Good morning, Chicago.
The Cook County Board’s Finance Committee approved $24.1 million in settlements related to interrogations and subsequent prosecutions tied to disgraced Chicago police Detective Reynaldo Guevara yesterday, paving the way for approval by the full board today.
In all, the National Registry of Exonerations at the University of Michigan tallied more than 40 individuals who were wrongly convicted based on Guevara, partner Ernest Halvorsen, or other detectives’ misconduct — including coerced false confessions or witness identifications — through threats or violence.
That misconduct has been costly for city taxpayers already: cases that named Guevara cost $39.3 million in 2019, 2020 and 2021 alone, not including the cost to pay outside counsel to defend the city in court.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s A.D. Quig,
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.
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Prosecutors begin presenting ComEd evidence to Madigan jury
Utility giant ComEd badly needed support from Springfield in the 2010s, a ComEd vice president testified yesterday in the trial of former House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is accused of supporting ComEd-friendly legislation in exchange for bribes.
Their financial condition was “dire” to the extent that they were considering bankruptcy before they managed to get key bills passed in 2011 and 2016, Scott Vogt told jurors. And Madigan was crucial to getting those bills through the House, he said.
“He controlled to a large degree what bills were going to make it to the floor, make it to committee,” Vogt said.
Madigan’s trial is now running more than a day behind schedule after an unexpectedly long and contentious cross-examination of a former legislator. Prosecutors had expected to play the first of nearly 200 wiretapped conversations yesterday as well as put former Skokie Rep. Lou Lang on the stand. Instead, Lang spent much of the day waiting down the hall from the courtroom. He is now expected to testify today.
North Aurora police link 1979 murder to suspected serial killer Bruce Lindahl
Using DNA technology, the North Aurora Police Department has linked the 1979 murder of North Aurora resident Kathy Halle to suspected serial killer Bruce Lindahl.
Chicago Teachers Union report aims for ‘alignment’ between district, mayor and union
The Chicago Teachers Union released a new report in a virtual news conference yesterday, combining the highly anticipated Chicago Public Schools “Together We Rise” five-year strategic plan and the union’s contract proposals.
While CTU’s new report takes goals from CPS’ five-year strategic plan and provides more specific “implementation steps,” much of the news conference focused on the ongoing disputes between the district and the union over key financial decisions.
What to know about E. coli and the McDonald’s outbreak
A food poisoning outbreak tied to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders was caused by a common type of E. coli bacteria that can cause serious illness and death.
Particularly vulnerable are young children, older people or those with weakened immune systems.
About 50 people have fallen ill in the McDonald’s outbreak, and one has died, with ages ranging from 13 to 88, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A preliminary investigation suggests raw slivered onions served on Quarter Pounders are a likely source of the outbreak.
Here’s what to know about the dangerous germ.
Grand Teton grizzly bear that delighted visitors for decades is killed by vehicle in Wyoming
A famous grizzly bear beloved for decades by countless tourists, biologists and professional wildlife photographers in Grand Teton National Park is dead after being struck by a vehicle in western Wyoming.
At least 28 years old, the bear was the oldest known reproducing female grizzly in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Each spring, wildlife enthusiasts awaited her emergence from her den to see how many cubs she had birthed over the winter.
Column: What to know about the delicious World Series matchup between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers
It’s arguably the greatest superstar matchup in a championship series since the 1991 NBA Finals pitting Michael Jordan against Magic Johnson, who coincidentally is now a part-owner of the Dodgers. The Bulls won in six games for their first title, and Jordan was named Finals MVP. The NBA issued 650 media credentials for Game 1 of the Bulls-Lakers Finals at the old Chicago Stadium, and with Ohtani being an international star, this showdown could be even bigger.
Resale ticket prices are off the charts, with the minimum over $1,300 for Game 1. Ratings figure to be enormous, at least compared to recent World Series viewership. Could it reach the average of 40 million viewers who tuned in to watch Game 7 of the 2016 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland?
Here’s what to know heading into tomorrow’s opener in Los Angeles.
Caleb Williams hopes Washington Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels plays Sunday — but the Chicago Bears QB also downplays the hype
Caleb Williams would love to see fellow rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels return from his rib injury to play for the Washington Commanders on Sunday at Northwest Stadium.
But the Chicago Bears QB also isn’t paying much attention to the outside hype that would come if the Nos. 1 and 2 picks in the 2024 draft both lead their teams onto the field this weekend.
“My job is to go win games on Thursdays, Sundays and Mondays. That’s it,” Williams said when asked about all the storylines around the matchup.
Whether the game will feature both Williams and Daniels remains to be seen.
Review: At Chicago Children’s Theatre, ‘Milo Imagines the World’ has a young audience right there with him
Oh, the pleasures of watching a kid’s show accompanied by a school group.
In the new Chicago Children’s Theatre musical, “Milo Imagines the World,” the titular young New Yorker has the magical ability to escape the more prosaic aspects of life by picking up his pen and transforming his environment. Since critics are supposed to reach for comparatives, Tribune theater critic Chris Jones will go with “Harold and the Purple Crayon,” one of his all-time favorite kids’ TV shows, not least for its music.
‘Conclave’ review: A deluxe Vatican mystery, with Ralph Fiennes monitoring a shifty-eyed flock of cardinals
Sleek, confident and peppered with delicious portraits in pursuit, deceit and evasion, the carnival of papal intrigue known as “Conclave” works like gangbusters. It’s the best recent Agatha Christie adaptation not based on an Agatha Christie mystery, because it’s from a book by Robert Harris. Tribune film critic Michael Phillips describes it that way not to mess with logic (that’s just a bonus), but to suggest something of the mechanics and payoffs at hand.
Finessed, adroitly, into screenplay form by Peter Straughan, streamlining the narrative of Harris’ 2016 bestseller, it’s a tasty election thriller with Ralph Fiennes fine-tuning his mastery of purring interrogative wiles.
Column: Where have all the TV theme songs gone?
A couple of months ahead of the premiere of “Matlock” on CBS, Tribune TV and film critic Nina Metz went back and revisited episodes of the original legal drama starring Andy Griffith. It ran from 1986 to 1995 and its case-of-the-week structure still makes for easy viewing all these years later. A funny thing she noticed as she made her way through its nine seasons: she wasn’t compelled to fast-forward through the opening credits. It’s such a great Dixieland jazz melody. She wanted to hear it every time.
The new “Matlock” doesn’t have a theme song. Few shows these days do.
Often, the opening credits have been reduced down to a title card and maybe a few bars of music. There’s no time for a theme song, which can — or at least used to — do important subconscious work of re-introducing you to the world of a show.
