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.
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Top story
Check fraud spikes: Chicago sees jump in checks stolen from mailboxes, ‘washed’ and cashed for thousands of dollars
Midge Laurin dropped a check in a U.S. Postal Service mailbox on Central Avenue near her Southwest Side home in September — a $30 contribution to her cousin’s daughter’s school in Crystal Lake.
Three days later, she and her husband logged onto their bank account and found the check had been stolen, rewritten and cashed to a “Crystal E. Hunter” for $9,475.81.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Laurin, a retired office manager. “How did they know I even had the money?”
Laurin’s husband, Francis, called Chicago police but was referred to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, where he filed a report.
The couple visited their bank and were told it could take up to six months to recover the money. A bank employee told them seven other customers were recent victims of the same crime.
“They looked at us as if it was an everyday occurrence,” Laurin said.
The stolen check scheme, called “check washing,” exploded during the pandemic, leaving many victims struggling for months to recover their money. And it’s gotten worse in the last year, experts said.
In most cases, thieves steal checks from mailboxes and erase the ink using household chemicals. They then rewrite the check to a different person and cash it at an ATM or currency exchange.
“We are senior citizens on a fixed income and never expected this to happen,” Laurin said. She and her husband need the money for expenses related to their pending home sale. For now, that’s on hold.
“They said six months. That’s an awful long time to wait,” she said.
Read David Struett’s full story on an increasingly popular scam targeting Chicagoans here.
One more thing on this topic: Have you or someone you know been a victim of a stolen check scam recently? We want to hear from you. Fill out this form and let us know if you’re willing to speak to a reporter about your experience.
More news you need
- COVID-19 booster rates remain low in Chicago, prompting concerns from health officials about the potential of another surge here. Less than 10% of eligible residents have rolled up their sleeves for updated vaccines, WBEZ’s Courtney Kueppers reports.
- Amazon employees at an important distribution hub in Joliet walked off the job yesterday, calling attention to their demands for higher pay and new workplace safety rules. It was part of a national pressure campaign, supported by pro-labor groups, that included job actions near Atlanta and a walkout planned Friday in California.
- A Southwest Side mom is declaring victory after spending three years warning about peeling lead paint at viaduct passageways where children walk on their way to and from school. The railroad that owns the viaduct recently agreed to clean up the areas where thousands of paint chips litter the ground.
- Chicago dog owners are letting their unleashed dogs run wild in parks and other public property, triggering fist fights and threats of violence, the head of Animal Care and Control was told today. With executive director Mamadou Diakhate testifying at City Council budget hearings, Ald. Scott Waguespack vented about unleashed pups whose owners are forgoing the law that requires dogs to be restrained while in public.
- When the Hatch siblings returned yesterday to the place where they grew up, the Jane Addams Homes, they weren’t just there to reminisce. Joan, Anna, Jennie and Rev. Marshall Hatch were celebrating that their stories, along with others from one of Chicago’s first public housing projects, will be preserved at the new National Public Housing Museum. Michael Loria has more here.
A bright one
3 Chicagoans honored as MacArthur fellows
Reuben Jonathan Miller spoke about his life’s work this week at a breathless clip, as though he’d just discovered a new animal species or a previously unknown galaxy.
But it isn’t so much excitement that informs his work, as it is seriousness and urgency. Miller is a sociology professor at the University of Chicago’s school of social work, studying the impact of the American jail and prison systems on inmates — both while they’re locked up and after they are released.
For his work, Miller was today named a 2022 MacArthur Fellow, an honor that is “intended to encourage people of outstanding talent to pursue their own creative, intellectual, and professional inclinations,” according to the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The fellowship, commonly called a “genius grant,” comes with a no-strings-attached $800,000 stipend.
Miller, who grew up in the Bronzeville neighborhood, is one of 25 MacArthur Fellows, a list that includes two others from Chicago: Tomeka Reid, a jazz cellist and composer, and Amanda Williams, an artist and architect.
Reid — speaking by phone from Germany, where she is an artist in residence for the year at the Moers Festival — described this week’s recognition as a “huge honor.” She grew up on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., but her music career began after moving to Chicago in 2000. In her improvisation, Reid said she seeks to show the instrument’s versatility. She’s not only interested in the harmonic function within jazz but also the “textural and sonic elements” and what she calls “extended techniques.”
Williams is perhaps best known for a two-year project that began in 2014 and involved the artist painting the exteriors of eight condemned houses on the South Side with vibrant hues associated with products — including a blue jar of Ultra Sheen hair care — that people in the community would be expected to know well.
“It really was about connecting people to an idea of value — what things they think are important — and questioning that,” Williams said.
Stefano Esposito has more with Miller, Reid and Williams here.
From the press box
- Hockey is back! The Blackhawks hit the ice for their season opener tonight against the Avalanche at 8:30 p.m. Here’s Ben Pope with more on how Patrick Kane is entering what could be his final season in Chicago.
- The NBA preseason schedule has ended and the grades are in for the Bulls: Here’s how Joe Cowley grades everyone from Zach Lavine to Tony Bradley.
- Entering his second professional season, Ayo Dosunmu has been named the Bulls’ starting point guard.
- When the Bears face the Commanders tomorrow night, Justin Fields needs to keep building upon the improvement he showed against Minnesota, Jason Lieser writes.
Your daily question☕
What’s something that should be on every Chicagoan’s bucket list?
Send us an email at newsletters@suntimes.com and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
Yesterday, we asked you: What is the best restaurant in your neighborhood?
Here’s what some of you said ...
“The Weiner’s Circle, because of the great service — and the dogs.” — Charlie Kehm
“Bucktown: Piece, Etta, Antique Taco and Art of Chicken!” — Michael Scarn
“Pasta D’Arte Trattoria Italiana in Gladstone Park. The food is delicious! The staff is friendly and they make you feel like family. The Pumpkin Cheesecake is a must-try. It’s seasonal so don’t wait!” — Cath Vee
“Frankie’s Beef & Pasta Sin Oak Lawn and Frankie’s Ristorante in Tinley Park. Authentic Italian cuisine by authentic Italians! Casual dinner delivery to catering your most special occasions. The nicest family in the restaurant business. We’ve been customers since they opened. We take our newborns here for their first ‘night out.’ And celebrations through the years.” — Christine Sheets Nutile
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