Dorian Missick Discusses His Characters Development On ABC’s FOR LIFEon February 25, 2021 at 10:51 pm

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Dorian Missick Discusses His Characters Development On ABC’s FOR LIFE

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Dorian Missick Discusses His Characters Development On ABC’s FOR LIFEon February 25, 2021 at 10:51 pm Read More »

Spring Training Rundown: Starting Pitcherson February 25, 2021 at 11:36 pm

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Spring Training Rundown: Starting Pitchers

Spring Training Rundown: Starting Pitcherson February 25, 2021 at 11:36 pm Read More »

Trio set fire to CTA van during summer riots: fedson February 25, 2021 at 8:58 pm

Federal prosecutors have charged three men with setting fire to a CTA van during summer rioting in Chicago last year.

Few details were released in the one-page indictment charging the three men in the May 30 incident.

Denzal Stewart and Lamar Taylor, both of Chicago, and Darion Lindsey of Forest Park, each face a single count of arson, punishable by 5 to 20 years in federal prison.

Stewart, 24, and Taylor, 23, were arrested Wednesday, while Lindsey, 19, was already in custody for an unrelated charge, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern Illinois District.

Stewart and Taylor were expected in court Friday. Lindsey’s arraignment hasn’t been set.

The alleged arson happened amid violent clashes in Chicago between protesters and police in the wake of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd. That weekend, a man was shot to death in River North and at least three other people were wounded in separate shootings in the Loop in the wake of the protests.

Trio set fire to CTA van during summer riots: fedson February 25, 2021 at 8:58 pm Read More »

Chicago Bears Rumors: Russell Wilson would consider Bears in tradeVincent Pariseon February 25, 2021 at 7:04 pm

It is amazing that a quarterback of Russell Wilson’s caliber would consider coming to Chicago to play for the Chicago Bears but that is officially on the table right now. According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the veteran quarterback has the Bears on his list of teams that he would want to play […]

Chicago Bears Rumors: Russell Wilson would consider Bears in trade – Da Windy City – Da Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & More

Chicago Bears Rumors: Russell Wilson would consider Bears in tradeVincent Pariseon February 25, 2021 at 7:04 pm Read More »

Where is Joe Biden’s plan to reopen America?Dennis Byrneon February 25, 2021 at 5:26 pm

Where is Joe Biden’s plan to reopen America?Dennis Byrneon February 25, 2021 at 5:26 pm Read More »

Report: Chicago Bears would be a destination for QB Russell Wilson if tradedCCS Staffon February 25, 2021 at 6:52 pm

Could the Chicago Bears be a landing spot for Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson if he demands a trade? It’s possible.

The post Report: Chicago Bears would be a destination for QB Russell Wilson if traded first appeared on CHI CITY SPORTS l Chicago Sports Blog – News – Forum – Fans – Rumors.Read More

Report: Chicago Bears would be a destination for QB Russell Wilson if tradedCCS Staffon February 25, 2021 at 6:52 pm Read More »

Celebrating Chicago Theatre Week—a year into the pandemicKerry Reidon February 25, 2021 at 7:00 pm

This year’s lineup offers a smorgasbord of online options; plus honoring Felicia P. Fields and remembering Edward S. Weil Jr. and Sally Banes

As the numbers of the vaccinated grow and the icicles melt and crash, the twin angst-inducing events of pandemic shutdown and plain old everyday cabin fever seem to recede like the snow cover on the ground. (Memo to pet owners: please pick up after your furry friends!)…Read More

Celebrating Chicago Theatre Week—a year into the pandemicKerry Reidon February 25, 2021 at 7:00 pm Read More »

Two cop-killers freed by Illinois parole board after decades in prisonFrank Mainon February 25, 2021 at 6:15 pm

Johnny Veal, 68, was convicted of killing Sgt. James Severin and Officer Anthony Rizzato in 1970; Joseph Hurst, 77, of killing Officer Herman Stallworth in 1967.

Two men convicted of killing Chicago police officers decades ago were granted parole Thursday over objections from a former police superintendent and, in one case, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.

The Illinois Prisoner Review Board voted 8-4 to parole Johnny Veal, 68, and, separately, Joseph Hurst, 77.

The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, run by former Chicago police Supt. Phil Cline, objected to both parole requests.

Foxx strenuously opposed Veal’s parole. But she sent a letter to the board last year saying she no longer objected to parole for Hurst, a move that drew criticism from Cline and his foundation.

Veal was 17 in 1970 when he and another man, armed with .30-caliber rifles, killed Sgt. James Severin and Officer Anthony Rizzato as the two cops walked across a baseball diamond in the Cabrini-Green housing complex.

The officers — part of a “walk-and-talk” community relations team — were investigating a complaint that someone was firing a rifle from one of the apartment buildings when they were shot.

Veal, now 68, and George Knights, 74, were convicted of the murders and sentenced to prison terms of 100 to 199 years. Knights remains in prison.

In a letter to the board last year, Foxx said she “strongly opposed” parole for Veal, calling the killings a “cold-blooded execution” and noting that he bragged about it.

Veal has told the parole board he was innocent despite what Foxx described as solid evidence against him. She also said there’s no evidence that he and Knights were beaten by the police when they were questioned, as Veal suggested to the board.

While in prison, Veal was caught with a homemade knife and pleaded guilty to a weapons charge in 1987, Foxx said.

Veal has been held at the Hill Correctional Center in Galesburg.

Hurst was convicted of killing Officer Herman Stallworth and wounding his partner after being pulled over for speeding in 1967.

Hurst shot Stallworth as the officer was searching him on the street, prosecutors said. Hurst ran away, wounding Stallworth’s partner with a bullet to the face and later firing at other officers after barricading himself in a nearby building on the South Side. Hurst didn’t deny the allegations, according to his past statements to the parole board.

Hurst originally was sentenced to death. But, after the U.S. Supreme Court placed a moratorium on capital punishment in 1972, he was re-sentenced to 100 to 300 years in prison. He has told the board he’s no longer a threat to society and done enough time in prison for his crimes. Hurst has been held at the Dixon Correctional Center.

On Wednesday, Foxx told the Chicago Sun-Times she’ll no longer make recommendations to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board on parole.

That came after criticism from Cline for not objecting to parole for Hurst and separately for another cop-killer last year.

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office was one of the few prosecutors’ offices in Illinois that still regularly made parole recommendations.

Foxx called the practice a “relic” of the past and said prosecutors are experts on the facts of the crimes but not on inmates’ conduct in prison — ending a decades-long practice by her office of offering opinions on parole requests.

Two cop-killers freed by Illinois parole board after decades in prisonFrank Mainon February 25, 2021 at 6:15 pm Read More »

Slaughtering wolves in Wisconsin just for the thrill of the killDavid McGrathon February 25, 2021 at 6:37 pm

Shortly after the Trump administration removed gray wolves from the federal endangered species list, 2,380 Wisconsin hunters were allowed to buy licenses to kill 119 wolves over seven days. | AP Photos

The hunt was cut short on Wednesday after 182 wolves were wiped out. What was the point?

In Shirley Jackson’s classic short story “The Lottery,” the villagers of a small town randomly choose one of their own to stone to death for no ostensible purpose other than the cathartic thrill of the kill.

A similarly macabre lottery recently was conducted by our neighbors in Wisconsin. Following the Trump administration’s controversial removal of the gray wolf from the federal endangered species list, just days before Donald Trump left office, 2,380 Wisconsin hunters chosen by lottery from 27,151 applicants “won” the privilege of buying licenses to kill 119 wolves over a seven-day period.

But the hunt was cut short this week, on Wednesday, when the quota was exceeded and 182 wolves wiped out in just 3 days. This was likely because the wolves were more vulnerable due to heavy snow cover, said George Meyer of the Wilderness Wildlife Federation.

Why did more than 27,000 people pay for a chance to shoot a gray wolf? It certainly wasn’t for food. As one might expect of this apex predator, gamey smelling wolf meat consists mostly of muscle and is widely considered inedible.

A market may exist for wolf hides in some states, with a pelt fetching an average price of $210, according to Alaska Fish and Wildlife News. But when you add travel and hunting expenses to the cost of a tag for a single wolf, any gunman in it for the fur is more likely to end up in the red.

And when Luke Hilgemann, president of Hunter Nation, the out-of-state organization that filed a lawsuit to force Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources to stage the hunt without delay, explained that wolves needed to be exterminated to protect livestock and pets, even hunters had to smile. Official statistics available from 2018 show that under provisions of the federal Endangered Species Act, $144,509 in compensation was paid to Wisconsin farmers and pet owners for 33 cattle and 19 hunting dogs lost to wolves. That’s 33 cattle fatalities out of Wisconsin’s 3.45 million heads of cattle, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Important to note, in view of hyperbolic wolf legends and lore: there has been only one human fatality (in rural Alaska) in the United States from a wolf attack since 1900. And only 32 attacks at all since 1782, according to Field and Stream.

Whereas, Farley Mowatt, in his 1963 classic memoir “Never Cry Wolf,” documented the beneficial role that wolf packs (complex, extended families dedicated to the care and feeding of its young) play in ecosystems, such as keeping healthy the Arctic’s caribou herd, and, arguably, doing the same for Wisconsin’s deer population.

Hilgemann was more candid, however, when he added that another reason for his organization’s lawsuit was to protect “hunting traditions.” Which, if he’s honest, amounts to stalking and shooting wolves for fun.

I confess, as a fisherman, that this is a rationale I can relate to. Anglers take to the water partly to harvest and eat fish, but mostly for sport in an escapist immersion in nature. We fish for recreation and pleasure. The difference is that we release, unharmed, any fish we don’t eat. The wolves trapped or hunted down this past week, on the other hand, were shot where they stood or finished off while tangled in a trap, never to see another day.

In President Trump’s last month in office, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delisted the wolf as an endangered species, citing its recovery over the last few decades. But the Trump administration had a record of a wholesale loosening or eliminating worthwhile environmental restrictions, as well as ceding power over wildlife and resources to private industry and state governments. And Republican legislators in Wisconsin, still smarting from Joe Biden’s electoral upset in their state, had made known their fervent desire that the DNR fast track a wolf hunt before the new Biden administration could restore protections.

Environmental groups including Earthjustice are suing to restore federal protections for wolves, maintaining that the recovery of these animals is a fiction insofar as they remain extinct in 80% of their former habitat. Wisconsin’s wolf population of approximately 1,000 was reduced by at least 15% in this week’s deadly shootaround.

Years ago, on a foggy summer morning, I came face to face with a wolf on the edge of the Chequamegon National Forest in Wisconsin’s northwoods. I had been walking with my dog on Barker Lake Road, where we had a lake cabin 30 miles east of Hayward.

Our black Lab, accustomed to chasing everything that moved, halted suddenly, its back hair standing up like porcupine needles.

A gray wolf stood on the high bank on the right side of the road, looking down. Though it was the first I had ever seen, it was unmistakable for its considerable size (100 pounds), its legs splayed wide, head slightly declined, its amber eyes intently focused on the two of us.

A single moment of silence, of fear and reverence, of holding my breath, before its head visibly relaxed, and it turned and vanished into the pines.

There is a chance that the wolf I saw was among this past week’s victims. Though wolves have inspired frustration and even hate in some, and awe and inspiration in others, it’s a disgrace and a crime if this wolf was shot to death for political vindication. And fun.

David McGrath, emeritus professor of English at the College of Dupage, is the author of the essay collection “South Siders.” He can be reached at [email protected],

Send letters to [email protected].

Slaughtering wolves in Wisconsin just for the thrill of the killDavid McGrathon February 25, 2021 at 6:37 pm Read More »

‘Blinding Lights’ and more hits the Grammys left in the darkAssociated Presson February 25, 2021 at 6:44 pm

In this Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015, file photo, the Weeknd performs at the American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The Weeknd had the No. 1 song of 2020 but “Blinding Lights” was not nominated for a Grammy Award. | AP

The Weeknd and others join an exclusive club of songs that were crowned biggest hit of the year by Billboard but fell short at the Grammy Awards.

NEW YORK — The wattage in The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” wasn’t strong enough to compete at the Grammys – but the song isn’t the only electrifying No. 1 hit that the Recording Academy snubbed.

The Weeknd joins an exclusive club of songs that were crowned biggest hit of the year by Billboard but fell short at the Grammy Awards.

It’s been 10 years since a song that dominated the year in music didn’t garner a nomination at the Grammys, and that was “TiK ToK,” the drunken party anthem and multi-platinum debut single from pop singer Kesha.

And in the last 30 years, only five No. 1 songs of the year have missed out at the Grammys. Others joining The Weeknd and Kesha are the rock-pop hit “Hanging by a Moment” from Lifehouse, the top song of 2001; R&B trio Next’s racy hit “Too Close,” which won over 1998; and the 1996 pop culture moment that was the “Macarena,” by Spanish duo Los del Río.

“It’s horrible company to be in,” Ron Aniello, who produced “Hanging by a Moment” and discovered Lifehouse, said with a laugh.

“We’re talking about industry people voting, we’re not talking about the public, so it’s quite different,” Aniello continued. “I think that was a very popular song for the general public but I’m not sure how seriously (the Grammys) took the band to put them first for voting. If you remember it was their first hit. They had no history. ‘We’re going to vote for Lifehouse for best song of the year? Why should we? Who are they?’ They were undefined as artists, so maybe that had something to do with it.”

Like Lifehouse, Kesha was a new artist marking her breakthrough when her song became the year’s biggest hit. Though she launched multiple successes from her debut album, the girl who jokingly sang about brushing her teeth with Jack Daniels and described her personal style as a “garbage chic” wasn’t immediately seen as a serious musician, and it didn’t surprise many when she didn’t earn Grammy recognition in her debut year, especially for “TiK ToK.”

On the other hand, there are monster tracks like “Blinding Lights” that feel like a shoo-in at the Grammys. The Weeknd’s song is spending its record-extending 50th week in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and is also the longest-running No. 1 hit of all time on the R&B chart, spending 47 weeks — and counting — on top.

“It is kind of surprising because you think that someone with that kind of energy behind him or push or visibility would at least have gotten the nomination,” said Paul Jackson Jr., an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music and Grammy-nominated musician who played on The Weeknd’s global hit “I Feel It Coming.”

“I’ll give you another one that’s surprising — if you look in 1984, ‘When Doves Cry’ was not nominated,” he continued. “Huge record.”

While Prince’s lead single from “Purple Rain” didn’t score a nomination, the soundtrack and the title track won Grammys. George Michael’s “Faith” won album of the year but the title track — the No. 1 song of 1988 — did not compete in any Grammy categories.

Jackson Jr. played guitar on the No. 1 song of 1986 — Dionne Warwick’s “That’s What Friends Are For” — which won the Grammys for song of the year and best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals.

“It was a big collaboration,” Jackson Jr. said of the tune which also featured Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Elton John. “It was dealing with AIDS awareness and a lot of things like that. So there was a big push behind it from a lot of the (voting) members.”

“That’s What Friends Are For” is just one of nine Billboard year-end No. 1 hits to win the song of the year Grammy. Ten of the top songs of the year have been named record of the year.

Since the Grammys held its first show in 1959 — to honor the music of 1958 — Billboard has named 63 No. 1 songs of the year. Of the 63 hits, only 18 songs have missed out on Grammy nominations, including “Blinding Lights.” Twenty-eight of the 45 nominated No. 1 songs have won Grammys, which currently has 84 categories.

Only five year-end No. 1 tunes have won both song and record of the year, including Adele’s “Rolling In the Deep” in 2012, Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes” in 1982, Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” in 1973, Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” in 1971, and Domenico Modugno’s “Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu (Volare)” in 1959.

Aniello said one of the reasons a song may not get a Grammy nomination could be the result of record label politics.

When thinking of why “Hanging by a Moment” missed out, he said: “That year we were on DreamWorks and it was ‘I’m Like a Bird’ by Nelly Furtado, that’s the song that the label chose to push for a Grammy.” Furtado’s offbeat Top 10 debut single went on to win best female pop vocal performance and was nominated for song of the year. Furtado also competed for best new artist and best pop vocal album.

“Is it fair? It’s just what it is,” he continued. “We were all just new at it. We had no idea. … We just kind of probably thought you had to pick a unicorn to win a Grammy somewhere, like it was magical. We didn’t realize it was probably more political than anything else.”

Grammy rules state that just because a track is the most successful song of the year does not mean it deserves to be nominated — that means chart placement, radio airplay or streaming success are not part of the voting process. The academy’s voting body includes artists, producers, songwriters and engineers.

“It’s an industry award,” Jackson Jr. explained. “It’s not necessarily based on just popular vote. It’s based on people thinking that this has merits to win.”

Aniello — who produced the Bruce Springsteen albums “Wrecking Ball,” “High Hopes,” “Western Stars” and “Letter to You” — said though The Boss has won 20 Grammys, he’s never picked up big prizes such as record or album of the year, despite being one of music’s most revered performers.

“It’s just a quirky thing,” he said. “The Grammys don’t make sense to me.”

When he thinks about what Lifehouse created two decades ago — opening doors for Christian-leaning rock songs to live on pop radio — he’s proud, and content.

“The song is very deep. I’m fine with not having a Grammy,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to me because the song reached who it needed to reach.”

‘Blinding Lights’ and more hits the Grammys left in the darkAssociated Presson February 25, 2021 at 6:44 pm Read More »

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