Chicago News Weekly : September 2021

Thursday, September 30, 2021

Year 2 of the Billy Donovan offense will mean a running of the Bulls

With a full offseason and a fall training camp, Donovan feels like the Bulls offense will be in position to maximize the strengths of the roster, but they better have their running shoes on.

Accountability isn’t a curse word for Billy Donovan.

Maybe that’s why his arrival as the Bulls coach last season was so refreshing.

Donovan’s confident enough to admit when things go wrong under his watch, proving that his position is not only about teaching, but still learning. A lesson the old Bulls front office, as well as the coach Donovan replaced, liked to thumb their nose at.

So while assessing why his offense bogged down at times last season after opposing defenses stopped the first couple actions in a possession, Donovan again didn’t duck blame or give some confusing reply.

“I agree with that especially after the trade deadline,’’ Donovan said of that assessment. “I really thought that was a challenge where I thought we got slowed.’’

An indictment of Donovan’s offensive philosophy that was echoed at times during his tenure with the Thunder or just a perfect storm of tough circumstances?

Bet on the latter.

There were times in Oklahoma City where critics felt Donovan’s ball-movement offense was limited after a few actions and turned into isolation far too often, but when looking at his personnel, it’s easy to see why. In his first season, he had both Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant on the roster. Two elite scorers who do their best work in iso.

Durant then left for Golden State, meaning it was the Westbrook show, and when Westbrook wants to attack a defense, Westbrook is going to attack a defense. Not to the point of coaching be damned, but pretty close.

Now focus on Donovan’s 2019-20 season.

Westbrook was gone, leaving the likes of Steven Adams, Terrance Ferguson, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and of course Chris Paul. The preseason odds had Donovan and the Thunder winning 32 games that year, and being near the bottom of the Western Conference.

They finished 44-28, fifth in the West, losing to Houston in the first round in seven games.

That offense was tough to defend because of multiple actions and ball movement, and they played great defense.

That’s the model that should have Bulls fans excited when breaking down Donovan as a coach. Not relying on film from early on in OKC or even last season after the Bulls acquired Nikola Vucevic and Daniel Theis at the trade deadline, and had to throw an offense together with the two bigs and almost no practice time.

“If we didn’t get ‘Vooch’ [Vucevic] in the post or Coby [White] on kick-outs, Zach [LaVine], we definitely got stalled,’’ Donovan said of last season.

So what about this season? With a full training camp, a new-look roster, and plenty of practice time, what does Donovan have planned for this offense in Year 2, making sure there aren’t those lulls late in a possession?

Without simply handing over a playbook with all his sets for the entire league to have eyes on, Donovan was pretty forthcoming with how he wants his offense to look.

Memo to the entire Bulls roster: You best be in shape.

“I think the biggest thing for us is we’ve got to play faster,’’ Donovan said. “We’ve got to run. I think that’s Lonzo [Ball’s] strength, throwing the ball ahead. I think Zach and DeMar [DeRozan] are good in transition. I think utilizing ‘Vooch’ maybe a little bit more as a dynamic passer up top. Sometimes [last season] because we were playing with two bigs, it was what do you do with the other big? We’ve got to figure those things out. Like we use the terminology keep the energy in the ball … keep the thing moving right now instead of it just getting bogged down.

“There’s always a time and a place that with certain guys, elite players offensively, you’re going to iso them, you’re going to put them in situations, but I do think if we can play faster, starting with getting in great shape … Hopefully that can help keep the possession moving.’’

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Charlotte looks to extend Illinois’ losing streak

Illinois wide receivers Deuce Spann (6) and Desmond Dan Jr. (10) celebrate during the fourth quarter of last week’s game against Purdue. | Nikos Frazier/Journal & Courier via AP

In three of its four losses, Illinois was either tied or down by less than one score with the ball in the final minute.

CHAMPAIGN — Illinois has not won a game since August and hosts a surging Charlotte team Saturday (11 a.m., BTN) that is eager to knock off a Big Ten opponent.

Illinois’ last victory was the 30-22 season-opening win over Nebraska on Aug. 28. The Illini (1-4, 1-2 Big Ten) have lost all four games since. Three of those were games where Illinois was either tied or down by less than one score with the ball in the final minute.

First-year coach Bret Bielema said his team is working on how to close out tight games.

“Everybody wants to concentrate on why we lost, and believe me I’m diving into that knee deep and going through it. But I want you to understand that it’s actually a step in the right direction to be disappointed that we finished close,” Bielema said. “We’ve got to get ourselves back on track.”

CHARLOTTE’S WEB

Led by senior quarterback Chris Reynolds, Charlotte (3-1, 1-0 Conference USA) this season has beaten Duke, Gardner-Webb and Middle Tennessee and lost 20-7 at Georgia State.

The 49ers’ dynamic receiving duo of Victor Tucker and Grant DuBose have each recorded two 100-yard performances through the first four weeks of the season, against Middle Tennessee and Duke.

Third-year 49ers coach Will Healy has been impressed with Tucker’s performance so far.

“I’ve seen tremendous growth in Vic,” Healy said. “I think now he’s a great player and an outstanding leader. I’m very proud of him.”

DuBose understands the importance of Saturday’s game.

“We lost last week, we knew that we needed that win and it was a conference game,” DuBose said. “We have a Power Five opponent (this week) with Illinois, so it’s just about gaining momentum for our offense. That’s what we need after only putting up seven points last week.”

IMPRESSIVE REYNOLDS

Reynolds broke the school record for career passing touchdowns in the 41-38 win over Middle Tennessee, passing for 339 yards and four touchdown passes. He has 45 career touchdown passes for a program that only joined the Bowl Subdivision in 2015.

Bielema was impressed watching film of Reynolds.

“Reynolds is a very talented, accurate thrower,” Bielema said. “He’s got a lot of skill around him both at the running back and wide receiver position.”

THE HOME TEAM

True freshman running back Josh McCray has been one of the few bright spots for the Illinois offense. McCray rushed for a career-best 156 yards on 24 carries against Purdue. It was the fifth-most rushing yards by a true freshman in program history, and the most by a true freshman running back since Ke’Shawn Vaughn recorded 180 yards at Purdue in 2015.

Illinois is again starting super senior Brandon Peters at quarterback, despite his struggles since returning from an injury in the season opener. Peters threw for 185 yards and an interception against Maryland and for just 100 yards at Purdue. He has yet to throw a touchdown pass.

Backup Art Sitkowski, who played well in Peters’ absence, is available.

AILING DEFENSE

Defensively, Illinois is 12th in the nation and tied for the Big Ten lead in takeaways with nine.

Tony Adams and Kerby Joseph both had second-half interceptions at Purdue last week despite the defense playing without starting cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who is eighth in the nation in passes defended per game (1.8), and star linebacker Jake Hansen, considered one of the finest linebackers in the nation.

Both Witherspoon and Hansen are expected to miss Saturday’s game.

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‘Paradise Square’ gives a history lesson from ‘the margins’

The cast of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre is shown in a scene from “Paradise Square.” The show will have its pre-Broadway run in Chicago starting in November. | Kevin Berne

Black Americans and Irish immigrants in 1863 meld their cultures in the new musical opening in Chicago on its way to Broadway.

If you’re never heard of Five Points, New York, or the draft riots of 1863, you’re in for a potent history lesson courtesy of a new Broadway-bound musical opening in Chicago this fall.

The Five Points of this musical was a real place — one of the poorest and run-down tenements in 19th century Lower Manhattan (the same gritty setting for Martin Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York”). By all historical accounts, it was not a pretty site, but it was, for a brief moment in time, a place where, in spite of the hardship and the racism of Civil War-era America, two diverse cultures lived and thrived together. Until some of the bloodiest riots in U.S. history raged for four days in 1863.

That’s the setup for “Paradise Square,” receiving its pre-Broadway engagement at the James M. Nederlander Theatre Nov. 2-Dec. 5. (“Paradise Square” has been in development for the past decade and was produced in January 2019 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre.)

As the war between the states boils over, newly arrived Irish immigrants and free-born Black Americans and others who had escaped slavery in the South are living and working together amid the worst of conditions, but making the best life they could. Two cultures melded. Blacks and Whites married, had children, worked hard and believed in the American dream. Dance halls and bars dotted the neighborhood (the show’s title is one of the local watering holes, and setting for most of the action) and dance battles broke out. Irish step dancing and African Juba obliterated genre lines, ultimately birthing tap dance. And the music of Stephen Foster (a character in the play) set the tone for the milieu.

“Paradise Square” (shown here in a scene from the Berkeley Repertory Theatre production) marks the return of Broadway vetrean producer Garth Drabinsky.

The show, conceived by Larry Kirwan and based on his 2012 musical “Hard Times: An American Musical,” has morphed into a wholly new iteration from the Berkeley Rep version, with a book by Christina Anderson, Marcus Gardley, Craig Lucas and Kirwan, who also contributed to Jason Howland’s score, along with Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare. Tony Award winner Bill T. Jones created the powerhouse choreography.

The musical also marks the big-time return of Tony Award-winning producer Garth Drabinsky, one of the leading Broadway impresarios of the 1990s, who was convicted of fraud and served time in a Canadian prison (all charges in the U.S. were subsequently dismissed). Drabinksy is no stranger to the Chicago theater scene; his now-defunct Livent production company brought “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” with Donny Osmond in the title role to the Chicago Theatre for a record-breaking run. It was Drabinsky’s Livent that brought the battered Oriental Theatre (now the aforementioned Nederlander) back to life in 1998, ushering the rebirth of Chicago’s downtown theater district.

Veteran director Moises Kaufman is at the helm of “Paradise Square,” which will receive its pre-Broadway debut at the James M. Nederlander Theatre in the Loop.

“I said to this cast, of all the shows I’ve done, this is the first time I’ve come into rehearsal with the script and music being so exquisitely sculpted and prepared, and frankly it’s because we’ve had the time in the last 18 months not to grieve and be depressed but to refine and make better and finally bring to fruition the essence of everything we were doing,” Drabinsky said of working on “Paradise Square” amid a pandemic, and his fervent desire to tell the Five Points story.

Moises Kaufman, the director of “Paradise Square,” added, “I’ve lived in Manhattan for 30 years and I never knew that Five Points had that kind of intensity,”

“I was very taken in by the story,” Kaufman continued. “In my work I’m interested in the intersection of the personal and political, whether it’s [Kaufman’s other stage works] ‘The Laramie Project” or ‘I Am My Own Wife’ or “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde,’ I’m really interested in this idea of what happens when what society deems to be ‘the other’ becomes the recorder of history. What happens if we look at history through the eyes of these people who were at the margins of a certain culture? What do we see? … I immediately felt like this [show] was something that I wanted to do.”

That Five Points existed in this manner 150 years ago is something Kaufman said should resonate with all who encounter the production. “What’s encouraging and sad is that a lot of what’s happening in our streets is happening on our stage,” Kaufman mused. “... And we started doing [this production] way before Black Lives Matter.”

The people of Paradise Square (it too is a real place) co-existed because they had to in order to survive, he said. The violent Civil War draft riots, though not the core of the show, hammer that home, as do the show’s powerful anthems of anger, hope, despair and promise.

“The riots (led by working-class Irish immigrants) went north, uptown, because they wanted to hurt the rich people who could avoid the draft altogether by paying $300,” Kaufman said, the fee signifying an out-of-reach sum for immigrants (Blacks were not considered citizens and therefore not subject to the draft). “Then they came back downtown to attack African Americans” as well as white abolitionists and business owners.

Lyricist Masi Asare poses for a photo after the media preview of “Paradise Square” at the James M. Nederlander Theatre in September. T

Kaufman is adamant that the show does not romanticize the subject matter. “This is not ‘Camelot,’ ” he said with a chuckle.

The production also exemplifies the need for increased diversity on theater stages and also behind the scenes (“Hamilton” comparisons have been made).

“Our team is Black, Latinx. It’s exciting,” said composer/lyricist Masi Asare, an assistant professor at Northwestern University, where she teaches a course in musical theater history. “There are people of a lot of backgrounds on the show and I have to say it’s an interesting time to be a Black woman writer of musicals. The projects I signed on to and have been really excited to join are those where there has already been a long history of having women in the room, people of different races in the room; and that is certainly the case with this project.”

Asare said she was tapped to help with major rewrites this past year, lending a key Black voice to the Black voices of the show, in addition to bringing her historical perspective to the Stephen Foster character.

“Audiences can now very clearly see how [Foster] took up material from Black artists that he met and repackaged it as his own in ways that he and the music business at the time profited from those uncredited contributions of Black artists.”

Added Kaufman, “The musical takes a look at the social conflicts that are still the basis today of how we live in America. These people at this time and place believed that some of these social contracts could actually work. … They saw a new kind of world that was possible. It’s an exploration of what it took to create what they created, not just an ode to what they did.”

The cast of “Paradise Square” performs during a media preview at the James M. Nederlander Theatre. — The newly introduced cast of “Paradise Square” performs during a media preview at the James M. Nederlander Theatre.

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Afternoon Edition: Sept. 30, 2021

Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks at a Little Village news conference today. The governor said he’d be disappointed if the Chicago Bears left Soldier Field. | Mark Capapas/Sun-Times

Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.

Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will be sunny with a high of 81 degrees. Tonight will be mostly clear with a low around 59. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high near 84.

Top story

Pritzker punts on funding potential new stadium for Bears as lawmakers line up to block it

Gov. J.B. Pritzker today said he’d be disappointed if the Bears leave Soldier Field in favor of a new stadium in Arlington Heights, but the Chicago Democrat was noncommittal about the prospect of publicly financing a billion-dollar project — something a group of state lawmakers are lining up to block.

“I’m a Bears fan, and I know that it would be disappointing for me if the Chicago Bears moved outside of the city of Chicago,” Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference in Little Village. “I think that the Bears and the city of Chicago need to work out their differences in order for us to end up with the Bears staying in the city.”

“There’s something about having them in the city. ... There’s a tradition I think that we all feel, many of us, about the city of Chicago. Having said that, this is a private enterprise engaging with city governments to decide what’s best for them,” he said.

The team announced yesterday it reached a $197 million deal to buy 326 acres previously home to Arlington International Racecourse, which likely ran its final races last weekend. Mayor Lori Lightfoot sounded resigned to the idea of the team skipping town, but has urged the team to return to the negotiating table to keep them on the lakefront.

As for whether he’d support using public money to sweeten the pot for the Bears — either for a new stadium or for more upgrades at Soldier Field — the governor said “that’s not something that we’re looking at,” but he didn’t rule it out.

“It’s very important for us to focus on our fiscal situation in the state, making sure that we’re building up the infrastructure of the state and that we’re balancing our budget,” he said.

Read the full story here.

More news you need

Breaking their Soldier Field lease could cost the Bears nearly $90 million, according to our analysis of the team’s lease with the Chicago Park District. Mitchell Armentrout has more on the Bears’ deal with the city and what it means for their potential move to Arlington Heights.
New CPS CEO Pedro Martinez committed today to exploring the possibility of expanding remote learning options for parents who don’t yet feel comfortable sending their children back to school. But he stressed there were no promises those inquiries would yield a change.
In a nationwide effort to target cartels selling counterfeit medication containing fentanyl, the DEA worked with a high-paid informant who provided tips. The efforts led to the arrests of 22 people in stings in the DEA’s Chicago field division, which includes Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, according to authorities.
Chicago artists and creative workers financially impacted by the pandemic could soon find relief from the city. A $2.3 million relief fund for creatives will be dispersed through grants ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 by the end of the year, Mayor Lightfoot’s office said.
A local man is singing the praises of his service dog, who alerted him early this morning to a fire filling the coach house where he and his uncle lived. They saved their three dogs and five puppies, but lost three other dogs they owned to the blaze.
Tom Hardy returns in the titular role for “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” which opened in theaters today. Check out Richard Roeper’s two-star review of the sequel, which he calls an improvement despite “the yawner of a climax.”

A bright one

Local sex shop celebrates 20 years, touts resilience and self-care. ‘We’re looking out for people.’

Andersonville sex shop “Early to Bed,” 5044 N. Clark St., just marked its 20th anniversary — a journey owner Searah Deysach framed as both challenging and rewarding.

“It wasn’t something I set out to do,” said Deysach, 48, on opening the store in 2001. But she noticed there was a need in the city for a store where you could buy sex toys and not feel judged.

“That was the ‘aha’ moment. I thought, ‘This is ridiculous. Stores that sell these products are staffed by people who make you feel terrible for wanting the products,’” she said.

Unable to secure a loan (“Nobody gives a sex toy store a business loan,” she said), Deysach got seed money from her mom and opened “Early to Bed” — a welcoming, destigmatized environment where customers can freely browse the products and ask questions.

Searah Daysach began Early to Bed, her Andersonville shop, 20 years ago because she felt the experience of buying sex toys was not as fun as it should be.

Deysach and her clerks have worked over the last 20 years to make the store the fun, exciting experience she always thought shopping for sex toys should be.

In many instances, it has required them to be highly attuned to their customers, and take on the role of sex educator or couples counselor.

Couples visiting the shop often have “this gorgeously exciting experience, and they are on the same page, exploring together, talking, having conversations about sex, which is what you want everyone to do,” Deysach said.

“Then you see the opposite end of that, couples where communication is just not happening and we have to help facilitate that, because we’re looking out for people.”

Columnist Neil Steinberg has more on Deysach and her shop here.

From the press box

Bears-Lions predictions for Week 4.
Courtney Vandersloot’s playoff excellence has the Sky dreaming big.
The Fire dismissed coach Raphael Wicky late last night, but the club may need more than a new coach to solve its problems.
Hall of Famer Frank Thomas is leading a group that’s purchased the Field of Dreams site.
There’s definitely something old-school about Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan. Joe Cowley has more on the team’s new veteran scorer.

Your daily question ☕

It’s International Podcast Day, so we want to know — if you could create a Chicago-focused podcast, what would it be about? Why?

Email us (please include your first name and where you live) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday we asked you: How do you feel about the Bears’ efforts to leave the city for a new stadium in Arlington Heights? Here’s what some of you said…

“About time! Chicagoland deserves an amazing state-of-the-art stadium. Soldier Field is great but it’s not awesome. It’s too small. Arlington Park is a great location with the train already there.” — Mackenzie Currans

“San Francisco does not play in San Francisco, New York does not play in New York, Dallas does not play in Dallas. It’s okay if the Chicago Bears play in Arlington Heights.” — Gloria Chevere

“In retrospect, they probably should have built a new stadium elsewhere in Chicago 20 years ago instead of trying to fit a modern stadium at Soldier Field. The NFL has changed since then, so this might be the best option.” — Kurt Regep

“Bear management has shown us time and time again that all they care about is money — not the players, not the city, not the fans. Let them move. But they should forfeit the right to use ‘Chicago’ in their name.” — Greg Berezewski

“They lose in the city and they will lose in Arlington Heights too.” — Diane Gioia-Esposito

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

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Tommy Kirk, starred in Disney’s ‘Old Yeller,’ dies at 79

Tommy Kirk is shown in a scene from the 1957 Disney film classic “Old Yeller.” | ABC/Disney File

Longtime friend and former child star Paul Petersen said Kirk lived a private life as a gay man and was estranged from what “remains of his blood family.”

LOS ANGELES — Tommy Kirk, a child star who played in Disney films such as “Old Yeller” and “The Shaggy Dog,” has died. He was 79.

Kirk’s longtime friend and former child star, Paul Petersen, said he was found dead in his Las Vegas home on Tuesday. The cause of death has not been released.

Petersen said Kirk lived a private life as a gay man and was estranged from what “remains of his blood family.”

“He was very much a part of our kid star community,” Peterson said. “He made some wonderful films back in the day. We saw and enjoyed them. He was respected in his church. He lived a quiet, but full life.”

Kirk started his career with several television shows including the Mickey Mouse Club’s serialized adventure “The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure” and “The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Ghost Farm,” which aired in 1956-1957. His big break came when he starred as Travis Coates in the 1957 film “Old Yeller,” a story about a teenage boy and his heroic yellow dog.

In “The Shaggy Dog,” Kirk portrayed a teenage boy who was cursed with occasionally turning into a sheepdog. He played the middle son alongside James MacArthur and Kevin Corcoran — who played his brothers — in the 1960 film “Swiss Family Robinson.”

Kirk played in a slew of other films in the 1960s including “The Absent-Minded Professor” and its sequel “Son of Flubber.” He also starred in “The Misadventures of Merlin Jones.”

In 1973, Kirk publicly came out as gay during an interview. The actor opened up 20 years later that he realized he was gay at age 17 or 18 and that his career was destroyed by his sexual orientation.

Kirk made some appearance in the 1990s and 2000s in films such as “Billy Frankenstein” and “The Education of a Vampire,” his final film.

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ISP to Double Patrols During ‘Peak Criminal Activity Times' in Fight Against Expressway Shootings

Shootings on Chicago area expressways have more than doubled so far this year, and as a result Illinois State Police are looking to take additional measures, more than doubling their patrol presence on expressways during overnight hours.

According to a press release from ISP, state police will increasing their patrol presence by approximately 157% during what it calls “peak criminal activity times” on expressways.

That increased presence will take place during evenings and on overnight shifts.

“For more than 30 years, patrol of Chicago area expressways has been a unique duty of this agency and in that time we have not previously confronted the concentrated levels of gun violence we have faced in 2020 and 2021,” ISP Director Brendan Kelly said in a statement.

Troopers will be relocated from around the state to District Chicago to help with staffing, according to the press release.

Illinois State Police say that there have been 185 reported shootings on Chicago expressways so far in 2021, up from 128 that occurred in all of 2020.

One of those shootings took place on the Stevenson Expressway late Tuesday night. Police say that two people were killed in the shooting, which occurred in the southbound lanes near Wentworth Avenue in the city’s Chinatown neighborhood.

In addition to the newly-allocated troopers, ISP is continuing to work on installing License Plate Readers on area expressways, which they say will help them identify cars that are involved in shooting incidents.

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Congress Passes Bill to Avert Partial Government Shutdown

With only hours to spare, Congress passed legislation that would avoid a partial federal shutdown and keep the government funded through Dec. 3, and sent the bill to President Joe Biden.

The back-to-back votes by the Senate and then the House will help avert one crisis, but just delay another as the political parties dig in on a dispute over how to raise the government’s borrowing cap before the United States risks a potentially catastrophic default.

The House approved the short-term funding measure by a 254-175 vote not long after Senate passage in a 65-35 vote. A large majority of Republicans in both chambers voted against it. The legislation was needed to keep the government running once the current budget year ended at midnight Thursday. Passage will buy lawmakers more time to craft the spending measures that will fund federal agencies and the programs they administer.

The work to keep the government open and running served as the backdrop during a chaotic day for Democrats as they struggled to get Biden’s top domestic priorities over the finish line, including a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill at risk of stalling in the House.

With their energy focused on Biden’s agenda, Democrats backed down from a showdown over the debt limit in the government funding bill, deciding to uncouple the borrowing ceiling at the insistence of Republicans. If that cap is not raised by Oct. 18, the U.S. probably will face a financial crisis and economic recession, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

Republicans say Democrats have the votes to raise the debt limit on their own, and Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is insisting they do so.

The short-term spending legislation will also provide about $28.6 billion in disaster relief for those recovering from Hurricane Ida and other natural disasters, and help support Afghanistan evacuees from the 20-year war between the U.S. and the Taliban.

“This is a good outcome, one I’m happy we are getting done,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “With so many things to take care of in Washington, the last thing the American people need is for the government to grind to a halt.”

Once the government is funded, albeit temporarily, Democrats will turn their full attention to the need to raise the limit on federal borrowing, which now stands at $28.4 trillion.

The U.S. has never defaulted on its debts in the modern era and historically, both parties have voted to raise the limit. Democrats joined the Republican Senate majority in doing so three times during Donald Trump’s presidency. This time Democrats wanted to take care of both priorities in one bill, but Senate Republicans blocked that effort Monday.

Raising or suspending the debt limit allows the federal government to pay obligations already incurred. It does not authorize new spending. McConnell has argued that Democrats should pass a debt limit extension with the same budgetary tools they are using to try to pass a $3.5 trillion effort to expand social safety net programs and tackle climate change. He reiterated that warning as the Senate opened on Thursday, even as Democrats have labeled that option a “nonstarter.”

“We’re able to fund the government today because the majority accepted reality. The same thing will need to happen on the debt limit next week,” McConnell said.

House Democrats pushed through a stand-alone bill late Wednesday that would suspend the debt limit until December 2022. Schumer said he would bring the measure to the Senate floor, but the bill is almost certain to be blocked by a Republican filibuster.

The arguments made in both chambers about the debt ceiling have followed similar themes.

“You are more interested in punishing Democrats than preserving our credit and that is something I’m having a real tough time getting my head around,” House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass., told Republicans. “The idea of not paying bills just because we don’t like (Biden’s) policies is the wrong way to go.”

Undaunted, Republicans argued that Democrats have chosen to ram through their political priorities on their own and thus are responsible for raising the debt limit on their own.

“So long as the Democratic majority continues to insist on spending money hand over fist, Republicans will refuse to help them lift the debt ceiling,” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.

The Treasury has taken steps to preserve cash, but once it runs out, it will be forced to rely on incoming revenue to pay its obligations. That would likely mean delays in payments to Social Security recipients, veterans and government workers, including military personnel. The Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank, projects that the federal government would be unable to meet about 40% of payments due in the several weeks that follow.

___

Associated Press writer Brian Slodysko contributed to this report.

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$45,000 Michigan Lottery Winner Dies With Ticket in Wallet

A Michigan man died with a winning $45,000 lottery ticket in his wallet, police said.

Authorities believe Greg Jarvis drowned during an accident on his boat. His body was found on a Saginaw Bay beach last week, Caseville Police Chief Kyle Romzek told WJRT-TV.

Jarvis, 57, was at the Blue Water Inn in Caseville on Sept. 13 when he won $45,000 playing Club Keno, a Michigan Lottery game, owner Dawn Talaski said.

But Jarvis couldn’t immediately collect the winnings because he didn’t have a Social Security card, which was necessary to get the prize, Talaski said.

Jarvis was last seen at the bar buying drinks for friends on Sept. 19, but he still was waiting for a card and hadn’t received his money, Talaski said.

Police were called Sept. 24 when a body was found near a boat that belonged to Jarvis. An autopsy was performed.

“We are thinking that he was tying up his boat, slipped and fell, hit his head, and that’s where he ended up in the water. No foul play suspected,” Romzek said.

The winning ticket was given to Jarvis’ family.

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All aldermen, unions should back safe and effective vaccines

Iit seems that the primary motivation fueling the political conversation against vaccinations is the power struggle between the conflicting parties.

To the six Chicago aldermen, Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara and unions that oppose mandated vaccinations for public employees: Vaccinations have been scientifically proven to be safe and effective; are for the individual’s and the public’s safety, and have been mandated throughout American history (smallpox in the early 19th century),

They have been ruled by the Supreme Court to be constitutional in 1905, and more recently, have been forced upon all public school children as a requirement for school attendance for decades.

Though I do understand that some individuals may have some actual fear of any vaccination, it seems that the primary motivation fueling the political conversation against vaccinations is the power struggle between the conflicting parties.

Edward Fee, Orland Park

SEND LETTERS TO: letters@suntimes.com. Please include your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes. Letters should be approximately 350 words or less.

Ignorant anti-vaxxers

Anti-vaxxers protesting with signs that say, “I will not give up my freedom because of your fear” are ignorant.

First and foremost, they have taken away my freedom by putting me in danger and limiting my ability to go where I please. When speaking of fear, aren’t they the ones who are actually afraid? I mean, the vaccinated are calmly following scientific data from many respected sources while many of these protesters believe that taking a horse dewormer is a better alternative.

I will tell you what I’m actually afraid of. I’m afraid of them! These are people who walk among us, and we have no idea who most of them are. Makes you wonder who you’re actually associating with.

Louise Bajorek, Burbank

Clear priorities

When Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans passed the largest corporate tax cut in U. S. history, dropping the rate from 35% to 21%, they uttered not a peep of concern about increasing deficits.

But when Democrats want to spend $3.5 trillion over 10 years for preschool and child care, on dental, vision and hearing care for seniors, and on strong action against climate change, Republicans cry out about increasing deficits.

When Democrats want to pay for their expenditures by raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy where most of the income gains have gone over the last four decades while the middle class continues to get squeezed, Republicans adamantly oppose these tax increases.

Could the priorities of each party be clearer?

Richard Barsanti, Western Springs

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Pritzker punts on funding potential new stadium for Bears as lawmakers line up to block it

Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks at a Little Village news conference Thursday. The governor said he’d be disappointed if the Chicago Bears left Soldier Field. | Mark Capapas/Sun-Times

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the possibility of publicly financing a new stadium is “not something that we’re looking at” — but he didn’t rule it out.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday said he’d be disappointed if the Bears leave Soldier Field in favor of a new stadium in Arlington Heights, but the Chicago Democrat was noncommittal about the prospect of publicly financing a billion-dollar project — something a group of state lawmakers are lining up to block.

The team announced Wednesday it reached a $197 million deal to buy 326 acres previously home to Arlington International Racecourse, which likely ran its final races last weekend. Mayor Lori Lightfoot sounded resigned to the idea of the team skipping town, but has urged the team to return to the negotiating table to keep them on the lakefront.

Arlington International Racecourse, pictured earlier this week, is in line to be purchased by the Chicago Bears.

“It’s very important for us to focus on our fiscal situation in the state, making sure that we’re building up the infrastructure of the state and that we’re balancing our budget,” he said.

But state Sen. Robert Peters, a Hyde Park Democrat whose district includes Soldier Field, took a hardline stance against the potential move. He filed legislation dubbed the “Monsters of the Midway Act” that seeks to prohibit the Bears from moving without an agreement with the city.

Peters noted taxpayers will have shelled out $660 million by the time the total debt from Soldier Field’s oft-ridiculed renovation is paid off a decade from now.

“If the owners want to move the team, that’s fine, but they owe a debt to the city and its taxpayers, who have been paying for their stadium,” Peters said in a statement.

Other lawmakers are calling for a timeout before throwing public dollars at the team. A House resolution sponsored by state Representatives Mike Zalewski, D-Riverside, Kam Buckner, D-Chicago and Margaret Croke, D-Chicago, would urge the General Assembly to “take all necessary steps to ensure that no state or local taxpayer money is used in the construction of new professional sport stadiums.”

That measure would offer legislators a chance to “step back, catch our breathe and say we want to be involved in this process,” Zalewski said.

There was a “serious social and public commitment to the Bears and to Soldier Field and the city of Chicago in the early 2000s, and it was done with a lot of public funding,” Zalewski said.

State Rep. Michael J. Zalewski, D-Riverside, pictured in March 2020.

“The indications are that if this were to go forward and the Bears were to relocate to Arlington Heights it would be a private transaction, but that’s a big assumption,” Zalewski said.

“There’s not just the stadium, there’s transportation costs — the only way to get in and out of Arlington Heights is Route 53, that’s 85,000 people moving in and out of the northwest suburb on a weekly basis, not to mention if there’s a Final Four or a Super Bowl ... The sense of the chamber resolution’s to just ask everyone to take the temperature on how they feel as an initial starting point.”

Zalewski said he didn’t think the resolution would get total agreement in the chamber and other legislators, such as state Rep. Jonathan Carroll, D-Northbrook, could have different ideas.

Carroll, whose district currently includes part of Arlington Heights, said he hasn’t been asked to support the measure and isn’t sure he would.

“The Chicago Bears haven’t asked us for anything yet, and, as a matter of fact, they put out $197 million of their own money to buy the site,” Carroll said. “I understand why some of the reps that are on that resolution are, because nobody wants to be the person that lost the Bears. I think everybody wants to do everything in their power to certainly keep them, but at the same time until there’s pen to paper, it’s kind of hard to know where we’re going with this.”

Pritzker said he hasn’t been approached by the Bears nor by officials from Chicago or Arlington Heights, who he said “are going to have to make their own decisions” about potentially subsidizing upgrades for the team.

Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes declined to comment on whether the Bears have made any specific asks or if he’d be open to them.

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New CPS CEO says he’ll explore remote learning options but makes no promises

Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez smiles during a press conference where he, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady and Ald. Michael Scott (24th) gave an update about COVID-19 infections and protocols in Chicago Public Schools at City Hall in the Loop, Thursday morning, Sept. 30, 2021. — Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez speaks during a press conference where he, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady and Ald. Michael Scott (24th) gave an update about COVID-19 infections and protocols in Chicago Public Schools at City Hall in the Loop, Thursday morning, Sept. 30, 2021. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Pedro Martinez also said beefing up surveillance testing for COVID is a top priority.

In his first comments as the leader of Chicago Public Schools, new CEO Pedro Martinez committed Thursday to exploring the possibility of expanding remote learning options for parents who don’t yet feel comfortable sending their children back to school — but he stressed there were no promises those inquiries would yield a change.

“I am going to be looking at what our capacity is to expand remote options,” he said at a City Hall news conference on his second day on the job. “If we can accommodate our families, I would like to do that.

“In-person school is where children need to be, that’s where they should be,” Martinez added, being clear in his belief that “children that were learning remote last year did not do well academically, their mental health, their social and emotional well-being suffered.

“But I’m recognizing that there’s anxiety in our families. That’s why I need to at least look at what we’re able to do. And for me, it really is a bridge to when our children become eligible for vaccines.”

Martinez said he didn’t “think it’s fair for us to say we can’t look at expanding remote options.”

His message was a stark departure from the hard denial of a remote learning option by Mayor Lori Lightfoot over the summer and to start the fall, and even dating back to former CEO Janice Jackson’s final days with the district. While Martinez was careful not to over-promise changes, it was the first time a city or district official said they would consider parents’ requests for a virtual option.

“So that is something that, I’m committed, I will be looking at in the next few days,” he said. “And then again, I’ll report what I’m learning, what our capacity is. But parents just need to understand, to have a quality remote option, you can’t just have a remote option that is, frankly, virtual babysitting. I’m not in favor of that.

“To bring up a quality program, it takes time. So again, I will ask for grace. But I’m looking at that right now, I will ask those questions, I will see what our capacity is. But the number one goal is reducing anxiety for our parents.”

A group of parents that has demanded a remote option this fall, some of whom haven’t sent their kids back to school and have since been deactivated from CPS’ enrollment, wrote in a statement after Martinez’s comments that they were “hopeful and feel like CPS is finally responding” to their concerns.

The new CEO, speaking alongside Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady, also addressed the rough start to CPS’ year that has included a delayed COVID testing program, spotty contact tracing and thousands of children exposed to the virus in schools and subsequently quarantined.

Arwady and Martinez said the district would finally be expanding surveillance testing of students to all schools by the end of the week, though Arwady said the program’s capacity would continue to grow and indicated not all students who have agreed to be tested would receive a test every week. Coming into the school year, CPS had announced it was “committed to testing 100% of CPS students and staff each week” — but after little promotion of the program very few students have signed up. Martinez said beefing up testing is one of his top priorities.

CPS and CDPH also vowed to improve the district’s online COVID-19 data reporting. An online dashboard was revamped Thursday to show for the first time the number of students and educators quarantined because of in-school exposure on any given day. A piece of data that was taken away from the tracker was the number of people exposed to the virus each day. Officials said the quarantine numbers would more accurately represent the virus’ impact on the school system since vaccinated people don’t have to quarantine when they’re identified as a close contact to a case.

“I know things have happened in the past, but I’m here now,” Martinez said. “I own this now. And we’re going to make this better.”

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‘The dog woke us up... He’s the hero.’ Puppies rescued after several buildings catch fire in Fuller Park

Bernard Stratton sits on a neighbor’s front porch and cradles his puppy with burn injuries after the dog was rescued from his burning home early Thursday in the 4900 block of South Princeton Avenue in Fuller Park on the South Side. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Firefighters responded early Thursday to the 4900 block of South Princeton Avenue.

Coy Freeman was sleeping soundly in his Fuller Park home early Thursday when his service dog Rello began making a lot of noise.

“He was barking outrageously and scratching on the door,” said Freeman. Then he noticed that fire and smoke was filling the coach house where he and his uncle lived.

“We grabbed as many dogs as we could before the smoke got so bad the firefighters wouldn’t let us in there,” said Freeman, 43.

They saved three dogs and five puppies, all of which were American Bullys. Three animals didn’t make it, a mother, daughter — both of which were also service dogs — and granddaughter.

“I’m heartbroken,” Freeman said. “I spent every moment of my life taking care of these dogs. I’m visually impaired and I love the dogs.”

He credited 6-year-old Rello for alerting him to the blaze.

“The dog woke us up... He’s the hero.”

Chicago Fire Department firefighters work to extinguish hot spots Thursday morning after an overnight fire broke out in a vacant building and spread to six other buildings, including two coach houses, in the 4900 block of South Princeton Avenue in Fuller Park on the South Side.

The fire broke out in a vacant building around 3:30 a.m. and spread to six other buildings, including two coach houses, in the 4900 block of South Princeton Avenue, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

Eight people were displaced and none were injured, fire officials said. During a search, firefighters rescued the four puppies and paramedics provided oxygen to them.

Freeman said he lived on the block for five years and suspects the fire may have been set on purpose.

“This is the work of a professional arsonist,” he said. “Just like what’s been through the rest of this neighborhood. Houses don’t catch on fire like that over here. We’ve been in this neighborhood forever. This type of s--- don’t happen. But in this last year or so, in the wee hours of the night, abandoned houses are catching on fire, burning up surrounding houses.”

The fire department said the cause of the blaze was under investigation.

Three dogs and five puppies were rescued from a burning home after a fire broke out in a vacant building early Thursday and spread to six other buildings in the 4900 block of South Princeton Avenue in Fuller Park on the South Side.

Freeman’s uncle sat on a neighbor’s porch cradling a 3-month-old yet-to-be named puppy with burns on his back.

“I was telling [the firefighters] I got more dogs in there to get out,” Bernard Stratton said softly. One puppy that wasn’t breathing well was given oxygen and taken to an emergency vet, he said.

Stratton, 57, said this was the second tragedy to strike him in two months. His 29-year-old son, who went by the same name, was shot and killed on the Dan Ryan Expressway near 33rd Street on Aug. 6, he said.

Stratton said his son’s ashes were still in the home but he hasn’t been allowed back in to retrieve them. “I hope they’re OK and that I can get them,” he said.

Freeman said the loss of his dogs was painful because he had invested a lot of time and effort raising them.

“I love these dogs. I’m hurt so much right now,” Freeman said. “I’m trying to figure it out right now. I can’t tell you what my next move is. I’m trying to wrap my head around it.”

Coy Freeman, left, and his uncle Bernard Stratton look at their dogs, some of whom have burn injuries, after their home was destroyed in a fire early Thursday in the 4900 block of South Princeton Avenue in Fuller Park on the South Side.

Chicago Fire Department firefighters work to extinguish hot spots after a fire broke out early Thursday in a vacant building and spread to six other buildings, including two coach houses, in the 4900 block of South Princeton Avenue in Fuller Park on the South Side.

Update 2-11 on Princeton Four (4) puppies rescued from the rear couch houses and being attended to by on scene EMS 2-1-30 pic.twitter.com/YmhEknW2dQ
— Chicago Fire Media (@CFDMedia) September 30, 2021

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Congress halfway home in averting partial federal shutdown

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., arrives at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021. Schumer is preparing for a morning vote to temporarily fund the government while President Joe Biden appears unable to strike swift agreement with two wavering Democrats, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., over his big $3.5 trillion government overhaul. | AP

The votes will help avert one crisis, but only delay another as the political parties dig in on a dispute over how to raise the government’s borrowing cap before the United States risks a potentially catastrophic default. The Senate approved the short-term funding bill by a 65-35 vote.

WASHINGTON — Congress took a big step toward avoiding a partial federal shutdown on Thursday when the Senate passed a bill to keep the government funded through Dec. 3. The House was expected to follow suit shortly.

The Senate approved the short-term funding bill by a 65-35 vote.

The work to keep the government open and running served as the backdrop during a chaotic day for Democrats as they struggled to get President Joe Biden’s top domestic priorities over the finish line, including a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill at risk of stalling in the House.

Republicans say Democrats have the votes to raise the debt limit on their own, and Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is insisting they do so.

But the most immediate priority facing Congress was keeping the government running once the current budget year ends at midnight Thursday. The bill’s passage will buy lawmakers more time to craft the spending measures that will fund federal agencies and the programs they administer.

Once the government is funded, albeit temporarily, Democrats will turn their full attention to the need to raise the limit on federal borrowing, which now stands $28.4 trillion.

“We’re able to fund the government today because the majority accepted reality. The same thing will need to happen on the debt limit next week,” McConnell said.

The arguments made in both chambers about the debt ceiling have followed similar themes.

Undaunted, Republicans argued that Democrats have chosen to ram through their political priorities on their own and thus are responsible for raising the debt limit on their own.

“So long as the Democratic majority continues to insist on spending money hand over fist, Republicans will refuse to help them lift the debt ceiling,” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.

___

Associated Press writer Brian Slodysko contributed to this report.

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Video Shows Wild Daytime Shooting in Fulton River District That Left 5 Shot

Video obtained by NBC 5 shows a shooting in Chicago’s Fulton River District during rush hour Wednesday that left five people, four of them innocent bystanders, injured.

The footage, captured on a vehicle’s dashboard camera, shows the moment gunshots rang out in the popular neighborhood west of the city’s downtown.

Two vehicles then speed around traffic, at least one honking, before more shots are fired.

Anthony Martorina, who shared the footage on social media, said his vehicle was shot during the incident.

“You almost orphaned our child yesterday in #FultonMarket Shootout Our car got shot in this video! We’re lucky to be alive,” he wrote.

Chicago police say the two cars were chasing each other through the neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon, with gunfire sending people diving for cover.

“It was two guys hanging out of windows with guns,” one eyewitness said.

There were multiple crime scenes in the case, including at Milwaukee and Grand and Milwaukee and Des Plaines.

Authorities say that four people, all innocent bystanders, were shot. One of the individuals is in critical condition, according to police.

One of the suspects in the case was shot, and was transported to an area hospital. That suspect, along with three of the victims, had their conditions stabilized, according to a police update.

Police are left trying to piece together what happened in the wild shooting, and are working to collect more video evidence as the investigation continues.

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Facebook exec defends policies toward teens on Instagram

In this March 20, 2018 file photo, Facebook’s head of global safety policy Antigone Davis speaks during a roundtable on cyberbullying with first lady Melania Trump, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. Facing lawmakers’ outrage against Facebook over its handling of internal research on harm to teens from Instagram, Davis is telling Congress that the company is working to protect young people on its platforms, on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021. | AP

“We have put in place multiple protections to create safe and age-appropriate experiences for people between the ages of 13 and 17,” Antigone Davis, Facebook’s head of global safety, said in written testimony Thursday for a Senate Commerce subcommittee.

WASHINGTON — Facing outrage over its handling of internal research on harm to teens from Instagram, a Facebook executive is telling Congress that the company is working to protect young people on its platforms. And she disputes the way a recent newspaper story describes what the research shows.

Facebook has removed more than 600,000 accounts on Instagram from June to August this year that didn’t meet the minimum age requirement of 13, Davis said.

Davis was summoned by the panel as scrutiny over how Facebook handles information that could indicate potential harm for some of its users, especially girls, while publicly downplaying the negative impacts.

The revelations in a report by The Wall Street Journal, based on internal research leaked by a whistleblower at Facebook, have set off a wave of anger from lawmakers, critics of Big Tech, child-development experts and parents. The outcry prompted Facebook to put on hold its work on a kids’ version of Instagram, which the company says is meant mainly for tweens aged 10 to 12. But it’s just a pause.

For some of the Instagram-devoted teens, the peer pressure generated by the visually focused app led to mental-health and body-image problems, and in some cases, eating disorders and suicidal thoughts. It was Facebook’s own researchers who alerted the social network giant’s executives to Instagram’s destructive potential.

Davis says in her testimony that Facebook has a history of using its internal research as well as outside experts and groups to inform changes to its apps, with the goal of keeping young people safe on the platforms and ensuring that those who aren’t old enough to use them do not.

“This hearing will examine the toxic effects of Facebook and Instagram on young people and others, and is one of several that will ask tough questions about whether Big Tech companies are knowingly harming people and concealing that knowledge,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., chairman of the consumer protection subcommittee, said in a statement. “Revelations about Facebook and others have raised profound questions about what can and should be done to protect people.”

Blumenthal and Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, the panel’s senior Republican, also plan to take testimony next week from a Facebook whistleblower, believed to be the person who leaked the Instagram research documents to the Journal.

Despite the well-documented harms, Facebook executives have consistently played down Instagram’s negative side and have forged ahead with work on Instagram for Kids, until now. On Monday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a blog post that the company will use its time out “to work with parents, experts and policymakers to demonstrate the value and need for this product.”

Already in July, Facebook said it was working with parents, experts and policymakers when it introduced safety measures for teens on its main Instagram platform. In fact, the company has been working with experts and other advisers for another product aimed at children — its Messenger Kids app that launched in late 2017.

The focused outrage transcending party and ideology contrasts with lawmakers’ posture toward social media generally, which splits Republicans and Democrats. Republicans accuse Facebook, Google and Twitter, without evidence, of deliberately suppressing conservative, religious and anti-abortion views.

Democrats train their criticism mainly on hate speech, misinformation and other content on the platforms that can incite violence, keep people from voting or spread falsehoods about the coronavirus.

The bipartisan pile-on against Facebook proceeds as the tech giant awaits a federal judge’s ruling on a revised complaint from the Federal Trade Commission in an epic antitrust case and as it tussles with the Biden administration over its handling of coronavirus vaccine misinformation.

Meanwhile, groundbreaking legislation has advanced in Congress that would curb the market power of Facebook and other tech giants Google, Amazon and Apple — and could force them to untie their dominant platforms from their other lines of business. For Facebook, that could target Instagram, the social media juggernaut valued at around $100 billion that it has owned since 2012, as well as messaging service WhatsApp.

Follow Marcy Gordon at https://twitter.com/mgordonap

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2021 Fall/Winter Entertainment Guide for Chicago

“Illumination: Tree Lights at The Morton Arboretum” returns to the Lisle park in its original format beginning Nov. 20. | Copyright 2017 Michael Hudson

Find something fun to do in the city with our Fall/Winter Entertainment Guide.

The arrival of cooler weather and shorter days can’t stop Chicago from offering up tons of engaging options for entertainment at any given time.

To help you find ways to make the most of the upcoming months, we’ve assembled our Fall/Winter Entertainment Guide full of outings and events perfect for fans of movies, music, dance and more. For your own sanity, the list does not include Bears football.

Among family-friendly options, both spooky Halloween-themed and otherwise, are Morton Arboretum, Open House Chicago and the The Dr. Seuss Experience at Water Tower Place. The fall film slate also includes some big blockbusters and potential Oscar contenders. Sun-Times film critic Richard Roeper previewed the 10 movies he can’t wait to see, including “The Last Duel” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.”

And if combining live wrestling with classic tunes from The Beatles sounds up your alley, well, we’ve got great news for you.

Check out all of the stories posted from this year’s Fall/Winter Entertainment Guide below.

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Go & Show: An eclectic mix—early trout, bowhunting, snagging, lecture, bridge lifts—around Illinois

File photo of Dale Bowman trying the early catch-and-release fly-fishing trout season on Rock Creek. Credit: Ed Buric — File photo of Dale Bowman trying the early catch-and-release fly-fishing trout season on Rock Creek. | Ed Buric

There’s an eclectic mix—early catch-and-release trout, bowhunting, snagging, a lecture and Chicago bridge lifts—around Illinois for this Go & Show.

Here is the latest “Go & Show.”

TROUT: Early catch-and-release season for trout opens Saturday, Oct. 2, at select spots. Closest is Rock Creek at Kankakee River State Park. The regular fall trout season opens Oct. 16.

I am considering doing it early next week and may venture farther afield to see a new place such as White Pine Forest SP or to Apple River Canyon SP, which I have seen before.

ARCHERY SEASONS OPEN: On Friday, Oct. 1, archery season opens for deer and turkey in Illinois. The good news is that corn harvest is going rapidly this week and as of Sunday was already 21 percent complete across the state, three percent above the five-year average. I expect that corn harvesting to even farther ahead of the average by this Sunday.

SNAGGING: Snagging for Chinook and coho opens at select spots on the lakefront. It is the thing I receive the most complaints about, usually because of snagging in areas where it is not allowed.

Here are the details from the IDNR, including the only spots where it is legal:

4) Snagging for chinook and coho salmon only is permitted from the following Lake Michigan shoreline areas from October 1 through December 31; however, no snagging is allowed at any time within 200 feet of a moored watercraft or as posted: A) Lincoln Park Lagoon from the Fullerton Avenue Bridge to the southern end of the Lagoon. B) Waukegan Harbor (in North Harbor basin only). C) Winnetka Power Plant discharge area. D) Jackson Harbor (Inner and Outer Harbors).

d) Disposition of Snagged Salmon and Paddlefish. All snagged salmon and paddlefish must be removed from the area from which they are taken and disposed of properly, in accordance with Article 5, Section 5-5 of the Fish and Aquatic Life Code.

Two snaggers for Chinook or coho at Lincoln Park Lagoon in 2020. Credit: Dale Bowman — Two snaggers for Chinook or coho at Lincoln Park Lagoon in 2020.

LUNCHTIME LECTURES: The last one is Monday, October 4 . Speaker is Rachel Havrelock, professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago who directs the Freshwater Lab, an environmental humanities initiative focused on the North American Great Lakes and environmental justice . The Lunchtime Lectures are free and at Bridgehouse Museum on Chicago Riverwalk from noon-12:45 p.m. Click here for details.

FALL BRIDGE LIFT VIEWING: Also at the Bridgehouse Museum are Bridge Lift Viewings on these remaining Saturdays: Oct. 2, Oct. 9, Oct. 23, Oct. 30. Tickets are $12 and reservations are required. Email bridgehousemuseum@gmail.com or call 312-977-0227 to make your reservation.

Not sure why, but the idea of this fascinates me, but Saturday mornings are tough for me.

The museum had this note:

The museum will be open at 9:45am on these days and the lift is expected to happen between 10am and 10:30am. We cannot guarantee the timing of this as it depends on the efficiency of the bridge tenders, how many boats need to pass, and weather. Your ticket includes access to the entire Bridgehouse Museum.

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Things to do in Chicago for music fans

The Foo Fighters perform on day four of Lollapalooza in Grant Park, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

For fans of any genre, live music isn’t hard to come by in Chicago. Check out our highlights for concerts, festivals and live performances in and around the city.

Welcome to our highlights for concerts, festivals and live music in Chicago. From free shows at Millennium Park to large festivals like Ravinia and Lollapalooza, and intimate shows at small local venues, our guide has all the latest music entertainment. Bookmark this page and check back for updates on concerts and events.

Leon Bridges

WHAT: In 2015 Leon Bridges released “Coming Home,” an album that echoed the Southern soul of Sam Cooke and Otis Redding. On his sophomore release, “Good Thing,” Bridges tapped ’80s and ’90s R&B for inspiration. Now, his third album, “Gold-Diggers Sound,” comes out of a residency he played at the Gold-Diggers hotel/studio in East Hollywood. It shows the singer-songwriter confronting the ideas and issues Black artists are facing in today’s climate. Take a trip through the three phases of Bridges career. Abraham Alexander opens the show.

WHEN: 8 p.m. Oct. 1

WHERE: The Vic Theatre, 3145 N. Sheffield

TICKETS: $69.50-$86

VISIT: For tickets and updated information regarding the venue’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit jamusa.com.

Autumn Equinox (Spring Awakening Festival)

WHAT: The outdoor music festival season ends with Autumn Equinox, a rebranding of Spring Awakening, the largest all-electronic music festival in the Midwest that usually takes place in June. More than 70 artists are expected to perform including Excision, AC Slater, Bear Grillz, Diplo, Galantis, Martin Garrix, Adventure Club B2B Wooli, Atliens, Dillon Francis and Don Diablo.

WHEN: From 1-10 p.m. Oct. 2-3

WHERE: Addams/Medill Park, 1301 W. 14th

TICKETS: $99+

VISIT: For updated information regarding the festival’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit springawakeningfestival.com.

The New Philharmonic

WHAT: The New Philharmonic opens its season with “Halloween Spooktakular,” a mix of the scariest classical and film score music including The Hungarian March from “The Damnation of Faust” by Hector Berlioz and “Night on Bald Mountain” by Modest Mussorgsky and used to great effect in Walt Disney’s “Fantasia,” plus music from “Psycho,” “The Addams Family,” the Harry Potter movies and more.

WHEN: At 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2 and 3 p.m. Oct. 3

WHERE: McAninch Arts Center, College of DuPage, 425 Fawell, Glen Ellyn

TICKETS: $53.

VISIT: For tickets and updated information regarding the venue’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit atthemac.org.

Middle Kids

WHAT: Middle Kids, the Australia-based indie rock band, tours behind the recent release,“Today We’re the Greatest.” The album finds lead singer-songwriter Hannah Joy tapping into her most personal set of lyrics yet. The band has also released its haunting take on Olivia Rodrigo’s hit “Drivers License.”

WHEN: At 9 p.m. Oct. 2

WHERE: Metro, 3730 N. Clark

TICKETS: $20, $25.

VISIT: For tickets and updated information regarding the venue’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit metrochicago.com.

Orion Ensemble

WHAT: The Orion Ensemble opens its 29th season with guest violist Stephen Boe for performances featuring works by Mozart, Faure and Mangani at three concerts: 7 p.m. Oct. 3 at New England Congregational Church, 406 W. Galena, Aurora; 7:30 p.m. Oct. 6 at PianoForte Studios, 1335 S. Michigan, and 7 p.m. Oct. 10 at Lake Street Church, 607 Lake, Evanston. A livestream also is available.

TICKETS: $15-$30.

VISIT: For tickets and updated information regarding the venue’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit orionensemble.org.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

WHAT: Ricardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra reunite for their first concerts since February 2020 with a series of three performances in a fall residency. The opening program (Sept. 23-25) features music by Joseph Bologne-Chevalier de Saint-George and Florence Price as well as Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 3 (Eroica).” Violinist Leonidas Kavakos joins Muti and the orchestra for Brahms “Violin Concerto in D Major” plus the orchestra performs “Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 (Sept. 30-Oct. 2). The final fall program (Oct. 7-9) features the CSO’s first performance of Missy Mazzoli’s 2006 work “These Worlds in Us” plus pieces by Anatoly Liadov and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

WHERE: CSO at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan.

TICKETS: $38-$260.

VISIT: For updated information regarding the CSO’s Covid 19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit cso.org.

‘Songs for Nobodies’

WHAT: “Songs for Nobodies” is Joanna Murray-Smith’s one-woman tour-de-force that celebrates the iconic work of Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf and Maria Callas. Bethany Thomas stars in the story of the unexpected encounters between these divas and the ordinary women whose lives they changed. Rob Lindley directs.

WHEN: From Sept. 23-Oct. 31

WHERE: Northlight Theatre at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie.

TICKETS: $30-$89.

VISIT: For updated information regarding the theater’s Covid 19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit northlight.org.

Ear Taxi Festival

‘Feelin’ Groovy Series’ at The Hideout

WHAT: As part of the city’s Chicago in Tune Festival, The Hideout’s “Feelin’ Groovy” series features conversations with key figures from Chicago independent record labels and live sets of music from musicians that span genres and generations. Upcoming are Cedille Records president Jim Ginsburg with Black Oak Ensemble (Sept. 13), Thrill Jockey founder Bettina Richards with Thalia Zedek Band (Sept. 15), Teklife co-founders of Ashes57 and DJ Spinn with a performance by DJ Spinn (Sept. 16), Sooper Records co-founder Nnamdi with Sen Morimoto, Drag City director of sales Rian Murphy with Lama Lobsang Palden and Jim Becker (Sept. 22) and Sonorama Discos co-founder Marlowe Baca with Dos Santos (Oct. 1).

WHEN/WHERE: All are at 6 p.m. outdoor at The Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia.

TICKETS: Admission is free. For vaccination and/or mask policies, visit hideoutchicago.com.

World Music Wednesday

WHAT: The Old Town School of Folk Music’s weekly showcase of world music and dance, returns beginning Sept. 1 with Jazz a la Mexicana, a concert featuring traditional and folkloric Mexican music mixed with jazz. A celebration of Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center’s 50^th anniversary follows on Sept. 8 with performances of Puerto Rican bomba music by Bomba con Buya and Mancha E’ Plátano. The current roster of concerts runs through Dec. 1.

WHERE: Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln

Admission is free, a $10 suggested donation is appreciated. For updated information regarding the venue’s COVID-19 vaccination and/or mask policies, visit oldtownschool.org.

Chris Foreman at the Green Mill

What: The Green Mill has reopened and that means the return of Chris Foreman, a Friday night fixture at the popular jazz club. Foreman, a jazz organist blind since birth, is a master on the Hammond B3 and regarded as Chicago’s best. His playing is a blend of blues-gospel and jazz honed in his professional experience, which has included work with Hank Crawford, Albert Collins, Bernard Purdie, The Deep Blue Organ Trio and The Mighty Blue Kings.

When: 5-7:30 p.m. Fridays

Where: The Green Mill, 4802 N. Broadway

Cost: No cover charge

Visit greenmilljazz.com

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