Afternoon Edition: Feb. 17, 2020

Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 4-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

Light snowfall and sleet this afternoon is expected to give way to rain just in time for the rush hour commute, which should be a little less rushed thanks to the Presidents Day holiday closing many offices across the city.

Tomorrow, we’re looking forward to partly sunny skies and temperatures in the balmy low-to-mid 30s.

Top story

11 kids among 26 shot in Chicago this weekend

While all eyes were on Chicago as it hosted the NBA’s annual All-Star celebration, the city had a dismal weekend, with incidents of gun violence that killed three people and injured 11 children.

Teenagers were struck by gunfire from passing vehicles in Logan Square, Bridgeport and Clearing. At least three kids were hurt in accidental shootings, according to police.

A boy playing with a gun accidentally shot an 8-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl in Bronzeville. At 7-year-old girl accidentally shot her 11-year-old brother in Lawndale. A 14-year-old girl was shot in Little Village by a 15-year-old, described as a “male acquaintance,” who was handling a gun when it fired, striking her in the cheek, police said.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot weighed in on Twitter:

Read more about this weekend’s gun violence.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

More news you need

1. The NBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago had many highs (including a surprise Obama sighting) and a few lows. One thing is certain: Kobe Bryant’s absence was felt. Check out all of our coverage here.
2. The Archdiocese of Chicago hasn’t shared a list of all the churches it expects to close and sell in the next few years, but reporter David Roeder tallied them up. His forecast may surprise you.
3. These black, tanklike sherps parading through the city Friday were part of a promotion for Kanye West’s newest Yeezy sneaker, QNTM. Free pairs of the $250 shoes were thrown to screaming fans from the back of the ATVs. Lines stretched around the block at shoe stores for the shoe’s official release Sunday, and by late afternoon they were already being resold for as much as $4,000. Read more about this weekend’s footwear frenzy.
4. Content warning: There are some grisly details in this story about Animal Care and Control responding to a horse found dead over the weekend at a home in Englewood. Its owner denies that the animal was mistreated. Here’s an update with the latest.
5. Aldermen cited the increasing popularity of European soccer — which brings fans out at odd hours to watch matches on Greenwich Mean Time — in their decision to let businesses start serving booze earlier. How this affects your brunch plans.

A bright one

You don’t have to be a sports fan to feel nostalgia and pride for the Chicago Bulls era that brought us a split pair of three-peats, from 1991 to 1998. All Chicagoans, past and present, will appreciate Rick Telander’s recounting of the Feb. 6, 1988 dunk contest that marked Michael Jordan’s debut as the powerhouse who would “dominate the collective minds of basketball fans for many years to come.”

John Swart/AP

Read it here: The weekend Michael Jordan really became MJ

From the press box

As baseball reckons with the Astros cheating scandal at spring training, Cubs stars Kris Bryant and Yu Darvish didn’t hold back their stinging criticism.

“It’s worse than steroids,” Bryant said of Houston’s sign-stealing scheme, while Darvish contended the Astros should be stripped of their 2017 title.

Your daily question ☕

If you could add any president — or any key U.S. figure — to Mount Rushmore alongside Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln, who would it be, and why? Email us and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

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