Afternoon Briefing: Illinois clinic offers new device to spinal cord injury patients
Good afternoon, Chicago.
Eliazar Rodriguez was running errands in Roscoe Village when he was stopped by two men with a laminated flyer outside a Starbucks. They said they were raising money for their little brother who was killed in a drive-by shooting and told Rodriguez that they were struggling to gather funeral funds.
He gave the men $15 through Apple Pay and wrote his name down on a sheet pledging his donation. One of the guys took Rodriguez's phone to make the transaction, showed him the screen to confirm that Rodriguez donated $15 and the two men went on their way. Next thing Rodriguez knew, he got an instant notification from his bank telling him he had a $3,000 charge for a carpet purchase.
'I was just blinded by my naivety and my wanting to do good and be kind to others, only to be kind of slapped in the face,' Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez is not alone — he is one of dozens who have recently lost thousands of dollars to a scam going around Chicago where con artists will use a sad story to lure victims into paying them thousands of dollars when the victim thinks they are only paying a small amount of money.
Here's what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.
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If Mayor Brandon Johnson had reacted as antagonistically to Republican congressmen hoping to goad him into an argument Wednesday as he at times has, the mayor's appearance at the House Oversight Committee could have gone south fast. But a different Johnson appeared on Capitol Hill to testify in the hotly anticipated hearing on sanctuary policies for immigrants. Read more here.
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The ARC-EX is not the first device to deliver electrical stimulation through the skin to help people with spinal cord injuries. But unlike other commercially available devices, the ARC-EX delivers stimulation directly to the spine, rather than to other parts of the body that a person wishes to move, such as to an arm or a leg. Read more here.
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The 25-year-old Joe Veleno, a left-handed shot, was a first-round draft pick (No. 30) by the Red Wings in 2018. The 6-foot-1 fourth-liner has five goals and five assists in 56 games this season. Read more here.
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Chicago Symphony audiences expected to hear an American composer's clarinet concerto, written for CSO principal clarinetist Stephen Williamson, last season. Unexpected quadruple bypass surgery forced Williamson to postpone the performance to this week, in concerts conducted by Gustavo Gimeno. Read more here.
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The disposal of what Paris police called an 'excessively dangerous' unexploded World War II bomb caused hours of transportation chaos Friday on rail and road networks in the French capital, including the suspension of high-speed train links with London and Brussels. Read more here.
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