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Filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier, who made ‘A Sunday in the Country’ and ‘Round Midnight,’ dies at 79Darel Jevenson March 25, 2021 at 6:26 pm

Bertrand Tavernier accepts a lifetime achievement award at the 2015 Venice Film Festival. | AP File

He leaves behind a legacy of 30 films that included performances by stars of French cinema such as Romy Schneider, Isabelle Huppert and Dirk Bogarde.

PARIS — French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier, who directed acclaimed movies such “A Sunday in the Country,” “Captain Conan” and “Round Midnight,” has died, according to his family. He was 79.

Tavernier’s wife and children said Thursday that he died in Sainte-Maxime, located in France’s southerly Var region. The Lyon-born director left behind a legacy of 30 films that included performances by stars of French cinema such as Romy Schneider, Isabelle Huppert and Dirk Bogarde.

Tributes for Tavernier and his work came from far and wide. Former French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said Tavernier’s films “will remain masterpieces of French cinema.”

Born April 25, 1941, Tavernier wore various caps during his career in cinema. He worked as an assistant director, press officer and critic before he began his turn at directing. It proved to be the decision of his life.

He first found success with 1974’s “The Watchmaker of St. Paul,” and 1976’s “The Judge and the Assassin” won two César Awards, France’s equivalent of the Oscars. The 1990 movie “Daddy Nostalgia” was famous for being Bogarde’s final screen role.

Although Tavernier was less well-known in the English-speaking world, his 1987 feature film about a fictional musician, “Round Midnight,” won Herbie Hancock an Oscar for best original score. Sun-Times movie critic Roger Ebert wrote of the film, “You do not need to know a lot about jazz to appreciate what is going on because, in a certain sense, this movie teaches you everything about jazz that you really need to know.”

Tavernier was married to the late French-Irish screenwriter Claudine O’Hagan, better known as Colo Tavernier, from 1965 to 1980. They had two children together: writer Tiffany Tavernier and director and actor Nils Tavernier.

Colo Tavernier wrote the screenplay for several of her husband’s films and won the César for best adaptation for “A Sunday in the Country” in 1985.

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Filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier, who made ‘A Sunday in the Country’ and ‘Round Midnight,’ dies at 79Darel Jevenson March 25, 2021 at 6:26 pm Read More »

Bulls land All-Star center Nikola Vucevic from Magic in exchange for Wendell Carter Jr.Joe Cowleyon March 25, 2021 at 6:37 pm

The Bulls acquired center Nikola Vucevic from Orlando before Thursday’s trade deadline.
The Bulls acquired center Nikola Vucevic from Orlando before Thursday’s trade deadline. | Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP

It took a lot, but the Bulls eventually found common ground with Orlando Thursday morning, also sending Otto Porter Jr. and multiple first-round picks out.

There’s impressing your future bosses, and then there’s what Nikola Vucevic did to the Bulls back on Feb. 5, still a member of the Orlando Magic.

The 30-year-old All-Star center overwhelmed anyone and everything Bulls coach Billy Donovan threw at him that night, finishing with 43 points, 19 rebounds, and oh by the way, hitting four three-pointers.

It obviously left an impression.

Hours before the Thursday trade deadline, the Bulls and Magic finally found common ground, as Vucevic was sent to the Bulls in a package that included former first-round pick Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr., and two first-round picks in 2021and 2023 with both being top-four protected.

As well as bringing Vucevic over, the Bulls also acquired veteran forward Al-Farouq Aminu in the package.

Aminu was making $9.7 million this season, as well as having the player option next year at $10.1 million. Not bad, but obviously Vucevic came at a price, and one the Bulls were very comfortable with.

Not only do they add a true big to a lineup that was often engulfed by opposing centers, but an offensive piece that works perfectly with first-time All-Star Zach LaVine.

Vucevic works well in pick-and-roll, pick-and-pop, can stretch the floor, and in doing so opens up the paint for players like LaVine and rookie Patrick Williams to attack the rim.

But there was an even bigger picture to come out of this deal.

Yes, the center has a favorable contract that actually goes down in price. He made $26 million this season, he’ll make $24 million next season, and then $22 million in the final year. What it also continues to show, however, is the culture change the Bulls are trying to establish.

Whether the Vucevic-LaVine combo can contend as big dogs in the Eastern Conference is debatable, but what’s not is the Bulls are doing what it takes to become a destination place for possible free agents, not only the next few years in this current window, but in years to come.

That’s what aggressiveness and ridding themselves of players who would get into their own heads far too often does. Players talk, and they haven’t been talking about the Bulls for years.

That changed on Thursday, as executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas followed up the Vucevic deal by sending Daniel Gafford and Chandler Hutchison to Washington for small forward Troy Brown and stretch-five Mo Wagner.

WHAT THE BULLS ADDED

Nikola Vucevic, 30 – 6-11 Center — Contract: $26 million 2020-21, $24 million 2021-22, $22 million 2022-23. Key Stats: Averaging a career-best 24.5 points per game this season, and shooting a career-best 40.6% from three-point range.

Al-Farouq Aminu, 30 – 6-8 Forward — Contract: $9.7 million 2020-21, $10.1 million (player option) 2021-22. Key Stats: He’s been limited in Orlando the past two seasons (35 games), but in Portland was a nine and seven guy on most nights.

Troy Brown Jr., 21 – 6-6 Guard/Forward — Contract: On his rookie deal that paid him $3.3 million 2020-21, $5.1 million 2021-22, $7.2 million (qualifying offer) 2022-23. Key Stats: Averaged 10.4 points and 1.2 steals per game last season.

Moritz Wagner, 23 – 6-11 Stretch-Five — Contract: $2.1 million 2020-21. Key Stats: Scored a season-high 21 points against the Clippers on Feb. 23, and was averaging 7.1 points, as well as shooting 31% from three-point range.

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Bulls land All-Star center Nikola Vucevic from Magic in exchange for Wendell Carter Jr.Joe Cowleyon March 25, 2021 at 6:37 pm Read More »

Final results confirm political deadlock after Israeli voteAssociated Presson March 25, 2021 at 6:39 pm

Workers count votes in Israel’s national elections wearing and divided in groups by sheets of plastic masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Thursday, March 25, 2021.
Workers count votes in Israel’s national elections wearing and divided in groups by sheets of plastic masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Thursday, March 25, 2021. | AP

Israel’s election commission says that with 100% of votes counted, Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party and his natural allies have won 52 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel’s parliament. An ideologically diverse array of parties committed to ousting him won 57 seats.

JERUSALEM — Final election results show Israel in political deadlock once again, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his opponents falling short of a governing majority.

Israel’s election commission says that with 100% of votes counted, Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party and his natural allies have won 52 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel’s parliament. An ideologically diverse array of parties committed to ousting him won 57 seats.

A right-wing party won seven seats and an Arab Islamist party won four. Both are uncommitted, but given the many rivalries in parliament, it is not clear whether either one of them could deliver a required majority.

Party leaders have already begun negotiations that are expected to drag on for weeks. If no one is able to assemble a majority of at least 61 seats, then Israel will go to elections for an unprecedented fifth time in a little over two years.

Tuesday’s vote, Israel’s fourth parliamentary elections in two years, was widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu’s fitness to rule while under indictment.

Deep divisions between the various parties will make it difficult for either side to gain a majority.

Arab parties have never joined a governing coalition, and for nationalist parties, such an alliance is anathema. Bezalel Smotrich, a Netanyahu ally and head of the far-right Religious Zionist party, said Thursday that “a right-wing government will not be established with support from Abbas. Period. Not on my watch.”

He was referring to Mansour Abbas, the head of the United Arab List, which won four seats.

Gideon Saar, a defector from Netanyahu’s Likud who now heads a six-seat party committed to ousting him, said “it is clear that Netanyahu does not have a majority to form a government under his leadership. Action must now be taken to realize the possibility of forming a government for change.”

The Likud, which won the most seats of any party, fired back, saying such a bloc would be “anti-democratic.” It compared Netanyahu’s opponents to the clerical leadership in Israel’s arch-enemy Iran, which vets candidates for high office.

Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, said that the stalemate is Israel’s “worst political crisis in decades.”

“It’s apparent that our political system finds it very difficult to produce a decisive outcome,” Plesner said. He added that inherent weaknesses in Israel’s electoral system are compounded by “the Netanyahu factor”: a popular prime minister struggling to stay in power while under indictment. “Israelis are split right down the middle on this question.”

Several of Netanyahu’s opponents have started discussing advancement of a bill to disqualify a politician under indictment from being tasked with forming a government, a measure aimed at barring the long-serving prime minister from office. A similar bill was floated after the March 2020 elections, but was never passed.

Netanyahu is on trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three cases. He has denied any wrongdoing and has dismissed the charges as a witch-hunt by a biased law enforcement and media.

Despite the charges against him, Netanyahu’s Likud party received around a quarter of the votes, making it the largest party in parliament. A total of 13 parties received enough votes to enter the Knesset — the most since the 2003 election — and represent a variety of ultra-Orthodox, Arab, secular, nationalist, and liberal factions.

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Final results confirm political deadlock after Israeli voteAssociated Presson March 25, 2021 at 6:39 pm Read More »

Bulls land All-Star center Nikola Vucevic from Magic in exchange for Wendell Carter Jr.on March 25, 2021 at 4:52 pm

There’s impressing your future bosses, and then there’s what Nikola Vucevic did to the Bulls back on Feb. 5, still a member of the Orlando Magic.

The 30-year-old All-Star center overwhelmed anyone and everything Bulls coach Billy Donovan threw at him that night, finishing with 43 points, 19 rebounds, and oh by the way, hitting four three-pointers.

It obviously left an impression.

Hours before the Thursday trade deadline, the Bulls and Magic finally found common ground, as Vucevic was sent to the Bulls in a package that included former first-round pick Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr., and two first-round picks in 2021and 2023 with both being top-four protected.

As well as bringing Vucevic over, the Bulls also acquired veteran forward Al-Farouq Aminu in the package.

Aminu was making $9.7 million this season, as well as having the player option next year at $10.1 million. Not bad, but obviously Vucevic came at a price, and one the Bulls were very comfortable with.

Not only do they add a true big to a lineup that was often engulfed by opposing centers, but an offensive piece that works perfectly with first-time All-Star Zach LaVine.

Vucevic works well in pick-and-roll, pick-and-pop, can stretch the floor, and in doing so opens up the paint for players like LaVine and rookie Patrick Williams to attack the rim.

But there was an even bigger picture to come out of this deal.

Yes, the center has a favorable contract that actually goes down in price. He made $26 million this season, he’ll make $24 million next season, and then $22 million in the final year. What it also continues to show, however, is the culture change the Bulls are trying to establish.

Whether the Vucevic-LaVine combo can contend as big dogs in the Eastern Conference is debatable, but what’s not is the Bulls are doing what it takes to become a destination place for possible free agents, not only the next few years in this current window, but in years to come.

That’s what aggressiveness and ridding themselves of players who would get into their own heads far too often does. Players talk, and they haven’t been talking about the Bulls for years.

That changed on Thursday, as executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas followed up the Vucevic deal by sending Daniel Gafford and Chandler Hutchison to Washington for small forward Troy Brown and stretch-five Mo Wagner.

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Bulls land All-Star center Nikola Vucevic from Magic in exchange for Wendell Carter Jr.on March 25, 2021 at 4:52 pm Read More »

Bulls send Daniel Gafford, Chandler Hutchison to Wizards in pre-deadline trade: reporton March 25, 2021 at 5:04 pm

The Bulls kept their trade deadline dealings going Thursday by sending forward Chandler Hutchison and big man Daniel Gafford to the Wizards in exchange for guard Troy Brown and center Mo Wagner, ESPN reports.

It’s the second deal of the day for President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas after the team agreed to send a big haul including Wendell Carter Jr. to the Magic for two-time All-Star Nikola Vucevic.

Hutchison, the 22nd overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, missed time this season while dealing with a lower leg injury. He’s also repeatedly not played as a coach’s decision, failing to earn a spot in Billy Donovan’s rotation. In 79 games with the Bulls over three seasons, Hutchison averaged 5.8 points and four rebounds per game.

Gafford, a 2019 second-round pick, has averaged 4.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in his second NBA season.

The Bulls will hope to get more from Brown, the 15th overall pick in 2018, who averaged 10.4 points per game for the Wizards last season. He’s struggled this year, however, averaging just 4.3 points per game on 37% shooting.

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Bulls send Daniel Gafford, Chandler Hutchison to Wizards in pre-deadline trade: reporton March 25, 2021 at 5:04 pm Read More »

Police fatally shoot armed man in Forest Park: policeon March 25, 2021 at 5:27 pm

An armed man was fatally shot by police Wednesday night in west suburban Forest Park.

About 7:50 p.m., officers received calls of a man who dropped a pistol on the floor of a Jimmy Johns at 350 Circle Ave., according to a statement from police. Witnesses told police the man was waving the gun around saying, “Please don’t make me do this now.”

The man walked outside the restaurant and stood with the pistol in his hand and, when officers arrived at the scene, a patrol officer and a sergeant fired shots, Forest Park Deputy Chief Ken Gross said. Investigators do not believe the man shot himself, Gross said.

Police were still trying to determine if the man fired his gun at officers, Forest Park police said in an updated statement Thursday.

The man was placed into custody and rushed to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he was pronounced dead, police said. His name hasn’t been released.

The pistol was recovered, police said. The officers involved were taken to the hospital with injuries that weren’t life-threatening.

Illinois State Police were investigating the shooting.

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Police fatally shoot armed man in Forest Park: policeon March 25, 2021 at 5:27 pm Read More »

Manny’s Deli Giving Away 1,000 Free Sandwiches For Customers Wearing a Maskon March 25, 2021 at 4:55 pm

The one and only Manny’s Deli is at it again. This time, they’re offering 1,000 free sandwiches if customers simply — wait for it — wear a mask. That’s right. On March 30th if you head to Manny’s Deli at 1141 S Jefferson St. and you’re one of the first 1,000 people there, you can get one of their world famous sandwiches for the price of wearing your freakin’ mask.

Manny’s Deli stays throwing 100 miles an hour. The cafeteria-style Jewish deli and coffee shop has been steady controlling the Chicago food social media scene for years and took their social presence to the next level in order to weather the storm of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their presence and importance in Chicago saw them receive national attention when Barstool Sports featured them and aided the restaurant with a donation from the Barstool Fund.

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The “Free Sandwich Challenge” began when Manny’s charged Chicagoans by saying they’d give away a bunch of their famous corned beef sammies if they could “go 30 days without having to remind anyone to wear their mask.” Chicago obviously failed, but, thanks to very generous donations, Manny’s giveaway is going to proceed anyways.

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It’s not hard. Wear your mask. Be one of the first 1,000 people at Manny’s Deli on March 30th, 2021. Get a free sandwich.

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Sometimes this is exactly what needs to happen in order to get people to do what they’re supposed to do. You know the old saying “that you don’t get credit for things you’re should do.” This totally applies here. Manny’s deserves all the credit, but they’re gonna reward you the customer with one of their award-winning, stand-in-line-for-hours, tell-everyone-you-know, sandwiches if you simply do what you’re already supposed to do.

Seems like an easy decision, Chicago. So head to Manny’s Deli on March 30th for a deal just as good as the Chicago Bulls acquiring Nikola Vucevic.

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Featured Image Credit: Manny’s Deli

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Manny’s Deli Giving Away 1,000 Free Sandwiches For Customers Wearing a Maskon March 25, 2021 at 4:55 pm Read More »

Chicago Bulls: Arturas Karnisovas ignites culture change at deadlineon March 25, 2021 at 5:10 pm

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Chicago Bulls: Arturas Karnisovas ignites culture change at deadlineon March 25, 2021 at 5:10 pm Read More »

Man who ran from police during unrest last May pleads guilty to federal gun chargeon March 25, 2021 at 4:28 pm

A man who fled police during last May’s unrest and looting in Chicago pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to illegal possession of a firearm.

Brandon Pegues, 29, admitted during a virtual hearing before U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall to allegations made by police in the days that followed the unrest. He is likely to face a sentence of between 10 and 16 months during his sentencing hearing, set for July 21.

Chicago police said they spotted Pegues a little after 12:30 a.m. May 31 in the 800 block of South Financial Place, where they arrived “in response to mass crowds and multiple reported ongoing crimes, including criminal damage to property,” records show.

Officers said they saw four men running south on South Financial, and some were carrying hammers. When they saw Pegues, they said he looked at them, adjusted his waistband, and fled. Police said they ran after him, and Pegues eventually stumbled and fell.

Police said they saw a gun fall to the ground, and they said they saw Pegues push what turned out to be a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol under a nearby vehicle. Assistant U.S. Attorney Albert Berry also said Thursday that police found a hammer on Pegues.

Pegues had been convicted of residential burglary, a felony, in January 2010, court records show.

Federal authorities say investigations into last summer’s rioting continue. Earlier this month, prosecutors leveled a rarely filed charge against James Massey, of Chicago, accusing him of using a facility of interstate commerce to incite a riot during a second round of unrest in August. They also last month charged three people with setting fire to a CTA van on May 30.

On Wednesday, a federal judge sentenced D Angelo D. Chester, 32, to more than three years in prison after he was caught with a gun after the 9 p.m. curfew Mayor Lori Lightfoot set as a result of the rioting. Chester’s criminal history prompted the judge to find that the risk of Chester committing another crime is significant.

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Man who ran from police during unrest last May pleads guilty to federal gun chargeon March 25, 2021 at 4:28 pm Read More »

Science panel: Consider air cooling tech as climate back-upon March 25, 2021 at 4:50 pm

The U.S. must seriously consider the idea of tinkering with the atmosphere to cool a warming Earth and accelerate research into how and whether humanity should hack the planet, the National Academy of Sciences said Thursday.

The report by the academy, set up by Abraham Lincoln to provide the government with expert advice, doesn’t recommend carrying out solar geoengineering to bounce heat back to space. At least not yet.

But an emergency plan needs to be explored, the report says, because climate change-driven extreme weather has worsened since the last time the academy looked at the highly-charged issue in 2015. That requires coordinated research into whether air-tinkering technology would work, its potentially dangerous side effects, its ethics and the potential for political fall-out.

The report looks at three possible ways to cool the air: Putting heat-reflecting particles in the stratosphere, changing the brightness of ocean clouds and thinning high clouds.

“Climate engineering is a really dumb idea, but it might not be as dumb as doing nothing at this point or continuing to do what we’ve been doing,” Scripps Institution of Oceanography atmospheric chemist Lynn Russell, a report co-author, told The Associated Press. “It has a lot of risks and those are important to learn as much as we can about.”

The panel recommended ramping up research spending by several fold to $40 million a year, along with “exit ramps” to end study if an unacceptable risk is found.

“I honestly don’t know whether or not it’s going to make sense,” said committee chairman Chris Field of Stanford University.

Critics, such as Oxford University’s Raymond Pierrehumbert, worry that there’s a “moral hazard” providing a tempting option to use questionable technology instead of the necessary cutting back on carbon pollution. He said the term geoengineering wrongly makes it sound like humans have control over heat like a thermostat.

Texas A&M University’s Andrew Dessler sees geoengineering as a safety feature for the planet, like car airbags you hope to never need.

A Harvard team is working on a small-scale experiment where eventually a balloon would put a few pounds of aerosols 12 miles (20 kilometers) into the air to reflect the sun. That group hopes to run a system test, with no chemical injection, later this year over Sweden.

This report is more forceful than the 2015 version, detailing government oversight and how research should be done, said academy president Marcia McNutt, who chaired the earlier study.

Is geoengineering too risky to even consider?

“It is not so much playing with fire as it is researching fire, so that we understand it well enough to deploy, if necessary,? said Waleed Abdalati, a former NASA chief scientist who was on the 2015 panel. “Sometimes you have to examine very risky options when the stakes are as high as they are with climate change.”

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Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Science panel: Consider air cooling tech as climate back-upon March 25, 2021 at 4:50 pm Read More »