Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: The rush to get Chicago police officer Krystal Rivera to a hospital was apparently delayed three critical minutes after she was shot by her partner, Carlos Baker, our new analysis shows.
🗞️ Plus: “Broadview Six” charges are dropped in a stunning hearing, how Chicago is preparing for the Ebola virus and more news you need.
✍️ Programming note: We’ll be back in your inbox Monday morning with a special holiday edition of this newsletter.
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⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER ☁️
Mostly cloudy with a high near 66.
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Frantic search for car keys delayed medical care for mortally shot cop, video shows
By Peter Nickeas, Casey Toner and Tom Schuba
Care delay: The frenzied attempt to rush wounded Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera to a hospital was apparently delayed almost three critical minutes after she was shot by her partner, Officer Carlos Baker, according to an Illinois Answers Project and Sun-Times analysis of newly released records.
Body cam footage: Body-worn camera footage, obtained through a public records request, shows that officers lost more than a minute as they struggled to find the keys to the police SUV into which they had loaded Rivera, then waited as parked cars were cleared from the street.
Key context: That confusion came after Baker took cover in a stairwell for more than 90 seconds after shooting Rivera during a foot chase into a Chatham apartment building in June. Rivera’s family has sued the city, saying Baker shouldn’t have been allowed to remain a cop after racking up a lengthy complaint history. Her relatives also say Baker “left her to die” because of a romantic relationship Rivera had broken off.
IMMIGRATION ✶
‘Broadview 6′ charges dropped as federal prosecutor admits case was tainted
By Jon Seidel
Broadview nixed: Chicago’s top federal prosecutor announced the permanent dismissal Thursday of charges against four remaining members of the “Broadview Six” in a stunning hearing that revealed apparent misconduct by his staff before a grand jury during “Operation Midway Blitz.”
Inside the courtroom: U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros made the highly unusual announcement hours after a closed-door meeting about redactions prosecutors made to a set of grand jury transcripts. The Midway Blitz case has now become the most controversial prosecution of Boutros’ 14-month tenure.
Key context: With Thursday’s dismissals, 24 of 33 people charged with federal non-immigration crimes tied to the Trump administration’s Midway Blitz campaign have been cleared. Four people have struck deals to have their cases dismissed. Two have pleaded guilty.
More on Midway Blitz:
- A Cook County judge on Thursday refused to install a special prosecutor to probe alleged crimes stemming from Midway Blitz. A coalition of elected officials, clergy, journalists and attorneys had argued an outside lawyer was needed because Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke ignored “egregious acts of violence” by federal agents
- A 21-year-old Chicagoan has been charged with assaulting a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent with his car last October in Brighton Park. Officials say he rammed his SUV into the back of a pickup truck driven by an ICE agent.
HEALTH 🩺
How Chicago is preparing for Ebola
By Kristen Schorsch
Bracing for worst: A decade ago, Chicago developed a response playbook during an Ebola outbreak in west Africa. As the deadly virus surges in the Democratic Republic of Congo, public health leaders and infectious diseases specialists are preparing for everything from where in Chicago to send patients who develop symptoms to how to get travelers safely through O’Hare airport.
Low risk locally: There are no confirmed Ebola cases here, according to the city’s health department. Flights that include passengers who have recently traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda or South Sudan are being rerouted by the federal government to the Washington, D.C., area.
How we’re prepped: Ever since the 2014 Ebola outbreak led Chicago to create a plan in case a contagion arrives, public health and hospital leaders routinely meet to share intel. The plan includes sending anyone with Ebola symptoms to two designated hospitals, Rush University Medical Center for adult patients and Lurie near downtown for children.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- Fire deaths ruled homicides: Officials ruled the deaths of 8-year-old Royalty Ratler, her 15-year-old brother, and foster parents Reginald Lee Wilson and Lisa Brown as homicides in a house fire being investigated as arson. “They took my cousin’s life for nothing, and all she tried to do was be a good parent to her foster children,” one family member said.
- Fundraiser launched for slain teen: Damarion Johnson, 18, was shot and killed in an East Garfield Park double murder earlier this month along with his Uber driver, Jassen Cho.
- Mayor’s Springfield impact: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s last-minute effort to keep the Bears from leaving Chicago has pulled support from an essential megaprojects proposal that would help keep the team in Illinois, the bill’s top Senate sponsor said.
- New housing: The Chicago Plan Commission approved development proposals that would bring 313 units to McKinley Park and Avondale.
- Memorial Day travel: Chicago is expected to have one of its busiest-ever Memorial Day travel weekends, with the city estimating more than 2 million passengers at O’Hare and Midway airports. About 8.5 million vehicles are projected to travel on Illinois tollways.
ARTS AND CULTURE 🎨
- Goodbye to ‘The Chi’: TV’s longest-running scripted Black drama presented a multifaceted look at Chicago while providing a platform for new and veteran talent. Ahead of the final season’s premiere Friday, the Sun-Times spoke with the show’s creator, Chicago native Lena Waithe, and its cast.
- Sueños Music Fest returns: Running Saturday and Sunday, J Balvin, Kali Uchis, Danny Ocean, Fuerza Regida, Yandel and Ryan Castro headline this major celebration of Latin music.
- Artist’s hometown exhibit: Fresh off designing the cover for the Rolling Stones’ new album, ex-Robert Taylor Homes resident Nathaniel Mary Quinn has opened his first solo exhibit in Chicago at the National Public Housing Museum. It runs through Aug. 23.
- Colbert’s last ‘Late Show’: For his final “The Late Show” episode, Stephen Colbert gave viewers a well thought out goodbye presented as a slice of ordinary that gradually, elaborately and gloriously went off the rails, writes Darel Jevens in a recap for the Sun-Times.
- Taste of Chicago: Common, Beach Bunny, Julieta Venegas and Babyface are among headliners announced for the festival, which runs July 8-12 in Grant Park and features more than 80 food vendors.
- Things to do May 22-27: “Persistent Spring,” A$AP Rocky and “Pokémon Fossil Museum” at the Field Museum are among the highlights in the week ahead.
ON WBEZ 91.5 FM 📻
In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons, 9 a.m.
- Weekly news recap: The Sun-Times’ Robert Herguth, WTTW’s Nick Blumberg and Better Government Association’s David Greising recap the week’s news.
Say More with Mary Dixon and Patrick Smith, 10 a.m.
- Community safety: Ahead of the summer season, when gun violence usually increases, Emmanuel Andre, Chicago’s deputy mayor for community safety, shares his vision of safety. Callers weigh in.
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏀⚾
- Sky strong on defense: The team has a top-five defensive rating so far. The rest of the league underestimated them, but now that other teams know, will the Sky survive opponents’ adjustments?
- Sox’ tallstop?: At 6-3, Colson Montgomery is three inches taller than the average shortstop — and putting up impressive numbers in the field.
- Cubs column: The North Siders just might find a cure for what ails them this weekend against the Astros, writes Gordon Edes.
- High school baseball: Taft beat Young to win the Public League baseball title at Wrigley Field, the school’s first baseball title sine the 1960s.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 10A: Dino like the Field Museum’s Sue
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Rapper Heavy Crownz plants seeds for Englewood’s future
By Mark Braboy
Walking down 64th Street toward Honore Street, before anything, you notice the long rows of colorful houses with crisp green grass and trees. With the vibrant and lush gardens and lawns, it’s a different picture of Englewood than some people might think.
This is the home base for the Imagine Englewood If Peace Campus, a community center that includes five houses, two basketball courts, a community garden and a nature playlot. The nonprofit Imagine Englewood owns and operates the Peace Campus, and it’s one of the “beautiful things happening” in the neighborhood, said Heavy Crownz, rapper, farmer and director of programs at the Englewood-based nonprofit.
His debut album, “Trench Baby Turned Farmer,” self-released in March, is a labor of love that tells a story about how people grow in harsh conditions that many like him come from. It also captures his embrace of gardening and his desire to share that love with Chicago’s communities. He’ll perform in support of the album at his first headlining show, May 22 at Lincoln Hall.
“I live by the African proverb, ‘If you want to go far, go together.’ And I want to go far. I didn’t want to do this alone,” he said.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
If you had five minutes with the pope, what would you want to talk to him about and why?
Reply to this newsletter (please include your first and last name). We may run your answer in a future newsletter or story.
Yesterday, we asked you: What advice do you have for a first-time home buyer in the Chicago area?
Here’s some of what you said, edited for length and clarity.
“The biggest oversight … is forgetting to apply for the ‘Homeowner Exemption’ (aka Homestead) on their primary residence’s property taxes. Not only is it significant, but just in Cook County alone, fully a third of all homeowners forget, or were never told. Easy to apply, important to remember.” — David Weinert
“If you’re buying an older home that was recently renovated or flipped, ask the seller to show permits for the work that was done! If they don’t have permits and instead used general contractors for plumbing etc., they probably cut a few corners that you can’t see.” — Jordan Mainzer
“Go visit the neighborhood at different times during the day and on different days. Think twice about buying a home on a corner lot or on a busy street.” — L. Rogers
“Go to several mortgage brokers, and also your bank, to find out how much money a bank/lender will lend you, how much money you will need to bring to the table to get a loan, and what the monthly expenditure will be … Ask every question you can think of. Don’t be shy or afraid or intimidated. Without understanding the money you won’t have any idea … how much you can really afford.” — Jane Wenger
Thanks for reading the Sun-Times Morning Edition. We hope you have a good and safe Memorial Day Weekend!
Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.
Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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