Author: chicagoinquirer

by Jimmy Golden BOSTON  — The reigning Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics suspended coach Ime Udoka after a months-long investigation by an outside law firm that found multiple violations of team policies but did not point to a larger cultural problem of sexual misconduct, owner Wyc Grousbeck said Friday. “We go to great lengths … to run the organization with the central core value of respect and freedom in the workplace from harassment or any unwelcome attention,” Grousbeck said at a news conference. “This feels very much, to me, like one of a kind. That’s my personal belief. But I’ll…

OAK FOREST, Ill. — Police in suburban Chicago responding to a domestic incident early Friday found three gunshot victims who were mortally wounded outside a house and later the body of another person believed to have shot them inside the home a short time later. In a news release, the Oak Forest Police Department said that officers arrived at the house after reports of gunfire and established a perimeter outside. After a child emerged from inside the home, officers saw “smoke coming from the house and flames appearing in the front window.” After firefighters extinguished the blaze, police found the…

CHICAGO  — A Chicago state senator pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of lying to the FBI and seeking a bribe to oppose legislation that would have required a statewide evaluation of red-light camera systems. Sen. Emil Jones III, the latest public official implicated in the bribery scheme, entered the plea by telephone before U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood. “I plead not guilty, your honor,” he said in a calm voice. Jones has an unsecured bond of $10,000. Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday called for Jones to resign his seat, one day after Jones stepped down from his unpaid post…

by Howard Fendrich LONDON  — This day, this match, had to come, of course, for Roger Federer, and for tennis, just as it inevitably must for every athlete in every sport. Federer was bidding farewell Friday night with one last contest before he heads into retirement at age 41 after an illustrious career that included 20 Grand Slam titles and a role as a statesman for tennis. He was playing a doubles match alongside his rival Rafael Nadal for Team Europe in the Laver Cup against Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock of Team World. “For me, just personally, (it was)…

by Colleen Long WASHINGTON — The White House and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said Thursday that a Republican-led proposal to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weekswould endanger the health of women and have severe consequences for physicians. “If passed and enacted, this bill would create a nationwide health crisis, imperiling the health and lives of women in all 50 states,” according to a preliminary analysis of the bill by Jennifer Klein, the White House Gender Policy Council chairwoman, that was obtained by The Associated Press. “It would transform the practice of medicine, opening the door to doctors…

LAKE FOREST, Ill.  — Chicago Bears star linebacker Roquan Smith missed his second consecutive practice Thursday because of a hip injury, leaving his status for this week’s game in question. The Bears are scheduled to host former coach Lovie Smith and the Houston Texans on Sunday. Smith has played every snap this season. Defensive coordinator Alan Williams said before practice he expected him to be ready to play “as far as I know.” Smith, who does not have an agent, missed the preseason after he opted to “hold-in” with contract extension talks at a standstill. The 2018 first-round draft pick…

Boeing Co. will pay $200 million to settle allegations that the company and its former CEO misled investors about the safety of its 737 Max after two of the airliners crashed, killing 346 people. The Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday that it charged the aircraft maker and former CEO Dennis Muilenburg with making significant misleading public statements about the plane and an automated flight-control system that was implicated in the crashes. Neither Boeing nor Muilenburg admitted wrongdoing, but they agreed to orders that include penalties of $200 million for Boeing and $1 million for Muilenburg, who was ousted in…

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics are planning to discipline coach Ime Udoka, likely with a suspension, because of an improper relationship with a member of the organization, two people with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday. The people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the reigning Eastern Conference champions have not revealed any details publicly. The exact punishment, including the length of the possible suspension, has not been determined. One of the people who spoke with the AP said the Celtics have decided that assistant coach Joe Mazzulla will take over the team…

WASHINGTON  — A federal appeals panel has lifted a judge’s hold on the Justice Department’s ability to use classified records seized from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate in its ongoing criminal investigation. The ruling from a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit is a victory for the Justice Department, clearing the way for it to immediately resume its use of the documents as it evaluates whether to bring criminal charges in its investigation into the presence of top-secret government records held at Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House. The government had argued…

by Mark Kennedy Sidney Poitier was not expected to live. He was born two months premature to uneducated tomato farmers in the Caribbean. His father planned to use a shoe box as a makeshift coffin. Poitier’s rise from that humble origin to become an Oscar-winning box office draw and civil rights figure who remade Hollywood seems almost scripted, almost too good to be true, but such was Poitier, a life well lived. The new documentary “Sidney” respectfully traces that life, delivering a portrait of a striver hoping to improve everything he did every day. “I truly, truly try to be…