Latest news with #MorganPark
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
As residents and dogs again fill Chicago parks, data shows fewer than 1 in 4 reported bites result in citations
Ed Wolf doesn't quite recall the moments between being knocked off his bike and losing a chunk of his face in November 2023. But he remembers the phone call he made to his wife: 'I said, 'You have to come get me. I've been attacked by a pit bull,'' Wolf said. 'And she goes, 'Are you kidding?'' A day and 50 stitches later Wolf, 68, went to the police station to report the bite and found himself navigating a morass of different systems as he tried to draw official attention to the dog's owner. An officer at the Morgan Park District (22nd) police station helped Wolf get started on a bite report, which kickstarts an investigation at Chicago Animal Care and Control. The city department received some 6,435 bite reports between January 2020 and April 30 of this year, according to a Tribune review of data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. For that same period, data shows that CACC has issued about 1,516 citations, for 'unrestrained violations,' to animal owners. The violations cover dogs found to be off-leash in public areas, but not every violation issued pertains to a bite. All of the investigations save a single one were marked closed, leaving residents and city officials alike to complain that the path to hold owners to account after dog attacks is opaque at best and useless at worst. Wolf's was one of them. An animal control investigator spoke with Wolf about the attack, but stated in the report that Wolf didn't know the owner or how to reach him. Someone was trying to locate better information on the dog's owner, according to the investigation report. The Beverly resident said he tried to follow up with Animal Control but never heard back. A copy of the investigation associated with Wolf's bite report showed the inquiry was marked completed, with no listed resolution. 'I would have liked for there to be some consequences to this,' he said. In the 19th Ward, where Wolf lives, canine attacks have been a problem since a woman jogging in the Dan Ryan Woods was mauled to death by a trio of vicious dogs in 2003. More recently, city data shows that bites are up in that ward and citywide since 2020. Click on the map to see the exact number of reported bites in each ward. The agency received 1,267 bite reports in 2023 and just over 1,300 reports in 2024, according to Chicago Animal Care and Control data. But the number of unrestrained citations it issued dropped by more than half over the same period — from 390 to 177. A CACC representative said in a statement that the department was reviewing Wolf's case and one other closed case listed in a request for comment. The department acknowledged it can be frustrating for the public to deal with multiple agencies in the reporting process, but said it largely relies on the Chicago Police Department for accurate information to push cases forward. CPD representatives didn't respond to multiple requests for comment. Click on the map to see the exact number of violations issued in each ward. Animal Care has been without a permanent leader for more than two years, since then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot appointed Susan Capello as acting director in January 2023. CACC has cut back on its hours for members of the public to bring in animals and is sounding the alarm on a flood of pet surrenders that is testing the capacity of its space and its staff. On Thursday, it reported on social media that 75 animals entered its shelter over a single day. As for why more than three-quarters of the animal bites reported to the agency are closed without a clear resolution, Animal Care and Control Operations Manager Angela Rayburn said investigators contend with missing or inaccurate information in bite reports. 'We have no other way to find the person other than what we're seeing in the official police (report),' she said. Even with the correct information, Rayburn acknowledged, investigators will mark probes closed if they are unable to reach a bite victim or a dog owner. They can reopen investigations if someone calls them back, she added, but said callbacks after the first 24 hours are rare. 'We would probably have over 100 open bite (reports) if we're waiting on people to call us back,' she said. 'We don't want to wait months just to leave it open for someone that's probably never going to call.' A department spokesperson said CACC officials and CPD were working to update a 2019 police order governing how officers handle animal-related incidents. That order directs officers to determine whether biting animals belong to anyone, and fill out bite reports for city and county animal control officials, among other obligations. If an officer can identify an owner, the order requires him or her to cite the owner for any alleged violations of city code. CACC investigators will also work with animal owners to 'address concerns rather than defaulting to citations' when appropriate, according to the statement. 'That said, our ability to issue citations or take enforcement action depends on verifiable information, including victim/witness cooperation and confirmed ownership.' People who have tried to make reports complain of a confusing and frustrating process involving multiple agencies. That can include CPD, Animal Control and potentially Cook County Animal Care and Control, which handles rabies investigations. Ald. Matt O'Shea, 19th, has resorted to getting personally involved on behalf of his constituents who need help getting bites reported and investigated. 'There seems to be a lot of confusion,' O'Shea said. 'But when I'm on the scene or I'm on the phone, or I'm getting an email from someone who was just viciously attacked, and there's a whole lot of 'Oh, that's not us' on the other end, that's a problem.' One of those constituents was Kevin Conroy. Conroy, 37, wasn't even sure where he was supposed to report the attack that left his dog Liam with a half-dozen puncture wounds and a $1,300 vet bill while the pair was out for a run on the Major Taylor Trail last fall. Conroy first called 311, he said, and was then told he needed to go to the police station. He ended up calling the Cook County Forest Preserve to report the bite, which cares for the property on which he and his dog were attacked, and filed a bite report through the Police Department. 'That was the last I heard of that,' he said. A Cook County Forest Preserve spokesperson, reached for comment, said Forest Preserve police documented the attack but didn't get any more information after the initial phone call with Conroy. According to the investigative file associated with Conroy's bite report, an Animal Control investigator conducted a phone interview but wrote that no owner information was available. The file does not list an outcome.
CBS News
4 days ago
- General
- CBS News
$10,000 reward being offered to help solve December shooting death in Morgan Park
$10,000 reward for arrest in shooting death of Brian Phason $10,000 reward for arrest in shooting death of Brian Phason $10,000 reward for arrest in shooting death of Brian Phason The Cook County Crime Stoppers are working to solve a murder from nearly six months ago in the Morgan Park neighborhood in Chicago. On Dec. 4, 2024, 66-year-old Brian Phason was shot and killed while driving his car near 118th and Watkins. A 50-year-old man in the car also was grazed in the shooting, but refused medical attention. No one was ever arrested for the shooting. On Saturday, Cook County Crime Stoppers will return to the scene to hand out flyers. They're offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to an indictment or arrest.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ubisoft scores a legendary ratio against Elon Musk on his own platform—which hopefully marks a final end to all the Assassin's Creed Shadows' culture war nonsense
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Assassin's Creed Shadows has landed some solid success on online storefronts, and an overall decent critical reception. PC Gamer's own Morgan Park gave it an 80 in his review, which is none too shabby. To celebrate, Ubisoft has gone from avoiding treading on eggshells, to getting its biggest, chunkiest eggshell-stomping boots and marauding through an eggshell field while laughing uproariously, scoring one of the biggest ratios I think I've ever seen on social media. For context: Ubisoft has found itself in the unenviable position of being caught in the midst of an ongoing culture war over whether videogames are woke or not—woke, generally speaking, meaning anything with the wrong shape of woman or a pronoun selection screen or a Black person or a consulting company present during its development. That is to say, it's a word that's lost most of its meaning. This time, they were bristling over the inclusion of historical Black samurai Yasuke—never mind that over-the-top historical fiction is the series' thing (Leonardo Da Vinci, you'd be surprised to find out, never built a working tank) nor the fact that Yasuke, and characters inspired by him, have both popped up repeatedly in Japanese anime and videogames. My favourite, by far, is Guilty Gear Strive, where his expy is a big vampire man with a skull mask and a banging theme song. Ubisoft's initial response to this was to try and meet these naysayers halfway. It held up its hands and stated that Yasuke's position in history was "a matter of debate and discussion". Later, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot would also try to reassure folks that the studio wasn't trying to "push any specific agenda". It wouldn't be until November that the tone would change, with franchise head Marc-Alexis Coté stating: "We all however face the added challenge of distinguishing between genuine feedback and attacks driven by intolerance. The current climate is tough on our creative teams. They face lies, half truths and personal attacks online." Now that the game is out, though? Ubisoft's gone from stoic but firm rebuttals to publicly clowning on a tech billionaire. Elon Musk, owner of the platform this happened on and self-admitted supporter of Path of Exile 2's account-trading industry, has been particularly vocal about Assassin's Creed Shadows. Writing, in June of last year, that "DEI kills art". He's been particularly vocal in the following X thread, too, coming after a streamer who'd done a paid promotion for the game. "Hasan is a fraud," Musk writes, producing his blade and levelling it at his enemy. "'Sell-out' would be more accurate. Objectively, he is promoting a terrible game just for the money." The official Assassin's Creed account, liberating its own steel free from the prison of its sheath, retorts: "Is that what the guy playing your Path of Exile 2 account told you?" Both stand at the ready. The setting sun bleeds red into the sky, bearing witness to their duel. Reeds sway in the breeze. Elon Musk and the Assassin's Creed Shadows X account flash towards each other. There's a blinding shock of light. As they stagger from the momentum, Elon Musk's post accrues 23,000 likes—a superficial blow. In true Samurai movie fashion, he then looks down to see the effect of his opponent's strike, as over the next 14 hours the Assassin's Creed Shadows account rakes in upwards of 440,000 likes, nonchalantly sheathing its katana with a satisfying click. To put that in perspective, the Stade de France, which hosted the 2024 Olympics, has a seating capacity of around 80,000 people. The likes on the account's reply could fill up that stadium 5.5 times. The likes on Elon Musk's post wouldn't even book half the seats. 440,000 is a comparable amount, also, to EA's legendarily flubbed Reddit comment, "A sense of pride and accomplishment", which tanked over 600,000 downvotes circa 2017. The account would then later double down, quoting its own post with the following: "Where other men blindly follow the truth... Remember, nothing is true," a maxim of the series' titular assassin's creed. Even some of the quotes cheering Musk on are taking his lunch money. "$44 billion to get cooked on your own website," writes one spectator, to the tune of 190,000 likes (around 2.3 Stade de Frances). While I am quietly and respectfully amused by this development, I think the fact that Ubisoft appears to've stopped giving a crap is the takeaway here. Though it's pretty significant that over 440,000 people are also fed up with the outrage tourism, too. The game's out, and as Morgan said in his review, "Is Shadows fun? I'm so glad that one is an easy yes." Nobody—least of all Ubisoft's shareholders—have to wring their hands anymore. As a matter of fact, the gloves seem off entirely. AC Shadows review: Late bloomerBest AC Shadows weapons: Superior firepowerBest AC Shadows armour: The best threadsBest AC Shadows skills: Level upAC Shadows scouts: Get more trusty reconsAC Shadows rations: Get more healing itemsAC Shadows Shadow Projects: Free loot
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sea of Thieves in space? Not quite, but Jump Ship replicates a lot of the things that make Rare's pirate sandbox so fun
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. My favorite co-op game of the past decade is Sea of Thieves: I love sailing a galleon into dangerous territory with friends, engaging in ship-to-ship and person-to-person (or skeleton) combat, then scampering off with loot. A game like Sea of Thieves, but in space? I'll definitely give it a try. Jump Ship is a mission-based co-op FPS from Keepsake Games where you and up to three other crew members pilot a spaceship, engage in ship-to-ship battles and first-person combat, and salvage gear and goodies you can use to upgrade your ship. I recently got to try a hands-on preview, joined by PC Gamer's answer to Han Solo: Morgan Park. (I'm not sure if that makes me Luke or Chewbacca. Whoever has the worst aim, I guess.) To be clear, Jump Ship isn't exactly Sea of Thieves in space. First off, it's a PvE-only game, so it doesn't have the unpredictability of other players showing up and trying to score your loot. And while Sea of Thieves is completely open world, Jump Ship is mission-based: you take a mission, then warp into a section of space to complete it. The missions do have a bit of an open world feel to them, in that when you enter a mission area you can choose how to accomplish your goals and in what order to face the threats, but it's not a seamless and unbroken open world like SoT. But there's still quite a lot in common with Rare's pirate sandbox. One player can pilot the ship while another operates the weapons, and when you take damage someone can run around patching the ship up or putting out fires. It's also tactile in a way I appreciate: a lot of lootable items, like scrap metal and ship modules, have to be carried in both hands, so while you're lugging something around you have to drop it if you want to use a weapon. It makes the loot you deal with feel like real objects that need to be physically moved around, carried, and stored on shelves, rather than things that just exist as icons in an inventory slot. It also makes the business of scavenging a shipwreck labor intensive, in a good way. One of our missions was to investigate and loot a wrecked ship drifting in space. After manually piloting our ship to the derelict vessel, we popped open our airlock and had to make several trips to collect everything, using our jet packs and grappling hooks to zip back and forth between the two hulls as fast as possible. If a threat appeared, like an enemy ship spotting us or a turret on a nearby asteroid activating, it was a scramble to get back aboard and to battle stations before our ship got completely destroyed. That led to some comedy, too: at one point Morgan jumped into the pilot's seat and flew off in our ship while I was still hovering clumsily outside trying to find a damn airlock while holding a pile of scrap metal. Did Han Solo ever do that to Chewie? On another segment of our mission, Morgan landed us on an asteroid and we ran through a darkened facility filled with enemy robots that chased us around while we collected batteries needed to power open a vault door. Again, the batteries were physical objects we needed to lift with both hands, so one person battled the bots while the other carried the battery. (At least we did that at first. Turned out the robots weren't that much of a threat and eventually we were just running and bunny-hopping as we each carried a battery.) Thing is, I think leaving the ship behind to do on-foot missions is the least fun part of Jump Ship, because the ship itself is the best part of the game. It feels like a mobile base you can upgrade and tinker with, and we had to work hard to keep it in shape. When we got blasted by an enemy spacecraft, we'd sometimes receive a fire warning, so I had to leave the turret controls, grab a fire extinguisher, and run around the ship frantically putting out fires while Morgan continued flying. Dealing with crises on the ship feels hectic and fun as you coordinate with your crewmates about who is going to do what. By the end of our mission we'd made our ship a pretty formidable one. We mounted a rail gun and some extra turrets onto the hull, we crafted a first-aid station from spare scrap we collected, and spent quite a bit of time trying to first figure and then optimize our ship's power supply. It's a little weird in that it's set up like a grid puzzle. Every element of the ship (guns, engines, shields) is a physical node with a different shape, and those nodes all need to fit onto the green sections of grid or they won't work. We eventually solved it by adding two new reactors to our ship, so the grid had so many green squares we could place all our nodes with room to spare. I'm definitely interested in playing more of Jump Ship when it launches later this year: it was fun with two people and I can only assume it'd be twice as fun with a full crew of four. It's not Sea of Thieves in space, quite, but when one player is barrel rolling the ship and blasting away at enemies while the other is scrambling around putting out fires, it definitely has some of those great Sea of Thieves vibes.
