chicagotribune--2020-01-27--Ex-state Sen. Martin Sandoval charged with bribery in red-light camera scheme

Later , after IDOT was holding firm , the engineer told colleagues that Sandoval had called twice more .
The @ @ @ @ @ he ’ d like to help IDOT in other areas but was “ not getting @ @ @ @ @ his issues that he would like to see.
” At the time , Sandoval held @ @ @ @ @ ’ s agenda as Senate transportation chairman .

Former state Sen. Martin Sandoval won’t be present when legislators convene in Springfield this week for the start of a new legislative session, but his name is sure to be in the air.
On Monday, the longtime Chicago Democrat was charged with bribery and tax offenses stemming from his support of the red-light camera industry when he served as the powerful head of the Senate Transportation Committee.
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Prosecutors charged Sandoval in a criminal information, an indication that he is likely cooperating with investigators and intends to plead guilty. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in U.S. District Court.
The charges came four months after federal agents raided Sandoval’s office in the State Capitol and marked the first public case brought in an ongoing investigation involving Sandoval and the southwest and west suburbs.
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He’s also the fourth public official to be charged in a series of sweeping political corruption investigations that first came to light 14 months ago when the FBI descended upon the City Hall offices of Ald. Edward Burke.
In addition to the red-light cameras, the Sandoval probe has touched on the construction and asphalt industry, gambling and casinos, lobbyists, transportation officials, Commonwealth Edison executives and even a suburban cigar lounge.
According to the charges, Sandoval intended "to be influenced and rewarded” in connection with his “continued support for the operation of red-light cameras” in Illinois, as well as for opposing legislation that would have hurt the industry.
The charges also alleged Sandoval filed a false income tax return that under-reported his 2017 income as $125,905.
The bare-bones allegations do not name any other individuals or entities that may have been involved in the bribery scheme, but federal search warrants executed as part of the investigation have shown authorities were looking into Sandoval’s relationship with clouted red-light camera company SafeSpeed LLC.
A 2017 Chicago Tribune investigation documented how Sandoval intervened on behalf of SafeSpeed to push state transportation officials to change their stance and allow the company’s cameras to be installed at the relatively safe intersection of Illinois Route 83 and 22nd Street in Oakbrook Terrace. The push came even though the Illinois Department of Transportation’s policies required that cameras target dangerous corners to improve safety.
Sandoval’s attorney, Dylan Smith, declined comment Monday.
The charges have been widely anticipated ever since federal agents executed a high-profile search of Sandoval’s office in Springfield and his home on Chicago’s Southwest Side last September.
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Three days later, the FBI and Internal Revenue Service also raided government buildings in a number of suburbs in Sandoval’s district, including Lyons and McCook. Authorities have also sought records on the towns of Cicero, Bridgeview and Summit.
After the raids, Sandoval initially resigned his chairmanship of the Transportation Committee. By November, he resigned as well from his legislative seat, effective with the new year.
The federal charges were filed as his former colleagues were returning to Springfield Tuesday for the start of a new legislative session amid concerns about the ongoing corruption probes.
Among the challenges Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Democrat-led General Assembly are expected to address is the state’s notoriously weak ethics laws that are often blamed for giving root to graft.
Newly chosen Senate President Don Harmon said Monday that the Sandoval charges serve "as a reminder of the challenge we face in restoring the public’s trust and why that issue is a priority this session.”
“The searing image of federal agents toting boxes out of former Senator Sandoval’s Capitol office was an embarrassment to all of us who take public service seriously,” Harmon, D-Oak Park, said in a written statement.
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Pritzker echoed those remarks in a statement of his own that called the allegations against Sandoval “utterly repellent.”
In light of the charges, the governor encouraged a “robust debate” about the continued use of red-light cameras in the state, citing critics who see them “as a way of bilking people who are driving their cars and may have made a mistake along the way.”
“I am open to the question, but most of all what we need to make sure is no matter what policy we adopt, that the people who are implementing those policies, voting on those, are people who are of good repute,” Pritzker said.
The Tribune investigation found that at least three times in late 2015 and spring 2016 Sandoval sought to get IDOT to reverse course and allow cameras in Oakbrook Terrace.
Sandoval initially forwarded a SafeSpeed pitch about its cameras to a top IDOT engineer, saying his “assistance” would “be appreciated.”
Later, after IDOT was holding firm, the engineer told colleagues that Sandoval had called twice more. The engineer said Sandoval suggested that he’d like to help IDOT in other areas but was “not getting the type of cooperation on his issues that he would like to see.” At the time, Sandoval held some sway over the agency’s agenda as Senate transportation chairman.
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Within a month, IDOT reversed course and approved the cameras for SafeSpeed, which operates lucrative red-light cameras at intersections in dozens of Chicago-area suburbs.
Oakbrook Terrace’s 2020 budget projects the two red-light cameras in operation there — both provided by SafeSpeed — will bring in $5 million in revenue over the current fiscal year.
SafeSpeed in turn charges Oakbrook Terrace about $2.3 million to operate the cameras, plus $2,000 a month in “service fees,” according to the budget posted on the city’s website.
SafeSpeed’s owner, Nikki Zollar, has said the company does “not tolerate wrongdoing or public corruption and we support efforts to root it out.”
The company on Monday issued a statement through a publicist saying that “we are saddened and surprised by the allegations that Sen. Sandoval sought out individuals to solicit and receive bribes.”
In addition to Sandoval, the burgeoning investigation has ensnared a number of suburban politicians, including Cook County Commissioner and McCook Mayor Jeff Tobolski and Lyons Mayor Christopher Getty.
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Also of interest to the FBI is Oakbrook Terrace Mayor Tony Ragucci, who resigned earlier this month on the same day the Tribune reported that he’d recently paid $30,000 from his campaign fund to a lawyer representing him in the probe.
None of the mayors have been charged with wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, the charges related to red-light cameras represent just a small sliver of the information sought in a FBI search warrant for Sandoval’s office that named a veritable who’s who of Illinois political power players.
The warrant showed the FBI was looking for items related to so-called “Asphalt King” Michael Vondra, a major Sandoval political donor whose offices in Bartlett were also visited by agents that day. The warrant named Vondra and about 20 of his businesses and associates, including John Harris, the former chief of staff to imprisoned ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Sandoval’s connections to ComEd — where his daughter, Angie, works as a senior account representative — have also been probed.
Authorities have also sought evidence from Sandoval’s office about Rick Heidner, a major video gambling operator whose company, Gold Rush Gaming, operates machines at several locations in Lyons, McCook and Summit.
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Heidner had planned to build a southwest suburban horse track and casino, but the plan was scuttled in October after the Tribune reported that Heidner has long-standing business relationships with a mob-connected banker and a convicted bookie.
One common thread in the Sandoval investigation appears to be lobbyist Victor Reyes, a former political enforcer for former Mayor Richard M. Daley and founder of the Hispanic Democratic Organization, the Daley-backed patronage army. Sandoval was elected to the Senate in 2002 with the backing of Daley and HDO.
Though not named in the warrant, Reyes’ Roosevelt Group represents several of the companies that agents sought records on during the raid of Sandoval’s office — including SafeSpeed as well as Bluff City Materials and Reliable Materials Corp. of Lyons, firms both founded by Vondra.
Sandoval, meanwhile, joins a growing list of Illinois politicians facing pending criminal charges.
Burke, the city’s longest-serving alderman and once the powerful head of the City Council Finance Committee, has pleaded not guilty to corruption charges.
Federal prosecutors have separately charged state Sen. Tom Cullerton, D-Villa Park, over an allegedly no-show union job, and former state Rep. Luis Arroyo, D-Chicago, who is accused of allegedly attempting to bribe a state senator to support gambling-related legislation.
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Cullerton has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. Arroyo is scheduled to appear for an arraignment next week.
State Sen. Terry Link, D-Vernon Hills, has been identified by a Tribune source as a cooperating witness against Arroyo, but he has adamantly denied it.
Chicago Tribune Dan Petrella and Jamie Munks contributed.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
jmahr@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--Brazilian author Paulo Coelho deletes children’s book co-written with Kobe Bryant

“ I saw him enough times to assure he had much more than sports on his mind , it wasn @ @ @ @ @ , ” Coelho said .
“ His tragic death has shown already how he was @ @ @ @ @ not only to the United States .
We will discuss his legacy for many years @ @ @ @ @ ”

SAO PAULO — Kobe Bryant and Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho were working together on a children’s book, but the author of “The Alchemist” said he deleted the draft after Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash.
The 72-year-old novelist told The Associated Press on Monday that the two men started discussing the project in 2016, when Bryant retired after a 20-year NBA career. They began writing a few months ago.
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Within hours of hearing of Bryant's death Sunday, Coelho announced that he would delete the draft, rather than finish the book without the 41-year-old five-time NBA champion.
“I deleted the draft because it didn’t make any sense to publish without him,” Coelho said by phone Monday from his home in Geneva, Switzerland. "It wouldn’t add anything relevant to him or his family.
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"That doesn't stop me from writing someday about things I learned from Kobe and how much of a larger-than-life person he was," Coelho said. "But the children's book did not make sense anymore."
Coelho's decision disappointed many of Bryant's fans, who flooded the writer's social media channels asking for the draft not to be erased.
Bryant was a fan of Coelho's and called "The Alchemist" his favorite book. He recommended it to everyone from former teammate Kyrie Irving to Rob Pelinka, his former agent who now runs the Lakers' basketball operations.
Pelinka read a passage from the book before a news conference in July 2018 shortly after the Lakers signed LeBron James, who was photographed reading "The Alchemist" before a shootaround in the 2018 Eastern Conference finals when he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Coelho, who has sold tens of millions of books, said the idea behind his collaboration with Bryant was to inspire underprivileged children to overcome adversity through sports.
"Kobe was always very concerned about making a book that was a positive example for children, especially those coming from humble beginnings," Coelho said.
Bryant's 13-year-old daughter Gianna also died in the crash, along with seven others. Bryant has three other daughters.
The book project was very casual. After not communicating for several months, Bryant sent a message to Coelho in August, saying "Let's right that book together." He then texted the correct spelling of "write."
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"It went from there. Little by little we were going ahead," Coelho said. He did not reveal how many pages had been written or whether the book already had a title.
Bryant's Granity Studios published middle grade and young adult novels. It also put out the player's autobiography, "The Mamba Mentality: How I Play," released in 2018.
"I saw him enough times to assure he had much more than sports on his mind, it wasn't all about competition," Coelho said. "His tragic death has shown already how he was important to the world, not only to the United States. We will discuss his legacy for many years, much beyond sport."
Associated Press sportswriter Greg Beacham contributed from Los Angeles.


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--‘I hate you … hope you two die!’ That’s what woman wrote on wall of her home before shooting up Lisl

‘I hate you … hope you two die!’ That’s what woman wrote on wall of her home before shooting up Lisle cigar lounge, killing ex-cop and herself, police say

In a news release , Lisle police said they still have not determined a motive for the shooting , but @ @ @ @ @ on the wall , McMullan , 51 , may have acted out of a personal @ @ @ @ @ McMullan ’ s Hyde Park residence say she had written “ I hate you ... @ @ @ @ @ ” on a wall with the name of Rieves and a second man .

The parking lot of the Humidor cigar lounge in Lisle, where a shooting on Jan. 24, 2020, left several current and former Illinois State Police troopers dead or wounded. The shooter, a 51-year-old woman, died by suicide at the lounge, according to police. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
The woman who shot and killed a retired Illinois State Police trooper Friday at a Lisle cigar bar and fatally shot herself had written “I hate you … hope you two die!” along with the officer’s name on the wall of her Chicago condo, Lisle police said Monday.
The new evidence indicates Lisa V. McMullan may have targeted retired ISP Trooper Greg Rieves and another man, who was not at the Humidor of Lisle when McMullan killed Rieves and wounded another retired ISP trooper and an off-duty trooper. McMullan then used her pistol to fatally shoot herself.
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Lisa V. McMullan, 51, has been identified as the suspect in a shooting that killed retired Illinois State Police Trooper Gregory Rieves and wounded another retired trooper and an off-duty trooper in Lisle on Jan. 24, 2020. (Lisle Police Department)
Retired Illinois State Police Trooper Gregory Rieves. (Illinois State Police)
The two wounded men were still hospitalized Monday and had been stabilized, state police said.
In a news release, Lisle police said they still have not determined a motive for the shooting, but that based on the writing on the wall, McMullan, 51, may have acted out of a personal motivation. Officers who entered McMullan’s Hyde Park residence say she had written “I hate you ... hope you two die!” on a wall with the name of Rieves and a second man.
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Lisle Deputy Chief Ron Wilke said Monday that the message was written in marker on a living room wall of McMullan’s home.
The second man referred to in the message is not a police officer, he said. “It’s just someone she knew,” Wilke said.
The man, whose identity will not be revealed by police, was not at the cigar shop when the violence erupted, police said.
Investigators are still trying to determine the nature of the relationship, if any, that existed between Rieves and McMullan, Wilke said. Both were said to frequent the cigar lounge. It initially was reported that the two attended Proviso East High School in Maywood, but police said they have learned McMullan attended high school in Chicago.
Rieves retired last year after a 22-year career with the Illinois State Police.
Lisle police on Monday also released a recording of the 911 radio traffic after a report of shots fired was made to police. The first officer arrived at the Ogden Avenue location in just under a minute, according to the recording.
“Tell medics we have a mass casualty. I have an unknown shooter possibly in the building,” he radioed to dispatchers as he entered the business. Later, the officer said the scene had been contained and said there was no longer a threat.
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Authorities later determined that McMullan had without apparent provocation shot Rieves, along with retired Trooper Lloyd Graham, 55, and off-duty ISP Trooper Kaiton Bullock, 48, before turning her gun on herself.
McMullan fired seven bullets during the incident, including one she used on herself, police said.
McMullan has no known criminal history, according to Lisle police. She had a valid firearm owner’s identification card and concealed carry license through the Illinois State Police.
Lisle Mayor Chris Pecak on Monday lauded the quick response by law enforcement.
“The village’s thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of this violence and to their families,” Pecak said in a statement. “We wish them grace and healing during this trying time.”
Police said they would release more information as it becomes available.
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Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter.
This story has been updated with the correct spelling of Lisle Deputy Police Chief Ron Wilke.


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--College football assistant coach suspended after calling Adolf Hitler ‘a great leader’

“ This is probably not going to get a good review , but I ’ m going to say Adolf @ @ @ @ @ .
“ It was obviously very sad and he had bad motives , but the @ @ @ @ @ lead was second to none .
How he rallied a group and a following , @ @ @ @ @ he did that .
Bad intentions of course , but you can ’ t deny @ @ @ @ @ great leader .
”

ALLENDALE, Mich. — Grand Valley State suspended offensive coordinator Morris Berger on Monday after the school newspaper quoted him as saying he would like to meet Adolf Hitler and no one could deny the Nazi “wasn’t a great leader.”
The university in western Michigan is investigating Berger’s comments, according to WXMI -TV. His hiring was announced last week by the Division II football program.
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Berger was being interviewed Thursday by The Lanthorn sports editor and was asked which three historical figures he would like to have dinner with.
“This is probably not going to get a good review, but I’m going to say Adolf Hitler,” he said. “It was obviously very sad and he had bad motives, but the way he was able to lead was second to none. How he rallied a group and a following, I want to know how he did that. Bad intentions of course, but you can’t deny he wasn’t a great leader.”
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Berger also said he would like to meet President John F. Kennedy because of “his experience with the country and being that he was a good president and everything.” Christopher Columbus was his third choice due to “the ability to go on the journey he was on into the unknown.”
Berger’s comments “as reported in The Lanthorn student newspaper do not reflect the values of Grand Valley State University,” the school said in a statement announcing the suspension.
The Associated Press was unable to find a phone listing for Berger. An email seeking comment was sent Monday to his university account.
The athletic department website says Berger holds a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s in educational psychology.
Berger joined Grand Valley State after spending a season as Texas State’s tight ends coach. Berger also spent time on the football staff at Oklahoma State.


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--Whatever the name — Gigi. Mambacita. Gianna Maria Onore Bryant. — she had next. That was the plan.

There were similarities in how father and daughter looked — the dark , piercing eyes , especially — but Loyd @ @ @ @ @ way father and daughter played the game .
Both , she said , were methodical @ @ @ @ @ outwork their opponents .
Gigi knew who her father was and knew that meant a @ @ @ @ @ on her , that comparisons between her and her dad on the court were going @ @ @ @

Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna at a women's basketball game between Connecticut and Houston on March 2, 2019. (Jessica Hill / Associated Press)
She had next.
Her name was Gianna Maria Onore Bryant. The world, now and forever, knows her as Gigi. Her dad, Kobe Bryant, called her Mambacita. He was Mamba, of course, and she was going to be basketball's female version of him. She was going to play at Connecticut and head to the WNBA. That was the plan.
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Over the years, the world watched her grow from a babe in her father's arms, to a small child trying to hold his Finals MVP trophy to his companion at WNBA, college and NBA games around the country, listening to her father break down play and watching every detail on the court, just as he always did.
"Gigi was really turning into a special player," said Russ Davis, the women's basketball coach at Vanguard University in Southern California and someone who became close with Bryant in recent years. "It's hard to predict her future, but with the way she was improving and the way she understood the game, she was going to have a bright one."
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Gigi was 13. She was one of the nine people, her father also among them, on the helicopter that crashed Sunday morning into a hillside in Calabasas, Calif., as the group made its way to a basketball tournament where she was supposed to be playing. The helicopter burst into flames. All nine — including two of her teammates — died, officials said.
Kobe and Vanessa Bryant had four daughters. Gigi was the baller of the group. She was going to carry on the Bryant name in basketball. Few things in life made Bryant happier than that realization.
"I try to watch as much film as I can," Gigi said in an interview with Las Vegas CBS affiliate KLAS in 2019, when she and her dad attended the Las Vegas Aces' WNBA opener. "More information, more inspiration."
She was even sounding like her dad.
Kobe Bryant celebrates with his daughter Gianna following a Game 5 win in the NBA Finals on June 14, 2009. (Stephen M. Dowell / AP)
The film study was working. So, too, was the five- or six- or seven-times-a-week workouts that Bryant would host for Gigi and her teammates on the team he coached. They ran the triangle offense, the one in which Bryant had so much success during his career. Grown men, professionals, the best players in the world, struggled with the triangle. Bryant had preteen girls figuring it out.
"He never yelled or anything," Davis said. "They just listened to him."
Earlier this month, Bryant posted a short video clip of Gigi in a game. The sequence: dribble-drive, pass to the corner, post up, wait for the ball to come back, catch, footwork, shoot the fadeaway.
Her father's unstoppable fadeaway.
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She scored. Of course.
"Gigi getting better every day," her dad wrote.
Bryant and Gigi went to a UConn home game against Houston last March. Bryant wore a UConn shirt — just like Gigi did — and told SNY television during an in-game interview that he was thrilled that one of his daughters wanted to follow in his sneakers and take up the family basketball business.
"It's pretty cool. It's pretty cool," Bryant said. "She started out playing soccer, which I love. But she came to me about a year and a half ago and said, 'Can you teach me the game?' I said, 'Sure.' We started working a little bit and the next thing you know it became a true passion of hers. So, it's wonderful."
Many of Gigi's favorite players had UConn ties, like Katie Lou Samuelson — she had played for Davis, which led to the initial connection between he and Bryant — and Gabby Williams.
"From what I saw," Williams said Monday, "she was going to be heaps better than me."
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Williams was floored when Gigi told her she was her favorite player. She would FaceTime with the Bryants before games, gave Gigi her Chicago Sky uniforms, even practiced with Gigi and her teammates and was blown away by how hard she had to play against them.
"She had the right mentality, so confident, relentless, so mean and aggressive," Williams said. "And then (she would) walk off the court with the biggest, sweetest smile on her face. But my favorite part about her was just seeing how much she loved the game and loved to learn.
"It's intimidating to have to follow in those footsteps," Williams added, "but she really embraced it."
The UConn allegiance made all the sense in the world. Bryant played in Los Angeles, but he was a Philadelphia guy. So is UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who was heartbroken by the news of the crash Sunday. UConn has been the gold standard in the women's college game for a generation, driven by excellence. Bryant identified with that quality.
Jewell Loyd of the WNBA's Seattle Storm knew plenty about Gigi. Loyd sponsors an AAU team in Seattle. They played against Bryant's team, and over the years Loyd and Bryant forged an extremely special, extremely close bond. They looked at one another as family.
Her description of Gigi? "Awesome," Loyd said.
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"When I went to work out with Kobe, most kids her age would be on the tablet," Loyd said. "She stayed still and watched the entire time. Didn't say anything. She was studying the game of basketball. If that didn't say Kobe, I don't know what does."
Even NBA players were impressed. The Hawks’ Trae Young couldn’t believe it when Bryant told him that Gigi was a huge fan of his and was trying to emulate parts of his game. So Young paid tribute Sunday by opening a Hawks game in a No. 8 jersey, before switching back to his customary No. 11.
...This S*** can’t be real... this the first moment I was able to meet Gianna Maria, she’s been to only 3 games this year... 2 of them were mine... She told me I was her favorite player to watch🙏🏽 I can’t believe this😢😭
Rest Easy Gigi❤ pic.twitter.com/IfDrE9Gjlv — Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) January 26, 2020
Afterward, Young recalled some of his final conversation with Bryant.
"He said how proud he was of me and how he wants me to continue to be a role model for kids growing up, for Gigi," Young said.
There were similarities in how father and daughter looked — the dark, piercing eyes, especially — but Loyd also saw similarities in the way father and daughter played the game. Both, she said, were methodical. Both were willing to outwork their opponents. Gigi knew who her father was and knew that meant a lot of eyeballs would be on her, that comparisons between her and her dad on the court were going to be inevitable.
Gigi didn’t care either.
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She wanted to be like Dad.
"That's his legacy," Loyd said.
That's now Gigi's legacy as well.
___
AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg in New York contributed to this story.


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--Woman describes alleged sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein at his trial: ‘If I scream rape, will som

Woman describes alleged sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein at his trial: ‘If I scream rape, will someone hear me?’

Haleyi is the first of the two women at the heart of the case to take the stand at his @ @ @ @ @ six accusers are expected to testify , but because of the statute of limitations and @ @ @ @ @ is charged in only two incidents : The alleged rape of an aspiring actress in @ @ @ @ @ 2013 and the alleged sexual assault of Haleyi .
Under New York law applicable at @ @ @ @ @ not being charged with rape in connection with Haleyi 's accusations .

Harvey Weinstein arrives at court for his rape trial in New York on Jan. 24, 2020. (Richard Drew/AP)
NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein accuser Mimi Haleyi testified Monday that weeks after arriving in New York to work for one of his shows, she found herself fighting in vain as the once-revered showbiz honcho pushed her onto a bed and sexually assaulted her, undeterred by her kicks and pleas of, “no, please don’t do this, I don’t want it.”
Haleyi was the first to testify of the two women whose allegations led to Weinstein's New York City criminal case. Sobbing at times, she described how the film producer turned a friendly meeting at his Manhattan apartment in July 2006 into a terrifying ordeal that had her contemplating escape plans as he forcibly performed oral sex on her.
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“I was kicking, I was pushing, I was trying to get away from his grip," the former “Project Runway” production assistant testified. "He held me down and kept pushing me down to the bed. Every time I tried to get up he pushed me down.”
Haleyi, now 42, told jurors she thought, “I’m being raped,” and wondered “If I scream rape, will someone hear me?” She said she told Weinstein she was menstruating in an attempt to deter him, but that didn't stop him.
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“I checked out and decided to endure it," she said. “That was the safest thing I could do.”
Yet just two weeks later, Haleyi said, she was accepting an invitation to Weinstein's hotel room, where he pulled her into bed for sex.
Haleyi said she “just felt like an idiot” for letting Weinstein convince her to meet again, but thought seeing him could help her regain power as she tried to make sense of the alleged assault. Haleyi said she didn't want to be intimate with Weinstein, but said she didn't think Weinstein forced her to have sex.
Weinstein lawyer Damon Cheronis zeroed in on Haleyi's continued interactions with Weinstein, scrutinizing her emails and calendar entries marked “HW” during cross-examination. He noted that she kept exchanging warm messages with him, pitched him on a TV show and made several trips on his dime, including jetting off to Los Angeles the day after the alleged assault and flying to London about a month later.
When they couldn’t connect before she left London, she sent Weinstein's assistant an email lamenting: “totally bummed to have missed you guys.”
Explaining the fraught dynamics, Haleyi said she no longer feared Weinstein after “he basically had taken what he wanted” in the hotel room encounter and “wasn’t pursuing me in that manner” any longer.
In what seemed designed to be an aha moment, Cheronis asked Haleyi if the reason she kept in touch with Weinstein was "because he never sexually assaulted you.”
Haleyi pulled up the microphone, smiled exasperatedly and said: “No.”
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In all, six accusers are expected to testify, but because of the statute of limitations and other legal technicalities, Weinstein is charged in only two incidents.
They are the alleged rape of an aspiring actress in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and the alleged sexual assault of Haleyi. Under New York law applicable at the time, Weinstein is not being charged with rape in connection with Haleyi's accusations.
Weinstein, 67, has insisted any sexual encounters were consensual.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been victims of sexual assault, unless they agree to be named as Haleyi has.
Haleyi went public with her allegations at an October 2017 news conference, appearing in front of cameras alongside lawyer Gloria Allred, who also represents Sciorra and other Weinstein accusers.
Haleyi, born in Helsinki, Finland, and raised in Sweden, said she met Weinstein while in her 20s at the 2004 London premiere of the Leonardo DiCaprio film “The Aviator.”
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They crossed paths again in Cannes in 2006 and, when she expressed interest in working on one of his productions, he invited her to his hotel room and asked for a massage. She declined, saying she was “extremely humiliated.”
More meetings followed, and Weinstein secured Haleyi a job helping on the set of “Project Runway,” the reality competition show he produced. She testified that before the alleged assault, Weinstein showed up at her apartment and begged her to join him on a trip to Paris for a fashion show.
“At one point, because I just didn’t know how to shut it down so to speak. ... So I said, ‘You know you have a terrible reputation with women, I’ve heard,’” Haleyi testified.
She said that offended Weinstein and he stepped back and said, "What have you heard?”
Asked by prosecutor Meghan Hast if she had any romantic or sexual interest in Weinstein, Haleyi firmly answered: “Not at all, no.”
Haleyi said she didn’t call the police about the alleged assault because she was working in the U.S. on a tourist visa and was scared of Weinstein’s power and connections, telling jurors: “I didn’t think I’d stand a chance.”
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Weinstein was jotting notes in a thick yellow notebook through most of Haleyi’s account, but looked at her and shook his head when she described their encounter. Weinstein has not been charged in connection with that incident.
The jury of seven men and five women heard last week from “Sopranos” actress Annabella Sciorra, who testified that Weinstein overpowered and raped her after barging into her apartment in the mid-1990s. While outside the statute of limitations for criminal charges, Sciorra's allegations could be a factor as prosecutors look to prove Weinstein has engaged in a pattern of predatory behavior.
Jurors also heard from Dr. Barbara Ziv, a forensic psychiatrist who said that most sex assault victims continue to have contact with their attackers, often under threat of retaliation if the victims tell anyone what happened.
On the stand Monday, Haleyi said she dealt with the alleged assaults by compartmentalizing, occasionally interacting with Weinstein on a professional basis bypassing along scripts from friends or discussing work opportunities.
“Honestly, I didn’t know how to deal with it so it’s almost like I put it away in a box, like it didn’t happen and I just carried along as usual,” Haleyi said.
This story has been corrected to show that Mimi Haleyi was born in Helsinki, Finland, not England as prosecutors initially said. And to show that Haleyi says she was assaulted by Weinstein in July 2006, not June 2006.


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--Fifth Third Bank chips in $20 million toward plan to transform Chicago’s South, West sides

Fifth Third has partnered with Decennial , the group behind the planned redevelopment of the former Michael Reese Hospital site @ @ @ @ @ , launched by Scott Goodman , a co-founder of developer Sterling Bay and Steve Glickman @ @ @ @ @ President Barack Obama , is working to raise $ 1 billion to help boost struggling @ @ @ @ @ U.S. cities .

Maurice Cox, Chicago commissioner of Planning and Development, is leading the Invest South/West initiative aimed at revitalizing economically distressed areas. Fifth Third Bank announced Jan. 27, 2020 that it will invest about $20 million into qualified opportunity zones identified by the initiative. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Fifth Third Bank has signed onto Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s campaign to transform business districts on the city’s South and West sides.
The bank announced Monday it will invest about $20 million into qualified opportunity zones identified by the city’s Invest South/West initiative, which is designed to bring public and private dollars to designated communities that have suffered from disinvestment over the years.
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Chicago has 135 economically distressed areas that are “opportunity zones" and could be entitled to big tax breaks for significant investments in housing, technology and real estate. The mayor’s planning commissioner, Maurice Cox, is leading the Invest South/West initiative aimed at revitalizing these economically distressed areas.
Fifth Third has partnered with Decennial, the group behind the planned redevelopment of the former Michael Reese Hospital site near McCormick Place. Decennial, launched by Scott Goodman, a co-founder of developer Sterling Bay and Steve Glickman, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, is working to raise $1 billion to help boost struggling neighborhoods in Chicago and other U.S. cities.
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Decennial plans to use Fifth Third’s investment to develop “high-quality, affordable housing,” the company said in a new release. The funding will be earmarked for affordable housing, workforce housing and “other community priorities for multifamily housing developments," the company said.
Fifth Third’s contribution is part of the bank’s $100 million pot being allocated to underserved areas around the country.
Other businesses involved in the city’s development initiative include Starbucks and BMO Harris.
crshropshire@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crashed in foggy weather that grounded other aircraft

“ All of a sudden the games just stopped , the whole facility went silent , ” George Rodriguez , @ @ @ @ @ Hoop Dreams team , told the station .
“ We heard some girls screaming .
@ @ @ @ @ was going on until the news started to break ground and the message got around @ @ @ @ @ happened with Kobe .
”

CALABASAS, Calif. — The pilot of the helicopter that crashed near Los Angeles, killing former NBA superstar Kobe Bryant and eight others, told air traffic controllers in his last radio message that he was climbing to avoid a cloud layer before plunging more than 1,000 feet into a hillside, an accident investigator said.
Radar indicated the helicopter reached a height of 2,300 feet Sunday morning before descending, and the wreckage was found at 1,085 feet, Jennifer Homendy of the National Transportation Safety Board said during a news conference Monday afternoon.
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NTSB investigators went to the crash site Monday to collect evidence.
“The debris field is pretty extensive,” Homendy said.
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“A piece of the tail is down the hill," she said. “The fuselage is on the other side of that hill. And then the main rotor is about 100 yards beyond that.”
Some experts suggested that the pilot might have gotten disoriented because of fog but Homendy said investigating teams would look at everything from the pilot's history to the engines.
“We look at man, machine and the environment,” she said. “And weather is just a small portion of that.”
The pilot had asked for and received special clearance to fly in heavy fog just minutes before the crash and was flying at 1,400 feet when he went south and then west, Homendy said.
The pilot then asked for air traffic controllers to provide “flight following” radar assistance but was told the craft was too low for that assistance, Homendy said.
About four minutes later, “the pilot advised they were climbing to avoid a cloud layer," she said. “When ATC asked what the pilot planned to do, there was no reply. Radar data indicates the helicopter climbed to 2,300 feet and then began a left descending turn. Last radar contact was around 9:45 a.m."
Two minutes later, someone on the ground called 911 to report the crash.
[ The basketball legacy of Kobe Bryant, from high school phenom to NBA legend ]
Randy Waldman, a helicopter flight instructor who teaches at the nearby Van Nuys airport, said it’s likely the pilot got disoriented in the fog and the helicopter went into a fatal dive.
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"It's a common thing that happens in airplanes and helicopters with people flying with poor visibility," Waldman said. "If you're flying visually, if you get caught in a situation where you can't see out the windshield, the life expectancy of the pilot and the aircraft is maybe 10, 15 seconds, and it happens all the time, and it's really a shame."
Some experts raised questions of whether the helicopter should have even been flying. The weather was so foggy that the Los Angeles Police Department and the county sheriff's department had grounded their own choppers.
The Sikorsky S-76 killed the retired athlete along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and everyone else aboard and scattering debris over an area the size of a football field.
Crews recovered three bodies on Sunday and resumed the effort on Monday amid an outpouring of grief and shock around the world over the loss of the basketball great who helped lead the Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA titles during his dazzling 20-year career.
The pilot was identified as Ara Zobayan. Several aviation experts said it is not uncommon for helicopter pilots to be given such permission, though some thought it unusual that it would be granted in airspace as busy as that over Los Angeles.
But Kurt Deetz, who flew for Bryant dozens of times in the same chopper that went down, said permission is often granted in the area.
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"It happened all the time in the winter months in LA," Deetz said. “You get fog.”
The helicopter left Santa Ana in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, shortly after 9 a.m., heading north and then west. Bryant was believed to be headed for his youth sports academy in nearby Thousand Oaks, which was holding a basketball tournament Sunday in which Bryant's daughter, known as Gigi, was competing.
Air traffic controllers noted poor visibility around Burbank to the north and Van Nuys to the northwest. At one point, the controllers instructed the chopper to circle because of other planes in the area before proceeding.
The aircraft crashed in Calabasas, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. When it struck the ground, it was flying at about 184 mph and descending at a rate of more than 4,000 feet per minute, according to data from Flightradar24.
[ Kobe Bryant and his daughter. A baseball coach. Teenage girls and their parents. A pilot. These were the 9 helicopter crash victims. ]
Waldman said the same thing happened to John F. Kennedy Jr. when his plane dropped out of the sky near Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., in 1999.
“A lot of times somebody who’s doing it for a living is pressured to get their client to where they have to go,” Waldman said. “They take chances that maybe they shouldn’t take.”
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Bryant had been known since his playing days for taking helicopters instead of braving the notoriously snarled Los Angeles traffic. “I'm not going into LA without the Mamba chopper,” he joked on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in 2018, referring to his own nickname, Black Mamba.
David Hoeppner, an expert on helicopter design, said he won't fly on helicopters.
“Part of it is the way they certify and design these things," said Hoeppner, a retired engineering professor at the University of Utah. "But the other part is helicopter pilots often fly in conditions where they shouldn’t be flying.”
Jerry Kidrick, a retired Army colonel who flew helicopters in Iraq and now teaches at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona, said the helicopter's rapid climb and fast descent suggest the pilot was disoriented.
When that happens, he said, pilots must instantly switch from visual cues to flying the aircraft using only the machine’s instruments.
“It’s one of the most dangerous conditions you can be in,” Kidrick said. “Oftentimes, your body is telling you something different than what the instruments are telling you. You can feel like you’re leaning to the left or the right when you’re not. If the pilot isn’t trained well enough to believe the instruments, you get in a panic situation."
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On Sunday, firefighters hiked in with medical equipment and hoses, and medical personnel rappelled to the site from a helicopter. About 20 investigators were on the site early Monday. The Los Angeles County medical examiner, Dr. Jonathan Lucas, said it could take at least a couple of days to to recover the remains.
Among those killed in the crash were John Altobelli, 56, longtime head coach of Southern California’s Orange Coast College baseball team; his wife, Keri; and daughter, Alyssa, who played on the same basketball team as Bryant’s daughter; and Christina Mauser, a girls basketball coach at a Southern California elementary school.
Associated Press writer Brian Melley also contributed to this report.


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--Bar Louie gastropub chain files for bankruptcy, closes 38 restaurants

Founded in Chicago ’ s Near North neighborhood in 1990 , Bar Louie offers a range of beer , liquor @ @ @ @ @ burgers and sandwiches .
Many of the restaurants are located near shopping malls and business @ @ @ @ @ which saw revenue fall 3.7 % to $ 252 million last year , hired an @ @ @ @ @ sell the chain , generating three letters of intent , but no deal .

A Bar Louie restaurant near Wrigley Field is pictured in 2008. The Texas-based gastropub chain founded in Chicago 30 years ago filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday after closing more than one third of its corporate-owned locations. (Bonnie Trafelet / Chicago Tribune)
Bar Louie, the Texas-based gastropub chain founded in Chicago 30 years ago, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and closed more than a third of its corporate-owned locations, including several in the Chicago area.
Restaurants in Naperville and Chicago’s Near North neighborhood are among 38 corporate-owned locations that were closed over the weekend due to “accelerating” sales declines. The chain, which had grown to 134 locations in 26 states, cites recent expansion, an “inconsistent brand experience” and decreased traffic to shopping malls as leading to the declines, according to the filing Monday in a Delaware bankruptcy court.
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An Oak Park location closed in March.
More than a dozen Chicago-area locations remain open as of Monday, according to the Bar Louie website.
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Founded in Chicago’s Near North neighborhood in 1990, Bar Louie offers a range of beer, liquor and pub food such as burgers and sandwiches. Many of the restaurants are located near shopping malls and business districts. The company, which saw revenue fall 3.7% to $252 million last year, hired an investment banker in September to sell the chain, generating three letters of intent, but no deal.
Bar Louie lists more than $100 million in outstanding debts, according to the filing. As part of the bankruptcy process, secured lenders have agreed to bid on the assets in order to guarantee a sale if no other buyer steps up with a higher offer. The minimum bid will be $82.5 million plus assumed liabilities, according to the filing.
“The sale through Chapter 11 will help us to focus on our profitable core locations and expand in areas that have a proven track record of success,” Tom Fricke, CEO of Bar Louie, said in a news release.
Chicago restaurateurs Roger Greenfield and Ted Kasemir opened the original Bar Louie on West Chicago Avenue near Franklin Street. In a 1996 review, the Tribune praised Bar Louie for its dark, neighborhood tavern ambience, late hours and good sandwiches.
Bar Louie began expanding in 1998, and within three years had seven locations, including several in the suburbs. By 2010, the funky neighborhood restaurant and bar concept had grown into a 44-unit, multistate chain when private equity firm Sun Capital Partners acquired it for an undisclosed price.
The chain continued to expand until sales began to decline in recent years, according to the bankruptcy filing. In 2018, a new CEO and management team were brought in to implement a turnaround strategy, which included refreshing the restaurants, improving the menu and developing a new advertising campaign to increase traffic.
The initiatives improved performance in 72 of the 110 corporate locations, but sales declined by nearly 11% last year in the 38 locations targeted for closing, according to the filing.
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There are 24 franchised Bar Louie locations that are unaffected by the corporate closings, the company said.
Bar Louie, which received a $22 million line of credit from its lenders, expects to emerge from Chapter 11 within 90 days under a new owner.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--ESPN will re-air Kobe Bryant’s final game — a 60-point performance against the Jazz — tonight

ESPN ’ s gesture is part of a greater outpouring of love and support for Bryant and his family .
@ @ @ @ @ on Sunday , holding a moment of silence before games , placing his image outside @ @ @ @ @ 24-second shot clock to commemorate the lifelong Laker , who wore No .
24 in @ @ @ @ @ career .

The sports world gathered Sunday and Monday to remember the life of Kobe Bryant, huddling in front of televisions and on social media to honor his legacy and NBA career.
ESPN will provide another opportunity to celebrate Bryant, who died Sunday at 41 in a helicopter crash that claimed eight others, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna. The network will re-air Bryant’s final game at 8 p.m. on Monday.
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Kobe ended his NBA career like only he could.
ESPN will air his 60-point performance Monday night at 9 pm ET. pic.twitter.com/hN0INCjYpb — ESPN (@espn) January 27, 2020
The broadcast will replace their “Big Monday” matchup between Big 12 opponents No. 3 Kansas and Oklahoma State.
Bryant retired in 2016 after playing 20 seasons with the Lakers. His final game in Los Angeles was an event, with ticket prices skyrocketing and celebrities flying cross-country to see Bryant play for the last time at the Staples Center.
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Bryant didn’t disappoint. He scored 60 points on 50 shots in the April 13, 2016, game that fit the legacy he built over two decades.
ESPN’s gesture is part of a greater outpouring of love and support for Bryant and his family. Several NBA teams honored Bryant on Sunday, holding a moment of silence before games, placing his image outside arenas and dribbling out the 24-second shot clock to commemorate the lifelong Laker, who wore No. 24 in the second half of his career.


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--Bulls plan to honor Kobe Bryant as Zach LaVine and others pay tribute to the Lakers legend: ‘He’s on

Bulls plan to honor Kobe Bryant as Zach LaVine and others pay tribute to the Lakers legend: ‘He’s one of the reasons why I wear No. 8’

“ Just for what he meant to the game , what he means to us as players , ” forward @ @ @ @ @ What he meant to our brotherhood as the NBA , it 's devastating .
Just @ @ @ @ @ a young age and to know that he was doing a lot of good after @ @ @ @ @ to pave the way and continue to move this game forward .
”

Members of the Bulls and Spurs as well as fans observe a tribute a moment of silence for Kobe Bryant before a game Jan. 27, 2020, at the United Center. The NBA superstar, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others were killed Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash in California. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
A row of cars lined up outside the United Center on Monday and fans stepped out of their vehicles to take photos of the arena lit up and purple and gold.
They used chalk to write on the sidewalk, along the walls, wherever they could squeeze in a spot to leave messages that read: “Mamba Out,” “Legends Never Die” or simply “I love you” and “Thank you.”
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Kobe Bryant never played his home games at the United Center, but the tragic news of his death in a helicopter crash that killed him, his 13-year old daughter, Gianna, and seven others Sunday, rocked the NBA. Those ripple effects extended beyond the basketball community to a legion of fans who grew up with Bryant and were still grappling with his sudden death at age 41.
Before Monday night’s tip off against the Spurs, the Bulls played a video tribute followed by a 24-second moment of silence. After the Bulls won the opening tip, the Bulls’ Tomas Satoransky took an eight-second backcourt violation. And then the Spurs’ DeMar DeRozan dribbled out a 24-second shot-clock violation.
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“I used to idolize Kobe,” guard Zach LaVine said at Bulls shootaround Monday morning. “He was my favorite player growing up. He’s one of the reasons why I wear No. 8.”
Bulls guard Zach LaVine speaks about the life and death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant following the team's shootaround Jan. 27, 2020, at the Advocate Center. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
LaVine echoed the sentiment of a generation of players who played alongside, competed against, admired and adored Bryant, whose footprint can be seen in the style of play of so many players around the league.
The first time LaVine scored more than 20 points in an NBA game came against Bryant’s Lakers at the Staples Center. Then a Timberwolves rookie, LaVine scored 28 off the bench in a 120-119 victory. He recalled how Bryant switched to guard him during the fourth quarter, which struck him because he knew Bryant always started the final period guarding the opposing team’s best scorer.
Suddenly, LaVine found himself as a contemporary with the man he grew up revering. And at one point while the two were standing at the free-throw line during the fourth quarter, LaVine recalled how Bryant tapped him on the backside and told him: “Keep it going.”
“He inspired a whole generation of kids pretty much,” LaVine said. “They wanted to be like him. It’s like kids in the ‘80s and ‘90s wanted to be like Mike. We wanted to be like Kobe.”
That comparison is what first connected Bryant to Chicago because he was a player built in Michael Jordan’s image.
Yvette Mays at the Kobe Bryant memorial outside the United Center on Jan. 27, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Libsana Santos at a memorial for NBA legend Kobe Bryant outside the United Center on Jan. 27, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Bryant modeled his game after Jordan and carried respect for the organization where Jordan created his legacy. It’s what led to his two separate flirtations with joining the Bulls: first as a free agent in 2004 after his falling-out with Shaquille O’Neal and then again in 2007, after he grew frustrated between championship runs in Los Angeles.
The Bulls were never successful in acquiring Bryant, but that would have been hard to tell looking at the United Center on Monday night.
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“Events like this show how connected people in sports can be, with not only the fan base but those of us in the game,” Bulls vice president of basketball operations John Paxson said. “You didn’t have to have the greatest type of connection, but just the game itself means so much to people and the respect that the great ones have. You don’t see it very often. So you appreciate it. It’s a really sad day and a really sad time for the league.”
Several people within the organization were touched by Bryant, even if they had only a passing connection to him.
Bulls forward Thaddeus Young has been wearing Bryant’s shoes all season, but he wore a special pair for Monday’s shootaround and game — a purple pair of Kobe 4′s released after Bryant was named NBA Finals MVP.
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Bulls assistant coach Roy Rogers was drafted in 1996, nine spots after Bryant was selected 13th. Chip Schaefer, the team’s director of sports performance, spent 12 years with the Lakers working with Bryant as the director of athletic performance. Forward Chandler Hutchison grew up in Orange County, Calif., during the height of Bryant’s career.
“On each team, the young kids on your team idolized him and looked up to him,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “The older ones knew him and talked to him and had relationships. So, no matter which one of those groups you belonged to, it was a tragic shock because it was so unexpected.”
Tears streamed down Bulls coach Jim Boylen’s face as he considered his two daughters, whom he plays basketball with in the driveway and takes to practices and travel basketball games.
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Bulls coach Jim Boylen fights back tears as he speaks about Kobe Bryant on Jan. 27, 2020, at the Advocate Center. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
“These things hit your team and the league on different levels,” Boylen said. “There’s the rookie out of high school breaking into the starting lineup, one of the hardest workers ever and becoming an All-Star and a champion and a Hall of Fame player. And then there’s the second half of your life where you earn the respect of the basketball community and you’re a husband and a father and a mentor for the rest of the league. Difficult day.”
Players even remembered fondly the chance to share the court with Bryant for one of his many memorable accomplishments.
Both LaVine and Young were on the floor the night Bryant moved ahead of Jordan on the all-time scoring list in December 2014, a memory LaVine played a hand in.
“I was actually the one that fouled him to give him his points to pass Jordan,” LaVine said. “So when he was on the free-throw line I went up and congratulated him, so I had some moments. I talked to him in the game. I didn’t know him (personally), but from afar as somebody that just grew up watching him, idolizing him like so many other people did, it was just such a joy.’’


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--Review: World premiere ‘The Adult in the Room’ is about Nancy Pelosi and her very current battles wi

Review: World premiere ‘The Adult in the Room’ is about Nancy Pelosi and her very current battles with Trump

There is some good work done in a show that I suspect will find an audience .
You will not @ @ @ @ @ “ The Adult in the Room ” is aimed squarely at Pelosi fans ( fans @ @ @ @ @ out of there faster than his messages sent on Twitter ) and is an unwaveringly @ @ @ @ @ .
Since all solo shows about real-life figures have to come up with some reason @ @ @ @ @ monologue , the conceit here is that Pelosi is addressing a a group of young @ @ @ @ @ questions to her via a social media channel as Pelosi sits in her office ( @ @ @ @ @ phones flank the stage ) .
We ’ re asked to believe that Pelosi can @ @ @ @ @ and still be seen by the camera .

Guess the owner of the first voice you hear in “The Adult in the Room,” the new solo show by Bill McMahon, wherein the actress Orlagh Cassidy plays Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House.
President Donald J. Trump.
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There is some logic to that choice, I suppose, given that some of the current interest in Pelosi flows from her central role in the impeachment trial of the 45th President of the United States.
And let me pause right here to point out that said trial is proceeding as I write. The last scene of the play, which consists of Pelosi preparing for the big and risky event as if she were the personification of Lady Liberty, is set just days ago. This immediacy is impressive. Generally, the American theater proceeds at a glacial pace when it comes to carving out current events: a play is written, slowly workshopped half to death and then slotted into a season at least a year away, by which time the world has spun forward sufficiently to make said political work totally out to date. Not here. This is of the moment.
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But starting off with Trump’s not-so-dulcet tones, and the frisson of excitement in the theater when we hear from him again, actually serves as a reminder of one of the Democratic Party’s central problems in the 2020 presidential election: the huge theatrical appeal of its opponent. Any time the unseen Trump shows up in this show, even if only to provoke Pelosi’s reaction (“He just tweeted what?”), the audience wakes up, looks up and, on Sunday afternoon at least, starts to mutter under its collective breath. The problem remaining in this new commercial endeavor is to make Pelosi comparably interesting in the theater.
There is some good work done in a show that I suspect will find an audience. You will not be shocked to hear that “The Adult in the Room” is aimed squarely at Pelosi fans (fans of the president will be out of there faster than his messages sent on Twitter) and is an unwaveringly sympathetic portrait of the congresswoman. Since all solo shows about real-life figures have to come up with some reason for the subject’s monologue, the conceit here is that Pelosi is addressing a a group of young activist women who are submitting questions to her via a social media channel as Pelosi sits in her office (two big screens shaped like phones flank the stage). We’re asked to believe that Pelosi can move all around her office and still be seen by the camera.
That works to a point, although all of the beeps and swooshes, not to mention telephone interruptions and Pelosi checking her own phone, can work against human connection which is, of course, the lifeblood of the theater. That could all do with some dampening down, just as the monologues need ratcheting up.
There is no way that Cassidy is credible as a 79-year-old, but this is an aspirational kind of fan show and we can live with that, especially since this accomplished Broadway actress does have much of Pelosi’s actual style of delivery down cold. She’s a very engaging performer and Pelosi fans will enjoy some of the lesser known biographical nuggets about the Speaker, which I won’t spoil here, as well the more familiar information, such as her five brothers, her late entry into politics after raising five children and her unlikely rise in California despite the family’s expansive political connections in Maryland.
The problematic part of the show — fixable, I think — is the lack of tension. As things stand now, the interview basically just stops when Pelosi runs out of time, which is not enough. McMahon, who is a lively and entertaining writer, sets up Pelosi as the titular rationalist, holding off Trump with one hand and, more gently but still firmly, damping down the Congressional Progressive Caucus, especially “The Squad,” with the other. Her mantra in the show is “organize don’t agonize,” which is a succinct theme of which I am sure Madam Speaker would approve.
All of that is fine and you do sense a woman very much aware of her role in the current political crisis, but the operative word there is crisis, for in the theater, time always has to be running out.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
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Review: “The Adult in the Room” (2.5 stars)
When: Through Feb. 15
Where: Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theatre, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave.
Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Tickets: $49 at 773-871-3000 at www.victorygardens.org


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--Crystal Lake man among driving more that 26 mph over speed limit in South Barrington: Police

Cortilius K. Fisher , 20 , of the 1300 block of North Lockwood Avenue , Chicago , was charged Jan. @ @ @ @ @ influence , battery , consumption of alcohol by a minor , resisting arrest by use @ @ @ @ @ valid driver ’ s license and improper lane usage at 119 Raymond Avenue .
Fisher @ @ @ @ @ court Feb. 20 .

The following items were taken from Barrington and South Barrington police department reports and releases. An arrest does not constitute a finding of guilt.
BARRINGTON
DUI
Cortilius K. Fisher, 20, of the 1300 block of North Lockwood Avenue, Chicago, was charged Jan. 18 with driving under the influence, battery, consumption of alcohol by a minor, resisting arrest by use of force, having no valid driver’s license and improper lane usage at 119 Raymond Avenue. Fisher is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 20.
Domestic charges
Bianca Y. Andrade, 20, of the 400 block of Drury Lane, was charged Jan. 11 with domestic battery in the 400 block of Drury Lane.
Domestic trouble in the 300 block of North Cook Street was reported Jan. 13.
Domestic battery in the 10 block of Raymond Avenue was reported Jan. 17.
Theft
A theft over $500 in the 100 block of West Main Street was reported Jan. 14.
A theft of mislaid property in the 100 block of West Main Street was reported Jan. 16.
Unwanted subject
An unwanted subject at 217 Eastern Avenue — Arnett C. Lines Elementary School — was reported Jan. 15.
SOUTH BARRINGTON
Domestic battery
Robert Dick, 68, of the first block of Ambrose Lane, was charged Jan. 15 with domestic battery and interfering with emergency communication in the first block of Ambrose Lane. Dick is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 10.
Speeding
Chuikai Liu, 24, of the 3800 block of South Spaulding Avenue, Chicago, was charged Jan. 19 with speeding more than 26 mph over the limit at Route 62 and Penny Road. Liu is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 24.
Michael Manaois, 48, of the 400 block of Buckingham Drive, Crystal Lake, was charged Jan. 22 with speeding more than 26 mph over the limit at Route 62 and Penny Road. Manaois is scheduled to appear in court March 11.
License suspended
Brittny Q. Watson, 33, of the 100 block of West Donovan Avenue, Woodstock, was charged Jan. 20 with driving while license suspended and operating an uninsured motor vehicle at Route 62 and Lexington Road. Watson is scheduled to appear in court March 11.
Maria D. Calderon Silva, 42, of the 200 block of Fairway Lane, Carpentersville, was charged Jan. 20 with driving while license suspended at Bartlett Road and Higgins Road. Calderon Silva is scheduled to appear in court March 11.
Travis Mayfield, 34, of the 60 block of Constitution Drive, Poplar Grove, was charged Jan. 24 with a Cook County Sheriff’s warrant for driving while license suspended at Studio Drive and Barrington Road. Mayfield is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 18.
kedquist@chicagotribune.com
Twitter: @kaitlinedquist


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--Kobe Bryant’s death spurs Planters to tread lightly on Super Bowl ad field

The maneuver could certainly be seen as yet one more publicity stunt in a series that typically surface in the @ @ @ @ @ .
Planters raised eyebrows by staging the well-dressed nut ’ s demise , and nodding @ @ @ @ @ death this week would certainly attach the commercial to a topic about which everyone is @ @ @ @ @ time , the move suggests Planters seems keenly aware of the vicissitudes of sentiment on @ @ @ @ @ change in feeling or the perception of offense can turn the tide against a topic @ @ @ @ @ .

The outpouring of grief around Kobe Bryant's death this weekend may be powerful enough to affect advertising plans around the Super Bowl.
Kraft Heinz, the large consumer packaged goods company, said Monday it would tamp down an edgy Big Game campaign built around its Planters nuts. In teaser commercials that debuted last week, Mr. Peanut, the beloved and monocled spokes-nut for Planters, was believed to be killed off in a bid to gain attention for an ad slated to run in this Sunday’s Super Bowl. In the vignette, the anthropomorphic legume falls to his death to save actors Matt Walsh and Wesley Snipes. Fox will broadcast the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs.
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The Bryant tragedy has made the advertiser cautious. “Planters has paused all campaign activities, including paid media, and will evaluate next steps through a lens of sensitivity to those impacted by this tragedy,” the company said in a statement. Kraft Heinz intends to pull back the paid advertising it had scheduled over the next few days on places like YouTube and Twitter, and potentially on TV. No change has been made at present to the company’s plans for Super Bowl Sunday, where it is expected to run a commercial centered around Mr. Peanut’s funeral.
The social-media outpouring around the conceit had been fulsome. The teaser spot has generated more than 6.4 million views on YouTube since it was posted there.
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The maneuver could certainly be seen as yet one more publicity stunt in a series that typically surface in the days before the Super Bowl. Planters raised eyebrows by staging the well-dressed nut’s demise, and nodding to Kobe Bryant’s death this week would certainly attach the commercial to a topic about which everyone is talking. At the same time, the move suggests Planters seems keenly aware of the vicissitudes of sentiment on social media, where a change in feeling or the perception of offense can turn the tide against a topic that was previously gaining traction.
Planters isn’t the first big advertiser to condone violence to a well-loved marketing figure. In 2019, Anheuser-Busch InBev granted HBO permission to have a character from “Game of Thrones” maim and murder its Bud Knight, an ad mascot of more recent vintage. The scene proved shocking - and not only because of the dark tones it sounded during a broadcast that lures TV’s widest annual audience. Here was one of the nation’s best-known advertisers allowing a distinctive trademark to be defaced in order to link its beverages to the much-anticipated final season of the series.
Planters' gambit puts a spotlight on marketers' pre-game tactics. Since Volkswagen used YouTube to unveil a charming Super Bowlspot in 2011 in which a young boy dressed as Darth Vader tries to use "The Force" from Star Wars to start a Passat, more advertisers have turned to social-media to generate publicity for Super Bowl ads well before Game Day kickoff.
That dynamic has in turn crowded the media field in the weeks before the event - leading to more aggressive tactics. Last year, Skittles, the confection made by Mars Inc., staged a half-hour musical in New York's Town Hall theater, complete with original songs and actor Michael C. Hall. The idea was to generate conversation ahead of game time, and announcement of the odd spectacle did that for days ahead of the Super Bowl LIII broadcast.
Planters appeared in the 2019 Super Bowl, the fist time it had done so in 11 years. The company gained notice with a commercial featuring Mr. Peanut racing through streets in a Nut-mobile and encountering Charlie Sheen and Alex Rodriguez along the way. The ad agency that crafted the spot, VaynerMedia, is the same one behind the nut-vertiser’s 2020 concept.


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--York’s Tim Glavan puts himself in the right place at the right time to net a game winner at MLK Tour

York’s Tim Glavan puts himself in the right place at the right time to net a game winner at MLK Tournament

“ We knew Nate Shockey was going to take the shot , and he did it pretty early , actually @ @ @ @ @ a senior .
“ I knew there was going to be time for a rebound @ @ @ @ @ just eyed the ball as it was going up and tracked it down .
There @ @ @ @ @ on the ball , I almost had to jump right through them to get it @ @ @ @ @ I did .
I grabbed it and put up a shot .
”

When York’s Tim Glavan hit a buzzer-beating putback to earn the Dukes a 40-38 victory over Benet on Jan. 20, it was much more than being in the right place at the right time.
The basket that gave the Dukes the championship of the Wheaton Warrenville South MLK Tournament was more a result of hard work and preparation by Glavan.
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“I do not know if I have ever been so excited as a coach when he hit that shot against Benet,” York coach Vince Doran said. “I kind of regretted showing so much emotion, but I was so happy for him with all the work he has put in, to have him get that moment was certainly special for him and our program. To win that MLK championship was really great to see a kid who clearly has earned that.”
The play that resulted in Glavan’s game winner was not designed for him, but it highlights that he needed to be prepared and ready for anything to happen.
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“We knew Nate Shockey was going to take the shot, and he did it pretty early, actually,” said Glavan, a senior. “I knew there was going to be time for a rebound to happen, so I just eyed the ball as it was going up and tracked it down. There were two Benet kids right on the ball, I almost had to jump right through them to get it, so that is what I did. I grabbed it and put up a shot.”
After Glavan rebounded Shockey’s shot, he also made sure that he followed another principle that big men are often taught in practice, but some do not follow.
“I think the biggest part of that play, he never brought the ball down,” Doran said. “He got the ball right to his chin, and went straight up. I think if he brought it down at all, I do not know if he would have got it up in time.”
Glavan, who was also a standout offensive lineman for the Dukes football team, needed to shift his mentality quickly when the football season ended.
“It is a pretty big transition, actually,” Glavan said. “During football season, the last time I touched a basketball was summer. That is a big part of it, I have to get back in the groove of things. It is also a lot different, the nature of the sports. One takes more of running on a hard floor, the other is more hitting with your body.”
Glavan had offers to play football at the collegiate level, but is going to focus on academics, instead.
“It was one of the most difficult decisions I have had to make, with so many people who want me to play and (some who) did not want me to play,” Glavan said. “It was very hard, but the process was very fun, talking to coaches and having them come and talk to me. It took a long time to make my decision, but ultimately I decided I am not going to play.”
Missouri and Miami of Ohio are the schools Glavan is still deciding to attend, and he plans on studying computer engineering.
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“I took a couple of computer sciences classes my sophomore and junior year, and I really enjoyed those classes,” Glavan said. “The engineering field looks like it is a lot of fun. I had a lot of interest in it when I was young, that is pretty much what I have been aiming for since then.”
Patrick Kelly is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--Retired Des Plaines pastor ordered to leave parish after ‘inappropriate material’ found on computer

“ Please know that the Archdiocese of Chicago takes all allegations of misconduct seriously , ” Cupich said in the @ @ @ @ @ the outcome of the civil authorities ’ work , engaging in this behavior is a @ @ @ @ @ Conduct and is incompatible with the standards we set for priestly behavior .
”

The Archdiocese of Chicago ordered a former pastor to leave a Des Plaines Catholic parish and suspended his ability to perform priestly duties after “inappropriate material” was discovered on his personal computer, according to the archdiocese.
The Rev. John Plotkowski, a former pastor at St. Zachary Church in Des Plaines, was ordered by Cardinal Blase Cupich to live away from the parish, according to a letter to parishioners released by the archdiocese. Cupich has also withdrawn Plotkowski’s “faculties to minister.”
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“Given the nature of the material, the archdiocese has referred the matter to the civil authorities and will share the results of their investigation,” Cupich wrote in the letter.
At this time, it is unclear what exactly was found on Plotkowski’s computer. Plotkowski was listed as a “retired resident” on the church’s most recent bulletin. He declined to comment when reached by phone Monday.
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“Please know that the Archdiocese of Chicago takes all allegations of misconduct seriously,” Cupich said in the letter. “Regardless of the outcome of the civil authorities’ work, engaging in this behavior is a violation of our Code of Conduct and is incompatible with the standards we set for priestly behavior.”
The archdiocese was not releasing further information about where Plotowski was now living nor about the investigation.
janderson@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--United Center goes purple and gold to honor Kobe Bryant

The outside of the United Center was lit up in purple and gold Sunday night after the stunning news of @ @ @ @ @ in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles .

Kobe Bryant, nominated for Animated Short Film "Dear Basketball" during the Nominees Luncheon for the 90th Oscars in the Beverly Hilton Grand Ballroom on Monday, Feb. 5, 2018 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/TNS)
The outside of the United Center was lit up in purple and gold Sunday night after the stunning news of Kobe Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles.
Photos of the Lakers great were projected on video boards by the entrance of the Bulls home arena. Fans gathered to pay tribute to the 5-time NBA champion.
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The Bulls host the Spurs tonight.
The United Center on Sunday goes purple and gold with images of Kobe Bryant. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Wearing a Kobe Bryant jersey, Alex Valentin looks up at an image of Bryant outside the United Center after Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash outside of Los Angeles. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Leon Jasso, 26, and Blanca Bustillos, 29, sit in a car while taking photos of Kobe Bryant outside the United Center on Sunday. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Wearing a Kobe Bryant jersey, Geremiah Guerrero looks up at an image of Bryant that was projected outside of the United Center. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--Kobe Bryant to be posthumously inducted as part of 2020 Hall of Fame class

Bryant , a clear first-ballot Hall of Famer long before he retired in 2016 , made a strong case to @ @ @ @ @ Springfield , Mass .
He won five NBA titles with the Lakers , including a @ @ @ @ @ O ’ Neal .
He won two more titles in 2009 and 2010 , taking @ @ @ @ @ in both .
Bryant also was named MVP in the 2007-08 season .

Lakers great Kobe Bryant, who died Sunday in a helicopter crash at 41, will be placed in the 2020 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class without a vote, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Monday.
Bryant, who was previously on the ballot as a first-year nominee, will be enshrined in a class that’s likely to include fellow first-ballot nominees Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, among others.
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Jerry Colangelo, chairman of the Hall of Fame, told Charania the class is “expected to be arguably the most epic class ever. ... Kobe will be honored the way he should be.”
Kobe Bryant will be a first-ballot enshrinement into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2020.
"Expected to be arguably the most epic class ever with Kobe, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett," HOF chairman Jerry Colangelo says. "Kobe will be honored the way he should be." — Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 27, 2020
Finalists will be named Feb. 14 during NBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago, and the full 2020 class will be announced April 4 during the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four in Atlanta.
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Bryant, a clear first-ballot Hall of Famer long before he retired in 2016, made a strong case to have his career honored in Springfield, Mass. He won five NBA titles with the Lakers, including a three-peat in 2001-03 alongside Shaquille O’Neal. He won two more titles in 2009 and 2010, taking home the Finals MVP award in both. Bryant also was named MVP in the 2007-08 season.
Known for his scoring ability, Bryant is fourth on the league’s all-time points list behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and LeBron James, who passed Bryant on Saturday. During his 20 seasons with the Lakers, Bryant averaged 25 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists, becoming an icon in Los Angeles and the greater basketball community.


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--26 Valentine’s Day dinner specials in Chicago that will make your date glow

Truffles , Champagne , lobster , foie gras and steak are just some of the decadent dishes that Chicago and @ @ @ @ @ Valentine ’ s Day to make your romantic dinner memorable .
Whether you ’ re @ @ @ @ @ tasting menu with wine pairings or are just looking for a fun dinner out with @ @ @ @ @ spots offer a gamut of options .
Just don ’ t forget to make a @ @ @ @ @ filling up quickly .

Oda Mediterranean Cuisine, the new Andersonville spot, will offer a three-course menu including chargrilled octopus with roasted red peppers, lamb moussaka, caramelized pudding and Turkish tea or coffee. (Oda Mediterranean Cuisine)
Truffles, Champagne, lobster, foie gras and steak are just some of the decadent dishes that Chicago and suburban restaurants are serving on Valentine’s Day to make your romantic dinner memorable. Whether you’re ready to splurge on a tasting menu with wine pairings or are just looking for a fun dinner out with some music, these 26 spots offer a gamut of options. Just don’t forget to make a reservation. Tables will be filling up quickly.
All dinners are offered Feb. 14 unless otherwise specified, though with the holiday falling on a Friday some spots are offering their specials all weekend long.
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312 Chicago. Executive chef Luca Corazzina offers a five-course menu inspired by “Romeo and Juliet,” which is set in his hometown of Verona. Pairings include chocolate covered strawberries with moscato, and filet mignon and lobster tail with a Pick Your Poison cocktail made with vodka, gin or whiskey. $120 per couple. 5-10 p.m. Feb. 14-15. 136 N. LaSalle St., 312-696-2420, 312chicago.com
The Albert. Check your horoscope before heading to the Gold Coast restaurant’s five-course astrology-themed dinner, which features buffalo carpaccio representing Taurus and coal-fired flat iron steak for Leo. $105. Feb. 14-16. 228 E. Ontario St., 312-471-3883, thealbertchicago.com
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Artango Bar & Steakhouse. A three-course menu features ahi tuna ceviche, New York strip steak with house-made chimichurri and flan. The Lincoln Square restaurant also hosts a tango dance performance from 8:30-9:30 p.m. Feb. 14 and live Latin jazz by Guitarra Azul from 9-11 p.m. Feb. 15. $65. 5 p.m. to midnight Feb. 14, 4 p.m. to midnight Feb. 15 and 4-10 p.m. Feb. 16. 4767 N. Lincoln Ave., 872-208-7441, artangosteakhouse.com
BLVD. The Loop spot serves a three-course menu featuring Arctic char crudo, whole rainbow trout with broccolini, and sticky toffee pudding. Premium upgrades include a 10-ounce filet mignon for $20 and oysters for $21. $85. 5-11 p.m. Feb. 14-15. 17 W. Lake St., 312-526-3116, blvdchicago.com
Boqueria. Choose from three different pre-fixe dinners depending on your price point and appetite. Classic Love Story features the chef’s choice of seasonal dishes and selections from the Fulton Market restaurant’s menu for $49, while Three Little Words offers a wide selection of tapas including jamon Iberico, scallop crudo and Nutella-stuffed churros for $60. Grand Gesture ups the price to $70 and includes decadent dishes like grilled oysters and a 12-ounce rib-eye. 5-11 p.m. Feb. 13-16. 807 W. Fulton Market, 312-257-3177, boqueriarestaurant.com
ETA Restaurant + Bar will offer a three-course dinner. (ETA Restaurant + Bar )
ETA Restaurant + Bar. The Streeterville spot serves a three-course dinner featuring winter squash risotto, filet mignon with shrimp and a glass of prosecco. $56. 5:30-10 p.m. Feb. 14-15. 455 N. Park Drive, 312-840-6605, etarestaurantandbar.com
Filini. A four-course meal features scallops, black cod with Manila clams, and red velvet cake, plus a Champagne toast and a box of truffles to take home. $64. 5-10 p.m. 221 N. Columbus Drive, 312-477-0234, filinichicago.com
Hibiscus Under The Tracks cocktail at Gaijin. (Regan Baroni)
Gaijin. A five-course tasting menu offered in addition to the West Town restaurant’s standard dishes includes Wagyu beef, Maine lobster and kakigori, a Japanese shaved ice dessert. $110 per couple. Drink pairings are an additional $30 per person. 4-11 p.m. 950 W. Lake St., 312-265-1348, gaijinchicago.com
Geja’s Cafe. At the Lincoln Park fondue restaurant that has been a date night destination for 55 years, couples can celebrate with a package that includes a glass of rosé Champagne, cheese fondue, lobster tail and flaming chocolate dessert fondue. $125. 3-11 p.m. 340 W. Armitage Ave., 773-281-9101, gejascafe.com
Harry Caray’s Italian Steakhouse. Take a tour of the historic building, which has been home to a mob boss, Chicago’s first mayor, a bootlegger and a Prohibition pioneer; then sit down for a four-course dinner including toasted ravioli, chicken Vesuvio and cheesecake with bourbon sauce. $95. 5:30 and 7 p.m. 33 W. Kinzie St., 312-828-0966, harrycarays.com
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Hey Nonny. The Compass Rose Quartet performs during the 6 and 8 p.m. seatings, where you can enjoy a three-course meal featuring sweet potato bisque, baked chicken gnocchi and creme brulee cheesecake. For $10 extra, choose New York strip steak with grilled shrimp as your entree. $35 at 4 p.m. or $40 at 6 or 8 p.m. 10 S. Vail Ave., Arlington Heights, 224-202-0750, heynonny.com
Hubbard Inn. A three-course menu features heart-shaped ravioli stuffed with braised beef short rib, East and West Coast oysters, and rosé panna cotta. $50; beer and wine pairings are an additional $25. 110 W. Hubbard St., 312-222-1331, hubbardinn.com
Le Sud. Celebrate at the Roscoe Village restaurant with a three-course menu featuring oysters with smoked trout caviar, 60-day dry-aged grilled New York strip and creme brulee. Each dish is also available a la carte if you want to craft your own menu. $65. Add wine pairings for $20. 5-11 p.m. 2301 W. Roscoe St., 773-857-1985, lesudchicago.com
Lockwood Restaurant & Bar. The Twin Violas will serenade you from 5 to 9:30 p.m. as you enjoy a three-course menu, including charred octopus salad, Chilean sea bass with polenta and a chocolate mousse heart. The menu is also available from 5 to 10 p.m. Feb. 15-16. $60. 17 E. Monroe St., 312-917-3404, lockwoodrestaurant.com
Marisol. Both vegetarian and meat options are available for a dinner including bucatini with clams or tortellini with black trumpet mushrooms, and dry-aged duck breast or heirloom bean ragout. $75. Wine pairings, $35. 5:30-10 p.m. Feb. 14-15. 205 E. Pearson St., 312-799-3599, marisolchicago.com
Mercat a la Planxa's dining room offers stunning views of Grant Park. (Mercat a la Planxa)
Mercat a la Planxa. The For the Love of Spain tasting menu features six courses inspired by different Spanish cities, such as braised pork cheeks with root vegetables for Seville and braised partridge with roasted potatoes representing Toledo. $125. 5-11 p.m. Feb. 14-15 and 5-10 p.m. Feb. 16. 638 S. Michigan Ave., 312-765-0524, mercatchicago.com
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Oda Mediterranean Cuisine. The new Andersonville spot from the owners of the former Turkish Cuisine celebrates its first Valentine’s Day with a three-course menu including chargrilled octopus with roasted red peppers, lamb moussaka, caramelized pudding and Turkish tea or coffee. $40. 5-11 p.m. 5657 N. Clark St., 773-878-8930, odachicago.com
Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille. A three-course menu features a mix of favorites and new dishes including lobster bisque, an 8-ounce filet wrapped in bacon and topped with jumbo lump crab meat, and white chocolate cheesecake. The restaurant’s limited production Big Red blend is discounted to $35 a glass or $140 a bottle. $60-$75. 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. 5 Oakbrook Center, Oak Brook, 630-571-1808, perryssteakhouse.com
The Rose Hotel. A four-course dinner with pairings from The Prisoner Wine Co. includes scallops with pancetta, smoked short rib with cranberry polenta and red wine cheesecake. $80. Tickets: eventbrite.com. 6 p.m. 5200 Pearl St., Rosemont, 847-260-4770, tapestrycollection3.hilton.com/tc/the-rose-chicago
Saba Italian Bar + Kitchen. A four-course dinner offered in addition to the regular menu includes cream of asparagus soup with heart-shaped brioche croutons, pork tenderloin wrapped in black pepper pancetta and a red wine poached pear. $65. 3-11 p.m. 2715 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-697-9273, sabaitalian.com
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Shanghai Terrace. Take in skyline views at the Chinese restaurant within the Peninsula Chicago while sharing a five-course meal that includes Maine lobster in spicy seafood sauce, dim sum and golden prawns. $128. 5-10:30 p.m. 108 E. Superior St., 312-573-6695, peninsula.com
Silencieux + Aboyer: The six-course dinner starts with a duo of smoked Scottish salmon roulade and blini with osetra caviar. Then choose an appetizer of lobster ravioli and pan-roasted scallop, foie gras with duck and foie gras strudel, or endive salad with portabello mushrooms and goats cheese beignet; a main course of black bass and panko-crusted prawn, a duo of foie gras stuffed quail and roasted breast of hen with duck fat Brussels sprouts, or a duo of braised beef short ribs and roasted tenderloin. The meal is capped by dessert of raspberry or Grand Marnier souffle or a duo of chocolate pave and mini dacquoise. And everyone gets Grand Marnier chocolate truffles as well. $89. Wine pairings, $65. 5:30-11 p.m. Feb. 14-15, 847-441-3100, 64 Green Bay Road, Winnetka, georgetroisgroup.com
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Tortello. Get a tableside hands-on lesson in pasta making as part of the Wicker Park restaurant’s Amore Bello four-course dinner, which also includes heart-shaped pasta, seafood or meat dishes and dessert. $80. Tickets: eventbrite.com. 6 and 8 p.m. 1746 W. Division St., 773-360-1293, tortellopasta.com
Wood offers a four-course dinner. (Wood)
Wood. Salmon en croute or chateaubriand for two serves as the centerpiece of the Boystown restaurant’s four-course menu, which also features oysters Rockefeller and pot de creme with orange caramel. $70. 5-11 p.m. 3335 N. Halsted St., 773-935-9663, woodchicago.com
Young American. Matt’s Veal Parm, the cult, underground sandwich-maker, teams up with the Logan Square spot for a special menu featuring the signature dish with spaghetti, plus Caesar salad, salmon crudo and a glass of wine. $100 per couple. 7 p.m.. 2545 N. Kedzie Ave., youngamericanbar.com
ZED451. Feast on all-you-can-eat sausage, pork belly, sirloin and other rotisserie meats from the River North restaurant’s regular menu plus specials including bacon-wrapped and goat-cheese-stuffed dates, lobster tail and raspberry mousse with lemon sponge cake. 5-10:45 p.m. Feb. 13-15. $70. 739 N. Clark St., 312-266-6691, zed451.com
Samantha Nelson is a freelance writer.


chicagotribune--2020-01-27--Italian town where Kobe Bryant played as a kid mourns — again

“ Willie Sojourner was Rieti ’ s basketball godfather .
Nobody wanted to mess with “ Zio Willie ” ( @ @ @ @ @ we called him , ” Cattani said .
`` Back then when Americans came to @ @ @ @ @ really viewed as legends .
They taught us how basketball was played on the other @ @ @ @ @ All the kids back then , like me — I was on the youth team @ @ @ @ @ these players in awe .
”

ROME — For a city already familiar with losing a basketball hero, Kobe Bryant’s death made a particularly strong impact in the Italian town of Rieti.
Nicknamed “the center of Italy” for its geographic location amid the Appenine Mountains, Rieti was the first stop on Bryant’s seven-year childhood tour of the country.
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It’s where Joe Bryant, Kobe’s father, made his Italian basketball debut in 1984 when Kobe was 6.
“He was just a little kid,” Giuseppe Cattani, the president of the Rieti team and a former teammate of the older Bryant, told The Associated Press in an interview Monday.
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“He had a unique vivaciousness. He followed his father around and would go out onto the court to shoot around at halftime and after his games,” Cattani added. “There were other kids, too, but you could already tell that he was going to be a great player.”
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 18 Kobe Bryant, nominated for Animated Short Film "Dear Basketball" during the Nominees Luncheon for the 90th Oscars in the Beverly Hilton Grand Ballroom on Monday, Feb. 5, 2018 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/TNS)
As Joe Bryant jumped around from team to team in Italy — he also played in Reggio Calabria, Pistoia and Reggio Emilia — Kobe picked up the local language and spoke fluent Italian into adulthood.
But the Bryants might not have ever made it to Italy if not for Willie Sojourner, another American player who spent six successful seasons with Rieti beginning in 1976.
“Joe took over the legacy that was begun by Willie Sojourner, who really helped establish the team,” Cattani said of Sojourner, who had been Julius Erving’s teammate and good friend with the New York Nets — and came up with Erving’s nickname, "Dr. J."
“Willie Sojourner was Rieti’s basketball godfather. Nobody wanted to mess with “Zio Willie” (Uncle Willie), as we called him,” Cattani said. "Back then when Americans came to play in Italy they were really viewed as legends. They taught us how basketball was played on the other side of the ocean. All the kids back then, like me — I was on the youth team — would look up to these players in awe.”
Sojourner returned to Rieti in 2005 to coach the club’s youth team but then died in a car accident a month later on a rainy night by crashing into a tree on a twisty road. He was 57.
Kobe Bryant, an 18-time NBA All-Star who won five championships and became one of the greatest basketball players of his generation during a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, died Sunday with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, in a helicopter crash near Calabasas, California. He was 41.
“It’s tragic when you lose these champions,” Cattani said. “It felt like we lost a family member last night. The entire city.”
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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 10 (Andy Schwartz/The Morning Call)
Tragedy, unfortunately, is common in the Rieti region, which is still recovering from the 2016 earthquake that destroyed nearby Amatrice.
Rieti was once home to a prestigious international athletics meeting, where Asafa Powell set a world record in the 100 meters in 2007. But since the quake and all of the region’s resources poured into the recovery, the meet has not been held.
The headlines of the local newspapers in Rieti on Monday read: “The city is in mourning. Kobe Bryant, who grew up in Rieti, is dead.”
“It’s like we’ve lost our superhero,” Cattani said. “He was an icon to us, like Spider-Man or Superman. One of these superheroes who can’t die. On the basketball court, they’re immortal."
The Italian basketball federation said Monday it has ordered a minute's silence to be observed for all games “in every category for the entire week.”
“It’s a small but heartfelt and deserved gesture to honor the life and memory of Kobe Bryant, an absolute champion who always had Italy in his heart,” the federation said. “Kobe was and will always be linked to our country.”
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IOC President Thomas Bach called Bryant “an outstanding and true Olympic champion” for helping the United States win two Olympic golds, adding that he also helped Los Angeles land the 2028 Games.
In Italy, Cattani recalled Joe Bryant's exploits.
“There were several games when Joe scored more than 60 points. He was the type of player that coaches today wouldn’t like,” Cattani said. “He didn’t play according to any specific tactics — just like his son. If he wanted to, he would play virtually by himself.”
The lessons that Kobe learned in Italy, though, made him a more complete player than his father.
“Kobe always said that he learned the fundamentals and tactics in Italy,” Cattani said. “Whereas in the U.S. maybe you learn more about dribbling through your legs and behind your back and those other spectacular moves, we focus more on the fundamentals and tactics — sometimes excessively.”
At its next home game on Feb. 5, Rieti is planning a tribute to Kobe and will symbolically retire his jersey. The ceremony will take place in the PalaSojourner, the team’s arena that was named after Sojourner a month after his funeral was held there with Dr. J among those in attendance.
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A grieving Joe Bryant will be among those invited to attend this time.