Could a path be opening for the ChicagoBears to trade for Las Vegas’ quarterback?
It wasn’t that long ago that Derek Carr was teasing Chicago Bears fans with his Instagram posts of him and Khalil Mack. The pictures were posted contemporaneously with news that the signal-callers days could be numbered in Las Vegas. Although Carr’s brother later revealed the quarterback was simply trolling fans, a real path for him to end up in the Windy City appears to be opening.
While it appears Jon Gruden is not enamored with Derek Carr and frankly hasn’t been since his arrival in Oakland, he also knows Carr is far and away the best option on his roster. Before he would be willing to make any kind of move, he’d have to have another viable option in place.
It’s also no secret that Gruden and the Raiders are also extremely interested in bringing free agent Tom Brady to Las Vegas. The team offers Brady close proximity to California, his home state, and it would give the Raiders a marquis name to help sell tickets in their first year in their new stadium. It also helps that they are reportedly willing to spend $30 million per year in order to make it happen.
That all sounds great, in theory, but many speculated that Brady would inevitably return to New England. However, Jeff Darlington of ESPN would be”stunned” if Brady did so.
RIP, my mentions.
I know you’ll hate me. I know you’ll tell me I’m an idiot. And I understand why it’s so hard for all of us — myself included — to start accepting this likelihood. Hey, there’s still a chance. But… the reality is… Brady is looking forward to free agency. https://t.co/jDooyna2Hc
Of course, Jeff could be wrong, or Brady could end up signing with another team looking to make a serious run at a Super Bowl and is only a quarterback away. While the Bears certainly fit that description, they probably don’t have the money, or the stomach to make a move like that. So other realistic options could include the Los Angeles Chargers, Indianapolis Colts, and perhaps even the Miami Dolphins or Tennessee Titans, depending on what they do with Ryan Tannehill.
In any event, this latest revelation that Brady is operating under the belief that he will enter free agency and play somewhere else next year at least opens up the real possibility of Las Vegas being an option for the future Hall of Famer. If that were to happen, the Raiders would be looking to unload Carr or potentially even release him if there are no suitors, and the Bears would be well-positioned to make a move at that time.
On a quiet street in Oak Lawn, a brick split-level home with a built-in pool sat empty for years, mold growing in the flood-prone basement.
Federal lenders seized the house after the couple who owned it split up. They sold it to the Cook County Land Bank Authority, a government agency established for just such a circumstance: to find buyers for vacant houses, usually in struggling neighborhoods.
Two developers offered to buy and fix up the home, which an inspector had warned “is not a rehab for the faint of heart or a tight budget.” But the land bank turned down both developers.
Instead, it sold the home in 2018 — at a lower price than what the developers offered to pay — to Natasha Cornog, executive assistant to the land bank’s top boss, and her elderly mother on the condition that they live there. And so the Cornogs paid $150,000 for the home the land bank had bought for $141,786.
Land bank officials say the insider deal didn’t violate any rules at the time, though the county has since barred its employees from buying property from the agency.
But Cornog had another problem, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation found. She was taking homestead property tax exemptions on that house and also two more she owns, records show. The law allows you to take only one homestead exemption — on the home where you live.
Sun-Times reporters asked the Cook County assessor’s office about Cornog taking two more homestead exemptions than the law allows. That prompted her boss, Robert Rose, executive director of the land bank, to fire her Feb. 12 from her $79,148-a-year job as his assistant.
Those extra homestead exemptions cut Cornog’s property tax bills by more than $16,000 over the past 14 years. That’s money that the rest of Cook County’s property owners had to make up.
At the Sun-Times’ request, the assessor’s office determined that Cornog had been living prior to 2018 in a West Side home she co-owns with her mother and shouldn’t have received exemptions on her two other homes.
And there’s another property tax issue with the West Side house. The fired county employee’s mother, Delores Cornog, 81, has saved more than $23,000 in property taxes since 2006 as a result of taking a senior citizens assessment freeze.
But that’s a tax break you’re eligible for only if your household has a total income of less than $65,000. The daughter’s salary as a county employee exceeded that.
Citing privacy concerns, the assessor’s office won’t release the mother’s application for the tax break, which includes income information.
But that office says it is now investigating how the property tax freeze was obtained and also whether it will move to have any of those tax breaks repaid.
The assessor’s office says it also will ask Natasha Cornog to repay $5,911 as a result of four years of having taken improper exemptions on two homes she owns on the South Side.
Rose says Cornog had nothing to do with the land bank’s decision to acquire the Oak Lawn home at 8712 Austin Ave. He says the property had been vacant for five years and was advertised on the land bank’s website, so it was available to anyone. Rose says he has no records to show that, though.
The Cook County Board changed county rules in November 2018 to ban county employee and their immediate relatives from acquiring property directly from the land bank. That came after an October 2018 WBBM-TV report on Cornog’s insider deal.
Natasha Cornog hung up on a reporter. Her mother wouldn’t comment.
The Land Bank Authority is under investigation by Cook County’s inspector general’s office as the result of a Sun-Times report in November on another insider deal. That one allowed Chester Wilson, Ald. Carrie Austin’s chief of staff, to donate a decrepit building to the land bank, which wiped out more than $200,000 in unpaid taxes on the property, and then sold it Wilson’s business partner.
The house in Oak Lawn that Natasha Cornog and her mother bought from the Cook County Land Bank Authority, where she worked.Cook County Land Bank Authority
When the land bank sold Natasha Cornog the 2,276-square-foot house in Oak Lawn in August 2018, she already owned two other homes — at 78th Street and Sawyer Avenue and at 97th Street and Parnell Avenue — and a house in the 500 block of North Lawler Avenue that she and her mother listed as their residence for the Oak Lawn mortgage, state IDs and voter registrations.
Like many of the properties the land bank acquires, the Oak Lawn home was structurally sound. According to an inspector the agency hired, it could be fixed up, but that was a job for an “experienced rehabber . . . due to severe mold and water damage” in the flood-prone basement and roof and heating problems throughout the original structure and a spacious addition.
An excerpt from the land bank inspector’s report saying that the home required an “experienced rehabber.”Cook County Land Bank Authority
Unlike most of the land bank’s deals, the Oak Lawn house didn’t have unpaid property taxes that needed wiping out — that’s among the agency’s powers — to make it more attractive to buyers.
Days before the contract was finalized, developers were emailing about the property. Windy City Development sent an offer on Sept. 6, 2017, to pay $166,786, providing the name of someone it had lined up to buy and live in the rehabbed home.
“Mold remediation and renovation will be completed within 6 months,” Windy City Development wrote.
“That should be fine,” a land bank staffer responded.
On Sept. 8, 2017, though, the land bank backed out of the deal.
“The property at 8712 Austin, Oak Lawn, is being purchased for the [Cook County Land Bank Authority’s] Homebuyer Direct program and was not intended to be sent out for an investor purchase,” a land bank staffer wrote. “There was a miscommunication and I mistakenly sent out the property. The CCLBA considers the terms sheet null and void.”
The same day, another developer expressed interest, saying he, too, had a buyer lined up. “It is currently not listed on the website. Please advise how to apply for this property?” wrote Mike Joudeh, a rehabber with TBI Contractors.
Rose immediately responded: “We will be selling this house directly to an owner-occupant. This property [is] for our Homebuyer Direct Program.”
Despite what the land bank’s inspector had said about the work requiring “an experienced rehabber,” Rose wrote: “These houses require minimal work and allow homeowners the ability to customize their homes and build equity.”
The land bank didn’t announce the Homebuyer Direct Program until Sept 25, 2017 — more than two weeks later — though Rose says the program actually was started Aug. 1, 2017.
The basement before Natasha Cornog purchased the home.Cook County Land Bank Authority files
Records show Joudeh continued to ask about the property’s availability through December 2017.
Joudeh says he offered $20,000 more than what the land bank had paid.
The first developer also asked the land bank to reconsider, saying it had a homeowner lined up.
In January 2018, Natasha Cornog put down a $1,000 deposit on the Oak Lawn home and agreed to bring it up to code within 12 months of closing on the property. She used her county government email address to communicate about the deal, which her mother later joined.
The records the land bank released don’t show whether any repairs have been made or whether the house has been inspected since its sale, though Rose later provided photos he says show renovations and moved-in furniture as of November.
The files show his agency asked Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to weigh in on the sale to Cornog, who’d been a county employee since 2014.
Foxx signed off on the deal on three conditions:
The terms and Cornog’s county employment had to be disclosed.
Kyle Hendricks looked comfortable while going two innings in his debut after reportedly changing his offseason workouts to better prepare him for the start of spring. Early on he appears to be the “most ready” among the veterans to open the season and there is some buzz growing that 2020 could be a big year for him. The most important thing would be for him to avoid the dead arm periods he’s experienced each of the past two years which saw his velocity drop below his already modest outputs. Perhaps the new offseason regime will be the answer.
Jon Lester did not look comfortable on the other hand. Both his stuff and command were off as he allowed five base runners in his first inning of work. It’s way too early to be concerned though. Until he consistently gives us reason to worry, Lester deserves the benefit of the doubt that he’ll continue to hold his own once the season kicks off, despite his age.
All reports indicate Yu Darvish is throwing well during his side sessions and he should begin appearing in Spring games soon.
The reports were equally strong for Tyler Chatwood and he then made it through his first spring inning unscathed. I know fans are still scarred from watching his abysmal 2018 season as a starter, but the mechanical tweaks he made heading into last season led to vast improvements in his walk rate and overall effectiveness. He only got better as the year progressed and became more comfortable with the new delivery, including when he was given opportunities to start. I’ve had him pegged for the 5th spot once it became clear the Cubs were not going to trade any of their starting pitchers this offseason, and Pitching Coach Tommy Hottovy has already declared him the front-runner.
Jose Quintana has been among the Cubs down with the flu at the start of game action so he is currently behind the others but we should see him on the mound in the near future. He’s going to be trying out a new version of his changeup, and the plan is to pair it with more four-seam fastballs after he was forced to fall back on two-seamers and his curve in too many starts last season.
Depth
At this point it would be a shock to see anyone else open the 2020 season in the rotation instead of Tyler Chatwood. But that is a testament to how well his spring has opened rather than a failure of his competition.
Alec Mills
Alec Mills looks just as solid as he did in the 2nd half of 2019. Given he is versatile enough to act as a swing man and spot start when necessary (and that he is out of options), Mills appears to be a lock for the Opening Day roster. His fastball lacks velocity, but it has enough movement, and his wide array of offspeed stuff looks good so far. Few Cubs pitchers understand how to change speeds as well as Mills. He’ll always require command to succeed but he usually has it.
It will be important for the Cubs to have a couple of starters in Iowa on the 40-man roster who can be called up when the needs arise. Among the returning options, Adbert Alzolay is the highest upside arm in the bunch. Consistency is still the key with him. When he’s got all three pitches working, he can outperform any of them. There wasn’t much life on his fastball his first time out, but his big curveball looked very sharp.
Colin Rea was the PCL Pitcher of the Year in 2019 and has plenty of past MLB experience. He won’t blow anybody away, and needs a strong defense behind him, but he’s savvy enough to survive if needed. Added to the 40-man alongside Rea this offseason, Tyson Miller looked solid in his first outing. Given his lack of AAA experience he figures to be low man on the totem pole, at least early in the year.
The name to keep an eye on is Jharel Cotton. Once a top five prospect in the A’s system, Cotton was up-and-down during his rookie season back in 2017 before TJS wiped out all of 2018 and most of his 2019 campaigns. The Cubs picked him up in exchange for cash back in November after Oakland designated him for assignment. Not wanting to risk another team picking Cotton up off waivers ahead of them the Cubs made the trade instead, and the risk appears to be paying off early on.
Cotton has tossed two clean innings so far, throwing in the low-to-mid-90s while his go-to pitch, a Bugs Bunny changeup thrown in the mid-to-upper-70s, looks to be back on track. The 28-year old is at a similar point in his career as to where Colin Rea (29) was entering 2019. His upside is a bit higher though, and there’s a chance he could work his way back to the Majors quickly if he continues to throw as he is. He’ll need to prove he can maintain this kind of stuff into the middle innings, but even if he doesn’t he could have bullpen utility, perhaps as a backup to Mills in the swingman role.
Non-roster invitee Brock Stewart is the only other starter in Big League camp. I didn’t get an opportunity to review his first outing, so I can’t report on how he looked, but he did manage to punch out four batters without walking anyone over 1.2 innings. Another 28-year old former top prospect who has battled injury and inconsistency, Stewart is coming off a very rough 2019 as a starter in AAA and reliever in the Majors, so we’ll have to wait and see if the Cubs have managed to unlock anything new in his game to provide hope that the big righty can regain the form which saw him post a 3.41 ERA as a swingman for the Dodgers back in 2017.
It’s been an encouraging first week, all in all. Viruses not withstanding, the Cubs starters are healthy. No one is in danger of opening the season behind schedule at this point. Key depth pieces (Chatwood and Mills) have looked good in the early going, and one of the bounce back candidates the Cubs rolled the dice on (Cotton) has been a pleasant surprise. While we would all love it if the Cubs had an impact starter ready and waiting in the wings, Alzolay still provides some hope in that regard if he can stay healthy, and the Cubs do appear to have solid depth built up in order to withstand common levels of attrition at the bottom end of the rotation as long as Darvish and Hendricks remain in place at the top. If either of those two should falter or miss long stretches of the season the Cubs will have difficulty replacing their high end production.
Hey Chicago! If you missed the first Kids Expo its time for you to get excited! The 16th annual kids Expo will be back again Saturday March 22nd and Sunday March 23rd at the Roma Sports Club in Frankfort IL! The Kids Expo is the longest standing kids expo in the Chicagoland area and is expected to deliver a great time for the entire family!
You can expect fun activities such as pony rides, face painting, inflatables, a live alligator, character meet and greet, and stage performances all day long! In addition, parents can visit and shop with over 100 exhibitors who will be showcasing amaxing food, products and services! Plus, Family Time magazine’s mini style influencers “The Heath Dolls” will be there to take photos with kids not afraid to show off their favorite weekend style! One lucky photo will be selected and featured on their site!
The Kids expo offers fun for the entire family under one roof! You don’t want to miss it! Tickets are available right now on Eventbrite! Enter code words “TheLook” for 50% off admission. Link below!
A disturbing recent case from Arkansas illustrates the importance of having a visible identification tag on your pet even if it is microchipped, and why animal shelters must be diligent about scanning every stray animal brought in.
Although the case isn’t local, it addresses issues that most animal shelters and rescues regularly face when taking in stray animals as well as issues of concern to owners whose pets could become lost.
***
We’ve all heard heartbreaking stories about pets that have gotten loose, been impounded by animal control, and tragically euthanized before their owners could claim them.
Thankfully, this is not one of those stories. But it still turned out sad for Darryl Lunon, owner of “Bibi,” a young female German Shepherd allegedly possessing world championship lineage. In February 2017, Bibi was picked up and taken to North Little Rock Animal Shelter by a county animal control officer who, for whatever reason, didn’t bother to scan her for a microchip even though local law required it and the shelter had a microchip reader. After a five-day hold, Bibi was spayed and placed for adoption.
Whether or not Bibi had a tag is disputed. Lunon insists that she did, but the impounding officer claimed not to have seen one on Bibi’s collar. What is not in dispute is that Bibi was microchipped as Lunon’s dog.
One of the most maddening things about this case is that Bibi’s owner seemed to have done everything you’re supposed to do when your pet goes missing. He posted flyers around the neighborhood, announced it on social media, and contacted animal control authorities including the North Little Rock shelter which in fact had Bibi, and was twice told (erroneously) that the shelter was holding no German Shepherds.
To add insult to injury, once he finally found out what happened to his dog, Lunon had to go to court to recover Bibi from her new “owner.”
***
Lunon sued Pulaski County and Little Rock animal control, the North Little Rock shelter, and the individual employees involved for depriving him of his due process rights and the loss of Bibi’s considerable breeding value. He alleged the county and city failed to train their employees to comply with procedures requiring them to scan Bibi for an embedded microchip that would have revealed him as her owner.
Because pets are considered personal property under the law, most pet owners invoke unconstitutional deprivation of property without due process in actions taken against public entities. Due process requires advance notice and an opportunity to be heard before a pet can be taken by the state.
Public employee immunity
One of the most infuriating things for people, like me, who are involved in or who follow law related to companion animals, is the doctrine of qualified immunity. Qualified immunity shields municipal employees such as police officers and animal control personnel from civil legal consequences resulting from actions they take in carrying out their jobs, even if those actions result in unjustified harm or death to someone’s pet.
This is why cops can, and often do, shoot people’s dogs on sight when they enter someone’s property even if the reason they’re entering has nothing to do with the dog, and even if the dog is just innocently sitting there looking at them. As long as they claim they did it to protect their own safety, they usually get away with it.
Another thing that is frustrating for us? Appeals courts that regularly overturn lower court decisions that find in favor of the rights of pets and their owners. Which is what happened here, when the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals overruled the district court’s finding that Lunon might have a protected property interest that was violated by the collective actions of all the parties acting in their individual capacities, and ruled that the public actors involved did not violate his constitutional rights (Lunon v. Botsford, et al.)
“We agree with the Supreme Court of Arkansas that affirmative pre-deprivation notice is not constitutionally required in this situation, when an animal shelter holds a stray dog for more than five days and then adopts out and spays the dog after the owner fails to file a claim.
Numerous [court] decisions involving stray dogs have reached the same conclusion.”
Eighth Circuit panel
But here’s the thing: The law required shelter staff to check for microchips—which Bibi had—but they failed to do so. Further, they wrongly informed her owner when he called that they were holding no German Shepherds. This smacks of gross incompetence at multiple levels, at least if Lunon’s side of the story is taken as true.
Why have these laws on the books if there are no consequences for failing to follow them? Hell, why do we microchip our pets at all?
If that part of the law did not exist, then I might concede that Lunon had no case.
Basically, what it boils down to (at least in Arkansas as well as many other places) is that even though your pet is your property and you have a constitutional right to be heard before the state deprives you of it, you have no legal recourse whatsoever if state actors fail to follow simple, statutorily required steps for ascertaining that your property belongs to you.
***
Even worse, the court implied that Lunon sort of deserved it all for allowing his dog to escape in the first place:
“A dog owner’s protected property interest wanes if [his] pet escapes. [Quoting Fourth Circuit] Dog owners forfeit many of their possessory interests when they allow their dogs to run at large, unleashed, uncontrolled, and unsupervised, for at that point the dog ceases to become simply a personal effect and takes on the nature of a public nuisance.”
I don’t know the circumstances that led to Bibi’s getting out and being discovered in a neighbor’s garage, and I don’t condone allowing your dog to roam free around the neighborhood. But dogs (and cats, let’s be honest) do sometimes slip away despite their owner’s best efforts, so we shouldn’t rush to condemn each and every one of their owners as irresponsible. Even though there are plenty of irresponsible owners out there, to be sure.
Yes, this case could have been so much more tragic. Bibi still got to live and be ultimately reunited with her owner. I know that being unable to profitably breed a “champion” purebred dog is not exactly a predicament that sparks outrage in many of us. But imagine if someone’s beloved pet had been put down in the same situation. I wonder if the court might have ruled differently. Probably not. Judges are, after all, public officials, and it’s my observation that public officials tend to err on the side of protecting each other.
Then there is the overlooked “victim” in this case: the innocent, unsuspecting adopter who thought he was rescuing an actual homeless dog and trusted the shelter.
At least one of the judges on the three-judge Eighth Circuit panel questioned whether Lunon might not have a valid argument when it came to the microchip scanning issue:
“Although Lunon’s private interest is diminished by the fact that he allowed his dog to run stray, other [ ] factors are more favorable to his claim: the evident risk of erroneous deprivation, the seemingly high value of scanning for a microchip to identify an owner who could be notified, and the relatively modest burden that scanning for a microchip with a readily available scanner would entail.”
Eighth Circuit Judge Colloton
I like to hope that when these legal cases involving companion animals don’t turn out favorably for pets and their owners, at least something is learned by all the parties involved so such things don’t happen again.
I’m an Illinois-licensed attorney hoping to break down timely legal stories for a general audience in terms they can understand. My goal is to report some of those overlooked legal cases and issues that fly under the radar of most of the general news media, but that still might be of interest and consequence to average people. Thanks for reading!
I had to be a little ghetto in my speech when it comes to asking Oprah for her eyewear when she’s done with them. While everyone else is listening to her words of wisdom (me too), I’m looking at how sharp Lady O’s frames are! In the 90s, I used to work in an eyewear lab making glasses or at least putting the lenses into the frames, so I know a bit about the eyewear industry.
I was watching The Talk as Sharon Osbourne and Carrie Ann Inaba met with Oprah on her Weight Watchers tour in San Francisco. Again, I’m listening to Oprah but in my mind I’m like “Man! Those frames are sharp!” I was thinking this each time they showed her with a different outfit because of course, you know that her frames had to match what she was wearing.
Oprah even had on a pair of drill mounts, which brought back memories for me because those type of frames were difficult for me to make. You have to have surgeon’s hands to create those in my opinion and it had to be meticulous. You literally use a drill to attach the temple to the lenses for a more distinguished look than the traditional frame. The temple on Oprah’s drill mount I believe was olive green and her lenses were round, giving her the John Lennon look.
A few short years ago I wouldn’t be having this conversation because my vision wasn’t an issue. Such is life with everything else. You don’t start paying attention to things until it hits you. Since I have to wear glasses, I may as well invest in some great looking frames. Not like Oprah’s because I know for a fact she paid a pretty penny for hers; but I can dream, can’t I?
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I’m an author and playwright of urban fiction, a mom of two boys with autism, and have lupus. I lived my formative years in the Cabrini-Green Housing Projects. I have an article about my thoughts of the demise of Cabrini-Green on Page Four of the Chicago RedEye titled “Eyesore yes, but public housing was our home” (April 2010) and a lupus article titled “Butterfly is more than some ink on my leg” (May 2010).
It’s time to think summer, Chicago. Show Me Chicago’s annual calendar of Chicago’s biggest and best festivals and events for the summer of 2020 is up and running. Make sure to put your favorites on your calendar and check back for more as the calendar will be updated throughout the season as more events are added and dates announced. AND let us know if we’ve missed anything.
ON-GOING SUMMER
Grant Park Music Fest 2020, June 10 through August 15, Most concerts take place on Wednesday and Friday evenings at 6:30 p.m., and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. (Note: there will be no concert on Friday, July 3.), Millennium Park.
Navy Pier Summer Fireworks, Memorial Day through Labor Day, Wednesdays and Saturdays from Saturday, May 30 through Saturday, September ?: Wednesdays at 9:30 pm. & Saturdays at 10:15 pm.
Wright Plus House Walk, Saturday, May 16, Oak Park and River Forest
Chicago House Music Conference & Festival, May 21-23, Chicago Cultural Center & Millennium Park
Mole De Mayo, May 22-24, Ashland and 18th Street, Pilsen Navy Pier Fireworks, blast off May 23 (Wednesdays and Saturdays and July 4 through September 5)
Chicago Memorial Day Parade, May 23, wreath laying 11am, Parade noon, State St. from Wacker to Van Buren
Randolph Street Market Festival, May 23 – 24, 2020, first outdoor festival of the season, 1350 block W. Randolph and 1340 W. Washington Street between Ada and Ogden
Gospel Music Festival, May 26-May 30, Millennium Park & Citywide Locations
Bike the Drive, Sunday, May 24, Lake Shore Dr, post ride festival, Grant Park
Do Division Street, May 29th-May, 31st on Division Street between Damen and Leavitt (2000W-2200W Division St.)
Mayfest, May 29-31, Armitage at Sheffield LaGrange Pet Parade, May 30, 2020, line-up, 8:30 am., Downtown LaGrange, Cossitt Ave. & LaGrange Rd. Chicago Taco & Tequila Fest, May 30 & 31, 2500 N. Cannon Dr. Lincoln Park, Cannon Drive just north of Fullerton
Craft Beer Festival, Saturday, June 20, Morton Arboretum, Lisle
Taste of Randolph Street, June 19-21, offers three stages of music, 14 restaurant booths, and artisan vendors at Randolph Street & Peoria Street. Donation
Puerto Rican Parade, June 20, Division Street from Western Avenue to Sacramento Avenue, Humboldt Park
Chicago Vegandale, Vegan Food Festival, June 20, Butler Field in Grant Park. Free admission for children age 12 and younger
Chicago Food Truck Festival, June 20 & 21, South Loop Green Space
Ravenswood on Tap, June 20, 21, beer & spirits from local producers, food from nearby restaurants, live local music, and more Ravenswood Avenue and Berteau Avenue. Donation.
Chicago Pride Fest®, June 20-21, Halsted and Addison in Boystown Fountain Square Artisan SummerfestJune 20 & 21 2020, Evanston, IL- Sherman and Church Street
Make Music Day, June 21, various locations including Millennium Park and Navy Pier. Free.
Dragon Boat Races, June 21, teams compete in colorful boats on the river, music, dance, vendors, Ping Tom Memorial Park, 300 W 19th Street. Free.
Logan Square Arts Festival, June 26, 27 & 28, Milwaukee, Logan & Kedzie Pride In The ParkJune 27 & 28 2020, Grant Park
Highland Park Festival of Fine Arts, June 27 & 28, Downtown Highland Park Art Center
Renegade Craft Fair, June 27, 28 food trucks and craft cocktails for sale, Andersonville, Clark Street (from Edgewater Ave. to Bryn Mawr Ave.). Free
Chicago Pride Parade steps off at noon on Sunday, June 28, 2020, at Montrose Avenue and Broadway in Uptown and ends near the intersection of Diversey Parkway and Sheridan Road in Lincoln Park Hyde Park Brew Fest, June 2020 dates not confirmed Green Music Fest, Wicker Park, June date, TBA
Chinatown Summer Fair, Saturday/Sunday, July 18-19, Wentworth Avenue & Cermak Rd. (aka 22nd Street), Chicago
Chicago Food Truck Festival at Wrigley Field, July 25, 2020
Chicago Margarita Festival, July 25 – July 26, Navy Pier, 600 E Grand Ave
Taste of Lincoln Avenue (37th annual), Saturday/Sunday, July 25-26, North Lincoln Avenue between Fullerton & Wrightwood, Chicago
Randolph Street Market Festival, July 25, 26 2020, outdoor festival vintage, antiques, entertainment, food, drinks 1350 block W. Randolph and 1340 W. Washington Street between Ada and Ogden
Lollapalooza Music Festival 2020, Thu, Jul 30 – Sun, Aug 2, Grant Park, 337 E Randolph St OK
Jeff Fest, Friday-Sunday, July 31-August 2, Jefferson Memorial Park,4822 N. Long (Lawrence and Milwaukee Avenues), Chicago
Wicker Park Fest, July dates TBA, on On Milwaukee Ave., from North Ave. to Ashland Ave.
AUGUST 2020
Lollapalooza. Photo: Chicago Tribune
Jeff Fest, Friday-Sunday, July 31-August 2, Jefferson Memorial Park,4822 N. Long (Lawrence and Milwaukee Avenues), Chicago
EdgeFest, August 1,2, 5600 N. Ashland
Lollapalooza Music Festival 2020, July 30 – August 2, Grant Park, 337 E Randolph St
Ginza Festival, August 7, 8, & 9 2020, Midwest Buddhist Temple
Festival Cubano, August 7-9, Riis Park, Fullerton and Narragansett
Retro on Roscoe, August 7-9th, 2020, Roscoe Village on Roscoe
Bud Biliken Parade, second Saturday in August, King Drive through the Bronzeville and Washington Park neighborhoods on the city’s south side
North Halsted Market Days, August 8-9, 2020, from Belmont to Addison on North Halsted St.
Edison Park Fest 2020, August 14-16, Sidewalks along Northwest Highway in Edison Park neighborhood
.Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest, August 14-16, 2020, Rogers Park, Glenwood Avenue Arts District
Sangria Festival, August 15 & 16, 2020, Humboldt Park lawn
Naper Pride Fest (NEW Event), Friday-Saturday, August 21-22, Naperville, IL (Music concert at North Central College on Friday; fest on grounds of Naper Settlement on Saturday)
Ukrainian Days Festival, August 22-23 2020 Smith Park (Grand/Campbell)
Taste of Greektown, Friday-Sunday, August 21-23, 300 S. Halsted, Chicago
Logan Square Social, Saturday, Aug 29–Sun, Aug 30, Humboldt Blvd. & Armitage
Great American Lobster Fest, August 30-31 and September 1, Navy Pier
Chicago Hot Dog Fest, August dates TBA, Chicago History Museum
Clark After Dark, August dates, TBA, River North, at 420 N. Clark St on W. Hubbard Street, between N. Clark and N. Lasalle.
SEPTEMBER 2020
Chicago Gourmet Photo: Carole Kuhrt-Brewer
African Festival of the Arts, September (Labor Day) dates TBA, Washington Park Great American Lobster Fest, August 30-31 and September 1, Navy Pier Chicago Jazz Festival, August 29–September 6, 2020, Chicago Cultural Center, Millennium Park and Venues Across Chicago Taste of Polonia, September 4-7, 2020, Copernicus Center, 5216 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago North Coast Music Festival, September 4-6, Northerly Island ¡Súbelo! – A Celebration of Pan Latin Music and Culture Sept. 11 – 12, 2020, Millennium Park Riot Fest, Sept. 11-13, Douglas Park Cultural and Community Center Chicago Bourbon & Barbecue Fest, Saturday/Sunday, September 12-13, 2000 W. Roscoe (at Damen), Chicago Sam Adams’ Lakeview Taco Fest (8th annual), Saturday/Sunday, September 19-20, Southport and Addison, Chicago Chicago Gourmet, September 25-27, Millennium Park Oktoberfest Chicago at St. Alphonsus, Friday-Sunday, September 25-27, St. Alphonsus Church, Southport & Lincoln, Chicago Randolph Street Market Festival, September 12-13, 1340 W. Washington St.
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Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery 46 years ago in early spring at the age of 16, my buddy and I drove down the road at night as you could do back then, to do some exploring or investigating as it would be called today of the haunted location.
My knowledge of the location as with many of those individuals who today are over 50 yrs of age, Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery was the first made known to the general public by the early Chicago Ghost and paranormal location explorer and investigator Mr. Richard Crowe, as he was a regular guest on the Eddie Schwartz radio show.
Mr. Richard Crowe was the first to be known in the Chicago land area and it could be said that many of the older investigators in the Chicago land area who claim to have for years been doing paranormal investigations, ghost tours or authors on the subject of the paranormal could of first been introduced to what Chicago had to offer by way of Richard Crowe.
I remembered that night 46 years ago, I pulled my car in and made sure I worked turning it around so the car would be facing out, and I parked it, and back then, there were no worries about not locking it up.
My buddy and I got out of the car, and it was not hard to see as the moon gave enough light to make our way around the maze of over grown weeds and grass that blocked your view from seeing around the corner of the path that worked its way around the headstones that were placed here and there in the cemetery.
Then it happened, as we walked toward the edge of the lagoon, about 6 feet away, with nothing in front of us, we heard foot steps on the ground coming from the front of us, walking toward us.
Well, my buddy and I must have looked like Abbott and Costello from one of their monster movies as we ran toward the car, jumped in and sent dirt flying in the air as I had the gas peddle to the floor of the vehicle.
What made it different for me is the next morning as early in the morning as allowed, I returned to Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery with no tools and only the desire to see and feel the location and what was there as I slowly wandered around the cemetery.
That experience 46 years ago has made me even today desire to find new locations that are new to me and always drawn to discoveries of unknown haunted locations that Spirits are a lasting fixture. I have come across 5 that were unknown in the past and will keep being drawn to location to explorer and discover.
Explore and Discover as it is a lost practice in the Paranormal Field.
Edward Shanahan
Visit Edward Shanahan’s Psychic Medium website and awarded Best Chicago Psychic at: Edward Shanahan’s website. Private Readings, House Party/Gatherings, Spirit Communications information at the website.
Spiritual Observer – Psychic Reader – Paranormal Host. Edward Shanahan has been written about in four paranormal books. Providing Chicago Paranormal Nights to explore and experience the paranormal at haunted historic locations.
Chicago Paranormal Nights
Public and Private Chicago Paranormal Nights to explore haunted locations with Edward Shanahan and each night ends with a seance.
At this week’s NFL Scouting Combine, things appear to be heating up for the ChicagoBears. They look ready to pursue a top-tier tight end.
If you are a Chicago Bears fan, you are aware of how desperate the team is to upgrade the tight end position. Going into free agency and the NFL Draft, tight end is arguably the most needy position, along with the offensive line.
You might be in the club that argues for quarterback, and I wouldn’t disagree. But, that’s a debate for another day.
This week, the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine has had plenty of talks going on outside of simply the prospect pool. Of course, owners, general managers and coaches are there to watch the nation’s top rookies in preparation for the draft in April.
But, with all of those guys under one roof for a few days, there is bound to be plenty of juicy conversations had.
One of the rumors floating around, for a while, has to do with the Bears going after free agent tight end Austin Hooper. This week, Hooper took to his social media to express how the Atlanta Falcons felt about his chances at returning to the team that drafted him. In a few words, he wrote, the Falcons “told him to hit the road.”
Enter: Ryan Pace and the Bears.
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The Bears want to take a big swing in free agency, and they intend to make a run at two-time Pro Bowl TE Austin Hooper-https://t.co/IvBGjOa5Il
According to the Chicago Sun Times‘ Jason Lieser, the Bears are ready to make Hooper an offer.
Over the last two seasons, Hooper has been voted to the Pro Bowl. Last year, Hooper had the best year of his career when he caught 75 passes for 787 yards and six touchdowns. Becoming one of the focal points of a Bears offense which is hurting at the position, Hooper could flourish in Matt Nagy’s offense.
At the moment, they have Trey Burton penciled in as the starter. But, Burton’s health has been in question and his production dipped in his second year with the team due to that fact. After this season the Bears could cut Burton much easier than they could this year, and Hooper would be “the” guy going forward.
Heck, he would be “the” guy from Day 1 in Chicago.
The only question now is, who will be throwing Hooper the ball if he signs with the Bears? Once more, that’s a debate for another time — but an exciting one, albeit.
CHICAGO, IL – JUNE 15: Brent Seabrook #7 of the Chicago Blackhawks shakes hands with Steven Stamkos #91 of the Tampa Bay Lightning after the Blackhawks won Game Six by a score of 2-0 to win the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Final at the United Center on June 15, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
The ChicagoBlackhawks are about to play the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. This team has given them fits since the 2015 Stanley Cup Final.
The Chicago Blackhawks are not going to the playoffs. They are on a devastating skid right now that has seen them be sellers at the trade deadline. It is unfortunate but that is the way it is. With that said, they can try and play well enough to be a spoiler for the rest of the season. They still have great players at the top of their lineup so there is no reason opponents should be excited to play them.
Their next test is another one of the elite teams in the National Hockey League. The Tampa Bay Lightning were a bit shaky to start the season but have re-emerged as one of the Stanley Cup favorites. With an elite player or two at every position along with tons of depth, Tampa being an elite team makes complete sense.
On top of all those great players is pure regular season domination against Chicago. The Hawks are 0-6-2 in their last eight meetings against the Lightning. They are an abysmal 1-6-2 since defeating the Lightning in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final. Since that series, the Lightning has gotten better while the Hawks have gotten worse. Obviously, the Hawks won those three Stanley Cups so paying for it now isn’t all that bad although the momentum could have been carried on if the GM made better decisions.
This game means a lot for Tampa Bay in terms of their Atlantic Division title race and almost nothing for the Blackhawks. All that matters at this point is the right guys feeling well about their games going into next year and being motivated enough to try and play spoiler against a really good team.
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