Kyle Fuller, the seven-year veteran cornerback, has been released by the Chicago Bears.
Fuller, 29, was in the middle of serving his four-year, $56 million contract he signed back in 2018 with the Bears. Releasing him freed up $20 million in cap space for the Bears as they continue into free agency.
Chicago Bears: Bears release seven-year veteran Kyle Fulleron March 19, 2021 at 12:19 am Read More »
More people work from home (WFH) than ever before since the novel coronavirus pandemic began. If your employees are among them, they might still feel on shaky career ground with all the recent changes.
The telecommuting life offers multiple advantages, but feelings of engagement and security aren’t among them. Many remote workers struggle with isolation and self-doubt that compels them to labor harder than ever. Here are five thoughtful ways to show appreciation for your WFH employees and let them know you recognize their contributions.
As an employer, you can reward your employees with gifts when your budget doesn’t justify bonuses. However, you must follow the proper etiquette — anything too expensive or personal can cause discomfort. You should also send similar gifts to every staff member to avoid the appearance of favoritism.
However, you can still find ways to honor each staff member’s unique tastes. For example, you can send out surveys asking employees about their favorite sports teams or music groups. Use the information to delight them with a new cap or a super-cozy throw.
Even if your WFH staff knows their duties like the backs of their hands, they can start to doubt themselves without their colleague’s ongoing reinforcement. Even if they keep records of their achievements, it’s human nature to compare yourself to others and see where you rank. When you remove this checks-and-balances system, your workers feel more insecure about their performance, even when doing their best.
Therefore, a once-a-year performance review isn’t adequate regarding keeping tabs on their progress. Establish routine check-ins to go over their goals and what they need to do to reach the next level in their careers.
Such meetings serve dual purposes. They also provide a place for telecommuters to ask questions since they might not understand the communication chain and hesitate to reach out for help when need be. Check-ins eliminate frustration, because email communication can mean waiting an inordinately long time to answer a question they could address in seconds through in-person conversation.
One of the drawbacks of WFH life is isolation. Loneliness isn’t only a negative emotion — it can adversely affect your employee’s health and lead to more sick days.
Work does provide a valuable social outlet, and switching to telecommuting can make your employees feel unbearably lonely. Why not hop on the virtual happy hour bandwagon and provide opportunities for your staff to socialize off-the-clock?
Such events offer considerable advantages over the traditional model. You can liven them up with games that get everyone involved — even that shy person who typically stands in the corner.
When your employees don’t work on-site, they can feel adrift about their future career prospects. Please avoid practices like promises of advancement that aren’t likely to materialize. This rule is especially vital with new hires, as 25% of Americans lost work during the recent pandemic and are struggling to rebuild their careers.
Be open and transparent about advancement potential, and only mention promotions if they are likely to happen. By avoiding any misleading information about career advancement, you can more effectively help get them where they need to be in life, and you’ll keep their trust.
If your company has a blend of WFH staff and on-site workers, please make your remote workers feel like more than temp workers serving at your convenience. Offer them the same perks you do to those performing similar labor in-office.
There are some exceptions — for example, you don’t need to issue your receptionist a work truck if you run a plumbing company. However, if other staffers are eligible for PTO, please ensure the folks running the phones from home get the same. Sickness doesn’t discriminate, and even telecommuters need to take their kids to the doctor sometimes.
Treating your remote workers like in-office staff also helps to increase engagement. Since many employers make productivity their foremost concern when switching to WFH arrangements, it only makes sense to improve the ownership such employees take in their work. Incentives work far better than punitive measures if you hope to reduce turnover.
Although you might not see them every day, your WFH employees are part of the lifeblood of your business. Please show them your appreciation with these five tips.
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Thoughtful Ways to Show Appreciation for Your WFH Employeeson March 18, 2021 at 6:00 pm Read More »
I ran across a reference to World Storytelling Day in a message from a Scottish-American group on Facebook. Lo and behold, it’s coming up on March 20. (I know, not much surprise after the headline, but what could I do?)
But what else struck my attention is that March 20 is also the birthday of Sir Walter Scott, the famous Scottish novelist who is remembered in Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh, by the Scott Monument. So, with rustlings coming from the Imaginary Writers’ Room in my mind, I assumed that the storytelling day was planned to be on the birthday of one of Scotland’s great storytellers.
One of them, Arthur, I thought as a familiar Scots voice rumbled behind the door of the Writers’ Room. (Really familiar — I’ve seen a YouTube “talkie” film of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle here which really does sound like my grandfather.)
But sometimes coincidence is just that, incidents happening at the same time without any real link. As Wikipedia explains, ‘World Storytelling Day has its roots in a national day for storytelling in Sweden, circa 1991-2. At that time, an event was organized for March 20 in Sweden called “Alla berättares dag” (All storytellers day). The Swedish national storytelling network passed out some time after, but the day stayed alive, celebrated around the country by different enthusiasts. In 1997, storytellers in Perth, Western Australia coordinated a five-week-long Celebration of Story, commemorating March 20 as the International Day of Oral Narrators. At the same time, in Mexico and other Latin American countries, March 20 was already celebrated as the National Day of Storytellers.”
Then I thought I heard a laugh in the Writers’ Room — a joyful shout, really, When I heard a third man’s voice calling out a quiet “Wheesht!” and knew that was Louis Stevenson’s call to be quiet, I figured out that the second man I’d heard in my mind must have been Robert Burns.
“So Scott gets a party,” Burns said through giggles, “but only because they started it in Sweden!”
“That’s right,” said Agatha Christie, who sounded like she was opening the door — perhaps to edge her way away from Burns. “But we all do owe Sir Walter a great deal.”
“Yes,” said Daphne du Maurier. “He did so much to make novels popular.”
“He wisnae the only one,” muttered Stevenson.
“No, he wasn’t,” said Sir Arthur, “but he was quite a leader. Why, even I copied bits from his mannerisms.”
“Copied?” I couldn’t see from my perch outside the door, but I thought Agatha might be fanning herself at the mere word.
“The image of the man against the lighted window shade,” said Arthur.
I knew “the man” was Sherlock Holmes — this happened in my favorite short story, “The Adventure of the Empty House.”
As Arthur wrote in his great book about books, “Through the Magic Door,” Sir Walter Scott was observed working on his novels late into the night, with his profile visible in the shadow on his window shade.
I gathered my tired nerves and turned the door of the Writers’ Room in my mind.
“Hello, everyone,” I said. Agatha Christie and Daphne du Maurier were sitting on the far side of the dining-room-sized table, with T.S. Eliot and Robert Burns on the near side and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at the head of the table. (After all, he is the chairman of my imaginary committee.)
Robert Louis Stevenson waved to me from where he lay on the sofa and said “Come in, Margaret.”
“Thank you, Louis, but no,” I said. “I just stopped by to remind you that World Storytelling Day is coming up in two days.”
The committee looked around as if embarrassed, avoiding my eyes.
“How long is that?” said Agatha Christie, reminding me of Maggie Smith’s line in “Downton Abbey,” “What is a weekend?”
They don’t need to know about time anymore, but they do love stories. Share some of their works as soon as you can!
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I moved to Chicago from the south suburbs in 1986. I have diverse interests, but I love writing about what I’m interested in. Whether it’s a personal interest or part of my career, the correct words to get the idea across are important to me. I love words and languages — French and Scottish words enrich my American English. My career has included years as a journalist and years working in museums, and the two phases were united by telling stories. I’m serious about words and stories. So here I am, ready to tell stories about words and their languages.
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Hey, March 20 is World Storytelling Day!on March 18, 2021 at 8:56 pm Read More »
After a tumultuous year, the theater’s new artistic director is ready to listen as well as lead.
It’s been a dramatic year for Victory Gardens Theater, even though they haven’t produced a (live) show since Liliana Padilla’s How to Defend Yourself last February. Artistic director Chay Yew, who had been with the company for nine seasons, announced in December 2019 his intention to step down at the end of the 2019-20 season.…Read More
Ken-Matt Martin takes over at Victory GardensKerry Reidon March 18, 2021 at 7:30 pm Read More »
While the U.S. has seen mass killings in recent years where police said gunmen had racist or misogynist motivations, advocates and scholars say the shootings this week at three Atlanta-area massage parlors targeted a group of people marginalized in more ways than one, in a crime that stitches together stigmas about race, gender, migrant work and sex work.
Seven of the eight people killed were women; six were of Asian descent. The suspect, according to police, appeared to blame his actions on a “sex addiction.”
While the U.S. has seen mass killings in recent years where police said gunmen had racist or misogynist motivations, advocates and scholars say the shootings this week at three Atlanta-area massage parlors targeted a group of people marginalized in more ways than one, in a crime that stitches together stigmas about race, gender, migrant work and sex work.
“In some ways this is another manifestation of the targeting of marginalized people in the U.S.,” said Angela Jones, an associate professor of sociology at Farmingdale State College, State University of New York, whose research has focused on race, gender, sexuality and sex work.
The killings in Atlanta follow a wave of recent attacks against Asian Americans since the coronavirus first entered the United States, with the majority of reports coming from women. The 21-year-old suspect denied his attack was racially motivated and claimed to have a “sex addiction,” with authorities saying he apparently saw massage parlors as sources of temptation.
It’s not yet clear if the businesses offered sexual services or if the shooter had gone there before, but the Atlanta mayor said police hadn’t previously been there beyond a minor potential theft. Still, the suspect equated the parlors to sex, and that drove him to kill, police said.
“There’s this assumption that all these massage parlor workers are sex workers. That may or may not be the case,” said Esther Kao, an organizer with New York-based Red Canary Song, a group of Asian and Asian American sex workers and allies that does outreach to massage parlors. “The majority of massage parlors are licensed businesses that also provide professional, non-sexual massages.”
“There’s this assumption of sexuality and fetishization of Asian women’s bodies that is unique to this kind of crime,” she said.
At least one of the victims was a patron, not an employee. Thirty-three-year-old Delaina Ashley Yaun and her husband had gone to the spa on a date, her mother, Margaret Rushing, told WAGA-TV. Yaun leaves behind a 13-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter.
The shootings follow high-profile instances of race and gender-based killings in recent years by white men. In 2014, a 22-year-old who had railed against women online killed six people and wounded 14 near the University of California, Santa Barbara. The following year, eight Black church members and their pastor were shot and killed in a racist attack in South Carolina. In 2018, a Florida gunman with what police called a “hatred towards women” killed two and injured five at a yoga studio. The year after that a shooter targeting Latinos opened fire at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart, killing 22 people.
“This is a thread that is woven through the histories of these gunmen. Toxic masculinity is truly a problem in this country,” said Shannon Watts, founder of the gun-control group Moms Demand Action.
The fact the Georgia shooter targeted the businesses because he linked them to commercial sex is a nightmare scenario for those who work in erotic industries and are increasingly subjected to online harassment and attempts to report massage parlors to the IRS, said Kate D’Adamo, an organizer and advocate for sex worker rights. “At its core it’s about going out and targeting sex workers as fallen women, blaming them for social ills,” she said.
Prostitution laws mean women also fear reporting harassment or violence to police, afraid of being arrested themselves or their pleas ignored, she said. Those fears are even more pronounced for women of color, those who are immigrants or those with few language skills.
They feel they can’t report crimes to police, said Barbara Brents, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas, sociology professor who studies the sex industry. “When they do, sex workers are not taken seriously and they’re also subject to arrest themselves.”
Researchers who spoke to more than 100 Chinese and Korean workers at illicit massage parlors for a 2019 study found that while some women did say they felt deceived or coerced into jobs that involved sex work, many more chose the profession after having bad experiences in the few other types of generally low-paying jobs available to them, like restaurants and nail salons.
While there were some reports of exploitation or mistreatment by managers, an “alarming” 40% of women told researchers that a client had forced them to have sex in the last year, the study said.
In the Atlanta shooting, the suspect’s claims of sex addiction, meanwhile, ring hollow for some. It is not a condition recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, said David Ley, a clinical psychologist and author of “The Myth of Sex Addiction.” And while it was cited by celebrities for a time, the Harvey Weinstein case became an emblem of how it can be used as an attempt to avoid taking responsibility for abuse and assault, he said.
There’s also a disturbing thread of racism in some online discussions of sex addiction, he said.
“They hold other people — the porn industry, sex workers, even women in general — responsible for triggering these sexual desires in them they are afraid of,” he said.
Moral views can shape beliefs about sexuality, and friends described the Atlanta shooting suspect as being deeply Christian. He also told police he had planned to go to Florida to target the porn industry.
The sex-addiction claim is a way to redirect blame, Kao said. “He’s absolutely taking no responsibility and putting all of that on the workers themselves and it also distracts from the race issue,” she said.
Meanwhile, the suspect, Robert Aaron Long has been arrested on charges of murder and assault. It wasn’t clear yet if he had a lawyer who would represent him.
Police said Long confessed to the crime and told officials about a “temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate.”
___
Whitehurst reported from Salt Lake City and Price from Las Vegas.
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Follow Lindsay Whitehurst at twitter.com/lwhitehurst and Michelle Price at twitter.com/michellelprice
Even with ACC player of the year Moses Wright out, the Yellow Jackets have dangerous defenders and shot creators in Jose Alvarado, Michael Devoe and Jordan Usher.
How does Illinois coach Brad Underwood size up 16th-seeded Drexel, the top-seeded Illini’s opening NCAA Tournament opponent?
“They know exactly what they’re trying to get every possession down the court on the offensive side,” Underwood said. “They execute extremely well. I’ve been very impressed by how hard they play. Even though they start a freshman and a sophomore, they have a vast amount of knowledge; their go-to guys are upperclassmen. They rebound the ball great. And they’ve got all the makings of a team that deserves to be there.”
Translation: Somebody bring me those Loyola and Georgia Tech scouting reports.
If the Illini (23-6) lose to the champs of the Colonial Athletic tournament, it’ll be merely the second-biggest upset in the history of the Big Dance. Nothing the Dragons (12-7) pull off Friday could top UMBC’s takedown of Virginia in 2018 — the lone victory in 140 tries for 16s against 1s. There’s only one first time.
Far bigger drama comes with eighth-seeded Loyola (24-4) against ninth-seeded Georgia Tech (17-8). It doesn’t take a fan with a maroon-and-gold scarf to question why the selection committee didn’t bump up the Ramblers a seed line or two given how highly they were ranked by those with poll votes or fancy advanced metrics attached to their names.
It’s one thing to try to survive the Yellow Jackets, winners of eight in a row and champs of the ACC tournament. But to have Illinois lined up next in the Midwest region? Pretty rough.
On the other hand, some of us are old enough to remember when winning even one NCAA Tournament game would’ve been a really big deal up in Rogers Park. And the Ramblers’ chances at an opening “W” got a lot better when the Yellow Jackets’ best player, Moses Wright — the ACC player of the year — tested positive for COVID-19 during intake screening in Indianapolis.
Wright, the team’s top scorer and rebounder and the only true big man in its regular rotation, is in isolation and, according to coach Josh Pastner, asymptomatic.
“A gut punch,” Pastner said of losing his best player, who won’t be available against the Illini if the team gets past Loyola. “It stinks.”
Without much depth at his disposal under the best of circumstances, Pastner likely will have to give 6-10 Rodney Howard — who has played double-digit minutes only five times all season — extended duty against Ramblers star center Cameron Krutwig.
Krutwig, a deft, crafty, dancing-bear lefty against Wright, a monster dunker who can knock down the three, would’ve been a riveting watch for basketball lovers. Nationally, Wright against Illinois center Kofi Cockburn would’ve been among the biggest storylines of Round 2.
Then again, Cockburn, a second-team All-American, vs. Krutwig, a third-teamer, would be mighty special. It’s fun to look ahead like that, isn’t it? To take things two games at a time, if you will.
Needless to say, the Ramblers can’t operate in such a manner. Not at tournament time. Not against a foe from the big, bad ACC. Not against anyone.
As good as Wright is, the best thing about the Yellow Jackets during their hot streak is how their perimeter play came alive. Long slashers Michael Devoe and Jordan Usher and slick point guard Jose Alvarado aren’t big three-point shooters, but each can create off the dribble and turn a game with disruptive defense. Krutwig will make a huge imprint on this game, but it’ll be Braden Norris, Lucas Williamson and the rest of the Ramblers guards who need to keep up.
Loyola, though, enters the game as a strong favorite. Even after the Final Four run of 2018, this fact alone is pretty wild when you step back and think about it.
Plus, the Hawks signed prospect Josiah Slavin this week and are “hoping” Dylan Strome returns to action soon.
The Blackhawks have numerous routes available to them as trade chatter grows around the NHL.
General manager Stan Bowman said during a live taping of the team’s podcast Wednesday that he’s “actively having conversations” with other GMs, even though the April 12 trade deadline remains more than three weeks away.
“I don’t know if you would call us a seller or a buyer,” Bowman said. “We’re willing to do a little bit of both, but we’re not going to sell off players we think have a future for us.
“We’re trying to add players that we think can be part of our future. I don’t think we’re going to be looking for rental players who will be here a couple of months and having to give up some top, young assets to do it.”
The Hawks could viably pursue three different approaches to the trade market.
With abundant salary cap space this season and next, the Hawks could accumulate some valuable prospects or draft picks by taking on another space-strapped team’s bad contract. Bowman confirmed Wednesday he’s open to doing so, and it would make a lot of sense.
The Hawks own several veterans they could sell off for more picks and prospects. Mattias Janmark and Carl Soderberg are both pending unrestricted free agents with some value.
Lucas Wallmark’s contract is also expiring (although he’ll be a restricted free agent); his lack of a steady role makes him expendable if there’s interest. Calvin de Haan appears on track to be exposed in the expansion draft, so the Hawks could look to trade him before then.
And, as Bowman mentioned, the Hawks could also consider acquiring a young player with contract term that could help both this season — the team is still in a playoff spot for now, despite their recent downturn — and in the future.
The Hawks must be mindful of the fact they’re currently two contracts away from the 50-contract limit. They also won’t completely gut their roster, so probably only one or two of Janmark, Soderberg, Wallmark and de Haan will exit.
The Hawks signed wing Josiah Slavin, their 2018 seventh-round pick, to his entry-level contract on Tuesday.
Slavin’s two-year deal officially kicks in next season — a move likely done to avoid inching closer to that 50-contract limit right now — but he’ll spend the rest of this season in Rockford on an AHL “tryout” contract.
The younger brother of Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin, Josiah Slavin played for the Chicago Steel in 2018-19 and then Colorado College in 2019-20 and 2020-21. His college season ended last week; he scored 13 points in 22 games.
The Hawks will need to make decisions by this summer on whether to sign or relinquish the rights to their last four picks from the 2017 draft — Roope Laavainen, Parker Foo, Jakub Galvas and Josh Ess — as well as 2019 seventh-rounder Cole Moberg.
The Hawks are “hoping” Dylan Strome will play in one of the two games (Thursday or Saturday) in this series against the Lightning, coach Jeremy Colliton said Thursday.
Strome hasn’t appeared since Feb. 19 due to a concussion but has been practicing with the team since March 8.
“Any time you can inject some new energy, [it’s good],” Colliton said. “He’s shown he can produce at our level. And [it’d create] a little more competition as well in the forward group, which we would welcome.”
Here’s the latest news on how COVID-19 is impacting Chicago and Illinois.
Nearly a year after he issued his first stay-at-home order, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced his plan to reopen the state, a “bridge” phase that includes increasing capacity limits at places like museums and zoos but also sets thresholds for vaccinations and new COVID-19 caseloads as the state inches toward normalcy “with a dial-like approach.”
The governor also announced the expansion of coronavirus vaccine eligibility to all Illinois residents over 16 — except Chicagoans — starting April 12 along with the new “bridge” phase as part of his plan to reopen the state, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times Wednesday.
“Although we still are in the midst of a global pandemic, the end seems truly to be in sight,” Pritzker said.
The bridge phase will allow for higher capacity limits at museums, zoos and spectator events as well as increased business operations, according to a news release announcing the plan.
To achieve that stage, the entire state must reach a 70% first-dose vaccination rate for residents 65 and over, maintain a 20% or lower ICU bed availability rate and hold steady on COVID-19 and COVID-like illness hospital admissions, mortality rate, and case rate over a 28-day monitoring period.
To reach the reopening phase, the state must reach a 50% vaccination rate for residents age 16 and over and meet the same metrics and rates required to enter the transition phase, over an additional 28-day period, the news release said.
The governor said Thursday Illinois will resume normal business operations “when at least 50% of our 16 and over population has received at least one dose.”
Read the full story from Rachel Hinton here.
Illinois’ COVID-19 death toll eclipsed 21,000 on Thursday, a sobering reminder that the virus is still ravaging families across Illinois even as vaccine supply improves and the state gradually prepares to reopen for business.
The latest 34 coronavirus deaths reported by the Illinois Department of Public Health included nine Cook County residents and raised the statewide pandemic total to 21,022. Another 2,265 deaths are considered to have been “probable,” untested cases.
Since a South Side woman became the state’s first known victim of COVID-19 a year ago, the virus has claimed an average of 58 Illinois lives every day.
But the daily death rate was almost triple that figure during the worst days of the crisis. Nearly 1,100 residents lost their battles with COVID-19 during the first week of December, amounting to roughly 156 deaths each day. That included the worst day of all with 238 coronavirus fatalities logged Dec. 2.
That was also the week before Illinois’ first coronavirus vaccine doses were administered. The death rate has shrunk by about 85% since then, with an average of 23 COVID-19 deaths per day over the past week.
Read the full story from Mitchell Armentrout here.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker plans to expand coronavirus vaccine eligibility to all Illinois residents over 16 — except Chicagoans — starting April 12, and initiate a new “bridge” phase as part of his plan to reopen the state, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.
The governor is expected to make the announcement at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at the Thompson Center.
Chicago receives its own federal vaccine allotment and sets its own eligibility rules. City Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Wednesday that “most Chicagoans” could get in line for the vaccine by March 29, with an expansion to those over 16 with underlying conditions and targeted groups of essential workers.
Pritzker had already made a comparable expansion for the rest of the state last month. On April 12, the only requirement for the state’s non-Chicagoans will be that they be over the age of 16.
President Joe Biden last week urged states to make all adults eligible for vaccines by May 1, a deadline Pritzker predicted the state would beat.
The bridged reopening Pritzker is planning to announce on Thursday will allow for “a gradual increase in capacity limitations” as the state vaccinates more people and continues to monitor case numbers, one source said.
All of the state’s regions will move into the intermediate phase — there will be additional metrics to meet, involving new case numbers and the state’s positivity rate, to get to Phase 5, which is a full reopening, the source said. The state has been in Phase 4 since last summer.
Pritzker said Wednesday, saying he expects to unveil a plan this week that is “not only healthy for everybody, but also good for the economy.”
Part of the challenge to lifting restrictions will be handling threats posed by newer, faster spreading coronavirus variants — but the governor suggested that was not an insurmountable hurdle to reopening.
“Let me be clear to everybody,” the governor said at a news conference in downstate Decatur. “I am more optimistic today than I have ever been throughout this pandemic, about where we are going and getting to the end of the pandemic.”
11:37 a.m. Who deserves credit? Biden leans into pandemic politics
WASHINGTON — In President Joe Biden’s war against the coronavirus, former President Donald Trump hardly exists.
The Democratic president ignored Trump in his first prime-time address to the nation, aside from a brief indirect jab. It was the same when Biden kicked off a national tour in Pennsylvania on Tuesday to promote the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. Now, as his administration is on the cusp of delivering on his promise of administering 100 million doses of vaccine in his first 100 days, Biden is in no rush to share the credit.
The truth is that both Biden and Trump deserve some credit, though Biden stands to benefit from being in power during the nation’s emergence from the pandemic. In the president’s telling, the United States’ surging vaccination rate, economic recovery and the hope slowly spreading across the nation belong to him and his party alone.
On Thursday afternoon, Biden is set to provide an update on the state of the vaccination campaign, with what is expected to be an early victory lap on reaching the milestone more than a month before he promised. While the official figures won’t be reported for days, the 100 millionth dose is likely to be administered on Thursday — his 58th day in office.
The president’s approach represents a determination to shape how voters — and history — will remember the story of America’s comeback from the worst health and economic crises in generations. In the short term, the debate will help decide whether Democrats will continue to control Congress after next year’s midterm elections. And in the longer term, each president’s legacy is at stake.
For now, the fight is framed by conflicting realities.
A “disappointed” Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday chastised executives at The Loretto Hospital who approved a round of COVID-19 vaccinations for employees of the tony Trump International Hotel & Tower last week even though they weren’t eligible to get the coveted shots.
The CEO of the Austin neighborhood hospital — which the mayor chose as the site of the city’s first-ever vaccine dose as a show of commitment to equitable vaccine distribution in low-income communities of color — has said “we were mistaken” in letting the 72 hotel workers jump to the front of the line.
Lightfoot called it a blunder that “can never be repeated.”
“Of course I was disappointed to hear about it. … Loretto has been a tremendous partner with the city,” Lightfoot said during a news conference announcing the city’s plan to expand eligibility — including to hospitality workers — on March 29.
Read the full story from Mitchell Armentrout and Brett Chase here.
Analysis & Commentary
The “recovery rebates” that Americans began receiving this week supposedly have something to do with the economic damage caused by COVID-19 and the control measures it inspired. But like most of the so-called American Rescue Plan Act, these payments, which account for more than a fifth of the bill’s $1.9 trillion price tag, are only tenuously related to the pandemic.
The Democrats who championed the law hope those bribes will buy them votes in the midterm elections. But you really should be thanking your children and grandchildren, because they will ultimately pick up the tab for this package and the rest of the $5 trillion spending binge that Congress claimed was justified by a public health emergency.
Individuals with adjusted gross incomes of up to $75,000 will get $1,400, while married couples earning up to $150,000 will get $2,800, plus $1,400 for each dependent. That amounts to $5,600 for a four-person family, on top of the $5,800 that such households received under the coronavirus relief packages that Congress approved in March and December.
Congress distributed that money without regard to whether the recipients had suffered pandemic-related economic distress. A Pew Research Center survey conducted last August suggests that most of them have not: 42% of respondents said they or someone in their households had lost jobs or income due to COVID-19, less than half the 85 % of Americans who are expected to receive the latest round of payments.
“He wants to prove it was the right decision,” White Sox GM says
GLENDALE, Ariz. – Everyone braced for the worst when Tony La Russa, age 76 and a Hall of Famer but one who hadn’t managed since 2011, was named White Sox manager.
But here we are, four weeks through spring training and two weeks from Opening Day, and Sox players have expressed nothing but acceptance and support. Setting a well-received tone at the beginning of camp by saying he had to earn his players’ respect, and admitting being nervous about undertaking his new job, La Russa was in good standing at the outset and has done nothing to lose it.
Star shortstop Tim Anderson, guarded and cautious when first asked about La Russa during the winter, wants it made known that he’s behind him and that everything is good in the Sox clubhouse.
“I want everyone to know Tony is great, me and Tony is fine, I love Tony,” shortstop Tim Anderson told the Sun-Times Thursday. “Tony is going to allow us to do whatever we want to do.”
La Russa’s surprise hire in October was initially met with outrage, primarily because of his age and his close friendship with chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.
There were concerns about how the young, lively and fun loving Sox would mesh with an old-school manager who doesn’t seem to be fond of bat flipping.
Anderson said he’s going to keep doing his thing.
“One more big announcement: Tony and the White Sox are totally fine,” Anderson said. “The vibes are great, we’re all definitely getting along. So let’s not forget what the ultimate goal is and what we’re trying to accomplish here.”
First impressions have been good. Early in camp, Adam Engel said La Russa does “everything for a reason” and communicated clearly.
“A really cool thing about Tony is there’s no question marks behind what he’s doing,” Engel said. “He’s going to tell you why he’s doing it. If it seems different, he’s going to tell you why. He’s incredibly smart, incredibly wise, a ton of experience. You can just tell that nothing surprises him. He sees stuff and it’s like he saw it coming.”
Sox Opening Day starter Lucas described his first phone conversation with La Russa as “amazing.”
A guest on Jomboy Media’s “The Chris Rose Rotation” podcast Thursday, Giolito said, “You know, when we hired him, media was going crazy, ‘he’s not going to connect with the younger guys,’ this and that. I was reading it and I was like, ‘where is this coming from? I get it to a certain degree but he hadn’t even talked to a player yet. Does he get a chance or not?”
Respecting La Russa’s resume, Giolito reserved judgment.
“The first conversation was amazing,” Giolito said. “Once we got into baseball stuff, the first place he went was, “at least to my knowledge from what everyone’s told me you guys have a strong clubhouse. I’m going to have to earn your guys’ respect.”
That is how La Russa has approached it from the start, general manager Rick Hahn said.
“He wants to prove it was the right decision, that people put aside the resume, he’s the right guy for this team and he can play his role in getting us to the promised land,” Hahn told the Sun-Times. “ He knows there was doubt and naysayers and he’s doing everything in his power to prove them wrong. It starts in the clubhouse and then the organization.
“The trust and faith seems uniform throughout the organization right now. It’s going to take a little longer.
“In the end we all realize we’re going to be judged on whether it yields a championship or two. In the meantime, he’s doing everything in his power day by day to get us closer to that.”
One of the best things about Chicago (claimed by residents and visitors alike) is its food. Not only is the quality of so many items offered by local restaurants great, but the breadth and variety of Chicago’s food landscape is unparalleled by most other cities. Who are the heroes responsible for these tongue-tickling creations? Who are the wizards whipping up these masterpieces? These are seven of the hottest chefs in Chicago right now and the restaurants they bless their talents with.
Though Thattu’s Food Hall location is currently closed, Pak’s intriguing and delicious “Indian street food concept,” inspired by the Kerala region of India, continues through pop-up events. Subscribe to Thattu’s newsletter for a chance to taste Kerala Fried Chicken, Kadala Curry, and more.
Williams’ restaurant Virtue, which “melds his background in fine dining and his love of southern cuisine,” serves delectable dinner menu items including BBQ pork steak, lemon chicken, and catfish. Every Friday, Virtue’s Black Expression Series invites patrons to enjoy dinner and wine during a Zoom discussion hosted by Black community leaders and innovators.
A chef and partner at the West Loop Italian restaurant, Grueneberg has been the driving culinary force behind the pastificio as it has received a growing list of awards and accolades since its opening in 2015. Try fresh, housemade Spaghetti, or some Tortelloni di Zucca.
Reed has traveled the world to expand his culinary horizons, but his “first love is food of the south.” Inspired by the recipes and methods of his great-grandmother Luella (who moved from Mississippi to Chicago in the 1940s), Reed created an amazing menu that is true to its southern roots, and includes items such as Chicken Gumbo, Shrimp and Grits, and Chicken and Waffles.
With a name inspired by Gaytán’s Mexican hometown Huitzuco, the French-technique-infused Mexican restaurant serves items like the Tzuco Burger— beef, Gruyère, Serrano peppers, and black truffle aioli are key ingredients in this culinary concoction of epic proportions. The inventive and hard-working Gaytán became the first Mexican chef to receive a Michelin star in 2013.
The chef of seasonal Japanese restaurant Momotaro grew up in a Japanese household in North Carolina, and in his practice remains “devoted to elevating Japanese cuisine while remaining authentically respectful of tradition.” Visit the Fulton Market District, where Momotaro’s menu includes Beef “Tsukune” Sliders, Mapo Tofu, and a vast selection of sushi and sashimi.
Born in Vietnam and raised just outside Washington, D.C., Dang brings a combination of true Vietnamese flavors and well-practiced, modern culinary techniques to his restaurant HaiSous. Those hungry for these lauded creations can visit HaiSous in Pilsen, where they can order such items as Chả Giò (an egg roll lettuce wrap), Cá Nướng Xả (roasted bass with lemongrass), and Vietnamese Rice Pudding.
Hottest Chefs Chicago Featured Image Credit: Luella’s Chef on Instagram
The post 7 Hottest Chefs in Chicago Right Now appeared first on UrbanMatter.
7 Hottest Chefs in Chicago Right NowAudrey Snyderon March 18, 2021 at 7:44 pm Read More »
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