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.
Editor’s note: There will be no Afternoon Edition Thursday and Friday. We’ll be back in your inbox on Monday. Happy Thanksgiving!
This afternoon will be sunny with a high near 60 degrees. Tonight will be partly cloudy with a low near 39. Thanksgiving will be mostly cloudy with a high near 52. Black Friday will be mostly sunny with a high near 47.
Top story
Guaranteed income payments a financial lifeline for Chicagoans: ‘I didn’t have anything’
When Gail Goodwin started receiving $500 a month through a guaranteed income program, for the first time in a while, she was able to give her grandchildren money.
“Like the old me,” Goodwin said. “When I had a good-paying job.”
Goodwin, 57, works full time at a private security firm in Chicago that pays $16 an hour, and it had been a stretch to make ends meet. Her rent on the Southwest Side accounts for more than 40% of her budget.
In Chicago, Goodwin is among thousands of local people taking part in experiments to see the results of providing individuals with a guaranteed income. She is among 5,000 Chicagoans who have received $500 payments for each of the last four months as part of a one-year program known as the Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot.
Some city residents will also be part of the Cook County Promise Guaranteed Income Pilot, which recently selected 3,250 applicants via a lottery to receive $500 a month for two years. Participants are expected to receive their first monthly payment by mid-December.
Both pilots are funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act, and academic researchers are closely monitoring the programs, which target low-income households.
Demographic data about the county’s participants is not yet available.
In the city’s pilot, the majority of participants — 71% — identify as a woman, according to data from the city. About 68% are Black, nearly 24% are Latino or Hispanic, and about 16% are white. An additional 3% of participants are Asian.
The 5,000 participants in the city program are spread throughout Chicago. ZIP code 60620, which includes Auburn Gresham, has 240 participants, the most concentrated in one area, according to data from the city. ZIP code 60619, which includes parts of Chatham and South Shore, has 235 participants.
Elvia Malagón has more with program participants and the impact so far here.
More news you need
- A driver charged with reckless homicide was traveling 75 mph in the wrong lane when he crashed into a car that was trying to elude police last weekend in the South Loop, killing the car driver, prosecutors said today. The 18-year-old driver was charged with reckless homicide and aggravated reckless driving and was cited for failure to reduce speed. Our Tom Schuba and Matthew Hendrickson have more on the tragic collision here.
- A teenage boy was charged in the fatal shooting of a 7-year-old boy who was struck by a stray bullet as he washed his hands in his Humboldt Park home last month, police officials announced yesterday. The 16-year-old suspect is being prosecuted as a juvenile, was arrested Monday and charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Akeem Briscoe, police said.
- Trudy Castle and Kimberly DiFrancesco, two Chicago area sisters, were each sentenced to 30 months of probation yesterday after pleading guilty to joining the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Federal officials say they became aware of the pair after someone shared photos that had been texted to their spouse by DiFrancesco.
- With the holiday shopping season just about here, experts are warning parents to be on the lookout for toys that have been recalled due to safety concerns but can still be found for sale online. Our Mitch Dudek has more on how to stay vigilant amid your holiday shopping here.
- Bruce Iglauer, the founder of the Chicago-based independent blues record label Alligator Records, was recently honored by the Recording Industry Association of America with an event celebrating the label’s 50th anniversary. Though the festivities took place at RIAA’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, the event was both an homage to Iglauer’s legacy of keeping the blues alive and Chicago’s undeniable influence on the genre. Lynn Sweet has more on the celebration here.
- And, in the 35 years since “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” was released on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving in 1987, John Hughes’ film has only grown in reputation, and deservedly so, writes Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper. Read Roeper’s full ode to the beloved film he dubs “one of the best Thanksgiving movies of all time” here.
A bright one
Chicago cultures come together for Mexico-Poland World Cup match: ‘It’s all love at the end of the day’
Simone’s in Pilsen was divided into two sections early yesterday as a monumental World Cup match was about to get underway — one for fans of Mexico, the other for fans of Poland.
The bar at 960 W. 18th St. was hoping to make room for the opposing fan bases for the morning’s FIFA World Cup game, considering the two countries that were going head to head account for two of Chicago’s largest immigrant populations.
But early on, Ania Pniwska, 41, was the lone supporter of Poland. Pniwska, who is from Szczecin, Poland, proudly repped a shirt that read “POLSKA.” The 41-year-old moved to Pilsen around 15 years ago. The neighborhood was historically a haven for Polish immigrants but in recent decades has become home to many more Mexican immigrants as has the city as a whole.
Today, there are more than 200,000 residents of Chicago who were born in Mexico, according to an analysis of 2020 census data by demographer Rob Paral. There are about 32,000 residents who were born in Poland, the third most in Chicago after the 35,000 from China. The city has long had one of the largest Polish populations outside of Poland. In 2000, there were around 70,000 residents born in Poland.
Greg and Oralia Niewiadomski are married — but were rooting for opposite teams at A.J. Hudson’s Public House, 3801 N. Ashland, in Lake View.
“Both of my parents were born in Poland, and my wife’s parents were born in Mexico,” Greg said. “This is a big deal for us.”
He added: “Obviously we’re very competitive about it. But it’s all love at the end of the day.”
Could that rivalry cause friction between the Irving Park couple who have been married for two years?
“When Mexico wins anything I’m very obnoxious, and he gets upset,” Oralia Niewiadomski said. “I love sports. I love soccer. It’s a huge deal. In Chicago there’s a lot of Mexican and Polish immigrants,” she said.
“We work hard, and we have the same values. At the end of the day, we understand each other, and I love that,” she said.
Michael Loria and David Struett have more with Chicago’s soccer fans here.
From the press box
- Bears quarterback Justin Fields clarified today that his left shoulder injury is “a separated shoulder with partially torn ligaments, basically an AC joint.”
- Bears coach Matt Eberflus has said very little about Field’s injury. Whatever Eberflus does say about Fields, think the opposite, writes Rick Morrissey in his latest column.
- And as the World Cup continues, our Steve Greenberg has a glossary of tournament and general soccer terms for you.
Your daily question☕
Where can you find the best holiday decorations/lights in Chicago?
Send us an email at newsletters@suntimes.com and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
Yesterday we asked you: What are you thankful for this year?
Here’s what some of you said...
“This newspaper!” — Jeromeo Breezedale
“Living another year on this earth after I went through some health challenges this year.” — Maurice Snell
“My family, and in particular, my two great nieces, who are my absolute world.” — Mike Walsh
“The beauty of our earth.” — Frank Larson
“I am thankful to still be cancer free.” — Tina Richmond
“All the health care workers in the city of Chicago — plus CPD and CFD. God bless our city.” — Barbara Moss
“I have a new granddaughter-one month today. I’m grateful to be able to see her and her two-year-old brother grow up. My children never knew their grandfather, so I never take this for granted.” — Howard Moore
“For being alive. For being the best mother I can possibly be. For having my own place food on the table. For having my kids’ father in my life. Having the best family I have
“Family dinner on Thanksgiving!” — Alfred Koopmann
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