Two families were displaced Friday after an extra-alarm fire caused extensive damage to three neighboring homes in the Avondale neighborhood on the city’s Northwest Side.
No injuries were reported after the Chicago Fire crews were called to the 2800 block of North Christiana Avenue just before 6:45 p.m., according to authorities.
Arriving fire crews found fire at the rear of two of the homes and within minutes raised the alarm to a 2-11 alarm, summoning about 100 firefighters to the scene, according to deputy district chief Kelly Burns.
The fire spread among three adjacent 2 ½ story frame homes that required a large amount of water, officials said. The home in the center of the three fireburned homes sustained heavy fire and water damage, Kelly said.
Even after the fire was officially struck out, firefighters continued to douse the burnt remnants, said Fire Chief Michael Divita.
At least two families were displaced by the fire and were being hosted in a shelter, Divita said. The city’s Building Department was expected inspect the structures to see if they were stable, Divita said
The cause of the fire was unknown as fire investigators began their investigation.
In an historic ruling that could change the trajectory of a rapidly heating planet, a court of law with binding jurisdiction over most of Europe has ruled that governments can be held liable for inadequate responses to climate change.
The European Court of Human Rights determined that rising temperatures in Switzerland caused direct and tangible health consequences among Swiss citizens, and that governments failing to take adequate steps to mitigate and reduce carbon emissions could owe damages to people hurt by their inaction.
Europe could take climate cases in a new direction
The ECHR ruling is unprecedented in several respects, beginning with its reliance on principles of human rights. The Court ruled that governments failing to do enough to address climate change were violating the European Convention on Human Rights, which holds as its first tenet that, “Everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law.”
By failing to meet its own climate targets, the court held, the Swiss government injured citizens’ fundamental right to life.
The plaintiffs themselves were also unique. In climate cases pending around the world, including in the U.S., the vast majority of plaintiffs are young people worried about how they will survive on a burning planet with rapidly disappearing habitats and resources.
The ECHR case, in contrast, was brought by elderly plaintiffs, most of whom were women in their 70s who alleged that their elderly years and gender made them particularly vulnerable to health risks linked to climate change. Heatwaves, in particular, can be deadly for the elderly as excessive heat triggers a strained cardiovascular response. Cognizant of their own time limitations, these women sued to benefit the next generation. One plaintiff told the BBC, “We know statistically that in 10 years we will be gone. So whatever we do now, we are not doing for ourselves, but for the sake of our children and our children’s children.”
The ECHR ruling could directly and immediately shape industrial policies throughout the industrialized economies of Europe. Although it falls to Switzerland to comply with the ruling, its precedent is legally binding on all 46 member states including Germany, the U.K., France and Italy — all fuel-burning heavy hitters.
Climate challenges in the U.S.
The European Court ruled that Switzerland’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions had been “woefully inadequate.” Although the ruling isn’t binding on U.S. courts, the domestic fossil fuel industry will be directly affected by it, since the U.S. has recently become the biggest supplier of crude oil to the European Union.
Climate litigants in the U.S. have followed a different strategy. State and local governments are now suing fossil fuel companies and the American Petroleum Institute for damages caused by climate change, astronomical damages that fall to states, cities, and towns that can’t afford to pay for them.
These climate cases name private fossil fuel companies as defendants, seeking to hold for-profit industries including BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Shell responsible for increasing carbon dioxide and methane emissions caused by their products.
Big oil’s campaign of deception
Legal claims and allegations pending in the U.S. focus largely on big oil’s deceptive practices. Like the tobacco industry cases from the 1990s, these cases allege fraud, nuisance, conspiracy and negligence arising from the industry’s long-standing public disinformation campaigns. Congress has conducted numerous investigations into big oil’s pattern of deception. Despite clear, written evidence that oil executives have long known the causal connection between fossil fuels and climate change, industry executives have consistently lied about it to protect their profits.
Nearly ten years ago, Democratic members of Congress addressed a report by the Union of Concerned Scientists concluding that “there was a coordinated campaign of deception” on climate science by ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP, Shell, Peabody Energy and other members of the fossil fuel industry. Big oil’s targeted acts of deception over a decades-long campaign included “forged letters to Congress,” secret funding of allegedly independent but industry-controlled scientists, creating “fake grassroots organizations” to influence policy, and multiple, ongoing, and in-depth “efforts to deliberately manufacture uncertainty about climate science.”
A young person’s lament
Climate activists should be uplifted and encouraged by the ECHR decision, as its effects begin to ripple through the fossil fuel industry, industrialized economies and reluctant courts. It won’t change the prognosis or the immediate future — today’s youth will still live through the worst effects of climate destruction, even though they had nothing to do with the policies that caused it.
But one major, outcome-determinative weapon remains: the right to vote. As enraging as it is for young Americans to hear oil-financed politicians deny climate change (“Drill baby, drill!”), we could fund the transition to clean energy — including an upgraded, nationwide grid of sufficient capacity — if every young adult simply voted.
Sabrina Haake is a Chicago attorney and Gary resident. She writes the Substack newsletter The Haake Take
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MIAMI — The Chicago Bulls crashed out of the NBA Play-In Tournament with a 112-91 collapse against the Miami Heat on Friday, ending another disappointing season without a trip to the playoffs.
Friday’s matchup was supposed to be a lighter challenge for the Bulls after Heat star Jimmy Butler was ruled out of the game with an MCL injury suffered in Wednesday’s play-in opener against the Philadelphia 76ers.
With the same stakes on the line last season in the play-in tournament, the Bulls had commanded the first three quarters — until Butler took over in the final minutes to steal away a win on the way to an NBA Finals run. But with the Heat’s clutch player off the board Friday, the Bulls seemed positioned to slip into the playoffs for the first time since 2022.
Instead, they fell apart.
After an uncharacteristically hot night of shooting Wednesday in their first play-in game against the Atlanta Hawks, the Bulls went only 13-for-43 from behind the 3-point arc — and 38% from the field. Coby White scored only 13 points after dropping 42 on the Hawks two nights prior. The Bulls coughed up 17 points off 12 turnovers and struggled heavily against overwhelming defensive pressure from the Heat at the rim.
DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 22 points on 8-for-16 shooting, but it wasn’t nearly close enough to balance out the offense.
The Heat — who earned the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference and will face the top-seeded Celtics in the first round beginning Sunday in Boston — weren’t perfect, and their offense was streaky. They went on a 19-0 run to take a commanding lead in the first quarter, then went five minutes without scoring in the second quarter. But the Bulls could never capitalize on those moments as their shooting fell ice cold from every area of the court.
And the Heat absorbed every mistake with a scorching shooting performance, finishing 14-for-33 on 3-pointers.
The Bulls ended the season with a 39-43 record, missing the playoffs and finishing under .500 for the second consecutive season.
A young woman was killed and a man was critically injured Friday afternoon when gunmen in two separate vehicles opened fire on the vehicle they were riding in on the city’s West Side, according to Chicago police.
The victims, a 20-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man were inside a vehicle headed west through an alley behind the 3800 block of West Jackson Boulevard in the Garfield Park neighborhood just before 5 p.m. when the shooting occurred, police said.
An unknown number of gunmen inside a white SUV and white sedan opened fire toward the vehicle, striking the woman twice in the chest and the man once in the back, according to authorities. The woman was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital where she was pronounced dead, while her companion arrived in critical condition, police said.
The victims’ identities weren’t yet released publicly. The gunmen’s vehicles fled the scene after the shooting and no arrests had been made Friday evening.
The Chicago Cubs defeated the Miami Marlins 8-3 on April 19, 2024, in the opener of a four-game series at Wrigley Field.
Cubs third basen Nick Madrigal gets high-fives in the dugout after scoring against the Marlins on April 19, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)Cubs starting pitcher Jameson Taillon delivers against the Marlins on April 19, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)
Cubs center fielder Cody Bellinger runs to first base after a hit against the Marlins on April 19, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)Cubs center fielder Cody Bellinger (24) gets high-fives as he returns to the dugout after scoring against the Marlins on April 19, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)Marlins shortstop Tim Anderson walks to the dugout during a game against the Cubs on April 19, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)
Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson walks toward the dugout after striking out against the Marlins on April 19, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)Cubs reliever Keegan Thompson delivers against the Marlins on April 19, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)Cubs first baseman Garrett Cooper, far right, smiles while running back to third base before getting tagged out by Marlins third baseman Emmanuel Rivera (15) on April 19, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)
Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, left, talks with Marlins second baseman Luis Arraez on April 19, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)The Cubs celebrate their 8-3 victory against the Marlins on April 19, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)Cubs designated hitter Christopher Morel (5) hugs catcher Miguel Amaya after an 8-3 win against the Marlins on April 19, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)
Eight seasons into his major-league career hasn’t dissipated Chicago Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon’s pregame butterflies ahead of his season debut.
A back injury interrupted his build-up process and sidelined him the entire spring exhibition schedule, causing him to begin on the injured list until Thursday. Taillon’s return gave the Cubs a boost.
“I think that’s a pretty healthy thing,” Taillon said of his nerves, “but I hadn’t felt that in a while.”
The pitching staff has played a big role in the Cubs being on the right side of .500 to start the season, even while battling injuries to notable players. Taillon gave his team exactly what they needed Friday, limiting the Miami Marlins to three hits and one run in five innings as the Cubs cruised to an 8-3 series-opening win at Wrigley Field. The lone damage Taillon allowed came on a Bryan De La Cruz homer in the fourth that landed in the left-center-field basket, a ball that would not have gone over the wall at any other major-league park, according to Statcast.
Taillon threw a first-pitch strike to 17 of the 18 batters he faced and did not issue a walk while striking out four. He kept the Marlins guessing by utilizing a balanced repertoire that featured six pitches generating 12 whiffs and 12 called strikes.
With Taillon back in the rotation, Ben Brown is expected to give the Cubs innings in relief sometime this weekend, likely Saturday during their doubleheader. Manager Craig Counsell didn’t want to look beyond this series as to how the pitching staff might shape up, but getting Taillon back helps the Cubs use their pitching depth to their advantage.
“Something that’s super exciting about our team is how deep it is,” Taillon said. “When our pitching staff’s right we’re going to fill up the zone, throw strikes, we’re going to play defense, our lineup’s going to give you tough at-bats one through nine. I’ve been on some really talented teams but our team, I don’t know if I’ve seen a deeper group of ballplayers. It’s a fun brand of baseball to watch.”
As the Cubs improved to 12-7 with Friday’s victory, the team’s resiliency through three weeks has left a strong impression on president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer. While it might sound odd, Hoyer said that in some ways two of his favorite games were their blown eight-run lead April 8 to the Padres and the extra-innings slugfest Tuesday in a loss against the Diamondbacks because of the way the Cubs played, and won, the next day’s game.
“That’s probably the part that is most exciting for me,” Hoyer said Friday. “The fact that we’ve been able to do that with some real setbacks and some real challenges and we lost some games that hurt (in San Diego and Phoenix) — those are games that sting and both times we bounced back the next day and played a really good game. To me that means a lot. We’re going to have more tough losses during the course of the year, that’s the nature of this sport and not having that linger.”
Cubs center fielder Cody Bellinger (24) gets high-fives as he returns to the dugout after scoring against the Marlins on April 19, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)
If the Cubs can get more consistency from key starters in the lineup, they could get on a roll. Nico Hoerner is showing signs of getting locked in, collecting 11 hits in his last nine games — including two Friday — with four doubles, one triple and four RBIs in that span. Cody Bellinger and Dansby Swanson also delivered multi-hit games against Friday, getting the Cubs on the board in the first inning by each driving in a run on a single and double, respectively, off starter A.J. Puk.
Seven players drove in a run for the Cubs to kick off the seven-game homestand.
Taillon’s return is part of the organization’s slow trek to trying to get their big-league roster fully healthy. Justin Steele (left hamstring strain) is scheduled to throw live batting practice Sunday at Wrigley before potentially beginning a rehab assignment. Seiya Suzuki (right oblique strain) is expected to miss roughly a month, though the Cubs will be cautious in bringing him back.
The Cubs celebrate their 8-3 victory against the Marlins on April 19, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)
“You don’t wish for those situations to happen, whether it’s Steele or Jamo or Seiya or whatever it is, but unfortunately, those things are going to be a part of every season for pretty much every team and so how you respond to them is going to be huge both in the wins and losses but also seeing what you have in your depth and some opportunities in other places for guys,” Hoerner said.
Another potential injury issue popped up Friday. Left fielder Ian Happ exited with left hamstring tightness as a precaution, replaced by Alexander Canario in the top of the seventh. Happ missed a couple of weeks during spring training with a left hamstring strain. His status for the rest of the weekend is not yet determined.
“Just because guys come back doesn’t mean other things aren’t going to happen,” Hoyer said. “In some ways I always assume you have to expect that we’re gonna be using all these guys and we’ve built up some some depth in that area, and I think that’s already paid off through three weeks.”
Hoyer and the Cubs won’t know until the end of the season whether resiliency is a defining trait of this team, but the early returns are encouraging in how they have won games and put themselves in good position as May approaches.
“The ability to win series to kind of grind it out when you’re at your best, that’s been impressive so far,” Hoyer said. “What’s been important to me through these three weeks is that things have gone wrong and we haven’t played great and we’ve gotten through a really tough stretch well.
“It’s early, but I’m hoping that it’s a hallmark of this team.”
Federal agents on Friday delivered multiple grand jury subpoenas to Village Hall in Dolton seeking records pursuant to the ongoing corruption investigation involving embattled Mayor Tiffany Henyard, several sources confirmed to the Tribune.
The subpoenas, which two sources said do not name Henyard, come just days after Dolton chief administrator Keith Freeman, a close ally of Henyard, was charged with bankruptcy fraud
in U.S. District Court as part of a related investigation.
A spokesperson for the FBI confirmed in a written statement that agents were “conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity” in Dolton on Friday, but declined to comment on the nature of any investigation pursuant to Department of Justice policy.
One of the sources said the investigation into Henyard is still in its early stages, and no charges are imminent.
Four trustees who are at odds with Henyard have hired former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot
to act as a special investigator to investigate Henyard, including alleged reckless spending by the mayor that trustees say is driving Dolton into a multimillion-dollar deficit.
They also want Lightfoot, who is being paid $400 an hour, to look into a village-financed trip to Las Vegas, purportedly made to bring commercial business to the village that included Henyard, as well as other village officials and employees.
Separately, Freeman, a top aide to Henyard in the village and at Thornton Township, where she is supervisor, was charged in a federal indictment with bankruptcy fraud.
Freeman is alleged to have tried to shield assets from creditors and even denied working for the village during a meeting with creditors in his case, according to the complaint.
Also, a Dolton village employee recently named Henyard, the village, Thornton Township and a village official in a federal lawsuit
that accuses the village official of performing non-consensual sex with the employee after she had “blacked out” during the trip last May trip to Las Vegas led by the mayor.
The suit states the employee was with the village official after dinner and began to feel “disoriented” and “blacked out” and didn’t remember the events of the night until waking up in the official’s bed. A second plaintiff in the suit, identified as a police officer and member of Henyard’s security detail, alleges in the suit the official in a video call that evening showed the employee “partially undressed” in the official’s hotel bed.
The official “then moved the camera to various private areas of (the employee’s) body displaying them on screen,” according to the lawsuit, “and at times moving or removing articles of clothing as he transmitted the images.”
The security officer alleges the official later said the sex he had with the employee was “unprotected.” The officer shared that information with the employee, who later included that information while recounting the events of the night to Henyard, according to the lawsuit.
But, according to the lawsuit, the employee was fired shortly after bringing the accusation against the official to Henyard. And the security guard alleged “within days” of telling Henyard about his interactions with the trustee, he was removed from his role in the mayor’s security detail and was “demoted to patrol duty.”
Teenage activists held a rally Friday afternoon demanding urgent action from government officials to slow climate change, calling it a “public health emergency that affects every breath we take and every sip we drink.”
Dozens gathered in Pritzker Park in the Loop before marching nearly a half mile to Chase Tower, urging Chase Bank and other financial institutions to divest from the fossil fuel industry.
Last year was the warmest on record globally, and the 10 warmest years since 1850 have all occurred in the past decade, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Illinois climatologists have also said that warmer temperatures in winter are “strongly tied” to climate change, with less snowfall in Chicago.
Young demonstrators carried signs that read “Don’t be a climate fool” and “End climate change” while chanting “The tides are rising, so are we.” Protestors also sang a parody of the song “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons, saying “We’re waking up to melting poles, making hot what once was cold.”
The march was organized by the Chicago chapter of Fridays for Future, an international movement started in 2018 by Greta Thunberg and other young activists who protested a lack of action on climate change in Sweden.
“Youth voices are the most powerful in calling for change,” said Natasha Bhatia, one of the Chicago chapter’s founders. “Everyone has a climate story. When we share them, when we speak out together, we truly have the power to create change and protect our planet.”
Particularly in an election year, the 18-year-old said climate change must remain a primary concern among voters and candidates. Whether it’s attending a protest or organizing climate education at schools, she said young people should have support so their voices are heard
Bhatia started the group alongside Danica Sun after she watched a documentary her sophomore year about ocean acidification, a consequence of increasing carbon dioxide emissions that can hurt fish, oysters and other creatures. Now a Hinsdale Central High School senior, Bhatia said it opened her eyes to the urgency of climate change and “how little action is being taken.”
“I just knew that I wanted to use my voice to make a change,” she said, adding that she sometimes coordinates permits during her lunch break.
Climate/environmental activists chant in front of Case Tower in downtown Chicago during a rally on April 19, 2024. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
More than a dozen other environmental groups, including Chicago Climate Youth Coalition and Sunrise Movement, joined Fridays for Future Chicago at the protest. The march was held in different cities throughout the country as well, each calling on political leaders in wealthy nations to “rein in the fossil economy and limit global heating.”
For Mahima Krishnan, 15, it’s important to protest and “make the right people listen” to fight for a future that isn’t characterized by poor economic outcomes and quality of life due to climate change. She called for investment in clean energy, sustainable transportation and resilient infrastructure.
Krishnan said she also wanted President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency and curb oil production. According to Bloomberg, White House officials recently renewed talks to invoke a national climate emergency in a move that could unlock federal powers to stifle oil development.
“We demand access to quality health care, clean air, safe water and nutritious food for all,” the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy sophomore said. “It’s time to empower communities, especially the most vulnerable, to adapt and thrive in the face of climate challenges.”
Shreshta Ghanta, 15, added that young people won’t stand by while “our future is compromised,” saying they will fight to create one that is “green and thriving for all.”
“The time to act is now,” she said. “We will not be bystanders in the destruction of our planet. We will be the leaders that save it.”
To a large segment of football fans, Bill Tobin’s name is synonymous with one of the all-time draft rants from 30 years ago when he uttered the words, “Who in the hell is Mel Kiper anyway?”
It remains a viral clip that no doubt boosted the profile of Kiper, an ESPN draft analyst, but also offered a glimpse into Tobin’s personality as a meticulous and thorough scout who was no-nonsense.
Tobin, who was the Chicago Bears vice president of player personnel from 1986-92 after joining the organization in 1975, died Thursday, the Cincinnati Bengals announced. He was 83.
“Bill was relentless in pursuing a single goal: making the Bears better,” Chairman George McCaskey told the team’s website Friday. “He had a keen eye for talent and he passionately advocated for players he believed in. He helped build the greatest team in NFL history — the ’85 Bears — and for that we are forever grateful.”
Tobin went on to serve as the GM of the Indianapolis Colts from 1994-96 and was a director of player personnel for the Detroit Lions before working with his son Duke with the Bengals. Tobin was a rookie pro scout when the Bears drafted running back Walter Payton in 1975.
It’s undeniable that Tobin’s fingerprints were all over the 1983 draft that propelled the Bears to a Super Bowl championship in two short years. The Bears netted seven starters for the 1985 team from that draft, players who combined for 760 starts in their careers with the team.
There were 12 Pro Bowl appearances shared by left tackle Jimbo Covert, safety Dave Duerson, guard Mark Bortz and defensive end Richard Dent. Covert and Dent are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Three starters for the offensive line emerged from the draft at the start of a four-year run in which the team led the NFL in rushing.
But Tobin’s role in the selection of Dent, a skinny, bad-bodied pass rusher from Tennessee State, is the kind of scouting tale most in the business can only dream of being part of. Tobin was the only member of the staff that had seen Dent in person and he put a second-round grade on him, considering him the best pass rusher in the draft even though a broken arm marred Dent’s senior season.
Tobin, who was born in Burlington Junction, Mo., and was a running back at the University of Missouri, badly wanted Dent, but the Bears had traded away picks in the fifth through seventh rounds and after choosing six players in the first four rounds. GM Jim Finks and owner George Halas left for lunch. No way Dent would still be around when they returned, Tobin figured.
Bears pro scouting director Bill Tobin, left, and college scouting director Jim Parmer use a wall full of names to aid in their selection during the NFL draft on April 29, 1981. (Dave Nystrom/Chicago Tribune)
“Finks comes back in the seventh round with ownership and he looks at me with that sly look. ‘That Dent you have a second-round grade on is still there. Should we take him next?’ ” Tobin told the Tribune in 2015. “I said, ‘Hell, yes!’ ”
The Bears won six NFC Central titles in the 18 seasons Tobin was with the organization and selected six Hall of Famers. He went on to build a Colts team that won the franchise’s first playoff game in 30 years.
Former Bears defensive coordinator Greg Blache was a student assistant at Notre Dame when he met Tobin, who was early in his scouting career. Tobin urged Colts coach Ted Marchibroda to hire Blache as the defensive line coach for the Colts in 1994.
“He had an unbelievable eye for talent,” Blache said. “He could tell you the good ones and the bad ones. I just thought he was incredible but even more than as a personnel man, he was a great man, a person you could talk to and trust.
“When you were in a personnel meeting with Bill, he could have the totally opposite opinion that you held. But he wanted to hear why you felt differently and he wanted you to speak. That made you always feel comfortable because you could be honest. He was off the charts.”
It was with the Colts in that first year in 1994 that Tobin drafted Nebraska linebacker Trev Alberts with the fifth pick, bypassing Fresno State quarterback Trent Dilfer. That drew criticism from Kiper, and Tobin popped off on ESPN in an interview with Chris Mortensen. Later, Tobin explained he felt Kiper held a bias against the Colts because they had left Baltimore, where Kiper lives.
In a classy gesture, Kiper shared condolences of the news Tobin had passed on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.
A sad day with the passing of Bill Tobin, an accomplished front office executive who made the NFL a better league during his decorated career. Kim and I send our sincerest condolences to his family and loved ones.
As it turned out, Tobin did a pretty good job building that Colts team around former Bears quarterback Jim Harbaugh, and the 1995 team reached the AFC championship game. Tobin drafted running back Marshall Faulk and wide receiver Marvin Harrison in Indianapolis, both Hall of Famers.
Tesla is recalling 3,878 of its 2024 Cybertrucks after it discovered that the accelerator pedal can become stuck, potentially causing the vehicle to accelerate unintentionally and increase the risk of a crash.
The accelerator pedal pad may dislodge and become trapped by the interior trim, according to a filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The recall involves model year 2024 Cybertrucks made between Nov. 13, 2023 and April 4, 2024, according to the NHTSA.
As of Monday, Tesla was not aware of any collisions, injuries or deaths related to the issue, the NHTSA said. Cybertrucks in production had been outfitted with a new accelerator pedal component by Wednesday of this week, according to the NHTSA.
Tesla, which is headed by billionaire Elon Musk, said that it will replace or repair the accelerator pedal assembly for free. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla’s number for the recall is SB-24-33-003
Notification letters are expected to be mailed to vehicle owners in June.
The automaker delivered the first dozen or so of its futuristic Cybertruck pickups to customers in November, two years behind the original schedule, with uncertainty over when large-scale production could begin.
Musk addressed the difficulties of mass producing the vehicle, saying during the company’s third-quarter conference call in October that “we dug our own grave with Cybertruck.”
