HOME OPENER CUBS READY FOR RETURN TO WRIGLEY Chicago Sports BRIAN CASSELLA/CHICAGO TRIBUNE EXPANDED SP SUBSCRI BE R EXCLUSIVE ORTS COVERAGE Questions? Call 1-800-Tribune Monday, April 9, 2018 Breaking news at chicagotribune.com Trump blasts Syria, Putin President says ‘big price to pay’ for alleged gas attack By Laura King Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — Presi- dent Donald Trump vowed Sunday there would be a “big price to pay” for an alleged poison gas attack that killed dozens of Syrian civilians and issued a rare public rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin for backing Syrian Presi- dent Bashar Assad in the country’s vicious civil war. Trump’s condemnation of the apparent chemical assault on the rebel-held Syrian town of Douma STACEY WESCOTT/CHICAGO TRIBUNE raised the prospect of U.S. Fifth-graders from Fox Elementary School in Lake Zurich gather around the covered Eternal Indian statue on Friday in Oregon, Ill. military retaliation almost a year after he ordered a cruise missile strike on a Syrian air base following a similar poison gas attack — AFTER SETBACKS, PUSH a move that won Trump widespread praise. Early Monday, Syria’s state-run news agency said TO SAVE STATUE REVIVED the military’s air defenses confronted a missile attack covering since a restoration effort are always impressed with its size on an air base in central Restoring Eternal Indian landmark that started five years ago fell but pretty disappointed because Syria and shot down eight apart. Bureaucratic red tape, the they can’t actually see it.” missiles. The report said the may hinge on ‘1 or 2 charitable angels’ failure of promised state funding Oregon writer and historian attack on a military airbase and a dispute on the restoration Jan Stilson is also frustrated that in Homs province “is likely as supporters try to restart project team have turned a cultural attrac- the work remains unfinished. She to be an American aggres- tion that drew about 400,000 has kick-started a new push to sion.” By Ted Gregory gram. The objective: to see the visitors a year to Lowden into an restore the 107-year-old statue. But U.S. officials told The Chicago Tribune beloved, iconic behemoth known eerie eyesore. Fearful that the statue’s Associated Press that the as the Black Hawk statue. “They’re always pretty unchecked deterioration would U.S. had not launched For three years, fifth-grade Instead, what they encountered bummed,” Fuller said of her stu- lead to its destruction, she gath- airstrikes on Syria. teacher Becky Fuller and about resembles a giant mummy. dents from Lake Zurich’s Fox ered a local group last October and The Syrian news agency 100 students have trudged The 48-foot-tall, 270-ton na- Elementary School, who made started working with the staff of said the attack resulted in a through Lowden State Park to the tional landmark designed by re- their annual trek last week to the state Rep. Tom Demmer, a Dixon number of casualties. bluffs of the Rock River as part of nowned sculptor Lorado Taft has park about 100 miles west of Trump’s homeland secu- their Outdoor Education pro- been wrapped in black protective Chicago in Oregon, Ill. “The kids Turn to Statue, Page 7 rity adviser, Thomas Bossert, said Sunday that he “wouldn’t take anything off the table” regarding a pos- sible military response to the illicit use of chemical agents and what he called LGBTQ teens’ “horrible photos” of its vic- tims, including young chil- dren. parents struggle Trump’s secretary of state and national security adviser both were forced with sex talk Turn to Syria, Page 11 Knowledge gap, fort or lack of information. However, a separate uni- unease common, versity study of gay and N. Korea summit NU study finds bisexual male teens found that many longed to be TEMPE POLICE DEPARTMENT prep churns By Angie Leventis closer to their parents and A self-driving car from Uber killed a woman in a crash last month in Tempe, Ariz. Lourgos better able to converse below surface Chicago Tribune with them about sexuality On Sunday, White House and dating. officials said North Korea’s Growing up, Joyce Guo Historically, there’s Self-driving cars can’t government has communi- rarely talked about sex or been very little academic cated with the United intimate relationships study of how parenting States to say that Kim Jong with her parents, conver- can affect the sexual be- replace best safety feature Un is ready to discuss his sations that might have havior of LGBTQ youths, nuclear weapons program been more difficult be- said researcher Michael More automation may cause false sense the past month in Arizona with President Trump. cause she identifies as Newcomb, associate di- and California put a spot- Nation & World, Page 10 queer and gender nonbi- rector for scientific devel- of security for vehicles’ human drivers light on this problem. nary. opment for the Institute The idea of having a “I think I probably for Sexual and Gender tonomous driving system, human monitor a machine would have wanted a Minority Health at North- and cars being tested by driving, rather than a more open dialogue about western’s Feinberg School Uber have many features machine monitoring a gender and sexuality,” said of Medicine. that allow them to operate human driving, gets it Guo, 20, a sophomore at “We know a lot about without much help from a backward in terms of Columbia College Chi- how parents can influence human driver but still safety, said Jim McPher- cago. “I think the general the heterosexual teen’s require someone behind son, an attorney who noncommunication came sexual health, but we Mary Wisniewski the wheel to react if some- studies autonomous vehi- from both sides.” know very little about how Getting Around thing goes wrong. cles. New research from parents can affect the sex- Unfortunately, humans “The better the automa- Northwestern University ual health of LGBTQ The problem with get awfully bored trying to tion gets, the more hu- ERIN HOOLEY/CHICAGO TRIBUNE explores how parents of teens,” he said. “And in so-called self-driving cars catch a mostly functional mans are lulled into a state LGBTQ teens often strug- some ways, the same par- is that they are not really machine not working — of security and fail to catch Fans converge at gle when discussing sex enting practices would be self-driving — not yet. it’s like watching a clock (problems),” McPherson with their children, some- Tesla vehicles equipped all day, according to safety McCormick Place times because of discom- Turn to LGBTQ, Page 8 with Autopilot, a semiau- experts. Fatal crashes in Turn to Safety, Page 4 for C2E2 A+E Chicago Weather Center: Complete $2.50 city and suburbs, $3.00 elsewhere High Low Tom Skilling’s forecast 40 30 forecast on back page of A+E section 170th year No. 99 © Chicago Tribune 2 Chicago Tribune | Section 1 | Monday, April 9, 2018 Nightmare of synthetic marijuana surfaces again Denise Crosby The news seems to have taken everyone by surprise. Synthetic marijuana is back — as ugly and as fatal as it was the last time we were writing so many headlines about it after the 2011 death of an Aurora teen. Last week, state officials reported two people have died and 95 have been hospitalized in Illinois after using synthetic pot, popularly known as K2 and Spice. News reports said one fatality was in Kane County, but according to Chief Deputy Coroner Loren Carrera, “we are investigating a death, howev- er it is way too premature” to link it to DENISE CROSBY/BEACON-NEWS synthetic marijuana. “We don’t know Karen Dobner’s 19-year-old son Max died in an accident in 2011 in North Aurora where that report came from, but it is after having a bad reaction to synthetic marijuana and crashing his car. not this office.” One fatality from fake marijuana, be manipulated by manufacturers to ment directed a “substantial amount however, did occur locally on June 14, avoid the controlled substance list. of enforcement” toward mini marts, 2011. And you likely remember it Still in the process of giving away which were selling the synthetic because it was such a public tragedy the last remaining money — about 10 marijuana products, said Lt. Rick — and because of the crusading local nonprofits received just under Robertson of the department’s Special RELIVE THE LOYOLA RAMBLERS’ mother who was determined her $15,000 — Dobner told me last Mon- Operations Group. HISTORIC 2018 SEASON son’s death would not be in vain. day, “I swore I’d do no more inter- There have been a couple of re- After smoking a product called views.” ports each year involving seizures or What a story. What a ride. From iAroma Hypnotic he bought over the Then came the report from the ambulance runs mentioning the drug, largely unknown to nearly unbeat- counter at a cigar shop at the Fox Illinois Department of Public Health and the Special Operations Group has able, the Loyola Ramblers captured Valley Mall, 19-year-old Max Dobner that fake marijuana was responsible shared a bulletin from Chicago police the nation's imagination. Coach started hallucinating and developed for two recent deaths and the hospi- with local officers “to make them Porter Moser. Chaplain Sister Jean paranoia, then got into his car and talization of 95 more people, all from aware of a possible resurgence,” Rob- Dolores Schmidt. Buzzer beaters. began driving at such a high rate of excessive bleeding. ertson added. “However, at this time And players who competed with speed that his vehicle went airborne According to the National Institute this is no such evidence in Aurora.” prowess and poise.