She told the Chicago Sun-Times that the city’s latest victim, shot to death on the South Side, was her only brother, 28-year-old Christopher Thomas. Kyles said he was the father of a young girl.

By day’s end, Thomas’ family would be joined in grief by two other families who also received word their loved ones had been gunned down in violence across the city. Since the start of the weekend, at least 11 others have been wounded in the violence, police said.

Thomas was a musician, Kyles told the Sun-Times, who had been on his way to a studio to record a song when police say he was fatally shot about 5:10 p.m. near 51st and Indiana in the Washington Park neighborhood.

That’s where Kyles stood making phone calls through tears and where a woman identified as Thomas’ mother fell to the ground, wailing as she kicked her feet in despair. His family insisted Thomas wasn’t involved with gangs.

“You never think the violence will hit directly at your home,” Kyles told the Sun-Times.

Chicago Police said they were questioning two suspects about the shooting Sunday night.

Police officers got to the scene of the shooting just in time to see two suspects take off in a car, police News Affairs Officer Daniel O’Brien said. It was unclear whether police officers witnessed the shooting or were nearby when shots were fired, he said.

The officers followed the car onto the Dan Ryan Expressway, where the car crashed, police said.

Officers arrested the two men near 43rd Street and Indiana, police said, citing early reports.

Later, the day’s third homicide would be added to the tally when a man was killed and two others were wounded in a shooting on the Northwest Side.

About 10:10 p.m., the three men were in a beige Toyota Corolla in the 3300 block of North Keeler Avenue when an unknown gunman approached and opened fire, police said.

A friend drove the victims to nearby Norwegian American Hospital, but the men were transferred to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County for further treatment.

One of the men — identified as 19-year-old Junior Estudillo — was shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at Stroger just after midnight, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. The other two men, ages 19 and 25, were listed in “stable” condition.

Earlier Sunday the first homicide was registered when a 19-year-old man was found shot to death in an alley in the South Roseland neighborhood.

Devante Watts was found with a gunshot wound to the head about 11:30 am. Sunday in the 500 block of East 109th Street, police said. No one is in custody.

Among the 11 people injured during the holiday weekend was a 40-year-old pizza deliveryman, stabbed five times during an apparent robbery, police said. The attack happened as the man made a delivery in the 8500 block of South Green Bay Avenue in the South Chicago neighborhood about 8 p.m. on Friday, police said.

The man made a call to a customer as he arrived at a home, police said, and was shortly after stabbed in a gangway by someone who took the man’s cash and food. The deliveryman was listed in serious condition at South Shore Hospital, police said.

Two teenage boys were also wounded in separate attacks this weekend.

A 16-year-old boy was shot in the neck while he rode in a car Friday night in the 200 block of East 51st Street, police said, adding that the boy was listed in serious condition at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County.

Another 16-year-old boy was in the wrong place at the wrong time, police say, when was shot in the leg during an apparent drive-by shooting on the Southwest Side early Sunday. Police do not believe the boy was the intended target

The boy had just left a home in the 4700 block of South Karlov Avenue when a dark colored sports-utility vehicle drove by and shots were fired about 3:45 a.m., police said. Police say he was treated and later released from Mount Sinai Hospital.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

The three men, all in their late teens and early 20s, were in a beige Toyota Corolla in the 3300 block of North Keeler Avenue when an unknown gunman approached the car and opened fire, striking all three, police said of the 10:10 p.m. shooting.

A friend drove the victims to Norwegian American Hospital, but the men were transferred to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County for further treatment.

One of the men — identified as 19-year-old Junior Estudillo — was shot multiple times in the stomach and was pronounced dead at Stroger just after midnight, authorities said.

The other two men, ages 19 and 25, were listed in “stable” condition, police said. One suffered gunshot wounds to shoulder and jaw, the other was shot in the back, police said.

Area Central detectives are investigating.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

As CBS 2’s Kris Habermehl reports, the fire broke out around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday on the back porch of a three-flat building at 4153 W. 21st Pl.

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By the time the first firefighters arrived, the flames had already spread to the back porches of the buildings on either side. A 2-11 alarm was called.

Fire officials said said the 98-degree heat prompted the call for a 3-11 alarm, because with heat nearing 100 degrees firefighters were circled in and out every 10 to 12 minutes, then allowed to rehydrate.

By the time the fire was brought under control, about 40 minutes after the first alarm, the fire had gutted the three-flat in which it began. Flames had spread to the rear and top floor of the building at 4151 and 4155 W. 21st Pl., and to the porch of the building at 4149 W. 21st Pl.

By Wednesday morning, the fire was completely out and all the streets nearby were back open. But the porches collapsed and were completely destroyed, and the brick buildings in front of them sustained major damage.

The remains of the porches were left crumpled and charred in piles in ht rear of the property.

The cause and origin of the fire remained under investigation Wednesday morning.

Police and fire investigators aren’t saying much, but neighbors are certainly talking about what they think might be a religious hate crime.

The 8500 block of Keeler in Skokie was quiet Saturday — a far cry from the scene Friday night when firefighters responded to a suspicious fire at a home on the street.

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Neighbors say moments before the fire, there was an explosion.

“It was a loud blast, like the earth shook, and our house shook,” Francie Niederman told CBS 2′s Mai Martinez.

A CBS 2 producer captured images of the emergency crews and aftermath, but the drama didn’t end there. Within minutes, another fire was reported just three blocks away.

This time it was a minivan, fully engulfed in an alley. The Skokie Fire Department calls both fires suspicious, and they’re looking into the possibility they’re connected.

People living in the neighborhood feel certain they are. One witness who asked to remain anonymous believes the burned van was the same one he saw pull into the driveway of the home that was set on fire.

“There was a guy on their front steps. He had something. I don’t know what it was.  It looked like a large bucket,” the witness said.

“As they were speeding out the driveway, a large explosion went off,” he added.

The witness called 9-1-1 and was later interviewed by police.

Another witness — who also didn’t want to be identified — says police left him with the impression the Jewish family living in the home may have been targeted.

“It sounds like a religious-based arson, so we’re in complete shock here,” the witness said.

He’s not alone.

CHICAGO (CBS) — Four men were shot and wounded Thursday night in a drive-by attack in the North Lawndale neighborhood.

The shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. in the 4100 block of West Roosevelt Road – near Keeler Avenue.

Police say the men were standing on the sidewalk when a dark-colored sedan pulled up. At that point, someone inside the vehicle fired shots.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Bernie Tafoya reports

Two men, ages 29 and 27, were shot in the leg, police said. A 27-year-old was shot in the thigh and a 29-year-old man was shot in the arm.

All were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital and were reported in stable condition, police said. No one was in custody early Friday.

Police were investigating and setting up crime scene tape in front of a grocery store at the scene early Friday.

The West Side shooting capped off a violent evening in Chicago. Four and a half hours earlier, a man was killed and five others were wounded when two gunmen sprayed a convenience store with bullets in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood.

The shooting occurred about 6 p.m. in a store on the 1400 block of West 79th Street. It took the life of Shawndell Harris, 22, of the 9100 block of South Perry Avenue, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

Witnesses say two men in dark hoodies opened fire. A local pastor says as many as a dozen shots were fired.

Four of those wounded were transported in critical condition to either Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn or Stroger Hospital of Cook County. The fifth victim was taken in good condition to Holy Cross Hospital.

Other shooting victims Thursday afternoon included a 31-year-old man who was shot in the head during an argument outside in the 0-99 block of East 113th Place about 4:40 p.m.

David Gully, 31, who lived on the block where he was shot, was pronounced dead at 5:10 p.m. at Roseland Community Hospital, according to the Medical Examiner’s office.

At 5:06 p.m., a 24-year-old man was walking in the 11800 block of South Ashland Avenue when two shooters approached and opened fire, striking him in the buttocks, police said. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and was reported in stable condition.

At 10:14 p.m., a male victim was shot in the leg in the 13100 block of South Ellis Avenue and taken to MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island. His age and condition were not known.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.

CHICAGO (CBS) — Two Chicago public schools and 38 charter schools will be spending an extra 90 minutes in class Monday, joining 11 others that have already done so.

As CBS 2’s Susanna Song reports, the schools have stretched their day to 7 1/2 hours, in a pilot program that will be costly, but for which Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CPS chief executive officer Jean Claude-Brizard have been pushing.

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LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Bernie Tafoya reports

Making the change Monday are Genevieve Melody Elementary, 412 S. Keeler Ave.; and Benjamin E. Mays Academy, 838 W. Marquette Rd.; as well as 38 charter schools, according to CPS.

At Mays, where Emanuel and Brizard were on hand for the first day back at school after the winter break, the additional time will be spent on individual instruction time and core subjects like math.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Craig Dellimore Reports

Some parents question if 7 ½ hours is too long to spend in school, but Emanuel said most parents don’t.

“I was here at pickup time, when they voted for a full school day and parents could not be happier with a full day of education. In fact, many parents have asked for longer,” Emanuel said.

Overall, CPS says, Chicago grade school students are receiving 22 percent less instructional time than the national average.

Under the pilot program, students will spend more time in core subjects such as mathematics, reading and science. But it will also leave time for such options as art classes and recess.

On the CBS 2 Morning News Monday, Brizard reiterated what he believes is the importance of the longer school day.

“I’ll give the mayor credit for starting the conversation. I’ve always been a proponent of a longer school day, a fuller school day, a longer school year, but I’m glad to see it happening here in Chicago,” Brizard said. “Let me give you an example – of the schools that started back in September, they’ve added the equivalent of nearly a month of school in six months.”

Brizard said test scores will not come until the spring to compare performance at schools that have implemented the longer school day with those that have not.

“But think about this – if you want to be a better basketball player, how do you make that happen? Practice,” Brizard said. “So 17 more days – the equivalent of it – adds a lot more practice for our kids.”

CPS is spending about $75,000 per school plus monetary incentives for teachers. The total pioneer pilot is expected to cost several million dollars.

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The decision to extend the school day has led to friction between city officials and the Chicago Teachers Union. The union says the day is just too long when teachers aren’t receiving a pay raise to compensate.

The conflict heated up further when Emanuel and Brizard urged schools to break ranks with the union and go ahead with the longer school day on their own. The schools that complied received an extra $150,000 in funding from CPS, and teachers at the schools received $1,250 bonuses and 2 percent raises.

The union then sought an injunction to block the longer day from taking effect this year. Teachers Union president Karen Lewis argued that Emanuel and Brizard violated the union’s contract by allowing some schools to break ranks.

But the union abandoned its push for a court injunction, after the city agreed not to lengthen the day at any additional schools this year.

By next fall, all CPS schools will adopt longer school days.

The men were shot at 317 N. Keeler Ave. about 5:24 a.m., police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak said, citing preliminary information.

A 24-year-old man was found shot twice in the chest and taken in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said. A 27-year-old man was found shot in the chest and abdomen and taken in critical condition to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County.

Harrison Area detectives are investigating.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

About 1:15 a.m., Grand Central Gang Enforcement officers were on a mission near the intersection of North Keeler and West Armitage avenues when they saw a suspect inside a vehicle point a handgun at a group of people before the vehicle drove off, according to a statement from police News Affairs.

Officers later stopped the same vehicle in the 2000 block of North Kostner Avenue before a male suspected exited the automobile and pointed a handgun at police, the statement said.

Officers chased the suspect on foot into a yard, where he again pointed the gun at police — prompting officers to discharge their weapons, striking the suspect, according to the statement.

The suspect, who did not fire shots at police, was taken into custody and transported to an area hospital, the statement said.

No officers were hurt and a handgun was recovered, the statement said.

Grand Central Area detectives and the Independent Police Review Authority — which investigates all police-involved shootings — are investigating.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

The Chicago Board of Education decided on Friday that George W. Tilton Elementary School at 223 N. Keeler Ave., would not be closed and merged with two other schools as Chicago Public Schools officials had proposed.

The board decided to keep Tilton open because four rival street gangs are active nearby, and combining students from Tilton and another school could pose a safety risk.

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There are an estimated 70 to one hundred gangs in the Chicago metropolitan area. Some of them operate in and around schools.

As CBS 2′s Mike Puccinelli reports, sometimes the mere presence of gangs in a neighborhood can cause Chicago Public Schools officials to change their management plans.

The plan had been to close Tilton and send its students to nearby Guglielmo Marconi Elementary Community Academy, 230 N. Kolmar Ave., and Laura Ward Year-Round Elementary School, 410 N. Monticello Ave.

But the board scrapped those plans amid concerns from parents that gang problems would have been exacerbated by sending kids from Tilton to those schools.

Vonzetta Williams, a grandmother of students at Tilton, said the board’s decision was a victory for her and other Local School Council members opposed to the plan to gradually close Tilton and convert it to a charter high school

“This is a victory for the parents and the children,” she said.

Tilton parents said that, had CPS officials gone ahead with their plan to close Tilton and move its students to Marconi and Ward, their children’s lives could have been endangered. They said the move would have put more rival gang members together in the same schools.

Parent Elizabeth Howard said if school officials had put more than one gang in one school, “It’s gonna be trouble. Come on, now, anybody know that.”

Parents also said the CPS consolidation plan for Tilton would have eventually brought members of four different gangs together in one high school – the charter school they had planned to place at Tilton.

The boundary changes for the schools also would have forced many younger kids to walk through and into an opposing gang’s turf.

Chicago Teachers Union representative Kristine Mayle said that type of situation was a factor in the beating death of Fenger High School honor student Derrion Albert in 2009.

Albert was killed in the midst of a brawl between Fenger students who lived in “The Ville” neighborhood near the school, and students who lived more than four miles south in the Altgeld Gardens public housing development.

CPS officials had closed a neighborhood school in Altgeld Gardens and sent the students there to Fenger.

“I think it had a lot to do with the turf,” Mayle said of the brawl that killed Albert. “When you’re forcing students from different turfs into one building that’s what’s going to happen.”

Gang graffiti already mars the sidewalk outside Tilton, but now parents at least believe the problem won’t be getting any worse.

They were quick to praise the school board for abandoning its plan to close Tilton and move its students to other schools.

“I think that’s a good thing,” Howard said. “Because

CBS 2 asked for interviews from the Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Police Department and the Chicago Crime Commission, but all declined to go on camera for this story.

Despite Friday’s decision to scrap the Tilton consolidation plan, the Sun-Times reported officials said the three schools combined only use 37 percent of their total capacity, and a consolidation plan is still possible in the future.

The original CPS school consolidation plan for next year called for eight schools to close and be consolidated into six others. If the rest of the plan is approved, hundreds of students would be moved to new schools next year.

The board could vote as early as April 27.

In high I was really fucking lazy and that is the truth. What makes matters worse is that my indolence kept me from realizing both my academic and athletic potential. Somehow, between the end of junior high and the beginning of college I regressed from being a hardworking kid who tried his best at everything, to a languid teenager who was more concerned with sleeping and watching television then excelling in the classroom or pursuing opportunities to play sports in college.

Fortunately for me I am blessed with enough natural intelligence and the ability to process information that I was able to obtain good enough grades to keep my parents at bay and get into a good college. However looking back on it I think that my generally apathetic high school attitude has greatly contributed to my current devotion to out-work everyone in the college coaching profession. When I think back on some of the ridiculous stunts I pulled in high school in attempts to circumvent homework, miss practice or just get more sleep I might outwardly laugh, but inside I use that embarrassment as motivation.

Perhaps one of the most ridiculous examples of my laziness during high school was how hard it was for me to get out of bed in the morning. Since I lived about 15 minutes from school, and didn’t own a car or have any friends who drove, I was relegated to taking the bus. However the supposed social stigma attached to showing up at high school in a big yellow school wasn’t what bothered me or brought about my problem. The big issue for me about riding the bus to school was that it stopped at my corner at 7:20am, which was apparently too early for me to drag my ass consistently out of bed in time to make.

Even though the bus came at the exact same time every day I was too stubborn to develop a routine that would get me to the bus stop, which was about 1 house down (we lived pretty much right next to the stop), at 7:19am so that I would never have to worry about missing the bus. As a result of my obstinate behavior I would often arrive at the bus stop in time to see it halfway down the block. At this point was when I would have to make a painful decision; either I would a) have to walk shamefully back inside my house and annoy my parents by asking them for a ride to school, or b) I’d have to start running.

You see I lived on Keeler Avenue which is the street that the bus primarily drove down on the way to school. However before it made its way up Keeler it first looped around a few of the streets in my neighborhood to pick kids up. This route bought me just enough time to run straight up Keeler about 4 blocks and make it to another bus stop before the bus looped back around. Therefore, in the split second after I realized that I had missed the bus, I started hauling my ass up Keeler to cut the bus off and get to school.

While missing the bus during the early fall and spring months wasn’t that big of a deal since the weather was generally mild, in the depths of winter, with snow on the ground, it felt pretty terrible having to run first thing in the morning. Unfortunately the pain of running after the bus those first few times didn’t serve as much of a deterrent for my behavior, and I pretty consistently missed the bus at least once or twice a week. Looking back on it now I still don’t understand how I was willing to run after the bus a couple of times a week, instead of just getting out of a bed a minute or two earlier, and I probably never will.

The fact that I was resistant to making an adjustment so I was on-time for the bus is laughable now, but for whatever reason I was content with my lazy attitude and the consequences. Although I have admit that my former slothful ways have served one important purpose, which is that after experiencing so many of these situations I eventually matured and came to realize that I didn’t want to keep incurring the negative consequences that they brought on; so now when I don’t want to get out of bed I just start to think about the pain of running after the bus, which is all it takes to get me out of bed on time the way it should have back in high school.