Gregory Hines -- His dancing style

 Gregory Hines was a brilliant tap dancer who combined traditional tap with modern movement. Here he is in 1983, on a variety. In this next image, we see him doing a buck and wing towards the orchestra.

After doing that move, he slid back towards the audience with another move.

Queen Elizabeth dies at age 96

Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in 2011. (Julian Calder/Governor-General of New Zealand)

Queen Elizabeth, who was the Monarch for the Empire of Great Britain for over 70 years, died in Scotland on Sept. 8. She was 96. She was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York and was considered the most influential representative of British royalty in the 20th century.

Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926, the first child of Price Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), and his wife, Elizabeth, Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother). As expected, she led a privleged life -- sharing her parents and Great Britain's attention with her younger sister, Princess Margaret.

But she would become a symbol of public service during World War Two, when she volunteered for the Auxiliary Territory Service.

Queen Elizabeth serving with the Auxiliary Territorial Service in April 1945. (Imperial War Museums)

Queen Elizabeth in 1959 (Donald McCague/Library Archives of Canada)

My five favorite interactive websites

I have always enjoyed a robust online experience, specifically when it involves a site that includes rich multimedia. But there are five websites which I have a really high regard for, with regards to multimedia. First, the New York Times has always been a go-to for me. This venerable newspaper continues to offer great writing and reporting, but its photos and videos are without compare. Their photographers and videographers are first-rate visual journalist.

 ESPN.com is sort of like the New York Times in reverse. You think first of the brilliant broadcast sports coverage that this network offers. But their website features great writing from reporters like former New York Times editor Don Van Natta and others. So this is my second choice for favorite websites. 

WBEZ.com is another great website which offers a rich multimedia experience. WBEZ is first and foremost a great radio outlet. But its website offers some compelling interactive graphics which sets it apart from other news organizations in Chicago.

 Like WBEZ, the BBC is a radio-based operation which also offers a rich multimedia experience, including the best in audio, along with great photo galleries and great written reports. This is my fourth favorite multimedia website.

My fifth choice for an excellent multimedia based website is my hometown newspaper, the Chicago Tribune. Not only do they offer great journalism, but they have incredible graphics and photography.

Boston leads four U.S. cities in annual snowfall

Chicago's communities of color hit hardest during Covid-19 epidemic in part of 2020

Chicago's Latinx communities were some of the hardest hit neighborhoods with regards to Covid-19 during 2020, accodring to statistics from the Chicago Department of Public Health. During a period between March 1 and June 1 in 2020, Latinx communities in the city recorded the highest daily positve Covid-19 cases on numerous days. There were 559 Covid-19 cases reported in among Latinos in Chicago on April 30th, by far the highest number of cases among any ethnic group during the four-month period between March and June. The breakdown of cases among ethnics groups in Chicago during that period can be found in this map:

In October 2020, that trend continued as five Chicago are zip codes in Latino neighborhoods saw the most confirmed cases in the state. Zip codes in Little Village, Cicero, Brighton Park, Belmont-Cragin, Hermosa and West Lawn communities all reported more than 6,000 cases during this month. The complete breakdown can be found in this map: