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City population grows by one

2019-06-04T11:00:13-05:00

Chicago welcomes the arrival of Frank Robert Schneider Sennett

Congratulations to proud parents Denise Schneider and Frank Sennett, who welcomed baby boy Frank Robert Schneider Sennett on Sunday, May 19, 2019 at 3:54 a.m. Frankie weighed 6 pounds, 7 oz., and measured 20 inches long. All are doing well.

And if you’re wondering what they’re doing at the top of the column, well, I originally intended to tag the happy news discreetly at the bottom. Why? Blame nostalgia. Not so long ago the paper boasted all sorts of bold-faced columns: Irv Kupcinet and Bill Zwecker, and of course Mike Sneed, who still runs on Sundays.

There was a vigorous cosmopolitan swirl to those bold-faced columns. We weren’t a city of anonymous nobodies, hog-butchering and clock-watching unheralded and alone, but a glittering array of celebrities and quasi-celebrities and the connected powerful. Folks who counted.

Those days are gone, replaced by ... whatever the heck it is we have now. The top Chicago “influencer” is .... a 26-year-old make-up artist named Alexys Fleming, with 2.6 million followers on YouTube and 700,000 on Instagram. Not to take anything away from her. She seems good at what she does, and if the public is far, far, far more interested in learning how to turn transform into the Night King from Game of Thrones than in reading semi-witty critiques, the fault is not hers. (There’s actually more to Fleming than that; a diabetic, her ”Dumb Things People Say to Diabetics” video is funny and should be required viewing for anyone grappling with the ailment).

But I digress. To tuck the news of little Frankie’s arrival at the bottom and let it sit there, to be honest, looked strange. And demanded explanation. And the more I explained, the longer it got and I realized that ... one of my favorite expressions when it comes to writing is a line from Napoleon: If you start to take Vienna, take Vienna. No half-measures, no shilly-shallying.

So if we’re going to have a birth announcement, let’s do it up.

On to the crux. Who are Denise Schneider and Frank Sennett? Funny you should ask. Frank is director of digital strategy and custom media at Crain’s Chicago Business. I’ve known him for years; but he isn’t the reason you’re reading this. As usual, it is mom who does the heavy lifting.

Denise is the director of communications at the Goodman Theatre. Part of her job is to wrangle the press.

Such as when I showed up last month at the Goodman with the lucky winners of the Sun-Times contest to see Robert Falls’ production of Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale.”

We settled in our seats. I looked around at the audience and thought, with a degree of self-pity, how disconnected I am. It wasn’t the opening, so no Chris Jones, the Tribune’s erudite theater critic, to trade wry observations with; no Hedy Weiss, the former Sun-Times critic, to puzzle over from a respectful distance.

Suddenly, there was Denise, standing in front of us, big as a house. This was May 16, three, count ‘em, three days before the blessed event.

There is an old rule that a gentleman should never remark upon a woman’s pregnancy unless he actually sees the baby emerging.

But I’ve known Denise for many years, conspiring to ballyhoo many Goodman productions, which have added no little savor to my life in the city. It was Denise who, when I took my older boy to the theater for his 15th birthday, contrived to have the PR staff sing “Happy Birthday” to him. That kind of thing builds loyalty in a doting dad.

We spoke of matters dramatic. The Goodman is putting on “The Music Man,” opening at the end of the month, and I, always eager to contextualize art, observed that the classical musical about a fraud who cons a gullible small town is practically ripped from the headlines, given our current parlous national state. Denise, undeterred by her condition, discussed and strategized and flattered as well as anybody could, and when conversation rolled around to her bun in the oven, I volunteered that I would be honored to put the joyful arrival in my column.

And so I have. Welcome to the world, Frankie. It is, as Hemingway said and you will discover, a fine place, and worth the fighting for.

Man killed in South Barrington motorcycle crash

2019-06-04T10:51:48-05:00

David Domin, 49, was driving a 2014 Harley-Davidson when it was involved in a crash with a 2006 Chevrolet van on Illinois Route 59 near Arboretum Drive.

A motorcyclist was killed in a crash Monday in northwest suburban South Barrington.

David Domin, 49, was driving a 2014 Harley-Davidson at 12:25 p.m. when it was involved in a crash with a 2006 Chevrolet van on Illinois Route 59 near Arboretum Drive, according to a statement from South Barrington police.

Domin, who lived in Bartlett, was taken to St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates, where he was pronounced dead at 2:43 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The 33-year-old Aurora man driving the van was not hurt and neither vehicle had any passengers, police said.

Route 59 was closed between Higgins and Penny roads until 9 p.m., police said.

The crash remains under investigation by South Barrington police and the Major Case Assistance Team’s Serious Traffic Accident Reconstruction Team.

Ald. Edward Burke pleads not guilty on political corruption charges

2019-06-04T10:39:19-05:00

Burke and his top political aide, Peter J. Andrews, as well as a developer, made a brief court appearance Tuesday.

Ald. Edward M. Burke and his top political aide, Peter J. Andrews, along with developer Charles Cui, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges in a political corruption indictment.

They face detailed allegations in a sweeping 59-page indictment that hit last week, accusing Burke of using the city of Chicago as a criminal “enterprise.”

Though the arraignment created a great political spectacle — with cameras swarming the courthouse entrance — the hearing was routine. Cui has already pleaded not guilty to earlier charges, and Burke has called the latest indictment “unfounded.” He has predicted a jury would vindicate him.

The hearing forced into the open Burke’s political operative, Andrews, who has served Burke for decades and helped circulate petitions for the alderman’s successful re-election campaign this year. He is a retired Chicago Park District plumber with an annual pension of $88,637.

All three men walked past a horde of media in the courthouse lobby before making their way to a 17^thfloor courtroom. A status in the case is set for July 2. After the hearing, Burke left the courthouse and offered no comment.

The indictment last week accused Burke of using his powerful position to steer business to his private tax law firm amid schemes that involved the Old Main Post Office, a Burger King at 41st Street and Pulaski Road, and a redevelopment project on the Northwest Side. Andrews and Cui are implicated in the Burger King and redevelopment project schemes, respectively.

Burke is also accused of trying to block an admission fee hike at the Field Museum, all because he wasn’t getting an answer about a museum internship for the daughter of former Ald. Terry Gabinski.

The indictment further lifted the curtain on the breadth of a federal investigation that has gone on for years at City Hall. It showcases the undercover work of former Ald. Danny Solis, who wore a wire as a secret federal informant. And it reveals that, by August 2018, authorities had recorded more than 62,000 of Burke’s phone calls.

Amid the Post Office scheme, the feds allegedly caught Burke uttering unforgettable lines like, “the cash register has not rung yet” and “did we land . . . the tuna?”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot quickly called on Burke to resign.

Burke, 75, lost control of the City Council’s Finance Committee after prosecutors charged him with attempted extortion in early January. Now he is charged with one count of racketeering, two counts of federal program bribery, two counts of attempted extortion, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, and eight counts of using interstate commerce to facilitate unlawful activity.

Stunningly, the indictment also alleges that Burke used the city of Chicago as a criminal “enterprise” as part of the racketeering charge — a law first devised decades ago to combat mobsters and organized crime.

Andrews, 69, is charged with one count of attempted extortion, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, two counts of using interstate commerce to facilitate unlawful activity and one count of lying to the FBI.

Cui, 48, of Lake Forest, is charged with one count of federal program bribery, three counts of using interstate commerce to facilitate unlawful activity and one count of lying to the FBI.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Ald. Ed Burke (14th) leaves the Dirksen Federal Courthouse on Tuesday.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Developer Charles Cui (left) and his lawyer Tinos Diamantatos walk out of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse on Tuesday.

Lightfoot: Optimism in city high even as economy uncertain

2019-06-04T10:26:32-05:00

Lightfoot said that in the next few weeks, she plans to create the ‘Chicago Council of Economic Advisers.’

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday that optimism in the city is at an “all-time high,” even as parts of the economy are “spiraling toward oblivion.”

Speaking at the annual meeting of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce downtown, Lightfoot said that in the next few weeks, she plans to create the Chicago Council of Economic Advisers — “to help us find non-partisan solutions to our economic challenges.”

Lightfoot highlighted the poverty-driven violence during the Memorial Day weekend.

“Between the parades and the street festivals were swaths of our city, deserted — street after street, block after block,” she said. “Unless we bring meaningful investment to these neighborhoods, they will be lost and our city with it.”

Noting the city has lost residents four years in a row, Lightfoot said: “You need only look at our declining population to see that the strategy of focusing exclusively on the downtown while ignoring the neighborhoods is not working.”

She praised last weekend’s passage in Springfield of a major infrastructure bill.

“For the first time in over a decade, we can leverage tens of billions of dollars in state funding to refresh our infrastructure — the foundation of our shared growth,” she said.

In April, Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz had suggested Lightfoot hold one breakfast meeting a month with no more than 10 business leaders at a time to “engage in structured discussions around concerns” on both sides.

Lightfoot on Tuesday also announced that Juan Carlos Linares will be chief engagement officer in the Office of Public Engagement.

In a news release, the mayor’s office said Linares will “lead her administration’s efforts in improving outcomes of all Chicago’s communities.”

Linares is executive director of LUCHA, a Chicago-based agency affordable housing development agency.

Contributing: Fran Spielman

Lollapalooza 2019 aftershows announced: Full list, schedule

2019-06-04T10:21:05-05:00

Before and during the four-day fest, 52 acts will perform at venues across Chicago as part of Lollapalooza 2019.

Lollapalooza has announced its 2019 after show lineup and schedule.

The festival’s official after show venues are the House of Blues, the Vic Theatre, the Metro, the Concord, Park West, Thalia Hall, Bottom Lounge, Lincoln Hall, Reggie’s, Subterranean, Empty Bottle, Schubas, Chop Shop, Sleeping Village and Logan Square.

Here’s a full list of the acts you can catch at smaller venues across Chicago before and during the four-day festival:

AJR w/ Josie Dunne

Alec Benjamin w/ Bulow

Arkells w/ Michigander

Bad Suns w/ Russo

Baynk w/ Ilo Ilo

Bishop Briggs w/ Shaed

Boy Pablo

Bring Me The Horizon w/ Des Rocs

Brownies & Lemonade

Chelsea Cutler w/ G Flip

Dean Lewis w/ James TW

Death Cab for Cutie w/ Beach Bunny

Denzel Curry w/ Joseph Chilliams

FKJ w. ((( O )))

Francis and The Lights

Ghostemane w/ Ozzuario

Gothboiclique

Gryffin w/ Win and Woo

Gud Vibrations w/ Svdden Death + Wavedash

Half-Alive w/ Bad Child

Hobo Johnson & The Lovemakers

Honne w/ Role Model

Idles w/ A Place to Bury Strangers

J.I.D.

Jade Bird w/ Wilderado

Japanese Breakfast

Jeremy Zucker w/ Alexander 23

Joji w/ Yeek

Juday & The Lion w/ The Band Camino

Kali Uchis w/ Iris Temple

King Princess w/ Cautious Clay

Lauren Daigle w/ Devon Gilfillian

Lennon Stella

Louis the Child’s Playground

Magic City Hippies

Masego w/ Bri Steves

Men I Trust w/ Slow Pulp

Mondo Cozmo w/ Liily

Omar Apollo w/ Yoshi Flower

Rich the Kid w/ Calboy

RL Grime w/ 99 Neighbors

Rufus Du Sol w/ Willaris. K

San Holo DJ Set w/ Sober Rob

(Sandy) Alex G

Shallou w. Upsahl

Sharon Van Etten w/ Dehd

Sigrid w/ Houses

Still Woozy w/ Slenderbodies

The Revivalists w/ Ruston Kelly

Whethan w/ Cray + Diablo

Yellow Days

Yung Gravy

See the full schedule of who’s playing where:

Lollapalooza

Cubs draft pick Chase Strumpf homered for UCLA minutes after being selected

2019-06-04T09:53:17-05:00

Moments after being drafted by the Cubs, Strumpf gave fans a glimpse of what they might be enjoying in the future.

Talk about making a good first impression.

The Cubs selected UCLA’s Chase Strumpf with their second-round pick (64th overall) in the 2019 MLB Draft on Monday night. He’s a talented prospect, which became clear minutes later when the Bruins second baseman slammed a three-run home run in an NCAA super regional game against Loyola Marymount.

CHASE. STRUMPF.

STONE. COLD. #RoadToOmaha | @UCLABaseball pic.twitter.com/GPxngSGSQf
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) June 4, 2019

Check out the time stamp on MLB’s official draft account tweeting out Strumpf’s selection:

With the 64th pick of the 2019 #MLBDraft, the @Cubs select @UCLABaseball 2B Chase Strumpf: https://t.co/OHooNe2EPu pic.twitter.com/eLjgch41C6
— MLB Draft (@MLBDraft) June 4, 2019

TWO MINUTES EARLIER!

It was an incredible night for Strumpf, who also doubled for the Bruins in a series-clinching 6-3 victory over the Lions. UCLA will likely face Michigan in a three-game super regional series later this weekend as it battles to make the College World Series in Omaha.

The Cubs may have gotten a winning pick in the second baseman. ESPN’s Keith Law rated him as the 57th-best prospect in this year’s class, noting that a down season dropped him from being selected higher up.

Strumpf had a monster sophomore season for UCLA in which he batted .363/.475/.633 with 23 doubles and 12 homers in 58 games, per D1Baseball.com. However, the 21-year-old lost nearly 80 points on batting average this season, and while he’s still earning walks at a high rate, his overall batting line has dipped to .285/.422/.489.

That allowed the Cubs to select Strumpf with their pick late in the second round, which might end up looking smart if he’s more like the 2018 version of himself than the 2019 version.

Based on Monday night’s showing, you can see why the club’s scouts would be optimistic about Strumpf’s potential as a smooth-swinging middle infielder. It’s fair to say it’s a night he will remember.

Burglars target garages in Little Village

2019-06-04T09:04:18-05:00

In each break-in, someone forced entry to a garage through a side door and took property from within.

Police are warning residents about a pair of garage burglaries reported over the past week in Little Village on the Southwest Side.

In each break-in, someone forced entry to a garage through a side door and took property from within, according to a community alert from Chicago police.

The first burglary happened sometime between 7 p.m. on May 29 and 7:45 a.m. on May 30 in the 3100 block of South Springfield Avenue, police said. The second happened about 3 a.m. on June 1 in the 3100 block of South Avers Avenue.

Anyone with information is asked to call Area Central detectives at 312-747-8382.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

Eating leftover rice can make you very sick if not properly stored: Some important tips

2019-06-04T08:00:00-05:00

Some types of dry food, including rice and pasta, contain a bacterium that produces a toxin when heated and left out too long.

You might want to think twice before eating fried or leftover rice, health experts say.

That’s because some types of dry food, including rice and pasta, contain a bacterium called Bacillus cereus that produces a toxin when heated and left out too long, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That toxin can make you very sick.

“Fried rice is definitely one of most common food vehicles for B. cereus,” said Dr. Sam Crowe, an epidemiologist at the CDC.

Fried rice is often associated with outbreaks of B. cereus because of the way it’s prepared, Crowe said. If a large quantity of rice made at a restaurant or home is left out to cool for several hours, the bacteria (which looks like spores) can germinate. The then-cooled contaminated rice is later fried in a pan with other ingredients, usually at a temperature that’s not sufficiently hot enough to destroy the toxin.

Once eaten, either the germinated spores or the toxin it produced can cause vomiting or diarrhea.

The key to preventing these illnesses is to keep the bacteria from multiplying after the food has been cooked. To rapidly cool leftover rice, Crowe recommends storing it in small, shallow containers.

What’s the worst that could happen?

B. cereus is a pathogen that causes two kinds of illness. If large amounts of the toxin is consumed, it will cause a vomiting sickness 30 minutes to six hours after consumption, according to the CDC. If the stimulated spores themselves are consumed and germinate in the intestines it will cause diarrhea up to 16 hours after ingestion.

Both vomiting and diarrhea illnesses run for roughly 24 hours.

For typical food poisoning, rest and rehydration are the best way to treat the illness. If someone becomes dehydrated and can’t replace fluids quickly enough, they should seek medical care, Crowe advises. Those who become ill and are concerned they’re not getting better in 12 to 24 hours should also see a health care provider.

Vomiting disease is sometimes associated with liver failure, according to Crowe.

“The toxin attacks the liver and causes a pretty serious condition, which can cause the liver to stop working,” Crowe said. “It’s rare, though.”

How to avoid getting food poisoning from rice

Rice risks turning bad during the cooling process. After boiling rice, it needs to be kept really hot or cooled off quickly. The “danger zone” for bacteria growth is in temperatures between 40 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the CDC.

Here’s how to prevent food poisoning from reheating or eating leftover rice:

Do fry and eat the rice or refrigerate leftover rice within two hours after boiling.
Don’t just put a big pot of rice in the fridge. When properly storing leftover rice, the key is not the material but the size, according to Crowe.
Do divide large amounts of food into shallow containers so it can cool quickly and prevent bacteria growth.
Don’t leave boiled rice out overnight.
Do seek medical care if symptoms of foodborne illness persist over 24 hours.

So, is it safe to reheat and eat rice that’s a couple of days old?

Yes, it is fine to eat leftover rice for several days after it was initially cooked. Just make sure it was stored properly and wasn’t kept in room temperature for a long time.

“Spores are present in food. This isn’t a concern. Unless the spores can germinate and multiply to infectious levels,” said Vijay Juneja, a lead scientist at USDA Agricultural Research Service.

It’s also important to reheat the rice properly at high heat, according to Juneja. Reheating rice poorly can stimulate the spores and cause them to germinate.

“Reheat the leftovers to a high temperature so that any spore growth that has occurred while sitting on the dining table … are destroyed,” Juneja said. “It’s OK to eat for several days if it’s stored correctly.”

Read more at usatoday.com

Electrical problem delays delivery of Sun-Times, other newspapers

2019-06-04T07:47:47-05:00

We value your readership and apologize for any inconvenience.

Good morning readers,

An electrical problem at the Chicago Tribune Freedom Center printing plant delayed production of our newspaper and several others, including the Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. This is resulting in delayed delivery of some editions of Tuesday’s Sun-Times.

If you are experiencing a home-delivery problem — or don’t see the paper where you normally do at grocery stores, news boxes or other single-copy locations, please call our customer service hotline at (888) 848-4637 or email customerservice@suntimes.com.

We value your readership and apologize for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,

Chris Fusco

Editor-in-Chief

Joliet man loses appeal in 2009 attempted murder of ex-girlfriend

2019-06-04T06:46:24-05:00

Bradley Schlott, 51, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after he attacked his ex-girlfriend with a knife in March 2009.

The Illinois Appellate Court confirmed the 2016 conviction of Bradley Schlott Monday in the attempted murder of his former girlfriend in 2009.

Schlott, 51, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for attempted murder after he attacked his ex-girlfriend with a knife in March 2009, the Will County state’s attorney’s office said. He began to beat her in their Joliet home as she prepared to leave for work, eventually choking her and slicing her neck and breast with a large hunting knife. According to the state’s attorney’s office, Schlott believed the woman was having an affair.

The woman convinced Schlott to call 911 after telling him she would say her injuries were an accident, the state’s attorney’s office said. A physician who testified at the trial said she would have died had she not been treated for her injuries.

According to the state’s attorney’s office, Schlott’s lawyer’s said he attacked his former girlfriend under the involuntary influence of prescription depression medication. Prosecutors were unconvinced after Assistant State’s Attorneys Tricia McKenna and Marie Griffin presented letters written by Schlott to prove he intended to kill his former girlfriend.

Will County state’s attorney’s office

Bradley Schlott

In one letter, Schlott apologized to the woman’s family for her murder and alleged that she was cheating and robbing him of his money, family, career, dignity and sanity, the state’s attorney’s office said. In a second letter addressed to the woman’s boss, he said he “was not sorry at all for what [he] did,” and accused the boss and her coworkers of covering up the alleged affair.

“Bradley Schlott savagely slashed his former girlfriend of more than nine years as part of a brutal plan to kill her and commit suicide because he could no longer control her,” Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow stated. “I applaud the appellate court’s decision. Schlott is right where he deserves to be--behind the cold steel bars of a prison cell.”