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Officials with the Chicago Teachers Union argued Monday that the halting of the universal masking requirement at Chicago Public Schools last month violated their COVID-19 safety agreement by rescinding a key tenet of the plan without reopening collective bargaining.The hearing before Nick Gutierrez, administrative law judge with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, was prompted by the union’s filing of an unfair labor practice charge shortly after CPS announced masks would be optional for staff, students and visitors to schools beginning March 14.Advertisement“They repudiated a key term of the safety agreement and had no legal right to do so,” said Robert Bloch, an attorney for CTU.When the safety agreement was forged with CPS in January, following a volatile battle that led to five days of canceled classes during the omicron surge, masks were still required to be worn indoors in Illinois under the executive order of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and following the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.AdvertisementBut Bloch said despite universal masking being enforced in Illinois, the union still ensured the universal masking requirement was part of its safety agreement with CPS, as they were well aware “public health guidance could change with political pressure.”Leigh Mabry White, center, a Chicago Public Schools mother and member of Activate Chicago Parents, joins other parents and supporters at a news conference supporting masks in schools outside of City Hall on Feb. 28, 2022. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)CPS continued universal masking after many Illinois school districts dropped their requirements in response to a Feb. 4 restraining order by Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow in a lawsuit challenging Pritzker’s statewide mask mandate and other COVID-19 safety protocols for schools.Parents who had filed the suit sought to hold CPS CEO Pedro Martinez in contempt of court for continuing to require masks after Grischow found the state’s mask rules invalid, but the judge declined to weigh in on the request, saying “the policy of (CPS) is not before the court.”Pritzker had appealed Grischow’s restraining order, but the appellate court dismissed the appeal. The court found that because rules from the Illinois Department of Public Health requiring masking and other COVID-19 protocols had been allowed to expire, the appeal was moot.The governor then appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case but vacated the restraining order. Pritzker announced the same day he was lifting the state’s universal masking requirement for schools, and CPS followed about a week later, announcing March 7 it was moving to a mask optional but recommended policy.Kaitlyn Girard, chief labor negotiator for CPS, said at Monday’s hearing that she and CTU President Jesse Sharkey engaged in “off the record” discussions in late February about dropping the universal mask requirement in the safety agreement, and both parties agreed “we didn’t want us being out on an island” as the only district requiring masks.Advertisement“The CTU would need to get its house of delegates to agree, and (CPS) needed to get our stakeholders on board,” Girard said.“We were facing litigation, deadlines and pleadings with the judge,” Girard said. “We were losing our ability to make these decisions if it went too far.”Yet Sharkey said he was dismayed the union was not given the opportunity to negotiate prior to the district moving to mask optional, especially given the CPS school board had shown strong support for universal masking since schools had reopened classrooms for in-person instruction last spring.“We always believed we’d be part of the agreement,” Sharkey said. “Our view is, we have a written agreement that CPS needs to abide by.”Dr. Jennifer Seo, chief medical officer at Chicago Department of Public Health, said while universal masking in schools can reduce infection and outbreaks, the lifting of the virus mitigation strategy at CPS does not appear to have had a negative impact on the community.Advertisement“More days than not, we are seeing zero deaths in the city, and hospitalizations have stayed stable,” Seo said, adding: “In terms of universal masking, we do not recommend it at this time because we remain at low COVID-19 levels.”According to the complaint, CTU is asking the labor relations board to require that CPS engage in “good faith bargaining prior to implementing unilateral changes in the terms and conditions of employment which affect the health and safety of the employees represented by the union.”CTU also accused CPS in the complaint of not adhering to the safety deal by allegedly withholding information such as the number of KN95 masks distributed to schools; school-level data on COVID-19 tests conducted through the district’s free weekly program; and confirmation of the creation of school-based contact-tracing teams.A decision on CTU’s complaint is not expected for at least 60 days.kcullotta@chicagotribune.comTwitter @kcullotta

Phil Mickelson has signed up for the PGA Championship and U.S. Open, and his manager asked the PGA Tour for permission to play in a Saudi-funded golf tournament outside London without saying whether Mickelson will play in any of them.“Phil currently has no concrete plans on when and where he will play,” Mickelson’s longtime manager, Steve Loy, said in a statement. “Any actions taken are in no way a reflection of a final decision made, but rather to keep all options open.”AdvertisementMonday was the deadline for players to ask for a conflicting event release from the PGA Tour to play in the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational on June 9-11 in England.It also was the deadline to register for the PGA Championship, to be played May 19-22 at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla. Mickelson is exempt as the defending champion, winning at Kiawah Island last year at age 50 to become the oldest major champion.AdvertisementThat also gave him a five-year exemption into the U.S. Open, which will be played June 16-19 this year at The Country Club outside Boston.It was the first word from the Mickelson camp since Feb. 22, when Mickelson apologized for explosive remarks in a book excerpt by Alan Shipnuck in which he disparaged the Saudis behind Greg Norman’s attempt at a rival league and said he wanted leverage against the “obnoxious greed” of the PGA Tour.He has not played since the Saudi International on Feb. 6, even skipping the Masters.Meanwhile, Norman announced the season-ending team championship for his LIV Golf Invitational series will be at Trump National Doral Miami, the first tournament at the “Blue Monster” since the PGA Tour moved a World Golf Championship to Mexico in 2017.It would be the second course owned by former President Donald Trump to host one of the LIV Golf events run by Norman. Trump Bedminster in New Jersey is scheduled to hold a tournament the last weekend in July.Norman’s plan for a rival league suffered a big setback in February when Mickelson, viewed as a chief recruiter for Norman, was quoted by Shipnuck as saying the Saudis were “scary mother(expletives) to get involved with” and that he was working with Norman to get leverage for changes he wanted on the PGA Tour.“We know they killed (Washington Post reporter Jamal) Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates,” Mickelson told Shipnuck, whose unauthorized biography on Mickelson is to be released next month.Mickelson also said he recruited three other top players and they paid attorneys to write the operating agreement for the proposed league.AdvertisementWithin days, the biggest names in golf — some of whom had been contemplating taking the guaranteed Saudi riches — publicly stated support for the PGA Tour.Still unclear is who will be playing in the LIV Golf events.None of the top 10 players in the world has expressed interested in Norman’s venture. Norman since has said the rival league he envisioned will be put on hold for two years. Instead, he said players could sign up for any of the eight tournaments, which offer $20 million in prize money with an additional $5 million purse for the team aspect.Even then, PGA Tour players — no matter their world ranking — cannot apply for conflicting event releases for the five tournaments planned for the United States.The inaugural LIV event is June 9-11 outside London. Robert Garrigus, who is No. 1,053 in the world, is among those who have asked for a release with hopes of playing.In an interview earlier this month with The Daily Telegraph in the UK, Norman said with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund behind LIV Golf, the carrot would be hard to resist.Advertisement“Quite honestly, it doesn’t matter who plays, we’re going to put the event on,” Norman told The Telegraph. “There’s a $4 million first prize. I hope a kid who’s 350th in the world wins. It’ll change his life, his family’s life. And then a few of our events will go by and the top players will see someone winning $6 million, $8 million and say, ‘Enough is enough, I know I can beat these guys week in week out with my hands tied behind my back.’”The team championship, in which 12 four-man teams compete for a $50 million purse, is scheduled for Oct. 27-30 at Trump National Doral Miami.Details and players have not been announced.Doral hosted a PGA Tour event from 1962 through 2016. It was a World Golf Championship for the final 10 years until the search for a new title sponsorship led to the WGC moving to Chapultepec Golf Club in Mexico City.Trump was the presumptive Republican nominee for president when Cadillac chose not to renew as tournament sponsor and the PGA Tour left Doral for Mexico and the sponsorship of Grupo Salinas.“I hope they have kidnapping insurance,” Trump said at the time.AdvertisementTrump was a big personality as the new owner of Doral, even before he ran for office, and the tour said it was difficult to find a corporate sponsor willing to pay upward of $15 million a year to share the stage.“I think it’s more Donald Trump is a brand — a big brand,” former PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said in announcing the Mexico deal. “And when you’re asking a company to invest millions of dollars in branding a tournament, and they’re going to share that brand with the host, it’s a difficult conversation.”

A pair of dismal defeats at home showed the Chicago Bulls the limits of their star duo: DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine can do a lot, but they can’t do it all.The Milwaukee Bucks defense clamped down on DeRozan and LaVine in Games 3 and 4 of the first-round playoff series, holding them to 26 and 47 combined points. That’s a steep drop from their combined average of 52.3 points during the regular season.AdvertisementThe Bulls can’t beat the Bucks without their stars performing at their best. But DeRozan and LaVine are being held back even further by a lack of shooting from the Bulls supporting cast.“One guy isn’t going to beat them,” LaVine said. “They were crowding the paint, and once I break that first line of defense, they were sending guys into the lane and not letting me and DeMar try to beat them.”AdvertisementDeRozan set a personal postseason record in Game 2 with 41 points in the Bulls’ only win of the series. After making his final basket with 18.2 seconds left, DeRozan collapsed onto the court, visibly spent by the effort of producing 36% of the team’s offense.Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan (11) is surrounded by teammates after hitting a shot over Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo late in the second half of Game 2 on April 20, 2022, at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)But the Bucks didn’t give DeRozan a chance to repeat that feat in two games at the United Center. He scored only 11 points in Game 3 as the Bucks pushed him away from his spots. The Bucks rarely utilize a trap on either DeRozan or LaVine, but the swiftness of their help defense allowed them to keep DeRozan out of sync throughout both games.DeRozan said he wasn’t angry about his lack of adjustment, but the Bucks pressure clearly flummoxed him and the rest of the Bulls.[ [Don’t miss] Bulls on the brink of elimination after losing again to the Bucks: ‘I’m not particularly ready to go home’ ]“I wasn’t frustrated at all,” DeRozan said after the Game 3 loss. “I knew they were going to make adjustments. What adjustments that was going to be, I didn’t know beforehand. By the time I kind of got a feel for it, they had it rolling.”Bench and supporting players are crucial to maintaining offensive production when defenses key on a star like DeRozan. But that secondary production has been relatively nonexistent for the Bulls in this series — and for much of the regular season.The Bulls bench ranked last in the league in nearly every meaningful offensive category, including points per game, field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage. The unit is averaging 14.3 points in this series despite significant garbage time in Game 3 and Alex Caruso’s injury absence for the second half of Game 4.[ [Don’t miss] Column: Grayson Allen feeds off boos from Bulls fans — and Bucks teammates — in a sizzling Game 4 performance ]Meanwhile, reserve guard Grayson Allen was the star for the Bucks in Games 3 and 4, popping off the bench to score 49 points with 11-for-14 shooting behind the arc.Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdaysA daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.These shortfalls are exacerbated by the fact the entire Bulls roster — starters included — isn’t shooting well.AdvertisementDonovan noted that the Bulls created 19 chances in Game 4 for corner 3-pointers — one of the highest-percentage shots — but made only five of them. The Bucks, in comparison, made four of their five corner 3s.Bucks guard Grayson Allen (7) and forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) slap hands in the second half of Game 4 on April 24, 2022, at the United Center. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)“You have to make some shots,” Donovan said. “I think that our inability to make some jump shots deflated us. When they’re kind of packing the paint, we’ve got to forget it. We’re going to have to take some of those shots.”Bench depth never was a strong suit for this Bulls roster, and Lonzo Ball’s injury deepened the disparity. Caruso’s potential absence in Game 5 only would worsen the problem.This might not be an issue the Bulls can fix without making roster changes, but the difference in bench units will decide this series. Whether it’s Coby White heating up from 3-point range or Ayo Dosunmu coming alive, the Bulls need a secondary spark. Without it, the Bucks will be free to hang all over DeRozan and LaVine.DeRozan knows his role is to lead off the court as well as on it. Even on the heels of two blowouts, he said he’s emphasizing belief in his teammates as the Bulls head back to Milwaukee for Game 5 on Wednesday.“You can’t show panic,” DeRozan said.

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. — A 10-year-old girl who went missing after going to visit an aunt was found dead Monday along a creek trail in downtown Chippewa Falls, police said.Iliana Peters’ death was being pursued as a homicide, Chief Matthew Kelm said.AdvertisementPolice began searching for the girl, who went by the name Lily, after her father reported Sunday evening that she hadn’t returned home from a visit to her aunt’s house.Police said a bicycle believed to be hers was found late Sunday night in the woods a short distance from her aunt’s residence near the Duncan Creek walking trail. Her body was found about 9:15 a.m. Monday.

A man who sued Chicago police after an off-duty officer shot at him in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood is a step closer to a $200,000 settlement from the city.The City Council Finance Committee approved the deal Monday for Esael Morales, who in addition to being shot at by an off-duty officer in October 2020 also was handcuffed and taken into custody by other responding police officers following the incident. Morales later was released without being charged.AdvertisementThe officer who shot at Morales, Joseph Cabrera, was subsequently charged with attempted murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm, false reports and obstructing justice for the incident, which allegedly involved him drunkenly exchanging words with Morales.The criminal case against Cabrera is still pending, city lawyer Victoria Benson told aldermen. He resigned from the Police Department in May 2021, Benson said.AdvertisementMorales and his girlfriend were sitting in a parked car near 52nd Street and Monitor Avenue in Garfield Ridge when Cabrera approached the car around 9:35 p.m., Benson said. Cabrera asked them if they needed assistance and then told them to leave.Morales drove around the block and parked near the same spot, Benson said, and Cabrera again approached Morales’ car. When Morales got out of his car, he said Cabrera put him in a chokehold and Morales pushed him away, she said at Monday’s meeting.“Cabrera then took out a gun, pointed it at (Morales) and fired,” Benson said. “The shot missed the plaintiff, who then ran with his girlfriend into her house, which was just down the block.”Cabrera called 911 and reported he was an off-duty police officer who had fired his gun. On-duty officers arrived, and Morales, who did not know Cabrera was a police officer, told them Cabrera had shot at him, Benson said.Body camera footage shows Chicago police officers detain Esael Morales. (COPA / HANDOUT)Police body camera video from the responding officers released to the public in January 2021 shows them at the scene, where Cabrera and Morales could be seen down the street from one another.One officer approached Cabrera, who had his hands up and a handgun in his waistband. He immediately identified himself as a police officer, showed the other officers an ID and handed over the gun, the video footage shows.Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.“Nobody shot at me. He started attacking me. I … fired a round,” Cabrera can be heard telling officers. “I don’t know … I’m pretty upset right now,” Cabrera told them, according to the footage.AdvertisementOn the video, Cabrera can be heard telling officers that Morales and his girlfriend went through a stop sign, and that he confronted them about it and asked if they needed help.Meanwhile, Morales can be seen down the street in the video.“Hey, hey, stay right there!” a responding officer yelled to him. “Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop! OK, when I say stop, stop.”“I didn’t do anything officer, he shot at me!” Morales can be heard answering, adding that he was scared. The first officer and others then restrained Morales. “Why are you putting me in handcuffs? He shot at me!” he shouted.“Almost immediately after plaintiff voluntarily began speaking with the officers, he was placed in handcuffs,” Benson said Monday. Cabrera meanwhile told responding officers he shot at Morales after Morales attacked him.Morales was taken into custody, and released more than seven hours later without being charged, according to Benson.AdvertisementThree months later, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office filed charges against Cabrera. Prosecutors said Cabrera was intoxicated during the incident after he submitted to a blood-alcohol test nearly four hours later and tested at 0.104%, slightly over the state’s legal driving limit for alcohol of 0.08,The full City Council will consider the settlement for Morales on Wednesday.jebyrne@chicagotribune.comTwitter @_johnbyrne

As franchise cornerstones, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews — and their final seasons under contract — suck up so much oxygen in the Chicago Blackhawks’ atmosphere that it’s easy to overlook that, come next season, Alex DeBrincat will play out the end of his deal too.DeBrincat has one last season at $6.4 million before he becomes a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.AdvertisementThe 40-goal scorer, who doesn’t turn 25 until December, would seem like a no-brainer to negotiate an extension with before he breaks the bank. But a three- to five-year rebuild means nothing is guaranteed about the Hawks’ new formula for constructing a winner.And much depends on DeBrincat’s appetite for continuing his relationship here.Advertisement“I’m open to anything,” said DeBrincat when asked whether he’d be receptive to an extension. “We’ll see what they’re thinking. I think they have a lot of things to do probably before me. But I’m open to talking whenever they are, so we’ll see where it goes.”“That’s their decision, that doesn’t really affect me. I’m still young, I want to help bring this team to the playoffs and win.”—Alex DeBrincat on whether he’s talked to Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews about next season pic.twitter.com/DcpDNphcSc— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) April 25, 2022

For now, he’s focused on finishing the final three games of the season on a high note, then huddling with general manager Kyle Davidson and the Hawks brass about expectations for next season.“This offseason, I just want to work on everything,” DeBrincat said. “Keep getting a better shot, get footwork up and stuff like that. I think I’ll take a couple days after the season to reflect and see what I need to work on.”DeBrincat has ruled out playing for the U.S. national team at the IIHF Men’s World Championship in Finland.“No, not this year,” he said. “I have a kid coming soon so probably not in my cards. Maybe another year.”The Hawks are coming to a crossroads with team leaders Kane and Toews, who are signed through the end of next season, but have yet to elaborate on their plans or wishes beyond then — provided they don’t want to be traded even sooner.Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdaysA daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.DeBrincat said he hasn’t had those discussions with them.Advertisement“We’ll talk maybe a little in the future, but that’s kind of their decision. It doesn’t really affect me,” he said. “I’m still young. I want to help bring this team to the playoffs and win. I’m here to do whatever I can and obviously try to help win games.“If that’s the rebuild next year, hopefully help some of the young guys come in and feel comfortable and (accelerate) that rebuild.”Since DeBrincat’s rookie season in 2017-18, the Hawks have finished last or second to last in the Central Division every season except last season’s sixth-place finish (of eight), when the NHL modified the divisions and played a 56-game schedule because of COVID-19.He has played in the postseason in 2019-20 — and that’s because the league expanded the playoff format after the pandemic pause.The losing gets frustrating, DeBrincat said, “but you’ve got to work for what you get. So hopefully we can work these next couple years, get a good roster and win some games. Anytime you can win games, you have more fun in the locker room, more fun in the year.“These next couple years, we can build that identity to get back to where we want to be and hopefully it’s sooner than later,” he said.

Two years after launching a review of convictions connected to discredited former Chicago police Detective Reynaldo Guevara, Cook County prosecutors on Monday agreed to dismiss charges in one Guevara-related case.The decision came as a reversal for prosecutors, who earlier this month filed paperwork saying they did not believe Daniel Rodriguez could prove his claims that he was framed for a 1991 murder.AdvertisementRodriguez and his attorneys accused Guevara of beating him into confessing to the shooting; in addition, they contend that the mother of a key prosecution witness was in a sexual relationship with Guevara. That witness, Jason Rivera, was under further pressure to lie since he was an uncharged co-conspirator in a different homicide, attorneys alleged.Former Chicago police Detective Reynaldo Guevara leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on June 8, 2018. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)Dozens of people have accused Guevara, now retired, of manipulating witnesses, fabricating evidence and framing suspects over the course of his career. He has repeatedly asserted his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent when questioned about the alleged wrongdoing.AdvertisementRodriguez’s supporters broke out into applause Monday as Judge Sophia Atcherson formally threw out the conviction and Assistant State’s Attorney Carol Rogala dropped the charges. Rodriguez walked out of the courtroom wiping away tears from under his face mask.“I’m super happy,” he told reporters after the hearing. “I’m still in a daze, I still can’t believe it. After 31 years, it’s long overdue.”Prosecutors did not explain in court the reason for changing their position in the Rodriguez case. A spokesperson for Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Rodriguez was sentenced in 1993 to 25 years in prison; he was released after serving 13. It was a “long journey” for his family, he said, including his wife and two now-adult daughters.“They grew up in a visiting room. Birthday parties and everything was in the visiting room. So … it’s a big win for me but it’s bigger for them,” he said. “You know, our family is celebrating today but there’s another family that got hurt today. There was a victim in this case that didn’t have justice. His family was told that they had justice, but they didn’t, so now they live with that pain again.”Rodriguez and his attorneys contended that the mother of Jason Rivera, a key prosecution witness, was in a sexual relationship with Guevara. The woman has since died of COVID-19, court filings show. Before the case was dismissed, Rodriguez’s attorneys had requested Guevara be ordered to appear at a hearing by video to be questioned about the relationship.Rodriguez’s attorneys also argued that Rivera was under pressure since he was an uncharged co-conspirator in a separate murder case, and that prosecutors paid Rivera relocation money before and after his testimony, unbeknownst to Rodriguez. Prosecutors disputed the allegations in an April 1 court filing.Rodriguez has claimed for decades that Guevara and his partner coerced him into confessing, an early allegation that his attorney Anand Swaminathan likened to the proverbial “canary in the coal mine.”Advertisement“For 31 years, this man has been saying ‘I’m innocent’ … and nobody listened,” Swaminathan told reporters. “He finally got that moment today.”Foxx has often said that throwing out wrongful convictions is key to earning back the trust of communities whose residents have traditionally been reluctant to cooperate with law enforcement. The office in 2020 promised a comprehensive review of Guevara-related cases. The office conducted a similar review of cases connected to convicted ex-Sgt. Ronald Watts that has resulted in a long series of mass exonerations. But after two years, Guevara-related cases have seen no similar cascade of dismissals.mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com

Whitney M. Young Magnet High School Principal Joyce Kenner envisions her successor as someone who commits to leading the selective enrollment school for several years, attends most student activities and maintains an open-door policy.This person should not have dollar signs in their eyes, she said.Advertisement“If you’re applying for this position for money, you need to forget it. And it’s the honest-to-God truth,” Kenner, 65, told the Tribune. “I didn’t even know how much money I made until a couple years ago. That sounds horrible, but I didn’t. I didn’t care. I mean, I knew I would make enough money to do what I need to do, but it’s not about the money.”Kenner, who makes about $175,000 per year, announced last week she is retiring after about 27 years as head of Chicago’s first public magnet high school. Kenner and five other CPS principals who have the same salary are paid the most out of all principals in the district, according to CPS data from March. The job could be the most sought-after position in Chicago Public Schools this summer as the Near West Side school is considered one of the top high schools in the country.AdvertisementWhitney M. Young Magnet High School Principal Joyce Kenner, seen April 25, 2022, has been principal for 27 years and will be retiring once her successor is named. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)Whomever is selected as Whitney Young’s fourth principal has big shoes to fill, as Kenner’s fans say she leaves behind a legacy of stressing academic excellence, prioritizing students and serving as the school’s No. 1 cheerleader on nearly every sideline.“Whitney Young, how successful it’s been, from attracting the faculty and staff that we have, the performance of the school, our test scores, where these kids end up getting accepted into colleges, she’s the driving force behind a lot of that,” Whitney Young Local School Council chairperson Brad Vesprini said of Kenner. “So it’s kind of hard to think of it without her, because she’s been such an ingrained part of the institution for so long.”The task of choosing Whitney Young’s new leader falls to the LSC, which is empowered to form a principal selection committee that can be composed of LSC members and people not on the council. Kenner’s retirement news coincided with the election last week of a new LSC to be seated in July, though the current and incoming councils are nearly identical.Vesprini said the timeline for the process is still being worked out. It’s an involved undertaking that includes drafting and posting an advertisement for the position; reviewing resumes; interviewing candidates; checking references; holding a candidate forum; selecting finalists and voting to award the contract.Whitney Young has not gone through this process since summer 1995, when Bill Clinton was serving his first term as president and Michael Jordan was filming the original “Space Jam.” Kenner had been a Whitney Young assistant principal for five years at the time. She took the top job when then-Principal Powhatan Collins accepted a regional CPS role.The late Collins and the founding Whitney Young principal, the late Bernarr Dawson, were both selected before the election of the first LSCs in 1989. Like Dawson and Collins, Kenner worked elsewhere in CPS before coming to Whitney Young, and like them, Kenner is Black. Kenner said the next principal should be Black as well.“I’m not saying (this person) has to be Black, but I just think an African-American person is more able right now to deal with the social issues that are impacting our schools and our country and our city,” Kenner said.According to CPS, at its 500-plus district-run schools, 44% of the principals are Black; 32% are white; about 19% are Hispanic; and 1% are Asian.AdvertisementWhitney Young’s commitment to ethnic and cultural diversity dates back to its 1975 opening in the Near West Side community. It was among the first CPS schools to employ racial quotas. The student population was initially supposed to be 40% Black, 40% white, 10% Latino, 5% “other” races and 5% the discretion of the principal. The Tribune reported at the time that Whitney Young was trying to set the standard for quality, integrated education.CPS abandoned the use of racial quotas for admissions to magnet and selective enrollment schools more than a decade ago. This year, of Whitney Young’s 2,100 students, 28% are Hispanic, 25% are white, 22.5% are Asian and nearly 18% are Black.“These are my babies,” Kenner said. “And I’ll tell them you got a Black mother. I got white kids and Black kids and Asian kids and Latinx kids, and I’m their mother. I just happen to be African-American.”Kenner is a native of Dayton, Ohio, and a triplet (each triplet has a name that begins with J). She was a cheerleader at Ohio University and taught health and physical education at schools in her home town. After working for the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Operation PUSH in Chicago, Kenner joined CPS in 1984 as a job placement coordinator at King High School on the South Side.She became an assistant principal at Whitney Young in 1990, CPS records show. In discussing her legacy, Kenner points to standout performances by the academic decathlon, basketball, chess, debate, lacrosse, baseball, volleyball and tennis teams.“Whitney Young has always been an academic, top powerhouse, but I wanted to make sure that we are a powerhouse in everything. I’m very competitive. I like to win. I tell the kids, ‘Look, (even) if we don’t win, we’re going to look good.’ So if you look across the board, even my robotics team looks great. They’ve got T-shirts and jackets,” Kenner said.Advertisement“I wanted to be able to take the academics plus extracurricular activities to equal success and build a whole child. That has always been my philosophy and my goal, and I think that we have been able to do that,” she said.Whitney Young High School Principal Joyce Kenner walks through a classroom on April 25, 2022. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)Senior Tova Kaplan, the president of the class of 2022, recalled being drawn to Kenner’s passion and enthusiasm for Whitney Young and its students when she attended an open house for the school as an elementary student.”One thing I think I really learned with her is that people who are willing to advocate for themselves, that’s kind of how you got stuff done,” said Kaplan, who joined Whitney Young six years ago in the Academic Center for seventh and eighth graders. “You would have to just go down to the office. You’d have to be very proactive about talking to her and the administration.”Arlyne Chin, president of the Friends of Whitney Young fundraising organization, said she hopes Kenner’s successor follows in her footsteps by emphasizing academic excellence and respect for others.“These are the things that I think are what makes her a strong principal, also someone who’s willing to make a strong stance and if it’s not the right stance … being able to take a step back and say, either, ‘Hey, I made a mistake,’ or ‘I didn’t understand that,’ or ‘I want to understand that’ and come to the table,” said Chin, a parent of two Whitney Young students.“There have been many times where there has been maybe conflict in school, or there are policies that are being challenged, and she always welcomes that dialogue with students,” Chin said.AdvertisementKenner has weathered her share of controversies over the years. She made headlines a decade ago amid investigations into the admissions practices at prestigious Chicago public high schools. The district revealed it kept a clout list of requests from well-connected individuals trying to get children into elite schools, including Whitney Young.More recently, the school’s former swim coach was accused of renting out the Whitney Young pool and pocketing about $30,000 in proceeds over three years. The CPS Inspector General’s office determined Kenner “either knew or should have known about the coach’s informal school rental agreements with outside groups.” The Board of Education gave her a five-day, unpaid suspension.“At the end of the day, I have tried to do the very best job that I can do as one person. And, you know, I have 300 emails a day. And some of it’s junk, but I respond to every single email. It’s just a lot on my plate. And so, should I have known about the swim coach? OK, I get that. But I trusted him to do the right thing,” Kenner said Friday.Whitney Young Principal Joyce Kenner outside the school on April 25, 2022. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)She continued: “I trust the people to do the right thing, and I don’t feel like I have to follow up behind everybody. And if I do, then you don’t need to be at Whitney Young, because I don’t have the time to babysit anybody. My focus is getting our kids into the colleges of their choices. We have adults in the building, and I expect them to do adult things.”In 2020, during the nationwide reckoning following the murder of George Floyd, Kenner found herself the target of an online petition calling for her resignation based on claims that she “silenced student activists speaking against all forms of injustice.”Kenner said she made the decision to retire about three or four years ago — then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. She said she couldn’t leave then, though she called these past three years her “toughest” at the helm of Whitney Young. She said the school was prepared for the switch to remote learning in terms of technology, but not from an emotional standpoint.Advertisement“The prom, the graduation, the mental health issues, teachers crying because it just was overwhelming, students crying because they’re in front of a laptop all day long,” Kenner said. “I’m crying because my eyes are hurting. I need to go to the doctor because I can’t see anymore, or my vision is getting worse because I’m on the computer all day long. I would definitely not have ever left (earlier in) the pandemic.”Kenner has not set a departure date. She said she will stay on until a new principal is selected and will help with the transition. She hopes the process is wrapped up by July 1. Sept. 1 would be her “worst-case scenario.” In retirement, she plans to devote herself to her 3-year-old granddaughter and her grandson on the way.But before Kenner says goodbye to the top job, she has plenty of extracurriculars to attend — a tradition she hopes the next principal continues.“I want somebody like me to physically be able to go to not all, but most of the student activities. And I’m tired at the end of every single day because I make myself available to the kids all the time,” Kenner said, noting that she recently spent spring break “in that hot sun” in Florida cheering for the girls softball team. “Honestly, those girls will never forget that their principal came to Florida to see them play.”tswartz@tribpub.com

Elon Musk reached an agreement to buy Twitter for roughly $44 billion on Monday, promising a more lenient touch to policing content on the platform where he promotes his interests, attacks critics and opines on social and economic issues to more than 83 million followers.The outspoken Tesla CEO, who is also the world’s wealthiest person, has said he wanted to own and privatize Twitter because he thinks it’s not living up to its potential as a platform for free speech.AdvertisementMusk said in a joint statement with Twitter that he wants to make the service “better than ever” with new features, such as getting rid of automated “spam bots” and making its algorithms open to the public to increase trust.“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said, adding hearts, stars and rocket emojis in a tweet that highlighted the statement.AdvertisementA more hands-off approach to content moderation has many people concerned the platform will become more of a haven for disinformation and hate speech, something it has worked hard on in recent years to mitigate.The deal was cemented roughly two weeks after the billionaire first revealed a 9 percent stake in the platform. Musk said last week that he had lined up $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter, putting pressure on the company’s board to negotiate a deal.Twitter said the transaction was unanimously approved by its board of directors and is expected to close in 2022.Shares of Twitter Inc. rose 6% Monday to $52 per share. On April 14, Musk announced an offer to buy the social media platform for $54.20 per share. While the stock is up sharply since Musk made his offer, it is well below the high of $77 per share it reached in February 2021.Musk has described himself as a “free-speech absolutist” but is also known for blocking or disparaging other Twitter users who question or disagree with him.In recent weeks, he has voiced a number of proposed changes for the company, from relaxing its content restrictions — such as the rules that suspended former President Donald Trump’s account — to ridding the platform of fake and automated accounts, and shifting away from its advertising-based revenue model. Musk believes he can increase revenue through subscriptions that give paying customers a better experience, perhaps even an ad-free version of Twitter.Asked during a recent TED talk if there are any limits to his notion of “free speech,” Musk said Twitter or any forum is “obviously bound by the laws of the country that it operates in. So obviously there are some limitations on free speech in the US, and, of course, Twitter would have to abide by those rules.”Beyond that, though, he said he’d be “very reluctant” to delete things and in general be cautious about permanent bans.AdvertisementIt won’t be perfect, Musk added, “but I think we want it to really have the perception and reality that speech is as free as reasonably possible.”After the deal was announced, the NAACP released a statement that urged Musk not to allow former President Trump, the 45th president, back onto the platform.“Disinformation, misinformation and hate speech have NO PLACE on Twitter,” the civil rights organization said in a statement. “Do not allow 45 to return to the platform. Do not allow Twitter to become a petri dish for hate speech, or falsehoods that subvert our democracy.”Efforts to “deregulate” Twitter could thwart the company’s current commitment to making the platform as safe as possible for all users, said Brooke Erin Duffy, professor of communication at Cornell University and an expert on social media. ““Marginalized communities of users are especially vulnerable to the forms of hate and harassment that so often circulate in unregulated online spaces,” she said.Some users said Monday that they were planning to quit the platform if Musk took it over. To which he responded on Twitter: “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”AdvertisementMusk has battled with the Securities and Exchange Commission on multiple occasions, as he has used Twitter to taunt the regulators.The SEC has been investigating Musk’s August 2018 tweets in which he asserted that he’d secured funding to take Tesla private for $420 a share, though he had not. Musk is fighting an SEC subpoena in the case in federal court. More recently, Musk appeared to have violated SEC rules by failing to disclose at the point he reached a 5% stake in Twitter, waiting until he had more than 9%.Noteworthy as they are, the SEC matters have no bearing on Musk’s fitness to buy a company, according to St. John’s University business professor Anthony Sabino, making it unlikely that they would represent roadblocks to the takeover.With initial concerns of its own about the deal, Twitter had enacted an anti-takeover measure known as a poison pill that could make a takeover attempt prohibitively expensive. But the board decided to negotiate after Musk updated his proposal last week to show he had secured financing, according to The Wall Street Journal.While Twitter’s user base of more than 200 million remains much smaller than those of rivals such as Facebook and TikTok, the service is popular with celebrities, world leaders, journalists and intellectuals. Musk himself is a prolific tweeter with a following that rivals several pop stars in the ranks of the most popular accounts.Last week, he said in documents filed with U.S. securities regulators that the money would come from Morgan Stanley and other banks, some of it secured by his huge stake in Tesla.AdvertisementMusk is the world’s wealthiest person, according to Forbes, with a nearly $279 billion fortune. But much of his money is tied up in Tesla stock — he owns about 17% of the electric car company, according to FactSet, which is valued at more than $1 trillion — and SpaceX, his privately held space company. It’s unclear how much cash Musk has.Musk began making his fortune in 1999 when he sold Zip2, an online mapping and business directory, to Compaq for $307 million. He used his share to create what would become PayPal, an internet service that bypassed banks and allowed consumers to pay businesses directly. It was sold to eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002.That same year, Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, after finding that cost constraints were limiting NASA’s interplanetary travel. The company eventually developed cost-effective reusable rockets.In 2004, Musk was courted to invest in Tesla, then a startup trying to build an electric car. Eventually he became CEO and led the company to astronomical success as the world’s most valuable automaker and largest seller of electric vehicles.Musk’s pledge to make Twitter a haven for free speech could dim the appeal of Donald Trump’s troubled Truth Social app, which the former president has touted as a competitor to Twitter that would cater to conservatives. Truth Social is part of Trump’s new media company, which has agreed to be taken public by Digital World Acquisition Corp. Shares of DWAC dropped 16.2% Monday and are down 46% since Musk revealed his stake in Twitter.Krisher reported from Detroit. O’Brien reported from Providence, R.I. AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan reported from London.

All the major railroads now plan to offer their employees up to $600 a month in advance of raises they expect to pay once the current two-year-old national contract talks are eventually settled.But a coalition of unions that represents more than 105,000 railroad workers said Monday they’ll refuse the payments partly because workers would be on the hook to repay some of the money if the eventual raises aren’t big enough to cover the payments. The unions want the National Carriers’ Conference Committee that represents more than 30 railroads to negotiate a contract instead.Advertisement“This latest proposal, somewhere between a loan and a payday advance, is just further evidence that the NCCC has no intentions of reaching a voluntary settlement any time soon,” the unions said in a statement. “You don’t offer temporary proposals if you plan to offer a complete contract settlement.”The group that represents the railroads didn’t immediately respond to the unions Monday.AdvertisementThe railroads all announced their payment proposal Friday a few days after CSX announced it had offered these payments to its unions. Executives at CSX and Union Pacific said when they announced their earnings last week that an overall contract with the unions is likely still some time away.Both Union Pacific and CSX reported a 22% jump in their earnings as the railroads were able to increase rates and collect more fuel surcharges even as they struggled to clear up congestion on their rail networks that has delayed deliveries to customers.The contract talks remain mired in mediation while the railroads pursue unpopular proposals to cut rail crews from two people down to one in certain circumstances. The unions also don’t want to make major concessions in workplace rules after seeing nearly one-third of all railroad jobs eliminated over the past six years as the major freight railroads have overhauled their operations.The unions have also complained that BNSF and Union Pacific have imposed tough new attendance rules in the past two years without negotiating them that make it difficult for workers to take any days off.