Afternoon Edition: May 19, 2022

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 be mostly sunny with a high near 84 degrees. Tonight will be partly cloudy with a low around 68. Tomorrow will be partly sunny with a chance of thunderstorms and a high near 84.

Afternoon Edition

Chicago’s most important news of the day, delivered every weekday afternoon. Plus, a bonus issue on Saturdays that dives into the city’s storied history.

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Top story

Unarmed 13-year-old boy shot and seriously wounded by Chicago police after officers stop car wanted for carjacking in Oak Park

An unarmed 13-year-old boy was shot and seriously wounded by Chicago police after officers stopped a car wanted for a carjacking in Oak Park a day earlier, according to law enforcement sources.

The boy was shot around 10:15 p.m. last night after he jumped from the car and began running in the 800 block of North Cicero in Austin, according to a preliminary statement from police. The statement gives no details of the confrontation, but a source said no shots were fired at the officers and no weapon was recovered.

The boy was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical but stable condition, according to Fire Department spokesman Larry Merritt. Sources gave his age as 13.

The driver sped off in the wanted car, which was later found abandoned in the 3800 block of West Monroe Street about two miles away near Garfield Park.

The car had been used in a carjacking the day before in Oak Park, according to the authorities in the western suburb.

The shooting happened a little over a year after a Chicago police officer shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo as he ran from police in Little Village and ditched a gun behind a fence seconds before the officer confronted him.

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office in March determined no criminal charges would be filed against the officer who opened fire.

Tom Schuba and David Struett have more on this developing story here.

More news you need

1. A 16-year-old girl has died after being shot last week in a home in West Garfield Park. A 19-year-old man has been charged with hiding the gun that killed her, police said
2. Nearly a decade after his murder conviction, a new controversy has erupted over the case of former Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson and the fate of his long-missing fourth wife, Stacy. Peterson’s former attorney, Joel Brodsky, says the judge who presided over Peterson’s 2012 trial ordered him today not to disclose what he knows about what happened to Stacy.
3. The Chicago Park District is offering financial incentives to people applying for summer jobs, two years after the start of an investigation that exposed rampant sexual abuse and harassment among its lifeguards. In all, the Park District is looking to fill 2,100 positions this summer — that includes lifeguards, junior laborers, attendants and recreation leaders.
4. The kickoff of early voting for the June 28 Illinois primary is spotlighting some voter confusion in redrawn Chicago area congressional districts as candidates scramble to lock in their votes. Additionally, some voters are confused about who’s on the ballot. “You’d be surprised how many people don’t know [Rep] Bobby Rush isn’t running again,” said an adviser for one of the 17 candidates vying for Rush’s seat after his retirement.

A bright one

Chicago chemist-turned-baker creates ube croissants that are worth a trip to Logan Square

Mirachelle Anselmo is a chemist by training but a food scientist by temperament.

As an undergraduate student at North Central College in Naperville, she conducted research on the Maillard reaction — the scientific name for the browning of food — to see if different kinds of sugars formed different products post-reaction. While working toward her master’s degree in organometallic chemistry at DePaul University, she helped customers at Floriole, a patisserie in Lincoln Park.

When Chicago went into lockdown during the spring of 2020, Anselmo, like many others, began baking more at home. She began with simpler experiments: sourdough starter and banana bread.

She progressed to braided chocolate babka and other enriched-dough pastries, and started selling her baked goods at local fundraisers. Eventually, Anselmo set her sights on the French croissant — with a nod to her Filipino roots.

Manuel Martinez/WBEZ

On a warm, sticky day in June 2021, Anselmo made her first batch of ube croissants.

Developing the recipe took months of painstaking trial and error, not to mention dozens of disappointing batches. Now, almost two years later, she has built up a following that anticipates her vibrant purple pastries with the same eagerness you might expect from sneakerheads waiting for a limited-edition shoe drop.

Anselmo’s croissants — with ube, a purple yam common in the Philippines, incorporated into the dough itself — are striking in color and shape, with their modern, slashed tops. They also highlight ube in multiple forms.

In the latest iteration, Anselmo mixes powdered ube with confectioner’s sugar to dust. Ube (pronounced OOO-beh) also stars in the homemade ube halaya — a jammy violet spread typically made with grated ube, three kinds of milk (coconut, condensed and evaporated), butter, sugar and salt — at the center of each croissant.

Charmaine Runes has more on Anselmo and ube croissant here.

From the press box

• The White Sox had one of baseball’s best offenses last year. This season they’re last in walks, 29th in on-base percentage and 26th in runs. “Some guys are chasing. It gets to the point where there is a little press,” Andrew Vaughn said ahead of today’s game against the Royals.
• LaVar Ball, the father of the Bulls’ Lonzo Ball, criticized the team’s handling of the point guard’s post-surgery rehab but said he expects Lonzo to be ready for the start of the 2022-23 season.

Your daily question ☕

What’s Chicago’s most underrated neighborhood? Tell us why.

Send us an email at newsletters@suntimes.com and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday, we asked you: What do you think should be done with vacant lots in your neighborhood?

Here’s what some of you said…

“Make them into community gardens. It will help the community, kids and seniors. All neighborhoods should have community gardens. With the price of veggies nowadays, why not? It will teach children to appreciate what they have and grow.” — Diane Wilk

“In my opinion, they should be turned into homeless shelters, I am a retired veteran and I see a lot of veterans and individuals in general who are homeless. We need to act appropriately and do something to help them.” — Kay Frazier

“Put sod on them to make neighborhood parks for kids to play in.” — Richard Andrewski

“Build single-family homes via organizations such as Habitat for Humanity.” — Dorothy Desouzaguedes

“Make repurposing easier with zoning flexibility. Reduce the cost of owning and developing by reducing taxes.” — Brian Costin

“The vacant lots as well as the closed down abandoned schools on the West and South sides should be turned into recreational facilities for the youth, mental health facilities and staffing facilities. The lots can be turned into greenhouses and gardens with fresh fruits and vegetables due to the food deserts in these low-income neighborhoods as well.” — Tiffany Overton

“Make it easier for homeowners to purchase them. My house is situated in the middle of two large vacant lots that people park abandoned cars in or throw large gatherings, I called my alderman and the city to try and purchase and I have been given the runaround.” — TeWan Willis

Thanks for reading the Chicago Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.