Alex Caruso feels like he and Austin Reaves are being unfairly miscast, but leave it to Hollywood to ignore the obvious. Ashley Landis/AP PORTLAND – Alex Caruso knows how Hollywood works. After all, the Bulls guard spent four seasons playing in Los Angeles, where “there has to be storylines outside the game that they have to run with.’’ Miscasting? That could be overlooked, as long as the script reads well. That’s why Caruso knows what awaits him when he returns to his first NBA home this weekend, as the Bulls play both the Lakers and Clippers in back-to-back days. “I just can’t escape it ..read more

Andrew Vaughn during spring training in 2022. (John Antonoff/For the Sun-Times) MESA, Ariz. — The last thing the White Sox want on Opening Day would be having first baseman Andrew Vaughn unavailable, but that doesn’t appear to be a concern with Vaughn getting back on the field and playing in a minor league game Friday. Vaughn went 1-for-3 in the game with a double and run scored. He also faced Garrett Crochet twice in the left-hander’s first live batting practice of the spring. The Sox open in Houston Thursday against the Astros and Jose Abreu, who was allowed to walk away in free agency in ..read more

MESA, Ariz. – The Sloan Park crowd got its last look at Marcus Stroman on Friday before he takes the ball at Wrigley Field for Opening Day. They gave him a warm ovation as he headed for the dugout after a crisp start.  “I felt good,” he said of the outing. “I felt like I got pretty good work in. My slider felt probably the best it’s felt all spring.”  Stroman held the Rangers to one run through 5 ⅔ innings. He allowed five hits, but limited Texas to soft contact.  He credited rookie Hayden Wesneski, whose slider is a highlight in his arsenal, with helping him sharpen his slider ..read more

Cubs right-hander Javier Assad throws a pitch in his first Cactus League game back from the World Baseball Classic on Friday. MESA, Ariz. – Javier Assad’s World Baseball Classic performance was a topic of conversation around Cubs camp, both while he was with Team Mexico and since he’s returned to Mesa.  “He was electric,” veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks said. “And he was so fired up out there too, the emotion and all of it. Everybody was so excited for him when he walked back in that door, man.” Assad wasn’t touching 97 mph in his return to Sloan Park, like he had in the World Base ..read more

A CTA Blue Line train heads toward the Loop from Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Sun-Times file The CTA is expanding service again on a busy portion of the Blue Line to accommodate a boost in riders — something that could benefit commuters stuck in traffic due to construction on the Kennedy Expressway. The agency already had added what it calls “short-turned” trains on a substantial part of its Blue Line route. Instead of going all the way west to the end of the Blue Line in Forest Park, some westbound trains have only as far as UIC-Halsted, then reverse course, traveling the full rou ..read more

Runoff candidates (left to right) Jessica Gutiérrez and Ruth Cruz, competing for the 30th Ward seat, and Peter Chico and Ana Guajardo, vying for the 10th Ward seat. Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times; Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times; provided; Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Despite playing out on near-opposite sides of the city, the races for City Council in the 10th and 30th wards share similarities. Residents in both wards want stronger public safety and more community investment. And each race features some political newcomers with familiar names.  Ana Guajardo and Peter Chico are competing in a runoff ..read more

Chicago State University Sun-Times file Faculty members at Illinois’ only predominantly Black public university could go on strike as early as April 3. University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100, representing 160 professors, lecturers, academic support professionals and technical support professionals at Chicago State University, filed an intent to strike notice with the state’s education labor relations board on Thursday, a bureaucratic checkbox required before union members can walk out. “The membership guides what we do, and they wanted this notice to move forward because they see ..read more

This booking image provided by Adams County, Illl., administration, shows Timothy Bliefnick of Quincy, Ill., who has been charged charged with first-degree murder in the death of his estranged wife, Rebecca Bliefnick. AP QUINCY, Ill. — A former contestant on the long-running television game show “Family Feud” has been charged with first-degree murder and home invasion in the slaying of his estranged wife in western Illinois. Timothy Bliefnick, 39, pleaded not guilty Friday afternoon at his arraignment in Adams County Circuit Court in Quincy, according to court records. Bliefnick was indic ..read more

Dozens of mourners gather for a vigil near Central Avenue and St Johns Avenue in downtown Highland Park, one day after a gunman killed seven people and wounded dozens more by firing an AR-15-style rifle from a rooftop onto a crowd attending Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade, Tuesday evening, July 5, 2022. Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Could the 2022 massacre during Highland Park’s July Fourth parade have been prevented with a small change to state law? It’s never been publicly reported before, but several local sources confirmed this week that Highland Park Police Chief Louis Jogmen wante ..read more

Sun-Times file A man was shot and killed Friday afternoon in the Grand Boulevard neighborhood on the South Side. The 32-year-old was shot during a “domestic related” incident around 3 p.m. in an alley in the 4700 block of South Michigan Avenue, Chicago police said. He was shot in the left leg and abdomen and was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said. A person was taken into custody and charges were pending, police said ..read more