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)
Weather ☀️
This afternoon will be sunny with a high near 84 degrees. Tonight — scattered showers a low near 61. Expect rainy weather tomorrow with a high near 69.
Top story
Two mothers linked by tragedy: One lost her police officer daughter, the other’s 16-year-old son is accused of the murder
Dionne Mhoon was careful with her words as she stood in the lobby of the Leighton Criminal Courthouse yesterday, minutes after hearing how four teens had killed her daughter, a Chicago police officer.
“I stand before you guys today as a mother, a heartbroken mother, a mother that’s full of anger, rage,” Mhoon told reporters.
Her 24-year-old daughter, Aréanah Preston, had been looking forward to graduating this weekend from Loyola University Chicago with a master’s degree in criminology — just a week from the day she was gunned down.
The family was looking forward to a big party to celebrate Preston’s and other family members’ academic accomplishments.
“Why?” Mhoon asked.
The same question worried another mother, Jaquanna Walker, whose 16-year-old son is the youngest of the four suspects charged with first-degree murder.
Her son Jaylen Frazier is still alive, but Walker said it feels like she has lost him as well.
“It’s almost as if he’s dead because his life is over at such a young age,” Walker said.
Each mother was left thinking of the other.
Mhoon told reporters she “felt sorry” for those accused of killing her daughter.
“As I sat in that courtroom today, the people I really felt sorry for was those boys,” Mhoon said. “I felt sorry for them because nobody, obviously, didn’t pour into them. Nobody told them you were loved, nobody told them you can do anything, like I constantly preach to my daughters.”
Walker said in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times that she attended a memorial Tuesday for Preston after leaving the police station to turn in her son.
“She did not deserve that,” Walker said. “I am very, very sorry about what happened.”
More news you need
- A summer trial has been scheduled for a woman charged with killing and dismembering her landlord last fall in the Acadia Terrace neighborhood on the Northwest Side. More on the July 17 trial from our Matthew Hendrickson.
- Chicago activists gathered in front of City Hall on the last day of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency to demand more funding for the city’s health department. They want a meeting with Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson to discuss an ordinance they have drafted calling for more money for both CDPH and community-based public health programs.
- Mayor-elect Johnson today fleshed out the senior staff who will accompany him into office. The appointments show the continued influence of County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the Chicago Teachers Union, our Fran Spielman writes in her latest.
- The design of the planned Bally’s River North casino and hotel complex has undergone a significant makeover that replaces much of the original scheme’s Vegas-like glitz with a more sober look. Columnist and architecture critic Lee Bey offers his take on the newest renderings.
- City officials yesterday backed a $48.4 million mixed-income housing development, hoping it will revitalize a stretch of East 63rd Street in Woodlawn. The 70-unit development would be built at the southeast corner of 63rd and Ellis Avenue on city-owned vacant land.
- One week after a contentious community meeting in Englewood, during which some residents said they did not want a Save A Lot store, the low-cost grocer opened without fanfare today in the site of the former Whole Foods that closed last fall. “We thought it was best to open the doors and let the community decide for themselves on how they felt about things,” a company executive told the Sun-Times.
- Expect to hear the chirping of some cicadas in the next week when a portion of the 17-year brood might appear a year early. Since only a small fraction of the cicada brood could emerge, they’ll likely all be eaten by predators before they’re able to mate. But it could mean the chirping of cicadas this year will be louder a little later in the season, with the annual and periodic cicadas overlapping.
A bright one ✨
Special Olympics Spring Games hosts thousands of Chicago participants: ‘Gold medals can take them places’
“I’ve got this,” 21-year-old Anna Mathews says as she sits on a bench at Dunbar Park on Tuesday. She’s nervous, but confident. More than 15 years participating in the Chicago Special Olympics and 50-plus gold medals help, too.
As the starter pistol goes off for the 100 meter dash, Mathews takes off and before long she speeds ahead her competitors. She wins the race, and with that gold medal she will head down to Bloomington, Illinois, in June for the statewide competition.
This week 2,092 competitors with intellectual disabilities from ages 8 to 65 have competed in a variety of track and field events for the Spring Games, said Melissa Garritano, managing director of Special Olympics Illinois. The athletes train and compete year-round, but the spring games — which involve 25 events —are major.
Typical track and field races like meter dashes and shot put, along with wheelchair races, tennis ball throws and assisted races, are among events this week.
Kara McElligott got a participation ribbon for her first race — a 100 meter. It’s the 35-year-old’s second year competing.
“I just love the whole atmosphere,” McElligott said. “It doesn’t bother me if I don’t win; I’m just going to compete. I’m just gonna have fun.”
More on this year’s Spring Games from our Mariah Rush.
From the press box ⚾️🏀🏈
- The Bears’ full schedule for the upcoming season will drop tonight at 7 p.m. They’ll open the season at home against the Aaron Rodgers-less Packers.
- The Cubs’ offensive resurgence partially washes away the taste of missed opportunity against the Cardinals, Maddie Lee writes.
- Annie Costabile examines if the 2023 Sky can maintain the standard set by their past stars.
Your daily question☕
What’s one major way that you think Chicago has changed since the start of the pandemic?
Email us (please include your first and last name) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
Yesterday, we asked you: What’s something that’s definitely on your Chicago to-do list this summer?
Here’s some of what you said...
“Definitely getting out on Lake Michigan on somebody’s boat!” — Steven Posey
“Most definitely, visit Buckingham Fountain.” — Freddie Harris
“Cubs game and maybe Bruce Springsteen concert at Wrigley.” — Norine McDevitt Kelly
“Ride my bike on DLSD next to the beaches!” — Ruben Esco
“Earth, Wind & Fire and Lionel Richie at the United Center.” — Mike Wiethorn
“On my to-do list: concerts — Madonna, Shania, Lionel, Loggins, and more. Cubs. And comedy, Martins — Short and Steve. All things I’m eager to ‘C,’ so to speak.” — Paul Lockwood
“South Shore High School All Class Festival at Rainbow Beach. Class of ‘73 is celebrating our 50th Anniversary there too!” — Jeanette Samuels Battle
“Can’t wait for Maestro Muti to conduct the CSO in a free concert at Millennium Park on June 27th!” — Rita Hasner
“Go to all three locations of Reckless Records, and then have a tasty meal at Stella’s Diner!” — Joey Traughber
“Cubs game, all the street fests, and Riot Fest!” — Jackie Pellenz
“Lincoln Park Zoo to see the lion cubs, and to visit Buckingham Fountain” — Susan Gryz Hannigan
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