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Horoscope for Friday, December 13, 2024

Moon Alert

Avoid shopping or important decisions from 6 a.m. to noon Chicago time. After that, the Moon moves from Taurus into Gemini.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

A positive day

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After the moon alert today, you’ll have lots of mental energy to get things done. Furthermore, in negotiations with others you’ll be proactive, confident and courageous. Your decision-making instincts will be excellent. Good day to learn something new.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

An average day

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Wait until after the moon alert is over to make financial decisions today. These decisions might concern purchasing something or figuring out a way to boost your earnings? Either way, you will be energetic, but you might be impulsive. Make sure you don’t do something you regret later.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

A positive day

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After the moon alert is over today, the moon moves into your sign, which will make you more emotional than usual; however, it will also slightly boost your good luck! That means today is a good day to ask the universe for a favor. It’s also a great day for a short trip.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

An average day

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You’re happy you’re working alone today, especially after the moon alert is over. Nevertheless, you will still be active pulling strings behind the scenes. Be patient with delays, mistakes and mixed-up communications at work because Mercury retrograde is doing the nasty.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)

A positive day

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Conversations with friends and members of groups will be dynamic today, especially after the moon alert. Relations with partners and spouses are smooth and supportive. Nevertheless, minor disputes with old flames and situations about sports, kids and social outings might occur. (Ouch.)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

A positive day

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After the moon alert today, you’re high visibility! People will notice you more than usual. In fact, some will know personal details about your private life. (Does this require some damage control?) Fortunately, relations with coworkers are positive. In fact, a work-related romance could begin. (Be patient with family.)

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

An average day

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Avoid important decisions this morning during the moon alert today. Afterward, you want to get outta Dodge. You need a change of scenery. In discussions with others, you will be persuasive in stating your views. Pay attention to everything you do to avoid accidents. Easy does it.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

An average day

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Postpone financial decisions today until after the moon alert is over. Discussions about shared property, taxes and insurance issues will be energetic. However, they might also benefit home and family. Meanwhile, avoid disputes that might arise. (It was ever thus.)

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

An average day

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Be prepared to go more than halfway when dealing with others because after the moon alert today, the moon will be opposite your sign. (That’s just how things work.) Discussions with partners and friends will be lively and friendly, as long as you are cooperative.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

An average day

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You have strong opinions today when it comes to your health and wellness. You might even share these ideas with others. Because you have a lot of energy, use today to resolve minor issues with coworkers. Take a look at your routine to see how you might improve it. Nurture yourself.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

A positive day

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This is a playful and creative day for you! Anyone involved in creative projects can be productive today. In fact, after the moon alert is over, you’ll be gung-ho talking to family members, especially parents. You’re excited about something — but it might be a secret.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)

A positive day

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Today holds mixed messages for you. In one way, you’re out there flying your colors. No question. And yet, after the moon alert is over today, you might want to hide at home (with good food and drink). Do whatever makes you feel happy.

If your birthday is today

Singer, songwriter Taylor Swift (1989) shares your birthday. You are a private person who likes to help others. You are hard-working, imaginative and an excellent problem solver. This is a year of service for you, perhaps service to family. Therefore, take good care of yourself so you can be a resource. Friends and family will help you.

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Man fatally shot in Logan Square bar

A man was shot to death Thursday night in a bar in Logan Square.

The 38-year-old was inside the business about 7:45 p.m. in the 4000 block of West Fullerton Avenue when another man shot him multiple times, according to Chicago police.

The man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

The gunman fled the scene.



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Blackhawks fail to capitalize on scoring first again in loss to Islanders

ELMONT, N.Y. — Scoring first hasn’t been a problem for the Blackhawks this season, but maintaining momentum after doing so has been.

That was the case under ex-coach Luke Richardson, and it was again Thursday under interim coach Anders Sorensen in a 5-4 loss to the Islanders.

Connor Bedard gave the Hawks an early lead, marking the 18th time in 29 games they’ve gone up 1-0 — the most in the NHL. But the Islanders ripped off five consecutive goals before holding on for the win, dropping the Hawks to 8-8-2 when scoring first and 9-18-2 overall.

“We were in the game up until the 10-minute mark of the second period, and [then we] started getting away from things,” forward Tyler Bertuzzi said. “It carried on to the third, and we can’t let that happen.”

The Hawks were not only in the game but actually controlling play before a goaltender inference penalty against Philipp Kurashev led to the Islanders’ tying goal. That flipped the mood entirely, and the hosts subsequently blew things wide open with three goals less than three minutes apart in the third period — chasing Hawks goalie Arvid Soderblom, who had a rough night.

Bertuzzi scored twice in the final 70 seconds to make the final score look more respectable, and Bedard also tallied two assists during the late-game rally.

The 19-year-old star now touts five points in three games under Sorensen, and his goal Thursday came off a slick move and an even prettier shot that will air on repeat in his highlight reels for a while. It was an encouraging sign about his rebounding confidence.

Another encouraging sign was the scoring-chance totals during five-on-five play: 28 for the Hawks, 13 for the Islanders. That marked the Hawks’ largest positive differential of the season, and it came on the heels of another strong performance Monday against the Islanders.

Sorensen’s systems worked well overall despite the poor goaltending, even though the coach wasn’t thrilled after the game.

“We did some good things, but then again, the mental lapses we had there in the second and in the third [are] something we’ve got to clean up,” Sorensen said. “We’re all aware of what we need to do here. It’s just a matter of working through it. Last game was a step forward, and then [this was] a little step back.”

Commesso debuts

Hawks goalie prospect Drew Commesso had been preparing all week to make his NHL debut during the Hawks’ back-to-back set this weekend, but his arrival came earlier than expected.

Emotions of “excitement and joy” ran through Commesso’s head when Sorensen signaled he would replace Soderblom for the final 12 minutes Thursday. He ended up facing only two shots, stopping both.

The 22-year-old Massachusetts native has struggled in the AHL this fall, but his success for three years at Boston University and last season with Rockford represent a much larger sample size. He’ll make his first NHL start either Saturday at the Devils or Sunday at home against this same Islanders team.

Injury updates

Veteran defenseman Alec Martinez — who was previously deemed day-to-day with a neck injury — left midway through practice Wednesday, left the Hawks’ road trip and flew back to Chicago for further evaluation. Sorensen resisted admitting Martinez suffered a setback, but it seems like he did.

Seth Jones seems to be getting closer to returning to the lineup. Sorensen said Jones will skate “in the next few days.” It has been a little over three weeks since he was ruled out for four weeks with a foot injury.



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CPS officials propose saving 5 Acero charter schools

A top Chicago Public Schools official is recommending closing only two of the seven Acero charter campuses slated to shut down then considering whether to take over the other five schools in two years, arguing that could minimize the effects on families while erasing the charter organization’s financial deficit.

That path was one of five options that CPS leaders presented to Board of Education members Thursday for how to address the proposed closings. Others included the school district taking over the operations of the publicly funded but privately managed charter schools, letting all of them close or providing more funding to keep all seven schools open for at least two more years.

Several board meetings have been packed with Acero parents, students and staff decrying the closings — which would be Chicago’s largest since 50 were shuttered in 2013 — and asking the district to intervene.

School board members have also been highly critical of Acero — to the point that the charter network threatened legal action against the board last week for “defamatory” and “reckless” comments.

The board has demanded that CPS leaders come up with alternative solutions to the cited financial troubles of the Acero charter network.

But the Acero closings have become key fodder in the ongoing strife between Mayor Brandon Johnson and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, and Johnson’s handpicked board removed a CPS presentation of various solutions from a meeting agenda last month, frustrating district officials. That presentation happened at Thursday’s meeting instead.

“What we have heard from the families is that we should not close the campuses,” senior CPS official Alfonso Carmona told the Board of Education. “So when I think about [allowing Acero to close all seven schools] — the option we have historically done in the past for charter schools — that’s an option that honestly, in my opinion, should be taken out of the equation.”

But Acero’s projected financial deficits that have been cited in the decision to close the schools do require action, Carmona said.

Absorbing the schools into CPS could cost up to $28 million, he said. Alternatively, giving Acero more cash to keep running all seven would take around $3.2 million. But that would be a temporary solution for just one year, and it would create precedent that CPS would step in to provide more funding to charter operators facing financial hardship, officials said.

So Carmona recommended allowing the closure of the Paz campus in Little Village, a 98-student elementary school, and Cruz, a K-12 school in Rogers Park with 542 children. Carmona said those two schools are chief contributors to Acero’s projected financial deficit, which he predicted might entirely disappear if they closed. Under this plan, CPS would provide Acero with little to no additional money to keep operating the other five schools for two years then consider taking them over in 2026.

It’s unclear whether Acero officials would agree to any of these plans. CPS and the school board don’t have the authority to force Acero to keep its schools open. But officials from both the district and charter operator have expressed a willingness to work together to find a solution.

The Board of Education didn’t vote on any of the five paths forward, but a few board members said they’d like to move quickly.



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Bears seal property tax deal with school districts around potential Arlington Heights stadium

Northwest suburban school board leaders on Thursday approved a property tax agreement that clears the Chicago Bears’ running lane toward a potential new stadium in Arlington Heights, though the team insists their drive for a dome is still focused on the lakefront.

Board members of Arlington Heights-based Township High School District 214 and Palatine-based Township High School District 211 approved the memorandum of understanding to lower the Bears’ property tax bill on the former Arlington International Racecourse for at least the next three years as the team mulls the location of its future home.

Those districts’ votes followed approvals earlier in the week from Arlington Heights’ Village Board and Palatine’s Community Consolidated School District 15, sealing a deal that’ll have the Bears pay $3.6 million in taxes on the old racetrack site through 2027.

The team had been at loggerheads with the school districts over the property tax number for about a year, a stalemate that shifted the team’s stadium drive back toward the Museum Campus.

They closed on the $197.2 million purchase of Arlington Park last year, eventually getting tagged with a $9 million property tax bill based on a $124.7 valuation from the Cook County Board of Review.

The team appealed for a lower valuation that would’ve resulted in a $1.7 million tax bill, but the three suburban schools districts — the biggest beneficiary of those taxes — intervened to try to raise that to $5 million.

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s office still has to approve the negotiated figure of $3.6 million, while the team is still expected to pay $8.9 million on its 2023 bill.

Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes helped mediate the agreement that doesn’t mean the Bears will end up in the suburbs — but could end up making it the Bears’ smoothest transition out of Soldier Field.

“This is just another step in the process, but it really is a significant step. It really gets us forward to further exploration and discussion in the hope of making a new Bears stadium in Arlington Heights a reality,” Hayes said Monday.

A Bears spokesman reiterated the team’s stance that even with the suburban property tax certainty, they “remain focused on investing over $2 billion to build a publicly owned enclosed stadium on Chicago’s lakefront while reevaluating the feasibility of a development in Bronzeville.”

That means they’re still pushing for a $4.7 billion dome just south of Soldier Field, where they’re under lease through 2033. But their glitzy lakeside proposal released in the spring would require upwards of a billion dollars in public funding that state lawmakers so far have uniformly rejected.

Elected officials have given a warmer reception to the possibility of the Bears developing Bronzeville’s former Michael Reese Hospital site. Bears President Kevin Warren previously dismissed it as too narrow for an NFL stadium, but the team shifted course last month to say they’re reconsidering it.



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Top-ranked Kenwood holds off Simeon in a sold-out thriller

There isn’t a lot of Public League basketball history in Kenwood’s second-floor gym on 50th and Blackstone. The Broncos had good teams over the years and produced NBA player Nazr Mohammed. But Kenwood has never won a city title and is primarily known for academics.

Kenwood principal Karen Calloway divided her time at the school on Thursday night between an orchestra performance and the hot, sold-out gym teeming with life and high-level basketball. It was top-ranked Kenwood vs. No. 5 Simeon, a matchup so enticing that Antoine Walker, Talen Horton-Tucker, Dalen Terry and Matas Buzelis stopped in to watch and waited through an hour-long delay for the game to start.

The man who brought the talent to Kenwood, former coach Mike Irvin, was sitting at half-court. He had better seats than Buzelis and Terry. Irvin has stuck with his former team, cheering them on at every game.

Simeon had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but Julien Doyle’s difficult three-pointer didn’t fall and Kenwood held on to a 58-55 win.

The Broncos were led by an unlikely hero, senior TJ Seals. The 6-5 transfer from Johnson has acclimated to major Public League basketball unusually quickly. He scored 13 points in the first quarter and finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

“That was my first time playing [Simeon],” Seals said. “We didn’t give up, we fought. I was getting frustrated because [Devin Cleveland and Amari Edwards] were cold and I just had to take over.

Edwards scored 12 points and Cleveland added nine.

“I was rushing it,” Cleveland said. “I didn’t let the game come to me. I knew TJ Seals was going to come through. He just makes all the winning plays, him and Chris Watkins. They do all the dirty work we need, diving on the floor and getting the rebounds. [Seals] was the leader today. He put us on his back.”

Kenwood (6-0, 3-0 Red Shield) led 18-10 after one quarter. Simeon (4-1, 2-1) dominated the second quarter, holding the Broncos to just one basket and two free throws. The second half went back and forth, with Kenwood’s depth shining through.

“Seals was huge,” Kenwood coach Joseph Mason said. “Everything he did, from rebounding to being big in the post, really helped ignite the team and get us going. Which we needed.”

Watkins, senior Aleks Alston (six points, eight rebounds) and sophomore Damari Stephens each made key plays. Simeon led 49-46 with 3:32 remaining. Cleveland tied the game with a three-pointer that ignited a 10-3 burst that was capped with a stunning dunk from Alston, off a Cleveland assist.

Alston was a key member of last year’s star-studded Kenwood team that suffered through high expectations and a controversial end to the season.

“To be honest, I felt ok with [starting the season] as an underdog,” Alston said. “We needed that. It was a slap in the face with reality. No one believed in us and while they didn’t believe in us we were up early in the morning working on our game, working as a team and building a relationship with each other.”

Senior Lorenzo Shields led the Wolverines with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Julien Doyle added 17 points and five rebounds and junior Kamari Hamlin added nine points off the bench.

Simeon junior Andre Tyler sat for most of the second quarter after picking up two fouls and never got into the flow of the game, finishing with just two points on a steal and dunk midway through the fourth quarter.

“The Public League is a different beast,” Mason said. “You have to be ready mentally and physically for that battle. Our guys really responded. We’ve been talking about having that mental toughness, not just physical toughness.”



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‘Carry-On’: Remove your shoes, pour some liquids for an exciting TSA thriller

The tightly spun and thoroughly entertaining Netflix holiday thriller “Carry-On” had a reported budget of about $47 million, which is about a quarter of what it cost to make the bloated and star-studded and instantly forgettable likes of the Netflix mega-movies “Red Notice” and “The Gray Man,” and maybe there’s a lesson here and maybe not.

I’ll take four movies like “Carry-On” over another “Red Notice” any day. Give me a taut, crisply written, well-acted, character-driven suspense story over yet another impressively mounted but empty-calorie international thriller with superstars mugging and quipping their way through a low-stakes story filled with CGI and swooshing drone shots.

Not that I’m saying “Carry-On” will dazzle you with its creativity. It’s more like a blend of similar movies in the genre:

  • With the action taking place on Christmas Eve and the airport as the primary setting for a game of cat and mouse between a guy with a badge but limited authority who winds up in the wrong place at the wrong time, and a terrorist threatening to kill hundreds if his demands aren’t met, it’s reminiscent of “Die Hard 2” from 1990.
  • The story is laced with tense and ongoing conversations between the earpiece-wearing TSA Officer Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) and a twisted mastermind (played by Jason Bateman) on the other end of the line who plays mind games with Ethan, ridicules him for lacking the courage to try to make something of himself, and threatens to kill Ethan or someone close to him if he doesn’t follow orders. Much like the framework of the 2002 psychological thriller “Phone Booth.”
  • Certain elements (that we won’t reveal) of “Carry-On” reminded me of the 2005 Cillian Murphy-Rachel McAdams film “Red Eye.”

The opening sequence of “Carry-On” even has a bit of a “Lethal Weapon” vibe, with the same Los Angeles setting but Springsteen’s “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” on the soundtrack instead of Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock.” As was the case with “Lethal Weapon,” there’s a mysterious and violent episode, and then we cut to a scene of domestic bliss and celebration as morning breaks. Ethan and his girlfriend Nora (Sofia Carson), the director of airport operations for the fictional Northwind Airlines at Los Angeles International Airport, have just learned they’re having a baby. The happy couple even gets to ride together to work, as they’ll both be on duty on this Christmas Eve.

Inspired by Nora to take some initiative and not just coast on the job, Ethan lobbies his supervisor, Senior TSO Phil Sarkowski (a perfectly cast Dean Norris), for a promotion, and Sarkowski reluctantly agrees to give Ethan a stint “on the machine,” i.e., monitoring the X-ray scanner for all carry-on items on the conveyer belt. Ethan has just settled in for the long day when a passenger hands him an earpiece she found in a bin. Seconds later, Ethan receives text messages from a restricted number instructing him to put the device in his right ear — and that puts him in contact with the Traveler (Jason Bateman), who says, “Ethan, today is a day you’re going to remember for a very long time, but if you handle it right, you’re gonna have a chance to forget it. One bag, for one life. That’s the deal, that’s what’s going to happen.”

Traveler assigns Ethan a simple task: An associate of his will be going through Ethan’s station in a few moments, carrying a suitcase containing something that will be flagged by the scanner. All Ethan has to do is … nothing. If he allows the passenger through, no one will get hurt. If he doesn’t, if he tries to contact anyone on his phone or signal to a colleague in any manner, people will die.

That’s your movie right there. At first, we wonder why Traveler wouldn’t just transport this bag in a vehicle, but the screenplay by T.J. Fixman eventually addresses that issue in plausible fashion. As Ethan and the Traveler engage in psychological and even physical warfare, we follow the parallel machinations of Theo Rossi’s Watcher, a tech expert and sniper who at one point trains a laser square onto Nora’s forehead, and Danielle Deadwyler’s L.A. Police Detective Elena Cole, who has the familiar role of the That One Cop Who Believes the Threat is Real.

As you might expect, some of the plot developments stretch credulity as the body count begins to pile up. Still, director Jaume Collet-Serra does a fine job of handling the balance between exposition and action sequences, while the behind-the-scenes machinations of the TSA come across as authentic, and Taron Egerton makes for a likable regular guy who can also run through airports and pull off some ingenious moves against that dastardly Traveler guy. “Carry-On” is a sharp, smallish thriller with some big and satisfying payoffs.



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Biden commutes sentences of two Illinois mega-fraudsters

A disgraced ex-municipal comptroller who embezzled nearly $54 million from her northwest Illinois city received a commutation from President Joe Biden on Thursday, wiping out about four years in a residential reentry program remaining on her sentence for the staggering financial crime.

Former Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell was among a record-high 1,499 people to receive commutations in a single day from the outgoing president, a list that also included another infamous Illinois fraudster: Eric Bloom, who bilked investors out of more than $665 million in the biggest financial fraud case ever tried in Chicago.

Bloom, formerly of Northbrook, had another year-and-a-half to go on his reentry program until the wave of commutations from the White House, which focused on criminals who had been released from prison and placed on home confinement early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden also pardoned 39 people, including a clean slate for one Illinoisan: 51-year-old Diana Bazan Villanueva of La Grange, convicted of a non-violent drug crime when she was in her 20s.

“In the years since, Ms. Villanueva has been a dedicated mother to her children and has worked in payroll and accounts,” the White House said in a statement. “Ms. Villanueva also regularly volunteers at school events, fundraisers, and annual autism-related charitable events. Friends and coworkers uniformly praise Ms. Villanueva and describe her as warm, reliable, and always eager to help.”

Villanueva couldn’t be reached for comment.

Pardons — a power granted presidents and typically exercised late in their terms — clear a person’s criminal record. Commutations reduce sentences but don’t exonerate people of crimes.

The White House didn’t elaborate on the commutations for Crundwell or Bloom.

Dixon Mayor Glen Hughes said “most of the city is probably stunned, and maybe even angry, that President Biden would provide clemency to Rita Crundwell, the perpetrator of probably the largest municipal misappropriations of funds in U.S. history.”

“The Crundwell incident is one that the City would like to move past,” Hughes said in an email. “Although today’s news will be a dark moment in Dixon’s history, Dixon has recovered very nicely both financially, and developmentally, from the Crundwell days.”

Crundwell, 71, captured national headlines for her brazen misconduct at the expense of taxpayers in Dixon, a city of 15,000 about 100 miles west of Chicago.

She was handed a 19-year sentence in 2013 after pleading guilty to stealing more $53.7 million from Dixon while serving as comptroller between 1990 and 2011, siphoning roughly $2.5 million per year from city accounts to her own.

The windfall funded a championship-winning horse breeding business, classic cars and a lavish lifestyle for Crundwell, who also bought a house in Florida and four dozen trucks.

Rita Crundwell posing with her horse, Pizzazzy Lady, at the 2011 American Quarter Horse Association World Championship Show in Oklahoma City.

Rita Crundwell posing with her horse, Pizzazzy Lady, at the 2011 American Quarter Horse Association World Championship Show in Oklahoma City.

By the time she was sentenced, the feds had recovered about $12.4 million for Dixon, the childhood hometown of President Ronald Reagan.

Before she was released from the medium-security federal prison in downstate Pekin in 2021, Crundwell wrote in a letter seeking compassionate release that she “had several offers for books and movies. My reply has always been I would not speak to anyone until I was released and any remuneration would go first to the city of Dixon.”

Bloom defrauded investors

Bloom, 59, got a 14-year sentence in 2015 for wire and investment advisor fraud as head of Sentinel Management Group Inc., which used customers’ money to take out a massive loan for Bloom’s own risky portfolio, which crashed.

Bloom strung along key investors in 2003 by artificially boosting their returns at the expense of less favored clients, costing them all more than half a billion dollars by the time the scheme fell apart in 2007.

Eric Bloom leaves the Dirksen Federal Building after being found guilty in 2014.

Eric Bloom leaves the Dirksen Federal Building after being found guilty in 2014.

Michael Schmidt/Sun-Times Media

Prosecutors declared it the largest financial fraud case ever prosecuted in Chicago’s federal court.

Before the commutations, Crundwell and Bloom were registered at residential reentry management field offices — better known as halfway houses — in Downers Grove and Miami, respectively, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons, but it wasn’t clear where either has been living.

Crundwell previously suggested she could live with her brother on his farm in Dixon.

The Biden administration granted thousands of prisoners compassionate release early in the pandemic to help slow the spread of the virus in prisons, which proved to be major vectors for COVID.

Before Thursday’s record-setting 1,538 clemency grants, the previous high was set by former President Barack Obama in 2017, when he pardoned or commuted sentences for 330 people.

Biden could grant more clemency petitions before his term ends next month.

Contributing: Associated Press



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Take action to keep dangerous delta-8 products away from kids

State leaders got another signal last week to take action against delta-8 THC products that have been blamed for sickening a growing number of people, especially children, here and elsewhere.

Generally sold in smoke shops, gas stations and convenience stores, delta-8 THC and other synthetic hemp-derived compounds that are meant to produce a high are often in copycat snack products that especially appeal to young people. And nationwide, they’re blamed for hundreds of what the Food and Drug Administration calls “adverse events” — hallucinations, vomiting, anxiety, dizziness, confusion, loss of consciousness and other symptoms — in people who have consumed them.

What happened Dec. 3 at a Rogers Park elementary school hasn’t been linked directly, at least publicly, to delta-8. But the incident, in which three children were hospitalized after becoming sickened by eating “gummy edibles,” is the latest in a string of similar cases, including one high-profile incident last year in which five Chicago high school students had to be hospitalized after ingesting gummies linked to a neighborhood smoke shop and suspected of containing delta-8. And Lurie Children’s Hospital has seen a spike in emergency room visits involving children with possible delta-8 related symptoms, according to Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), whose ward is home to Lurie’s.

“There’s no readily available test for it, [and] kids don’t want to tell parents what they took,” Hopkins told the editorial board at a meeting last month. “It’s happening at increasing rates.”

A September study in the Journal of Medical Toxicology, based on calls to poison control centers across the country, found that more than half of those exposed to the alarming rise in delta-8 THC exposures were children and teens. Nearly 1 in 3 exposures involved a child younger than 6 years old.

The Food and Drug Administration in October issued a warning about the risk to children of copycat food products that include delta-8, and the agency received over 300 adverse event reports on delta-8 between Jan. 1, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2023. The FDA warned about the health risks of these products three years ago, around the same time the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that delta-8 products are often mislabeled and are not tested for contaminants.

No wonder, then, that some elected leaders in Illinois have called — rightly, in our view — for reining in, even banning, the sales of delta-8 THC products. Already, 14 states have adopted such a ban; seven states have opted for tighter regulation.

In October, Rolling Meadows became the latest in a string of about 10 Chicago-area suburbs to ban delta-8. Rolling Meadows also passed a resolution calling for state action on the matter.

Put children’s health first

Gov. JB Pritzker and lawmakers should follow Rolling Meadows and other suburbs and states: Take action, to protect public health.

Why should unregulated products that both the FDA and CDC have called health risks, that have been nicknamed “CBD on crack” and “diet weed,” and that are often found to be contaminated, remain freely available and easily purchased by minors?

The answer: They shouldn’t.

A bill that passed the Illinois Senate last spring but stalled in the Illinois House would have limited hemp-derived THC sales to state-licensed cannabis dispensaries, which go through a rigorous licensing process. The measure was sponsored by state Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Hillside, who said the proposal “showed the dire need to regulate the hemp industry before we lose yet another young life to these pervasive products.”

Reviving Lightford’s bill is one option for lawmakers and the governor to consider when the Legislature reconvenes.

State Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, who opposed the Lightford bill, pushed a competing measure that would limit sales to people 21 or older, require manufacturers to undergo product testing to obtain $500 licenses, impose a 10% tax rate on sellers and allow current sellers to stay in the market.

We’re mindful of the need to protect and promote businesses in our state, but not at the price of allowing unregulated products to stay on the market.
Tight regulation sounds sensible, but would be a nightmare from a practical, science-based perspective, we’re told. Regulate them how, when chemists can tweak compounds and there are no reference standards for those synthetic compounds on which to base regulations, one chemist, who views delta-8 and similar products as “synthetic designer drugs,” explained.

Sales of unregulated delta-8 products at smoke shops and the like, we’re told, has cut into the business of licensed dispensaries that must adhere to tight regulations.

Politicians have had the delta-8 problem on their radar for several years. It’s time for action, not more talk.

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Prosecutors building case against suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s murder

Prosecutors building case against suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s murder – CBS News

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Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have already begun presenting evidence to a grand jury in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, sources familiar with the case told CBS News on Thursday. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she expects to see the suspect, Luigi Mangione, indicted soon. Lilia Luciano reports.

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