About a month before Kejuan Patton’s death, he allegedly helped beat up Jami Long and take his gun.

Then, during a chance encounter at a Little Caesar’s in Gary on June 14, 2024, Long gunned down Patton, 26, of Gary, in retaliation, court documents allege.

Long, 24, is on trial this week charged in his murder. He has pleaded not guilty and is saying it was self-defense.

He “left him for dead,” Deputy Prosecutor Milana Petersen told jurors in opening statements.

Patton was unarmed, she said.

Defense lawyer Herb Shaps said Long will testify.

He was “jumped” on May 18, 2024 in Gary and was left with five stitches. When he later spotted Patton in the pizza joint, he was scared he could be shot with his own gun, the lawyer said.

It was a “total coincidence” they were both there. Long didn’t track Patton down after the earlier fight.

“He was done with it, except for that day,” Shaps said.

Gary Police Officer Donald Briggs, Jr. testified he responded to the 2200 block of Carolina Street on May 18 for a reported fight. Inside an apartment, officers found Long, who was “very emotional” with a swollen face, bloody ear and scratches.

He was “uncooperative” with the police, but said he was “kill” the people who beat him.

Police responded at 7:20 p.m. on June 14 to the pizzeria, 2560 Garfield St.

Stacy Haney, Patton’s relative, testified THAT her daughter, then 9, went with him into the Little Caesar’s to get some pizzas. Within minutes, he sent the girl out to safety and told Haney on the phone to leave.

She drove to a gas station down the street while they were still on the phone.

We’ll fight, but we’re not doing any of that “extra stuff,” i.e. use a gun, she recalled Patton saying.

The other man said he was “air you out,” i.e. shoot him.

“That’s when I got worried,” she testified and called the police.

She tried to call Patton again, who didn’t answer. By the time she came back, emergency vehicles were already there, according to the affidavit.

A video appeared to show Long near the doorway when he raises a gun and shoots Patton, charges allege.

Nathan Hall, Long’s girlfriend’s cousin, testified he visited his kids, before he took Long with him to Little Caesar’s, not knowing he had a gun. Walking out, he heard a “loud noise” and hurried back to his car.

He asked Long what happened.

“I don’t know,” the other man responded.

On cross-examination, Shaps noted Hall was briefly arrested in connection for the slaying. He rejected when Shaps asked if Long got a gun from him. He had nothing to do with the shooting, he testified.

“I didn’t give nobody no gun,” he said.

An affidavit states Hall only met Long that day. He testified Tuesday he hasn’t seen him since the shooting.

Mike Walker testified he was driving through from out-of-town when he stopped by to get a pizza — waiting with several others inside. While waiting, he heard “firecrackers” and bolted to his vehicle. He heard 3-4 shots and called 911.

mcolias@post-trib.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/man-on-trial-for-retaliatory-slaying-at-gary-pizzeria/ 

On Nov. 25, 2024, a young woman with long, blonde hair, blue jeans and a leather jacket walked smiling into the River North oyster and martini bar Yours Truly.

A video camera from the oyster bar, looking through the branches of a gilded Christmas tree, captured a short conversation between the owner of Yours Truly, Adolfo Garcia, and the blonde woman, Zoe Salafatinos, before Garcia handed Salafatinos a check to bring to her boss.

Hours later, prosecutors allege, Salafatinos’ boss would attack Garcia in the kitchen of the now-shuttered bar and threaten him and his children with murder if he didn’t repay a $1.5 million debt in the oyster bar’s kitchen. About 14 months and one “naked jaunt” down a Manhattan street later, authorities arrested that man, whose real name is Jawad Fakroune, and charged him with extortion stemming from that alleged attack.

By that time, the two had been partners in a litany of failed restaurant concepts in many of the city’s most affluent neighborhoods and suburbs, sometimes alongside some of the better-known names in the city’s restaurant scene.

There was the bottomless brunch joint in West Loop. The short-lived Mexican concept in Wrigleyville. An American-style bistro in Highland Park that spent months shut down after the July 4, 2022 mass shooting that left seven people dead and wounded dozens more.

Garcia, the government’s star witness in the case against Fakroune, took the stand Wednesday morning for testimony that prosecutors said they expected to stretch into Thursday. His first few hours of testimony detailed a tangled web of debts taken out to satisfy older debts, bouts of rage and helplessness and heavy drinking over the years he spent in apparently fruitless pursuit of a successful restaurant venture.

Almost immediately, Garcia testified to his own shortcomings in the industry, which had been his professional home since he arrived in the U.S. from Mexico in 1996 and started to work as cleaning staff and later as a line cook, busboy, server and bartender before he first took a stab at running his own enterprise around 2002.

“Do you consider yourself to be a good restaurant operator?” Assistant U.S. attorney Richard Rothblatt asked.

Garcia said he did not.

“Do you consider yourself to be good with finances and money generally?” Rothblatt asked.

“Absolutely not,” Garcia said. “I suck as an operator, I’m a failure as an operator. All I can say is I tried.”

Garcia, wearing chunky black classes, a blue sweater and grey pants, referred to Fakroune exclusively as “Mr. Angelino” throughout his testimony Wednesday morning. He testified that he believed Fakroune to be a son of the Columbian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and that their partnership had weathered serious financial issues, Garcia’s struggles with alcoholism, the serious consideration he gave to killing himself and Fakroune’s short temper.

He testified that Fakroune pulled a gun on him three times in his frustration over Garcia’s trouble turning a profit and repaying loans. At the same time, Garcia said, he had landed in hot water with the Illinois Department of Revenue and the Department of Labor because he was prioritizing those repayments to Fakroune, who he said avoided being listed on official paperwork as a rule.

“We needed the cashflow to continue to make the payments that I had promised Mr. Angelino,” he said. “I was taking money that belonged to my employees and the government to pay Mr. Angelino Escobar and my child support.”

Garcia testified that there came a point when he wrote a suicide note apologizing to his victims, including Fakroune.

“I don’t want to get killed by that man, I owe money to the government, I owe child support, I am completely up to here… I want it to end,’ he said, his voice breaking. “I tried to seek for help. I’m being constantly reminded that i’m a failure, I’m a fraud… I’m not a man, and a father of my kids.”

But by March 2023, he and Fakroune were in talks to open the only restaurant that Garcia still operates, Lincoln Park’s Americano. But a year later, two months before Americano was set to open, the restaurant’s liquor license got held up over nonpayment of taxes from the by-then shuttered restaurants in Highland park, Wrigleyville and River North. Garcia owed the state $250,000, he said, and Fakroune told him not to panic.

A lawyer named Lisa Duarte, who Garcia testified was looking after a trust for Fakroune and previously worked as an aide to Gov. JB Pritzker, helped him arrange an agreement to repay the debt with the department of revenue. Duarte has not been charged with wrongdoing and is not expected to testify. Garcia testified that Fakroune loaned him around $120,000 to cover his obligations to the state, he said, which came from a man Fakroune claimed was an Italian mafioso.

Garcia spent the spring and summer making payments to Illinois Deptartment of Revenue alongside weekly payments of $4,000 to Fakroune, he testified. Yours Truly, the only restaurant of his still operating at that time, wasn’t bringing in enough cash to cover those obligations, so he was calling in favors and loans from other friends when he needed to.

“I was late on (the payments) but I never missed anything,” he said — mostly because Fakroune had warned him multiple times “not to (expletive) around with him.”

Prosecutors said they expected to play tapes of the alleged attack and threats Wednesday afternoon in court as direct examination continued.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/restaurateurs-testimony-extortion/ 

Citing an increased demand for “permanent birth control” since the US Supreme Court overturned abortion access across the country, Planned Parenthood of Michigan will now offer vasectomy services to its patients.

The minor surgery is being offered at Planned Parenthood of Michigan’s Irwin/Martin health center in Grand Rapids, with more locations expected to come online throughout the year. Planned Parenthood maintains 10 brick-and-mortar clinics in Michigan and a statewide telehealth program.

The Michigan chapter ceased its vasectomy operations about a decade ago, officials said, but a newfound need has pushed the organization to resume its efforts.

“The demand is real and present,” Dr. Kate Starr, chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood of Michigan, told Bridge Michigan. “Patients and their partners are looking for ways to control their lives and their families, and vasectomy is one of the ways in which they can do that.”

The surgery will be available to adults 21 and older and costs $800 without insurance coverage, including a $100 consultation fee. Planned Parenthood of Michigan is in-network for many health plans.

“There are patients in the state of Michigan whose only option has been being on a long wait list for a hospital-based procedure six to eight months from now,” Starr said. “We are offering access to folks who want vasectomy and also likely need reasonably priced care.”

Planned Parenthood of Michigan, which serves about 50,000 patients each year, and its national counterpart are facing funding cuts from the Trump administration. Millions of dollars tied to Title X family planning were restored in December after being withheld for months.

Paula Thornton Greear, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Michigan, said despite “significant challenges” last year, when clinics closed throughout the state leaving many rural areas without in-person services, vasectomy demand is rising.

“As the attacks on sexual and reproductive health continue to grow nationwide, our resolve only deepens,” Thornton Greear said in a statement. “Everyone deserves the power to decide if, when, and how to grow their family, and our commitment to helping Michiganders exercise that right is unwavering.”

Research indicates a rapid rise in permanent contraception nationwide following the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Women’s Health Organization decision, even in states that preserved abortion access. With that ruling, the court overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating the federal constitutional right to abortion and returning authority to the states.

Dobbs effect

In the months following the Dobbs decision, a court blocked a 1931 state law that criminalized abortion in Michigan from taking effect. Voters later approved an amendment enshrining abortion rights into the state constitution. Still, the prospect of limited reproductive medical services had an observable impact.

A study published by the American Urological Association that analyzed a single health system in Michigan found there was a 150% rise in vasectomy consultations and a 160% increase in vasectomy volume in the six months following the Dobbs ruling.

About 1 in 10 adult men in America have had a procedure resulting in sterilization, like a vasectomy, according to a 2024 survey conducted by the health policy research organization KFF.

Planned Parenthood of Michigan reports a 40% increase of male patients seeking non-vasectomy services like gender-affirming care and sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment since 2023, having served 8,500 men and gender-diverse individuals last year.

A vasectomy can be done in less than an hour and without general anesthesia. Patients typically return home later that day, Starr said.

Planned Parenthood of Michigan requires two appointments for the service — clinics will have an initial consultation before the “no-scapel” vasectomy surgery, a minimally invasive procedure where the tube that carries semen in the scrotum is severed.

While the procedure can sometimes be reversed by a urologist, Planned Parenthood and many physicians warn of lower pregnancy success rates after a reversal and do not recommend vasectomies for people who may want children in the future.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/planned-parenthood-vasectomies/ 

Business: Ellie’s Deli

Address: 924 W. 75th St., Naperville

Phone/website: 630-355-3354; www.myelliesdeli.com

Owner: Bobby Sweiss, 40, of Naperville

Years in business: 13

What does your business do? “We serve the neighborhood with a unique style of food,” Bobby Sweiss said. “We are known for our Rueben. The Brazilian steak sandwich is phenomenal. We created a new version of the Philly cheesesteak. It’s not the thin slices. We throw some peppers in there and we add chunks of beef. It’s delicious.

“We took the idea of a deli and expanded on it. It’s not your typical ‘walk in and order a cold cut sandwich.’ There’s heart and soul in each sandwich. The Brazilian, the process of it is a day or two. … A lot of the sandwiches we make are not off the rack. … Our mayo we make from scratch. Our salad dressings.”

Is this a family business? “My mother, Margo, is the mastermind behind the ingredients. She’s our catering queen. … My dad, Bob, is the hands in the kitchen. … My sister and brother help too.”

Margo and Bob Sweiss, of Woodridge, are often busy working in the kitchen of Ellie’s Deli in Naperville, which is owned by their son, Bobby. (Sweiss family)

What’s your philosophy? “If we don’t eat it, we don’t sell it,” Margo, 68, said.

“We have to love it before we even consider putting it on the menu,” Bobby added.

How big is your menu? “The menu now has over 80 sandwiches, variations of each sandwich,” Bobby said.

Any sandwiches did not make the cut? “We tried a pizza panini. It got complicated. People started ordering pizza on a sandwich,” Bobby said.

What should folks know? “We bake our own bread. Fresh bread. Bob does the baking,” Margo said.

What’s the background? “This business was around four years before us. … I wanted to have a business. It was that time in life, I wanted to get the next step going. We saw this as a beautiful opportunity. We’re happy,” Bobby said.

Is 75th Street a good location? “Beautiful. I spent a year looking for a new location. … We moved here eight years ago,” Bobby said.

What were you doing before? “I worked in sales in furniture. It wasn’t me. … I wanted to go in a whole different direction. We grew up around good food. It was such an easy decision.”

“I worked in bridal, but I always loved cooking and entertaining,” Margo said.

What about competition? “People love seeing who they see when they walk in,” Bobby said. “Seeing my dad in the kitchen is a relief for them because the last time they had (that sandwich), it was delicious. My mom being the greeter, she’s so warm. They fall in love with her personality. … The food is fantastic, but at the same time, it’s almost like they walk out feeling like family.

“We notice how many new customers walk in. It’s almost 50% are new. For us, it’s amazing. And they turn into returns.”

“To be honest with you,” Margo said, “what made us in the beginning were school kids. They’d come in, a safe haven after school. Of course, the parents wanted to know where they were.”

Where do you find ingredients? “All the grocery stores. Dad will only pick the veggies and meats that are top quality,” Bobby said.

How do you do that? “I look for the best every day, and I enjoy doing it every day,” Bob, 69, said. “That’s his playground,” Margo added.

How did you survive the pandemic? “COVID-19 really boosted our online presence. We were on the web. But when that hit, that’s the reason our website and online service took off. People discovered us simply searching for (take-out) food,” Bobby said.

This is the message that Ellie’s Deli, a family-owned business on 75th Street in Naperville, imparts to customers who are placing orders. (Steve Metsch/Naperville Sun)

Any favorite stories? “(Late Naperville) Mayor (George) Pradel used to be a regular. He’d hang out for hours. He loved us,” Bobby said.

“When I needed surgery, he said, ‘Why don’t you go get it and I’ll work here,’” Margo recalled.

“He is one of the best people I’ve ever known in Naperville,” Bob added.

Will you add a location? “I’m mulling it over. … To make a decision that significant it will have to be a full commitment, all hands on deck,” Bobby said.

When are you busiest? “Lunch, between 11:30 and 3 o’clock,” Bobby said. “We’re open Monday through Saturday, 11 to 6. Sunday 11 to 2.”

What’s it like working with family? “It’s nice,” Margo said.

“Kitchen disagreements are always going to be there. They never go away,” Bobby said with a laugh.

What’s your advice for someone starting a business? “Make sure you do your research. It’s important to know what you’re getting into. Talk to people in the industry. You have to have a target,” Bobby said.

“Honesty,” Margo added.

Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun. If you know of a business you’d like to see profiled in Down to Business, contact him at metschmsfl@yahoo.com.  

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/business-naperville-ellies-deli-sweiss/ 

Demolition of the Tin Shop building in downtown Batavia is underway.

The tearing down of the 19th century building at 106 N. River St. began on Tuesday, according to the city, and was set to last for three days.

The move is set to make way for a new downtown plaza in the city, which will include things like a public restroom facility and seating.

The future of the Tin Shop building, a property owned by the city, has long been in question.

In the years since the failed One Washington Place project, Batavia has been marketing the building and other city-owned properties. The city said it at one point received a proposal for the land and was negotiating the property’s sale and development, but it never entered into a formal contract and terminated negotiations in 2023.

Then, last January, the City Council voted for a certificate of appropriateness that paved the way for the Tin Shop building to either be relocated or demolished in the future. Because the structure, built in 1890, is within the city’s historic district, a certificate of appropriateness is required for exterior work on the building, including relocation and demolition.

At that meeting last January, Batavia Community and Economic Development Director Scott Buening said that part of the reason the city needed to get the demolition or relocation process underway when it did was because the tax increment financing funds the city intended to use to pay for the public restroom facility planned for the site were expiring at the end of the year.

The suggestion to either relocate or demolish the building had been recommended by the city’s Historic Preservation Commission, with the caveat that some of the materials from the building be salvaged. Buening previously said that it was going to cost nearly $1 million for the city to rehabilitate the building.

The City Council then returned to the matter in August, approving a contract with Fowler Enterprises for $33,450 to tear down the building. The city had said its preference was for the building to be moved as a whole or dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere, but that it would opt for demolition if it couldn’t find anyone to relocate it.

The city previously contracted Fowler Enterprises for demolition work at a property at 916 Park St., according to city documents.

The city has asked that the “sign” on the north side of the building be preserved, and that some of the wood from the building be reclaimed as long as it does not substantially interfere with the demolition process.

As for the downtown plaza, in July the City Council approved the purchase of the public restroom facility planned for the area, to the tune of around $330,000. The facility, which would be a double unit, cleans after each use and deep cleans every hour, and is set to be open year-round. The plaza is also set to include additional benches to meet demand for seating, particularly during busy times like the weekly farmers market.

mmorrow@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/demolition-begins-tin-shop-batavia/ 

Appalachian NatGas Output Faces “Intense Losses” As Arctic Blast Drives Power Grid Risk Higher

Tyler Durden
Wed, 01/21/2026 – 13:35

https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/appalachian-natgas-output-faces-intense-losses-arctic-blast-drives-power-grid-risk 

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones won’t play for the U.S. men’s ice hockey team in the upcoming Milan Cortina Olympics because of an injury.

USA Hockey announced Wednesday that Jones is out and Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe will replace him on the 25-player roster.

Jones was injured when he was hit in the right collarbone by a puck during the Winter Classic against the New York Rangers on Jan. 2 and has not played since. He was going to be one of only a few newcomers to a group heavily comprising members of the U.S. 4 Nations Face-Off team that reached the final before losing to Canada.

LaCombe, who recently turned 25, helped the U.S. win the world championship last year for the first time since 1933. His addition to the roster gives the U.S. six left-handed-shooting defensemen and just two righties: Brock Faber and Charlie McAvoy.

The U.S. begins play Feb. 12 against Latvia.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/seth-jones-us-hockey-winter-olympics/ 

An Indiana House bill banning gratuities for public officials, which was drafted in response to the ongoing federal case against former Portage Mayor James Snyder, unanimously passed out of the House Courts and Criminal Code committee on Wednesday.

House Bill 1065 would make it a Class A misdemeanor for a person to offer a payment to a public servant as a reward for an official act taken by the public servant, or for a public servant to solicit or accept a payment as a reward for an official act performed by the public servant.

The bill, authored by State Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville, also increases the penalty to a Level 6 felony if the fair market value of the reward is at least $750.

The bill exempts a good or service that is subject to a reporting requirement or otherwise authored by an applicable rule or code of ethics. It further exempts plaques, trophies, framed photos, lawful political contributions and wages.

The committee amended the bill to include language from House Bill 1141, which would make the comingling of a political committee with personal funds up to $50,000 a class A misdemeanor.

Slager told the committee that multiple media outlets have asked him if the underlying bill stems from the case against Snyder.

“The answer is completely. Yes, it does,” Slager said. “What happened here was bribery and other charges were brought against the mayor regarding a piece of equipment that was contracted on behalf of the city and a payment received after the fact.”

On Nov. 17, 2016, Snyder was indicted on one count of defrauding the IRS and two counts of bribery, one involving towing contracts and the other involving garbage trucks,

A jury in U.S. District Court in Hammond found Snyder not guilty on the charge involving the towing contract, but convicted him twice on the garbage truck charge, a case that made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which deemed in June of 2024 that the $13,000 payment Snyder received over a garbage truck contract was a gratuity, not a bribe, because the payment came after the contract and not before. In the ruling, the court noted that Indiana didn’t have a law against gratuity, so the court ruled in Snyder’s favor, Slager said. The case was remanded to the lower courts.

A jury convicted Snyder on the IRS charge, which involved his personal business and not his duties as mayor at the time, and that conviction had remained unchallenged. Snyder is currently scheduled to be sentenced on March 10 at the U.S. District Courthouse in Hammond.

“That became obvious that we’ve now opened the door to making that legal,” Slager said. “I think it’s not in our best interest to allow public officials to receive payments of any kind for doing their official duty.”

State Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, said he supports the bill because it will prevent public officials from accepting money after taking a vote or other official actions.

“We don’t want them taking gratuities after they’ve done a favor for someone,” Pierce said.

Pierce said the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Snyder’s case “was pretty bad.” Pierce said without a gratuity law — as long as he didn’t collude with anyone in advance — Pierce could leave a House session and stand in the hallway with a credit card machine and ask people to tip him if they support his work and votes.

“As long as I haven’t colluded and pledged ahead of time to vote a certain way in exchange for money, it’s not a bribe. It can just be a tip,” Pierce said. “I can’t imagine the public would be very comfortable with that kind of thing. But for the Supreme Court, they thought it was just okay.”

The bill passed out of committee 13-0. It will move forward for consideration by the House.

akukulka@post-trib.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/ban-on-gratuities-for-public-officials-passes-indiana-house-committee/ 

Stellar 20Y Auction Stops Through With Near Record Bid To Cover, Record Directs

Tyler Durden
Wed, 01/21/2026 – 13:29

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/stellar-20y-auction-stops-through-near-record-bid-cover-record-directs