chicagotribune--2020-04-02--Column: Ed Farmer and I had a beef. But in our final interaction, thankfully, we didn’t.

We all admired his determination in the face of kidney disease , which required him to take up to 56 @ @ @ @ @ to a kidney transplant from his brother in 1990 .
We saw him limp around @ @ @ @ @ fingers seemed to jut out in every direction .

White Sox announcer Ed Farmer writes out the game roster before a game against the Royals at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 26, 2017. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
I’ll be honest: Ed Farmer did not always like me.
We got along great when I covered the White Sox from 1998-99 and in 2003. Anyone who would listen to him riff on Notre Dame football or indulge his shot-by-shot accounts of shooting 74 at Butler National was on his good list.
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During a Sox trip to Tampa, Fla., he took me to World Woods Golf Club, but I suspect it was mainly so he could show off his juice at such a big-time track.
But there really was a sweetness to him, and I was sorry to hear he died Wednesday night at age 70.
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Even after “Farmio” tried to embarrass me in front of a bunch of Sox players, I felt no anger toward him.
We all admired his determination in the face of kidney disease, which required him to take up to 56 pills per day and led to a kidney transplant from his brother in 1990. We saw him limp around and noticed that his spindly fingers seemed to jut out in every direction.
Here’s what led to the incident in the Sox clubhouse: I began to cover sports media and in 2007 wrote a column grading Chicago’s TV and radio broadcast teams.
I gave the Ed Farmer-Chris Singleton duo a “D” and wrote: ”This is the most awkward pairing since Mike Ditka and Buddy Ryan. Actually, it’s worse. At least Ditka and Ryan were colorful.”
Farmer was paired with Steve Stone the following season, and I described how Farmer kept cutting him off in their debut: “Farmer would interrupt a call from the White House to tell President Bush about his last birdie.”
I added: “Stone has a one-year contract to do Sox radio, but it’s Farmer who’s on the hot seat. If he can’t work with Stone, he can’t work with anyone.”
Two months later I went to Sox Park to interview Ozzie Guillen Jr. about his Sunday night show on WSCR-AM 670. I passed through the clubhouse on my way to the dugout, and Farmer was there, guns blazing.
He berated me, saying “You don’t know baseball” and trying to quiz me on parts of the game. He was trying to intimidate me, but I found it hilarious. Intimidating was Albert Belle screaming, “Did you forget the (bleeping) protocol?”
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I asked Farmer if he would prefer to discuss it on the field, away from the players. Nope, like a manager getting his money’s worth with an umpire before an ejection, Farmer wanted to rant before an audience.
The players went from amused — they generally loved seeing critical writers get a dose of their own medicine — to bemused. Farmer had made his point. Could he move on already?
“C’mon, Ed,” Paul Konerko said.
Farmer and I didn’t talk much after that. I was more of a Ken “Hawk” Harrelson guy anyway.
Fast-forward to a 2018 weekend in Kansas City, Mo. Five Sox-Royals games in four days thanks to an opening-week rainout.
I’m alone in an elevator on my way up to the press box. Who is walking toward me as the door begins to close? Ed Farmer. He slides in. Great.
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Suddenly it was 2003 all over again.
Farmer acted like my long-lost buddy. We talked about Notre Dame’s 10-3 season and its upcoming opener against Michigan. We talked golf and the upcoming majors.
Other writers saw this and asked me: Wait, didn’t you two have a beef?
We did. And then, thankfully, we didn’t.


chicagotribune--2020-04-02--A look at Beat Kitchen for a view of how the coronavirus shutdown hits a Chicago venue at every leve

A look at Beat Kitchen for a view of how the coronavirus shutdown hits a Chicago venue at every level

They sent out a notice on Wednesday that Beat Kitchen was closed for the foreseeable future , then they added @ @ @ @ @ for the employees .
That was very nice .
That was unexpected .
I do @ @ @ @ @ .
I ’ m not going to say it ’ s something to fall back @ @ @ @ @ s something I can get on the side .
The problem with that is , @ @ @ @ @ close ?
Like anybody else , I have debt .
I contacted one of my @ @ @ @ @ Look , I ’ m not working right now.
” They luckily gave me a @ @ @

Like every bar, restaurant and club in Chicago, 26-year-old Beat Kitchen packed up its beer kegs for coronavirus-mandated hibernation, which its 22-person staff desperately hopes is not permanent. The brown-brick corner club in Roscoe Village, whose restaurant reopened recently for carryout and delivery, had a loaded spring schedule, from bluegrass brunches to comedy nights to local bands, and its bartenders and sound techs are trying to recover from the sudden, unexpected quiet. Here are their stories:
Christina Kirts, general manager, 45
This will be my 24th year at Beat Kitchen. I was in college, moving back to Chicago and looking for a bar job. My father was one of the contractors. He was like, "Go in and talk to this guy." He hired me on the spot and I started work the next week. I started as a cocktail waitress.
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When the governor was speaking, I was behind the bar. Five of my regulars were there and one waitress. I knew it was coming. I pretty much just closed right after that. Some people just couldn't verbalize what they were feeling. They were just kind of in shock. One of my regulars just started crying. She made me tear up, too. I was like, "Stop." I just closed the door.
I'm OK for the next two months or month and a half. I've been so busy checking on other people that I haven't even sat down and had a chance to figure out my own stuff yet. When people talk longer than that, I immediately start to get a little stressed.
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Samantha Bermudez, bartender, 40
I’ve been there for a little over 10 years. It’s a family. People tend to stay there when they start working there. I work a couple of double shifts a week — open and close Tuesdays and Fridays, then Thursday nights and every other Wednesday. Then I fill in.
Luckily, my husband is still working, for now, for Koval whiskey. I've applied for unemployment. I've applied for some of the grants that are out there.
I'm generally a very social person. We're all texting constantly and downloading different apps. When my husband comes home from work, it's really hard, like, "Oh, you're home, it's exciting! Another person!'
I miss my regulars, you know? We have our martini guys that come in almost every day. Uncle Ronnie, we call one of them. And Bess is our little-old-lady neighbor we're all checking on to see if she's OK.
I actually don't think I've had a drink since we closed all the bars and restaurants. Maybe tonight.
Cook Victor Avelar (left) and his father, chef Benny Avelar take a break from making food at Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. The establishment started back up with food pick-up and delivery on Friday. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Benjamin Avelar, kitchen manager, 40
They closed on Sunday. My son got into college to be a chef, and I need to pay for all this. I don't know what's going to happen. For years, you're working every day, and you go home, it's scary. This situation is bad for everybody.
Cara Roxanne Young, wait staff, 35
My live-in partner is in music production. He went from having two double (shifts) a day, five days a week for the rest of March, to losing all but two shifts. Then we got the word the day Pritzker announced everything would be closing.
I have the benefit of a daytime job and I have my salary, for now. I am a personal assistant. Right now we're just hunkering down. I called credit-card companies, I canceled a bunch of automatic payments for things we don't need. We followed the CDC recommendations of stocking up on two weeks of food and we're trying not to spend a single penny. We don't know if and when this income will be coming back.
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I've gone from a massive community of people I see daily to seeing one person. It's been hard learning to manage the anxiety of not seeing people. I never thought I would say that after working with people for 21 years of my life. I actually miss them.
Patrick Kelly, production manager, 33
It’s been jarring for many reasons — trying to find some semblance of a normal schedule and a normalcy in all of this. My body clock is completely thrown off. I would not be able to live if my partner did not have an income. I would probably bug my parents to help.
There’s going to be some collateral damage because of this. Some venues won’t open back up or are financially ruined because they’ve been stretched so thin. Music is so vital to this city. What it will look like, how big it will be, how lucrative it will be, is still up in the air.
TJ Horansky, vocalist, Sleep On It, 29
We were halfway through our first headline tour, in Georgia, on our way to Columbus, Ohio, when all the news started breaking about the states limiting the people gathering. We were in Chattanooga and started heading back towards home in Chicago. We have a 15-passenger van and a 6-by-12-foot enclosed trailer that has all of our gear and merchandise. The last two shows were at Beat Kitchen. We had two sold-out shows. We were crushed. I was heartbroken.
We're regrouping and figuring out what the next move is. We feel really good about where the band is and we don't want to slow down.
Most of us work in the service industry, at least part-time, when we're home. A couple of guys in the band, their bar has shut down completely. I work at a restaurant that I might be able to get some part-time hours at.
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I really hope there's going to be concert fever when things finally come back. We're going to be ready to hit it hard.
Chicago band Sleep On It is (from left) Luka Fischman, Zech Pluister, TJ Horansky, Jake Marquis. (Alex Bemis)
Mark, security, 50
When you're working strictly just nights, you don't go to bed once you get home at 3, 3:30 a.m. You don't just fall asleep. Normally you would eat something, I don't typically fall asleep until 5 or 6 or later every morning. Even though I haven't worked for a week, I still haven't adapted to a regular schedule, and I'm still going to bed really late and waking up really late. It's weird sitting home.
Basically, you hope that whatever reserves you have will last. Then you plan on not eating as much. Somebody like me, I'm not going to get unemployment, I'm not going to get certain benefits. It's a grave concern how you're going to survive. It's not a very comfortable feeling.
They sent out a notice on Wednesday that Beat Kitchen was closed for the foreseeable future, then they added a link for a GoFundMe for the employees. That was very nice. That was unexpected. I do sell some stuff on eBay. I’m not going to say it’s something to fall back on, but it’s something I can get on the side. The problem with that is, what if the post offices close? Like anybody else, I have debt. I contacted one of my banks and said, “Look, I’m not working right now.” They luckily gave me a 60-day extension.
We have to get through it. If we got through the great influenza of 1918, we're going to get through this. So that's positive.
Paul Gulyas, audio engineer, 33
I'm an expect-the-worst kind of guy. I checked in with my boss today and he was like, "No work right now."
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Normally I’d say, “To hell with St. Patrick’s Day,” but this year, after not being able to have it, it was like, “Oh St. Patrick’s Day” — in tears. We put on green and were dancing around with Irish music in my apartment.
I don’t miss the guitar amps that are too loud. Obviously, that’s just a joke — I would take that back in a second if I could. My ears are given a grace period for the time being from the punishment they receive daily, but I would gladly take more hearing damage to be working there, like I love.
Steve Knopper is a freelance writer.
ct-arts@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @chitribent


chicagotribune--2020-04-02--Ed Farmer, the voice of the Chicago White Sox for almost 30 years, dies

By 1976 , he was out of the game and might have resigned himself to life without baseball if not @ @ @ @ @ , Barbara .
He was working in a warehouse in Southern California , which had @ @ @ @ @ would be for the rest of his life .

White Sox announcer Ed Farmer writes out the game roster before a game against the Royals at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 26, 2017. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Ed Farmer — a son of Chicago’s South Side who spent 2½ seasons pitching for the White Sox during an 11-year major-league career and, for almost 30 years, was a radio announcer for the team — died Wednesday night. He was 70.
Farmer, who was an advocate for organ donations, dealt with kidney disease most of his life. The team said he died in a Los Angeles-area hospital of complications from a previous illness but shared no other details.
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A member of the 1980 American League All-Star team while with the Sox, Farmer was a full-time radio announcer for the White Sox since 1992, first as an analyst and, beginning in 2006, as a play-by-play man.
“My heart is broken, but my mind is at peace knowing my dear friend is no longer suffering,” Darrin Jackson, Farmer’s broadcast partner for the last 11 seasons, said in a statement, calling Farmer “a competitor who also was everyone’s best friend.”
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Team Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, in his own statement, noted how Farmer’s broadcast work played off his experience as a ballplayer, sense of humor, love of baseball and passion for the Sox.
[ Share your Ed Farmer memories on our White Sox Fans page ]
“Ed grew up a Sox fan on the South Side of Chicago and his allegiance showed every single night on the radio as he welcomed his ‘friends’ to the broadcast,” Reinsdorf said. “I am truly devastated by the loss of my friend.”
Sox TV play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti, who grew up listening to Farmer and called him “a loyal, welcoming friend," tweeted that “scores of people have lost a piece of their heart, including me.”
The @whitesox radio booth was always filled to the brim with guests.
Ed Farmer was such a loyal, welcoming friend. Scores of people have lost a piece of their heart, including me. — Jason Benetti (@jasonbenetti) April 2, 2020
Former Sox pregame and postgame radio host Chris Rongey said, via Twitter, he had “never known anyone like him. Truly I haven’t. And there isn’t a chance on Earth I ever will again. Ed Farmer was generous. He cared about people. He was funny, often times on purpose.”
Former Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, in a call with reporters Thursday, recalled how Farmer not only was quick to offer favors, he was quick to provide them..
“But the best part was he would let you know,” Pierzynski said. “Ten years later, I saw Ed last year, and he came up to me and said, ‘Remember that time we went on Air Force One?’ And I was like, ‘I do.’ He said, 'That’s ‘cause I’m Ed Farmer.’ That’s just the way he was. He had a lot of connections. He had a lot of pull. And he was fun about it.”
ESPN baseball reporter Buster Olney tweeted that Farmer “was incredibly funny, deeply knowledgeable, and intense in his love of baseball," while sportscaster Keith Olbermann noted Farmer “was also one of the best baseball broadcasters I’ve ever heard. No game I ever heard him do was boring or slow — even if he was complaining with a chuckle that it was boring or slow.”
Ed Farmer was incredibly funny, deeply knowledgeable, and intense in his love of baseball. Loved talking with him. What awful news. — Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) April 2, 2020
Farmer was plagued for years with polycystic kidney disease, an inherited disorder in which cysts form in clusters mainly around kidneys, eventually keeping them from functioning properly.
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The same condition claimed the life of his mother, Marilyn, when she was 38 and Farmer was 17, in his first year of minor-league baseball.
The kidney disease began to affect him toward the end of his playing career, which included stints with the Indians, Tigers, Phillies (twice), Orioles, Brewers and Rangers, concluding with the Athletics in 1983, although he continued to pitch in the minors through 1986.
Farmer received a transplanted kidney from a brother in the early 1990s and attempted to control his condition’s ill effects with medications, a regimen that at one time required as many as 56 pills daily.
[ White Sox announcer Ed Farmer doesn't let kidney disease slow him down ]
At his peak as a player, however, he could be scary on the mound.
In one memorable 1979 game for the Rangers, his first start in almost five years, he hit Royals leadoff man Frank White with the second pitch of the game, breaking White’s right thumb.
Then, in the fifth, a Farmer wild pitch with runners on second and third enabled the Royals to tie the game 7-7, bringing Al Cowens to the plate. Another tight fastball from Farmer broke Cowens’ jaw and some of his teeth. Cowens was taken off the field via a stretcher.
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“I have to believe he was looking for a breaking pitch,” Farmer said at the time. “He never moved.”
Farmer said he didn’t throw at White or Cowens on purpose.
“No, of course it wasn’t intentional,” Farmer said. Royals reliever Al “Hrabosky was yelling over there (in the bullpen), and I thought that was unfortunate. But, with their losing two key ballplayers, I can understand how they would feel that way. I’m sorry it happened.”
White agreed, suggesting Farmer “was just trying to be impressive” and overthrowing.
“I was lucky I got my hands up, or he would have hit me in the face too,” White said.
Cowens was less forgiving.
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The next season, with Farmer playing for the Sox and Cowens for the Tigers, Cowens came to bat against Farmer to lead off the top of the 11th inning.
[ Column: Ed Farmer will be remembered as a South Sider all the way through ]
Cowens hit a grounder to short. Farmer turned to watch the play. Cowens opted to make a beeline for the mound rather than run to first, tackled Farmer and began wailing on him, triggering a benches-clearing melee.
Farmer would file assault charges against Cowens that would prevent Cowens from joining his team on its next trip to Chicago. Farmer agreed to drop the charges in return for a handshake.
Farmer would later say that, while on the bottom of a pile of players during the bench-clearing fracas, the weight on him burst the cysts on his kidneys and began to cause him health troubles.
“After that, I wasn’t strong anymore,” he said.
Edward Joseph Farmer was born at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park on Oct. 18, 1949, the second of nine children. His father, also named Edward, was an electrical contractor.
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“I learned at an early age life was terminal,” Farmer, whose father died at 41, told the Tribune in 2017.
Farmer grew up on the South Side at 79th Street and Francisco Avenue. He was big for his age, taller than 6 feet by age 11, on his way to becoming a hard-throwing 6-foot-5 right-hander who impressed scouts while still attending St. Rita High School as a pitcher and third baseman.
The St. Rita Baseball Program would like to pass along our sincere condolences to the family of St. Rita legend Ed Farmer on his passing last night. RIP Farmio and thank you for your contributions to St. Rita and Chicago White Sox baseball! #SRBaseball — StRitaBaseball (@StRitaBaseball) April 2, 2020
Dozens of schools, including Notre Dame and Arizona State, offered scholarships.
His father hoped he would go to Notre Dame and play football. But the Indians selected Farmer in the fifth round of the June 1967 amateur draft, and his ailing mother believed he should take the $10,000 contract and pursue his dream of being a big-league ballplayer.
Farmer made his major-league debut with the Indians against the visiting Sox on June 9, 1971, striking out Tom Egan to cap a 3-1 victory.
The Indians traded him in 1973 to the Tigers. In 1974, he was part of a three-team deal with the Indians and Yankees that included Walt Williams and Jim Perry, sending him to the Yankees, who promptly sold him to the Phillies.
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The Phillies eventually sent him back to the minor leagues, and his career began to stall.
By 1976, he was out of the game and might have resigned himself to life without baseball if not for encouragement from his wife, Barbara. He was working in a warehouse in Southern California, which had become his offseason home and would be for the rest of his life.
While training in preparation for a tryout with an Orioles scout in 1977, Farmer was riding his bicycle when he was struck by a car, going through the windshield and losing his front teeth.
Farmer still impressed the scout and spent much of 1977 with the Orioles’ Triple-A team in Rochester, N.Y., making just one appearance with the major-league squad, a game in which he faced two batters. One walked. The other homered. The Orioles released him the following spring.
He had a hitch with the Brewers in ’78 and was with the Rangers in ’79 before landing with the Sox later that season on the recommendation of Jerry Krause, then a Sox scout before becoming general manager of the Bulls, in a trade that sent Eric Soderholm to the Rangers.
Ed shared about his love of baseball and his hometown team with SoxTV last year. pic.twitter.com/3cNhJb8Je2 — Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) April 2, 2020
Farmer racked up 30 saves for the Sox in ‘80. At that year’s All-Star Game, he was a teammate of future fellow Sox announcer Steve Stone, who was on his way to the 1980 Cy Young Award.
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Stone started for the American League and threw three scoreless innings. Tommy John in relief gave up a home run in the fifth and, after three straight one-out singles, another in the sixth.
Farmer took over for John to face three batters. Future Hall of Famer Dave Winfield reached on an error for a 3-2 lead. Keith Hernandez singled, and Pete Rose grounded into an inning-ending double play. The National League won 4-2.
With the Sox from mid-’79 to ‘81, Farmer was 13-19 with 54 saves and 3.31 ERA. He joined the Phillies as a free agent in 1982 and was released in August 1983, freeing him to sign with the A’s 10 days later to close out the season.
Over his major-league career, Farmer was 30-43, with 75 saves and a 4.30 ERA, appearing in 370 games.
Farmer was working for the Orioles as a scout when the Sox asked if he would like to work a couple of games on the radio. After a broadcast, he ran into Reinsdorf.
As Farmer recalled: “He goes, ‘Ed, can I talk to you for a second? If you want this job …’ I said, ‘Jerry, I appreciate it, but I work for the Orioles.’ ”
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The Sox subsequently hired Farmer in December 1990 as special assistant to general manager Ron Schueler.
Farmer began filling in regularly on the radio for John Rooney alongside Wayne Hagin in 1991 when Rooney was doing national broadcasts for CBS.
The next year Farmer replaced Hagin and, when Rooney left for the Cardinals after the Sox’s 2005 World Series championship, Farmer slid into the play-by-play role alongside Chris Singleton, then Stone and most recently Jackson.
“Every organization does have a lot of characters, there’s no doubt, but I would put the White Sox over the years up against anybody with the characters that have come in and out of the broadcast booth and the front office," former Sox first baseman Paul Konerko said on a media conference call. “Eddie was one of those guys. He was kind of like on the Mount Rushmore of that.”
But what most distinguished Farmer might have been his resilience. As if his health challenges over the years weren’t enough, he nearly lost his California home in the wildfires of late 2018.
“I’m lucky I’m alive. I’m lucky my family is alive,” he told the Daily Herald. “I’m not kidding. When we were evacuating and driving out on the 101 Freeway, there were flames on both sides.”
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Farmer is survived by his wife, Barbara, and daughter, Shanda. The Sox said donations may be made in Farmer’s name to the Polycystic Kidney Disease Research Foundation (support.pkdcure.org).
Jackson, who said Farmer “bled White Sox — simple as that,” was taken with how fortunate his partner had been to go from Sox fan to Sox player to Sox broadcaster.
“Ed Farmer," Jackson told reporters, “will always be remembered as a Chicago guy that absolutely loved being in the White Sox organization. ... There was nothing more important (to him) than being part of the South Side and the White Sox.”
Tribune reporter LaMond Pope contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-04-02--Ask Amy: Preschool trampoline party gets more bouncers

At the party , several of the guests brought older siblings that we had never met before .
This would @ @ @ @ @ if this were a party at home or an outdoor park .
However , we @ @ @ @ @ where you have to pay $ 20 per participant .
Non-participants ( such as parents @ @ @ @

Dear Readers: Because of syndication scheduling, I write and submit my columns two weeks in advance of publication. Due to this time lag, the Q&A's will not reflect the latest information about the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic we are currently facing.
Dear Amy: I recently hosted a birthday party for my preschool-aged son.
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I invited 20 classmates. Sixteen responded "yes."
At the party, several of the guests brought older siblings that we had never met before. This would not have been an issue if this were a party at home or an outdoor park. However, we were at a trampoline park where you have to pay $20 per participant. Non-participants (such as parents) are free.
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When we received the bill, it showed that we had 27 kids!
I felt it impolite to put on the invitation that only the named guest can participate. Is there a polite way to make sure we're not paying for siblings we don't even know when throwing a party at an amusement center?
— Tapped Out
Dear Tapped Out: I am assuming that parents also accompanied these very young kiddos -- and brought their other children with them, perhaps assuming that you had a group rate.
I shared your question with Gay Cioffi, longtime director of the Little Folks preschool in Washington, DC, who publishes a helpful parenting newsletter, "Little Folks, Big Questions (littlefolksbigquestions.com).
Cioffi responds: "I have been a witness to every possible size and shape of birthday party. Everything from keeping the guest number in line with the age of the child: four-years-old equals four guests (I love that), to an extravaganza with 300 people at the Four Seasons Hotel.
"Because you are dealing with families and young children, you need to expect the unexpected, i.e., a "bug" is going around, and lots of people don't show up, family members are visiting and join the invitee, or the birthday child is overwhelmed and cries the whole time (most often).
Since young children are not always keen on being dropped off, or if parents are actually invited, you can assume siblings may come too. I don't think there is a polite way to say you are not paying for siblings. If finances are a concern, next year, I would plan a smaller gathering with room for growth."
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Dear Amy: My sister and I have disagreed about diet for years; I am vegan, and she and her spouse eat meat (only about twice a week, I believe).
We love one another, our relations are cordial, and we never argue about her diet. When my spouse and I visit, she cheerfully accommodates us.
Although my central reason for not eating animals is that "they don't like it," health is also a major concern, and occasionally I send my sister a link with a scientific study pointing out the health-protective benefits of plant-based diets.
I try to be sparing with the links, because I know people who are always dispensing health advice can be annoying.
With the COVID-19 epidemic, my concern for my dear sister's health is mounting. We are both well past 65, she has had major health crises in the past, and I want her to be alive and well for many more years.
I would like to send her some links showing that adopting a plant-based diet quickly fosters a healthy microbiome (gut flora) that boosts one's immunity -- without putting her off.
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Amy, I know dispensing physical health recommendations isn't your job. But if you would consult some nutritionists and check this out for yourself, and -- if you find it convincing -- mention it in your column, it might help my sister decide to stop eating animals, at least for the duration of the epidemic.
In fact, knowing there is something we can do to strengthen our immune systems now might help many, especially the elderly, to be less fearful. Fear can do a lot of damage to society.
— G
Dear G: You seem to have advocated for your point of view, over and over. Your sister has reacted politely by respecting your dietary choices.
I agree that fear can do a lot of damage. And so maybe you should stop trying to scare your sister.
Ask Amy Daily No-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
Dear Amy: "Not Looking" was a widower in an assisted-living facility. He was shocked when female residents came on to him.
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In addition to your advice to him, I hope you will urge all sexually active seniors to use condoms!
— Concerned
Dear Concerned: STDs are a growing problem within the elder population. Yes, condoms!
Get the latest no-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning with our Ask Amy newsletter. Sign up here.
(You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.)
Copyright 2019 by Amy Dickinson
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency


chicagotribune--2020-04-02--Remember when Jay Cutler beat Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau? The Bears’ 2015 Thanksgiving night upset of

Remember when Jay Cutler beat Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau? The Bears’ 2015 Thanksgiving night upset of the Packers is airing tonight on NBCSN.

From David Haugh : The Bears responded with their loudest statement in years in the NFL ’ s oldest rivalry @ @ @ @ @ suddenly made them the most optimistic five-win team in the league .
Just a little @ @ @ @ @ , the Bears skulked back from Wisconsin after a 55-14 blowout that convinced ownership something @ @ @ @ @ .
They returned home in the wee hours of Friday morning envisioning NFC wild-card scenarios @ @ @ @ @ ” cornerback Tracy Porter declared .
“ We ’ re in the playoff hunt.
” @ @ @ @ @ when you beat the Packers at Lambeau , when Jay Cutler outplays Aaron Rodgers , @ @ @ @ @ much improvement as any in the NFL .

Can you remember the vibe? The renewed hope? That hunch the Bears were turning a corner?
On Thanksgiving weekend 2015 — after the Bears upset the Packers 17-13 at Lambeau Field, after Jay Cutler and Tracy Porter shared a fake postgame turkey leg with Michelle Tafoya, after players turned the visitors locker room in Green Bay into a raucous celebration — Chicago was abuzz with optimism.
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It wasn’t just a rare victory against Aaron Rodgers, who at that point had won 13 of 16 starts against the Bears. It wasn’t just that the Bears spoiled Brett Favre’s jersey retirement ceremony. It was a bit of a surge: five wins in eight games.
After an 0-3 September, the Bears were back in the playoff conversation, a game below .500 and following the lead of accomplished coach John Fox, still a symbol of hope in his first season with the Bears. The defense was improving. Cutler was making fewer mistakes.
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There seemed to be something significant in that win over the Packers, a “Football Night in America” statement on Thanksgiving night that will be replayed at 8:30 p.m. Thursday on NBCSN. It’s part of the network’s weeklong time machine, transporting us back to 14 “Football Night in America” games from 2006 through 2018. But it’s the only peek at the Bears.
Starting tonight, we're celebrating football ALL WEEK LONG with #FootballWeekNBCSN
Here's the full schedule ⬇ pic.twitter.com/LqLIX4SRgk — #FootballWeekNBCSN (@SNFonNBC) March 30, 2020
Here are a few excerpts from the Tribune’s coverage on a misty holiday night.
From David Haugh: The Bears responded with their loudest statement in years in the NFL’s oldest rivalry, a 17-13 victory that suddenly made them the most optimistic five-win team in the league. Just a little more than a year ago, the Bears skulked back from Wisconsin after a 55-14 blowout that convinced ownership something drastic needed to be done. They returned home in the wee hours of Friday morning envisioning NFC wild-card scenarios. “Huge win,” cornerback Tracy Porter declared. “We’re in the playoff hunt.” That’s what happens when you beat the Packers at Lambeau, when Jay Cutler outplays Aaron Rodgers, when the defense shows as much improvement as any in the NFL.
From Brad Biggs: Cutler put together a statement game. It wasn’t particularly pretty and the numbers — 19 of 31 for 200 yards — aren’t going to be what you remember. A victory over the Packers when they look to be vulnerable this season will be remembered and maybe serve as a launching point for this Bears team.
From yours truly: Indeed, the Bears were in a mood to joke and celebrate Thursday night, no matter how drained, drenched and dirty they felt. On a short week, on a sloppy night, against a division rival, in a supercharged road environment, they had passed a major test. When clutch plays were needed, the Bears delivered. … (They) now must sharpen their concentration to successfully embrace their biggest victory of the season. A run at a playoff berth suddenly doesn’t seem outlandish. Not for a team that handled its Thanksgiving moment with such aplomb.
With a favorable schedule ahead, the Bears were eyeing a breakthrough.
Bears coach John Fox against the Packers on Nov. 26, 2015, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
As we all know, that victory turned out to be fool’s gold. Instead of using it as a springboard, the Bears stepped on a banana peel and slipped through December in cartoonish fashion, losing four of their final five games to finish in last place in the NFC North at 6-10.
Under Fox they never got on a roll again. After that Thanksgiving night win, they went 9-28 until his firing, including a woeful 2-12 mark in division games.
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That vibe? That renewed hope after winning what Fox called “a red-letter game”? That hunch the Bears were turning a corner? Yeah. Uh, well ... not so much.
It makes you wonder why the programming decision makers at NBCSN selected that game. Perhaps it was as an ode to Favre.
If they truly wanted to attract eyeballs in the Chicago market, they would have been better off selecting the 2018 Bears’ impressive 15-6 win over the eventual NFC champion Rams. That game was a showcase of how dominant the Bears defense was. Or they could have dusted off the game three weeks earlier at Soldier Field in which the defense sparked a 25-20 win over the Vikings.
Or what about a 2013 Sunday night gem: a 40-23 road blowout of the Steelers that featured a 42-yard fumble-return touchdown by Julius Peppers, a ridiculous 17-yard touchdown pass from Cutler to Earl Bennett and a shoulder-lowering Cutler run for a first down?
Granted, the Bears record on “Football Night in America” since NBC took that over as the league’s spotlight game isn’t all that impressive. Since the start of 2006, they are 11-15 on Sunday nights during the regular season. That doesn’t include last year’s season-opening 10-3 loss to the Packers in the network’s Thursday night 100th-season kickoff game or a playoff loss to the Eagles in January 2019. It also doesn’t include the Thanksgiving upset of the Packers that will replay Thursday.
This Bears-Packers game might have difficulty competing for eyeballs with some of the other dusted-off sports programming that will air simultaneously. That includes the classic Texas-USC national championship game at the Rose Bowl in January 2006 (ESPN); Game 7 of the Spurs-Pistons NBA Finals in 2005 (NBA TV); the Vikings stunning the Saints in “The Minneapolis Miracle” in January 2018 (FS1); Seahawks over Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII (NFL Network); Kentucky over Stanford in the 1998 Final Four (CBS Sports Network); Tuffy Rhodes’ three-homer opening day for the Cubs in 1993 (Marquee); the Blackhawks downing the Sharks in Game 1 of the 2010 Western Conference finals (NBC Sports Chicago); LeBron James as a high school senior at the 2003 Powerade Jam Fest (ESPN2); and, yes, the first round of the 2019 Valero Texas Open (Golf Channel). (Who could forget Si Woo Kim’s opening 66?)
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Still, for those needing to get their football fix, wanting to dabble in nostalgia of any kind or merely wanting to torture themselves with a reminder of a win that felt so good but meant so little, clear your schedule or set the DVR for Thursday night.


chicagotribune--2020-04-02--For parents of premature babies in the NICU, the coronavirus pandemic has only heightened their anxi

For parents of premature babies in the NICU, the coronavirus pandemic has only heightened their anxiety

“ If they need any procedures or special treatment done , as their parent you want to be there for @ @ @ @ @ best of days in the NICU , you want to be there to hold them @ @ @ @ @ know you are there for them , you ’ ll protect them , and to @ @ @ @ @ , ” Strock said .

Niama Nash sits outside of Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn on March 25. Her son Braylon is currently in the NICU. (Gary Middendorf / Pioneer Press)
Niama Nash’s daily routine revolves around hospital visits.
For Nash, the mother of a baby who was born prematurely and is currently in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the coronavirus pandemic is always on her mind.
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“I’m scared. Absolutely,” Nash said. “I have a lot of anxiety. I try to keep it together and calm because I can still see my son."
When Nash enters Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn, her temperature is taken and displayed on a sticker she wears for the length of her visit.
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She slips her cellphone and credit cards into a machine to be sterilized.
And before she enters the NICU to visit her son, Braylon, she takes off her outer layer of clothes, stashes them in a storage bag and pulls on a clean gown. She washes her hands and applies more sanitizer.
Braylon was born 10 weeks early, on March 12.
“I see people outside without gloves, without masks, being comfortable, and that’s just something I’m not going to do,” Nash said. “I’m not taking any risks.”
Nash is just one of the many parents of babies born prematurely or with a health condition that requires a stay in the NICU. As the number of COVID-19 cases in the Chicago area increases, hospitals have been forced to make tough decisions about how to keep their tiniest patients safe as they grow and develop enough to journey home.
Many hospitals, like NorthShore University HealthSystem’s Evanston Hospital, are restricting visitors to only parents, and in some cases just one parent at a time, said spokeswoman Colette Urban.
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Those visiting their Infant Special Care Unit have their temperatures taken and are screened for symptoms of COVID-19 before they enter, Urban said.
But it’s not as easy as restricting access to some of the hospital’s most vulnerable, said Rahul Gupta, chief medical and health officer and senior vice president at the March of Dimes.
The national organization advocates for the health of moms and babies, with programs that focus on those born early or with birth defects.
One in 10 babies are born prematurely, Gupta said. Activities like skin-to-skin contact or kangaroo care — where a baby lies on a parent’s bare chest — can help with the baby’s heart rate, breathing, sleeping and temperature regulation, according to the March of Dimes’ website.
Those physical connections can also reduce stress in parents and helps parents and children bond. In addition, parents of NICU babies are at a higher risk of postpartum depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, among other issues, Gupta said.
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“We don’t know what would happen if you were to separate them,” Gupta said. “Will they be exacerbated, these stresses and other challenges?”
‘You want to be there for them’
Parents of preemies and other hospitalized newborns are now living in a new reality, though, one in which their visits and those of other family members and friends are restricted or barred entirely. Many say the already-stressful experience of having an infant in the NICU has been worsened.
“The visits are important because that is your baby that you planned and envisioned bringing home, and to have to leave them at the hospital when you go home is very hard,” said Samantha Strock, 30, of Chicago.
Her son, Sonny, was born three weeks early, on March 11. She brought him home March 19 from the NICU at Amita Health Adventist Medical Center in Hinsdale.
“If they need any procedures or special treatment done, as their parent you want to be there for them. Even on the best of days in the NICU, you want to be there to hold them because you want them to know you are there for them, you’ll protect them, and to be their advocates when needed,” Strock said.
In downtown Chicago, Aaron Hamvas, division head of neonatology at Lurie Children’s Hospital and Northwestern University, said they’re working to keep parents and NICU babies together as much as possible during the coronavirus threat, while also keeping both safe.
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“It’s a tough problem. Part of the issue is we really don’t have a clear understanding of what the effects of the virus on premature babies will be,” Hamvas said. “There hasn’t been anything I’m aware of that’s been published with respect to premature babies already born who get infected.”
As a result, “we don’t have anything to really rely on,” Hamvas said.
The threat to preemies’ developing respiratory systems is a “theoretical concern,” Hamvas said. Three babies in China born to moms with COVID-19, and who tested positive for the disease themselves, did not require significant escalation in their care and recovered in a few days.
“That being said, we are very cautious and will need to see how things evolve over the next several weeks,” Hamvas added in an email.
He predicted hospitals in New York, which is experiencing large numbers of COVID-19 cases, will provide more guidance.
Currently, two parents or guardians are allowed to visit NICU babies at the same time at Lurie, Hamvas said. At Northwestern, only one parent at a time is allowed to visit.
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That’s a change from the hospitals’ previous policies, which allowed up to four adult visitors at a time in the NICU, officials there said.
‘You feel not complete’
Shaina Helm, 31, of Elmwood Park has seen the rules change at Edward Hospital in Naperville since her son, Benjamin, was born Feb. 27 at 26 weeks’ gestation.
Shaina Helm and her son, Benjamin, who was born premature at Edward Hospital in Naperville. (Shaina Helm)
At first she could bring guests into the NICU to meet her son. Now though, only his two parents are allowed. She fears the hospital could ban parents completely if the pandemic gets worse.
It’s already tough leaving Benjamin to go home at night, she said.
“That’s been the hardest feeling. You feel not complete,” Helm said.
Helm hopes to bring her son home next month, but worries the pandemic may just be hitting its peak at that time.
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“To me, the scariest thing is waking up one morning and being told indefinitely you’re not going to be able to see your child,” she said.
Back in Oak Lawn, Nash said if the coronavirus precautions remain in place when it’s time for Braylon to come home — at the end of April or beginning of May — she and her fiancé will ban visitors until the pandemic passes.
“If that’s the case, then no, we won’t have any visitors,” Nash said. “I really will restrict individuals who would like to see the baby until this dies down.”
And when that day arrives when they can finally take their baby home, Nash already has a plan.
“I will have more fear and anxiety," she said, "but we’ll Lysol the car and everything else we need to do and do a straight drive home.”


chicagotribune--2020-04-02--2 dead in wrong-way crash on Interstate 80 ramp

About 11:15 p.m. , two SUVs collided in eastbound lanes of the I-80 ramp , west of the Interstate 57 @ @ @ @ @ Illinois State Police , who were investigating the crash .
The driver of the SUV @ @ @ @ @ direction and the driver of the SUV that was hit both died after becoming stuck @ @ @ @ @ said .

Two men were killed in a wrong-way, two-vehicle collision on Interstate 80 late Wednesday, officials said.
About 11:15 p.m., two SUVs collided in eastbound lanes of the I-80 ramp, west of the Interstate 57 north junction, according to Illinois State Police, who were investigating the crash. The driver of the SUV that was heading the wrong direction and the driver of the SUV that was hit both died after becoming stuck inside their vehicles, officials said.
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Investigators determined a 2015 silver Chevrolet Tahoe was traveling in the center lane of I-80 east when a 2003 silver Toyota Sequoia traveling west in the eastbound lanes for an unknown reason collided with it, according to Illinois State Police.
The driver of the Tahoe, Keith Bowers, 48, of Merrillville, Ind. and the driver of the Sequoia, Samuel Sahagun-Banuelos, 23, of Lansing, were pronounced dead at the accident scene, according to state police.
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All eastbound lanes were closed at 11:23 p.m. and all lanes reopened at approximately 3 a.m., officials said.
Check back for updates.


chicagotribune--2020-04-02--Favorite for Chicago police superintendent emerges as search officially narrows to three

Brown , 59 , was with the Dallas Police Department for more than 30 years , retiring as its chief @ @ @ @ @ , five police officers were killed , and several others wounded , in an ambush-style @ @ @ @ @ .
Brown also found himself in the national spotlight when officers under his direction killed @ @ @ @ @ him a remote-controlled robot carrying an explosive and detonating it .

Finalists for Chicago police superintendent are Ernest Cato, a CPD deputy chief, Kristen Ziman, chief of police in west suburban Aurora, and David Brown, an ex-Dallas police chief. (Chicago Tribune and Getty photos)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s next police superintendent will either be a woman leading a suburban police department, a former police chief from Texas, or a high-ranking Chicago police official, though sources familiar with the process said a favorite had emerged late Wednesday.
Those sources said former Dallas police Chief David Brown was the leading candidate, and a decision was imminent. Lightfoot is expected to name her choice Thursday, the sources said.
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The three candidates were officially announced Wednesday by the Chicago Police Board as finalists to succeed interim Superintendent Charlie Beck.
Brown is one of two African American candidates on the board list given to Lightfoot for her consideration, along with Chicago police Deputy Chief Ernest Cato. The third name on the list was Aurora police Chief Kristen Ziman, who is white and openly gay.
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Both Brown and Ziman have experienced leading a department when some of their officers were killed or injured in mass shootings.
Brown, 59, was with the Dallas Police Department for more than 30 years, retiring as its chief in 2016. That year, five police officers were killed, and several others wounded, in an ambush-style rifle attack in downtown Dallas. Brown also found himself in the national spotlight when officers under his direction killed the suspect by deploying near him a remote-controlled robot carrying an explosive and detonating it.
The announcement of the finalists sets up a pivotal choice for Lightfoot as the department grapples with trying to reduce gun violence, implement reforms from within CPD as part of a federally mandated consent decree, and adapt to the ongoing COVID-19 emergency.
“This was a difficult decision," said Chicago Police Board President Ghian Foreman. "We had really good people who applied and I think that there were a number of candidates who would have made a good superintendent. It was our job to whittle it down to three.”
Sources familiar with the finalists had also placed former Los Angeles police official Sean Malinowski, who is white, on a shortlist of candidates being considered by the Police Board. He worked as Beck’s chief of staff when Beck was chief of the LAPD, and worked as a top consultant for Chicago’s force when it needed to set up its crime-fighting nerve centers — Strategic Decision Support Centers — throughout the city.
Foreman declined to comment about why Malinowski or other candidates aside from the top three were not finalists.
Reaction from community leaders to the list was immediate.
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Marshall Hatch, longtime pastor of the New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church on the West Side, said he’s most familiar with Cato because he’s worked in that area and is thought of highly by various community groups.
“I just don’t see what Mr. Brown would bring as an outsider,” Hatch said. “And I don’t know that the candidate from Aurora has been sufficiently tested in big-city politics (and policing) to really be viable.”
University of Chicago law professor Craig Futterman, who specializes in police accountability issues and has been overseeing the progress of CPD’s reform efforts, said he doesn’t know enough about the candidates to determine who’d be best suited to run the department, but he said it needs a leader who isn’t afraid to break away from past practices that have put the department in a negative light.
“And that means things like … the courage to hold police officers accountable when they lie or abuse the public, the courage, just as importantly, to embrace the community as a real partner in reform," Futterman said. “We’re long past the incremental gestures toward reform. My experience in both monitoring and overseeing the consent decree just confirms that CPD just remains so resistant to change.”
The nine-member Police Board compiled a five-page job application that listed more than a dozen requirements for the job, including, among other things, ensuring the 13,000-strong Chicago Police Department is compliant in a timely manner with the consent decree and overseeing policies concerning the mental health of officers.
Candidates were asked to talk about themselves in a video presentation, outlining their law enforcement experience and why they’re best suited to be Chicago’s next top cop.
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Ziman, 46, was in the national spotlight last year as Aurora’s police chief when the west suburb was reeling following a mass shooting that claimed the lives of five employees of the Henry Pratt Co. warehouse, and left injured another employee and five Aurora police officers. The gunman was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police.
She grew up in the Aurora Police Department, joining the force as a cadet at 17 and working her way through the ranks to become, in her mid-30s, its first female commander. She was back in the news recently when it was disclosed she had tested positive for COVID-19.
Cato, 54, is a Chicago police deputy chief in charge of three patrol districts — Austin, Harrison and Ogden — primarily on the West Side, which include some of the most violent areas of the city. He has been viewed as a rising star in the department, in part due to his willingness to work with community organizations that offer mediation on gang conflicts and help with social services and jobs. Cato is a 29-year CPD veteran who was a lieutenant before being promoted in October 2017 to commander of the West Side’s Austin patrol district and then deputy chief last year.
jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-01--La Grange Park neighbors use the street to exercise in good social distance form

But with the virtual shutdown of the state , Trayser has had to move her adult classes to a Zoom @ @ @ @ @ children ’ s classes are cancelled for the time being , so Trayser organized the @ @ @ @ @ mind .

Despite the COVID-19 virus quarantine, residents of the 700 block of North Spring Avenue in La Grange Park have found a way to get in shape, enjoy their neighbors, and practice social distancing at the same time.
They meet every day in mid-afternoon to practice group exercise, but only in front of their own homes.
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“We’re doing a block gym class,” Karen Trayser, block resident and fitness instructor, said before leading the half-hour fitness regimen.
Monday, the group included about 15 Spring Avenue residents of varying ages, all of them families working out together.
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The workout to music started this day at 2:30 p.m. and ran about one-half hour.
It included traditional calisthenics done non-stop to obtain a good cardio workout, body weight bearing exercises and some dancing and games thrown in.
Karen Trayser leads the workouts on the 700 block of Spring Avenue. (Hank Beckman / Pioneer Press)
“We geared it toward kids and fun,” Trayser said.
Like the rest of the State of Illinois — and much of the country — La Grange Park residents are essentially in a lockdown as a result of the virus.
Many are off work, children are out of school indefinitely and many, if not most, area businesses are closed.
But there is still a need for movement, fresh air and exercise to keep people from stagnating and that’s what motivated Trayser to organize the group.
“I have four kids of my own,” she said, “and they’re starting with E-learning. We just wanted a way to keep them learning and to keep these kids active.”
The program is accessible, with the participants only having to go as far as the curbs in front of their house.
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Kids practicing their push ups. (Hank Beckman / Pioneer Press)
Trayser worked in elementary education before having children and now runs her own fitness business, CF Lite Athletics, whose web site describes the 45 classes as “bootcamps” striving to “burn fat, build muscle and increase endurance.”
But with the virtual shutdown of the state, Trayser has had to move her adult classes to a Zoom application online. And any children’s classes are cancelled for the time being, so Trayser organized the block workouts with them in mind.
“They get outside every day, and this definitely keeps the kids positive,” she said. “This workout respects the distances needed and the requirements we have to shelter in place.”
Residents stepping to the beat. (Hank Beckman / Pioneer Press)
Janelle Watanabe brought her three children to the workout.
“There are a lot of children on our block,” she said. “Typically we go about a half-hour, depending on the energy level.”
Watanabe said after the workout that the day had went well.
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“They were pretty energetic out there,” she said. “Karen does a good job.”


chicagotribune--2020-04-01--New York firm to acquire Assurance Holdings and make Illinois its Midwest regional headquarters

“ What ’ s great about MMA is that they buy us for who we are as opposed to something @ @ @ @ @ get us to become , ” Chimino said .

A subsidiary of Marsh, a New York-based insurance broker and risk adviser firm, on Wednesday announced the acquisition of Assurance Holdings for an undisclosed amount.
The Schaumburg-based company will become the new Midwest regional headquarters for middle-market agency subsidiary Marsh & McLennan Agency .
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Assurance was founded in 1961 in Arlington Heights. It later moved to Schaumburg and opened another office in downtown Chicago. Assurance provides property and casualty insurance, employee benefits and retirement services to businesses in several sectors, including construction, staffing, senior living, schools and real estate firms.
The firm will be known as Assurance, a Marsh & McLennan Agency company.
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In 2019, Assurance’s annual revenues were more than $127 million. The company employs 525 workers.
Employees get instruction at "Assurance University" on Sept. 18, 2013, at Assurance in Schaumburg. In April 2020, Assurance Holdings is being acquired by a subsidiary of Marsh, a New York-based insurance broker and risk adviser firm. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)
Assurance CEO Tony Chimino, who will lead the Marsh & McLennan’s regional headquarters, said the acquisition will allow the company to expand its offerings to clients with international offices, among other things.
“What’s great about MMA is that they buy us for who we are as opposed to something they’re trying to get us to become,” Chimino said.
abjimenez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @abdel1019


chicagotribune--2020-04-01--A Chicago-shot indie’s premiere is delayed because of the coronavirus — and then resumed, virtually

O ’ Sullivan was philosophical about their circumstances .
“ Everyone is experiencing loss and disappointment right now ; ours @ @ @ @ @ scheme of things .
We ’ re healthy , we ’ re supported by our @ @ @ @ @ partners in Oscilloscope and the independent movie theaters who ’ ve come up with this @ @ @ @ @ fact that people will be able to watch our movie at home — staying safe @ @ @ @ @ supporting their local theater — feels miraculous and resourceful , and I ’ m grateful @ @ @ @ @ part of it .
We still get to have our premiere with the Music Box @ @ @ @ @ different way .
”

Two weeks ago the locally-shot indie “Saint Frances” was set to begin its Chicago run at the Music Box Theatre. But those plans were put on hold when the movie theater — like all venues across the city — closed its doors due to concerns about the coronavirus.
The movie’s writer and star, Kelly O’Sullivan, and director, Alex Thompson, took the postponement in stride. Their film originally premiered last year at South by Southwest and had already been picked up for theatrical distribution — two of the toughest hurdles for indie filmmakers once a movie is finished — and they assumed that their Chicago dates at the Music Box would simply be rescheduled when everything returned to status quo.
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But with the future looking increasingly uncertain, their distributor Oscilloscope Films decided waiting is no longer an option and “Saint Frances” will “open” virtually this weekend: $12 will get you a three-day streaming VOD window to watch the film, with a portion of rental proceeds going directly to the Music Box.
[ Review: "Saint Frances" now streaming at Music Box Theatre ]
The option to rent will be available over the next week, and the Music Box can extend that if things go well.
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Ramona Edith Williams and Kelly O'Sullivan star in the Chicago-shot indie "Saint Frances." (Corey Stein)
Set over the course of a Chicago summer, the film follows a young millennial (O’Sullivan, a longtime stage actor and familiar face to local theatergoers) who is just sort of floating along without much direction, personally or professionally.
A hookup after a party results in an unexpected pregnancy, which she decides to terminate; she’s not ready to raise a kid. Ironically, around the same time she’s presented with an opportunity to work as a nanny for a lesbian couple (Lily Mojekwu and Charin Alvarez) who live in Evanston with their six-year-old daughter.
“You must really like kids,” one of the moms says during the initial interview. “I don’t,” comes the reply. But this wonderfully stubborn and funny child — the Frances of the film’s title, played by Ramona Edith Williams — has a way of changing that sentiment in meaningful and non-cloying ways. (You can read Michael Phillips’ review here.)
The script for “Saint Frances” started from a personal place, O’Sullivan said; both the nanny and abortion experience draw from her own life. “I wanted to write something where abortion was one of the events but not the event of the movie. And bring some humor into it as well; the irony of, she’s just chosen not to be a mother and yet she’s spending her day being a stand-in mother to this child. Just because you grow to love another child doesn’t mean you regret the choice to not be a mother at that time.”
The film, both sweet and grounded in humorously uncomfortable moments, was shot locally. O’Sullivan and director Thompson (who are a couple) are based in Chicago as well. There was a good deal of anticipation around the Music Box premiere. But holding the film back for an undetermined period of time during the quarantine began to seem more and more untenable.
"Saint Frances" director Alex Thompson. (Nate Hurtsellers)
“I can’t overstate how difficult a decision it was for us to forgo the theatrical opening at the Music Box,” said Andrew Carlin, who heads theatrical sales for Oscilloscope, which is distributing the film. “I think our hearts all broke a little when we realized that wasn’t going to be possible. Over the past two weeks, Oscilloscope has quickly ramped up its ‘virtual cinema’ program with theaters all over the country, which allows their patrons an opportunity to rent the film digitally and at the same time support their local arthouse.”
A few weeks ago Oscilloscope first experimented with this rollout in Washington D.C. at the Avalon Theatre, which sold 100 “virtual tickets” in less than 24 hours after reaching out to moviegoers on its mailing list, per the Washington Post.
According to Carlin, “We opted not to go that route with the Music Box initially because it was always our intention to delay the release rather than cancel it. At the end of last week, however, it became clear that shelter in place would be part of our lives for the foreseeable future and virtual screenings were the only real path forward.”
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Because this VOD approach allows the Music Box to benefit financially as well, Thompson said it is a way to "direct Chicagoans to a link that supports their arts community and this iconic theater, that’s the best case scenario — better even than a screening in the unforeseeable future.”
After an unplanned pregnancy ends in abortion, a woman (Kelly O'Sullivan) finds herself confronted with motherhood and winds up as a nanny to a six-year-old girl (Ramona Edith Williams). (Music Box Theatre)
O’Sullivan was philosophical about their circumstances. “Everyone is experiencing loss and disappointment right now; ours is small in the grand scheme of things. We’re healthy, we’re supported by our community and we have fantastic partners in Oscilloscope and the independent movie theaters who’ve come up with this brilliant new model. The fact that people will be able to watch our movie at home — staying safe and being responsible, while supporting their local theater — feels miraculous and resourceful, and I’m grateful and proud to be a part of it. We still get to have our premiere with the Music Box, now just in a different way.”
Both O’Sullivan and Thompson decamped for Kentucky a few weeks ago to ride out the quarantine with Thompson’s family. How have they been spending their days? Thompson said he’s been cooking. And O’Sullivan said she’s been taking walks, reading, doing voiceover auditions and listening to books on tape. “I’m going to be a part of the Hamptons screenwriting lab this weekend — now virtually — and I’m thrilled for that opportunity to push work forward.
“I want to use this time,” she added, “but not feel pressured to use this time. I’m mostly trying to stay positive, safe, and adaptable.”
For more information go to www.musicboxtheatre.com.
A scene from "Saint Frances." (Corey Stein)
nmetz@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-01--Ask Amy: Toxic family leaves a mark

Ask Amy: Toxic family leaves a mark

One way to love others is to physically be there for them .
Be present , especially for your children @ @ @ @ @ .
Express an interest in their lives and be bravely expressive toward them .
You @ @ @ @ @ story , share your insight , express the desire to be better , and tell @ @ @ @ @ corner -- through good times and bad .
You are trying to break a generational @ @ @ @ @ understand that your kids may be bewildered , hurting , and affection-starved , too .

Dear Readers: Because of syndication scheduling, I write and submit my columns two weeks in advance of publication. Due to this time lag, the Q&A's will not reflect the latest information about the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic we are currently facing.
Dear Amy: I have abandonment issues. My biological mother left me when I was a baby. Due to the extreme parental neglect in my infancy, the courts awarded custody to my paternal grandmother. My father moved in with her as well.
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In my mind, my father "saved" me from a world that I could've died in, but the truth is, he was just as responsible for my neglect.
My father remarried, and my grandmother allowed me to live with my dad in his new home with his new wife. I called her "Mom" until she passed away.
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Mom was not affectionate toward me. She was very strict.
Fast-forward to now. I am 50 years old. My biological mother and stepmother are both dead. My father remarried again and moved hundreds of miles away.
My issue is a new resentment toward my father. Having learned that he wasn't the saint I always thought him to be, I find I don't want to speak to him much.
I love him very much, but I'm hurt that every woman in his life has had such an influence on him to the neglect of, not just me, but also my two half-sisters.
I don't really want to go down this path. My bitterness toward my biological mother, and lack of love from the woman that raised me has made me a cold person toward family. I feel more empathy toward strangers than my own relations (sometimes, even my own children, which I am acutely ashamed of).
Therapy is not easily accessible in my rural area, so I'm left to my own devices.
What advice can you provide that may warm my heart toward the very few that have loved me?
— Heart Two Sizes Too Small
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Dear Heart: You already seem to have a lot of insight about your challenging past. You have made the connection between the neglect you suffered as a child and your own hesitance (or inability) to express affection toward family members. Insight is a positive start, and you can definitely continue to grow and change.
As a child, your emotional needs weren't met. Your mother abandoned you and then the other adults in your life didn't provide an emotionally safe and nurturing environment.
To love others fully, you have to learn to fully love yourself. Loving yourself doesn't mean you are arrogantly declaring how great you are, but that you are learning to accept and embrace your own vulnerability, owning your own mistakes, and leaning into your determination to do better. Your very efforts toward healing and self-love should be considered your first triumph.
One way to love others is to physically be there for them. Be present, especially for your children. Show up for them. Express an interest in their lives and be bravely expressive toward them. You should tell them your own story, share your insight, express the desire to be better, and tell them you are in their corner -- through good times and bad. You are trying to break a generational chain of neglect, so understand that your kids may be bewildered, hurting, and affection-starved, too.
You would benefit from reading "Healing Your Emotional Self," by Beverly Engel (2007, Wiley & Sons).
Dear Amy: I am an average-attractive single woman who lives in a big city.
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I am frequently approached by men of other races that flirt with me and try to get my phone number.
How do I tell them I am not interested without offending them? I stick to my own kind.
— No Thanks
Dear No Thanks: It is fairly easy to say, "No thank you." But if you truly want to repel these interested men, you could tell them the truth: "No offense, but I'm a racist."
They should leave you alone after that.
Dear Amy: Thank you for your response to "Shy in Boston," the shy guy who was wondering how to possibly meet a nice woman in the supermarket.
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Ask Amy Daily No-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
It may sound like a cliché, but this is how I met my husband! He somewhat shyly asked me for advice about produce.
The rest is history. We're celebrating 15 years of marriage this year.
— Happily Together
Dear Together: "I need a price check for happily-ever-after on Aisle One!"
Get the latest no-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning with our Ask Amy newsletter. Sign up here.
(You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.)
Copyright 2019 by Amy Dickinson
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chicagotribune--2020-04-03--Mental health groups mobilize virtual community for those isolated by coronavirus outbreak. ‘This is

Mental health groups mobilize virtual community for those isolated by coronavirus outbreak. ‘This is a lifeline for people’

“ This is a lifeline for people , ” said Betsey O ’ Brien , communications director for the alliance @ @ @ @ @ meet with people who understand what you are going through — who you don ’ @ @ @ @ @ you feel because they already know , they are in the same place — that @ @ @ @ @ support group , whether face-to-face or online .
”

While seemingly everyone retreated to their homes amid the global pandemic, Kaitlin wondered about the 15 people she saw every Thursday.
They all lived with depression or bipolar disorder, and they would gather in a downtown Chicago church where they cried, divulged hidden thoughts, encouraged one another or silently listened. But as the coronavirus outbreak forces an unprecedented distancing of human contact, Kaitlin worries the loneliness and isolation will undo the progress they have made.
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Regina Rodriguez-Martin in her home on March 30, 2020, in Chicago. Rodriguez-Martin, the leader of an online depression support group on the platform Meetup, has been hosting online video chats with her weekly group. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
“For a lot of people, they feel like they are flashing back to these traumatic times by isolating, even though it’s for a different reason,” said Kaitlin, 29, who did not want her last name used in order to speak openly. “It reminds them of being isolated because of depression rather than because of the global pandemic.”
Kaitlin serves as a facilitator for the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. Last month, the group transitioned all meetings to the videoconferencing platform Zoom, joining a network of other support groups and therapy sessions in the Chicago area moving to virtual gatherings to stay connected.
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“This is a lifeline for people,” said Betsey O’Brien, communications director for the alliance. “Being able to meet with people who understand what you are going through — who you don’t have to explain how you feel because they already know, they are in the same place — that is the value of a support group, whether face-to-face or online.”
Outbreaks such as the coronavirus inflict an emotional as well as physical toll. With the caveat that everyone reacts differently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that mental health issues during an outbreak can range from fear over the health of yourself and others to increased substance abuse. A 2015 study found social isolation leads to depressive symptoms, cognitive decline and even early mortality.
Mental health experts say Americans are grieving over the way of life that’s gone, at least for now. People have lost jobs, canceled milestones and taken on additional caregiver responsibilities. Unemployment claims have skyrocketed in the U.S., and in Illinois nearly 133,800 people have filed claims as of mid-March.
“The one that keeps coming up for so many teens is really this sense of loss,” said Brandon Combs, executive director of Erika’s Lighthouse, a nonprofit that runs school programs on teenage depression. “This feeling that we're all feeling, this stress and uncertainty — it's grief.”
The Chicago chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness operates a free helpline that has fielded 30% more calls in the past month, according to chapter Executive Director Alexa James. More than 900 calls were projected for March.
The rise in messages to the Crisis Text Line, a free nonprofit texting service for those suffering from a mental health crisis, ranged from 47% to 116% this month, with most texters reporting stress and anxiety surrounding the coronavirus, said communications chief Ashley Womble.
Earlier this month, Regina Rodriguez-Martin sat in her home and was ready to suspend meetings of her “Depression: Friends Supporting Each Other” group, which was built using the social network website Meetup.
Health officials had been pressing for social gatherings to cease. She thought it was impossible to replicate the human connection of face-to-face meetings but decided to give virtual meetings a try.
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“I just could not bring myself to cancel,” Rodriguez-Martin, 53, said. “The biggest way that this support group has helped me is that it gives me a place to go where I can just be me, exactly as I am feeling right now.”
When Rodriguez-Martin’s depressive symptoms flare, she switches to a state she likens to becoming a “zombie” — slumped over, muted, staring into space without meeting people’s eyes. During her worst episodes, she wished she didn’t exist anymore.
“If I am with friends or if I’m working, I have to pretend like I’m OK and do my best to just act as normal,” Rodriguez-Martin said. “But in the depression support group, they all understand.”
Demand for virtual mental health resources has been growing. The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance national online support meetings, which can be joined from anywhere, have more than doubled to 11. The Chicago chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness has increased virtual support meetings from a few per month to about one every day.
Instead of a spring gala, Erika’s Lighthouse pushed an online “We’re in This together” campaign to provide resources to teens and parents. Combs said unique page views have risen fourfold in the past two weeks.
Camesha Jones, founder of Sista Afya Community Mental Wellness, a business that provides community support to black young women, moved its monthly Sister Support groups to Zoom and found that new people are tuning in.
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Mental health care organizations are also finding ways to reach audiences online. At MindPath Care Centers, an outpatient behavioral health organization based in North Carolina, lead therapist Shantel Sullivan hosted a Facebook Live video session last week to share coping mechanisms and answer questions.
More than 1,000 viewers tuned in, watching Sullivan demonstrate breathing exercises by placing one hand over her heart and the other on her stomach as she gradually inhaled. She taught a lesson on mindfulness by guiding listeners to focus on the soothing sound of water falling during a shower or the aroma of dinner cooking.
“Anything that can bring people together in real time, in the moment, to connect, to listen, to laugh, allows us to fill that void,” Sullivan said in an interview. “It certainly allows for connection that would otherwise not be possible.”
For Kaitlin, the group leader with the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, the current crisis reminds her of how far she’s come from three years ago, when she warily walked into a meeting after moving to Chicago and falling into depression. Though she is now greeting new members through a computer screen, she hopes they will return like she did and find healing.
“When I first started going, I desperately needed connection with people,” Kaitlin said. “It’s really important for people to have others in their life that they know and understand them, that they can talk to about these things and just connect with. That’s what makes life worth it.”
ayin@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-02--Ask Amy: Mother's mistakes come back to haunt her

Yes , you 've made mistakes .
Admitting this is definitely a step in the right direction , but you @ @ @ @ @ victimhood , here .
Until you take responsibility for your parental neglect , passivity , @ @ @ @ @ can not hope for a reconciliation .
Even your Facebook-stalking seems to me more melodrama @ @ @ @ @ mother desperate to make things right .
You are not Stella Dallas standing in the @ @ @ @ @ daughter through a window .
You are not the victim of her blocking you .
@ @ @ @ @ other than Facebook -- to contact someone , however , until you can commit to @ @ @ @ @ probably wisest for your daughter to keep her distance .

Dear Readers: Because of syndication scheduling, I write and submit my columns two weeks in advance of publication. Due to this time lag, the Q&A's will not reflect the latest information about the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic we are currently facing.
Dear Amy: I wish I could undo some of the terrible mistakes I've made.
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My daughter hasn't spoken to me in years.
When she was very young, I divorced her dad and moved hundreds of miles away. I married a man with two sons and a parenting method that I didn't agree with, but I felt trapped with him -- the way I'd felt trapped with her dad. We were together for 10 years.
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I waited until after my daughter graduated from high school, and then I separated from her stepfather. It was very difficult to live on my own and we ended up getting back together. It was more out of convenience than anything.
When I told my daughter that I was getting back together with him, she blew up and told me that her stepbrother had drugged and raped her several times. I was in complete shock! She has not spoken to me since then.
I think about her every day. I stalk her on Facebook (with an unrecognizable profile) just so I can see her life. I can't be a part of her life because she has blocked me. This estrangement breaks my 83-year-old mother's heart, and I would like to see us all together again.
— Regretful
Dear Regretful: If you want your relationships to change, then you need to change. It's really that simple. Although you admit to having regrets, you don't seem to have taken responsibility for the role you played in your daughter's trauma. Your reaction to her disclosure that she was raped while in your household was to express shock, and then passively sigh -- and continue on to reunite with your ex.
Are you not aware that the best thing to do when someone reports a rape is to call the police? (And people wonder why assault victims hesitate to report!)
Yes, you've made mistakes. Admitting this is definitely a step in the right direction, but you don't get to claim victimhood, here. Until you take responsibility for your parental neglect, passivity, and terrible judgment, you cannot hope for a reconciliation. Even your Facebook-stalking seems to me more melodrama than the action of a mother desperate to make things right. You are not Stella Dallas standing in the rain, wistfully watching your daughter through a window. You are not the victim of her blocking you. There are many ways -- other than Facebook -- to contact someone, however, until you can commit to positive change, it is probably wisest for your daughter to keep her distance.
A compassionate and competent counselor could walk you through the events in your life that have culminated in this moment. With coaching and positive change, the reconciliation you desire might be possible. I hope you will try.
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Dear Amy: "Queasy in Florida" wanted to put an anonymous note in the mailbox of a woman at her retirement community, criticizing her behavior at the home's communal dining table.
Thank you for recommending a discreet, in-person conversation. My loving, kind, 86-year-old parents just voluntarily moved into an assisted-living community. My dad wore a hat in the dining room because his head is always cold.
Someone left a copy of the dress code at their apartment door with an arrow pointing to "no hats in the dining room."
My mother was furious, and I was heartbroken that someone would be so catty and cowardly toward my wonderful parents, especially as they were brand new and just getting used to their new home.
— Protective Daughter
Dear Protective: Nonjudgmental, discreet, and in-person is almost always the best way to communicate.
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Dear Amy: I was absolutely blown away by the letter from "Justin," the young transgender man who sent you a follow-up after you published his question about how to communicate with his parents over the holidays.
So many of us in the LGBTQ community are tasked with extremely challenging and awkward social or family-related negotiations. It's not fair to us, but yes -- humor always helps.
— Been There
Dear Been There: Justin is a special person -- I appreciated hearing back from him that his parents are really coming around. The companion letter in that column, from the mom of a transgender girl, showed how hard it can be for parents to adjust how they refer to their transgender kids.
Get the latest no-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning with our Ask Amy newsletter. Sign up here.
(You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.)
Copyright 2019 by Amy Dickinson
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chicagotribune--2020-04-02--Michigan State athletic director defends Tom Izzo after witness report in player’s sexual conduct in

Michigan State athletic director defends Tom Izzo after witness report in player’s sexual conduct investigation

`` Tom Izzo has been a beacon of integrity in his profession for nearly four decades , including a quarter @ @ @ @ @ Michigan State 's Office of Institutional Equity has gone on record to say that no @ @ @ @ @ to any actions taken by the men 's basketball staff during a Title IX investigation @ @ @ @ @ Beekman said .
`` There 's nothing to support any claims that any member of @ @ @ @ @ conducted their own investigation , or interfered with any ongoing investigation .
Any insinuation to @ @ @ @ @ than an attempt to smear a coach , a program , and an entire university @ @

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State athletic director Bill Beekman defended basketball coach Tom Izzo on Thursday after Izzo was accused in an ESPN report of contacting a witness who was part of a 2017 criminal sexual conduct investigation involving one of his players.
According to a police report obtained by ESPN, Michigan State student Brayden Smith was with basketball player Brock Washington on the night a female student said Washington forcibly groped her. When police interviewed Smith, he said he had already been contacted by Izzo and assistant coaches Dwayne Stephens and Mike Garland. They "asked (Smith) if he was OK and if there was anything that he had seen during the evening," according to the report.
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Beekman responded in a lengthy statement Thursday.
"Tom Izzo has been a beacon of integrity in his profession for nearly four decades, including a quarter century as head coach. Michigan State's Office of Institutional Equity has gone on record to say that no policies were violated in regards to any actions taken by the men's basketball staff during a Title IX investigation into a student," Beekman said. "There's nothing to support any claims that any member of the men's basketball staff conducted their own investigation, or interfered with any ongoing investigation. Any insinuation to the contrary is nothing more than an attempt to smear a coach, a program, and an entire university."
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Smith, the son of former Michigan State player Steve Smith, has not played basketball for the Spartans. According to a Title IX report obtained by ESPN, Brayden Smith told investigators he considers the coaches his "godfathers" who check in on him occasionally.
According to ESPN, police said in their report that Brayden Smith's perception of his conversation with the coaches about the night in question "was not to get information out of him, but rather to ensure that he was OK and remind him to be responsible."
The school's Title IX investigation determined that Washington was not responsible for having violated the university's sexual misconduct policy, according to ESPN. The network also reported that in early 2018, Washington pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault under a provision allowing offenders to plead guilty without a court entering a judgment of conviction.
Earlier this week, ESPN reported that campus police told prosecutors they had probable cause that Brock Washington raped a woman Jan. 19 while she was too intoxicated to consent. County prosecutors declined to file charges because they didn’t feel they could prove their case to a jury.
Washington played a total of 19 minutes this season before he was suspended in late January.


chicagotribune--2020-04-02--Mayor Lori Lightfoot calls former Dallas police Chief David Brown the right leader in a time of cris

Mayor Lori Lightfoot calls former Dallas police Chief David Brown the right leader in a time of crisis, announces him as choice for police superintendent

“ I know well that a person ’ s true character comes through in crisis , ” she said , @ @ @ @ @ showed exceptional leadership .
She said when she watched news reports about the shooting four @ @ @ @ @ ’ t have imagined the day when she would be mayor of Chicago and choosing @ @ @ @ @ ’ s police force .

Chicago police Superintendent David Brown briefs reporters outside Mt. Sinai Hospital, where a Chicago police officer was transported after being fatally shot during a domestic dispute call in the Southwest Side, March 1, 2023. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced her choice of former Dallas police Chief David Brown as the next Chicago police superintendent Thursday, calling him the “humble leader” the city needs to lead it through its violence problem and the unfolding coronavirus emergency.
The selection of Brown, chosen from among the three finalists for the job named by the Chicago Police Board this week, was a crucial choice for Lightfoot, who picked a permanent top cop for the first time since being elected mayor last year.
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At a news conference Thursday making the announcement, Lightfoot said Brown in Dallas made it a mission to bring peace to neighborhoods, and led initiatives on accountability and transparency. Highlighting Brown’s lifelong history of overcoming adversity and track record of reducing crime in that city, Lightfoot declared him the best man for the job here.
“In this time, in this moment, the Chicago Police Department — indeed our city— needs this humble leader,” Lightfoot said. “A man of integrity whose mettle was forged in tragedy,” she said, mentioning his time leading the department through a mass shooting in 2016 that took the lives of several police officers.
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“I know well that a person’s true character comes through in crisis,” she said, adding Brown stepped up and showed exceptional leadership. She said when she watched news reports about the shooting four years ago, she couldn’t have imagined the day when she would be mayor of Chicago and choosing him to lead the city’s police force.
As the Dallas police chief, Lightfoot said, Brown implemented community policing initiatives, implicit bias training, published never-before-released data on officer-involved shootings and made his city “the first in the nation to institute departmentwide de-escalation training.”
“All of which helped bring Dallas’s violent crime rate down to 50-year lows,” Lightfoot said.
After he was introduced, Brown thanked Lightfoot and offered his condolences to the family of the first police officer to lose his life to COVID-19, a death the mayor had announced earlier in the day.
He said his call to serve crosses city lines, led him from Dallas to Chicago and drives his career.
“It’s a fire in my bones,” he said. “All of us are at our best when we serve others.”
He said he was honored to lead police in Chicago. “Chi-Town,” he said. “That Windy City.”
Brown said in fact, Dallas and Chicago have much in common: “strong, proud and tough.” But asked why he would want to take the job in his new city, Brown responded, “Are you kidding me? The city that produced Michelle Obama and elected Mayor Lightfoot? Sign me up for that.”
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He did mention the coronavirus pandemic and said it has shown the value of police officers. Brown pledged to help lead the city out of the crisis.
“We will get our communities up and running again,” Brown said.
Brown’s hiring by Lightfoot awaits official confirmation from the City Council later this month.
The 59-year-old Brown is the third Chicago police superintendent chosen from outside the force since 2008. That year, then-Mayor Richard M. Daley picked longtime FBI veteran Jody Weis as his police boss, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s first selection was New Yorker Garry McCarthy, who held the job from 2011 until 2015.
Brown replaces Charlie Beck, a former Los Angeles police chief who took over as interim superintendent after Lightfoot fired Eddie Johnson late last year. Lightfoot called Beck a cop’s cop and thanked him for his service.
“You came to us in a time of need,” she said, at times growing emotional and calling his departure bittersweet.
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Johnson had been hired by Emanuel in 2016 before Lightfoot dismissed him in December, alleging Johnson lied to her about a late night out in the fall when he had been drinking and was found slumped over in his city-issued vehicle.
Choosing a police superintendent is always politically risky for a mayor. The wrong choice could demoralize rank-and-file cops or anger members of the City Council, and then there’s making sure the person is up for the position, which Lightfoot has said is “one of the toughest jobs in law enforcement.”
One item on the mayor’s checklist: experience as a senior manager of a large organization. Of the three finalists for the job, Brown was the only candidate to lead a police department the size of Dallas’, which had about 3,500 cops when he retired.
Brown will now be responsible for leading CPD through a federally mandated consent decree aimed at reforming the way the 13,000-strong department trains and supervises its officers.
Asked at the Thursday news conference whether the city could meet the demands of the consent decree, Brown noted he had read “the 800 pages" of the document and answered, “We will meet this requirement of the consent decree, without question.”
As far as moving CPD away from its dark days of the Laquan McDonald scandal, which ultimately led to the formation of the consent decree, Brown said an important attribute for officers is “ethical character."
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“Doing what’s right when no one’s looking without being ordered by a court,” he said.
He will also now be in charge of crime-fighting strategies to combat intractable gun violence in the city, while Chicago’s officers at the same time try to adapt to uncertain times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A veteran of the Dallas Police Department for more than 30 years, Brown was its chief for the 2016 shooting when five police officers were killed, and several others wounded, in an ambush-style rifle attack in downtown Dallas.
And while he was in the national spotlight, officers under his direction used a controversial method to kill the suspect in the shooting, deploying a remote-controlled robot carrying an explosive and detonating it.
Brown recounted his ultimate decision to use the tactic in his 2017 autobiography, “Called to Rise," co-written by journalist Michelle Burford. The plan Brown approved to kill 25-year-old Micah Johnson with the robot did work, but Brown in his book acknowledged some of the criticism about his department’s handling of the incident, which essentially meant executing Johnson before he could have a trial.
“I had no hesitation about detonating the explosive,” Brown said in the book.
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Brown retired the year of the shooting before working in the private sector, including as an ABC News contributor on law enforcement, race and social justice issues.
Born and raised in Dallas, Brown, a devout Christian, became a city cop in 1983 after seeing the negative effect the crack epidemic had on his neighborhood of Oak Cliff.
Brown’s climb to the Dallas department’s top post was marked by tragedy. His former partner was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1988, and his younger brother was slain by a drug dealer in 1991.
Then in June 2010, weeks into his tenure as police chief, his son fatally shot a cop in a Dallas suburb and killed another man, before he was shot and killed himself by police.
On Thursday, Brown talked about how good things have come out of the tragedies he’s experienced.
“As dark as some of those times have been, (it’s) also in those times that I have seen incredible resiliency, faith and the infinite goodness in people,” Brown said. “And I am confident the same characteristics are here in Chicago.”
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jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-04-02--SXSW partners with Amazon to put its film festival online

“ Ever since SXSW was canceled by the City of Austin , we ’ ve been focused on how we @ @ @ @ @ and filmmakers in the SXSW 2020 Film Festival lineup , ” said Janet Pierson , @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We ’ re inspired by the adaptability and resilience of the film community @ @ @ @ @ solutions in this unprecedented crisis .
”

The popcorn will be bring your own and the barbecue won’t be as good, but the Austin, Texas, SXSW Film Festival is moving online after having its 27th edition canceled by the coronavirus pandemic.
SXSW announced Thursday that it's partnering with Amazon Prime Video to stream as much of its movie line-up as possible for a 10-day period in the U.S. It will be free to viewers with or without an Amazon Prime membership.
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South by Southwest organizers have worked frantically to salvage what they could of the festival and bring attention to the many films that had been planning to premiere there. SXSW, which had been scheduled to run March 13-22, last week announced awards for its competition categories, anyway.
Individual films will choose whether they want to opt in to the 10-day “SXSW 2020 Film Festival Collection” on Amazon. Don't count on movies acquired by Netflix, for example, to participate. The festival declined to say how many films it expects to host.
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SXSW announced Thursday that it's partnering with Amazon Prime Video to stream as much of its movie line-up as possible for a 10-day period in the U.S. (Patrick Semansky/AP)
But for the filmmakers that do join in, the digital platform could offer a measure of solace for their missed SXSW premiere, and all the promotion benefit that a major festival entails. Filmmakers who participate will receive a screening fee.
“Ever since SXSW was canceled by the City of Austin, we’ve been focused on how we could help the incredible films and filmmakers in the SXSW 2020 Film Festival lineup,” said Janet Pierson, director of film at SXSW. “We’re inspired by the adaptability and resilience of the film community as it searches for creative solutions in this unprecedented crisis.”
SXSW and Prime Video are aiming to hold the 10-day online event in late April.
Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, said she hopes the online SXSW "can help give back some of that experience, and showcase artists and films that audiences might otherwise not have had the chance to see.”