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Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Hertl Gets Game-Winner In Sharks’ 3-1 Win Over Blackhawks

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Tomas Hertl’s long wait between goals ended and Patrick Marleau closed in on a major milestone for the San Jose Sharks.

Hertl’s first goal in more than three months broke a tie with 2:03 remaining in regulation after Marleau scored his 499th career goal, helping the Sharks win for the seventh time in eight games, 3-1 over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.

After missing 32 games with a knee injury, Hertl got his first goal since Oct. 27 in his second game back in the lineup when he knocked in the rebound of Brent Burns’ shot to give San Jose the win in the first game back from the All-Star break.

“I should have buried a couple goals before,” Hertl said. “But I’m happy I scored because it was a long time, like three months. It was a big celly for me.”

Joe Pavelski added an empty-netter to cap a night that nearly included a milestone for Marleau. He had an apparent goal wiped off by an offside call on replay before scoring No. 499 in the second period. That gave Marleau six goals in the past four games as he surges toward becoming the 45th player to reach 500.

“It always feels good when you score and win, so it’s good,” Marleau said. “Hopefully I won’t have too long.”

Martin Jones made 24 saves as the Sharks matched last season’s home win total of 18 games.

Dennis Rasmussen scored and Corey Crawford made 26 saves for the Blackhawks, who have lost three straight games. Chicago led going into the third period in losses to Tampa Bay and Winnipeg before the break before giving up the late tiebreaking goal to the Sharks.

“We had two minutes to go there, we just wanted to make sure we could get it to overtime and look for the extra point,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “Three games in a row we’ve given up some points. It’s a tough pill to swallow.”

After a slow start to the game with few chances for the first 30 minutes, the action picked up in the last half of the second period. It started when Marleau appeared to score when he took the rebound of Logan Couture’s missed shot off the back boards and tucked it in for a goal. But the Blackhawks challenged the play, believing Mikkel Boedker was offside on the entry, and replay wiped the goal off the board.

Just a few minutes later with Artem Anisimov in the box for holding, Marleau did get No. 499 when he beat Crawford with a shot from the circle for his 18th goal of the season.

“Patty’s been excellent,” coach Peter DeBoer said. “Best hockey I’ve seen him play since I’ve been here. He’s just got to keep going.”

The Sharks had a chance to add on to the lead, but Crawford stopped Timo Meier on a breakaway. Chicago then got the equalizer when Rasmussen beat Jones with a shot off the inside of the post from the top of the circle on a rush.

But that was all the Blackhawks would get.

“I thought it was better than the last two or three games,” defenseman Duncan Keith said. “We did a lot of good things. It’s just a tough way to lose in the last couple of minutes.”

NOTES: Blackhawks F Marcus Kruger (ill) sat out the game. … Sharks GM Doug Wilson got a nice ovation after a video tribute for having recently become the fourth man to play in at least 1,000 games and be general manager for at least 1,000 games. … Chicago went 0 for 3 on the power play and is just 1 for its last 20 with the man advantage.

UP NEXT

Blackhawks: Visit Arizona on Thursday night.

Sharks: Visit Vancouver on Thursday night.

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Chicago’s Violent Crime In January Matches Bloody Start Of 2016

CHICAGO (CBS) — It was a violent start to 2017 in Chicago, with the number of shootings nearly duplicating the tally from the start of last year, which ended up being the city’s bloodiest year in nearly two decades.

Chicago police said January ended with 51 murders, one more than January 2016. About half of the city’s murders last month happened in three districts on the South Side and West Side – the Austin, Englewood, and Harrison districts.

Last month also saw 234 shooting incidents and 299 shooting victims – compared to 242 shooting incidents and 291 victims during the same time period last year.

Despite the grim numbers in January, police have said a new plan is helping get guns off the streets. Police recovered more than 600 guns last month, an increase of more than 60 percent over January 2016. Police said gun arrests also were more than double the total from January 2016.

Police Supt. Eddie Johnson was scheduled to discuss the January crime statistics Wednesday morning at the Englewood District Police station.

The superintendent repeatedly has said police are doing their part to fight crime, and that it’s up to state lawmakers to do their part and pass legislation cracking down on repeat gun offenders.

The department said, since just three of the city’s 22 police districts account for about half of the city’s murders, more resources are being focused on those areas of Chicago.

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Man Tried To Hide Drugs During Riverside Traffic Stop

CHICAGO (CBS) — A man threw cocaine and rock cocaine around his car in an attempt to hide the drugs from officers conducting a traffic stop early Monday in west suburban Riverside, police said.

James A. Doran, 60, has been charged with six felony counts of possession of a controlled substance, as well as possession of drug paraphernalia and driving without a license, according to a statement from Riverside police.

At 12:51 a.m., an officer spotted a car with an expired registration tag near Ogden Avenue and Lionel Road, police said. When the officer stopped the vehicle, the driver — identified as Doran — said he didn’t have a valid driver’s license.

The officer noticed that Doran was “sweating profusely and seemed very nervous,” according to police. When the officer asked Doran to get out of the car, the officer saw white powder spread throughout the vehicle.

A search of the vehicle revealed cocaine, rock cocaine, scales for measuring narcotics, drug paraphernalia, crack pipes, syringes and several prescription drugs for which Doran was not prescribed, including Tramadol, Alprazolam, Dilaudid, Clonazepam and Diazepam, police said.

“When the officer pulled over Mr. Doran, he began to throw the narcotics throughout the vehicle,” Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said in the statement, adding that it was an attempt to “destroy the evidence.”

Officers searching the vehicle also found a replica paintball gun with a mask and more than 40 power tools, including an air gun, drills, sanders, a toolbox, flashlights, gloves, masks, power cords, and air handling devices, police said. The items may have been stolen during a garage burglary, as Doran could neither prove the items belonged to him nor explain why they were in his car. The investigation is ongoing for possible burglary charges.

Doran, who lives in the 2100 block of Grove Avenue in Berwyn, has a criminal history that includes 47 prior arrests for drugs, traffic offenses, assault, obstruction of justice, seven burglary convictions and nine theft convictions, police said.

He has been ordered held at the Cook County Jail without bond, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office. He is due back in court Wednesday.

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1 Killed, 5 Wounded In Chicago Shootings Tuesday

CHICAGO (CBS) — A man was killed and at least five other people were wounded in shootings Tuesday on the city’s South and West sides, according to Chicago Police.

A 22-year-old man was found about 7:40 p.m. with a gunshot wound to the head in the 4500 block of South Calumet in the Bronzeville neighborhood, police said. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The Cook County medical examiner’s office did not immediately provide information on the fatality.

About 6:20 p.m., an 18-year-old man was shot in the leg in the Austin neighborhood when someone walked up to him and shot him in the leg in the 4900 block of West Ohio. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said.

About 10:15 a.m., a 27-year-old man was walking in the 900 block of West 71st Street in the Englewood neighborhood, when two males walked up, he heard gunfire and then realized he’d been shot in the groin and finger, police said. He was listed in good condition at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

A 26-year-old woman was shot in the foot and a 29-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the leg at 9:04 a.m. in the 4400 block of South Campbell in the Brighton Park neighborhood, police said. They took themselves to Mount Sinai, but additional information was not available.

Tuesday’s first shooting happened about 4 a.m. in the South Chicago neighborhood, where a 25-year-old man was outside in the 8700 block of South Houston when someone walked up and shot him in the chest, police said. He was in critical condition at Christ.

The violence capped a violent start to the year, with more than 300 people shot across Chicago in January.

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City’s Newest Tobacco Taxes Violate State Law: Judge

CHICAGO (CBS) — A Cook County judge ruled earlier this month that the city’s efforts to impose new taxes on various tobacco products violated a 1993 state law.

In a Jan. 20 ruling, Judge Ann Collins-Dole found that the city violated a 1993 law when it tried to impose taxes on cigars, smoking tobacco, smokeless tobacco, and pipe tobacco last year.

That amendment to state law declared municipalities could not impose “a tax based on the number of units of cigarettes or tobacco products.”

It stipulates, though, that “a home rule municipality that has not imposed a tax based on the number of units of cigarettes or tobacco products before July 1, 1993, shall not impose such a tax after that date.”

A lawsuit challenging the legality of the taxes was filed last May by Iwan Ries — the self-proclaimed oldest tobacco shop in the city — and several trade and tobacco sales groups.

The new taxes passed by the City Council included $1.80 per ounce of smoking tobacco; 60 cents per ounce of pipe tobacco; 20 cents per little cigar; and 20 cents per large cigar, according to the city.

The city hoped the new taxes would bring in $6 million a year, which would go toward funding a one-week summer transition program for all incoming high school freshmen and two weeks of summer school for eighth-graders identified as dropout risks.

Attorneys for the city could still appeal the ruling.

In an emailed statement Tuesday night, Chicago Law Department spokesman Bill McCaffrey said that, while the judge’s decision was disappointing, the city has still made progress in its fight against youth tobacco use.

“We are disappointed in the judge’s decision and are currently evaluating our legal options,” he said. “This ruling does not change the fact that tobacco users now need to be 21 years of age to purchase tobacco in Chicago, which furthers health protections for our youth, nor does it impact the other important steps the administration has taken in recent years to discourage the use of dangerous tobacco products.”

The phrasing of the law — specifically “cigarettes or tobacco products” — was at the crux of the plaintiffs’ argument.

Stanley Kaminski, an attorney for Iwan Ries and the other plaintiffs, said Tuesday evening that the city tried to use its cigarette tax, passed prior to 1993, as a way to grandfather in new taxes on other tobacco products, which were not in place before 1993.

“The city’s position was that ‘or’ didn’t mean ‘or,’ ” Kaminski said. “If [lawmakers] meant a cigarette and tobacco products tax, they wouldn’t have said ‘such a tax.’ ”

The judge agreed.

“Strictly construed, ‘tobacco products’ do not include cigarettes when preceded by ‘cigarettes or,’ ” Collins-Dole wrote. “The City claims the plain language of Section 6a(2) should be read as grandfathering in all tobacco taxes, not just taxes on cigarettes,” Collins-Dole wrote.

“However, the plain meaning of ‘such a tax’ is singular because it modifies both ‘a’ cigarette and ‘a’ tobacco tax, separately,” she added.

In her ruling, Collins-Dole also discounted the city’s argument that the taxes were warranted because of how harmful tobacco products can be on a person’s health.

“The City further argues that as a matter of public policy, the tax is justified given the danger of tobacco products causing serious and debilitating diseases,” she wrote. “The court finds this argument unpersuasive.”

There have been prior attempts to change the wording of the law, Collins-Dole wrote, most notably in 2011, when Ald. Ed Burke (14th) introduced a resolution to the City Council that urged the Illinois General Assembly to amend the law to allow municipalities “to tax any and all tobacco products.” The resolution failed to pass.

“This resolution shows the City’s awareness of the distinction between a tax on cigarettes and a tax on other tobacco products,” Collins-Dole wrote.

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Man And Woman Rob Bank In Irving Park

CHICAGO (CBS) — A man and woman robbed a TCF Bank branch afternoon inside an Irving Park neighborhood Jewel-Osco store Tuesday afternoon on the Northwest Side.

The couple made off with an unspecified amount of cash about 3:30 p.m. from the bank at 3570 N. Elston Ave., according to the FBI. No weapons were shown, and no one was hurt.

One robber is described as a 5-foot-9 black woman wearing a leather coat and sunglasses, along with a 5-foot-5 black man in a blue hooded sweatshirt with red jeans. They’re thought to be in their late 20s or early 30s.

The FBI offers cash rewards for tips leading to bank robbery arrests. Anyone with information should call (312) 421-6700.

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Man Charged With Drug-Induced Homicide In NW Suburban Overdose

CHICAGO (CBS) — Authorities say a northwest suburban supplied the drugs that caused a man’s fatal overdose last year in Lake in the Hills.

Emergency crews were called on April 10 to a home on Turnberry Court in Lake in the Hills, where a 26-year-old man was found unresponsive and pronounced dead, according to the McHenry County sheriff’s office. An autopsy found he had ingested a mix of heroin and the designer drug furanylfentanyl.

During the nine-month investigation, authorities traced the drugs back to 27-year-old Terrance M. Kampas, sheriff’s police said.

Kampas was arrested Tuesday at his Huntley home and charged with felony counts of drug-induced homicide and delivery of a controlled substance, police said.

He was remained jailed on a $200,000 bond Tuesday night and was due in court again Thursday.

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