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 bring showers and possible thunderstorms with a high near 89 degrees. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms and a low around 66. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high near 80.
Top story
Woman struck and killed by speeding Corvette that was ‘showing off’ with another Corvette before crash, witness says
A speeding Corvette struck and killed a woman in a crosswalk on the Southwest Side over the weekend as it was “showing off” with another Corvette and cutting through traffic, according to Chicago police and a witness.
“Very tragic,” said the witness, who was driving behind the two cars early Sunday at Cicero Avenue and 65th Street. “Very irresponsible of the racers taking an innocent person’s life.”
Meireis Shawman was killed a day before her 41st birthday, according to a police report on the accident.
The driver who hit Shawman told officers he was fleeing a carjacking. But the police report cites witnesses who said the drivers of both Corvettes were racing each other before one of them struck the woman and then collided with a car on Cicero around 1:40 a.m.
One witness told the Sun-Times the driver appeared to be “showing off” to the other Corvette driver. The witness said he was stopped at 63rd Street when the light turned green and the two Corvettes, one red and the other blue, began speeding south and cutting off drivers.
The driver of the red Corvette changed lanes to overtake the blue Corvette and struck a Hyundai at 65th Street. The red Corvette continued into a crosswalk and hit the woman. The driver, a 27-year-old man, was cited for obstructed front windshield and failure to exercise due care with a pedestrian in the roadway.
The crash happened during a weekend of “street takeovers across the city,” with drivers from Chicago’s underground car scene performing stunts at scattered intersections and at times clashing with police who tried to intervene.
Read David Struett’s full story here.
More news you need
- Mayor Lori Lightfoot today appointed the seven-member commission charged with taking the first step toward delivering civilian oversight of the Chicago Police Department. The interim group will serve only until district council members are elected on Feb. 28, but it will have a lot of power in the meantime, Fran Spielman reports.
- Ald. Ray Lopez today unveiled a dramatic plan to rein in mayoral control and slash the size of City Council in half if he wins the mayoral race next year. Here’s more on the big changes Lopez says he’d implement as mayor.
- Two additional accusers took the witness stand in R. Kelly’s federal child pornography trial today to allege the superstar sexually abused them when they were minors in the late 1990s. Andy Grimm and Jon Seidel have more from Chicago’s federal court.
- For six years, Chrissy Metz has been a familiar face on TV screens, best known Kate Pearson on the breakout NBC hit “This Is Us,” but tomorrow her musical side will be on display for a performance at City Winery. Selena Fragassi spoke to Metz about her music ahead of tomorrow’s show.
- An exceptionally rare Chicago license plate sold for $34,000 at auction Sunday, according to Union-based Donley Auctions. That figure blows out of the water estimates that pegged the value of the plate, believed to be the first issued in Illinois, at $2,000 to $4,000.
A bright one
Urban farm cultivates development in East Garfield Park — but it’s no charity: ‘Let’s empower’
Starting in 2016, many of Herban Produce’s customers thought they were doing a favor to co-owners Alicia Nesbary-Moore and Barry Howard, pitching in their dollars to support the fledgling two-acre urban farm in East Garfield Park.
“People were like, ‘Oh, we’ll take your lettuce because we feel bad for you,’” Howard laughed. “But we realized they should buy it because we have the best produce in the city of Chicago.”
In a split from the majority of urban farms in the Chicago area, the co-owners are determined to cultivate a true business with Herban Produce. It wasn’t always that way. For two years, the two-acre farm operated as a nonprofit.
“I kind of found myself in spaces where it seemed like I was charity, and I didn’t really like that feeling,” Nesbary-Moore said. “People kept wanting to categorize me as a community garden on the West Side — like, ‘Do business with them because they’re on the West Side.’”
Instead, she insisted: “Do business with me because I provide high-quality product, and it’s hyperlocal, and you’re supporting the local economy.”
So in 2018, the farm at 2900 W. Van Buren St. shifted to become a for-profit enterprise supplying restaurants citywide.
Read Mariah Rush’s full story here.
From the press box
- Matt Eberflus, who the Bears hired in large part because of his defensive mind, needs to deliver a quality defense this season regardless of the personnel he’s been given to work with, Jason Lieser writes.
- The world champion 2005 White Sox have some advice for this year’s team.
- Loyola moves up to No. 2 in Michael O’Brien’s Super 25 high school football rankings for Week 2.
Your daily question ☕
What’s the worst home disaster you’ve experienced living in the Chicago area?
Send us an email at newsletters@suntimes.com and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
On Friday, we asked you: What’s it like to own and raise a dog in Chicago? Here’s what some of you said...
“It’s wonderful with all the dog friendly areas, dog patios and events.” — Eric Bruce
“It helps to have access to a fenced yard and have a regular schedule. I feel safer owning dogs. They force me to get some exercise and I am never lonely.” — Robyn Michaels
“The best thing I ever did was get a dog from the shelter he is awesome.” — Ray Keaton
“I loved raising my boxer in Chicago. Summers we walked, played catch, in the parks. The fall was great watching the color changes in the leaves, walking, running and just having fun. The winter we bundled up and played catch with snowballs and king of the mountain from small hills I made and she tried to knock down. I miss my boxer who crossed over to the rainbow bridge years ago. There’s no place like Chicago!” — Marie Lacaze
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