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 83 degrees. Tonight will be partly cloudy with a low around 65. Tomorrow will be mostly sunny with a high near 85. Sunday will be partly sunny with a chance of thunderstorms and a high around 85.
Top story
2 Chicago cops charged with felonies in Pilsen shooting. ‘They shot me for no reason’
Two Chicago police officers are facing charges in connection with a on-duty shooting this summer in Pilsen that left two people wounded, one critically.
Officer Ruben Reynoso, 42, and Sgt. Christopher Liakopoulos, 43, were both charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and official misconduct. They could face a maximum of 30 years in prison, according to State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.
The officers are accused of lying about being fired upon first. Their “claims were contradicted by videotaped evidence,” which shows they actually fired first, Foxx said at a news conference.
Reynoso has been on the job since 2003, and Liakopoulos since 2001, Foxx said. Both were assigned to the Major Accidents Unit at the time of the July 22 shooting.
They were in plainclothes and riding in an unmarked squad car when they stopped to investigate a group of people in the 1000 block of West 18th Street about 7 a.m., a source told the Sun-Times.
Gunfire erupted, and Miguel Medina, 23, was shot in his back and thigh. Foxx said he was not in possession of a firearm.
“The officers did not have provocation or justification to shoot the unarmed victim,” she said. “Evidence does not support use of deadly force.”
Another person on the street returned fire, Foxx said, but the officers were not hit.
Reached by phone earlier today, Medina said the officers “shot me for no reason. Once the video is released, it will show what happened.”
Mitch Dudek and Tom Schuba have more on the allegations here.
More news you need
- Chicago taxpayers will spend $15 million to compensate the family of a 37-year-old mother of six who was killed during a high-speed police chase that supervisors had ordered officers to cease. Fran Spielman has more on the settlement.
- A longtime Cook County Board of Review worker pleaded guilty today to a federal bribery charge for taking cash in exchange for lowering property tax assessments. Danilo Barjaktarevic’s guilty plea came over a year after the Sun-Times reported he was under investigation by the FBI.
- With demand for marijuana and hemp going up, the University of Illinois and 11 community colleges statewide expanding their efforts to offer courses that prepare students for jobs in the cannabis industry. WBEZ’s Patrick Filbin has more on the emergence of cannabis courses in Illinois higher education.
- A Northwestern chemistry professor has found a way to destroy “forever chemicals,” harmful and ubiquitous contaminants that don’t break down in the environment or the human body. Read Brett Chase’s full story on William Dichtel’s potentially major discovery.
A bright one
For fatherhood mural in Wicker Park, Joe Miller used models he knows well: his brother and niece
Joe Miller titled the mural “#DADSTRENGTH.”
It stands 50 feet high and spans a 50-feet-long stretch of a wall at 1821 W. North Ave. in Wicker Park and features a sleeping child being lovingly held by her father.
“People can look at it and see themselves as the child or the father,” says Miller, 39, who painted it last September. “Both ideas are important to feel — both comforted or empowered.”
The work was especially personal for the Canaryville artist, who grew up in Marquette Park.
To start, he based it on a photograph of members of his own family — his brother Sam and niece Leyla, who was 2 in the photo and is now 5.
The location was important, too. He’d done another mural there on the four-story space — of a giant blue cloud with color beams — for a planned music festival that ended up not happening. Its organizers had him stop work before he’d finished, and he wanted to come back but create something personal there this time.
Miller says he told the building’s owner, “I’d love to do something that’s from me, for me.”
Read Nicky Andrews’ full story on Miller and his latest piece here.
From the press box
- An inexperienced and unproven group of receivers? That’s nothing new in Chicago, but now Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is getting to experience it himself with a no-name receiving corps, Patrick Finley writes.
- Ahead of Week 4 of the high school football season, Mike Clark previews the weekend’s biggest games, including Marist-Mount Carmel and Brother Rice-Loyola.
- Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks says the team’s return to contention could ‘happen a lot quicker’ than expected.
- Already 0-2 and down its starting QB, can Notre Dame take down Cal tomorrow to avoid an even bigger hole? Steve Greenberg previews the weekend in college football.
Your daily question ☕
Should for-profit festivals like Riot Fest be allowed to take over public space like Douglass Park? 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: What’s a classic staple of any Chicago apartment or home? Here’s what some of you said...
“Lawn chairs in the backyard or on the balcony. Chicagoan’s spend as much time as they can outside in the summer because the winters are long, cold, and dark.” — Dave Lesiak
“Giardiniera in the fridge and an 85’ Bears poster in the garage.” — Dave Pietruszka
“A dull white refrigerator that sticks out into the hallway like an afterthought.” — Jason Epperson
“An under door draft stopper for the winter!” — Linda Anderson Parris
“Old Style in the fridge and Malort on the bar.” — Adam Fryer
“A bag of Jewel Osco bags filled with grocery bags.” — Alyssa Marie
“A Cubs pennant & a ‘W’ flag!” — David Conkle
“Fake fireplaces that serve as a mantle and bookcase.” — Christine Bock
“A snow shovel on the front porch in June.” — Lara Weber
Thanks for reading the Chicago Sun-Times Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.
