Good morning, Chicago.
As police continue to investigate the weekend homicide of beloved Chicago charter boat captain Nabil Abzal, his wife said yesterday the man others knew simply as “Captain Bill” overcame early challenges in life and always put his family first.
“He loved being ‘Captain Bill,’” Laura Abzal told the Tribune. “But he was so much more than that. (He) was a humble man who would be a bit embarrassed by all the attention he is receiving.”
Divers recovered the body of Nabil Abzal from Lake Michigan near DuSable Harbor early Saturday. The 63-year-old Plainfield man died from drowning but the manner of his suspicious death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner’ office.
Chicago police confirmed yesterday Area 3 detectives are investigating Abzal’s death as a homicide and do not have a suspect in custody.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Christy Gutowski.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: why an Evanston commission rejected a proposed 31-story apartment tower, our picks for classical, jazz and experimental music to see this fall and why groups of people are gathering to scream near North Avenue Beach.
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Gov. JB Pritzker braces Chicagoans for federal incursion as Trump says ‘we’re going in’ but won’t say when
In the face of continued and confusing threats that Chicago would be subjected to a federal incursion over immigration and crime, Gov. JB Pritzker sought to brace Chicagoans for a spike in raids from federal authorities and even potentially the National Guard in coming days.
After killings in Mexico, lawyer seeks help from Chicago attorney — but Trump-era cuts hamper their work
Fifteen years ago, Mexican attorney Alma Barraza immersed herself in a legal fight to win fair compensation for indigent villagers who lost their property when the government seized land to build a dam. Since then, five villagers Barraza represented were killed. A man she worked with was shot dead, as was one of her bodyguards. Her brother is missing. And who committed the crimes remains a mystery.
Haunted by the lack of answers and stymied by Mexican authorities, Barraza has turned to Chicago attorney John Lee to petition an international tribunal for help in finding the truth and getting justice. But the already difficult journey for Barraza and Lee became more difficult following the Trump administration’s slashing of foreign aid.
Gov. JB Pritzker appoints two members, including a downstate ally, to controversial parole board
Gov. JB Pritzker has filled in gaps on the Illinois Prisoner Review Board more than a year after it was roiled in controversy.
Pritzker on Friday appointed two new members to the state parole and release board, including Timothy Nugent, who as mayor of Manteno helped Pritzker two years ago secure the construction of a Chinese-owned electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant despite complaints from residents and Republicans.
Wicked Town gang leaders plead guilty on eve of retrial for racketeering, murder, will receive lighter sentences
The reputed leader of Chicago’s Wicked Town gang faction and one of his top lieutenants pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy involving a string of murders, shootings and robberies in exchange for reduced sentences.
Evanston commission rejects proposed 31-story apartment tower
The Evanston Land Use Commission voted against a proposed 31-story, 430-apartment residential building in downtown Evanston at the end of a five-hour meeting. The tight 3-4 vote reflected concerns of some on the commission, who cited concerns about the building’s height, the wind effects it would cause for pedestrians and loss of property tax revenue as reasons for voting against it.
Chicago Bears name Braxton Jones starting left tackle — ‘there is a trust level’ — and select 5 team captains
Bears coach Ben Johnson confirmed what already looked like a near certainty: fourth-year lineman Braxton Jones will start at left tackle in Week 1.
Basketball Hall of Famer George Raveling, who influenced Michael Jordan’s Nike deal, dies at 88
George Raveling, a Hall of Fame basketball coach who played a role in Michael Jordan signing a landmark endorsement deal with Nike, has died. He was 88.
Raveling’s family said that he had “faced cancer with courage and grace.”
Following in the footsteps of family, Lasa Cafe in Carol Stream among the growing Filipino bakery trend
At Lasa Filipino Cafe on a recent Tuesday afternoon, an elderly woman ecstatically hurried to the front counter’s pastry case: “I came all the way from Plainfield!”
The suburban Carol Stream bakery is a long way from Plainfield, but owner Mae Wee didn’t bat an eye at how far her customer traveled for pandesal, a staple bread roll in the Philippines.
“Oh, yeah, that happens all the time,” she said.
Shout out! The weekly Scream Club Chicago taps into a need — and has already gone global
A screaming comes across the sky, and the volleyball players on North Avenue Beach stop at once and instinctively duck and stare out across the sand, as if a bomb went off in the distance. A bomb, in a sense, had gone off. A bomb packed with anxieties and loathing — a scream, in fact. Followed by more screams, each one a few minutes apart, released by the 150 or so people lined up on the North Avenue jetty, facing the skyline.
Scream Club Chicago, which was not a thing when it began last June, and is now very much a thing, with chapters springing up around the world only nine weeks later, meets every Sunday evening at 7 p.m., to release the stress of the past week and face the new one. The group is a model of truth in advertising. You go to Scream Club. You stand at the edge of Lake Michigan. You think about the fears you want to let go. You scream for a few minutes surrounded by strangers screaming alongside you. You return to your life.
Classical, jazz and experimental music for fall, from a new river concert to the CSO
Summer and fall have long been peak festival season here in Chicago. But this year takes things even further. Multi-day extravaganzas are everywhere this autumn: You have your time-honored jazz festivals, your upstarts and even your once-in-a-blue-moon returnees, like the Ear Taxi Festival.
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