chicagotribune--2020-03-30--Movie novels are still around, and they aren’t all trash — just ask the Chicagoans who wrote them

“ It was this woman named Kathleen Kennedy .
She wanted to know how to resuscitate an alien .
Of course , we found out this Kathleen Kennedy ( now president of Lucasfilm ) was producing ‘ E.T.
’ with Steven Spielberg .
She invited a bunch of doctors to the set and dressed us in hazmat suits .
I already had a novel published by Del Rey so I gave Spielberg a copy and asked him to make the movie .
He said he ’ d get to it , then the next day he told me my book @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wouldn ’ t make a movie but he needed someone to novelize ‘ Poltergeist ’ — the catch was I had one month .
I found people to cover my shifts for a solid month and then I sat in a conference room at Spielberg ’ s MGM offices with a copy of the script and production stills .
He ended up loving the work so much I got to do ‘ Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ‘ and ‘ The Goonies.
’ When George Lucas needed someone for ‘ Jedi @ @ @ @ @ @ @

Recently, during C2E2 at McCormick Place, the Random House imprint Del Rey, which publishes Lucasfilm-licensed “Star Wars” books, made an unusual choice and offered the novelization of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” three weeks early. And so, visitors to the Chicago comic con bought up hundreds of copies, within a few hours.
Then, hours after that, though the movie version of “Rise of Skywalker” was months old, it began trending again across social media: Excerpts from the book were posted, and though everyone had seen the film and knew the story and long ago decided if they loved or hated it, there was a shock of revelation — as if they didn’t know the story at all.
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Wait, Emperor Palpatine was a ... what?
Hold on, Lando Calrissian’s daughter was ... who?
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None of those details were explained clearly by the movie, just the novelization. And now a very roil-ready fandom was roiled again: Did this mean the novelization was better then the film? Or that the movie was actually even worse than they had thought?
A better question would have been: They still make movie novelizations?
Yup, they do. Bunches of them.
Novelizations are, in essence, book-length descriptions of movies, typically written not by the author of the screenplay. They are the complete opposite of the more familiar practice of turning a book into a movie. They probably sound counterintuitive. But the recent “Sonic the Hedgehog” movie adaptation of the “Sonic” video game received a novelization. Pixar’s animated “Onward” got one, too. So did the new Vin Diesel action flick “Bloodshot,” and the Will Smith dud “Gemini Man.” Even the quickie horror film “Happy Death Day,” and its sequel, have novelizations. That new “Rise of Skywalker” novelization? It debuted last week on the NYT hardcover bestseller list at No. 5.
It’s a quirk of publishing.
A genre that largely consists of 250-page descriptions of movies the authors had not actually seen yet. A marketing niche that once found its spiritual home in spinning wire racks at drugstores. An alternate universe where E.T. appears romantically attracted to Elliott’s mother, books are adapted from films that are adapted themselves from Charles Dickens’ classics and the storylines of “Transformers” movies actually seem coherent.
It’s a place of oddball contortions, where a serious author like Evanston’s Daniel Kraus can dream up the story of the Oscar-winning movie “The Shape of Water” with that film’s director, Guillermo del Toro, but the filmmaker writes the screenplay while the author pieces together the novelization, using the screenplay as his primary road map.
(Kraus describes the book as “beyond a novelization,” and more akin to the way Arthur C. Clarke collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on the novel for “2001: A Space Odyssey.”)
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See, movies are adaptations of screenplays.
But novelizations are adaptations of movies, and therefore not the most loved form of literature. Albeit, one that often allows some tinkering by the author, who may deliver a version of a movie where interior thoughts of even the most fleeting role are given fresh weight. You might be surprised to know that, somewhere out there, probably gathering dust in an attic, or sitting waterlogged in a summer cottage, there are novelizations of everything from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” to “Friday the 13th” movies to the Arnold Schwarzenegger comedy “Jingle All the Way.” There exists in the world (and this is no joke) a 128-page novelization of the Mike Myers movie adapting Dr. Seuss‘ “Cat in the Hat.”
It probably goes without saying that the novelization is an ancient marketing practice that somehow managed, like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster, to sidestep progress.
Its heyday was before the age of streaming and DVDs. “There was a time the only way to take home a favorite film or television series was through a novel adaptation,” said Steve Saffel, senior acquisitions editor at Titan Books, the leading publisher of novelizations. Even as home video took off in the ‘80s, the genre made some sense.
At C2E2, Rae Carson, author of the "Rise of Skywalker” novelization, recalled her love for the 1983 novelization of “Return of the Jedi”: “I was 10 years old and read it at a time in my life when I lived in pretty abject poverty. I could not afford to go to movies and the book came out a little before the movie. Since I knew we couldn’t afford to go to the movie, I begged my mother to get a copy at the library.” She said “the writing was smooth, the pacing great.” She read it three times, before eventually seeing the movie.
This reporter's copy of the movie novelization, by Curtis Richards, of "Halloween." (Chicago Tribune)
That author was James Kahn, then a 36-year-old emergency room doctor from Chicago. He was also, like many writers of novelizations, already an established writer of science fiction. He had grown up in Hyde Park and Des Plaines, attended the University of Chicago and was working at a Los Angeles hospital when he got an unusual phone call:
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“It was this woman named Kathleen Kennedy. She wanted to know how to resuscitate an alien. Of course, we found out this Kathleen Kennedy (now president of Lucasfilm) was producing ‘E.T.’ with Steven Spielberg. She invited a bunch of doctors to the set and dressed us in hazmat suits. I already had a novel published by Del Rey so I gave Spielberg a copy and asked him to make the movie. He said he’d get to it, then the next day he told me my book was already in his office and he wouldn’t make a movie but he needed someone to novelize ‘Poltergeist’ — the catch was I had one month. I found people to cover my shifts for a solid month and then I sat in a conference room at Spielberg’s MGM offices with a copy of the script and production stills. He ended up loving the work so much I got to do ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom‘ and ‘The Goonies.’ When George Lucas needed someone for ‘Jedi,‘ Spielberg suggested me.”
Kahn has written 12 books. That “Return of the Jedi” novelization from 37 years ago remains his high-water mark, reaching No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list.
But it’s not his galaxy.
Authors, particularly of sci-fi and fantasy, revel in world building, constructing universes from scratch. But a novelization is a sandbox already occupied by someone else’s toys.
Matthew Stover, who lives in Danville, wrote the novelization for the 2005 “Star Wars” prequel “Revenge of the Sith.” Like Kahn, though he’s written more than a dozen books, all sci-fi and fantasy, his “Star Wars” novelization is his sales peak. “The truth is, I didn’t really want to do any media tie-ins. I wanted to do my own stuff. And what I discovered was, if you take it seriously, you are doing your own stuff. I see it like this: You go to a friend’s house, he has a Lego set, you see what you could do with it. And so you do, but ultimately, those are his blocks, he can take it apart however he wants. It’s not so bad.”
Novelizations have lousy reputations.
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They are often seen as derivative, sub-literate promotional material, a genre pounded out by hack writers being paid to somehow pad a 20,000-word script into a 60,000 word paperback. So whatever endurance the novelization has, Stover said, “is thanks to one guy, Alan Dean Foster, the godfather of novelizations. His book for ‘Alien’ alone is a lesson, it adds so much to the movie without feeling like a retelling of the same story.”
Novelizations of movies include "Bloodshot" by Gavin Smith, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" by Rae Carson, "The Shape of Water" by Daniel Kraus, "Happy Death Day" and "Happy Death Day 2U" by Aaron Hartzler, "Alien" by Alan Dean Foster and "Gemini Man" by Titan Books. (Tribune illo)
Foster, now 73, living in Arizona, wrote the novelization for the first “Star Wars” movie, and “Alien,” and the “Transformer” movies, and a “Terminator” film, and “The Thing,” and the original “Clash of the Titans” — and many, many others. Later this year he has a memoir about his life as a novelizer, “The Director Should’ve Shot You,” which takes its title from his time on the set of the Vin Diesel film, gathering information for the novel.
He likes to point out that people win Oscars for adapting screenplays into films (or for adapting books into screenplays that are adapted into films), but somehow the author who transforms a skeletal screenplay into a novel is seen as a hack. He said he never thought of the novelization as trash. He said he’s only read good books and bad books.
“I’m sure Rembrandt didn’t want to spend his life painting fat businessmen. Brahms wrote an overture based on a German drinking song. Artists have done great work on commission, because a source is one thing, but what you do with it is something else.”
That novelization of “Alien,” for instance, was written without his ever having seen, well, the Alien. The studio 20th Century Fox would not provide him one image of its monster.
Likewise, Greg Cox, who had an unlikely 2014 New York Times bestseller with his novelization of “Godzilla,” didn’t actually see what the latest Godzilla looked like until he saw the movie in his neighborhood multiplex. “Which is often the main struggle of this line of work. Just getting the visuals. You have to pry this stuff out of (studios), even as you’re working for them. I did the novelization for ‘Man of Steel,’ the Superman movie. I know what a farm in Kansas looks like, and I know what the Daily Planet newsroom looks like. But a ‘Kryptonian birthing chamber’? So I get on the phone with Warner Bros., begging them to explain a Kryptonian birthing chamber. Scripts never describe enough.”
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The genre comes out of a time when movie theaters hadn’t reached every city yet — but actually, according to Grady Hendrix, a film historian and author who has reviewed novelizations (“Book Reviews of the Damned”) online, believes the novelization dates back even further, to the 17th century practice of novelizing stage plays. “Then throughout the 19th century, because theater was limited by geography, perhaps people in Chicago wanted to know the latest hit. There were novelizations of shows with photo inserts. Even after cinema was invented, movies didn’t play everywhere, and what if you missed one?” So silent films occasionally had novelizations; later, the novelization of “King Kong” became part of Random House’s venerable Modern Library line of classics.
Author Daniel Kraus in his North Side office in 2013. Along with a number of his own titles, he wrote the book for "The Shape of Water." (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune)
Though not until novelizations of episodic TV series like “Star Trek” and “Dark Shadows” did the genre become routine. By the late ‘70s, Foster’s novelizations of “Star Wars” and “Alien” were blockbusters; novelizations of “E.T.” and “Gladiator” had similar sales.
These days the novelization more closely resembles a step on an evolutionary ladder that includes marketing, fan fiction, recaps of TV shows and the sort of “expanded universes” that allowed room for new James Bond novels long after creator Ian Fleming died in 1964. “Growing up in Chicago,” Kahn said, “I didn’t even know novelizations existed. On the other hand, I was writing since I was nine and you know what I was writing? I loved comic books, I would imagine the twists that they didn’t include, and so I would rewrite them into my notebooks. I had a creative impulse to transform the story.”
This June, for instance, Evanston’s Kraus has “The Living Dead,” a new novel, co-authored with filmmaker George Romero, creator of the original “Night of the Living Dead.” Romero, who died in 2017 and virtually invented the modern zombie, had written about a third of the 600-page book and left notes for more, which Kraus then fleshed out through research and interviews. “There was this great feeling of responsibility towards George. The man himself isn’t here to bounce ideas off. But limitations are wonderful. Everything I write I try to install limitations, they force you to work creatively.”
Carson said that, after she read the script to “Rise of Skywalker,” she drew up a list of ways that she wanted to expand on the story; Stover said that after he interviewed Lucas for three hours about the “Sith” screenplay, he asked how much of Lucas’ dialogue should be used verbatim.
Turns out, even within a franchise as large as “Star Wars,” there’s often room for invention. Partly, several of the novelizers said, there’s no time for writer’s block. Many regard it as a creative challenge -- indeed, playwright David Rabe, who wrote the novelization for Sean Penn’s 1995 film “The Crossing Guard,” has said he thought of movie novelizing as similar to the creative-writing prompts that MFA programs use. He’s also far from the only celebrated writer to punch above his weight here: Paul Monette, known for his memoirs about coming out and AIDS, wrote the novelization for Werner Herzog’s “Nosferatu,” Brian DePalma and Oliver Stone’s “Scarface” and the Schwarzenegger movie “Predator.” Sylvester Stallone, despite having won an Oscar for his “Rocky” screenplay, followed it a couple of years later by writing both the screenplay and novelization for “Rocky II.”
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The drawbacks, of course, are not minor.
Saffel at Titan said they try to give writers a year to prepare, but three months is common. A few weeks is even more common. “We’re part of merchandising a film,” Foster said, “like beach towels and McDonald’s cups, and we’re treated as such.” There is an International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, to promote the profession, co-founded by Max Allan Collins, author of the Nathan Heller thrillers and the graphic novel “The Road to Perdition,” which Collins novelized himself when it was adapted into a Tom Hanks film. But Carson described writing “Rise of Skywalker” as daily 15- to 20-page bursts. Typically, the work is fast, tough — and prone to disconnected filmmakers.
Cox said, “A friend of mine who edits these books once said that the more confusing the movie seemed to audiences, the better the novelizations of that movie tend to sell.”
Foster said the greatest compliment a movie novelizer can hear is “I wish they had filmed your book.” The first movie he adapted into a novel was an Italian Tarzan rip-off. Ballantine Books owned the rights and asked him to do it. He was young, he pounced. And they screened the movie for him, without subtitles. Then he went home and worried about what to do, until he saw the posters for the marketing campaign and he started.
“Essentially what happened was, I novelized a poster. Best part, a week after the book comes out, someone at Disney calls the publisher and asks to buy the movie rights.”
cborrelli@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-03-30--21-year-old man shot on Lake Shore Drive, police say

People in a gray sedan flashed gang signs at the vehicle with the 21-year-old before someone in the back seat @ @ @ @ @ a gun and started shooting just after midnight Monday in the 1300 block of South @ @ @ @ @ said .

A 21-year-old man was shot in the face while he was in the back seat of a vehicle going northbound on Lake Shore Drive, according to Chicago police.
People in a gray sedan flashed gang signs at the vehicle with the 21-year-old before someone in the back seat of the sedan pulled out a gun and started shooting just after midnight Monday in the 1300 block of South Lake Shore Drive, police said.
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The driver in the vehicle with the 21-year-old drove to Rush University Medical Center and then the man was transferred to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, police said.
No arrests have been made, police said. The incident is under investigation.
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pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-03-30--Two concealed carry license holders shoot man who fired shots at them on Southwest Side, police say

The older man pulled out a gun and fired shots at their vehicle , police said .
The two men @ @ @ @ @ , and he was hit in the abdomen , right side and right leg .

After a man fired shots at a vehicle Sunday evening, the two men inside pulled out their own guns and fired back, striking the man multiple times, according to Chicago police.
The two men, 21 and 29, who returned fire both had valid Firearm Owners Identification cards and concealed carry licenses, police said.
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At 5:20 p.m. Sunday, a 47-year-old man approached the two men while they were traveling southbound in the 7900 block of South Knox Avenue in the Scottsdale neighborhood on the Southwest Side, police said.
The older man pulled out a gun and fired shots at their vehicle, police said. The two men both shot back at him, and he was hit in the abdomen, right side and right leg.
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The man was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition, police said. The men in the vehicle weren’t injured.
The shooting is under investigation.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-03-29--Top Chicago police spokesman hands in resignation letter

Anthony Guglielmi , CPD ’ s chief communications officer , started at the department in 2015 , and at the @ @ @ @ @ only committed to staying in Chicago a few months to help develop protocols to enhance @ @ @ @ @ the traditional News Affairs office , '' according to his letter .

The head Chicago police spokesman sent a letter of resignation to Interim Superintendent Charlie Beck Friday that declared his intention to leave the department when Beck does.
Anthony Guglielmi, CPD’s chief communications officer, started at the department in 2015, and at the time, he “had only committed to staying in Chicago a few months to help develop protocols to enhance the function and scope of the traditional News Affairs office," according to his letter.
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“While the wind and weather gave me strong encouragement to go home, it was the amazing people of CPD and Chicago that led me to stay,” he wrote.
Due to the complexities COVID-19 has caused police departments, Guglielmi will remain at CPD for the next month and depart when Beck completes his service to the city, according to the letter.
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He plans to return home to the Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia area to work as head of communications for the Fairfax County Virginia police department, the letter said.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-03-29--Chicago trumpeter Bob Ojeda dies at 78. He was a renaissance man of jazz

In the 1970s , as youth-oriented rock music overwhelmed jazz in the marketplace , Ojeda moved to Los Angeles , @ @ @ @ @ singers and composed for jingles , TV and film .
He played trumpet in the @ @ @ @ @ in the early 1970s and performed with the Rolling Stones in 1975 , according to @ @ @ @ @ 1980s , he was a staff arranger for Johnny Carson ’ s “ The Tonight @ @ @

There wasn’t much in jazz that Bob Ojeda couldn’t do.
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A masterful trumpeter, inventive arranger, creative composer and mentor to uncounted musicians, the Chicago artist was revered by peers and sought out by some of the greatest names in the art form.
Singers Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Peggy Lee and Lena Horne – among many others – turned to him to write arrangements and orchestrations. Bandleaders Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Kenton, Lionel Hampton and Benny Carter featured him in their trumpet sections. And after Count Basie died in 1984, Ojeda toured and recorded with the Count Basie Orchestra from 1985 to 2001, writing arrangements for that propulsive swing machine.
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Ojeda, 78, died March 26 at Elmhurst Hospital of pulmonary problems as a result of multiple surgeries, said Gil Ojeda, his brother.
“He was just a wonderfully thoughtful and melodic improviser,” said Chicago trombonist Russ Phillips, a longtime colleague and friend.
“He wasn’t a high-note player, but he could read anything. He was a complete player.
“I’ve played a lot of his charts over the years – they’re uniquely his, and they’re quite typically challenging but very rewarding.
Bob Ojeda. (HANDOUT)
“The things that make him a unique and wonderful improviser also make his arrangements unique. He brings that quirky quality to his arrangements – like maybe a hip little countermelody that’s some other tune.”
Stylistically, “He was the quintessential bop and post-bop guy,” said Chicago saxophonist Eric Schneider, referring to bebop, a virtuosic, mid-20th century idiom conceived by Charlie Parker and Gillespie.
“Bob was a very serious player,” added Schneider. “To him, the music was serious – it could be solemn, but it wasn’t somber. Whenever he’d play, I’d hear a twinkle in his eye.”
Born Sept. 1, 1941 in Austin, Texas, Ojeda moved with his family a couple months later to Chicago, where he grew up. As a teenager he was consumed with music.
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“He would go around to the (jazz) clubs when he was underage,” said Gil Ojeda. “He and a friend organized a band in the neighborhood when he was 15. He was already doing orchestration and arranging at that time.”
Bob Ojeda attended Farragut High School, but “when he was 16, he just said he wasn’t learning anything there,” said Gil Ojeda.
As the emerging musician approached 18, Kenton – whose orchestra was one of the most ambitious, idiosyncratic and famous in jazz – recruited him.
“Stan was in town and said: ‘Bob, we’re down a horn player – are you interested in coming with us?’” said Gil Ojeda.
“They called my dad at around midnight: ‘Mr. Ojeda, we want your son to go with us tomorrow morning,’” Kenton told the elder Ojeda.
“My father said yes.”
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Thus began Ojeda’s whirlwind career. “By the age of 21, he had traveled almost all over the world,” said Gil Ojeda.
In the 1970s, as youth-oriented rock music overwhelmed jazz in the marketplace, Ojeda moved to Los Angeles, where he wrote arrangements for singers and composed for jingles, TV and film. He played trumpet in the rock musical “Hair” in the early 1970s and performed with the Rolling Stones in 1975, according to his website. In the 1980s, he was a staff arranger for Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show.”
And though much earlier he’d had it with living out of a suitcase, he couldn’t resist the opportunity to join the Basie Orchestra in 1985, touring more than 40 weeks a year with the band and accompanying stars such as Frank Sinatra.
For the past couple decades, Ojeda again was a significant presence in Chicago jazz.
Chicago singer-bandleader Petra van Nuis remembered first hearing him at the since-shuttered Chambers in Niles, around 2004 or 2005.
“I was so taken with him the first night I heard him, I went up and asked how/what he practiced,” said van Nuis in an email.
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“He said he liked to play along with the TV as it provided quickly changing tunes in different keys/styles/time signatures.”
Van Nuis invited Ojeda to join her Recession Seven band in 2013, the authority and musicality of his work evident to anyone lucky enough to have heard him in this setting.
“It was still Bob, but it was more filtered through Roy Eldridge than through Clifford (Brown),” said Recession Seven bandmate Schneider, meaning that Ojeda was slightly retooling his sound and style to reflect the band’s earlier period repertoire.
Ojeda’s work as orchestrator reached thousands of listeners when Chicago singer Joan Curto hired him to write scores for three massive Auditorium Theatre shows she organized: “Cole Porter 125 – A Birthday Celebration” (2016), “Ella & Lena: The Ladies and Their Music” (2017) and “Chicago Celebrates Sondheim!” (2019).
“I asked several musicians I respected a lot: Who did the best charts and orchestrations in the city of Chicago?” said Curto. “And unanimously, it was Bob Ojeda.
“He was invaluable to us. He could tell us how a song would work: How many horns, how many strings, did we need percussion? He was the leader in those decisions.”
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Ojeda also was deeply involved in nurturing new generations of musicians, partly through his work with the jazz competition of the Luminarts Cultural Foundation at the Union League Club of Chicago.
“That was one thing he really appreciated – the idea of reaching out to young players,” said Gil Ojeda.
Said trombonist Phillips, “We’re all just brokenhearted.”
In addition to Gil Ojeda, Bob Ojeda’s survivors include siblings Liz, Ron and David Ojeda, and sister Gloria Koller.
A public memorial service will be planned after the coronavirus restrictions end, said Gil Ojeda.
Howard Reich is a Tribune critic.
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hreich@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-03-29--Longtime ‘All My Children’ soap opera actor John Callahan dies at 66

May Flights of Angels Wing You to Your Rest my Dear Friend .
Your bigger than life , gregarious personality @ @ @ @ @ our hearts forever .
We are devastated-My great friend , co parent partner , and @ @ @ @ @ That big belly laugh , bear hugs , bad puns , ability to harmonize to @ @ @ @ @ table singing-fests , and two steppin bad ass !
“ Johnny Numbers ” , my @ @ @ @ @ , the great time keeper , Beatles fanatic ( I wish to God we could @ @ @ @ @ ” ) ... Kaya and I are beyond broken hearted , so stunned , sorry @ @ @ @ @ mess .
You gave the best most beautifully written tributes , and I am at @ @ @ @ @ right now for you .
I hope Heaven has baseball and that your team always @ @ @ @ @ just lost their biggest Fan .
♥♥♥♥♥🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Actor John Callahan, known for playing Edmund Grey on “All My Children” and also starring on other soaps including “Days of Our Lives,” “Santa Barbara” and “Falcon Crest,” has died. He was 66.
His ex-wife and former “All My Children” co-star Eva LaRue announced his death on her social media account on Saturday. The two, who played a married couple on the show, shared a daughter, Kaya.
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“May Flights of Angels Wing You to Your Rest my Dear Friend. Your bigger than life, gregarious personality will leave a hole in our hearts forever. We are devastated-My great friend, co parent partner, and loving father to Kaya,” she wrote on Instagram. “Kaya and I are beyond broken hearted, so stunned, sorry that my thoughts are a mess. You gave the best most beautifully written tributes, and I am at a complete loss for words right now for you.”
Callahan starred on “All My Children” from 1992 to 2005.


chicagotribune--2020-03-29--Terrance Wills leaned on his NBA clients at Razor Red barbershop by the United Center. But when the

Terrance Wills leaned on his NBA clients at Razor Red barbershop by the United Center. But when the sports world shut down, so did his business.

In some ways , his business leaned on the business of basketball .
He developed relationships with agencies CAA and @ @ @ @ @ care of their players .
In fact , Wills ’ summer is even busier than @ @ @ @ @ estimates .
He could count on athletes visiting town for events such as the NBA @ @ @ @ @ tournaments , most of which have already been canceled or seem certain to be in @ @ @ @

About 1,200 signatures are on the walls inside Razor Red barbershop.
The walls are lined with the names of former Bulls players such as Scottie Pippen, Taj Gibson and Dwyane Wade; ex-Bears such as Matt Forte and David Terrell; and those just passing through town for sporting events, such as Kansas basketball coach Bill Self and Celtics forward Enes Kanter.
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Current Bulls often stop by to get haircuts, including assistant coach Roy Rogers, team training staff members and players Zach LaVine, Chandler Hutchison and Wendell Carter Jr.
But the windows of the shop were boarded up last week when its owner, Terrance Wills, was forced to shut down after Chicago’s stay-at-home order went into effect, closing nonessential businesses. Barbershops and salons across the country find themselves in similar situations amid the uncertainty of a global pandemic that has left them wondering when — and for some, if — they will be able to reopen.
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“It was a stressful feeling,” Wills said. “Because a lot of my employees were expecting me to stay open.”
NBA barber Terrance Wills stands at his Razor Red Grooming Solutions barbershop Wednesday, March 25, 2020, in the Tri-Taylor area of Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Wills had anticipated the day could be coming as the virus began spreading across the globe.
He started taking precautions at the beginning of the month: placing hand sanitizer at each barber station, limiting the number of people allowed in the shop and respecting the rules of social distancing.
“All my barber buddies, they shut down,” Wills said. “We do up-close-and-personal business. I’m on you when I’m cutting your hair. I can smell your breath.”
The clients who visit the shop, a little more than a mile from the United Center, range from walk-ins looking to take advantage of the $5 special for kids on Saturday mornings to current Bulls who prefer coming to the shop. Wills also swings by the United Center before games or to the Advocate Center, where he has a barber station set up at the team’s practice facility.
In some ways, his business leaned on the business of basketball. He developed relationships with agencies CAA and Priority Sports and helped take care of their players. In fact, Wills’ summer is even busier than the regular season, he estimates. He could count on athletes visiting town for events such as the NBA combine and other games and tournaments, most of which have already been canceled or seem certain to be in the near future.
“It hit me instantly,” Wills said. “I knew it. If they have to shut down the NBA and they’re making the players stay home, that’s a big part of my money that I depend on.
“We’re making sure those guys stay good for travel or for home and road games. You’ve got to look good when you play. When you look good, you play good.”
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Wills started his career cutting the hair of former NBA player and Chicago native Jannero Pargo, who connected Wills with Joe Johnson when the two played together at Arkansas.
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Wills went on the road with Johnson for several years during Johnson’s tenure with the Hawks, and he made more connections around the league but always kept in touch with people back in Chicago. He stopped by the Bulls’ former practice facility at the Berto Center in Deerfield about once a month when he came back to town.
“This is my hometown,” said Wills, who was born in Rockwell Gardens on the West Side. “I knew when that’s all over with, putting my name out in the NBA, I knew eventually I wanted to come back home.”
The pandemic has forced Wills to spend most of his days at home looking after his five children while his wife, Ashunti, who works at a local hotel, shuttles back and forth. He’s trying to provide a semblance of a schedule for children who have had their lives upended by this unforgiving virus.
The current shelter-in-place order extends until at least April 7, and Wills knows his business can survive until then. But he has started brainstorming alternatives to make money should his shop still be closed in the next few weeks. He considered whether house calls would be safe. And he has thought about applying to be an Uber driver.
Wills keeps in contact with his staff daily, sending text messages offering words of encouragement. He did acknowledge that spirits are pretty low because they’re all playing the waiting game, hopeful their lives and the sports world can return to some semblance of normalcy soon.
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“I’ve got some savings. I’m going to use my resources to try to stay afloat and make sure I’m OK, but I’ve got to activate my Plan B,” Wills said with a laugh. “For now I’m just chilling.
“I want to see what’s going on. I’m going to know then what I’m going to do. For now I’m totally shut down, but I don’t know how long I can do that.”


chicagotribune--2020-03-29--Pushing vehicles. Standing jumps onto trash bins. Video conferencing. Illinois is finding a way to m

Pushing vehicles. Standing jumps onto trash bins. Video conferencing. Illinois is finding a way to maintain player fitness while filling the void of spring football.

“ I feel like the discrepancies between players are going to be bigger than ever , ” Imatorbhebhe said .
@ @ @ @ @ going to be the player shining or the player left behind .
Guys might look @ @ @ @ @ extended spring break .
There ’ s opportunity to separate ourselves .
Those are the @ @ @ @ @ ones who shine in the fall .
I intend to be one of those guys @ @

Doug Kramer pushed a Dodge pickup truck. Josh Imatorbhebhe performed standing jumps onto a recycling bin and squatted with water-cooler jugs.
Wide receiver Kendall Smith did lunges with two cartons of water bottles hoisted on his shoulders. Defensive back Kerby Joseph repeated long jumps in the sand. Offensive lineman Alex Palczewski pulled a Land Rover with a harness around his waist.
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“You can do it all day,” Palczewski’s dad encouragingly yelled in the background. “Next time you’re going to pull it to Champaign. All the way.”
All of these were videos Illinois football players posted on social media, tagging strength coach Lou Hernandez. Creativity and accountability are at an optimum these days when it comes to working out during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Social-distancing squats. Quarantine calf raises. Shelter-in-place shuttle runs.
Bring them on.
“There was a day where our athletes went home for the summer,” Illinois coach Lovie Smith said Friday on a teleconference. “We had a weight program, a strength and conditioning program we had to follow. We had to find ways to get weight workouts in. There’s no weights (but) there’s situps, pullups, pushups. You can always go out and run 6 feet away from anyone else out there on the street. There’s ways to get by.”
Illinois had its last spring workout March 12. Before players made it back from break, the Big Ten suspended spring athletic activities to help contain the spread of COVID-19. The conference announced Friday it would extend the suspension through May 4 before evaluating again.
Spring football games have been canceled, and the hope for most programs is they can fit in summer conditioning before fall football resumes.
“Eventually we’re going to play football,” Smith said. “We want to be ready when we’re told to turn the lights back on and go back to work.”
That means meshing old-school methods with new-school technology.
Players have returned to their homes with the university shut down except for online learning. Gyms and high schools have closed. The state government has mandated most people to stay home and recommended remaining at a distance from others outside those they live with.
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Hernandez has customized workouts for players, finding ways they can use household items to stay fit. Video conference calls allow him to check on some players’ weights, and video texts from players of their workouts help keep them accountable.
It’s not that the way isn’t clear enough, it’s that the will isn’t strong enough 💯. 🔛🔝🔜 @Loustrength pic.twitter.com/pk8KI8m0QH — Josh Imatorbhebhe (@JoshBhebhe) March 28, 2020
“You’re scanning your house and seeing what can be of use,” Imatorbhebhe said. He loaded his backpack with 60 pounds of old textbooks and other items he found in his family garage to serve as a weight vest.
“Those water-cooler jugs, they felt like 80 pounds in each of my hands. It felt like squats. You’re trying to look to see what can be of use. If there’s a will, there’s a way."
In the last week, Illinois has started to mail supplements to certain players to help them with their nutrition plans. Hernandez said he is thinking of introducing some CrossFit routines.
“(Trainers and coaches are) drawing back on things we have done ourselves back in the day when we didn’t have incredible facilities,” he said. “Unfortunately there are a few guys who don’t have anything at the house. That’s where the creativity comes along. Can you find a sledgehammer in the garage? Can you go out and skip the lines on the cement and get footwork drills out of that?
“The biggest thing is we want our guys to be active. Go for a run. Find a field, work on strides. It doesn’t always have to be about lifting. We’ll take what we can get at this point.”
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Shared workout videos motivate the players. Palczewski wanted to pull his family car after seeing Kramer’s video.
“I thought that would be fun to try,” he said. “But I pushed it 10 times and my legs were kind of shot.”
Smith conceded Illinois is losing a valuable developmental period in spring football, but he noted the Illini are “adjusting like everyone else.”
He can hold team meetings for up to eight hours a week. He splits that into four two-hour meetings. He appreciates how he can see every player’s face in video conference calls just like he can in meeting rooms.
“If we were in the building, what would we be doing?” he said. “We’re providing the same thing at home. You still get the same things done.”
Smith, 61, has shared his own fitness training with recruits.
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“A lot of you are tired of hearing me talk about how many pushups I can do," Smith told reporters. “It’s pretty neat going through recruiting right now, asking some of the young guys how many pushups they can do. Of course I can beat most of them. You can come up with a lot of different ways to stay in shape by yourself.”
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Smith is encouraging players to listen to experts when it comes to protecting themselves and helping contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Smith said his sister-in-law in Louisiana and daughter-in-law in Champaign work in the health care field.
“There’s a lot of health care people out there who are doing so much to keep this country safe,” he said. “Talk about some MVPs. Those are two MVPs we have in the Smith family."
Smith said as a coach he’s prepared for “curveballs,” and even something as unexpected as a pandemic has to be met with an ability to adjust. He wants the nation to be “coachable” when it comes to stopping the spread of the virus.
“Eventually we’re going to beat this,” he said, “if we do what the experts tell us to do. I’m constantly telling our players to be coachable. I — and we — have to be coachable. It’s what my family is doing and what we’re asking our players to do.”
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Illini players said they’re trying to use this unusual time to their advantage, hoping maybe some opponents are loafing during their time away from campus. Maybe it will pay off in the fall.
“I feel like the discrepancies between players are going to be bigger than ever,” Imatorbhebhe said. “You’re either going to be the player shining or the player left behind. Guys might look like at this like an extended spring break. There’s opportunity to separate ourselves. Those are the guys who will be the ones who shine in the fall. I intend to be one of those guys.”


chicagotribune--2020-03-28--Ask Amy: Biblical lender should look to Shakespeare

We are both Christians , and I want to follow biblical mandates ( as I see them ) that require @ @ @ @ @ .
I also want to be a good friend .
However , although my friend @ @ @ @ @ about the situation , he does not seem to be prioritizing repayment or making wise @ @ @ @ @ , he and his business have incurred new expenses recently that I view as unnecessary @

Dear Amy: I'm wondering how to balance friendship and faith with a business transaction that has gone bad.
I loaned several hundred thousand dollars to a longtime friend, as his business was struggling and he was going through a divorce.
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We agreed on standard documentation and precise payment terms. He has paid only part of the loan back, and the nonpayment is creating financial issues for me.
We are both Christians, and I want to follow biblical mandates (as I see them) that require people to lend when asked. I also want to be a good friend. However, although my friend says that he feels bad about the situation, he does not seem to be prioritizing repayment or making wise financial decisions. For example, he and his business have incurred new expenses recently that I view as unnecessary.
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Would you consider the friendship over and treat this as a purely financial transaction? Or would you continue to cut him some slack? I see no reason to harm my own financial situation due to a friend's bad choices, but I don't want to be unfair or cruel to someone.
— A Remorseful Lender
Dear Remorseful: You frame your question by asking what I would do. But nothing in my own faith practice (or bank account) would enable this sort of extreme lending. If I want to and can afford to, I give, versus lend.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but bailing out your friend has resulted in financial hardship for you, and has also enabled him to persist in believing the fiction that he runs a successful business. As you point out, he is not running a successful business. So -- except for delaying the inevitable -- how have you actually helped him?
Now you have fewer assets to put toward doing good works, taking care of family members, helping those in dire need, contributing to charity (and, of course, your own church community). Imagine how many hungry mouths your thousands could feed, how many schoolbooks it could buy, how many church missions it could fund...?
Instead, your kindness and generosity has resulted in lost assets, enabling your friend's mistakes, and, likely, a lost friendship. This is not your fault (it is his); your own choice, however, is your responsibility.
Perhaps you should have chosen to follow a Shakespearean (instead of a biblical) mandate: "Neither a borrower nor a lender be... For loan oft loses both itself and friend."
Your lawyer or the courts might be able to tease out more payments and/or a stake in your friend's company.
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You should explore the work, wit and wisdom of Dave Ramsey, whose financial advice is both practical and Christian-focused. You would benefit from reading his book, "The Legacy Journey: A Radical View of Biblical Wealth and Generosity," (2014, Ramsey Press).
Dear Amy: I couldn't use my regular subscription opera ticket, so I gave the ticket to my opera companion to give to a mutual acquaintance at our church.
I've seen that acquaintance several times since then and she has my phone and email address for communication about church matters, and she has not said thank you. The ticket was fairly expensive. Should I say anything to her?
— K
Dear K: Your opera ticket may have been bestowed upon your church friend like so much manna from heaven -- and she might not be fully aware of the source. If your opera companion gave her the ticket, your role in this might have eluded the recipient.
People who purchase subscriptions to theater seasons know how valuable individual tickets are, but someone less familiar might simply think that this ticket was "extra."
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Ideally, you shouldn't have to nudge this acknowledgment along, but you should email your acquaintance to say, "I've seen you a few times, but I keep forgetting to ask you -- how was your evening at the opera? I was so sorry to miss the production, but I am happy you could use my ticket."
Dear Amy: "Bothered" had a neighbor/tenant whose early morning microwave jolted her awake.
Ask Amy Daily No-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
When it comes to noise, from housemates, roommates, spouses, or the newspaper delivery person playing loud music at 5 a.m. -- get thee to a drugstore and get a white noise machine. Pure bliss.
Even my galloping-herd-of-elephants spouse went about his noisy routines and I never heard a peep.
— Blissed
Dear Blissed: It wouldn't have occurred to me that one kind of noise would cancel out another kind of noise, but many readers have recommended white noise machines.
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(You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.)
Copyright 2019 by Amy Dickinson
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency


chicagotribune--2020-03-28--Get a better night’s sleep and don’t let coronavirus concerns run down your immune system

“ The other thing that a schedule does is it can keep you from ruminating and worrying , ” he @ @ @ @ @ thing a schedule does is it keeps people from vegging out all day , and @ @ @ @ @ in .
When people are depressed , what we tell them to do is what @ @ @ @ @ which is basically go out of the house and do things , but we can @ @ @ @ @ .
This is a recipe for depression , keeping people cooped up like this and @ @ @ @ @ anything that we can do to keep people active in doing something at home , @ @ @ @ @

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Daylight savings time barely happened before the coronavirus forced Illinoisans to self-isolate. And we all can relate to how hard it is to lose an hour when the spring equinox rolls around, right?
But now that COVID-19 has shifted our immediate priorities, it may have also shifted your sleep patterns due to increased anxiety. We talked to some local sleep experts and one professor whose area of research lies in the field of “how stress gets under the skin to affect physical health” to see if they can provide tips, recommendations and advice on how to keep your circadian rhythms on track during this stressful period.
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According to Dr. Phyllis Zee, a professor of neurology and director of the Northwestern Medicine Sleep Disorders Center, more exposure to daylight, more exercise, better nutrition are all helpful when it comes to getting better sleep.
“If you’re sleeping better, you’re more relaxed and your immune system is going to be stronger as well,” she said. “Your metabolism is going to be stronger. You may not be getting as much exercise because you’re not going out as much, but your sleep can help with that. So there’s a lot of great benefits to taking this time to think about healthy sleep.”
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University of Chicago behavioral sleep medicine specialist Dr. Lisa Medalie agrees. She said sufficient sleep can improve mood control, provide immune system support, and help with cognitive functioning, which helps keep up productivity.
“Try your best to keep working on sleep optimization ... remember that optimizing sleep may not always lead to feeling different during the day, but at least it is helping with immune system support,” she said. “If you are at least doing your best to optimize sleep and get enough sleep, that is all you can control.”
Christopher Fagundes, an associate professor in Rice University’s department of psychological sciences, advises setting a schedule for yourself while at home — even if it’s an hour-by-hour one. He says it may sound silly, but it will help you stay on task while in a familiar environment.
“The other thing that a schedule does is it can keep you from ruminating and worrying,” he said. “The other thing a schedule does is it keeps people from vegging out all day, and preventing depressive symptoms from kicking in. When people are depressed, what we tell them to do is what we call behavioral activation, which is basically go out of the house and do things, but we can’t do that now. This is a recipe for depression, keeping people cooped up like this and not socializing. So, anything that we can do to keep people active in doing something at home, it really helps.”
“We should try to keep as much of a usual routine as possible,” Zee said. “It is really easy to not follow regular sleep and awake times because you don’t have to. But I think especially for those who have trouble sleeping or may have anxiety disorders or mood disorders — regularity is very important. Don’t deviate more than an hour a day between your wake times and sleep times.”
She also says working, sitting or eating next to a window during daylight hours helps the brain. It helps with the body’s melatonin, which can help with sleep.
“More light during the day, less lights before you go to bed,” she said. “About all those light-emitting devices —your phone, tablet — we should try to tune those down as much as we can at night. Be mindful of our environment, of ourselves and tune out a little bit. I think that really helps, especially if you have anxiety. Think about this as a great opportunity to rebuild healthy habits. We’re very busy, but now we have a little bit more flexibility in our days — this is a great time to do things that you haven’t been able to do for yourself.”
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Like “me time” an hour before bedtime, where one minimizes conversations with family or calls during that hour,” says Medalie. According to the clinical associate of psychiatry at the University of Chicago Medicine, we each need at least one hour alone per day, which is challenging but important to set up now that kids are home, she said. “Finding a spot in your home that you can dedicate for your ‘me time’ is a great idea.”
To help you create that space, check out our gallery for 10 more creative ideas.
drockett@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-03-27--Imprisoned ‘Tiger King’ star Joe Exotic is ‘over the moon’ to be famous, directors say

Goode : Carole talked about her personal life , her childhood , abuse from her first and second husband , @ @ @ @ @ , Don Lewis .
She knew that this was not just about ... it ’ @ @ @ @ @ ” because of the things she spoke about .
She certainly wasn ’ t coerced @ @ @ @ @ would say about all these people is that there was a lack of intellectual curiosity @ @ @ @ @ or even see these animals in the wild .
Certainly , Carole really had no @ @ @ @ @ in the wild ... .
The lack of education , frankly , was really interesting @ @ @ @ @ their own little utopias and really were only interested in that world and the rules @ @ @ @

"Tiger King" was probably always destined to become a hit. How could a docuseries with exotic animals, polygamy, guns, murder conspiracies, meth and genital piercings be anything but?
That the show just happened to come out on Netflix last Friday \ as Americans were self-isolating at home because of the coronavirus outbreak — has only propelled it to greater popularity. Since its release on March 20, “Tiger King” has occupied the No. 1 spot on the streaming platform’s top 10 ranking. Memes about its colorful cast of characters have proliferated on Twitter and Instagram. Kim Kardashian West, Sam Smith and Awkwafina are just some of the celebrities who have said they’re watching.
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If you're one of the scant few who've yet to binge the seven-part series, allow us to explain.
Filmed over the course of five years, "Tiger King" centers largely on Joe "Exotic" Maldonado-Passage, the owner of a roadside wild cat zoo in rural Oklahoma. Joe Exotic bears a resemblance to Bret Michaels, carries a pistol on his hip, has a penchant for sequins and piercings and at one point had two much younger husbands. He's also obsessed with being famous, broadcasting the goings-on at the zoo via his own YouTube channel, where he spews hatred about his nemesis, Carole Baskin. Baskin, who has waist-length blond hair and only wears animal prints, runs her own cat park in Florida — though she bills it as a rescue facility — and opposes Joe's practice of breeding lions and tigers and keeping them in captivity for profit.
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Eventually, the sparring between the two turns more serious: Suffice it to say, Joe Exotic, now 57, is in federal prison. We won't give the ending away completely, but he was sentenced to 22 years behind bars for charges related to Baskin, as well as killing some of his own tigers.
There are plenty of other wild, ethically dubious characters in "Tiger King." Self-proclaimed cat lover Doc Antle operates the Myrtle Beach Safari in South Carolina with the aid of beautiful young women with whom he also has romantic relationships. Supposed wealthy businessman Jeff Lowe swoops in to bail Joe Exotic's park out of financial ruin but ultimately ends up taking it over himself.
It's a lot. To help us sift through the chaotic world of "Tiger King," we sought out its co-directors and writers, Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin, who called on Tuesday from their respective quarantines in California and Woodstock, N.Y.
Q: How do you feel about the fact that the series’ release has coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic?
Chaiklin: I hope that the series can provide a bit of entertainment and distraction for people, but more than anything, we’re glad that people are staying at home. Not because of the show, but because it’s the right thing to do. It’s completely uncharted territory for us, and it’s a dangerous time.
Goode: It underscores that reality is stranger than fiction. We have a captive audience watching captive cats. I’m the last person to talk to about statistics and ratings. Obviously, I’m happy that people are seeing it. We worked on it for a very long time, and it’s very rewarding.
Q: Eric, in 2012 the New Yorker profiled you because you’re a herpetophile, and you’ve spent a lot of time and money trying to save endangered turtles and tortoises. Why didn’t you include your own animal obsession in “Tiger King?”
Goode: I guess you could say I’m a closeted animal person, because a lot of my life I did it in secrecy. I was always fascinated with exotic animals, particularly reptiles, from the age of 6 when I got a pet tortoise. Later in life, I started an organization that works to save tortoises and turtles that are threatened, but in full disclosure, I still always had a fascination with people who kept animals. I wasn’t intimately involved in the big cat world, but there’s really one degree of separation between these different subcultures — primates, birds, tropical fish, whatever it is.
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Q: How would you characterize “tiger people”?
Goode: I would say the big cat people see tigers as sort of a status symbol, as you would a Ferrari or fancy car collection. They have the animals to elevate their position. It makes them special.
Q: Are the subjects in “Tiger King” a dying breed? Don’t you feel like there’s more public consciousness about animals in captivity nowadays? People posing with tigers in dating apps often get shamed.
Chaiklin: The world of exotic animal people has been very secretive because the more they’re out of the limelight, the less subject they are to regulations. But there’s this crazy thing that’s happened: In order to monetize these animals, they’ve all begun to engage in social media. But there’s also a shifting consciousness that these are sentient beings, so I think it is a world that is coming to an end, in many ways. Even regular zoos have much stricter regulations now. There’s a large percentage of Americans who say they would no longer take their children to a zoo.
Joseph Maldonado-Passage in “Tiger King” on Netflix. (Netflix / HANDOUT)
Goode: There is a whole new disturbing trend of exotic animal tourism. People can monetize photographs with elephants on a beach or tigers or large pythons or dolphins.
Q: Why are people so obsessed with taking photos with wild animals?
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Chaiklin: They’re beautiful, they’re powerful, and we’re so disconnected from nature and all these other species on the planet. I think we have some inherent instinct to be drawn to it — it’s just been perverted, the way people go about it. When you grow up and the only time you see an animal is in a cage, you don’t really understand what that animal is as a wild animal. It doesn’t behave the same way, or raise its young the same way or fight the same way. All the things that define what that creature is have been stripped from it.
Q: While filming all of these baby tigers, were you ever tempted to cuddle with one yourself?
Chaiklin: Most of the tigers we were around were subjected to abject cruelty. We saw babies being torn from their mothers and screaming. They’d get sick from being handled so much and get ringworm and mange. It was disturbing. Are they cute? Yes. Were there temptations to cuddle or touch? Yes. But it was very clear that it was not something positive.
Goode: As for the tourists who patronize these places — I think there’s a parallel between guns and animals. You can buy an AR-15 in Oklahoma just like you can buy a tiger easily. What you do in Oklahoma with tigers in these roadside zoos would be frowned on if it opened in the LA basin or New York. I think it’s a lack of education. And people believe we should be able to have a tiger, because this is America — who should stop us?
Q: Some of the subjects in “Tiger King” have not been pleased with their depictions. Carole said you sold the project to her as “Blackfish,” but in the end its sole goal was “being as salacious and sensational as possible to draw viewers.”
Chaiklin: I would just say we were completely forthright with the characters. With any project that goes on for five years, things evolve and change, and we followed it as any good storyteller does. We could have never known when we started this project that it was going to land where it did.
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Goode: Carole talked about her personal life, her childhood, abuse from her first and second husband, the disappearance of her ex, Don Lewis. She knew that this was not just about ... it’s not a “Blackfish” because of the things she spoke about. She certainly wasn’t coerced. The other thing I would say about all these people is that there was a lack of intellectual curiosity to really go and understand or even see these animals in the wild. Certainly, Carole really had no interest in seeing an animal in the wild ... . The lack of education, frankly, was really interesting — how they had built their own little utopias and really were only interested in that world and the rules they had created.
Q: Doc Antle’s critique was that this isn’t a documentary, it’s “sensationalized entertainment with paid participants.”
Chaiklin: We licensed a huge amount of archival footage and personal footage, and we paid for it, the same way we would pay Getty or CNN. Other than that, we paid for a few locations here or there and a couple of life rights deals, because at a certain point there were like eight other documentaries. Categorically, we do not pay people for interviews.
Q: What’s the status of Joe Exotic’s old park in Wynnewood, Okla.? Has Jeff Lowe been able to make good on his plans to successfully reopen it at a new location in Thackerville, Okla.?
Goode: Not yet. My guess is — and it may be unfair for me to say this — I think he’s gonna struggle to get it open. Obviously, in our current state of affairs, I doubt a lot of people are going to these places. I doubt he has much in the way of ticket sales. I don’t know what Jeff Lowe’s balance sheet is, but if he’s trying to solicit money from Shaquille O’Neal ...
Q: Wait, he is?
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Goode: Yes, which is absurd. I can’t see how Shaquille O’Neal’s handlers would allow him to invest.
Q: OK, now for a few burning questions: Why was Joe Exotic’s ex-husband, John Finlay, shirtless in all of his interviews?
Chaiklin: I think he was very proud of his tattoos. That’s a big thing in that particular culture.
Q: So he wanted to be shirtless?
Chaiklin: Yes.
Q: Why didn’t you include the fact that Joe wasn’t actually singing on the music he claimed to be his own?
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Chaiklin: We were really struggling with what the truth of it was. We went back and forth on it. With certain songs, it became super confusing. And then our fact-checker told us we were wrong — he was actually singing on certain songs. It was tricky to determine which he was on.
Goode: We cut a really good scene about that. Joe even said, “Of course not every singer sings all his songs, that’s just how it’s done.” His take on it was funny — that you could be a musician and a singer and not sing.
Q: Have you been in touch with Joe from prison?
Goode: Joe has called me quite a few times over the last few days and weeks. One, he is absolutely ecstatic about the series and the idea of being famous. He’s absolutely thrilled. I think he is trying to be an advocate for — no surprise — criminal justice reform. He is in a cage and of course he’s gonna say that he now recognizes what he did to these animals. With Joe, we have empathy for him, but at the same time, he’s someone who really knows what to say at the right moment. I take it with a big grain of salt when he says he is now apologetic for keeping animals.
Chaiklin: You can hardly talk to him without him mentioning the amount of press he’s getting. He says people are asking to see his Prince Albert and girls are sending him sexy bikini pictures even though he’s gay. He’s over the moon. Having kept in pretty close touch with him while he’s been in a horrible county prison, this has raised his spirits. Joe definitely did some horrible things to his animals. He was very abusive to them and he shot five tigers, no question about it. But what has happened to him has also been hard.
Q: Is he still married to Dillon?
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Chaiklin: Yes.
Q: There have been so many memes created as a result of the series. If people are only focusing on the show’s outsized characters, are they walking away with the wrong message?
Chaiklin: I am so illiterate in the social media world that it’s been a very funny reprieve. I had no idea how funny Twitter was until this last weekend. We hope that people enjoy it, but we did want them to have a serious takeaway, and it is a bummer if they don’t come away understanding that this is not the right way to treat these animals.
Goode: A few years ago, I traveled to Nepal and filmed one of the more successful tiger recovery programs with the World Wildlife Fund. We really struggled in the end, trying to fit everything into this series, and unfortunately that footage did not make it in. Obviously, I didn’t go there and film all of that for it not to land in the series. But it was hard with the tone and the direction the series ended up going in to put it all in. Of course, ideally, we want people to understand the themes without us spoon-feeding them.


chicagotribune--2020-03-27--Chicago joins New York, Los Angeles with drops in crime as coronavirus and shelter order take hold

“ We ’ ve had a difficult first two months of the year , January and February , with gun @ @ @ @ @ , ” Beck said , being careful to put the impact of the virus in @ @ @ @ @ we have seen that decline , and I think it ’ s way too soon @ @ @ @ @ one particular thing , but we have seen a declination .
”

Chicago police officers stand outside the 900 North Michigan Avenue shops on the Magnificent Mile on March 22, 2020, in downtown Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Like other major U.S. cities, Chicago has seen a dip in crime with the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting virtually every aspect of the country’s way of life.
Despite beginning 2020 with crime spikes, particularly related to gun violence, Chicago saw a sudden single-week drop of nearly 20% in major crimes in mid-March, records show. That was just as much activity in Chicago was slowing.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker closed schools across Illinois, Chicago bars and restaurants shuttered, and a statewide stay-at-home directive went into effect Saturday.
Since March 18, Chicago has only had two homicides, a fatal shooting on the South Side and another on the West Side.
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From March 16 through March 22, the latest compiled period available, Chicago police saw a 17% overall drop from the prior seven days in its seven major crime categories, among them robberies, burglaries and aggravated batteries. That same period also was down from the same stretch in 2019, official city data shows — a 19% decrease.
An empty basketball court along South California Avenue on March 24, 2020, in the Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
The current drop comes at a time when Chicago had seen jumps in violence through much of the first three months of 2020.
Through March 22, the city had recorded 90 homicides for 2020, just over one a day. That’s a 34% jump from the same period in 2019. Shootings also were up by 27% so far this year, before the coronavirus started to take hold.
Interim Chicago police Superintendent Charlie Beck said this week calls for service dropped by some 30% and his officers had also made fewer vehicle and pedestrian stops, indications that many residents were in fact following government coronavirus orders.
“We’ve had a difficult first two months of the year, January and February, with gun violence, homicide and shootings,” Beck said, being careful to put the impact of the virus in perspective. “This month we have seen that decline, and I think it’s way too soon to ascribe it to any one particular thing, but we have seen a declination.”
The crime drop has been experienced in other major U.S. cities as well, including in New York City, hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.
From March 9 through March 15, New York saw a 9% overall jump in its seven major crimes over the same week in 2019, official NYPD statistics show. But the following week, the city saw about a 17% drop, including double-digit percentage drops of reports of grand larceny and rape, and recorded only one homicide.
In Los Angeles, another city hit hard by COVID-19, its Police Department also reported big drops in crime over the last month. From Feb. 23 to March 21, the city saw an 18% drop in total property crimes, which include major thefts and burglaries, according to official LAPD statistics.
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Chicago officials have not directly attributed the city’s recent crime drop to the pandemic but acknowledged it has coincided with COVID-19 taking hold across the area.
“We can’t specifically say that the crime rate is affected by coronavirus,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday at a City Hall news conference. “But obviously what we know and going back many, many years and looking at data...when large congregations of people are outside in neighborhoods where gun violence is prevalent that increases the risk.”
A customer waits for an order at Maxwell Street Depot on March 22, 2020, in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
It has only been a few weeks since fears about COVID-19 caused many Chicagoans to adhere to social distancing restrictions and avoid large gatherings — all the more reason for crime experts to caution against reading too much into the lowered crime numbers over such a short time frame.
What’s more, overall, gun violence still vexes a city that leads the nation each year in killings and the total number of shooting victims.
Despite Pritzker’s restrictions, for instance, 12 people were shot on Wednesday — a day that many Chicagoans defied the order and congregated outdoors in the nice weather. All of those victims were shot outdoors, police said.
“There are fluctuations in crime rates that can be quite unexpected and are not predictable,” said Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist from the University of Missouri at St. Louis. “Let’s hope that (a) series of shootings in Chicago is just that, an exception.”
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Crime experts agreed the short-term crime drops could be related to people staying in their homes. But the longer those restrictions are in effect, they warned about possible upticks in domestic and family-related violence.
“Now what you have is a bunch of people cooped up together in confined quarters inside,” said Jens Ludwig, co-director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab.
“We know under normal circumstances that domestic violence and child abuse get dramatically under-reported. ... That is going to be at least as true now under these circumstances and maybe even more true if people become even less likely to be willing to report.”
Complete crime statistics for Chicago the current week were not yet available Friday. But from March 16 through March 22, the city’s burglaries, major thefts and aggravated batteries, each saw drops of 20% or more from the previous year.
The Harrison patrol district on the West Side, traditionally among the city's most violent areas, recorded no shootings that whole week, official statistics show.
The Shakespeare, Near North and Town Hall patrol districts, affluent areas on the North Side that draw large gatherings with their nightlife, trendy shops and tourist attractions, saw sharp drops that week in major thefts, according to the statistics.


chicagotribune--2020-03-27--Leaders at Glenview church say dozens showing COVID-19 symptoms in days following a worship service

Church leaders said the meeting was held days before the governor ’ s stay-at-home order .
However , it was @ @ @ @ @ public events to be scaled down to 1,000 people and for private ones to have @ @ @ @ @ .

The Life Church of Glenview on Friday, March 27, 2020 in Glenview. Forty-three people who attended a March 15 service at The Life Church of Glenview are now displaying symptoms of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, the pastor’s wife wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday.(Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune) (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Forty-three people who attended a March 15 service at The Life Church of Glenview are now displaying symptoms of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, the pastor’s wife wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday.
Layna LoCascio said in the social media post that not everyone has been tested, but “whoever gets a test done ends up being positive, and we all have the same symptoms.”
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LoCascio is the wife of the church’s pastor, Anthony LoCascio. He is said to be ill, as well.
She mentioned in the post three people who tested positive for COVID-19 and who have been hospitalized.
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Many who are affected are recovering at home, but some are hospitalized with pneumonia, including a man with cancer who is on a ventilator in an intensive care unit, according to the post.
Layna LoCascio also posted a video telling of the exposure. The last service was March 15, before the church moved to online worship , and the cases seem to be connected to that date, she said.
Church leaders said the meeting was held days before the governor’s stay-at-home order. However, it was after officials called for large public events to be scaled down to 1,000 people and for private ones to have a maximum 250 in attendance.
Anthony LoCascio has been sick for 11 days, with a fever, cough and chills, but is recovering and quarantined at home, Layna LoCascio wrote.
“We need desperate prayers for our head usher and (a) pillar in our church” she wrote, mentioning the name of one man she said had been given “hardly any hope” by doctors.
LoCascio said a group of leaders had come from a minister’s’ conference in Chicago, Passing the Mantle, in the days before the March 15 service.
Another member of the The Life Church of Glenview, John W. Jenkins, wrote in a public Facebook post Thursday that his family was recovering from COVID-19.
“Keep The Life Church of Glenview and my family in your prayers,” Jenkins wrote. “We were hit pretty hard by the COVID-19 virus."
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akim@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-03-30--Park districts barricading playgrounds, removing basketball hoops to keep residents away during pand

Park districts barricading playgrounds, removing basketball hoops to keep residents away during pandemic

“ The last thing we want to do is stop people from having that outlet in the parks , but @ @ @ @ @ is our first concern , ” said Park Ridge Park District Executive Director Gayle Mountcastle @ @ @ @ @ on the side of safety and that ’ s what we did .
”

A sign at Oakton Manor Park in Niles advises visitors that the playground is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Jennifer Johnson / Pioneer Press)
Suburban park districts are finding themselves on the front lines when it comes to upholding state directives of social distancing and playground closures amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yellow caution tape in hand, staff from the Niles Park District roped off slides and climbing equipment at Oakton Manor Park and other playgrounds last week after signs alone failed to keep children away.
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In neighboring Park Ridge, complaints of groups gathering on the basketball courts forced staff to close them to everyone on March 24, while in Lincolnwood, the rims of basketball hoops were completely removed in an effort to prevent pick-up games.
State and local leaders have been urging people to isolate themselves in their homes to stop the spread of COVID-19, but not everyone is listening. And when they head outside, it is often in the direction of their local public parks.
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“We’ve had numerous complaints of children in our parks,” said Niles Acting Police Cmdr. Anthony Scipione. “We are responding as the calls come in and advising them of the governor’s executive order that playgrounds and exercise equipment are off limits.”
After warm weather and sunny skies led to more people hitting the parks on March 25, the mayor and police chief of Park Ridge recorded an address to residents, urging them to follow Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s executive order and stay inside.
Park Ridge: Get the message
Park Ridge Police Chief Frank Kaminski said officers are keeping an eye on the parks and making sure that if people are using them to walk or jog, they maintain distance from others and are not congregating or playing together in groups.
He warned that people who ignore the governor’s order and refuse to disperse when they are asked by police can face citations or even arrest — something the department wants to avoid.
“The last thing we want to do is cite people,” Kaminski said. “We hope everybody gets the message and everybody cooperates.”
For the most part, area parks remain open for walking, jogging, sitting or even playing catch with another person, park officials report. But it is the group gatherings in close proximity that directors say they are trying to prevent.
“The last thing we want to do is stop people from having that outlet in the parks, but the safety of our residents is our first concern,” said Park Ridge Park District Executive Director Gayle Mountcastle. “We always err on the side of safety and that’s what we did.”
Tennis courts at Northeast Park in Park Ridge remain padlocked due to the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to prevent groups from gathering together. (Jennifer Johnson / Pioneer Press)
Mountcastle acknowledged that she is concerned about potential group gatherings as the weather warms, but stressed the park district is working with the city and police department to enforce the governor’s order.
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Lincolnwood: it’s a responsibility
On Friday, temporary fencing was placed around playgrounds in Lincolnwood as an added reminder that they are off-limits, said Andrew Letson, acting director of parks and recreation for the village of Lincolnwood. Also closed are basketball, tennis and volleyball courts, the inline skating rink, the skate park and the outdoor fitness area, he said.
When asked if he found it frustrating that crews had to take the step of removing entire basketball rims to keep people away from the courts, Letson said it was more a feeling of responsibility.
“I think we all have a responsibility to ensure we’re following the guidelines that are set forth,” Letson said. “Therefore, we’re going to take the steps we need to make sure people follow those guidelines,” he said.
Niles: dispersing the crowds
Scipione said the Niles Police Department responded to about 15 complaints of public gatherings during his shift on March 25.
“We had a lot of people playing basketball, the tennis courts were full and there were gatherings on the grass areas of the parks,” said Niles Park District Executive Director Tom Elenz. “We reached out to the village to ask if they could help us disperse the crowds.”
Up until March 26, basketball and tennis courts had been open for play, but those too have had to be shut down to group gatherings, Elenz said.
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In addition to the caution tape blocking play equipment, playground swings have been wrapped around the top of swing sets to keep people from sitting on them and signs have been placed outside, declaring the playgrounds closed due to “COVID-19 awareness.”
The park district’s own patrol officers have increased their visits to parks and playgrounds to make sure people are following the rules, Elenz said.
Caution tape wrapped around playground equipment at Oakton Manor Park in Niles on March 26 warns visitors that the playground is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Jennifer Johnson / Pioneer Press)
Golf-Maine park district: will call sheriff’s office
John Jekot, executive director of the Golf-Maine Park District in unincorporated Maine Township, said it was Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s decision on Thursday to close beaches, lakefront trails and the 606 bike trail that prompted him to lock the tennis courts and have staff nail wooden planks above and below the outdoor basketball ball court rims.
“If you save one person from not getting the disease, it’s well worth it,” he said of the efforts taken to discourage play on the basketball courts, though he did acknowledge that having to take such a step to get citizens to follow the rules “is an inconvenience.”
So far, though, crowds have not been an issue at Golf-Maine’s two parks, Jekot said, but as the weather warms, staff has been given direction on how to address potential issues.
“I told my staff, if they should see any large gathering, they should call the sheriff’s police non-emergency number,” Jekot said. “I’m not expecting staff to go out there and be police officers.”
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Morton Grove: Taping off areas
Jeffrey Wait, executive director of the Morton Grove Park District, said parks in that community are still open for walking and running, but additional signs, as well as caution tape, went up around playgrounds on Friday as complaints about people using the parks began to come in to the village.
“It’s gotten to the point now where we are putting up information and taping off areas that people aren’t supposed to be in,” he said.
A sign advises visitors that the playground at Woodland Park in Park Ridge is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Jennifer Johnson / Pioneer Press)
jjohnson@chicagotribune.com
Twitter: @Jen_Tribune


chicagotribune--2020-03-30--Chicago police superintendent finalists to be announced Wednesday

Lightfoot has told the Tribune the right candidate for the post would be someone who understands that federal oversight , @ @ @ @ @ how officers treat citizens , can transform the department for the better .
She ’ @ @ @ @ @ her desire to have a more proactive police force as key factors she ’ s @ @

Possible Chicago police superintendent finalists are Sean Malinowski, a former LAPD official who has been a top consultant for the Chicago Police Department for the past few years; Ernest Cato, a CPD deputy chief; Kristen Ziman, chief of police in Aurora; and David Brown, an ex-Dallas police chief. (Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and Getty)
The Chicago Police Board expects to announce its three finalists in the selection of the city’s next police superintendent by midweek, board officials said.
The nine-member board was slated to announce the finalists at a special public meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday. From there, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is expected to eventually pick one of those candidates to be the city’s next top cop.
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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting will be held entirely via audio teleconferencing. Anyone who would like to speak during the session or listen was asked to visit the police board’s website for more details at www.ChicagoPoliceBoard.org.
The decision by the board comes more than four months after it began its national search for a list of candidates to replace Eddie Johnson, who was abruptly dismissed by Lightfoot in December.
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Last month, sources told the Chicago Tribune that the board's roster of 25 candidates had been whittled down to a handful of names, among them Sean Malinowski, a former LAPD official who has been a top consultant for the Chicago Police Department for the past few years; Ernest Cato, a CPD deputy chief; Kristen Ziman, chief of police in west suburban Aurora; and David Brown, an ex-Dallas police chief.
Lightfoot has told the Tribune the right candidate for the post would be someone who understands that federal oversight, which is aimed at improving how officers treat citizens, can transform the department for the better. She’s also emphasized professionalism and her desire to have a more proactive police force as key factors she’s considering.
The police board compiled a five-page job application that listed more than a dozen requirements for the job, including ensuring the 13,000-plus employee 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.
Eleven of the 25 candidates 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 Chicago.
Twenty-one of the applicants were men and four were women, according to the board. Thirteen were white, 11 African American and one was Latino.
The board opened the application process Nov. 21 after Johnson announced plans to retire by the end of the year.
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Lightfoot announced Johnson’s temporary successor would be former Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck. But Beck ended up starting the temporary job as Chicago’s top cop sooner than expected when Lightfoot fired Johnson in early December, saying he had intentionally misled her after a late weeknight out in October when he was found asleep in his running vehicle near his home.
jgorner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-03-30--More than 800 Chicago Police Department employees out sick Monday

One measure the department took to keep its staffing levels up was separating employees who work out of police headquarters @ @ @ @ @ moving them to four days a week with two days off .
Before , many @ @ @ @ @ a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday .

About 6% of the entire Chicago Police Department was on sick leave Monday as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to have an impact on city operations.
More than 800 Chicago police employees — most of them sworn officers, though some civilians as well — were out sick with wide-ranging ailments, but the increased numbers also were likely due to employees who took time off for precautionary measures due to the coronavirus, CPD officials said.
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The department has more than 13,000 sworn officers and several hundred more civilian employees.
So far, 49 Chicago police officers have tested positive for the coronavirus. Only a handful have had to be hospitalized, but at least one was reported in critical condition, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Monday.
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“And the rule that we have here is if you are near somebody who was positive and you’re symptomatic then you are automatically put on sick leave, on the medical,” Guglielmi said.
The department’s sick leave numbers ran as high as around 7% at the end of last week, Guglielmi said. On an average day, about 2½% to 4% of the department doesn’t report for duty for health reasons.
“The Department was notified of 29 members that have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus since Friday,” Chicago police interim Superintendent Charlie Beck said in a department-wide memo on Monday.
Guglielmi said the number of CPD employees out on sick leave is “nowhere near some of the other (major U.S. city) departments are experiencing” due to COVID-19.
Chicago police patrol the CTA Red Line subway at the Jackson station March 5, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
CPD officials have contingency plans in place in case staffing for the country’s second largest police force shrinks to dire levels. In an extreme situation, for instance, CPD could move its officers to 12-hour days, up from their normal 8½-hour shifts, and cancel days off.
But Guglielmi said the department has not yet resorted to that. So far, he noted, CPD only canceled days off for patrol bureau officers on March 21, the first day of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order.
One measure the department took to keep its staffing levels up was separating employees who work out of police headquarters to different day-off groups, moving them to four days a week with two days off. Before, many of those employees worked 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
That action reduced the number of employees working in confined spaces at a given time to enhance social distancing, Guglielmi said. Some of those officers could also be used in other units across the city experiencing staffing shortages, he said.


chicagotribune--2020-03-30--Man uses coronavirus as scam to get inside Western Springs woman’s house and steal jewelry

The Western Springs police report a man wearing a reflective vest went to the front door of a home on @ @ @ @ @ Street at about 3:30 p.m. Friday .
He told the elderly resident he was a @ @ @ @ @ check the water because several people in the area had become ill with COVID-19 from @ @ @ @

A man used the coronavirus as a scam to get inside Western Springs woman’s house and steal jewelry, police authorities said.
The Western Springs police report a man wearing a reflective vest went to the front door of a home on the 1300 block of Oak Street at about 3:30 p.m. Friday. He told the elderly resident he was a plumber and he needed to check the water because several people in the area had become ill with COVID-19 from the water supply.
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He told the woman to go down to the basement to check the water, which she did. Another person then entered the house and stole jewelry, worth several thousands of dollars, police authorities said.
The entire incident lasted less than five minutes, authorities said.
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Village officials said Monday there is no problem with the water related to the coronavirus and no one is conducting door-to-door testing.
The man who came to the resident’s door was described as about 30 years old, and wearing a black jacket, black jeans and black wool gloves.
Two vehicles that may have been involved with the crime were seen leaving the area, a white work van and a dark-colored sports utility vehicle.
Police remind residents not to let any strangers in your home, if you have not called them and asked them to come.
If someone comes to your house claiming to work for a utility company, call the utility or the police department, at 708-246-8540, to find out whether utility crews are working in the area.
If someone makes you uncomfortable, exhibits high-pressure sales tactics, or otherwise behaves suspiciously, try to get their license plate number or other details and report this information to the police, authorities advise.


chicagotribune--2020-03-30--Watch live: White House coronavirus task force holds press briefing

Members of the White House coronavirus task force are expected to hold a press briefing at 4 p.m. CDT .
@ @ @ @ @ .

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chicagotribune--2020-03-30--Chef Rodelio Aglibot, the ‘Food Buddha,’ dies of apparent heart attack

“ Whether you knew him as Den , Rod , Rodelio , Lolo , Ninong , Chef , or the @ @ @ @ @ he had the most infectious laugh , an amazing talent , and the biggest heart @ @ @ @ @ “ In his 52 years on earth , he touched so many lives all around @ @ @ @ @ the best time no matter where he went , what he was doing , or @ @ @ @ @ If you knew him , you loved him .
If you knew him , I @ @ @ @ @ too .
I rest in the fact that he ’ s reunited with our younger @ @ @ @ @ see them both again .
I have two guardian angels now , even though , @ @ @ @ @ have them here . ''

Chef Rodelio Aglibot, whose multiple restaurant concepts included E+O, FireFin Poke and Yi Cuisine, died last weekend of an apparent heart attack. He was 52.
Aglibot was in Cincinnati, working on an E+O location and preparing to open two additional restaurants in Columbus. The apparent heart attack took place Friday evening.
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“On Saturday morning I received the call that he was gone,” said longtime business partner Aeron Lancero. “He was doing what he loved, as he was discovered in the kitchen of his apartment preparing a meal to enjoy and showcase as he has been doing many times for his many friends and family to see. His heart gave in and now he is gone.”
Aglibot, nicknamed the “Food Buddha” for his round face and ever-present, placid smile, first appeared on the Chicago scene as the founding chef of Sunda restaurant in River North. He would go on to open or help create dozens more restaurants, including Koi in Los Angeles and Me Geisha Salerno in Rome.
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As word filtered out via social media of the chef’s passing, chefs and customers alike wrote about their shock and sadness.
“My brother’s impact in the restaurant community extends beyond the four walls of any restaurant,” said Ruby Byers, Aglibot’s sister. “It’s the relationships he built, the personal touch he gave, and how he made his colleagues, team and customers feel. As I read through Facebook post after post, it was obvious to me that he made every person feel like they were indeed his very best friend. It’s that kind of legacy that we all hope to leave and he achieved it with humility, love, and the biggest smile that will not be forgotten.”
“Whether you knew him as Den, Rod, Rodelio, Lolo, Ninong, Chef, or the Food Buddha, you knew he had the most infectious laugh, an amazing talent, and the biggest heart,” she said. “In his 52 years on earth, he touched so many lives all around the world. He had the best time no matter where he went, what he was doing, or whom he was with. If you knew him, you loved him. If you knew him, I know your heart is broken too. I rest in the fact that he’s reunited with our younger brother and know I will see them both again. I have two guardian angels now, even though, honestly, I would rather have them here."
Memorial services are pending.
“His parents are in the Philippines, and we are working on getting them back to California,” Lancero said. "The family is devastated, and I can say many people are heartbroken, as we lost not just a chef, but a kind soul that wanted to make you feel special.
“Rodelio was my business partner, best friend and brother,” Lancero said. "His legacy lives on with all of us.”


chicagotribune--2020-03-30--New Trump mileage standards to water down Obama climate effort

Trump ’ s Cabinet heads have continued a push to rollback public health and environment regulations despite the coronavirus outbreak @ @ @ @ @ attention .
The administration — like others before it — is facing procedural rules that @ @ @ @ @ the last six months of Trump ’ s current term tougher to throw out , @ @ @ @ @ changes occupants .

Traffic clogs the Hollywood Freeway Dec. 12, 2018, in Los Angeles. President Donald Trump's is expected to mark a win in his two-year fight to ease one of the biggest U.S. efforts against climate change, relaxing ambitious Obama-era vehicle mileage standards and raising the ceiling on fossil fuel emissions. (Damian Dovarganes/AP)
Washington — President Donald Trump is expected to relax ambitious Obama-era vehicle mileage standards and raise the ceiling on damaging fossil fuel emissions for years to come, gutting one of the United States' single-biggest efforts against climate change.
The Trump administration is expected to release a final rule Tuesday on mileage standards through 2026, watering down a tough Obama mileage standard that would have encouraged automakers globally to ramp up production of electric vehicles and more fuel-efficient gasoline vehicles.
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Trump’s Cabinet heads have continued a push to rollback public health and environment regulations despite the coronavirus outbreak riveting the world’s attention. The administration — like others before it — is facing procedural rules that will make changes adopted before the last six months of Trump’s current term tougher to throw out, even if the White House changes occupants.
The Trump administration says the looser mileage standards will allow consumers to keep buying the less fuel-efficient SUVs that U.S. drivers have favored for years. Opponents say it will undercut the Obama administration’s legacy effort to cut climate-damaging fossil fuel emissions, and will kill hundreds more Americans a year through dirtier air, compared with the Obama standards.
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The standards have split the auto industry, with Ford, BMW, Honda and Volkswagen siding with California and agreeing to higher standards. Most other automakers contend the Obama-era standards were enacted hastily and will be impossible to meet because consumers have shifted dramatically away from efficient cars to SUVs and trucks.
The Obama administration mandated 5% annual increases in fuel economy. Leaked versions of the Trump administration's latest proposal show a 1.5% annual increase, backing off from its initial proposal simply to stop mandating increases in fuel efficiency after 2020.
The transportation sector is the nation's largest source of climate-changing emissions.
Krisher reported from Detroit.