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Review: Skeleton Crew – Chicago Reader

Jane Wells
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Review: Skeleton Crew – Chicago Reader

You won’t find many kids a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. At least, not any that aren’t being slaughtered by Anakin Skywalker, retrieved for a bounty, or forced to podrace to escape child slavery. But Star Wars fans young and old have a new hope in Skeleton Crew, a weekly spin-off series from Disney+. Taking cues from recent nostalgia-fueled The Goonies (1985) knock-offs like Stranger Things and It (2017), this story provides a new angle on the Star Wars cinematic universe—one that puts childhood adventure front and center.

While Jedi-fied Jude Law has been the centerpiece of this show’s promotional material, the tweenaged ensemble cast, headed by Ravi Cabot-Conyers as Jedi-obsessed Wim and Ryan Kiera Armstrong as tough-talking Fern, steal the show. Along with technophile KB (Kyriana Kratter) and worrywart Neel (Robert T. Smith), the group of unlikely comrades discover a mysterious door in the woods that transports them far beyond their celestial neighborhood and calls into question everything they thought they knew about their home planet and their galaxy.

Skeleton Crew is one of the very few canonical offshoots set after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) and the fall of the First Order. Therefore, not only does this series put a unique focus on childhood in the Star Wars universe, but it also offers a glimpse into the political and criminal underworld of its new intergalactic democracy. Seasoned writers Christopher Ford, Jon Watts, and Myung Joh Wesner achieve this masterful world-building with refreshing subtly, charm, and humor. And this time, the punchlines aren’t (exclusively) delivered by a wisecracking android, a now well-worn Star Wars trope.

Whether Skeleton Crew will devolve into redundancy and needless exposition or be canceled before it reaches a satisfying conclusion—both unfortunate fates that have befallen recent Star Wars spin-off series—is anyone’s guess. But whether you’re a longtime fan or completely new to Star Wars, it’s worth sticking around to see. TV-PG, eight 30-45–minute episodes

Disney+

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Review: Carry-On – Chicago Reader

Jane Wells
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Review: Carry-On – Chicago Reader

As someone who used to work service industry jobs, there’s a looming dread about working around the holidays—high stress, large crowds, and a desire just to get out of there as quickly as possible without any issues. Carry-On takes this familiarly uncomfortable feeling and ramps it up tenfold, setting it at one of the worst places imaginable: the TSA line at LAX. Looks like we’ve got ourselves a new entrant into the “Is this a Christmas movie?” pantheon.

The already unpleasant situation is compounded further for our main character, Ethan (Taron Egerton), an aimless TSA agent who only the night before learned that his girlfriend, Nora (Sofia Carson), an airline employee, is pregnant. It’s a pleasant surprise but a rude awakening for the wannabe police officer, and Ethan takes the unexpected news as an opportunity to turn off cruise control, try to change his passive ways, and ask for a promotion. Granted a trial period for a role with more responsibility, Ethan is put in charge of scanning luggage on one of the security lines on Christmas Eve, one of the busiest travel days of the year. Unbeknownst to Ethan, his day is about to get a lot worse than having to deal with the umpteenth passenger who forgets to put their iPad in the bin: an unnamed mass murderer for hire (Jason Bateman) coerces him to let a passenger carrying a suitcase full of deadly nerve gas through, threatening his girlfriend with an ominous deal of “one bag, for one life.”While Carry-On is no Die Hard (1988), it mostly accomplishes what it sets out to do in creating an action-thriller that makes good use of a fun conceit. It’s a largely predictable film—a rudderless guy is thrust into action to save the day and realizes he just needed to believe in himself—that doesn’t do a whole lot to advance the genre and has an incomprehensibly bad CGI set piece, but it’s saved by its fun concept and an entertaining supporting cast. PG-13, 119 min.

Netflix

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Review: Nickel Boys

Nickel Boys, an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel, is a cinematic revolution.


Review: The Fire Inside

The Fire Inside is a dynamic and artistic telling of the story of real-life boxing legend Claressa “T-Rex” Shields.


Review: Skeleton Crew

Skeleton Crew provides a new angle on the Star Wars cinematic universe—one that puts childhood adventure front and center.


Review: Sweethearts

Sweethearts is a rom-com that unexpectedly goes its own way.


Review: Queer

Queer is a captivating adaptation of William S. Burroughs’s novella and a victory lap for filmmaker Luca Guadagnino.


Review: Creature Commandos

With Creature Commandos, James Gunn delivers another horny, blood-soaked adventure with heart.




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Review: The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

Jane Wells
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Review: The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

The IP-ification of the Lord of the Rings may have reached its apex with The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim. Sure, the Lord of the Rings is a beloved series that’s had its fair share of adaptations over the last half-century, but it’s only in the last decade that Hollywood has begun to mine the appendices of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels to churn out “content.” 

In theory, The War of Rohirrim’s novelty as an anime film set in the world of Middle Earth should help. But the film is so bound to Peter Jackson’s extremely successful adaptations of the novels from the early 2000s that it often seems like it may have been reverse-engineered from a checklist of callbacks.

While the use of Howard Shore’s score and voiceover from Miranda Otto as the character of Éowyn nicely tie The War of Rohirrim to Jackson’s trilogy, several plot points and dialogues too clearly echo that trilogy. Some lines of speech are awkwardly mangled to fit in keywords that will bring to mind lines from the original trilogy, and others are set so firmly in repeated plotlines that they haven’t changed at all. 

Adding to the narrative problems, the animation itself isn’t beautiful enough to make this undeniably unique project enjoyable as a work of pure visual art either. Nothing is distinct about the art style, and several moments include poorly integrated 3D elements. It doesn’t look bad, exactly, but it’s fair to expect more from a $30 million entry into one of the most lucrative franchises of all time. 

It’s unclear whether the film will play better with superfans who will recognize every callback or those for whom that relentless referencing won’t register, but it’s unlikely to play very well for anyone. PG-13, 134 min.

Wide release in theaters

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Nickel Boys, an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel, is a cinematic revolution.


Review: The Fire Inside

The Fire Inside is a dynamic and artistic telling of the story of real-life boxing legend Claressa “T-Rex” Shields.


Review: Skeleton Crew

Skeleton Crew provides a new angle on the Star Wars cinematic universe—one that puts childhood adventure front and center.


Review: Sweethearts

Sweethearts is a rom-com that unexpectedly goes its own way.


Review: Queer

Queer is a captivating adaptation of William S. Burroughs’s novella and a victory lap for filmmaker Luca Guadagnino.


Review: Creature Commandos

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Review: The Fire Inside – Chicago Reader

Jane Wells
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0
Review: The Fire Inside – Chicago Reader

The Fire Inside tells the story of real-life boxing legend Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, who became the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing. Written by Barry Jenkins (2016’s Moonlight) and directed by Rachel Morrison (cinematographer on 2017’s Mudbound and 2018’s Black Panther), the story follows Shields (Ryan Destiny) and coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry) from Flint, Michigan, to the Olympics and back again. Destiny shines in a dynamic role as a boxer, sister, and daughter. Henry is simply an outstanding actor, so at ease even when frustrated, and he centers the film while serving as an anchor in Shields’s life. The film follows a predictable course up to her winning the gold medal, but Jenkins’s script wisely does not end at the Olympics. It shows the aftermath, as the protagonists struggle to get endorsements for Shields from companies not ready to support women athletes—namely badass boxers—who do not fit their gender-biased expectations (gymnasts or beach volleyball players). Morrison approaches her feature directorial debut with an artistic eye, lingering on shots of life in impoverished Flint, the town a central character in itself. Some of the dialogue, however, is almost laugh-out-loud silly, and Jenkins did not take enough time to explain any intricacy of the sport or coaching. At one moment during a gold-medal Olympic fight, Shields says, “What do I do?” which undermines her ability. Shields’s lauded fight for equality for women boxers gets a one-off line and onscreen text at the end of the film. PG-13, 109 min.

Wide release in theaters

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Review: Nickel Boys

Nickel Boys, an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel, is a cinematic revolution.


Review: Skeleton Crew

Skeleton Crew provides a new angle on the Star Wars cinematic universe—one that puts childhood adventure front and center.


Review: Sweethearts

Sweethearts is a rom-com that unexpectedly goes its own way.


Review: Queer

Queer is a captivating adaptation of William S. Burroughs’s novella and a victory lap for filmmaker Luca Guadagnino.


Review: Creature Commandos

With Creature Commandos, James Gunn delivers another horny, blood-soaked adventure with heart.


Review: The Piano Lesson

The Piano Lesson is a hauntingly effective adaptation of the fourth play in August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle.




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Review: Nickel Boys – Chicago Reader

Jane Wells
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0
Review: Nickel Boys – Chicago Reader

Tell seasoned cinephiles that a newly emerged director has dared to shoot his first big studio movie from the first-person perspective, and you’ll catch deep skepticism. Like the second-person perspective in written fiction, it typically isn’t attempted, and for good reason; most efforts fail, written off rightly as loud novelty. But it’s possible to do it well—a scene here and there in RoboCop (1987) and Being John Malkovich (1999), and in the case of Russian Ark (2002), the whole damn thing works through the eyes of the main character, who happens to walk beautifully through a single 90-minute tracking shot.

Nickel Boys is something else entirely, a cinematic revolution. Adapted from the award-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, RaMell Ross has pushed the text into startling new territory by making it the substance of an original screen language. Such brazen methods were hinted at in Ross’s brilliant 2018 documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening, which forged a fresh kind of real-life folklore, but the stature and size of a film as comfortably avant-garde as Nickel Boys is sure to be more riling to the broader cultural world.

A tragic yet hopeful tale about two young Black men stuck unjustly at a brutal reform camp in the 1960s, it is a transformational sequence of compositions. The character’s eye paintings are full of clever reflections and stunningly informative details, punctuated by gorgeously innovative montages, jarring collages, and aggressively emotional sound design à la The Zone of Interest (2023). Ross, in introducing the movie at autumn film festivals, urged audiences to let go, which many viewers will struggle to do. Nickel Boys will give them none of their standard movie bearings, and plenty a set of cinematic sea legs could give way. My advice: no matter how wobbly you may feel, stand your way through this marvel. PG-13, 140 min.

Limited release in theaters

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Review: The Fire Inside

The Fire Inside is a dynamic and artistic telling of the story of real-life boxing legend Claressa “T-Rex” Shields.


Review: Skeleton Crew

Skeleton Crew provides a new angle on the Star Wars cinematic universe—one that puts childhood adventure front and center.


Review: Sweethearts

Sweethearts is a rom-com that unexpectedly goes its own way.


Review: Queer

Queer is a captivating adaptation of William S. Burroughs’s novella and a victory lap for filmmaker Luca Guadagnino.


Review: Creature Commandos

With Creature Commandos, James Gunn delivers another horny, blood-soaked adventure with heart.


Review: The Piano Lesson

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Tips come after catching PB ice-fishing crappie

Jane Wells
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0
Tips come after catching PB ice-fishing crappie

Ice fishing season brings some of the best eating fish in part because of the cold water.

Take the 13-inch crappie that Arden Katz caught Saturday from the T Channel on the Fox Chain O’Lakes. There’s a good big reason it’s pictured on newspaper on a cutting board.

“I never caught one that big through the ice and I’ve been fishing there 40 years,” he said.

He caught it on a glow Widowbread Widow Maker Lures tungsten jig and a wax worm. He jigs all the way down from the ice to the bottom.

“The crappies were all right under the ice,” he said.

Katz drilled a plethora of holes, 20 on Saturday, then hole hopped, catching fish from half the holes. He also uses a 3- to 4-foot fluorocarbon leader.

“I think I catch a lot more fish because of that,” he said.

FOTW, the celebration of big fish and their stories (the stories matter) around Chicago fishing, runs Wednesdays in the paper Sun-Times.

To make submissions, email ([email protected]) or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), X (@BowmanOutside), Instagram (@BowmanOutside) or Bluesky (@BowmanOutside.bsky.social).



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Chicago Christmas decorations show the cheerful, creative side of the city

Jane Wells
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0
Chicago Christmas decorations show the cheerful, creative side of the city

It’s that time of the year — when the temperature goes down and the holiday lights go up.

People from all over hit Chicago’s downtown for a glimpse of the Christmas tree in Millennium Park or the horns and window displays at Macy’s.

But every Chicagoan knows that there’s just as much holiday magic to be found in the city’s neighborhoods, where elaborate spooky decorations have been swapped for bright and colorful holiday displays.

This year, Sun-Times photographers visited several neighborhoods and caught some yuletide setups outside homes, where the holiday spirit is strong. You can swipe through these neighborhood galleries below.

This collection of photos will grow, so check back as we add more.

Want your neighborhood represented here? Send us photos of your favorite holiday displays to [email protected], and we’ll add them.

Happy holidays!

Rogers Park holiday decorations

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 1300 block of West Columbia Avenue in Rogers Park, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 1700 block of West Pratt Boulevard in Rogers Park, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 2200 block of West Lunt Avenue in Rogers Park, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Edgewater holiday decorations

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 1200 block of West Glenlake Avenue in Edgewater, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations located at the 1500 block of West Norwood Street in the Edgewater neighborhood, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations located at the 1400 block of West Hood Avenue in the Edgewater neighborhood, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Albany Park holiday decorations

Christmas decorations cover the front of two houses in the 3700 block of West Agatite Avenue in Albany Park on the Northwest Side, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024.

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Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times

A tunnel of Christmas lights in the 3700 block of West Agatite Avenue in Albany Park on the Northwest Side, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024.

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Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times

Christmas decorations in front of a house in the 3700 block of West Agatite Avenue in Albany Park on the Northwest Side, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024.

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Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times

Christmas decorations cover the front of two houses in the 3700 block of West Agatite Avenue in Albany Park on the Northwest Side, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024.

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Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times

Christmas decorations cover the front of two houses in the 3700 block of West Agatite Avenue in Albany Park on the Northwest Side, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024.

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Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times

Wicker Park holiday decorations

A home decorated for the holidays in the 1900 block of West Pierce Avenue in Wicker Park, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.

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Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

A home decorated for the holidays in the 2000 block of West Pierce Avenue in Wicker Park, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.

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Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

A home decorated for the holidays in the 1400 block of North Hoyne Avenue in Wicker Park, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.

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Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

A home decorated for the holidays in the 1400 block of North Hoyne Avenue in Wicker Park, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.

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Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Pilsen holiday decorations

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 1700 block of West 21st Street in Pilsen on the South Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 1800 block of West Cullerton Street in Pilsen on the South Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 1800 block of West Cullerton Street in Pilsen on the South Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 1500 block of West Cullerton Street in Pilsen on the South Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 1800 block of South Laflin Street in Pilsen on the South Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Little Village holiday decorations

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 2700 block of South Spaulding Avenue in Little Village on the Southwest Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 2600 block of South Homan Avenue in Little Village on the Southwest Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 2700 block of South Spaulding Avenue in Little Village on the Southwest Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 2700 block of South Sawyer Avenue in Little Village on the Southwest Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Bridgeport holiday decorations

A home with a large Santa Clause in the 1300 block of West 33rd Street in Bridgeport on the South Side, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

A home with a large Santa Clause in the 1300 block of West 33rd Street in Bridgeport on the South Side, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Douglas holiday decorations

A home on the 3800 block of South Calumet Avenue in Douglas, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

A home with Christmas decorations in the 3800 block of South Calumet Avenue in Douglas on the South Side, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Kenwood holiday decorations

A home with trees decorated with holiday lights at the corner of South Greenwood Avenue and East 49th Street in Kenwood on the South Side, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024.

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Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

A home with trees decorated with holiday lights at the corner of South Greenwood Avenue and East 49th Street in Kenwood on the South Side, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024.

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Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Morgan Park holiday decorations

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 10700 block of South Hoyne Avenue in Morgan Park on the Far South Side, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations located at the 2300 block of West 107th Place iin Morgan Park on the Far South Side, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024., Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Beverly holiday decorations

A home decked out with Christmas decorations located at the 9700 block of South Damen Avenue in the Beverly neighborhood, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 9700 block of South Damen Avenue in Beverly on the South Side, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Roseland holiday decorations

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 11000 block of South Eberhart Avenue in Roseland on the Far South Side, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 10700 block of South Prairie Avenue in Roseland on the Far South Side, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations located at the 10000 block of South Eberhart Avenue in Roseland on the Far South Side, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 10500 block of South Prairie Avenue in Roseland on the Far South Side, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 10000 block of South Eberhart Avenue in Roseland on the Far South Side, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Washington Heights holiday decorations

A home decked out with Christmas decorations located at the 10000 block of South Carpenter Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 10000 block of South Carpenter Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood on the Far South Side, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Pullman holiday decorations

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 11000 block of South Champlain Avenue in the Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A home decked out with Christmas decorations in the 11400 block of South Saint Lawrence Avenue in the Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times



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Ready, player? – Chicago Reader

Jane Wells
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Ready, player? – Chicago Reader

Whether you’re a fan of old tabletop games or role-playing mobile games, the American Writers Museum’s new exhibition “Level Up: Writers & Gamers” has something sure to interest you.

In honor of gaming surpassing the music and movie industries combined annual revenue, this exhibition showcases the evolution of game writing as a writing form, from the advent of Dungeons & Dragons to the recent developments of Baldur’s Gate 3 and other immersive gaming experiences.

“Level Up: Writers & Gamers”
Through 5/5/25: Thu–Mon 10 AM–5 PM, American Writers Museum, 180 N. Michigan, exhibits.americanwritersmuseum.org/exhibits/level-up, adults $16; seniors, students, and teachers $10; children under 12 free

Spanning two galleries, the show spotlights gaming writers who have built the industry into what it is today and explores how gaming ties into American history and literature. 

Gaming developers and writers featured include Monte Cook, who cocreated Dungeons & Dragons and designed games such as HeroClix and Numenera; Michael Pondsmith who created the tabletop roleplaying game Cyberpunk which was later adapted into Cyberpunk 2077; and Chicago native Tanya DePass who became popular from Twitch livestreaming and who created Into the Mother Lands.

On the wall is a timeline showing the year 2020 and with a bio and headshot of game creator Tanya DePass. Other events are displayed on the purple wall in a honeycomb pattern.
Visitors can explore a timeline in the Meijer Gallery, showcasing six writers, six tabletop games, and six video games from each decade since the 1970s.
Credit: American Writers Museum
An old D&D game is arrayed on a grey background. The cover, which is slightly open, revealing the game inside, shows a red dragon. The inside cover shows a blue dragon.
Dungeons & Dragons-themed artifacts, including this iconic Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (TSR, Inc.), on loan from the collection of William Meinhardt, are on view.
Credit: American Writers Museum

While being both informative and interactive, the history section explores the satanic panic of Dungeons & Dragons in the 80s; the video game audience rating system hearings from the 90s; and the recent GameStop short, before showing further developments of choice-driven and roleplaying games and the importance characters bring to the story.

The exhibition also highlights literature that contends with gaming in some shape or form, such as Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

“Level Up” proves to be a perfect time for fans of gaming, history, or literature to nerd out.

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Mayor among 4 people found shot dead in central Mexico; prominent vineyard owner killed in separate incident

Jane Wells
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Mayor among 4 people found shot dead in central Mexico; prominent vineyard owner killed in separate incident

A mayor in Mexico’s central San Luis Potosi state, who was a member of the ruling Morena party, was shot dead on Sunday along with three other people, local authorities said, while a prominent vineyard owner was murdered in another central region.

Jesus Eduardo Franco, mayor of Tancanhuitz municipality, and the three other victims were all found dead inside a vehicle, according to the state prosecutor’s office.

“We deeply regret the death of our colleague Eduardo Franco, municipal president of Tancanhuitz,” Morena party president Rita Rodriguez wrote on social media.

“We ask authorities to reach the ultimate consequences and find those responsible,” she added.

Politicians, particularly at the local level, frequently fall victim to bloodshed connected to corruption and the multibillion-dollar drugs trade. Earlier this month, a Mexican congressman who was a member of the ruling coalition was shot dead in coastal Veracruz state.

In October, a mayor was murdered and decapitated in the southern state of Guerrero. The next month, a former prosecutor and local police official was arrested in connection with the grisly killing.

Wine entrepreneur killed in central Mexico

Meanwhile, a prominent vineyard owner was murdered in Mexico’s Guanajuato state, a central region that has been plagued by violence linked to organized crime, authorities said Sunday.

Ricardo Vega was the owner of the Cuna de Tierra vineyard located in the town of Dolores Hidalgo.

“I deeply regret and strongly condemn the cowardly murder of Ricardo Vega,” Mauricio Trejo, mayor of the nearby city of San Miguel de Allende, posted on social network X. “Insecurity reigns in Guanajuato.”

Colonial-era San Miguel de Allende is part of an area rich in art and cultural festivals, where it is frequented by American tourists.

The Mexican Wine Council, an organization of the country’s vintners, expressed sadness over Vega’s death and described him as a “visionary leader and tireless defender of Mexican wine.”

Local newspaper A.M. reported that Vega was attacked Saturday by armed men as he drove his truck in the area. It said the killing was under investigation.

More than 450,000 people have been murdered and thousands have gone missing since the Mexican government deployed the army to combat drug trafficking in 2006, according to official figures.

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Three keys for Bears to upend Vikings on ‘Monday Night Football’

Jane Wells
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Three keys for Bears to upend Vikings on ‘Monday Night Football’

The Bears gave the Vikings a good run last time they played, losing in overtime three weeks ago at Soldier Field after quarterback Caleb Williams rallied them from 11 down with a minute left.

Nonetheless, they’re a touchdown-underdog Monday night for a reason. The Vikings have won six in a row and most recently demolished the Falcons 42-21 as Sam Darnold threw five touchdown passes, while the Bears were a disaster in their 38-13 loss to the 49ers.

There’s very little chance of the Bears pulling an upset, but here’s what they’d need for it to happen:

1. Keep Williams upright and comfortable
Williams has been sacked 56 times, by far the most in the NFL. The next-most is Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud at 41. Some of that is on him for not getting the ball out faster, but a lot of it is on the protection. The Bears are best served prioritizing protection, especially against blitz wizard Brian Flores, and seeing if Williams can make it work with fewer downfield receivers.

2. Force Darnold into turnovers
The Bears had some close calls in the last game against the Vikings, but weren’t able to get an interceptions or fumble recoveries off Darnold at Soldier Field. He finished with an efficient 330 yards and 116.1 passer rating, and if he’s in that ballpark again, there’s almost no shot the Bears can win.

3. Start strong
The Bears had one of their worst starts last week. They punted 5 of 5 times in the first half against the 49ers, and four of those were three-and-outs. The opponent almost always scores first on the Bears, and often the early deficit forces them to shift into desperation mode way too soon. That makes the play-calling relatively one-dimensional in favor of passing and puts Williams in a bad situation. An early lead, even by a little, would open things up for him and the offense at large.



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