Daywatch: Highland Park shooting survivor wants to reframe gun violence
Good morning, Chicago.
When Emily Lieberman heard the gunshots, her first instinct was to grab her then-5-year-old daughter.
She and 13 members of her extended family were attending the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, just as they do every year. But this time, in seconds, the lively summer celebration had unraveled into a scene of terror, as the distinct popping sounds of gunfire rang through the street.
“When you hear these pops overhead, and they’re one after the other, they sound so close to you,” Lieberman said. “You have no idea how many people are shooting or where it’s coming from. All you know is that we are under attack and people are going to die, and I hope it’s not us.”
Lieberman continues to see the effects of the massacre unfold in her home, in her pediatric office and in the entire community, a place where she grew up and is raising her own children.
Now, as a mother, physician and mass shooting survivor, Lieberman is turning her experience into fuel for change through March Fourth, a foundation founded shortly after the Highland Park shooting to advocate for a federal assault rifle ban. She wants to reframe gun violence as a public health crisis and has worked nationwide to mobilize others in the medical profession to join the fight to end mass shootings.
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And they’re off: Candidates line up Monday to begin filing to run in the 2023 Chicago mayor and City Council election
Monday morning, the Chicago Board of Elections Loop Super Site filled up with a motley collection of political power players, good government enthusiasts, wannabes, optimists, has-beens, never-wases and other characters looking to stamp their ticket to City Hall for the next four years.
Candidates who showed up on the first day to file petition signatures and get in line by 9 a.m. — and those included several for mayor but not incumbent Lori Lightfoot — earned a shot at appearing on the top of the ballot in their race, a spot that consultants say gives candidates a modest leg up in elections that sometimes come down to the very last vote.
UIC dentistry professor used racist imagery and treated students of color unequally, lawmakers say in letter to school
Lawmakers alleged that racist comments and unequal treatment of students has been ongoing for years at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, including racist imagery and statements by one instructor in particular.
The imagery included a photo of someone with a noose around the neck and a hood over the head, and the statements included use of the N-word and asking about a student of color’s “natural hair,” the lawmakers alleged in a letter that demanded school officials address the situation.
Bally’s executes sale-leaseback on newly acquired Freedom Center site, raising up to $500 million to develop Chicago casino
Days after buying the 30-acre Freedom Center printing site, Bally’s has sold the land to a Chicago real estate investment firm, leasing it back for 99 years and raising up to $500 million to help build its proposed $1.74 billion Chicago casino complex.
Oak Street Real Estate Capital acquired the River West property Monday for $200 million in the sale-leaseback deal, with a commitment to provide up to $300 million more in additional funding to develop the casino.
Chicago Bulls face a turning point ahead of a 6-game road gauntlet: ‘You need to be a desperate team’
The Chicago Bulls are facing a turning point. That might seem melodramatic — after all, it’s only one month into the season. More than 60 games remain in the regular season, which could feel like plenty of time to turn around a 6-10 record.
But on the heels of a four-game skid entering Monday night’s game against the Boston Celtics at the United Center, the Bulls now face one of the toughest stretches of the season as they prepare for a six-game road stretch against mostly winning teams.
Movie Top 10 for the holidays: From a new ‘Scrooge’ to an old Christmas romance you’ve never seen
Our stockings runneth over with streaming holiday options whose titles, on Netflix and Hallmark and elsewhere, tend to blur into a single, extended holiday viewing option we’ll call “Countdown to Falling for Christmas With You on a Holidate on Mistletoe Farm All the Way.” Someone should make that one, and then we’ll be done for a while.
Meantime: Here’s a list of 10 holiday movies, nine streaming, one in theaters. Some are old. Some aren’t. Some you know. Some you won’t. Some are grisly. Most are not. Happy viewing and stay warm.
