Stalled Justice, Part 2 – Chicago Tribune

Good morning, Chicago.

In reporting on the unprecedented delays in Cook County courts, one of the questions we’ve gotten is a simple one: Why?

We’re taking our best shot at explaining that today, in the second installment of our Stalled Justice series.

We’ll walk you through the different phases of a case — and show you what can, and too often does, jam things up.

We’re talking about prosecutors taking years to gather evidence and judges taking years to decide on what evidence a future jury should see. There are side issues as well that gum up cases, such as county doctors missing deadlines for mental health exams or — what one study called the most “vexing” issue — cops not showing up to testify at hearings.

— Joe Mahr and Megan Crepeau

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As strong wind, dryness and heat converge, the National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch for Chicagoland and counties across north and central Illinois.

The warning is in effect from 11 a.m. through 7 p.m. Wednesday. It affects Boone, DeKalb, DuPage, Cook, Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, Livingston, McHenry, Ogle, Will and Winnebago counties.

USA Boxing sanctioned women’s amateur boxing in 1993 after a lawsuit. Women stepped into the Chicago Golden Gloves ring in 1994, the first boxing tournament in the country to host a division for women, and entered the National Golden Gloves Tournament in 2000. In 2012, the Olympics featured women’s boxing for the first time.

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This year, 40 women entered the Chicago Golden Gloves, according to Chicago Golden Gloves spokesperson Trayce Zimmerman. As the finals for the tournament start Thursday, the Tribune looks at the mark women like Robinson have left on the local competition, which turns 100 this year.

As one of the comics says in the film, “Me going to Chicago was like going to Oz,” and for a time it was. By the mid-1980s, comedy had become the hot nightlife commodity.

Tom Dreesen, born and raised in suburban Harvey, is a veteran of the scene. He takes us back to the awkward time he and Tim Reid were the only interracial comedy team on the scene, in the nation.

The NFL draft is 15 days away, and the Chicago Bears could go in a number of directions with the No. 9 pick. Meanwhile, Monday marks the first official day on the job for new Bears President Kevin Warren.

The Tribune’s Brad Biggs reaches into his weekly Bears mailbag to tackle questions on these two topics and more.

Destinations that traditionally attracted a grown-up crowd are shifting. “The new generation of high-end travelers are all traveling with their kids. They even take them to party destinations,” said Theodore Daktylidis, managing director of the Mykonos Riviera Hotel and Spa, which opened in July and is made up entirely of small apartments, each with its own kitchen and plunge pool.

Daktylidis’ family has owned hotels in Mykonos, famous for its nightlife, for decades, hosting countless weddings, honeymoons and raucous bachelorette parties. But while overseeing construction on his newest project, it was the growing number of visitors with young children he was thinking about.