House said President Joe Biden would be. Biden’s advisors have been in touch with the city’s mayor and law enforcement officials.

A man told WTTV that his niece was sitting in the driver’s seat of her car when the gunfire erupted, and she was wounded.

“She got shot on her left arm,” said Parminder Singh. “She’s fine, she’s in the hospital now.”

He said his niece did not know the shooter.

___

Casey Smith is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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Police trying to identify gunman, motive in FedEx shooting that left 8 dead, others woundedAssociated Presson April 16, 2021 at 3:11 pm Read More »

NFL partners with Caesars, FanDuel and DraftKings on sports betting dealsWayne Parry | Associated Presson April 16, 2021 at 3:15 pm

Once one of the staunchest opponents of allowing people to bet legally on its games, the NFL announced deals with three major gambling companies to become official sports betting partners.
Once one of the staunchest opponents of allowing people to bet legally on its games, the NFL announced deals with three major gambling companies to become official sports betting partners. | Wayne Parry/AP

The gambling companies will get the use of NFL trademarks and official league data, and will integrate their own betting content into media properties including NFL.com and the league’s official app.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Once one of the staunchest opponents of allowing people to bet legally on its games, the NFL on Thursday announced deals with three major gambling companies to become official sports betting partners.

The league is partnering with Caesars Entertainment, DraftKings and FanDuel, all of which will get the use of NFL trademarks and official league data, and will integrate their own betting content into media properties including NFL.com and the league’s official app.

“As the sports betting landscape has continued to evolve in the United States, we have been thoughtful with our strategy and are excited to announce three partners who share the NFL’s vision and goals,” said Renie Anderson, chief revenue officer and executive vice president of NFL Partnerships. “Working closely with Caesars, DraftKings and FanDuel, we will provide fans new and different ways of interacting and engaging with the sport they love.”

Terms of the deals were not announced.

Caesars will continue as the league’s official casino sponsor. The deal calls for to Caesars to create content and opportunities for engagement across its legal online sports betting operations and its nationwide network of retail sportsbooks.

DraftKings is renewing its role as the league’s official daily fantasy sports partner. It will integrate content across NFL media properties, including a “prominent presence” on the NFL Red Zone channel.

FanDuel will have access to video footage from the league, and will work with the league on pre-game integration opportunities on the NFL Network for the seven regular season games the network will air in 2021.

The NFL was among the professional sports leagues that vehemently fought New Jersey’s efforts to overturn a ban on legal sports betting in most of the country, opposing gambling as a perceived threat to the integrity of its games.

But New Jersey won a U.S. Supreme Court case in May 2018 clearing the way for any state to offer legal sports betting; by the end of this year nearly half the country could have legal sports betting amid the fast-changing landscape.

The deals were the logical extension of a trend that has seen gambling companies join forces with media companies and sports leagues to capitalize on the fast-growing legal sports betting market.

“Together, we will create new ways for football fans to share in the action of their favorite sport,” Caesars CEO Tom Reeg said. “Football season will be more exciting than ever now that fans can enjoy an enhanced experience at our casinos, in our sportsbooks, and online.”

“The way fans consume sports years from now will look drastically different, and it will be due in part to forward-thinking collaborations like our expanded relationship with the NFL,” said Jason Robins, CEO, chairman and co-founder of DraftKings.

“On Super Bowl Sunday we got a glimpse at how powerful the combination of the NFL’s excitement and our platform can be in delivering an enhanced fan experience,” said Matt King, CEO of FanDuel.

On Wednesday, The Associated Press began a partnership with FanDuel in which the sportsbook will be the AP’s source of sports lines and betting odds.

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NFL partners with Caesars, FanDuel and DraftKings on sports betting dealsWayne Parry | Associated Presson April 16, 2021 at 3:15 pm Read More »

Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause won’t slow UC appointments (LIVE UPDATES)Sun-Times staffon April 16, 2021 at 3:48 pm

People approach to receive doses of a COVID-19 vaccine at the United Center’s mass vaccination clinic last month on the Near West Side.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Get the latest news on how COVID-19 is impacting Chicago and Illinois. Follow here for live updates.

The latest

Pause on Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine won’t affect United Center appointments, city’s top doc says

People approach to receive doses of a COVID-19 vaccine at the United Center’s mass vaccination clinic last month on the Near West Side.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Appointments at the United Center’s COVID-19 mass vaccination site will go on as scheduled next week with Pfizer doses being administered instead of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that’s been shelved nationwide, officials said Thursday.

The city’s most prominent mass vax site has been doling out Pfizer since it launched a month ago in a parking lot across the street from the Near West Side arena.

That’ll still be the case Monday, which is when the federally run site had been scheduled to switch to J&J doses — until a handful of extremely rare blood clots tied to that vaccine prompted a temporary suspension this week while experts investigate.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide additional Pfizer doses in its place, meaning plans won’t change for anyone with a United Center appointment, according to Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady.

“Everybody who has an appointment from Monday on at the United Center can keep that appointment. You do not need to do a thing. You will just receive Pfizer instead of Johnson & Johnson,” Arwady said during an online Q&A.

Read Mitchell Armentrout’s full story here.

News

10:45 a.m. After contracting COVID-19, ex-Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club boss Orvie Cochran gets early prison release

After Outlaws Motorcycle Club boss Orville “Orvie” Cochran survived a shooting outside the biker gang’s South Side clubhouse in 2000 — he slipped on some ice and fell, thus avoiding a hail of bullets — a former friend described him as “- – – damn lucky.”

Cochran’s luck still hasn’t run out.

Arrested in 2017 after being on the run for 16 years to avoid racketeering charges, he caught a break on his sentence. And now — after contracting the coronavirus in prison — Cochran has gotten a federal judge to free him from prison six months early.

The judge ordered a “compassionate” release for Cochran, who had asked for that even before getting infected because, he said, he was afraid he would and had health problems that could make COVID especially dangerous for him.

Read the complete story by Robert Herguth here.

9 a.m. What is a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and will you need one?

What is a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and will I need one?

“Vaccine passports,” or vaccine certificates, are documents that show you were vaccinated against COVID-19 or recently tested negative for the virus. They could help you get into places such as stadiums or even countries that are looking to reopen safely.

The certificates are still being developed, and how and whether they’ll be used could vary widely around the world. Experts say they should be free and available on paper, not just on apps, since not everyone has a smartphone.

In the U.S., federal officials say there are no plans to make them broadly mandatory. In some states, Republican governors have issued orders barring businesses or state agencies from asking people to show proof of vaccination.

Read the full story here.

New cases & vaccination numbers

  • The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 3,581 new cases of the disease were diagnosed Wednesday among 105,661 tests to keep the state’s average testing positivity rate at 4.2%.
  • About one quarter of Illinois residents have been fully vaccinated so far, with 138,538 doses administered Tuesday. The state also reported 3,536 new cases and 31 more deaths.
  • Pritzker office staffer tests positive for COVID-19. The staff member was not in close contact with Gov. Pritzker Monday, or in previous days.
  • Staff member of state House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch tests positive for COVID-19. The staff member was tested Monday as part of the Legislature’s required protocols to return to in-person work in the Capitol.

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Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause won’t slow UC appointments (LIVE UPDATES)Sun-Times staffon April 16, 2021 at 3:48 pm Read More »

2 die in Back of the Yards basement fireon April 16, 2021 at 2:30 pm

A woman and man died in a fire that may have been caused by smoking on a mattress Friday morning at an apartment building in Back of the Yards on the South Side.

The blaze broke out in a basement about 5 a.m. in the 1400 block of West Garfield Boulevard, according to Chicago fire spokesman Larry Langford.

Inside, firefighters found the two victims — a woman in her 50s and a man in his 60s — a few feet from the basement front door, Langford said.

“The fire looks like it was mainly a mattress burning. The occupants were known to be smokers, and there were no working smoke detectors inside the home,” he said.

The pair was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center and pronounced dead, fire officials said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office hasn’t released their names.

The fire was confined to the basement unit, according to Langford, who didn’t immediately have word about how many other people were displaced from the building.

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2 die in Back of the Yards basement fireon April 16, 2021 at 2:30 pm Read More »