Good afternoon, Chicago. ✶
With October wrapping up and snow in the forecast, that means winter is quickly approaching.
But there’s still a little time to catch some peak fall foliage around town.
I’m planning on bundling up later this week and walking through Promontory Point in Hyde Park to see the leaves there.
But if you’re looking for some foliage outside the city limits, I talked with my colleague Lauren FitzPatrick, who has some recommendations for you as part of this week’s “Sun-Times Suggests.”
Plus, we’ve got the community news you need to know today.
⏱️: A 7-minute read
— Matt Moore, newsletter reporter (@MattKenMoore)
TODAY’S TOP STORY
$20,000 grant from CHA puts homeownership within reach
Reporting by Elvia Malagón
New program’s first participant: Samantha Stokes, 38, was in the process of securing a home through the Chicago Housing Authority’s Choose to Own program when the agency told her about the new down payment assistance program it was launching that would provide a grant of up to $20,000 for a down payment and closing costs. Stokes said it felt like a perfect storm — in a good way. She is the agency’s first participant to close on a home as part of the down payment assistance program. The $20,000 will be forgivable after 10 years.
CHA expects more to benefit: There are already more than a dozen other participants behind Stokes who have been deemed eligible for the grant and are in the process of purchasing a home, said Jimmy Stewart, manager of home ownership for CHA. The agency projects it will be able to help about 100 participants in the program’s first year, he said. The program is federally funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Who’s eligible?: The program is open to anyone — including those living outside Chicago — as long as the home purchased is within the city’s boundaries. However, the program does have other eligibility requirements, such as being a first-time homebuyer who will use the property as a primary residence, he said.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
- Man pleads not guilty in attack of mother, son: Joseph Czuba, a Plainfield landlord charged with attacking a Palestinian American woman and killing her young son because of their Muslim faith, pleaded not guilty to all charges.
- Highland Park massacre suspect won’t testify at dad’s trial: Robert Crimo III, the alleged Fourth of July parade shooter, won’t testify at his father’s trial after Crimo III’s lawyer said Monday that Crimo III would invoke the Fifth Amendment if called. Robert Crimo Jr. faces charges that he recklessly signed his then-underage son’s gun ownership application. That trial starts next week.
- Plan for another migrant tent camp advances: Over objections from 21st Ward Ald. Ronnie Mosley, a City Council committee has agreed to accept the donation of a vacant grocery store and parking lot at 115th and Halsted streets to transform into a winterized base camp for asylum-seekers.
- Getting the band back together: Fifteen years after Barack Obama’s historic presidential victory, marked by a giant celebration in Grant Park on Nov. 4, 2008, thousands of Obamaworld veterans are gathering this week in Chicago for their first official reunion, Lynn Sweet reports.
- State reading scores bounce back: Illinois public school students are continuing their slow recovery from the pandemic with improvements in English proficiency, a slight increase in graduation rates and more participation in advanced courses, according to state test data released Monday. Math scores remain below pre-pandemic levels.
- Shelley Howard remembered: By day, Howard, made ads promoting musicians from Pearl Jam to the Rolling Stones, and by night he frequented bars, clubs, restaurants and parties, always with a camera at the ready. The Chicago nightlife icon died Oct. 14 at 76 years old.
- Matthew Perry’s Chicago memory: It was in Chicago that the late Matthew Perry said he had what he called “the best experience of my life.” While in town to film a movie in 1986, he and co-star River Phoenix connected over beer and pool at a bar in North Rush Street. Perry recounts the “deeply magical time” in his memoir.
SUN-TIMES STAFF SUGGESTS 🍂
Explore autumn on the Indiana National Lakefront
I recently caught up with Sun-Times watchdog reporter Lauren FitzPatrick, who suggests heading to the Indiana National Lakefront for “a glorious fall outing — for apples and foliage and all.”
First stop: You’ll want to start at the Radke Orchards in Michigan City for delicious and unusual (and affordably priced) apples that you can pick yourself, Lauren tells me. Be sure to wait for fried-to-order apple fritters and fresh doughnuts, “decorated to your liking,” Lauren says. Her favorite selections are Mutsu and Cosmic apples “and if luck strikes, the last of the Ludacrisps.”
“The best part about Radke, for me, is the apples. No entrance ticket, no circus, no mazes, no minimums, just a beautiful happy hilly orchard. For my fourth grader, it’s all the icing and sprinkle options for the homemade doughnuts,” Lauren says.
Peak foliage views: Take your bounty from the orchard and head north to Mount Baldy for a short trek through a wooded path to the beach below for views of nature in glorious decay, Lauren recommends.
Pro tip: If hills are not your thing, Radke does have a tractor and wagon, and you could opt for a drive through the main Indiana Dunes park to gawk at changing trees, Lauren says.
“But if you’ve got a little bit of a hike in you, Mount Baldy always rewards with a gorgeous beach to yourself.”
📍Radke Orchards, 8999 W. 200 N., Michigan City, Indiana; Mount Baldy, 101 Rice St. (U.S. Highway 12), Michigan City, Indiana.
BRIGHT ONE ✨
Logan Square’s Pumpkin Fest returns for 23rd year with an ofrenda and ‘family-oriented’ fun
Reporting by Violet Miller
Unity Park’s Pumpkin Fest returned for its 23rd year Saturday morning, bringing pumpkin decorating and face painting back to the park.
The free Logan Square event boasted many activities, along with cider, and for the first time this year, an ofrenda — an altar to honor loved ones who have died — as part of Día de los Muertos celebrations.
Erin Jimenez attended the fest with her husband and their four children, donning elaborate costumes — complete with a wagon-turned-cage for the littlest of the family of dinosaurs — which she said has become a tradition.
Ebony Echevarria and her daughter came to Pumpkin Fest for the first time joined by veterans of the neighborhood, namely her sister.
Echevarria said she moved to the neighborhood about a year ago, and has enjoyed other events in the area, such as going to the local farmers market — something she makes a point of attending so her daughter can socialize.
“The things I try to do with her are more local-based, so she has an opportunity to meet other kids and other people,” Echevarria said, laughing at her daughter dancing to the music blasting from nearby speakers. “It’s good for her to be used to being around her neighbors.”
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
What Chicago neighborhood gives out the best Halloween candy?
Email us (please include your first and last name and where you live). To see the answers to this question, check our Morning Edition newsletter. Not subscribed to Morning Edition? Sign up here so you won’t miss a thing!
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Editor: Satchel Price
Written by: Matt Moore and Katie Anthony
Copy editor: Angie Myers
