Chicago
Nigerian faces 10 years in jail for obtaining U.S. citizenship using fake identity
The United States authorities have charged 48-year old Modestus Nwagubwu Ifemembi to court over fraudulent claims he provided to obtain the US citizenship 10 years back. Ifemembi, who secured his US citizenship in 2001, has worked as a Federal providers’ officer with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for seven years. According to a report by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Ifemembi, originally of Nigeria, was arrested in Maryland on Wednesday, April 7, 2020, on a federal charge that he obtained U.S. citizenship under a false name. It added that he made false statements to acquire U.S. citizenship, in addition to employment with USCIS. The report disclosed that Ifemembi was charged under the false name of Karl Nwabugwu Odike Ifemembi. His arrest followed investigatio...
Consequence’s Under the Tracks on Vans’ Channel 66 Goes Skate Punk on New Episode
Consequence’s bi-weekly livestream program Under the Tracks rides back to Vans’ Channel 66 on April 5th. This week, Host NNAMDÏ welcomes guests Pete Wilson of Pete Wilson & The Rooks and Cafe Racer to carve out the history of Chicago’s skate music scene. Each artist will put together a unique 45-minute DJ set that drops in on the punk, hardcore, and garage sounds that have soundtracked The Second City’s skate culture throughout the decades. A visual artist in addition to being the vocalist and guitarist for The Rooks, Pete Wilson brings the sublime sensibilities of recent videos like “Look at the Skull in My Face” to his group’s experimental rock sounds. Together with his fellow bandmates drummer Corin and bassist Kevo, his group’s focus on the weird and overlooked align...
Michael Mann’s Thief: James Caan and James Belushi Return to Chicago 40 Years Later
Neon lights across Wabash. Coffee and donuts by the Adler. Midnight blues on Lincoln Ave. Car light chats in the West Loop. The streets are wet. The night is blue. The men are dangerous. This is the world of Michael Mann’s Thief. Inspired by Frank Hohimer’s 1975 true crime book The Home Invaders: Confessions of a Cat Burglar, the feature film debut of the Chicago veteran is a bridge between two times: a boiling point for ’70s crime thrillers and a fever dream of the ’80s to come. In 1980, Mann knew exactly where he was going when he set out to play in his hometown. From the prescient use of Tangerine Dream to the lone wolf archetype he gave to James Caan, Thief serves as a blueprint for everything that defines his CV. A CV, mind you, that would not only go on to define the ’80s but recalib...
Consequence’s Under the Tracks on Vans’ Channel 66 Celebrates Chicago Indie Labels
On March 22nd, Consequence’s bi-weekly livestream program Under the Tracks returns with a brand new edition on Vans’ Channel 66. Host NNAMDÏ is back at House of Vans Chicago with an episode focusing on the city’s accomplished indie labels. Joining in this week to present their own unique 45-minute DJ sets and chat about The Second City’s record output are journalist Britt Julious and Alexander Fruchter, known in local hip-hop circles as DJ RTC. Julious currently serves as the music critic for The Chicago Tribune, as well as editorial director of Cancer Wellness magazine. She previously edited Vice’s THUMP, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Vogue, Esquire, ELLE, Women’s Health, and Bon Appetit, among other publications. Her work was recognized in 2019 when she recei...
Consequence’s Under the Tracks on Vans’ Channel 66 Is Back with V.V. Lightbody and OHMME
V.V. Lightbody (photo via artist) and OHMME (photo by Ash Dye) Consequence’s bi-weekly livestream program Under the Tracks is back on Vans’ Channel 66 on Monday, March 8th with a brand new edition celebrating the music of Chicago. Coming to you live from House of Vans Chicago, this week’s episode centers on the women who are at the forefront of Chicago’s vibrant indie scene. Local legend NNAMDÏ returns to host this celebration of the women who are making this modern era of The Second City’s independent music scene possible. NNAMDÏ will welcome V.V. Lightbody and OHMME to each spin 45-minute DJ sets shining a light on the Chicago-affiliated women leading the way both in front of and behind the scenes. Lightbody has long been a face of the local music scene, having played with the likes of T...
Yuletide: Children are happier with gifts than excursions – study
Kids aged between three and 12 are happier when given material gifts than being taken on pleasure trips, a recently released study suggests. The findings, published in September in the International Journal of Research in Marketing, revealed that while adults tend to be thrilled by experiences, younger kids are more drawn to material goods. This effect, however, changes over time as a child’s cognitive skills increase, the study compiled by a team of researchers at the University of Illinois stated. “Across four studies with children and adolescents of ages 3–17 years, we show that children (ages 3–12) derive more happiness from goods than from experiences, but the effect changes over time,” it said. An associate professor of marketing at the Chicago-based institution, Lan Nguyen Chaplin, ...
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Chris Crack’s ‘Haters Forget They Were Fans First’ & ‘Washed Rappers Ain’t Legends’ [Review]
Art Direction by Skyler Durden By the time this double review of Chris Crack‘s latest releases is completed, it wouldn’t be shocking to learn he’s already got another two records in the stash ready to be unleashed. With Washed Rappers Ain’t Legends and Haters Forget They Were Fans First, the prolific Chicago rapper and singer is back to his usual high-quality craftwork of soulful, R&B-tinged Hip-Hop. Of the pair, Washed Rappers Ain’t Legend dropped at the top of November after Crack teased its release but only fans got one of his albums, Thanks Uncle Trill, to a million plays on Spotify. In his usual fashion, WRAL doesn’t deviate from Crack’s propensity to throw everything in his arsenal at the wall and what sticks is typically the entire bulk ...
US election: Republicans hold back Democrats, narrowing path to Senate control
The battle for power in the Senate tightened into Wednesday as Democrats picked up a seat in Colorado, but suffered a setback in Alabama, and Republicans held their own in high-profile races in South Carolina, Iowa, Texas and Kansas, dramatically narrowing the political map. Republicans fought to retain their Senate majority by turning back a surge of Democrats challenging allies of President Donald Trump, and the Democrats’ various paths to seizing control were growing more limited. With several contests still too early to call, and one Georgia race heading to a January runoff, the final verdict is expected to drag on. Democrats gained a seat when ex-Gov. John Hickenlooper ousted GOP Sen. Cory Gardner in Colorado, a must-win to flip the Senate, but couldn’t hold on in Alabama, where forme...
Gold rises on renewed US stimulus hope, dollar falls
Spot gold rose 0.3 percent to $1,910.56 an ounce at 3:37pm, New York time, after falling as much as 0.5 percent. Gold rose on renewed optimism for a preelection aid package in the U.S., while the dollar fell to a one-week low. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a bill for a compromise stimulus package is being written as she awaits a key phone call with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his chamber would take up a comprehensive coronavirus package if an accord is struck. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index headed for the third straight decline. Pelosi said in a Bloomberg Television interview that while there are areas where more work is required to get a compromise, she was pleased with the Trump administration’s latest position on coronavirus testing ...
R.I.P. Pierre Kezdy, Naked Raygun Bassist Dead at 58
Naked Raygun bassist Pierre Kezdy has died at the age of 58 following a battle with cancer. According to the Chicago Sun Times, Kezdy passed away early Friday (Oct. 9th) at a hospice in Glenview, Illinois. A legend of the Chicago punk rock scene, Kezdy had served as Naked Raygun’s bassist since 1985. He’s also credited with writing some of the band’s seminal songs, including “Home” and “Vanilla Blue”. Years later, Naked Raygun’s impact is still widely felt. Everyone from Foo Fighters to Fall Out Boy to Alkaline Trio has cited the band’s music as a major influence on their own. In addition to Naked Raygun, Kezdy was a founding member of the short-lived, but influential punk band Strike Under. He also played in Pegboy and Arsenal. In 2011, Kezdy suffered a stroke that briefly rendered h...
Chicago Church That Held Emmett Till’s Funeral Placed On List Of U.S. Endangered Sites
Source: Andrew Lichtenstein / Getty The tragically short life of Emmett Till became a tipping point for the Civil Rights Movement, and his enduring legacy serves as a reminder not much as changed in America. However, the nation will recognize the church that held his funeral will be listed as one of the Most Endangered Historic Places in the United States. According to a report from the Chicago Sun-Times, the Roberts Temple Church of God In Christ in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood was the site of Till’s funeral, with the 14-year-old’s badly beaten and bloated body on display for the world to see the horrific crime and shame his murderers publicly. According to lore, it was a three-day event that was attended by thousands and received national media recognition. The National Trust for H...
Growing Concerns Poetry Collective Announce New Album Big Dark Bright Futures
Chicago’s own Growing Concerns Poetry Collective have announced their new album, BIG DARK BRIGHT FUTURES. Due out October 16th, the followup to 2017’s We Here: Thank You for Noticing once again reunites filmmaker, poet, and actor McKenzie Chinn; actor and DIY hip-hop prodigy Mykele Deville; and multidisciplinary visual artist/musical composer Jeffrey Michael Austin. In anticipation, they’ve shared a music video for their latest single “Shout Across Mountains”. Written and composed between 2017 and 2019, the new album offers “an emotional, expansive, no-holds-barred journey through both the shadowed valleys and hopeful peaks of our current moment,” a press release notes. The Collective cites influences of Afrofuturism, Solange, and Frank Ocean, insisting that it “finds the common place...
