Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.
This afternoon will be mostly sunny with a high near 52 degrees. Tonight will be mostly clear with a low around 39. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high near 58, while Sunday will be sunny with a high around 67.
Top story
Early voting for the Nov. 8 General Election gets underway downtown
Early voting got underway downtown earlier today, with election officials urging voters to check their precinct polling places soon in case they’ve changed since redistricting.
“Nearly half of Chicago’s voters have a newly assigned precinct polling place ahead of Election Day,” said Max Bever, a spokesman for the Chicago Board of Elections. “We are urging all Chicago voters to make a plan to vote — either by voting by mail, early voting or voting on Election Day — and to check their voter information ahead of time.”
A number of high-profile races are on the ballot in the Nov. 8 general election, including the race for Illinois governor.
Voters were out early this morning for a number of reasons.
“It’s a fight for democracy. I feel like our country is in danger with some of things going on. Our freedoms are being taken away, and I want to make sure I keep them in place,” said Linda McCully, 63, of the Gold Coast, referring to issues ranging from women’s rights to voting rights.
Civil rights was also on Azurea Jackson’s mind.
“A lot of Black people have sacrificed a lot for Blacks to have the right to vote and I wanted to be here on the very first day,” said Jackson, 70, who lives on the South Side.
The steady drizzle wasn’t a deterrent.
“I don’t care. People have gone through a lot more miserable situations than this,” she said.
Read Stefano Esposito’s full story here.
More news you need
- On the Fourth of July, when a gunman opened fire at the crowds attending a parade in Highland Park, hundreds of law enforcement members from agencies throughout Illinois rushed to help. Our Frank Main has more from current and former law enforcement on the police response that day.
- If you missed it last night, the frenetic first televised face-to-face debate between Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Darren Bailey devolved into a battle over which of the two is Illinois’ biggest liar and threat to the state, WBEZ’s Dave McKinney writes. Read Dave’s full breakdown on the Pritzker-Bailey debate here.
- Risking a preelection backlash, City Clerk Anna Valencia and City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin said today they will accept the 20.5% pay raises included in the proposed 2023 city budget. The annual salaries for the city clerk and city treasurer have been frozen at $133,545 since 2005.
- The Chicago Shakespeare production of “The Notebook” gets a rave four-star review from our Steven Oxman. “What we see at Chicago Shakespeare is a pre-Broadway production that is not just safe for the skeptical. It’s a significant leap in artistic quality over its sources,” Oxman writes. Read the review here.
A bright one
In Uptown mural, artist Anthony Lewellen combines a love of nature and ‘concrete and light poles’
In Uptown, you can see the sun rise twice — early in the morning over Lake Michigan and any time of day in artist Anthony Lewellen’s “Resting Waters Rising Light” mural at 844 W. Montrose Ave.
Besides the rising sun, it shows a stoplight hanging above a cormorant, a water bird that’s common in Illinois.
“I was kind of referencing what Chicago was like before it became as urban as it is now,” says Lewellen, 50. “I love nature, and I love all the little creatures. But I also really love concrete and light poles.”
Lewellen, who describes himself as an “urban imagist,” says he has seen a cormorant in a wetland reserve near his home and studio in North Mayfair and was drawn to it “aesthetically.” He says he included the traffic light to create “an overlap between nature and the urban environment. It kind of just ties in these two things that I feel like I’m kind of always wrestling with.”
Lewellen says that, when the community group Uptown United approached him about doing the mural, the narrow, six-story structure on which he painted it in October 2020 intrigued him. With “roots as a graffiti artist,” he says he’s always looking for a “dope spot” to paint.
“All the time, I’m driving around the city, and I see walls, and I’m, like, ‘Man, something would look really great right there,’ ” he says.
Austin Hojdar has more with Lewellen here.
From the press box
- Who was the Cubs’ MVP this year? How about their most improved player? Maddie Lee hands out her awards after a 74-88 season.
- No Illini football team has appeared in the Top 25 since 2011, an 11-year drought that’s now the longest in the country after Kansas’ recent breakthrough. Could a win over Iowa change that? Steve Greenberg previews the weekend in college football.
- Blackhawks forward Reese Johnson says he’s learning from Jonathan Toews how to add “calmness” to his game.
Your daily question ☕
Early voting for the Nov. 8 election opened today in Chicago. Do you plan on voting early this year? Why or why not?
Send us an email at newsletters@suntimes.com and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
Yesterday, we asked you: How would you describe what it’s like to navigate Lower Wacker Drive to someone not from here? Here’s what some of you said in our emails, Facebook comments and Twitter mentions...
“Drive towards the light and hope for the best.” — Audrey Woulard
“I love lower Wacker. I’ve been driving and exploring it since 1969. It is magical. However, how to drive it cannot be described, it can only be experienced and shown to someone. And I love its connections to Wabash, Lake, And Wells. It is, sadly, but a shadow of its former self as are the streets that comprised the Loop under the ‘El’ tracks.” — Bob Long Jr.
“It’s like if Mario Kart was in Gotham City.” — Jamie Nicole
“It’s like driving on a road that is beneath another road.” — Nick Hussong
“It’s like pure release. Suddenly traffic moves and you’re able to get somewhere faster than the folks walking up above.” — Jim O’Connor
“I avoid it like the plague!” — Renee Kennedy
“The Bermuda triangle.” — Dee Pauta
“No one who is not from here should navigate lower Wacker Drive. The end.” — Debbie Borman
Thanks for reading the Chicago Sun-Times Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.
