Author: chicagoinquirer

by Bill Barrow ATLANTA  — America has honored Martin Luther King Jr. with a federal holiday for nearly four decades yet still hasn’t fully embraced and acted on the lessons from the slain civil rights leader, his youngest daughter said Monday. The Rev. Bernice King, who leads The King Center in Atlanta, said leaders — especially politicians — too often cheapen her father’s legacy into a “comfortable and convenient King” offering easy platitudes. “We love to quote King in and around the holiday. … But then we refuse to live King 365 days of the year,” she declared at the…

by Aamer Madhani ATLANTA  — President Joe Biden made a historical pilgrimage Sunday to “America’s freedom church” to mark Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, saying democracy was at a perilous moment and that the civil rights leader’s life and legacy “show us the way and we should pay attention.” As the first sitting president to deliver a Sunday morning sermon at King’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, Biden cited the telling question that King himself once asked of the nation. “He said, ‘Where do we go from here?’” Biden said from the pulpit. ”Well, my message to this nation on this day…

by Mark Gonzales CHICAGO  — Nikola Vucevic matched a career high with 43 points and the Chicago Bulls snapped an 11-game losing streak against Golden State, beating the Warriors 132-118 on Sunday Vucevic last scored 43 points on Feb. 2, 2021, against the Bulls as a member of the Orlando Magic. Chicago beat Golden State for the first time since March 2, 2017. Zach LaVine added 27 points despite shooting 1 for 8 from 3-point range as the Bulls (20-24) snapped a three-game losing streak. They won without leading scorer DeMar DeRozan, who missed his third consecutive game due to…

In this interview, Dr. Sam Enyia, yearns again for Africans in Chicago to become galvanized and collaborate with African-Americans Dr. Sam Enyia, erstwhile President of the Nigerian National Alliance (NNA) was not a happy man when he leant that the once vibrant organization is no more. The formation of Nigerian Community in Chicagoland (NCC) to take the place of NNA did not bring succor to his face. In an interview with Joseph Omoremi, editor of The Chicago Inquirer, he reflected on the challenges African immigrants face in Chicago and how to move the community forward.  Excerpts: Inquirer: Quite some time.…

by Brian P. D. Hannon DES MOINES, Iowa  — Maine scored its first Mega Millions jackpot — and someone beat the ill fortune of Friday the 13th — when a ticket purchased in the state matched the winning numbers for the lottery’s estimated $1.35 billion grand prize. The lucky combination of numbers drawn late Friday night were: 30, 43, 45, 46, 61 and gold Mega Ball 14. The winner, whose name is not yet known, overcame steep odds of 1 in 302.6 million, which led to three months of drawings without a claim on the jackpot. “Congratulations to the Maine…

by John O’Connor SPRINGFIELD, Ill.  — To the scores of sheriffs in Illinois who reportedly have vowed not to enforce the ban on semiautomatic weapons that took effect this week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has a succinct answer: Yes, you will. Nine in 10 of the state’s sheriffs, joining with gun-rights advocates in declaring the prohibition unconstitutional, have sworn off zealous enforcement of the law. It prohibits the manufacture or possession of dozens of rapid-fire weapons and attachments and requires registration of those previously owned in response to the massacre at a July 4th parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland…

AP-FBN-Bears-Warren, 2nd Ld-Writethru by Andrew Seligman CHICAGO  — The Chicago Bears hired Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren as their president and CEO on Thursday, bringing him back to the NFL to help lead a founding franchise after three years running one of college athletics’ marquee conferences. Warren, who replaces the retiring Ted Phillips, becomes Chicago’s fifth president and the first from outside the organization. He goes from becoming the first Black president of a Power Five conference to the first for the Bears. He is the team’s second president that was not part of the Halas-McCaskey family tree, joining Phillips.…

by Zeke Miller and Eric Tucker WASHINGTON  — Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed a special counsel to investigate the presence of classified documents found at President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, and at an unsecured office in Washington dating from his time as vice president. Robert Hur, a onetime U.S. attorney appointed by former President Donald Trump, will lead the investigation and plans to begin his work soon. His appointment marks the second time in a few months that Garland has appointed a special counsel, an extraordinary fact that reflects the Justice Department’s efforts to independently conduct…

by Michelle l. Price NEW YORK — State and local Republican leaders in New York on Wednesday called for the immediate resignation of their new GOP congressman George Santos, who is facing multiple investigations by prosecutors over his personal and campaign finances and lies about his resume and family heritage. “His lies were not mere fibs. He disgraced the House of Representatives,” Joseph Cairo Jr., chair of the Nassau County Republican Committee, said at a news conference. “He’s not welcome here at Republican headquarters.” Santos, swarmed by reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday, flatly rejected the call to resign, saying,…

Naomi Osaka is pregnant and plans to return to competition in 2024, the tennis star announced Wednesday. The former world No. 1 posted what she called “a little life update for 2023” on social media, including a picture of an ultrasound. The 25-year-old Osaka has been dating Cordae, a rapper, for years. “I know that I have so much to look forward to in the future, one thing I’m looking forward to is for my kid to watch one of my matches and tell someone, ‘that’s my mom,'” Osaka wrote. Osaka hasn’t played a competitive match since September and withdrew…