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SATURDAY DECEMBER 5 | SUNDAY DECEMBER 6 2015
DailyNorthShore.com
SUNDAY BREAKFAST ILLUSTRATION BY BARRY BLITT
The quest to save dogs from abuse and how the courts can play a role. P46
SPORTS
Emmett Clifford and his Loyola Academy teammates win state title in a runaway fashion. P33
SOCIAL SCENE Hundreds gathered for Lake Forest Open Land’s Bagpipes and Bonfire. P19
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NO. 165 | A JWC MEDIA PUBLICATION BY CHRIS RITCHIE
NEWS
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Ben Carson Plans Lake Forest Stop BY STEVE SADIN DAILYNORTHSHORE.COM
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AKE FOREST—Ben Carson, one of the leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination, will make a campaign stop in Lake Forest in December. Carson will hold a fundraiser on Dec. 9 at the lakefront home of Michelle Parnell and Dr. Jeffrey Parnell, according to a flier local Republicans received in the mail. The Carson campaign reached out to the Parnells but did not say what, if any connection there is between them and Carson, according to campaign spokesperson Deana Bass. “The Lake Forest event was organized by our campaign finance team, which identifies and plans events across the country with people interested in supporting Dr. Carson’s candidacy and with people interested in learning more about Dr. Carson’s plan to heal, inspire and revive America,” Continued on PG 13
A REBEL WITH A CAUSE It’s hard to believe Evanston-born John Cusack hits the big 5-0 in 2016. But for an actor whose life and career have never taken the traditional route, there’s plenty more to come.
utspoken and unorthodox, as a man and an actor, John Cusack forges his own path. That shouldn’t be taken as some kind of pretentious stallsetting. No, Cusack is the real deal: an artist and an activist, unafraid to stand up to absurdity, miscarriages of justice, and issues some people would just rather not think about. The stylish 49-year-old, Evanston born-and-bred star, whose career criss-crosses the Hollywood spectrum from oddball (Being John Malkovich) to action blockbuster (Con Air) and everything in between, has publicly decried the NSA’s global surveillance program, stood up against the US’ involvement in the Iraq conflict, taken President Obama to task over military and national security measures (he even called Obama “worse than Bush”) and now, with the help of edgy filmmaker Spike Lee, is targeting gun violence. It’s a topic rarely out of the global news—witness the recent spate of police shootings of unarmed black citizens in the US, for example—and in Lee’s latest, Chi-Raq, gun violence and urban warfare on the streets of Chicago take centre stage. Cusack, no stranger to controversy, now finds himself fending it off. “Some local politicians have been trying to manufacture controversy about the film without
having seen it or without knowing what the story is really about,” he observes with a frown. “I think people should wait and watch it and then they will see what the film is trying to say. I love my city of Chicago—all of Chicago. I would never do anything to hurt it. I’m very proud to be in this film.” Indeed the movie, co-starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Piven, and Jennifer Hudson, has been criticized by several prominent Chicago figures: positioning the city as a “war zone” has been a step too far for some. Yet for Cusack, the positives are obvious. “Spike called me and said ‘this is an important film and it will help save lives.’ I believe that. This is a courageous film of conscience that will help promote a more peaceful America.” Hollywood must take some of the credit for glorifying gun violence, and it’s a valid argument to point a finger at Cusack, for he, too, has done his fair share of lethal gunplay (Grosse Point Blank, Con Air, etc.) on the big screen. But for him and cowriter-director Lee, it’s valid social commentary. Indeed, the term ‘Chiraq’ has become modern parlance for some in Chicago, and Lee himself, at a recent rally in the city, made his position clear: “This is real life and death and that’s the way we’re going to approach this.” Continued on PG 12
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