A rise in after-school shootings, Black Restaurant Week kicks off and more in your Chicago news roundup

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.

— Matt Moore (@MattKenMoore)

This afternoon will be sunny with a high near 51 degrees. Tonight will be mostly clear with a low near 34. Tomorrow will be mostly sunny with showers likely and a high near 52.

Top story

Victims, families and school leaders seek answers after increase in after-school shootings

Right after school on a snowy Tuesday last February, A.J. Davis shook hands with a friend he calls Lil’ Mike. A.J. headed one way and Lil’ Mike went the other way.

A.J. made it home. His friend, 15-year-old Michael Brown, didn’t.

Michael was shot and killed less than two blocks from their school, the Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville on the South Side.

“For the two months after that, it was just stuck on sadness,” A.J. said. “And it was really a reality check for us. Like we really have to watch our back and we can’t be kids anymore.

“Like we’re not even safe at school. We can’t even walk to school and come back home. Like, dang.”

Before Michael’s killing, A.J. said he knew Chicago could be dangerous, especially for Black teenagers and young men. But he said it felt different for a shooting to take place so close to school, just moments after walking out of class, like they were “ducks, just waiting to be shot.”

Even in a big city like Chicago where gun violence is prevalent, fatal shootings of students near a school as they make their way home have been rare. But in the last year there was a spike, culminating Dec. 16 with four students shot — two of them killed — at afternoon dismissal right outside Benito Juarez Community Academy High School in the Pilsen neighborhood.

Last year, nine children 17 years old or younger were killed on a weekday in the hours that students head home — between 2 and 4:49 p.m, according to a WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times analysis of shooting records and media accounts of killings over the last decade. That does not count a 17-year-old Kenwood Academy student who was killed while on his lunch break or the shooting outside Schurz High School that left a teenager critically hurt.

In the decade before 2022, the worst year for murders had been 2016, when six children were killed. Between 2012 and 2021, there was an average of three murders of kids 17 and younger each year, the WBEZ/Sun-Times analysis found. WBEZ and the Sun-Times focused on this age group because school is compulsory in Illinois for children 17 and under.

The total number of shootings, which include fatal and non-fatal shootings, were also up slightly last year over recent years.

It’s difficult to track non-fatal shootings of children 17 and younger, some of whom could have been fatalities had the bullet hit differently. But in 2022, there were 41 shooting incidents, which can include multiple victims, involving children 19 and under within two blocks of a school. Police do not identify shooting victims by name and age, only by age group. This was the second highest number of non-fatal shootings for children 19 and under over the last 10 years. There were more shooting incidents in 2016.

Chicago Public Schools officials say they are working on plans to address the violence. Leaders don’t think anything particularly new is happening at schools, but rather it’s in the context of high levels of gun violence in Chicago and around the nation.

But the heat is turning up on district and city officials to take action.

Our Nader Issa and WBEZ’s Sarah Karp, Ola Giwa and Matt Kiefer have more here.

More news you need

• A man was shot by Chicago police in Little Village this afternoon, authorities said. Our Tom Schuba has the latest in this developing story here.
• Loved ones are mourning the loss of 21-year-old Jamel Henton, who was stabbed to death after attempting to break up a fight in Edgewater. “[He was] saving two people he didn’t know from being hurt or killed,” said his mother Aisha Barton.
• County prosecutors said Saturday that the former Juarez High School student who’s accused of killing two teens at the Pilsen school in December and wounding two others had been expelled earlier in the year over behavioral, academic and attendance issues. The 16-year-old, who was ordered held without bail Saturday, has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and attempted murder in the shooting.
• A local advocate for Chicagoans experiencing homelessness is raising funds to open a shelter, pledging to stay in an encampment in an underpass in Pilsen until she reaches her $1 million goal. Aleta Clark, known as “Englewood Barbie,” started the project after she brought a group seeking shelter to a hotel, only to have the reservation canceled by staff. Our Michael Loria has more on Clark’s efforts here.
• Less than a month ago, the CTA — whose leaders are appointed by the mayor — announced a lucrative new contract with a company founded by prominent real estate magnate Elzie Higginbottom. Just a few weeks later, another company tied to Higginbottom gave a $50,000 contribution to a new political fund created by a close ally of Mayor Lori Lightfoot. And last Wednesday, that so-called “independent expenditure” committee shelled out more than $70,000 to attack Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, one of Lightfoot’s main challengers. WBEZ’s Dan Mihalopoulos has more here.
• Three people were issued citations by Chicago police following a Friday protest in which they tried to enter a shuttered South Side school that has turned into a temporary shelter for newly arrived immigrants seeking asylum. Activist Andre Smith said by phone Friday afternoon that he was one of the three people who were handcuffed by officers and given a written citation at the Grand Crossing police station.
• The Chicago Auto Show returned to its pre-pandemic size this weekend at McCormick Place, touting 27 manufacturers showing off their latest vehicles, a record-setting seven test tracks and plenty of entertainment for non-car fans. Our David Struett has more on the auto show, which runs through next Monday, Feb. 20., here.

Elections 2023

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

The mayor’s race

Mayoral candidates kept it cordial at another forum Saturday morning that primarily focused on issues impacting the city’s Black and Brown communities, including preventing the exodus of Black Chicagoans.

The forum was hosted by the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition at New Beginnings Church in the Grand Crossing neighborhood. Jackson attended and led the audience in prayer. Seven of the nine candidates participated. Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Willie Wilson were absent. The discussion was mostly civil, though occasional boos from the audience were directed at former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas.

Our Kaitlin Washburn details the forum here.

City Council races

North Side residents of two lakefront wards will choose new City Council members to represent them for the first time in 12 years — and they’ve got a combined 16 candidates to choose from.

The scramble was sparked by the decisions of Ald. James Cappleman (46th) and Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) not to seek re-election, part of an exodus that will result in leadership turnover in nearly a third of the city’s 50 wards. Ten people are elbowing for position in the 48th Ward, while six are eyeing the 46th in the election now just over two weeks away. A candidate needs a majority to win, or else the top two vote-getters head to an April 4 run-off. Our Kade Heather has more on who’s running in these competitive races here.

In the 25th and 29th wards, incumbent City Council members Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) and Chris Taliaferro (29th) are being challenged on their records on public safety.

Sigcho-Lopez and Chris Taliaferro aren’t keeping their constituents safe, their challengers say. But the data tells a more complex story, our Michael Loria reports here.

For a fuller picture of who’s on your ballot, how you can vote and more, be sure to use our free Voter Guide.

A bright one

Chicago Black Restaurant Week: Steeped in history, the event is ever-evolving

Black History Month brings with it many celebrations of Black culture, including the annual Chicago Black Restaurant Week.

This year, dozens of restaurants are taking part in the two-week event that will take place Feb. 12-26, with cuisines spanning from traditional soul to vegan to Cajun to Jamaican to much more.

Before there was a Black History Month Celebration (officially recognized nationally in 1976), historian Carter G. Woodson had created Negro History Week exactly five decades earlier. That earlier event was the impetus for publicist Lauran Smith to found Chicago Black Restaurant Week (CBRW) eight years ago.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

One of the businesses taking part in CBRW this year is CheSa’s Bistro & Bar (3230 W. Addison St.), an Avondale restaurant that opened last October and that specializes in gluten-free Cajun and soul offerings. Guests can savor such items as char-broiled Cajun oysters, crispy-skin salmon with sweet potatoes, cheddar jalapeño cornbread, fried honey butter chicken (with donuts!) and blackened lemon-pepper catfish.

Owner Chesa Rollins relied on at least two factors when determining her menu: travel (specifically, to New Orleans) and health. Regarding the former, “When I was in college, I would spend quite a bit of time in New Orleans with one of my sorority sisters,” she said. “I loved the cuisine. When I opened CheSa’s, I wanted someplace that was unique and different in Chicago but also good. I didn’t want to do [traditional] soul food so I thought of a Creole restaurant.”

As for the health aspect, Rollins said the gluten-free cuisine is a result of her own experience with celiac disease, which she didn’t discover she had until she was pregnant.

Andrew Davis has more on CBRW and CheSa’s for the Sun-Times here.

From the press box

• The Chiefs’ Super Bowl win over the Eagles last night meant that ex-Bears coach Matt Nagy was celebrating.
• With the NFL postseason officially over, it’s time for more mock drafts! In Patrick Finley’s latest mock, the Bears trade the No. 1 pick to the Colts, who use it on Alabama’s Bryce Young. The Bears, at No. 4, take another Crimson Tide player, Will Anderson.
• Simeon beat Kenwood in overtime to win the city high school basketball championship over the weekend. The Wolverines remain the top team in Michael O’Brien’s latest Super 25 rankings.

Your daily question☕

What are your Valentine’s Day plans?

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

On Friday, we asked you: What do you think this year’s Super Bowl will be remembered for?

Here’s what some of you said...

“Two history-making moments, the Kelce brothers playing against each other and two Black quarterbacks playing against each other.” — Maurice Snell

“It won’t be remembered. Can anyone really remember any recent Super Bowls? Most people will remember what they are or maybe a commercial, but otherwise the game is usually an afterthought.” — Jeff Edstrom

“The commercial hype that overshadowed a great football game. It would be nice if the football game became the focus again.” — Will Bergmann

“Sheryl Lee Ralph singing.” — Stephanie M. Johnson

“Absolutely nothing with enough beer.” — Robert Baader

“Rihanna!” — Cristina Vega Mondragón

“Rowdy Eagles fans.” — Danny Ziemann

“Chris Stapleton!” — Cindy Curylo Baldocchi

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