LONDON — Premier League club Aston Villa reached an agreement to sign Colombia striker Jhon Dur?n from the Fire for a reported $18 million on Monday.
The 19-year-old Dur?n scored eight goals in 22 appearances for the Fire last season and has played three times for Colombia.
Villa said the deal was subject to Dur?n passing a medical examination, agreeing to personal terms, and obtaining a working visa.
Dur?n will become Villa’s second signing of the January transfer window, after left back Alex Moreno from Real Betis.
Dur?n had also been on the radar of English giants Liverpool and Chelsea.
The Fire acquired via transfer from Colombian club Envigado FC in 2021, becoming the youngest international player signing in MLS history.
Fire striker Jhon Dur?n set to join Aston Villa in $18 million deal Read More »
Monday, January 16, 2023
NON CONFERENCE
Agricultural Science at Jones, 6:30
Belvidere at Woodstock, 1:00
Bowen at King, 11:30
Calumet Christian (IN) at Illinois Lutheran, 6:00
Crossroads at Cristo Rey-St. Martin, 7:00
Hansberry at Ellison, 6:30
Hope Academy at Little Village, 1:00
Noble Street vs. Sullivan, 5:00
Our Lady Sacred Heart at Hiawatha, 5:30
St. Charles East at Hersey, 3:00
Sullivan at Noble Academy, 12:00
Vernon Hills at Hoffman Estates, 2:30
Winnebago at Sycamore, 7:00
BURLINGTON CENTRAL
Marian Central vs. Woodstock North, 11:00
DeKalb vs. Neuqua Valley, 12:30
Lyons vs. Burlington Central, 2:00
CRISTO REY
Seventh Place, 2:00
Fifth Place, 3:30
Cristo Rey vs. Goode, 5:00
Noble Street vs. Intrinsic-Downtown, 6:30
DEERFIELD
Foreman vs. Northside, 1:30
Payton vs. Grayslake Central, 12:00
Lemont vs. Boylan, 12:00
Deerfield vs. Lake Forest, 1:30
FENWICK
Hillcrest vs. Curie, 1:00
Riverside-Brookfield vs. Fenwick, 3:00
GENEVA
Hampshire vs. St. Charles North, 8:45a
Elk Grove vs. Belvidere North, 10:15
Yorkville vs. Huntley, 11:45
Stevenson vs. St. Viator, 1:15
West Aurora vs. Palatine, 2:45
Conant vs. Naperville North, 4:15
York vs. Prospect, 5:45
Geneva vs. Prairie Ridge, 7:15
HYDE PARK
Julian vs. Antioch, 10:30
Urbana vs. Vocational, 12:00
Plainfield Central vs. Orr, 1:30
Hammond Central (IN) vs. Dyett, 3:00
Oak Park-River Forest vs. Farragut, 4:30
Hyde Park vs. Lincoln Park, 6:15
JEFFERSON
Jefferson vs. Batavia, 10:00
Thornton Fr. South vs. Hononegah, 11:30
Batavia vs. Thornton Fr. South, 2:30
LAKES
Lakes vs. Highland Park, 10:00
Mundelein vs. Naperville Central, 11:30
Grayslake North vs. Waukegan, 1:00
Fremd vs. Glenbrook North, 2:30
MAINE SOUTH
Maine South vs. Crete-Monee, 10:30
Maine East vs. Englewood STEM, 12:00
MARSHALL
Thornton Fr. North vs. Orr, 1:00
Perspectives-Lead vs. North Chicago, 4:00
Marshall vs. Proviso East, 5:30
MOLINE
Moline vs. Waubonsie Valley, 3:00
NILES NORTH
Niles North vs. Latin, 11:00
Niles West vs. Lake View, 12:30
Latin vs. Niles West, 2:00
Niles North vs. Lake View, 4:00
PECATONICA
Polo vs. Durand, 3:00
Eastland vs. Richmond-Burton, 4:30
Pecatonica vs. Scales Mound, 6:00
Galena vs. Johnsburg, 7:30
SOUTH BELOIT
South Beloit vs. Oregon, 9:00a
Forreston vs. East Dubuque, 10:30
Stillman Valley vs. Harvard, 12:00
Harvest Christian vs. North Boone, 1:30
Seventh Place, 3:00
Fifth Place, 4:30
Third Place, 6:00
Championship, 7:30
STERLING
Rock Falls vs. Christ the King, 10:00
Kankakee vs. Sterling, 11:30
Christ the King vs. Normal West, 1:00
Hinsdale South vs. Rock Falls, 2:30
Normal West vs. Kankakee, 4:00
Hinsdale South vs. Serling, 5:30
UPLIFT
Butler vs. Zion-Benton, 3:00
Wauconda vs. St. Francis de Sales, 4:30
WHEATON-WARR. SOUTH
St. Francis vs. Glenbard North, 9:30
Lake Forest Academy vs. Joliet Central, 9:30
Warren vs. Lindblom, 11:00
Plainfield South vs. Metea Valley, 11:00
Wheaton-Warr. South vs. Normal, 12:30
Rockford East vs. Morton, 2:00
11th Place, 12:30
9th Place, 2:00
7th Place, 3:30
5th Place, 3:30
3rd Place, 5:00
Championship, 6:30
High school basketball: Monday’s scores Read More »
Zaire Wade, with dad Dwyane watching, impresses at BAL Combine in Paris (1:09)Zaire Wade, son of NBA legend Dwyane Wade, attends the Basketball Africa League Combine in Paris in a quest to play in the third BAL season, which starts in March. (1:09)
PARIS — The NBA is in discussions over hosting a preseason game in Africa for the first time, Basketball Africa League (BAL) president Amadou Gallo Fall told ESPN.
The NBA has previously been involved in three exhibition games in Africa in 2015, 2017 and 2018 — all featuring top NBA talent between Team Africa and Team World. However, these latest talks have centered around having two NBA teams face off on the continent.
“This was always part of the plan,” Fall, speaking at the BAL combine in Paris, told ESPN.
“Those Africa games that were hosted before, the crowds were just incredible. I know this is going to happen, and it is in the plans.”
Sources at the NBA have told ESPN the league has yet to discuss when or where the game could take place, although it could be as soon as the 2024 preseason. The location of the game would likely be at a venue already hosting BAL games.
“There are definitely plans to bring two actual NBA teams to the African continent, and of course we will find plans to build BAL activations into that,” BAL vice president John Manyo-Plange told ESPN.
The NBA has hosted three exhibition games in Africa in the past, including in 2015 that featured Giannis Antetokounmpo, but there has never been a game featuring two NBA teams on the continent. Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
The NBA already has roots in Africa, partnering with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) on the BAL, which is set to begin its third season on March 11. It also has regional offices in Cairo, Johannesburg, Lagos (Nigeria) and Dakar (Senegal).
The BAL hosted a combine in an eastern suburb of Paris on Sunday and Monday as it looks to attract players from across the African diaspora to the league.
“We are looking for a way for us to expose African club teams to global talent in a way they do not usually have access to,” Manyo-Plange said.
“In the past, before the BAL, African teams signed foreign players without even seeing them play. This gives us a chance to have teams and expose them to this kind of talent in a place that makes it easier for them to come together.”
The NBA will host its second regular-season game in Paris on Thursday, with the Chicago Bulls facing off against the Detroit Pistons at the Accor Arena.
Sources: NBA eyes ’24 preseason game in Africaon January 16, 2023 at 3:20 pm Read More »
The Reader sent questionnaires to candidates running for seats on Chicago’s newly created police district councils. We asked candidates about their backgrounds, experience in community organizing or activism, and their interactions with the Chicago Police Department and government. Read their responses here.
Do you have experience working in or interacting with city or state government?
Do you have experience volunteering or interacting with the Chicago Police Department?
Do you have experience as an activist or community organizer?
What do you consider the primary role of a police district council member to be?
Establishing civilian control of the police department
Communicating with the department on behalf of the community
Helping the police do a better job
Other (please explain below)
Should the city hire more police officers?
Yes
No
Is the Chicago Police Department adequately funded?
No: funding should be increased
Yes: funding should stay about the same
Yes: funding should be reduced
Please select the statement you agree with most:
Police should be the only responders to mental health crises.
Police should accompany healthcare workers to mental health crises.
Police should not be involved in mental health crisis calls at all.
Which statement do you most agree with:
The police are doing a good job, and need more resources.
The police need training and some reform.
The police need significant reform.
The police should be defunded or abolished.
Read More
Police district councils candidate questionnaire Read More »
The Reader sent questionnaires to candidates running for seats on Chicago’s newly created police district councils. We asked candidates about their backgrounds, experience in community organizing or activism, and their interactions with the Chicago Police Department and government. Read their responses here.
Do you have experience working in or interacting with city or state government?
Do you have experience volunteering or interacting with the Chicago Police Department?
Do you have experience as an activist or community organizer?
What do you consider the primary role of a police district council member to be?
Establishing civilian control of the police department
Communicating with the department on behalf of the community
Helping the police do a better job
Other (please explain below)
Should the city hire more police officers?
Yes
No
Is the Chicago Police Department adequately funded?
No: funding should be increased
Yes: funding should stay about the same
Yes: funding should be reduced
Please select the statement you agree with most:
Police should be the only responders to mental health crises.
Police should accompany healthcare workers to mental health crises.
Police should not be involved in mental health crisis calls at all.
Which statement do you most agree with:
The police are doing a good job, and need more resources.
The police need training and some reform.
The police need significant reform.
The police should be defunded or abolished.
Read More
New York City producer and songwriter Doss arranges sounds from the past three decades of dance-music history into effervescent pop collages. Doss was friends and collaborators with late hyperpop lodestar Sophie, which partly explains why her work pops up in Spotify’s hyperpop playlist—not everybody considers Doss a hyperpop artist, but her presence there benefits the notoriously slippery genre. As much as I appreciate hyperpop’s creative free-for-all, I wish more artists competing for oxygen in that category had the skill that makes Doss distinctive: drawing joy from melancholy with nonchalant panache. On the excellent 2021 EP 4 New Hit Songs (LuckyMe), Doss rewires trance music’s merciless pulse to make it as soothing as it is enlivening. On the EP’s best track, “Puppy,” a hypnotic drum ’n’ bass loop ties together crosshatching, upbeat synth lines into a dizzying hook whose wistful, romantic feel is crystallized by Doss’s lyrics: she sings about pining for an old relationship with a solemn, dry simplicity that feels both tossed-off and disarmingly intimate. I haven’t been able to shake “Puppy” since I first heard it nearly two years ago—all artists, hyperpop or not, should aspire to leave that kind of an impression.
Doss Ariel Zetina and Sqip open. Sat 1/21, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln, $30, 18+
NYC dance producer Doss invites everybody into her upbeat, big-tent pop Read More »
New York City producer and songwriter Doss arranges sounds from the past three decades of dance-music history into effervescent pop collages. Doss was friends and collaborators with late hyperpop lodestar Sophie, which partly explains why her work pops up in Spotify’s hyperpop playlist—not everybody considers Doss a hyperpop artist, but her presence there benefits the notoriously slippery genre. As much as I appreciate hyperpop’s creative free-for-all, I wish more artists competing for oxygen in that category had the skill that makes Doss distinctive: drawing joy from melancholy with nonchalant panache. On the excellent 2021 EP 4 New Hit Songs (LuckyMe), Doss rewires trance music’s merciless pulse to make it as soothing as it is enlivening. On the EP’s best track, “Puppy,” a hypnotic drum ’n’ bass loop ties together crosshatching, upbeat synth lines into a dizzying hook whose wistful, romantic feel is crystallized by Doss’s lyrics: she sings about pining for an old relationship with a solemn, dry simplicity that feels both tossed-off and disarmingly intimate. I haven’t been able to shake “Puppy” since I first heard it nearly two years ago—all artists, hyperpop or not, should aspire to leave that kind of an impression.
Doss Ariel Zetina and Sqip open. Sat 1/21, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln, $30, 18+
The Blackhawks were expected to be terrible this season. Halfway through it, they have proven to be exactly that.
After hitting the 41-game midpoint with a fittingly lopsided loss Saturday against the Kraken, the Hawks are not only last in the overall NHL standings — their 26 points barely trail the Blue Jackets (27 points), Ducks (28) and Coyotes (31) — but also in many specific categories.
Their 52-point pace would tie the 2013-14 Sabres as the second-worst team in a full season during the salary-cap era, exceeding only the 2016-17 Avalanche (48 points).
Here’s a breakdown of the Hawks’ team statistics at the halfway mark:
For the second consecutive season, the Hawks rank 32nd in goals per 60 minutes at the season’s midpoint.
But their rate of 1.68 is much worse than last season, when they sat at 2.04 at this point. Only the Ducks (1.82) are also below 2.00 right now. Elsewhere around the league, the Avalanche (2.11) are shockingly 29th while the Kraken (3.40) and Devils (3.10) are shockingly first and second, respectively.
Even for a team built to lose, the fact the Hawks also rank last in every major even-strength offensive metric is rather remarkable. Indeed, they’re 32nd in per-60 rates of shot attempts (45.8), shots on goal (24.6), scoring chances (21.5) and expected goals (1.99). The Coyotes are 31st in all four metrics.
Defensively, the Hawks aren’t quite as atrocious, but they’re still bad. They have allowed 3.15 goals per 60 minutes, ranking 29th — ahead of the Ducks, Blue Jackets and Sharks. They’re one of five teams allowing more than 3.00, with the Canucks being the other. The Bruins have the league’s stoutest defense, allowing just 1.81 goals per 60.
The Ducks rank 32nd in all four major defensive metrics, but the Hawks still consistently fall in the bottom five. They rank 30th in per-60 rates of shot attempts allowed (62.0), 30th in shots on goal allowed (33.1), 31st in scoring chances allowed (32.0) and 28th in expected goals allowed (2.84). Surprisingly, the Predators are worse than the Hawks in two of those four metrics.
Combining offensive and defensive performance, the Hawks rank 32nd with a 40.2% overall scoring-chance ratio, putting them on track for their fifth consecutive season in the bottom five.
The Hawks’ power play ranks 25th with a 15.8% net conversion rate. They were mired in a rough 5-for-51 stretch in which they had conceded four short-handed goals before finally enjoying a 2-for-2 game Saturday.
Their advanced PP metrics are similar. Per 60 minutes, they rank 26th in shot attempts, 22nd in shots on goal, 30th in scoring chances and 27th in expected goals — while also allowing the most expected goals to opposing penalty kills. Focusing on scoring chances specifically, only the Flyers and Kraken are worse, while the Rangers, Stars and Oilers lead the league.
The Hawks’ penalty kill might be the best part of the team, but that’s relative. They’re 23rd with a 77.2% net kill rate, and their metrics are even more respectable. They’re 13th in shot attempts allowed, 23rd in shots on goal allowed, 16th in scoring chances allowed and 17th in expected goals allowed.
Their cumulative “special teams score” (adding the PP and PK rates together) is 93.0, which ranks 27th.
The Hawks’ goaltending unit hasn’t been their biggest weakness, but it hasn’t been good either, largely because of Petr Mrazek’s struggles.
Collectively, the Hawks’ .889 team save percentage ranks 26th, minus-14.0 GSAA (goals saved above average) also ranks 26th and .796 high-danger save percentage ranks 25th. Hawks goalies spit out the ninth-most rebounds.
The Bruins (.926 team save percentage), Jets (.916) and Stars (.915) have received the best goaltending; the Sharks (.878), Canucks (.878) and Kings (.882) the worst. The NHL’s .905 overall save percentage this year is its lowest since 2006-07.
Analyzing Blackhawks’ ugly team statistics from first half of 2022-23 season Read More »
There are more than 100 candidates vying for seats on Chicago’s police district councils in the February 28 election. These councils, like the citywide Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), were created by the 2021 Empowering Communities for Public Safety ordinance, which the City Council passed in 2021 after years of community organizing.
Each council will be made up of a chairperson, a community engagement coordinator, and a member of the citywide committee that nominates members of the CCPSA. That committee can nominate 14 people, of whom the mayor must choose seven.
There are 66 councils, one in each of Chicago’s 22 police districts. Each is made up of three council members who are elected to four-year terms beginning in 2023. Council members must live in the district and cannot have been a member of the Chicago Police Department, Independent Police Review Authority, COPA, or the Police Board for at least three years. If there is a vacancy on one of the councils, its members will submit three names to the CCPSA, which recommends one to the mayor for an appointment.
The police district councils are required to hold monthly meetings to discuss policing issues. They inform the community about the work the district councils and the Commission are doing, and gather input from the public about public safety and policing in their communities. They’re required to assist the public with such issues and help community members request information about investigations from the police department and COPA.
The police district councils will work with district commanders and community members to develop and implement community policing initiatives, and the district councils are specifically tasked with developing and expanding restorative justice and similar programs. They’re required to encourage police officers to help the community access resources. They provide information to police about their work and the Commission’s work.
Beginning in 2023, district councils will be able to nominate 14 candidates to the CCPSA, and the mayor will be required to select seven from that list (the City Council nominated 14 candidates to the current interim Commission in 2022).
The police district councils will send one member to meetings with delegates from all 66 councils. Councils may report their findings and make policy recommendations to the CCPSA.
When there is a vacancy of the police superintendent, Police Board members, or the chief administrator of Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the CCPSA sends a list of candidates to the mayor, who selects one that the City Council then confirms.
The Commission is responsible for hiring COPA chief administrator (who the City Council then votes to confirm) and can fire them for cause.
At the beginning of the year, the Commission will set goals for the police superintendent and the department, COPA’s chief administrator, the Police Board and its president. At the end of the year, the Commission will evaluate their performance.
The Commission can hold hearings about the police superintendent and members of the Police Board and take a vote of no confidence, which would require the City Council to hold hearings and a vote, as well as a public response from the mayor.
General orders for CPD can be drafted by the department or the Commission, but they require a majority vote by the Commission to become policy. The Commission will post draft policies on its website and invite public comment. The police department is still under a federal consent decree, and policies that are covered by it can’t be set by the Commission. The mayor can veto policies enacted by the Commission, and the City Council can override the veto by a two-thirds majority vote.
The Commission will work with the department on community policing programs, recommend solutions to violence that are preventative, community-based, and include non-policing alternatives.
The Commission can make recommendations about what the Public Safety Inspector General should audit. It also reviews the police department budget and can recommend changes to it before the City Council votes on it.
If the police department and Commission disagree on a policy, there is a process to resolve differences and build consensus between them.
The CCPSA must hold monthly meetings. It will conduct outreach on relations between community and police; department policies and practices; and the department’s accountability system. The Commission can publish reports on matters of community concern.
The Commission will appoint an advisory council made up of Chicago residents who do not have citizenship.
It can require the police superintendent to answer questions in public and provide reports to the Commission.
Frank Chapman discusses the history of the movement for community control of the Chicago police.
But despite delays, progressive alderpersons and activists remain hopeful on ECPS
Lori Lightfoot has hampered the process of installing a police oversight council, activists say, despite making it a major part of her public safety platform during her mayoral run.
What do police district councils do? Read More »
