President Joe Biden also told Putin the U.S. would “act firmly in defense of its national interests” regarding Russian cyber intrusions and election interference, according to the White House.

BRUSSELS — President Joe Biden urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to “de-escalate tensions” following a Russian military buildup on Ukraine’s border in their second tense call of Biden’s young presidency.

Biden also told Putin the U.S. would “act firmly in defense of its national interests” regarding Russian cyber intrusions and election interference, according to the White House. Biden proposed a summit in a third country “in the coming months” to discuss the full range of U.S.-Russia issues, the White House said.

The Biden-Putin relationship has been rocky in the early going of the new U.S. administration. Biden is weighing action against Russia for the SolarWinds hacking campaign, Russian interference in the 2020 presidential election, reports of Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and the poisoning and jailing of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

There is growing concern in the West about a surge of cease-fire violations in eastern Ukraine, where Russia-baсked separatists and Ukrainian forces have been locked in a conflict since Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. Biden’s call with Putin came as the top U.S. diplomat and the leader of NATO condemned the recent massing of thousands of Russian troops.

“President Biden emphasized the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the White House said in a statement. The White House added that Biden made clear that Russia must “de-escalate tensions.”

More than 14,000 people have died in fighting in eastern Ukraine, and efforts to negotiate a political settlement have stalled. Over the past week, there have been daily reports of Ukrainian military casualties and rebels also have reported losses.

Ukraine has said Russia has 41,000 troops at its border with eastern Ukraine and 42,000 more in Crimea. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday the military buildup of the past three weeks was part of readiness drills in response to what he described as threats from NATO. He added the maneuvers in western Russia would last for two more weeks.

“The troops have shown their full readiness to fulfill tasks to ensure the country’s security,” Shoigu said.

The Kremlin in a statement said “during an exchange of opinions on Ukraine’s internal political crisis,” Putin told Biden about “approaches to a political settlement” based on the 2015 peace deal brokered by France and Germany and signed in Minsk, Belarus.

The White House provided no details on the timing or location of Biden’s proposed summit.

Shortly after talking to Biden, Putin called Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, according to the Kremlin.

Finland was the venue for several meetings of Russian and U.S. leaders. It hosted a summit between Leonid Brezhnev and Gerald Ford in 1975, a meeting of Mikhail Gorbachev and George H.W. Bush in 1990, talks between Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton in 1997, and, most recently, a summit between Trump and Putin in July 2018.

Austria also is ready to serve as a summit venue, according to a spokesperson for the Austrian Foreign Ministry quoted by Russian news agencies.

Putin has repeatedly brushed off calls by U.S. officials to cease provocations on Ukraine’s border and on other issues. Still, the White House said that holding talks can be useful.

“When it comes to diplomacy you don’t stop calling for what are the right actions and the appropriate actions and the actions the global community believes are right just because you see a hesitation,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

Earlier Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was in Brussels for meetings with NATO allies and Ukraine’s foreign minister, accused Russia of taking “very provocative” actions with the massing of troops.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg also called the Russian movements “unjustified, unexplained and deeply concerning.” He said the Russian deployment was the largest concentration of troops near the Ukrainian border since 2014.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged Western countries to make clear to Moscow that it would pay a price for its “aggression.”

“The U.S. stands firmly behind the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Blinken told Kuleba at the start of their meeting at the residence of the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, a post once held by Blinken’s uncle. “That’s particularly important at a time when we’re seeing, unfortunately, Russia take very provocative actions when it comes to Ukraine.”

Kuleba replied that Ukraine was grateful for the support of the U.S. and NATO, an alliance that Kyiv is looking to join over fierce Russian objections.

Leonid Slutsky, a senior Russian lawmaker who chairs the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of parliament, said Biden’s call marked “a step away from confrontation to dialogue.”

“Such a position meets not only mutual interests, but also the interests of international security,” Slutsky said in remarks carried by Russian news agencies. “The good news is that the leaders of the two largest nuclear powers have confirmed their readiness for interaction on issues of strategic stability and arms control.”

Although Biden agreed to extend a major arms control deal with Russia, he has been notably cool toward Moscow and highly critical of many of its activities.

Last month in an interview with ABC News, Biden agreed with the description of Putin as a “killer” and he has criticized the jailing of Navalny, the opposition figure. U.S. intelligence released a report last month finding that Putin authorized influence operations to help former President Donald Trump’s reelection bid.

Putin in response to Biden’s killer comment recalled his ambassador to the U.S. and pointed at the U.S. history of slavery and slaughtering Native Americans and the atomic bombing of Japan in World War II.

In his first call with Putin as president in late January, Biden raised concerns about the arrest of Navalny, Russia’s cyberespionage targeting the U.S., and thereports of Russian bounties on American troops in Afghanistan. The Kremlin, meanwhile, focused on Putin’s response to Biden’s proposal to extend the last remaining U.S.-Russia arms control treaty.

After that call, Biden said in a speech before State Department officials that the days of the U.S. “rolling over” to Putin were over.

—

Associated Press writers Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed reporting.

Read More

Vaisakhi, which falls April 13 or 14 depending on which of two dueling calendars one follows, marks the day in 1699 when Sikhism took its current form.

LIBERTY, Missouri — Sikhs across the United States are holding toned-down Vaisakhi celebrations this week, joining people of other faiths in observing major holidays cautiously this spring as COVID-19 keeps an uneven hold on the country.

Vaisakhi, which falls April 13 or 14 depending on which of two dueling calendars one follows, marks the day in 1699 when Sikhism took its current form. Communities typically celebrate by gathering at gurdwaras, or places of worship, for prayer and the reading of hymns, and there are often processions, parades, other activities and food.

While the ongoing pandemic has many people celebrating remotely this year just as in 2020, some, especially in the United States, are joining in masked, socially distant Vaisakhi gatherings.

“Sikh community members, especially those who faced hardships and loss during the pandemic, view Vaisakhi as a fresh start and a sign of hope that things will be better once again,” said Sahej Preet Singh, community development manager at the Sikh Coalition, a national organization based in New York. “The Sikh worldview embraces resilience and Chardi Kala (relentless optimism).”

For the second year in a row, outdoor festivities at the Midwest Sikh Gurdwara and the traditional parade in the city of Shawnee, a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, have been canceled. But in an improvement over 2020, some events will be held at the temple and via social media.

Komalpreet Kaul, a 16-year-old high school student in nearby Olathe, Kansas, said the parade is “the one big event of the year where everyone gets together, and we welcome other members of the community to participate. … This is like our Christmas, and it’s something we look forward to so much.”

“But we are going to find alternatives this year to celebrate,” she added.

Kaul has been lobbying officials in several area cities trying to get them to declare April Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month, so far winning one such proclamation from Lenexa, Kansas. Kaul, who was raised in New York City before moving with her family to Kansas in 2017, said she wants to make others more familiar with her faith.

“Increasing awareness can combat the negativity and hate,” she said.

In California’s San Joaquin Valley, the Stockton Gurdwara Sahib organized a Tuesday evening service of prayers, readings from the Guru Granth Sahib scripture and music, held in-person while following health guidelines, said Tejpaul Singh Bainwal, a temple member and student of early Sikh American history. A more involved celebration including a vaccination clinic will be held this weekend, also under masking and social distancing rules.

In a normal year there would be a parade that attracts thousands, but it has been called off this year. Bainwal expects attendance at the events to be much lower as people focus instead on selfless service.

“People are practicing their faith in a different way since COVID,” he said.

At Guru Nanak Darbar of Long Island, in Hicksville, New York, normally there’s a giant tent set up in the parking lot to accommodate crowds of up to 2,000 people at a time coming for festivities and treats. This year the celebrations were marked by temperature monitors, social distancing and bagged meals to take home. Temple members set a more restrictive attendance level than required, allowing about 150 into prayer services that can normally accommodate 600.

“In a normal year we have a lot of stalls, a lot of food,” said Harcharan Singh Gulati, the general secretary. “But this year we don’t want to take any risk. We want people to take it home.”

After all Vaisakhi celebrations were shut down in 2020, this year people were allowed inside the gurdwara in small groups for prayer, readings and religious songs.

“It’s not like two or three years ago,” Gulati said, “but it is better than what we had last year.”

——

Fields reported from Silver Spring, Maryland

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Read More

Connolly and Hinostroza, former teammates in Florida, have recorded a combined three points in five games so far with the Hawks.

Brett Connolly was frustrated how poorly things went for him this season in Florida.

When the 28-year-old forward finally got his first chance for a new team — with the Blackhawks on Monday against the Blue Jackets — he took out that frustration in a productive way, scoring an important third-period go-ahead goal.

“It wasn’t working, but that’s in the past,” Connolly said. “I knew I was going to go somewhere else and I’ve been working hard to be ready for that opportunity. Here I am. I’m ready to be a big factor on this team, as I know I can. I’ve proven it in the past. I’ve won before.”

Connolly and defenseman Riley Stillman both made their Hawks debuts Monday while forward Vinnie Hinostroza played the fourth game of his second career stint with the Hawks.

All three were technically teammates earlier this season, too, but played only 38 games combined for the Panthers. They’re all hoping for bigger roles with the Hawks, and so far are earning those. Coach Jeremy Colliton has been pleased.

“[Connolly] gave us some good shifts,” Colliton said Monday. “[He’s a] big body who is comfortable on the puck and not afraid to go into traffic. He has a heavy shot. It’s easy to see why he’s produced in the past.”

“Stillman was very physical. He was active. He got stops for us. He was jumping in the play. I asked him to pull back a little bit, but he did some good stuff out there.”

Hinostroza, who is now into his second week practicing and playing with the Hawks — making him the elder statesman of the three acquisitions from Florida — has slid in seamlessly onto a line with Philipp Kurashev and Dominik Kubalik.

AP Photo/Jeff Haynes

The Chicago native has tallied two assists in his four games, seen his usage rise from nine to 11 to 13 minutes and made his elite speed and skating ability noticeable.

He has generated strong underlying possession numbers: shot attempts favor the Hawks 49-35 and scoring chances favor the Hawks 23-19 during his five-on-five ice time.

“Sometimes with chemistry, it takes a while to get it, [but] with some guys, your games match up well together and you happen to find each other and think the same way,” Hinostroza said. “With Phil and ‘Kuby,’ we’ve been working hard. Our main focus has been trying to get pucks back and win battles, because some of our chances have been off turnovers from their ‘D.’”

Connolly was also well above average analytically Monday, leading the team with a 5-1 on-ice scoring chance ratio (shot attempts were 11-6) in addition to his goal during 13:05 of ice time.

The Hawks acquired Connolly as a negative-value contract — he has a $3.5 million cap hit through 2023 — that allowed them to also receive prospect Henrik Borgstrom, but they’d love if he could reestablish himself a positive-value player.

“He has a great shot,” general manager Stan Bowman said. “He’s a goal scorer. He’s one of those guys that doesn’t need a lot of opportunities.”

Connolly had scored at least 15 goals each of the past four seasons, including a career-high 22 with the Capitals in 2018-19, before falling off this year. His career 14.2% shooting percentage ranks 11th among all active players with at least 500 NHL appearances.

And so far with the Hawks, he’s shooting 50%.

“I’ve played 500-plus games now; it’s been a journey,” he said. “If I can get my game going like it was the start of last year and in Washington, when I was playing my best hockey, I feel like I can help out. [I’m] just looking to help the depth and score some timely goals.”

Read More

Federal prosecutors have charged an ex-Melrose Park police officer for his role in a gambling ring run by a bookie with mob ties who was sentenced last week to more than two years in prison.

John Amabile, 33, is charged with running an illegal sports bookmaking operation. The charge stems from the same investigation that led to last week’s sentencing of Gregory Paloian, of Elmwood Park, a source confirmed.

Reached earlier this year after abruptly resigning from the Melrose Park Police Department amid rumors that he was in trouble with federal investigators, Amabile declined to speak in detail with a reporter.

“I have no comment at all,” he said. Asked whether he had an attorney, he said, “No, not at the moment.”

Amabile also declined to comment after he was charged Tuesday. His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

Prosecutors have previously said a “veteran police officer from a local police department” was among the “most prolific agents” of Paloian, who admitted in January he ran the ring from 2015 until 2019 in Chicago, Elmwood Park and Melrose Park.

But the feds say they “know now that Paloian was running a bookmaking operation as early as 2012 and continuing until shut down by the FBI.” Assistant U.S. Attorney Terry Kinney wrote in a recent court filing that the ring involved 60 gamblers.

U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow last week gave Paloian two-and-a-half years in prison, a sentence Paloian compared to a possible death sentence due to his medical issues.

Amabile’s father Joseph is a former Melrose Park police lieutenant. Amabile’s uncle James is a former Melrose Park fire lieutenant who was convicted in a mob-related extortion case in 2015, sentenced to six months in prison and released from custody in 2016, according to interviews and records.

Amabile’s brother Joe became a minor celebrity after appearing on “The Bachelorette” and, subsequently, other reality shows.

Chicago Sun-Times archive

Amabile’s late grandfather, also named Joseph, was a reputed “crime kingpin in the western suburbs,” and acolyte of high-ranking hoodlum Sam Battaglia, before his death in 1976, according to interviews and published accounts. The grandfather was convicted of extortion in 1967 and sent to prison, according to his Chicago Sun-Times obituary.

Over the years, members of the family have donated to political campaigns benefitting Melrose Park Mayor Ronald Serpico — who has presided after a number of scandals and embarrassments within his police department during his years in office.

“This young kid, I don’t know what he was doing,” Serpico said Tuesday about Amabile. “I can’t control people. . . . Am I responsible for the world? I think the only thing we can be is responsible for ourselves.”

Asked about Amabile, Sam Pitassi, who runs the police department, said: “He doesn’t work here any more . . . I’m not going to get into all the particulars about a guy who left.”

In 2017, former Melrose Park police Detective Greg Salvi was sent to prison for a drug-dealing scheme that included stealing narcotics from his department’s evidence room.

In 2013, a motorcycle club started by Melrose Park cops disbanded after a reporter discovered members were wearing patches pledging support for the Outlaws, a notorious biker gang that’s been described as a criminal enterprise by federal authorities.

In 2009, former Melrose Park Police Chief Vito Scavo was convicted in a racketeering and extortion scheme and sent to prison.

Paloian also has ties to organized crime, having previously been sentenced in 2002 to 41 months in prison for running a mob-connected bookmaking operation. Last week, federal prosecutors also revealed that his name is on the prison contact list for imprisoned Cicero mob boss Michael “The Large Guy” Sarno, who has been arguing for compassionate release.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu wrote in a court filing that “Paloian has regularly sent money to Sarno’s prison account since he was imprisoned; these are no doubt the proceeds of his illegal gambling business.”

Read More

March 13, 2020. That was the last time my high school daughter walked into a school building. It’s been over a year now and I know I’m not the only Chicago parent wondering what her future will hold.

It appears as if the goal of the Chicago Teachers Union is to make sure high schoolers don’t return to in-person learning at all this school year.

Like other families, we were relieved and grateful that our middle school daughter finally returned to in-person learning this spring. However, we are baffled that our other daughter, who is only a few years older than her, continues to be secluded and “learning” only from behind a screen.

I’m frustrated and sad to watch kids go more than a year without real contact with friends and classmates or significant relationships with their teachers. Chicago Public School high schoolers, like my daughter, are being left behind in comparison to their private and parochial school counterparts in the city, who have been back in classrooms since August of 2020. All across America, students are returning to classrooms. But not my daughter, not our high schoolers. Why?

Three words: The Chicago Teachers Union.

Union leaders, it seems, aren’t dedicated to reopening schools. Instead, they keep moving the goalposts and adding new items to their endless list of demands.

In the fall, we were told CPS needed ventilation improvements, access to personal protective equipment and access to the vaccine before school could resume in-person learning. Yet CPS’ original plan to reopen schools in January or February was delayed in part because CTU initially demanded that its members be given priority access to the vaccine.

Now, all CPS employees are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine but CTU continues to stall getting our high schoolers back in school before the end of the year. The latest excuse I’m hearing: What’s the point of even returning to school this year anyway, with only a few months remaining in the school calendar? Why even bother trying to get back to in-person learning?

How cruel.

One special education teacher recently tweeted: “This school year is a wash.” Wow. How upsetting and demoralizing that our CPS teachers think we may as well give up on an entire year of our children’s lives and education.

CTU actually retweeted a Chicago-area activist’s comment that there will be so few teaching days — nearly 20 — for students in the 4^th quarter, that she’s “… curious what learning loss leaders think will be ‘cured’ in this time.”

They still don’t get it, do they? After 400 days without school, without friends, without normalcy, those 20 days in school would be the best 20 days ever for many Chicago high schoolers.

Our children are watching us. They see restaurants and bars reopening. They see people going to baseball games and traveling for spring break. We’re going to grocery stores, making Target runs and returning to the gym. But our kids still only see their teachers and classmates from behind a screen.

I stood up to CTU before. During the contentious negotiations with CPS over reopening elementary schools, I was one of 10 CPS parents willing to sue the CTU if they went on strike — a strike we believed would be illegal — to keep schools closed. And I’m willing to do the same again.

Consider this a warning, CTU: Parents are prepared to take on the same fight for Chicago high school students if you don’t reopen schools this month.

Ammie Kessem is the parent of two Chicago Public School students. This essay was written in cooperation with the Liberty Justice Center, a conservative public interest law firm founded by Pat Hughes, John Tillman and Dan Proft.

Send letters to [email protected].

Read More

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

Latest

Cook County, state will stop administering J&J vaccine after US recommends ‘pause’ over clot reports

Archivo de AP

Use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine came to a grinding halt across Illinois Tuesday after federal health authorities recommended a “pause” on its use while it investigates reports of potentially dangerous blood clots.

“IDPH has notified all Illinois COVID-19 providers throughout the state to discontinue use of the J&J vaccine at this time. In order to keep appointments, IDPH is strongly advising providers to use Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines,” the Illinois Department of Public Health said Tuesday.

“Moderna and Pfizer make up the vast majority of doses on hand in the state of Illinois. This week, the state’s allocation of J&J was 17,000 doses. For the week of April 18, 2021, the expected allocation for the state is 483,720 total doses. Of that total allocation, 5,800 doses were expected to be J&J.

More than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in the U.S., the vast majority with no or mild side effects.

U.S. federal distribution channels, including mass vaccination sites, will suspend the use of the J&J shot, and states and other providers are expected to follow. The other two authorized vaccines, from Moderna and Pfizer, make up the vast share of COVID-19 shots administered in the U.S. and are not affected by the pause.

The mass vaccination site at the United Center had been scheduled to begin administering J&J shots Monday but that plan is on hold, according to a Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman.

Read the full story from Mitch Dudek here.

---

News

3:15 p.m. FEMA accepting applications for funeral expense reimbursement to families who lost someone to COVID-19

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is offering up to $9,000 per burial to help families cover the funeral expenses of loved ones who died of COVID-19.

The application process can be started by calling 844-684-6333.

There’s currently no deadline for the program, which launched Monday and was quickly overwhelmed by callers.

“There was an extraordinarily high call volume Monday,” FEMA spokesman Dan Shulman told the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday.

There were close to 20,000 calls that got through Monday. We knew going in we were going to experience an extremely high call volume on the first day because of the number of people who’ve passed in the last year and some people experienced extended busy signals,” he said.

Read Mitch Dudek’s full story here.

1:37 p.m. Poll: 15% of Americans worse off a year into pandemic

While most Americans have weathered the pandemic financially, about 38 million say they are worse off now than before the outbreak began in the U.S.

Overall, 55% of Americans say their financial circumstances are about the same now as a year ago, and 30% say their finances have improved, according to a new poll from Impact Genome and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. But 15% say they are worse off.

The problem is more pronounced at lower-income levels: 29% of Americans living below the federal poverty line say their personal finances worsened in the past year. Roughly that many also find themselves in a deepening financial hole, saying they struggled to pay bills in the past three months.

Read the full story here.

11:27 a.m. Loretto CEO should be fired after COVID vaccine controversy, community petition states

Some community organizers in Austin are calling for the firing of The Loretto Hospital President and Chief Executive George Miller over his handling of COVID-19 vaccines.

As of Monday, an online petition had almost 250 signatures and the lead organizers say they are asking for a video-conference meeting with the hospital board members, a request the directors so far are not granting.

“The documented inappropriate use of our vaccines, the lack of accountability/respect of our vaccines by President Miller and his team during the pandemic have and continue to disgrace Loretto Hospital and the community it serves,” said an April 5 letter from organizer Mary Russell Gardner and a dozen other women.

Miller is being disciplined by his board, receiving a two-week suspension, following vaccine events at the Trump Tower, the CEO’s South Suburban church and elsewhere that led Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Administration to cut off vaccine supplies until the hospital can show that it has a plan to make sure shots are going to the Austin community.

The hospital is conducting an inquiry and audit to present to the city. The hospital’s No. 2 executive, former Chief Operating Officer Anosh Ahmed, resigned last month in the wake of the controversy.

Brett Chase and Mary Mitchell have the full story here.

9:05 a.m. Pritzker office staffer tests positive for COVID-19

An employee in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, a spokeswoman for the governor said.

The staff member was not in close contact with Pritzker Monday, or in previous days, and all staff who were identified as having been so will follow U.S. Centers for Disease Control protocol, Jordan Abudayyeh, a spokeswoman for Pritzker’s office, said in a statement.

“The Governor’s Office continues to follow COVID-19 safety protocols including testing staff multiple times per week, weekly deep cleaning procedures, mask wearing, social distancing, and limiting the number of staff reporting to the office for in person work,” Abudayyeh said in the statement.

Since Pritzker had no direct contact with the staffer, he will not be self-isolating, his office said.

Rachel Hinton has the full story here.

---

New cases and vaccination numbers

• Officials on Monday announced that Illinois’ coronavirus test positivity rate has reached its highest point since late January, when a previous surge in cases was tapering off. The seven-day positivity rate jumped to 4.4% and continued an incremental upward trend that could lead officials to again place stronger restrictions on businesses. The statewide positivity rate had dipped to 2.1% on March 13.
• The city’s positivity rate now sits at 5.6% — up from 5.1% just a week earlier, the city said Monday.
• The state also announced 2,433 new cases of COVID-19 diagnosed from 53,115 tests. Eighteen additional deaths were also reported.
• Nearly 2,000 people diagnosed with the virus were hospitalized Sunday, according to Illinois Department of Health data. That’s the highest number of statewide hospitalizations since Feb. 10.
• The number of inoculations administered Sunday dropped to 64,772 after five straight six-figure vaccination days, state health officials reported. So far, more than 7.2 million vaccine doses have gone into arms.

Read More

His death was announced by the Pacers on Tuesday. No details were given. He had been in failing health in recent years.

INDIANAPOLIS — Bobby “Slick” Leonard, the former NBA player and Hall of Fame coach who won three ABA championships with the Indiana Pacers and spent more than a half century with the organization, has died. He was 88.

His death was announced by the Pacers on Tuesday. No details were given. He had been in failing health in recent years.

Leonard had a record of 573-534 in 14 seasons as a coach, the last 12 with the Pacers.

He also made the winning free throws in the 1953 NCAA Tournament to give the Indiana Hoosiers the second of its five national titles and was later named one of the school’s 50 greatest players. The two-time All-American led the Hoosiers to Big Ten titles in 1953 and 1954 before joining the U.S. Army.

He then played seven years with the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers and was named an NBA All-Star in 1963. But his greatest moments as a professional came after he took over the Pacers in 1968-69.

“Pacers fans will remember Bobby ‘Slick’ Leonard as the spirit of our franchise,” team owner Herb Simon said in a statement. “With a charisma, intensity, and wit to match his nickname, Slick made us champions.

“He was our biggest fan and our most loving critic, and he personified Pacers basketball for generations of Hoosier families. Most importantly, though, Slick and (his wife) Nancy are our family, and his passing leaves an unfillable void in the hearts of everyone associated with this organization.”

Leonard did more than just win games.

He and his wife helped organized a telethon in 1977 to save the franchise, which was facing financial hardship after being one of the few ABA teams to join the NBA following the merger.

In 1985, he became the Pacers color commentator on television broadcasts and later moved into the radio booth where he coined his trademark phrase “Boom, Baby!” when Pacers players made 3-pointers.

“He was the best coach that I ever played for in last shot, pressure situations,” Hall of Fame player George McGinnis said recently. “In the seventh game, he would change the entire offense. It was genius. I think that’s why if you look at the Pacers, they won all three championships, I believe, in seventh games on the road.”

Leonard was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee in 2014. He’s also a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and the Indiana Sports Writers and Broadcasters Hall of Fame and was the first person inducted into the Indiana University Sports Hall of Fame.

His victory total with the Pacers, 529, hangs on a banner in the Bankers Life Fieldhouse rafters.

Read More

It worked in 2016, when they won the World Series. Any chance it might work again in 2021, when they’re face-planting offensively like no Cubs team in forever?

What was it former Cubs sloganeer Joe Maddon said again?

Oh, yeah: “Try not to suck.”

That rallying cry worked for the Cubs in 2016, when they — stop me if you’ve heard this before — won the World Series for the first time in 108 years. Any chance it might work again in 2021, when they’re face-planting offensively like no Cubs team has in even longer than that?

As long as we’re appropriating Maddonisms, “Do simple better” is another message that seems pretty on the money for this swing-and-miss-from-the-heels crew.

A lost April at the plate? That’s Cub, folks. Another lost season at the plate? That’s the question, and — heck, no — it isn’t too soon to ask it.

“We’ve got to find ways to put the ball in play, put the pressure on the defense, make things happen and spark something,” manager David Ross said Monday after a 6-3 loss to the Brewers in which the Cubs mustered all of four hits.

“Get the boys going. This is too talented of a group to do what we’re doing so far.”

That’s debatable, isn’t it? From the time the offense “broke” in 2018, according to Theo Epstein, right through the version we’ve seen through the first 10 games of this season, nothing much has changed. And if it has changed, it has only gotten worse.

Ten games in, the Cubs have 49 hits — incredibly, the fewest by any Cubs team in any 10-game span since 1901.

Their .164 batting average is the lowest through 10 games in franchise history. In fact, it’s the lowest in any 10-game Cubs stretch since the 1952 team slumped from June 14-24 to the tune of .163. Remind me to rip on Hank Sauer, Dee Fondy and Phil Cavarretta later.

To put that in context, remember the absolutely miserable 2015 NLCS against the Mets in which the Cubs were swept and did about as much damage at the plate as your 90-year-old Aunt Dotty on 50-Cent Wing Night? The Cubs hit .164 in that four-game nightmare of a series.

Entering Tuesday’s game in Milwaukee, these Cubs have the lowest batting average in all of baseball as well as the lowest on-base (.264) and slugging (.321) percentages. They’ve struck out a whopping 10 times per game, too. But those convinced strikeouts are the issue should know the Cubs are also dead last in batting average on balls hit in play (.194).

They swing and miss more than anybody. They drive home runners in scoring position less frequently than anybody. All these awful numbers? It’s kind of the Cubs’ M.O. Small sample size? Sure, that’s true. For whatever it’s worth.

But 10 games in, no one on the Cubs has reached double figures in hits. Some of the averages, if you can stand to see them: Jason Heyward .152, Ian Happ .143, Joc Pederson .129, Anthony Rizzo .118, David Bote .087. Oh, that’s right, only dinosaurs talk about batting averages anymore.

Anyone else miss complaining about Maddon’s lineup tinkering and quick hooks with his starting pitchers?

JUST SAYIN’

Yo, Nico Hoerner: Better stay ready, bub.

• White Sox reliever Aaron Bummer, one month ago: “I don’t expect to lose a game if we’re leading after the fifth inning.”

Same day, same sentiment from bullpen mate Evan Marshall: “We want to go 90-0 if we have the lead after six innings.”

Four blown saves into the season, the Sox are scrambling to settle what was supposed to be a huge team strength — the ’pen — before it implodes.

Funny game, baseball.

• Nikola Vucevic has raised the talent bar. Daniel Theis has increased their toughness. Troy Brown Jr. has made them a bit more intriguing.

But still, the Bulls have yet to meet a game they can’t — and, if you give them enough time, won’t — lose.

Just when you think they’re getting better, they assure you they’re not.

• NFL MVP odds landed in my inbox this week, because who isn’t thinking about this stuff in mid-April?

Patrick Mahomes: 5/1. Aaron Rodgers: 9/1. Josh Allen: 10/1.

Andy Dalton, meanwhile: 100/1. Wager Junior’s college fund at your own risk.

• Anyone else impressed by the NL Central-leading Reds’ 95 hits — approximately double the Cubs’ total — after 10 games?

I’m setting the over/under on teams that will finish above the Cubs in the division at 2½. Coincidentally, that’s the same as the over/under on wings eaten by Aunt Dotty.

Read More

Ten games is not a lot over the course of a 162-game season but it’s been enough for a lot of fans to already throw in the towel on the 2021 Chicago Cubs team. It’s not hard to see why because the same offensive problems that have stunted the team over the past few years […]

Chicago Cubs: Statcast shows Rizzo and Happ are due – Da Windy City – Da Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & More

Read More

Read More