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A heavily damaged SUV sits outside the home of an R. Kelly accuser after it was torched in the early morning hours of June 11, 2020. Prosecutors say Michael Williams set fire to the vehicle as a warning not to testify against Kelly. (U.S. District Court)
Demonstrations have been low-key throughout the trial, but they began to intensify as the jury deliberated. At one point, a group on the courthouse steps chanted “Black Lives Matter,” while a man on a bullhorn needled them about Joseph Rosenbaum, one of the men Rittenhouse killed, being a convicted sex offender.
Presta, a Democrat first elected mayor in 2013, was charged last year with accepting an envelope with $5,000 cash in March 2019 from Omar Maani, an executive at clout-heavy red light camera company SafeSpeed LLC. Maani was actually cooperating with the FBI and the entire exchange was caught on an undercover camera.
“In the last 30 days, one in four Chicago COVID cases have been in children under age 18, whereas over the whole pandemic, it’s been about half that, one in eight. Some of this is because there’s more testing happening, of course, in schools that we’ve talked about, but this is also just a reflection that many children are only now getting the opportunity to be vaccinated.”
In spring 2019, lawmakers in Springfield were finalizing the details of gambling legislation that ultimately would legalize sports betting and create casino licenses for Chicago, Waukegan, the south suburbs and three other locations. At the same time, Bond, then CEO of Tap Room Gaming, was working to elect a slate of supportive aldermen to the nine-member Waukegan City Council.
Students at the rally Tuesday had a list of eight demands including further extension of the Lyft program, extended coverage of the shuttle routes, real-time alerts for any crime within the Hyde Park area, annual safety and security training for students and staff, life insurance for all university members who are not covered, options for off-campus protections and regular updates from the university police on investigation outcomes following every security alert.
The Rittenhouse contingent grew throughout the afternoon, and one flashpoint came when Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Mark McCloskey and his wife, Patricia, who gained notoriety last year after waving guns at Black Lives Matter protesters outside their St. Louis home, approached Kenosha activists who were denouncing them as outsiders during a news conference.
Hearts was one of two Garda employees shot Monday morning as they approached a Bank of America location, 250 W. 83rd St., according to Chicago police and the FBI, which was the lead investigating agency. Yet few new details had emerged in the day after the brazen daylight attack involving between two and four masked gunmen, dressed in all black.
The local controversy over “Gender Queer,” which has drawn criticism at schools across the country, spilled into full view at the board meeting, with opponents characterizing images of oral sex and a sex toy as “pornographic,” and saying the book should be removed from library shelves. Supporters say that the book —about growing up asexual and nonbinary — sends a strong message of support and inclusion to LGBTQ teens at a vulnerable time.
Michael Johnston, 38, who co-founded the music service Audiotree, is facing a felony charge of unauthorized taping. He and his wife, Kelly Johnston, are also accused in a lawsuit filed by the two women of causing them extreme distress by secretly taping them. Johnston was also president of Lincoln Hall and Schubas Tavern.