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 some rain and snow with a high near 43 degrees. Expect similar weather tonight with a low near 30. Tomorrow will be cloudy with a high near 34.
Top story
POLL: Chicago voters feel unsafe from crime, unhappy with police relations — and looking for a candidate to fix it all
Nearly two-thirds of Chicagoans planning to cast a ballot in this month’s municipal election don’t feel personally safe from crime. And roughly the same number think the relationship between cops and the community is not a good one.
Those are some key takeaways from a new poll commissioned by the Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ, Telemundo Chicago and NBC5. The survey also shows nearly half of voters are looking for the mayoral candidate who can best deal with the city’s endemic crime.
When asked to rank issues guiding their decision in the mayor’s race, 44% said crime and public safety were most important, distantly followed by criminal justice reform at 13% and the economy and jobs at 12%.
Even further down the list were education and immigration, both at 6%; city taxes and spending at 5%; housing and homelessness at 4%; public corruption at 3%, and drugs and transportation each at 2%. Just 1% of those polled cited public health as their key issue.
Men and women were equally concerned about crime, with 47% of men ranking it No. 1, and 42% of women. The racial breakdown of those prioritizing crime showed a more pronounced difference: 61% of white voters, 30% of Black voters and 37% of Hispanic voters.
While gun violence is down this year compared to last, Chicago ended 2022 with 697 murders and saw its most violent year in a quarter-century in 2021. But zooming back further, data show the city is just slightly above the average number of murders per year over the last six decades.
Chicagoans are also worried about crime other than gun violence, including theft, robberies and carjackings, as incidents have crept into areas of the city unaccustomed to high rates of crimes.
WBEZ’s Mariah Woelfel and our Tina Sfondeles have more on the poll’s findings here.
More news you need
- The death of a Northwestern University student pulled from Diversey Harbor late last year has been ruled accidental. Peter Salvino, a 25-year-old doctoral candidate, died from drowning with ethanol intoxication a contributing factor, according to autopsy results released by the Cook County medical examiner.
- Aides to embattled Chicago Police Supt. David Brown have begun preparing a “legacy document” of his accomplishments and goals, apparently laying the groundwork for his exit, a source told the Sun-Times. Even if Mayor Lori Lightfoot is reelected and allows Brown to keep his job, he could be forced out anyway. In October, Brown turns 63, the mandatory retirement age for Chicago’s police officers and firefighters.
- The leader of the Chicago Police Department’s detective division is leaving the force, according to four sources with knowledge of the move. Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan is expected to take a job with Google, two sources said.
- State regulators issued early approvals to the landlord of Mayor Lightfoot’s proposed temporary gambling site in River North, where city officials are ambitiously hoping the first bets will be taken by summertime. Our Mitchell Armentrout has more on the politically connected landlord here.
- An immigration law clinic at Northwestern University has received a $5 million gift to expand its services. The donation is intended to allow the school’s immigration law clinic to represent more clients, hire another attorney and fund ongoing programs and operations.
- For the first time since the pandemic began, half of Chicago workers are now back in the office, according to Kastle, a provider of building security systems. Our David Roeder has more on the gradual return to the office here.
- Grammy Award winners Zac Brown Band and Darius Rucker, along with Luke Bryan and Zach Bryan, will be headlining this year’s Windy City Smokeout, it was announced today. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the country music festival, which will run July 13-16 outside at the United Center.
- AMC Theaters earlier this week unveiled a new pricing system in which seat location determines your ticket cost. Seats in the middle sections of auditoriums will cost an additional dollar or two, while seats in the front row will be slightly cheaper. Our Emmanuel Camarillo caught up with Chicago theatergoers to get their thoughts here.
Elections 2023
This week, the Sun-Times teamed up with WBEZ and the University of Chicago Institute of Politics to bring the city’s mayoral candidates together for two forums to speak to the issues Chicagoans care about.
Today’s forum saw candidates Ald. Roderick Sawyer and activist Ja’Mal Green answer questions posed by Reset host Sasha-Ann Simon. Many questions came from our People’s Agenda survey of voters. Fellow candidates Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson and businessman Willie Wilson were slated to appear but did not. You can watch the full forum here.
During yesterday’s forum on UIC’s campus featured incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot and mayoral candidates U.S. Rep Chuy Garcia, former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, state Rep. Kam Buckner and Ald. Sophia King. Read our Fran Spielman’s full recap of the first forum here.
And don’t forget to check out our Voter Guide ahead of this year’s election — it’s a valuable tool that’ll provide you with what you need to make a decision.
A bright one
Great Chicago music moments in photos, from Led Zeppelin to Liz Phair to Nirvana
Name a concert in Chicago over the past four decades, and the odds are good Marty Perez was there with his camera.
As a high-schooler in Beverly, Perez started bringing his camera to stadium shows by groups like Queen and Led Zeppelin.
Soon, it became a life capturing the onstage and offstage moments of musicians, from blues legends like Muddy Waters and Tail Dragger to Mudhoney and Lou Reed.
Perez’s new book “Kill a Punk For Rock & Roll” ($34.99), published by Chicago’s HoZac Books, reflects many of those moments, with more than 200 pages of his photographs, spanning 1976 to 2019.
Perez says he’s still motivated to photograph new bands, but making a living at it has become harder due to the decline in print media and explosion in phone technology that puts a camera in everyone’s pocket.
“There’s definitely new folks coming up through the ranks keeping the music alive and the drive to capture it still resides in me,” he says.
From the press box
- The Bulls and Knicks discussed a Zach LaVine deal before today’s NBA trade deadline, but Arturas Karnisovas ended up standing pat during a busy day for the league.
- Is this the year Devin Hester makes the Hall of Fame? Patrick Finley on the legendary kick returner’s candidacy.
Your daily question☕
What do you think of AMC’s choice to charge more for the best seats in the theater?
Send us an email at newsletters@suntimes.com and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
Yesterday we asked you: What should Illinois’ official state aroma be?
Here’s what some of you said...
“The wonderful smell of grease from the Billy Goat on lower Michigan.” — Kathleen Machek
“The official state aroma should be the proverbial ‘smell of the meat a cookin’ at the General Assembly, when they’re getting ready to pass out the legislative pork.” — Don Gross
“Hot dogs and pizza are the obvious ones but I go for the smell of chocolate from the Blommer Factory. So sweet.” — Howard Moore
“As the no. 2 corn producer in the US behind Iowa, the scent of corn being processed at the Argo plant. It could be considered an icon and is truly indescribable, yet instantly recognizable to all Southwest siders.” — William Helmcke
“Vienna hot dogs!” — Christina Gillespie
“I’d love for Illinois’ state aroma to be chocolate — memories of Blommer Chocolate Company, etc. — but our main aroma is more likely, and more frequently, the stink of corruption, unfortunately.” — Paul Lockwood
“Corn with a hint of exhaust.” — Gene Tenner
“The aroma of freshly tilled farm fields.” — Irene Lathrop
“Lake Michigan’s water smell. I lived within walking distance of the Lake on the North Shore, and ever so often in the summer, there’d be this smell of alewife fish.” — Jeenie Whatley
“Grilled onions on a polish.” — Ken Smith
Thanks for reading the Chicago Sun-Times Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.
