The Blackhawks celebrate their Stanley Cup championship during the team’s rally in June. | Peter Holderness/Sun-Times
Putting down the Cup, getting back to work
No team has repeated as Stanley Cup champions since the Red Wings in 1997-98. The Blackhawks’ title defense began Thursday at the opening of training camp. After the 2010-11 Hawks championship, the team dumped half its players in a salary purge, Mark Lazerus writes, and stumbled to an 11-11-2 start. But this year? No such excuse. Almost the entire lineup returns intact, and Bryan Bickell, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane will likely remain on the top line, coach Joel Quenneville said today. [Sun-Times, Voices]
30 years for videotaped murder
A teenager convicted of fatally beating a 62-year-old collecting pop cans in a West Rogers Park alley last year — and putting footage of the attack on Facebook — was sentenced to 30 years by a Cook County judge. [Sun-Times]
CPS fan fail
Yesterday I said sarcastically that little hand-held fans are a great idea for kids in hot classrooms because they’re not fun at all to stick in each other’s ears. Should have said hair. [Voices]
Shuttered school
The parking lot at one of the 49 schools closed by CPS this summer has become a shelter for a small group of homeless people. [DNAinfo Chicago]
Chicago’s ‘Tipping Point’
Putting aside the overly dramatic graphics and shaky cam, this 30-minute special on Chicago violence offers interesting glimpses inside the Cook County Jail, the juvenile detention center and some of the city’s most violence- and drug-wracked neighborhoods. [FOX 32 News]
Spouting off
Waterspouts over Lake Michigan prompted emergency calls from Lake County to Kenosha County. [Lake County News-Sun]
TV on the Internet
We’ve launched our new video channel, CSTtv. Watch news features, celebrity interviews, the film-focused “Roeper Report” and more. [CSTtv]
‘Original energy drink’
First Lady Michelle Obama chose to push her latest controversial initiative — drinking water — from Watertown, Wis. Maybe her husband should have spoken from Syria, Va., on Tuesday. [Voices]
The price of football
It costs a lot to go to an NFL game, and only two teams make it pricier to buy four tickets and concessions than the Bears do. Chad Merda has a detailed graphic. [Voices]
#TBT
ICYMI: We’ve fired up our Instagram account again, and for this Throwback Thursday here’s a shot of the 1988 “Fog Bowl” playoff game between the Bears and Eagles. [Instagram]
The Bright One
Mick Dumke on Walmart, one of the world’s richest companies, getting a nice taxpayer subsidy to open in Pullman. [Reader]
Commute
Sudoku; Weather; Traffic; CTA; Metra; Flight delays
And finally
Check out the T-shirt Jay Cutler wore for reporters today. Ah, Halas Hall harmony. [Twitter]
