Afternoon Edition: Is Chicago for the birds? Advocates would like it to be

Good afternoon, Chicago. ✶

And a very happy Opening Day to all who celebrate. ⚾

Whether the weather cooperates or not, the start of the baseball season always feels like the real beginning of springtime.

Opening Day is a time for fans to shake off the dust of last year and embrace some good old-fashioned budding optimism.

In that spirit, White Sox fans flocked to Guaranteed Rate Field earlier this afternoon, ahead of today’s Detroit matchup. Follow along with our coverage here.

The Cubs, meanwhile, are in Texas to take on the Rangers this evening to kick off a three-game series before returning Monday for the Wrigley Field home opener.

But before you start planning out your sick/hooky days, we’ve got the community news you need to know below. 👇

⏱️: A 7-minute read

— Matt Moore, newsletter reporter (@MattKenMoore)

TODAY’S TOP STORY

Building designs that protect birds should be mandatory, bird safety advocates say

Reporting by Kaitlin Washburn

Chicago’s for the birds?: With the spring migration on its way, Chicago bird safety advocates on Wednesday demanded that the city require new developments to use bird-friendly building standards.

A grim recurrence: When migratory birds pass through the city in the fall and spring each year, thousands of them are killed when they hit buildings. In just one night last fall, about 1,000 birds flew into McCormick Place Lakeside Center and died.

Setting standards: For the last four years, the Bird Friendly Chicago coalition has worked with the Chicago Department of Planning and Development to create guidelines to help developers design buildings to prevent birds from striking them, said Annette Prince, director of Chicago Bird Collision Monitors. But the guidelines are only optional, despite advocates’ push to make them required.

Point system: No recommendations in the city’s current sustainability plan are required. But developers can score points for implementing any of the nine sustainable strategies in the plan, including for bird protection. If a project earns enough points, it is deemed sustainably compliant by the city.

Birds and glass: Birds get disoriented by glass because it reflects greenery and the sky, making it look like something they can fly into. Bird-safe building features include decorative grilles and patterned glass, which help birds see the glass windows as solid structures.

Key quote: “We know that not every building can be completely bird safe, and we can’t save every bird,” Prince said. “We’re not saying you have to go cover Willis Tower with a blanket. But we want the most critical and dangerous areas to be addressed.”

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WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times; Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

• State’s attorney race update: Eileen O’Neill Burke’s lead over Clayton Harris III in the Democratic primary for Cook County state’s attorney grew slightly Wednesday after a week of steady shrinking, but the ever-so-tight contest remains unresolved.
• Remembering Ben Stern: A Holocaust survivor who fought against a Nazi rally in Skokie during the 1970s, Mr. Stern died Feb. 28 at age 102. “He taught me lessons of kindness, courage and hope,” his daughter told the Sun-Times.
• Goose Island upgrades outlined: The city plans to overhaul a milelong section of Division Street over Goose Island with new bridges, protected bike lanes and more left-turn lanes. But cyclists expressed concerns about how some of the proposals would affect their safety.
• Eclipse tips: Doctors say looking at the April 8 eclipse without approved solar glasses — which are many times darker than sunglasses — can lead to retinal burns and can result in blind spots and permanent vision loss.
• Shedd’s pup gets new name: Meet Seldovia, the Shedd Aquarium’s 6-month-old seat otter pup who was recently named after the city where Alaska researchers found and rescued him.
• What to do with 9th pick?:The Bears have spent months studying the draft — and they’re eyeing receivers, pass rushers and left tackles with the second of their two first-round selections.
• 3.5 stars for ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’: The strength of this production at the Paramount’s intimate Copley Theatre isn’t that it’s especially atmospheric, or sexy, or theatrical; instead it focuses on and succeeds at providing a resolute narrative and thematic clarity, writes Steven Oxman in a review for the Sun-Times.

SUN-TIMES BOOK CLUB 📖

Provided

New book details making of ‘The Blues Brothers’

Last week, we told you about “Forgotten Sisters,” the new novel from Chicago author Cynthia Pelayo.

For your bookshelf this week, we’ve got: “The Blues Brothers: An Epic Friendship, the Rise of Improv, and the Making of an American Film Classic,” by author Daniel de Visé, released last week.

Here are three things you might not have known about the movie’s Chicago shoot, as detailed by de Visé.

The filmmakers wanted more R&B stars: Dan Aykroyd, who, besides starring, was the lead author of “The Blues Brothers” script, wanted the movie to showcase the greats of golden-era rhythm and blues, writes de Visé.

Aykroyd and director John Landis ended up enlisting five of the greatest: Aretha Franklin and James Brown, the queen and godfather of soul; Ray Charles, the genius; Cab Calloway, a big-band titan of the swing era; and John Lee Hooker, a first-rank postwar bluesman.

That tunnel scene with Carrie Fisher was faked: John Belushi’s showdown with Carrie Fisher’s Mystery Woman inside an old pedestrian tunnel was one of Belushi’s biggest scenes in “The Blues Brothers,” de Visé writes. “It turns out the tunnel scene was a marvel of forced perspective, built on a Universal soundstage.”

Choking fumes inside a Harvey mall: “The Blues Brothers” shot inside an abandoned Harvey shopping mall, sealing and blacking out every exterior door and window to preserve the illusion of a nighttime chase.

That trapped days’ worth of exhaust fumes and burned rubber in the enclosed space, as stunt drivers filmed the chase scenes, forcing the cast and crew to take periodic breaks outside.

More stories from the shoot, including a horn section cutting lines of coke, and a major set piece edited from the film, here and at the button below.

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BRIGHT ONE ✨

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Migrants improvise to re-create dishes that remind them of home

Reporting by Ambar Colón

Though they can’t find exactly everything needed to create an authentic meal in the U.S., Tomás Alvarado and his family improvise the ingredients to replicate meals that remind them of home.

One dish, in particular, is a nod to the blending of cultures, due to the Italian colonial and migratory history in Venezuela: spaghetti with ground beef, plantains and garlic bread.

“Of course, with the passing of time the Venezuelans were giving it their touch,” Alvarado said. “But keeping that Italian-Venezuelan mixture, that is, it is something that is eaten a lot there in Venezuela.

“We are migrants here, aren’t we? The Italians in Venezuela were migrants too.”

In Venezuela, the dish is usually served with queso llanero, Alvarado said, describing the cheese as hard and salty. They’ve had no luck finding a worthy equivalent in Chicago, but Parmesan is close enough.

“There is another type of cheese in Venezuela called queso de mano,” Ollarves said. “They also sell it here, but it doesn’t taste the same. But at least it helps in the preparation of food.”

Other Venezuelans, both in the U.S. diaspora and back home, might opt to enjoy the dish with mayonnaise or ketchup, too, he said.

In general, Venezuelans use the ingredients they have the most access to — making it their own. Alvarado adds red bell pepper, for example.The sweet plantains are what make the dish quintessentially Venezuelan. They’re fried in cooking oil and served alongside the pasta, which is generously covered in sauce and cheese.

It all gets washed down with a large glass of passion fruit juice, or parchita.

You learn more about the dish and Alvarado’s journey in this video, or read more via the button below.

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YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️

How do you feel about the presence of legal sportsbooks at stadiums like Wrigley Field?

Email us (please include your first and last name). 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
Newsletter reporter: Matt Moore
Copy editor: Angie Myers