News One » Chicago

Chicago Homicides Up 50 Percent

NewsOne Staff — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:00:27 +0000

Though crime in Chicago, Illinois has decreased overall in 2012, the murder rate has increased by a shocking 50 percent, reports the Chicago Tribune.

Police Chief Garry McCarthy told the Tribune that there have been 40 murders this month in the Windy City, up from 26 in January of 2011. According to police records, the increase in homicides continues the same violent streak that held the city hostage at the end of last year.

McCarthy shared the tragic details of the crime wave that has ushered in 2012:

We’re at 73 percent murder-by-gunshot right now, which means that the other categories have stacked up…stabbings, asphyxiation.

Former White House Chief-of-Staff and current mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emmanuel, says that gang activity is at the crux of the city’s problems:

Chicago has a problem unlike any other major city given the size of our gangs. Nobody can be content, but we are making progress in the right things that are necessary to bring a level of safety to our streets.”

Over half of the murders occurred in two of Chicago’s most notorious districts, Englewood and Harrison, but McCarthy that says that targeted strategy in those locations will ensure an improvement in safety.

Man Charged With Kicking Kitten 15 Feet And Making Field Goal Sign

Casey Gane-McCalla, Lead Blogger — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:43:33 +0000

CHICAGO Twenty-two-year-old Percy Love was charged with animal cruelty after police claimed that he took a running start and kicked a kitten 15 to 18 feet in the air and then raised his hands in the air, mimicking the sign referees make when a field goal is good in football.

The cat survived the kicking and officers brought it to an animal care facility.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

The officers immediately arrested a laughing 22-year-old Percy Love of the 6500 block of South Maplewood Avenue after the Monday afternoon kick of the small black cat, police said.

He told the arresting officers: “This is my cat, Nightmare. He is tough, we play like that all the time. It’s just a cat,” police said.

Teens Brutally Beat Asian Boy While Calling Him N-Word

Associated Press — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:30:06 +0000

CHICAGO – Chicago police are questioning six teens in the beating of a 17-year-old boy that was captured on video and posted online.

Police say the attack happened Sunday in a South Side alley. Video shows several assailants repeatedly kicking and striking the victim, sometimes with a shoe. The video was posted on YouTube.

Police say they robbed the victim of shoes and his wallet.

Chicago police said Tuesday that it didn’t appear the incident was racially motivated.

Authorities say the victim is of Asian descent. In the video, the assailants can be heard repeatedly using racial slurs(n-word) and making derogatory comments about speaking Chinese. Several assailants are wearing sweat shirt hoods and masks.

The victim was hospitalized for a laceration, bruising and abrasions.

No charges have been filed.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Most of the offenders visible in the video appeared to be white. The victim was later treated for bruises, abrasions and a cut lip at Mercy Hospital and released.

13 Cities Celebrate MLK Day With Diverse Schedule Of Special Events

Brett Johnson — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:57:34 +0000

In cities all across the country, there are a number of special events scheduled during this year’s observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Of course, you can attend a local parade today.

However, there are also concerts, special movie screenings, prayer services and many other volunteer efforts to join so you can add an educational, service and even spiritual element to however you’re planning to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy.

If you’re looking for ways to make today more than just a day off work, we’ve compiled a list of some of what’s happening in 13 major markets.

1. ATLANTA

If you’re in the Peachtree city, you can attend the King Holiday March and Rally. The march is held on Auburn Avenue from Peachtree Street to Jackson Street while the rally is held on Auburn Avenue in the King National Park Area. The areas of concern are education, technology, medical, investment, transportation, housing environmental justice, job creation, conflict resolution, interfaith, cultural exchange, peace, justice and voter registration. 1:15 p.m. Jan. 16. Sweet Auburn District, Auburn Ave N.E., Atlanta. 404-614-3233. In addition, poet Nikki Giovanni will speak and do a free book signing at 2 p.m., as part of Kennesaw State University’s annual MLK Day event at the Bailey Performance Center, 1000 Chastain Road N.W, Kennesaw. 770-423-6650. Visit the official King Week at Emory website for a full list of the school’s King Week activities.

2. BIRMINGHAM

In the Birmingham area, locals can attend the Wreath Laying Ceremony at Dr. King’s Statue at Kelly Ingram Park at 10 a.m. There’s a Martin Luther King Day Parade in Montevallo that starts at 11 a.m. at Montevallo City Hall and will end at Shiloh Baptist Church. Homeless and senior citizens can visit Boutwell Auditorium for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Love Feast at 2:30 p.m. Plus, folks in the area can participate in Hands on Birmingham’s 12th annual MLK Day of Service.Over 35 projects take place around the city from clean-ups, socializing with the elderly, and more. Various locations and times. And there’s free admission all day from 9 to 5 p.m. at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute located at 520 16th Street North.

3. BOSTON

Since King was a former Boston University student, the school will hold its annual remembrance ceremony commemorating his birthday. The event, titled “Manifest Our Destiny,” routinely draws more than 1,000 people from the area. This year’s ceremony will explore “how one person’s passion can transform the world” and will include a lineup of speakers and a jazz performance from BU students. The celebration, which will be broadcast live using BU’s channel on UStream, is open to the public, and will take place at 1 p.m. on Jan. 16 in the George Sherman Union Metcalf Ballroom.

4. CHICAGO

If you’re in the Windy City, Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet is offering an African dance class in commemoration of the holiday and the Bronzeville Children’s Museum in Chicago will have a program featuring crafts. Plus, Chicagoans can get up to speed on the “Rev. Martin Luther King’s pacifist principles” by taking a free daylong course (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) taught by certified Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies members. For more information, visit evanstonhistorycenter.org. Evanston History Center, Charles Gates Dawes House, 225 Greenwood St (847-475-3410).

5. DETROIT

Over in Detroit, there’s the 2012 Detroit MLK Day Rally and March: Jobs, Peace & Justice. The event is a tribute to the women of SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) that starts at noon at Central United Methodist Church. A march through downtown Detroit follows, with a celebration culminating in the church’s second floor at 23 E. Adams and Woodward. The University of Michigan-Detroit Center (3663 Woodward Ave., Suite 150) is hosting “It’s Going On in the Hood,” a panel discussion from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m focusing on efforts to aid Detroit’s neighborhoods. For more information, visit detroitcenter.umich.edu or call the Detroit Center at (313) 593-3584.

6. HOUSTON

The 18th Annual MLK Grande Parade starts in Mid-Town at San Jacinto St and Elgin Street. For more information about the parade and pre event activities visit www.mlkgrandeparade.org. After the parade, enjoy a day of service with the Harlem Globetrotters at Root Memorial Square Park (1400 Clay Street, Houston. ) from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

7. LOS ANGELES

Instead of watching the Lakers or Clippers on TV, locals can attend this year’s Kingdom Day Parade. The parade’s theme is ”The Dream Continues to Live and Grow.” Plus, City Year Los Angeles also sponsors a day of service at Los Angeles Academy Middle School where Angelenos can build benches and paint murals. Find more volunteer opportunities at MLKDay.gov.

8. MIAMI

South Florida Urban Ministries celebrates and honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a day of community service. SFLUM staff and a team of AmeriCorps members and other volunteers spend the day beautifying Florida City through several painting and tree planting projects. Additionally, volunteers will help beautify and revitalize four homes in Florida City. Also includes open and closing ceremonies and lunch; 7:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Branches Florida City, 145 SW Fifth Ave., Florida City. Free. 305-442-8306.

9. NEW ORLEANS

In the Big Easy, locals can attend the 25th annual program of the Martin Luther King Jr. Task Force Inc. of Jefferson Parish which includes a 6:45 p.m. banquet at The Four Columns, 3711 West Bank Expressway, Harvey. The theme is “Remember! Celebrate! Act! A Day On … Not a Day Off!” Tickets are $40 per person, and organizers suggest you call soon to reserve seats. Call Clara T. Byes at 504.376.2130 or 504.368.5332.

10. NEW YORK

New Yorkers have lots of options too. Locals can visit “Picture the Dream,” a free exhibit that showcases collages that echo the message of Martin Luther King, Jr., created by children living in Brooklyn public housing. BAMcafé, 30 Lafayette Ave., btwn Ashland Pl. and St. Felix St., Brooklyn. For more info, 718-636-4111. Film buffs can watch a screening of Nothing But a Man, which is playing at the Museum of the Moving Image at 3 p.m. It’s free with $12 museum admission. The film honors the push for civil rights by Martin Luther King, Jr., as it focuses on a 1960s African American railroad worker and his family’s struggle against racism. 36-01 35 Ave., at 37th St., Astoria. For more info, 718-777-6888. And Harlemites can take the Civil Rights Multimedia Walking Tour sponsored by the Harlem Heritage & Cultural Center, 1 p.m. For $25, you can watch a video presentation of Dr. King, visit the hub of Manhattan’s African American community and explore sights related to Martin Luther King, Jr. and other important civil rights figures. 104 Malcolm X Blvd., btwn 115th and 116th sts.

11. OAKLAND

The Allen Temple Leadership Institute with Mayor Jean Quan and City Council President Larry Reid lead the “Green Clean Up Day,” a service event which will target 20 blocks in East Oakland for cleaning, graffiti removal and trash pick up. More than 200 volunteers are expected to participate in the cleanup, which is set to take place between 8:30 a.m. and noon, primarily along International Boulevard between 81st and 98th avenues.

12. SAN FRANCISCO

It’s all about service in San Francisco too. Volunteers plan to meet at the African American Art and Culture Complex today to clean up the Bernal Heights neighborhood. The Department of Public Works is providing transportation, and volunteers will be weeding, landscaping, and cleaning up the area. Volunteers also plan to build two picnic tables, construct and install four bulletin boards, improve the landscaping of a school garden and paint school railings and lunch tables at John O’Connell High School on San Francisco’s Folsom Street.

13. WASHINGTON, DC

In the nation’s capitol, the must-see event is a performance by Grammy Award winner Bobby McFerrin and the Let Freedom Ring Choir who’ll sing “Let Freedom Ring,” a musical tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. Plus, Clarence Jones, former King attorney and speechwriter will receive the 10th annual John Thompson Legacy of a Dream Award at the Kennedy Center, Concert Hall, 2700 F St. NW. Tickets are free to the 6 p.m. ceremony and are distributed, two per person, to those in line in the Hall of Nations starting a 5 p.m. Monday. 202-467-4600.

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Ida B. Wells Statue Will Be Built In Chicago

Associated Press — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:00:33 +0000

CHICAGO — For six decades, civil rights pioneer Ida B. Wells was woven into the fabric of Chicago’s South Side as the namesake of a public housing project.

A Rosa Parks-like figure during her era, the journalist and suffragist was so revered that 1930s leaders put her name on a project that promised good, affordable housing for working class families. Within a few decades, however, the homes deteriorated, growing more violent and becoming riddled with gangs and drugs – not as notorious as the city’s Cabrini-Green public housing high rises or Robert Taylor Homes, but certainly not a monument to Wells’ legacy.

Then, nearly a decade ago, the city tore the Wells housing project down, leaving the activist’s great-granddaughter Michelle Duster and her family worried Wells wouldn’t be remembered at all.

Now, to mark the 150th anniversary of Wells’ birth in 2012, an effort is under way to build a sculpture to honor her legacy at the site of the housing development and renew her relevance for future generations.

“When the housing project was coming down we were like `Her name is going to be gone,’” Duster said, sitting in her South Side home, a portrait of her great-grandmother hanging on the wall. “Her name and what she did can’t be lost with the housing project.”

The Ida B. Wells Commemorative Art Committee is seeking $300,000 in donations after commissioning noted Chicago artist Richard Hunt to create the sculpture, which is expected to combine images of Wells with inscriptions of her writings. They have raised a little more than 10 percent of the money so far.

While Wells’ name endures on a grade school and a professorship in the city, the monument will aim to reflect the full legacy of a woman who was born into slavery in Mississippi and went on to become a well-respected crusader against injustice and outspoken anti-lynching activist.

Orphaned at age 16, Wells was left to support her five siblings. She became a teacher and moved to Memphis, where she sued a railroad because she wasn’t allowed to sit in the ladies coach. When she later became a journalist, Wells wrote about that incident and the lynchings of three of her male friends.

Her writings enraged others and led to Wells being forced to leave the South. She kept writing and speaking about lynching across the U.S. and England. She died in 1931 and is buried in Chicago.

Planning for the Ida B. Wells Homes started three years after her death, as a project of the Public Works Administration. The homes opened in 1941 and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited the complex, with its 1,662 units – more than 860 apartments and nearly 800 row houses and garden apartments.

By the 1990s, the housing complex had fallen to drugs and violence. In an infamous 1994 case, two boys, ages 10 and 11, dropped a 5-year-old boy to his death from a vacant 14-floor apartment. The boys were convicted on juvenile murder charges. The same year two neighborhood teenagers produced an award-winning radio documentary “Ghetto Life 101,” which aired on National Public Radio.

A year later, prosecutors charged seven people with running a cocaine ring out of the Ida B. Wells Homes that authorities say did such booming business drug buyers lined up 50 at a time.

By 2002, the last buildings were torn down in a nationally watched urban renewal plan initiated by then-Mayor Richard Daley that also targeted other housing projects – including Cabrini-Green, which saw the last of its high-rises crumble under wrecking balls earlier this year.

As Wells Homes residents focused on finding new places to live, some also requested something be done in tribute to the activist.

“I want people to remember Ida B. Wells the woman, not Ida B. Wells the housing community,” her great-granddaughter, Duster, said. “Something should be done to remember who she was. I think who she was as a woman got lost when it was attached to the housing projects.”

When the money is raised, that something will be a sculpture in the middle of a large grassy median on 37th Street and Langley Avenue in the historically African-American neighborhood of Bronzeville on the city’s South Side.

The site, across the street from a large park, isn’t far from the 19th-century stone house where Wells lived from 1919 to 1929. The Ida B. Wells-Barnett House is now a National Historic Landmark.

Hunt envisions a sculpture in his metallic, free-form style that will incorporate images and writings of Wells. He said he hopes to convey “what a courageous and intelligent and committed person that she was.”

Carol Adams, president of Chicago’s DuSable Museum of African-American History, said the sculpture will be a lasting monument to Wells and a place where people can learn about her influence. The neighborhood is already home to the Ida B. Wells Preparatory Elementary Academy, and Chicago’s DePaul University has a professorship named for Wells.

“Her name itself just reverberates through the community,” said Adams, who once worked in the Ida B. Wells Homes. “It was her voice, her stance that she took regarding lynching and how she used the media to wage that fight, what that fight meant to us. This was very significant for black people all over the country.”

Duster said the sculpture will “have a lot of meaning” for those who lived in the homes named after her.

“I think they will have a huge sense of pride,” she said. “Those who lived in Bronzeville when the homes were there, it’s a source of pride for our neighborhood. For others it’s a sense of pride in the city of Chicago.”

Mostly though, she said, remembering her great-grandmother will teach a new generation that one person can make a difference and defy the boundaries of society’s expectations based on race, class and gender.

“It’s important to speak up when you feel you’ve experienced something not fair,” Duster said. “Don’t wait for somebody else to say something. That’s one thing Ida did that I think is a legacy. She used her voice and talents to raise consciousness.”

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Dad Who Duct Taped Daughter On Facebook Faces Abuse Charges

Associated Press — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 02:58:00 +0000

CHICAGO (AP) — A 21-year-old Chicago man faces abuse charges after he allegedly posted a photograph on Facebook that shows his daughter’s hands, legs and mouth apparently bound with blue tape.

Police spokesman Officer Ron Gaines says Andre Curry is charged with aggravated domestic battery.

Police say Curry apparently posted the photograph on his Facebook page with the words, “This is wut happens wen my baby hits me back.”

The photograph has since been removed but police didn’t have any details about when it was removed.

Curry is to appear in domestic court Wednesday. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he has an attorney.

Kendall Marlowe, spokesman for the Department of Children and Family Services, says the agency has never investigated Curry. He wouldn’t say whether DCFS has interviewed the child or Curry.

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Police Investigating Picture Of Girl Bound With Duct Tape

NewsOne Staff — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:34:01 +0000

Chicago police are investigating a picture of a girl who was was bound by her arms and legs, and mouth covered with duct tape, allegedly by her father.

Police say Andre Curr, 21, uploaded the picture to Facebook with the caption “This is wut happens wen my baby hits me back. ;). [sic]”

Curry has not been arrested, according to Chicago police. Child protective services is looking into the situation.

According to the report, one of Curry’s “friends” forwarded the photo to cops.

Je’Vanna Cobbins told The Smoking Gun that Curry would never actually hurt anyone

Mugger Gets Manhandled Trying To Rob MMA Fighter

Adisa Banjoko, West Coast Editor — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:55:59 +0000

The Chicago Sun-Times reported a would-be mugger named Anthony Miranda, caught the beating of a lifetime. He tried to rob a 6ft. 2in. 250 lbs MMA fighter.

The MMA fighter, elusively identified only as “Justin” was relaxing in his car. Miranda who was armed, walked up and began the jack move:

“Justin said he handed over the $30 in cash he had stuffed in a his car’s cup holder, but Miranda was not satisfied, Justin said. At that moment, he backs up the gun and he racks it,” Justin recalled. “The gun jammed. He racked it a second time. He ejected the bullet on the ground. He went down and grabbed the bullet and said, ‘Look, m—–f—–, it’s a hollow point. I’ll blow your brains out.’”

Justin was told to get out of the car. He did as he was instructed and was able to wrestle the gun from Miranda. Then he put hands on him like D-Bo did Red in Friday.

Justin said: “He was begging me to let him go. He said he has a baby.”

Nothing makes me feel better than to see a jacker get jacked! Karma is real.

Read the whole story in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Chicago Teen Charged In Taped Attack On Elderly Man

TheGrio — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:23:25 +0000

A teen has been charged with aggravated battery for a videotaped attack of an elderly man in a Chicago subway station.

Scotty Strahan, 18, turned himself in to the police after authorities issued alerts seeking his arrest.

Video posted at worldstarhiphop.com shows the elderly man in a tan jacket wandering around passengers on the CTA platform. In the video, a group of teens is seen laughing and taunting the older man. One teen, dressed in a black vest and hoodie, begins following the older man as the train approaches.

Cash-Strapped Schools Place Ads On Buses, Report Cards

Associated Press — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:04:49 +0000

CHICAGO — Seven vinyl banners draped this month along one of Chicago’s most iconic bridges, advertisements some have dubbed “a visual crime” and “commercial graffiti,” are reviving a debate about how governments raise money in tough economic times.

In the aftermath of the Great Recession, a public school district in Colorado is selling ads on report cards and Utah has a new law allowing ads on school buses. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration, straining to fill a $600 million budget hole, is looking to raise $25 million from ads on city property – including bridges, electrical storage boxes and garbage cans.

The effort kicked off this month with Bank of America ads on the 81-year-old Wabash Avenue Bridge, which crosses the Chicago River and has appeared in movies including “About Last Night” and “The Dark Knight.”

“I think it’s disgusting,” Chicago resident Linda Rosenthal said recently, shaking her head as she surveyed the signs. “The architecture in Chicago is stunning. To see this awful advertisement angers me.”

The white ads with blue lettering and Bank of America’s logo are posted on limestone bridge tender houses, which hold the equipment used to raise the bridge when tall boats pass beneath. Bank of America paid $4,500 to put seven signs on the bridge for about a month, said city spokeswoman Kathleen Strand.

Strand promised the city’s new campaign will have “policies to protect the integrity of Chicago’s facade” and likened the initiative to the Chicago Transit Authority bringing in about $20 million annually from abundant ads on buses and elevated trains that don’t seem to anger anybody.

“The municipal marketing strategy is really about pursuing innovative opportunities to avoid having to cut city services or increase the tax burden on Chicagoans,” Strand said.

Still, some ask where the line will be drawn. Could the city’s historic Water Tower be next? Or Grant Park’s famed Buckingham Fountain?

The city’s two major daily newspapers have faced off with opposing views. Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin called the bridge ads “a visual crime” and “a grotesque cheapening of the public realm.” A Chicago Sun-Times editorial said the ads, while unappealing, “beat going bust.”

Bank of America spokeswoman Diane Wagner said the company said yes when Chicago officials asked if the bank wanted to advertise on the bridge because it’s a major employer and philanthropic supporter in the city.

“We agreed to be the first company to display on the bridge because we want to help the city explore new revenue sources and we think this is an innovative way to generate new revenue,” Wagner said.

Chicago advertising professionals doubt it was a smart move for either side.

“I have made my living in advertising, but there has to be better ways to raise money,” said Tim Terchek, executive creative director of the Drucker Group ad firm. What’s more, the bridge ads could backfire if public disgust sticks to the bank, he said.

Leo Burnett Company’s chief strategy officer Stephen Hahn-Griffiths, whose office overlooks the bridge ads, said they are a blight.

“It’s like commercial graffiti,” Hahn-Griffiths said. “It makes no sense from a marketing perspective and I question the intent of doing this because it does not seem like a smart decision.”

Former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist, president and CEO of the Chicago-based Congress for the New Urbanism, suggested the city could instead rent out spaces like the City Hall lobby or library and cultural center theaters for weddings and other events.

“Placing advertising on a city’s architectural assets takes away from the public realm,” Norquist said.

Some officials across the country, and the world, are turning to private money for public projects.

In Rome, an Italian shoe company founder has pledged to foot $34 million to restore the Colosseum – the ancient arena blackened by pollution – and its founder has said the gesture could launch more private sponsorship for public benefit in Italy. In Venice, Mayor Giorgio Orsoni defended the use of publicity on restoration of such projects as the famed Doges Palace, saying sponsors’ contribution allowed the work to be accelerated.

But Venice also has strict rules on the use of advertisements. Only 10 percent of an exposed facade can be covered, and ads for cigarettes, alcohol and those featuring nudity are banned.

Back in the U.S., a suburban Salt Lake City school district plans to be Utah’s first to plaster its buses with advertisements in an effort to generate additional revenue without raising taxes. While the ad revenue is expected to supplement the Jordan School District’s budget, officials said it won’t be enough to make up for the recent budget cuts.

It’s a similar story in Golden, Colo., where Jefferson County Public Schools’ report cards now feature ads for the CollegeInvest college savings program. The ads raise $30,000 a year.

“Parents understand where we are at with the funding issues and most of the reaction has been positive,” said school district spokeswoman Lorie Gillis.

Retiree Jim Phillips, who leads free tours of Chicago’s bridges, challenged the city to channel public curiosity about the structures into money-making ventures, such as charging tourists to see the bridge houses’ inner workings.

“If it gets to the point advertisements go on more of these historic structures, I don’t think there’s any way to stop them on others,” Phillips said. “What if you put a NASCAR suit on the Picasso? What if you slapped a Google sign on one of the lions at the Art Institute?”

Man Stole Murdered Nurse’s Ring To Propose To Girlfriend

NewsOne Staff — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 20:20:44 +0000

A Chicago man who was charged in the beating death of a nurse allegedly stole the woman’s wedding and engagement rings in order to propose to his girlfriend.

Raymond Harris, 36, was charged Thursday with first-degree murder and robbery in the death of Virginia Perillo, 73.

In court, prosecutors said Harris, who was paroled earlier this year after he served 13 years of a 30-year prison sentence on attempted murder and aggravated arson convictions, attended a party after attacking Perillo and was seen wearing “brand new clothes” and showing off new rings which he used later that night to propose to his girlfriend, according to the Chicago Tribune. Perillo’s family reportedly confirmed that rings being worn by Harris’ fiance belonged to the victim.

Video Showing Teen Punching Homeless Man Sparks Outrage

NewsOne Staff — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:56:36 +0000

A video showing a teen punching a homeless man on the Chicago El train has sparked outrage in the online community.

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The video, which appears to have been shot in April, was posted on the website World Star Hip Hop last weekend and immediately went viral.

It shows a teen walking up to a man who appears to be homeless and punching him, as his friends laughed.

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A Facebook page identified a man they say is the attacker in the video and urged that he be brought to justice.

Fox Chicago spoke to a woman the TV station reported was the attacker’s mother. She reportedly admitted her son was the attacker, and said he had been “going through some things.”

The Chicago Transit Authority told Fox Chicago they were looking into the matter. They did not immediately respond to a request from the News for comment.

Teen Murdered Grandmother After Confrontation Over Skipping School

NewsOne Staff — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 18:36:29 +0000

A Chicago teenager murdered his grandmother this past Friday morning after she began admonishing him for skipping school.

The ninth-grader, Keshawn Perkins, 15, pummeled his grandmother with a lamp and stabbed her in the neck, head, and body with a kitchen knife. He then wrapped her body in a blanket and dumped it in a sewer trap behind her house, before taking off with her purse.

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A neighbor spotted the gore-spattered teen dragging something through his backyard and then fleeing, the Tribune said. Perkins was arrested a short time later.

Prosecutors said that Perkins admitted to the savage attack, saying his grandmother had yelled at him for skipping school and he beat her with the lamp “until she shut up,” the Tribune reported.

DNA Frees 3 Men After 20 Years In Prison Over Rape, Murder

Associated Press — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:16:01 +0000

CHICAGO-Cook County prosecutors on Thursday vacated the convictions of three of five men serving prison time for the 1991 rape and murder of a 14-year-old suburban Chicago girl after DNA evidence linked another man to the crime.

The men were convicted as teenagers in the rape and murder of Cateresa Matthews of Dixmoor, which is about 20 miles south of Chicago. She disappeared after leaving her grandmother’s house in November 1991 and her body was found weeks later near a highway with a gunshot wound to the mouth.

The murder went unsolved for about a year. Then in 1992, five teens were arrested. Two signed confessions and agreed to testify against the others for shorter prison sentences, even though attorneys said there were inconsistencies in their testimony and DNA evidence taken from the girl did not match any of the five teens.

Prosecutors reopened the case this year after new DNA testing uploaded to a state database linked a convicted rapist to the crime. He has not been charged in Matthew’s killing, but remains under investigation and is serving prison time in Cook County for a drug offense, authorities said.

The mood in the courtroom Thursday was described with word: Stunned.

“It’s truly unexplainable,” said attorney Josh Tepfer who represented one of the men and works for Northwestern University School of Law’s Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth. “It’s one of the most tragic injustices in this state’s history. It’s five kids who were wrongfully convicted … while a true perpetrator went on and lived a criminal lifestyle.”

The prosecutors’ move came after years of legal battles for the three men — Robert Taylor, 34, Jonathan Barr, 34, and James Harden, 36, — who have been in prison for nearly two decades. The three were to be released from Illinois prisons as early as Thursday once paperwork was completed. Prosecutors said they would vacate the convictions of the two others who had already served prison sentences.

“He’s lost his childhood. You can’t put a price on that,” said Craig Cooley, a staff attorney with the New York-based Innocence Project, who represented Barr. “He’s angry at what happened, but he’s forgiven and is moving on.”

Barr and Harden, who are brothers, were both in custody at Menard Correctional Center.

“Their mother and father passed away while they were in prison,” said Tara Thompson, a staff attorney with the University of Chicago Law School Exoneration Project, who represented Harden. “He missed the opportunity to go to college. Everything you’ve done in your life since high school, he’s missed out on that.”

Taylor was in custody at Stateville Correctional Center.

“They were all in tears and very, very happy that this ordeal was over and grateful they’re going to be home for the holidays,” said Tepfer, Taylor’s attorney.

Thursday’s case, once dubbed “The Dixmoor Five,” is among the dozens of wrongful conviction cases in Illinois made public in recent years. Allegations of torture and coerced confessions by Chicago police eventually helped lead then-Republican Gov. George Ryan in 2000 to impose a moratorium on Illinois’ death penalty. Earlier this year, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation abolishing the death penalty in Illinois.

Defense attorneys in the Dixmoor case blame a series of missteps on prosecutors and local police at the time, including allegedly coerced confessions.

“The fact that they accepted these false confessions is tunnel vision,” Cooley said. “The fact that they couldn’t look outside these confessions, and say, `Wait a minute.’”

The teens, including the victim, all knew each other from school. Defense attorneys claim the teens who confessed were questioned relentlessly and at least in one case were told that they could see their parents if they signed confessions.

Robert Lee Veal, 34, and Shainne Sharp signed written confessions and agreed to testify against the others in exchange for reduced 20-year prison sentences. Records show each served about 10 years.

Veal, who has “severe learning disabilities,” could not read when he was arrested and signed a confession not knowing what it was.

Taylor also had confessed to the crime, but later recanted saying it was coerced. He and Harden were sentenced to 80 years in prison. Barr received 85 years.

Defense attorneys had asked for new DNA testing in 2009. New tests this year isolated a genetic profile from swabs taken from the victim. Illinois State Police uploaded it to a database which matched the profile of a man who was 33 at the time of the 1991 murder and had been convicted of a separate sexual assault.

Dixmoor police declined to comment Thursday.

“We conducted a very detailed and extensive investigation into the details of this case,” said Cook County state’s attorney’s office spokeswoman Sally Daly.

Sharp, 36, is serving time at Westville Correctional Facility in Indiana on a drug offense, according to online records with the Indiana Department of Corrections.

Veal, who lives in St. Paul, Minn., had not been told the news, his Chicago-based attorney Stuart Chanen said.

While Veal has been out of prison since 2002, his wrongful conviction has dramatically altered the course of his life, Chanen said. Unemployed, Veal spent a good chunk of his life behind bars at a time he might otherwise have been getting help for learning disabilities.

“It’s virtually impossible to get a job with a murder conviction, with being an ex-con … on your rap sheet,” said Chanen.

He said the decision to drop the charges, while not giving him back a decade of his life or make finding work a certainty, “At least he gets the stench of that off his record.”

Chicago Mayor Mourns City’s 260 Teenage Victims Of Violence

NewsOne Staff — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:42:33 +0000

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel paid his respect to the 260 Chicago public school students killed in the past three years at a vigil on Monday.

The vigil was the first of five scheduled for the week by Urban Dolorosa, a community organization that has memorialized Chicago’s young victims with poetry, music and performances.

The mayor is known for personally calling the family of each young victim of gun violence, most recently a 10-year-old boy shot in the leg on his way home from trick-or-treating on the city’s Northwest Side on Monday night.

Chicago Bike Apprenticeships Give Kids Freedom

Associated Press — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:17:21 +0000

CHICAGO — Each time 15-year-old Reginald Graham builds a bicycle, the process begins with a ritual.

He goes to the back room at the shop where he often works after school and scans the bikes and bike parts. Many are donated. Some are found, abandoned on bike racks. The key, Reggie says, is to find the right frame. It has to be solid. It has to fit the rider’s build.

Always, there are diamonds in the rough that, with a little love and polish, can turn into something special.

Reggie was kind of like that, too – a diamond in the rough – when he first stepped into this warehouse on Chicago’s South Side that is home to the Blackstone Bicycle Works.

That was two years ago. He was 13, a good kid – capable, by all accounts, but a bit lost. Then he put on a bike mechanic’s apron for the first time, and something clicked.

Certainly, the fact that he could work 25 hours to earn a free bike was enticing.

That’s why most kids come to the after-school program at this shop in the city’s Woodlawn neighborhood. For these boys and girls, a bike represents freedom, a way to fly more quickly through the gang-ridden streets that surround the shop.

They feel the wind on their faces, and can be alone with their thoughts. Many ride to places they don’t often go — to the lakeshore or a museum or to the Lincoln Park Zoo, 10 miles to the north.

Grinning broadly, sixth-grader Kaniya Coleman says, “When I ride I feel like a super woman.” She recalls a trip to the beach this summer when she and others wore capes while they rode in a pack, whooping and hollering all the way. “It was awesome.”

For Reggie, there also is comfort, and freedom, in just being here in this place for a few hours – in working with his hands, in building something, in belonging.

“It feels like home. When you walk in, people greet you, say hello. People listen,” says the 15-year-old high school freshman.

He feels safe here.

___

Once he chooses a bike for its frame, the process begins.

He strips it down, takes off the wheels and all rusted parts that have to be replaced. Then the rebuilding begins.

Reggie, who has worked his way up to the position of bike apprentice, wears a black apron that represents that status. The fledgling mechanics around him start with green aprons and work up to red and purple as they master the basics.

Aaron Swanton, an adult mechanic and the youth program manager at Blackstone, remembers when Reggie was one of those beginners. He didn’t smile much, but had an intensity and steady work ethic.

“It’s different for every kid. But sometimes it just fits right away – and for Reggie, that’s how it’s been,” Swanton says.

He and the other adults at the shop learned, over time, about the “complications” of Reggie’s home life, including helping to care for his grandmother, who is chronically ill. With just his younger sister living there with them, he was the man of the house, but at 13 wasn’t prepared for that.

“I needed somebody to show me how to be a man,” Reggie says.

Turns out, Swanton, a former teacher who’s been at the shop for more than four years, was one of those people.

___

Blackstone is a working bike shop, probably best described as a youth-focused nonprofit organization that sustains itself with bike sales and repairs. There are at least 20 kids there on any given day, doing homework, playing games or putting time in at the shop. When they’ve worked on bikes for 20 hours, they get to choose one to rebuild that they can keep. When they get to 25 hours, they can take that bike home. They can repeat this process, and earn as many bikes as they like, Swanton says.

The bikes that don’t go to kids are sold each Saturday. Many of the customers are students and faculty from the University of Chicago, a few blocks to the north.

Tuning up customers’ bikes, fixing flats and sticky gears is fine – but Reggie finds building a bike particularly satisfying.

After he strips a frame, he often works first on the handlebars, rummaging through used bike parts to find them. For his own bikes, he tends to choose the kind that stick straight up on the ends, like the horns of a bull.

They look powerful and give him good control, which can be an elusive commodity in this neighborhood.

Most of the kids who come to the after-school program don’t have much to call their own. Many come from gang families.

But Tyjuan Edwards, a youth mentor there who is himself a product of the South Side, wanted kids from those families to have a respite, too. He approached gang members in the neighborhood.

“If you don’t want your little brother or sister out here with you, send them to the shop,” Edwards, who’s known as “T,” told them.

And they did.

Here, for a couple of hours, they can work on bikes, finish their schoolwork with volunteer tutors and snack on fresh fruit. If they earn a bike, Edwards says, all the better.

___

Reggie pulls old tires and tubes off the bike wheels and replaces them with new ones. This is the easy part, he says. This is the first thing new bike mechanics learn how to do.

Once he has those back on, he assembles the chain, screws on pedals and finds a seat.

He prefers a bike without multiple gears, likes to power the bike himself.

He is a big, strong kid, plays football now on his high school team. Edwards beams “like a proud dad” when he talks about the three times Reggie sacked the quarterback in a game this fall.

Indeed, these guys have become Reggie’s family. He likes to make them proud – and talks about going to college and becoming a mechanic, or a lawyer.

Other kids say the same. Fifth-grader Diamond Chester comes to the shop to build bikes sometimes – but for her, the help with homework is most important.

“I want to be accepted to a good high school,” she says, fully believing that coming here will help her do that, as it has Reggie and others.

___

Last, come the brakes.

Reggie runs the cable through the plastic housing and pulls it through. Once he’s got it set, he cranks the pedal to get the back wheel spinning, then squeezes the lever on the handle. The brake pads tighten and the wheel comes to a stop.

Outside the shop, a boy carelessly throws his books across a table where some of the kids are doing their homework. They jump at the loud noise, as the books scatter. Edwards turns around quickly. His tone is stern. “That’s 10 push-ups,” he tells the boy, who hesitates for a moment. “Come one. I’ll do them with you.”

At Blackstone, there are clear expectations. If you don’t go to school, for instance, you can’t come to the program. Respect is a must, as is cleaning up after yourself. You have to finish your homework before fixing or riding bikes or throwing a football.

“The importance of schoolwork is absolute.” Swanton says. “No exceptions.”

A mother who has brought her son to the shop to check out the after-school program hears that, and nods approvingly.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” she says.

____

Not long after Reggie started coming to the shop, his school called Swanton to let him know that Reggie was skipping school. That was the last time that happened.

Now he’s the one gently lecturing other kids about staying in line.

“It’s my turn to set the example,” he says.

Things truly came full circle last school year, when he won a brand new bike for having the best report card. He stood by the bike and smiled for photos. Then he turned around and gave it to another kid.

“I already had a bike,” he now says, shrugging. He figures he’s earned at least 10, though some of them have been stolen.

“This kid didn’t have one.”

And there will always be another bike to build.

Filmmaker Promotes Film Festival In Tough Chicago ‘Hood

Associated Press — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:21:08 +0000

CHICAGO — Filmmaker Mark Harris is on a mission to change his Chicago neighborhood, a rough stretch on the South Side that is one of the city’s most dangerous.

He believes promoting his “Englewood Film Festival” is a step in the right direction, with two days of independent films starting Friday.

More than Common…Extraordinary!

He’s also the first to admit that the venue makes success a nearly impossible task in a neighborhood more accustomed to crime than cultural festivals. About half of the residents of Englewood live in poverty.

Harris is hoping his film festival prompts discourse and first-time neighborhood visitors.

The event that will feature five films and free acting workshops will end Saturday with a screening of “The Interrupters,” a documentary chronicling Chicago violence that debuted to at the Sundance Film Festival.

Legendary Black Paper, The Chicago Defender, Lays Off More Staff Members

NewsOne Staff — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:02:29 +0000

Legendary Chicago Black newspaper the Chicago Defender laid off numerous staff members this past weekend as the paper continues to struggle financially.

Laid off were the only two editors left among its staff of 18 — Executive Editor Lou Ransom and News Editor Rhonda Gillespie

An accounts receivables staffer also was laid off, and the paper’s only photographer switched from full- to part-time, according to staffers at the 106-year-old, once daily paper founded by Robert Abbott in 1905. Amidst financial woes, it became a weekly publication in 2008.

The Defender is thousands of dollars behind in its lease with developer Elzie Higginbottom, owner of its 8,500-square-foot headquarters at 4445 S. King Dr., the landmark Metropolitan Funeral Home building in Bronzeville and the Defender’s third home since 2003.

175 Arrested For Occupy Chicago Protests

Associated Press — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:03:54 +0000

CHICAGO — Protesters say the arrests of 175 members of a group demonstrating against corporate greed signify a new phase of civil disobedience for Chicago’s wing of the movement.

The arrests early Sunday came as about 500 members of Occupy Chicago refused to take down tents and leave a city park when it closed. Organizers did not seek a permit to be in the park after hours.

Twenty-two-year-old David Orlikoff of Chicago was among those arrested. He says the protesters don’t want to be confrontational, but will use civil disobedience when the group feels “it’s appropriate.”

Protesters Will Occupy Wall St. Park After Shutdown Threats

Occupy Wall Street Is About African-Americans, Too

He says he’s disappointed Mayor Rahm Emanuel didn’t intervene to allow the protest to continue at an entrance to Grant Park.

Occupy Iowa members reached a deal with Des Moines’ mayor Friday to move from the state Capitol to a city park, avoiding arrests.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

Chicago police arrested 175 members of a group protesting corporate greed early Sunday after they refused to take down their tents and leave a city park when it closed.

About 500 members of Occupy Chicago set up camp at the entrance to Grant Park on Saturday evening after a protest earlier in the day involving about 2,000, the Chicago Tribune reported. Occupy Chicago is an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement that started last month in New York City and has inspired protests nationwide.

The Chicago demonstration entered its 24th day Sunday with protesters at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, organizer Rachael Perrotta said. She said organizers also were meeting protesters who had been arrested as they were released from jail.

Chicago police said they gave protesters repeated warnings after the park closed at 11 p.m. and began making arrests when they refused to leave. Officers also asked protesters to take down their tents before beginning to cut them down to clear the area, police said.

The arrests began about 1 a.m. Sunday and ended with the park cleared about 3:30 a.m., the newspaper reported. It said most arrests were peaceful, but at least two men refused to stand and had to be carried away. Video showed protesters sitting on the ground, chanting “This is what democracy looks like” and “Shame on you, CPD” as arrests were made.

Chicago police said protesters who were arrested would be released after background checks were done to make sure they didn’t have any outstanding arrest warrants. They could face fines for violating a municipal ordinance.

Organizers of similar demonstrations in other cities have applied for permits to remain overnight or have moved out of parks and public buildings when they closed. Perrotta, an office worker in her 30s, said organizers in Chicago did not seek a permit to be in the park after hours.

“We believe we have the right as an international movement to secure a space where we can interact with the public and grow our occupation,” she said.

Sacked! FB Coach Arrested For Watching Players Jump Teen

NewsOne Staff — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:31:43 +0000

A Chicago high school football coach is in police custody, charged with misdemeanor simple assault for watching more than a dozen of his players attack a disabled teen.

Fenger High School coach Cassius Chambers, 28, turned himself into police yesterday for an incident on Oct. 1 when more than 20 of his football players jumped Darion Jones, 16, outside of his Chicago home.

One of the players had accused Jones of stealing his Nike flip-flops, Jones’ mother told Chicago’s NBC affiliate.

Chambers and one of his assistants, Roscoe Pitts, watched the mêlée, but did nothing to stop it, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

H.S. Football Coaches Accused Of Arranging Teen’s Beating

Casey Gane-McCalla, Lead Blogger — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:41:25 +0000

CHICAGO — Two high school football coaches are being accused of driving a group of teens to another student’s house so they could beat him over a disagreement about flip-flops.

Fenger High School gained notoriety in 2009 after student, Derrion Albert, was beaten to death in a streetfight in an incident that was caught on video.

Justice? 32-Year-Sentence Given In Murder Of Derrion Albert

Video Shows Chicago Police Bringing Teen To Rival Gang Area

NBC Chicago reports:

Police said Tuesday morning the incident was a simple battery between two 16-year-olds near the teen’s home at 118th and Wentworth.

But Darion Jones’ family told reporters he was badly beaten Saturday afternoon by a group of teens driven to the home by two Fenger High School coaches.

He said the attack has left him afraid and not wanting to go to school

Black Chicagoans Used To Seeing The Economy’s Downside

TheGrio — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:05:02 +0000

Black folks in Obama’s hometown of Chicago, Illinois have little confusion when it comes to the state of the economy.

Also read: Chicago Soul Food Restaurants Disappear As Black Residents Leave

With the national African-American unemployment rate at 16.7 percent, the highest since 1984, Chicago’s community of color is a dismal example.

“I know that our black men don’t have nowhere to fit,” says Chi-town native Orlando Chaff, who was out of work for 3 years before recently finding a job as a limo driver. “Too many of them standing around the house, standing on the block.”

Please Find Her! Chicago Police Search For Missing Black Teen Girl

Casey Gane-McCalla, Lead Blogger — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:20:18 +0000

CHICAGO — Police are searching for Soulchartirya Terry who was last seen in her military uniform leaving Phoenix Military Academy on Campbell Ave in Chicago.

Terry has been missing for a week now and police are actively looking for leads.

The Huffington Post reports:

Terry is African-American, 5’10″ tall and 184 pounds. She has brown eyes, sandy-brown hair and a light complexion. Terry wears black rimmed glasses and was carrying a brown Coach messenger bag when she was last seen.

Anyone with information about Soulchartirya Terry’s whereabouts is asked to call Chicago police at 312-747-8385.

Man Wants Conviction Overturned Due To Police Torture

Associated Press — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 11:45:06 +0000

Illinois Supreme Court To Re-Open Racist Police Torture Case

15 Chicago Inmates Say They Were Tortured Into Making Confessions

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois Supreme Court justices challenged prosecutors Thursday about the strength of their evidence in the rape conviction of a man who says he was tortured into confessing by Chicago police officers.

In oral arguments in a case with potentially far-reaching impact on how Illinois deals with police torture cases – and one that could lay the groundwork for similar appeals by as many as 20 other inmates – prosecutors argued that the state had enough evidence to convict inmate Stanley Wrice without his confession. Wrice, now 57, claims he confessed only after being tortured by officers under the command of notorious Lt. Jon Burge 30 years ago.

The justices asked whether proper appeals procedure was followed and pressed Special Prosecutor Myles O’Rourke about the state’s other evidence, noting that there was no DNA or fingerprints introduced at trial when Wrice was convicted in 1983.

The case was brought to the high court by prosecutors, who are asking the justices to overturn an appellate court decision granting Wrice a new hearing on his torture claims. In response, his attorney made an impassioned plea to the justices to uphold the appellate ruling and take a stand against “the very bad blight from Jon Burge and these torture cases.”

“This court should not tolerate the torture of its citizens within its walls,” said defense attorney Heidi Lambros.

The outcome of the case is being closely monitored by the other inmates who say Burge’s officers forced them to confess to crimes they didn’t commit, and lawyers and experts say the case could open the door to new hearings for those men. The mother of one of those inmates attended the high court proceedings along with about 10 other Chicago-area activists.

Burge is serving a 4 1/2-year sentence in federal prison following his conviction last year of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying in a civil suit when he said he’d never witnessed or participated in the torture of suspects.

Wrice is serving a 100-year-sentence. He is one of dozens of men, almost all of them young and black, who have claimed since the 1970s that Burge and his officers tortured them into confessing to crimes ranging from armed robbery to murder. Allegations persisted until the 1990s at police stations on the city’s South and West sides.

Wrice says officers working for Burge used a flashlight and rubber hose to beat him in the face and groin until he confessed to the 1982 assault at his home.

Prosecutors have not disputed that Wrice was tortured, and O’Rourke called police torture “abhorrent” and said the state doesn’t condone it. But, he said there was “overwhelming evidence” of Wrice’s guilt, including testimony from two eyewitnesses and the fact that an iron used in the attack was found in Wrice’s bedroom, as were the victim’s clothes.

O’Rourke insisted the state had enough evidence to convict Wrice without the allegedly coerced confession. Prosecutors want justices to rule that the confession was the legal equivalent of “harmless error.”

“The idea that the other evidence was somehow inconsequential was not the case,” O’Rourke said.

But the justices pressed O’Rourke on the point. In a series of questions, Justice Charles Freeman asked whether there is any physical evidence linking Wrice to the crime.

“But again, no DNA?” Freeman asked at one point, to which O’Rourke answered: “No DNA back in 1982.”

Justice Thomas Kilbride asked about a recent affidavit in which one of the two witnesses recanted, claiming Chicago police beat him into implicating Wrice.

Justice Anne Burke challenged the notion that the jury didn’t rely heavily on the confession, asking whether it was the “most probative and damaging evidence” prosecutors can present.

At Wrice’s original trial, the judge rejected his attempt to have his confession suppressed because of the torture, and a jury convicted him.

Each of his attempts for a new hearing on his torture claims was turned down until December, when the Illinois appellate court ordered a new evidentiary hearing, citing a state Supreme Court ruling that “the use of a defendant’s coerced confession as substantive evidence of his guilt is never harmless error.” The court ruled Wrice had presented enough consistent evidence of his torture over the years that his claim should be reconsidered.

In granting Wrice a new hearing, the appeals court skipped a step in the post-conviction process, and justices repeatedly asked about the procedural hiccup Thursday, specifically about whether sending the case back for that step would be a viable option.

The attorneys agreed it was a possibility, but Lambros noted it would force Wrice to wait even longer for a disposition as the case works its way back through the courts.

The justices pursued an extended line of questioning about the skipped step, likely looking first for the narrowest issue in the case, said Doug Godfrey, professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law and a former prosecutor not involved with the torture cases.

Godfrey said finding another issue would mean justices won’t “have to take on the huge issue of torture. You can, in essence, say, `Look, all the rules weren’t followed below.’”

Attorneys and legal experts say while it’s difficult to predict what the high court will do, the court could order that all inmates with credible torture claims get new hearings, as defense attorneys have asked in an amicus brief. Or justices could allow the cases to work their way through the courts one-by-one on their merits, as prosecutors want.

Just six of the seven justices will consider the Wrice case after Justice Robert Thomas recused himself and did not hear oral arguments. No reason was given in court for the recusal. In the case of a 3-3 split, the appeals court ruling that gave Wrice a new hearing would stand, attorneys said.

Lambros said outside of court that she was encouraged by the proceedings.

“My sense is that Mr. Wrice is getting relief of some kind,” whether it’s a new hearing or the chance to refile his post-conviction petition. O’Rourke declined to speak after the hearing but said beforehand that he’s pleased the justices agreed to hear the case.

It isn’t clear when the court will rule. The court’s press office a ruling will come “in due course.”

Illinois Supreme Court To Re-Open Racist Police Torture Case

Associated Press — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:17:01 +0000

CHICAGO — A man who claims Chicago police tortured him into confessing to a brutal rape decades ago will seek a new trial Thursday from the Illinois Supreme Court in a case that could lay the groundwork for similar appeals by as many as 20 other inmates.

Stanley Wrice, who has been imprisoned for more than 30 years, says officers working for notorious Chicago police Lt. Jon Burge used a flashlight and rubber hose to beat him in the face and groin until he confessed to the 1982 assault at his home.

While the outcome of Wrice’s case is being closely monitored by several other inmates who say Burge’s officers forced them to confess to crimes they didn’t commit, prosecutors insist Wrice had his day in court and would have been convicted even without the confession. They’ve argued the court should consider the alleged torture as the legal equivalent of a “harmless error” that didn’t affect the outcome of the case.

Attorneys and legal experts say while it’s difficult to predict what the high court will do, Wrice’s case could influence how Illinois courts handle decades-old allegations of police torture going forward. The court could order that all inmates with credible torture claims get new hearings, as defense attorneys have asked in an amicus brief. Or justices could allow the cases to work their way through the courts one-by-one on their merits, as prosecutors want.

The Wrice case is an opportunity for the court “to clarify the situation and create a road map for these victims to have their cases heard in a meaningful way, up or down, and move toward putting this all behind us,” said Locke Bowman, legal director of the MacArthur Justice Center at Northwestern University, who represents several alleged torture victims.

It’s not clear whether the court will address the wider issue. Ultimately, the ruling could be focused just on whether Wrice has met the legal requirements to get a new hearing, or it could be more sweeping, said Doug Godfrey, professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law and a former prosecutor not involved with the torture cases.

“This can let the Illinois Supreme Court go all over the place if it wants to, or it can be really narrow,” Godfrey said. “They can use this as a vehicle to talk about the (police) torture cases” in general.

Justices have received briefs from both sides on the harmless error question, but they’ll have wide discretion on what they ask attorneys about, he said.

In a friend-of-the-court brief, ex-Gov. Jim Thompson, former U.S. Sen. Adlai Stevenson III and more than 60 current and former prosecutors, judges and lawmakers asked for new evidentiary hearings for inmates who say their convictions were based on coerced confessions. The brief marked the first effort on behalf of alleged Burge victims as a group and not separate individual cases, attorneys said.

Wrice is one of dozens of men, almost all of them young and black, who have claimed since the 1970s that Burge and his officers tortured them into confessing to crimes ranging from armed robbery to murder. Allegations persisted until the 1990s at police stations on the city’s South and West sides.

A Cook County paramedic and a doctor at the jail testified that Wrice told them about the alleged beating and that he had injuries consistent with his claims at the time of his arrest, including blood in his urine and bruises.

The trial judge rejected Wrice’s attempt to have his confession suppressed because of the torture, and a jury convicted him. Each of his attempts for a new hearing on his torture claims was turned down until December, when the Illinois appellate court ordered a new evidentiary hearing, citing a state Supreme Court ruling that “the use of a defendant’s coerced confession as substantive evidence of his guilt is never harmless error.”

The court ruled Wrice had presented enough consistent evidence of his torture over the years that his claim should be reconsidered.

The state’s position is that the harmless error reading by the appellate court “is not the law,” said special prosecutor Myles O’Rourke. Aside from the confession, the evidence against Wrice at trial included testimony from two eyewitnesses and the fact that the attack happened in his bedroom, prosecutors say.

The then-assistant Cook County state’s attorney who prosecuted the case, Terry Gillespie, said he’s still sure of Wrice’s guilt and that he doesn’t believe the jury convicted him on just the confession.

Defense attorneys insist that upon closer inspection, the case against Wrice falls apart. The victim didn’t identify him as one of her attackers, and no physical evidence such as fingerprints or DNA linked him to the crime. One of two eyewitnesses has since recanted, alleging that he, too, was beaten by police to implicate Wrice.

Wrice has maintained that he was home at the time of the attack but that he didn’t participate or know it was happening. He’s serving a 100-year sentence.

If the appeals court ruling in Wrice is allowed to stand, prosecutors argue that all inmates will be encouraged to claim their confessions were tortured in order to automatically get new hearings, removing the court’s discretion to review the merits of each case.

Soul Train Celebrates Its Chicago Roots At 40th Anniversary

Ericka Blount-Danois — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:01:46 +0000

For those who love to bathe in the nostalgia of the 1970s, Chicago’s Soul Train reunion party this Labor Day weekend rolled in to meet those expectations. In celebration of the show’s 40th anniversary, fans were treated to a Soul Train party Friday night; a showing of the VH1 documentary, “The Hippest Trip in America,” with a panel discussion featuring the train operator Don Cornelius, director of the documentary J. Kevin Swain, and CEO of Soul Train Holdings, Kenard Gibbs; an exhibition of photos and footage from the show at the 72 Expo; and a free concert at the Pavilion in Millenium Park with Chicago’s legends: The Emotions, Jerry Butler, Tom Tom 84, Gene Chandler, and the Chi-Lites performing.

But why should Chicago get this treat?

Most people don’t know about the show’s humble roots as a daily live show in Chicago before making it in Los Angeles and eventually becoming the longest-running first-run syndicated show in television history.

It was in Chicago that Cornelius, with the hip clothing that would become his signature on the LA show, made a name for himself and for Chicago’s rich musical talent on the daily black-n-white television show. The set was housed on the 43rd floor of the Chicago Board of Trade in a 10’ by 10’ space with a faulty air conditioner—so hot that some of the local dancers would often get nauseous.

It was here that Cornelius paved the way for his signature profound bass sign-off: “Love, Peace, and Souuuul!” It was where many talented dancers became local celebrities and where live television taught Cornelius, the dancers, and the artists to get it right the first time.

At the screening of “Hippest Trip,” which has screened to sold out crowds recently in Brazil, Korea, and Mexico City, youth coordinator, Jackie Samuel was in a reverie: “I was nearly in tears, it took me right back to those days when I watched it every day.”

At the panel a still smooth, impeccably turned out Cornelius in all black leather, paid homage to legendary radio man, Roy Woods, who gave him his first television gig as a host on the WCIU Channel 26 show, “A Blacks View of the News.” With an acerbic wit he teased running buddies like WBEZ’s Richard Steele, showed off his take-no-prisoners attitude, an attitude that got him to hone a successful show without the support of a major network. The normally steely cool host did admit that he got a little “emotional” when watching the documentary and reliving some of the scenes.

“It was so much fun during those days, there really was no other show like it,” remembered radio legend La Donna Tittle who would serve as a fill-in weather girl on “A Blacks View of the News.”

The show reached another milestone this year when The Smithsonian Institute called to add Soul Train memorabilia to their collection.

“The show represents so many dreams that were realized,” said Gibbs who is hard at work on Soul Train awards show set for taping this November. “Once you’re in the Smithsonian, you’re forever seared into history of this country.”

Five Ways “Soul Train” Changed America

Last Stop! Soul Train Exhibit Opens At Smithsonian Museum

Chicago Soul Food Restaurants Disappear As Black Residents Leave

Associated Press — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 21:15:22 +0000

CHICAGO — Duct tape covers a large crack in the premier booth at Hard Time Josephine’s Cooking, where waitresses call you “sweetie” and customers come for the steaming shrimp bisque and homemade peach cobbler that leaves a hint of cinnamon on the tongue.

Not long ago, such an eyesore at one of Chicago’s top soul food restaurants would have been unthinkable. Despite the name, times were good: Chicago was a bustling center of black America and people in the neighborhoods savored southern-style cooking.

But in the past 10 years as the city lost more than 17 percent of its black population, one soul food place after another has closed and the surviving few like Josephine’s are struggling. A tradition is dying in a place where southern cooking came north in the major social migration after World War II.

“People used to stand outside the door to get in,” recalled Josephine Wade, who has operated the restaurant in the Chatham neighborhood for more than two decades. “It’s nowhere near like that. Each year it’s very, very difficult to be in business.”

The decline is a symptom of the changing identity of a city where blacks have been the largest racial group for decades, making up more than one third of the population.

Now, a visit to one of the traditional spots like Josephine’s seems like a step back into the past. Pictures of the Rev. Martin Luther King, the city’s first black mayor, Harold Washington, and soul diva Patti LaBelle cover the walls, along with pictures of Josephine herself, an Arkansas native and onetime maid who wound up running restaurants all over the city’s South Side.

The sweet aroma of fresh waffles and salty fried chicken – family recipes passed down through the generations – hang in the air. No soda is served, only sweet tea.

“The fried chicken is succulent. It’s fresh, got that southern flavor,” said Eve Lowe, 59, who comes every Sunday for the brunch buffet of chicken and dumplings, greens and lemon pound cake.

“It’s really a lot more than food,” said Audria Huntington, 81, who frequents Josephine’s for the liver and onions or chicken and waffles. “Basically, you have the roots of your culture in the restaurant.”

But places like Josephine’s – located in a sagging building off a busy commercial stretch- may number only a half dozen now, having gradually given way to fast food, healthy food and imports like Cajun cuisine, along with the pressures of a bad economy. Also, more middleclass residents are moving to the suburbs, some retirees are heading “home” to the South and others are pursuing the economic lures of the Sunbelt, reversing the historic wave that brought southern blacks pouring into Chicago for jobs in industry.

The Chatham neighborhood on the South Side shows the change. The rows of once-classy homes in the black middle class neighborhood, including a brick cottage that was home to gospel legend Mahalia Jackson, are now pocked with boarded up boarded up windows and vacant properties. Other traditionally black neighborhoods have suffered even more as the population loss and foreclosure crisis have left behind weed filled lots.

One of the most popular soul food restaurants in town, Army & Lou’s, closed this year.

“When you lose your base, your foundation, the next generation isn’t there to keep it going,” said former owner Harry Fleming. “It’s losing a real strong sense of heritage.”

Army & Lou’s, which opened in 1945, was famous both for its juicy fried chicken and its role in politics. The city’s first black mayor, Harold Washington, was a regular in the 1980s. It wasn’t unusual to see the Rev. Jesse Jackson, his son, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., or Rep. Danny Davis eating there.

Earlier this year, the South Side lost Izola’s, known for its seafood. The year before it was Edna’s, a West Side establishment patronized by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Also gone are the longtime Gladys’ Luncheonette, a popular musicians’ hangout with great banana pie, and Soul Queen.

Other cities have great soul food but it’s hard to imagine Chicago, with its special role in black culture, without its thriving soul food scene, said writer Adrian Miller, who is traveling the country researching a book about soul food. In a recent visit to the city, “There was a key element missing,” he said. “There was a hole in my soul.”

Increasing health consciousness has also played a role. Soul food, often fried and made with full-fat ingredients, has gotten a bad rap in recent years.

Also, fewer soul food places means distributors no longer make deliveries so the cost of supplies has gone up. At Josephine’s, Wade keeps the place going by patching cracks with duct tape, disguising holes in table cloths and washing the linen herself.

She can’t do much to help the sagging building; there aren’t enough customers.

“It’s just not here,” she said.

Black College Student Says He Was Beaten For Talking To White Girl

Woman Acquitted For Recording Police Officers On Blackberry

Casey Gane-McCalla, Lead Blogger — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 18:26:37 +0000

CHICAGO-Tiawanda Moore was acquitted of a felony charge for recording two police officers who were trying to get her to drop a sexual harassment claim on her Blackberry.

In Illinois, it is a felony to record police officers without their knowledge.

The Chicago Tribune Reports:

In the recording, which the one juror said was replayed several times in the jury room, Alejo was heard explaining to Moore that she might be wasting her time because it was basically her word against that of the patrol officer. Alejo also said they could “almost guarantee” that the officer would never bother her again if she dropped the complaint.

Moore alleged that the patrol officer who answered the domestic disturbance call at her home had fondled her and given her his personal phone number.

Stop The Violence! 1-Year Old Baby Shot In Head In Chicago

NewsOne Staff — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 17:20:43 +0000

A one-year-old girl fell victim to senseless violence Tuesday when she was shot in the head by a gunmen in the Southside of Chicago.

The girl was walking with her aunt and the family dog, when two gunmen, between the ages of 16 and 19, targeted a man riding a bicycle, according to reports.

After an eruption of gunfire, the aunt and girl were left curled on the ground, as the shooters fled the scene.

Chicago Police spokesman, Robert Perez, said that the infant “had visible trauma” to her head, when she was rushed to Advocate Trinity Hospital. She was then transferred to Children’s Memorial Hospital to undergo surgery.

Black College Student Says He Was Beaten For Talking To White Girl

NewsOne Staff — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 00:03:05 +0000

A Black college student who suffered numerous injuries after an attack by 3 white men Sunday, says that he was targeted because he talked to a white girl.

Christopher Phillips, 19, says he was confronted by Thomas Randich, 19, at a late-night house party in suburban West Chicago, then attacked as he walked away from the argument.

“He was like, ‘Yeah, you’re talking to the wrong girl.’ I was like, I looked at him – I’m confused – I was like, ‘What do you mean I’m talking to the wrong girl?’” said Phillips in an interview with ABC.

VIDEO:

Phillips says he was punched from behind and hit the concrete floor with his face, then kicked and punched repeatedly. Phillips’ injuries included a fractured jaw, four missing teeth, and cuts and bruises on his body.

Randich, 19, his brother Jake, 18, and Michael Mungovan, 19, have all been charged with aggravated battery.

“He was talking to a white girl, and they didn’t like it. And they jumped on him,” said Phillips’s father, LaMonte Phillips.

Chicago To Study Economic Disparities In Black Communities

NewsOne Staff — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:07:32 +0000

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has approved a bill creating a commission aimed at researching disparities in the African-American community.

The commission will study social and economic issues including health services, employment and education.

“We know that disparities exist within the African-American community, preventing some from achieving their full potential,” Quinn said in a statement. “In Illinois, we want everybody in, and nobody left out. We won’t shy away from examining the root causes of inequality, and working to correct them.”

15 Chicago Inmates Say They Were Tortured Into Making Confessions

Associated Press — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:47:54 +0000

CHICAGO — Fifteen incarcerated men who claim they were sent to prison by confessions that were beaten, burned and tortured out of them by convicted Chicago police Lt. Jon Burge and his officers are getting some high-profile help – including from a former Illinois governor.

In a friend-of-the-court brief to be filed Wednesday with the Illinois Supreme Court, ex-Gov. Jim Thompson and more than 60 current and former prosecutors, judges and lawmakers are asking for new evidentiary hearings for inmates who say their convictions were based on coerced confessions.

The brief marks the first effort on behalf of alleged Burge victims as a group and not separate individual cases, attorneys said.

Burge’s name has become synonymous with police abuse in the nation’s third-largest city, and more than 100 men – most of them African-American and Latino- have alleged Burge and his men tortured them from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Burge was convicted last year of lying about whether he ever witnessed or participated in the torture of suspects. He’s serving a 4 1/2-year sentence at Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina.

Burge never has faced criminal charges for abuse. He was fired from the police department in 1993 over the 1982 beating and burning of Andrew Wilson, a suspect later convicted of killing two police officers.

The brief “gives the Illinois Supreme Court the opportunity to finally and firmly repudiate the Burge era of the Chicago Police Department,” said Thompson, a former Republican Illinois governor and U.S. attorney.

Lawyers are filing the brief in the case of Stanley Wrice, an inmate who has been claiming since 1982 that he falsely confessed to a brutal sexual assault only after Burge’s officers beat him in the face and groin with a flashlight and a piece of rubber.

Wrice, 57, is serving a 100-year sentence. Attorneys say he’s one of the longest-serving inmates with a Burge torture claim.

Each of Wrice’s attempts for a new hearing had been turned down until December, when the appellate court granted him a new evidentiary hearing. Prosecutors looking to block the hearing asked the Illinois Supreme Court to take the case, and the justices agreed.

At issue before the high court is whether a coerced confession can ever be considered “harmless error” in a criminal trial, attorneys said. The special prosecutor’s office that’s handling Wrice’s case has argued that a conviction could stand – even if it involved a coerced confession – if the person could have been proven guilty without the confession.

Wrice’s case has gone farther than any other current claim involving Burge, and other inmates are either awaiting decisions or have given up, attorneys say. The brief to be filed Wednesday asks the high court to: order prosecutors to identify each inmate who claims their confession was coerced by Burge or his men; appoint lawyers to inmates who need them; order evidentiary hearings in the cases; and to order the Cook County Circuit Court to vacate the convictions of inmates whose convictions it was determined were based on coerced confessions.

Justices “have an opportunity to take control of this problem and to fix it,” said attorney Locke Bowman, who plans to file the brief. He’s represented several alleged torture victims who have been freed from prison and have civil suits pending against Burge.

The brief’s signers include both attorneys and advocates who have represented alleged Burge victims as well as former prosecutors, judges and politicians who have rarely, if ever, publicly weighed in on the Burge case.

“This brief is a group of non-usual suspects coming forward to implore the court to seize the opportunity to declare emphatically that torture has no place in our criminal justice system,” said Bowman, legal director of the MacArthur Justice Center at Northwestern University.

Former U.S. Attorney Thomas Sullivan said he signed on to stop the piecemeal approach the Burge cases have taken in the past.

“I feel that it’s important that there be a full judicial examination of what went on…not case by case,” Sullivan said.

Heidi Lambros, one of Wrice’s attorneys, said the friend-of-the-court brief was signed by “some heavy hitters” to help demonstrate an outside perspective on the case.

She said she is also pleased with a brief filed Tuesday by students working with the Chicago Innocence Project, who got affidavits from witnesses in the Wrice case who say they were tortured into implicating him.

Thompson said that while the hearings will take time and money, “the end is worth it.”

The Supreme Court could hear oral arguments in Wrice’s case as early as mid-September.

Racist Ex-Chicago Cop Linked To Torture Goes To Prison

Chicago TV Station Apologizes For Making 4-Year-Old Sound Violent

NewsOne Staff — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 23:43:01 +0000

A CBS news station is under fire after it misquoted a 4-year-old boy making him purposely sound violent on the air.

In the video, the child tells a reporter from WBBM that the shootings don’t scare him and that, when he grows up, “I’m going to have me a gun.”

The comment made it seem like the streets of Chicago had a future criminal on their hands. But the comment was taken out of context as the station only aired the comment and not what came after.

“I want to be a police officer,” said the kid. WBBM TV’s reporter responded, “Well then you will have a gun for sure.”

Say What?! Cops Shoot 13-Year-Old Over A BB Gun

Gerren Keith Gaynor — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:51:36 +0000

CHICAGO — A 13-year-old boy was shot and wounded yesterday by Chicago police officers, who said he was holding a BB gun.

Jimmy Cannon was taken to Stroger Hospital and is listed in critical condition. He was shot 8 times in the shoulders, hand, and legs.

The family said they were at a cousin’s birthday party when the shooting occurred. Cannon was taken to Stroger Hospital in serious-to-critical condition but is expected to recover.

View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.

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Read More At GlobalGrind.com

Cops Say Man In Drag Shot Man At Dice Game Over Girl

Casey Gane-McCalla, Lead Blogger — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 20:36:32 +0000

CHICAGO — According to Chicago Police, this past weekend a 35-year-old man put on a black wig and a pink halter top and shot another man at a dice-game over a woman they were both dating.

The Chicago Sub-Times reports:

Supermarket grocery bagger LePaul Williams, 35, allegedly donned a black wig, pink halter top and blue pajama bottoms before shooting 23-year-old Brian Stalling at 1 a.m. outside his home in the first block of East 102nd.

Read The Whole Story At The Chicago Sun Times

Transvestites Charged With Rape For Tricking Boy Into Having Sex With Them

Fed Up! Chicago Students Demand Changes To Zero-Tolerance Policy

Samuel Aleshinloye, Assoc Editor — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:36:23 +0000

A Chicago student advocacy group rallied at the Chicago Public Schools headquarters last Thursday to demand revisions to its school’s zero-tolerance disciplinary policies.

The Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE) called the current policies a “skewed set of regulations” that allow teachers to expel or harshly punish students if they deem them “disruptive.”

The zero-tolerance policies were originally created to keep the school safe from drugs and violence, but students say they now are receiving harsh punishment for bringing cell phones to school, or not wearing parts of their uniforms.

VOYCE is calling on CPS to end the overuse of costly, ineffective harsh disciplinary policies, and instead make smart investments in the policies needed to build safe, supportive and engaging learning environments. They claim that it’s the right thing for students, families and taxpayers alike.

Former Cop Called 911 After Allegedly Killing His Girlfriend

Casey Gane-McCalla, Lead Blogger — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:01:02 +0000

CHICAGO – A father and son duo are accused of killing the father’s girlfriend in a shocking crime.

Devin Bickham Sr. allegedly orchestrated the killing and then called 911 after his girlfriend died, blaming unknown assailants.

ABC reports:

In his frantic 911 call, Bickham Sr. claimed ignorance of the shooter’s identity, crying, “My girlfriend got shot.” When the 911 operator asked Bickham who shot his girlfriend, the former-cop replied, “I don’t know. Some guy but he kept going. Help me.” When asked if his girlfriend was breathing, Bickham’s emotional response was almost unintelligible. “No. She’s gone. She’s not breathing. Oh please.”

“Allegedly there are some text messages between [Bickham] Jr. and [Bickham] Sr. It appears that senior Bickham guided them to the location where they would be,” Rutz said. “It gave the appearance that he was setting up the murder.”

Read The Whole Story At ABC

Ex-Cop In Oscar Grant Shooting Death To Be Released

Keep It Going! Chicago Crime Down For 30th Straight Month

Associated Press — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:10:12 +0000

CHICAGO — Police in the nation’s third largest city say overall crime was down 4.2 percent last month compared with a year ago, making it the 30th consecutive month that most categories of crime have dropped in Chicago.

Preliminary data released Sunday shows that homicides fell by 14.4 percent last month compared with June 2010. There were 31 fewer killings.

Aggravated batteries dropped by 14.2 percent and robbery was down nearly 4 percent.

Overall property crime was down nearly 3 percent. But there were increases in three categories: burglary, arson and motor vehicle theft, which was up more than 17 percent.
Chicago police say they’re working aggressively to combat the increases in property crime categories. That includes shutting down two so-called chop shops on the city’s West Side within the last month.

Third Chicago Police Office Killed Near Retirement

Ex-Director Convicted Of Stealing From Emmett Till’s Cemetery

The Grio — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:39:14 +0000

CHICAGO — The former director of a historic Black cemetery south of Chicago was convicted Friday in a money-making scheme that involved digging up bodies and reselling plots, a development that left still-bitter relatives reliving the grief of not knowing their loved ones’ final resting place.

The Grio Reports:

Carolyn Towns, 51, of Blue Island, pleaded guilty Friday and was sentenced to 12 years in prison, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

Towns was director of Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip — the burial site of lynching victim Emmett Till and blues singers Willie Dixon and Dinah Washington — when prosecutors say she and three workers desecrated hundreds of graves.

Bill Clinton Leads Job Summit To Boost America’s Economy

Gerren Keith Gaynor — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:04:54 +0000

CHICAGO — Former president Bill Clinton hosted a two-day job summit in Chicago to seek new, innovative ways to help grow the economy. The Clinton Global Initiative America Jobs Summit's goal is to share the best ideas and brainstorm new ones, so that individuals, cities, states, and companies can help grow the economy, despite strains in Washington. The summit was streame... Read more..