Bears receiver Chase Claypool said he was tired of losing.

His sideline outburst Sunday prompted exchanges with receivers coach Tyke Tolbert and eventually quarterback Justin Fields, who tried to calm him down in the third quarter of a a 41-10 blowout loss.

Claypool left the postgame locker room as the media was entering. Speaking for the first time about the incident Thursday, he said he had grown tired of offensive struggles against the Lions.

“I was all fired up because we can’t lose that bad, ever,” he said. “We have to have a little bit more pride, a little bit more heart, so it don’t happen again.”

The Bears went three-and-out on six of seven possessions starting in the first quarter and stretching to the fourth; the outlier was a one-play drive that ended in an interception.

“We have to realize when it’s not OK to go three-and-out,” Claypool said. “We gotta act that way. If we go three-and-out, it can’t just be OK. And it isn’t. But we gotta really have that fire and energy and realize that, ‘Yo, it’s time to go.'”

He claimed it had nothing to do with his own production. He had no catches on one target Sunday.

“I’ll never get frustrated and say, ‘Throw me the ball more, throw me the ball,'” he said.

Fields diffused the situation on the sideline, saying he told Claypool that his outburst was “not helping the team.” Claypool said their discussion ended with “mutual respect.”

Tolbert told him after the game that the outburst, which featured Claypool tossing his helmet down, was inappropriate.

“I said, ‘Look, you’re a passionate guy. I love your passion. Passion is what makes you who you are. You just have to channel it the right way,'” Tolbert said. “Everybody wants to be doing better on offense. Everybody wants to score more points and do a lot of things. But we’re all professionals. And we all have to approach things in a professional way.”

Claypool has struggled to contribute since the Bears traded a second-round pick to the Steelers for him Nov. 1. Hampered by a knee injury suffered last month, Claypool played 126 snaps with Fields at quarterback this season, an incredibly small number. By contrast, he played 125 snaps over his final two games with the Steelers.

With Fields playing quarterback — he sat out the Jets game with a separated left shoulder in Week 11 — Claypool was targeted only 18 times. He caught 10 of those passes for 60 yards.

Claypool, who is eligible for a contract extension this offseason, said he plans to throw with Fields during the offseason, either in California, Florida or Georgia.

“He’s one of those guys that hates losing just as much as I do,” Claypool said. “We see common ground on that. It’s good to know there’s a guy throwing you the ball who wants to win.”

They just express it differently.

“Even if it was 31-10 or whatever in the third quarter, we can still win that game,” Claypool said. “You see what the Vikings did down 33-0 at halftime [in a 39-36 win over the Colts]. We’re always in every game, no matter what the score is, for the most part until that final whistle blows.

“So it’s like, I just want to feel that belief. I want to feel it. We’re a good team. We’re going to be a good team next year. But we have to be real uncomfortable with losing.”

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Thursday, January 5, 2023

NIC – 10

Guilford at Belvidere, 7:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-SOUTH

Fenger at Vocational, 11:00

SOUTH SUBURBAN – CROSSOVER

Argo at Lemont, 7:00

Evergreen Park at Bremen, 6:00

NON CONFERENCE

Crane at Bulls Prep, 3:30

Faith Christian at Christian Life, 8:00

Gage Park at DuSable, 5:00

Gary Lighthouse (IN) at Harlan, 7:30

Holy Trinity at Lycee Francais, 6:00

Leo at University High, 6:30

Marquette at Yorkville Christian, 7:00

Providence at Southland, 7:00

Richmond-Burton at Marian Central, 7:00

Sandwich at Genoa-Kingston, 7:00

Urban Prep-Englewood at Phillips, 5:00

UPLIFT

Noble Street vs. Chicago Tech, 3:30

Senn vs. Legal Prep, 5:15

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Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy is as obsessed with the process of developing Justin Fields as most people are with the production that quantifies his individual success.

“As long as we see growth, we know we’re on the right path,” Getsy said.

Getsy saw that growth in the first four weeks of the season, when Fields’ numbers were not just poor but discouraging and seeming like a red flag — Fields completed 50.8% of his passes for 117.8 yards per game and a 58.7 passer rating.

He responded with marked improvement — though hardly prolific production — completing 65.7% of his passes for 169.6 yards per game and a 96.9 passer rating in his next 10 games.

Still, Fields finished the 2022 season with modest-at-best passing numbers. His 60.4% completions ranks 31st in the NFL. His 85.2 passer rating is 26th. Even his most impressive statistic — 7.1 yards per attempt — is 17th.

And Fields’ 149.5 yards per game is not only last in the NFL, it’s the second-lowest average for a second-year quarterback drafted in the first round in the last 30 seasons. He averaged more passing yards per game (180.0) as a starter in Matt Nagy’s offense last year.

But in the context of the offense and Fields’ development, Getsy saw progress.

“That’s what I saw every day [during the first month]. I continue to see that,” Getsy said. “

As we go into next year, now he’s had this experience. He’s had opportunities to get more comfortable with the communication of the system. Hopefully he gets more comfortable with the people around him.

“Any time you get that cohesiveness of the unit, and knowing what the culture looks like — and he’s the leader of that culture — I think all that is promising stuff.”

Asked for examples of Fields’ growth, Getsy pointed mostly to Fields’ maturity and comfort with his position as a team leader — even to Getsy’s amused annoyance.

“Just [look at] his press conferences at the end of the year — he’s sitting there telling you about every single play,” Getsy said. “He told you we had a trick play. I’m like, ‘C’mon, dude, you can’t do that. You can’t go public and say a trick play.’ Becoming a pro, the leadership. He got challenged last week with what happened with Chase [Claypool] on the sideline and he handled that. That’s him becoming the leader of the football team and being a great pro and consistent every day. I think that’s the most important thing.

“Then all the other stuff — those guys see every day on the practice field. They see him getting better every day. The results of it, the statistics that everyone’s looking for, those will come. And we know that. The most important thing is that we continue to see growth.”

Getsy’s confidence in Fields is strong enough that he dared to compare him to Aaron Rodgers — whom Getsy coached with the Packers the previous three seasons — when Getsy was asked about Fields developing a knack for knowing when to extend a play and when to throw it away.

“That’s part of the uniqueness of coaching guys that are special in a bunch of different ways,” Getsy said. “I was fortunate to coach a guy at my last stop [Rodgers] that he doesn’t see things like everybody else. So you work through that, like, ‘Why did you do it?’ He communicates that more clearly than any human being in the world.

“What’s cool about Justin is that he’s kind of on that path. He has his whys. He sees what he sees and he’s able to communicate that. … He’s making a decision for a reason, so those conversations have been really good.”

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Alarm bells kept ringing in Caleb Jones’ head every time he pushed deep into the offensive zone Tuesday.

As a defenseman, he indeed would’ve been far out of position. But he repeatedly reminded himself he was actually playing forward. Technically, he was the Hawks’ third-line left winger.

“There’s a few times on the clips I could see myself backing up and not coming up,” he said Thursday, laughing. “I started skating backwards — that was the defenseman in me, for sure. But better safe than sorry in that situation. That was my mindset: I’d rather not be too aggressive and just come back.”

Jones was originally going to be a healthy scratch against the Lightning. He wasn’t planning to go out for warmups — and therefore not doing his usual pregame stretching — when the Hawks let him know around 6:30 p.m. that they’d need him to dress.

And he didn’t realize that playing meant playing forward — essentially in the place of Tyler Johnson, who’d come down sick — until coach Luke Richardson told him at the last minute.

“I said I could probably play a couple shifts up there,” Jones said. “Then before the first puck drop, Luke said, ‘I’ll probably just keep you up there the whole game.’ It was definitely a new experience, but I made a couple good defensive plays and had a couple O-zone shifts.

“I know our ‘D’-zone [system], like what our forwards are supposed to do and what their jobs are, so I didn’t feel too nervous about any positional stuff. … But when you just have to go in and play, sometimes you can actually have a good game, not thinking too much.”

He ended up logging 13:48 ice time over 15 shifts with decent results. The Hawks outshot the Lightning 5-3 during his five-on-five ice time; neither team scored during it. Richardson praised him for taking advantage of the opportunity and doing “whatever we asked him to do.”

Roster puzzle

It’s probably for the best, though, that Jones won’t have to masquerade as a forward a second time.

The Hawks’ roster remains in heavy flux entering Friday against the Coyotes, but not in enough flux to necessitate that degree of creativity.

The Hawks called up forwards Lukas Reichel and Brett Seney from the AHL, and both will be in the lineup Friday no matter what. It’ll be Reichel’s second appearance of the season, presenting another chance for the top prospect to finally translate his offensive upside to the NHL. He’ll be playing wing, not center.

Seney isn’t exactly a prospect at age 26 but has earned this opportunity nonetheless. The former Devils and Maple Leafs depth winger is the AHL’s second-leading scorer this season with 38 points in 32 games. Rockford coach Anders Sorensen said Seney plays at a fast pace and gets to the net well.

Patrick Kane, meanwhile, is a “maybe” for Friday; he’ll test out his lower-body injury in the morning before doctors make a determination. Either way, though, it doesn’t sound like a major long-term issue, which would’ve been the worst-case scenario after he didn’t return for the third period Tuesday.

“There was no sense to flare it up today,” Richardson said of Kane’s injury. “It’s just settling down. If he can…let the inflammation get out of there and if he feels good [Friday], he’ll definitely try and push through. So that’s good.”

Johnson returned to practice Thursday, but Andreas Athanasiou has now contracted his illness and missed practice because of it.

And MacKenzie Entwistle and Jujhar Khaira were retroactively placed on injured reserve with right wrist and lower back injuries, respectively, although both are eligible to be activated at any time. Entwistle and Jarred Tinordi (facial surgery) skated individually Thursday; Khaira did not.

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For Equanimeous St. Brown, the decision was an easy one: he wanted to stay with the Bears next year, and the team wanted him back.

That’s all that went into the receiver’s decision to sign a one-year, $1.25 million contract extension Wednesday that will keep him with the Bears through next season.

“This is our first time together as a team — a lot of new players, a lot of new coaches,” he said Thursday. “I think we have something to build off. Our run game has been good, our pass game has struggled a little bit, but I think as the season has gone on it’s gotten better. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but I think we’ll be ready for next year.”

He’s had modest success in his lone season with the Bears. He needs one catch and eight yards Sunday to tie career highs in both categories: 21 receptions for 328 yards, set his rookie year in 2018.

St. Brown knows the Bears’ playbook better than anyone, though, having played for offensive coordinator Luke Getsy with the Packers. The Bears value receivers who run-block perhaps more than any other team in the NFL, and St. Brown ranks seventh in the NFL in Pro Football Focus’ run-blocking grades at the position. Receivers coach Tyke Tolbert called him “dependable” Thursday, the highest honor a coach can bestow.

“We’re building on something here, and I feel like the coaching staff and the organization likes me,” St. Brown said. “I like it here, I’m happy here, so I want to stay here.”

This and that

o Bears quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko wouldn’t rule out quarterback Tim Boyle coming off the bench to play some snaps Sunday, but said the decision was up to head coach Matt Eberflus. Nathan Peterman will start.

o Safety Jaquan Brisker, who missed Wednesday’s walkthrough for personal reasons, returned to practice. Cornerback Kyler Gordon was limited with a groin issue.

o Defensive tackle Angelo Blackson missed practice with an illness. Cornerback Jaylon Jones (concussion) and linebacker Sterling Weatherford (illness) remain out.

o Long snapper Patrick Scales missed practice with a neck injury. The Bears signed snapper Kameron Canaday to the practice squad Tuesday.

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The week of holiday tournaments provided a fun and traditional week of high school basketball across the state. But this first full weekend of action in the new year promises to be a whopper.

Here is the Weekend Forecast and picks.

Downers Grove North (12-1) at Lyons (11-1)

A pair of talented one-loss teams in a huge conference showdown to kickstart the new year.

Downers Grove North has been far from the limelight, cruising in the easy-to-forget East Aurora Holiday Tournament and a schedule lacking a big stage up to this point.

As an early unbeaten team, Lyons was in the same predicament — until it made a run over the holidays at the Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament at York. The Lions won four games and walloped ranked St. Ignatius along the way before falling to Rolling Meadows in the championship game.

This is one of those regular-season games with a big stage. The question is how ready is Downers Grove North as it moves up a weight class? The Trojans will learn a lot about themselves this weekend with key West Suburban Silver matchups with Lyons and Hinsdale Central.

DGN is led by guard Jack Stanton. He’s among the better juniors in the state and is averaging 16.2 points. Max Haack, 6-5 Jacob Bozeman and 6-8 junior Jake Riemer all chip in between seven to eight points a game.

The difference in this one is Lyons’ strength in its older players. Led by Niklas Polonowski, the Penn recruit, the Lions lean heavily on five seniors. The unselfishness leads to balance as the 6-5 Polonowski, guard Jackson Niego, Graham Smith, Connor Carroll and Matthew DeSimone share the load.

The pick: Lyons 56, Downers Grove North 52

Glenbrook North (14-1) at Glenbrook South (13-4)

There are always important, key matchups each week in the Central Suburban League South. But the GBN-GBS battle takes on a little more significance than what’s at first glance.

First, it’s a rivalry.

Second, GBS already has two league losses and can’t afford another one at this juncture if it hopes to stay in the league race.

And third, GBN has another huge tussle less than 24 hours later against highly-ranked St. Ignatius. A loss to GBS, followed by a loss to Ignatius on Saturday, and suddenly a red-hot Spartans team that began 14-0 would be riding a three-game losing streak.

GBN, led by veteran scoring guard Ryan Cohen and junior point guard Josh Fridman, is coming off its first loss of the season. The Spartans were upset by Libertyville in the Wheeling Hardwood Classic final. But this is still a ranked team that owns a conference win over Evanston and has its eyes set on a CSL South title.

Glenbrook South has four losses but two of them came to Rolling Meadows. Nick Taylor has been playing some really good basketball in leading the Titans. An all-tournament selection at York, the 6-6 Taylor is strong, active and versatile. But it’s a balanced team among Taylor, Rodell Davis, Jr., Josh Wolf and Gaven Marr, and one that should only get better as this season progresses.

The pick: Glenbrook North 64, Glenbrook South 57

Benet (16-1) at St. Patrick (10-4)

Times have changed in this East Suburban Catholic Conference. No longer is it one-and-done with each opponent in the ESCC. Every team plays each another twice within the league instead of the most recent eight-game schedule.

But what we know through December in the ESCC is this: Benet remains an overwhelming favorite.

With Marian Catholic already sitting with three league losses, it’s St. Patrick and Marist holding on to hope it can knock Benet off its perch atop the league. That will be a tall task. Benet gets both St. Pat’s and Marist this weekend. A sweep and Benet will have a two-game lead over everyone.

Benet thoroughly impressed everyone at Pontiac — and that was without a typically sound shooting team shooting the ball that well. The Redwings shot just an OK 32 percent from three in the four games on Pontiac, yet made it to the final and gave Simeon everything it could handle.

While Benet’s Niko Abusara, Brayden Fagbemi and Brady Kunka have led this team at different points this season, the role players did their job in Pontiac. That has included some additional scoring from the likes of Sam Driscoll and Patrick Walsh.

St. Patrick, who are led by senior guard Andrew Ayeni and sophomore EJ Breland, gets a shot at the league’s top team on its home floor. If it wants to pull off the upset, juniors Antoine Thomas and Harper Krolak will be keys.

The pick: Benet 55, St. Patrick 45

Decatur MacArthur (15-0) at Sacred Heart-Griffin (11-0)

We go outside the Chicago area for one Weekend Forecast. There is a big one in central Illinois Friday night in a battle of unbeaten teams. Both are ranked among the top Class 3A teams in the state.

SHG, the defending Class 3A state champs, are better than ever. They bring it defensively and still have the potent combination of 6-5 Zack Hawkinson and guard Jake Hamilton.

MacArthur is on a roll. The Generals, who knocked off Bolingbrook back in November, took care of Belleville East and Quincy to win the Collinsville Holiday Tournament. Athletic big man Makhi Wright is the headliner while 6-1 senior Chase Cunningham and 6-2 senior Azarion Richardson, who came up big in the Collinsville title game with a game-high 19 points, are two perimeter weapons.

The pick: SHG 67, MacArthur 59

Saturday

Brother Rice (14-2) vs. Bolingbrook (10-4) at DePaul Prep

A terrific non-conference battle as both Brother Rice and Bolingbrook are ranked among the top 20 teams — Rice at No. 10 and the ‘Brook at No. 18. Both, however, came up short in key holiday tournament tests last week.

Brother Rice was stunned in the second round by Mesa (AZ) at the State Farm Classic in Bloomington. Bolingbrook fell to Rolling Meadows, 76-61, in the semifinals at York.

The allure of this one from an individual standpoint is the battle in the backcourt between two Division I guards. Bolingbrook’s Mekhi Cooper, a Miami-Ohio recruit, and Brother Rice’s Ahmad Henderson, who is headed to Niagara, are dynamic scoring point guards.

The pick: Brother Rice 60, Bolingbrook 57

Joliet West (12-4) vs. Rolling Meadows (16-1) at DePaul Prep

The game of the weekend. It’s a battle of two highly-ranked teams with monster aspirations this season. But it’s also a fun one for fans in that it features the two best senior prospects in the state: Cameron Christie of Rolling Meadows and Jeremy Fears, Jr., of Joliet West.

Rolling Meadows is fresh off an impressive five-win run at York, where it handled each team in convincing fashion and all by double digits. Joliet West, meanwhile, left Pontiac with a bad taste in its mouth after losses to Benet and Curie.

Christie was sensational at York, winning tournament MVP honors while shooting it at a high clip and averaging 26 points a game. But Rolling Meadows is more than just the future Minnesota Golden Gopher. There is size and scoring punch with 6-7 Tsvet Sotoriv and 6-8 Mark Nikolich-Wilson. Plus, it has a defensive stopper in the physical Foster Ogbonna. It will be interesting to see which Fears brother Ogbonna is matched up against.

Jeremy Fears Jr., the Michigan State recruit, and super sophomore Jeremiah Fears are a terrific and potent 1-2 combo in the backcourt. The Tigers, however, will need a big effort from 6-8 big man Matthew Moore inside. And their defensive pressure must create some havoc and present problems for Rolling Meadows and get the Mustangs out of their comfort zone.

Expect nothing less than a down-to-the-wire finish. But Joliet West just seems to be due — and in need — of a big-time performance and win. Tigers in a thriller.

The pick: Joliet West 65, Rolling Meadows 64

Simeon (12-0) vs. Imhotep Charter (9-1) at Highland Shootout

The top-ranked team in the state will get its biggest test to date in the Highland Shootout. In fact, this is the most challenging weekend of the year for the unbeaten Wolverines. Might this be the weekend we see a glimpse of mortality in unbeaten Simeon?

Coach Robert Smith’s team faces Indianapolis Cathedral Friday night. Then Simeon will travel Saturday to the Highland Shootout in Southern Illinois to square off with a national power.

Imhotep won its eighth state championship — and second straight Philadelphia Public League championship — last season under coach Andre Noble. And all the key pieces returned.

The Philadelphia powerhouse is ranked No. 7 in the country by MaxPreps and No. 10 by ESPN. They won the prestigious City of Palms Classic in Florida last month. The Panthers are coming off their first loss of the season, however, losing to Long Island Lutheran last week in the Jordan Holiday Classic.

Justin Edwards, a 6-7 Kentucky recruit, is the No. 2 ranked player in the country. The backcourt is stellar with Florida Gulf Coast recruit Rahmir Barno and 6-2 Ahmad Nowell, one of the top 35 junior prospects in the country.

Yes, Simeon can play with anyone in the country. But Simeon really needs all hands on deck to beat the best, which it won’t have with Kaiden Space’s injury. The Wolverines will have their hands full with a team that boasts size, Division I talent and is more than prepared with the schedule and big-time events Imhotep has played.

The pick: Imhotep 68, Simeon 62

Bloom (9-3) vs. Kenwood (12-2) at Hyde Park

The featured game at the nine-game event at Hyde Park.

Even with a fifth-place tournament finish, Bloom gained some confidence with how it played in going 3-1 at Pontiac. The Blazing Trojans compete and play hard. More importantly, each Dante Maddox’s team, led by the backcourt of Jordan Brown and Raeshom Harris, played with more consistency.

While there is some Bloom length and athleticism to combat Kenwood’s endless amount of it, this is going to be a massive challenge. Dai Dai Ames is a high-scoring guard headed to Kansas State. But he’s just the beginning. Kenwood is loaded with talent and depth, peeved from its Proviso West Holiday Tournament title game loss to Young, and will be playing in its backyard at Hyde Park.

The pick: Kenwood 70, Bloom 59

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Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a five-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will see some snow showers and a high near 34 degrees. Similar weather is expected tonight with a low near 32. Expect scattered flurries tomorrow — also with a high near 34.

Top story

Schools masking absenteeism by misreporting truant CPS students as transfers, dropouts, IG says

There appear to be widespread problems with the tracking of truant students at Chicago Public Schools, according to an inspector general report released this morning that said chronic absenteeism is likely being masked by some administrators aiming to make their schools look better.

The misreporting of truant students as missing, dropouts or outgoing transfers in many cases means schools didn’t properly check on children’s whereabouts and attempt to re-engage them with their classes as required, the report said. The investigation looked at issues prior to the pandemic but the practice likely worsened when schools closed and, by some estimates, CPS needed to reconnect with up to 100,000 children who weren’t regularly engaged with school.

There’s a reason administrators might want to hide truancies: The district’s school rating system, currently suspended and under reform, has penalized schools for high absenteeism and dropout rates. Critics have often called the rating system punitive and inequitable.

“The schools are entrusted to provide this information to the district. And at the same time, they are rated on absenteeism, and they have an incentive to have a low absenteeism rate,” Inspector General Will Fletcher said in an interview. “It calls for better centralized monitoring and oversight of the data that’s coming out of those schools. And thus far, we haven’t seen that happen.”

CPS spokeswoman Mary Fergus said in a statement that the district is creating a team to improve data reporting around transfers and dropouts and support students and schools on transfers.

The investigation, included in the CPS Office of Inspector General’s annual report that details its biggest cases of the past year, reviewed records from the 2018-19 school year, the last full one before the pandemic. State law and CPS policy require accurate recordkeeping of any student who leaves a school’s enrollment.

Investigators started with an unnamed elementary school that reported a particularly high rate of transfers, saying administrators there “deliberately miscoded students who were truant as transfers or lost children so that these students’ absences would not count against the school’s attendance rate.” A school culture coordinator and two clerks were found to have been regularly removing truant students from enrollment by recording them as transfers, the report said. In one school year, 20 kids were recorded as transfers but the school had no supporting documentation. Emails showed that in many cases, staff knew the student was actually truant.

Truant students who are mislabeled as transfers are unlikely to receive the support and re-engagement efforts from the district as they otherwise would.

The investigation further found evidence that these problems spread district-wide and “call into question the reliability of transfer and dropout data that CPS uses in calculating key metrics such as attendance and graduation rates.” A review of 100 schools’ records found 36 that had falsely reported to CPS that they had verified a student transfer. In those cases, the schools didn’t have the required records showing the student had actually transferred to a new school.

That misreporting was originally flagged by CPS officials when the district began auditing schools’ self-reported transfer data in 2018.

Our Nader Issa and WBEZ’s Sarah Karp have more here.

More news you need

A witness told investigators a 9-year-old boy pointed a gun at his head and accidentally shot himself inside a crowded Washington Heights home on New Year’s Day, according to a police report. The account of the shooting came from another child who told investigators that Jarvis Watts was playing with the gun when it went off Sunday evening inside a bedroom at a home, the report states.The mother of 8-year-old Cooper Roberts has shared new details about his recovery after he was wounded six months ago in the July 4 parade massacre in Highland Park. Cooper was shot in his spine and paralyzed below his waist in the shooting. Our David Struett has more on Cooper’s recovery here.One of the country’s most influential civil rights organizations has sent a scathing letter to city officials insisting a Chicago police officer be fired for associating with members of the far-right Proud Boys then lying to investigators. The Southern Poverty Law Center said CPD must do a better job rooting out extremism in its ranks.A businessman convicted in an extortion trial nearly five years ago that revolved around the “vicious” beating of a west suburban restaurant owner over a $50,000 debt has been sentenced to six years in prison. The 39-year-old has already served much of that time, having been held in custody since his May 2018 conviction, our Jon Seidel reports.Following an FDA rule change expanding the availability of abortion pills earlier this week, both Walgreens and CVS say they will seek certification to distribute one of the medications. Once certified, both drugstore chains will be able to fill prescriptions for mifepristone, which can be used to terminate a pregnancy up to 10 weeks along.Today’s CPS inspector general report also touched on the district’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program, noting freshman enrollment in the controversial military-run training program has plummeted. The drop comes after CPS leaders cracked down on schools that were effectively forcing first-year students to participate, the report said.Additionally, CPS’ watchdog reported today that district officials are trying to recoup more than $56,000 from a family who’s accused of lying about their residency to send their daughter to a highly competitive city high school. The student attended Northside College Prep from 2019 until last month, but actually lived with her mother in suburban Lincolnwood, the report said.Some two dozen tenants who say they were left shivering inside their chilly Logan Square apartments for two weeks in December are withholding half a month’s rent in protest. The renters say they shouldn’t have to pay rent for the two weeks their apartments weren’t habitable, our Stefano Esposito reports.An Oak Park building where clergy once lived has been transformed into an emergency overnight shelter. The shelter at 38 N. Austin Blvd. will serve a hot dinner and a continental-style breakfast to up to 10 guests, who will also receive a bagged lunch when they leave.With a very literal backdrop of the 95th Street Bridge on the Southeast Side, Vice President Kamala Harris was in Chicago yesterday to tout the impact of the Biden administration’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure law. The funding includes a $144 million grant to rehab four bridges along the Calumet River.A Louisiana man has filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines, accusing the carrier of committing breach of contract when it offered him and other passengers credit instead of refunds for flights canceled during last month’s winter storm. The proposed class-action lawsuit, filed in New Orleans federal court on Dec. 30 by Eric Capdeville, is seeking damages for passengers on flights canceled since Christmas Eve.

A bright one

Search is on for Chicago’s first poet laureate

Chicago is looking for its first official poet laureate.

The mayor’s office, in partnership with the Chicago Public Library, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and the Poetry Foundation, announced the creation of the city’s inaugural Chicago Poet Laureate program yesterday.

The chosen poet will serve a two-year term and be awarded a grant of $50,000 for the commissioning of new poems and to create a public program series, including programs for youth and students, the mayor’s office said.

The poet will also serve as an ambassador for the city’s literary and creative communities.

Nominations can be submitted online through Jan. 18. The nominee can be a poet in either written or spoken traditions but must have “at least four published works and/or performances in established publications,” according to the city’s website, which lists other eligibility requirements. Self-nominations will be accepted.

The nominees will be reviewed according to the eligibility criteria, and those who are eligible will be invited to apply.

The winner will be formally appointed in the spring. In April, which is National Poetry Month, the laureate will present work as part of the Chicago Public Library’s annual Poetry Fest

Emmanuel Camarillo has more on the search here.

From the press box

Your daily question?

Are you participating in Dry January? Tell us why.

Send us an email at [email protected] and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday we asked you: How are you feeling about the upcoming mayoral election?

Here’s what some of you said…

“Looking forward to casting my ballot again for Lori. I believe she is trying her best. Chicago isn’t easy. No one can stop the crime wave. People have to stop themselves. It won’t happen no matter who is mayor.” — Kimberly Gray

“There are actually three candidates that I could be happy with. Usually, it’s a choice between bad and worse.” — Mark Mardell

“Not optimistic. We’ve done a poor job in electing mayors going back decades. This cycle’s choices don’t excite me. Looks like more of the same.” — Howard Moore

“I feel underwhelmed because we are not producing viable political talent in this city. It’s not about Mayor Lightfoot; it’s about the lack of options that we have for leadership. Chicago used to be a political powerhouse back in the day. Now, it’s an oligarchy.” — Zeke Razby

“I see a lot of candidates but really no action plans. Lots of talk, not a lot of substance. I guess that is just politics right?” — Bob Black

“A little overwhelmed because we just finished with the midterm elections and now we’re being thrown into another one.” — Jackie Waldhier

Thanks for reading the Chicago Sun-Times Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.

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AUSTIN, Texas — Texas fired basketball coach Chris Beard on Thursday while he faces a felony domestic family violence charge stemming from a Dec. 12 incident involving his fianc?e.

The Associated Press obtained the termination letter that was sent to Beard’s attorney.

Beard had five years left on a seven-year guaranteed contract that includes a provision he could be fired for cause if he was charged with a felony. The charge of assault by strangulation/suffocation family violence carries a possible prison sentence of two to 10 years if convicted; the woman told police he strangled and bit her, but later denied Beard choked her.

Beard had been suspended without pay since he was arrested, and school officials have said there is an ongoing internal investigation.

Police responded to an emergency call at Beard’s house after midnight on Dec. 12 and arrested him after Beard’s fianc?e, Randi Trew, told officers he choked her from behind, bit her and hit her when the two got in an argument. Beard’s attorney has said the coach is innocent.

The Associated Press does not typically identify alleged victims of extreme violence, but Trew issued a public statement on Dec. 23 in which she denied telling police Beard choked her. She also said she never intended for him to be arrested or prosecuted.

“Chris did not strangle me, and I told that to law enforcement that evening,” Trew said in her statement. “Chris has stated that he was acting in self-defense, and I do not refute that. I do not believe Chris was trying to intentionally harm me in any way.”

Trew’s statement did not address why she made the emergency call or other details in the police report, such as bite marks and abrasions on her face and telling officers that she couldn’t breathe for about five seconds.

According to the arrest affidavit, Trew initially told police that she and Beard they had been in an argument where she broke his glasses before he “just snapped on me and became super violent.” Police reported Trew said Beard slapped her glasses off her face and “choked me, bit me, bruises all over my leg, throwing me around and going nuts.”

The Travis County district attorney’s office has not responded to previous requests for comment on Beard’s case or whether Trew’s Dec. 23 statement would change how prosecutors proceed with the felony charge.

A Jan. 18 court hearing is scheduled, according to online records.

Beard led Texas Tech to the 2019 NCAA Tournament championship game and was hired at Texas in 2021 with the expectation that he would lift his alma mater to the same elite level. He had the Longhorns program humming this season, starting 6-0 and ranked as high as No. 2.

Associate head coach Rodney Terry took Beard’s place during the suspension. The Longhorns (12-2, 1-1 Big 12) won their first five games under Terry before losing 116-103 to Kansas State on Tuesday.

Beard spent 10 seasons at Texas Tech as an assistant under Bob Knight from 2001-2011, then returned there as head coach in 2016.

He was 112-55 in five seasons with the Red Raiders and was named The The Associated Press coach of the year in 2019 as he guided Texas Tech to a 31-7 finish and lost in an overtime thriller to Virginia in the national championship game.

His departure for Texas — a deal reached after a meeting with Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte that included a McDonald’s breakfast an hour’s drive north of Lubbock — left Texas Tech officials frustrated.

As soon as he landed in Austin, Beard set out to rebuild a program from the ground up as he rebuilt the Texas roster and tried to whip up new enthusiasm for the program as he engaged with students and held often comedic “fireside chats” on campus. In his first season, he led Texas to a first-round victory over Virginia Tech that was the Longhorns’ first NCAA Tournament win since 2014.

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