The Aces are best known as a backing band, but they took the lead when it came to the future of the blues.

Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in the first place.…Read More

Wardruna’s fifth full-length was due last June, but due to the pandemic, the Norwegian neo-prog-folk band bumped the release date of Kvitravn to this January. Though Wardruna were born out of Norway’s black-metal scene—two of the band’s three founders, Einar Selvik and Gaahl, are veterans of the influential Gorgoroth—they’re also inspired by Norse folk traditions, so their sound isn’t expressly metal.…Read More

It is not known if the fires are related.

Police are investigating three vehicle fires reported in Northwest Side neighborhoods.

About 11:45 p.m., officers responded to a call of a red 2003 Nissan Maxima that was on fire in the 3400 block of West Beach Avenue, Chicago police said. The owner’s home surveillance footage showed a male wearing a gray coat and black jeans break the driver-side window and throw an object that was lit on fire inside the car.

About 1:50 a.m., officers responded to a second fire in the 3300 block of North Kilpatrick Avenue, police said. The owner of a Toyota 4Runner showed officers surveillance footage that showed a male get out of a black Ford Fusion and throw a lit object on the hood of his SUV before fleeing.

Minutes later a third vehicle fire was reported in the 3500 block of North Keeler Avenue, police said. About 2:05 a.m., a blue 2016 Chevy Cruz was found in the 3500 block of North Keeler Avenue, with a fire that started from the front end of the car, police said. The cause of the blaze has not yet been determined.

It is not known if the fires are related.

Area Five detectives are investigating.

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No injuries were reported.

Two people were displaced in a house fire Thursday morning in Gresham on the South Side.

About 1:50 a.m., officers found a vacant house on fire in the 7900 block of South Normal Avenue, Chicago police said. Adjacent homes were evacuated as a precaution, and one of the neighboring homes’ roof was damaged due to the fire reaching over.

Two people from the neighboring home were displaced, police said. No injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Chicago Fire Department.

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“I’ve been doing this for 30 some-odd years and this is by far my worst day,” the fire chief said.

Four sisters younger than 7 and their mother died in a house fire Wednesday morning in suburban Des Plaines.

The fire broke out in a two-story duplex before 10:30 a.m. in the 700 block of Oakton Street, Des Plaines Fire Chief Daniel Anderson told reporters at the scene.

“This is a terrible day, a tragic day, it’s a sad day for Des Plaines,” Anderson said. “I’ve been doing this for 30 some-odd years and this is by far my worst day.”

The sisters were identified as Grace Espinosa, 1, Allizon V. Espinosa, 3, Genesis A. Espinosa, 5, and Renata P. Espinosa, 6, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

The children were taken to Lutheran General Hospital and pronounced dead, while their mother, Citahaly Zamiodo, 25, died at the scene, officials said.

Their father was at work at the time of the fire, a neighbor said.

Irma Serrato, a relative who lives next door, said the family is shocked and heartbroken.

“Everyone is crying, everyone is down; pain, what I see is helplessness and pain,” Serrato said in Spanish on Wednesday evening. “… It’s something that we still don’t believe. We still don’t know what happened, we don’t how it happened, but we are awaiting answers from the authorities.”

Earlier in the day, Pabel Marrero, who lives on the first floor of the duplex, fought back tears as he saw what started as a typical morning “with nothing out of the ordinary” turn into tragedy.

He awoke to the sound of the kids’ footsteps upstairs around 9:30 a.m. A little over a half-hour later, he said he detected a faint smell of “burnt plastic” and heard a loud banging on his door. A passerby alerted him to the smoke coming from the upstairs apartment and told Marrero he needed to leave the house. The man called 911 to report smoke coming from the second floor, where most of the victims were found, Anderson and Marrero said.

The blaze spread to three of four apartments in the duplex, sending other uninjured residents from the home. Anderson described the scene as “a very hectic, rapidly evolving situation.”

Marrero, 52, said it took only 15 minutes for the whole upstairs to be engulfed in smoke.

“It was bad. The amount of smoke, I’ve never seen something like that. And then when they opened up the back door, the fire starts coming out the window, I haven’t seen anything like that,” he said. “It was quick.”

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Marrero said the family who lived on the second floor moved in about two years ago. He recalled the girls being energetic and happy. He said they would play with dolls and build forts in the backyard.

“The kids were always in the yard,” he said. “They always liked to be out here especially in the summer. In the summer, they would be out here all day long.”

The house was destroyed, with some of its white siding singed black. Debris could be seen hanging from the ceiling of the upstairs apartment before the broken second-story windows were boarded up.

“I went in and the house is ruined,” said Marrero, who added that officials “told us we cannot live there anymore.”

“The least damaged is my apartment, but it’s unlivable… I don’t know what I’m going to do right now. I’ve lived here for 12 years, I had no plans for moving.”

Marrero, a hiring manager, said he has family in Wheeling and near Midway Airport. He also has a sister in Michigan.

“Right now, it’s like, everything is gone pretty much. I don’t know what I’m going to do, I don’t know where I’m going to go,” he said. “I have no plans, I have nothing. It is what it is. I’m going to have to take it a day at a time, an hour at a time to figure out what I’m going to do.”

A firefighter hurt his knee in the blaze and a police officer was cut, city officials said.

“This is a very sad day for the City of Des Plaines,” Des Plaines Mayor Matt Bogusz said in a statement. “This kind of tragedy touches the heart of every Des Plaines resident. The City and the Des Plaines community grieve with this family and offer our support in any way we can.”

Serrato said officials haven’t shared any information regarding the cause of the blaze, which Anderson said remains under investigation.

“The authorities haven’t told us anything, there is no answer right now,” Serrato said. “There are questions, but answers, there isn’t any.”

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The Illinois High School Association has revealed a new calendar for high school sports.

Basketball, football and all the other sports are coming back sooner than anyone expected.

The Illinois High School Association announced on Wednesday that basketball season will start immediately and run until March 13. Teams will need seven days of practice before they can play games and the schools must be in COVID-19 regions that have reached Phase 4.

Basketball won’t have any postseason.

Football teams can start practices on March 3 and games on March 19 with the season ending on April 24 and there will be no postseason. So that should mean about six games for each team.

Traditional spring sports including baseball, softball and track, which missed all of last season due to COVID-19, will get nearly full seasons starting on April 5.

Illinois Department of Public Health director Dr. Ngozi Ezike announced on Friday that regions in Illinois that reach Phase 4 of COVID-19 mitigations can play all sports. That included higher-risk sports such as basketball, football and wrestling. That set the IHSA’s board in motion to create new schedules.

Under the newly revised IDPH guidelines, regions that reach Phase 4 can hold conference and intra-region games in all sports. There was previously no COVID-19 Tier or Phase where the IDPH would allow higher-risk sports.

There isn’t a local region that is currently in Phase 4. That means no local teams can play games yet.

Region 1 (North Illinois), Region 2 (North Central Illinois) Region 3 (Southwest Illinois), Region 5 (Southern Illinois) and Region 6 (East Central Illinois) are all in Phase 4.

Chicago and all of the suburban regions are currently Tier 1, which is one step away from Phase 4. Region 4, which is the Metro East St. Louis area, is still in Tier 2.

Every local school district will make the decision whether or not to play a sport. It’s unknown if or when Chicago Public Schools will allow any sports.

Lower-risk sports are currently allowed, but CPS hasn’t started them. David Rosengard, the CPS sports director, said on Friday that he is “working closely with our public health officials to determine if we are able to offer these activities and will provide an update as soon as possible.”

The clock is already ticking for basketball season and CPS coaches are worried it may run out before they play any basketball.

“From what we have seen in the past CPS won’t get back to us for two weeks or a month,” Westinghouse basketball coach Rafie Fields said. “That leaves a week or two to play. It is sad to say but you might as well chock it up as a lost season.”

Fields and many area basketball coaches were hoping the IHSA would delay basketball until the spring.

“We would have been more likely to play in a month or two,” Fields said. “The safest thing is probably not to play. But it is sad for our seniors.”

There are other districts where things are very uncertain.

“We aren’t even allowed in the building or the gym right now,” Thornton basketball coach Tai Streets said. “I have no idea what the district might do. It is a tough situation.”

Hillcrest basketball coach Don Houston thinks his team will be allowed to play.

“We will probably end up playing a conference schedule and then some of the best teams in our region that we can,” Houston said. “I have a lot of seniors that are still in the recruiting process. They just need basketball to happen. Now or whenever.”

For regions to roll back to Phase 4, three things are required:

• Test positivity rate below 6.5% for three consecutive days (seven-day average).

• Staffed hospital and ICU beds availability greater than 20% for three consecutive days (three-day average).

• No sustained increase in COVID patients in hospital (seven-day average over seven of 10 days).

Here’s the full schedule released by the IHSA:

“We understood the high level of anticipation surrounding today’s announcement, along with the scrutiny that will accompany it,” IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said. “Ultimately, the Board adhered to its stated goals throughout the pandemic: providing an opportunity for every IHSA student-athlete to compete safely this year and maximizing opportunities for traditional IHSA spring sports after they lost their entire season a year ago. I recognize that many schools and coaches could likely offer a tweak here or there that would have, in their opinion, made it ‘better’ for their school or sport. Our Board faced an impossible task with a litany of factors. They were conscientious in considering every possibility and I believe their decisions today are a positive step for the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of our students. We are excited to channel our energy into creating as many positive experiences for Illinois high school students as we can between now and the end of this extraordinary school year.”

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“I’ve been doing this for 30 some-odd years and this is by far my worst day,” the fire chief said.

Four sisters under the age of 6 and their mother died in a house fire Wednesday morning in suburban Des Plaines.

The fire broke out in a two-story duplex before 10:30 a.m. in the 700 block of Oakton Street, Des Plaines Fire Chief Daniel Anderson told reporters at the scene.

“This is a terrible day, a tragic day, it’s a sad day for Des Plaines,” Anderson said. “I’ve been doing this for 30 some-odd years and this is by far my worst day.”

The sisters were identified as Grace Espinosa, 1, Allizon V. Espinosa, 3, Genesis A. Espinosa, 5, and Renata P. Espinosa, 6, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Mark Welsh/Daily Herald

The children were taken to Lutheran General Hospital and pronounced dead, while their mother, Citahaly Zamiodo, 25, died at the scene, officials said.

Their father was at work at the time of the fire, a neighbor said.

Pabelo Marrero, who lives in one of the two first-floor apartments, held back tears as he recalled what started as a typical morning “with nothing out of the ordinary” that turned into tragedy.

He awoke to the sound of the kids’ footsteps upstairs around 9:30 a.m. Minutes later, he said he detected a faint smell of “burnt plastic” and heard a loud banging on his door. A passerby alerted him to the smoke coming from the upstairs apartment and told Marrero he needed to leave the house. The man called 911 to report smoke coming from the second floor, where most the victims were found, Anderson and Marrero said. The blaze spread to three of four apartments in the duplex, sending other uninjured residents from the home.

“It was a very hectic, rapidly evolving situation,” Anderson said.

Marrero, 52, said the whole upstairs was engulfed in smoke within 15 minutes of him first smelling smoke.

“It was bad. The amount of smoke, I’ve never seen something like that. And then when they opened up the back door, the fire starts coming out the window, I haven’t seen anything like that,” he said. “It was quick.”

Marrero said the family who lived on the second floor moved in about two years ago. He recalled the girls being energetic and happy. He said they would play with dolls and build forts in the backyard.

“The kids were always in the yard,” he said. “They always liked to be out here especially in the summer. In the summer, they would be out here all day long.”

The house was destroyed.

Officials “told us we cannot live there anymore,” Marrero said. “I went in and the house is ruined. The least damaged is my apartment, but it’s unlivable.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do right now. I’ve lived here for 12 years, I had no plans for moving.”

Marrero, a hiring manager, said he has family in Wheeling and near Midway Airport. He also has a sister in Michigan.

“Right now, it’s like, everything is gone pretty much. I don’t know what I’m going to do, I don’t know where I’m going to go,” he said. “I have no plans, I have nothing. It is what it is. I’m going to have to take it a day at a time, an hour at a time to figure out what I’m going to do.”

A firefighter hurt his knee in the blaze and a police officer was cut, city officials said.

“This is a very sad day for the City of Des Plaines,” Des Plaines Mayor Matt Bogusz said in a statement. “This kind of tragedy touches the heart of every Des Plaines resident. The City and the Des Plaines community grieve with this family and offer our support in any way we can.”

Anderson said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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