chicagotribune--2020-01-21--Appellate court reverses Highwood fire official’s conviction

Pieri was the highest-ranking member of the Highwood Fire Department when he was arrested in 2011 and at one time @ @ @ @ @ s fire chief .
At the time of his arrest , he was the husband @ @ @ @ @ the son of a former alderman .

An Illinois Appellate Court has reversed the 2015 felony conviction of a former Highwood fire official and sent the case back to the Lake County Circuit Court for retrial.
Former Deputy Fire Chief Ronald Pieri was found guilty of false entry in connection with time sheets submitted between 2006 and 2010 while he was serving as a firefighter, shift commander and deputy fire chief.
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The Second District Appellate Court found the data and statistical reports relied on by prosecutors to prove that Pieri falsified time sheets were “so unreliable as to create a reasonable doubt of the defendant’s guilt.”
In a 15-page ruling, the appellate justices said prosecutors, the state’s forensics examiner and the judge assumed that when Pieri’s time sheets did not match records in Firehouse, the department’s computer management system, that the Firehouse records were correct.
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But the appellate court said its own review of four months of Firehouse records from 2006 “reveals a multitude of questionable or improper data in the logs.” The appellate court found some of the state’s exhibits to be “rife with errors.”
“As the saying goes, ‘Garbage in, garbage out,” wrote the justices in their Jan. 13 opinion.
“We conclude that the evidence … was so improbable, unsatisfactory or inconclusive that it creates a reasonable doubt of the defendant’s guilt.”
Lee Filas, a spokesman for Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim, said the office has received the appellate court’s decision in the Pieri case.
“We are reviewing the case and evaluating our options,” Filas said.
Pieri could not be reached for comment.
Defense attorney Richard Blass declined to comment on a case that is still pending in court.
“We are waiting to hear what the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office plans to do,” Blass said. “We don’t want to put the cart before the horse.”
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Circuit Court Judge Victoria Rossetti found Pieri guilty of one count of false entry and not guilty on two counts of official misconduct and two counts of theft of government property. Rossetti sentenced Pieri to two years’ probation and 150 hours of community service.
Pieri was the highest-ranking member of the Highwood Fire Department when he was arrested in 2011 and at one time had served as Highwood’s fire chief. At the time of his arrest, he was the husband of a sitting alderman and the son of a former alderman.
Though Highwood residents voted to dissolve the Highwood Fire Department in a 2016 and turn fire and paramedic services over to the City of Highland Park, Pieri’s employment status remains in limbo.
He is currently seeking back pay through the Highwood Board of Fire and Police Commissioners.
kberkowitz@pioneerlocal.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--No bail for son accused of fatally stabbing dad, 74, chasing mother with kitchen knife in West Town

Tate tried to stab his mother , but she was able to kick him and flee out the home ’ @ @ @ @ @ said .
Tate followed his mother out the door and tried to stab her once @ @ @ @ @ up struggling on the ground over the knife , Murphy said .

A drunk West Side man barged into his parents’ West Town home Sunday evening and chased his mother with a kitchen knife before fatally stabbing his father, who had recently undergone heart surgery, prosecutors said Tuesday during the man’s bail hearing.
Michael Tate, 38, is accused of stabbing his father, James, during an argument Sunday evening at his parents’ home in the 2100 block of West Randolph Street, according to Chicago police. James Tate was a 74-year-old dialysis patient who needed a walker, had limited use of his left hand and recently underwent surgery on his heart and left arm, authorities said.
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Circuit Judge David R. Navarro denied bail for Tate during a noon bail hearing on first-degree murder charges at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.
Michael Tate (Chicago Police Department)
The incident began just before 9 p.m. when Tate’s parents, who were in their bedroom, noticed someone cooking in their kitchen, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy told the court. His mother soon found him cooking, and also noticed the bathroom towel bar and other items on her bathroom floor, Murphy said.
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Tate’s mom noticed the scent of alcohol on his breath, authorities said. Tate didn’t live with his parents and wasn’t allowed in their home when he’d been drinking, Murphy said. The woman confronted Tate about his drinking and told him he’d have to leave in the morning.
But the incident escalated when Tate grabbed a knife from the kitchen, prosecutors said. Tate’s mother took the knife from him, but he grabbed another and threatened her with it, Murphy said.
Tate tried to stab his mother, but she was able to kick him and flee out the home’s back door, authorities said. Tate followed his mother out the door and tried to stab her once more before the pair wound up struggling on the ground over the knife, Murphy said.
When the woman tried to reenter her home, her husband opened the bedroom door “to see what was going on.” Tate made it inside the home first and locked his mother out, Murphy said. The woman ran next door, where two relatives live, and called 911.
One of those relatives spotted Tate running from the front of the house, but he was arrested by private security officers flagged down by a relative, Murphy said. During the arrest, Tate — who had blood on his clothing — threw a knife to the ground, he added. A second bloody knife was found on his parents’ living room couch.
James Tate was found bloodied in his bedroom and suffering from two stab wounds and cuts, authorities said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Michael Tate has three prior felony convictions, including felony aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and two misdemeanor convictions. Tate’s court-appointed attorney noted that he’s a lifelong Chicagoan who went to high school and attended Rend Lake College in Mattoon for two years.
Tate will have seven days to seek a bail reduction following Navarro’s ruling.
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Chicago Tribune’s Megan Crepeau contributed.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
wlee@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--Cubs get reliever Travis Lakins from Red Sox as bullpen competition grows

“ He probably , and admittedly so , has more to prove in spring training , competition-wise and velocity-wise , @ @ @ @ @ is ready for that workload , ” Hottovy said .
“ We still have to @ @ @ @ @ he go back-to-back days ?
How much time off does he need in-between outings .

The Cubs added another potential bullpen piece Tuesday, acquiring Red Sox reliever Travis Lakins for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
Lakins, who had been designated for assignment by the Red Sox, made his major league debut last season, posting a 3.86 ERA in 16 appearances, including three starts. A sixth-round pick out of Ohio State in 2015, the 25-year-old right-hander went 3-4 with a 4.60 ERA in 40 appearances in Triple-A before the promotion.
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Lakins is expected to be one several candidates for a bullpen spot, with only closer Craig Kimbrel and set-up men Rowan Wick and Kyle Ryan assured of relief roles to start the season. Tyler Chatwood is likely to be moved back into the rotation if he performs well this spring, while former closer Brandon Morrow will make the opening day roster if he’s healthy.
The #Cubs today acquired RHP Travis Lakins from the Red Sox for a player to be named or cash consideration. pic.twitter.com/vZRj2rxPK9 — Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) January 21, 2020
The other relievers vying for spots include lefty Brad Wieck, a likely pick, and right-handers Alec Mills, Adbert Alzolay, Colin Rea, Dan Winkler, Jharel Cotton, Dillon Maples, Duane Underwood Jr. and Rule 5 pick Trevor Megill. Mills and Cotton will also get opportunities to start some Cactus League games.
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There are few familiar names in that group, and no big salaries to speak of. That will make for some real competition in spring for several potential openings, though it won’t get Cubs’ fans excited.
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“Everyone wants to see a name,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy conceded at the Cubs Convention. “But Rowan Wick wasn’t really a name last spring and Kyle Ryan was a cool story. And these guys pitched themselves into that situation.”
The Cubs’ bullpen will be vastly different than it was in 2019, after letting Pedro Strop, Steve Cishek, David Phelps and Brandon Kintzler depart as free agents. Cishek, who signed with the White Sox, is the only one of the four with a job.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of turnover in bullpen,” manager David Ross said last Thursday. “I don’t think we’re going to win or lose the division out of the bullpen."
Morrow, who signed a minor-league deal, is the wild card in the mix after missing the last year and a half with arm injuries, forcing the Cubs to sign Kimbrel and blow past the budget. Hottovy expects Morrow to be in the pen on opening day, assuming, of course, he can stay healthy.
“He probably, and admittedly so, has more to prove in spring training, competition-wise and velocity-wise, and to make sure he is ready for that workload,” Hottovy said. “We still have to take into consideration, can he go back-to-back days? How much time off does he need in-between outings.
"That factors into the decision obviously, but yes, if you have Brandon Morrow, and Brandon Morrow being himself, and competing, we’re going to be in a good place.”
Mills and Underwood are out of options.


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--Police: Meth, cocaine, marijuana found inside Park Ridge garage

According to police , Lelik ’ s mother discovered her son and a second , unknown individual packing what appeared @ @ @ @ @ plastic bags inside the garage .
Lelik ’ s mother grabbed some of the suspected @ @ @ @ @ them until an officer arrived at the home , said Park Ridge Police Department Executive @ @ @ @

A Park Ridge teen was arrested last week after drugs, including methamphetamine, were allegedly found inside his family’s garage.
According to Park Ridge police, officers seized 14.5 grams of suspected cocaine, 52 grams of suspected marijuana, several Hydrocodone pills and 21 grams of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine when they were called to a home on the 1200 block of Potter Road on the night of Jan. 15.
Vasil William Lelik,18, a resident of the home, was charged with possession with intent to deliver controlled substances and marijuana, police said.
According to police, Lelik’s mother discovered her son and a second, unknown individual packing what appeared to be drugs into small plastic bags inside the garage. Lelik’s mother grabbed some of the suspected drugs and held on to them until an officer arrived at the home, said Park Ridge Police Department Executive Officer Tom Gadomski.
The friend seen with Lelik in the garage reportedly ran away when the pair were discovered by Lelik’s mother.
Lelik was also charged with possession of ammunition without a valid firearm owners identification card when a .45 caliber bullet was found in his pants pocket, police said.
According to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, Lelik was placed on electronic monitoring following a bond hearing and is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 5.
jjohnson@chicagotribune.com
Twitter: @Jen_Tribune


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--Bears’ Khalil Mack will miss the Pro Bowl for a 2nd straight year

Smith had 13½ sacks , 37 quarterback hits and 50 pressures in his first season in Green Bay .
It @ @ @ @ @ Bowl appearance .
The Packers also announced that wide receiver Davante Adams and defensive lineman @ @ @ @ @ Pro Bowl as injury replacements after the loss to the 49ers in the NFC championship @ @

Bears outside linebacker Khalil Mack will miss the Pro Bowl on Sunday in Orlando, Fla.
The Packers announced Tuesday morning that linebacker Za’Darius Smith will replace Mack, who they said will sit out with an undisclosed injury.
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Mack, who had 8½ sacks, 14 quarterback hits, 45 pressures and five forced fumbles in 16 games in 2019, has been a Pro Bowl selection for five straight years, including the last two with the Bears.
His absence is not surprising. After he was selected to the Pro Bowl in December, he wouldn’t answer questions about whether he would play in the game. He also missed last year’s game with an undisclosed injury.
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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 127 Chicago Bears outside linebacker Khalil Mack (52) returns to the field for the third quarter of the Chicago Bears versus Tampa Bay Buccaneers game Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021, in Tampa, Florida. The Bears lost to the Buccaneers 38-3. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune) (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Smith had 13½ sacks, 37 quarterback hits and 50 pressures in his first season in Green Bay. It will be his first Pro Bowl appearance. The Packers also announced that wide receiver Davante Adams and defensive lineman Kenny Clark will attend the Pro Bowl as injury replacements after the loss to the 49ers in the NFC championship game.
The Bears will have three players in the Pro Bowl: safety Eddie Jackson, special teams representative Cordarrelle Patterson and cornerback Kyle Fuller, who was named as an injury replacement earlier this month.
The NFL announced Tuesday that Jackson and Patterson will participate in the Pro Bowl Skills Showdown for the NFC team. That competition will air at 8 p.m. Thursday on ESPN.


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--Prosecutors want Chicago madam locked up for advertising her fetish business while awaiting trial

Prosecutors , though , said they had concerns that Nesbitt continued to run her business for months after agents raided @ @ @ @ @ , the FBI had the building under surveillance as customers showed up at all hours @ @ @ @ @ of Champagne , prosecutors said .

The ad posted last month on fetish classified site sexyjobs.com promised an extraordinary opportunity to work at a Chicago “members only” club.
“The Premier Playhouse was designed for the kink friendly and has been providing legal fun for 10+ years,” the ad said. “We need charming classy individuals who love the spotlight and who can welcome curious newcomers and seasoned Kinksters to our incredible and luxurious 5 floor playhouse. Apply now!”
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There was just one problem, according to federal prosecutors. The ad was posted by Jessica Nesbitt, a self-proclaimed Chicago madam awaiting trial on charges alleging she and several employees had sex with clients for money at risque parties.
Now prosecutors are asking U.S. District Judge Robert Dow Jr. to revoke Nesbitt’s bond, arguing in a court filing Tuesday that posting the ad violated the orders of a magistrate judge to stay away from the sex industry while her charges were pending.
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The six-page filing alleged that Nesbitt, also known as “Madame Priscilla Belle,” took only rudimentary steps to disguise what she was doing.
Though she changed the name of the business, records provided by sexyjobs.com showed a billing address matching Nesbitt’s three-flat building in the 2400 block of West Augusta Boulevard, where she’s run her fetish business for years, according to prosecutors.
[ Feds indict woman on charges she ran prostitution business called Kink Extraordinaire on Chicago’s Near West Side ]
A phone number used to set up the account matched Nesbitt’s, and an email address used the domain kechicago.com — a reference to her longtime business name, Kink Extraordinaire, prosecutors said.
“Hiring employees further suggests that she is attempting to restart — or has already restarted — KE’s operations under a different name in order to circumvent her pretrial release conditions,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Devlin Su wrote.
A court hearing was set for next week.
Nesbitt, 31, was charged in a 13-count indictment unsealed in September with prostitution, conspiracy to commit prostitution and illegally structuring bank withdrawals to evade reporting requirements. She has pleaded not guilty and has been free on a $250,000 unsecured bond.
Kink Extraordinaire touted itself on social media as a legal outlet for fetishes, role-playing, “forced interactions” and “taboo exploration.”
“Follow us for day-to-day open kinky fun at our play space, birthday spankings, stories of erotica, holiday spice, and exclusive play party updates,” read one Twitter post from 2018.
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The indictment, however, alleged that from 2010 to 2017, Nesbitt placed ads on websites such as backpage.com and eros.com offering paid sex with herself and at least six employees.
Nesbitt also emailed invitations to her clients for paid sex and fetish parties, including events titled “Halloween Mischief” and “Black Tie Bizarre,” the indictment said.
In addition to acts of prostitution carried out in Nesbitt’s building, she also arranged for herand her employees to perform sex acts in California, Washington, Florida, Indiana, Nevada and Wisconsin, the indictment said.
The most serious charges carry up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
At Nesbitt’s bond hearing, her attorney, Barry Sheppard, argued she believed she was running a legal business that provided services to consenting adults. He said she is the single mother of a teenage son just trying to earn a living.
Prosecutors, though, said they had concerns that Nesbitt continued to run her business for months after agents raided her home. In fact, the FBI had the building under surveillance as customers showed up at all hours carrying duffel bags and bottles of Champagne, prosecutors said.
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A maintenance worker told investigators “he had personally observed sex toys in every single room in that building,” Su told the judge at the hearing.
In setting bond, U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez told Nesbitt she was forbidden from engaging in any fetish-related activities — including role playing or use of sex toys — while awaiting trial.
Valdez also rejected a plea from Sheppard to allow her to continue to do phone sex while on bond.
“She can get a job at a store, she can do other kinds of employment, but not the types of activities that she describes as legal in nature," Valdez said. “In other words, get a different line of work at this stage. And if you win the case, then you go back.”
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--O’Hare to begin screening passengers from Wuhan, China, as deadly coronavirus reaches U.S.

The department is advising health care providers across the state to ask all patients with a fever or respiratory symptonswhether @ @ @ @ @ Wuhan or been in contact with someone diagnosed with the virus , and to isolate @ @ @ @ @ illness .
The department is coordinating the collection of specimens to be sent to the @ @ @ @

A notice explaining precautions to be taken by people traveling to Wuhan, China, is seen at a terminal of Rome's International Fiumicino airport, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020. Heightened precautions are being taken worldwide as a new strain of coronavirus has been infecting hundreds of people across the central Chinese metropolis. (Gregorio Borgia/AP)
O’Hare International Airport will begin screening travelers from Wuhan, China, for symptoms of a new respiratory virus as health officials said a man in Washington state is infected with the coronavirus, the first confirmed case of the illness in the United States.
[ UPDATE: Chicago woman who traveled to China diagnosed with coronavirus, health officials say ]
As of Wednesday, the virus has killed at least 17 and infected more than 500 people in China. The U.S. is the fifth country to report seeing the illness, following China, Thailand, Japan and South Korea.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began screening passengers traveling from Wuhan to San Francisco International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport last week.
Airport screening is being expanded to O’Hare and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport this week, and travelers from Wuhan to the U.S. are being routed to the five airports that are conducting screening, CDC officials said Tuesday.
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[ What to know about the new coronavirus outbreak in China ]
Health authorities in China said the new coronavirus first appeared late last month. Initially, many patients had some link to a seafood and animal market in Wuhan, suggesting that the virus spread from animals to people.
A growing number of patients have not been exposed to animal markets, indicating the virus can also spread from person to person, the CDC said Tuesday. That “certainly raises our level of concern,” said Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
But it’s not clear how easily it spreads from person to person, and officials continue to believe the risk to the American public is low, she said.
Though no cases of the virus had been confirmed in Illinois as of Tuesday afternoon, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health said the department is working with the CDC, the Chicago Department of Public Health and other local health departments to monitor for cases.
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The state health department is advising health care providers across Illinois to ask all patients with a fever or respiratory symptoms whether they’ve traveled to Wuhan or been in contact with someone diagnosed with the virus, and to isolate those who may have the illness. The department is coordinating the collection of specimens to be sent to the CDC for testing.
The Chicago Department of Public Health, Department of Aviation and Chicago Fire Department are working with the CDC and other agencies on the airport screening program, which is expected to begin this week, the health department said in a news release Tuesday.
The CDC is advising airports to look for sick travelers arriving from Wuhan who have a fever, cough or difficulty breathing, the city’s health department said. If a passenger is found to be ill during a flight, airports are advised to take the passenger’s temperature, look for other symptoms and ask whether they were in Wuhan in the past two weeks.
“This action will impact a very limited group of travelers, and the broader traveling public and airport employees are not at risk. Nevertheless, we will continue to take this seriously, as well as continue working with our partners to ensure the airport community is fully informed," Aviation Department Commissioner Jamie Rhee said in a news release.
Airlines and area hospitals said they are staying in touch with federal, state and local authorities regarding the virus.
Health care workers at Amita Health Resurrection Medical Center Chicago, which is about 6 miles from O’Hare, already ask emergency room patients displaying symptoms if they’ve traveled out of the country, and, if necessary, they isolate those who have and are at risk of specific illnesses in those areas, spokesman Tim Nelson said in an email.
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Cook County Health, which runs Stroger and Provident hospitals, will start screening for coronavirus as soon as possible, likely within the next day or so, said Dr. Sharon Welbel, the system’s director of infection control and hospital epidemiology.
If patients have traveled to Wuhan recently and have certain symptoms, they’ll be isolated and a specimen will be collected for testing. The system posed a similar question about travel to incoming patients during the Ebola outbreak several years ago.
“We need to prepare in case it is spread very efficiently, in case there are a lot of deaths from it, but we just don’t know yet,” Welbel said. “We do want to be prepared and not caught off guard.”
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The illness doesn’t appear to spread as easily from person to person or be as severe as coronaviruses like SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome based on initial reports, said Michael G. Ison, an infectious disease specialist at Northwestern Medicine.
Cases have so far involved people who were in Wuhan or in direct contact with someone in the region, suggesting that Chicagoans who haven’t traveled to the region or been in touch with someone who just returned shouldn’t be concerned, he said.
Still, the virus is new and there are many unanswered questions, such as what animal was the source of the virus, experts said. Identifying the source will help authorities figure out how to contain the virus, said Mary Rodgers, the head of Abbott’s global viral surveillance program.
The Washington state man diagnosed with the virus returned to the Seattle area in the middle of last week after traveling to the Wuhan area. The man is in his 30s and is in good condition at a hospital in Everett, outside Seattle. He did not visit the markets or know anyone who had been ill, officials said.
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The CDC is advising travelers to Wuhan to avoid animals, animal markets and contact with people who are sick.
People who traveled to Wuhan and have a fever, cough or difficulty breathing should stay home except to seek medical care and call ahead to notify doctors of their symptoms and recent travel, according to the CDC.
Officials around the world have implemented similar airport screenings in hopes of containing the virus during the busy Lunar New Year travel season.
Airport screening is good at spotting people who are experiencing symptoms, Northwestern Medicine’s Ison said. But people infected with similar viruses can be contagious for five to seven days before they begin noticing symptoms, which means travelers could slip through the cracks.
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Broader screening is “definitely not warranted, and it would cost a fortune to keep everyone contained until the tests came back,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed.
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com
lschencker@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--Column: The Kris Bryant drags on — but with Nolan Arenado off the market, the pieces of the puzzle m

Column: The Kris Bryant drags on — but with Nolan Arenado off the market, the pieces of the puzzle might be falling into place

“ With the season coming up and spring training on the horizon , we are going to start focusing on @ @ @ @ @ Jeff Bridich told the Denver Post .
“ We have listened to teams regarding Nolan @ @ @ @ @ come of it .
We are going to move forward pretty much as we expected @ @ @ @ @ purple and black and as our third baseman .
So we can put this to @ @ @ @ @ to the upcoming season and work toward that .
”

The Cubs have one fewer obstacle in the way of their offseason plan to deal third baseman Kris Bryant now that Nolan Arenado is off the market.
The Rockies dangled their star third baseman in trade talks the last couple of months, then pulled back Monday, saying they wanted to focus on the season with no distractions.
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With no other difference-making third basemen available, Bryant is the best option for teams seeking to upgrade at the position in the next three weeks. The big question for any team considering Bryant is whether he’ll be a free agent after 2020 or ’21, a decision to be settled by an arbitrator of Bryant’s service-time grievance against the Cubs.
The Cubs originally believed a decision would be made before the winter meetings in early December, but the case has dragged on longer than anyone predicted.
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“It’s an important case. A lot of work goes into it,” Cubs President Theo Epstein said Friday at the Cubs Convention. “An arbitrator has to sit through weeks of testimony, sift through hundreds of pages of briefs. He’s got an important job, and I’m sure he’s moving as quickly as he can. But we’d rather that they get it right and not rush to any judgment.”
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 74 Kris Bryant is introduced. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
When it does happen, the Cubs will have a better idea of how much they can get in return, considering only one year of team control — if Bryant wins the grievance — would greatly reduce his trade value. The Braves and Diamondbacks appear to be the most likely suitors, though the likeliest result of the Bryant saga, according to Epstein, is the “status quo.”
That means no trade, and the Cubs offseason will have morphed into a “Seinfeld” episode — a show about nothing.
“Maybe we’re just doing an Ali rope-a-dope on everybody and there will be some stuff later,” Epstein said, referring to Muhammad Ali’s winning strategy against George Foreman in their 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” heavyweight title bout.
That tactic — letting your opponent wear himself out by taking an early pummeling — might work on the media that have pummeled the Cubs during this silent winter. How it has affected Bryant’s psyche is a more important issue.
Epstein doesn’t believe Bryant would let the trade rumors affect him if he stays.
“This is the business of baseball,” he said. “And you come together in spring training.”
If the Cubs don’t trade Bryant before spring training begins Feb. 12 in Mesa, Ariz., he presumably will reveal if he felt “disrespected a lot” by the organization, as Arenado said about the Rockies’ treatment of him.
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In February the Rockies signed Arenado to an eight-year, $260 million deal with an opt-out clause after 2021 and a no-trade clause. He was the face of the franchise. But less than a year later, they tried to trade him … until Monday.
“With the season coming up and spring training on the horizon, we are going to start focusing on that,” general manager Jeff Bridich told the Denver Post. “We have listened to teams regarding Nolan, and really nothing has come of it. We are going to move forward pretty much as we expected — with Nolan in the purple and black and as our third baseman. So we can put this to bed and collectively look forward to the upcoming season and work toward that.”
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the Rockies’ price tag for Arenado was intentionally ridiculous, and they were hoping a desperate team pursuing free agent Josh Donaldson would give up the house when Donaldson signed with the Twins. Despite rumors of a possible deal with the Cardinals, no one bit, so Bridich publicly took Arenado off the market.
The Cubs could do likewise and announce they won’t trade Bryant. But Epstein doesn’t feel the need to squelch a rumor he never has acknowledged publicly.
“Kris is an important guy here, and we expect him to be our opening third baseman,” Epstein said. “But we’ve been open and transparent about the fact we’ll talk about all our players this year."
Bryant declined to speak with the media over the weekend, citing a bout of the flu, which sparked a Twitter debate that his wife, Jessica, joined in on to defend her husband’s integrity. He hasn’t addressed the trade rumors publicly or on social media.
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Because it makes so much sense to fly all the way to Chicago to fake the flu. Not to mention leaving his pregnant wife who also has the flu at home because he truly loves being at the convention every year. But yep totally faking it🙄 — Jessica Bryant (@Jess__bryant) January 18, 2020
Epstein said there were no hard feelings between the two despite the grievance, the lack of an extension and trade rumors that popped up as often as a Baker Mayfield commercial.
“I have all the respect in the world for Kris Bryant,” Epstein said. “I appreciate everything that he’s done as a Cub. I’m very proud of what he’s done as a Cub. Proud that we drafted and developed him, though he didn’t need much development at all.”
Then why did Epstein send Bryant back to Triple-A Iowa on March 30, 2015, when the 2014 minor-league player of the year was leading all players in spring training with nine home runs and hitting .425?
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The answer: Having seven years of team control of Bryant was much preferable to six.
Most fans have forgotten that on the fateful day the Cubs sent Bryant to the minors, they also sent down Javier Baez and Addison Russell, buying an extra year of team control for another future MVP candidate and a prospect who at the time seemed headed toward stardom.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 167 Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant stand at the plate during the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field on July 26, 2021. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
The players union immediately got involved on Bryant’s behalf, sending out a statement calling his demotion a “bad day for baseball.”
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“I think we all know that even if Kris Bryant were a combination of the greatest players to play our game, and perhaps he will be before it’s all said and done, the Cubs still would have made the decision they made today,” the statement said. “This decision, and other similar decisions made by clubs, will be addressed in litigation, bargaining or both.”
But the union didn’t get the rule changed in negotiations with owners over the next collective bargaining agreement in 2017. Five years after the union’s strong denunciation of the Cubs’ decision, the issue has yet to be resolved.
Meanwhile, manager David Ross said he expects to have Bryant in the lineup come spring training, and Bryant’s teammates are hoping the rumors are just rumors.
“I don’t know about the truth, but all the players (feel) the same way,” pitcher Yu Darvish said. “We don’t want him to go anywhere. But it’s a business, right? He’s a great person and a great player, so I hope he stays.”


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District board members address the public after director’s ouster

“ When I play back in my mind the public comments , it paints a picture of a community ... @ @ @ @ @ and have a need for civility , politeness and dignity to get back into our @ @ @ @ @ , adding : “ We can ’ t provide more details , but we need @ @ @ @ @ at the future , and not dwell in the past .
”

Determined to turn the page on a volatile chapter at the Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District, officials said Monday they have launched a search for a new director who can lead with respect and creativity.
At a Monday night library board of trustees meeting, officials continued to decline requests for an explanation behind the abrupt departure of Rebecca Wolf, who officials announced last week is, "out of the office for an indefinite period of time.”
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While Library Board President J.P. Ruiz-Funes acknowledged that “clearly, people are frustrated,” he urged the passionate crowd of residents and former employees who have joined forces in recent months demanding Wolf’s ouster to mind their manners.
“When I play back in my mind the public comments, it paints a picture of a community ... we’d really like and have a need for civility, politeness and dignity to get back into our discourse,” Ruiz-Funes said, adding: “We can’t provide more details, but we need to take a clear look at the future, and not dwell in the past.”
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Despite refusing to explain the reasons behind Wolf’s absence, citing confidentiality issues, officials voted unanimously to appoint Emily Compton-Dzak, assistant director and head of Adult Services, as the library’s interim director.
Officials also took steps to begin the search for a new director, with Ruiz-Funes expressing confidence that the library, “will attract some outstanding, creative and future-minded” candidates.
As a member of a human resources special committee created in the wake of the departure of nearly 90 employees in recent years, library trustee Deborah Vandergrift said the future of the library should include “more interaction between employees and trustees.”
“One of the things we came away with is how important it is to care for the staff, and to make sure they’re being managed well and thoughtfully,” Vandergrift said.
Library Trustee Raheela Gill Anwar agreed, but said officials also need to take their transparency a step further.
“The (employee) survey results should be released, which would be a step in the right direction,” Anwar said. “It’s not just getting the job done. It’s how you treat people, and the unacceptable nature of what happened at the library should never happen again.”
Library officials have declined to release the results of a recent employee survey.
Library officials contended last year that the public records request for the employee survey results was denied because, “the survey questions were created by an outside human resources consulting company engaged by the library and were furnished by the company under a claim that they are confidential and proprietary.”
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According to library documents obtained under a public records request, as of September 2019, 88 employees, including both full-time and part-time workers, have left the library district since Wolf’s hiring in 2013.
Among the recent departures was Northfield branch manager Kristin Carlson, a librarian who several former co-workers and patrons described as highly-qualified and well-liked. Carlson signed a separation agreement involving a “voluntary resignation” from the library effective July 9, 2019.
Still, some library employees have said they have had excellent experiences working with Wolf, who they described as a talented and professional manager who was supportive of her employees’ professional aspirations.
“I’ve been here four years, and I’ve had very positive experiences with Rebecca,” Katie Cangelosi, the head of circulation, said in October.
Cangelosi said Wolf was a mentor who encouraged her advancement after she was hired as a circulation clerk, and who has provided her with one-on-one coaching to help her reach her career goals.
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Wolf was not immediately available for comment.
But Amy Richmond, who said she resigned from her job at the library because of a “toxic” culture during Wolf’s tenure, was among the many residents and former library employee who thanked the board on Monday for its recent move to find a replacement.
Richmond praised officials for their recent move to record public meetings, saying the enhanced transparency will help to win back the trust of local residents, but she expressed concerns that the Northfield branch did not have an accredited librarian among its staff during a recent weekend.
Richmond also asked officials to ensure that library employees play an active role in the hiring of a new director.
“You’ve got a good start, so now let’s keep it going,” Richmond said. “You maintain that you intend to re-build the trust of your staff, so you need to involve them in every step of the process, and the final step as well.”
Kathy Hargrave, who served as a youth services librarian for 14 years, said in an interview after the board meeting that she resigned last October after witnessing “a lot of disrespect” for employees under Wolf’s leadership.
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“The library used to be such a lovely place to work years ago,” said Hargrave. “I think the board now has a really good understanding of what has been happening, and I have great hope we’ll be headed in a good direction with a new director.”
kcullotta@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @kcullotta


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--CTA says man hurt in Loop didn’t fall from 'L' platform

The man who was injured , who appeared to be in his 20s , was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital @ @ @ @ @ spokesman Larry Merritt .
He did not have information on the man ’ s condition @ @ @ @ @ .
Merritt said Tuesday afternoon he did not have information that the man fell on @ @ @

A man injured Tuesday morning at Washington Street and Wabash Avenue did not fall from CTA property, contrary to initial police information, a CTA spokesman said.
Police said Tuesday morning that the man had fallen from a CTA "L" station platform about 8:45 a.m.
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After CTA officials would only say Tuesday morning that they had no reports of someone falling on the "L" tracks at that location, CTA spokesman Steve Mayberry said in an email Tuesday afternoon that no one fell from CTA property.
“No one fell from a CTA platform at Washington & Wabash today,” Mayberry said in an email about 1:50 p.m.
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The man who was injured, who appeared to be in his 20s, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Merritt. He did not have information on the man’s condition or injuries, Merritt said. Merritt said Tuesday afternoon he did not have information that the man fell on CTA property.
jvillagomez@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--Column: From burritos at Cubs games with his wife to a new one man play, baseball plays a huge role

Column: From burritos at Cubs games with his wife to a new one man play, baseball plays a huge role in Dan Nelson’s life

Listening to Nelson and Lombardo talk I was transported back to a June afternoon in 2006 .
I was on the fifth floor of City Hall showing then-Mayor Richard M. Daley a photo of himself as a child .
It was taken at Comiskey Park in 1955 , shortly after his father , Richard J. , had been sworn in as mayor .
His father was in the photo , as were his brothers , William , Michael and John , along with White Sox manager Marty Marion and Cubs skipper Stan Hack .
Daley looked closely at the photo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ... Oh , boy ...
I was in 7th grade .
I played baseball all the time .
Spring , summer and fall , we were always playing , baseball and some softball , pickup games .
Also , I played catch with my dad .
I was the pitcher , he was the catcher , or sometimes it was the other way around .
I was four or five and we were always in the backyard throwing the ball .
That ’ s how everybody learned .
And then , going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than going to see the movies .
You knew all the players , all the averages and statistics .
Baseball was king .
”

Dan Nelson, who will perform his one man show called "Night The Cubs Won" four Sunday night during Rhinofest, stands outside of Wrigley Field on a cold winter day. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
One night in the dead of winter two writers were talking baseball.
“Some of what you see on the field is beautiful and that is part of my love for the game,” said Billy Lombardo. “I wasn’t much of a player as a kid, played mostly softball, but my love for the game deepened by having two sons who played and being at their games. I remember their first game, they were still little, and I was standing with some other dads and one of them leans over and says to me, ‘I got half a hundo on this game.’ There are so many characters in baseball, too.”
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“My wife and I, before she was my wife, fell in love going to Cubs games,” said Dan Nelson. “We would get burritos and bring them to games and have picnics in the bleachers. That’s the thing. We care about baseball because of the connections it gives us to family and friends. A win can be almost meaningless if you don’t have someone to celebrate with.”
All of this and more talking reaffirmed for me, once again, that baseball has long held an allure for most people, especially for writers.
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It goes way back. When baseball was still in its infancy, the poet Walt Whitman wrote, “I see great things in baseball. It’s our game — the American game.” Though that may no longer be true, it was the case for generations.
Listening to Nelson and Lombardo talk I was transported back to a June afternoon in 2006. I was on the fifth floor of City Hall showing then-Mayor Richard M. Daley a photo of himself as a child. It was taken at Comiskey Park in 1955, shortly after his father, Richard J., had been sworn in as mayor. His father was in the photo, as were his brothers, William, Michael and John, along with White Sox manager Marty Marion and Cubs skipper Stan Hack. Daley looked closely at the photo and said, "Oh, yeah ... Oh, boy ... I was in 7th grade. I played baseball all the time. Spring, summer and fall, we were always playing, baseball and some softball, pickup games. Also, I played catch with my dad. I was the pitcher, he was the catcher, or sometimes it was the other way around. I was four or five and we were always in the backyard throwing the ball. That’s how everybody learned. And then, going to see the games. It was better than going to see the movies. You knew all the players, all the averages and statistics. Baseball was king.”
That may no longer be true, even in the wake of the frenzy of the recent Cubs Convention. Football, with the Super Bowl but a week away, likely has overtaken baseball in American heads and hearts. But for those of a certain age, baseball will ever hold a special place.
It certainly does for Lombardo, a longtime educator and the author of four terrific books. His most recent is “Morning Will Come” handsomely published by Tortoise Books. Re-published is more accurate because the book first arrived in 2009 under the title “How to Hold a Woman." It is a gathering of nine connected stories, all focused on the ways in which one suburban family copes with death. And with life.
"The Man With Two Arms" by Billy Lombardo (Harry N. Abrams)
In 2010 he published “The Man with Two Arms" (Harry N. Abrams). On one level it is a powerful baseball book, the story of a father who begins teaching his son from infancy to pitch effectively with either arm, enabling him to make it to the major leagues. Reviewing it for the Tribune, Alan Cheuse called it “a lovely homage to the game, and to what is undoubtedly modern America’s finest literary tribute to the baseball since Bernard Malamud’s novel ‘The Natural'." But it courses on deeper levels too, as does all of Lombardo’s work, into the nature of relationships and the dark side of dreams.
Nelson grew up in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, with a father who was a devoted St. Louis Cardinals fan.
“I always believed my blood to be Cardinal red but when I moved to Chicago, I lived a block away from Wrigley and slowly fell in love with the Cubs,” said Nelson. “When I later learned that my (Irish immigrant) great-grandmother, who was born in Chicago, had a favorite team in the 1908 Cubs, that was it.”
Nelson’s passion for the game will be manifest on Sunday when he premieres his one man play, “Night the Cubs Won” at 7 p.m. at the Prop Theater. It will also play on the following three Sundays, same time and place, as part of this year’s estimable and exciting Rhinofest.
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He is, understandably, reluctant to share many details about the show but will say that he and his wife and sister watched the game at bygone Bin 36 restaurant downtown, that his wife went home during the rain delay and that he made it home at, ahem, 6 a.m.
I first, and last, saw Nelson perform in a one-man show about baseball called “Caps” at the Stage Left Theatre in 1996. I called him “a young and obviously talented writer/performer,” going on to write that the show offered “the sort of joy-of-the-game chatter that peppers, less articulately and inventively, conversations between all fans, though the piece in which Ryne Sandberg tears the head off a pigeon is downright surreal.”
He then stopped performing as he and his wife Michelle began to build their now very successful real estate-rehabbing business. But a few years ago, at the prompting of some friends who always enjoying his informal storytelling, he entered and won a Moth competition. He performed in his basement for about 50 friends and then three years ago dove into Rhinofest with a show about his first job and the next year another about the poker games he played with little pals, all of them using money earned delivering newspapers.
Much of the action in “Night the Cubs Won” takes place on that November night/very early morning, when the Cubs won the rain-delayed seventh game and their first World Series since 1908. Nelson will be wearing a suit and there will be a screen on the otherwise bare stage showing photos, many of his great-grandmother, mother and wife.
“It’s my story of falling in love with the game and with Michele and discovering how the game connects families through generations,” said Nelson. “It’s also how for me the wheels really came off that night.”
At the end of their meaning-of-baseball conversation, Nelson said he was eager to read Lombardo’s books and Lombardo said he was eager to see Nelson’s show. It went without saying, of course, that the Cubs open on March 26 in Milwaukee against the Brewers and the White Sox open that same day, playing the Kansas City Royals at home.
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rkogan@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer sues band for ‘beyond devastating’ decision to block his return ahead

Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer sues band for ‘beyond devastating’ decision to block his return ahead of Grammy honors

According to his 16-page complaint filed in Massachusetts , Kramer says the disability he suffered last year was minor , @ @ @ @ @ few months later to return to the group ’ s “ lucrative ” Las Vegas @ @ @ @ @ , as well as its slate of “ 50th anniversary activities .
”

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chicagotribune--2020-01-21--Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith get into a heated scrap at the Blackhawks morning skate: ‘Just a lit

Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith get into a heated scrap at the Blackhawks morning skate: ‘Just a little friendly wrestling’

“ Ah , you know , we ’ re ready to go , ” he said .
“ It ’ @ @ @ @ @ and I think that ’ s the whole point of coming out for morning skate @ @ @ @ @ to go for tonight ’ s game .
And we ’ re ready now .
@

Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith got into a prolonged scrap Tuesday just as the Blackhawks started their morning skate at the United Center.
It wasn’t clear what precipitated the scrap or when it began, but with reporters in the stands, Toews and Keith began wrestling and had to be separated by assistant coach Sheldon Brookbank.
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[ Breaking down Patrick Kane’s milestone points, from No. 1 to No. 1,000 ]
Neither player appeared to throw a punch, but Keith ended up on the ice with his jersey pulled over his head. The practice began on time and without further incident.
The tail end of what appeared to be a, um, physical disagreement between Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith.
I didn’t see what precipitated it and can’t say if it was real but sure looked real. pic.twitter.com/77ZcWnk5ZG — Jimmy Greenfield (@jcgreenx) January 21, 2020
Tuesday night’s game against Joel Quenneville’s Panthers is one of the most anticipated regular-season games in recent memory. Quenneville coached the Hawks for 11 seasons, winning three Stanley Cups.
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Keith was not at his locker after the morning skate. Toews was available and — with a grin on his face — attempted to downplay the incident.
“Just a little friendly wrestling,” Toews said.
Really?
“Ah, you know, we’re ready to go,” he said. “It’s a big game tonight and I think that’s the whole point of coming out for morning skate is to get yourself ready to go for tonight’s game. And we’re ready now.”
Coach Jeremy Colliton smiled and shrugged it off when asked about the scrap.
“You got a brother?” he asked a reporter. “I do too. And I’ve got two boys at home, so I’ve seen that movie before.”
[ Joel Quenneville’s return to the United Center sends Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane down memory lane ]


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--Rush welcomes LGBTQ patients, steps up efforts with new program: ‘They were just immediately comfort

Rush welcomes LGBTQ patients, steps up efforts with new program: ‘They were just immediately comfortable, affirming and helpful’

Rush is by no means the only local hospital system to step up its commitment to LGBTQ care in the @ @ @ @ @ it has been a local leader , one of the first two hospitals in Illinois @ @ @ @ @ Masonic Medical Center ) to apply for LGBTQ services accreditation by the Human Rights Campaign @ @ @ @ @ 10 hospitals and clinics nationwide to receive perfect scores from the Human Rights Campaign in @ @

At one local medical center, Violeta Segovia was dismayed to discover that her transgender status was listed on her records as a mental illness.
At another, she disclosed that she was interested in taking medical measures such as hormone therapy to live openly as a woman, only to be met by a sheepish look and a refusal couched as a question: “Uh, we don’t do that here?”
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Violeta Segovia at her desk at the Capital Projects Department at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago on Jan. 20, 2020. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
But Segovia, 38, of Chicago, had a very different experience when she turned to the Rush University Medical Center. She was immediately put in touch with a patient services navigator who helped find a primary care doctor whom Segovia adored. Her online medical chart included a space for gender identity. Both her endocrinologist and her primary care doctor made it clear that they wanted to assist her in her transition to living as a woman.
“They were just immediately comfortable, affirming and helpful,” said Segovia, now an administrative assistant at Rush.
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That’s the kind of positive patient experience that Rush hopes to promote with its new LGBTQ initiative, Affirm: The Rush Center for Gender Sexuality & Reproductive Health. Announced Tuesday, the Affirm initiative builds on existing educational, research, community outreach and medical initiatives at Rush and adds new elements, most notably three new hires, including two who will help connect LGBTQ patients with providers in the Rush University System for Health, which includes Rush Medical Center, Rush Oak Park Hospital and Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora.
Affirm includes referrals to doctors in a range of specialties, patient records with spaces for gender identity and sexual orientation, and staff and medical student training.
Rush is by no means the only local hospital system to step up its commitment to LGBTQ care in the past 10 years. But it has been a local leader, one of the first two hospitals in Illinois (along with Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center) to apply for LGBTQ services accreditation by the Human Rights Campaign, and one of only 10 hospitals and clinics nationwide to receive perfect scores from the Human Rights Campaign in 2009.
Other recent LGBTQ initiatives at Chicago hospitals include a program providing multidisciplinary gender-affirming care for transgender and gender nonbinary patients at Northwestern Medicine and recruitment of doctors who specialize in LGBTQ care at University of Chicago Hospitals. Both the University of Chicago health system and Northwestern Medicine include hospitals that achieved perfect scores for LGBTQ care from the Human Rights Campaign in 2019.
“I believe there’s more awareness” in the Chicago area, said Dr. Magda Houlberg, chief clinical officer at Howard Brown Health.
“Many of the larger health institutions are looking at (LGBTQ services) as part of the effective care that people need: If you want to have a full complement of services, these are also key services to have and to offer.”
At Rush, employees have been working for two years to develop and formalize Affirm.
“What makes this unique is that it’s coordinated clinical care, research, education — because we are an academic health system — as well as our community efforts,” said Christopher Nolan, chair of the LGBTQ Leadership Council at Rush.
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When LGBTQ patients are unable to navigate a health care system built for cisgender, heterosexual people, gaps in care result, according to Affirm co-medical director Dr. Ravi Iyengar. With Affirm, patients can fill out online intake forms that go directly to a patient services navigator, who connects patients with services such as hormone therapy, primary care and reproductive care.
Affirm, which will share office space with other health programs, may expand its physical footprint in the next few years, but its mission is to permeate the entire Rush health care system, Iyengar said. For instance, this summer almost 1,000 staffers, from nurses to food services staff, received LGBTQ cultural-competence training, and electronic medical records now include spaces for sexual orientation and gender identity.
“We want patients to feel comfortable going anywhere within the Rush health care system, and feel affirmed in their gender identity and sexual orientation,” Iyengar said.
Segovia said that while she always knew she was female, she absorbed anti-transgender attitudes growing up, and it wasn’t until several major events in adulthood that she began to seriously consider transitioning to living as a woman. One factor was her mother’s diagnosis with a terminal illness in 2014.
“Part of what was going through my mind was, ‘She will never know the true me,’” Segovia said.
Segovia didn’t want that to happen again, so she started coming out to some people. She had a relationship for a while with a woman who was very supportive and accepting of Segovia’s gender identity, and that was instrumental as well.
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But Segovia said that the reaction of a former medical provider — the doctor who said she didn’t offer medical services for people in gender transition — discouraged her so much that she delayed living as a woman for about two years.
She was working for Rush as a temp in 2017 when she began hearing about LGBTQ initiatives there. She looked into medical care at Rush, had a great experience and began working at Rush as a permanent employee in 2018. She transitioned to openly living as a woman, and said she regrets every moment that she waited.
“It’s been great,” she said. “There’s no escaping occasional incidences of prejudice, but it’s definitely been a net positive.”
nschoenberg@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--Chef Tony Hu opening hot pot restaurant Xiaolongkan in former Won Kow space in Chinatown

The first location of Xiaolongkan in the U.S. opened in the Los Angeles area in November , and a second @ @ @ @ @ A New York location is expected this summer .
The hot pot chain was founded @ @ @ @ @ aggressively across China .
Outposts can now be found in Canada , Australia , New @ @ @ @

A rendering of Xiaolongkan hot pot restaurant in old Won Kow building, formerly the oldest restaurant in Chinatown. Tony Hu plans to open the new restaurant this summer. (Xiaolangkan)
Chef Tony Hu will open a new hot pot restaurant in the former Won Kow space this summer.
The chef and restaurateur, founder of Lao Sze Chuan, which now has 10 locations primarily around Chicago, will transform what was once the oldest restaurant in Chinatown into Xiaolongkan, a huge high-end hot pot chain from China that claims an estimated 800 locations worldwide.
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“It is under construction now,” said Hu by phone. “It is a very famous hot pot restaurant chain from Chengdu.”
Hu emigrated from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in Southwestern China, in 1993. He opened the first location of Lao Sze Chuan to critical acclaim and public success in 1998. Hu eventually made $40 million in annual sales. But his restaurant empire faltered in 2016 when a judge sentenced Hu to one year and one day in prison for tax evasion. The chef paid $1.09 million in restitution, a $100,000 fine and served his time.
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By summer 2018 Hu was back on the Chicago restaurant scene, working the room at the Lao Sze Chuan location on Michigan Avenue and making public appearances at food festivals.
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The first location of Xiaolongkan in the U.S. opened in the Los Angeles area in November, and a second in Houston soon after. A New York location is expected this summer. The hot pot chain was founded in 2014, then expanded aggressively across China. Outposts can now be found in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
Won Kow restaurant, once the oldest restaurant in Chinatown, on Wentworth Avenue in 2011. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Architectural renderings show a dramatic transformation of the historic three-story building built in 1928 on Wentworth Avenue. Won Kow owner Peter Huey closed the then 90-year-old restaurant in 2018, but still owns the building. The once glamorous restaurant, where legend has it that Al Capone kept a regular table, had faded in recent decades. The new Xiaolongkan design shows interiors like the company’s locations around the globe, with spectacular imperial grandeur, stylized modern lanterns and rustic farmhouse benches.
Hu said he expects the new restaurant to open by June. “I like to bring new things to Chicago and promote Chinatown,” he said. The prolific restaurateur and his team of investors opened a Mango Mango Desserts franchise in August and Mrs Gu Skewers Hot Pot, a fast casual hot pot franchise also from Chengdu, earlier this month. They plan to open a Lao Sze Chuan location in Highland Park next month.


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--Top-tier QB play vs. a feisty defense: How 2 different plans will mean an entertaining — and possibl

Top-tier QB play vs. a feisty defense: How 2 different plans will mean an entertaining — and possibly educational — Super Bowl

“ We were hoping to do something like that going in , ” Shanahan said after the win .
“ @ @ @ @ @ it to be like that .
When you ’ re watching how the guys were @ @ @ @ @ our defense was playing , it made it very easy to stick with .
… @ @ @ @ @ as any team I ’ ve been on .
And that made it very easy @ @ @ @ @

The Chiefs were in a double-digit first-half deficit Sunday afternoon, their playoff mettle being tested. Again.
Yet on the home sideline at Arrowhead Stadium, the belief was where it so often is. With an MVP quarterback, an all-world tight end and more speed than Daytona International, the Chiefs had little reason to worry.
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That 15-play, nine-minute drive the Titans used to go ahead 17-7? Like a spirited middle schooler testing his teacher, the Chiefs had their snappy answer ready. Five plays, 63 yards, less than three minutes. Touchdown.
One possession later, another breezy touchdown drive, this time to surge ahead for the rest of the afternoon.
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And on the Chiefs’ second series of the second half, another touchdown. Thirteen plays, 73 yards. Suddenly that double-digit playoff deficit had become a double-digit lead. Again. The Chiefs were comfortably in the express lane to Super Bowl LIV.
This was another glimpse into what’s possible with an elite quarterback and a high-powered offense. This was another snapshot of how Patrick Mahomes turns fourth downs into first downs and then touchdowns; how he turns anxiety into swagger; how he can take a busted passing play and somehow mold it into a game-changing 27-yard touchdown run.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes flexes after running for a 27-yard touchdown Sunday against the Titans in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs won the AFC championship game 35-24, advancing to Super Bowl LIV on Feb. 2. (Tom Pennington / Getty Images)
Dodging one defender, ducking another. Tiptoeing down the sideline. With the agility and aplomb to deliver a momentous play on the big stage.
“That’s Mahomes,” tight end Travis Kelce told reporters after the 35-24 Chiefs win. “That’s the best way you can explain it.”
That fuel has propelled the Chiefs back to the Super Bowl. Top-tier quarterback play. An explosive offense. A sharp sense of superiority.
A little while later, roughly 1,800 miles away in California, the 49ers navigated their own path to Miami. Bulldozed it, really. They didn’t need elite quarterback play in the NFC championship game to topple one of the all-time greatest quarterbacks. Instead, with 4:49 to play in the third quarter, the 49ers had scored 34 points while throwing only six passes.
Why stray from what works when the offensive line is mauling Packers defenders, when the running back has found his groove, when the coach/play caller is in a rhythm?
By evening’s end, the 49ers’ 37-20 throttling of Aaron Rodgers and Co. was a masterpiece, an old-school beatdown in which they ran the ball on 42 of 51 plays.
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Raheem Mostert runs for a touchdown against the Packers in the NFC championship game Sunday in Santa Clara, Calif. Mostert rushed for 220 yards and four TDs in the 49ers' 37-20 victory, punching their ticket to Super Bowl LIV. (Tony Avelar / AP)
It was a dedicated approach, a shrewd game plan executed with physicality and focus. It was, quite simply, a team flexing and making it clear it belongs in the sport’s preeminent game.
The Super Bowl — a field trip the Bears have made only twice in 54 years — remains a place for elite teams that know who they are, teams that can lock in for big games with confidence that they are equipped to succeed under pressure.
That’s why the Chiefs and 49ers deserve acclaim these next two weeks for believing in their different approaches but showing what dialed-in execution looks like.
Fans in Chicago might find themselves flummoxed trying to sort through which Super Bowl formula the Bears would be wiser attempting to clone. The 49ers have proved pretty convincingly that pairing a feisty defense with a commitment to a physical running game can generate a major breakthrough.
During the regular season, the 49ers were the NFC’s top rushing team, averaging 144.1 yards per game. In two playoff wins, that average spiked to a mind-boggling 235.5 yards.
Sunday’s steamroller approach gave coach Kyle Shanahan satisfaction.
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“We were hoping to do something like that going in,” Shanahan said after the win. “But you never plan for it to be like that. When you’re watching how the guys were running and then watching how our defense was playing, it made it very easy to stick with. … The guys played as aggressive as any team I’ve been on. And that made it very easy to call plays.”
In a similar manner, the Chiefs have reminded Bears coach Matt Nagy what he left behind in Kansas City, Mo., what he hopes to awaken one day within his offense. Rhythm. Confidence. Aggressiveness. Production.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 3 Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy speaks during the Bears100 Celebration Weekend at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont on Friday, June 7, 2019. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
In two playoff wins, with the offense the Bears attack is modeled after, the Chiefs scored 12 touchdowns. That was the Bears’ touchdown total in Weeks 11-17 — seven games.
The Chiefs blitzed through January offensively, rolling to the Super Bowl with 838 total yards and 56 first downs in wins over the Texans and Titans. They scored at least 10 points in five of eight quarters.
The 2019 Bears scored 10 points or more in seven quarters. Out of 64.
For the 49ers and Chiefs, the final touchdowns of their conference championship wins Sunday were fitting exclamation points.
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In Kansas City, Mahomes again went off script and thrived outside of the playbook’s design. With sound protection, he bought time in the pocket, maneuvered to his right and launched a rocket to Sammy Watkins for a 60-yard touchdown.
Why the heck not?
In Santa Clara, Calif., 49ers running back Raheem Mostert capped his 220-yard, four-touchdown day with a determined dash. He followed his fullback, trusted his blocking and turned on the jets. Twenty-two yards later, he lowered his shoulder at the goal line and dropped Packers cornerback Tramon Williams.
Another touchdown. Another message delivered.
This all sets up an appealing Super Bowl. It should be an entertaining and perhaps educational show from two teams with impressive talent, energized leadership and an understanding of who they are.


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--Sportscaster Shae Peppler is leaving Fox-32 and WMVP-AM 1000

Personal News❗With a slice of deep dish in front of me & a Portillos shake in my hand , there @ @ @ @ @ share that I ’ m leaving Chicago 😭 .
After the Super Bowl , I @ @ @ @ @ Fox & hand Kap , Danny & Bleck one more *shot* before I say bye @ @ @ @ @ slices 🍕 ( plus more time with husband ) .
Chicago is , & always @ @ @ @ @ .
Thank you to all who helped me along the way and , of course @ @ @ @ @ in , commented , called , 👋🏽 and supported .
This is bittersweet for me @ @ @ @ @ chapter will be even better than the one before .
*Bear* hugs 😘 .

Shae Peppler is leaving Fox-32 after next month’s Super Bowl to join husband and fellow sportscaster Jordan Cornette in Connecticut.
“With a slice of deep dish in front of me & a Portillos shake in my hand, there is no better time to share that I’m leaving Chicago,” Peppler said via social media Monday.
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Peppler, who has been a field reporter and weekend sports anchor for the Fox owned-and-operated station for the two years, also is giving up her role with David Kaplan’s weekday WMVP-AM 1000. She had a prominent role in Fox-32′s Bears pregame and postgame coverage as on-site correspondent.
Cornette, who played basketball for Notre Dame, is a former co-host of Kaplan’s ESPN 1000 program and CW-26’s “The Jam” who’s now with ESPN and its ACC Network. He and Peppler were married on June 1.
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Peppler’s previous credits include working with Stadium, CW’s “Morning Dose,” CW-26’s “You and Me,” ABC-7’s “Chicago Huddle,” Big Ten Network, Celeb.TV and WTIU-TV in Bloomington, Ind. While a student at Indiana University, she interned at MTV Networks and Showtime Networks.
“Chicago is, & always will be, my home,” Peppler said on Instagram. “Thank you to all who helped me along the way and, of course, to those who tuned in, commented, called, and supported. This is bittersweet for me because I know this next chapter will be even better than the one before.”


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--Chicago Sinfonietta Review: In ‘Seven Last Words of the Unarmed,’ a sobering, potent tribute to Dr.

Chicago Sinfonietta Review: In ‘Seven Last Words of the Unarmed,’ a sobering, potent tribute to Dr. King

Bravo to the Chicago Sinfonietta for making Thompson ’ s opus the centerpiece of its annual “ MLK Tribute Concert.
@ @ @ @ @ very easy for the Sinfonietta to have served up an evening of inspirational fare ( @ @ @ @ @ this program ) .
But by applying the combined forces of the orchestra and the @ @ @ @ @ ’ s probing composition , the Sinfonietta chose to confront head-on the racism that Dr. @ @ @ @

Composer Joel Thompson addresses the audience before the Chicago Sinfonietta performs his "Seven Last Words of the Unarmed" in Orchestra Hall. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Trayvon Martin.
Eric Garner.
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John Crawford.
Three unarmed black men, among many, killed by police in notorious incidents that sparked nationwide debate and anguish.
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They were more than just headlines, though. To composer Joel Thompson, they were men executed for a very particular crime: their race.
Thus Thompson penned “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed,” a haunting oratorio that received its Chicago premiere in Orchestra Hall on Monday night, not coincidentally on the national holiday celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Bravo to the Chicago Sinfonietta for making Thompson’s opus the centerpiece of its annual “MLK Tribute Concert.” It would have been very easy for the Sinfonietta to have served up an evening of inspirational fare (which was not lacking from this program). But by applying the combined forces of the orchestra and the Adrian Dunn Singers to Thompson’s probing composition, the Sinfonietta chose to confront head-on the racism that Dr. King fought against.
Like Dr. King, the seven men remembered in Thompson’s composition died violently and too young. Unlike Dr. King, they were not symbols or icons – at least not while they were still breathing. In a way, that makes their deaths still more unfathomable.
Thompson told the audience before “Seven Last Words” began that nothing these men did merited the death penalty.
“In November of 2014, a Staten Island grand jury chose not to indict the officer whose actions led to the death of Eric Garner,” Thompson said, reading aloud from a letter included in the evening’s program book. “To me, the message was clear. Any doubts I had seemed to evaporate. If I were to be killed in some interaction with authority figures, my loved ones should not expect justice.”
To his credit, however, Thompson did not write a composition of overflowing emotion or rhetorical excess. On the contrary, “Seven Last Words” made impact because of its economy, clarity and concision.
The piece began gently, piano and cello unfolding a serene theme, the upper strings gradually entering the instrumental texture. This was an ingeniously disarming start for a work addressing such a volatile subject – a humane way to begin discussing inhumane outcomes.
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Once the choristers began to sing, however, “Seven Words” took us right to the heart of the matter.
“Officers why do you have your guns out?” the singers chanted. Over and over. To hear this phrase reiterated by the supple and imploring voices of the Adrian Dunn Singers was to sense a fraction of the doom a marked man must feel.
As the piece progressed, the vocalists offered other devastating “last words”: “What are you following me for?” “You shot me!" "I can’t breathe.”
Musically, the score ranged from lyrical passagework to rhythmic agitation, from vocal solo to choral euphony. Traces of Samuel Barber and William Grant Still echoed in this piece, meaning that Thompson conceived “Seven Last Words” in a generally melodic vein, enriched by bittersweet harmony. Guest conductor Kedrick Armstrong kept the music pressing ever forward, without sentimentality or dramatic pauses. He simply let the score speak for itself.
Thus listeners heard some of the most sensational news stories of our era distilled into 15 sobering, searing minutes.
The Sinfonietta’s “MLK Tribute Concert” opened with assistant conductor Jonathan Rush and singer Kymberli Joye, his sister, performing a rousing arrangement of Patty Griffin’s “Up to the Mountain”; Joye, the Adrian Dunn Singers and guest conductor Armstrong digging deeply into John Legend and Common’s “Glory” (from the film “Selma”); and Sinfonietta music director Mei-Ann Chen presiding over a warmly stated symphonic arrangement of the spiritual “Deep River.”
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Chen closed the evening with the finale of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection,” which featured sumptuous work from soprano Summer Hassan, mezzo-soprano Leah Dexter and the combined North Central College Concert Choir and the Roosevelt University Conservatory Chorus. The epic score taxed the Sinfonietta’s resources, but conductor Chen shaped it to telling effect.
Composer Thompson’s “Seven Last Words,” however, gave this evening its prevailing message and will be remembered long after the rest has been forgotten.
Howard Reich is a Tribune critic.
hreich@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--7 facts worth clarifying about the Cubs’ Marquee Sports Network, including Comcast not being the onl

7 facts worth clarifying about the Cubs’ Marquee Sports Network, including Comcast not being the only carrier without a deal

The Cubs got a lot of mileage out of announcing a roster of analysts who will contribute in the booth @ @ @ @ @ Despite the splash the names made , it ’ s not as though the guests @ @ @ @ @ Network , ESPN and Fox — such as Chris Myers , Rick Sutcliffe , Doug @ @ @ @ @ Mark DeRosa , Carlos Pena and Dan Plesac — will be giving up their other @ @

With the conclusion of the 2020 Cubs Convention — aka the Marquee Sports Network boos cruise — it’s worth taking stock of what was and wasn’t said about the new channel.
Marquee, a joint venture of the Cubs and Sinclair Broadcast Group, is set to launch with the spring training opener versus the Athletics on Feb. 22.
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For all the details presented at the fan fest by Crane Kenney, Cubs president of business operations, some details remained that might benefit from more clarity.
1. What’s the deal with all of those announcers?
The Cubs got a lot of mileage out of announcing a roster of analysts who will contribute in the booth and studio for Marquee. Despite the splash the names made, it’s not as though the guests with national gigs for MLB Network, ESPN and Fox — such as Chris Myers, Rick Sutcliffe, Doug Glanville, Ryan Dempster, Mark DeRosa, Carlos Pena and Dan Plesac — will be giving up their other jobs.
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(This is not so different from when NBC Sports Chicago would use ESPN’s Glanville and Fox’s Frank Thomas on a part-time basis.)
What’s more, there will be Cubs games on Marquee with only Len Kasper and Jim Deshaies on the call, the way it has been.
This is reassuring because three announcers is almost always too many on a baseball telecast, especially when there’s also an in-game reporter, such as the newly hired Taylor McGregor.
2. Turns out there was one more hire.
It wasn’t a woman, despite Kenney conceding there’s a need for Marquee to hire more of them. Specifically, it was not Kelly Crull, the former Cubs in-game reporter whose NBC Sports Chicago contract expired, despite support for her hiring from conventioneers.
Instead, Tony Andracki waited until after the Cubs Convention to tweet that he is leaving NBCSCH to join Marquee’s digital team across all platforms. An alumnus of St. Charles East and Illinois State, Andracki, 32, had been with NBCSCH/Comcast SportsNet since he got out of college.
You know what they say...new decade, new job.
It's been a fantastic, incredible, unbelievable run at NBC Sports Chicago, but it's time for a new opportunity.
Starting this week, I am joining the digital team @WatchMarquee to help cover the Cubs across all platforms. pic.twitter.com/8vdg32sF4f — Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) January 20, 2020
3. There’s more programming still to come.
The Cubs helped explain what will run on Marquee from the end of the baseball season to the start of spring training, airing Cubs-oriented programming and archival materials and drawing from the multiplatform Stadium and other Sinclair regional sports networks.
In addition to possibly simulcasting radio programming with WMVP-AM 1000 or team flagship WSCR-AM 670, there’s also the possibility of producing non-game programming around the Bears and area college programs.
4. Comcast isn’t the only carrier without a deal.
Although Comcast is by far the biggest carrier that has yet to come to terms with the Cubs and Sinclair on a deal to carry Marquee, it’s not alone.
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Kenney estimated Marquee has carriage agreements covering roughly 40% of the team’s multistate market as determined by Major League Baseball.
He noted Comcast covers about half of the remaining households. Then he cited Dish Network, which serves close to 10% of the market’s homes and says it will accept nothing less than upending the existing regional sports network business model.
Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts reacts to fans' boos while talking about the Marquee Sports Network during the opening ceremony of the Cubs Convention on Jan. 17, 2020. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
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That’s a very rough estimate that doesn’t account for WideOpenWest (WOW) and many tiny carriers serving small communities across the Cubs’ market. They may not add up to much, even in the aggregate. But if you’re a Cubs fan living in an area that one of them serves, it matters to you.
5. Then there are streaming services.
The Cubs expect they’ll be able to pressure Comcast by reaching agreements with streaming services. Such deals would pose a competitive threat to Comcast, perhaps incentivizing disgruntled Xfinity subscribers to cut the cord. But there’s work to be done on that front as well.
A deal is in place with AT&T TV and Hulu, but Marquee has yet to reach carriage agreements with YouTube TV and FuboTV in the team’s market area. (Those living outside the market area will continue to have access to Cubs games via MLB TV.)
6. There’s still always radio.
The WSCR call from Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer will remain available and free. So for those fans whose carrier resists a deal to present Marquee — and those who don’t want to or can’t pay for a cable, satellite or streaming service — there is still that.
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7. Some games won’t be exclusive to Marquee, including a few on broadcast TV.
Marquee expects to have about 150 games the Cubs control exclusively, and there are no plans for games on WGN-9 or ABC-7.
But cable subscribers will be able to find some games on ESPN, such as Cubs at Brewers on March 29 — the season debut of “Sunday Night Baseball” — and the home opener versus the Pirates on March 30.
What’s more, FOX-32 will get some games on free, over-the-air TV thanks to the network’s MLB deal.


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--Column: Joel Quenneville’s return caps a nostalgic week for the Blackhawks, who are making a stateme

Column: Joel Quenneville’s return caps a nostalgic week for the Blackhawks, who are making a statement that they shouldn’t be trade-deadline sellers

After aggressively making six trades last summer to retool the roster , Bowman believed he had put together a team @ @ @ @ @ .
If he still believes that — and he should after his team ’ s @ @ @ @ @ — then he should approach the trade deadline trying to fill holes rather than shed @ @ @ @ @ Crawford and any other veteran he might be tempted to unload .
That means embracing @ @ @ @ @ that gives hope to every playoff team if they can just get in .

Covering the Blackhawks through three Stanley Cup titles in the last decade provided too many dramatic memories to pick a favorite, but the most indelible was more instructive than euphoric.
It came in general manager Stan Bowman’s office one August day in 2010, mere weeks after a parade celebrated the city’s first Cup since 1961. Salary-cap realities had forced Bowman to shed nine players off that historic team, including rookie goalie Antti Niemi, a move I criticized heavily enough to be summoned to the United Center.
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For at least an hour, Bowman calmly stood at a grease board behind his desk and scribbled numbers and symbols like a high school algebra teacher. He methodically did the math, which ultimately added up to two more championships during the Joel Quenneville Era. Quenneville always took care of the chemistry.
“Perceptions are, ‘Geez, the Blackhawks mismanaged the salary cap,’ but I’d say we did the opposite — we managed the hell out of it,” Bowman told me that day. “And I promise you we’re going to be OK.”
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The Hawks were better than OK, winning enough titles to earn NHL.com’s distinction as franchise of the decade. Bowman never doubted the organization’s direction, and neither did anybody else who believed in the “One Goal” mantra.
One of the biggest reasons for that confidence returns Tuesday to the scene of so many celebrations. Those will be “Qs,” not “boos,” as 21,000 fans stand and pay homage to an all-time great.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 40 The list wouldn’t be complete without the Sox’s all-time wins leader. Dykes also lost the most games in franchise history, and his teams never finished higher than third in 13 seasons. (Chicago Tribune)
A rugged, regular guy who hated acknowledging the history he made, Quenneville was only the fourth coach of a major pro sports team to win multiple titles in our city. No matter where the NHL’s second-winningest coach works, his Q rating never will be higher than in Chicago. When will Quenneville’s statue go outside Gate 3½ next to Stan Mikita’s and Bobby Hull’s?
Sports fans of a certain age will recall Mike Ditka once stalked the sideline at Soldier Field for the Saints. Phil Jackson coached Bulls opponents at the United Center. Likewise, that will be Quenneville cursing his head off behind the glass for the Panthers against a Hawks team full of guys he knows well. More than just the mustache will be familiar.
Quenneville, not surprisingly named NHL.com’s coach of the decade, returns with a resurgent Panthers team 14 months after the Hawks fired him following a 6-6-3 start to the 2018-19 season. Enough time has passed to soothe any hard feelings and see why perhaps both sides needed to part. It remains a fair debate whether Quenneville or Bowman should have gone, but everyone can agree that Hawks fans miss the days the two men worked so well together — and that’s no reflection on coach Jeremy Colliton, who had the daunting task of replacing a legend.
[ Who was Chicago’s best — or worst — manager or coach of the decade? ]
What a nostalgic week this has been for the Hawks, who are riding a five-game winning streak right down memory lane. Patrick Kane recorded his 1,000th point, remaining on track to end his career as the best American-born hockey player ever. Jonathan Toews continued a recent tear, making an impact at both ends as he was named the NHL’s third star of the week.
Corey Crawford, the goalie who replaced Niemi in 2011 and was as instrumental as any player to Quenneville’s last two Cups, looked like his old self in stoning the Canadiens in Montreal. And future Hall of Famer Duncan Keith still can have games on the blue line that make you forget he is 36. So many Hawks of the rich past under Quenneville are having an impact on the immediate future.
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Just when everybody was ready to declare the Hawks sellers at the Feb. 24 trade deadline, they surprised the league by showing signs of life. Besides the ageless Kane and Toews, dynamic rookie Dominik Kubalik has been a revelation. The way Kubalik batted a backhand saucer pass from Toews out of the air for his 20th goal Saturday was enough to impress the most grizzled baseball scout.
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Goalie Robin Lehner oozes attitude with a big presence in net and the dressing room. Brandon Saad returned in top form from a monthlong injury layoff. Alex DeBrincat has gotten hot lately and remains a threat on the power play. Newbies Kirby Dach and Adam Boqvist keep reminding us why they were first-round draft picks. And the secondary scoring has helped.
Are the Hawks — within three points of the Western Conference’s final wild-card spot after 50 games — a playoff team? They better be, or Bowman will have more explaining to do in his office.
After aggressively making six trades last summer to retool the roster, Bowman believed he had put together a team capable of making the playoffs. If he still believes that — and he should after his team’s strong statement the last week — then he should approach the trade deadline trying to fill holes rather than shed salary. That means keeping Crawford and any other veteran he might be tempted to unload. That means embracing the beautiful randomness of hockey that gives hope to every playoff team if they can just get in.
The Hawks haven’t won a playoff series since Quenneville was cleaning confetti out of his hair after winning the 2015 Stanley Cup at home against the Lightning. It sure seems like longer. But at least for one wonderful night of reminiscing, it will seem like yesterday.
David Haugh is a special contributor to the Chicago Tribune and co-host of the “Mully and Haugh Show” weekdays from 5-9 a.m. on WSCR-AM-670.


chicagotribune--2020-01-21--My worst moment: ‘Insecure’ star Yvonne Orji and the time she thought she was going to be recast on

My worst moment: ‘Insecure’ star Yvonne Orji and the time she thought she was going to be recast on the show

“ It ’ s funny , Issa met me as a standup , yet so many fans are just discovering @ @ @ @ @ that I do , '' she said .
`` This is how I got my @ @ @ @ @ this tour has kind of introduced my fans to , this is what the creator @ @ @ @ @ that ’ s how we became friends — that common bond of ‘ Hey girl @ @ @ @ @ here in LA trying to do it , ’ and me being like , ‘ @ @ @ @ @ you out here in trying to do it ’ — before there was ever an @ @ @ @ @ love that fans get to see that side of me , because at the end @ @ @ @ @ a character .
She ’ s a beautiful mess , but she ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m a whole other character .
”

The HBO comedy “Insecure” is back for a fourth season in April and Yvonne Orji returns, playing creator and star Issa Rae’s best friend Molly — a go-getter attorney whose personal life is as mixed up as they come.
Orji will be in Chicago Feb. 1 performing standup at Lincoln Hall — which may come as a surprise to audiences who only know her as an actress on the HBO series.
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“It’s funny, Issa met me as a standup, yet so many fans are just discovering that this is a thing that I do," she said. "This is how I got my start. So going on this tour has kind of introduced my fans to, this is what the creator of the show saw and that’s how we became friends — that common bond of ‘Hey girl, I see you out here in LA trying to do it,’ and me being like, ‘Hey girl, I see you out here in trying to do it’ — before there was ever an ‘Insecure.’ So I love that fans get to see that side of me, because at the end of the day Molly is a character. She’s a beautiful mess, but she’s a character. Whereas Yvonne? I’m a whole other character.”
"Insecure's" Yvonne Orji performs standup at Lincoln Hall Feb. 1. (James Anthony)
Orji, who was born in Nigeria and grew up in the U.S., said that a lot of her material is autobiographical. “I talk about being both Nigerian and American and being the child of immigrants and my family coming to terms with my newfound celebrity.”
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“Insecure” is her first big on screen credit and when asked to share a worst moment in her career, she replied: “I will take you all the way back to Season 1.”
My worst moment …
“I was a very new actress. ‘Insecure’ was my first ever major acting job and it was on premium cable. And everyone knows that feeling — it’s like when you start your first day of school — because you’re learning on the job. You’re a little nervous and you’re trying to figure out the ropes.
“So we were shooting this scene, and I’ll never forget it: Molly was getting out of her car and going to meet one of her dates from the League, this dating app she was on. So as I’m getting out of the car, I’m having a phone conversation — I’m telling the character Jared, this other guy she kind of liked, that basically it wasn’t going to work out because she found this new guy on the League.
“So it was supposed to be kind of an awkward moment, but also a moment where Molly is standing up for herself and being like, ‘This is what I want and I’m sticking to it.’ But at the same time, she knows she’s letting a good guy down for a very shallow reason. So I was supposed to give off all those emotions in that phone call.
“So our showrunner, Prentice Penny, was giving me notes. I did the scene, they cut, and then he said, ‘Hey, can you do it this way?’ And I said, ‘OK, sure!’ I’m really good at taking notes: ‘I’ll do it that way.’
Issa Rae (left) and Yvonne Orji on HBO’s “Insecure.” (HBO)
“And we shoot it and then he said, ‘Can you actually do it this other way?’ And I’m thinking, that totally contradicts the first way you asked me to do it, but said, ‘OK, cool! I’ll do it that way.’ And then he wanted me to do it again another way. This kept happening.
“And I was like, am I ruining this? The whole time it felt like I was not getting anything right and that’s why he kept switching it, because clearly he wanted something from me that I wasn’t giving him. It felt like, ‘I’m trying to work with you here, kid.’ And the cameramen were like, ‘We’re doing this again?’ So I truly became insecure (laughs).
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“I have this motto, never let them see you sweat, you cry when you get home, which is exactly what I did. I was like, oh my God, I’m about to get replaced. I’ve heard about how people get recast after the first episode and I’m like, I don’t know how they’re going to reshoot this (with a different actor), but I was so sure I had come to the end of the road.
“So the next day I pulled Prentice to the side and said, ‘Hey, shoot straight with me.’ I had practiced this whole conversation in my head ahead of time: ‘Just tell me the truth, I’m a big girl, I can take it. It’s fine.’ (Laughs) And he goes, ‘What are you talking about?’ And I was like, ‘Yesterday! You had me do the scene five different times and I felt like I wasn’t getting it right.’ And he was like, ‘No! You were giving me what I wanted. But my mind was in editing, so I don’t want a situation where I go to edit (the scene) and I don’t have a variety of takes that might work better once we cut everything together. So that’s why I kept asking you to do it in a different way.’
“And I was like, ‘(Pause) Oh. Well. You should have led with that!’ (Laughs) So that taught me that everything is not always about you.
"You’re a little nervous and you’re trying to figure out the ropes," says Yvonne Orji of her early TV days. (Justina Mintz / HBO)
“And I was like, why did I doubt myself in that moment? Why was my first instinct to think, ‘You suck’? Sometimes you don’t know the good job you’re doing unless somebody tells you.”
On the movie “The Social Network,” director David Fincher famously had actors Jesse Eisenberg and Rooney Mara do 99 takes of the opening scene. That’s unusual, but multiple takes aren’t out of the ordinary. Why did this take Orji off guard?
“Because it wasn’t multiple takes of the same (emotional) beat, if you will. They were all different beats: ‘OK, do that scene happy.’ OK, I’ll do it happy. ‘Now do that scene forlorn.’ Uh, OK, great. ‘Now do that scene angry.’ What the heck? Usually it’s like, do that scene the same way from different (camera) angles.
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“So I was like, ‘Am I not hitting the right beat? So now you’re trying to alter the beat for my sake, to see if there is something I can actually do right?’ I just felt like I was doing it wrong, and the more that he kept switching, the worse I felt: ‘I can’t do that one right, either.’ There’s a truth that has to come behind the words, and in that moment I felt like maybe I wasn’t telling the truth. Or maybe I was only good enough to get past the audition, and now that we’re in the thick of things they realized I don’t have range!”
The takeaway …
“I remember writing in my journal like, ‘We have to solve whatever this is — because whatever this is, it’s a problem.’ But when you don’t know, you don’t know. Even though I had been doing standup for about 10 years at this point, I wasn’t a formally trained actress and I was insecure about that. So I felt I had to prove myself and prove my value, and in that moment it was like, ‘Ugh, what if they’re just now realizing that they made a mistake. Ugggghhh.’
“But sometimes it is not about how much training you have. For sure get the training. But it’s about how much confidence you have in yourself.
“I’m a Nigerian woman and there is nothing no one can tell me that I haven’t heard from a family member. If you haven’t been called a foolish goat by a parent or a loved one, you’re fine. So I didn’t let it fester and that’s why I talked to Prentice the next day. If I suck, it will hurt but at least I’ll know and I can go unsuck myself and do better in the next opportunity — but I will find out today whether or not it’s me or it’s you."
Yvonne Orji co-stars on HBO’s “Insecure.” (HBO)
nmetz@chicagotribune.com