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It was dicey throughout and went down to the final minute, but the Sky finally got their first win of the season Thursday.They withstood a relentless offensive performance by the Wings to hold on for a 97-92 victory at Wintrust Arena. They were led, as they have been so many times, by veteran point guard Courtney Vandersloot on the night she set the franchise’s all-time scoring record.The Sky were clinging to a 93-92 lead with a little over a minute left when Vandersloot drove left for a scoop layup that bounced in to give them some margin. After that, there was no way she was letting them lose again, saying later she was “desperate” for the win.“That was all the emotions of the last few weeks and how much we’re really committed to this,” Vandersloot said. “It’s easy to lose four games and disconnect, but that isn’t the case for this team.”Center Kamilla Cardoso played one of the best games of her young career, Angel Reese came up with crucial rebounds late and the Sky got the relatively balanced scoring effort that coach Tyler Marsh had envisioned but hadn’t materialized until now.It was his first win as a head coach and it kept the Sky from setting a new franchise record for their worst start.It was nearly another nightmare as their early 13-point lead disappeared in the third quarter while Wings star Arike Ogunbowale lit them up for 37 points, tying the most scored by a player in the WNBA this season. Related Sky notebook: G Ariel Atkins shooting more aggressively, just like team envisioned when trading for her From Allie Quigley to Courtney Vandersloot: Sky career scoring record to stay in the family Ogunbowale scored 14 of those on 6 of 7 shooting in the third quarter, and the Wings went ahead 92-91 with 2:11 left in the game on her sixth three-pointer.The Sky had a quick answer for that, though. Reese grabbed a defensive rebound and pushed it ahead to Ariel Atkins, then they ran a perfect pick-and-roll ending with Reese finishing at the basket to recapture the lead.Then came Vandersloot’s drive, and Atkins finished it with a running jumper with 16 seconds left to finally give the Sky something to celebrate.Vandersloot finished with 13 points, nine assists and five steals. She pushed her career scoring total with the Sky to 3,728 points in 13 seasons, overtaking her wife Allie Quigley for the top spot.“What means the most is my time spent here,” Vandersloot said. “It just speaks to the commitment that I made to the Chicago Sky and their commitment to me as well. They drafted me and let me develop. We had a lot of tough seasons. It wasn’t always easy.”She got a roar from the crowd in the fourth quarter when the Sky announced that she broke the record.Cardoso was steady throughout and scored a career-high 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting to go with eight rebounds.“I played with confidence,” Cardoso said. “I finally saw the work that I put in during offseason translate to this game.”The Sky also got 17 points from Atkins and 13 off the bench from Rebecca Allen.For all the glamour of being the “Bayou Barbie,” Reese always says she is willing to do whatever dirty work is necessary to get a win, and she played that type of blue-collar game Thursday.Reese finished with six points, nine rebounds and five assists, but her impact was far bigger than those statistics suggest.“That’s who Angel is, in the best way,” Marsh said. “That’s what her skill set allows her to be. There’s so many different things she can do on the court that help a team win.”The Sky had their best shooting game (46.8% from the field) and fewest turnovers (13) of the season.They also navigated an explosive performance by the Wings that went beyond Ogunbowale’s big game. Rookie point guard Paige Bueckers made big plays late and finished with 15 points and eight assists.

Chicago’s Board of Education belatedly renewed contracts with 16 charter schools Thursday after months of delays to reevaluate the criteria by which charters are judged.Each of the schools received short renewal terms of between two and four years, giving the publicly funded but privately managed institutions a shorter leash under a mayor and school board that have ratcheted up scrutiny on charter operators.The votes come in the aftermath of last winter’s Acero Schools debacle, in which the operator announced the closure of seven of its 15 schools before the Board of Education swooped in to take over five of them in an expensive move. The board typically votes on charter extensions in January or February but pushed back its decisions multiple times as it debated greater accountability for charters.Chicago Public Schools officials are also placing new rules on operators: They must give up to18 months’ notice of plans to close campuses and return any unused funds within 45 days of closure. Charter officials cannot sit on their board and also hold employment, and schools can’t pressure students with absence or discipline problems into voluntarily transferring.The 16 networks that were renewed operate 21 campuses with almost 9,000 students. About 50,000 kids attend Chicago charters citywide.The schools receiving two-year terms were: Alain Locke, Passages, ASPIRA, EPIC, Erie, Moving Everest, Providence Englewood, Rowe, Urban Prep Bronzeville and Urban Prep Englewood.Catalyst Maria and Instituto Health Sciences notched three years. Catalyst Circle Rock, Horizon, North Lawndale College Prep and Perspectives earned four years.A group of board members tried at the last minute to amend all the two-year terms to three years, other extensions from three to four years and a few from four to five. But the efforts failed in split votes. The board did nearly unanimously vote to increase North Lawndale's extension to four years; CPS had recommended three. Members of the Chicago Board of Education listen as Caroline Rutherford, Charter Division Vice Chair for the Chicago Teachers Union gives public comment, during a Chicago Board of Education meeting at CPS headquarters in the Loop on Thursday.Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times The Illinois Network of Charter Schools said in a statement that the renewals were a “testament to the success of our schools and the importance of the charter model to the city of Chicago.” But the group criticized the short terms as “not aligned with student interests or consistent with national standards for strong authorization.”INCS has pushed for extensions of seven to 10 years for high-performing schools, five to six years for those meeting academic standards and no less than three years for operators with financial, academic or operational concerns.“These unfairly short renewal terms tell us what we’ve long known about this Board’s stance on charter autonomy and public school choice,” INCS President Andrew Broy said in the statement. “The charter community is ready to work with the Board on revised charter policy that makes sense for students and families.”Board members disagreed on whether charters should receive the short terms — one of the reasons for the delayed votes. Related Chicago Teachers Union calls for more charter school oversight Chicago charter schools fight for future amid contract renewals Broy has argued that charters are already held to higher standards than other schools by having to regularly meet renewal conditions. He said this month that CPS shouldn’t micromanage charter schools and advocated for them to be judged on three criteria: student achievement, proper board governance and financial management that keeps schools viable and stable.CPS evaluates charters in four areas: academic performance, financial performance, organizational compliance with CPS and federal policies and inclusion and equity.Under state law, charter operators have to meet standards in all four categories to receive five-year extensions. To get more than five years, they have to score the highest marks in all four areas.Mayor Brandon Johnson’s appointed board, however, added a greater emphasis on reviewing charters’ records on student discipline and their services for English learners and special education students. Six schools in this round of renewals were found to need substantial improvement in those areas, CPS officials said. Four met standards in none or only one of those areas.Zabrina Evans, a director on the CPS team that handled the charter renewals, told the board Thursday that “this information is not new to charter schools, it’s not new to the community.” She said the district’s process was “transparent, rigorous” and took the charter community’s thoughts into account.”“The idea that CPS has placed arbitrary caps or [a] ceiling [preventing] five-year recommendations, does not exist,” Evans said. “CPS has never received that directive or applied it. There has always been an opportunity — and we look for charter schools to receive greater than five years based on their performance.”Evans acknowledged that two-year extensions might not be “favorable” to charters or look good to lenders, parents or staff, but she said shorter renewal terms like the ones handed out this year hold private operators more accountable and allow CPS officials to more closely monitor their progress.“A short-term renewal assures charter organizations are prioritizing corrective actions that address deficiencies,” she said.

There were over 2,000 players who entered their names in the NCAA Division I transfer portal this spring. And for the first time in history, more than half of the points scored in college basketball last season were from players from the transfer portal.So the need for portal impact never has been greater.The dizzying pace of the transfer portal includes dozens of former players from the Chicago area and throughout the state. Here are some familiar names from their high school days — the best of the best — including where they’ve been and where they are headed for the 2025-26 season.Bryce Hopkins, FenwickWhere he has been: Following a brief and uneventful stop at Kentucky, Hopkins emerged as a star at Providence. While injuries have hampered his career, the 6-6 former two-time all-stater remains a major, ultra-productive weapon at the college level when healthy.Where he’s headed: Hopkins will stay in the Big East for his final season. He will play for Rick Pitino and a loaded St. John’s team which should be among the nation’s best.Morez Johnson, ThorntonWhere he has been: The former Sun-Times Player of the Year and top-ranked prospect in Illinois in the Class of 2024 spent just one year at Illinois. He made an impact as one of the top freshmen in the Big Ten,averaging seven points and 6.7 rebounds while playing 18 minutes a game.Where he’s headed: The powerful 6-9 big man will stay in the Big Ten as part of a Michigan portal class that is among the best in the country.Owen Freeman, MolineWhere he has been: While at Iowa he averaged 10.6 points and 6.6 rebounds as a freshman. He followed it up last year with 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds, though a finger injury in late January proved to be season-endingWhere he’s headed: As a legit 6-10 big man and former Big Ten Freshman of the Year two seasons ago, Freeman was one of the most coveted portal players in the country. He’s headed to Creighton where he will have two more years to play.Rashaun Agee, BoganWhere he has been: The veteran big man will be at his fifth school in six years this coming season. The most recent stop was at USC, where he averaged 9.4 points and 4.5 rebounds in 20 minutes of action.Where he’s headed: Agee makes the move from the Big Ten to the SEC as he will finish up his career at Texas A&M. He will be one of eight new transfer-portal additions for first-year coach Bucky McMillan.Brock Harding, MolineWhere he has been: After leading Moline to a state championship in 2023, Harding spent the last two seasons at Iowa. He started 24 games, playing 25 minutes a game, and averaged 8.8 points and 5.3 assists this past season.Where he’s headed: TCU and coach Jamie Dixon landed the true point guard who will have two years to play in the Big 12.Bobby Durkin, Glenbard WestWhere he has been: After averaging 8.5 points as a freshman at Davidson, Durkin upped that number to 13.5 points as a sophomore and chipped in 5.9 rebounds. He continued his elite shooting with 91 three-pointers on the year.Where he’s headed: Durkin had Ohio State and Louisville heavily involved but decided on Minnesota, joining first-year head coach Niko Medved.Sam Lewis, SimeonWhere he has been: The athletic 6-5 wing enjoyed a breakout sophomore campaign this past season at Toledo, putting up 16.2 points a game while shooting 44% from three. He was an All-MAC second team selection.Where he’s headed: Lewis was the first portal recruit for first-year coach Ryan Odom of Virginia.Xavier Amos, YoungWhere he has been: The 6-8 forward had a low-key freshman season at Northern Illinois two years ago. But he broke through as a sophomore, averaging 13.8 points and 5.8 rebounds. Then he transferred to Wisconsin where he spent his junior campaign playing a minimal role off the bench.Where he’s headed: Amos is heading home, committing to Loyola and coach Drew Valentine for his senior season.Bryce Heard, Homewood-FlossmoorWhere he has been: After leading H-F to a state championship in 2024 as a junior, Heard reclassified and headed to North Carolina State. He played very little as a freshman before coach Kevin Keatts was fired this spring.Where he’s headed: With three years still to play, Heard will look to make an impact for coach Anthony Grant at Dayton.Quentin Jones, Marian CatholicWhere he has been: One of the real sleepers in the Class of 2023. All Jones has done in two years of college is produce — first at Cal-Poly (9.7 poings, 4.4 rebounds as a freshman) and then at Northern Illinois (16.6 points, 4.8 rebounds as a sophomore).Where he’s headed: With Saint Louisin the Atlantic 10 as his next stop, Jones keeps taking a step up each year he plays in college.Dai Dai Ames, KenwoodWhere he has been: The 6-2 scoring guard started at Kansas State, followed by a sophomore season at Virginia where he averaged 8.7 points a regular starter.Where he’s headed: Cal will be his third stop in three years for Ames.Others: Jurell Baldwin, Hyde Park (Missouri State to Arkansas State); Isaiah Barnes, Simeon (Tulsa to Valparaiso); AJ Casey, Simeon (Saint Louis to Evansville); Gianni Cobb, H-F (Columbia to NIU); Tyler Cochran, Bolingbrook (Minnesota to Rhode Island); Mekhi Cooper, Bolingbrook (Miami-Ohio to Lindenwood); Brayden Fagbemi, Benet (Central Arkansas to UC-Davis); Louis Lesmond, Notre Dame (Harvard to Fordham); Mekhi Lowery, Oswego East (Towson to UIC); Chris Riddle, Kenwood (DePaul to Toledo); Jaden Smith, Kenwood (Fordham to St. Joseph); and Asa Thomas, Lake Forest (Clemson to Furman).

A man is charged with murder in connection with a fatal shooting early Tuesday in the Morgan Park neighborhood.Thomas Phelps, 33, is accused of arguing with Cordell L. Avant, 38, around 1:15 a.m. in the 11000 block of South Ashland Avenue, then opening fire, striking Avant multiple times, according to Chicago police.Phelps, of the Auburn Gresham neighborhood, was arrested later that day, police said.He faces one felony count of murder, as well as a few drug charges. He’s scheduled to appear in court Friday.

A recent syndicated special section in the Chicago Sun-Times included an article about cooking “delicious meals that don’t require turning on the oven.” The article’s author quoted acclaimed chef Alice Waters on oven-free cooking “as the ideal way to showcase peak-season ingredients,” citing her interview with Food & Wine magazine.Waters was indeed interviewed by Food & Wine in 2023, as cited in the section titled “Heat Index: Your Guide to the Best of Summer” — but she didn't say anything in that interview like what the special section quoted her as having said. Waters’ executive assistant said the chef didn’t provide that quote and wasn’t interviewed for the section.The Sun-Times received widespread criticism last week for publishing the section — which was produced by a third party, King Features — on May 18, after it was found to include recommendations to read books that didn’t even exist.A review by the Sun-Times newsroom of the 64-page special section found the errors extended far beyond the mostly fake summer reading list, with more misinformation plaguing other articles in the edition. The newsroom fact-checked all 10 stories with named sources and each of the articles had multiple errors and information that couldn’t be independently verified. Some included phony sources and quotes.In addition, the Sun-Times review raised questions about an article in another King-produced holiday guide that ran in the Sun-Times in November. The newsroom could not confirm the existence of a woman quoted in the story. Chicago Public Media, which owns the Sun-Times, said Thursday it would remove the guide from its e-paper archives, just as it took down the “Heat Index.”The author of the content, Chicago-based freelance writer Marco Buscaglia, has blamed the erroneous information, including the book reviews, on his use of artificial intelligence and on what he said was his failure to fact-check what the AI program generated.Buscaglia declined Wednesday to comment specifically on the numerous problems the Sun-Times found in the “Heat Index,” which also was published by the Philadelphia Inquirer.The Sun-Times editorial staff had no role in the production of the section, which the newspaper and the Inquirer had bought from the New York-based King, a division of Hearst Corp.Executives for CPM said they plan to no longer buy special editorial sections from King, though they will continue to rely on the third-party syndicated content provider for comics and puzzles, as the newspaper has done for decades.In an online article Thursday about the debacle, CPM CEO Melissa Bell detailed what she described as a series of “human mistakes” by Buscaglia, King, the Sun-Times and CPM. It began, Bell wrote, with Buscaglia’s use of AI and a failure to check what it had generated.“King Features is conducting its own internal review, so it’s uncertain what broke down internally for them, but it’s likely that the team did not conduct a thorough fact-checking or copy editing process before sending Buscaglia’s work out to partners across the country,” Bell said. Related Lessons (and an apology) from the Sun-Times CEO on that AI-generated book list Hearst did not respond to multiple requests for comment.Bell said the Sun-Times circulation department worked with King and expected the section would “live up to a level of editorial rigor that matches the standards of Chicago Public Media.” The section was not submitted to Sun-Times journalists for review, and it was published without disclosing that King had produced it.“Instead, they packaged it under a Sun-Times banner and sent it to homes across the region,” Bell said of the section, which was inserted between news pages filled primarily with staff-produced stories.For the past two years, the Sun-Times has given home delivery print readers about 10 such special sections a year, charging an extra $3 for each.Sun-Times staff initially wrote the stories that went into the sections, which were intended to stem falling newspaper revenue.But Bell noted that producing premium special sections was time-consuming for Sun-Times staff, who also needed to handle daily responsibilities. Although the newsroom still produces some sections, the total number that are staff-written has been “scaled back,” she said.Bell said the decision to buy special sections from King Features — which predated her arrival at CPM last year — was a “creative solution to keep hitting revenue goals while we transition from print to digital revenue.” She said she had no objection: “I didn’t deeply investigate the editions, and quickly approved the team to continue the practice in place. My reasoning: let’s not sacrifice any revenue.”In an April email to potential customers, King Features had touted “Heat Index” as “content-rich” and a “premium summer lifestyle section designed to entertain, inspire, and energize your readers through the season’s best experiences.”“It's the ultimate seasonal companion — crafted to boost engagement and deliver revenue opportunities across categories,” the email boasted.Buscaglia, a former suburban newspaper journalist, has said he wrote practically the entire issue as a side job and had worked for King for about three years on similar assignments.One of the first stories in the summer section, touted as “a look at the hammock boom,” quoted several people who may not exist, or at least are not who Buscaglia said they were.For example, a Ryan Leidecker was described as a product line manager at Eagles Nest Outfitters. The company said Leidecker is not an employee nor ever has been.Buscaglia also cited a Dr. Jennifer Campos as professor of leisure studies at the University of Colorado. The university says it has no record of an employee named Jennifer Campos.The story quoted Campos as saying a “hammock has become this generation’s equivalent of the Frisbee on the quad,” from her “2023 research paper published in the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography.” A search of her name in the journal yielded nothing.In the same story, Mark Ellison is identified as an employee at Great Smoky Mountains National Park and warns about the damage that “improper hammock hanging techniques” can do to trees, with Buscaglia noting the information appeared on the park’s website.Ellison posted on Facebook that he was not an employee of the park and said no such thing. The national park confirmed to the Sun-Times that Ellison does not work there and that there is no such information about hammocks on its website.There were multiple examples of misinformation in another story by Buscaglia about do-it-yourself backyard upgrades. DIY blogger Beau Coffron was cited as an authority on building pergolas with “proper post anchoring.”Coffron told the Sun-Times, “I never said that. I actually know nothing about installing pergolas. If you need a quote about family friendly foods, I’m your guy. For construction? Not so much.”A gardening author was quoted as speaking at a 2024 flower and garden festival. Festival organizers said she was not a speaker — and the author had died in 2023.Also cited in the DIY article was a 2024 Wired magazine story by a tech writer named Brian Kahn, about setting up an outdoor movie area in your backyard. Wired told the Sun-Times that Kahn has not written for the publication and the quote was inaccurate.And the section’s “Summer reading list for 2025,” on page 62, recommended 15 book titles with reviews, though 10 of the titles were fake while the authors were real.The authors, or their representatives, confirmed to the Sun-Times that the titles were made up. Taylor Jenkins Reid’s publicist said the author’s upcoming book is “Atmosphere,” not “The Collector’s Piece,” mentioned in the article. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Percival Everett said in an email, “This is my fake AI response,” and proceeded to confirm that “The Rainmakers, a novel about people who make rain, has not been written…” Well-known Chicago author Rebecca Makkai, who was wrongly listed as the author of the non-existent “Boiling Point, last week created her own reading list, posting on Instagram that it was “Fifteen REAL books you should ACTUALLY read this summer. Written by humans!”After initially giving a number of interviews about using AI for the book recommendations, Buscaglia told the Sun-Times this week that he didn’t want to detail the process that led to the misinformation in the stories he wrote and declined to respond to the paper’s findings.“I don't need to go story by story,” he wrote in an email. “I'm not sure what else was found but again, I'll take responsibility and again, will blame my AI naivety and lack of oversight.”In a statement last week, King said Buscaglia violated a strict policy against using AI and that the company terminated its working relationship with the writer. But Buscaglia said this week he reviewed his contracts with King and found no AI policy.Bell said the “Heat Index” fiasco would not end CPM’s exploration of the possibilities for AI in journalism.“First, Chicago Public Media will not back away from experimenting and learning how to properly use AI,” Bell wrote. “We will not be using AI agents to write our stories, but we will work to find ways to use AI technologies to help our work and serve our audiences.”She said a policy for using AI was being drafted and would be posted publicly “for our community to weigh in.”This story was reported, written and edited by members of the Chicago Public Media editorial staff. Under CPM’s protocol, no CPM corporate official or executive leader external to the newsroom reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.