chicagotribune--2020-01-15--He’s the 12th-ranked football player in Illinois — but he didn’t get an offer from Northwestern. Her

He’s the 12th-ranked football player in Illinois — but he didn’t get an offer from Northwestern. Here’s why he turned down scholarship offers from others to walk on with the Wildcats.

“ I ’ m a kid from Chicago , ” Metz says .
“ Why would I leave the state @ @ @ @ @ s not home ?
People who know me , my closest friends , get who @ @ @ @ @ has come up to me and said , ‘ You ’ re an idiot .
@ @

Walk into the family home of Greyson Metz, and the first thing you notice is a washer/dryer covered with magnetized baseball and football cards.
There’s one of little Greyson, perhaps 10, kneeling in a red jersey and cradling a football. He’s wearing glasses.
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“Oh, God, I’m blind,” Metz jokes of his minus-7 prescription.
Blind? Or does he see something the rest of us don’t?
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Metz is 17 now, a senior at Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn. He’s a 6-foot-3, 205-pound linebacker who was named Defensive Player of the Year in the West Suburban Conference. He was offered a full scholarship by Syracuse, Louisville, Cincinnati and Iowa, which won 10 games this fall and develops players so well, 29 Hawkeyes dotted NFL rosters to start the 2019 season.
The 247Sports.com composite rankings show Metz as the No. 12 recruit in Illinois, followed by St. Charles East guard Dylan Barrett, Homewood-Flossmoor guard Marcus Harper, Wheaton North linebacker Xander Mueller and Lincoln-Way East defensive end Sean McLaughlin.
Barrett is headed to Wisconsin, Harper to Oregon, Mueller and McLaughlin to Northwestern. All on scholarship.
Shoot, Northwestern gave a full ride to the 25th-ranked player in the state, Lake Zurich tight end Hunter Welcing. He will be a Wildcat.
So will Metz. But he is paying his own way as a preferred walk-on. Check that — his parents, Michael and Janel, will cut the checks totaling about $70,000 to cover his freshman year.
And probably his sophomore year. And perhaps his junior year. There is nothing resembling a guarantee that Metz will one day be put on scholarship. Northwestern coaches are offering merely an opportunity and a promise to treat him as an equal. That’s enough.
After a great visit, I am excited to announce my commitment to Northwestern University. I want to thank Coach Hetlet and the entire coaching staff at Glenbard West for all their support along the way. @HitterFootball #B1GCats @NUFBFamily pic.twitter.com/i7OA7YRzw8 — Greyson Metz (@GreysonMetz) December 14, 2019
“I’m a kid from Chicago,” Metz says. “Why would I leave the state and go somewhere that’s not home? People who know me, my closest friends, get who I am. No one has come up to me and said, ‘You’re an idiot.’ ”
Quite the contrary. Metz doesn’t know his recruiting rankings, but he does know his GPA — a weighted 5.2 on a 5.0 scale. He will have taken eight Advanced Placement classes by the time he graduates this spring. His ACT superscore is 32.
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And that’s why Metz’s second choice for college was not Iowa or Syracuse, Louisville or Cincinnati. It was Harvard.
And it’s why his coach at Glenbard West, Chad Hetlet, was only momentarily stunned when Metz turned down Iowa, figuring, “That’s what Iowa is — a bunch of Greyson Metzes.”
But then Hetlet thought about it more and came to this conclusion about Metz’s decision to pass up all of those full rides: “If you knew Greyson Metz, you wouldn’t be shocked.”
‘They are shocked’
Glenbard West senior Greyson Metz, shown on the Glen Ellyn campus on Jan. 9, 2020. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Janel Metz describes her youngest son as “approachable, funny, empathetic, intuitive.”
“He’s a guy’s guy, but there’s a sensitive side to him too,” she says. “A well-rounded kid and self-motivated. He knows where he stands in a class, to what tenth of a point he needs to get the grade he wants, which is usually an A.”
Greyson’s name was inspired by Gray Davis, the former governor of California. His parents liked the way Greyson sounded. His older brother is named Stone, inspired by former “Dateline NBC” anchor Stone Phillips.
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Unconventional choices seem to run in the family.
Janel is a Loyola alumna who works in an administrative capacity at Baird & Warner Real Estate. Michael graduated from Bradley with a civil engineering degree and is a vice president at Krusinski Construction.
Do other parents think they’re nuts for passing on all those scholarships?
“More than anything,” Michael says, “they are shocked.”
Says Janel: “Some people feel a degree is a degree is a degree, and you make your way on your own. We’ve made our choice. Thankfully we’re in a position to make it happen. We’re not independently wealthy, but we think it’s worth it.”
Metz is sacrificing his ego to walk on at Northwestern. His parents are sacrificing something more tangible.
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Michael was there at Iowa’s junior day when linebackers coach Seth Wallace pulled Greyson aside to tell him his life was about to change.
Greyson was flattered but thought to himself: “Now I’m stuck with an impossible decision because I don’t want to sacrifice that academic portion of it, but I don’t want to sell myself short in terms of playing football at the highest level. They are both dreams of mine.”
All along, the family plan had been, in Michael’s words, to “use football to maximize academics.”
Playing at Harvard or Yale carried tremendous appeal, but it’s not Big Ten football. And factoring in travel costs, the family would have had to shell out another $10,000 per year — without any hope for an eventual scholarship. Ivy League schools offer only need-based scholarships for student-athletes.
So they attended a spring practice at Northwestern’s $270 million lakefront facility. Michael noted the presence of various real estate, hedge fund and finance professionals, envisioning Greyson’s networking potential.
The family hit it off with linebackers coach Tim McGarigle and player development director Jacob Schmidt, who blossomed into a starting running back for the Wildcats after arriving as a 5-10 walk-on.
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Northwestern coaches declined to offer Metz a scholarship because they had set aside only two for linebackers in their 17-player 2020 class. The first went to Cullen Coleman, a stud from New York who had offers from Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan and Notre Dame.
The second went to Wheaton North’s Mueller. Though he’s listed at 6-3 and 210 pounds, observers say he’s stronger and thicker than Metz.
Glenbard West's Greyson Metz brings down Lyons' Chris Clarke on Oct. 11, 2019, in Western Springs. (Mike Mantucca / Pioneer Press)
Metz played most of his junior season with a torn labrum in a shoulder. Surgery curtailed his offseason lifting. He’s now on a 6,000-calories-a-day diet. He leaves for school with a protein shake and usually spends lunch in the library downing his mom’s ham-and-cheese and PB&J sandwiches.
Metz says Northwestern coaches told him: “We can’t give you the scholarship, but we can give you the chance to play here. We can fulfill what you say you want in a school.”
He wants to play Big Ten football. He wants an elite education. He wants to be within an hour’s drive of Glen Ellyn. He wants to play for a fire-breathing coach like Pat Fitzgerald.
Last season Fitzgerald lamented that his players are more into social media than football history, claiming, “They don’t know who Walter Payton is, all right?”
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Metz says his all-time favorite player is a guy who retired 15 years before he was born. Walter Payton.
‘Thank you for the trust’
Northwestern defensive lineman Joe Spivak (93) celebrates a sack against UNLV on Sept. 14, 2019. in Evanston. (Matt Marton/AP)
Metz’s decision was stunning but not unprecedented at Northwestern. Have you heard of Joe Spivak? Or as WildcatReport.com put it, “The Legend of Joe Spivak”?
The gloriously beefy defensive tackle from Montini opted to walk on at Northwestern rather than accept a scholarship offer from Michigan State about a week before national signing day in 2017, saying he preferred to earn a scholarship.
“There hasn’t been a day on campus,” he says, “where I question or regret my decision.”
Spivak says Northwestern walk-ons have a “cultish mindset” that supplies every shoulder with the ultimate chip: “Y’all are getting it paid while my parents are still paying for this expensive education.”
They dream of becoming the next to go from walk-on to star, like offensive lineman J.B. Butler or wide receiver Austin Carr, who caught a Big Ten-best 90 passes in 2016 and just completed his third season with the Saints.
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Spivak says he has heard that at some schools, walk-ons “come in and they make you a tackling dummy.”
“Here you’re an equal dude,” he says, “same gear, same training table, no separate workouts or locker room.”
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His father, Joe Sr., became an All-America offensive lineman for Illinois State after starting out as a walk-on. One sister, Courtney, walked on as a swimmer at Illinois; another, Lexi, did the same at Missouri.
Spivak is now a former walk-on, having earned a Northwestern scholarship in his second season.
“Validation,” he says.
Greyson Metz, left, and Will Halkyard, right, during gym class at Glenbard West on Jan. 9, 2020. Both Metz and Halkyard, a long snapper, will attend Northwestern in the fall and join the football team as preferred walk-ons. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
The Metz family huddled with Fitzgerald on Dec. 13 in his office. The coach spoke extensively and enthusiastically about the potential benefits of accepting his offer as a preferred walk-on.
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Greyson told him: “I want to come here.”
His parents were thrilled. So was Fitzgerald.
“Fitz went nuts,” Janel says. “He jumped up and said, ‘Really?’ He hugged Greyson and he hugged me and said, ‘Thank you for the trust.’ ”


chicagotribune--2020-01-15--Bears Q&A: With Bill Lazor’s hiring as offensive coordinator, is Andy Dalton far behind? Will Leonar

Bears Q&A: With Bill Lazor’s hiring as offensive coordinator, is Andy Dalton far behind? Will Leonard Floyd play for $13 million? Should Ryan Pace double down on linemen in Round 2?

This isn ’ t meant as a jab at Shaheen , but Pace said that about him in the same media session in which Pace praised Trubisky , and I just don ’ t believe you will find objective talent evaluators who will say that about Shaheen .
The Bears were pleased with the work he did on the field last spring , but it simply never transferred to the playing field .
So , from my perspective , it ’ s fair to wonder about transparency when you have the GM backing his former pick like that .
Pace @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in this setting ; he simply could have said that Shaheen ’ s availability has stunted his development .
Now , it ’ s possible that conversations the Bears have behind closed doors at Halas Hall are more candid when it comes to personnel review .
You ’ d certainly hope so .
Pace always is going to be careful not to criticize players to the media , but he could have summed up Shaheen ’ s first three seasons without leading some to wonder about the very word you used : transparency @

The Tribune’s Brad Biggs answers your Bears questions weekly.
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With the hiring of Bill Lazor as offensive coordinator, do we see an ensuing trade coming to obtain Andy Dalton to push Mitch Trubisky? What would it cost the Bears besides the $17 million Dalton is owed? — @bbtwice1080
A lot of folks have jumped to the conclusion that the hiring of Lazor as offensive coordinator is a precursor to the acquisition of the 32-year-old Dalton, who has one year remaining on his contract with the Bengals. It would be a stunner if the Bengals didn’t use the No. 1 draft pick in April on LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, who had a fantastic season and an even better performance in the playoffs.
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It would stand to reason that the Bengals would seek to get something in return for Dalton, although they could choose to simply release him. The Bears either would have to trade for him or try to sign him as a free agent. I can’t imagine the asking price in terms of a draft pick would be terribly high. The Broncos acquired Joe Flacco from the Ravens last offseason for a fourth-round pick.
Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton warms up before a game against the Browns on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019 in Cincinnati. The Bears' hiring of former Bengals offensive coordinator Bill Lazor has some fans speculating that they might try to acquire Dalton. (Bryan Woolston/AP)
There could be multiple teams interested in acquiring Dalton. In fact, I wrote more than two months ago that Dalton was the veteran possibility for the Bears that most interested me. Where does this lead? We’ll have to see. General manager Ryan Pace indicated the team is seeking to add more competition behind Trubisky this coming season. Dalton’s one-year price tag of $17.7 million ($17.2 million base salary and a $500,000 workout bonus) could take a large chunk out of the team’s available salary cap space, especially if the NFL and NFLPA do not hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement before the start of the new league year on March 18.
But to get back to the Lazor and Dalton connection, I don’t believe the Bears hired Lazor with the idea of adding Dalton next. I think coach Matt Nagy made the best hire he could given the circumstances.
Do the Bears have to pay Leonard Floyd $13 million next year? I am guessing his market value is about half of that. Can it be negotiated, or do they have to pay him that amount or release him? What do you think a guy with his stats/abilities is worth on the open market. — Chuck C., Austin, Texas
The fifth-year option in Floyd’s contract calls for him to earn $13.222 million this season, and that amount will become fully guaranteed if he’s on the roster when the new league year begins March 18. So the only way for the Bears to reduce that number in 2020 is to sign him to a restructured contract, likely an extension, or release him. Obviously, Floyd is going to want to play for that amount in 2020 or sign an extension that guarantees him more overall money. While I haven’t heard any whispers of a possible extension for Floyd, I wouldn’t rule it out. The Bears like him and could potentially lower his 2020 pay a bit with a multi-year deal that, like I said, guarantees him more money.
But he’s got some leverage in this instance. If Floyd doesn’t like what the Bears offer, he can balk and force them to pay him $13.222 million this season or make him a free agent. I’d agree that he’s not worth that much per year, but he’s certainly been more valuable that the $15.78 million the team has paid him over the last four seasons. At the end of the season I asked GM Ryan Pace how the team balances his past performance and future projections against a $13 million salary.
“We’re happy with Leonard,” Pace said. “I know the stats don’t always say that, but Leonard does a lot of things that I think may be a little bit undervalued. The versatility he provides, the things he can do in coverage. There aren’t a lot of outside linebackers that can provide the versatility he provides. Would we like more production from him? Yeah. Would he like that? Yeah. But there’s a lot of things he does that we like. As far as his contract, you know we’re never going to get into those things, but we like Leonard, we’re glad he’s here. Like a lot of our players, does he want to play better? Yeah. Can he play better? Yeah, and we’ll see going forward.
“He plays with such a high motor, he plays physical, he played the run really well this year. Again, there’s a lot of things in coverage that he does, there’s a lot of things that outside linebackers can’t do. I think him just growing as a pass rusher and I think (outside linebackers coach) Ted Monachino does a great job. I know that’s something they’re going to emphasize, and there’s a lot of times this year where he’s so close. If you look at his pressures and his hits and his hurries, they’re up there. The sack production not so much, and I think in a lot of ways, too, you look at the sack production of our entire defense. How many times this year were we playing with big leads where they could really pin their ears back? So, I think there’s kind of a complementary football aspect to our sacks, our turnovers that’s connected altogether with our team.”
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I have seen bad Bears quarterbacks! For example, Chad Hutchinson and Craig Krenzel. But Mitch Trubisky does not fit that mold. He looks way better than that. He can look like an elite QB for part of a game and then like one of those bad guys for part of it. My point is this: A guy does not just luck into zipping a ball into a tight window like he can or making a spectacular throw across his body while rolling right. The talent is obvious. What the heck is missing? — Bill P., Naperville
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 19 The Bears introduce Mitch Trubisky after drafting him with the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NFL draft during a news conference at Halas Hall on April 28, 2017. (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune)
I don’t think anyone is comparing Hutchinson and Krenzel, two quarterbacks forced into action 15 years ago because of an injury to Rex Grossman, to Trubisky. Hutchinson was signed as a free agent after his baseball career, and Krenzel was a fifth-round pick. Those guys should not be in an apples-to-apples comparison with Trubisky, who was the second overall pick in the 2017 draft. You’re right, Trubisky has the ability to look very good at times and make special plays with his arm and his legs. But over the course of his three seasons, and especially in 2019, he is consistently inconsistent, and that’s problematic. It’s rare that he strings together quality drives, let alone quality starts. There are too many issues with reading the defense, decision making and fundamentals when it comes to delivering the ball, problems that should be cleaned up with the experience he has in the offense. That’s what is missing, from my perspective.
Will lack of transparency within the organization cause a major setback for the Bears? Or will Ryan Pace consider actually evaluating players at needed positions evenly? — @b_uzerr
That’s a fair question for the organization as it enters what will be a significant offseason of decisions and moves to reshape the roster. It’s difficult to completely buy into what Pace said about quarterback Mitch Trubisky at the end of the season because he also said the team has liked what it’s seen from tight end Adam Shaheen. The former second-round draft pick was a healthy scratch by coach Matt Nagy during the middle of 2019 before suffering a foot injury that landed him on injured reserve.
“Shaheen's talented,” Pace said. “What has hurt his development, especially being raw, small school, is just the time he's missed. When he's played, we've liked what we've seen. He just hasn't put it out there long. So, he knows that. We've talked to him about that. He's frustrated. We're frustrated. He needs to stay healthy to continue to develop as a young player.”
This isn’t meant as a jab at Shaheen, but Pace said that about him in the same media session in which Pace praised Trubisky, and I just don’t believe you will find objective talent evaluators who will say that about Shaheen. The Bears were pleased with the work he did on the field last spring, but it simply never transferred to the playing field. So, from my perspective, it’s fair to wonder about transparency when you have the GM backing his former pick like that. Pace didn’t have to criticize Shaheen in this setting; he simply could have said that Shaheen’s availability has stunted his development. Now, it’s possible that conversations the Bears have behind closed doors at Halas Hall are more candid when it comes to personnel review. You’d certainly hope so. Pace always is going to be careful not to criticize players to the media, but he could have summed up Shaheen’s first three seasons without leading some to wonder about the very word you used: transparency.
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Why in the world did Ryan Pace give Eddie Jackson that huge extension now? A year after being ranked the best safety in the NFL by Pro Football Focus, he was ranked 86th for this season. Pace had all the leverage here — aka the franchise tag — but yet decided to make someone who’s just been mediocre for two of his three years in the league the highest-paid player at his position per AAV. Why couldn’t he have waited until after next season for Jackson to prove 2018 wasn’t a fluke? — Gavin M., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 43 Bears free safety Eddie Jackson heads to the locker room after a 21-9 playoff loss to the Saints on Jan. 10, 2021, in New Orleans. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
That probably gives you an indication of what kind of stock teams put into rankings by PFF or other outlets. Jackson wasn’t nearly as productive in 2019 as he was the year before, but a handful of factors went into that, such as the fact that the team played him at strong safety more while rotating Ha Ha Clinton-Dix into the back end. The only issue I have about the timing of the deal is how it would impact the team’s salary cap if the NFL and NFLPA do not reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement that will raise the salary cap for 2020. The Bears are going to be snug against the cap if a new deal is not brokered before the start of the new league year.
But doing the deal now makes sense for a couple of reasons. First, the Bears got the contract done before Justin Simmons of the Broncos and the Vikings’ Anthony Harris signed new contracts. They’re in position to receive huge deals, and by getting Jackson done now the Bears avoid potentially having to top them. More importantly, if a new CBA is reached and the salary cap bumps up by 10 or 20% the asking price of players will rise accordingly. So signing Jackson to an extension under the current CBA prevents the Bears from having to deal with the rising expectations of players. Jackson is a core member of the defense and was worthy of a new contract after developing quickly as a fourth-round draft pick. Now he’s got to play at an elite level for the next several seasons.
How will the offense change with the new coordinator? Who will call plays, Matt Nagy or the OC? — @chicagoperspec1
It remains to be seen how the offense will change with the addition of coordinator Bill Lazor along with the hiring of Juan Castillo to oversee the offensive line and Clancy Barone as tight ends coach. That’s going to be a work in progress led by Nagy, who will continue to be the play caller. Play calling isn’t something that just happens on game day. It’s a collaborative effort by the staff that involves putting together a game plan and call sheet every week. Ultimately, Nagy oversees it all, and he will be responsible for the results. We’ll see what shakes out. I am sure an evaluation of what worked, what didn’t and what changes need to be implemented is ongoing.
You’re probably tired of these quarterback questions, but I’ll gamble on again bringing up Jimmy Garoppolo with him playing in the NFC title game this week. Prior to the 2017 draft, when the Bears chose Mitch Trubisky, did they make any attempt to get Garoppolo from the Patriots with him becoming a free agent at the end of 2017? — Pat R., Chicago
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The 49ers' Jimmy Garoppolo passes against the Vikings during an NFC divisional-round playoff game on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020 in Santa Clara, Calif. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)
The Bears drafted Trubisky in April 2017 and, at that point, the Patriots were not at a point that they were inclined to trade Garoppolo. It’s well documented that the 49ers called the Patriots early in the process, asked about Garoppolo and were told he wasn’t available. That situation changed as the trade deadline arrived in October. It turned into a pretty good deal for the 49ers, costing only a second-round draft pick. At that point, with Trubisky already on board, the Bears already were committed at the position. Sometimes timing is everything, right? Had the 49ers drafted Trubisky No. 2 overall instead of trading that pick to the Bears, or gone after another quarterback in the first round that year, who knows what path Garoppolo might have taken.
Do you think Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace will take notice of the Titans and 49ers running their way through the playoffs? Would there be a better way of setting up Mitch Trubisky for success than an actual running game? — Marc B., Nashville, Tenn.
There’s no question the Bears need to be better at running the football. They were poor in 2019, averaging only 3.7 yards per carry and having a shortage of explosive runs — plays that gain 10 or more yards. That made it difficult to sustain drives. There is blame to go all the way around, although the team sure pinned plenty of it on ousted offensive line coach Harry Hiestand. There also was a failure to commit to the run at times, but that can be overblown. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said something really smart last week as his team prepared to face the Vikings in the divisional round of the playoffs.
“Everybody wants to commit to the run and stuff,” Shanahan said. “Committing to the run isn’t just committing to the run. Players laugh at me a lot because I always say, ‘Do you guys want to run the ball? Yeah. You better be able to throw it then. If we want to throw it, you better be able to run it. You don’t just run the ball and get 40 runs by calling run-run-pass because you’re going to be in some third-and-8s. You’re not going to do that good on third-and-8.
"You have to mix it up; you’ve got to do things. How does the defense play? How good do you do on third down? Are we getting some explosive runs? Eventually if you just get 5 yards here and there every time, that’s great, but are you going to get points? All that stuff goes into it. You can’t give a good answer for that because there’s variables within the entire game that usually leads to who has the most run carries. Usually the team who has the most run carries wins so you try to get the most run carries. But, the answer isn’t just calling run every play.”
The bottom line is the Bears have to be better running the ball. They need to be able to pick up 5 yards on first-and-10. They need to be able to get a tough yard on third-and-1 when the defense is expecting run. They need to be able to spring David Montgomery for a 25-yard gain here and there. The Packers dared the Bears to run the ball by playing them twice with sub personnel for virtually the entire game. The Bears didn’t run in the first meeting and couldn’t run in the second meeting. That’s a problem that needs to be addressed.
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I’d also point out that Nagy comes from the Chiefs, and like the Titans and 49ers, they’ve advanced in the playoffs; they’ve done so by throwing the ball. So, don’t expect some offseason transformation in which Nagy starts sounding like Lovie Smith, fondly speaking about getting off the bus running.
The Bears have two second-round draft picks. I believe they should spend both of those picks on offensive linemen. Do you agree, or should they go best player available? — @68shaubooker
I understand why you believe they should use their early picks on multiple offensive linemen. Let me explain why this is no way to think about a draft going into it. There’s no telling what kind of linemen are going to be on the board in the middle of Round 2. What if the good ones have been scooped up and the only linemen the Bears are looking at on their board have mid-round grades? Then what do they do? Overdraft players with two picks? That doesn’t make a lot of sense. Elite offensive tackles go in the first round, so you’re probably not going to be able to find a Day 1 starter at that position midway through the second round. You could find a nice interior prospect, though, and the Bears certainly could use some young talent on the line. I think it will be among a handful of positions the team considers, with the highest grade winning out. They could use a tight end, wide receiver and a cornerback. That’s probably too early for a safety.
Why do the Bears not tailor the offense to fit Mitch Trubisky’s strengths like Ravens have done with Lamar Jackson? Running, moving the pocket, etc.? — @cubbynaz
I hear this a lot, and I have a few reactions. First, you do see the Bears move the pocket with Trubisky and roll him out. Contrary to popular opinion, the Bears do that within the framework of the offense. Trubisky, for whatever reason, and perhaps the left shoulder injury early in the season was a factor, did not run the ball as much in 2019 as he did the year before. The coaching staff was emphatic, repeatedly saying Trubisky was not under a “don’t run the ball” mandate. He did pull the ball down and start to run more late in the season. My second reaction is, don’t you believe coach Matt Nagy already has done that? In other words, is it possible that Trubisky just isn’t great at what his publicly perceived strengths are? No one really believes Nagy is asking his quarterback to do things he doesn’t believe Trubisky does well, do they?
I know it is discussed to death, but bad luck can’t explain away three decades of not being able to ID a franchise QB while the Packers have had two Hall of Fame quarterbacks, neither of whom were a top-10 pick. Is this a Halas family issue of not properly prioritizing the QB position as a franchise anchor? — @tjsattler12
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You’re a little light on the decades there. That takes us back to 1990, and most following the Bears will tell you the quarterback problems date back about a half century longer than that. I don’t know what to chalk it up to, but you can’t blame the McCaskeys for picking the wrong guys. They’re not involved in the draft or player procurement. Maybe you blame them for picking the wrong personnel people. It’s certainly made things difficult in the NFC North and before that the NFC Central as the Packers have had elite quarterback play for more than 25 years. There are teams in the AFC East that have been waiting forever for the Tom Brady run to end in New England, but he hasn’t been there as long as the Brett Favre/Aaron Rodgers run has lasted in Green Bay.
What do you think about Jalen Hurts if he’s there in the second round? High upside and a high-character guy. He could push Mitch Trubisky, and even if he doesn’t start right away, Matt Nagy would have a new Taysom Hill-like toy to play with. — @ericjen98778943
It’s early, but most expect Hurts to be on the board in Round 2 and possibly later than that. He’s absolutely a high-character player, and he will come to the NFL with a ton of experience in big games. But the scouts I have spoken to about him don’t share your opinion that he’s a high-ceiling prospect. Nagy doesn’t need a Taysom Hill-like toy. He needs a high-performing quarterback. Once he gets that, then you can start to think about gadget players.
Is it fair to say that tickets to training camp now that the Bears have relocated from Bourbonnais will be difficult for the average fan to obtain? I enjoyed going to see them at ONU over the years. — Alan M., Joliet
It’s not going to be as easy for fans to access the team during training camp with the club relocated to Halas Hall in Lake Forest, an change the Bears announced Tuesday. There’s simply not nearly as much space surrounding the practice fields at the facility to host the number of fans who attended practices at Olivet Nazarene. It also remains to be seen how many training camp practices the Bears choose to open to the public at Halas Hall. It was a nice 18-year run for the team in Bourbonnais, and the Bears and the school did a really nice job hosting fans. The team has yet to address how fans will be able to access tickets. Stay tuned.


chicagotribune--2020-01-16--What’s your thoughts on Megxit? Seeing what we want in Prince Harry and Meghan’s plans to ‘step back

What’s your thoughts on Megxit? Seeing what we want in Prince Harry and Meghan’s plans to ‘step back’

Or is this all about having one ’ s cake and eating it too ( a ubiquitous Megxit cliche ) @ @ @ @ @ part of a highly privileged and very wealthy young couple to duck dull responsibility in @ @ @ @ @ the likes of Oprah Winfrey and the Obamas and set themselves up to leverage their @ @ @ @ @ ; she , showbiz ) to make yet more cash with a veneer of doing @ @ @ @ @ Is this really about young people who have yet to figure out that choices have @ @ @ @ @ something you want , you invariably have to give something up , however painful that @ @ @

What lies at the heart of Megxit, the planet-shattering desire of two young parents to abandon the suffocating pressures of their lives on a small, formalist island in the North Atlantic and find room to breathe, and lucrative deals to make, in the wide-open spaces of North America?
(Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle made the announcement recently they would “step back” from their official duties in Britain’s royal family and live at least part time in North America. On Saturday, Buckingham Palace announced they are quitting as working royals and will no longer use the titles “royal highness” or receive public funds for their work.)
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Is this a consequence of a lingering, nationalist kind of racism? Yes, say many wise commentators with a long view. No, say those who insist that Markle, an American actress of mixed racial heritage, was initially loved and embraced as an opportunity for the British monarchy to modernize and throw off the less desirable aspects of its past — their wedding being both rapturously welcomed and warmly reviewed and the young Royals lauded as a new Fab Four.
Even in clear distress following the famed Megxit summit the other day, Queen Elizabeth spoke only with warmth of her disruptive (Yoko Ono-like?) daughter-in-law, reminding the world with repetition that she was part of her family. At press time, Markle had said nothing similar in support of her husband’s nonagenarian Gran.
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Or is this really a story of media harassment? Yes, say those who remember the young Prince Harry following his mother’s coffin down The Mall, part of a whole nation suffering the loss of the beloved Princess of Wales, a vulnerable and poorly treated woman chased to her death in 1997 in a dim Parisian tunnel by a vicious, Euro-tabloid press. No, say those who argue that cameras poking out of the shrubbery is part and parcel of royal life. Now and forever. Like “Cats.”
Or is this all about having one’s cake and eating it too (a ubiquitous Megxit cliche), a desire on the part of a highly privileged and very wealthy young couple to duck dull responsibility in the rain, commune with the likes of Oprah Winfrey and the Obamas and set themselves up to leverage their positions (he, royalty; she, showbiz) to make yet more cash with a veneer of doing glamorous, multi-platform good? Is this really about young people who have yet to figure out that choices have consequences and that to gain something you want, you invariably have to give something up, however painful that may seem.
Well? Which is it? You’ve had several days now, dear reader.
Probably, all of the above. How you feel likely says more about how you look at the world, and your feelings about the British monarchy — heck, your feelings about Britain and/or North America and their ability or lack thereof to make meaningful multi-cultural social progress — than these two humans locked in one of the globe’s strangest personal-professional scenarios.
“Who cares?” you might ask. But that’s disingenuous, since hundreds of millions of people most certainly do care, mostly because of the ability of this one seemingly minor event to crystallize so many of the fissures than make up political and social life in these first decades of the 21st century.
So let’s start with this truth: The only justification for privilege is service.
Decouple those two words and you have a problem. This is the argument consistently made by “Downton Abbey,” for example (its creator, Julian Fellowes, being a prominent advocate for gradual change) and, on occasion, by “The Crown.”
Service, of course, can take many forms. There is doing good for charities, say, but also economic service. British constitutional monarchists rightly note that the massive economic impact of the tourist-baiting royals far exceeds their actual cost to the public purse. By this measure, then, Canada is in a new, good spot. But the moment you remove service from the equation, or maybe even just diminish it, then it is hard to argue why Harry should retain either his title or his familial wealth.
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Inequality is laid bare. With no cushion on the horse.
On the other hand, there is a difference between choosing a life of service and being obliged to one by birth. Or marriage. In those circumstances, you can easily imagine a certain dislocation of soul and function. Then again, that’s hard to imagine if you’re living in poverty in Lancashire, England and struggling to feed your kids. You’d take a crisis of the soul over credit-card bills.
Then you have the currently popular, neo-Marxist argument that the very existence of royalty is a powerful conservative force that must be crushed from within or without. This school of thought very much wants to cast Meghan as a republican (lowercase) revolutionary, finally overthrowing the old crew. This theory is compromised by the couple’s digs on Vancouver Island.
And then again, many such folks don’t like the democratically elected (kinda) Donald J. Trump functioning as a head of state who is so divisive that some won’t go to the White House to be honored. Which hardly is a functional way for a democracy to run. Britain, thanks to its beloved, all-seeing, all-knowing, soul-of-discretion-and-politeness Queen, avoids all of that. Up to now.
Defenders of that state of being understandably worry about what damage Harry and Meghan might do, as they bare their presumably raw emotions in some imagined TV expose to which the traditional Royals will be unable to respond. These traditionalists argue that these two young people are not taking the long view.
Or maybe they are — it just happens to be a different long view. But a very hard needle to thread, no?
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History teaches us that the royals are vulnerable to the megarich — global jet setters with the access to the toys that the royals tend to crave, as many of us commoners also do, in our rare moments of honesty. For all their resources, the royals typically have to borrow yachts and the like to enjoy them. So if you put yourself in Harry and Meghan’s shoes, feeling unsupported and hounded by the press, you can see why they want resources and control. And, sure, the option for some nearby light service, which might just be more about the server than the served.
Meghan and Harry both seem to me like nice people locked in an impossible situation. Pulled this way and that way, mostly by people with their own agendas, bigger than themselves. It will take years before we see what Megxit really means.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-16--Man who spent years in prison for blowing up ex-girlfriend’s car convicted of threatening another wo

Man who spent years in prison for blowing up ex-girlfriend’s car convicted of threatening another woman. ‘Cross your fingers every time you start your engine ...’

“ Greco explained to Morgan that he put the bomb in the girlfriend ’ s window because it was more @ @ @ @ @ put it in the window of the guy with whom he had the problem , @ @ @ @ @ the 2003 filing .
“ He told Morgan he exacted revenge in this manner instead @ @ @ @ @ of the battery victim so that it would be less likely that he would get @ @ @

Dino Greco, 44, is currently on trial on charges of cyberstalking and violating an order of protection for allegedly threatening to blow up his ex-girlfriend in 2018. The charges are eerily similar to his conviction in 2003 in federal court for planting a pipe bomb in a different girlfriend's car, nearly killing her. (Cook County sheriff's office)
Rachel Snyder’s romance with an older busboy at the Schaumburg steakhouse where she waitressed was just blossoming a few years ago when he revealed something startling about his past.
An old newspaper article pulled up by Dino Greco on his phone had chronicled his 2004 federal conviction and 15-year prison sentence for blowing up his former girlfriend’s car with a pipe bomb, nearly killing her.
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Snyder read the article with surprise but kept dating Greco anyway. It didn’t take long for her to regret the decision.
“I believed people can change,” Snyder, 25, testified earlier this week in a hushed Cook County courtroom in Rolling Meadows. "Obviously, he didn’t.”
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Nearly 20 years after the bombing of his ex-girlfriend, Greco, 44, has been convicted of chilling new charges alleging he stalked and threatened Snyder after they broke up in 2017.
Snyder had filed for an order of protection, but the harassment only escalated, prosecutors said, with Greco posting sexually derogatory messages on social media and warning that Snyder needed to “run for her life.”
“When you least expect it, it will all end," read one message posted to a Facebook account allegedly created by Greco to torment his victim. "Cross your fingers every time you start your engine or open your door.”
Asked by prosecutors on the stand about what she thought was going to happen, Snyder paused before saying, “I was gonna die.”
After a three-day trial, the jury deliberated for only about 45 minutes Wednesday afternoon before finding Greco guilty of aggravated cyberstalking and violating an order of protection, according to Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for the state’s attorney’s office.
Greco, who is being held without bond at Cook County Jail, faces up to five years in state prison when he’s sentenced in March.
After Greco’s arrest on the stalking charges in March 2018, Schaumburg police were so concerned that they swept Snyder’s home and car for explosives, she testified. Soon after, Snyder left town to stay with her father in Florida out of fear for her safety.
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber, meanwhile, found Greco, of Hoffman Estates, to be in violation of his supervised release on his federal conviction and sentenced him in November 2018 to an additional 16 months in federal custody, a term that ended in May, court records show.
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The case marks the latest in a string of disturbing allegations against Greco, a once-promising law student who was suspected of pipe bombings and other attacks going as far back as 1992 when he was just 17, according to court records.
That year, Greco was suspected of detonating a pipe bomb outside the window of his high school girlfriend’s new love interest, whom he’d fought at school weeks earlier, record show.
In 1994, authorities believe Greco placed a live explosive in the yard of a Hoffman Estates detective who’d had a run-in with Greco, according to records. A year later, Greco was suspected of putting a pipe bomb in the window well of a suburban home as revenge against someone who was a witness against him in a battery case, authorities have alleged.
The judge overseeing Greco’s trial in Rolling Meadows recently ruled that jurors could hear about Greco’s federal conviction but not about the other cases since he was never charged in those, court records show.
Greco’s lawyer, Joseph Bianucci, conceded in his opening statement Tuesday that jurors were going to hear “a lot of bad things” about Greco. But he said prosecutors had no proof that he was the one behind threatening posts directed at Snyder.
Both federal and Cook County prosecutors have said in court filings over the years that Greco often boasted — to friends and victims alike — about his ability to exact revenge, particularly after waiting until his target had his or her guard down before making a move.
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“Revenge is a dish best served cold. Those are the words he lives by,” Assistant State’s Attorney Jaclyn Lantz said in her opening remarks Tuesday to jurors.
‘I need help’
On the morning of April 27, 2001, Jeanette Morgan left her Schaumburg home and opened the door to the Chevrolet Cavalier she’d bought earlier from Greco, triggering two pipe bombs that had been taped together and connected to the interior handle with a store-bought “party popper” firework.
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Cook County Bomb Squad investigate a car bombing in Schaumburg on April 27, 2001. Dino Greco pleaded guilty in 2004 and was released from federal prison in 2015. (Jerry Tomaselli/Chicago Tribune)
An attendant at a gas station across the street reported hearing a loud boom and felt the building shake “like a semi-truck crashing into a brick wall or a transformer exploding,” according to a filing by federal prosecutors in 2003.
Moments later, a frantic Morgan, then 19, walked into the station with blood running down her face, saying “I need help, my ex-boyfriend just tried to blow me and my car up,” according to the filing.
Morgan then started frantically digging in her purse, saying she needed to find the order of protection she’d taken out on Greco.
Dino Greco, 26, charged in the 2001 car bombing of his estranged girlfriend's car in Schaumburg. (Police photo)
At the time, authorities said that Morgan had been lucky. If she hadn’t been standing behind the driver’s side door at the moment of the blast, she could have been killed instantly. Instead, she was knocked to the pavement, suffering cuts to the head and shrapnel wounds to her hand. Fragments from the gunpowder-stuffed bomb flew more than 300 feet.
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In an interview with authorities hours after the attack, Greco denied involvement. But Morgan told investigators he had made numerous threats after their tumultuous relationship ended in late 2000, including telling her she “might as well buy a plot of land to put her coffin in,” court records show.
After Morgan began dating someone else, Greco called her new boyfriend at the hotel where he worked and said, “I hope you appreciate what you have because she’ll be six feet under soon,” records show.
Morgan reported the threats in her petition for an order of protection against Greco filed in January 2001. She also accused him of physical abuse and stalking, saying she was “fearful to be alone and fears (Greco) may put a bomb in her car,” the records show.
After the two met at a high school graduation party in 1999, the relationship had often been volatile, with Greco prone to jealous rages and accusations of cheating, according to court records.
He also talked openly about his penchant for using explosives to seek revenge against those he felt had wronged him — even demonstrating at one point “his familiarity with homemade explosives,” federal prosecutors said.
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In December 1999, Greco told Morgan that he’d been charged years earlier with using a baseball bat in a beating but wasn’t convicted "because it had happened at night and there wasn’t much light,” according to federal prosecutors.
Still, Greco wanted revenge against the victim for going to the police. One night, he placed a pipe bomb outside the window of an Inverness home where the victim’s girlfriend lived, according to federal prosecutors. The bomb exploded, shattering the window and wounding one person.
“Greco explained to Morgan that he put the bomb in the girlfriend’s window because it was more indirect than if he had put it in the window of the guy with whom he had the problem,” federal prosecutors said in the 2003 filing. “He told Morgan he exacted revenge in this manner instead of by bombing the house of the battery victim so that it would be less likely that he would get caught.”
Greco was arrested for the bombing of Morgan’s car in February 2002 after a strand of brown hair found on a piece of duct tape used to construct the device matched his DNA, court records show. In the trunk of Greco’s car, authorities found traces of nitroglycerin, an ingredient of the powder used to make the bomb.
Greco pleaded guilty two years later, largely because the federal judge overseeing the case ruled that evidence of his previous use of pipe bombs to settle scores could come in at trial.
At his sentencing hearing in July 2004, Greco declined to apologize for the bombing when given a chance to speak, telling the judge simply, “I’m OK.”
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‘Big Bad Wolf’
Greco was released from federal prison in May 2015 and began working a short time later as a busboy at Chicago Prime Italian in Schaumburg, where he met Snyder, a waitress nearly 20 years younger than him, court records show.
Snyder said they were just friends at first but began dating in February 2017.
He was well spoken and called her “sweetheart,” she said. Then, one night after work, he told her about his previous conviction.
“I asked him if he changed,” Snyder said in testimony at Greco’s federal parole violation hearing in November 2018. “He said, ‘Yes,’ and then the conversation kind of just wandered from there.”
But after three months of dating, Greco broke up with Snyder, telling her she was “not ready for a mature adult relationship,” according to her testimony in federal court.
Over the next several months, Snyder began receiving angry and in some cases threatening text messages from Greco, calling her a “drug-addicted whore” and including emojis of pills and pigs. She told Greco to stop, but the texts kept coming, from 19 different phone numbers at all hours of the day.
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By February 2018, Snyder said she’d had enough. She testified Tuesday that she took out an order of protection against Greco barring him from any contact with her, her mother, her mother’s boyfriend or her two cats, Leonard and Penny.
The text messages stopped as soon as Greco was served with the protection order in court, Snyder told jurors.
Several weeks later, however, a friend alerted Snyder to a disturbing Facebook profile that appeared to make a reference to Snyder. Other profiles were found on numerous other social media sites, all containing vague threats of violence accompanied by images of bombs, guns and skull-and-crossbones emojis, Snyder said.
Prosecutors displayed some of the posts for jurors in court. One, posted on March 8, 2018, referred to the “three little pigs” safe in their home — which Snyder said she took as her family listed on the protection order.
“But the Big Bad Wolf will Huff and Puff and blow your house UP anyway!” the post said. “I mean down. Not up. Check all cars for GPS, shut down all phones while driving and mount security cameras on all house doors and windows. The Boogie Man is coming.”
Another post boasted that “terrorists win when the people they terrorize have to change the way they live out of fear for their lives.”
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Snyder called the Schaumburg police and showed detectives printouts of the threats. Greco was arrested at his father’s house that day. According to prosecutors, many of the posts were later traced to a computer at a Home Depot where Greco had recently been working.
At the parole-revocation hearing before Leinenweber in 2018, Snyder was asked how her life has changed since meeting Greco.
“I started to open my car door differently," she said. "I would look under my car. I didn’t trust noises that I heard. It was scary.”
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jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-16--Man shot to death in same spot as peace march hours earlier near St. Sabina Church: ‘It breaks my he

Man shot to death in same spot as peace march hours earlier near St. Sabina Church: ‘It breaks my heart.’

A 23-year-old man was killed after being shot in the chest about 11:40 p.m. outside in the 1200 block of @ @ @ @ @ Gresham neighborhood , Chicago police said .
He was brought to University of Chicago Medical @ @ @ @ @ pronounced dead .
His identity has not been released , and no one is in @ @

Under the gray cross of St. Sabina Church, the Rev. Michael Pfleger and others gathered with blue plastic candles Wednesday night to remember the hundreds of people killed by gun violence last year.
Later that same evening, Pfleger returned to find a homicide scene where his “Walk for Peace,” held on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, had started.
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“This violence is just — it’s become the norm,” Pfleger said. “It just makes me angry and it breaks my heart.”
A 23-year-old man was shot in the chest around 11:40 p.m. in the 1200 block of West 78th Place in the Gresham neighborhood, Chicago police said. He was brought to University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. His identity has not been released, and no one was in custody.
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A man who said he’s a member of the church’s congregation said the 23-year-old ran to his car for safety. "I had just started my car up,” said the man, who declined to be identified. “Before you know it, he came running and hopped in the car, saying he was shot, he was shot.”
The man, who had been about to pick up his son, said he sped toward a police station and then saw a squad car at West 78th Street and South Racine Avenue and waved the officers down.
After the 23-year-old was placed into an ambulance, the man’s silver sedan remained in a wedge-shaped crime scene in front of a CTA bus stop. The car would stay there for hours. "I got to get to work in the morning,” he said, sounding harried.
The man stood across the street from where his car was surrounded by red crime tape, discussing the events of the night with Pfleger and another neighbor, who said he had heard gunshots too. Eventually, the man walked off with a sergeant south on Racine.
“We need a car to take a witness to Area,” an officer radioed in shortly afterward, referring to the Area South detective division.
Pfleger, after checking in with the man, left the scene around midnight. “It’s crazy," he said. "We have a love affair with guns in America.”
ayin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-15--DUI investigation underway after driver hits CTA bus in Tri-Taylor, police say

About 11:30 p.m. , the man was driving southbound on Damen Avenue when he hit the rear of the bus @ @ @ @ @ on Damen and turning west onto Taylor Street in the Tri-Taylor neighborhood on the West @ @ @ @ @ After hitting the bus , the man ’ s car jumped the median and continued @ @ @ @ @ before hitting a pole .

A 26-year-old man was arrested after he drove a black BMW X3 into a CTA bus Wednesday night, according to Chicago police.
About 11:30 p.m., the man was driving south on Damen Avenue when he hit the rear of the bus, which was traveling north on Damen and turning west onto Taylor Street in the Tri-Taylor neighborhood on the West Side, police said. After hitting the bus, the man’s car jumped the median and continued southbound in the northbound lane before hitting a pole.
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There were 13 people on the bus during the incident, and seven were taken to Stroger Hospital for observation, police said. None of the passengers, all adults, had serious injuries.
The BMW driver was not injured, police said. He is being investigated for a possible DUI.
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pfry@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-15--Ask Amy: New girlfriend wants to X ex's texts

You do n't mention what amount of money is still owed , but your boyfriend should let his ex continue @ @ @ @ @ and then he should consider stopping all contact -- when she still has a minimal @ @ @ @ @ Forgiving that last payment might be in everyone 's best interest .

Dear Amy: My boyfriend and I have been together for three months. We regularly talk about our future together, but there is one thing getting in the way.
His ex, whom he broke up with nearly eight months ago, continues to text him.
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At first it was nothing to worry about -- it was simply texts arranging for when she would send him payments of money she owed him.
Lately, messages come in nearly every day, saying things like, "I'm having a bad day, please answer this when you see it. I don't know who else makes me feel safe." Or, "I can't wait to be with you again, baby."
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He has been very open with me about the whole thing, letting me read his messages to her and telling me every time she texts him.
He never answers her texts unless it is about money, but his big heart gets in the way when she tries to manipulate him into talking to her.
I want so badly to text her myself and tell her to leave him alone, except I know that would be overstepping, and might mean that he would no longer get his money repaid.
He says he will block her on all platforms when she has repaid him.
I worry that she may never pay him back the total amount in order to always have a reason to talk to him.
— The New Girlfriend
Dear Girlfriend: Your boyfriend is doing the right thing by being transparent with you about these text messages. The downside of him being so open with you is that you have taken on this drama.
You should not contact her. First of all, this is not your business. You do not own this man; you don't have the right to tell someone not to contact him.
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It does seem to me, however, that an "I can't wait to be with you again, baby" message should be met with a one-time "We have broken up. It's time for you to move on" message (from him).
If he is even passively stringing her along until she repays him, then he is being almost as manipulative as she is.
You don't mention what amount of money is still owed, but your boyfriend should let his ex continue to pay her debt, and then he should consider stopping all contact -- when she still has a minimal amount left to pay. Forgiving that last payment might be in everyone's best interest.
Dear Amy: Our son-in-law "Steve's" stepfather, "Tom," is a man with whom my husband and I have had a cautious but cordial relationship for many years.
Over the past year, Steve and Tom have had a major falling out and Tom is banned from having any contact or relationship with Steve and his family (our daughter and grandkids). We support Steve's stand on this, since there has been a troubled relationship between them for many years.
Tom and his wife "Martha" (Steve's mother) are having marital issues, but remain together for now.
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We all live in the same town and have done many joint family gatherings (birthdays, holidays, etc.) together over the years, until this recent rift.
Now Martha joins family social gatherings alone, so we have had no interactions with Tom for over a year.
Soon Steve, our daughter and the grandkids are moving out of state.
We are not sure how to continue to support Steve's family, by not socializing with Tom once they are gone. We have always had a good relationship with Martha.
Now that Steve and family aren't present, should we continue to exclude Tom?
What do we say to Martha when we invite her to gatherings, or if she invites us to her house where Tom might be present?
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— It's Complicated
Dear Complicated: "Steve" is well within his rights to exclude his stepfather and to ask that you also exclude him if Steve and family will be present in your home.
Steve does not get to insist that you must also exclude his stepfather when Steve is not even in the state, however.
Ask Amy Daily No-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
You should behave in a way that most honors your independent relationship with "Martha."
Dear Amy: Ouch! I thought you were a little too tough on "K in Colorado" the older man who is frustrated because so many people assume he is his son's grandfather. I hope you are rethinking your answer to him.
— Stung
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Dear Stung: "K" used his frustration over this as a justification for belittling an overweight woman, in his son's presence. I think he needed a reality check.
Get the latest no-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning with our Ask Amy newsletter. Sign up here.
(You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.)
Copyright 2019 by Amy Dickinson
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency


chicagotribune--2020-01-15--'The tip of my finger was almost hanging’: Bulls lose Daniel Gafford for 2-4 weeks with a dislocated

'The tip of my finger was almost hanging’: Bulls lose Daniel Gafford for 2-4 weeks with a dislocated thumb in a 115-106 win over the Wizards

“ But I said this before Wendell went down : I don ’ t think any teams are going to @ @ @ @ @ They ’ re going to come in and take advantage of it , so we @ @ @ @ @ next man up and play through it .
Support him off the court , help @ @ @ @ @ sure his hand ’ s right .
I know he ’ s a tough kid @ @ @ @ @ I think we ’ ll be OK. We ’ ve just got to fill in @ @ @ @ @ gap .
”

The halftime show at the United Center during the Bulls’ 115-106 victory over the Wizards featured a performance to popular Disney songs and it left behind several red streamers hanging from the new scoreboard as the two teams prepared to take the court for the second half.
The officials attempted to delay the game to get those streamers taken down, but Bulls coach Jim Boylen wasn’t having it.
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“What are we worried about streamers for?” Boylen said. “We got a game to play. They got to get home. They got to travel. What are we doing?”
There are streamers stuck on the scoreboard from the halftime show (some sort of routine with Disney songs), but the second half is underway anyway here pic.twitter.com/A2mwMzW1p2 — Jamal Collier (@JamalCollier) January 16, 2020
So, Boylen brought over Wizards coach Scott Brooks, who also didn’t have an issue with it, and the two teams played as streamers hung down over the court. It made for a strange scene for this matchup between two teams near the bottom of the Eastern conference, neither of whom have had much reason to celebrate this season.
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A 22-6 run to begin the third quarter helped the Bulls come away with the victory for just the second time in the past nine games — streamers might be present at every halftime show at the United Center for the rest of the season — but the win was also clouded by more trouble with the injury bug.
Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s game against Washington.
1. Zach LaVine is playing like an All-Star.
Zach LaVine deserves serious consideration to make the All-Star team next month.
He had proven to be capable of the elite scoring performances few players in the league can match, but lately he’s also showing the consistency that players at the All-Star level can match — and that the Bulls desperately need.
LaVine has scored at least 25 points in five consecutive games, the best streak of his career, capped off with his stellar performance Wednesday night, scoring 30 points to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists to help the Bulls to victory over the Wizards and their two-time All-Star Bradley Beal, who played despite a shoulder injury that made him a game-time decision.
“I expect myself to play this way,” LaVine said. “I put a lot of work in for it. And it’s good, doesn’t mean a lot to me unless it ends in a win.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 11 Wizards guard Jordan McRae defends Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen during the first half on Jan. 15, 2020, at the United Center. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
“You have to be consistent. I think I have in the past and I got to continue to do it going forward. I’m in a nice little groove right now, but I got the same mindset every time I step on the floor.”
The case for LaVine to make next month’s All-Star Game at the United Center rests largely on his scoring ability. He is averaging 24.6 points per game, which is tied for 15th in the NBA and sixth in the Eastern Conference. He’s scored 30 points in 13 games this season, often tasked with carrying the Bulls offense almost singlehandily.
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LaVine has competition in the backcourt for the Eastern Conference, with the Celtics’ Kemba Walker and the Wizards’ Bradley Beal likely to earn the nod. Kyrie Irving of the Nets and Trae Young of the Hawks are leading the fan voting, which accounts for 50% of the vote for starters, and a few other guards on more successful teams will have strong cases as well. But LaVine will have the advantage of the game being in Chicago, which should give him strong consideration from the coaches or if an injury replacement is needed.
But judging by the scoring tear LaVine has been on since the start of December, he’s making a strong case himself to earn his first All-Star nod.
“He should be in the game,” Jim Boylen said. “He’s an All-Star-caliber player. He’s an All-Star-caliber person. He’s worked very hard. It’s an unbelievable story too — wins the dunk contest twice, tears the ACL, comes back, becoming a two-way player. He’s leading more. He’s communicating more. He’s developing.
“And then you look at his crunch-time numbers and the big shots that he makes in winning time, I think it’s all right there for him. He’s done a great job.”
2. With Daniel Gafford out, the Bulls may have to go small more often.
The Bulls were already awfully thin in the frontcourt beforethe injury to rookie Daniel Gafford, who will be out two to four weeks with a dislocated thumb.
Without Gafford, Luke Kornet played a game-high 35 minutes and Cristiano Felicio returned from exile to receive his first non-garbage-time minutes of the season. It worked against the Wizards, but that’s not a recipe for success if the Bulls hope to compete with the rest of the league going forward.
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So, the Bulls are going to have to get creative to make up for the loss of Gafford and it will be interesting to see how Jim Boylen adjusts.
“You may see some guys that haven’t been playing start playing more,” he said. “And you may see us play small, but we’re not going to change what we do, but we’ll play small out of necessity maybe.”
The small lineup for the Bulls could include more time with Lauri Markkanen starting at center while Thaddeus Young, who came off the bench with 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting, matching a season high, slides in at the four. Boylen has not played Markkanen and Young together very often this year, preferring to keep a more traditional center on the floor in his scheme, but with his options limited, those two should see more minutes together in the coming games.
3. Injuries continue to mount.
The Bulls haven’t been able to catch a break with injuries lately.
Otto Porter hasn’t played since November and Jim Boylen didn’t have much clarity on when he’d be back. Wendell Carter is out for at least a month. They lost Daniel Gafford in the first quarter and they may also be without forward Chandler Hutchison, who reinjured his right shoulder after he fell to the ground hard on a dunk attempt in the fourth quarter.
Hutchison, who is scheduled to be re-evaluated Thursday, had been bothered by a right shoulder injury throughout the month of December. The Bulls are already short on players in their rotation and their schedule this month is unforgiving with back-to-back games on the horizon this weekend, Friday in Philadelphia and at home Saturday against the Cavs, so they can hardly afford more extended absences.
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“Next man will step up,” Jim Boylen said. “And we’ll continue to play hard and do what we do.”
Here’s more coverage from Wednesday’s game:
Daniel Gafford stood, bent over underneath the basket and clutched his right hand, startled by what he saw. Not even 90 seconds had passed after the start of Wednesday night’s game against the Wizards when Gafford deflected and intercepted a pass from Ian Mahinmi that he initially believed had only jammed his thumb.
It wasn’t until Gafford looked down that he saw the extent of the damage.
“It was way more than a jam,” Gafford said, laughing, after the Bulls’ 115-106 victory. “And it kind of caught me off guard. I had to double-take, look at it, because this is the first time this has ever happened to me … the tip of my finger was almost hanging.”
The Bulls announced Gafford, who has been starting at center in place of Wendell Carter Jr., was diagnosed with a dislocated right thumb with a cut and is expected to be sidelined for two to four weeks. Gafford did not feel any pain as he stood on the court initially, not until he secured the ball and called timeout, at which point he sprinted off the court and returned to the locker room.
That’s where the pain began to set in, though Gafford said it never became unbearable. Not even while team doctors popped his finger back into place and gave him and the Bulls the bad news.
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They were able to withstand the loss of Gafford and come away with a victory thanks to Zach LaVine’s game-high 30 points with seven rebounds and seven assists, his 13th game with at least 30 points this season and his fifth straight with at least 25. His performance strengthened his case to make the All-Star Game next month in Chicago.
But the Bulls were struck by the injury bug once again — Chandler Hutchison also aggravated his injured right shoulder landing awkwardly on a dunk attempt and will be re-evaluated Thursday — dealing another blow to their already thin frontcourt depth with Carter out for at least a month with a right ankle sprain.
“It sucks. I feel bad for DG,” LaVine said. “He got his first couple starts under his belt. Injuries is one of the worst things in sports.
“But I said this before Wendell went down: I don’t think any teams are going to feel bad for us. They’re going to come in and take advantage of it, so we’ve got to be next man up and play through it. Support him off the court, help him get back, make sure his hand’s right. I know he’s a tough kid, but on the court I think we’ll be OK. We’ve just got to fill in and make up for the gap.”
Gafford had been exceeding expectations as a second-round draft pick from Arkansas. He started his fourth straight game Wednesday since Carter’s injury and was averaging 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds since moving into the lineup. He’s averaging 1.4 blocked shots in 31 games for the season.
The Bulls have 15 players on their roster, which limits their options to add a player in Gafford’s and Carter’s absence. That leaves them with two centers: Luke Kornet, who played a game-high 35 minutes Wednesday, and Cristiano Felicio, who saw his first action of the season aside from two minutes during garbage time Monday night in Boston.
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“Next man will step up,” coach Jim Boylen said. “And we’ll continue to play hard and do what we do.”


chicagotribune--2020-01-15--Zack Smith scores 2 goals and Patrick Kane nabs 998th point as Blackhawks beat Canadiens 4-1 for the

Zack Smith scores 2 goals and Patrick Kane nabs 998th point as Blackhawks beat Canadiens 4-1 for their 3rd straight win

Then , with less than six minutes gone in the first , Canadiens goalie Charlie Lindgren and Tomas Tatar bumped @ @ @ @ @ net and left the puck waiting for Drake Caggiula .
Lindgren fell down on the @ @ @ @ @ Caggiula centered the puck to Smith , who had an open net for a shorthanded @ @

MONTREAL — Brandon Saad and Dylan Strome weren’t in Montreal for Wednesday’s 4-1 win over the Canadiens but it’s possible they will join the team in Toronto.
Will they play on Saturday against the Maple Leafs? That's a different story.
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Saad has been out nearly a month with a right ankle injury, and Saad has missed the last four games with a similar injury though not as severe.
After the Hawks beat the Canadiens, coach Jeremy Colliton said the duo may catch up with the team before Saturday’s game but would still need to prove they’re ready by practicing on Friday.
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“Whether they’re going to play or not I’m not sure," Colliton said. "If anyone’s going to come, we’ll need to practice and see how it goes.”
Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s win.
1. These aren’t the players you normally hear about. And that’s OK.
Zack Smith’s two goals against the Canadiens will be remembered as the story of this game but he was not the only player who doesn’t normally get much publicity to have a nice game.
Matthew Highmore was running into corners all night to try and win puck battles, and he drew a penalty in the second period that led to Alex DeBrincat's power-play goal that restored the Hawks' two-goal lead.
Slater Koekkoek had a solid game, and his pass — or, rather, a “shot-pass” as Smith called it — that Smith redirected for his second goal gave him a modest two-game scoring streak.
Drake Caggiula assisted on Smith's first goal and had a fantastic unassisted goal in the third period when he stripped Jordan Weal at the Canadiens' blue line and scored on a breakaway for his first goal since returning from a concussion.
"Hold on, we’re going home" Drake says to the little puck. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/qnDsUnrRxG — Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 16, 2020
But it was Smith who had the best game, and he was pretty excited about it. Well, about as excited as a mild-mannered hockey player can be.
"I was just jacked after the first one," Smith said. "And after the second one I was like, 'Jeez, I might have to pinch myself here. Might still be pregame napping.' It felt good and I've always scored in bunches. I can go a long time without scoring and then when I do, I get a little more confidence with the puck and a nose for the net.
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"Great example was the second one, too: I was parked in front of the net, stick down, expecting the puck to get there, and it does get there."
Smith praised his linemates, Highmore and Dylan Sikura, for contributing to his big night.
"Highmore was great on the forecheck, he was buzzing," Smith said. "Drew a big penalty tonight. A couple times I was just flipping pucks to areas, and Highzy and Sikura were getting to those pucks, beating their D to it. So that was a big part of it too.
"We had some really good zone time in their end and I think a lot of it had to do with those two just skating really well tonight."
2. Don’t get too excited: The Canadiens are better than the Senators and Ducks but still aren’t very good.
The schedule over the last three games seemed to favor the Hawks with the Ducks, Senators and Canadiens coming up. But then again, the scheduled seemed to favor the Hawks before losing games to the Devils, Kings and two the Sharks.
This time around, the Hawks took care of business even if none of the victories over the Ducks, Senators and Canadiens resembled a blowout. But a win is a win, two points are two points and now the Hawks can move to the next part of the schedule.
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Which is pretty dangerous.
The Hawks play 17 straight games against teams that are either in the playoff picture or in the same boat as the Hawks. And some of the games — against the Maple Leafs, Bruins, Oilers, Blues and Lightning — will not be games in which the Hawks are favorites.
They will have to win several of these 17 games because they still have little room for error.
To get to 95 points, which looks like what it will take to get into the playoffs, the Hawks need another 45 points. So even with their current three-game winning streak, the Hawks still need to go 20-9-5 just to get the bare minimum point total the postseason will likely require.
So be happy about beating the Ducks, Senators and Canadiens. But temper your enthusiasm until seeing what happens against the Maple Leafs, Jets and Panthers before the All-Star Break.
3. Alex DeBrincat needs to start scoring even-strength goals.
Enough time has passed in the season that there isn’t an expectation Alex DeBrincat will turn things around. It could happen because he’s gone on heaters before but with 12 goals this season — including Wednesday’s power-play goal — and just 34 games remaining there seems to be little chance he’ll equal last season’s 41 goals.
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The 🐱 doing what he does best. Lighting the lamp!!! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/E6WhK7Bhxr — Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) January 16, 2020
It also doesn't seem likely he'll reach the 28 goals he scored as a rookie, which not many expected heading into this season. And it's all because he just can't score at even strength.
DeBrincat scored plenty of power-play goals the first two seasons of his career but he also scored far more at even-strength. As a rookie, he had 22 even-strength goals and six on the power play. Last season, he had 28 even-strength goals and 13 on the power play.
A nice ratio that indicates effectiveness in both situations.
This year? DeBrincat has eight power-play goals and just four at even strength. Since Nov. 7, a span of 33 games, he only has two at even-strength.
By comparison, Kirby Dach has twice as many even-strength goals as DeBrincat since Nov. 7. Drake Caggiula, who has only played 19 games this season, has as many even-strength goals as DeBrincat has had in 48 games!
The problems seem to be a combination of bad luck and missed opportunities. DeBrincat is on pace for a career-high 234 shots on goal and has had plenty of pucks bounce off his stick or just not go in.
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But he's also not creating high-danger scoring chances at even strength like he did the last two seasons. His 21 high-danger scoring chances this season is ninth on the team, trailing Alex Nylander (24), Ryan Carpenter (32) and Kirby Dach (34).
Last season he was fifth behind Brandon Saad, Jonathan Toews, Artem Anisimov and Patrick Kane. As a rookie, he was behind that same foursome plus Ryan Hartman. This season he just hasn’t been finding the opportunities.
Here is coverage from Wednesday’s game:
Zack Smith scored a pair of first-period goals, Patrick Kane picked up his 998th career point and Montreal native Corey Crawford continued his mastery of the Canadiens at the Bell Centre with 32 saves as the Blackhawks won 4-1 on Wednesday for their third straight victory.
The Hawks improved to 22-20-6 and moved within four points of the final Western Conference wild-card spot. They will go for a sweep of their three-game road trip Saturday against the Maple Leafs.
Crawford won his sixth straight start in Montreal and moved to 6-0-2 in eight career starts there while his save percentage remained a gaudy .971.
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A strange first period began with Crawford falling on his back behind his own net without any players from either team around him. He recovered in time to prevent a scoring chance, but it began a series of embarrassing moments for both teams.
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Shortly after Crawford’s faux pas, Kirby Dach whiffed on a one-timer from the slot, then fell forward as his stick snapped in two.
Then, with less than six minutes gone in the first, Canadiens goalie Charlie Lindgren and Tomas Tatar bumped into each other behind the net and left the puck waiting for Drake Caggiula. Lindgren fell down on the side of the net and Caggiula centered the puck to Smith, who had an open net for a shorthanded goal.
Smith scored his second goal at the 11:28 mark of the first when he deflected a Slater Koekkoek shot from the point for his 98th career goal.
The Canadiens made it 2-1 only 54 seconds into the second period on former Hawk Phillip Danault’s 12th goal. But midway through the period Matthew Highmore baited Max Domi into taking a roughing penalty and Alex DeBrincat scored on a slap shot from the slot on the ensuing power play for his 12th of the season.
Caggiula, who missed nearly two months with a concussion before returning last week, had his first goal since Oct. 27 after stealing the puck to create a breakaway for himself and burying a wrist shot past Lindgren.
Kane set up DeBrincat’s power-play goal to move him within two of 1,000 points and give him an eight-game point streak. Dominik Kubalik had a couple of great scoring chances, but his goal-scoring streak came to an end at five games.


chicagotribune--2020-01-15--Police: Man, 25, dies following fall from 7th floor at Water Tower Place

Deonta Shafford , 19 , of Riverdale , said he was in the mall Wednesday with a friend , who @ @ @ @ @ .
The two had walked out of Forever 21 when they suddenly heard a “ @ @ @ @ @ started looking .
A woman pointed to a man lying on the ground several floors @ @ @ @ @ said he first thought the man looked like a mannequin .

After a man fell to his death at Water Tower Place the night before, a security guard stood on the seventh floor of the busy mall Thursday morning and shooed away shoppers who stepped too close to the railing.
The deceased man was the second person killed in a fall in the past two months at the popular Magnificent Mile shopping center, which appeared to prompt a stepped-up security presence on the mall’s upper floors.
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But the deaths, ruled suicides by the Cook County medical examiner’s office, raise questions about whether businesses and building owners should take more permanent precautions to prevent suicide deaths. Such measures are in place at some other public sites.
In San Francisco, officials are working on building a net under the Golden Gate Bridge, where hundreds of people have died of suicide since it opened in 1937. Large plastic signs displaying a suicide prevention hotline phone number are a common site at Chicago CTA stations, where some people have died after jumping in front of trains.
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Such measures, though, are less common in private buildings than in public ways, experts say. A request for comment sent to Brookfield Properties, which owns Water Tower Place, went unanswered.
“It’s kind of up to the architects to find something that fits with the design and has some discouragement to it,” said Steve Moore, co-chair of the Illinois chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. “For Water Tower Place, they have to look at what they currently have, and what can they do to make it difficult for people.”
Deterrents are especially important, experts say, because research shows that most suicides are impulsive in a moment of crisis. Most people who survive an attempt do not try again, studies show.
“If you take away an easy way, you may save a life,” Moore said.
The latest incident happened about 5 p.m. Wednesday when a 25-year-old man fell from the seventh floor of the mall in the 800 block of North Michigan Avenue, a Chicago police spokesman said. Paramedics took the man to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:42 p.m., according to information from Chicago police and the medical examiner’s office. He lived in West Rogers Park.
A 65-year-old woman died Nov. 24 when she also fell from the seventh floor of the mall. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mark Heyrman, a retired University of Chicago Law School professor and a board member of Mental Health America of Illinois, said building owners can install netting to prevent deaths from falls, but many are reluctant to do so because of aesthetic issues. He noted that years of fighting and controversy preceded the official decision to install a net below the Golden Gate Bridge.
“People will think it looks horrible,” he said, adding that the government couldn’t legally compel owners to do it.
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Heyrman also said signs like those in CTA stations can be cheap and effective for building owners to use, but he said there isn’t much research about how many people may be deterred by the signage.
He emphasized, though, that most people do not try again after a suicide is prevented.
That’s why Moore said it’s especially important to work to prevent falling deaths because there is less of a chance in such instances that life-saving attempts from first responders will be successful. A report on suicide lethality from the Harvard School of Public Health notes that “jumping from a great height shares two elements in common with firearms as a suicide method: it is a highly lethal method and once the attempt is begun (the person jumps or pulls the trigger) it cannot be stopped.”
“Reducing access to lethal means is one very effective method of suicide prevention,” Moore said. “You may be able to save life permanently.”
For 24/7 help, call the free and confidential National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
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mabuckley@chicagotribune.com
pfry@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-15--University of Illinois administrators seek tuition hike for in-state freshmen for first time in 6 ye

University of Illinois administrators seek tuition hike for in-state freshmen for first time in 6 years

If approved Thursday by trustees , the base tuition for in-state undergraduates would rise $ 218 to $ 12,254 a @ @ @ @ @ , by $ 192 to $ 10,776 a year for enrollees in Chicago and by @ @ @ @ @ for enrollees in Springfield .
Tuition for some graduate , professional and online programs would @ @ @ @ @ percent at all three campuses .

Main quad on the campus of the University of Illinois in Urbana Friday, April 19, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
University of Illinois administrators are recommending a hike in tuition costs for in-state freshmen for the first time in six years, officials announced Wednesday.
Under the recommendation, freshmen entering the university for the 2020-21 academic year would pay 1.8% more to attend the Urbana-Champaign and Chicago campuses, and 1% more to attend the Springfield campus. In a statement, the university says the proposed tuition hike will strengthen efforts to attract and retain faculty across the University of Illinois system in response to record-high enrollment.
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If approved Thursday by trustees, the base tuition for in-state undergraduates would rise $218 to $12,254 a year for enrollees in Urbana-Champaign, by $192 to $10,776 a year for enrollees in Chicago and by $97.50 to $9,502.50 for enrollees in Springfield. Tuition for some graduate, professional and online programs would increase by up to 2 percent at all three campuses.
Administrators have also recommended an increase in student fees and housing rates. In Urbana, fees would increase $76 to $3,162 per year, and Chicago’s fees would rise $32, to $3,340 per year. In Springfield, fees would be unchanged at $2,426 a year.
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University President Tim Killeen says the proposed increases adhere to a commitment to affordability and accessibility.
[ University of Illinois President Tim Killeen primed for 40% raise, 4-year contract extension ]


chicagotribune--2020-01-15--Chicago police honor citizens who helped after girl was shot while trick-or-treating on Halloween in

Chicago police honor citizens who helped after girl was shot while trick-or-treating on Halloween in Little Village: ‘I did what my heart told me to do’

“ I was pressing on her and calling her name so she won ’ t close her eyes , ” @ @ @ @ @ .
“ She was looking at me , and I was calling her name .
@ @ @ @ @ for three minutes and then she let me go .
I have kids — I @ @ @ @ @ happened to my kids .
”

Erika Garcia, a cousin of the 7-year-old victim, talks about the night of the Halloween shooting and the aftermath, on Nov. 4, 2019. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Lali Lara’s children had just passed by her workplace in Chicago’s Little Village on Halloween night when gunfire broke out on a bustling 26th Street. Soon, Lara heard the screams of a father saying his 7-year-old daughter had been shot.
“I did what my heart told me to do,” Lara said Wednesday, recalling that evening.
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Lara and her co-worker, Yulissa Ruiz, let the family inside the store. They tended to the girl’s wound, tried to stop the bleeding and kept everyone else out until paramedics and police arrived.
Nearby, Mike Moreno reviewed surveillance video from his liquor store after hearing the shots to see if anything was captured on video.
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The steps all three took in the moments after the girl, Gisselle, was shot helped save her life and helped police quickly bring charges against the alleged shooter, said Chicago police Sgt. Ildefonso Lara, who presented them with plaques for their efforts.
“The bravery and the compassion you showed that night is why Gisselle is still here with us,” the officer told the crowd that gathered Wednesday afternoon inside the Little Village Chamber of Commerce.
Mike Moreno, foreground, from left, Yulissa Ruiz and Citlalli Lara Garcia are awarded plaques Jan. 15, 2020, for their roles in assisting a young victim of gun violence last Halloween. Chicago police Sgt. Ildefonso Lara is at rear and the victim's mother, Delfina Lagunas, is at right. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
In the months since Gisselle was wounded, she has been released from the hospital and has returned to school. Still, she sometimes feels pain and other times gets tired and wants to go to bed, said Delfina Lagunas, the girl’s mother, who added that, later this week, Gisselle will undergo another surgery so doctors can remove bullets from her body.
“Whenever she became disheartened, it would lift her spirits to get a visit from someone,” Lagunas, who was present at Wednesday’s gathering, said in Spanish.
On Christmas Day, those visitors included Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who stopped by with presents for the girl and her siblings. Lagunas said her daughter was quiet during the visit, but she was smiling and playing with the toys as soon as the group left.
“We aren’t alone,” Lagunas said. “Someone is always looking out for us, and that helps us.”
The shooting happened on Halloween night as the 7-year-old girl was treat-or-treating on 26th Street with her father and brothers. A 15-year-old boy and several others — including at least one person wearing a mask — spotted a 32-year-old man who happened to be near the girl. The teens, alleged Gangster Two-Six members, tried to shake the man’s hand and then chased him while yelling, “Two-Six!” and “King killa!" according to prosecutors.
The boy fired seven times, striking the girl twice and wounding the 32-year-old man, authorities said.
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Lara works at a nearby cellphone store near the shooting scene, and she previously told the Tribune she heard the girl’s father screaming, “My little girl’s been shot!” Lara rushed the girl and her family inside the store.
She held the girl’s hand and pressed against her chest to stop the bleeding. The girl was dressed up in a red and black Minnie Mouse costume.
“I was pressing on her and calling her name so she won’t close her eyes,” Lara previously told the Tribune. “She was looking at me, and I was calling her name. She was holding my hand for three minutes and then she let me go. I have kids — I would go crazy if something happened to my kids.”
The girl was rushed to Stroger Hospital, where she spent weeks recovering.
The 15-year-old boy faces charges in juvenile court of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery through discharge of a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. He remains in custody.
On Tuesday, the boy, wearing a navy blue shirt and sweatpants, appeared in front of Cook County Juvenile Judge Darron Bowden for a pretrial hearing. The teen did not speak during the proceedings but, before leaving the courtroom, he looked back at his mother and stepfather, who were present.
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He will appear in court again Feb. 24, when prosecutors will argue for an extended juvenile jurisdiction case, meaning that, if the teen is convicted, he could face the possibility of an adult sentence if he violates his juvenile sentence or faces new charges.
In the days after the shooting, Lara said she found herself crying. She visited the girl twice and keeps in touch with Lagunas to check on the girl’s progress. Ruiz said she felt speechless about the recognition. Both were happy to hear the girl was doing better.
The Chicago Police Department has credited the Little Village community for coming forward and helping officers secure charges in the case less than 48 hours after the shooting.
Chicago police Capt. Gilberto Calderon, who works in the Ogden District where the shooting occurred, said the three who were honored Wednesday were part of a shift in the community of people having faith over fear.
Moreno, the owner of Moreno’s Liquors, urged other business owners in the area to get surveillance cameras and cooperate with the police. He thinks a strong business community helps create a strong community.
His store has operated in Little Village for more than 40 years, and he isn’t worried about any backlash because he tries to show respect to everyone.
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“Our agenda is not just to be a business. Our agenda is also to help the community,” Moreno said.
emalagon@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-15--Average normal body temperature isn’t 98.6 anymore, and it’s getting lower, research shows

But doctors say evidence of declining temperature is not likely to change how they treat and assess patients for fever @ @ @ @ @ emphasizes that people should pay attention to how they feel and not just the number @ @ @ @

Body temperature can vary by sex, size, age, time of day it’s taken and other factors. (BSIP / Universal Images Group)
For centuries, 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit was said to be the average, normal body temperature. It’s not.
More recently, researchers have known normal body temperature is actually lower than 98.6 and can vary by gender, size, age, time of day and other factors. But now there’s also evidence that shows we’ve been cooling off since the 19th century when 98.6 was established as “normal.”
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As the coronavirus, dubbed COVID-19, continues to spread, temperature checks are necessary for those feeling ill, public health officials say. Fever, along with coughing and shortness of breath, make up the symptoms of the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Research published in January in eLife, shows body temperature has not only dropped since German physician Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich’s study in 1851 established the average body temperature as 98.6 degrees, but it has also dropped since the 1970s. The findings indicate that Americans’ average, normal body temperature has dropped about 0.05 degrees Fahrenheit per decade, based on their birth year.
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“People are stuck on the 98.6 number, but that number has always been wrong,” said Dr. Julie Parsonnet, one of the authors of the study and professor of medicine at Stanford University. “There’s never been a real number because people vary.”
But Parsonnet’s research indicates there are still unknowns when it comes to the continued decrease in body temperature.
In the study, Parsonnet and other researchers looked at the temperatures of three groups: data from a study that recorded Civil War veterans’ temperatures from the mid-1800s through 1930, more recent data from the 1970s recorded by the Centers for Disease Control, and temperatures of patients visiting Stanford health clinics from 2007 to 2017.
The data showed that the body temperature of men born in the 2000s is about 1.06 degrees Fahrenheit lower than men born in the early 1800s. And the body temperature of women born in the 2000s is on average 0.58 degrees Fahrenheit lower than women born in the 1890s.
Meaning, “it’s not just an ancient change,” Parsonnet said, indicating previous theories that advancements in thermometers or means of calculating research data are not the only possible explanations for the change.
It’s unclear what exactly is causing the continued decline, Parsonnet said, or what it could mean moving forward. Some factors could be that people have grown taller and heavier, and that their metabolic rates have slowed.
And modern medicine’s elimination of certain diseases, like syphilis, tuberculosis and periodontal diseases also could affect changes in body temperature, she said. When the original 98.6-degree normal was established, a significant portion of the population would’ve been fighting these diseases, Parsonnet said, which cause inflammation and higher temperatures.
It’s important to find out why, she added, because it could affect lifespan. “We are having human cooling, and we don’t know what that means, but it’s good to know that it’s happening.”
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But doctors say evidence of declining temperature is not likely to change how they treat and assess patients for fever, though Parsonnet said it emphasizes that people should pay attention to how they feel and not just the number on the thermometer.
Dr. Edward Ward, emergency medicine physician at Rush University Medical Center, said he doesn’t give a lot of weight to what could be considered normal temperature, instead focusing on extremes, including above 100 degrees Fahrenheit indicating a fever and below 94 degrees indicating hypothermia.
“It’s not surprising that there will be changes (in normal body temperature) since the Industrial Revolution,” he said. “As an ER doctor, I’m looking for abnormalities.”
Ward also pointed out that there’s “a difference between having what is medically considered a fever and feeling feverish. If someone is normally 96 and then suddenly they’re 99, they probably feel uncomfortable.”
That can indicate illness and the need for medications like acetaminophen or ibuprofen, he said.
kthayer@chicagotribune.com
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Editor’s note: This story was originally published Jan. 20. It has been updated to include information about the coronavirus.