Daywatch: Illinois GOP leadership teetering
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Good morning, Chicago.
The decision by top Illinois Republican officials to dethrone the party’s vice chair could portend even bigger changes for the moribund organization, including renewed efforts to replace its Illinois GOP Chairman Don Tracy.
Mark Shaw, the former chairman of the GOP in Lake County, lost the title of state party vice chair and also was removed from the party’s fundraising committee during a special meeting Monday of the Illinois Republican State Central Committee following controversies last month at the state GOP convention in Collinsville.
State GOP sources familiar with the inner workings of the state party said the events leading up to Shaw’s sanctioning also underscored long-standing concerns about the leadership of Tracy, a Springfield attorney who has headed up the party since February 2021. Tracy took no public position on whether Shaw should continue as state GOP vice chair and said he was powerless to force him to step down — a stance critics cited as weak. They also noted Tracy questioned whether Shaw was being fairly treated.
The party instability comes less than a month before the state’s 64-member delegation heads to Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention’s nomination of former President Donald Trump.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Rick Pearson and Jeremy Gorner.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.
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Boy, 7, fatally shot on city’s Near West Side
A 7-year-old boy was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon as he walked to a neighbor’s home in the city’s Near West Side.
“The random shooting of this 7-year-old is unacceptable,” said Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling.
No injuries reported in massive fire at pallet company in West Town
An extra-alarm fire at a West Town pallet company shut down the intersection of Damen Avenue and Hubbard Street for much of late Tuesday afternoon as firefighters battled the blaze that officials said broke out near a fertilizer facility.
Taxpayer money should match Chicago campaign donations, alderman proposes
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A Chicago entrepreneur with business ties to the son-in-law of former Cook County Democratic boss Joseph Berrios pleaded guilty to federal charges alleging he arranged to have women travel out of state for high-paid trysts with himself and others.
How Illinois — ‘a racing family’ — stands apart from other states for Black trainers, drivers and owners
The executive director of the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association believes the Juneteenth holiday is the perfect time to celebrate the “huge contribution” that Black trainers, drivers and owners are making to the sport in Illinois.
“I don’t know where we’d be without them,” Tony Somone said of the “50 or 60” members of the Black community who have competed in the state from late April to early September at the 27 county fairs, non-betting races at the Springfield and DuQuoin fairgrounds, at pari-mutuel races at the Illinois and DuQuoin State Fairs in August, and at Hawthorne Race Course.
In 2021 Hawthorne held a Juneteenth race with all black drivers — the first of its kind in the United States. Illinois stands apart from other major harness racing states because of the relatively high number of Black horsemen who train, drive and own horses.
Willie Mays, Giants’ electrifying ‘Say Hey Kid,’ has died at 93
The center fielder was baseball’s oldest living Hall of Famer. His signature basket catch and his dashes around the bases with his cap flying off personified the joy of the game. His over-the shoulder catch of a long drive in the 1954 World Series is baseball’s most celebrated defensive feat.
Will starting Chennedy Carter solve the Sky’s backcourt problem?
In the first five weeks of the WNBA season, Sky fans posed one question: why isn’t Chennedy Carter starting?
The fourth-year guard drew immediate attention in her first 12 games, averaging 12.9 points and 2.3 assists in just under 20 minutes off the bench. When the Sky sank into mid-game lulls, Carter could be counted on to poke away errant passes and reignite the offense with breakneck transition plays. And as the team struggled with increasingly stagnant starts – lowlighted by a 10-point first quarter against the Washington Mystics – the question built into a clamor as Carter remained a bench player.
‘He totally revamped the position.’ Get to know Bears rookie Tory Taylor.
Bears coach Matt Eberflus found himself drawn into the show his rookie was performing at a June minicamp practice at Halas Hall.
Fourth-round pick Tory Taylor, the punter who became a fan favorite at Iowa, turned the special teams period into a must-watch event with his ball placement.
Koalas introduced for the first time at Brookfield Zoo Chicago
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Art Institute returns Thai artifact amid ongoing repatriation claims
The Art Institute of Chicago will soon return a fragment of architectural ornament to the Thai government.
According to an announcement from the AIC Tuesday, an in-house research team led by a Khmer art specialist determined the museum’s provenance information for the artifact was incorrect. The fragment, which depicts the Hindu god Krishna lifting Mount Govardhana in northern India, is from the Phanom Rung temple in northeastern Thailand — not Cambodia, as the museum originally believed.
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Earlier this year, winemaker Patrick Cappiello of Monte Rio Cellars, a small producer of wines from Lodi and Mendocino in California, made a dramatic plea in an Instagram post to his 37,000 followers.
“American wineries are struggling right now,” he said. “We have a huge amount of inventory and a huge decrease in sales… Drink our wines, buy our wines,” Cappiello implored, challenging his followers to “buy only American wine for two months.” Because otherwise, many American wineries you love will go out of business, he warned.