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A man seen on video wheeling a bulky suitcase out of a woman’s Chicago apartment has been acquitted of murder.Cook County Judge Diana Kenworthy noted a lack of evidence against Jimmy Jackson, 75, and said the video was not enough to convict him.AdvertisementDaisy Hayes, 65, disappeared in 2018. Family members were stunned by the verdict Friday.“All I could do is scream and just run out the courtroom — like what didn’t you see?” daughter Teresa Smith said of the video.AdvertisementJackson, 75, and Hayes, 65, had an intermittent relationship.“You see him struggling with this suitcase. You see him actually put the suitcase in the dumpster. You actually see him take garbage from other dumpsters to put on top of her so it can be concealed,” Smith said.Jackson was arrested in Tennessee after Daisy disappeared.Column: A boy found in a shallow grave and a woman dumped in a landfill both deserve a proper burial »

Thunderstorms, wind gusts, and cooler temperatures are approaching the Chicago area midday Sunday.Between noon and 4 p.m. ,there will be chances for thunder, particularly in the southern half of the Chicago area and northwest Indiana, according to Matt Friedlein, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.Advertisement“Temperatures are not going to climb much and will peak right around 70 degrees, maybe 72 degrees and then temperatures will gradually fall later this afternoon and will be breezy until early this evening,” Friedlein said. “There will be some wind gusts of 30 to 35 mph.”By Sunday evening, temperatures will hover the 50-degree mark, according to Friedlein.AdvertisementOn Monday, clouds will slowly clear but temperatures will remain in the low 50s.“So it’ll be around 20 degrees cooler than today (Sunday) and about 30 degrees cooler than yesterday (Saturday),” Friedlein said.

Two men in their 40s were killed and two other men were injured in a shooting in Englewood Saturday night, police said.Around 7:30 p.m., officers responded to reports of a shooting in the 1900 block of West Garfield Boulevard where four men were on the sidewalk when they were shot by someone in a gray vehicle driving by, the Chicago Police Department said in a media notification. AdvertisementA 42-year-old man was shot several times and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. A 48-year-old man was shot several times and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said. AdvertisementA 24-year-old man was shot in the back and in the left arm and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in serious condition, police said. A fourth man was shot and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital to recover, police said. Police did not know his condition. As of 9:30 p.m., detectives were still at the scene investigating the shooting, police said.

A gunman opened fire Saturday afternoon, killing one person after a fight Saturday afternoon along a busy stretch of Cottage Grove Avenue lined with businesses.It happened shortly before 1 p.m. in the 4700 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue, in the city’s Bronzeville neighborhood, according to police.AdvertisementThe person shot, only described as male, suffered two gunshot wounds to the chest and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.Police said the gunman fled north from the scene and was not in custody.AdvertisementThe 4700 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue is home to several businesses.Detectives were investigating.

An extra-alarm fire broke out early Saturday morning at an auto-repair business in the Ravenswood neighborhood on the North Side causing extensive damage to three buildings, Chicago Fire Department officials said.Shortly after 5 a.m., firefighters were called to the scene in the 5000 block of North Clark Street, said Chicago Fire Department Deputy District Chief Walter Schroeder.AdvertisementAt some point, more equipment and firefighters were called to the scene once the fire started to spread to adjacent buildings.The roof of one building collapsed, and power and gas lines were shut down while firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze, Chief Schroeder said.AdvertisementFirefighters were still at the scene addressing hot spots, and officials said it would take time as they complete and extensive overhaul of the structures.The Red Cross was on the scene helping those who live in above apartments that may have experienced smoke and water damage.“I am not sure if anyone will be displaced until we see the extent of damage,” Schroeder said.Traffic in the area has been shut down as firefighters continue to work. At least one person who was effected by high CO readings and smoke was taken to Weiss Memorial Hospital, he said.The cause of the massive fire is under investigation.

Many Ukrainian families around the world and in Chicago celebrate the Orthodox Easter this Sunday but like the resurrection of Christ in their faith, this year they hope to see suffering turning into joy become a reality for Ukraine.Liliya Lymar, 54, the director of Ukrainian Studies at St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, is one of those people.AdvertisementAfter returning from Sunday Easter Mass at 5 a.m., Lymar and her family — as in many Ukrainian houses in Chicago — will begin their feast with their blessed Paska bread, eggs, and meats.But before feasting, she plans to FaceTime her sisters who recently were displaced from Kyiv and are now refugees in Europe to tell them “Він воскрес” (“He is risen!” in Ukrainian). Her sisters will reply “Indeed, He is risen” and they will begin to eat together miles away but united by a screen.Advertisement“It’s not going to be as joyous as it has been all the time,” said Lymar, 54, who moved to the United States with her family from her home in Kyiv in 1999.“We are very happy to be in America, to have everything and to have a home, but our minds are always in Ukraine and worrying about the people who we have there,” Lymar said. “Most of our conversations will be about Ukraine and about how the victory will come soon.”The Orthodox Ukrainian Church is the biggest religion in Ukraine, with over 67% of the population declaring adherence to this faith in a 2018 survey by the Razumkov Centre.Since the Christian Orthodox church is also the main religion in Russia, the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed on Tuesday for a halt in fighting in Ukraine during the Holy Week, invoking the Easter holiday to plead for a four-day “pause” to allow humanitarian aid and evacuations, The Associated Press reported.Additionally, the head of Ukraine’s Orthodox church asked clergy and the faithful on Wednesday to forgo night Easter services in areas of the country affected by fighting, fearing Russian bombardments will continue during the Orthodox Easter period, Reuters reported.This year’s Holy Week celebrations began on Holy Thursday.At St. Volodymyr Cathedral, 2250 W Cortez St. in the city’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood, the 7 p.m. service was well attended with over 50 people who went to see the service in Ukrainian with a bit of English from the Archbishop Daniel Zelinskyy, who came to Chicago from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s national headquarters in New Jersey.“His sermon was so good!” said Lymar, who lives near the cathedral.Advertisement“It was all about Ukraine because he takes care of a lot of aid that is sent to Ukraine and he was telling his experience of how things are and people were crying. It was a bit of a very somber service, but this is what the Passion of Christ is for us,” Lymar said.Around noon on Good Friday, Lymar began preparing the dough for her Paska, the traditional egg bread with a soft and airy crumb. These intricately braided loaves are proud centerpieces of the Easter dinner table in Ukraine and other Eastern European countries.After letting the yeast rise, she made the dough and left it to rest “the Ukrainian American way” in a coffee tin. After baking the Paska, she decorated it with a sugar frosting and colorful sprinkles. “Paska” also means Easter in Ukrainian.Although many Ukrainian families bake their own Paska breads, many also buy them in some of the famous bakeries and restaurants in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village like Shokoland, Ann’s Bakery & Deli, and Old Lviv. Their reservations for Paska breads and other traditional Ukrainian Easter meals, however, were already completely booked weeks in advance.Good Friday was about venerating the Holy Shroud by walking it around the temple three times, symbolizing the burial of Christ, she said. After the ceremony by Father Ivan Lymar, who is Liliya Lymar’s husband, they left the Holy Shroud in the center of the church and people placed flowers around it, like they would put flowers in the tomb of a loved one.The Liturgy of the Great Saturday begins at 10 a.m. in St. Volodymyr Cathedral with the sorrow of Jesus Christ’s death, complete with black fabric decorations. But during the middle of the service, the priests proclaim “Let God arise” and the atmosphere changes.AdvertisementSaturday at 11:30 p.m., around 500 Orthodox Christians reunite under the roof of the cathedral to witness the resurrection of God by the coming of midnight. Families from Chicago and its suburbs traditionally visit the church every year for Easter, but due to COVID-19, some haven’t been able to, making this year’s celebration even more special.During the Easter service, the archbishop, the priests and deacons bless every family’s basket with Psyanky (traditional ornamented Ukrainian Easter eggs), raw eggs, Paska and meats.The service ends at 3 a.m. Sunday, when families return to their homes to celebrate this important holiday for Ukrainian Orthodox Christians.

Chicago police shot a man after responding to a domestic disturbance call in the Far South Side’s Pullman neighborhood Friday evening, officials said.Around 5:40 p.m., police and paramedics responded to a call of a domestic disturbance in the 11200 block of South Langley Avenue “that resulted in one individual being shot by police,” said Tom Ahern, Chicago Police spokesperson.AdvertisementThe man shot was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition, said Chief Walter Schroeder, spokesperson for the Chicago Fire Department.The suspect’s firearm was recovered, Ahern said, adding no police officers were injured.AdvertisementThe Civilian Office of Police Accountability had members on scene, said COPA spokesperson Ephraim Eaddy.Check back for details.scasanova@chicagotribune.com

The wait is nearly over for 1.6 million Illinois Facebook users who filed claims in a landmark $650 million biometric privacy settlement.Their $397 checks should be in the mail beginning May 9, according to Chicago attorney Jay Edelson, who brought the lawsuit against Facebook seven years ago.Advertisement“Not only did we demonstrate that privacy cases can put real money back into the pockets of the class, we also showed that, when it comes to securing biometric privacy, the wind is at our collective backs,” Edelson said Friday.The payouts follow a ruling last month by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which upheld the February 2021 class-action settlement over Facebook’s alleged violations of Illinois’ biometric privacy law. Two Illinois class members, Dawn Frankfother and Cathy Flanagan, who objected to the awarding of $97.5 million in attorneys’ fees agreed they “will not take any further action in this matter,” freeing up the distribution, according to an April 11 court filing.AdvertisementThe settlement class included about 7 million Facebook users in Illinois for whom the social network created and stored a face template after June 7, 2011. To qualify, Facebook users had to live in the state for at least six months over the previous nine years. More than one in five eligible Illinois Facebook users filed a claim by the November 2020 deadline.The claim form included name, address and preferred payment method. The claims administrator plans to begin mailing checks May 9, Edelson said. Electronic payments will go out in mid-May, and if any transfers are unsuccessful, a check will be issued to the claimant after 30 days.Class members who successfully filed online received an email confirmation upon submission. Most people who got a notice and submitted a claim were approved, Edelson said.Estimates of the payouts to class members have ranged between $350 and $400 during the lengthy settlement process. The final tally after expenses and fees is expected to come in at $397 for each class member, subject to final accounting.In April 2015, Edelson filed the lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of plaintiff Carlo Licata, alleging the social media giant’s use of facial tagging features without consent was not allowed under Illinois privacy law. The case was moved to Chicago federal court and then California federal court, where it attained class-action status.“When we started this case seven years ago, we knew we were in for an enormous fight,” Edelson said. “The ability to collect biometric information was at the core of Facebook’s business and they are one of the most heavily resourced companies in the history of the planet.”In November, Facebook announced it would shut down its facial recognition system amid “growing concerns” over the widespread use of the technology. As a result, Facebook said it planned to delete more than a billion facial recognition templates it had stored, putting an end to the feature that automatically recognized if people’s faces appear in memories, photos or videos.The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, which was passed in 2008, is considered the strictest in the U.S. and requires companies to get permission before using technologies such as facial recognition and fingerprint scans to identify customers.Advertisementrchannick@chicagotribune.com

The head of Chicago Public Schools said Friday he will not fire Jones College Prep’s principal despite the recommendation of the high school’s Local School Council because of “insufficient evidence of misconduct.”The LSC voted 8-2 last month to request the start of dismissal proceedings against Principal P. Joseph Powers for allegations including violation of the district’s residency policy to failure to address “systemic” discrimination issues and mismanagement of misconduct reports and school financial matters. After the vote, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez had 45 days to decide whether to fire Powers.Advertisement“While the investigations are ongoing, based on a review of your materials and discussions with representatives of the investigative bodies looking into this matter, there is insufficient evidence of misconduct by Mr. Powers at this time on which to base an action for involuntary dismissal,” Martinez wrote in a letter Friday to the LSC.Jones College Prep High School in the South Loop in 2013. (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune)“We all have a duty to Jones’ students to work collaboratively to ensure that they are successful in school and in life,” Martinez said. “I encourage the Local School Council and Dr. Powers to hit the reset button on their relationship and focus their energies on productive actions that will advance the interests of students.”AdvertisementPowers did not immediately respond to a Tribune request for comment Friday, but he has defended his 13-year tenure to the school community. The LSC vote about him came after hours of debate in which many parents and teachers offered support while others said it is time for change at the selective enrollment school in the Printers Row neighborhood.Three parents who sit on the LSC wrote an 11-page letter to Martinez and Inspector General Will Fletcher in February that outlined their concerns about Powers. One of the major charges was that Powers rents an apartment in Chicago but owns a residence in Missouri and uses that address for his driver’s license, and car and voter registration.CPS’ residency policy says employees hired after November 1996 are required to be residents of Chicago, with some waivers granted. Powers told the school community he visits his wife on weekends at their home in St. Louis.Another complaint is that Powers failed to report or discipline one teacher for alleged misconduct and another for inappropriate behavior involving students.LSC chairperson Cassie Creswell, one of the letter writers, expressed disappointment in Martinez’s response to the LSC Friday.“I’m surprised and, frankly, disgusted. It’s really, really disturbing that they would leave him in place,” Creswell told the Tribune. She said Martinez was presented with “an extremely strong case” for Powers’ dismissal.“He is violating the CPS residency policy and has been for 14 years. And I think we provided a very strong case that he has been failing to report extremely serious misconduct and abuse against students,” Creswell said. “CEO Martinez said in the fall that not just abusers, and not just those who had committed the misconduct, but those who failed to report that misconduct will be removed from a school while investigations are ongoing. And now he’s gone back on that.”Creswell and the other two letter writers, Sarah Ma and Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth, did not run for LSC reelection this week. The council will have several new faces when it is seated in July.AdvertisementAt a forum last month, LSC candidates talked of increasing the transparency of council activities, uniting the school community and making the school, which serves nearly 2,000 students, more equitable. Nearly 37% of Jones students are white, 29% are Latino, 15% are Asian, and about 12% are Black, according to CPS data.When it was composed of different members, the LSC easily renewed Powers’ principal contract in December 2019 for four more years.tswartz@tribpub.com

Hundreds of Illinois school districts are awaiting their share of $87 million in funding mistakenly allocated to Chicago Public Schools, which has been asked to reimburse the state for the overpayment.A total of 769 school districts are slated to be reimbursed for the shortfall, which officials with the Illinois State Board of Education attributed to a coding error dating back to the launch of Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act, which was signed into law by former Gov. Bruce Rauner in August 2017.AdvertisementThe new Evidence-Based Funding changes the way school districts receive the bulk of state funds, sending more resources to Illinois’ most under-resourced students “ensuring all schools have the resources they need to provide a safe, rigorous, and well-rounded learning environment for all students,” according to ISBE.At the top of the state’s reimbursement list is Elgin-based Unit School District 46, which is owed $5.2 million; followed by Rockford School District 205, owed $3.3 million; Plainfield School District 202, owed $3 million; Community Unit School District 300, owed $2.6 million and Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 owed $2.1 million.AdvertisementCPS spokeswoman Mary Fergus said in a statement Friday that “the error made by an ISBE contractor in 2018 during the initial development of the enrollment verification system for Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) has caused an overpayment to CPS in the amount of $87.5 million. We are in discussions with ISBE and the General Assembly about the impacts on CPS and the state budget.”ISBE Superintendent Carmen Ayala was not available to comment on the funding error, or how the state plans to recoup the overpayment to CPS.State Superintendent of Education Dr. Carmen I. Ayala at South Elgin High School announcing Illinois K-12 school districts will receive federal funding to support students as they return to the classroom after distance and hybrid learning due to COVID-19 on March 31, 2021 in South Elgin. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)But ISBE spokeswoman Jackie Matthews said a “multiyear payment plan has been discussed.”“We have had several conversations with CPS and will continue to work with the district to resolve this matter,” Matthews said in a statement Friday.District 46 Superintendent Tony Sanders, whose suburban district was hit hardest by the ISBE funding mistake, said he learned of the state’s Evidence-based Funding miscalculation from the Chicago Tribune earlier this month.He recently received an email from the state explaining the district is owed and will be reimbursed $5.2 million, Sanders said.“I’m just pleased they found the error and are working to correct it, so I give the state and the General Assembly credit,” Sanders said.Sanders, whose district enrolls about 36,000 students, with nearly 60% from low-income families, said he is a strong supporter of the new Evidence-based Funding model, which he said increases equity by allocating adequate state funding to underserved communities.AdvertisementProponents of Evidence-based Funding say the model is integral to providing educational equity for students statewide, as school districts in Illinois are funded primarily by local property taxes, which can vary dramatically and typically provide more robust resources to schools in affluent communities.At Plainfield School District 202, which enrolls about 25,000 students, with more than a third from low-income families, spokesman Thomas Hernandez said district officials are not yet sure how they will use the roughly $3 million they are owed from the state.“We are happy to be made whole, and are in the first part of our budgeting process, so the timing is good,” Hernandez said.ISBE spokeswoman Matthews said this week that the agency “identified the discrepancy” while preparing an EBF data report in December 2021 “and immediately began investigating.”“After identifying that there was a discrepancy in the enrollment counts for CPS, ISBE needed to conduct a thorough investigation to confirm the existence and scope of the error and determine the source of the error,” Matthews said.Describing the EBF calculations as “very complex,” and including more than 17,000 data points and more than 240,000 Excel formulas, Matthews said “determining the cause of the discrepancy required conducting extensive recalculations and reconfirming enrollment counts and other data elements.”Advertisement“Once ISBE identified the coding error that was causing the discrepancy, ISBE needed to determine the scope of the error, including the districts and EBF payments impacted,” Matthews said.ISBE administrators notified board members of the discrepancy in mid-February “but at that time staff were still investigating the scope of the problem, including how much CPS was overpaid and its impact on other districts,” Matthews said.ISBE “flagged the discrepancy for CPS in mid-March while ISBE was still working to calculate the scope of the issue,” Matthews said. The amount overpaid to CPS was confirmed the week of March 30.When Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration took over in January 2019, the Evidence-Based Funding “code had been deployed for two years already and had passed the ‘real world test’ with no issues,” Matthews said.“Changing functioning code introduces risk. It would have violated best practice to go back and review the code after two years of ostensibly successful implementation,” Matthews said.“ISBE has now added an additional independent data calculation validation step to ensure accuracy moving forward and is pursuing an external audit of the entire EBF formula,” she said.AdvertisementRon O’Connor, assistant superintendent of business services at Community Consolidated School District 59, which has schools in Arlington Heights, Elk Grove Village, Des Plaines and Mount Prospect, said that while the district is owed only about $23,000 from the state, the reimbursed funding is appreciated.“Every dollar counts for education, especially in these days of high inflation,” O’Connor said. “We are always committed to working with the state and I am pleased that they are initiating a process for auditing the EBF formula so that the right funds go to the right districts.”kcullotta@chicagotribune.com