Author: chicagoinquirer

by Farnoush Amiri WASHINGTON  — President Joe Biden was winding up for a speech at a Minnesota clean energy facility when he spotted a lawmaker in the crowd whom he wanted to recognize. “I want to thank you for being here,” Biden said, gesturing toward Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar during his recent visit. “You never stop working to level the playing field for everybody.” For Omar, the quick flash of praise from Biden — who was neither her first nor second choice to be the party’s 2020 White House nominee — was more than just a courtesy shout-out during a…

by Mark Moschetti SEATTLE  — Jordan Eberle, Jared McCann and Daniel Sprong each had a goal and an assist and the Seattle Kraken beat the Chicago Blackhawks 7-3 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory. The second-year Kraken, who clinched their first Stanley Cup playoff spot Thursday, also got goals from Eeli Tolvanen, Yanni Gourde, Adam Larsson and Morgan Geekie. Jamie Oleksiak had three assists. Martin Jones made 15 saves two periods, then was replaced by Philipp Grubauer at the start of the third. Grubauer had 11 saves. Seth Jones scored twice for Chicago, which lost for the 10th…

by Tim Reynolds The NBA will get what it wanted — drama to end the regular season. All 30 teams will play their 82nd game of the season on Sunday, with four matchups — New Orleans at Minnesota, Utah at the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State at Portland and the Los Angeles Clippers at Phoenix — set to decide how the Western Conference playoff and play-in bracket will look. There are 16 possible seeding scenarios, based on the outcomes of those four games. And they’ll all be starting at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, with no games scheduled to play later, meaning…

CHICAGO  — Kei Kamara had a brace by halftime to spark the Chicago Fire to a 2-1 victory over Minnesota United on Saturday night. Kamara scored unassisted in the 24th minute to give Chicago (2-1-3) the lead. Kamara took a pass from Arnaud Souquet and scored again 12 minutes later to put the Fire up 2-0 at halftime. Kamara, who played for Minnesota United in 2020, has scored 74 of his 142 career goals against his former teams. Kervin Arriaga scored unassisted in the 57th minute for Minnesota United (3-1-2), which was trying to become the second team in league…

by Will Graves PITTSBURGH  — Chicago White Sox pitching remains very much a work in progress. Their bats, however, appear to be just fine — especially on the road. Yasmani Grandal, Luis Robert Jr., Oscar Colás had two hits and drove in two runs each as Chicago beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-5 on Saturday night. Tim Anderson, Andrew Benintendi and Andrew Vaughn also had two hits each for the White Sox, who jumped on Vince Velasquez (0-2) early to end a two-game skid. Elvis Andrus also drove in two runs on a sacrifice fly and an RBI single. “We got…

by Jay Cohen CHICAGO  — Justin Steele pitched six effective innings and Patrick Wisdom homered, helping the Chicago Cubs beat the Texas Rangers 10-3 on Saturday. Trey Mancini had three of Chicago’s 14 hits in its third consecutive win. Yan Gomes hit a solo homer in a four-run eighth, and Wisdom, Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner and Nick Madrigal each had two hits. Swanson is batting .429 (12 for 28) in his first seven games with the Cubs after signing a $177 million, seven-year contract as a free agent. Texas committed five errors in its fourth loss in five games, and…

by Tim Reynolds The NBA wants to know why the Dallas Mavericks held out several key players in their next-to-last game of the season, even while the team still had a mathematical chance of making the play-in tournament. NBA officials opened an investigation Saturday into the Mavericks’ decision-making surrounding Friday’s game against the Chicago Bulls, in which Dallas sat Kyrie Irving for the entire game and Luka Doncic for most of the contest. The Mavericks blew an 11-point fourth-quarter lead and lost, getting eliminated from postseason consideration. That outcome also could help ensure that Dallas has a top-10 draft pick…

by Frances D’emilio VATICAN CITY  — Pope Francis returned to public view on Saturday, presiding over Easter vigil Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, a day after unseasonably chilly weather in Rome convinced the recently ailing pontiff to skip Good Friday’s nighttime procession at the Colosseum. The evening basilica service began in darkness. Then the basilica’s cavernous interior was suddenly bathed in light, reflecting the Christian beliefs that Jesus rose from his death by crucifixion and that goodness can triumph over evil. The 86-year-old pope is recuperating from bronchitis, which saw him hospitalized on March 29 for three days. On Sunday,…

by Doug Feinberg NEW YORK  — Aliyah Boston has been the consensus No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft all season. The Indiana Fever, who own the top choice, just had to wait for the South Carolina star to make it official she was going to enter this year’s draft. Boston had the chance to return to South Carolina for her COVID season, but opted to enter Monday night’s draft instead. “I think Aliyah Boston is a legitimate first pick option,” Fever general manager Lin Dunn said on a conference call. “I’ve watched her play very closely this year. Her…

by Wanjohi Kabukuru MOMBASA, Kenya — Gobonamang Kgetho has a deep affection for Africa’s largest inland delta, the Okavango. It is his home. The water and wildlife-rich land is fed by rivers in the Angolan highlands that flow into northern Botswana before draining into Namibia’s Kalahari Desert sands. Several Indigenous and local communities and a vast array of species including African elephants, black rhinos and cheetahs live among the vibrant marshlands. Much of the surrounding region is also teeming with wildlife. Fisher Kgetho hails from Botswana’s Wayei community and relies on his pole and dug-out canoe to skirt around the…