Sun-Times turns 75, how to find your mayoral match 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 a little cloudy with a high near 33 degrees. Tonight will be mostly clear with a low near -5 and wind chill values as low as -19. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high near 9 and wind chill values as low as -21.

Top story

The Sun-Times turns 75 🎉

For a mere 4 cents, on Feb. 2, 1948, you could pick up the first edition of the Chicago Daily Sun and Times.

It rolled off the presses with little fanfare, with the banner headline: “MAJCZEK TELLS $5,000 ‘GIFT’ TO ILL. LEGISLATOR.”

The Majczek story, which would be made into the movie “Call Northside 777” starring Jimmy Stewart, was about a man wrongly convicted of killing a cop and sentenced to 99 years in prison. The Sun and Times’ first daily edition was a reminder to readers that, while they were reading a new paper, they could trust the reporting. Many of its staff were seasoned pros, including James McGuire, one of two reporters who helped prove Majczek’s innocence.

Seventy-five years later, even as the news business has endured upheavals that surely no one in 1948 could have imagined, the Chicago Sun-Times has never forgotten its roots and crusading mission.

“We’re a spunky newspaper,” says Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell, who began writing for the paper as a summer intern in 1990. “We’ve always been a newspaper for the folks who felt they didn’t have a voice in this city.”

Over the years, the paper has featured a storied array of columnists — including Irv Kupcinet, Mike Royko, Eppie Lederer (writing under the pseudonym Ann Landers), Roger Ebert and more. Ebert was the first to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize for film criticism — one of eight Pulitzers the Sun-Times has won.

Our Stefano Esposito has much more on our storied history here.

More news you need

• A woman has been charged with concealing the death of her 96-year-old mother, whose body was found in a freezer in the garage of their Portage Park home earlier this week. Prosecutors said today that Eva Bratcher, 69, hid her mother’s body in a freezer for nearly 2 years.
• A Chicago Lawn tattoo artist has been charged with sexually assaulting a teen girl and two women who went to his home to get tattoos while he was out on bond for allegedly sexually assaulting other female clients. Miguel DeLeon, 49, was denied bail during a hearing yesterday on charges of criminal sexual assault, attempted criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and unlawful restraint.
• Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is suing the makers of so-called forever chemicals that have contaminated multiple sources of drinking water, saying the companies hid threats to public health and the environment. Raoul is suing 3M and several other large chemical companies that have in their past had some role in making a class of chemicals used in non-stick pans, clothing, furniture and thousands of other products.
• Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s push for a quick vote on a proposed 15-year franchise agreement with Commonwealth Edison was short-circuited in the City Council yesterday. Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) sent the complex agreement to the Rules Committee, where legislation normally goes to die. That adds another step to the legislative process, potentially derailing Lightfoot’s plan to rush the agreement through the Council in what could be the final months of her tenure.
• The City Council did agree to vacate streets and alleys to pave the way for a $150 million expansion of Norfolk Southern Railway’s intermodal yard in Englewood after the local alderperson lifted the legislative brick. Last month, Ald. Jeanette Taylor delayed the project, which has drawn scrutiny over residential displacement, truck traffic and pollution. Yesterday, she admonished Norfolk Southern — but voted for the expansion.
• A new nonviolence center named for Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. officially opened yesterday in Englewood. The Gandhi King Center for Nonviolence will provide holistic approaches to combat violence in the area and promote peacefulness through meditation and yoga classes, mediation counselors, basketball programming and a 24/7 crisis hotline. Our Mariah Rush has more on the new center here.
• If you’re part of a nonprofit arts organization, now is the time to apply for a portion of the $11 million in grant funding the city is set to distribute this year. The CityArts Program is overseeing a $6.5 million budget in “general operating support for local arts and cultural organizations of all sizes,” according to the city. Applications will be available beginning Feb. 10, according to the city.

Elections 2023

Finding your mayoral match: Take the Chicago mayoral candidate quiz

There’s a lot of information to sort through in this mayor’s race. So we created a tool to help you figure out who among the nine mayoral candidates most closely reflects your personal views on important issues.

Simply answer “yes,” “no” or “no answer.” The results will show your match for all candidates — from most to least. Below each question, click “Learn more” for background on the topic.

(To see how the candidates answered the same questions, check out “Chicago mayoral candidates answer 23 questions.”)

You can’t save your place and come back later — but, you can skip to results at any time.

Head here for the quiz.

A bright one

After 30 years, ‘Groundhog Day’ holds up, and you can say that again

For reasons lost to marketing history, “Groundhog Day” was released not on Groundhog Day in 1993, but 10 days later, on Feb. 12 of that year. It received positive reviews and was a sizable hit — and has only grown in reputation and status through the decades, with the American Film Institute ranking it No. 34 in its 2000 list of the greatest comedies, and a 2014 poll of entertainment industry members in the Hollywood Reporter placing it as the 63rd-best film of all time.

And of course, the northwest suburban city of Woodstock, which stood in for Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, in the movie, will forever celebrate and be remembered as the setting for “Groundhog Day.”

Whether you have “Groundhog Day” on Repeat and you watch it every year (oh the joyous irony!) or you’re new to the viewing experience, here are Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper’s favorite things about the movie:

Columbia Pictures

• The Chicago connection is strong with this one. Bill Murray and his brother Brian Doyle-Murray (who plays the groundhog wrangler Buster Green) are of course Chicago area guys, as was director and co-writer Ramis. Chicago stage alum Michael Shannon had his first film role in “Groundhog Day,” playing Fred, the young groom whose fiancé has second thoughts on their wedding day, until Phil counsels the couple and they go through with it. And the Chicago-born actress Marita Geraghty plays Nancy Taylor, who is led to believe she went to high school with that rascal Phil, who initially uses the time loop for personal gain.
• How long is Phil stuck in the time loop? The original screenplay by Danny Rubin indicated Phil had lived the same day for 10,000 years. Ramis once told the New York Times he believed it was 10 years, but later amended that to 30 or 40 years in order to allot enough time for Phil to learn to become proficient at the piano, learn ice sculpting, master French, etc. A handful of pop-culture writers have tried to pin down the exact number of years, days and hours — but let’s just go with a very long time.
• One possible ending for “Groundhog Day” had Rita entering her own time loop, which could have brought about a sequel. Over the years, we’ve seen a myriad of movies and films that were variations on the repeat-the-same-day routine, including “Christmas Again,” “Palm Springs,” “Russian Doll,” “Happy Death Day,” “Meet Cute,” “Boss Level,” “Source Code” and “Edge of Tomorrow” and in 2017 there was “Groundhog Day” the musical, which garnered seven Tony nominations — but thankfully, we’ve never had a direct sequel to “Groundhog Day.” Which is as it should be, as perfect movies should be left alone.

Read Richard Roeper’s full list of favorite things about “Groundhog Day” here.

From the press box

• White Sox broadcaster Jason Benetti on the talks that led to him returning for 2023: “It was kind of a pain, really. There were some things that we had to get through that I thought were silly, and I’m sure they thought some of the stuff that I was talking about might’ve been silly. But we got there in the end.”
• With the departure of Azurá Stevens further thinning an already depleted Sky roster, Annie Costabile doesn’t pull any punches over what she calls the organization’s “utter collapse” since their playoff loss to the Connecticut Sun.
• Blackhawks top prospect Frank Nazar, the 13th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, will likely return to the University of Michigan for his sophomore season, Ben Pope reports. A return to Ann Arbor would delay Nazar’s entry into the Hawks organization by another year.

Your daily question☕

If you were doomed to experience your own “Groundhog Day” scenario, where would you choose to be?

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

Yesterday we asked you: In honor of the first day of Black History Month, what is your favorite local, Black-owned small business?

Here’s what some of you said...

“My favorite local, black-owned business is Semicolon Bookstore. The store recently moved back to its original location in River West. With unique programs — like a wine book club, a literary street fair, book signings and open mics — they are bound — haha — to be your favorite bookstore, too. Also, they provide free books to CPS students! The best.” — Kimberly Gnat

“Badou Senegalese Cuisine, 2049 W Howard. Gourmet street food — a trend they helped start on the growing foodie border joining Chicago and Evanston!” — Thom Clark

“Lorenzo’s Frozen Pudding — the frozen banana pudding is a delicious treat.” — Christina Collins

“Hands down — Brown Sugar Bakery.” — John Brendan Winters

“Brown Sugar Bakery on 75th because they have good caramel cupcakes.” — Jay Aaron Hollis

“Kaliefs Kanvas is Black-owned and they do amazing design work! Obviously no list would be complete without the good folks at Semicolon Bookstore.” — Dimitri Hepburn

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