chicagotribune--2020-04-01--Search for next Chicago police superintendent officially narrows to three

Sources familiar with the finalists had also placed former Los Angeles police official Sean Malinowski , who is white , @ @ @ @ @ being considered by the police board .
He worked as Beck ’ s chief of @ @ @ @ @ of the LAPD , and he worked as a top consultant for Chicago ’ s @ @ @ @ @ set up its crime-fighting nerve centers — Strategic Decision Support Centers — throughout the city @

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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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--Watch live: Members of the coronavirus task force hold a press briefing

Watch live as members of the coronavirus task force provide an update on the coronavirus outbreak in a briefing scheduled @ @ @ @ @ Get the latest updates here .

This website stores data such as cookies to enable essential site functionality, as well as marketing, personalization, and analytics. By remaining on this website, you indicate your consent.


chicagotribune--2020-04-01--Column: From Fanatics to Bauer, sports equipment manufacturers do the right thing by pivoting to the

Column: From Fanatics to Bauer, sports equipment manufacturers do the right thing by pivoting to the safety of health care workers

Because there will be no baseball for the immediate future , there ’ s no need to make jerseys .
@ @ @ @ @ into the logistics , it received a call from St. Luke ’ s Hospital in @ @ @ @ @ hospital could bring its own material to the Fanatics facility to cut PPEs .
The @ @ @ @ @ , but the hospital then said it was too difficult to do and asked if @ @ @ @ @ masks itself .

Imagine representing your favorite baseball team — be it the Cubs or White Sox — by wearing a blue or black pinstriped face mask at the ballpark this summer.
We’re not there yet, of course, because we don’t even know if there will be a baseball season. And there’s a debate over whether those who haven’t tested positive for the coronavirus should be wearing face masks in public.
Advertisement
But it’s something I’ve been thinking about since learning of the collaboration between Major League Baseball and its official jersey manufacturer, Fanatics, to address the shortage of protective masks and gowns for hospital workers on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fanatics executive chairman Michael Rubin, who also is a co-owner of the 76ers and Devils, recently came up with the idea of using fabric meant for major-league uniforms to make masks and gowns for a local hospital near Philadelphia.
Advertisement
According to a company spokesman, Rubin recently woke up in the middle of the night and thought about what he could do to help alleviate the problem caused by the lack of personal protective equipment during the pandemic. He quickly realized he had a million yards of fabric for baseball uniforms at the company’s manufacturing facility in Easton, Pa., that was not going to use.
Because there will be no baseball for the immediate future, there’s no need to make jerseys. While the company was looking into the logistics, it received a call from St. Luke’s Hospital in nearby Bethlehem asking if the hospital could bring its own material to the Fanatics facility to cut PPEs. The company was glad to help, but the hospital then said it was too difficult to do and asked if Fanatics could simply make the masks itself.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf called Rubin and asked for help in making masks for hospitals statewide. Rubin then contacted MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and asked if Fanatics could halt production of jerseys to make the masks and gowns out of the material.
Manfred’s response: “How quickly can we get started?”
That’s all it took.
The cost of making and delivering 1 million masks is estimated at $3 million, a spokesman said, with Fanatics and MLB splitting the cost.
One week after a sleepless night started it off, Fanatics began delivering masks to St. Luke’s. Its goal is to make 1 million masks available to deliver to Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey hospitals.
Fanatics, the company that manufactures uniforms for Major League Baseball in Pennsylvania, has suspended production on jerseys and is instead using the polyester mesh fabric to make masks and gowns that help fill the dearth of protective wear at hospitals in Pennsylvania and nearby states. (Fanatics / AP)
The raw fabric used for the masks and gowns is a polyester mesh material originally intended for making Phillies and Yankees jerseys. The masks are non-surgical grade and single-use only, which means they’re not a replacement for the N95 masks used by hospital workers treating coronavirus patients.
Advertisement
But they are being used by emergency management workers and other hospital employees on the front lines of the pandemic.
Illinois currently is not on the list of states for PPE deliveries from Fanatics, but the company hopes to expand its plan when feasible.
So Cubs and Sox masks may be in the offing someday, though it’s too soon to say whether members of the public will be able buy similar PPEs for their daily use.
Let’s hope so. If there’s one way to make people more aware of the need to help flatten the curve, it’s by letting them represent their favorite sports team. I’ve never rooted for the 76ers before, but Rubin has made a new fan.
Like other sports leagues in limbo during the crisis, MLB is navigating things as best it can while facing an uncertain future. But while dealing with difficult decisions such as how to fairly compensate multimillionaires during the shutdown, whether it can begin considering starting up again and how long the season could last if it does, MLB also needs to show it’s doing whatever it can to help out.
Manfred’s quick decision to help Fanatics implement its plan was a great start.
Advertisement
“When Michael called me about this, it was the first piece of good news in a while,” Manfred told the New York Times. “I really hope it’s just the first step in baseball contributing to the country getting back on the road to normalcy."
With all the great minds in baseball — and with many of the game’s front offices filled by Ivy Leaguers and other highly educated employees — there should be no shortage of new ideas to help out in the crisis.
The new buzzword in America is “pivot,” with companies pivoting to address the needs of workers in areas that may be outside their expertise. Among those is Bauer, a hockey equipment manufacturer based in New Hampshire that is repurposing to begin mass producing medical face shields for doctors and nurses.
A Bauer employee models a medical face shield the hockey equipment manufacturer has begun creating to help those treating the coronavirus pandemic, at Bauer Hockey Corp. in Blainville, Quebec. (AP)
Bauer CEO Ed Kinnaly told the Boston Globe that two employees called him with the idea and sent him drawings a day later. The single-use device, which costs $3 to make, is similar to a welder’s shield.
The company is making up to 4,000 masks a day, though Kinnaly told the Globe he has not asked for permission to continue making them during the shutdown for nonessential business in the places they’re manufactured.
“If we’re told to shut down, we will, and we’ll eat the expenses associated with making masks,” he said. “We think the risk is worth it. It’s for the greater good.”
Advertisement
Doing the right thing is the only thing that matters. And who knows what else businesses can do to help our doctors, nurses, first responders, grocery store workers and others on the front lines of the pandemic. Maybe plexiglass panels meant for hockey arenas could be transitioned for use at grocery store checkouts?
The possibilities are endless.
This is what makes me optimistic about the future. While some of us are fretting over when our favorite players will return to action, ordinary people are coming up with ways to make things safer for the real heroes, the ones making sacrifices to help save lives.


chicagotribune--2020-04-01--‘Contagion,’ the virus movie with renewed popularity, was filmed all over Chicagoland

“ It ’ s a beautiful — if something ugly can be beautiful , this is it , ” Hudson @ @ @ @ @ s very intimidating .
They loved it .
We had to reroute all the traffic @ @ @ @ @ we shot there .
That location was pretty intense .
It was our last day @ @ @ @ @ in the rain that we had to film this thing .
That was a pretty @ @ @ @ @ ”

The Henry Ford II Memorial Bridge in Chicago doubled as the Wisconsin border in the 2011 film "Contagion," which starred Matt Damon. The film, much of which was shot in the Chicago suburbs, has experienced a resurgence in popularity during the coronavirus pandemic. (McClatchy-Tribune )
With the coronavirus pandemic keeping people at home more, they are suddenly flocking to old disaster movies with a decidedly familiar theme, films like “Outbreak,” I Am Legend” and especially “Contagion.”
“Contagion” was a 2011 movie by director Steven Soderbergh starring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Bryan Cranston and Lawrence Fishburne. The script was written by Scott Z. Burns.
Advertisement
The Warner Bros. website describes “Contagion” as a “global action thriller that revolves around the threat of a deadly outbreak of a fatal disease and the people determined to keep it at bay. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart.”
Many parts of the movie were filmed locally. Filming began in 2010 in Hong Kong then later moved to the Chicago suburbs — which doubled for Minnesota — for the majority of the filming, before finishing up in Atlanta, London and San Francisco.
Advertisement
Martin Hudson worked as the assistant location manager: Chicago on the shoot.
“I did a lot of scouting for that particular project,” he said. “We were bouncing all over the place, but we did filming in Downers Grove, in Skokie … it was the CDC in the show,” he said. “We did some (filming) in Western Springs. The Wisconsin bridge scene where they get stopped, we did that over on Torrence Avenue. We shot an aerial site over at UIC.”
He has definitely seen an uptick in interest in “Contagion” since the pandemic broke out.
“There are a lot of similarities,” he said. “People are home. I watched ‘Chernobyl’ the other night because it’s related to what we’re dealing with now. I think a lot of people are curious because of the situation we’re in.”
Hudson is still local, working on “Chicago Fire” now.
Once you’ve watched the film and sufficiently freaked yourself out, why not pass the time and take a drive to see some of the places seen in the movie? Here are a few local spots that were used in the filming:
525 Woodlawn Ave., Glencoe. Filming was done inside the home (which was to double as a home in Edina, Minnesota) and included Paltrow and Damon. It’s a critical scene when Paltrow’s character, Beth Emhoff, comes home from a business trip in Hong Kong, after being unknowingly infected with the deadly virus.
The old Sherman Hospital, 934 Center St., Elgin, stood in for the University of Minnesota Medical Center. Life has imitated art as the formerly shuttered hospital is being reopened to care for COVID-19 patients.
Advertisement
The Amstutz Expressway in Waukegan stood in for the Dan Ryan Expressway.
Illinois Science and Technology Park, 4901 Searle Parkway, Skokie. Doubled for the Minnesota Center for Disease Control.
The former Tischler Finer Foods grocery store at 4441 Wolf Road, Western Springs. A scene was filmed inside the store as well as the alley between it and the former Breen’s cleaners.
In this scene, Matt Damon’s character Mitch Emhoff and his daughter Jory (Anna Jacoby-Heron) enter the ransacked Gold Medal Market (Tischler’s) looking for supplies. A sickly woman approaches Mitch coughing and asking for help. He grabs Jory and rushes back outside to find looters smashing the windows of the Lake City Mutual Bank (Breen’s). Mitch and Jory take off into the parking lot of the Western Springs Baptist Church while panic and chaos ensue. The grocery store and the cleaners building were demolished in 2017.
North Riverside Mall, 7501 Cermak Road, Riverside. Doubled as the Willowbrook Mall. In the movie, infected people were quarantined there. “If you saw the film, you saw Matt Damon running through a semi-abandoned mall,” Hudson said. “That was what we used North Riverside for.”
Henry Ford II Memorial Bridge, 12400 S. Torrence Ave., Chicago. Doubled as the Wisconsin border where Damon has a confrontation with federal authorities.
Advertisement
“It’s a beautiful — if something ugly can be beautiful, this is it,” Hudson said. “It’s very intimidating. They loved it. We had to reroute all the traffic … for the day that we shot there. That location was pretty intense. It was our last day of filming and it was in the rain that we had to film this thing. That was a pretty big location for me.”
Sara Lee Corporate Headquarters, 3500 Lacey Road, Downers Grove. Exterior shots and an office scene were filmed there.
One Tellabs Center, 1415 W. Diehl Road, Naperville. “Tellabs was a number of offices where Lawrence Fishburne’s (CDC doctor) character worked. There’s a cafeteria scene and they created a Hong Long location in the parking lot,” Hudson said.
Central Elementary School, 910 Central Ave., Wilmette. In the movie, students were evacuated onto awaiting buses. According to the Chicago Tribune, more than 200 local students were used as extras.
Robert Everly Wildflower Sanctuary, between Linden and Jackson avenues in Glencoe, was the site of the scene where Damon’s character finds his daughter Jory in the woods with her boyfriend Andrew (Brian J. O’Donnell).
How to watch: “Contagion” is available for watching on Cinemax or for rental or purchase on Amazon Prime, Hulu, YouTube, Vudu or Google Play.
Advertisement
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.


chicagotribune--2020-04-01--14 NFL teams will make the playoffs in 2020 — that’s almost 44% of the league. And that means the pr

14 NFL teams will make the playoffs in 2020 — that’s almost 44% of the league. And that means the pressure on the Bears to win now will be even greater.

“ We should be able to turn it around next year , ” Phillips said .
“ I mean , @ @ @ @ @ year ago .
We had the ( NFL ) coach of the year and the @ @ @ @ @ They haven ’ t lost their abilities and we haven ’ t lost the talent @ @ @ @ @ just got to be able to maximize it better this coming season .
”

Perhaps it slipped past you amid the chaos of life over the last few weeks. On March 15, when NFL players voted to approve a new collective bargaining agreement, they gave the green light for playoff expansion this year. Two more teams in the bracket, one per conference. One fewer first-round bye.
NFL teams formally approved that proposal during league meetings Tuesday. So it’s full steam ahead.
Advertisement
That’s right, in 2020 the playoff guest list expands to 14 teams, almost 44% of the league now joining the party.
So what will that mean in Chicago? Will it change the pressure inside Halas Hall for an organization that hasn’t won a playoff game since 2010 and has played in only three over the last 13 seasons?
Advertisement
The short answer: It should.
If the Bears are serious about their objective to become a franchise that can sustain success, they have to start by elevating their standards and refusing to so readily shrug off mediocrity. In a highly competitive league in which a cutthroat mentality is a prerequisite to high-level success, the Bears must sharpen their focus. Now.
Reaching the playoffs this year should be a demand, not a request. A top-down directive. Inflexible and firm. With ramifications if it’s not met.
Reaching the playoffs on a regular basis must be a baseline measure of achievement and not just a refreshing periodic respite from years-long stretches of struggle.
With the postseason field expanded and a third wild-card invitation available in the NFC, the Bears have to be thinking “playoffs or bust” in 2020.
Or else …
Maybe that command has been communicated clearly inside the organization. Perhaps general manager Ryan Pace is feeling the weight of his .425 winning percentage over five seasons and realizes positive results in 2020 are mandatory.
Maybe that’s why Pace’s biggest acquisitions in the past month — quarterback Nick Foles, pass rusher Robert Quinn and tight end Jimmy Graham — are experienced and accomplished veterans who will be in their 30s when the season begins. Same goes for re-signed inside linebacker Danny Trevathan.
Advertisement
There isn’t enough time to invest in hope or potential or more developmental projects. There is a need to win. Consistently. As soon as possible.
That urgency should not be mistaken for panic. There’s a big difference. But there must be far fewer pleas for patience from inside Halas Hall.
At the NFL combine in February, coach Matt Nagy vocalized his mindset and continued to strike the right tone for the 2020 Bears. In addressing the need for quarterback Mitch Trubisky to make a significant developmental leap, Nagy referred to the urgency as “highly elevated.”
He also made it clear he wants that mindset shared teamwide.
Nagy acknowledged the frustration that came with the offense’s pronounced struggles in 2019 and stamped his team’s 8-8 record as “bad.” That sentiment was shared by Chairman George McCaskey and President Ted Phillips, who on Dec. 31 labeled the season as “disappointing” and “unacceptable,” respectively.
But what does “unacceptable” really mean? What are the consequences for unacceptable performances going forward and, more importantly, how do the Bears avoid another disappointing slide?
Advertisement
To that end, both McCaskey and Phillips have expressed faith in the leadership of Pace and Nagy, in their ability to self-reflect and collaborate and solve the problems that created such an unsatisfactory 2019 season.
“We should be able to turn it around next year,” Phillips said. “I mean, we were 12-4 just a year ago. We had the (NFL) coach of the year and the executive of the year. They haven’t lost their abilities and we haven’t lost the talent level. We’ve just got to be able to maximize it better this coming season.”
Nagy will continue to use his natural positive energy as a spark. But his enthusiasm should never be mistaken for a head-in-the-sand, Pollyannaish approach. That’s not who Nagy is.
He has spent months now, in collaboration with Pace and his coaching staff, performing a detailed examination of all that went wrong for the 2019 Bears and formulating plans to fix the biggest problems.
The Bears have made changes to the coaching staff and a series of moves in free agency and soon will look toward the draft. They have been examining system modifications on both sides of the ball to produce better results.
Most of all, though, Nagy wants his players to understand the urgency and insistence in his tone that they all get into the proper mindframe immediately.
Advertisement
“Let’s do everything we can do to pull this thing and rally this thing back together,” Nagy said. “Let’s not dwell on last year. … Let’s learn but now let’s also understand time. We’re right there. We feel like we have pieces. Let’s be positive. Let’s stay in attack mode.”
A pivotal season is ahead. That reality must be acknowledged and embraced.


chicagotribune--2020-04-01--Bears Q&A: Are you sure Nick Foles is the new starting QB? Will this be GM Ryan Pace’s last draft? I

Bears Q&A: Are you sure Nick Foles is the new starting QB? Will this be GM Ryan Pace’s last draft? Is wide receiver really a ‘need’ for a win-now roster?

I ’ m not sure if you are more concerned about Foles ’ injury history or the offensive line ’ s performance , which was not good last year but not as terrible as many have made it out to be .
I don ’ t believe Foles ’ perceived durability versus Trubisky ’ s perceived durability is going to be a consideration .
If the Bears didn ’ t think Foles could stay healthy , they would not have traded for him with a price tag of a little more than $ 20 million guaranteed .
So a broken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in his collarbone in 2014 and a hairline fracture of his right hand in 2012 aren ’ t going to weigh into the team ’ s decision at quarterback .
It ’ s worth noting Foles did not require surgery for the first collarbone injury or the hand injury .
I don ’ t know that many share your view in regard to Trubisky ’ s upside .
He has struggled to perform at a high level with consistency , and as most observers saw , this was an issue in 2018 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at a high level in the postseason and in brief stretches with the Eagles .
Maybe it ’ s not an ideal situation for the Bears , but as I said last week , when you swing for a quarterback with the second pick in the draft and miss , there isn ’ t a simple solution .
Perhaps Trubisky , at some point down the road , will get things going and change his career trajectory .
You certainly can not rule that out .
But I believe the Bears have exhausted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ upside and will be moving forward with Foles .

The Tribune’s Brad Biggs answers your Bears questions weekly.
In the Q&A last week, you implied the Bears brought in Nick Foles to be the starter. Foles’ track record includes the great run in 2013 and the Super Bowl run in 2017 but otherwise is pretty bleak. Foles seems like a great guy and elite No. 2/fallback option, but Mitch Trubisky has proven to be more mobile and durable and seems to have more upside. Foles has changed teams five times and only started 38% of his teams’ possible regular-season games, with the most being 11 games in one season. Also, the injury history is concerning: 2012 broken hand, 2014 broken clavicle, 2019 broken clavicle. Do you or the Bears think he could make it through a whole season with their offensive line? — Mike Z., Lombard
Advertisement
I’m not sure if you are more concerned about Foles’ injury history or the offensive line’s performance, which was not good last year but not as terrible as many have made it out to be. I don’t believe Foles’ perceived durability versus Trubisky’s perceived durability is going to be a consideration. If the Bears didn’t think Foles could stay healthy, they would not have traded for him with a price tag of a little more than $20 million guaranteed. So a broken collarbone last season, a hairline fracture in his collarbone in 2014 and a hairline fracture of his right hand in 2012 aren’t going to weigh into the team’s decision at quarterback. It’s worth noting Foles did not require surgery for the first collarbone injury or the hand injury. I don’t know that many share your view in regard to Trubisky’s upside. He has struggled to perform at a high level with consistency, and as most observers saw, this was an issue in 2018, not just 2019. Foles has played at a high level in the postseason and in brief stretches with the Eagles. Maybe it’s not an ideal situation for the Bears, but as I said last week, when you swing for a quarterback with the second pick in the draft and miss, there isn’t a simple solution. Perhaps Trubisky, at some point down the road, will get things going and change his career trajectory. You certainly cannot rule that out. But I believe the Bears have exhausted their period of hanging on for that upside and will be moving forward with Foles.
Can Foles make it through the entire season? We’ll have to see. Thirteen quarterbacks started all 16 games last season. Sixteen did it in 2018, 12 in 2017 and 14 in 2016. You have to go back to 2015 to find a season in which more than half of the league (17 teams) had one quarterback start all 16 games. The bottom line is Foles’ previous injuries and the level of faith in the offensive line — probably higher inside Halas Hall than elsewhere — will not factor in the decision on who starts at quarterback.
Advertisement
Stunned you published a mock draft through the Bears’ picks in Round 2 and did not give them an offensive lineman. That was the greatest area of need entering this offseason and the one area they have done virtually nothing. There’s a better chance they draft two linemen in Round 2 than no linemen in Round 2. How can you overlook that? — J.P., Palatine
You’re not alone in your reaction. With the Bears selecting at Nos. 43 and 50 in Round 2, I had them taking Auburn cornerback Noah Igbinoghene and USC wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. in the mock draft published online Monday and in Sunday’s paper. I can acknowledge the need to add talent on the offensive line via the draft while selecting players at other positions of need. Picking a cornerback and a wide receiver isn’t me saying, “The Bears don’t need an infusion of talent on the offensive line.” Some were unhappy with the mock draft because they don’t see any need for a wide receiver, and they’re wrong. The Bears cut ties with Taylor Gabriel, and Anthony Miller is coming off shoulder surgery for the second consecutive offseason. They ranked 29th in the NFL in scoring last season. Relying solely on Riley Ridley, who couldn’t get on the field as a rookie, or Javon Wims, who has been a minimal contributor for two seasons, would be a mistake.
Many in the draft-a-lineman crowd also have failed to embrace the likelihood the Bears will have only one new starter on the line to begin the season. Contractually, they’re not going to move on from left tackle Charles Leno or right tackle Bobby Massie this season. They just paid center Cody Whitehair last summer, and the belief is James Daniels settled down once he moved back to left guard. So we’re looking at a scenario in which the Bears have a new starting right guard, whether it’s free-agent signee Germain Ifedi, second-year pro Alex Bars or maybe a newcomer yet to arrive. For the sake of discussion, let’s say general manager Ryan Pace selects a guard in Round 2 with a skill level somewhere around Whitehair and Daniels. How much does that addition improve the 29th-ranked scoring offense over what it would get from Ifedi or Bars?
I’ve maintained for some time that the Bears playmakers, with the exception of Allen Robinson, are not nearly as good as advertised. That’s a real issue, and when you have a problem scoring, you have to take a hard look at improving the skill-position talent. I’m not convinced signing tight end Jimmy Graham, who has three touchdown receptions in his last 24 regular-season games, is enough of an addition for this not to remain a serious need.
Sure, it’s complicated by the lack of picks in the top four rounds. After picking at No. 50, the Bears won’t be back on the clock until the fifth round with the 163rd pick. Don’t sleep on the need for a cornerback either. The Bears signed Artie Burns, a former first-round pick of the Steelers, to a one-year contract for the minimum. Burns was a healthy inactive for the final month and a half last year. The Bears are hoping a change of scenery and coaching can help, but this is a minimal investment, nothing like the fully guaranteed one-year, $7 milllion deal Prince Amukamara received when he first joined the Bears in 2017. It has been a long time (Kyle Fuller in Round 1 in 2014) since the Bears used a high draft pick on a cornerback, and you can’t ignore this position if you’re in the group clamoring for an offensive lineman first.
Do you think we will have football on time? Without fans? Minimal fans? — @cubsfan122112
That is a great question that I don’t believe anyone can answer with a degree of certainty. While the NFL didn’t delay the start of the league year on March 18 and has said it won’t push back the draft from April 23, it’s very possible voluntary offseason programs, rookie minicamps, organized team activities and veteran minicamps will be wiped out. The Bears were scheduled to open their offseason program April 20, and that is on hold indefinitely. Is it possible games are played in September? Could games be played without fans? There are a ton of questions to ponder. I will say this: I don’t know how the league could play with minimal fans. To me, it’s either safe to have fans in the stadium, business as usual, or it’s not safe.
Let’s all be smart and diligently practice social distancing. That’s the best we can do individually, and everyone needs to take the COVID-19 threat seriously. The more disciplined we are now and in the foreseeable future, the sooner we’ll be able to return to a normal society.
Advertisement
Why is everyone so quick to blame Mitch Trubisky? He had one of the worst offensive lines in football, virtually no running game and it seemed like he was running for his life every time he dropped back. No weapons to speak of other than Allen Robinson. And I felt like coach Matt Nagy was trying to force his offense onto a roster that did not fit it whatsoever. Combine that with his shoulder injury, no wonder he didn’t have a good year. Did he miss some throws? Yes. Did he make big throws? Yes. Could he have played better? Absolutely. It was so obvious to me that not a single player on offense bought into what Nagy was selling. They were so disorganized throughout the season, and I don’t care who your QB is, when you don’t believe in your play caller, this is the result that you get. — Yuri N., St. Louis
It’s not just the media or fans blaming Trubisky at this point. It’s the team that drafted him. That’s the only way you can interpret the trade for Nick Foles, which cost the Bears a fourth-round draft pick. They are guaranteeing Foles a little more than $20 million, or nearly 70% of the value of Trubisky’s four-year rookie contract. If Trubisky had worked out to this point, the Bears would be exploring a new contract for him and would have been comfortable with Chase Daniel as the No. 2 or perhaps an even more affordable backup. Trubisky suffered a left (non-throwing) shoulder injury last season, so that shouldn’t be a crutch to explain his performance. The point you are overlooking is the offense was a wreck from the opening 10-3 loss to the Packers all the way through the finale, when it produced one touchdown in a 21-19 victory over the JV Vikings, who were resting their starters for the playoffs. Criticism of Nagy is fair after a poor offensive season in which the Bears were in the league’s bottom five in too many categories. But the quarterback, who was barely middle of the pack in 2018, cannot escape scrutiny. It’s difficult to understand the crowd defending Trubisky and makes me wonder how much they have seen some of the league’s other very talented quarterbacks with the same experience or less.
Will the new Amari Cooper deal be an obstacle for the Bears signing Allen Robinson to an extension? — @big305country
That probably depends on which side of the negotiating table you’d like to sit. Contracts at every position are going to soar in the first few years of the new collective bargaining agreement. The Cowboys signed Cooper to a five-year, $100 million contract with a practical guarantee of $60 million and a full guarantee of $40 million. The deal made him the league’s second-highest-paid wide receiver in terms of annual average at $20 million behind the Falcons’ Julio Jones ($22 million). Next are the Saints’ Michael Thomas ($19.25 million) and the Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill and the Browns’ Odell Beckham Jr. (both at $18 million). Robinson is 15th on that list with an annual average of $14 million.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 111 Chicago Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson (12) celebrates the win with fans, Jan. 2, 2022, at Soldier Field. The Bears defeated the New York Giants 29-3. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
There’s little doubt in my mind Robinson is seeking a significant raise as he has been the only reliable member of the Bears offense the last two seasons. For a player to maximize his leverage, he needs to be on the free market, and the 26-year-old Robinson seems unlikely to get there as the Bears could secure him with the franchise tag a year from now. I expect Robinson to set his aim in the range of $20 million per season, especially knowing the salary cap is expected to climb significantly in the next few years. He will want to look ahead when negotiating.
I don’t think the sides are close to an agreement, which is understandable because the Bears have been busy in free agency and preparing for the draft. There’s no urgency at this point on the calendar.
Advertisement
Ryan Pace’s drafts have been awful. Four top-10 selections and he has whiffed on three of them. Franchises get into an unrecoverable pattern when top-10 picks don’t contribute or even remain on the roster four, five years later. He has really hit on only three picks with Roquan Smith, Eddie Jackson and Eddie Goldman out of his 32 selections. The rest are mediocre, injured or limited role players at best. Kevin White, Leonard Floyd and Mitch Trubisky should have played themselves into “franchise tag” territory, and it is likely all three will be off the roster in 2021. So much for a rebuild through the draft. And I agree with you on Nick Foles — he was brought in to play and win now. Do you feel this is Pace’s final year if the Bears finish 8-8 or worse? — Bob B., Atlanta
You can’t defend the Bears’ lack of success in the first round in recent years. Neither White nor Floyd earned a second contract from them, and Trubisky appears to be headed into his final season with the Bears barring opportunity and a complete turnaround. It’s the first time the Bears had four consecutive top-10 picks (they traded up from No. 11 to No. 9 to draft Floyd in 2016) since the mid-1970s. Of course, they produced a running back by the name of Walter Payton as a payoff for some of their struggles at the time.
To say Pace has hit on only three picks is simply wrong. What makes a mid- or late-round pick a success in your book? Pro Bowl status or bust? Adrian Amos was a terrific Round 5 find in 2015, exactly the type of producer teams hope to hit on in the late rounds. Cody Whitehair has turned into a productive Round 2 pick, also what you’re seeking at that point in the draft. Nothing at all wrong with linebacker Nick Kwiatkowski in Round 4. He earned a starting payday from the Raiders in free agency. Running back Jordan Howard was a good fifth-round find. Tarik Cohen, Anthony Miller, Bilal Nichols and James Daniels have all played some good football for the Bears.
If you’re going to talk about someone’s draft record and ponder his future, you at least have to look at it with clear vision. It will be interesting to see what happens after this season. Chairman George McCaskey has talked about being an impatient person who has pledged to be patient with the building of the roster. Predicting what will happen after the season would be simply guesswork at this time.
Bears center Cody Whitehair (65) and left guard James Daniels (68) line up against the Lions on Nov. 10, 2019, at Soldier Field. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
In the past the Bears have been reasonably conservative with their contracts, often front-loading them to allow them to cut players who don’t work out with minimal salary-cap impact. From what I can tell about the recent additions Robert Quinn, Nick Foles and Jimmy Graham and from Danny Trevathan’s new contract, it has occurred to me that Ryan Pace might have shifted to win-now mode and shoved in all of his chips on 2020. But it also occurs to me that with the TV contract renewal coming this year, the salary cap might jump pretty significantly next year. I’ve heard estimates as high as $240 million. Do you think the structure of the new contracts has more to do with the Bears simply anticipating the increase and pushing the money off into years when they know there will be a higher cap? — Tom S., Chicago
I don’t see the details of recent contracts as a sign of more immediacy at Halas Hall. The Bears have lowered the number of 2020 cap hits for the guys you referenced in order to fit them in for this year, allowing for them to carry larger cap hits in 2021, when, as you note, the cap is expected to climb significantly. That’s not putting a premium on the opportunity to win this season. That’s simply navigating the cap situation. It has gotten to the point in the NFL that teams are able to move cap money around so much, it’s really not a big hindrance to offseason roster building unless it’s totally out of whack. It’s worth noting Bears general manager Ryan Pace came from the Saints, who have, for the most part, always found a way to operate while being close to the cap at the start of the offseason. Of course, they have had a franchise quarterback they needed to pay for a long time, and the Bears don’t have one of those. My take is the Bears are doing business as usual with the contracts, even if these players create at least a little ripple for the cap situation in 2021 or 2022.
Advertisement
Assuming that the Bears would be interested in trading back from either or both of their second-round picks, what would a realistic trade package look like coming back? — Bill U.
It’s all about a package when you talk about trading back, and the Bears would have to find a team motivated to move up like Ryan Pace has been in recent years. There’s no value in trading down if you can’t identify the team pushing to move up the board. That being said, the Bears could get a pretty solid return for the No. 43 pick, which is the 11th pick in the round. It would depend on how far down they are moving. Let’s say the Eagles, who have the 53rd pick in Round 2, are motivated to climb 10 spots. They might have to package No. 53, No. 127 in Round 4 and No. 166 in Round 5 to make that move. Not a bad return to move down 10 spots, right? It’s so attractive, the Bears might not get an offer anywhere near that. The return for the 50th pick would not be quite as good unless, again, a team had a sudden desperate urge to move up the board. But Pace could certainly turn No. 50 into multiple picks.
Why have the Bears not released Nick Foles’ jersey number? — Robert B.
You’re not the only one who wondered that this past week, and I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me. For starters, the Bears did not process the trade with the Jaguars for Foles until Tuesday, when the deal finally became official. Second, Halas Hall is closed, so it’s not like equipment manager Tony Medlin is in his office working on assigning numbers to players. Foles wore No. 7 last season in Jacksonville, a number the Bears retired to honor founder George Halas. The last Bear to wear No. 7 was quarterback Bob Avellini in 1984. Foles wore No. 9 with the Eagles, and that number is currently assigned to reserve quarterback Tyler Bray, whom the Bears re-signed last week. However, if you go to Foles’ Twitter profile, he appears decked out in a No. 9 Bears jersey. Perhaps that is a giveaway.
Now it’s official! Tori, Lily, Henry and I are so excited for this next chapter. See you soon, Chicago! #BearDown #9 pic.twitter.com/ouEVUT9jub — Nick Foles (@NickFoles) March 31, 2020
Do you think cornerback is more of a need than safety? — @mochalman
Absolutely. Cornerback needs are almost always going to trump safety needs. Follow the money. Elite cornerbacks are paid more than elite safeties. Good cornerbacks are paid significantly more than good safeties. A lot of folks seem to forget the Bears have done a nice job finding starting safeties on Day 3 of the draft. Ryan Pace has done that, and so did the general managers who preceded him. It’s challenging to identify starting cornerbacks on Day 3. No question the Bears have a greater need for a cornerback than a safety, where they did re-sign Deon Bush as a potential starter.
Advertisement
Is Eddy Pineiro a lock to be the kicker come the opening game? — @brendo120
Lock? No. Front-runner? No question. Pineiro remains the only kicker under contract, though it wouldn’t surprise me if the Bears added competition at some point. He didn’t do anything last season to be considered a lock. If you want to talk about locks, start with guys like Khalil Mack, Kyle Fuller, Eddie Jackson, Eddie Goldman and Allen Robinson.
Do you like any late-round quarterback prospects? Or do you think the Bears should wait until next year? — @garykuppers
I like the idea of the Bears drafting a quarterback if they identify one they like with some upside. The chances of them doing this would be enhanced if they traded back with one of their Round 2 picks for additional picks. Could they be interested in someone like Florida International’s James Morgan? It’s certainly possible. Morgan is a tough guy to figure out. He had a much better junior season than senior year. I don’t believe the Bears, if they truly believe they are in win-now mode, can afford to take a quarterback with a Day 2 pick considering the other roster needs.
How aggressive do you see the Bears playing on defense this year given the talent they have on all levels? — @jordanudson001
You’ve hit on one of my pet peeves that usually surfaces when there is a change in head coaches or defensive coordinators. Before I get to that, how much more talent do they have on all levels of the defense compared with the start of last season when they were healthy? We’re not talking about a big difference. They have a better edge rusher in Robert Quinn who isn’t as good in coverage or setting the edge in the run game as Leonard Floyd was. They have a total unknown at right cornerback, possibly a downgrade from a healthy Prince Amukamara, and a question mark at safety. Other than that, we’re pretty much looking at the same group. So I don’t think defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano will look at his depth chart and change philosophically.
Advertisement
Now to my pet peeve. Every time there is a coaching change, at least one involving the defense, the familiar refrain is that New Coach A is going to be more aggressive than Former Coach B. That’s what people predicted last year when Pagano replaced Vic Fangio. It has happened every time the Bears have made a shift in leadership on defense. Sometimes playing coverage and playing it well isn’t the wrong thing to do.
Are there any holdups in announcing the Nick Foles and Robert Quinn moves among the others? Do the Bears need to restructure any contracts before finalizing the deals? — @jtbcubs
The Bears finally announced the trade for Foles on Tuesday. General manager Ryan Pace hasn’t spoken since the scouting combine in Indianapolis, so it’s impossible to say what the delay is on Quinn. I would imagine it has to do with medical checks. The Bears would be wise to cover themselves by making sure everything checks out for all players before officially signing them. I don’t believe the Bears had to move any numbers around to make both Foles and Quinn fit under their current contract structure. They designed Quinn’s deal so his cap hit for this season is only $6.1 million before jumping to $14.7 million in 2021 and $16 million in 2022.
Do you think the Bears will offer Tarik Cohen a new contract? — @boosterkord
Cohen was hoping to position himself for a contract extension after last season. But he would be negotiating from a low point right now because his Year 3 production wasn’t nearly what it was in 2018, his first season in Matt Nagy’s offense. It will be interesting to see what happens with Cohen, who is set to earn $2.133 million this season in the final year of his rookie contract. I wouldn’t rule out a potential run at extending him before the season ends, but he might be better off playing out the deal to improve his bargaining position.
Is there any chance the Bears would bring back Leonard Floyd if his deal with the Rams falls through? — @thegeorgeyou
Advertisement
I doubt his reported contract agreement with the Rams falls apart. That seems rather unlikely. If a team turned its back on a player now after reaching an agreement, it would sour relations with the player’s agent moving forward and perhaps scare off future players. If something crazy happens, though, and Floyd doesn’t wind up signing with the Rams, he will not be back with the Bears. They replaced him with Robert Quinn.
What position is a bigger priority for the team: strong safety or guard? — @greatnxss
I already tackled the cornerback/safety question. Guard is a bigger need than safety, and I say that because, again, we’ve seen the Bears uncover pretty good safeties in Round 4 and later. I would not worry too much about safety.
Will the starting quarterback in Week 1 (if it happens) be different from the starter last season? — @cnazario
I don’t believe the Bears traded a fourth-round pick and guaranteed more than $20 million to Nick Foles to make a change in Week 4, Week 8 or any other point during the season. That’s a move made with the idea of changing starters before Week 1.
If the Bears are in “win-now” mode, do they really have the time to draft a wide receiver? They already have two young guys in Javon Wims and Riley Ridley. I also think they need two offensive linemen. They need to replace Kyle Long and they need to upgrade at tackle. — @spacebard
Advertisement
I don’t want to turn this completely around and answer a question with a question, but have Wims and Ridley shown anything to indicate a team in “win-now” mode can count on them? The Bears have only subtracted from what was an unproductive wide receiver group outside of Allen Robinson last season. If they don’t add one via a higher draft pick, they’re going to be crossing their fingers that one of the remaining players or a late-round flier steps up because the offense needs more playmakers. Remember Vic Fangio’s media session after deciding to return to the Bears following the 2017 season? Fangio had options to go elsewhere after coach John Fox was fired but decided to stay put and collaborate with Matt Nagy. Fangio talked about the “so-called good players” on defense needing to be better. Well, the so-called playmakers on offense need to be better or the Bears need to augment that group. I think they will continue to look for help on the offensive line; whether newcomer Germain Ifedi is a swing tackle candidate or competition for the starting right guard job remains to be seen.
Bears wide receivers Riley Ridley (88) and Javon Wims (83) warm up during training camp on Aug. 6, 2019, in Bourbonnais. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
With all the hand-wringing about what cornerback to consider opposite Kyle Fuller, why not Michael Joseph? He’s familiar with their program and seldom looked outplayed. If he has used up his allowed years on the practice squad, shouldn’t this be the year the Bears capitalize on their investment in a fully trained, solid cornerback like Joseph? I’m tired of not seeing his talent in action, so if they cut bait with him, what would be the interest from other teams from what you’ve seen of him on tape? — Chris O.
The undrafted free agent from the University of Dubuque spent nearly all of last season on the practice squad before being promoted to the 53-man roster in mid-December. He did not appear in any games. Joseph figures to compete for a spot on the back end of the roster if he can prove valuable on special teams, but there will be more experienced defensive backs ahead of him in that competition. As far as challenging for a starting position on defense, that seems unlikely. I wouldn’t rule him out, but the Bears will have at least two and maybe more options ahead of him for consideration. How much interest Joseph would receive from other teams would depend on how they view the limited film he has put together in preseason games. There’s not a lot to go off of.
With his job possibly on the line after the upcoming season, can you see Ryan Pace sacrificing more picks — say, a 2021 first-round pick — to move up in the draft this year? I’m not in favor of it, just wondering if he’s starting to feel any heat. — @pdj18
I’ve learned never to say never, and we’ve seen Pace be aggressive in the draft when there is a player he really wants. Recent examples of trade-up acquisitions include running back David Montgomery, wide receiver Anthony Miller, quarterback Mitch Trubisky and departed outside linebacker Leonard Floyd. But I doubt Pace (or ownership) wants to trade away a future first-round pick. Pace is very likely to at least explore trade-down scenarios with his second-round picks.
I noticed the Bears occasionally have four down linemen in their nickel package. Do you see them operating out of a 40 front more this year with the addition of Robert Quinn? — @harrybagel316
Advertisement
Quinn has traditionally been more effective with his hand in the dirt as part of a 40 front. I imagine we will see plenty of that when the Bears are in their sub package. It will be interesting to see how and how much Quinn is used in the base package. Against a passing team, I could see him on the field quite a bit in base personnel. But let’s say the Bears are playing a run-heavy team such as the Titans, 49ers or Ravens. Quinn might be subbed out. He can struggle at the point of attack defending the run but he is a tenacious back-side run defender, and that’s not something you can say about all quality edge rushers.
Will Ryan Pace prioritize left tackle in this draft? He has two second-round picks and could move into the back half of the first for one if there is value there. Bobby Massie and Charles Leno are liabilities or will be soon. — @themaxconnor1
Elite left tackles are almost always off the board before the second half of Round 1, and a lot of times they don’t make it out of the top 10 picks. The Bears could bundle both of their second-round picks and that wouldn’t be enough to get near the top half of Round 1. It’s not that Pace doesn’t want to prioritize left tackle. There’s just nothing he can do right now, and with Leno’s contract, he’s in place for another year. If he plays well, he could be around in 2021 and beyond. Massie signed a new contract in January 2019. He’s not going anywhere this season either, and these are simple facts that many of the folks eager to see change on the offensive line have ignored or forgotten.
Do you think a second-round cornerback or safety is likely to start given the current competition at those positions? — @jtbarczak
If the Bears drafted a safety in Round 2 — and they would have to really love the player — absolutely he would start. How many rookie safeties have we seen start for the Bears in the last 10, 20 years? It’s a long list. Start with Eddie Jackson, Adrian Amos, Chris Conte, Major Wright, Al Afalava, Danieal Manning and Chris Harris. Most were what these days we call Day 3 picks (Round 4 or later).
A second-round cornerback would have to compete and prove he’s ready for the position, and with the probable lack of an offseason program, I think the Bears will put a greater premium on players from larger programs with experience at the highest level of college football.
Advertisement
How does Mitch Trubisky’s fifth-year option affect the Bears’ plans for him going forward? — @brandonepps26
I expect the Bears to decline the fifth-year option for 2021 in Trubisky’s contract. I don’t believe that would change anything they have planned for this season. He’s either going to compete for the starting job or back up Nick Foles. However it goes down, my hunch is Foles will be the starter. At any rate, if the Bears decline the fifth-year option, Trubisky would be an unrestricted free agent next March.
Germain Ifedi was arguably one of the worst starting offensive tackles in the league over the last four years. Why did the Bears sign a tackle with such a poor track record? Are they planning to try him at guard? — @mike__chicago
I don’t have a problem with the addition of Ifedi. Will he flourish in a new setting? I don’t know. But the Bears have a good track record of late of getting players on one-year, minimum deals and seeing them play pretty well. What the Bears should be getting is a highly motivated player eager to prove he’s worth more. They’re also getting a durable performer with 60 starts over the last four seasons. He has good size (6-5, 325) and played right guard as a rookie for former Seahawks line coach Tom Cable, so he arrives with some flexibility. It’s hard to find skilled starting tackles, and Ifedi was well-regarded coming out of Texas A&M in 2016. I’d like to find out what the plan is for him and see him in action a little bit before I pass judgment. What most agree on is the Bears need to add talent and depth along the line.
You seem pretty confident that Nick Foles will be the starter. Is your confidence based on some inside information you’re hearing at Halas Hall about Matt Nagy’s true feelings on the subject, or is it just your view as a reporter that’s how things will work out? — @tmacnam
I call it like I see it. Follow the transaction and follow the money. Foles doesn’t strike me as a life raft for Nagy if the season starts to turn in the wrong direction a month into it. I think Nagy wants to turn things over to a quarterback he has experience with, his staff has experience with and the coaches have confidence in. Mitch Trubisky hasn’t carried himself with confidence on the field or really off the field over the last year. How can his coaches have confidence in him? I don’t think this is that tricky to navigate.
Advertisement
With the lack of production in the running game, why hasn’t running back been addressed in free agency? — @geffgefferson1
Was the problem David Montgomery last season, or was he just part of the issue for a ground game that was underwhelming most weeks? He looked really good against the Chargers when they designed plays to get him going downhill. It was difficult to figure out what kind of identity the Bears wanted to have running the ball from one week to the next, sometimes from one series to the next. But I don’t think Ryan Pace or Matt Nagy is pinning a lot of blame on Montgomery. The Bears need to scheme and execute their running game better around him. Also, you’re almost always going to find me in the camp opposed to sinking too much money into running backs. Why rush to pay someone at that position? You see way too many cheap options produce quite well.
Does the presence of one top tight end and a weak remaining group force the top tight end to go higher? I’m thinking of Notre Dame tight end Cole Kmet. — @loclown
Kmet is a nice prospect, and the scouts I have spoken to believe the St. Viator alumnus will put together a solid NFL career. He ran a 4.7-second 40-yard dash at the scouting combine, better than one tight ends coach expected. That coach told me he thought Kmet looked like a 4.8 player on film. My point is I don’t know that Kmet is head and shoulders above others in a weak class for the position. If there really was a “top tight end” in this draft, he probably would go in Round 1, and we’re highly unlikely to see a tight end go in the first round. It will be interesting to see where Kmet lands because he has the skills to do a little bit of everything in terms of receiving and blocking. He’s a good athlete and a sharp guy from what I am told.
Why have the Bears held back from the the XFL market? It’s rather strange, especially since they love the CFL prospects so much. — @stanleyk934
Fair question. The first thing I would say is XFL players were hurt by the season being cut in half. Some of those guys could have benefited from more tape to showcase themselves. Teams are really dialed in on the draft right now, and where some of the XFL veterans could come into play is getting contracts after the draft, when teams identify positions where they are a little light. Most of the XFL players probably are not better than camp bodies for NFL teams.
Advertisement
Is there any chance Tarik Cohen moves into the slot position full time? — @thegravitystorm
I don’t believe so. Anthony Miller has a more advanced route tree as a slot receiver than Cohen. Miller has greater size and a larger catch radius as well. Miller does a better job of separating when he’s covered by cornerbacks. What the Bears need to do is better utilize Cohen out of the backfield and find mismatches more regularly, like they were able to do in 2018.
Is the WR3 role more likely to be filled by Riley Ridley/Javon Wims or a receiver in the draft? — @brendancole205
I’ve made my opinion known that the Bears need to find help at the position in a draft loaded with wide receivers. Why not aim for a WR2?
Do you think the Bears would bring back Prince Amukamara on a bargain, one-year deal? Do you think he has enough left to stabilize that corner position for one more year? Assuming he would even play at a discount. — Jeff T., Essex, Vt.
No. If the Bears were going to explore a pay-cut scenario for Amukamara, that would have happened before he was cut.
Advertisement
Do you think the Bears were expecting a few more things to go their way in free agency, considering they released their way into holes at CB2 and WR2 and then didn’t re-sign a starting safety? They have only two high picks and three holes to fill. — @jackrsalo
No. Keep in mind that free agency and the draft are part of the same puzzle. The Bears took care of some pieces they needed and can assess if there is something worth looking at in free agency after the draft. They’re better off looking for young talent right now and never were going to address all of their needs with veterans.
Is there any chance the Bears could package one of their tackles and a pick for Trent Williams? It would seem a win/win for both teams. — @bmarr2008
The Redskins have been seeking a second-round pick for Williams. The complicating matter is that Williams, who turns 32 in July and sat out all of last season, wants a new contract that makes him one of the highest-paid tackles in the league. That’s not going to work for the Bears. Also, if the Bears should be in a hurry to let go of Charles Leno or Bobby Massie, how would that be a win for the Redskins?
Since both QBs are on short-term contracts, what do you see as the Bears’ best plan past the upcoming season? — @chriscremer5
If things go well with Nick Foles, the Bears should be able to keep him beyond this season. If not, your guess is as good as mine. They likely would need to get a quarterback with some experience and pair him with a player with upside. They’re hoping Foles is the answer for at least the next couple of years.
Advertisement


chicagotribune--2020-04-01--Three finalists named for consideration as Chicago Police Department superintendent

“ They may have spent time in the penitentiary in the past , but we have to remember one thing @ @ @ @ @ of the issues ( in ) society .
Who better to help us to rectify @ @ @ @ @ ?
” Cato said .
“ What they did in the past and what they @ @ @ @ @ that ’ s talking to the young people out on the streets who are doing @ @ @ @ @ them what not to do .
”

A total of 238 cadets were sworn in as Chicago police officers at the department's graduation and promotion ceremony held at Navy Pier's Grand Ballroom in Chicago in 2019. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Advertisement
Advertisement
The Chicago Police Board has chosen three finalists to potentially lead the city’s police force, sources familiar with the process said, setting up a pivotal choice for Mayor Lori Lightfoot as the department works to reduce gun violence while trying to implement reforms from within as part of a federally mandated consent decree.
Advertisement
The names on the board’s list given to Lightfoot for consideration are Ernest Cato, a CPD deputy chief; Kristen Ziman, chief of police in west suburban Aurora; and David Brown, an ex-Dallas police chief.
The police board plans to make an official announcement on the three finalists during a special public meeting held via audio teleconference at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Lightfoot has said she expects to make her choice from among those on the board’s list.
The nine-member board compiled a five-page job application that listed more than a dozen requirements for the job, including ensuring the 13,000-strong Chicago Police Department is compliant in a timely manner with its federally mandated consent decree aimed at improving training, supervision and other policing practices and overseeing policies that address 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. The presentation required them to talk about how they’d lead police reforms under the consent decree, develop effective crime-fighting strategies and work to build trust with communities.
The finalists were chosen from a pool of 25 applicants. Eleven of them either currently work for CPD or “spent a significant amount of their career” in the department, the police board has said. The other 14 applicants were from outside of Chicago.
Chicago Police Board President Ghian Foreman has said that 21 of the applicants were men and four were women. He also said 13 applicants were white, 11 were African American and one was Latino.
Advertisement
The board opened the application process Nov. 21 after then-Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson announced plans to retire by the end of the year. Lightfoot announced his temporary successor would be former Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck.
But that all changed in early December when Lightfoot abruptly fired Johnson, saying he had intentionally misled her about his conduct after a late weeknight out in October when he was found asleep in his running vehicle near his South Side home. Beck started his job as interim superintendent on Dec 2.
In an interview with the Tribune a few weeks after she fired Johnson, Lightfoot said she was looking for an energetic and dynamic leader "who can rally the troops" and has experience with "a large, complex, urban" police department.
"Somebody who sees the consent decree as an opportunity and not an obstacle," Lightfoot said. "You've got to have impeccable management skills and the full range of being able to be a leader but also being willing to hold people accountable. And somebody who recognizes that ... the fight ... has to be done with partners, community partners, partners in other parts of city government."
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.
Ziman grew up in the Aurora Police Department, joining the force as a cadet at 17 and working her way though the ranks to, in her mid-30s, become its first female commander.
Advertisement
Brown, 59, was a veteran of 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.
Cato, 54, is a Chicago police deputy chief in charge of three patrol districts -- Austin, Harrison and Ogden -- primarily on the West Side, which comprise some of the most violent parts 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.
Here is a look at each finalist:
Dallas Police Chief David Brown speaks during a news conference at Dallas City Hall in 2016 in Dallas. (David Woo/The Dallas Morning News)
David Brown
When downtown Dallas fell under attack by an Army veteran hell-bent on shooting police officers as payback for the killing of African-American men by U.S. law enforcement, David Brown suddenly had a career-defining decision to make as a police chief.
He had implored one of his commanders to come up with a plan to stop Micah Johnson, who was holed up after killing five police officers and wounding several others in an ambush-style shooting on July 7, 2016. Johnson, 25, was cornered by police inside a building, but officers didn’t want to risk more casualties by maneuvering down a long hallway toward him.
Advertisement
“We could use an explosive,” the commander told Brown. “We could use our robot to deliver the explosive.”
Brown, now on a list of finalists vying to become Chicago’s next police superintendent, recounted his ultimate decision to use the tactic in his 2017 autobiography, “Called To Rise: A Life in Faithful Service to the Community That Made Me (co-written by journalist Michelle Burford).” If selected in Chicago, Brown, one of two African-Americans to make the final cut, would go from leading a Dallas department of about 3,500 officers to one with 13,000, the nation’s second largest.
The plan Brown approved to kill Johnson with the robot did work, but Brown in his book acknowledged some of the public criticism about his department’s handling of the incident. Some critics said the decision he made essentially meant executing a suspect before he could have a trial.
“I had no hesitation about detonating the explosive,” Brown said in the book. “(Johnson) had already wreaked enormous havoc and bloodshed on my officers and was threatening to snuff out the lives of others. He never once showed signs of surrender. If I were presented with the same circumstances today, I’d make the same choice – without question, I’d do it again.”
The tragedy undoubtedly helped boost Brown’s national profile. . After he retired, Brown became a contributor to ABC News to discuss race relations, social justice and law enforcement issues, and was hired by Dallas Mavericks’ billionaire owner Mark Cuban to find ways the NBA team could partner with the community.
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. His climb to the department’s top post was marked by tragedy.
Advertisement
In 1988, a former partner he had known since his days in the police academy was shot and killed in the line of duty. Then Brown’s younger brother was slain by a drug dealer in 1991.
And in 2010, several weeks into his appointment as Dallas police chief, Brown’s son and namesake – whom he called “D.J.” -- fatally shot a cop in a suburb of Dallas and killed another man. D.J. Brown eventually was killed by responding police.
“As much as I hurt after D.J.’s passing, in those initial weeks I grieved just as deeply for the loved ones of those my son had taken,” Brown wrote. “I felt as if my own brother or sister had died at the hands of my child.”
Brown’s son suffered from bipolar disorder and autopsy results showed he had marijuana and PCP in his system when he died.
“I will never know the full story of what my son experienced in the years and hours before that day, but my guess is that he, like many people who wrestle with mental illness, had rejected his diagnosis and any medication prescribed to manage it,” Brown wrote.
His son’s death didn’t put Brown in the good graces of his rank-and-file. Members of the Dallas department were outraged when its officers were used to escort D.J. Brown’s body during his funeral procession.
Advertisement
Brown did not make that decision, but some felt he should have stopped it from happening.
“That did not go over well at all,” said Mike Mata, president of the Dallas Police Association. “It was a very bad message to the rank-and-file.”
But Mata, who is also a Dallas police sergeant, said Brown was able to patch up his relationship with the troops. They felt bad for his loss, but they also learned he was very personable.
“He is a very, very good talker. Very engaging. Very charismatic,” Mata said.
Brown oversaw the Dallas police force’s CompStat program as he rose through the ranks. He also emphasized community-policing efforts aimed at improving trust between law enforcement and the neighborhoods.
But the mass shooting in 2016 arguably remains his truest test as a police leader.
Advertisement
Brown’s commander, a colleague from their days together on Dallas police’s SWAT team in the 1990s, suggested equipping the remote-controlled robot with the right amount of C-4 to contain the explosion at the end of a hallway and not injure officers nearby.
Though the plan was risky, Brown, who had just completed a press conference about the shooting, told the commander to “take care of business.”
“Just don’t blow up the whole building,” Brown told the commander.
In a memorial service for the five slain officers, attended by then-President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush, Brown wanted to dedicate his remarks to the officers’ families, he said in his book. Unconditional love was the theme of those remarks and with that, he recited lyrics to Stevie Wonder’s 1976 song, “As.”
“I recited the lyrics that had always touched me,” Brown wrote, "including the one line that summed up exactly how I felt and what our city most needed to hear: ‘Just as hate knows love’s the cure...I’ll be loving you always.’”
Advertisement
Deputy Chief of Patrol Ernest Cato stands outside the 18th District during a memorial for Police Commander Paul Bauer on Feb. 13, 2020, in Chicago. Bauer was fatally shot on Feb. 13, 2018, while trying to apprehend a man who was fleeing other officers. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Ernest Cato III
Ernest Cato III’s rise through the ranks of the Chicago Police Department was not a surprise to Jamar Taylor’s family.
Taylor was 26 when he was shot and killed more than ten years ago down the street from his family’s West Side apartment. Then a detective on the case, Cato assured Taylor’s loved ones the murder would be solved, they recalled, remembering Cato as a cop who showed a mix of persistence and compassion.
Within a year, there were murder charges. Then a conviction.
“He came inside our home. He talked to us. He treated us well. And he went out and he did the job,” said Taylor’s aunt, Dorothy Taylor, 54. “He felt for us. And that’s something that sometimes you don’t get.”
Cato is the lone insider chosen as a finalist to become Chicago’s next top cop. Many observers said they doubted a CPD member would even be considered for the job, but Cato’s track record for community engagement has earned him high praise from city officials and the various neighborhood groups with whom they work.
Advertisement
Perhaps that partly explains his rapid ascension to CPD’s upper echelon. Three years ago, Cato was just a lieutenant in the West Side’s Austin patrol district, an area long beset by poverty, drug dealing and gun violence. Then in October 2017, then-police Superintendent Eddie Johnson promoted him to Austin’s district commander.
The move appeared to be encouraging. By July of last year — less than two years into Cato’s leadership post — the district had seen a dramatic 40% drop in total shootings, with 55 through the halfway point of 2019, down from 90 a year earlier.
Cato was promoted again by Johnson to the rank of deputy chief last fall.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s decision to choose ex-Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck as her interim superintendent was telling to many observers, since the temporary post is usually given to a high-ranking official on the inside. Lightfoot has also been known to question the overall quality of CPD’s leadership, further suggesting their would be no inside candidate considered for the department’s top spot this time around.
The brother of a retired CPD sergeant, Cato was born in Chicago and raised on the West Side. According to his CPD personnel file, obtained by the Tribune through an open-records request, Cato served in the Illinois Army National Guard from 1985 to 1991 and attained the rank of second lieutenant.
He started with the Chicago Police Department in July 1990, serving as class commander as a recruit in the police academy. He also received the top physical fitness award in his class.
Advertisement
In the early 1990s, he was a tactical officer responding to gang- and narcotic-related crimes in the old Prairie District, which encompassed such South Side areas as Hyde Park and Washington Park. Records show he was later assigned to the city’s inspector general’s office as an investigator specialist, looking into criminal and non-criminal misconduct allegations against city employees.
He also once worked as a youth investigator, according to the records, and later as a detective investigating homicides in the old Area 4 division on the West Side.
Cato, who now has 29 years with CPD, has been viewed as a rising star by even some outside the department. And he also may have another inside track, as records show he is the mayor’s neighbor, living just up the street from Lightfoot’s home in Logan Square.
His elevation comes at a time when it’s crucial for CPD to improve its fractured relationship with African-American neighborhoods throughout the city. Much of this has to do with his willingness to work alongside community organizations that offer mediation on gang conflicts, and help with social services and job opportunities.
For years, such groups were known to be on shaky ground with Chicago police. Officers didn’t trust them since many of their workers are ex-convicts, and the workers also chose not to interact with Chicago police out of fear they could lose credibility with gang members they’re trying to help.
Advertisement
But last year, while still Austin’s district commander, Cato spoke to a Tribune reporter about the importance of the groups.
“Any group that’s going to bring something to the table to reduce violence is important,” Cato said last spring following a news conference in the Austin District station on West Madison Street. “I think it’s important that we listen to them. I think it’s important that we take that opportunity to see what they’re about.”
Cato sees these street workers’ criminal backgrounds as a plus when it comes to preventing violence.
“They may have spent time in the penitentiary in the past, but we have to remember one thing, they actually caused some of the issues (in) society. Who better to help us to rectify those problems in the future?” Cato said. “What they did in the past and what they’re doing now, that’s talking to the young people out on the streets who are doing the same thing and telling them what not to do.”
Teny Gross, who runs one of those groups in Austin, said he met Cato when he was the district’s tactical lieutenant, overseeing teams of officers who go on aggressive enforcement missions in response to patterns of violence and other crimes in the area.
Advertisement
Gross said Cato would push those tactical, plainclothes officers to show up at community meetings and build relationships with residents, a function often reserved for beat patrol officers or those working in the district’s community-policing offices.
“He really did believe, and he does believe also from his previous experience as a homicide detective, that relationship-building is important,” said Gross, who heads the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago. “And then when he became the commander, he even took it further.”
“I’ll see him at 2 in the morning when there’s large gathering and there was concern over there on the weekend,” Gross said. “He often shows up at the hospital…His work ethic is insane.”
But Austin resident Ronald Reid was a bit more critical of Cato’s efforts.
Reid, who helps run the Central Austin Neighborhood Association, praised Cato’s engagement with the community but believes he and Austin’s several other district commanders before him fell short of eliminating the criminal element from the blocks surrounding his home.
“I’m angry because none of them have decided that they want to clear up the drug corners,” said Reid, whose organization is in the midst of a nearly decade-old lawsuit against the city alleging there’s a disproportionate number of Chicago cops to respond to 911 calls in the city’s patrol districts.
Advertisement
“Maybe they can cite statistics,” said Reid, “but that means absolutely nothing to the people who live on the ground.”
In January, Cato was among more than 30 of Beck’s top police officials to get new posts in the department’s upcoming reorganization, set to fully begin in April. Cato was assigned as deputy chief of the new Area 4, overseeing patrol officers, as well as some detective and specialized gang and drug units, in the Austin, Harrison and Ogden Districts on the West Side.
The post will one of the busiest in the department due to the area’s high concentration of drug sales and the violence accompanying it. Those three districts are regularly the focus of gang and narcotics units that conduct sensitive investigations, oftentimes with FBI agents and other federal law enforcement.
It was in the old Area 4 where Cato and Jamar Taylor’s family crossed paths.
Taylor was killed in October 2009 near Pulaski Road and Grenshaw Street when, authorities said, another man named Martell Hill approached his car and shot Taylor several times.
Taylor’s family remembered Cato’s empathy during those first days without Jamar. He spoke to his family members separately. He wanted to know about Jamar as a person.
Advertisement
“When he came in, he didn’t come in like he was interrogating us,” said Taylor’s niece, Ebony Taylor, now 28. “He felt what we was going through.”
But the family later found out that Cato and his partner were aggressively working the case, though quietly and without sharing details. The family learned others in the neighborhood were being contacted for questioning. One person even described Cato as “vicious,” because of his persistence, Taylor’s family said.
Police collected enough evidence to obtain an arrest warrant for Hill, and he was arrested in September 2010 during a traffic stop. Now 36, Hill is serving an 80-year prison sentence in the Stateville Correctional Center, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Taylor’s family sat on a porch outside their apartment on the day Cato and his partner drove there to tell them about Hill’s arrest. They remembered Cato’s “little smile” when he delivered the good news.
“He was dedicated to what he was doing,” Jamar Taylor’s niece, Arica Taylor, 37, said of Cato. “He told us that he was going to solve this murder and he did just that.”
Aurora Chief of Police Kristin Ziman talks at a press conference at the Aurora police station about the police involved shooting in which one person was killed and two officers injured near Galena Blvd. and Lasalle St. in Aurora, March 23, 2018. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Kristen Ziman
Kristen Ziman was dubbed “America’s police chief” by some for how she handled the aftermath of the deadly Aurora warehouse shooting in February 2019.
Advertisement
Stepping onto the podium that day to address a throng of media, Ziman showed command and poise as she answered questions about the shooting that killed five warehouse employees, and injured another employee and five of Ziman’s Aurora police officers.
Even as reports of injured officers trickled in to the command post during the shooting, Ziman exhibited calm and leadership, former Aurora Police Chief Bill Powell said.
“I saw determination and a concerted effort to understand the radio traffic, to respond to what was happening and keep track of hundreds of responders," Powell said.
Since then, Ziman’s star has risen as she’s spoken to police groups and Fortune 500 companies about her department’s response to the warehouse shooting, and she was named the vice president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. She was recently back in the news when it was disclosed she had tested positive for COVID-19.
Just as Lori Lightfoot broke barriers when she was elected Chicago’s first female black mayor and the city’s first openly gay mayor, Ziman, who also is openly gay, could do the same if she becomes Chicago’s first female police superintendent.
Ziman often compares herself to “Officer Hopps,” a bunny who fights to become a police officer in the Disney movie “Zootopia” and is underestimated because of her tiny stature. Ziman has been described as progressive, innovative, a backer of education and a supporter of increased technology. In 2018, she helped create a critical incident intel center that uses data and social media to help officers solve crimes.
Advertisement
Ziman, 46, was raised in Aurora and started as a cadet in the Aurora Police Department at 17 in 1991. She followed in the footsteps of her father Hans Kjendal-Olsen, who worked as an officer for 17 years in the same department.
When Ziman joined the force, there were no females in the command ranks or anyone to emulate, she said. In her mid-30s, Ziman worked her way up to become the department’s first female commander, and she was named Aurora’s first female police chief since 2016.
“She is a good leader of people, and she grew up in Aurora so she had a good understanding of the area,” Former Aurora Police Chief Greg Thomas said.
Aurora, the state’s second-largest city, has never been completely free of the sorts of problems Chicago faces, including gang issues and shootings, Powell said. But Chicago is a different animal, he said.
In the mid-1990s, Aurora’s murder figures were three times the national rate of homicides per 100,000 residents, reaching 26 murders in 1996. Today, the number of murders there has decreased, with Aurora seeing four murders in 2018, 12 in 2019 and 2 so far in 2020.
In Chicago, 72 people had been shot and killed by early March.
Advertisement
Leaving Aurora to run one of the largest police departments in the country would be a massive step for Ziman.
Chicago has a population of 2.7 million, while Aurora’s is 200,000. One police district in Chicago is roughly the same size as Aurora’s entire police department, which has about 300 sworn officers.
Thomas said Ziman could handle it.
“She has been well prepared both by herself and through the experiences and training she has had to move into the (chief’s) position,” Thomas said.
Powell warned there is a segment of people who might look down on Ziman because she is a woman and because she did not advance through the Chicago police ranks herself.
“There is a certain segment who would look down on that and because she is an outsider,” Powell said. “But those are things she would overcome with time. Once she gets comfortable with command staff, those things will fade.”
Advertisement
Eight Chicago police officers died by suicides within the last two years, and Lightfoot has made mental health a priority for the department. It’s a concentration of Ziman’s as well.
Ziman’s father, after retiring from the department, battled alcoholism and died by suicide in November 2015, one day after Ziman interviewed to be Aurora’s police chief.
In 2018, one of Ziman’s Aurora officers contemplated suicide, and the department worked to allow the officer to keep his job even though the state revoked his FOID card after he checked in to a mental health facility.
The department lobbied for legislation, and Gov. Bruce Rauner later signed a bill that prevents police agencies from requiring a FOID card as a condition of continued employment.
Advertisement
After the warehouse shooting, the focus on mental health services within the Aurora police force only increased.
“She is open about herself and she talks about how the shooting affected her personally,” Thomas said. “She makes sure her officers are taken care of both physically and mentally and tries to heal the city. Those are all big things.”
Ziman has called the tough exterior police officers sometimes display a “mirrored sunglasses attitude,” and she recently paired the department with a website that connects officers in need with a peer or mental health professional.
“This has been a long time coming, but the culture of asking for help has changed in our department,” Ziman said in an interview with the Aurora Beacon-News.
In October, Ziman was sworn in as the vice president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police Board of Directors, and in February attended Donald Trump’s State of the Union address as a guest. Lightfoot also attended.
Ziman co-chairs a national committee for recruitment, retention and training law enforcement in the U.S. and recently joined the Police Executive Research Forum’s Board of Directors.
Advertisement
She earned a bachelor’s degree from Aurora University and a master’s degree from Boston University, later graduating from the FBI National Academy. She is working toward a second master’s degree in homeland defense and security.
Ziman has said transparency and communication is important to her. She writes a blog and is a proclaimed extrovert.
Ziman, though, has been criticized for a lack of transparency at times. She took to social media in 2017 to lament open records requests from a reporter at the Aurora Beacon-News. Several news outlets and journalism organizations chastised her stance at the time.
Ziman has said previously that she would give herself a minimum of four years as chief in Aurora before she would start “thinking of what is next.” January 2020 marked Ziman’s fourth year as Aurora’s chief.
While Powell said he would be sad to see Ziman leave, he knows even if she doesn’t get the Chicago job, she may be gone in a year or two anyway.
“That is just how well known she is throughout this country now,” Powell said.
Advertisement
jgorner@chicagotribune.com
mejones@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-03-31--Tracking Chicago homicide victims

Tracking Chicago homicide victims

Though there are homicides recorded throughout the city they are most concentrated in the South and West sides .


chicagotribune--2020-03-31--IHSA director still hopeful of spring high school sports amid coronavirus delays

Yes , as of now .
Obviously tomorrow or this afternoon that could change depending on what gets pressed from @ @ @ @ @ departments , state or local .
If that ( April 8 ) date gets pushed @ @ @ @ @ , where that is our possible return date , we ’ d have to look @ @ @ @ @ that includes or doesn ’ t include a postseason , or we would go sport-by-sport @ @ @ @ @ s our position that it ’ s all-or-nothing .
If we do a championship in @ @ @ @ @ like to do it for all as opposed to a limited number .
But like @ @ @ @ @ we ’ d have to factor in the number of people who could gather and @ @ @ @ @ .
We ’ d have to map it out for spring sports .

On March 12, the IHSA announced the cancellation of the remaining state playoffs for winter sports, including the boys basketball finals in Peoria, because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Spring sports practices then were put on hold as schools throughout the state were closed until April 7. On March 25, IHSA executive director Craig Anderson sent a letter to administrators and spring sports coaches as the organization explored options to extend the season into the summer. That keeps the door open for teams to play regular-season and postseason games later this spring.
Advertisement
Anderson said that remains the IHSA’s position even after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced March 30 that the stay-at-home order had been extended through April 30. That means high school sports won’t resume until May at the earliest.
Shortly before Pritzker’s announcement, Pioneer Press contributor Dan Shalin spoke with Anderson about the IHSA’s decision-making process, the possibility of an extended shutdown and the effect of the pandemic on high school athletics, especially seniors.
Advertisement
Is the IHSA still committed to playing a spring schedule and possibly extending it into the summer?
Yes, as of now. Obviously tomorrow or this afternoon that could change depending on what gets pressed from the governor and the health departments, state or local. If that (April 8) date gets pushed back to sometime in May, where that is our possible return date, we’d have to look at other options: whether that includes or doesn’t include a postseason, or we would go sport-by-sport. Generally, it’s our position that it’s all-or-nothing. If we do a championship in one, we’d like to do it for all as opposed to a limited number. But like with all other things, we’d have to factor in the number of people who could gather and which schools are in session. We’d have to map it out for spring sports.
What would be the process for extending or modifying the postseason?
We’d generally work within our staff to bring recommendations to the board of directors, and we’d need their approval. In advance of that, we’d listen to administrators and principals and get their thoughts or ideas. But the final decision is with the board.
Have other state federations taken a similar stance to the IHSA’s about trying to resume sports?
We’ve been communicating with a number of states and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). For the states that have established that schools will no longer return to physical attendance, generally those are the associations who have said they will not conduct their spring sports. ... In states where there is a tentative return date, we’ve modeled off what they’re doing. We are holding out hope to have some form of season. We believe we will have a state series and spring sports.
Are you aware of the group “Illinois High School Parents Spring sports" and its petition to the IHSA to allow for a modified schedule through the summer?
I’ve seen it posted through social media. We’ve also heard from some parents and non-school coaches who want us to be aware of the fact that if we push ourselves into that timeline, we could be faced with some uncertainty, where players and families would be moving to their non-school teams. So, we’ve been hearing from both sides. It’s something we’ll have to consider, looking at those constraints and still trying to provide opportunities. If we talk about a postseason timeline later into June, you start considering what other options are available to individuals. And you’ve got families who have travel for vacations or non-school competitions, and things like summer school.
Advertisement
If high school sports are able to come back, is it likely it will be with some kind of limited number of spectators?
I definitely think that could be the position we’re in, especially in the early stages. I think it may be a gradual increase before we’re back to normalcy, before people can gather in stadiums and cheer on college and pro teams. And we’ll likely end up with some kind of organizational limits. Who knows what that might be and how we’ll transition with the spring and into the summer.
Though obviously less important than the public health concern, what financial repercussions might these COVID-19-related cancellations and modifications have on the IHSA?
Yes, that’s another challenge we’ll face. Our boys basketball tournament is a big boost to us and supports a lot of sports that don’t make much money, or none at all. We’re trying to get back our financial reports from boys basketball and girls basketball and see those levels and determine where we’re at. We’ll look at a number of factors and get that information gathered. A lot will depend on whether we are able to host spring championships. (Former executive director) Marty Hickman did a good job of preparing us for these things, though he obviously didn’t anticipate this, more like a bad- weather situation in the fall or winter that really reduced attendance. We’ll work with our board of directors to determine the best way to maintain a good financial position.
There definitely is going to be challenges. We’re likely to get through the spring one way or another. But what if in a year or two, we find ourselves in a similar pandemic and a tournament or season is shut down? That could jeopardize us significantly, and we’d likely have to go ask our membership for help.
We’ve been fortunate for decades that we don’t charge our schools an entry fee (to participate in state competition). We’re proud of that position, but it could change in the short term. Our bylaws allow us to do that if the board wants to consider it. But there is really a desire not to do that if possible.”
Advertisement
What has it been like, as the head of the IHSA, to see all of these spring sports postponed and potentially canceled?
It’s been an extremely challenging time for all of us at the office. It’s just so out-of-the-ordinary, we’ve never been faced with circumstances like this. I have a son who is a sophomore baseball player, so I would have been following him around to games. To know that’s not going on for him and many others, and that I have a significant role in those opportunities, in overseeing them and making sure we are making the right decisions for kids … it’s an extremely challenging time for all of us.
We have so much respect for these opportunities and know how much these kids look forward to having these lifetime experiences. Now, they could be taken away. I think of my own high school experiences, the connections and the memories you never forget. And these kids are not getting those now. But maybe if the right decisions are made, and we take the proper steps, maybe we can get back to those times.
While a number of student-athletes will move on and play (in college), the majority will not. This may be their last opportunity to represent their school and community in this way. It’s an unfortunate way to end a career. I know the seniors especially look forward to this year, and it’s an opportunity for them to showcase their talents.
Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press