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2023 NFL mock draft: Bears trade back and take Georgia DT Jalen Carter

All eyes are on the Bears as the NFL waits to see what they’ll do with the No. 1 pick in the draft over the next three months.

The most likely course is that general manager Ryan Poles sticks with Justin Fields at quarterback and trades down a few spots. The Colts are a logical partner for that deal, and the Bears might even be able to trade back again from No. 4 to somewhere in the seventh-to-10th range.

Assuming they do a deal with the Colts, here’s a 2023 mock draft:

1. Colts (trade with Bears) — Alabama QB Bryce YoungColts general manager Chris Ballard said he’ll do “whatever it takes” to get a quarterback and he’s surely feeling the heat from owner Jim Irsay. The Bears get a 2024 and ’25 first-round pick to slide back to No. 4.

2. Texans — Kentucky QB Will LevisLevis wasn’t as prolific in college as Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, but scouts love his skillset and likely will project him as a better pro than Stroud.

3. Cardinals — Alabama DE Will AndersonThis would be an ideal player for the Bears to land, but the Cardinals need help in the pass rush, too. Anderson had 34 1/2 sacks in three seasons.

4. Bears (trade with Colts) — Georgia DT Jalen CarterEven after missing out on Anderson, the Bears get a game-changing player. This is an essential position in Matt Eberflus and Alan Williams’ defense — Remember their $40.5 million offer to Larry Ogunjobi? — and Carter was by far the best in college football.

5. Raiders (trade with Seahawks) — Ohio State QB C.J. StroudThe Seahawks are likely to stick with Geno Smith after a Pro Bowl season, and the Raiders already are in desperation mode. This trade works for both sides.

6. Lions — Notre Dame TE Michael MayerThe Lions also seem to believe they’re fine at quarterback given how Jared Goff played this season and they need a replacement for T.J. Hockenson after trading him to the Vikings.

7. Seahawks (trade with Raiders) — Clemson DT Bryan BreseeThe Seahawks gave up a whopping 4.9 yards per carry last season — same as the Bears — and need to start working on that problem immediately.

8. Falcons — Texas Tech DE Tyree WilsonToo many teams need a quarterback for the Falcons to get in on one of the top prospects. They’re better served waiting to see if they bottom out this season and get USC’s Caleb Williams next year.

9. Panthers — TCU WR Quentin JohnstonIf the Bears get a good offer to trade back twice, they should eye this range so they can get Johnston. Putting him with Chase Claypool and Darnell Mooney would finally give them a top receiver corps.

10. Jets (trade with Eagles) — Northwestern OT Peter SkoronskiSkoronski would be Northwestern’s first top-10 draft pick since tackle Chris Hinton went fourth to the Broncos in 1983. He’d be another consideration for the Bears if they trade back to this area.

11. Titans — Ohio State OT Paris Johnson Jr.It’s hard to figure out if the Titans are going to trigger a full rebuild, but either way, a starting left tackle of this caliber is worth taking.

12. Texans — Iowa DE Lukas Van NessVan Ness had just 13 sacks in 26 games over the last two seasons with the Hawkeyes, but has shot up draft boards because he faced top tackles like Skoronski and Johnson in the Big Ten and stands 6-foot-5, 270 pounds.

13. Eagles (trade with Jets) — Texas RB Bijan RobinsonWhile it’s becoming increasingly difficult for running backs to go high in the draft, the Eagles have such a strong roster that they can afford to use this pick on an electric playmaker and see what kind of role they create for him.

14. Patriots — USC WR Jordan AddisonAddison was a monster for Pitt in 2021 and USC last season. Over 2021 and ’22, he totaled 159 catches for 2,468 yards and 25 touchdowns.

15. Packers — Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-NjigbaThe Packers might be looking at their final season with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and he was understandably frustrated with their wide receivers this season. Allen Lazard led the team with 60 catches.

16. Commanders — Penn State CB Joey Porter Jr.The son of the former All-Pro linebacker by the same name, Porter is a far better college prospect than his dad. He could’ve gone pro a year ago.

17. Steelers — Oklahoma OT Anton HarrisonThe Steelers need a lot of help offensively as they try to develop quarterback Kenny Pickett, and getting him a dependable tackle is a good start.

18. Lions — Illinois CB Devon WitherspoonWitherspoon had three interceptions last season and would be the highest pick from Illinois since defensive tackle Corey Liuget went to the Chargers in this spot in 2011.

19. Buccaneers — Georgia OT Broderick JonesJones is enormous at 6-foot-4, 315 pounds and moves really well at that size. He was nearly unbeatable in college.

20. Seahawks — Alabama S Brian BranchBranch is a versatile safety, and the Seahawks would have a lot of fun working him into their defense. He had two interceptions last season, plus 14 tackles for loss.

21. Chargers — Florida G O’Cyrus TorrenceTorrence undoubtedly is talented enough to go several picks higher than this, depending on how teams prioritize needs.

22. Ravens — Oregon CB Christian GonzalezGonzalez began his career at Colorado, then transferred to Oregon and had four interceptions in 12 games last season.

23. Vikings — Georgia CB Kelee RingoThe Vikings allowed the 12th-highest opponent passer rating (91.6) last season and got lit up by the Giants in the playoffs.

24. Jaguars — Texas A&M S Antonio JohnsonThe Jaguars are a team worth watching after finishing in the top 10 in scoring this season. Their defense wasn’t far behind, and adding Johnson certainly would help.

25. Giants — Clemson LB Trenton SimpsonSimpson is a do-it-all linebacker like Roquan Smith and has the perfect versatility for the modern game with the strength to be a run stopper and the speed to drop back in coverage.

26. Cowboys — Georgia DE Nolan SmithThis would give Bulldogs, winners of back-to-back national championships, four players taken in the first round.

27. Bills — Baylor DT Siaki IkaAt 357 pounds, Ika would be one of the 10 heaviest players in the NFL. He had 48 tackles, including eight for loss, over the last two seasons.

28. Bengals — Maryland OT Jaelyn DuncanAs good as the Bengals have been the last two seasons, they’ve been asking quarterback Joe Burrow to play behind a subpar offensive line throughout that run. They owe him some help.

29. Broncos — South Carolina CB Cam SmithSmith was a four-year player for the Gamecocks and held his own against some of the best SEC wide receivers. He had six interceptions over the last three seasons.

30. Eagles — Boston College WR Zay FlowersThe Eagles already have two 1,000-yard receivers in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, and Flowers would give them an up-and-comer to develop.

31. Chiefs — Iowa State DE Will McDonald IVThis is an ideal time for the Chiefs to bring another young pass rusher into the fold. With quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ massive contract, they’ll need to constantly search for budget-friendly talent.

(The Dolphins would have picked No. 21, but the NFL stripped it from them because of tampering violations)

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Blackhawks outshot heavily in lifeless loss to Canucks

VANCOUVER, B.C. — There was one stat almost more notable than the final score in the Blackhawks’ 5-2 loss to the Canucks on Tuesday.

It was that the Hawks recorded just five shots on goal at even strength.

That marked was the fewest by any NHL team since the Stars registered four on Jan. 30, 2021 — almost two years ago — and the fewest by the Hawks since at least 2007, which is as far back as that data goes.

Overall, the Hawks were outshot 48-14, letting former goalie Collin Delia — now with the Canucks — earn a win in his revenge game despite an .857 save percentage. On the other end of the ice, Petr Mrazek kept the Hawks alive for a long time and finished with 43 saves, but even he eventually succumbed to the constant waves of pressure.

“We were in the penalty box too much early, and that gives the other team momentum…and we have none,” coach Luke Richardson said. “We have guys that don’t even touch the puck for the first 10 minutes of the first period.

“You’ve got to play simple after that. I’m not sure if we played simple. We tried to push envelopes and maybe passed up shots and then didn’t execute when we had a shot. I don’t think we attacked their net as much as we really needed to do.”

The Hawks somehow led 1-0 and 2-1 thanks to soft goals by Patrick Kane and Sam Lafferty, and produced a rare golden opportunity to take a 3-2 lead in the third period when Max Domi fed Andreas Athanasiou on a two-on-one.

But the puck jumped over Athanasiou’s stick, the Canucks counterattacked and Dakota Joshua poked in a loose puck in the crease to give the hosts the advantage for good. They doubled it 34 seconds later.

“[We] didn’t seem to have our legs tonight and were a little sloppy all over the ice,” Seth Jones said. “If it wasn’t for [Mrazek], that could’ve gotten really out of hand.

“We need to do a better job of just funneling pucks like they did. They were shooting bad-angle shots. They were shooting from everywhere, even if guys weren’t in front. [That was] making our goalie make saves and making us turn and look for pucks and try to break pucks out, and it was difficult.”

Other than Kane and Lafferty, Jason Dickinson, Philipp Kurashev and Connor Murphy were the only other Hawks to record shots during even-strength play. It would be hard to believe if the team hadn’t been outshot by a combined 53-31 margin at even strength in their last two games, too.

After winning six out of seven, the terrible version of this built-to-finish-last Hawks squad seems to have now returned. With that said, however, the Canucks’ win hardly solves their own mountain of problems.

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High school basketball: Simeon coach Robert Smith wins his 500th game

When Robert Smith made Leonard Thomas his first hire as head coach at Simeon, they talked about goals.

“What we wanted to do was to be able to win the most city championships, the most state championships and win 500 games,” Smith said Tuesday after reaching that milestone.

In his 19th and final season leading the Wolverines, Smith has seven Public League championships, six state titles and 500 wins after an 82-36 romp past visiting Brooks.

“I mean, we were just talking about this in conversation,” Smith said of those high goals. “We didn’t know if it’d come to fruition and be real.”

But the first win came in his first game — which also was Derrick Rose’s varsity debut — against Thornwood at Curie back in 2004. Since then, the victories have come in bunches while the losses (94 now) have been few and far between.

Smith succeeded coaching legend Bob Hambric, who went 546-136 with one state title in 24 seasons. Hambric was on Smith’s mind lately.

“He gave me a chance to even be able to do this,” Smith said. “A lot of the stuff that I did over my career has been just to make him proud. I’m pretty sure he’s proud of this moment right now for me.”

Smith, whose team is 20-1 and ranked No. 1, is chasing one more city title and one more state championship. So while there were photo opportunities and commemorative T-shirts to hand out after Tuesday’s win, there also was more looking ahead than looking back.

“I probably won’t be able to really enjoy this until it’s all over,” Smith said. “You say you want to accomplish things and then they come. … When this whole thing is over and I get a chance to sit back and debrief, I’ll be like, ‘Whoa, I was able to so that.'”

That Smith was able to reach all these milestones at his alma mater makes it that much sweeter.

“It’s an honor to even be able to coach here at this school, and to be able to coach in the Public League,” he said.

Senior guard Jalen Griffith, a four-year varsity player, has been around for a lot of wins. He scored a game-high 17 points and was glad to be able to help Smith make history.

“The way that we got the 500th win was great, but we’re not done,” Griffith said.

Smith’s success is built on communication, according to Griffith.

“Really, just his uniqueness of talking to players and being able to know what the players can do, putting them in certain situations to make the team better,” Griffith said.

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High school basketball: Electrifying DeAndre Craig scores 33 as Mount Carmel takes down St. Rita

St. Rita is loaded with future college basketball players. The Mustangs feature the top three juniors in the state and all three have committed to college already. Morez Johnson (Illinois), James Brown (North Carolina) and Nojus Indrusaitis (Iowa State) had high-level recruitments, with the best college programs in the country courting them for years.

St. Rita sophomore Melvin Bell is in the same boat, widely considered one of the top three players in his class.

Over on the other side of the court on Tuesday at Mount Carmel was DeAndre Craig. The Caravan senior has been one of the area’s best guards for four years, but his recruitment never took off. Craig signed with Denver in November.

“[Denver] got the biggest steal in the country,” Mount Carmel coach Phil Segroves said. “From day one I thought he was a Big Ten guard. I thought he could play at Loyola, and he was overlooked there. I think he can play at DePaul and he was overlooked there.

“DeAndre is fine with that. He’s really excited about Denver, and they’ve got a great one coming.”

Craig was the dominant force on the floor against St. Rita, scoring 33 points to lead the Caravan to a 84-76 win.

Craig relentlessly attacked the rim, going straight into the Mustangs’ stout post defense of Johnson (6-9) and Brown (6-10). The 6-1 Craig absorbed the contact and scored, time after time.

He was 9-for-13 shooting and also contributed four steals, three assists and five rebounds.

“They have Power Five players on their team and that always gives you a little boost,” Craig said. “But I just went out there and played like it was a Tuesday night against any other Catholic League team.”

It wasn’t. Fans packed Mount Carmel’s gym. There were large student sections from both schools and the game was on live television.

“That was the biggest crowd I’ve seen here for sure” Caravan senior Anthony Ciaravino said. “It was insane, just crazy. I can’t put it to words what it was like coming out to that crowd. You could feel the energy. It was really great to play in.”

Ciaravino scored 13 points and his brother, junior Angelo Ciaravino, added 14 points. Lee Marks scored 14 and grabbed four rebounds for Mount Carmel.

“Our team chemistry is getting better and today we showed we can compete with the best,” Anthony Ciaravino said.

Mount Carmel (20-2, 8-0 Catholic League Blue) led by eight at halftime and St. Rita (13-9, 6-1) never mounted a significant threat in the second half. A three-pointer from Bell with 3:42 left pulled the Mustangs within five points but that was as close as it would get.

Johnson continued to show why he may be the best prospect in the state, regardless of class. He had 27 points and 12 rebounds. But his size and strength and shot blocking ability in the post also made Craig’s attacks at the basket even more impressive.

Indrusaitis finished with 16 points and Brown added 10 points and eight rebounds for St. Rita. Bell scored 16.

The Mustangs opened the season nationally ranked and have played a rugged schedule against teams from all over the country. But St. Rita’s results against local teams have not lived up to the preseason hype yet. The Mustangs have lost to Joliet West, Simeon, Young and now Mount Carmel. They beat Brother Rice in December. The only game St. Rita has left against a Super 25 team is Feb. 10 against No. 25 Loyola.

“It’s very frustrating, but we are not down,” St. Rita coach Roshawn Russell said. “I will be honest, we are a little aggravated. If you just look at our schedule, game for game, there is nobody that has a schedule like us. That being said, we definitely have to start pulling out games like this. We’re as good as anybody in the state and we will finish strong in the playoffs.”

Watch the final minute of St. Rita at Mount Carmel:

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Third baseman Scott Rolen elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

NEW YORK — Scott Rolen sat with his son in the parking lot outside Indiana’s Bloomington South High School in 2018, waiting to coach grade schoolers in basketball and listening on the radio for results of his first appearance on baseball’s Hall of Fame ballot.

“`Dad, I think you’re getting in,'” Rolen recalled 10-year-old Finn predicting.

Rolen received 10.2% of the vote, double the 5% minimum to remain on the ballot the following year but far short of the 75% needed for election.

“`Did we win?'” dad remembered his son asking. “I said, `Oh, we won. Yes, we won.'”

Rolen came a long way in a few short years and was elected to the Hall on his sixth try Tuesday, the slick-fielding third baseman achieving baseball’s highest honor with five votes to spare.

A seven-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove winner, Rolen was picked on 297 of 389 ballots cast by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America for 76.3%. That made his modest 10.2% debut the lowest first-ballot percentage of a player later elected; the previous mark had been 17% in 1970 by Duke Snider, who was voted in with 86.5% in 1980.

“There was actually never a point in my life that I thought I was going to be a Hall of Fame baseball player,” Rolen said. “Never did I think I was going to get drafted. Never did I think I was going to play in the major leagues. Never going to be whatever.”

Rolen will join Fred McGriff, elected last month by the contemporary baseball era committee, as the Class of 2023 inducted July 23 in Cooperstown.

First baseman Todd Helton was second with 281 votes (72.2%) and reliever Billy Wagner third with 265 (68.1%). Helton moved up from 52% and can have five more appearances on the ballot, while Wagner rose from 51% and has two additional chances.

Rolen batted .281 with 316 homers and 1,287 RBIs for Philadelphia (1996-2002), St. Louis (2002-07), Toronto (2008-09) and Cincinnati (2009-12). He was a unanimous pick as the 1997 NL Rookie of the Year and hit .421 as the Cardinals won the 2006 World Series.

His Hall vote rose steadily to 17.2% in 2019, 35.3% in 2020, 52.9% in 2021 and 63.2% last year. He didn’t need to follow Ryan Thibodaux’s Hall of Fame Ballot Tracker this year.

“My phone would blow up about every day from my son and my buddies and everybody telling me where it was,” Rolen said.

He waited Tuesday at home in Bloomington — he was runner-up for Indiana’s Mr. Basketball in 1993 — with his parents, wife, son, daughter, brother and his brother’s family.

“When the phone call came and I saw baseball Hall of Fame on my phone,” Rolen said, “you kind of look around, like, that actually did just happen.”

They all cried, and a few minutes later Finn asked him to go out and toss a baseball.

“It’s 30 degrees here. It’s going to snow about 12 inches tomorrow, and my son and I were in the driveway playing catch,” Rolen said.

Then they walked a short distance to his brother’s house to celebrate.

“I promised everybody great steaks no matter what, and I had to turn the tongs over,” Rolen said. “I was normally going to grill for everybody but now my brother-in-law’s grilling.”

Rolen played shortstop, second base, third, right field, center, left and pitcher at Jasper High School before settling at third in his sophomore or junior year. He will be the 18th third baseman in the Hall, the fewest of any position.

“Most of the guys who moved to third probably came up as shortstops,” said Chipper Jones, the previous third baseman elected, in 2018. “You kind of outgrow the shortstop position as you get older and develop more.”

Rolen’s five-vote margin tied for the 12th-smallest among players elected by the writers and his vote percentage was the 10th lowest.

Andruw Jones moved from 41.1% to 58.1%, Gary Sheffield from 40.6% to 55% in his next-to-last possible appearance and Jeff Kent from 32.7% to 46.5% in his final year. Kent can be considered by the contemporary baseball era committee in future years.

Players tainted by drug suspensions again lagged. Alex Rodriguez was at 35.7%, up from 34.3%, and Manny Ramirez at 33.2%, up from 28.9%.

Eight blank ballots were submitted by writers, eligible to vote after 10 consecutive years of membership in the BBWAA.

Among 14 players appearing on the ballot for the first time, just two reached the 5% threshold to remain under consideration next year. Carlos Beltr?n received 181 votes (46.5%), his total likely impacted by his role in the Houston Astros cheating scandal en route to the 2017 World Series title.

Relief pitcher Francisco Rodr?guez got 42 votes (10.8%).

Next year’s first-time eligibles include Adri?n Beltr?, Joe Mauer, Chase Utley, David Wright, Jos? Bautista and Matt Holliday.

Rolen smiled widely on a Zoom call, speaking while wearing an “E5” cap, the out-of-character name of his foundation that assists children and families dealing with illness, hardship or special needs.

“A little tightness in the chest all day,” he said. “It was, wow, this is real.”

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Bulls blow a 21-point lead with a complete meltdown against the Pacers

The Bulls are a hard team to explain.

Just when it felt as though they had learned their lesson and were starting to turn things around, they played a game like they did Tuesday.

Another gut punch, another horrible loss.

After building a 21-point lead in the first half and looking like a team on its way to a season-high four-game winning streak, the Bulls melted down in the second half and lost to the undermanned Pacers 116-110.

All of this despite coach Billy Donovan warning his players at the half that the Pacers weren’t going to go away.

”What we talked about at halftime was this team has come back,” Donovan said. ”We’ve got to be able to compete better. It started right in the third quarter. We didn’t do enough things in terms of taking care of the basketball, rebounding the basketball. As the intensity level got raised, we were not able to respond and play to that level.”

And while there was plenty of blame to go around, the finger-pointing starts and ends with the “Big Three.”

The Bulls’ bench was fine. Derrick Jones Jr., Andre Drummond, Coby White and Alex Caruso each had moments.

Patrick Williams and Ayo Dosunmu did what was asked of them, with both continuing to work through their growing pains and figuring out their roles.

But as go DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, so go the Bulls. It was that way when the Bulls were 11-18 in mid-December, and it was no coincidence that the three seemingly had figured out how best to play with one another while the Bulls went 11-6 during a 17-game run before facing the Pacers.

”I think for us, just coming in, getting used to the new offense, understanding where each one of our shots is going to come from and getting in a groove,” LaVine said of the ”Big Three” flipping the switch. ”I think all of us have gotten in a pretty good groove of playing in a rhythm.”

The numbers backed that up. In the Bulls’ previous 17 games, LaVine had shot 48.9% from the field and averaged five rebounds and 4.4 assists. In the 25 games before that, he had shot 44.3% from the field and averaged 4.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists.

Vucevic and DeRozan had similar patterns. That’s why the game against the Pacers kind of came from nowhere.

While DeRozan scored 33 points and Vucevic finished with 20 points and eight rebounds, LaVine struggled, going 4-for-14 from the field and 0-for-7 from three-point range. He had a rough game, and the Bulls looked disconnected.

T.J. McConnell put the Pacers in front with 4:27 left and, just like that, the back-and-forth was on.

With just less than two minutes left, the score was tied after Pacers rookie Bennedict Mathurin split two free throws. And he wasn’t done. He made a huge three-pointer with 1:01 left and, after a dunk by Vucevic, attacked the rim and gave the Pacers a 112-110 lead with 29 seconds left.

Donovan called a timeout. But when the Bulls couldn’t get the inbounds pass in, he was forced to call another.

That didn’t fix much. Caruso had his inbounds pass deflected and stolen by Buddy Hield, leaving the Bulls with no choice but to foul. Aaron Nesmith made both free throws to extend the Pacers’ lead to four, all but icing the game.

”We didn’t execute the [inbounds] pass,” Donovan said. ”We’ve got to be better. We just didn’t get it to him. The screening execution wasn’t great. You want to at least give yourself a chance to get a shot off in that situation.”

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Aisha Humphries (write-in)

Humphries, a write-in candidate, serves on the executive board of Chatham United, a coalition of neighbors, block clubs, and organizations she described as “working to improve and sustain safety and community.” She is also an active member of Reunite Chatham as well as her neighborhood park advisory council and block club.

Humphries told the Reader she also volunteers a CAPS facilitator in Gresham for Beat 0631 in the Sixth District. She has also participated in or attended CPD and CAPS events such as National Night Out, Conversations with the Commander, and community engagement town halls.

Activist or organizer Credit: Amber Huff

Candidate questionnaire responses

Do you have experience as an activist or community organizer? Yes
Do you have experience interacting with CPD? Yes
Do you have experience working or interacting with government? Yes
Should the city hire more police officers? No
Is CPD adequately funded? Yes: funding should stay about the same.
CPD reform: The police need significant reform.
Mental health crises: Police should accompany healthcare workers to mental health crises.

What do you consider the primary role of a police district councilor to be?

Communicating with the department on behalf of the community
Helping the police do a better job

Why are you running for Police District Council?

I believe the Council has an important role to play in helping citizens understand and define the power, responsibility, and role of CPD. People should be informed of public safety issues that impact them, and have the opportunity to collaborate with CPD to improve community well-being.

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Aisha Humphries (write-in) Read More »

Aisha Humphries (write-in)

Humphries, a write-in candidate, serves on the executive board of Chatham United, a coalition of neighbors, block clubs, and organizations she described as “working to improve and sustain safety and community.” She is also an active member of Reunite Chatham as well as her neighborhood park advisory council and block club.

Humphries told the Reader she also volunteers a CAPS facilitator in Gresham for Beat 0631 in the Sixth District. She has also participated in or attended CPD and CAPS events such as National Night Out, Conversations with the Commander, and community engagement town halls.

Activist or organizer Credit: Amber Huff

Candidate questionnaire responses

Do you have experience as an activist or community organizer? Yes
Do you have experience interacting with CPD? Yes
Do you have experience working or interacting with government? Yes
Should the city hire more police officers? No
Is CPD adequately funded? Yes: funding should stay about the same.
CPD reform: The police need significant reform.
Mental health crises: Police should accompany healthcare workers to mental health crises.

What do you consider the primary role of a police district councilor to be?

Communicating with the department on behalf of the community
Helping the police do a better job

Why are you running for Police District Council?

I believe the Council has an important role to play in helping citizens understand and define the power, responsibility, and role of CPD. People should be informed of public safety issues that impact them, and have the opportunity to collaborate with CPD to improve community well-being.

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‘The ripple, the wave that carried me home” review: Goodman Theatre production soars

On the surface, Christina Anderson’s engrossing drama “the wave, the ripple that carried me home” is about the fight to integrate public swimming pools in the fictional suburban town of Beacon, Kansas. But like water itself, there are depths here that defy cut-and-dried boundaries.

As Anderson points out in passages that sometimes ripple toward poetry, water is both destroyer and redeemer, a font of life and a taker of it. On stage as in life, the movement to integrate public pools in the 1960s and ’70s was marked by violent history and lethal racism. But there is also a buoyant sense of joy flowing through the world premiere running through Feb. 12 at the Goodman Theatre, in a co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre (to where it travels later this year).

‘the ripple, the wave that carried me home’

The 105-minute, intermission-free drama leans too heavily on exposition at times, but when the script moves from narration to action, Anderson’s drama resonates with the primal force of the tides.

The plot begins in 1991. Janice (Christiana Clark) is in Ohio, intentionally far from her hometown of Beacon and barely speaking to her mother Helen (Aneisa Hicks). She’s forced to reckon with her past when community organizer Young Chipper Ambitious Black Woman (Brianna Buckley) calls from Beacon with news that a pool has been named after Janice’s father, Edwin (Ronald L. Conner). Young Chipper is insistent that Janice speak in his honor at the ceremony.

The request sends Janice down a spiral of memory. Edwin was “the face” of the movement to make Beacon’s swimming pools accessible to Black children, but Helen was the warrior engine propelling the activism. Throughout, Anderson uses the family — which also includes glamorous, adventurous Aunt Gayle (also portrayed by Buckley) — to illustrate with cut-glass clarity the violence that met the desegregation attempts.

As a kid, Janice is proud of her father and bonds with her mother during pre-dawn lap swimming at a town some 30 miles off. But her relationship with her parents — and swimming — is shattered one morning during a devastating confrontation after she and Helen leave the pool. To say more would entail spoilers, but know this: The silent scene where the break occurs bears witness to centuries of violent racism. It is terrifying, enraging and unforgettable.

By 1991, Janice hates the very taste of water. Her journey through trauma into healing is evocative of the ocean itself — rough waters, transcendent beauty, perilous rocks, peaceful shores, but danger never that far.

Christiana Clark (from left), Brianna Buckley, Ronald L. Conner and Aneisa J. Hicks in Christina Anderson’s “the ripple, the wave that carried me home” at the Goodman Theatre.

Liz Lauren

Director Jackson Gay’s staging pulls the audience in and doesn’t let go until a final, ebullient water aerobics class that has the vibe of a beach and the energy of a dance floor.

Clark’s Janice effectively moves from wide-eyed child in the 1960s to disillusioned teen in the 1970s to conflicted adult in the 1990s. As Helen, Hicks is indelible. In one searing, silent scene (with movement by Erika Chong Shuch), Anderson bears explicit witness to the shattering extent of Helen’s sacrifices. You’ll want to look away, but Hicks makes bearing witness the only choice.

Conner shows his range early on, as Edwin recalls the time he and a few other kids broke into the pool for white kids, as panicking white parents chaotically yanked their children from the water. After Edwin and his friends escaped, the pool was closed for three days so it could be drained and disinfected.

Buckley’s wise, acerbic Aunt Gayle is the kind of relative everyone needs as kin. Her Young Chipper Ambitious Black Woman is played for comic relief, until a scene that transpires in the wake of the 1992 acquittals of the police officers beating Rodney King. As talking heads drone in the background Young Chipper moves from comic relief to a woman of substance.

Todd Rosenthal’s set is a detriment. It’s essentially a swimming pool/deck with a trophy case that slides back and forth every time the scene moves anywhere else. There’s far too much sliding, resulting in an environment that makes the transitions distracting and choppy.

Montana Levi Blanco’s period costumes, on the other hand, are meticulously recreated works of art, from Helen’s midi-skirts and stacked heel clogs to Aunt Gayle’s shimmery lounge attire.

Anderson ends the play on a redemptive, celebratory note, the three women in bathing suits, splashing, singing and dancing in a testimony to resilience and the endlessly healing powers of the very substance that comprises some 60 percent of our very bodies.

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High school basketball: Tuesday’s scores

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

CATHOLIC LEAGUE – BLUE

St. Rita at Mount Carmel, 7:00

CATHOLIC LEAGUE – CROSSOVER

De La Salle at Leo, 7:00

Marmion at St. Ignatius, 7:00

Montini at DePaul, 7:00

Providence at Loyola, 6:30

Providence-St. Mel at Fenwick, 7:00

St. Laurence at Brother Rice, 7:00

DU KANE

St. Charles East at Geneva, 7:00

EAST SUBURBAN CATHOLIC

Nazareth at Carmel, 7:00

Notre Dame at Marist, 7:00

St. Patrick at Joliet Catholic, 7:00

St. Viator at Marian Catholic, 7:00

FOX VALLEY

Cary-Grove at Hampshire, 7:00

Crystal Lake Central at Crystal Lake South, 7:00

Dundee-Crown at Burlington Central, 7:00

Jacobs at Huntley, 7:00

Prairie Ridge at McHenry, 7:00

ILLINOIS CENTRAL EIGHT

Herscher at Peotone, 7:00

Manteno at Coal City, 6:45

Reed-Custer at Lisle, 6:45

Streator at Wilmington, 7:00

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL

Francis Parker at Elgin Academy, 6:00

North Shore at University High, 6:00

LITTLE TEN

IMSA at Earlville, 7:00

METRO SUBURBAN – BLUE

Chicago Christian at St. Francis, 7:30

IC Catholic at Riverside-Brookfield, 7:30

Timothy Christian at Aurora Christian, 7:30

METRO SUBURBAN – RED

McNamara at Elmwood Park, 7:00

St. Edward at Aurora Central, 7:00

Westmont at Ridgewood, 7:00

NOBLE LEAGUE – GOLD

Bulls Prep at Comer, 7:00

Butler at ITW-Speer, 7:00

Rowe-Clark at Noble Academy, 7:00

NORTH SUBURBAN

Lake Forest at Libertyville, 7:00

Lake Zurich at Zion-Benton, 7:00

Stevenson at Warren, 7:00

Waukegan at Mundelein, 7:00

NORTHEASTERN ATHLETIC

Schaumburg Christian at Westminster Christian, 7:

South Beloit at Harvest Christian, 6:00

NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY

Antioch at Lakes, 7:00

Grant at North Chicago, 7:00

Grayslake North at Grayslake Central, 7:00

Round Lake at Wauconda, 7:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE RED-SOUTH / CENTRAL

Brooks at Simeon, 5:00

Hyde Park at Perspectives-Lead, 6:30

Lindblom at Curie, 5:00

Longwood at Kenwood, 5:00

Phillips at Morgan Park, 6:30

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-CENTRAL

Bogan at Englewood STEM, 6:30

Catalyst-Maria at Hubbard, 5:00

DuSable at Urban Prep-Englewood, 5:00

Kennedy at Dunbar, 5:00

Richards (Chgo) at King, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-NORTH

Amundsen at Senn, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-SOUTH

Agricultural Science at UC-Woodlawn, 5:00

Corliss at Dyett, 5:00

Harlan at ACE Amandla, 5:00

South Shore at Vocational, 5:00

Urban Prep-Bronzeville at Fenger, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE BLUE-CENTRAL

ACERO-Soto at ACERO-Garcia, 5:00

Horizon-Southwest at Solorio, 5:00

Instituto Health at Excel-Englewood, 5:00

Kelly at Gage Park, 5:00

Tilden at Back of the Yards, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE BLUE-SOUTH

Bowen at Excel-South Shore, 5:00

Carver at Air Force, 5:00

Goode at Hirsch, 5:00

Julian at Chicago Military, 5:00

Washington at EPIC, 5:00

SOUTH SUBURBAN – BLUE

Bremen at Tinley Park, 6:30

Oak Forest at Hillcrest, 6:30

Thornton Fr. North at Lemont, 7:00

SOUTH SUBURBAN – RED

Argo at Oak Lawn, 6:30

Eisenhower at Shepard, 6:30

Richards at Evergreen Park, 6:00

SOUTH SUBURBAN – CROSSOVER

Thornton Fr. South at Reavis, 6:00

SOUTHLAND

Crete-Monee at Thornwood, 6:00

Kankakee at Thornridge, 6:00

Thornton at Rich, 6:30

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE – CROSSOVER

Joliet Central at Oswego, 6:30

Joliet West at Plainfield North, 6:30

Plainfield Central at West Aurora, 6:30

Plainfield East at Oswego East, 6:30

Plainfield South at Yorkville, 6:30

Romeoville at Minooka, 6:30

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN – BLUE

Bolingbrook at Lockport, 6:30

Lincoln-Way East at Homewood-Flossmoor, 7:30

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN – RED

Bradley-Bourbonnais at Lincoln-Way West, 6:30

Stagg at Lincoln-Way Central, 6:00

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN – CROSSOVER

Andrew at Sandburg. 6:00

UPSTATE EIGHT

East Aurora at Bartlett, 7:00

Elgin at Streamwood, 7:00

Fenton at Glenbard South, 7:00

South Elgin at Glenbard East, 7:00

West Chicago at Larkin, 7:00

NON CONFERENCE

Belvidere at Marian Central, 7:00

Christian Life at Parkview Christian, 7:30

Conant at Lake Park, 7:00

DeKalb at Kaneland, 7:00

Donovan at Trinity (Kankakee), 7:00

Elk Grove at Maine West, 7:00

Flanagan-Cornell at Tri-Point, 7:00

Foreman at Leyden, 6:30

Glenbard North at York, 7:00

Glenbard West at Wheaton North, 7:00

Glenbrook North at Taft, 7:00 (Freshman Campus)

Glenbrook South at Prospect, 7:00

Grant Park at Illinois Lutheran, 7:00 (NC)

Lake View at Evanston, 6:30

Maine East at Neuqua Valley, 7:00

Maine South at Niles North, 7:00

Niles West at Wheeling, 7:00

Pecatonica at North Boone, 7:00

Rock Falls at Rochelle, 7:00

Stillman Valley at Richmond-Burton, 7:00

Westlake Christian at Mooseheart, 7:30

Willowbrook at Hinsdale Central, 7:00

TRI-COUNTY TOURNAMENT

at Putnam County

Midland vs. Dwight, 6:00

Putnam County vs. Roanoke-Benson, 7:30

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