When Lizzie Patterson was interning for state Sen. Laura Ellman, D-Naperville, last summer, she was given a task: develop a bill that could be taken to Springfield. The Naperville North High School graduate started researching issues in the community, county and state that she could address with draft legislation. Synthetic opioids — their pervasiveness and lethality — snagged her attention. “You just hear more and more about it,” Patterson, 19, said. “Fentanyl overdoses, things being laced — it’s super dangerous.” She decided her bill would try to tackle the epidemic by making life-saving res ..read more

NEW YORK — Just before the end of playwright David Adjmi’s masterful “Stereophonic,” a three-hour dissection of ego, insecurity and the messy, messed-up gorgeousness of the creative process, I decided I’d had enough of these beautiful people in the recording studio with their complaints, their cocaine, their obsessive-compulsive neuroses, their phenomenal talents. A Zen-like “Let it be” had twisted in my skull to “Let me out.” And then I realized that was precisely what Adjmi wanted everyone at the Golden Theatre to be feeling at the final curtain. He’d just explained why great bands break up ..read more

Michigan basketball received its first high school commitment under new coach Dusty May, and it comes from the son of an NBA legend. Justin Pippen, a 6-foot-3 guard out of Sierra Canyon in Chatsworth, Calif., pledged to the Wolverines on Friday, becoming the second member of Michigan’s 2024 recruiting class. He is the youngest son of Scottie Pippen, a Hall of Famer who helped the Chicago Bulls win six championships during a 17-year NBA career that included stops in Portland and Houston. Justin is also the younger brother of Scotty Pippen Jr., a second-year guard with the Memphis Grizzlies. Pip ..read more

MIAMI — The Chicago Bulls crashed out of the NBA Play-In Tournament with a 112-91 collapse against the Miami Heat on Friday, ending another disappointing season without a trip to the playoffs. Friday’s matchup was supposed to be a lighter challenge for the Bulls after Heat star Jimmy Butler was ruled out of the game with an MCL injury suffered in Wednesday’s play-in opener against the Philadelphia 76ers. With the same stakes on the line last season in the play-in tournament, the Bulls had commanded the first three quarters — until Butler took over in the final minutes to steal away a win ..read more

A young woman was killed and a man was critically injured Friday afternoon when gunmen in two separate vehicles opened fire on the vehicle they were riding in on the city’s West Side, according to Chicago police. The victims, a 20-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man were inside a vehicle headed west through an alley behind the 3800 block of West Jackson Boulevard in the Garfield Park neighborhood just before 5 p.m. when the shooting occurred, police said. An unknown number of gunmen inside a white SUV and white sedan opened fire toward the vehicle, striking the woman twice in the chest and th ..read more

The Chicago Cubs defeated the Miami Marlins 8-3 on April 19, 2024, in the opener of a four-game series at Wrigley Field. Cubs third basen Nick Madrigal gets high-fives in the dugout after scoring against the Marlins on April 19, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)Cubs starting pitcher Jameson Taillon delivers against the Marlins on April 19, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune) Cubs center fielder Cody Bellinger runs to first base after a hit against the Marlins on April 19, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)Cubs center fielder Cody ..read more

For the first time polluters could be forced to clean up sites contaminated with a pair of forever chemicals that build up in human blood, cause cancer and other diseases and take years to leave the body. The new policy from President Joe Biden’s administration is the latest attempt to prevent the further spread of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), used for decades by 3M to make firefighting foam and Scotchgard stain repellent, and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), sold to DuPont by 3M to manufacture Teflon coatings for cookware, clothing and wiring. Declaring the chemicals hazardous substanc ..read more

Eight seasons into his major-league career hasn’t dissipated Chicago Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon’s pregame butterflies ahead of his season debut. A back injury interrupted his build-up process and sidelined him the entire spring exhibition schedule, causing him to begin on the injured list until Thursday. Taillon’s return gave the Cubs a boost. “I think that’s a pretty healthy thing,” Taillon said of his nerves, “but I hadn’t felt that in a while.” The pitching staff has played a big role in the Cubs being on the right side of .500 to start the season, even while battling injuries to not ..read more

Federal agents on Friday delivered multiple grand jury subpoenas to Village Hall in Dolton seeking records pursuant to the ongoing corruption investigation involving embattled Mayor Tiffany Henyard, several sources confirmed to the Tribune. The subpoenas, which two sources said do not name Henyard, come just days after Dolton chief administrator Keith Freeman, a close ally of Henyard, was charged with bankruptcy fraud in U.S. District Court as part of a related investigation. A spokesperson for the FBI confirmed in a written statement that agents were “conducting court-authorized law enforceme ..read more

Teenage activists held a rally Friday afternoon demanding urgent action from government officials to slow climate change, calling it a “public health emergency that affects every breath we take and every sip we drink.” Dozens gathered in Pritzker Park in the Loop before marching nearly a half mile to Chase Tower, urging Chase Bank and other financial institutions to divest from the fossil fuel industry. Last year was the warmest on record globally, and the 10 warmest years since 1850 have all occurred in the past decade, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Illinoi ..read more