Category: CNN Politics

BALTIMORE — Pete Crow-Armstrong had a June for the ages.

His next trick? Well, it’s not slowing down.

The Cubs’ center fielder is off to the races in July, starting the month 6-for-12 in four games coming into Tuesday.

After batting .381 last month, he’s off to a .500 beginning to this month.

Yeah, yeah, small sample size. But still. The guy’s on fire.

“Obviously,” team president Jed Hoyer said toward the end of June, “he’s not going to play like this the whole season.”

Are we sure about that?

Crow-Armstrong’s teammates are still marveling, awestruck by the transformation the 24-year-old has made. He reached base at a .287 clip and walked just 29 times in 157 games last season. He carried a .383 on-base percentage into Tuesday and walked 41 times in his first 90 games this year.

“The most impressive thing is the plate discipline and the walks,” outfielder Ian Happ said Tuesday. “For him to get to this point this quickly and really, in a matter of a week or two, kind of change the way that he approaches at-bats and the patience, the ability to lay off some really tough pitches … that’s been the most impressive thing to watch is just the consistency of the quality of at-bats.

“There’s always been thump there. There’s always been unbelievable tools and the speed and the defense. What he did last year was so special. But … to watch the way that he’s walking, it makes him so lethal because he’s such a good base runner.”

And there’s a whole lot of career left for Crow-Armstrong, a long-term franchise cornerstone thanks to the contract extension he signed before the season that will keep him in a Cubs uniform through 2032.

Isn’t it worth wondering if the newly minted two-time All Star can reach even greater heights?

Or, given that his month of June put him in the same club as Babe Ruth, is that asking too much?

“If you bottled this player that he is right this second and gave him 15 more years of that, it’d be pretty special,” Happ said. “There’s always room to get better at things, but this version of him in the last month is pretty spectacular.”

Time for Taillon?

Righty starter Jameson Taillon could still return from the injured list prior to the All-Star break, but the Cubs hope they don’t have to bring him back that quickly.

Manager Craig Counsell said Tuesday the team is planning for Taillon to follow Sunday’s minor league rehab start with another. But should a need arise during the Cubs’ road trip to end the first half, they could bring Taillon back sooner for a “limited” outing.

That safety-net approach makes sense considering the Cubs’ experience with pitching injuries, including the hamstring strain that’s sidelined Taillon since early June.

More pitching updates

The Cubs are also waiting on recoveries from injured righties Edward Cabrera and Daniel Palencia.

Cabrera, down with his own hamstring strain, had a positive day of work Sunday. A recent update from Counsell projected a recovery period lasting slightly longer than Taillon’s, which has already lasted a month.

Palencia, meanwhile, is said to be making progress, with the Cubs expecting their closer to start throwing off a mound following the break.

And that injured position player

Utility man Matt Shaw tested his sprained left hand while taking swings last weekend. The Cubs will give him some more time before testing it again.

“There’s symptoms still,” Counsell said, “so we’re giving him another four, five days to rest and we’re going to re-test and go from there.”

The U.S. game against Belgium in the round of 16 at the World Cup set another record as the most-watched soccer telecast in U.S. history, Fox said after preliminary ratings came out Tuesday.

Fox said 30 million people watched the game, a 4-1 victory for Belgium on Monday in Seattle to move into the quarterfinals and eliminate the last of the tournament’s three co-hosts. Fox said audience peaked at more than 36.8 million people between 9:15 and 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

That topped the previous mark, the U.S.-Bosnia-Herzegovina game last week that Fox said was watched by 26.4 million.

Como miles de inmigrantes capturados en el Operativo Midway Blitz del gobierno federal el otoño pasado, José Enrique Ojeda Duarte pasó siete meses en centros de detención antes de que funcionarios de Estados Unidos lo deportaran a Caracas, Venezuela, en abril.

Pero su historia tomó un giro cuando los agentes federales admitieron recientemente un error poco común, lo que llevó a un impactante regreso a Estados Unidos el mes pasado para este solicitante de asilo venezolano de 31 años. El gobierno afirmó que un error administrativo llevó a que Ojeda Duarte fuera deportado injustamente en un momento en que tenía varios casos legales pendientes que aún no se habían resuelto.

Aunque dijo que está “muy feliz de estar de regreso”, Ojeda Duarte ha luchado por adaptarse después de que su vida se vio alterada y soportó duras condiciones durante su detención. No puede dormir. Teme tanto que los agentes de inmigración lo arresten nuevamente que se muestra reacio a jugar afuera con sus hijos. Su familia dice que se ha alejado de sus seres queridos.

“Me siento constantemente nervioso de que me detengan otra vez”, contó Ojeda Duarte en su hogar de Chicago, reunido con su pareja y sus dos hijos. “A veces quiero llorar o me siento muy triste”.

El cambio del gobierno se produjo tras la intervención de sus abogados y de su decidida pareja, Leydimar Castillo, de 41 años de edad, quien unió múltiples batallas legales que finalmente aseguraron su regreso y su liberación. Castillo dejó de trabajar y comenzó a vivir de la ayuda mutua para mantenerse al tanto de cada desarrollo en todos los frentes legales desde su arresto.

“Para hacer lo que pasó aquí, tienes que esforzarte de verdad”, dijo Castillo.

Una batalla burocrática

Ojeda Duarte iba de camino al trabajo una mañana de septiembre cuando dijo que fue arrestado violentamente por agentes federales armados que “me agarraron, me sacaron del auto, me rasgaron la camiseta [y] me tiraron al suelo”.

Fue trasladado de un lado a otro a varios centros de detención, pasando la mayor parte del tiempo en condiciones “inhumanas” en Camp East Montana, en El Paso, Texas, dijo. La comida a menudo estaba congelada o caducada; no tuvo acceso a medicamentos cuando se enfermó de COVID; y apenas vio la luz del día.

“Los colchones: rotos”, comentó. “Nos trataron como perros. Todo estaba mal, incluso el agua. Nos estaban matando poco a poco”.

Ojeda Duarte ingresó legalmente a Estados Unidos durante la administración del expresidente Joe Biden en 2024. Había solicitado asilo y no tenía antecedentes penales.

Sin embargo, fue uno de los arrestados ilegalmente por agentes federales el otoño pasado, en violación del acuerdo de Castañón Nava, que prohíbe los arrestos migratorios sin una orden o causa probable.

Mientras sus abogados impugnaban la legalidad de la detención de Ojeda Duarte, un juez de inmigración también le negó el asilo bajo lo que se conoce como el acuerdo cooperativo de asilo, que permite al gobierno deportar a los migrantes solicitantes de asilo si no pueden demostrar un temor a regresar a su país de origen.

Uno de sus abogados, Afshan J. Khan, afirma que la denegación del asilo fue impugnada por su otro abogado de inmigración dos semanas antes de un plazo del gobierno, que legalmente debería haber pausado la deportación de Ojeda Duarte.

“No debería haber sido deportado en absoluto… porque tenía la apelación pendiente presentada a tiempo”, aseguró Khan.

En una inusual concesión legal, los abogados del gobierno admitieron en documentos judiciales que un error del sistema de datos dentro del sistema de Operaciones de Cumplimiento y Remoción del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional llevó a una deportación injusta. Pero Ojeda Duarte ya había sido deportado.

“Desafortunadamente, la remoción del solicitante fue un error inadvertido debido a un problema de calidad de datos dentro del sistema de información de casos del DHS-ERO (Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS) y su oficina de Operaciones de Ejecución y Remoción (ERO)”, escribió el gobierno en la presentación. “Con base en la información disponible, ERO está trabajando diligentemente para iniciar el proceso de regreso del Peticionario a Estados Unidos”.

En respuesta a preguntas sobre el caso, un portavoz de DHS desvió la culpa hacia un programa de libertad condicional de la administración de Biden.

“Ojeda Duarte ingresó ilegalmente a Estados Unidos por la frontera sur en octubre de 2024 y bajo el desastroso programa de libertad condicional de la administración de Biden, fue liberado en el país sin ser investigado completamente y sin estatus legal para estar aquí”, decía el comunicado.

Claire Trickler-McNulty, quien trabajó con el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) durante más de una década antes del segundo mandato de Trump, afirmó en una entrevista que solía ver uno o dos casos al año en los que la agencia deportaba por error a alguien y tenía que traerlo de regreso.

Incluso hacer que este tipo de casos sea señalado requiere recursos y un abogado muy atento, dijo Trickler-McNulty.

“Necesitas que alguien insista bastante diciendo ‘no, no, esto está mal’”, agregó Trickler-McNulty. “Puede ser difícil, especialmente para personas que están fuera del país o que han sido removidas, incluso saber cómo plantear este tipo de problemas”.

Una lucha para salir de casa

Ojeda Duarte pasó más de un mes en Venezuela tras su deportación. Su repentina partida privó a su familia de su principal ingreso. Durante su detención, la familia se mantuvo en gran medida en la oscuridad mientras los funcionarios del gobierno retrasaban sistemáticamente las actualizaciones sobre su caso.

“Se me derrumbó el mundo”, aseguró Ojeda Duarte.

Cuando lo volvieron a traer a Estados Unidos, fue detenido en un centro de procesamiento en El Paso, Texas, durante aproximadamente dos semanas hasta que un juez federal ordenó su liberación. Pero su saga legal no ha terminado. Ahora está pasando por el proceso de apelación del asilo, que suele tomar meses o años.

Desde su regreso a Chicago, Ojeda Duarte ha tenido dificultades para retomar su antigua rutina. Cada mañana, se prepara para ir a trabajar en Indiana haciendo mantenimiento general de edificios. Pero salir de casa requiere un esfuerzo mental inmenso.

“A veces tengo una sensación terrible, como miedo a salir”, dijo Ojeda Duarte. “Que ocurra otro error, Dios no lo quiera. Tengo todos estos sentimientos de este constante sobrepensar y de los recuerdos”.

Castillo no creyó que su pareja realmente había vuelto hasta que lo abrazó. Pero después de que las lágrimas iniciales de su reunión se desvanecieron, una nueva y dolorosa realidad se asentó en su hogar del lado sur: Ojeda Duarte es un hombre distinto.

“Cuando regresa, se ducha, come y se va directo a la cama”, dijo Castillo. “La comunicación que solíamos tener ya no está, donde preguntábamos: ‘¿Qué hiciste? ¿Cómo te fue?’ Antes, solíamos sentarnos afuera y platicar, pero ahora no lo hacemos”.

Castillo afirmó que este viaje también ha sido agotador para ella, tanto mental como financieramente. Está buscando terapia para afrontar el trauma, un proceso de sanación que espera que su pareja comparta eventualmente.

Contribuyó: Sophie Sherry

Traducido con una herramienta de inteligencia artificial (AI) y editado por La Voz Chicago

Navy Pier is offering free rides on its Centennial Wheel every Wednesday through Labor Day after storms that rolled through the Chicago area made for a foggy Fourth of July fireworks show.

The free rides are available after 6 p.m. starting Wednesday for those who register, Navy Pier announced in a Facebook post Tuesday. Riders can secure up to four tickets per week.

“While we can’t control the weather, we can try to make it right,” the post states.

The special Fourth of July show that began at 10 p.m. was longer than the typical summer show at Navy Pier, had nearly twice as many fireworks and covered double the area along the lakefront.

But fog rolled in along the lake after Saturday’s afternoon storms and obscured most of the spectacle. In a late-night statement, Navy Pier said it was “disappointed with the effect fog had on tonight’s Independence Day Fireworks visibility and understand it impacted our guests’ experience.”

Agents and teams typically use the NFL Scouting Combine to do more than measure prospects — through conversations, they get a sense of the pending free agent market.

This season, the two sides won’t have to think too far back to those conversations. The NFL’s legal tampering window will open March 9, one day after the conclusion of the Combine. Typically, teams have at least a week between when they leave Indianapolis and when free agency begins.

The Feb. 14 Super Bowl in Los Angeles and April 29-May 1 draft in Washington, D.C., were previously set. The NFL announced other key dates for the upcoming season Tuesday:

• Aug. 30: Teams must whittle their roster to 53 players
• Nov. 10: Trade deadline
• Feb. 14: Super Bowl LXI in Los Angeles
• March 1-8: NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis
• March 9: Legal tampering window opens
• March 11: First day of the league year
• March 21: NFL’s annual meeting in Phoenix
• April 29-May 1: NFL draft in Washington, D.C.

The NFL will hold its fall quarterly meeting in New York City from Oct. 20-21 and its spring quarterly meeting in Las Colinas, Texas, from May 25-26. Those could prove critical for the Bears, as owners need to vote to approve a stadium site once the team chooses one.

The Bears report to training camp at the end of this month.

A man was fatally shot in a West Side alley Tuesday morning.

The victim was in the alley in the 3400 block of West Polk Street around 10 a.m. in the East Garfield Park neighborhood, when an assailant shot him multiple times, Chicago police and a Chicago Fire Department spokesperson said.

He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to police. His name, age and other personal information have not been released.

No arrests have been made.

Area 4 detectives are investigating.

Experts say homeowners should consider proven tips to reduce their flood risk as Chicago’s retention reservoirs approach capacity and more rain is forecast later this week.

“We need to be prepared for [flooding] all the time, maybe a little more prepared now because we have less room for heavy rain,” says Scott Lincoln, senior service hydrologist at the Chicago branch of the National Weather Service.

Some parts of the Chicago area have seen 8 inches of rain since the beginning of July, nearly a third of what the area typically gets in a year, Lincoln said. As a result, Deep Tunnel, the network of floodwater management, has never been as full as it is now.

More rain is forecast Thursday and Friday, which could potentially overload the network and cause flooding. The south suburbs are especially at risk.

Ideally, residents would have certain flood precautions in place already, Lincoln said, but there are things that can be done before more rain comes.

Here are some of those tips:

Downspout redirection

The best way to mitigate flood risk is to redirect the downspout that brings water from rain gutters directly into the sewer. Moving the downspout output to a garden or other landscaping relieves the sewer system during heavy rain.

“Downspouts directly connect water from roofs to the sewer system, so during heavy rains the rain from all the roofs in an area reduces capacity in the sewer system” and can lead to sewer backup and flooding, Cyatharine Alias, urban resilience director at Center for Neighborhood Technology, told the Sun-Times earlier this year.

Homeowners can redirect their downspout by using a hacksaw to shorten the downspout, then add an extension that directs the water where you want it to go. TikTok and YouTube tutorials can be helpful, but remember not to direct water toward others’ property. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago has a step-by-step guide to disconnecting a downspout in its Green Neighbor Guide.

Rain barrels

Rain barrels can also help prevent water from seeping into homes. Hardware and garden stores often keep rain barrels in stock, and Cook County residents can buy directly from the MWRD, whose barrels are $22.30 or $11.15 for those 65 and older. Tips on rain barrel installation can also be found in the Green Neighbor Guide.

Water conservation and landscaping

The MWRD suggests conserving water by doing simple things like taking shorter showers and turning off the water while brushing your teeth. Flushing anything other than natural waste and toilet paper can cause plumbing backups that can contribute to water issues.

The district also recommends investing in green infrastructure, like replacing paved areas with pervious surfaces to mitigate the effects of flooding. Planting a rain garden and landscaping with native plants can help the ecosystem thrive even under heavy rain and ward off flooding.

Navigating flood effects and staying informed

Because the streams, rivers and reservoirs in the area are elevated after heavy rain last week, it won’t take much more precipitation for them to flood, said Lincoln, of the Weather Service.

In the event that floods do happen, Lincoln said staying up to date on the most recent developments in your area is important. Having multiple sources of information can help residents get the information that’s most pertinent to them, especially when it comes to transportation.

“We definitely want people to think about, ‘Do they have multiple ways to get to work?’” Lincoln said. “What do you do if the main road is blocked?”

MWRD Overflow Action Alerts can warn residents of storms and help them remember to conserve water before, during and after a storm. Local governments often post on social media or send email alerts regarding severe weather and flooding risks along with tips to manage heavy rain.

BALTIMORE — Coming in for a landing, my plane slammed down on the runway.

By the time the person sitting next to me lifted the window shade, we were back in the air.

Ten minutes later? Back on the ground.

It’s not the ideal way to fly.

When the flight attendant — playing to the heavy contingent of Cubs fans aboard — signed off with, “Let’s go Cubbies!” it struck that this was maybe not the ideal way to go through a baseball season, either.

But the up-and-down Cubs are making a run at it, trying to achieve their sky-high, championship-level goals all while their season has, to this point, jerked upward and downward with the frequency of a commercial jet.

You know the highs and lows by now. A 10-game winning streak. Then another. Then a 10-game losing streak to kick off a monthlong slump. Then the bats roared back to life. Then 10 straight series without a series victory. Then six straight series without a series defeat.

They won a game by 20 runs. They lost the next by 16.

Whiplash, anyone?

These Cubs say they’re equipped to handle such a season, constantly trumpeting this group’s ability to show up to the ballpark each new day having forgotten about the emotional highs and lows of the previous day.

That they held the National League’s top wild-card spot when that flight took off Tuesday morning shows they might be right.

They’re taking Ted Lasso’s advice. They’re selling this roster as a collection of 26 goldfish.

“In the first six weeks of the season or eight weeks of the season,” outfielder Ian Happ said Tuesday, “just the ups and downs of that certainly made it more important to understand that whether we win 10 in a row or lose 10 in a row, one two-week stretch isn’t going to determine whether we have a great year or not.”

This might sound like Baseball 101. But considering how fans’ emotions swung wildly between high and low during the Cubs’ numerous streaks and stretches, the guys actually going through it must be feeling something, right? They must be battling some sort of human nature to place weight on the moment, right?

How does one learn to wipe away what came immediately before in service of the now?

“A baseball season teaches you to do that,” manager Craig Counsell said, “because you can have an emotional game end at 11 o’clock and there’s another game at 1 o’clock the next day. You get taught to do it through that.

“In that sense, the game’s a really good teacher, and you learn that it’s required of you pretty fast, whether it’s a consistent season or a really streaky season.”

You know who else were good teachers, at least for one current Cub? The guys with rings on their fingers.

Happ made his major league debut the year after the Cubs rode into Grant Park to celebrate winning the World Series and learned from players who had been to the mountaintop — and knew what it took to get there.

Now he’s the connective tissue between that team and the one chasing a similar goal.

“You have to be ready for the next day, and dwelling on what happened the day prior doesn’t really help,” he said. “You learn it when you’re young from veteran players. I learned it from that group that I came up with that had a ton of experience and won at the highest stage. You learn from those guys and kind of carry that forward.

“It’s more from actions and coming to work every day. There’s definitely times when [someone is] going through something where some words help, just [letting them know that a] one-week stretch or two-week stretch isn’t going to define the season.”

Experience can be a pretty effective teacher, too, and though they didn’t plan it, the Cubs now have the experience of riding through a streaky few months.

Can they use it to their advantage as the summer goes on? We’ll soon find out.

State health officials are warning the public about a heightened number of cases of the intestinal illness cyclosporiasis, also known for its symptom of “explosive diarrhea,” following an even larger outbreak in Michigan.

The Illinois Department of Public Health has reported 141 cases of the illness, which is most often contracted by consuming contaminated foods. The “higher-than-average” number of cases is consistent with what has been reported in other states, an IDPH spokesperson said.

According to the IDPH spokesperson, 62 of the cases in Illinois reportedly traveled outside the U.S., while 59 cases traveled domestically. Another 20 cases are pending investigation to determine travel status.

In Michigan, more than 700 people have become ill with cyclosporiasis since June 22, according to the Michigan Department of Public Health.

The most common symptoms of the illness are diarrhea, nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, cramping and bloating, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Treatments include resting and drinking plenty of fluids, as well as antibiotics, according to the CDC.

“At this point, no single source or cause of this increase has been identified, and there is no evidence of a large outbreak accounting for all or most of these cases,” the IDPH spokesperson said. “IDPH continues to work with the CDC and other public health partners to look for trends.”

The best practices to prevent cyclosporiasis include washing your hands before eating; washing all fruits and vegetables before eating, cutting or cooking; and refrigerating cut, peeled or cooked fruits and vegetables as soon as possible, according to the CDC.

Prior to most of the Illinois cases and the Michigan outbreak, the CDC had reported 145 cases of cyclosporiasis between May 1 and June 16 in 17 states across the U.S. Twenty of those people were hospitalized, and no cases resulted in death, the CDC said.

Last January, Mayor Brandon Johnson said he was already preparing City Hall for a potentially painful round of midyear layoffs if revenue fell short, infuriating the rebel bloc that muscled an alternative budget through the City Council after rejecting Johnson’s corporate head tax.

Now, the mayor has what he views as black-and-white proof that his dire prediction has come true—without saying what he intends to do about it.

The midyear budget report shows that the alternative revenues approved by renegade alderpersons over Johnson’s strenuous objections have fallen $131.7 million short of projections.

The sale of long-term city debt was expected to generate $89.6 million, but it has so far produced zero.

The sale of city advertising has come up empty even though it was supposed to rake in $29.3 million.

Johnson’s decision to join forces with Bally’s and continue fighting the decision to lift the Chicago ban on video gambling terminals has put the city $6.8 million further in the hole.

Same goes for the anticipated $6 million expected to be generated by an augmented reality licensing program. That’s a technology that overlays virtual elements into the real world through devices like smart phones and smart glasses.

On Tuesday, the mayor who has never stopped fighting the budget battle he lost essentially said, “I told you so.”

“We had a pathway that would have avoided this. Had City Council accepted the $100 million from the top corporate earners…we wouldn’t be in this predicament right now. So hopefully, it’s a lesson learned by certain members of City Council because these challenges won’t disappear in one budget,” he said.

“We did not need to cede to big-money interests and fall back on the tired practice of balancing budgets on the backs of working people.”

The show-and-tell presentation did not answer the most important question: what the mayor intends to do to erase the $131.7 million mid-year shortfall.

He would only say Tuesday that he is “working hard to avoid cutting services and layoffs” and urging the City Council to avoid “reverting back to a style” of budget balancing that has “left working families in absolute peril.”

“Every single progressive revenue source that I put forward is over-performing,” Johnson said.

“The progressive movement is alive and well. We just have a few obstinate individuals that are more aligned with the interests of corporations that are ultimately stalling what could be a full-out revolution in this city. And the people in Chicago want it. They want it desperately.”

Southwest Side Ald. Matt O’Shea (19^th) was a leading member of the renegade group that waged a budget rebellion not seen since the 1980’s power struggle known as Council Wars.

O’Shea accused the mayor of “sabotaging” the alternative, $16.7 billion budget to make his doomsday scenario come true.

“We designed a budget that the administration had to execute. These are his own people that he put in place who failed to execute. He needs to look within. Once again, as we’ve seen for the past 3.5 years, he fails and continues to fail,” O’Shea told the Sun-Times.

“We’re now midyear, and he’s failed to execute much of the budget that was passed. That’s on him…It’s another example of his failure to—of his administration to execute. That’s what this is…He’s saying `I failed to lead, so I’m gonna go back to the same lines that I’ve always gone with’: Tax the rich and implement plans that the overwhelming majority of, not only the City Council but taxpayers don’t want to see.”

If Johnson follows that now-familiar political script, O’Shea said Chicago is headed for a pre-election repeat of the budget rebellion that saw the battle of the budget drag on until days before Christmas.

“I would only hope that the great collaborator wants to sit down and work with us this time unlike last time. If he doesn’t, then once again, you’ll see the City Council be the adults in the room,” O’Shea said.

The 31-member group including O’Shea that calls itself the “Budget Accountability Coalition” issued a statement saying its sole focus is to put the city on “the best financial footing possible in the wake of Johnson administration actions that have led to credit downgrades and ballooning budget deficits.”

“Instead of executing the financially sound budget that City Council passed last year, Mayor Johnson and his administration have spent six months slow-walking the implementation of new revenues and efficiencies designed to close our budget deficit and prevent this administration from creating excuses to raise taxes on businesses, jobs, and working families and skip the remainder of our advance pension payment,” the statement said.

“Chicagoans deserve transparency and the truth from the mayor instead of attempts to shift blame away from the failures of his administration.”