The final countdown is underway to the closure of the CTA’s Red Line on Chicago’s South Side.

Beginning at 2 am Sunday, the Red Line will be closed from Cermak south to 95th Street for five months.

The train tracks will be re-built during that time.

The CTA launched an information blitz in recent weeks, using “Ambassadors” to inform riders about the closures and alternate transportation options.

Free shuttle buses will be offered for Red Line riders.  The buses will take riders to the Green Line.    Metra is always offering special 10-ride tickets to be combined with a CTA pass for use on the Rock Line and the Electric line.

The $425 million project is expected to be completed in October.

You can find out more about the project at http://www.transitchicago.com/dr-track/

The protests organized by the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) on the Southside began on Saturday at Jesse Owens Community Academy in West Pullman. The academy is one of five schools on the shutdown list that the CTU is protesting.

Parent Dominique Grant believes that schools are vital to children and the neighborhood. She said some parents want more clarification on why the schools are facing closure.

“If we talk about higher performing, this is the first time Jesse Owens has ever been on a probation period,” Grant said. “Our welcoming school has been on probation for eight years straight.”

In addition to numerous protests, CTU is fighting a battle in the courtroom as two lawsuits have been filed in an effort to stop the planned school closures. Newly elected union president Karen Lewis.

“Everyone needs to see that these communities are worth investing in and our children are worth investing in, instead of dis-investing by closing our schools,” Lewis said.

54 schools in total are in danger of being closed. Chicago Public Schools called them low-performing and under utilized.

The Board of Education is set to vote on the closures this Wednesday.

Before roughly 7 PM, a large group of teens gathered in front of Sax Fifth Avenue on Michigan Avenue. A second group gathered near Oakstreet Beach and another moved west on Chicago Avenue from Michigan Avenue.

The disturbances caused by these large groups of teens comes just hours after Governor Pat Quinn signed a new bill cracking down on flash mob violence organized through the use of social media. However, Chicago Police said the disturbances are not related to these types of flash mobs.

“Michigan Avenue continues to be safe,” Chicago Police said in a press release. “What you saw tonight was a minor disturbance.”

Dozens of patrol officers ushered teens back onto the CTA Red Line.

No official reports of injuries have been made.

But Shepard is not ready to give up his turn on the ferris wheel just yet. He plans to keep riding until he sets the world mark at 48 hours.

The sleep deprived Shepard was allowed a five minute break every hour.

Navy Pier held a fireworks show to commemorate the record-breaking event.

The boy fell at approximately 12:30 pm from an apartment on the 1800 block of S. Harding avenue.

The boy was conscious and standing before being fitted with a neck brace and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital.

He is currently in good condition according to Chicago Fire Media.

“We don’t want flash mobs harming anyone, anywhere, but especially where many people come from other states, other countries,” Quinn said. “We want to make sure we protect other people.”

The bill allows for tougher penalties against people who use social media or other forms of electronic communication to incite organized mob violence. Violators can now face  a maximum prison sentences of six years, which is double the previous amount.

The legislation arrives in response to several high-profile incidents in which large groups of teenagers used social media to organize flash mobs and cause disturbances along Michigan Avenue.

Representative Christian Mitchell, D-Chicago, believes the flash mobs may be gang-related but said the longer prison sentences could act as a deterrent.

“If you get people to come downtown to attack somebody who posted a picture on Facebook, you will serve real time,” Mitchell said. “I think that’s going to start changing the message on the street.”

State Senator Kwame Raoul, D-13^th District, said the legislation is a necessary step in a society that is becoming increasingly connected.

“The thing about social media, it makes things easier to communicate. Which can be a good thing if you use it positively but it can be a negative thing if otherwise used.”

It was a different start time for the Chicago Blackhawks, a noon local puck drop as opposed to the late-night fare of the first round. And it was a different Detroit Red Wings team on the other side.

“The guys once they get into it, they don’t mind playing in the afternoon,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said before the game. “We’ve got to come prepared and anticipate a harder game from the first time.”

It officially was, and the series is officially a series. The Hawks sleepwalked all afternoon and third-period scores from Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula put it away for the Red Wings, who notched a 4-1 win in Game 2 and tied the series at 1-1 going into two games in Detroit next week.

The Hawks managed just 20 shots on goal the entire game.

A stretch pass from the Red Wings’ Jonathan Ericsson found Franzen, who skated in and roofed a shot home for the two-goal advantage at the 7:19 mark of the third period.

Later, Henrik Zetterberg led a 3-on-2 charge and dumped it to Filppula, who skated through the Hawks zone and got a screen from Daniel Cleary to beat Corey Crawford for the 4-1 lead at the 12:03 mark.

Brendan Smith and Damien Brunner scored second-period goals to erase a Patrick Kane score — his first of the postseason — that gave the Hawks an early lead.

In the first period, Smith tried to intercept a Johnny Oduya oulet pass near the blue line but was knocked off the puck by the Hawks’ Patrick Sharp. That precipitated an odd-man rush, and Sharp’s feed deflected off a Red Wings defender to Michal Handzus, who fed Kane for the score at the 14:05 mark.

It was just Kane’s second playoff goal in 20 games since scoring the Stanley Cup winner in 2010.

Corey Crawford, meanwhile, was stout against a more aggressive Red Wings attack, stopping 12 first-period shots — the most significant a denial of Cory Emmerton on a shorthanded breakaway — to keep the Red Wings off the board.

It didn’t last. The Red Wings moved the puck through the zone against a Hawks defense more or less standing still, and then Kindl unloaded from near the blue line. Brunner deflected the puck from the slot and tied it 1-1 at the 2:40 mark.

The Hawks continued to mount next to no offense, and then a defensive flub compounded the issues. Niklas Hjalmarsson fell while pursuing a puck with Zetterberg, leaving the Red Wings captain to skate to the net unopposed. He then found a streaking Smith for an easy score, making it 2-1 at the 16:08 mark.

It could have been worse, too, had Crawford not stoned Justin Abdelkader with 3.8 seconds left in the second on a point-blank blast after a turnover.

No shockers in the lineup department for the Hawks. Michal Handzus will play in Game 2, as expected, after missing a third straight practice on Friday. Viktor Stalberg again will be a healthy scratch, also as expected.

And that dynamic may not be altered if the Hawks continue to have the success they had in Game 1.

“I don’t like changing too much, but we wanted to get (Dave Bolland) in our lineup,” Quenneville said. “It’s comparable to what we’ve done during season. But we’ll see. We can adapt and change at any moment.”

By Brian Hamilton Tribune reporter

The ministry said it had detected two launches in the morning, followed by another in the afternoon, Yonhap reported.

The missiles were fired in a northeasterly direction, away from South Korean waters, the ministry said.

South Korea has beefed up monitoring on North Korea and is maintaining a high-level of readiness to deal with any risky developments, the ministry added.

Tensions in the region have eased in recent days since a fraught period last month that included near daily North Korean threats of war.

It is not known if the missiles were part of a training exercise or drill.

UPDATE:

Timothy McNair says he did not attend class Friday and will most likely fail his music class.

McNair says his music professor, Dr. Nally, emailed him and instructed him to attend class Friday and complete all assigned work.    McNair was not in class. He has contacted the NAACP to file a complaint.   If he fails the class, he could lose his scholarship.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

A Northwestern University graduate student says he is unwilling to perform the work of a poet he considers offensive and racist.  The school is threatening to fail him if he doesn’t comply.

Timothy Mcnair

25-year-old Timothy Mcnair is required to perform three songs at a June 8^th concert as part of his music class.  One of them contains the writings of American  poet Walt Whitman.

“We know (he) was historically racist.  He’s called African Americans ‘baboons’ and was for oppressing voting rights,” Timothy said.

Although some may disagree with him, Timothy feels pretty strongly about it.  He says he researched Whitman for a sociology class.  And even though the Whitman poem he’s being asked to perform doesn’t contain any blatant racism, he is insulted by the writer and some of his other work.

He exchanged emails with his music professor, Dr. Nally.  He said he is willing to do extra credit to make up for it.  Dr Nally said Timothy either perform all the selections or be banned from class and receive a failing grade.

“Certainly I do not deserve to fail this class.  I have a 3.7 GPA.  I’m an officer on three committees of this university.  So what is deserving for me?  Is to be able to perform two pieces and have the third piece removed because of the insensitivity.”

But right now it doesn’t look like that will happen.  The school released a statement saying:  “Northwestern University does not comment on academic issues regarding individual students. However, the University’s expectation of all students is that they complete work assigned by their professors.”

Timothy is filing a complaint with the NAACP.

Thursday, he received another e-mail from the professor letting him know that if he wishes to perform all of the songs he has to return to class tomorrow.  Timothy doesn’t plan to do so.

WGNTV reached out to the professor but no comment from him.  He referred to the statement from the university.

The additional counties are Bureau, Crawford, Henderson, Knox, Livingston, Marshall, Mason, McDonough, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Schuyler, Stark, Tazewell, Warren and Woodford.

On May 10, President Obama declared Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Fulton, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, McHenry and Will, federal disaster areas triggering the release of federal funds to help individuals and businesses recover from severe storms and flooding that began on April 18, 2013.
So far more than 16-thousand applications for assistance have been submitted  for disaster aid.