New Target store will help revive Six Corners, neighbors say
The 44,000-square-foot Target is on the ground floor of the former Sears store. Residents of the Six Corners area near Chicago’s Portage Park are celebrating the grand opening Sunday of a new Target outlet. The retailer at 4728 W. Irving Park Road, one block north of a new Aldi grocery store, is another sign the neighborhood is finally making a comeback after years of stalled development plans. “There’s a lot going on, and everyone is super excited since it’s been a long time coming,” said Amie Zander, managing director of Six Corners Association, a neighborhood group. The 2016 demolition of a historic bank building at the intersection of Cicero and Milwaukee avenues and Irving Park Road left a gaping hole in the once-vibrant business district, and original plans to replace it with 100,000 square feet of retail fell through. The 2018 shutdown of the nearby Sears department store, Chicago’s last, made conditions worse. But in 2021, developer Ryan Cos. began filling the empty space at 4747 W. Irving Park with Clarendale Six Corners, a $130 million, 10-story senior housing building, completing it in 2022. The new Aldi opened in early March just to the south at 3930 N. Kilpatrick Ave. The 44,000-square-foot Target is on the ground floor of the former Sears store, built in 1938, which Novak Construction Co. just finished transforming into 6 Corners Lofts, a 206-unit luxury apartment building. A Starbucks, Ulta Beauty and CVS Pharmacy are also on the ground floor. “I think Target will probably bring in more street activity, but I’m most excited about the Aldi,” said S. Gronkiewicz-Doran of United Northwest Side, a local political organization working to bring more affordable housing to Six Corners. “I think it’s great that people who live in the neighborhood have a place to shop that is affordable.” Zander said she hopes the new outlets will give local entrepreneurs a boost. “It’s great to have big-box stores, but we hope people will also visit our small businesses while they’re here.”.....»»
Sports Illustrated will continue operations after agreement reached with new publisher
Sports Illustrated will continue operations after the company that owns the brand agreed with a new publisher for its print and digital products. Sports Illustrated will continue operations after the company that owns the brand agreed with a new publisher for its print and digital products. Minute Media took over on Monday after reaching a licensing agreement with Authentic Brands Group. On Jan. 19, Authentic announced that it was revoking The Arena Group’s publishing license after Arena failed to make a quarterly payment. Authentic had been in negotiations with Arena, Minute Media and other publishing entities over the past two months. Authentic will acquire an equity stake in Minute Media, which also publishes the online sites The Players’ Tribune, FanSided and 90min. Other terms, including the length of the deal, were not announced. “Sports Illustrated is the gold standard for sports journalism and has been for nearly 70 years across both print and digital media. The weight and power of that distinction cannot be understated. At Minute Media, our focus will be to take that legacy into new, emerging channels, enhancing visibility, commercial viability, and sustainable impact, all while ensuring that the SI team is inspired to flourish in this new era of media,” Minute Media founder and CEO Asaf Peled said in a statement. What this means for the writers and others who produce Sports Illustrated remains to be seen. Minute Media will begin meeting with SI employees over the next couple of weeks as it determines how much of the staff it will retain, according to a person with knowledge of the transition. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly about them. SI co-Editor in Chief Stephen Cannella told employees in a memo to continue operating as if it were business as usual for now. “We have said from the start that our top priorities are to keep Sports Illustrated alive, uphold the legacy of the institution and protect our union jobs. We look forward to discussing a future with Minute Media that does that,” said Emma Baccellieri, an SI staff writer and vice chair of the employee union that the NewsGuild represents. The Arena Group acquired publishing rights from Authentic in 2019 for at least 10 years, but it had many hurdles. In December, it fired chief executive officer Ross Levinsohn when the magazine’s alleged use of AI-generated stories drew public backlash. Sports Illustrated has had a rough six years. It was acquired by Meredith Publishing in 2018 as part of the purchase of Time Inc., which started the magazine in 1954. Less than a year later, Meredith sold the magazine’s intellectual property to Authentic for $110 million. Authentic owns the intellectual property of many brands and stars, including Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali and Reebok. Once a weekly publication, Sports Illustrated was reduced to biweekly publishing in 2018 and became a monthly in 2020. “In Minute Media, we have found a partner that will honor SI’s lauded legacy and exceed fan expectations for the future. As Minute Media shepherds the SI brand across a rapidly evolving media landscape, our priority at Authentic is — and has always been — to protect its journalistic integrity and longevity,” Daniel W. Dienst, Authentic’s executive vice chairman, tactical ops, said in a statement. “Minute Media has successfully proven that they are leading the way in a new era of sports storytelling, and we are excited and optimistic about this partnership and the future of Sports Illustrated as the preeminent lens into sport.” ___ Associated Press Media Writer David Bauder contributed to this report......»»
Vanguard raises eyebrows in search for new CEO
Some Vanguard Group-watchers raised their eyebrows when last month Mortimer “Tim” Buckley announced, at 55, that he’s stepping down immediately as president and will retire as CEO and chair at year end. “Surprise exit raises big questions,” wrote financial news publication Barron’s. Early retirement is normal for executives at Malvern-based Vanguard, which is, after all, […] Some Vanguard Group-watchers raised their eyebrows when last month Mortimer “Tim” Buckley announced, at 55, that he’s stepping down immediately as president and will retire as CEO and chair at year end. “Surprise exit raises big questions,” wrote financial news publication Barron’s. Early retirement is normal for executives at Malvern-based Vanguard, which is, after all, in the retirement-savings business. Founder John Bogle was 59 when he stepped aside as president in favor of Jack Brennan, who later retired at 54. The less-usual move was that the company also declared a “comprehensive process to select a new CEO, evaluating both internal and external candidates.” Vanguard chief investment officer Greg Davis was named president, in the past a stepping-stone to the CEO’s position. But the external search raises the question: Will the company hire an outsider as the fifth CEO in its 49-year history? Why might Vanguard look outside for leaders? “Vanguard is an insular place and a tightly run organization,” said Charles Elson, a corporate-governance scholar who teaches a mergers course at University of Pennsylvania’s law school. Vanguard’s board, led by CEO Buckley, seems designed to nurture consensus rather than chart bold new courses, Elson says. It includes academics and retired senior managers from a range of companies, but no current or former public company CEOs. (By contrast, Vanguard’s competitor BlackRock’s board includes Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg, Cisco chief executive Chuck Robbins, and Estee Lauder CEO Fabrizio Freda, among other top corporate bosses.) ”Their board is self-perpetuating and insulated from challenges. Up until now at least, they haven’t thought they needed a change,” Elson said. “If you are happy with the way things are going, you won’t change. Only if they have a radical cultural problem do you go outside for change agents.” Lauren D’Innocenzo, associate professor of management at Drexel University’s LeBow business school, echoed that sentiment. “An internal candidate has a shorter runway to get up to speed and will have more institutional knowledge, compared to an external candidate,” said D’Innocenzo. It is companies seeking change “in culture, innovation or other areas” that seek outside candidates “as a catalyst.” What should Vanguard consider in outside candidates? Vanguard’s next leader should be “someone who can fix their technology,” said Dan Wiener, a New York asset manager and cofounder of the Independent Adviser for Vanguard Investors newsletter. “They need to fix their tech and service,” concurs the newsletter’s publisher and Wiener’s longtime chief of research, Jeff DeMaso, citing investor complaints. John Marshall, a retired banker in Burlington County who has millions invested with Vanguard, plus his children’s accounts, says he’s been with the company since its early years but is bemused by automation complications. After spending many hours getting the company to resolve “glitches” such as balance-transfer failures and funds that vanished from his accounts summary, Marshall received a letter last month threatening “closure of your Vanguard retail account(s)” if he doesn’t stop calling for help so much. “Poor Mr. Bogle must be spinning in his grave,” Marshall said. Vanguard says internal and outside investor surveys show that it has improved response times and user satisfaction, especially in the last couple of years. “A good part of Vanguard’s business can run on autopilot,” says Barry Ritholtz a New York money manager who hosted Buckley’s first public investor talk after he was tapped for the top job in 2017 and interviewed Davis last fall. But the company has also benefited from a “firm hand” at its top, Ritholtz added. Even after he retired from day-to-day management, Bogle was Vanguard’s most visible salesman, with frequent media appearances extolling Vanguard’s menu of low fees and long-term index-fund investments, encouraging advisers like Ritholtz who recommend Vanguard funds to individual investors and retirement plans. Ritholtz noted that Brennan, Bogle’s handpicked successor, was “a leader of men, who got the trains to run on time.” Bill McNabb, Brennan’s successor and Buckley’s immediate predecessor, was similarly “a guy you follow into battle.” Exiting CEO’s legacy Buckley joined Vanguard out of Harvard Business School in 1991, working three years as founder Bogle’s research assistant. Buckley became Vanguard’s info tech chief after Robert A. DiStefano died in 2001. While Buckley served in that post, Vanguard automated many jobs and canceled plans to add a second Chester County office. He headed the retail investor group division, became chief investment officer in 2013 and succeeded McNabb as chief executive in 2018 and chairman of the board the next year. With Buckley in charge, Vanguard roughly doubled its customer base, to more than 50 million. By 2023 the company had boosted assets under management from $5 trillion to $9 trillion. That included $1.3 billion in net new investments, the rest from market value rising. The company added its first private-equity fund, managed by HarbourVest, a PE manager whose clients also include Pennsylvania state pension funds. Under Buckley, Vanguard continued to grow more rapidly than its rivals, adding assets mostly in the U.S. but also Australia, the U.K., Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Canada and Latin America. The company added low-fee automated “robo-advisory” accounts and “hybrid” human adviser-assisted digital accounts totaling $300 billion, employing more than 1,000 human advisers and reports rising customer satisfaction rates. But Buckley resisted calls to add cryptocurrency ETFs and cut some operations in China and Germany. Buckley’s “unwavering commitment” left Vanguard well positioned for growth, Vanguard’s lead independent board director, Mark Loughridge, retired chief operating officer of engine-builder Cummins Inc., said in a statement. Buckley will stay with Vanguard through 2024. Some say Greg Davis has ‘earned it’ Born in Germany to a U.S. military father and a German mother, Davis studied insurance at Pennsylvania State University, worked three years as a State Farm underwriter, then picked up a Wharton MBA and headed to Wall Street. After a stint on Wall Street, Davis joined Vanguard in 1999 and soon attracted the attention of Buckley, who supported his rise in the leadership. He was assigned to Australia, then to the top bond job at Vanguard in Malvern, where 12,000 of the company’s 20,000 employees are based. He was named chief investment officer in 2017. “He was intelligent, he was determined, he was passionate; he was extremely respectful, he wanted to learn, and he was not afraid to be inquisitive,” said Carmine Urciuoli, one of Davis’ bosses at Citibank’s trading, sales and syndication desk in the late 1990s, who Davis credits with steering him away from trading toward asset management. “I am not surprised they would choose him to take the reins. He earned it.” But, Urciuoli added, there’s still big opportunity for “men and women that want to roll up their sleeves and dig in,” as Davis did......»»
Crafts retailer Joann files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as consumers cut back on pandemic-era hobbies
Joann’s bankruptcy filing arrives amid both a slowdown in discretionary spending overall and during a time consumers are taking a step back from at-home crafts. By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS (AP Business Writer) NEW YORK (AP) — Fabric and crafts retailer Joann has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as consumers continue to cut back on discretionary spending and some pandemic-era hobbies. In a Monday statement, the Hudson, Ohio-based company said that it expected to emerge from bankruptcy as early as the end of next month. Following this process, Joann will likely become privately-owned by certain lenders and industry parties, the company added — meaning its shares would no longer be publicly traded on stock exchanges. Joann’s more than 800 stores and its website will continue to operate normally during the bankruptcy process. Vendors, landlords and other trade creditors should also not see any pay disruptions, the company said, pointing to a deal it had struck with most of its shareholders for financial support. In addition to Monday’s filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Joann said it had received about $132 million in new financing and expected to reduce its balance sheet’s funded debt by about $505 million. Scott Sekella, Joann’s Chief Financial Officer and co-lead of the CEO’s interim office, stated that the transaction support agreement marked a “significant step forward” in addressing the company’s capital structure needs. He added that the retailer remains committed to operating as usual so it can “best serve our millions of customers nationwide.” Joann’s bankruptcy filing arrives amid both a slowdown in discretionary spending overall and during a time consumers are taking a step back from at-home crafts, at least relative to a boom seen at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Crafts, which did extremely well during the pandemic, have fallen back into slight declines as people find other things to do,” Neil Saunders, managing director of research firm GlobalData, told The Associated Press Monday — noting that many are now sacrificing these artsy activites to spend money on experiences outside of the house, such as going out to eat or attending sporting events. This puts pressure on all retailers with skin in the crafts market. But, Saunders added, challenges specific to Joann include the company’s sizeable debt and rising competition. Rivals like Hobby Lobby, for example, offer lower prices while “casual crafters” can now go to stores like Target for ample art supplies and kits, he said — adding that Joann has also let its “specialist type service” slide some with previous staffing cuts. “There is still a place for Joann, but it’s going to take a lot of work to get back into a stable position,” Saunders said. “I think this bankruptcy was always inevitable. And actually, despite the disruption it causes, it’s a very good first step for getting the company back on track.” Joann listed more than $2.44 billion in total debts and about $2.26 billion in total assets in Monday’s Chapter 11 petition, which was filed in Delaware, citing numbers from October 2023. Joann previously went private in 2011 — when it was purchased by Leonard Green & Partners for about $1.6 billion. A decade later Joann, still majority owned by the equity firm, returned to the public market with an initial public offering at $12 a share. The company was born back in 1943, with a single storefront in Cleveland, Ohio, and later grew into a national chain. Formerly known as Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, the company rebranded itself with the shortened “Joann” name for its 75th anniversary......»»
Amazon reports ‘measurable progress’ on worker safety; critics object
Amazon’s safety data shows a decline in its warehouse injury rate in 2023, but critics disagree with how the company measures its worker safety. Amazon’s safety data shows a decline in its warehouse injury rate in 2023, marking an improvement for the second consecutive year, but critics disagree with how the company measures its worker safety. Amazon says the numbers point to a year of “meaningful, measurable progress,” as it continues to bring its injury rate down with investments in new technologies, training and “safety professionals.” But two labor advocacy groups say the company’s numbers don’t tell the full story and still show that workers inside Amazon are at a dangerously high risk of injury. “This is no great cause for celebration — improvement from a horrific injury rate … to a merely horrible injury rate,” said Irene Tung, a senior researcher and policy analyst at the nonprofit National Employment Law Project. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant’s recordable incident rate — a calculation of any work-related injuries that require more than basic first-aid treatment, according to Amazon — improved 8% from 2022 to 2023, based on the company’s annual safety report released last week. In 2023, it reported 4.7 injuries per 200,000 working hours at its global facilities, compared with 5.1 injuries per 200,000 working hours the year prior. That marks a significant decrease from 2019, one of the first years of data Amazon released publicly. That year, Amazon recorded 6.7 injuries per 200,000 working hours globally. That number dropped in 2020 to 5.1 before spiking again to 5.7 in 2021. Looking only at Amazon’s U.S. facilities, the injury rate is higher. In 2019, Amazon recorded 8.7 injuries per 200,000 working hours in the U.S. By 2023, that number dropped to 6.3. Sarah Rhoads, Amazon’s vice president for global workplace health and safety, wrote in a blog post last week that the company knows there is still work to be done. “As we’ve said in past years, we don’t aspire to be around the average — we want to be the best in the industries in which we operate,” Rhoads wrote. “We know that every incident number represents a person, which is why one incident is one too many.” Amazon says it is in line with its industry peers and, in some cases, has a lower injury rate than the average reported from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Amazon puts itself into two categories: the general warehousing and storage industry, and the courier and express delivery services industry. Amazon recorded 6.5 injuries per 200,000 working hours in its warehouse division in 2023, compared with the BLS average of 6.8 for warehouses with more than 1,000 employees, the company said last week. But the advocacy groups that have been tracking Amazon’s injury rate and performing their own analysis say this comparison is misleading. Because Amazon is so large, it skews the average injury rate, they say. “The bottom line is the difference between Amazon and everybody else is still huge,” Tung said. According to a National Employment Law Project analysis of data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Amazon makes up roughly 71% of the category for warehouses with more than 1,000 employees. Taking Amazon out of the calculation, the analysis found, the average injury rate for warehouses with more than 1,000 workers would drop from 6.8 to 3.6. That would put Amazon’s injury rate significantly above the industry average. “Amazon is releasing incomplete, cherry-picked claims about its injury record in order to deflect criticism of its terrible record on worker safety,” said Eric Frumin, the health and safety director at the Strategic Organizing Center, a group of labor unions. “Amazon’s claims about its injury record cannot be trusted, and are based on misleading comparisons designed to bolster the company’s rosy story, rather than improve worker safety.” A spokesperson for Amazon pushed back on the idea that it made up the majority of the industry category. The BLS average is based on survey data, they said, and acts as a good benchmark in the absence of a more conclusive way to compare themselves to other large warehouses. Much of the scrutiny around Amazon’s warehouses has focused on the high rate of musculoskeletal disorders— a type of injury often caused by repetitive motions, including things like sprains, strains and tears. In 2023, Amazon reported that musculoskeletal disorders, or MSDs, accounted for 57% of all recordable injuries at its facilities. That rate was about the same as the year prior, when Amazon reported 55% of injuries were MSDs. The other 43% of injuries last year were from slips, trips, falls or “occasional objects that came loose and fell,” Rhoads wrote in Amazon’s blog post. Amazon’s lost time incident rate — which measures the number of work-related injuries and illnesses that result in time away from work — also improved for the fourth year in a row, according to company data. Worldwide, the lost time incident rate dropped from 4 injuries per 200,000 working hours in 2019 to 1.6 injuries in 2023. In the U.S., the lost time incident rate dropped from a high of 5.1 in 2019 to 1.3 in 2023. Tung and Frumin said this drop could also tell an “incomplete” story, pointing to allegations that Amazon has pushed employees to return to work before they are fully recovered, consequently skewing the injury rate. “They say their numbers are coming down — well, their numbers are unreliable,” Frumin said. Last year, federal safety regulators from OSHA accused Amazon’s in-house medical team of discouraging workers from reporting injuries. When workers did make a report, the medical team pushed them to either return to the floor or take a leave of absence, OSHA alleged. Amazon denied these allegations and appealed the citation. The federal agency also cited Amazon over allegations that it had failed to properly record injuries in a New York warehouse. Amazon has settled that citation, agreeing to pay roughly $4,000, though court documents indicate the settlement does not mean Amazon admits to the allegations. An Amazon spokesperson said that the citation referred to clerical errors with reporting. Amazon now has 1.1 million employees in its global warehouse network and 9,000 “dedicated safety professionals,” Rhoads wrote in the blog post last week. It plans to invest $750 million in safety initiatives this year, adding to the $550 million it committed in 2023. The company conducted 6.3 million inspections and 240 audits globally last year, Rhoads wrote. A spokesperson declined to share if any of those audits or inspections took place in Washington. Federal and state regulators have cited Amazon numerous times in recent years for failing to create safe working conditions in its warehouses. Amazon has appealed most of those citations and is locked in a legal battle with Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries over four citations at three facilities in its hometown. Amazon and L&I are still awaiting a ruling in that trial, which began in July......»»
United Airlines CEO tries to reassure customers that the airline is safe despite recent incidents
The CEO of United Airlines says that a slew of recent incidents ranging from a panel that fell off a plane to another jet losing a wheel on takeoff will cause the airline to review its safety training for employees. By DAVID KOENIG (AP Airlines Writer) The CEO of United Airlines says that a slew of recent incidents ranging from a piece of aluminum skin falling off a plane to another jet losing a wheel on takeoff will cause the airline to review its safety training for employees. CEO Scott Kirby said the airline was already planning an extra day of training for pilots starting in May and changes in training curriculum for newly hired mechanics. In a memo to customers on Monday, Kirby tried to reassure travelers that safety is the airline’s top priority. “Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, our airline has experienced a number of incidents that are reminders of the importance of safety,” he said. “While they are all unrelated, I want you to know that these incidents have our attention and have sharpened our focus.” Kirby said the airline is reviewing each recent incident and will use what it learns to “inform” safety training and procedures. He did not give any details beyond measures that he said were already being planned, such as the extra day of training for pilots. Some of the recent incidents — such as cracks in multi-layer windshields — don’t normally attract much attention but have gained news coverage and clicks on social media because of the sheer number of events affecting one airline in a short period of time. To a degree, United may be a victim of heightened concern about air safety since January when a panel blew off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max at 16,000 feet above Oregon; investigators say bolts securing the panel were missing. “I don’t see a major safety issue at United,” said John Cox, former airline pilot and now a safety consultant. “The media is enhancing the events with extra scrutiny. Anything right now that happens to a United airplane makes the news.” Cox said the incidents “are unfortunate, and they are getting a lot of attention, but I don’t see that they are showing an erosion in the safety of the commercial aviation system.” In the most recent incident at United, on Friday a chunk of the outer aluminum skin fell off the belly of a Boeing 737-800 that was built in 1998. Also last week, a United flight from Dallas to San Francisco suffered a hydraulic leak, and another flight bound for San Francisco returned to Australia two hours after takeoff because of an undescribed “maintenance issue.” Earlier this month, a United flight returned to Houston after an engine caught fire, and a tire fell off a United Boeing 777 during takeoff in San Francisco. United planes have even had mishaps while on the ground. Last month, pilots on one plane reported that rudder pedals used to steer on the runway briefly failed after touchdown in Newark, New Jersey. This month, a jet landing in Houston rolled off an airport taxiway in Houston and got stuck in grass. Workers had to haul out moveable stairs to help passengers exit the plane. There were no injuries in any of the incidents, several of which are under investigation by federal officials. ___ Shelley Adler in Fairfax, Virginia, contributed to this report......»»
‘Art and science:’ How bracketologists are using artificial intelligence this NCAA Tournament
College hoops fans might want to think again before pinning their hopes of a perfect March Madness bracket on artificial intelligence. College hoops fans might want to think again before pinning their hopes of a perfect March Madness bracket on artificial intelligence. While the advancement of artificial intelligence into everyday life has made “AI” one of the buzziest phrases of the past year, its application in bracketology circles is not so new. Even so, the annual bracket contests still provide plenty of surprises for computer science aficionados who’ve spent years honing their models with past NCAA Tournament results. They have found that machine learning alone cannot quite solve the limited data and incalculable human elements of “The Big Dance.” “All these things are art and science. And they’re just as much human psychology as they are statistics,” said Chris Ford, a data analyst who lives in Germany. “You have to actually understand people. And that’s what’s so tricky about it.” Casual fans may spend a few days this week strategically deciding whether to maybe lean on the team with the best mojo — like Sister Jean’s 2018 Loyola squad that made the Final Four — or to perhaps ride the hottest-shooting player — like Steph Curry and his breakout 2008 performance that led Davidson to the Sweet Sixteen. The technologically inclined are chasing goals even more complicated than selecting the winners of all 67 matchups in both the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments. They are fine-tuning mathematical functions in pursuit of the most objective model for predicting success in the upset-riddled tournament. Some are enlisting AI to perfect their codes or to decide which aspects of team resumes they should weigh most heavily. The odds of crafting a perfect bracket are stacked against any competitor, however advanced their tools may be. An “informed fan” making certain assumptions based on previous results — such as a 1-seed beating a 16-seed — has a 1 in 2 billion chance at perfection, according to Ezra Miller, a mathematics and statistical science professor at Duke. “Roughly speaking, it would be like choosing a random person in the Western Hemisphere,” he said. Artificial intelligence is likely very good at determining the probability that a team wins, Miller said. But even with the models, he added that the “random choice of who’s going to win a game that’s evenly matched” is still a random choice. For the 10th straight year, the data science community Kaggle is hosting “Machine Learning Madness.” Traditional bracket competitions are all-or-nothing; participants write one team’s name into each open slot. But “Machine Learning Madness” requires users to submit a percentage reflecting their confidence that a team will advance. Kaggle provides a large data set from past results for people to develop their algorithms. That includes box scores with information on a team’s free-throw percentage, turnovers and assists. Users can then turn that information over to an algorithm to figure out which statistics are most predictive of tournament success. Column: Illinois heads into March Madness with the Big Ten Tournament title, while NU sweats out its bid and Loyola misses out “It’s a fair fight. There’s people who know a lot about basketball and can use what they know,” said Jeff Sonas, a statistical chess analyst who helped found the competition. “It is also possible for someone who doesn’t know a lot about basketball but is good at learning how to use data to make predictions.” Ford, the Purdue fan who watched last year as the shortest Division I men’s team stunned his Boilermakers in the first round, takes it a different direction. Since 2020, Ford has tried to predict which schools will make the 68-team field. In 2021, his most successful year, Ford said the model correctly named 66 of the teams in the men’s bracket. He uses a “fake committee” of eight different machine learning models that makes slightly different considerations based on the same inputs: the strength of schedule for a team and the number of quality wins against tougher opponents, to name a few. Eugene Tulyagijja, a sports analytics major at Syracuse University, said he spent a year’s worth of free time crafting his own model. He said he used a deep neural network to find patterns of success based on statistics like a team’s 3-point efficiency. Related Articles College Sports | Caitlin Clark’s final NCAA Tournament to begin at home. Can she be as prolific as she was last year? College Sports | March Madness: How to watch the NCAA women’s tournament — and what to watch for College Sports | March Madness: How to watch the NCAA men’s tournament — and what to watch for College Sports | Column: Illinois heads into March Madness with the Big Ten Tournament title, while NU sweats out its bid and Loyola misses out College Sports | South Carolina, Iowa, USC and Texas are the top seeds in the women’s NCAA Tournament His model wrongly predicted that the 2023 men’s Final Four would include Arizona, Duke and Texas. But it did correctly include UConn. As he adjusts the model with another year’s worth of information, he acknowledged certain human elements that no computer could ever consider. “Did the players get enough sleep last night? Is that going to affect the player’s performance?” he said. “Personal things going on — we can never adjust to it using data alone.” No method will integrate every relevant factor at play on the court. The necessary balance between modeling and intuition is “the art of sports analytics,” said Tim Chartier, a Davidson bracketology expert. Chartier has studied brackets since 2009, developing a method that largely relies on home/away records, performance in the second half of the season and the strength of schedule. But he said the NCAA Tournament’s historical results provide an unpredictable and small sample size — a challenge for machine learning models, which rely on large sample sizes. Chartier’s goal is never for his students to reach perfection in their brackets; his own model still cannot account for Davidson’s 2008 Cinderella story. In that mystery, Chartier finds a useful reminder from March Madness: “The beauty of sports, and the beauty of life itself, is the randomness that we can’t predict.” “We can’t even predict 63 games of a basketball tournament where we had 5,000 games that led up to it,” he tells his classes. “So be forgiving to yourself when you don’t make correct predictions on stages of life that are much more complicated than a 40-minute basketball game.” —- James Pollard is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues......»»
Condo Adviser: Corporate Transparency Act imposes reporting requirements on community associations
Clarity regarding the fate of the act is expected in the coming months. Q. I am on the board of directors of a condominium association. We are aware of last year’s federal government legislation called the Corporate Transparency Act, which imposes reporting requirements on corporate entities by Jan. 1, 2025, and was so broadly written that it unfortunately included condominium and community associations as well as co-ops. However, I recently read that a legal challenge to the act has resulted in it being held unconstitutional. Can you explain what is happening with the Corporate Transparency Act? A. A recent federal court ruling has cast doubt over the future of the Corporate Transparency Act. The case, captioned National Small Business United, d/b/a National Small Business Association, et al. v. Janet Yellen, et al., Case No. 5:22-cv-01448-LCB (N.D. Ala.), was filed by the National Small Business Association, on behalf of its members. In the 53-page decision, a U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Alabama ruled that the act exceeds Congress’s authority and is thus unconstitutional. The ruling is significant but does not spell the end of the Corporate Transparency Act altogether, at least not yet. First, the ruling is of limited applicability in that it only suspends enforcement of the act against the plaintiff in the case; it does not apply broadly to entities that were not a party to the case. Second, it appears likely that the ruling will be appealed and that additional challenges to the act will be filed. Third, it is possible that the Corporate Transparency Act will be amended by Congress to address the issues raised by the recent ruling. Clarity regarding the fate of the act, including the need for condominium and community associations and co-ops to comply with its reporting requirements, is expected in the coming months ahead of the Jan. 1, 2025, reporting deadline. For now, the Corporate Transparency Act and its reporting requirements remain in effect (except for the plaintiff in the aforementioned case). As such, condominium, community association and co-op boards should (i) be aware of this development in the law; and (ii) barring any changes, continue to work with their accounting, management and legal professionals to prepare for the reporting deadline. Q. I am a unit owner in a large condominium association. Our board holds executive sessions approximately every two weeks. What is a condominium board legally allowed to discuss in closed session board meetings and what type of minutes, if any, is the board required to keep? A. On July 15, 2016, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a bill that became Public Act 99-0567. The new law amended the Condominium Property and the Illinois Common Interest Community Association Act to allow board members of both condominium associations and common interest community associations to meet and discuss certain association business outside of open board meetings (i.e., closed session board meetings). The amendment to the two statutes, which became effective on Jan. 1, 2017, greatly enhanced the ability of boards to work effectively and efficiently outside of the confines of a board meeting open to the unit owners. Board members may discuss the following topics in a closed session board meeting: (i) pending or probable litigation; (ii) third party contracts or information regarding appointment, employment, engagement or dismissal of any employee, independent contractor, agent or any other provider of goods and services; (iii) to interview any potential employee, independent contractor, agent or any other provider of goods and services; (iv) violations of rules and regulations of the association; (v) discussion of any association members’ unpaid share of common expenses; or (vi) consultation with the association’s legal counsel. Per subsequent case law, Boucher v. 111 E. Chestnut Condominium Association, among several holdings, the Illinois Appellate Court held that condominium boards must keep minutes of closed session meetings including who was present and the legal basis/reason that allowed for the closed session board meeting. The discussions that occur in closed session are not required (or recommended) to be described in the closed session minutes. Got a question for the Condo Adviser? Email ctc-realestate@chicagotribune.com......»»
Former Chicago Bears quarterback Andy Dalton sells Lake Bluff home for $3.2M
Dalton and his wife purchased the home in May 2021. Former Chicago Bears quarterback Andy Dalton and his wife, Jordan, on Thursday sold their six-bedroom, 5,347-square-foot Nantucket-style house in Lake Bluff for $3.2 million. Now a quarterback for the Carolina Panthers, Dalton, 36, played for the Bears in 2021, and was the team’s starting quarterback for that season’s first two contests before suffering a knee injury and becoming the backup play caller to Justin Fields. Through a limited liability company, Dalton and his wife paid $2.47 million in May 2021 for the Lake Bluff home. Built in 2005, the house has 6-1/2 bathrooms, four fireplaces, high ceilings, wide-plank white oak floors, a living room with a custom-built bar, a first-floor study with a coffered ceiling, a family room with a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace, and an updated kitchen with white quartzite countertops, white custom cabinets and an island. Other features include a lower level with a game room, an exercise room, an additional bedroom and a rec room with luxury vinyl flooring and a gas fireplace. The home’s primary bedroom suite has an outdoor deck and a marble bathroom with a large shower and a separate soaking tub. The house has a three-car garage, a fire pit area, a fenced back yard and several paver patios. The Daltons first listed the house Feb. 6 for $3.25 million. It went under contract to sell just four days later, and the sale closed Thursday. Records show that the buyer is an opaque land trust whose beneficiary could not immediately be determined by Elite Street. Listing agent Alissa McNicholas of Compass declined to comment on the sellers or even confirm their identities. However, she praised the home’s features, including its updates “It’s one of my favorite homes I’ve ever sold — there’s so much about it, including its location, the lot size and the floor plan,” she said. “They did so much to it, and they made it such a wonderful house. It’s such a great home, and it obviously sold quickly because of all that.” The house had a $48,582 property tax bill in the 2022 tax year. Goldsborough is a freelance reporter......»»
TikTok creators warn of economic impact if app sees ban, call it a vital space for the marginalized
TikTok creators across the country are expressing frustration over a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that could lead to a nationwide ban of the app. Alex Pearlman shut the door on dreams of a standup comedy career almost a decade ago, pivoting from the stage to an office cubicle where he worked a customer service job. Then he started posting random jokes and commentary about pop culture and politics on TikTok. Just over 2.5 million followers later, he quit his nine-to-five and recently booked his first nationwide tour. Pearlman is among the many TikTok creators across the U.S. outraged over a bipartisan bill passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday that would lead to a nationwide ban of the popular video app if its China-based owner, ByteDance, doesn’t sell its stake. The bill still needs to go through the Senate, where its prospects are unclear. Content creators say a ban would hurt countless people and businesses that rely on TikTok for a significant portion of their income, while also arguing TikTok has become an unrivaled platform for dialogue and community. Pearlman, who lives outside Philadelphia, said TikTok has transformed his life, allowing him to live a dream, provide for his family and spend the first three months of his newborn son’s life at home. His customer service job only offered paternity leave equivalent to three weeks off, with two weeks paid. “I don’t take a day for granted on this app, because it’s been so shocking,” said Pearlman, 39. “In reality, TikTok has been the driver of American social media for the last four years. Something will step into that place if TikTok vanishes tomorrow. Whether or not that will be better or worse, Congress has no way of knowing.” TikTok, which launched in 2016, has skyrocketed in popularity, growing faster than Instagram, YouTube or Facebook. The push to remove the app from Chinese authority follows concerns from lawmakers, law enforcement and intelligence officials about the insecurity of user data, potential suppression of content unfavorable to the Chinese government and the possibility that the platform could boost pro-Beijing propaganda, all of which TikTok denies. To date, the U.S. government hasn’t provided any evidence showing TikTok shared U.S. user data with Chinese authorities. The move comes as the pandemic saw huge growth in digital marketing as people were stuck at home consuming — and creating — content at levels not seen before. Jensen Savannah, a 29-year-old from Charlotte, began making TikToks of her travels around the Carolinas during the pandemic. Now a full-time influencer, she has tripled her income since leaving her telecommunications sales job. “’Social media Influencer’ is almost to be looked at as the new print and the new form of radio and TV advertising,” she said. “It’s going to bring your dollar much farther than it is in traditional marketing.” Some creators describe it as a digital equalizer of sorts, providing a platform for people of color and other marginalized groups to get opportunities and exposure. “I’ve always had Twitter, I’ve had Facebook, I’ve had Instagram. But TikTok was the first one where, if you want to find somebody who looks like yourself and represents you in any type of way, you can find it,” said Joshua Dairen, a Black, 30-year-old content creator in Auburn, Alabama. Dairen makes videos about his state’s ghost stories, urban legends and history. Growing up, he loved researching everything paranormal, but he didn’t see a lot of Black representation in the field. Exposure on TikTok has led to jobs writing freelance pieces and contributing to documentaries about paranormal occurrences and unsolved mysteries. The app also gave Dairen the flexibility and confidence to open his own coffee shop, where he gets visits at least once a day from fans of his work. He thinks banning TikTok sets “a dangerous precedent about how much power our highest levels of government can wield.” Others say the app is both a financial and social safety net. Chris Bautista, a food truck owner in Los Angeles catering to television and movie sets, started using TikTok during the pandemic to connect with members of the LGBTQ+ community and show support for those who might be having a hard time. Bautista, 37, grew up in a conservative Christian community outside LA and didn’t come out until his late 20s. As a young person, he struggled with his mental health and considered suicide. He wanted to create a platform he could have used as a teenager, one showing that someone like him could go to that dark place and come out the other side a “well-adjusted, confident person.” “I just find the corners of TikTok that I find myself in to be so wildly important and profound,” according to Bautista, who said it would be “heartbreaking” if the app was banned. Bautista didn’t start posting with the intention of monetizing the experience, but money from projects tied to the app came at the right time: If it wasn’t for the extra income he earned through TikTok during the pandemic and then the Hollywood strikes last year, his business would have shut down. Almost since its inception, concerns have been raised about the addictive nature of the app, especially for young audiences whose minds are still developing. Marcus Bridgewater, a former private school teacher and administrator who owns his own business and posts TikTok gardening videos, wants Congress to be focused on those issues, and not whether the app is Chinese-owned. “Social media is a powerful tool,” said Bridgewater, who lives in Spring, Texas. “And powerful tools are just that: They are capable of helping us transcend ourselves, but in their transcendence, they’re also capable of completely severing us from those we love.” Pearlman said he has long feared politicians would come after TikTok. He compared the experience of finding out about the House vote to finally getting the call that an ailing loved one has died. “The part that’s disturbing to me is, I feel like for a lot of Americans, TikTok and social media in general is a release valve — it’s kind of become a default complaint box,” he said. “So to many people, it feels like they’re trying to ban the complaint box instead of dealing with the complaint.”.....»»
Terry Savage: The dangers of debt
Let’s stop ignoring $1.3 trillion in credit card debt owed by millions of Americans Let’s stop ignoring $1.3 trillion in credit card debt owed by millions of Americans. Perhaps including by you. Even if you stop buying, balances grow like a cancer, because the average annual interest rate on credit cards is 20.75%, according to Bankrate (many cards now charge 29% or higher). In most states, credit card rates are not subject to usury laws that set caps on consumer borrowing rates. Depending on your card issuer, if you pay only the minimum monthly balance you could be paying for 10 years or more, with interest totaling double the amount you originally charged! So, what can — and should — you do? You’ll read and hear a lot of advice for getting out of credit card debt. Unfortunately, some of the popular recommendations will only make your debt problem worse. Below I list some of the more popular strategies, and I’ve graded them ranging from A to F. —Borrow from your 401(k) plan: Grade F Don’t do that! If you think it’s tough to be in debt now, it will be even more painful to be poor in your old age! You won’t earn money on your plan investments while the money is borrowed out of the plan — if your employer even allows loans in the first place. Even worse, if you quit or lose your job with a loan outstanding, it will be considered a withdrawal, subject to taxes and penalties. —Payday loans: Grade F These loans are the quicksand of financial debt. They carry exorbitant interest rates, trapping you in a cycle of growing balances. —Credit card consolidation offers: Grade D If you’re paying the minimums, your credit remains in reasonably good standing, although you’re in a state of panic. But most of these fix-it programs require you to stop paying on your card debt and to set aside the money you would have paid so the fixers can negotiate a “deal” with the card issuer or debt collector. This process ruins your credit, and with some debts, a lender can file a lien against your home or attach your wages. —Personal loans: Grade C There are many online lenders like SoFi and Upstart that offer to give you a personal loan with an interest rate far lower than the ones on your credit cards. But there are fees as well as interest charges on these loans, and they may require a certain credit score. Even worse, some have balloon payments in a few years, requiring you to pay off the balance in full. Compare several lenders at Credible.com. —Home equity loan or line of credit: Grade C Now you’ve put your home on the line, because the interest on these loans is so much lower than on your credit card. Beware. You may be making affordable, lower monthly payments because you’re paying only the interest! And at the end of five years, there could be a “balloon” payment due. —Balance transfer cards: Grade B Here’s your chance, likely your one chance to really make a dent in your debt — if you handle the process wisely. Search for a balance transfer card at CreditCards.com or Bankrate.com. You’ll find one that offers as much as 21 months of zero interest on the balance. Of course, there are fees that go along with this service, and they are rolled into the balance. Make sure you use that interest-free period to pay down your balance, or you’ll be trapped. The zero rate jumps to 30% or more at the end of the grace period, leaving you in a deeper hole. —Double the minimum strategy: Grade A If you make double the current minimum payment due, and pay the same amount every month (not double the new minimum), without charging another penny, you’ll pay off that balance in less than three years! There is one critical caveat to all of these strategies: When your current credit card balance is paid off, there’s a temptation to keep that card — just for “emergencies.” You should immediately close the now paid-off card. Yes, it may ding your score if it is a long-held card. But it’s best not to leave temptation in your wallet. And if you’re totally overwhelmed with debt of all kinds, contact the one trusted source of help — the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Call 800-388-2227. It will connect you to the nearest member agency. Fees are minimal and their advice is priceless. The debt law of holes is, “When you’re in a deep hole, stop digging!” And that’s The Savage Truth. (Terry Savage is a registered investment adviser and the author of four best-selling books, including “The Savage Truth on Money.” Terry responds to questions on her blog at TerrySavage.com.).....»»
Older Boeing plane found to have missing panel after flight from California to southern Oregon
Airport officials say a Boeing 737-800 was found to have a missing panel after a United Airlines flight arrived at its destination in southern Oregon. By CLAIRE RUSH and LISA BAUMANN (Associated Press) PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A post-flight inspection revealed a missing panel on an older Boeing 737-800 that had just arrived at its destination in southern Oregon on Friday after flying from San Francisco, officials said, the latest in a series of recent incidents involving aircraft manufactured by the company. United Flight 433 left San Francisco at 10:20 a.m. and landed at Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport in Medford shortly before noon, according to FlightAware. The airport’s director, Amber Judd, said the plane landed safely without incident and the external panel was discovered missing during a post-flight inspection. No injuries were reported. The airport paused operations to check the runway and airfield for debris, Judd said, and none was found. Judd said she believed the United ground crew or pilots doing a routine inspection before the next flight were the ones who noticed the missing panel. A United Airlines spokesperson said via email that the flight was carrying 139 passengers and six crew members, and no emergency was declared because there was no indication of the damage during the flight. “After the aircraft was parked at the gate, it was discovered to be missing an external panel,” the United spokesperson said. “We’ll conduct a thorough examination of the plane and perform all the needed repairs before it returns to service. We’ll also conduct an investigation to better understand how this damage occurred.” The Federal Aviation Administration also said it would investigate. The missing panel was on the underside of the aircraft where the wing meets the body and just next to the landing gear, United said. The plane made its first flight in April 1998 and was delivered to Continental Airlines in December of that year, according to the FAA. United Airlines has operated it since Nov. 30, 2011. It is a 737-824, part of the 737-800 series that was a precursor to the Max. Boeing said, also via email, that it would defer comment to United about the carrier’s fleet and operations. In January a panel that plugged a space left for an extra emergency door blew off a Boeing Max 9 jet in midair just minutes after an Alaska Airlines flight took off from Portland, leaving a gaping hole and forcing pilots to make an emergency landing. There were no serious injuries. The door plug was eventually found in the backyard of a high school physics teacher in southwest Portland, along with other debris from the flight scattered nearby. The Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation. On March 6, fumes detected in the cabin of a Boeing 737-800 Alaska Airlines flight destined for Phoenix caused pilots to head back to the Portland airport. The Port of Portland said passengers and crew noticed the fumes and the flight landed safely. Seven people including passengers and crew requested medical evaluations, but no one was hospitalized, officials said. ___ Baumann reported from Bellingham, Washington......»»
Boeing plane found to have missing panel after flight from California to southern Oregon
Airport officials say a Boeing 737-800 was found to have a missing panel after a United Airlines flight arrived at its destination in southern Oregon. PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A post-flight inspection revealed a missing panel on a Boeing 737-800 that had just arrived at its destination in southern Oregon on Friday after flying from San Francisco, officials said, the latest in a series of recent incidents involving aircraft manufactured by the company. United Flight 433 left San Francisco at 10:20 a.m. and landed at Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport in Medford shortly before noon, according to FlightAware. The airport’s director, Amber Judd, said the plane landed safely without incident and the external panel was discovered missing during a post-flight inspection. The airport paused operations to check the runway and airfield for debris, Judd said, and none was found. Judd said she believed the United ground crew or pilots doing routine inspection before the next flight were the ones who noticed the missing panel. A United Airlines spokesperson said via email that the flight was carrying 139 passengers and six crew members, and no emergency was declared because there was no indication of the damage during the flight. “After the aircraft was parked at the gate, it was discovered to be missing an external panel,” the United spokesperson said. “We’ll conduct a thorough examination of the plane and perform all the needed repairs before it returns to service. We’ll also conduct an investigation to better understand how this damage occurred.” The missing panel was on the underside of the aircraft where the wing meets the body and just next to the landing gear, United said. Boeing said, also via email, that it would defer comment to United about the carrier’s fleet and operations. Its message included a link to information about the airplane that was involved, and it was said to be more than 25 years old. In January a panel that plugged a space left for an extra emergency door blew off a Max 9 jet in midair just minutes after an Alaska Airlines flight took off from Portland, leaving a gaping hole and forcing pilots to make an emergency landing. There were no serious injuries. The door plug was eventually found in the backyard of a high school physics teacher in southwest Portland, along with other debris from the flight scattered nearby. The Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation. On March 6, fumes detected in the cabin of a Boeing 737-800 Alaska Airlines flight destined for Phoenix caused pilots to head back to the Portland airport. The Port of Portland said passengers and crew noticed the fumes and the flight landed safely. Seven people including passengers and crew requested medical evaluations, but no one was hospitalized, officials said......»»
Realtors group to pay $418 million to settle litigation over broker commission fees
The settlement comes after a landmark $1.8 billion verdict in October finding the National Association of Realtors and several large real estate brokerages conspired to artificially inflate commissions on home sales. The Chicago-based National Association of Realtors will pay $418 million as a part of a settlement agreement to resolve litigation against the organization and its members brought on behalf of home sellers related to broker commissions. The settlement comes after a Missouri federal jury issued a landmark $1.8 billion verdict in October of last year, finding the National Association of Realtors and several large real estate brokerages conspired to artificially inflate commissions on home sales. The association had said it was appealing the verdict, while a similar case was expected to go on trial this year in Illinois federal court. “NAR has worked hard for years to resolve this litigation in a manner that benefits our members and American consumers,” said Nykia Wright, interim CEO of NAR, in a Friday news release announcing the settlement. “It has always been our goal to preserve consumer choice and protect our members to the greatest extent possible. This settlement achieves both of those goals.” The settlement is subject to court approval and will fundamentally change how homes are bought and sold by removing the assumption that buyers and sellers agents will split a 6% commission on home sales, which had been standard practice in the industry. NAR has also agreed to create a new multiple listing service rule, which “prohibits offers of broker compensation on the MLS.” Real estate professionals can still discuss broker compensation with their clients off of the MLS. Additionally, NAR will require MLS participants working with buyers to enter into written agreements with buyers. These agreements dictate how real estate professionals will be paid and are already in use in Illinois. Wright said continuing to litigate would “have hurt members and their small businesses.” “While there could be no perfect outcome, this agreement is the best outcome we could achieve in the circumstances. It provides a path forward for our industry,” Wright said in the news release. Real estate firms RE/MAX and Anywhere Real Estate (formerly known as Realogy Holdings Corp.) already agreed to settle both the Missouri and Illinois cases. Anywhere agreed to pay $83.5 million, and RE/MAX agreed to pay $55 million. The litigation has contributed to turmoil at NAR, which has recently undergone a series of leadership changes. Over the past several months, NAR has seen two presidents and a CEO resign following allegations of sexual harassment against its former president Kenny Parcell. “NAR is focused firmly on the future and on leading this industry forward,” said Kevin Sears, NAR’s president, in the news release. “This will be a time of adjustment, but the fundamentals will remain: buyers and sellers will continue to have many choices when deciding to buy or sell a home, and NAR members will continue to use their skill, care, and diligence to protect the interests of their clients.”.....»»
Wheaton’s highest-priced mansion is listed for $3.6M, and the seller will accept full payment in cryptocurrency
Sellers are offering to receive full payment for the house in cryptocurrency. A six-bedroom, 11,528-square-foot French Provincial-style mansion in Wheaton was listed on March 7 for $3.59 million, and its owners are capitalizing on the recent runup in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin by offering to receive full payment for the house in cryptocurrency. In recent weeks, the prices of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have hit all-time highs, driven at least in part by the SEC’s January approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and the subsequent rollout of a raft of Bitcoin ETFs. Owners Joe and Laurie Meissner are willing to accept Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency for their Wheaton mansion. Listing agent Michael LaFido of eXp Realty said that to his knowledge, this is one of the few homes not listed on either of the two coasts where a seller is willing to accept cryptocurrencies as a payment. “As someone who worked in the professional trading community for over 25 years, I have seen the rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies and their usefulness in financial transactions,” Meissner said in a statement. “My experience with these transactions has made me comfortable with accepting this form of payment for our home.” Built in 2008, the mansion has a 6-1/2 bathrooms, two custom-designed French limestone fireplaces on the first floor, an arched mahogany front door, a front terrace with travertine flooring and limestone-capped piers, cupolas, finials, wrought iron accents, vaulted and traded ceilings, knotty dark walnut-stained plank flooring on the first floor, ancient encaustic tiles and a kitchen with high-end appliances and granite countertops. Other features include custom Romar cabinetry, a dining room with Schonbeck crystal chandeliers, a music room and a finished lower level with a kitchen, an exercise room, a drum room, an office and a family room. Outside on the 0.61-acre property are an attached and oversized two-car garage with radiant heated flooring, a detached two-car garage, a patio with a gas fire pit and a DCS grill, an outdoor sunroom with heated lamps and travertine flooring and an in-ground sprinkler system. The Meissners paid $434,000 in 2005 for a previous house on the property and then razed that house and built the stucco and stone mansion. The mansion had a $35,068 property tax bill in the 2022 tax year. The mansion is Wheaton’s highest-priced listing, and its asking price is more than $500,000 higher than the amount for which any existing Wheaton home ever has changed hands. LaFido noted that he believes that accepting cryptocurrencies in payment will allow “a pool of potential buyers who have benefited from the rise in value of cryptocurrencies to use those assets to purchase a luxury home.” Goldsborough is a freelance reporter. Elite street: Join our Chicago Dream Homes Facebook group for more luxury listings and real estate news......»»
Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says he’s putting together investor group to buy TikTok
Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he’s going to put together an investor group to buy TikTok. Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that he will put together an investor group to buy TikTok after the House passed a bill that would ban the popular video app in the U.S. if its China-based owner does not sell its stake. During an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Mnuchin, who served under President Donald Trump, said he had spoken “to a bunch of people” about creating an investor group that would purchase the popular social media company. He offered no details about who may be in the group or about TikTok’s possible valuation. “This should be owned by U.S. businesses,” Mnuchin said. “There’s no way that the Chinese would ever let a U.S. company own something like this in China.” TikTok did not respond to a request for comment. The House bill, passed by a vote of 352-65, now goes to the Senate, where its prospects are unclear. Lawmakers in the Senate have indicated that the measure will undergo a thorough review. If it passes in the Senate, President Joe Biden has said he will sign it. House lawmakers acted on concern that TikTok’s current ownership structure is a national security threat. Lawmakers from both parties and administration officials have voiced concerns that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, could be compelled by Chinese authorities to hand over data on American users, spread pro-Beijing propaganda or suppress topics unfavorable to the Chinese government. TikTok, for its part, has long denied that it could be used as a tool of Chinese authorities. The company insists it has never shared U.S. user data with the Chinese government and will not do so if asked. To date, the U.S. government also has not provided evidence that shows TikTok shared such information with authorities in China. Asked whether the Mnuchin consortium could assuage national security concerns about TikTok, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the administration was focused on providing “context and information” to the Senate. The fight over the platform takes place as U.S.-China relations have shifted into strategic rivalry, especially in areas such as advanced technology and data security, seen as essential to each country’s economic prowess and national security. If passed and signed into law, the House bill would give ByteDance 180 days to sell the platform to a buyer that satisfies the U.S. government. It would also bar ByteDance from controlling TikTok’s algorithm, which feeds users videos based off their preferences. In addition to Mnuchin, some other investors, including “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary, have voiced interest in buying TikTok’s U.S. business. But experts have said it could be challenging for ByteDance to sell the platform to a buyer who could afford it in a few months. Big tech companies are best positioned to make such a purchase, but they would likely face intense scrutiny from antitrust regulators, which Mnuchin emphasized. “I don’t think this should be controlled by any of the big U.S. tech companies. I think there could be antitrust issues on that,” he said during the interview. “This should be something that’s independent so we have a real competitor. And users love it, so it shouldn’t be shut down.” He also said the app would need to be rebuilt in the U.S. with new technology. In many ways, social media companies have become battlegrounds for partisan disagreements about how to control disinformation while protecting free speech. Mnuchin’s effort to buy TikTok comes as Trump and his allies have long complained about what they see as social media muzzling conservative voices. Trump himself has voiced opposition to the House bill, saying that a ban on TikTok would help its rival, Facebook, which he continues to lambast over his 2020 election loss. Some other Republicans who oppose the bill say the U.S. should simply tell Americans about the security concerns with TikTok, but let them decide if they want to use the platform. Meanwhile, some Democrats have expressed concern about singling out one company when other social media platforms also collect vast amounts of data on users. Opponents of the bill also say it would disrupt the lives of content creators who rely on the platform for income and run afoul of the First Amendment, which protects free speech. This isn’t the first time a TikTok sale has been in play. When Mnuchin was Treasury secretary, the Trump administration brokered a deal in 2020 that would have had U.S. corporations Oracle and Walmart take a large stake in TikTok on national security grounds. The deal would have also made Oracle responsible for hosting all TikTok’s U.S. user data and securing computer systems to ensure national security requirements are satisfied. Microsoft also made a failed bid for TikTok that its CEO, Satya Nadella, later described as the “strangest thing” he had ever worked on. Instead of congressional action, the 2020 arrangement was in response to a series of executive actions by Trump targeting TikTok. But the sale never went through for a number of reasons. Trump’s executive orders got held up in court as the 2020 presidential election loomed. China also imposed stricter export controls on its technology providers. Associated Press journalists Matt O’Brien, Aamer Madhani and Ali Swenson contributed to this report......»»
Chicago Boat Show setting sail for Rosemont in 2025
The show is relocating after nearly a century in Chicago, in part to be closer to its target recreational boat-buying customer, organizers said. The Chicago Boat Show, long a winter attraction at McCormick Place, is leaving the city and setting sail for the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont next year. The annual show, which has seen dwindling attendance in recent years, is relocating to the northwest suburbs after nearly a century in Chicago, in part to be closer to its target recreational boat-buying customer, organizers said. “We met with our exhibitors and the decision was made that we need to go out to the suburbs,” said Darren Envall, manager of the Chicago Boat Show. “It is closer to where people are doing boating in the Fox Lake area as well as Lake Geneva, and it is closer to where the dealers are located.” The show, which dates back nearly a century, has throughout its history been a Chicago event of national importance on the boating industry calendar. Owned and operated by the National Marine Manufacturers Association, the show was a mainstay at McCormick Place for decades, and before that at the since-demolished International Amphitheatre. The show has gone through several incarnations, reaching its pinnacle in the 1990s as the Chicago Boat, Sports & RV Show, which regularly attracted more than 50,000 visitors each year. While attendance had declined in recent years, it still drew about 40,000 visitors annually before temporarily shutting down in 2021 and 2022 during the pandemic. The most recent five-day show in January, hampered by a heavy snowstorm, drew fewer than 20,000 attendees, Envall said. A loss for McCormick Place, a win for Rosemont, the migration of the boat show represents something of a zero-sum game for the Chicago-area convention business, which has been recovering in the post-pandemic landscape. “Big exciting news,” said Christopher Stephens, executive director of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. While there had been discussion in the past about luring the boat show to Rosemont, Stephens said things got “more serious” this year, helping the northwest suburb land a major regional event. Stephens said the Rosemont convention center offered the boat show and its attendees adjacent hotels, entertainment and a 9,000-space parking facility, all of which helped seal the deal. Down the road, the show could expand to the entire 840,000 square feet of exhibition space, as needed. He also touted safety as an advantage for Rosemont over Chicago, which has struggled with the perception of increased crime in the wake of the pandemic. “We always want to make sure when people come here that they feel safe,” Stephens said. “We provide as much policing and traffic controls as possible for attendees.” While corporate meetings are still down, Stephens said conventions and large public events have returned to pre-pandemic levels in Rosemont, with the 2025 calendar now significantly bolstered by the addition of the boat show. At the same time, he said Rosemont doesn’t try to “poach business” from Chicago. “We’ve always thought that a strong McCormick Place was good for Rosemont,” Stephens said. “We’ll obviously never turn down an event, if they want to relocate out to Rosemont and we can accommodate them, but we don’t actively solicit.” For McCormick Place, it’s been win some, lose some in March. Earlier this month, Microsoft announced it was returning its Ignite information technology conference to McCormick Place in November after a nine-year absence. The inaugural event in 2015 drew 20,000 attendees to Chicago’s convention center. “The sales cycle can be very dynamic in the convention industry,” said Cynthia McCafferty, a McCormick Place spokesperson. “Microsoft Ignite was a great addition to our calendar this year, we have a very robust pipeline of new business ahead and feel good about the future.” The loss of the boat show is both symbolic and substantial for McCormick Place, erasing a solid and historically well-attended event from the January calendar in 2025, and likely beyond. The Chicago Boat Show was often the first big public event of the year, setting the table for the annual Chicago Auto Show and filling the exhibition halls with visitors dreaming of summer during the coldest winter months. In 2025, the Chicago Boat Show will keep the city’s name, at least for now, as it migrates to the suburbs for a scheduled Jan. 8-12 run. The new version of the show will focus more on fishing boats and weekend warriors who hitch up a trailer and head for the Chain O’Lakes to drop a line, as opposed to plying Lake Michigan in larger crafts. Envall said that represents about 85% of the boaters in the Chicago area, most of whom reside in the suburbs. Despite its long history in Chicago, Envall said he expects Rosemont to be the event’s home for years to come. “There’s a time to change and the change was to get out to the village of Rosemont where more of the recreational boater is reflected in the market,” Enval said. rchannick@chicagotribune.com.....»»
Lurie reactivating MyChart after cyberattack
Lurie took its phone, email and electronic medical record systems offline Jan. 31 after a cyberattack. Lurie Children’s Hospital has started to reactivate its MyChart online patient portal, more than a month after falling victim to a cyberattack. Lurie plans to bring back MyChart over the coming days, the health system said in a statement. Patients will soon be able to use MyChart again for online scheduling, e-check-in, to send messages to providers, to request medication refills and to pay bills, Lurie said. Lurie warned that patients may experience some disruptions when using MyChart because of “anticipated high volume of MyChart activity.” Lurie is also working to update MyChart with information collected over the last month-and-a-half while MyChart was down. “We do not have an estimate when this work will be complete, and we will provide updates as this process progresses,” Lurie said. “We thank our patient-families for their continued patience.” Lurie said early last week that it had restored many of its other systems but had not yet brought back MyChart. Lurie took its phone, email and electronic medical record systems offline Jan. 31, after the cyberattack, following “protocols for cybersecurity matters,” Lurie said in a previous statement. The health system’s hospital, outpatient centers and primary care offices were affected, making it more difficult for patients to reach providers, and leaving doctors taking notes with pen and paper during patient visits, as they did decades ago. Lurie opened a call center after the cyberattack, and the FBI previously confirmed to the Tribune that it was assisting with an investigation into the incident. Hospital officials said last month that their network had been accessed by “a known criminal threat actor.” The officials later pointed to claims by Rhysida, an overseas ransomware operation, related to the cyberattack. In recent days, it’s been reported that Rhysida has claimed to have sold data it stole from Lurie. “We are aware that individuals claiming to be Rhysida, a known threat actor, claim to have sold data they allege was taken from Lurie Children’s,” said Lurie spokesperson Julianne Bardele, in a statement earlier this week. “We continue to work closely with internal and external experts as well as law enforcement, and are actively investigating the claims. The investigation is ongoing, and we will share updates as appropriate.” In August, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a warning about Rhysida, saying the group attacks institutions, demands a ransom paid in Bitcoin and threatens to publicly distribute stolen information if the ransom isn’t paid. Lurie sees more than 239,000 patients each year......»»
Jury hits UChicago Medicine with $14 million verdict after boy’s death
The wrongful death lawsuit accused the hospital of medical negligence leading up the boy's birth, resulting in brain injury and his subsequent death. University of Chicago Medical Center must pay $14 million to the estate of a boy who died several years after he was born with severe brain damage at the hospital, a Cook County jury decided. The jury reached the verdict March 8 after a three-week-long trial in Cook County Circuit Court, according to attorneys for the boy’s estate. The jury awarded the estate of Oluwasemilore Praise Oyedapo about $14 million due to the loss of a normal life, disfigurement from his injury and for grief, sorrow and mental suffering, among other things. A spokesperson for UChicago Medicine declined to comment on the verdict. The wrongful death lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Oyedapo estate in late 2020, accused the hospital of medical negligence leading up to his birth, resulting in brain injury and his subsequent death. His mother, Omotola Oyedapo, was 33 weeks pregnant in July 2016 when an ambulance brought her to the hospital, with complaints of weakness and severe abdominal pain, according to the lawsuit. She was also experiencing low blood pressure, the lawsuit contended. She was taken to the emergency department and seen by nurses. Yet there was no written record of any doctor assessing her in the emergency department, nor of any call by emergency department staff to have her evaluated by labor and delivery personnel, according to the lawsuit. About 50 minutes after she arrived at the hospital, Omotola Oyedapo was taken to the labor and delivery department. It was determined that the baby had a slow heart rate, and Omotola Oyedapo was “taken immediately from triage to the OR for emergent cesarean section,” according to an operative report quoted in the lawsuit. Her son was born, and it was confirmed that she had suffered placental abruption, which is when the placenta separates from the uterus before delivery, according to the lawsuit. Medical personnel performed chest compressions on the baby, and intubated him within two minutes of his delivery, according to the lawsuit. It was determined, according to the lawsuit, that he had sustained a hypoxic ischemic brain injury, which can happen when the brain doesn’t receive enough blood or oxygen for a period of time. He was ultimately diagnosed with cerebral palsy, as a result of the injury, the lawsuit alleged. Oluwasemilore Praise Oyedapo died in December 2020, when he was 4 years old, of cardiopulmonary arrest due to his brain injury, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleged that the hospital did not appropriately monitor the baby before he was born, and didn’t consult quickly enough with an obstetrician who could perform a Cesarian section. UChicago Medicine denied those allegations in court documents. The $14 million verdict is “a significant recognition for the family that they received negligent care which took their son from them and destroyed his life while he lived it,” said Charles Bletsas, senior counsel with law firm Grant & Eisenhofer, who represented the boy’s estate in the case. “Because of the needless delay, the avoidable delay, a child’s life was devastated and a family was … forever changed.”.....»»
South Loop apartment tower sold for $144M in biggest Chicago apartment deal so far this year
The 500-unit building was completed in 2019 by CIM Group San Francisco-based FPA Multifamily early this month bought the 47-story Paragon apartment tower in the South Loop for $144 million, the biggest apartment deal in Chicago so far this year, according to CoStar. The 500-unit building was completed in 2019 by CIM Group and Chicago investor John Murphy. Downtown neighborhoods such as the South Loop and River North are popular places to live, but new investments on this scale are rare, largely due to high interest rates and the economic uncertainty they bring, according to Ron DeVries, senior managing director of Integra Realty Resources. “It’s hard to get enough equity to the table and cut a check,” he said. “FPA already owns a number of buildings in Chicago, so this makes a statement that they are still confident in the city. They are an institutional investor, and it’s good to see that kind of investor is still buying. There are not a lot of them around right now.” FPA Multifamily did not return a call seeking comment. A few big apartment sales were completed in December, DeVries added. Vista Property, a New York-based firm, bought 3Eleven, a 245-unit tower at 311 W. Illinois St. in River North, for $76 million, or $310,000 per unit. And Union West, a 357-unit building at 939 W. Washington Blvd. in Fulton Market, was bought by Tishman Speyer for $128 million, or about $360,000 per unit. FPA Multifamily bought Paragon for less than $300,000 per unit. “It’s not surprising their price would be a little bit below the others,” DeVries said. “It’s in the South Loop where the rents are lower.” Even though few prospective buyers are checking out downtown Chicago apartments, the market is still strong, he added. Unlike downtown office properties, where vacancy climbed to more than 20% after the pandemic, the vacancy rate for apartments hovers around 5% to 6%. But the high interest rates squelching buyer interest have also caused developers to step back, and by 2025, DeVries expects Chicagoans will see few apartments completed downtown. “The pipeline is mostly shut down,” he said......»»