Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about an eight-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.
— Matt Moore (@MattKenMoore)
This afternoon will see some showers with a high near 51 degrees. Expect similar weather tonight with a low near 31. There’s a chance of flurries in the forecast tomorrow with a high near 34.
Top story
‘The CTA is their last resort’: A night out with the people helping homeless riders
On a recent Thursday, all Malcolm Reed could think about was how to get his hands on a warm coat and a new pair of shoes.
He lost most of his belongings when he was forced out of O’Hare International Airport by Chicago police in mid-February along with dozens of other unhoused people. The airport had been a refuge on winter nights until national reports showed how many people were sleeping there — and the city cracked down.
That evening Reed, 52, took a Blue Line train to the Forest Park station just west of Chicago, hoping to get lucky at an outreach event run by the Night Ministry — a nonprofit that sets up meals and medical stations twice a week at train stations to help the homeless. More than 100 people were already there when he arrived, queuing for a hot meal and harm reduction kits.
By the time Reed reached the front of the line, the outreach team was already out of clothes for the night. Still, they offered him some Narcan, an opioid overdose-reversing drug, which he stuffed in the pocket of his thin black windbreaker.
The CTA pledged earlier this year to expand partnerships with social service agencies, frankly acknowledging in its “Meeting the Moment” improvement plan that people who are homeless or struggling with mental health issues were impacting riders. The Night Ministry is one of three nonprofits the city’s Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) said will benefit from such an expansion.
Previously, the city spent at least $400,000 annually on outreach at major public transit hubs, said a spokesperson for DFSS, which oversees services for homeless residents in the city and funds several community shelters. This year, the agency will spend $2 million more on expanded outreach on the Blue and Red lines alone in response to growing concerns about people sleeping there.
But despite resources, some outreach workers and housing advocates say there is more need. And a shortage of shelter beds across the city is pushing more people to sleep on trains, they say, because “the CTA is their last resort.”
What outreach workers say on this cold night in February at Forest Park underscores the vastness of the city’s homeless crisis: When there are fewer shelter beds and O’Hare is no longer an option, more people end up sleeping on trains.
Many shelters were forced to limit bed space to meet health and safety protocols during the pandemic, which contributed to an increase in street homelessness. But although the pandemic has subsided, the shelter system never recovered.
WBEZ’s Anna Savchenko has more outreach workers’ efforts.
More news you need
- A Chicago Public School teacher is accused of mentally and physically abusing young students with disabilities at Whistler Elementary School on the Far South Side, often telling them, “The longer you cry, the longer I will hit you.” The teacher routinely “administered harmful, physical and violent corporal punishment,” including striking students with her hands and wooden rulers, the parents alleged in a lawsuit filed this week.
- Though expressway shootings in the Chicago area continue to drop from the high numbers two years ago, when they do happen they are increasingly being sparked by incidents of road rage, according to the Illinois State Police. In 2022, road rage was reported in about 40% of the 140 Chicago-area expressway shootings handled by state police.
- The wives of Sinaloa cartel-connected Chicago cocaine dealers Margarito Flores and Pedro Flores plan to plead guilty to money laundering charges for collecting, hiding and spending the ill-gotten gains of their husbands. Vivianna Lopez and Valerie Gaytan, indicted last year in Chicago on federal money-laundering charges, will enter their pleas during hearings scheduled for next month, their attorneys said.
- Police Supt. David Brown’s tenure — one marked by myriad challenges — comes to an end today. Yesterday, a new civilian commission tasked with finding Brown’s replacement vowed to find a “visionary” who can shepherd the department through “a time of great challenge and change” without bowing to an incoming mayor who will inevitably make the final pick. Tom Schuba has more on the search for a new CPD leader.
- Jeffery M. Leving, a Chicago lawyer known for his advocacy for fathers in custody cases, has been accused of billing clients for thousands of dollars in fees that didn’t match the value of the work his firm performed. The accusations come from a complaint filed in January by the state’s Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission and posted online this week.
- It’ll be a race to the runoff for West Side Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) — and a sigh of relief for Logan Square Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st). The official final results, released by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners yesterday, confirm Taliaferro will be among six incumbent alderpersons forced into runoff contests on April 4. Mitchell Armentrout breaks down the final results.
- And Ravinia released its much-anticipated 2023 schedule, with more than 100 concerts and programming slated from June 6 to Sept. 10. Ms. Lauryn Hill, The Isley Brothers, Carrie Underwood, John Legend, Buddy Guy and the CSO’s annual six-week summer residency are among the acts slated for the new season. Miriam Di Nunzio has the full lineup.
City Council recap
With outgoing Mayor Lightfoot presiding, the city’s alderpersons met yesterday for another eventful City Council meeting — Lightfoot’s first since she placed third in the Feb. 28 mayoral election. Here’s what you need to know:
- Surveillance cameras will soon be spewing out another avalanche of tickets that arrive by mail — this time targeting drivers who block bus lanes, bike lanes, crosswalks and loading zones. Spearheaded by Mayor Lightfoot and downtown 2nd Ward Ald. Brian Hopkins and 42nd Ward Ald. Brendan Reilly, the crackdown was approved by the Council without a word of debate.
- An ordinance championed by 47th Ward Ald. Matt Martin was approved. It requires the Chicago Department of Transportation to “prioritize and incorporate” bike and pedestrian and mass transit improvements whenever arterial streets are resurfaced.
- Lightfoot’s attempts to make a series of appointments to boards overseeing the CHA, CTA and Commission on Chicago Landmarks were buried in the Rules Committee, pretty much ending any hope of approval.
- And Lightfoot proposed yet another tax increment financing subsidy — this time for $27 million — to revive the stalled $87.8 million mixed-used project that includes restoration of the historic Congress Theater in Logan Square.
Fran Spielman has more on what went down at yesterday’s Council meeting.
A bright one
Artist Ruth Garcia came to Barrett Park as a little girl to play. Now, she has restored a mural there.
Ruth Garcia, 21, lived near Barrett Park near Pilsen until, when she was around 5, her family moved to Cicero.
“My mom would take me to that park to play,” Garcia says. “Back then, it was very simple. It wasn’t as colorful as it is now.”
She had a big part in making that happen. Garcia, an art student at Morton College, was one of two artists, with Alondra Sepulveda, hired last summer to restore an iconic but aging mural that lines a wall at the park at 2022 W. Cermak Rd.
Titled “Libertad” — freedom in Spanish — it features historical figures including Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, Mahatma Gandhi, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, union leader Cesar Chavez and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
The mural originally was painted in 2008 and involved the After School Matters nonprofit and the Yollocalli Arts Reach, a youth program affiliated with Chicago’s National Museum of Mexican Art. Over the years, though, weather and wear left the mural faded and chipped.
So Yollocalli hired Garcia, who works at the museum’s gift shop, and Sepulveda to touch up the artwork, giving it a vibrancy they hope will last another generation.
We’ve got more on the artist and the mural here.
Want more public art stories? Check out our other newsletters and sign up for Murals & Mosaics — sent every Friday to your inbox.
From the press box
- It’s now or never for the Illinois men’s basketball team, which kicks off its 2023 NCAA Tournament appearance at 3:30 p.m. this afternoon against Arkansas.
- Northwestern, meanwhile, faces Boise State at 6:35 p.m. tonight in its NCAA first-round matchup. Annie Costabile has more on the Wildcats ahead of their second March Madness appearance under Chris Collins.
- Bears GM Ryan Poles spoke to media today for the first time since the team executed a series of big moves during a busy week. Why did Poles trade the No. 1 pick when he did? “When you feel comfortable with what you’re receiving, you pull the trigger,” he said.
Your daily question☕
What lessons have you learned from the pandemic?
Send us an email at newsletters@suntimes.com and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
Yesterday we asked you: When you think back to some of your hardest days during the pandemic, what’s something that got you through?
“Seeing my 7-year-old twin grandkids at least once a week across the open garage door while they stood by the door into the house. When we were all vaccinated two plus years later, that first hug — I thought I’d never let them go. I hope we never have to go through anything like that again. I think I treasure every moment now more than I might have before COVID.” — Kaye Grabbe
“The vast network of Cook and DuPage County forest preserves that some really smart and foresighted folks set aside more than a hundred years ago. Our weekly hikes kept us sane — and fit, even when the rec center was shuttered and our lives became a lot more sedentary. And we found the joys of birdwatching!” — Deb Stewart
“Watching certain videos on YouTube. Calling friends and family. Taking drives for no reason to the forest preserve to get fresh air when no one was around.” — Vicki Thomas
“Being able to get outside with my plein air painting group. Still enjoying our activity while being able to safely practice social distancing.” — Donna Brown Smith
“Beer, weed and Lou Malnati’s.” — Selcuk Arsan
“Oddly enough, painting my nails. The quiet moments trimming, filing and painting allowed my mind to slow down and zone out. It’s a habit that has stuck.” — Kelly Q. Anderson
“I actually learned how to cook. Not just the simple rice, beans and chicken — but cook entrees and desserts. Saved me money and a few pounds.” — Thomas Huntley
“Dressing up in a T-Rex outfit and walking around the neighborhood passing out books to kids.” — Sarah Blaskey Kapp
“Books! All types of books! As a librarian, the escape into a realistic young adult novel or a children’s picture book or an adult memoir helped free my soul during a time when so many felt trapped physically and emotionally.” — Brittany Drehobl
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