It was reassuring to see the Chicago Tribune striving for fairness by publishing readers’ letters criticizing the opinion columns given over to last year’s losing mayoral candidates (“Voice of the people, April 10.) Now if only the city’s most prominent newspaper would continue acting in the public interest by putting its investigative journalists to work helping solve the shooting that occurred during the Chicago White Sox baseball game August 25, 2023, at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The Chicago Police Department and all involved have released virtually no information about this shocking instance of gun violence that infiltrated one of the city’s sports cathedrals, injuring two women.
In response to citizens’ Freedom of Information Act requests, the Chicago Police Department will yield only its heavily redacted incident report generated August 29 to individuals like me. The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which owns Guaranteed Rate Field, claims to have no relevant records despite a contract that cedes management of the ballpark’s security to the White Sox. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives refuses to disclose any analyses of guns, bullets or trajectories, relying on federal statutes that allow it to withhold information in a so-called open case.
No one has yet explained why White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf kept repeating versions of, “Once the police got here and talked to us, they understood it was not an active threat.” Or the real reason why authorities did not follow protocol to halt the game, pulling White Sox and Oakland A’s players off the field while protecting fans. We don’t know whether a fan really could have snuck a gun past metal detectors into the ballpark and accidentally shot herself. An appeal to Attorney General Kwame Raoul as to why CPD refuses to answer any questions about its subsequent investigation remains as yet unanswered.
To find out what actually happened, we need the help of The Chicago Tribune. If the Tribune can learn what really went wrong, then the city will have the opportunity to make the necessary changes to prevent anyone from being shot in one of our public sports venues again. Don’t all Chicagoans deserve to feel safe in the arenas where we eat, play, shop, and cheer?
— Elizabeth Mina, Chicago
Dedicated police officers
The recent shooting of Dexter Reed by a police officer reported in the 4/10/24 Tribune (“COPA releases video of fatal police shooting,”) has had me thinking about the real issue this has been for our city, while at the same time I think about the police officers who don’t make the news but serve in a strong, giving, truly dedicated way. One such example is Richard Rash who works in the Northbrook Police Department. I recently interviewed him for my blog in regards to a recent active shooter drill at my workplace, and I was very taken by his thoughtfulness, sense of purpose and strong sense of community that he shares with fellow officers. He told me of the close ties with community he and others have formed with stores, synagogues, churches, and the mosque that is within Northbrook. He spoke of a coming time when texting 9-1-1 in an emergency will hopefully be feasible, and shared information on drones that were a part of the 4th of July parade within Highland Park last year. I felt safer in hearing what he had to say. He is an example of what it is to truly serve, and put a face on all those who step up each day to serve in the best way they can.
— Mandy May, Evanston
Tinted windows
Why on earth are tinted car windows legal? When a vehicle with tinted windows pulls up next to me I always feel a little unnerved at not being able to see what’s in that vehicle. Tinted windows are such a dangerous thing for police to encounter when they pull someone over. For safety’s sake get rid of them!
— Pam Izatt, Barrington
Dolton mayor probe
I read in the Tribune and Daily Southtown that the village of Dolton hired former Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot to probe the spending habits of Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard at $400 dollars an hour (“Dolton hires Lightfoot for spending inquiry ex-mayor will look into allegations against Henyard,” April 10.) Why are they spending the public’s dollars? When or why isn’t Illinois Attorney General Raoul or even Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx or the United States Attorney for the Northern District looking into and probing her spending habits?
Why should the taxpayers of Dolton have to pay $400 an hour when there tax dollars already paying public officials to do their job? The state, county, and federal governments need to step in and stop the spending of the public’s money on an outside investigator when they already pay for this to be done.
It should have never gotten to this point if the state and Cook County and federal government were doing their jobs. Someone dropped the ball on investigating Mayor Henyard big time.
— Gerald Bernson, Tinley Park
Trader Joe’s true motive
Your April 10 editorial “A happy, funky Trader Joe’s gets a union push. Why?” (April 10) left out a very critical fact that has been kept largely under the radar: Trader Joe’s has signed on with Jeff Bezos at Amazon and Elon Musk at SpaceX in a lawsuit designed to dismantle the National Labor Relations Board on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. Not so happy, not very funky, but instead downright reactionary. It has taken the British newspaper, The Guardian, to explain the situation. Hopefully the Chicago Tribune will want to help shine the light on Trader Joe’s true and deeply anti-employee approach.
— Margaret Schmid and Sylvia Vatuk, Chicago
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