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.
This afternoon will be sunny with a high near 89 degrees. Tonight will be mostly clear with a low near 73. Tomorrow will be partly sunny with a chance of thunderstorms and a high near 80.
Top story
8 hurt in Austin apartment building explosion: ‘It sounded like a bomb’
Otis Manning was watching television this morning, about to go to work, when a blast tore through the top floor of the apartment building across the street.
“All of a sudden I hear boom,” he said. “My heart almost shot out of my body. I saw windows busted open, I saw debris.”
At least eight people were injured in the blast around 9 a.m. near West End and Central avenues, collapsing the top floor of the four-story building and filling the street with dust, bricks and debris. Roughly three-fourths of the windows in the building were shattered. A Nissan sedan parked in front of the building was covered in pieces of brick, its windshield shattered.
People ran in every direction, some screaming they had loved ones inside as police urged them to get back in case there was another explosion, according to witnesses. The cause of the blast remains unknown.
Ten ambulances were called, and at least eight adults were transported to hospitals, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.
Two men were taken to Loyola University Medical Center, one serious to critical and the other fair to serious, fire officials said. A man was taken in serious to critical condition to Mount Sinai Medical Center. A man and a woman were also taken there, both fair to serious. A woman was taken to West Suburban Medical Center in fair to serious condition. Two men were later transported to Stroger Hospital, one in fair to serious condition and the other in serious to critical condition.
One of the victims was in the building across the street, Deputy Fire Commissioner Marc Ferman said in a news conference at the scene. He said the injuries ranged from burns to trauma.
The top floor of the building was “compromised” but crews were confident they got everyone out, Ferman said late in the morning as emergency crews conducted their final searches.
Sophie Sherry and Stefano Esposito have more from the scene here.
More news you need
- A woman was found dead this morning on the campus of Evanston Township High School. Our team of reporters on the Sun-Times wire desk has the latest on this developing story here.
- A 3-year-old boy left in critical condition after being rescued from Lake Michigan near Navy Pier yesterday was pushed into the water by a relative, a law enforcement source who has viewed surveillance video footage told the Sun-Times. The boy wasn’t expected to survive, the source said.
- Video released today by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability shows two Chicago police officers opening fire at a group of unarmed men from an unmarked car in Pilsen last July, capturing views of a shooting that’s since resulted in criminal charges against both officers. Tom Schuba and David Struett have more on the footage made public by COPA.
- State Sen. Emil Jones III has been hit with federal bribery charges as part of a yearslong investigation involving the politically connected red-light camera company SafeSpeed LLC. Jones, son of former Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr., is also charged with lying to the FBI.
- In a news conference today, Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough issued a call for military veterans to step back into service as poll workers this election year. The request comes as the region faces a “critical shortage” of election judges to make the ballot-casting process run efficiently, Yarbrough said.
- Starting Wednesday, Austin-based TaskForce Prevention & Community Services will give away about 100 bags of fresh produce. The community center for LGBTQ youth of color — located at 9 N. Cicero Ave — will begin the giveaway at noon.
- Community activist Ja’Mal Green is campaigning for mayor on a promise to create 10,000 new homeowners who will “repopulate” South and West side communities — an endeavor funded by establishing a public bank. Green explained his “Bank of Chicago” plan in a recent interview with our Fran Spielman here.
A bright one
Rare Midwest dinosaur fossil ‘the Beast’ arrives at the Field Museum
In a dark corner of the Field Museum’s basement, staff carefully lowered one of the largest hunks of dinosaur bones they have ever uncovered and tried to move in one piece.
Strapped to a broad pallet, the 2,500-pound chunk of bones and rock dubbed “the Beast” was wrapped in plaster to protect it on its trip from southern Missouri to Chicago’s Field Museum last Friday. Its contents: the bones of a 35-foot-long duck-billed dinosaur called Parrosaurus missouriensis that Field Museum scientists uncovered five years ago.
Since then, they have been shipping bones to the museum for cleaning and further study. But Friday’s shipment was the biggest yet for one reason: fear of slicing the fossils.
The area where this dino was found, an hour south of St. Louis, was so packed with fossils of dinosaurs and other animals the crew took precautions not to chop the fossils in pieces.
As the crew carved around one bone, they’d hit another bone and carve around that one. Again and again.
“And it just kept getting bigger and bigger,” said Akiko Shinya, the Field’s chief fossil preparator. “It eventually became so big that we’re like, holy s--- what did we do?”
Despite the technical challenges of moving the massive hunk of bones, the move went smoothly. The whole process of excavating and moving this one piece took three years.
In the museum’s basement, Shinya and her team will saw open the plaster casing and meticulously remove the bones from the mass of rock encasing them. The process will likely take a year.
David Struett has more on the fossil here.
From the press box
- One year after being a near-miss for enshrinement, former Bears returner Devin Hester began his second march toward the Pro Football Hall of Fame today when he was named one of 129 nominees.
- Despite some ups and downs, Seiya Suzuki’s going down as one of the better Cubs rookies in the last 50-plus years.
- After Justin Fields threw just 11 passes against the Packers, the Bears’ coaching staff defended its focus on the running game in the loss.
- One thing’s certain: Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet need to do more in the passing game, Jason Lieser writes.
Your daily question☕
What’s one Chicago-specific dish you won’t find anywhere else?
Send us an email at newsletters@suntimes.com and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
Yesterday, we asked you: What’s the best part of summer ending in Chicago?
Here’s what some of you said...
“When the summer ends in Chicago, the colors change around. It’s a wonderful time.” — Patsy Moreno
“The end of summer means the beginning of fall festival season in Chicago! Every September through November, Chicago has world-class events! Film festivals! Architecture Open House! Art exhibits! Museum exhibits!” — Martin Mulcahy
“Fall days coming and seeing the leaves change.” — Maria Malahy Riedy
“Shopping at Marshall Field’s for coats, boots and having lunch at the Walnut Room.” — Rosa Mata Freedman
“When it starts getting cold, it gets rid of the bugs.” — Jim Murray
“Getting rid of my air conditioners — it’s the best time of the year to open up the windows and smell all the fresh air coming in. I love October’s weather.” — Ray Keaton
“The snow shovel on the porch doesn’t look so awkward.” — Lisa Sobieski
“Cubs and Sox fans are put out of their misery until next the spring.” — Eric Lachmiller
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