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Lovie Smith is expected to be inteviewed by the Buffalo Bills.
The Tribune has confirmed a report by NFL.com's Ian Rapoport that the Bills will officially interview the former Bears coach soon.
Smith, who was fired Monday, is also reportedly interested in the Cardinals top job.
President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans looked ahead today toward the next round of even bigger budget fights after reaching a hard-fought "fiscal cliff" deal that narrowly averted potentially devastating tax hikes and spending cuts.
The agreement, approved late on Tuesday by the Republican-led House of Representatives after a bitter political struggle, was a victory for Obama, who had won re-election on a promise to address budget woes in part by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
But it set up political showdowns over the next two months on spending cuts and on raising the nation's limit on borrowing. Republicans, angry the deal did little to curb the federal deficit, promised to use the debt ceiling debate to win deep spending cuts next time.
Republicans, who acknowledged they had lost the fiscal cliff fight by agreeing to raise taxes on the wealthy without gaining much in return, vowed the next deal would have to include significant cuts in government benefit programs like Medicare and Medicaid health care for retirees and the poor that were the biggest drivers of federal debt.
"This is going to be much uglier to me than the tax issue … this is going to be about entitlement reform," Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said on CNBC.
Obama urged "a little less drama" when the Congress and White House next address thorny fiscal issues like the government's rapidly mounting $16 trillion debt load.
While the tax package that Congress passed will protect 99 percent of Americans from an income tax increase, most of them will still end up paying more federal taxes in 2013.
That's because the legislation did nothing to prevent a temporary reduction in the Social Security payroll tax from expiring. In 2012, that 2-percentage-point cut in the payroll tax was worth about $1,000 to a worker making $50,000 a year.
The Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan Washington research group, estimates that 77 percent of American households will face higher federal taxes in 2013 under the agreement negotiated between President Barack Obama and Senate Republicans. High-income families will feel the biggest tax increases, but many middle- and low-income families will pay higher taxes too.
Households making between $40,000 and $50,000 will face an average tax increase of $579 in 2013, according to the Tax Policy Center's analysis. Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 will face an average tax increase of $822.
"For most people, it's just the payroll tax," said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.
The tax increases could be a lot higher. A huge package of tax cuts first enacted under President George W. Bush was scheduled to expire Tuesday as part of the "fiscal cliff." The Bush-era tax cuts lowered taxes for families at every income level, reduced investment taxes and the estate tax, and enhanced a number of tax credits, including a $1,000-per-child credit.
The package passed Tuesday by the Senate and House extends most the Bush-era tax cuts for individuals making less than $400,000 and married couples making less than $450,000.
Obama said the deal "protects 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small business owners from a middle-class tax hike. While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country."
The income threshold covers more than 99 percent of all households, exceeding Obama's claim, according to the Tax Policy Center. However, the increase in payroll taxes will hit nearly every wage earner.
Social Security is financed by a 12.4 percent tax on wages up to $113,700, with employers paying half and workers paying the other half. Obama and Congress reduced the share paid by workers from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent for 2011 and 2012, saving a typical family about $1,000 a year.
Obama pushed hard to enact the payroll tax cut for 2011 and to extend it through 2012. But it was never fully embraced by either party, and this time around, there was general agreement to let it expire.
The new tax package would increase the income tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent on income above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for married couples. Investment taxes would increase for people who fall in the new top tax bracket.
High-income families will also pay higher taxes this year as part of Obama's 2010 health care law. As part of that law, a new 3.8 percent tax is being imposed on investment income for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples making more than $250,000.
Together, the new tax package and Obama's health care law will produce significant tax increases for many high-income families.
As soon as the news conference was over, Emery was expected to kick the search for Smith’s replacement into high gear.
"It was a tough day in many ways," Emery said of Smith's firing Monday. "It was a tough decision. Lovie had a good run here with good, competitive teams."
Emery said the firing wasn't totally decided until Monday morning when he sat down and told Smith directly. He said missing the playoffs for the fifth time in six years and the team's struggles on offense were the key factors in his decision.
"The end result was we didn't have enough consistecy," Emery said. "We need to consistently be in the playoffs competing for championships.
"We haven't had the balance, we have not had consistency on the offensive side of the ball. We have gone through a number of coordinators."
Emery said he discussed his decision with team chairman George McCaskey and president Ted Phillips but was given the authority to make the call.
Emery said he will handle the initial coaching interviews by himself and that McCaskey and Phillips will be involved on finalists' interviews. Emery said he would be looking at all levels -- former head coaches, current coordinators, college coaches -- for potential candidates. He said being an NFL head coach was a "24/7 job."
"I want somebody with high energy," Emery said. "Someone who pulls together everyone in the building."
Emery said working well with the media and presenting a good public image also were important factors.
"I want this person to stand up and represent us well," he said.
Emery said he would conduct the search "with a sense of urgency," but "we have to be thorough."
He said "the (ongoing) playoffs are a consideration ... there may be a candidate who is in the playoffs and we may have to wait on that."
Emery said money was not a consideration in firing Smith with a year left on his deal and won't be in deciding on candidates, declining to rule out big-name hires.
"We want to win now," Emery said. "We want that championship now."
Emery said he wants an adaptable coach who can find ways to win with the players on hand, speaking both of quarterback Jay Cutler and also about the defense in terms of using a 4-3 or a 3-4 scheme.
"It's real important to find the person to make things fit with the players we have," Emery said.
Emery said he considered Cutler a "franchise quarterback" that the team needs to "build around," but as to whether he is the long-term solution, he said, "That answer is going to come as we move forward with the new head coach."
"Jay has won a lot of games," Emery said. "We need to build around him."
Chicago Tribune sports columnist Steve Rosenbloom on the Bears firing Lovie Smith. (Posted: Dec 31, 2012)
For all the good things Smith did in his nine years in Chicago, his undoing was his inability to take care of the side of the ball in which he had no background.
Since Smith took over in 2004, the Bears have ranked higher than 23rd in offense only once. They have ranked 28th or lower four times.
Smith tried four offensive coordinators during his Bears career. His first thought was to run a similar offense to the one he was familiar with when he was defensive coordinator of the Rams, so he hired Terry Shea.
The Bears finished last in the league in offense behind quarterbacks Chad Hutchinson, Craig Krenzel, Jonathan Quinn and Rex Grossman, and Shea was dismissed after one season.
Smith then turned to Ron Turner for his second stint as Bears offensive coordinator. Turner lasted five years in what was the heyday for Smith's offense.
It was during this period that Smith's stubborn allegiance to Grossman became an issue. "Rex is our quarterback," he said over and over again.
Those days Smith often talked frequently about how the Bears "get off the bus running," and the team achieved its offensive identity by pounding the ball with Thomas Jones, then Cedric Benson and finally Matt Forte.
But after the Bears traded for Jay Cutler in 2009 and they still finished 23rd in offense and missed the playoffs, Turner was made the scapegoat and fired.
An extensive job search that included interest in Jeremy Bates, Rob Chudzinski and Tom Clements led the Bears back to Smith's old friend Mike Martz, for whom he had worked in St. Louis. Going from the conservative Turner to the aggressive Martz was quite a philosophical shift for Smith.
Martz's offense sputtered in 2010 but started to come on the next season. Then Cutler broke his thumb in the 10th game, and the team unraveled. The Bears lost five straight, and Martz was fired along with general manager Jerry Angelo, the man who brought Smith to Chicago.
Smith's next move was to go conservative again, this time by promoting offensive line coach Mike Tice. A first-time play caller, Tice made great use of new acquisition Brandon Marshall but struggled to find other reliable targets or to overcome protection issues.
The Bears finished 28th in offense.
The only time Smith enjoyed a fairly efficient offense was in 2006, when the offense ranked 15th in a season that ended in the Super Bowl.
Defensively, the Bears were on the other end of the spectrum under Smith. With perennial Pro Bowlers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs as the constants, Smith's defenses usually were among the best in the NFL.
Since 2004, the Bears defense ranks first in the league in takeaways, three-and-out drives forced and third-down percentage and is fourth in scoring defense.
Smith's defenders scored 34 touchdowns, which became a signature of the Bears' style of play.
It was Smith's defense that drove the Bears to their first Super Bowl appearance in 21 years after the 2006 season. Smith and Tony Dungy became the first two African-Americans to coach a Super Bowl team as the Bears took on the Colts.
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DETROIT -- Middle linebacker Brian Urlacher is inactive for the fourth consecutive week because of his injured hamstring as the Chicago Bears prepare to face the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
The Bears will start Nick Roach in his place for the must-win game against the Lions at Ford Field. But the team is holding out hope Urlacher could return next weekend if the Bears are alive in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
The Bears must defeat the Lions and have the Green Bay Packers win at Minnesota to reach the postseason.
Starting free safety Chris Conte also is sidelined with a hamstring injury and Anthony Walters, an undrafted rookie free agent a year ago, will make his first NFL start. Special teams standout Blake Costanzo, another linebacker, is also inactive. He’s missed consecutive games with a calf muscle injury.
Also inactive for the Bears are running back Armando Allen, who has a knee injury, third quarterback Josh McCown, offensive tackle Cory Brandon and defensive tackle Nate Collins, who had been active for nine consecutive games.
The Lions got some good news as tight end Brandon Pettigrew, second on the team with 57 receptions, will play. He was listed as doubtful with an ankle injury that kept him out of the previous two games.
Inactive for Detroit are third quarterback Kellen Moore, running back Kevin Smith, cornerback Drayton Florence, safety Ricardo Silva, offensive tackles Jason Fox and Corey Hilliard and defensive end Ronnell Lewis.
bmbiggs@tribune.com
Twitter @BradBiggs
Washington has called the new Russian law misguided, saying it ties the fate of children to "unrelated political considerations", and analysts say it is likely to deepen a chill in U.S.-Russia relations and harm Putin's image abroad.
The new law, which has also ignited outrage among Russian liberals and child rights' advocates, takes effect on January 1.
The legislation, whose text was issued by the Kremlin, will also outlaw some non-governmental organizations that receive U.S. funding and impose a visa ban and asset freeze on Americans accused of violating the rights of Russians abroad.
Pro-Kremlin lawmakers initially drafted the bill to mirror the U.S. Magnitsky Act, which bars entry to Russians accused of involvement in the death in custody of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and other alleged rights abuses.
The restrictions on adoptions and non-profit groups were added to the legislation later, going beyond a tit-for-tat move and escalating a dispute with Washington at a time when ties are already strained by issues such as the Syrian crisis.
The adoption ban may further tarnish Putin's international standing at a time when the former KGB officer is under scrutiny over what critics say is a crackdown on dissent since he returned to the Kremlin for a third term in May.
"The law will lead to a sharp drop in the reputation of the Kremlin and of Putin personally abroad, and signal a new phase in relations between the United States and Russia," said Lilia Shevtsova, an expert on Putin with the Carnegie Moscow Centre.
"It is only the first harbinger of a chill."
Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the Magnitsky Act - the U.S. bill which prompted the new Russian law - had "seriously undermined" the "reset", the moniker for the effort U.S. President Barack Obama launched early in his first term to improve relations between the former Cold War foes.
Putin has backed the hawkish response with a mixture of public appeals to patriotism, saying Russia should care for its own children, and with belligerent denunciations of what he says is the U.S. desire to impose its will on the world.
SHARP CRITICISM
Seeking to dampen criticism of the move, Putin also signed a decree ordering an improvement in care for orphans.
Critics of the Russian legislation say Putin has held the welfare of children trapped in a crowded and troubled orphanage system hostage to political maneuvering.
"He signed it after all! He signed one of the most shameful laws in Russian history," a blogger named Yuri Pronko wrote on the popular Russian site LiveJournal.
A hashtag that translates as "Putin eats children" was being widely used on Twitter in Russia on Friday, and pro-Kremlin microbloggers hit back with: "Putin supported orphans".
Russian authorities say the deaths of 19 Russian-born children adopted by American parents in the past decade were one of the main motives for the law as well as what they perceive as the overly lenient treatment of those parents by U.S. courts and law enforcement agencies.
However, critics of the bill say Russian orphanages are woefully overcrowded and that adoptions by Russian families remain modest, with some 7,400 adoptions in 2011 compared with 3,400 adoptions of Russian children by families abroad.
Rana Foroohar, Time magazine's assistant managing editor for business news, talks to Rebecca Jarvis and Jeff Glor about what a drop off the "fiscal cliff" could mean to businesses and consumers.
Majority Leader Harry Reid told the Senate in a speech that "it looks like that is where we're headed."
With the House not in session and the clock ticking toward the scheduled January start of tax increases and deep, automatic government spending cuts, Reid offered little hope.
"I don't know time-wise how it can happen now," he said.
President Barack Obama arrived at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington after a flight from Hawaii on Thursday on his way back to the White House to try to restart stalled negotiations with Congress.
Obama made phone calls to congressional leaders on Wednesday from his vacation in Hawaii to try to revive the stalled talks to prevent the "fiscal cliff" scenario, which would worry world financial markets and could push the United States back into recession.
U.S. stocks fell to session lows after Reid's pessimistic remarks.
In addition, consumer confidence fell to a four-month low in December as the budget crisis sapped what had been a growing sense of optimism about the economy, a report released on Thursday showed.
"People are hearing about (the cliff) and it negatively impacts confidence and investor sentiment and even holiday sales," said Todd Schoenberger, managing partner at Landcolt Capital in New York.
The chances of a last-minute deal - at least one that would prevent tax hikes - remained uncertain, with Republicans and Democrats each insisting the other side move first amid continuing partisan gridlock.
The Senate, controlled by Democrats, was scheduled to meet later on Thursday but on matters unrelated to the "fiscal cliff."
Speaker John Boehner and other House Republican leaders, who say they are willing to take up a "fiscal cliff" measure only after the Senate acts on one, were to hold a conference call with Republican House members on Thursday.
The expectation for the call was that lawmakers would be told to get back to Washington within 48 hours to consider anything the Senate might pass.
Weather permitting, that would bring them to Washington with perhaps three days left before the deadline for action. Storms affecting the Midwest, the South and the Northeast played havoc with airline schedules.
'NOT WILLING'
"This isn't a one party or one house problem. This is (that) leaders in both parties in all branches of the government are not willing to make the deal that they know they have to make. Everybody wants their stuff but doesn't want to give up what they don't want to give up," Republican U.S. Representative Steven LaTourette told CNN.
The House and Senate passed bills months ago reflecting their own sharply divergent positions on the expiring low tax rates, which went into effect during the administration of Republican former President George W. Bush.
Democrats want to allow the tax cuts to expire on the wealthiest Americans. Republicans want to extend the tax cuts for everyone.
Congress has proven that it can act swiftly once an agreement is reached. Hope persisted that Republicans and Democrats might come up with a resolution before New Year's Day that could at least postpone the impact of the tax hikes and spending cuts while further discussions take place.
That gives some hope to world markets.
"There is still hope for a last-minute deal, otherwise we're in for a correction in January. People have already priced in an agreement. Without it, the market can't stay at these levels," a Paris-based trader said.
Another battle is just over the horizon in late January or early February over raising the debt ceiling, which puts a limit on the amount of money the U.S. government can borrow to pay its debts and can be raised only with the approval of Congress.
Republican leaders have said they will insist on more budget cuts as a condition of raising the ceiling. Without any action, the U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday the government is set to reach its $16.4 trillion debt ceiling on December 31.
The Treasury Department is to begin "extraordinary measures" to buy time. Many analysts believe the government can stave the default date off into late February.
(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Alina Selyukh and Richard Cowan; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Will Dunham)
Meteorologist Jeff Berardelli, of Miami's CBS-4, has the latest on the paths of the winter storms.
Blizzard warnings have been issued for southern Illinois and parts of Indiana and Kentucky, with as much as a foot of snow whipped by 50 mph wind gusts.
Emling, 43, wasn't expecting any relief later in the day, when he suspected slushy roads to freeze.
“I'm not going to say we're overly swamped, but we're certainly steady,” he said while hauling away a minivan that had slid off a road and hit a culvert. Even before dropping off that vehicle, Emling had another motorist in distress waiting for his help.
“When I was a kid, we had snowstorms all the time, but it seems like we get just two or three nowadays,” Emling said.
In Vincennes, Ind., a National Guard unit has been put on standby after the area received about 9 inches of wet, heavy snow. But Knox County emergency management spokeswoman Kellie Streeter said no major emergencies have been reported in the Vincennes area as of late Wednesday morning.
South of Vincennes, Gibson County Sheriff George Ballard said Interstate 64 and U.S. 31 in southwest Indiana were down to one lane. Ballard said the area has 6 to 8 inches of snow with ice underneath.
Authorities say traffic is light because most people have decided to stay home.
The sweeping storm system also unleashed rare winter tornadoes around the Deep South as it moved toward the Northeast.
The storm system has been blamed for six deaths and several injuries, though no one was killed in the tornadoes. The storms also left more than 100,000 without power for a time across the South, darkening Christmas celebrations.
Severe thunderstorms were forecast for the Carolinas while a line of blizzard and winter storm warnings stretched from Arkansas up the Ohio River to New York and on to Maine.
Thirty-four tornadoes were reported in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama during the outbreak Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.
In Chicago, snow flurries are in the forecast every day this week with highs in the 30s. The last time the high has been below freezing here was on Feb. 25, with a high of 27. The latest Chicago has gone without recording a subfreezing high was Jan. 1, 1924 during the winter of 1923-24.
With today's high already at 33 degrees, the city is within 6 days of the record, according to the Chicago Weather Center.
Seven people were hurt, at least five seriously, in shootings on the South and West sides late Monday.
Four of the injured were hurt in a single shooting on the Far South Side, and all four were taken to local hospitals in serious-to-critical condition, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
The shooting happened shortly before 7:30 p.m. in the 9400 block of South Justine Street in the Brainerd neighborhood on the South Side, officials said.
A male opened fire, striking four males as they walked down the sidewalk, Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Amina Greer said, citing preliminary information.
A 15-year-old and a 22-year-old were taken to Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, a 17-year old was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital and a 19-year-old was taken to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, police said.
The 15-year-old was shot in the abdomen, and the 17-year-old was shot in the chest, police said. The other two men were shot multiple times.
Police said the condition of each was stabilized at the hospital.
About 11:50 p.m., a 21-year-old was shot in an attempted robbery in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side, police said.
The victim was sitting in a parked vehicle in the 8200 block of South Marshfield Avenue when two males approached on foot and announced a robbery, Greer said, citing preliminary information.
Shortly after, one or both of the assailants shot into the vehicle, striking the man in the lower abdomen, police said.
The man was taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital and later transferred to Advocate Christ, where his condition was stabilized, police said.
About 9:05 p.m., a 19-year-old man was shot in the head in the 1200 block of West Washburne Avenue in the West Side's University Village neighborhood, police said.
The man was taken to Stroger in serious condition, News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala said.
Earlier Monday evening, a 37-year-old man was shot in the leg and back in the South Side's Gresham neighborhood, police said.
The shooting happened in the 700 block of West 81st Street about 5:50 p.m., Zala said. The man was taken to an area hospital, where his condition was stabilized.
asege@tribune.com
Twitter: @AdamSege
WEBSTER, N.Y. -- Four volunteer firefighters responding to an intense pre-dawn house fire were shot Monday morning, two fatally, leading to a shootout between a suspect and police in suburban Rochester, N.Y., police said.
"One or more shooters" fired at the firefighters when they arrived shortly after 5:30 a.m. at the blaze near the Lake Ontario shore, just east of Rochester, Town of Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering said.
The first Webster police officer who arrived exchanged gunfire with a shooter, Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn said. Police would not give details on the whereabouts of a suspect, with O'Flynn saying only there was no active shooter at the scene later Monday morning.
The two wounded firefighters were in critical condition at a Rochester hospital, O'Flynn said. A spokeswoman at Strong Memorial Hospital said two Webster firefighters were being treated for gunshot wounds and were in "guarded" condition.
The West Webster Fire District early Monday received a report of a car and house on fire on Lake Road, on a narrow peninsula where Irondequoit Bay meets Lake Ontario, O'Flynn said.
The fire started in one home and spread to two others and a car, officials said. The fire appeared from a distance as a pulsating ball of flame glowing against the early morning sky, flames licking into treetops and reflecting on the water, with huge bursts of smoke billowing away in a brisk wind.
The gunfire initially kept firefighters from battling the blazes, but they were doing so late Monday morning, officials said.
Monday's shooting and fires occurred in a neighborhood of seasonal and year-round homes set close together across the road from the lakeshore. The area is popular with recreational boaters but is normally quiet this time of year, O'Flynn said.
"The whole strip's been evacuated," resident Michael Damico told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. "They're evacuating all of the houses and going through them."
O'Flynn lamented the violence, which comes on the heels of other shootings including the massacre of 20 students and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
"It's sad to see that that this is becoming more commonplace in communities across the nation," O'Flynn said.
Webster, a middle-class, lakeside suburb, now is the scene of violence linked to house fires for two Decembers in a row.
Last Dec. 7, authorities say, a 15-year-old boy doused his home with gasoline and set it ablaze, killing his father and two brothers, 16 and 12. His mother and 13-year-old sister escaped with injuries. He is being prosecuted as an adult.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed
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More than 250 Illinois clergy -- most of them in the Chicago area -- have endorsed a gay marriage bill that could come up for a vote in Springfield before Jan. 9.
On Sunday, rabbis and pastors from denominations that support gay rights in varying degrees unveiled a declaration supporting equality for same-sex couples. Fostering faith, justice and compassion is a key component of their jobs, they said.
"Standing on these beliefs, we think that it is morally just to grant equal opportunities and responsibilities to loving, committed same-sex couples.," the declaration stated. "There can be no justification for the law treating people differently on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity."
Earlier this month, Sen. Heather Steans and Rep. Greg Harris announced they would take up the measure as the current General Assembly winds down in January and before a new set of lawmakers are sworn in Jan. 9.
The legislation would allow same-sex marriage and protect the right of religious institutions to either consecrate or not consecrate such weddings. Opponents to the bill say gay marriage violates Scripture, natural law and basic moral principles.
mbrachear@tribune.com
Twitter: @TribSeeker
A 3-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl died this morning after they and two other children were left home alone in the Englewood neighborhood, officials say. (Posted Dec. 22nd, 2012)
A young boy and girl died this morning after they and two other children were left home alone in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, officials say.
The girl, 2, and the boy, 3, were found in a back bedroom after firefighters cut through burglar bars on the brick and stone two-flat in the 6400 block of South Paulina Street.
"Please, sergeant, please," a relative pleaded with an officer outside the home. "They're 2 and 3 years old."
A hot plate being used for heat sparked the fire while the four children, alone in the apartment, slept in two bedrooms, according to fire officials. Police said the children's mother and aunt were being questioned.
The surviving children, a 7-year-old boy and his 4-year-old brother, were rescued by an aunt and interviewed by investigators at a neighbor's home.
Darnell, 7, said he and Marquis, 4, had fallen asleep watching Batman cartoons. The two other children -- his 2-year-old sister and 3-year-old cousin -- were asleep in another bedroom. When he woke up, the fire was already burning.
"When the fire started, everything shut off," Darnell said.
The boy said he and Marquis were in a bedroom by the kitchen and "the fire was in the front room where the couch is at. When we saw the fire, it was like in the front room, then it was by the bathroom door."
Darnell said his aunt came rushing through the front door. "When (she) saw the fire, she called all our names. When I opened the door, she told me, 'Come on, the fire's getting closer.' I coughed, my auntie was choking. My sister was banging on the door.
"When we got outside, police passed us, then drove backward and came up because there was a fire," he said.
Darnell and Marquis were brought to a neighbor's house, where investigators from the Bomb and Arson unit and the Office of Fire Investigations (OFI) talked to them.
The investigator from OFI squatted down while talking to the boys. Only Darnell spoke. Marquis was quiet the entire time. Darnell spoke to a Tribune reporter afterward as he sat with four neighbors in their home.
The children were later taken into protective custody by the Department of Children and Family Services.
When firefighters arrived around 3:30 a.m., they weren't able to get into the home because of intense heat and fire, a Chicago Fire Department official said. Fire was heavy throughout the basement and first floor, he said.
Firefighters cut through burglar bars on the windows, he said.
The basement windows were all shattered. A white Christmas tree, smudged with smoke, stood near front room window.
A neighbor told an investigator that the second-floor tenants recently moved out of the brick and stone two-flat.
pnickeas@tribune.com
Twitter: @PeterNickeas
Marion County prosecutor Terry Curry says Monserrate Shirley and the others were arrested Friday morning and charged with felony murder.
Authorities have said they believed the explosion was intentional and caused by natural gas.
The explosion killed Jennifer and John Longworth, who lived next door to Shirley's home. Five houses were destroyed and about 90 houses in the subdivision were damaged, costing an estimated $4.4 million.
"We have to acknowledge that we are helpless to alleviate the pain and anguish of such innocent victims and their families," Curry said. "However, what we as a public safety community can do and must do is devote our best efforts to see that justice is served on behalf of those victims. As with any matter filed by our office, we are absolutely committed to see that justice is done on behalf of all who have been victimized by the Richmond Hill explosion."
Authorities determined the home was filled with natural gas for six to eight hours prior to the explosion. Investigators believe a microwave, which can be set on a timer, was the source of ignition, stating it “exploded from the inside out.”
Curry also said that Shirley and Leonard attempted to cause damage to their home the weekend prior to the explosion but their attempt failed. Curry stated their actions the weekend before mirrored the actions taken the weekend of Nov. 10, including going to a casino for the night, boarding their pet cat and leaving their daughter at a babysitter’s house.
Police search for man wanted for assault. (WGN - Chicago)
Police have released photos of a man suspected of grabbing a woman off the street in the Rogers Park neighborhood and sexually assaulting her in a construction area near the CTA Morse station.
The woman, 50, told police she was walking south on Glenwood around 5:45 a.m. Wednesday when a man wearing a mask grabbed her by the throat near the entrance to the station, according to the police report.
As she screamed, the man dragged her into a construction area and assaulted her, threatening to "snap her neck" if she screamed again, police said.
The woman said she saw a worker at the site and ran toward him as the attacker fled with the woman's clothes and purse, according to the police report. The items were later found in an alley and on the roof of a nearby garage.
Police released surveillance photos of the suspect Wednesday night and asked anyone with information to call 312-744-8200.
chicagobreaking@tribune.com
Twitter: @chicagobreaking
The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the capture of two convicted robbers who rappelled down the side of a high-rise federal jail in the South Loop, scurrying some 15 floors to freedom on a rope made of bedsheets.
The FBI announced the reward in a brief statement this morning. It said anyone with information can call 312-421-6700.
FBI spokeswoman Joan Hyde says there are no developments to report this morning. "Unfortunately, we don't have any new news," she said. "Our focus is still primarily on the Chicago metropolitan area."
The hulking federal jail with its narrow slits for windows has defied escape attempts. This marked only the second successful one and the first in almost three decades. Just three years ago, however, a brother of a famous Hollywood director was caught with 31 feet of roped bedsheets in his cell.
The two escapees made for memorable bank robbers — Banks for his goofy disguises and Conley for flaunting his cash loot a short time later at the strip club where he worked.
Banks and Conley were present for a 10 p.m. check Monday, but by 7 a.m., MCC employees arriving for work saw the crudely wrapped rope dangling on the south side of the building, still swinging in the wind.
Guards found the window in their cell broken and the makeshift rope tied to its bars, federal authorities revealed late Tuesday in filing escape charges against the pair. Numerous articles of clothing and sheets were piled under a blanket in both their beds to make it appear they were asleep for the standard overnight bed checks.
In addition, authorities found metal bars from the window in a mattress as well fake bars in the cell, suggesting the two had gone to some lengths to cover their tracks as they prepared their escape.
But exactly how Banks and Conley slipped through a window just 5 inches wide was not immediately clear.
"You've got to be a contortionist to pull that one off," said Scott Fawell, a top aide of convicted former Gov. George Ryan. Fawell spent about eight months at the MCC for corruption.
However, one law enforcement source said Banks and Conley may have removed a cinder block from beneath the window to make a bigger opening to slip out.
The jail, at 71 W. Van Buren St., was placed on lockdown after the break was discovered and visits with inmates were canceled, according to several criminal defense attorneys who had planned to meet with clients. The facility, which is operated by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, opened in 1975 and houses about 700 inmates.
Conley and Banks were last seen in suburban Tinley Park and are believed to be together. Banks, 37, was described as black, 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds, while Conley, 38, is white, 6 feet and 185 pounds.
Banks could have as much as $500,000 stashed away, according to testimony at his trial. He stole a combined $589,000 in two robberies, but only about $80,000 had been recovered or accounted for through Banks' purchases, prosecutors said.
The FBI called Banks one of the most prolific bank robbers in Chicago history, saying at the time of his arrest in 2008 that he was suspected in about 20 heists. However, he was charged in only two bank robberies and two attempted holdups. A jury convicted him on all counts last week.
An aspiring clothes designer, Banks was caught on bank surveillance tapes in 2007 and 2008 jumping bank counters and directing employees to empty vaults while wearing a fake beard. He was dubbed the Second Hand Bandit because of the discount clothing he wore during the robberies.
On the day he was scheduled to go to trial in late October, Conley abruptly pleaded guilty to robbing a Homewood bank in 2011 while brandishing a pistol and threatening a teller.
"If you don't give (the money) to me, I will put them in your head," he allegedly said.
Conley then went to the Chicago Heights strip club where he worked while still dressed in the black suit and white tie he wore during the holdup, flashing cash around, prosecutors alleged. He paid off a $400 debt before telling co-workers he was jetting off to Bermuda, according to the charges.
Conley, incarcerated at the MCC since October 2011, faces a maximum 20 years, while Banks, who has been in custody since 2008, could be hit with an 80-year sentence. An escape conviction carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Early in the day the search for the duo zeroed in on Tinley Park, where Conley lived and where the two had last been spotted, authorities said. SWAT teams searched the home of a Conley relative, but the investigators missed the two by a few hours, authorities said.
Helicopters hovered above the southwest suburb and streets were blocked by police squads as the search continued. The SWAT team walked the nearby streets with dogs as neighbors followed behind, snapping pictures with their phones. About two blocks down, the officers searched the Metra stop.
In the wake of the deadly school shooting in Newtown, Conn., Tinley Park officials notified local schools and dispatched police officers to school buildings closest to where the search was under way.
Federal and local law enforcement also charged into Conley's old strip club, Club 390, surprising staff and patrons, in an attempt to find him, staff said.
FBI agents first showed up at the Chicago Heights club early Tuesday morning, hours before its 11 a.m. opening. The agents questioned an employee who told them she hadn't seen Conley, staff said.
Sheriff's deputies returned around 1 p.m., bursting into the club in police gear and scattering the lunch crowd, employees said. A few officers questioned staff and searched the building, including the dancers' dressing room and women's bathroom. Plainclothes officers remained seated in the darkness at the periphery of the stage around 3 p.m.
A mug shot of Conley was posted near the cash register at the bar.
Authorities were chasing numerous tips into the night Tuesday, but the search so far remained focused on Chicago and the suburbs.
A woman who answered at the home of a relative of Conley said the day's events were "very upsetting for everyone" and declined further comment.
The Banks family learned of the escape while watching the morning news, said Banks' cousin, Theresa Ann Banks, who pleaded for her cousin to turn himself in.
"I just don't want to see him get hurt or killed," she said in a shaky voice. "(The family) is trying to hold themselves together. We just have to have faith in God and hope everything goes right."
Banks represented himself at the trial, challenging U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer so much that he was briefly strapped into a restraint chair during the trial. In court filings, he identified himself as "Joseph Banks-Bey," a Moorish national, and made legal filings defying the court's jurisdiction.
He offered a long, rambling closing that Pallmeyer finally cut off because Banks would not stop making wild accusations that the government had "trumped" up the charges and rigged photo lineups in the case.
The law enforcement source said security had been stepped up for Pallmeyer and the prosecutors involved in Banks' trial.
Tribune reporter Adam Sege contributed.
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