Afternoon Edition: Oct. 7, 2021

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 see scattered showers and thunderstorms with a high near 72 and a 50% chance of precipitation. Similar conditions are expected to continue tonight with a low around 63 and an 80% chance of rain. Showers and thunderstorms are also expected tomorrow with a high near 73 and a 50% chance of precipitation.

Top story

Rev. Jesse Jackson meets with Simeon students still mourning shooting deaths of two classmates

Rev. Jesse Jackson today met with students at Simeon Career Academy in Chatham where students are still mourning the deaths of two classmates killed in separate shootings last month.

“Somebody in school knows the boys who killed the other two boys, they know them,” Jackson told reporters outside the school, noting that he urged students to speak up.

“They must tell somebody. For example, if they know there’s a gun in somebody’s car or locker, the gun’s not there to shoot rabbits,” he said.

Simeon freshman Kentrell McNeal, 15, was killed when he and a friend were ambushed in a McDonald’s parking lot in Hyde Park. The 14-year-old with him was seriously wounded. Hours earlier, another Simeon student, Jamari Williams, also 15, was shot and killed minutes after school let out. He loved playing football and, like Kentrell, had used sports as a refuge from the violence around him.

Jackson also said he’d like to meet with Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to bring the two together after disagreements were aired publicly this week.

Mitch Dudek has more from Jackson’s remarks today here.

More news you need

1. President Joe Biden is visiting an Elk Grove Village data center under construction today to drum up support for his order to require larger companies to mandate COVID-19 vaccines or weekly testing requirements for workers. Ahead of the visit, a White House official told the Sun-Times: “The President’s message will be clear: Vaccination requirements work.”
2. A Chicago Heights man admitted today that he threatened President Biden’s inauguration in expletive-filled voicemails left for members of Congress late in 2020. In one voicemail, Louis Capriotti could be heard saying, “We will surround the motherf---ing White House and we will kill any motherf---ing Democrat that steps on the motherf---ing lawn.”
3. Debra Shore, who has served as an elected commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District since 2006, will head the six-state Midwest headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency in Chicago. Shore will lead EPA Region 5, one of the biggest offices for the country’s top environmental enforcer.
4. Pfizer today asked the U.S. government to allow the use of its COVID-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11, the Associated Press reports. If regulators agree, shots could begin within weeks.
5. An alligator gar caught in the DuPage River? Sun-Times outdoors columnists Dale Bowman got a tip that one was caught there, so he did some digging to learn more about this rare find.

A bright one

Michigan Avenue mural shows city’s ‘interconnectedness and beautiful grit’

The facade of 679 N. Michigan Ave. is no longer reminiscent of a vacant former Apple store that once occupied the building.

Now, much of it is covered in a three-story, 6,000-square-foot mural full of detailed flora and bright pops of color.

Titled “Rapt on The Mile,” the mural creates a three-dimensional garden to “share energy” with the city, said local artists Nick Cave and Bob Faust, who created the mural.

Mark Capapas/Sun-Times

Cave and Faust said they want Chicagoans to recognize the “interconnectedness and beautiful grit” neighbors share in the city.

Posting the work on Michigan Avenue is one intended to uplift a job hub that has suffered from the pandemic and also from looting over the past year and a half.

The mural, installed by the marketing company Creative Graphics Management, will be on display through January.

Clare Proctor has more on the mural here.

From the press box

• Tensions might flare up during the American League Division Series. And if they do? Managers Tony La Russa of the White Sox and Dusty Baker of the Astros will undoubtedly love it.
• Sox left veteran left-handed pitcher Dallas Keuchel off the ALDS roster.
• More fans will be able to watch Game 2 of the ALDS thanks to MLB Network.
• Our experts make their predictions for Sunday’s Bears-Raiders game.
• Mike Clark previews this week’s top high school football games.
• The Chicago Sky beat the Connecticut Sun 79-69 last night. Now they’re headed for the WNBA finals, which start Oct. 10.

Your daily question ☕

We want to know: Have you ever been scammed? Tell us what happened.

Email us (please include your first name and where you live) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday we asked you: What did you do during the more than five hours Facebook and its apps (Instagram, WhatsApp, etc.) were down on Monday? Here’s what some of you said…

“Caught up on my DVR shows and played Solitaire, since my cable and internet were working, even if Facebook was not. It was a little isolating and a little eye-opening. At first, I felt lost and disconnected.” — Christine Bock

“I turned on the radio and worked around the house. It’s awesome. I decided to do that on a regular basis from now on. rock ‘n’ roll beats Facebook hands down!” — Sandy Harms

“Complained and cursed, as I work in digital marketing and needed data to put together for a presentation.” — Kristine Hulce Romano

“Read the WaPo and CST, some fiction too, made lunch — a normal day!” — Carmie Daugird Callobre

“I was on Twitter laughing at tweets about Facebook being down.” — Sharon Bartley

“I composed a song.” — James Hawkins

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