Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a five-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.
— Matt Moore (@MattKenMoore)
This afternoon will see snow showers and a high near 30 degrees — daytime snow accumulation should total less than one inch. Expect similar weather tonight with a low near 18 — and tomorrow with a high near 34.
Top story
Mayor Lori Lightfoot facing stiff headwinds as 8 challengers vie for her job
Forty years ago, the first woman ever to serve as mayor of Chicago was turned into a one-termer by a defeat that paved the way for another first: the election of Harold Washington as Chicago’s first Black mayor.
Now, Lori Lightfoot is trying to avoid following in Jane Byrne’s footsteps by suffering a defeat that could set the stage for yet another piece of political history: the election of Chicago’s first Hispanic mayor.
In all, nine candidates will face off Feb. 28: Lightfoot; millionaire businessman Willie Wilson; two retiring alderpersons, Sophia King (4th) and Roderick Sawyer (6th); Illinois state Rep. Kam Buckner; Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson; former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas; U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia; and community activist Ja’Mal Green. That fractured field virtually guarantees no single candidate will reach the vote threshold — 50% plus one — that’s needed to avoid an April 4 runoff between the top two finishers.
With violent crime and the perception of it foremost on many voters’ minds, Lightfoot is facing stiff headwinds.
Turbulent first term: Lightfoot’s first term was marred by the pandemic, civil unrest, a teachers strike, battles with the Chicago Teachers Union over the reopening of schools and a seemingly endless string of public arguments with City Council members and other elected officials. She has a public approval rating stuck in the mid-20s, according to polling done for other candidates.
No endorsement this time: In 2019, Garcia gave Lightfoot a pivotal endorsement, only to regret it so much, he joined the 2023 race himself. Garcia ran for mayor in 2015 and forced then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel into the city’s first mayoral runoff. But this time, Garcia hesitated before jumping in, and by then, a CTU that was his biggest contributor in 2015 had already endorsed one of its own in Johnson.
Johnson has since put together a powerful coalition of progressive politicians, labor unions and community groups that includes SEIU Local 73, SEIU Healthcare, the CTU, the American Federation of Teachers, United Working Families and two newly elected members of Congress: Rep. Jonathan Jackson and Rep. Delia Ramirez, both Democrats.
Crime is key issue: Garcia is trying to remain above the fray while moving to the middle, particularly on the issue of violent crime.
“I know some people are surprised to hear a guy like me who spent decades as a community activist … supporting hiring police officers. But building violence prevention programs in Little Village was only possible by having an understanding with police,” he said.
All eight mayoral challengers have outlined plans to deliver Chicago from violence. All eight have promised to start by firing Chicago Police Supt. David Brown, the former Dallas police chief who was picked by Lightfoot to run the Chicago Police Department. In hiring Brown, Lightfoot went around the Police Board, on which she once served as president.
Dive into Fran Spielman’s full analysis here.
More news you need
- Prosecutors today asked a judge for more time to present a case to a grand jury against the father of Highland Park shooting suspect Robert E. Crimo III. Crimo Jr. is charged with seven counts of reckless conduct for allowing his son to obtain firearms — one count for each of the people killed in last year’s Highland Park Fourth of July massacre.
- Nine candidates may be vying to become the city’s next mayor, but the crowded field didn’t make things complicated for a handful of voters who came downtown today on the first day of early voting. Stefano Esposito spoke with the early voters for his latest here.
- A costly police training facility that Mayor Lori Lightfoot once slammed before launching her first mayoral campaign officially opened its doors yesterday with the enthusiastic approval of the mayor. The complex, which will also be used to train firefighters, ended up costing “$170 million and counting,” Lightfoot said.
- Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is going to battle with the national College Board over what he calls “political grandstanding” by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Chicago Democrat is warning the nonprofit that oversees the Advanced Placement program that Illinois will reject a revised African American Studies course if it doesn’t include “a factual accounting of history, including the role played by black queer Americans.” Pritzker sent a sharply worded letter to the board over its decision to revise the AP course in African American Studies after the Florida governor blocked Florida high schools from offering the course.
- In other education news, a coalition of teachers unions, advocates and parents’ groups are pushing a long list of changes to the standardized test Illinois elementary students take each spring. They are motivated by a widely shared view, including by the Illinois State Board of Education, that the current test doesn’t do much for students or teachers.
- To that point, CPS is considering science and social studies marks instead of standardized tests for advancing to the next grade. Our Nader Issa explains more here.
- City Council sees its share of turnover in every election cycle. But that doesn’t quite explain the generational changing of the guard going on this time. It’s not just that 14 of its 50 members have either departed, opted to run for mayor or decided not to seek reelection. It’s who is leaving and the decades of institutional knowledge the Council is losing.
- For the fifth time, Jussie Smollett’s attorneys are asking for more time to file a brief with the state appellate court that is reviewing the former actor’s conviction last year for faking a hate crime. The attorneys said their brief is ready but they are still waiting on a ruling on whether they can submit a longer filing than is typically allowed.
- After 56 years of operation, Chicago’s oldest continuously operating food pantry is breaking ground on a new home. Common Pantry, which serves about 600 Chicago residents a month, will begin construction tomorrow at 3908 Lincoln Ave.
- Nearly 11% of eateries taking part in Restaurant Week are adding surcharges to checks, the Sun-Times found. The fees that started during the pandemic are illegal in New York.
A bright one
‘Surreal’: 70 Chicago-area high school seniors receive full-ride scholarships through golf caddying
One day in December, high school senior Sarah Adebayo looked at two pieces of mail before her feeling a combination of stress and excitement.
One was a letter from Northwestern University, her dream school. The other, a package from the Evans Scholars Foundation. Both held important information about her future: Would she attend her top-choice college? Would she receive a full-ride scholarship, lifting a huge financial burden off her single mother? Adebayo, who immigrated to Rogers Park from Nigeria as a baby, opened the Northwestern package first to find a disappointing rejection. But then she opened the Evans package.
“I was like, ‘Am I reading this right?’” Adebayo, 17, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
She had received an Evans scholarship covering four years of tuition and housing at her choice of more than 20 colleges.
Adebayo, a caddy at Bryn Mawr Country Club, and 21 other students from the city of Chicago worked through their high school careers as golf caddies under the Charles “Chick” Evans Scholars program sponsored by the Western Golf Association, eventually earning full-ride scholarships. The Glenview-based association hosts the BMW Championship as part of the PGA tour. Since 1930, the association has sponsored more than 11,000 students to go to college.
Each summer throughout high school, the students in the program spend several weeks living with other students, working as caddies and prepping for college entrance exams. As caddies, the students wake up at 6 a.m. each day to carry heavy bags, walk all 18 holes and assist golfers during their games.
Of the hundreds of caddies selected for the scholarship this year, 70 are from the Chicago area, according to the association.
Mary Norkol has more on the scholarship here.
From the press box
- What’s the status of the White Sox TV pair Jason Benetti and Steve Stone? Jeff Agrest reports the two remain in talks with NBC Sports Chicago and are expected to return for the 2023 season, but Benetti’s other commitments are among the issues holding up the deals.
- White Sox sluggers Luis Robert and Yoan Moncada will be repping Cuba at the upcoming World Baseball Classic, the first time MLB players will be joining the Cuban national team for a major competition.
Your daily question☕
How do you feel about restaurants adding a non-gratuity surcharge to your bill?
Send us an email at newsletters@suntimes.com and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
Yesterday we asked you: What’s something you think is missing from the conversation about crime in Chicago?
Here’s what some of you said...
“The fact that the crime rate (for both violent and property crime) is still far below its peak in the early 1990s. And criminologists still aren’t sure why crime rates declined in the decades since — so be skeptical when mayoral candidates claim to have the solution.” — Jake Smith
“What will help community members give more information to law enforcement so that crimes can be prevented and brought to justice? How can community members be helped to feel less scared to give up information to the police? How can a trust relationship be created and reinforced between police and community members?” — Tim McGee
“Parental responsibility and accountability. The hollowing out of the State’s Attorney’s office by the departure of seasoned trial attorneys who can take major cases to trial, and how it has affected prosecutions.” — Susan Condon
“How are we measuring the outcomes of the various programs that have been or are being implemented to address crime? How do we which things are actually working?” — Laurie ShoulterKarall
“Immediate crime prevention strategies and long-term initiatives to address the societal shortcomings that are at the root of many crimes.” — Julie MacCarthy
“Not enough money for youth programs to give kids things to do. Invest in the youth and show them we care — that is essential and urgent.” — Jose Orozco
Thanks for reading the Chicago Sun-Times Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.
