Chicago Sun-Times: Chicago news, sports, politics, entertainment

CTA touts ‘Second Chance’ program for ex-offenders, but few end up with permanent jobs

About 14% of those in the apprenticeship program found permanent full-time employment with the transit agency, a Sun-Times investigation found. Others, some strung along for years, remained in low-paying roles with no benefits.

By Lauren FitzPatrick and Frank Main

The Rev. Mark Santo, shown at St. Philip High School in Chicago in the 1960s.

The Watchdogs

Catholic priest accused of sex abuse served in 9 church jurisdictions, including Chicago. So why is he on just one abuser list?

The Catholic church’s transparency on accusations of sexual abuse by clergy members, including the Rev. Mark Santo, remains inconsistent and lacking across the United States, clouding the extent of the crisis more than 20 years after it exploded into view.

By Robert Herguth

Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates

City Hall

Chicago Teachers Union demanding 9% annual raises, won't rule out a strike

20240418_112911.jpgCherry trees sprout green leaves but no blossoms Thursday in Jackson Park.

News

Cherry trees in Chicago skip bloom for second consecutive year

Wanda Jemison, who has worked at Conn-Selmer for 18 years, soders a complete Vincent Bach trumpet by hand at the factory in Elkhart, Indiana Wednesday, March 27, 2024. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Columnists

Look inside the Indiana company trying to re-create the world's best trumpets

Health

Howard Brown, union reach tentative agreement after 17 months of negotiations

Commentary

The opinions in and around Chicago that inform, analyze, hold power accountable and entertain.

Alicia Schemel

25 years after my dad was killed, his murder is unsolved. Two bills could spur action on cold cases like his.

Mary Mitchell

Columnist

What’s your Chicago story? We want to hear it.

Natalie Y. Moore

Columnist

‘Shame of Chicago, Shame of the Nation’ looks back at city’s racist housing history

Jeff Agrest

Deputy sports editor

With Stadium, Jerry Reinsdorf can create something he couldn’t 40 years ago

Politics

Rev. Frederick Douglass Haynes III points at Rev. Jesse Jackson as both sit and eat at a red cloth covered table at the Rainbow PUSH Convention, with a packed crowd seen behind them.

Politics

Rainbow PUSH leader’s quick exit underscores challenge of following Rev. Jackson: ‘It’s the most difficult job in Black America’

It’s unclear why the Rev. Frederick Haynes III, a Texas megachurch pastor, suddenly resigned Tuesday as president of the South Side social justice organization. But longtime observers say an out-of-towner was doomed from the start.

By Mitchell Armentrout

Politics

Watchdog group asks feds to probe Trump over $50 million 'nonexistent' loan to his Chicago company

The Watchdogs

Ex-Citi VP in Chicago ripped by judge for bilking elderly clients of $1.5 million, gets 30 months in prison

2024 Democratic National Convention

No cracks in Blue Wall? Top Democrats vow Chicago is ready for convention, despite party divisions

LGBTQIA+

Pride Parade will now allow participants from schools, organizers say

Sports

Cubs

Cubs reliever Mark Leiter Jr.'s family makes history, while he starts season strong in pivotal role

Leiter’s cousin Jack debuted for the Rangers on Thursday.

By Maddie Lee

White Sox and Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and the logos for SportsVision and Stadium.

Sports Media

With Stadium, Jerry Reinsdorf can create something he couldn’t 40 years ago

Bulls

Bulls get chance for revenge against Heat in Miami

Blackhawks

Connor Bedard assesses rookie season with Blackhawks: 'I was OK'

White Sox

You can put it on the board ... no! Numbers don't look so good for White Sox

Entertainment and Culture

Taylor Swift performs Friday at Soldier Field.

Entertainment and Culture

Review: Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' is great sad pop, meditative theater

In moments, her 11th album feels like a bloodletting: A cathartic purge after a major heartbreak delivered through an ascendant vocal run, an elegiac verse, or mobile, synthesized productions that underscore the powers of Swift’s storytelling.

By Maria Sherman | AP

Obituaries

Jun Mhoon, music producer and adolescent drummer for The Staple Singers, dies at 69

Theater

Jason Alexander's latest role plumbs the meaning of life and beyond in 'Judgment Day'

Movies and TV

Ebertfest in Champaign a time for discovery and rediscovery

Music

The Clark Sisters, Chandler Moore among Chicago Gospel Music festival lineup

All latest stories

President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pa., on Jan. 5, 2024.

How Biden will win women

Women might be upset with President Biden over issues like inflation, but Donald Trump’s legal troubles and his role in ending abortion rights are likely to turn women against him when they vote.

By Steven V. Roberts

Crime

Man stabbed to death in Pilsen

The man was found with stab wounds around 4:15 a.m., police said.

By Sun-Times Wire

Bears

Once the Bears land Caleb Williams, the real work — and pressure — begins

Matt Eberflus is under more pressure to win than your average coach with the No. 1 overall pick. That’s saying something.

By Patrick Finley

Dear Abby

Dear Abby: Groom worries about tattooed cousin at his wedding

He fears the free-spirited guest, with her ink and underarm hair, will steal focus from the bride and draw ridicule.

By Abigail Van Buren

Small Business

Democratic convention events getting Chicago treatment with new hospitality vendors

Five event production companies, nearly all based in Chicago, will be throwing the official parties for the Democratic National Convention in August.

By Amy Yee

Chicago’s Next Voices

From Archer Heights to downtown Chicago, Chicago's Next Voices columnist climbed that steep ladder

Southwest Side native Valery Pineda writes of how she never thought the doors of the downtown skyscrapers would be open to her — and how she got there and found her career.

By Valery Pineda

Outdoors

Chicago No Limits Fishing opens fishing and boating for people with disabilities

Chicago No Limits Fishing gives people with disabilities the ability to experience boating and fishing around downtown on Lake Michigan and the Chicago River.

By Dale Bowman

Blackhawks

Blackhawks rally, then crumble, in season-ending loss to Kings

The Hawks finished their season 23-53-6 — with the most losses in franchise history — after a 5-4 overtime defeat Thursday in Los Angeles. They ripped off three third-period goals to take the lead, but conceded late in regulation and then six seconds into overtime.

By Ben Pope

Horoscopes

Horoscope for Friday, April 19, 2024

By Georgia Nicols

Iranian women without wearing their mandatory Islamic headscarf walk past a banner showing missiles being launched from Iranian map in northern Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 19, 2024. Iran fired air defenses at a major air base and a nuclear site near the central city of Isfahan after spotting drones early Friday morning, raising fears of a possible Israeli strike in retaliation for Tehran's unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country.

Nation/World

Iran fires at apparent Israeli attack drones near Isfahan air base and nuclear site

The strike came just days after Tehran’s unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on Israel.

By Associated Press

Blackhawks

With ACL recovery on track, Blackhawks’ Taylor Hall used lost season to ‘refresh mentally’

Hall participated in Hawks morning skate Thursday — on the last day of the season — for the first time since his surgery in November. He expects to be fully healthy for training camp next season.

By Ben Pope

Crime

Joliet mother charged in death of girl, 12, who ingested heroin, fentanyl

Mya King, 12, was found unresponsive Sunday morning and died Wednesday. Her mother, Colette Bancroft, was charged with possession of a controlled substance.

By Sun-Times Wire

Cubs

Opening game of Marlins-Cubs series postponed; split doubleheader scheduled for Saturday

The Cubs still made a series of roster moves, activating right-hander Jameson Taillon and Patrick Wisdom from the IL.

By Maddie Lee

POLICEBOARD-041924-30.jpgActivist Miracle Boyd gives public comment during a Chicago Police Board meeting at CPD Headquarters, Thursday, April 18, 2024. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Dexter Reed Shooting

Protesters demand firing of top cop and officers who fatally shot Dexter Reed

At a rally at police headquarters, community members called for greater transparency into the investigation, a halt to the use of tactical units and an end to pretextual traffic stops.

By Emmanuel Camarillo

A woman shields herself from the rain as she crosses North Wabash Avenue near East Washington Street, in The Loop, as rain falls across the Chicagoland area, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023.

News

Showers, winds move through Chicago Thursday; temperatures to cool down through the rest of the week

Rain started moving through the area and is expected to continue into Friday, according to meteorologist Zachary Wack with the National Weather Service.

By Sun-Times Wire

White Sox

Tim Anderson on his rise and fall with the White Sox and trying to 'get back to the player I used to be'

Anderson talked smack, flipped bats and became the coolest thing about a Sox team seemingly headed for great things. Then it all went “poof.” In town with the Marlins, he discussed it on Thursday.

By Steve Greenberg

Health

Measles case count reaches 63 in Chicago, but pace of new cases is subsiding

Another exposure location was reported at the Sam’s Club at 9400 S. Western Ave. in Evergreen Park, Cook County health officials said Thursday.

By Kade Heather

Transportation

Uber launches rider verification program in Chicago, 11 other cities

Chicago riders may now find a blue check mark under their name, as part of Uber’s rider verification process.

By Jessica Ma

News

Top dogs: Here are Chicago's most popular breeds

The most common dog breed in Chicago — making up about 14% of all registered dogs — is a mixed-breed dog, followed by pit bulls, Labrador retrievers and German shepherds.

By Amy Qin and Matt Kiefer

Marijuana

4/20 is Saturday: What you need to know for weed's 'high' holiday

Read on to find out about how 4/20 came about, some frequently asked questions about Delta-8 weed alternative and a weed syndrome that causes vomiting, and some events that fall on the high holiday.

By David Struett

Obit Dickey Betts. Dickey Betts, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, exits the funeral of Gregg Allman at Snow's Memorial Chapel, June 3, 2017, in Macon, Ga. Guitar legend Betts, who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band and wrote their biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man,” died Thursday, April 18, 2024. He was 80. (Jason Vorhees/The Macon Telegraph via AP, File)

Music

Dickey Betts, Allman Brothers Band co-founder and legendary guitarist, dies at 80

As a child, Betts changed schools often because his father worked construction, and those memories later inspired him to write “Ramblin’ Man,” the band’s biggest hit.

By Associated Press

A view of the Chicago skyline from part of the old U.S. Steel South Works site near 85th and South Shore Drive in 2014.

Letters to the Editor

Transform South Works site into a lakefront park, not a quantum computing facility

The South Side deserves and can have both a beautiful lakefront park and new investments in jobs.

By Letters to the Editor

Arizona Coyotes fans sit in their seats long after the team's NHL hockey game against the Edmonton Oilers ended, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Tempe, Ariz. The Coyotes won 5-2.

NHL

NHL approves Coyotes' move from Arizona to Salt Lake City

The NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously Thursday to approve a $1.2 billion sale from Alex Meruelo to Jazz owners Ryan and Ashley Smith, clearing the way for the franchise’s move to Utah next season.

By Associated Press

The little girl (Alisha Weir) abducted by kidnappers turns out to have an ancient vampire trapped inside her in "Abigail."

Columnists

'Abigail': When the victims aren't exploding, the vampire story is meandering

Toothy young hostage fights back in tedious gore-fest.

By Richard Roeper

Politics

Cook County approves the sending of up to $70 million to Chicago to feed migrants

Commissioners widely supported sending cash to the city, but raised concerns about making sure the city uses the money for its intended use.

By Kristen Schorsch | WBEZ Chicago

The Shedd Aquarium will undergo a $500 million transformation beginning this summer and culminating with the Shedd’s 100th anniversary in 2030.

Work

Shedd Aquarium workers form union

In an open letter, staff cited work-life imbalance, financial struggles and lack of communication from management, among other grievances, as reasons for unionizing.

By Amy Yee

Olympic Sports

Simone Biles thought 'world is going to hate me' after she left team final at Tokyo Games

The four-time Olympic gold medalist revealed what was going through her mind in the 2020 Summer Olympics on an episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast posted on Wednesday.

By USA TODAY

Columnists

Chicago was once the heart of country music

The WLS National Barn Dance, which predated the Opry by two years, was first broadcast 100 years ago Friday, on April 19, 1924.

By Neil Steinberg

Dexter Reed Shooting

In case of Dexter Reed, killed by cops in traffic stop, court filings, family detail struggle with mental health

Court documents and police records offer more details about the man killed last month in a shootout with police in Humboldt Park.

By Tom Schuba and Rosemary Sobol