Chicago boy killed as family was moving to escape conflict, police say
CHICAGO – A 14-year-old boy was fatally shot Thursday afternoon on Chicago's West Side as his family was trying to move from the area, Chicago police said.
Witnesses told police that family members were helping the eighth-grade boy and his mother move from their Lawndale apartment to a western suburb to escape an ongoing conflict between the boy and some people who lived in the area, according to a police report citing preliminary information.
About 1:45 p.m., officers responded to an alert from ShotSpotter, the city’s gunshot detection system, of 10 rounds in the 1100 block of South Karlov Avenue, according to the police report. The officers were flagged down by a male who directed them to the back porch of an apartment building and officers found the boy lying facedown on the stairs.
The boy had multiple gunshot wounds to his head, body and legs, the report said. An ambulance took him to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:14 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Police originally said the boy was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital.
He was identified as Tyrese Taylor, who lived in the same block where the shooting occurred, according to the medical examiner’s office.
—Chicago Tribune
Biden forming new panels of experts to study ‘Havana syndrome’
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is forming two panels of experts to study unexplained health incidents among U.S. personnel that have baffled and concerned the government since 2016, when American diplomats in Cuba became ill with mysterious ailments known as “Havana syndrome,” three sources familiar with the matter told McClatchy.
The creation of the new panels of medical experts and scientists is the next step in a White House effort to get to the bottom of a sensory phenomenon that has afflicted more than 130 American officials overseas, including in Britain, China and Cuba and at home in the United States.
One source familiar with the discussion said the new panels would include experts from both inside and outside of government, and that their focus would be to determine the cause of the incidents as well as best methods of treatment as quickly as possible.
The White House National Security Council is leading in setting up the panels. Sources would not describe what will distinguish the two groups, but said they are designed to take a holistic approach to the investigation.
Momentum for action has built in recent months as former Trump administration officials have shared their personal experiences in either investigating or being affected by the unexplained health developments. U.S. personnel have also reported experiencing the syndrome since President Joe Biden took office.
—McClatchy Washington Bureau
President gives military $2 billion Trump allotted for border wall
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden’s administration will return to the U.S. military more than $2 billion that had been allocated for Donald Trump’s border wall, the president’s latest move to roll back one of his predecessor’s signature immigration priorities.
The decision will make the unspent funds available to 66 previously deferred projects in 11 states, three territories and 16 countries, the White House budget office announced Friday.
Planned allocations include: $10 million to expand missile defenses in Alaska; a $79 million upgrade of a school for U.S. military children in Germany; and more than $25 million to improve fire and rescue stations at Florida’s Tyndall Air Force Base.
Trump touted the wall as one of his top achievements as president, saying it was necessary to stop illegal immigration and smuggling. The former president allotted $15 billion to build the barrier, most of it coming out of the military budget.
—Bloomberg News
Biden buys a bike — quickly and at a discount — for Boris Johnson
PHILADELPHIA — Stephen Bilenky wasn't sure what to think when he got an email from the U.S. State Department on May 23 asking whether he could make a bike — in less than two weeks.
That was a big request for Bilenky Cycle Works in Philadelphia's Olney section, a small business whose customers may have to wait at least six months for a bicycle and sometimes up to 18 months, depending on how customized.
What's more, the budget was just $1,500. Prices for the 75 or so bikes Bilenky makes annually start at $4,500.
But when he learned the name of the eventual rider — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson — he decided to go on with it. "This is an opportunity" to raise his shop's profile, he thought at the time. "Controlled chaos" followed, said Bilenky, who has been in business for 37 years.
Bilenky, 67, and his three employees pulled it off, finishing the custom frame made from Columbus steel and painting it by Memorial Day weekend. The goal was to have the bike ready as a gift from President Joe Biden to Johnson, an avid cyclist, at the G7 Summit in Cornwall, England. The summit started Friday.
The bike is painted blue with red and white decorations to evoke the British Union Jack, signatures of the two world leaders on the cross bar, and U.S. and British flags on the head tube. It was shipped June 4. The matching, custom-painted helmet took longer, and had to follow on Monday.
—The Philadelphia Inquirer
