Lowell junior Olivia Fuentes doesn’t mind moving all over the field.
She has spent most of her time this season at shortstop or second base when she’s not in the circle, but she wouldn’t limit herself to those.
“I enjoy playing anywhere,” Fuentes said. “I could play third base, I could play outfield or I could be playing first base.”
But ask Fuentes for her preference, and her one-word answer comes back with no hesitation.
“Pitching,” she said.
Fuentes could become Lowell’s ace next year. Splitting time with senior Kaylee Meeks
this season, Fuentes was 3-3 with a 2.32 ERA in 48 1/3 innings across nine appearances through April 25. She was also hitting .275 and was leading the Red Devils (6-9, 3-7) with two home runs.
Lowell coach Mike McLindon said throwing strikes early in counts has been essential for Fuentes, who took a no-hitter into the fifth inning during a 10-2 Northwest Crossroads Conference win against Highland on Thursday.
“She’s been lights out,” McLindon said. “She’s mostly been working ahead and hitting her spots, locating the ball exactly where she wants it to be, and that also helps us do the things that we want to do defensively.”
Fuentes’ improved offense is no accident either. She said she focused on the fundamentals of her swing during the offseason, pointing out that she’ll always bat, regardless of what position she plays. She hit .250 with a .416 slugging percentage last year. She’s slugging .600 this season.
“I worked on using my legs more when I hit,” Fuentes said. “Now I feel like I’m hitting the ball better and helping my team in a lot of ways that I didn’t in my sophomore year. I’m hitting the ball hard, hitting gaps and helping my team score.”
Fuentes said she also devoted time to her defensive footwork to ensure she would be a reliable infielder. As for pitching, whenever she needs to work on that during the season, Fuentes said Meeks, a King commit, is a valuable resource.
“We’re always talking about our pitching, always helping each other, always communicating about that,” Fuentes said.
There has been plenty of communication between them regarding Fuentes’ drop ball, which she said is moving even more following some tips from Meeks.
“I had to move my thumb over more,” Fuentes said.
Meeks said the biggest difference in Fuentes this season is her demeanor in the circle.
“She has more confidence in herself this year and is attacking batters,” Meeks said. “She’s come ready to play and hasn’t had any doubts.”
Fuentes’ reliability was crucial while Meeks dealt with a few nagging injuries, and McLindon said having both pitchers available during the regular season could pay dividends in the playoffs.
“We haven’t worn anybody down,” McLindon said. “And you hope that, as you approach the tournament, things keep rolling so that they’re both fresh and ready to go.”
That won’t be the case next year after Meeks graduates. But Fuentes could be moving again. Lowell is playing its home games in Crown Point this season while construction continues on its new field.
Fuentes is getting used to the temporary arrangement.
“It is starting to feel a bit like home,” she said.
Actor Gérard Depardieu
was taken into police custody in France
on Monday after two women made accusations of sexual assault, local reports say.
The claims against the 75-year-old relate to his alleged actions during the making of one film in 2014 and another in 2021, according to BFMTV
. Depardieu has previously been accused by more than a dozen other women of sexual harassment and assault—he has consistently denied the allegations.
One of the complaints about which the actor now faces questions relates to the making of The Green Shutters, which was released in 2022. The accuser, a 53-year-old set designer, alleges that Depardieu grabbed her with his legs and began touching her inappropriately. A witness allegedly stepped in to free the woman from his grasp.
Delving into the history of Batavia and what makes it special is the focus of Preservation Week events taking place this week in the city.
The events are being offered by the Batavia Depot Museum, Batavia Historical Society, Batavia Public Library and the Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley.
Organizers said Preservation Week events date back well before the pandemic and continue to draw a diverse group of local residents. This year, participants can take part in a historical pub crawl, take an 11-stop trolley tour of historic sites and enjoy various workshops.
According to a press release from the Batavia Park District, which oversees the Depot Museum, the theme of this year’s Preservation Week is “Preserving Identities,” which will “highlight the importance of local history and inspire residents to preserve their personal, family and community collections for future generations.”
In addition to holding several community events, organizers will be posting fun facts, hidden histories and local trivia on social media all week long.
Batavia Depot Museum Director Kate Garrett said Preservation Week “is a tradition we’ve been doing for a long time. It goes back pre-COVID for sure.”
“There was a hiatus in 2020 and 2021, but we brought it back in 2022, and the activities this year are going to be some familiar and some a little bit new,” she said.
Garrett said returning features include a historical bar crawl, as well as a “Greatest Hits of Batavia” trolley tour.
Garrett added that the museum also partners with the Batavia Public Library, which will be offering “Digging in and Opening Up: Gathering and Preserving Family Stories” from 7 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 30, in the Founders Room of the library, 10 S. Batavia Ave. in Batavia.
The park district release said the free event will feature a presentation by professional genealogist Tina Beaird, who will teach residents how to gather and preserve their family’s history for future generations. Those planning to attend should register at www.bataviapubliclibrary.org/lectures-performances.
“New this year is a community roundtable on Wednesday, May 1, and it will feature a film from POP, or the Protect Our Past group, called ‘Love Letter to Cape Cod’ which will kick off a community conversation about places in Batavia that Batavians think are important to preserve for the long haul,” Garrett said. “These are unique to us and help describe our special place in the world.”
The park district press release said the event will include an informal conversation about life in the Batavia of yesteryear and a live question and answer session with Protect Our Past founder and president Ellen Briggs, guided by Al Watts of Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley.
The roundtable will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 1, at the Peg Bond Center, 151 N. Island Ave. Reservations are recommended and may be made at www.bataviaparks.org/calendar/events/history-roundtable.
The “Cheers Through the Years” bar crawl takes place from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, May 3, beginning at the Batavia Depot Museum, and will highlight Batavia’s well-preserved downtown structures that now house watering holes such as Sidecar Supper Club and Beer Garden and Sturdy Shelter Brewing, according to the release.
The bar crawl will cost $10 per person. To register, go to www.bataviaparks.org/calendar/events/cheers-through-the-years
“The History Trolley: Batavia’s Greatest Hits” event will tour the city from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, beginning and ending at the Batavia Depot Museum. The trolley will visit some of Batavia’s 11 locations on the National Register of Historic Places, including landmarks like the former East Batavia School, according to the release.
The trolley tour will cost $22 per person. To register, go to www.bataviaparks.org/calendar/events/history-trolley
Garrett said events like Preservation Week are important.
“I think something like this informs how we approach our difficulties today and how we approach challenges now if we have some historical perspectives on that,” she said. “From a really practical, economic standpoint, historical buildings are a real boon to a community. It’s always easier to take care of an old building than to tear it down and build something new from scratch.”
Garrett said usually about 200 people every year take part in Preservation Week programs. She said this year there will be more digital options to get involved.
“This year, we’ll be talking specifically on Facebook and Instagram about buildings that are gone and when they were built and when they were torn down and what’s there today,” she said. “We really try to reach a broad audience for this and we have a little something for everybody.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
Border security experts are demanding that Congress use an upcoming debate over the Federal Aviation Administration to pass legislation that would make it tougher for immigrants living in the U.S. illegally to get on airplanes without using identity documents from their native countries.
The Chicago area’s public bus and rail systems would be combined under a measure
Illinois lawmakers are expected to introduce, which would eliminate the CTA, Metra and Pace as separate agencies.
The legislation comes as complaints have mounted over the Chicago Transit Authority’s struggles to provide frequent, reliable and safe service, and days after Gov. J.B. Pritzker called for “an evolution of the leadership” at the CTA
. But it is linked to an earlier report laying out recommendations
about what Chicago-area transit could look like in the future, and marks a decision to pursue the more comprehensive of two options outlined in the report to overhaul oversight of public transportation.
The proposal is part of a broader look at transit funding, as the region’s public transit agencies face a combined $730 million budget hole once federal COVID-19 relief funding starts running out, which could be as soon as 2025. Transit agencies have warned failure to plug the financial hole could lead to catastrophic service cuts and fare increases, and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning was tasked by the Illinois General Assembly with developing recommendations to overhaul transit, which were delivered to lawmakers in December.
Renderings of a new state-of-the-art enclosed stadium with open space access to the lakefront were released by the Chicago Bears on April 24, 2024. (Manica)
Chicago’s progressive movement has long championed social justice interests, from good government advocates to labor rabble-rousers, police abolitionists and public education reformers.
Now, Mayor Brandon Johnson hopes to shoehorn a wealthy new group into the fold: the Chicago Bears.
A man holds a large cross while police officers and members of the public line up to enter the visitation for Chicago police Officer Luis M. Huesca on April 28, 2024, at Blake and Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn. Huesca, a CPD officer for six years, was returning home last week after a shift in the CPD’s Calumet District when he was fatally shot. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
More than two hundred police officers, relatives and members of the public stood in line Sunday outside Blake-Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn waiting for Chicago police Officer Luis Huesca’s visitation services to begin.
Huesca, 30, was shot and fatally wounded driving home from work April 21 in Gage Park while in uniform. Late Friday night, CPD announced a suspect in the case, and a judge signed off on a warrant for the arrest of Xavier Tate Jr.
Surrounded by vintage signage and cars, Steve Langridge votes at Windy City Motors in Chicago during the Illinois primary election on March 19, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
With low enthusiasm and both presidential nominees all but confirmed before Illinois’ primary Election Day even dawned, turnout for the March 19 election was the second-lowest for a presidential primary in Chicago for at least the last 80 years.
Before bail reform, a man pays cash bail in the bond office to secure his brother’s release, Dec. 21, 2022, at Division 5 of Cook County Jail. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Newly released data from the Cook County courts offers the first glimpse of detention outcomes, though experts caution that it’s still early to compare rates of court appearances and reoffending before and after the law.
Officers issue a ticket to a migrant for parking in a no parking zone near a migrant shelter at the former Standard Club on April 15, 2024, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
The analysis of crimes since Aug. 31, 2022, when Texas’ Republican governor, Greg Abbott, began busing asylum-seekers to Chicago, shows that as more migrants have arrived, the number of their arrests has increased. But they’re typically picked up for traffic infractions and thefts, and any misdeeds they’re committing do not appear to have fueled a crime wave.
State Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, 19th, speaks at an event on Nov. 4, 2023. (Trent Sprague/Chicago Tribune)
A bill introduced by state Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, a former social worker who represents a chunk of Chicago’s Northwest Side and chairs the House’s Mental Health and Addiction Committee, is designed to encourage more behavioral health providers to enroll in commercial insurance networks and, in turn, reduce costs for some seeking their services.
The bill’s language was crafted with help from Illinois-based mental health organizations, such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness’ Chicago chapter and the nonprofit social service agency Thresholds, which treats severe mental health and substance use disorders.
Seila Hul, Loyola University student, collects trash on April 20, 2024, at Hartigan Beach in Chicago. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)
Using data from more than 14,000 beach cleanups over 20 years, a new report from the nonprofit Alliance for the Great Lakes found that 86% of litter entering the Great Lakes in a given year is either partially or fully composed of plastic. Previous estimates and computer simulations indicated that 22 million pounds of plastic debris entered the lakes annually, at that time making up 80% of shoreline litter.
New Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze and quarterback Caleb Williams pose for photographs at Halas Hall on April 26, 2024. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
It’s easy to get quickly carried away imagining what Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze can accomplish at the outset of their careers with the Bears even when attempting to zero in on what’s realistic considering the inherent challenges for rookies at each position, writes Brad Biggs
.
Las Vegas Aces forward Candace Parker reacts during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Seattle Storm, May 20, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Parker, a two-time league MVP, announced in a social media post on Sunday she’s ending her career after 16 seasons. She played her first 13 seasons in the league with the Los Angeles Sparks.
President Richard M. Nixon points to the transcripts of the White House tapes after he announced during a nationally-televised speech on April 29, 1974, that he would turn over the transcripts to House impeachment investigators. (AP Photo)
On April 30, 1974, the Tribune’s jet landed at Meigs Field on the lakefront instead of Midway Airport on the Southwest Side so its cargo could be delivered to Tribune Tower more quickly.
The Tribune was going for a big scoop. The airplane carried transcripts of secret tape recordings of White House conversations that President Richard M. Nixon had announced would be released on May 1.
“Ripley,” written and directed by Steven Zaillian, and starring Andrew Scott, demolished John Warner’s skepticism. It is a stunning success in terms of transferring the spirit and impact of the book to the screen.
An ensaymada along side an ube horchata drink, at Umaga Bakehouse, a new modern Filipino bakery, in Chicago, on April 25, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)Ube horchata, and bread is sumply ensaymada
Buttery soft ensaymadas, longanisa-stuffed empanadas and purple ube horchata are among the dozens of different items at a new Filipino bakery in Chicago, if you can get them.
Umaga Bakehouse celebrated its grand opening with lines out the door and sold-out shelves in the Mayfair neighborhood on April 20.
