Plenty of change in the AP Top 25 — except at the top

No. 2 Arizona is still looking up at No. 1 Gonzaga. | David Zalubowski/AP

Gonzaga and Arizona remained the top two teams in the poll released Monday, holding steady despite both losing their most recent games.

The top six and seven of the top nine teams in the AP Top 25 lost on the same day last week, an unprecedented day of chaos that led to some big changes in this week’s poll — everywhere but at the top.

Gonzaga and Arizona remained the top two teams in the poll released Monday, holding steady despite both losing their most recent games.

The Zags received 43 first-place votes from the AP’s 61-person media panel after being a unanimous pick last week. No. 3 Baylor had four first-place votes and No. 4 Duke picked up 11. Auburn rounded out the top five.

Gonzaga, Arizona, Auburn, Purdue, Kansas and Kentucky all lost on Saturday, marking the first time in the AP poll era (1948-49) that the top six teams lost on the same day. No. 9 Texas Tech also lost, setting another record for most top-10 teams losing in one day.

“It’s kind of life in late February and early March, especially on the road,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said after the Zags’ 67-57 loss to No. 19 Saint Mary’s to close out their regular season.

Baylor was the biggest beneficiary of its Saturday win, moving up seven spots after beating Kansas 80-70. The Jayhawks fell one spot to No. 6 with the loss.

Auburn lost three spots from last week after losing to No. 13 Tennessee. No. 7 Kentucky fell a spot after losing to No. 14 Arkansas and Purdue dropped four places to No. 8 with its loss to Michigan State.

Got all that?

In all, every team but four got shuffled in this week’s poll; only Gonzaga, Arizona, No. 14 Houston and No. 16 Southern California held steady.

No teams fell out or moved into the poll, but things are getting awfully interesting with conference tournaments just around the corner.

BATTLING BEARS

Baylor, the reigning national champion, looked like a good bet to get back to the Final Four at the start of the season after opening 15-0 while holding the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 for five weeks.

Then things got a little shaky.

The Bears lost consecutive home games for the first time since 2015-16, then injuries began piling up, including a gruesome leg injury to forward Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua.

After tumbling down the poll, Baylor may be finding its footing. The Bears won a rematch over Oklahoma State in Stillwater and did the same against Kansas on Saturday, improving to 10-1 against top-10 teams the past two seasons.

“I know our team looked a little bit different in the beginning of the year than we do now but don’t count these guys out,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “They persevere.”

RISING/FALLING

Baylor’s jump was the biggest of the week by gaining seven spots. Tennessee, Arkansas and Saint Mary’s all climbed four spots.

No. 17 UCLA and No. 20 Illinois had the biggest drops (five spots). The Bruins lost to Oregon before beating Oregon State last week and the Illini lost to No. 23 Ohio State before knocking off Michigan.

CONFERENCE WATCH

The Big Ten and Southeastern conferences led the way again this week, each with five teams ranked. The Big 12 had four ranked teams, with the Pac-12 and Big East getting three each. The West Coast Conference had two ranked teams for the second straight week, with the Atlantic Coast, American Athletic and Ohio Valley conferences at one each.

THE TOP 25

1. Gonzaga 24-3

2. Arizona 25-3

3. Baylor 24-5

4. Duke 25-4

5. Auburn 25-4

6. Kansas 23-5

7. Kentucky 23-6

8. Purdue 24-5

9. Providence 24-3

10. Wisconsin 23-5

11. Villanova 21-7

12. Texas Tech 22-7

13. Tennessee 21-7

14. Houston 24-4

14. Arkansas 23-6

16. Southern Cal 25-4

17. UCLA 21-6

18. UConn 21-7

19. Saint Mary’s (Cal) 24-6

20. Illinois 20-8

21. Texas 21-8

22. Murray St. 28-2

23. Ohio St. 18-8

24. Iowa 20-8

25. Alabama 19-10

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The Food Guy: Paczki – A Fat Tuesday Tradition in Chicago's Polish Community

Paczki, pronounced “punch-key,” are deep-fried sweet treats – not to be confused with donuts.

And while a Jefferson Park bakery fries them up year-round, they’re especially in high demand on Fat Tuesday, appropriately referred to by some as Paczki Day.

“Paczek means one, paczki means many,” explained Dobra Bielinski, who runs the Delightful Pastries bakery along with her family.

Bielinski says the tradition of paczki stems from a medieval Polish king.

“Before Lent started, you had to use up all the fat in the house, all the sugar, eggs and things like that because people didn’t eat that during Lent,” she told NBC 5’s Food Guy Steve Dolinsky. “Everything got fried, everything got used up.”

Typically, people eat paczki for the dough – not the filling, she said.

“Traditional Polish fillings have plum butter, and then we have briar rose which we make into rose petal jelly. Whatever fruit you had you made a jam; that’s what you filled it with,” she said.

In recent years, due to competition and her own creativity, bakers like Bielinski have added many options including whipped cream and strawberry, passionfruit, custard and chocolate.

Many times paczki are dusted with powdered sugar, which is certainly not traditional. Bielinski says the days leading up to Fat Tuesday are like her own sort of Polish, fried, sweet Super Bowl.

The community will typically stop coming after Fat Tuesday because they’re fasting, but since Delightful Pastries continues to make paczki year-round, Dolinsky says you’re in luck if you happen to miss March 1.

Here’s where you can go to get some paczki of your own:

Delightful Pastries

5927 W. Lawrence Ave.

773-545-7215

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Masks optional at United Center, but full vaccination or negative COVID-19 test still needed to enter

The United Center will no longer require masks. | Getty

The updated policy will go into effect beginning with the Blackhawks game against the Edmonton Oilers Thursday and the Bulls-Bucks game on Friday. It will remain in place for all future events until further notice.

The United Center announced Monday that fans will be able to catch a game or event without a mask starting in March as Chicago dials down its COVID-19 requirements.

The home of the Bulls and Blackhawks will still require either a negative COVID-19 test or proof of full vaccination to enter the arena, but masks will be optional, according to a statement from the United Center.

The updated policy will go into effect beginning with the Blackhawks game against the Edmonton Oilers Thursday and the Bulls-Bucks game on Friday. It will remain in place for all events until further notice.

In some cases, the NBA, the NHL and certain special events may require additional health and safety protocols, the statement said. Fans are encouraged to check the United Center website for the latest details before attending an event.

Chicago and the state of Illinois lifted its mask mandate on Monday.

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16-year-old boy fatally shot near downtown Red Line stop, then more gunfire hours later inside station

A 16-year-old boy was shot and killed Feb. 28, 2022 on the Near North Side. | Sun-Times file photo

The teen was in the first block of East Grand Avenue early Monday when he was shot twice in the chest and once in the knee, police said.

A 16-year-old boy was fatally shot near the Grand Red Line station on the Near North Side early Monday, and hours later more gunfire rang out inside the station.

The fatal shooting happened around 2 a.m. in the first block of East Grand Avenue, police said.

Vadarrion A. Knight, from the West Lawn neighborhood, was shot twice in his chest and once in the knee, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

The boy was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. A gunman was seen running from the scene.

Hours later, gunfire rang out inside the station during the morning rush. A man was exiting the train platform at 9 a.m. when an argument turned physical, police said. Someone hit the man in the forehead with a firearm and fired two shots, but no one was struck by the bullets, police said.

The man, 30, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and stabilized, police said.

No one was in custody in either incident.

Monday’s shooting was the first murder reported on the Near North Side this year, according to police data.

There have been four other shootings in the community area this year, one of them only a block away from Monday’s shooting. On Feb. 1, a man was shot in the 100 block of East Grand Avenue shortly before 1 a.m., police said.

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IOC Calls for Russian Athletes to Be Banned From All Sports

In a sweeping move to isolate and condemn Russia after invading Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee urged sports bodies on Monday to exclude the country’s athletes and officials from international events.

The IOC said it was needed to “protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants.”

The decision opened the way for FIFA, the governing body of soccer, to exclude Russia from a World Cup qualifying playoff match on March 24. Poland has refused to play the scheduled game against Russia.

The Olympic body’s call also applied to athletes and official from Belarus, which has abetted Russia’s invasion by allowing its territory to be used to station troops and launch military attacks.

The IOC said it acted “with a heavy heart” but the impact of war on Ukrainian sports outweighed the potential damage done to athletes from Russia and Belarus.

It was not a total blanket ban by the IOC. Where exclusion was “not possible on short notice for organizational or legal reasons,” then teams from Russia and Belarus should compete as neutral athletes with no national flag, anthem or symbols, including at the upcoming Winter Paralympics in Beijing.

The IOC also withdrew the Olympic Order it gave Vladimir Putin in 2001, and other Russian officials since.

Russia Feb 22

Live Updates: Ukraine Seeks to Join EU; Switzerland Sanctions Russia

Russia-Ukraine Crisis 4 hours ago

US Imposes Sanctions on Russia's Central Bank

Sports bodies across Europe had already moved against Russia on Monday by refusing to host or play against teams from the country.

Finland wants the Russian hockey team to be banned from the men’s world championships it will host in May, the Swiss soccer federation said its women’s team will not play Russia in July at the European Championship, and German soccer club Schalke said it had decided to end its longstanding partnership with Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom.

FIFA declined to ban Russia from the World Cup over the weekend. Instead, the soccer body said the country’s national team will have to compete as Football Union of Russia as punishment. Besides Poland, both Sweden and the Czech Republic, Russia’s next potential opponents, have said they would refuse to take the field against them.

“The Swedish Football Association is disappointed with FIFA’s decision but is determined to continue to work together with other federations to cancel Russia’s matches in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers,” the body said Monday, citing the “illegal and deeply unjust invasion of Ukraine.”

The World Cup is scheduled to begin on Nov. 21 in Qatar.

In European club soccer, Russian team Spartak Moscow is still scheduled to play next week in the Europa League against German club Leipzig. European governing body UEFA allowed Spartak to take its place in the round of 16 draw on Friday, one day after Putin ordered the invasion to start.

UEFA called a meeting of its executive committee for later Monday and is expected to exclude Russian teams from its competitions based on the IOC’s announcement.

There is precedent for removing Russian teams from sports. In 1992, following United Nations sanctions, FIFA and UEFA expelled Yugoslavia from its competitions when war broke out in the Balkans.

Besides Schalke’s effort to drop Gazprom as a partner, UEFA is also expected to see if it can nullify its sponsorship deals with the company. Gazprom sponsors both the Champions League and the European Championship.

FIFA has attracted the most criticism among sports bodies for allowing Russia to continue competing, at least for now, in the World Cup qualifying playoffs. It has kept open the option of a ban.

FIFA attempted to compromise by ordering Russia to play at neutral venues without its flag and anthem and under the name of its federation — the Football Union of Russia.

That aligns with sanctions imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in December 2020 to punish Russia for state-backed doping and cover-ups of cheating, and applied at last year’s Tokyo Olympics and this year’s Winter Games in Beijing.

The Russian soccer team was already due to play under those conditions if they qualified for the World Cup because of the doping scandals. FIFA’s decision to apply the conditions to a regional sports event — European qualification games — is the only element of punishment for the war.

If Russia were to play Poland as scheduled on March 24 and win, the team would then face either Sweden or the Czech Republic on March 29.

Swedish soccer federation president Karl-Erik Nilsson, who is also the senior vice president at UEFA, said Sunday he expected a “sharper stance” from FIFA.

Polish soccer federation president Cezary Kulesza said Sunday it was “totally unacceptable” that FIFA had not immediately expelled Russia from World Cup qualifying and said Poland is “not interested in participating in this game of appearances.”

Another of Russia’s future opponents, Albania, also said Sunday it would not play against that country in any sports. Russia and Albania are scheduled to meet twice in June in the UEFA Nations League soccer tournament. The group also includes Iceland and Israel.

In hockey, the sport’s governing body has come under pressure from Finland and Switzerland to ban Russia and Belarus, which are both due to play at the world championships in May in Helsinki and Tampere.

Finnish Hockey Association chairman Harri Nummela said in a statement Monday it had talks with the Zurich-based IIHF to exclude the two countries from the sport internationally.

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More questions than answers on traffic stop involving CPD official’s car

A Chicago police badge hangs in front of the City of Chicago Public Safety Headquarters on Dec. 1, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. | Getty

These are known facts: The chief of the Internal Affairs division’s car was not impounded, her niece was not arrested, and the officers involved were removed from their street duties.

I was a resident of Chicago for over 75 years and worked as a Chicago police officer for over 33. I know corruption when I see it. Sun-Times reporters have uncovered a story that prompted me to think of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s phrase on his threshold test for obscenity: “I know it when I see it.”

The story involves a high-ranking police official, Yolanda Talley, the chief of the Internal Affairs division. Talley’s niece was behind the wheel of Talley’s Lexus when police said her passenger, Kenneth Miles, tried to ditch 84 packets of heroin valued at $6,300.

Heroin was found in the car, and Miles, who had a lengthy criminal record, was arrested on drug charges following the Feb. 1 traffic stop.

Three things are known: Talley’s car was not impounded, her niece was not arrested, and the officers involved were removed from their street duties.

SEND LETTERS TO: letters@suntimes.com. We want to hear from our readers. To be considered for publication, letters must include your full name, your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes. Letters should be a maximum of 350 words and may be edited for clarity and length.

Something is very wrong here and has a stench that needs a rinsing from the top down. There are more questions than answers from an administration that touts transparency.

There is a strange silence as to why cops doing their jobs were moved from their assignment. The low-hanging fruit of the working men and women are thrown out there for all to see, while the police brass remains largely silent.

Bob Angone, Austin, Texas

Putin and propaganda

Vladimir Putin, the ultimate bully, did what his kind do best: He bloodied the nose of the most defenseless kid on the block as the rest of the neighborhood watched in horror and total disbelief.

What exactly did they all think was going to happen anyway? Hadn’t he put everyone on notice of his intentions well before he struck the first blow?

And now Donald Trump is defending the actions of his favorite comrade, as is the leading voice of right wing fanatics, Tucker Carlson.

Yet to be heard from are any voices from the Republican establishment. What’s happened to the party that once authored the phrase “Better dead than red!” anyway?

It’s bad enough the party of Lincoln is now owned outright by Trump, but to think it’s also the propaganda arm of the Russian Federation should fill every red-blooded American with fear and dread.

Bob Ory, Elgin

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Woman found shot to death inside car in Albany Park

A woman was fatally shot Feb. 25, 2022, in Albany Park. | Sun-Times file photo

An autopsy released Saturday determined Azucena Vargas’ death was a homicide.

A woman was found shot to death in her car late Friday night in Albany Park on the Northwest Side.

Azucena Vargas, 42, was found about 11:20 p.m. in the driver’s seat of her SUV in the 3300 block of West Cuyler Avenue with a gunshot wound to the head, Chicago police said.

An autopsy released Saturday by the Cook County medical examiner’s office determined Vargas’ death was a homicide.

Area Five detectives are investigating.

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Pritzker, Lightfoot to Attend Ukraine Rally Sunday

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot will both attend a rally being held Sunday to express support for Ukrainians amid a continuing invasion by Russia.

The rally is taking place at Saints Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church, located in the 700 block of North Oakley Boulevard in the West Town neighborhood.

The rally is one of several being held across the Chicago area this weekend in support of Ukrainian citizens, according to officials.

The governor has been critical of Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine last week, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin an “autocrat” and a “dangerous leader” in a social media post.

“I know that we all hope for peace to reign across the continent of Europe, and our hope is that these battles will end very soon,” he said.

Chicago’s City Hall lit up in blue and yellow lights this week in support of Ukraine, with Lightfoot tweeting out her support of Ukrainian Chicagoans.

“I want the people of Ukraine, Chicago’s Ukrainian community and their loved ones at home to know that they are not alone in the fight for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” she said.

As Russian forces continue to push into Ukraine, international pressure is growing, with sanctions being levied against Russia on numerous fronts.

Putin has put Russia’s nuclear deterrent forces on high alert after what he called “aggressive statements” from NATO this week, and criticized financial sanctions that have been imposed by members of the alliance.

More than 360,000 Ukrainian residents have fled to other nations since the invasion began, according to officials.

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IHSA state basketball playoff scores and schedule

Carmel players hold the trophy after winning the game against Notre Dame. | Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times

The complete Illinois High School Association boys state basketball tournament schedule. Sectionals are in bracket order.

The complete Illinois High School Association boys state basketball tournament schedule. Sectionals are in bracket order.

Class 4A Sectionals

PROVISO WEST

Young vs. Riverside Brookfield, Tue 7

Curie vs. Lyons, Wed 7

THORNWOOD

Kenwood vs. Bloom, Tue 7

Homewood-Flossmoor vs. St. Rita, Wed 7

BARRINGTON

Barrington vs. Fremd, Tue 7

Libertyville vs. Stevenson, Wed 7

GLENBROOK SOUTH

Glenbrook South vs. Evanston, Tue 7

New Trier vs. Rolling Meadwos, Wed 7

COLLINSVILLE

Collinsville vs. Quincy, Tue 7

Normal vs. Moline at Pekin, Tue 7

OSWEGO

Oswego East vs. Neuqua Valley, Tue 7

Bolingbrook vs. Andrew, Wed 7

BARTLETT

Glenbard West vs. Naperville North, Tue 7

Wheaton Warrenville South vs. Benet, Wed 7

HUNTLEY

Larkin vs. Rockford East, Tue 7

Auburn vs. DeKalb, Wed 7

Class 3A Sectionals

DANVILLE

Sacred Heart-Griffin vs. Centennial, Tue 7

Mahomet-Seymour vs. MacArthur, Wed 7

HIGHLAND

Centralia vs. Glenwood, Tue 7

East St. Louis vs. Richland County/Marion, Wed 7

KING

St. Ignatius vs. Fenwick, Tue 7

Westinghouse vs. De La Salle, Wed 7

NORTH CHICAGO

Lake Forest vs. Grayslake Central, Tue 7

St. Patrick vs. Carmel, Wed 7

MARIAN CATHOLIC

Hillcrest vs. Lemont, Tue 7

Thornton vs. Kankakee, Wed 7

HINSDALE SOUTH

Simeon vs. Nazareth, Tue 7

Mount Carmel vs. Hyde Park, Wed 7

CRYSTAL LAKE SOUTH

Burlington Central vs. Boylan, Tue 6

Wauconda vs. St. Francis, Tue 7:30

BRADLEY UNIVERSITY

Metamora vs. Rochelle, Tue 7

Rock Island vs. Manual, Wed 7

Class 2A Sectionals

MARENGO

Northridge vs. Rockford Christian, Tue 7

Rockford Lutheran vs. Montini, Wed 7

MENDOTA

Farmington vs. Princeton, Tue 7

Eureka vs. Rockridge, Wed 7

CLIFTON CENTRAL

Monticello vs. Herscher, Tue 7

El Paso-Gridley vs. St. Joseph-Ogden, Wed 7

OLYMPIA

Auburn vs. Bloomington Central Catholic, Tue 7

Maroa-Forsyth vs. Quincy Notre Dame, Wed 7

JULIAN

Phillips vs. Longwood, Tue 7

Leo vs. U-High, Wed 7

NORTH LAWNDALE

DePaul Prep vs. Orr, Tue 7

Clark vs. Wells, Wed 7

CARTERVILLE

Breese Central vs. Massac County, Tue 7

Murphysboro vs. Nashville, Wed 7

FLORA

Teutopolis vs. Alton Marquette, Tue 7

Pana vs. Mt. Carmel, IL, Wed 7

Class 1A Sectionals

ST. ANTHONY

Tuscola vs. St. Anthony, Tue 7

South Central vs. Meridian, Wed 7

OKAWVILLE

Steelville vs. Goreville, Tue 7

Norris City-Omaha-Enfield vs. Christopher, Wed 7

WOODLAND

Yorkville Christian vs. Ellison, Tue 7

Fenger vs. Putnam County, Wed 7

WATSEKA

Lexington vs. Decatur Lutheran, Tue 7

St. Teresa vs. Milford, Wed 7

ABINGDON-AVON

Peoria Christian vs. Lewistown, Tue 7

Southeastern vs. Monmouth United, Wed 7

NORTH GREENE

Liberty vs. Gibault Catholic, Tue 7

Metro-East Lutheran vs. Routt, Wed 7

MARSHALL

North Shore vs. Austin, Tue 7

Marshall vs. Harvest Christian, Wed 7

PECATONICA

Scales Mound vs. Pecatonica, Tue 7

South Beloit vs. Newman Central, Wed 7

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Lake County Police Officer Found Dead in Patrol Car in NW Indiana

A police officer has been found dead inside his patrol car in northwestern Indiana, according to authorities.

Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said the officer was a 51-year-old veteran of the sheriff’s department. The man’s identity and cause of death were not released.

The officer’s body was found Friday at 4:30 p.m. outside a Lake County courthouse in East Chicago. A civilian employee discovered the officer inside his squad car in the parking lot, according to The (Northwest Indiana) Times.

Authorities with the Lake County Coroner’s Office and East Chicago Police Department were investigating.

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EU shuts airspace to Russian airlines, will buy Ukraine arms

People walk down the bulevard ‘Strasse des 17. Juni’ ahead of a rally against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022. | AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

The measure would mark the first time the 27-nation bloc finances the purchase and delivery of weapons and equipment to a country under attack.

BRUSSELS — The European Union plans to close its airspace to Russian airlines, fund weapons purchase to Ukraine and ban some pro-Kremlin media outlets in its latest response to Russia’s invasion, European Commission officials said Sunday.

The measures, which Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she expected to be endorsed, would mark the first time the 27-nation bloc finances the purchase and delivery of weapons and equipment to a country under attack.

“Another taboo has fallen. The taboo that the European Union was not providing arms in a war,” said the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

The Commission’s plans followed the announcement earlier in the day that Germany was committing 100 billion euros ($113 billion) to a special armed forces fund and would keep its defense spending above 2% of GDP from now on. The shift underscored how Russia’s war on Ukraine was rewriting Europe’s post-World War II security and defense policy in ways that were unthinkable only a few weeks ago.

Anti-war protesters, meanwhile, took to the streets in Berlin, Rome, Prague, Istanbul and other cities — even Russian cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg and in a dozen Belarusian cities — to demand an end to the war, the largest ground offensive on the continent since WWII.

Human rights advocates reported that more than 170 people had been arrested in the Belarusian protests, even as the country’s authoritarian leader offered the country’s territory to his ally Russia. In Minsk, a large pile of flowers kept growing at the building of Ukraine’s embassy.

Tens of thousands of people massed Sunday in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, with some carrying posters with slogans such as “Hands off Ukraine,” “Tanks to Windmills” and “Putin, go to therapy and leave Ukraine and the world in peace.”

The EU’s plan to fund weapons purchases was unprecedented and would use millions of euros to help buy air defense systems, anti-tank weapons, ammunition and other military equipment to Ukraine’s armed forces. It would also supply things like fuel, protective gear, helmets and first aid kits.

The system might also use EU money to reimburse EU countries that have already sent lethal and non-lethal aid to Ukraine this year, giving an incentive for those countries to invest more in such assistance.

To bolster its military training and support missions around the world, the 27-nation bloc has set up a European Peace Facility, a fund with a ceiling of around 5.7 billion euros ($6.4 billion). Some of the money can be used to train and equip partner countries, including with lethal weapons.

Von der Leyen said beyond the weapons purchases, EU nations would shut down EU airspace for Russians — decisions that over a dozen EU members had already announced.

“We are proposing a prohibition on all Russian-owned, Russian registered or Russian-controlled aircraft. These aircraft will no more be able to land in, take off or overfly the territory of the EU,” she said.

She said the EU will also ban “the Kremlin’s media machine. The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, as well as their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war and to sow division in our union.”

Von der Leyen added that the EU will also target Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko for supporting Russia’s widespread military campaign in Ukraine.

“We will hit Lukashenko’s regime with a new package of sanctions,” she said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s announcement of new defense funding is hugely significant for Germany, which has come under criticism from the United States and other NATO allies for not investing adequately in its defense budget. NATO member states committed to spending 2% of their GDP on defense, but Germany has consistently spent much less.

“It’s clear we need to invest significantly more in the security of our country, in order to protect our freedom and our democracy,” Scholz told a special session of the Bundestag in Berlin.

Scholz said the 100 billion euro fund ($113 billion) was currently a one-time measure for 2022. It wasn’t immediately clear whether similar funding would be allocated in future years. But Scholz indicated Germany will exceed the 2% of GDP threshold going forward, signaling an overall future increase in defense spending.

A day earlier, Germany announced another major policy shift, saying it will send weapons and other supplies directly to Ukraine, including 500 Stinger missiles, which are used to shoot down helicopters and warplanes, and 1,000 anti-tank weapons.

Israel announced it was sending 100 tons of humanitarian aid — medical equipment and medicine, tents, sleeping bags and blankets — to help civilians in Ukraine. Israel also offered itself as a potential mediator during a phone call between Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Putin, the Kremlin and Israel said. Bennett spoke also Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish.

As Greece sent more military aid, Turkish officials termed Russia’s invasion a “war,” a categorization that could lead Ankara to close down the Turkish straits to Russian warships, which Ukraine requested earlier this week. The 1936 Montreux Convention gives Turkey the right to bar “belligerent states” from using the Dardanelles and the Bosporus during wartime but provides an exception for Black Sea vessels to return to port.

On the sanctions front, Japan joined the United States and European nations in cutting key Russian banks from the SWIFT international financial banking system. Japan will also freeze assets of Putin and other top Russian officials, while sending $100 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.

Catholic and Orthodox religious leaders, meanwhile, prayed Sunday for peace, voiced solidarity with Ukrainians and denounced the Russian invasion.

At the Vatican, Ukrainian flags fluttered in St. Peter’s Square as Pope Francis delivered his weekly Sunday blessing and appealed for global solidarity for “the suffering people of Ukraine.”

“Those who make war forget humanity,” Francis said. He refrained from citing Russia by name, in apparent deference to his hopes of keeping dialogue open with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Also Sunday, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople described Russia’s invasion as “beyond every sense of law and morality” and pleaded for an end to the war.

Patriarch Bartholomew is considered the spiritual leader and first among equals of Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide. He granted the independence of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which severed it in 2019 from the Russian church to which it had been tied since 1686. The Russian Orthodox Church severed relations with him as result.

___

Schultheis contributed from Vienna, Austria. Nicole Winfield in Rome, Josef Federman in Kyiv, Ukraine contributed.

___

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Trayvon Martin, 10 years later: ‘Don’t give up’ fight for justice, teen’s mother says

Rev. Al Sharpton, third from left, president of the National Action Network (NAN), and Mayor Eric Adams, far right, stand next to Sybrina Fulton, center, the mother of Trayvon Martin, as she address a rally commemorating the 10th anniversary of her son’s killing, Saturday Feb. 26, 2022, at NAN’s Harlem headquarters in New York. | Bebeto Matthews/AP

Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin used the 10th anniversary of her son’s death Saturday to urge those who sought justice for her family to continue to fight.

NEW YORK — The mother of Trayvon Martin used the 10th anniversary of her son’s death Saturday to urge those who sought justice for her family to continue to fight.

“I never do anything on the 26th, I never even plan anything on the 26th of February,” Sybrina Fulton said at the weekly meeting of the National Action Network, the civil rights organization founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton in Harlem.

She told an audience that included Sharpton and Mayor Eric Adams that she wanted to be there to support her supporters. Adams, a New York state senator at the time, was among several Black lawmakers who wore hooded sweatshirts to a 2012 legislative session to call attention to the 17-year-old’s death in Sanford, Florida.

Trayvon Martin had been wearing a similar sweatshirt when he was fatally shot on his way back from a store while visiting his father in a gated community in the Orlando suburb. George Zimmerman, a member of the community’s neighborhood watch, confronted the teenager and shot him after reporting him to authorities as a suspicious person.

Zimmerman, who told authorities that Martin had attacked him, was acquitted of second-degree murder in 2013.

The shooting refocused attention on race and justice in the United States. Sharpton, who early on met with Martin’s family and their attorney Ben Crump as they worked to draw attention to his death, on Saturday compared Martin’s legacy to that of Emmett Till, the Chicago teen whose lynching in Mississippi in 1955 stoked the civil rights movement.

“Today is a bittersweet day,” said Fulton, who with her family created the Trayvon Martin Foundation to raise awareness of gun violence. “I thank God for all the Trayvon Martins that you don’t know, all the young ladies who have been shot and killed and our Black and brown boys who have been shot and killed and you don’t know their names. Thank you for standing up for them. Thank you for praying for them. Thank you for supporting them. They need you. They need your voice. And if you don’t do anything else, don’t give up.”

Adams praised Fulton for “turning pain into purpose.”

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Do You Still Need to Wear a Mask on Public Buses, Trains After Mandates Are Removed?

Once mask mandates are lifted throughout Illinois and Chicago on Monday, do you still have to wear a face covering while riding public transportation?

The new recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Friday do not change the requirement to wear masks on public transportation and indoors in airports, train stations and bus stations.

However, the CDC guidelines for other indoor spaces aren’t binding, meaning cities and institutions even in areas of low risk may set their own rules.

In Illinois and Chicago, officials said mask-wearing must still align with federal requirement after mandates are lifted, meaning a face covering will still be required while riding all public transportation.

The Chicago Transit Authority reminded travelers Saturday that masks are still required on public buses and trains, as well as within the station, based on the latest CDC guidance.

Both Illinois and Chicago are in their final weekend of mask mandates and other COVID-19 regulations before restrictions will be widely lifted Monday.

Here’s what you should know before the requirements are removed in coming days.

The CDC released changes Friday to COVID protocols, saying it’s now safe for most Americans to remove masks in indoor settings. Illinois announced the state will widely align with the new guidance, as well as remove the school mask mandate starting Monday.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

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Are Masks Still Required in Schools? What to Know About CDC Guidance, Illinois' Mask Mandate

Are masks still required in school settings throughout the Chicago area and in Illinois?

New guidance released Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still advised people, including schoolchildren, to wear masks where the risk of COVID is high.

That’s the situation in about 37% of U.S. counties, where about 28% of Americans live.

In response to the new guidance, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday that the state of Illinois will remove the school mask mandate, effective Monday, noting that the face covering requirement is only needed in areas of “high transmission” per federal officials.

“We will recommend that all that all school districts follow the CDC guidance and will update our existing guidance in coming days,” the governor said in a statement.

According to the guidance, most Americans can take a break from wearing masks indoors, based on declining COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Here’s where Chicago and Illinois stand and what to do based on where you live.

Prior to Pritzker’s announcement, Chicago Public Schools said will keep face coverings in schools, district officials announced in response the CDC eased restrictions surrounding masks.

In a letter to parents and students, CPS said will continue to require masks and other COVID requirements in the classroom “to maintain health and safety measures.”

“We all look forward to the day when masks are no longer necessary in schools, and we plan to work with our labor and public health partners on the best way to preserve a safe learning environment for all. For now, though, we need to remember that school buildings are not like other indoor settings,” CPS said in a letter.

Earlier this week, CPS released a statement saying the mask requirements are being kept in place to help “preserve in-person teaching,” and to keep students and educators safe.

“We have made great progress in recent weeks against this virus, and we do not want to jeopardize that progress by moving too quickly,” a spokesperson said. “We look forward to the day when we can be mask-optional at CPS, but we still need to get more students vaccinated across our district, and we still need to work with our public health and labor partners on the best way to preserve a safe in-person learning environment for all.”

According to CPS officials, nearly 53% of students age 12 and older are now fully-vaccinated against COVID, while nearly 1-in-3 students under the age of 12 has received at least one dose of the vaccine.

More than 91% of teachers are fully vaccinated, according to officials.

In a press release Tuesday, the Chicago Teachers Union praised the decision to keep mask mandates in place.

“We’re glad that CPS will continue to honor the safety agreement that our members sacrificed four days of pay for last month,” the statement read. “This agreement today provides Chicago’s public school communities with the legal right to guarantee safety, despite a right-wing legal attack to remove public health protections.”

The union said that it will continue to push for more vaccination clinics for students and for educators, and that it agrees with the governor that COVID case rates need to continue to decline before mask-optional policies are enacted in Chicago schools.

On Monday, the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois will eliminate requirements for patrons in indoor venues to wear masks. The city will also move away from its requirement that patrons in those establishments furnish a proof-of-vaccination at the door, according to officials.

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1 in Custody After Bean Vandalized

One person was in custody after the Bean was vandalized Friday night in the Loop.

A man, 18, was spraying graffiti onto the Bean about 6:10 p.m. in the 200 block of East Randolph Street when another man, 20, confronted him, Chicago police said.

After the younger man fled, the 20-year-old chased him to the 100 block of North State Street where he was kicked in the body, police said.

The 18-year-old was taken into custody and charges were pending.

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Illinois Gets $760M as Part of Opioid Settlement with Johnson and Johnson, 3 Drug Distribution Companies

Illinois will receive about $760 million from a nationwide settlement finalized Friday with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and three major drug distributors over their role in the opioid addiction crisis.

The money will come from a $26 billion legal settlement announced last year.

The state’s portion will be distributed to local governments to combat the opioid crisis, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said Friday.

Checks could be cut as soon as April, but none of the money will go directly to opioid victims or their families.

“The opioid epidemic has destroyed countless lives and families throughout our state and devastated communities and it’s imperative that the resources reach these areas and be used to abate the problem,” Raoul said Friday during a news conference.

“To date more than 290 units of local government in Illinois have joined the settlement, this includes 94 of the state’s 102 counties and 104 of 113 municipalities that are eligible to receive direct resources,” he said.

The plan was announced last year by Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson but the deal was contingent on getting a critical mass of state and local governments to sign on to it.

The companies had until Friday to decide whether they felt they had enough participation.

A state advisory board will help determine how much money is distributed and where by taking into account factors such as population, rates of opioid use, overdose deaths and the amount of opioids shipped into various parts of the state.

The legal gears have been grinding on the case for more than four years.

And the problem remains acute.

Opioid overdoses in Illinois increased 33% from 2019 to 2020. In 2020, there were 2,944 opioid overdose fatalities — more than twice the number of fatal motor vehicle accidents and more than twice the number of homicides, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Raoul also said that baked into the agreement with the drug distributors was a safeguard meant to weed out suspiciously high orders of opioids “so that history doesn’t repeat itself.”

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NAACP Image Awards 2022: What to Expect and How to Watch

The 2022 NAACP Image Awards will be televised on BET on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022 at 8 p.m. ET. You can watch it on BET or stream the award ceremony from the NAACP Image Awards’ YouTube channel or NAACPImageAwards.net.

Anthony Anderson, a seven-time NAACP Image Awards winner, will host the show with Issa Rae, Kerry Washington, Zendaya and more stars presenting awards. Hip-hop and soul signer Mary J. Blige is set to perform.

The NAACP Image Awards are presented by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and highlight outstanding work in film, television, music, podcasts and social media.

2022 SAG Awards Feb 22

How to Watch the 2022 SAG Awards on TV and Online

Oscars 2022 Feb 9

Oscars 2022: See the Full List of Academy Award Nominations

The award show also gives honorary awards with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle set to receive the NAACP President’s Award this year. This award is presented in recognition of special achievements and distinguished public service. Samuel L. Jackson will receive the Chairman’s Award. Previous recipients of the Chairman’s Award have included Tyler Perry, then-Sen. Barack Obama and the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis.

Read on for the full list of nominees.

Entertainer of The Year Nominees

Jennifer Hudson
Lil Nas X
Megan Thee Stallion
Regina King
Tiffany Haddish

Motion Picture Categories:

Outstanding Motion Picture
“Judas and the Black Messiah”
“King Richard” 
“Respect” 
“The Harder They Fall”
“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”

Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture
Denzel Washington, “The Tragedy of Macbeth” 
Jonathan Majors, “The Harder They Fall” 
LaKeith Stanfield, “Judas and the Black Messiah” 
Mahershala Ali, “Swan Song” 
Will Smith, “King Richard” 
 
Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
Andra Day, “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”
Halle Berry, “Bruised”
Jennifer Hudson, “Respect” 
Tessa Thompson, “Passing”
Zendaya, “Malcolm & Marie” 

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Algee Smith, “Judas and the Black Messiah” 
Daniel Kaluuya, “Judas and the Black Messiah” 
Delroy Lindo, “The Harder They Fall” 
Idris Elba, “The Harder They Fall” 
LaKeith Stanfield, “The Harder They Fall” 

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Aunjanue Ellis, “King Richard” 
Audra McDonald, “Respect” 
Danielle Deadwyler, “The Harder They Fall” 
Dominique Fishback, “Judas and the Black Messiah” 
Regina King, “The Harder They Fall” 

Outstanding Independent Motion Picture
“American Skin”
“Bruised”
“CODA”
“Test Pattern”
“The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain”

Outstanding International Motion Picture
“7 Prisoners” 
“African America”
“Eyimofe (This is My Desire)”
“Flee”
“The Gravedigger’s Wife”

Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture
Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story”
Danny Boyd, Jr., “Bruised”
Jalon Christian, “A Journal For Jordan”
Lonnie Chavis, “The Water Man” 
Sheila Atim, “Bruised” 

Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture 
“Coming 2 America”
“Judas and the Black Messiah”
“King Richard” 
“Respect” 
“The Harder They Fall”

Outstanding Animated Motion Picture
“Encanto”
“Luca”
“Raya and the Last Dragon”
“Sing 2” 
“Vivo”

Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance – Motion Picture
Andre Braugher, “Spirit Untamed”
Awkwafina, “Raya and the Last Dragon” 
Brian Tyree Henry, “Vivo” 
Eric André, “Sing 2” 
Letitia Wright, “Sing 2”

Outstanding Short-Form (Live Action)
“Aurinko in Adagio” 
“Blackout” 
“The Ice Cream Stop” 
“These Final Hours” 
“When The Sun Sets (Lakutshon’ Ilanga)”

Outstanding Short-Form (Animated)
“Blush” 
“Robin Robin” 
“She Dreams at Sunrise” 
“Twenty Something” 
“Us Again”

Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Motion Picture)
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, “Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”
Jamila Wignot, “Ailey”
Jeymes Samuel, “The Harder They Fall” 
Liesl Tommy, “Respect”
Rebecca Hall, “Passing”

Television and Streaming Categories:

Outstanding Comedy Series
“black-ish”
“Harlem”
“Insecure” 
“Run the World”
“The Upshaws”

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, “black-ish
Cedric the Entertainer, “The Neighborhood”
Don Cheadle, “Black Monday”
Elisha ‘EJ’ Williams, “The Wonder Years”
Jay Ellis, “Insecure”

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
Issa Rae, “Insecure”
Loretta Devine, “Family Reunion”
Regina Hall, “Black Monday”
Tracee Ellis Ross, “black-ish”
Yvonne Orji, “Insecure”

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Andre Braugher – “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (NBC)
Deon Cole, “black-ish”
Kenan Thompson – “Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
Kendrick Sampson, “Insecure”
Laurence Fishburne, “black-ish”

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Amanda Seales, “Insecure”
Jenifer Lewis, “black-ish”
Marsai Martin, “black-ish”
Natasha Rothwell, “Insecure”
Wanda Sykes, “The Upshaws”

Outstanding Drama Series
“9-1-1” 
“All American”
“Godfather of Harlem” 
“Pose”
“Queen Sugar” 

Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
Billy Porter, “Pose” 
Damson Idris, “Snowfall”
Forest Whitaker, “Godfather of Harlem”
Kofi Siriboe, “Queen Sugar” 
Sterling K. Brown, “This is Us”

Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
Angela Bassett, “9-1-1” 
Dawn-Lyen Gardner, “Queen Sugar” 
Octavia Spencer, “Truth Be Told”
Queen Latifah, “The Equalizer”
Rutina Wesley, “Queen Sugar” 

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Alex R. Hibbert, “The Chi” 
Cliff “Method Man” Smith, “Power Book II: Ghost”
Daniel Ezra, “All American”
Giancarlo Esposito, “Godfather of Harlem”
Joe Morton, “Our Kind of People”

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Alfre Woodard, “SEE”
Bianca Lawson, “Queen Sugar”
Chandra Wilson, “Grey’s Anatomy”
Mary J. Blige, “Power Book II: Ghost “
Susan Kelechi Watson, “This is Us” 

Outstanding Television Movie, Limited-Series or Dramatic Special
“Colin in Black & White”
“Genius: Aretha”
“Love Life”
“Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia”
“The Underground Railroad”

Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Limited-Series or Dramatic Special
Anthony Mackie, “Solos” 
Jaden Michael, “Colin in Black & White”
Kevin Har, “True Story”
Wesley Snipes, “True Story” 
William Jackson Harper, “Love Life”

Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Limited-Series or Dramatic Special
Betty Gabriel, “Clickbait” 
Cynthia Erivo, “Genius: Aretha” 
Danielle Brooks, “Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia”
Jodie Turner-Smith, “Anne Boleyn”
Taraji P. Henson, “Annie Live!”

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Television Movie, Limited-Series or Dramatic Special
Courtney B. Vance, “Genius: Aretha”
Keith David, “Black As Night” 
Tituss Burgess, “Annie Live!” 
Will Catlett, “True Story” 
William Jackson Harper, “The Underground Railroad” 

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Television Movie, Limited-Series or Dramatic Special
Anika Noni Rose, “Maid” 
Natasha Rothwell, “The White Lotus 
Pauletta Washington, “Genius: Aretha” 
Regina Hall, “Nine Perfect Strangers” 
Sheila Atim, “The Underground Railroad”  

Outstanding News/Information (Series or Special)
“Blood on Black Wall Street: The Legacy of the Tulsa Massacre”
“NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt”
“Soul of A Nation”
“The Reidout” 
“Unsung”

Outstanding Talk Series
“Desus & Mero”
“Hart to Heart”
“Red Table Talk”
“Tamron Hall” 
“The Real” 

Outstanding Reality Program, Reality Competition or Game Show (Series)
“Celebrity Family Feud”
“Iyanla: Fix My Life”
“Sweet Life: Los Angeles”
“The Voice”
“Wild ‘n Out” 

Outstanding Variety Show (Series or Special) 
“A Black Lady Sketch Show” 
“BET Awards 2021” 
“Dave Chappelle: The Closer”
“Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3” 
“The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”

Outstanding Children’s Program
“Ada Twist, Scientist”
“Family Reunion” 
“Karma’s World”
“Raven’s Home” 
“Waffles + Mochi”

Outstanding Performance by a Youth (Series, Special, Television Movie or Limited-Series)
Alayah “Lay Lay” High, “That Girl Lay Lay”
Celina Smith, “Annie Live!” 
Elisha ‘EJ’ Williams, “The Wonder Years”
Eris Baker, “This Is Us” 
Miles Brown, “black-ish” 

Outstanding Host in a Talk or News/Information (Series or Special) – Individual or Ensemble
Joy Reid, “The Reidout”
Daniel “Desus Nice” Baker, Joel “The Kid Mero” Martinez, “Desus & Mero”
Garcelle Beauvais, Adrienne Houghton, Loni Love, Jeannie Mai Jenkins, “The Real”
Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, Willow Smith, “Red Table Talk”
LeBron James, “The Shop: Uninterrupted”

Outstanding Host in a Reality/Reality Competition, Game Show or Variety (Series or Special) – Individual or Ensemble
Alfonso Ribeiro, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” 
Amber Ruffin, “The Amber Ruffin Show” 
Cedric The Entertainer, “73rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards”
Iyanla Vanzant, “Iyanla: Fix My Life”
Trevor Noah, “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”

Outstanding Guest Performance
Alani “La La” Anthony, “The Chi”
Christina Elmore, “Insecure” 
Daniel Kaluuya, “Saturday Night Live”
Erika Alexander, “Run the World “
Maya Rudolph, “Saturday Night Live”

Outstanding Animated Series
“Big Mouth”
“Peanut Headz: Black History Toonz” 
“Super Sema”
“We The People” 
“Yasuke”

Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Television)
Angela Bassett, “Malika: The Lion Queen”
Billy Porter, “Fairfax”
Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, “Karma’s World”
Cree Summer, “Rugrats” 
Keke Palmer, “Big Mouth” 

Outstanding Short Form Series – Comedy or Drama 
“Between the Scenes – The Daily Show”
“Dark Humor” 
“Della Mae” 
“The Disney Launchpad: Shorts Incubator”
“Two Sides: Unfaithful”

Outstanding Short Form Series or Special – Reality/Nonfiction
“Life By The Horns” 
“Memory Builds The Monument” 
“Widen the Screen: 8:46 Films” 
“Through Our Eyes: Shelter”
“Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day”

Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Television)
Angel Kristi Williams, “Colin in Black & White”
Cierra Glaude, “Queen Sugar” 
Deborah Riley Draper, “The Legacy of Black Wall Street”
Halcyon Person, “Karma’s World”
Quyen Tran, “Maid” 

Recording Categories:

Outstanding New Artist
Cynthia Erivo
Jimmie Allen
Saweetie
Tems
Zoe Wees

Outstanding Male Artist
Anthony Hamilton
Drake
Givēon
J. Cole
Lil Nas X

Outstanding Female Artist
H.E.R
Ari Lennox
Beyoncé
Chlöe
Jazmine Sullivan

Outstanding Gospel/Christian Album 
“Anthems & Glory” – Todd Dulaney
“Believe For It” – CeCe Winans
“Jonny x Mali: Live in L.A.” – Jonathan McReynolds and Mali Music 
“Overcomer” – Tamela Mann 
“Power” – Jason McGee & The Choir 

Outstanding International Song
“Essence” – Wizkid feat. Tems and Justin Bieber
“Peru” – Fireboy DML 
“Somebody’s Son” – Tiwa Savage feat. Brandy 
“Touch It” – KiDi
“Understand” – Omah Lay 

Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album
“Best Friend” – Saweetie feat. Doja Cat
“Essence” – Wizkid feat. Tems 
“Fye Fye” – Tobe Nwigwe feat. Fat Nwigwe 
“Have Mercy” – Chlöe 
“Leave The Door Open” – Silk Sonic

Outstanding Album
“An Evening with Silk Sonic” – Silk Sonic 
“Back of My Mind” – H.E.R. 
“Certified Lover Boy” – Drake 
“Heaux Tales” – Jazmine Sullivan
“When It’s All Said and Done… Take Time” – Givēon

Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album
“Coming 2 America (Amazon Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” – Eddie Murphy, Craig Brewer, Kevin Misher,  Randy Spendlove, Jeff Harleston, Brittney Ramsdell
“Judas and the Black Messiah (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” – Mark Isham and Craig Harris
“Respect (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” – Jason Michael Webb and Stephen Bray 
“The Harder They Fall (The Motion Picture Soundtrack)” – JAY-Z and Jeymes Samuel 
“The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Music from the Motion Picture)” – Salaam Remi, Andra Day, Raphael Saadiq, Warren “E” Felder, Downtown Trevor Brown 

Outstanding Gospel/Christian Song 
“Believe For It” – CeCe Winans 
“Help Me” – Tamela Mann feat. The Fellas
“Hold Us Together (Hope Mix)” – H.E.R. and Tauren Wells
“Overcome 2021” – Kirk Franklin 
“Time for Reparations” – Sounds of Blackness 

Outstanding Jazz Album – Instrumental
“Forever…Jaz” – Jazmin Ghent
“Love Languages” – Nathan Mitchell
“Somewhere Different” – Brandee Younger
“Sounds from the Ancestors” – Kenny Garrett 
“The Magic of Now” – Orrin Evans

Outstanding Jazz Album – Vocal
“Dear Love” – Jazzmeia Horn and Her Noble Force
“Generations” – The Baylor Project 
“Ledisi Sings Nina” – Ledisi 
“Let There Be Love” – Freda Payne
“SALSWING!” – Rubén Blades y Roberto Delgado & Orquesta

Outstanding Soul/R&B Song
“Damage” – H.E.R. 
“Be Alive” – Beyoncé 
“Have Mercy” – Chlöe
“Leave The Door Open” – Silk Sonic
“Pick Up Your Feelings” – Jazmine Sullivan

Outstanding Hip Hop/Rap Song 
“Best Friend” – Saweetie feat. Doja Cat
“Fye Fye” – Tobe Nwigwe feat. Fat Nwigwe 
“Industry Baby” – Lil Nas X feat. Jack Harlow 
“My Life” – J. Cole feat. 21 Savage and Morray
“Way 2 Sexy” – Drake 

Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Traditional) 
Anthony Hamilton feat. Jennifer Hudson – “Superstar” 
Chlöe x Halle – “Georgia On My Mind”
Jazmine Sullivan feat. H.E.R. – “Girl Like Me”
Leela James feat. Anthony Hamilton – “Complicated (Remix)”
Silk Sonic – “Leave the Door Open”

Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Contemporary) 
Chris Brown feat. Young Thug, Future, Lil Durk and Latto – “Go Crazy (Remix)”
Doja Cat feat. SZA – “Kiss Me More”
Drake feat. Future & Young Thug – “Way 2 Sexy”
H.E.R. feat. Chris Brown – “Come Through”
Tobe Nwigwe feat. Fat Nwigwe – “Fye Fye”

Documentary Categories

Outstanding Documentary (Film)
“Attica”
“Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power”
“My Name Is Pauli Murray” 
“Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”
“Tina” 

Outstanding Documentary (Television)
“1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything”
“American Masters: How It Feels to Be Free”
“Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali” 
“High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America” 
“Insecure Documentary”

Writing Categories:

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
Ashley Nicole Black – “Ted Lasso” – “Do the Right-est Thing”
Issa Rae – “Insecure” -“Everything’s Gonna Be, Okay?!”
Leann Bowen – “Ted Lasso” – “Lavender”
Maya Erskine – “Pen15” – “Blue in Green”
Temi Wilkey – “Sex Education” – “Episode #3.6” 

Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series
Aurin Squire – “Evil” – “C Is For Cop” 
Davita Scarlett – “The Good Fight” – “And the Firm Had Two Partners…”
Malcolm Spellman – “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – “New World Order”
Nkechi Okoro Carroll – “All American” – “Homecoming”
Steven Canals, Janet Mock, Our Lady J, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy – “Pose” – “Series Finale”

Outstanding Writing in a Television Movie or Special
Abdul Williams – “Salt-N-Pepa”
Mario Miscione, Marcella Ochoa – “Madres”
Monique N. Matthew – “A Holiday In Harlem”
Sameer Gardezi – “Hot Mess Holiday”
Sherman Payne – “Black As Night”

Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture 
Janicza Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris – “Zola” 
Jeymes Samuel, Boaz Yakin – “The Harder They Fall”
Shaka King, Will Berson, Kenny Lucas, Keith Lucas – “Judas and the Black Messiah” 
Virgil Williams – “A Journal for Jordan”
Win Rosenfeld, Nia DaCosta, Jordan Peele – “Candyman”

Directing Categories:

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series
Bashir Salahuddin, Diallo Riddle – “South Side” – “Tornado”
Melina Matsoukas – “Insecure” – “Reunited, Okay?!”
Neema Barnette – “Harlem” – “Once Upon A Time in Harlem” 
Prentice Penny – “Insecure” – “Everything’s Gonna Be, Okay?!”
Tiffany Johnson – “Black Monday” – “Eight!” 

Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series
Anthony Hemingway – “Genius: Aretha” – “Respect”
Barry Jenkins – “The Underground Railroad” – “Indiana Winter” 
Carl Seaton – “Snowfall” – “Fight or Flight” 
Carl Seaton – “Godfather of Harlem” – “The Bonanno Split” 
Hanelle Culpepper – “True Story” – “Like Cain Did Abel”

Outstanding Directing in a Television Movie or Special
Jaffar Mahmood – “Hot Mess Holiday”
Kenny Leon – “Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia”
Mario Van Peebles – “Salt-N-Pepa” 
Maritte Lee Go – “Black As Night” 
Veronica Rodriguez – “Let’s Get Merried” 

Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture
Denzel Washington – “A Journal for Jordan” 
Jeymes Samuel – “The Harder They Fall” 
Lin-Manuel Miranda – “tick tick…BOOM!” 
Reinaldo Marcus Green – “King Richard”
Shaka King – “Judas and the Black Messiah“

Outstanding Directing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)
Andre Gaines – “The One and Only Dick Gregory”
Dawn Porter – “Rise Again: Tulsa and the Red Summer “
Sam Pollard – “MLK/FBI”
Samantha Knowles, Yoruba Richen, Geeta Gandbhir, Nadia Hallgren – “Black and Missing” 
Spike Lee – “NYC Epicenters 9/11➔2021½ “

Literary Categories

Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction
“Harlem Shuffle” – Colson Whitehead
“Libertie” – Kaitlyn Greenidge
“Long Division” – Kiese Laymon 
“The Man Who Lived Underground” – Richard Wright 
“The Perishing” – Natashia Deón

Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction
“Dance Theatre of Harlem” – Judy Tyrus, Paul Novosel
“Just As I Am” – Cicely Tyson 
“My Remarkable Journey” – Katherine Johnson 
“Renegades: Born in the USA” – Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen 
“The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story” – Nikole Hannah-Jones 

Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author
“Just As I Am” – Cicely Tyson
“My Remarkable Journey” – Katherine Johnson
“Other Black Girl: A Novel” – Zakiya Dalila Harris
“The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois” – Honorée Fanonne Jeffers 
“Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts” – Rebecca Hal

Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography
“Just As I Am” – Cicely Tyson 
“Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement” – Tarana Burke 
“Unprotected: A Memoir” – Billy Porter 
“Until I Am Free” – Keisha Blain
“Will” – Will Smith

Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional
“Diversity Is Not Enough: A Roadmap to Recruit, Develop and Promote Black Leaders in America”  – Keith Wyche 
“Feeding the Soul (Because It’s My Business)” – Tabitha Brown
“Permission to Dream” – Chris Gardner
“Teaching Black History to White People” – Leonard N. Moore
“The Conversation: How Seeking and Speaking the Truth About Racism Can Radically Transform Individuals and Organizations” – Robert Livingston 

Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry
“Perfect Black” – Crystal Wilkinson 
“Playlist for the Apocalypse” – Rita Dove 
“Such Color: New and Selected Poems” – Tracy K. Smith
“The Wild Fox of Yemen” – Threa Almontaser 
“What Water Knows: Poems” – Jacqueline Jones LaMon

Outstanding Literary Work – Children
“Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy” – Misty Copeland 
“Change Sings” – Amanda Gorman, Loren Long
“Stacey’s Extraordinary Words” – Stacey Abrams, Kitt Thomas
“Time for Bed, Old House” – Janet Costa Bates, A.G. Ford
“When Langston Dances” – Kaija Langley, Keith Mallett

Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/Teens
“Ace of Spades” – Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé 
“Happily Ever Afters” – Elise Bryant
“The Cost of Knowing” – Brittney Morris
“When You Look Like Us” – Pamela N. Harris 
“Wings of Ebony” – J. Elle 

Podcast Categories

Outstanding News and Information Podcast
“#SundayCivics”
“After the Uprising: The Death of Danyé Dion Jones”
“Blindspot: Tulsa Burning”
“Into America”
“Un(re)solved”

Outstanding Lifestyle/Self-Help Podcast
“Checking In with Michelle Williams”
“The Homecoming Podcast with Dr. Thema”
“The SonRise Project Podcast”
“Two Funny Mamas: Sherri Shepherd & Kym Whitley”
“Under Construction w/ Tamar Braxton”

Outstanding Society and Culture Podcast
“Beyond the Scenes – The Daily Show”
“Jemele Hill is Unbothered”
“Professional Troublemaker”
“Questlove Supreme”
“Super Soul Podcast”

Outstanding Arts and Entertainment Podcast
“Club Shay Shay podcast with Shannon Sharpe”
“Jemele Hill is Unbothered”
“Questlove Supreme”
“Reasonably Shady”
“The History of Sketch Comedy with Keegan-Michael Key”

Social Media Personality of The Year Nominees

@Euniquejg – Eunique Jones GIbson
@KevOnStage – Kevin Fredericks
@Laronhinesofficial – Laron Hines
@_Lyneezy – Lanae Vanee
@Terrellgrice – Terrell Grice

from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/ZQNh2tf

What to Know About Chicago, Illinois Mask Mandates Ahead of CDC's Significant Changes

Both Illinois and Chicago are heading into their final weekend of COVID mandates before the restrictions are largely lifted Monday, but with additional changes expected to be announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday, the guidelines could be changing even further.

Here’s what we know so far:

When will the mask mandate be lifted in Illinois?

Gov. J.B. Pritzker plans to lift Illinois’ indoor mask mandate, with the exception of in schools, by Feb. 28 if state COVID metrics continue to decline.

Noting that the state is “seeing the fastest rate of decline in our COVID-19 hospitalization metrics since the pandemic began,” Pritzker said if trends continue as expected, “then on Monday, Feb. 28, we will lift the indoor mask requirement for the State of Illinois.”

What still needs to happen for the mask mandate to be lifted?

The governor noted that metrics must continue to decline in the weeks leading up to Feb. 28.

As of Friday, coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths have been on a generally downward trend, based on data from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

What about Chicago?

In line with the state of Illinois, Chicago will lift its indoor mask mandate early next week in certain public locations, as long as coronavirus metrics continue on a downward trend, officials announced.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a press conference that the mask mandate, as well as the city’s vaccine requirement, will end Feb. 28 at a number of spots across the city, citing a drop in key COVID metrics.

In Chicago, masks will continue to be required in health care settings, on public transit and in other congregate settings, per federal mandates and guidance from the CDC, but with a big announcement from the CDC in store, it remains unclear if the city’s guidance will soon change.

Are there still locations that will require masks?

There is one important caveat to the state’s and city’s plans.

“I want to be clear: Many local jurisdictions, businesses and organizations have their own mask requirements and other mitigations that must be respected,” Pritzker said. “Having stricter mitigations than the state requirements is something that must be adhered to. Doing what’s right in your private business or for your local communities is encouraged. Whether you’re a business, a township, a venue, a place of worship or a city – to name just a few examples – protecting your patrons and visitors is no doubt a high priority. Masks continue to be a very effective way to keep your establishment from experiencing an outbreak or spreading the disease.”

Masks will also still be required under certain federal guidelines.

Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike reminded residents that masks remain necessary in certain places and situations, including for public transportation, inside federal buildings and in parts of long-term care facilities.

“While masks will no longer be required and most indoor locations beginning Monday, Feb. 28 I want to be clear that they are still highly recommended,” she said.

According to the governor’s office, Illinois will continue to require masks in the following settings:

• Healthcare Settings: Continue mask requirement 
• Long Term Care Facilities: Continue mask requirement 
• Congregate Settings (prisons, shelters, etc.): Continue mask requirement 
• Transportation: Follow federal guidelines
• Daycare: Follow Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) guidelines

What about schools?

Earlier this month, an Illinois appellate court rejected Pritzker’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling against a mask mandate in schools, writing the request is “moot” because the governor’s emergency COVID rules already expired.

In their decision, the appellate court justices wrote there is no “actual controversy” to decide.

“Because the emergency rules voided by the TRO are no longer in effect, a controversy regarding the application of those rules no longer exists. Thus, the matter is moot,” the justices wrote.

The justices also wrote, “We note the language of the TRO in no way restrains school districts from acting independently from the executive orders or the IDPH in creating provisions addressing COVID-19.”

The court’s ruling means that the decision of whether or not to require masks and implement individual COVID requirements is up to individual school districts.

The lifting of the mandate will also not apply to schools, Pritzker said.

“School outbreaks impact hundreds, even thousands of people across a community – and there are a whole lot more infections when districts are maskless. Schools are unlike most other environments — there are far lower vaccination rates for school-aged children than adults, higher exposure daily to younger children who aren’t yet vaccine-eligible, and more difficulty maintaining distance in hallways and gyms. The equation for schools just looks different right now than it does for the general population. Schools need more time – for community infection rates to drop, for our youngest learners to become vaccine eligible, and for more parents to get their kids vaccinated.”

Following the court decision, Chicago Public Schools said that it will keep its requirements in place for at least the time-being.

According to a statement from CPS, the requirements are being kept in place to help “preserve in-person teaching,” and to keep students and educators safe.

Meanwhile, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced that all of its schools that were still under a mask mandate will instead switch to a mask-optional set of mitigations beginning on Monday.

According to a letter to parents, the Archdiocese says that its schools in Chicago, Evanston and Oak Park will be mask-optional for teachers and students beginning on Feb. 28, the same day that the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago will remove their mask mandates in indoor spaces.

How could the CDC guidance change things?

The Biden administration will significantly loosen federal mask-wearing guidelines to protect against COVID-19 transmission on Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter, meaning most Americans will no longer be advised to wear masks in indoor public settings.

The CDC on Friday will announce a change to the metrics it uses to determine whether to recommend face coverings, shifting from looking at COVID-19 case counts to a more holistic view of risk from the coronavirus to a community. Under current guidelines, masks are recommended for people residing in communities of substantial or high transmission — roughly 95% of U.S. counties, according to the latest data.

The new metrics will still consider caseloads, but also take into account hospitalizations and local hospital capacity, which have been markedly improved during the emergence of the omicron variant. That strain is highly transmissible, but indications are that it is less severe than earlier strains, particularly for people who are fully vaccinated and boosted. Under the new guidelines, the vast majority of Americans will no longer live in areas where indoor masking in public is recommended, based on current data.

The new policy comes as the Biden administration moves to shift its focus to preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19, rather than all instances of infection, as part of a strategy adjustment for a new “phase” in the response as the virus becomes endemic.

The two people familiar with the change spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the CDC’s action before the announcement.

It was not immediately clear how the new CDC guidance would affect U.S. federal mandates requiring face coverings on public transportation.

from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/WFv957A