Woom Sing Tse was fatally shot Tuesday in Chinatown, a block from where he lived. | Family photo/provided
Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.
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 sunny with a high near 33 degrees. Tonight will see increasing clouds with a low around 24 degrees. Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy with a high near 40 degrees.
Top story
Woom Sing Tse worked his way to success after arriving here from China 50 years ago. He was gunned down not far from his home.
Woom Sing Tse came to America nearly 50 years ago with a hundred dollars in his pocket and worked his way up from restaurant cook to restaurant owner.
He retired nine years ago and became a well-known figure in Chinatown, where he played ping pong and headed an association dedicated to the sport.
“He came here for a better life for his family and paved the way for his generation. You know, the immigrant dream to come to America,” his son William Tse said.
Tse, 71, was gunned down a block from his home yesterday afternoon while walking to the store to buy a newspaper. “This senseless murder — we can’t comprehend it. We don’t know why,” William Tse said.
Woom Tse had just finished lunch at home with his wife, the son said. She had meant to make the trip but Tse said it was too cold outside and went to get the newspaper himself.
As he walked down the sidewalk in the 200 block of West 23rd Place, a silver car pulled up and the driver opened fire, police said. Surveillance video obtained by WGN-TV shows Tse falling and the driver stopping, getting out and walking up to the curb and firing again. Tse died at Stroger Hospital.
The driver sped off but was arrested on Jackson Boulevard near the Kennedy Expressway. Police said a gun was recovered but haven’t commented on a possible motive. Charges have not been announced.
The shooting happened across the street from Haines Elementary School, where Tse’s daughter was teaching, his son said.
David Struett has more on the tragic loss of this beloved community member here.
More news you need
After seven days on trial — and three years of being battered in the court of public opinion — Jussie Smollett’s fate is in the hands of a Cook County jury. The panel of six men and six women began deliberations this afternoon following closing arguments.
Facing a lawsuit from former franchisees that alleges discrimination, McDonald’s said today it will commit $250 million in a five-year plan to diversify the ranks of its restaurant owners. This comes toward the end of a year filled with criticism of McDonald’s, with one incident involving the company’s CEO and his texts to Mayor Lori Lightfoot following the shooting deaths of two children.
A 2-year-old boy was left at a South Side fire station Monday afternoon, said fire officials, who took the boy to the hospital for evaluation. The person who dropped off the child isn’t protected under Illinois’ Safe Haven Law, which applies only during an infant’s first 30 days of life.
For the second straight day, increasing opposition is stalling one of Mayor Lightfoot’s legislative initiatives — this time authorization to sign and modify emergency contracts up to $1 million without City Council approval. This comes a day after her plan to lift the ban on sports betting and impose a 2% tax on gross revenues also went nowhere.
State regulators today named their chosen developers to break ground on a new casino in Waukegan and another straddling the border of Homewood and East Hazel Crest. This ends a selection process that dragged on for more than two years due to COVID-19 shutdowns and other delays.
A bright one
Evanescence returns to Chicago, marking 20 years since debut performance here
In 2003, Evanescence had played one of its first shows in Chicago at the Metro, a more-or-less showcase for a band that had just begun riding on the success of a new single and music video for a track called “Bring Me to Life” that pitted the ethereal vocals of Amy Lee against hard-driving rap-rock for an operatic goth mashup. It was wholly distinctive from anything that had been spinning on the airwaves in that time and resulted in a collective chatter of “who is this?”
It’s something Lee remembers as the popular ensemble heads to town again, nearly 20 years later, behind this year’s new album “The Bitter Truth.” The quintet (now also including bassist Tim McCord, drummer Will Hunt, lead guitarist Troy McLawhorn, and guitarist and backing vocalist Jen Majura) will be playing tomorrow one of the shows in the WKQX-FM (101.1) “The Nights We Stole Christmas” series at the Aragon, with Lee professing just how instrumental stations like that one were in the evolution of the band.
“We had this interesting conundrum that I didn’t realize would be a problem initially,” she said in a recent interview. The song, starting with piano and featuring a woman’s voice, was “too different,” she was told, and pitching it to rock stations would be difficult. But after some DJs started playing it on air, “there was this beautiful reaction from people calling in to play it again,” she said. “And I will always remember that. Our fans were a very literal part of getting us here.”
Kaley Nelson
Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee says she no longer has to fight to prove a woman can lead a rock band.
Though Lee joked, “we’ve improved since then,” even she has to pause over just how much success the band — formed in Little Rock, Arkansas – has amassed, with its debut album “Fallen” ranked as the No. 5 biggest-selling album of the 21st century by Nielsen SoundScan data.
Today, that momentum is carried forward on the dynamic new effort “The Bitter Truth” that debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard rock charts when it was released in March. It’s the group’s first album of new material in 10 years, a span of time that has seen a shift in band members, countless tours and marriage, loss and motherhood.
Lee says the message of the 12 tracks is “pushing through is always better than giving up” and hopes that sharing songs about her own loss can help others heal at a time we are all bearing some heavy weight.
“I think there’s real healing in connecting with other people. That’s what we all really crave deep down, connection and togetherness and to feel understood,” she said.
Selena Fragassi has more on the band’s return to Chicago here.
From the press box
Returning from a rib injury, Justin Fields will start for the Bears against the Packers this weekend.
Blackhawks forward Jujhar Khaira was released from Northwestern Memorial Hospital this morning after taking a vicious hit from Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba last night. A team doctor said Khaira is undergoing “extensive testing.”
Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn is so good that it’s making Steve Greenberg nostalgic for the days of the dominant big man.
Bears assistant offensive line coach Donovan Raiola has been hired as the new offensive line coach at the University of Nebraska.
Your daily question ?
Where’s the best place to find holiday decorations in Chicago?
Email us (please include your first name and where you live) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
Yesterday, we asked you: What’s a great local, non-chain store to buy presents from this holiday season?
Here’s what some of you said…
“P.O.S.H. at the Tree Studios on State. So lovely, such great gifts — hostess gifts, tree trimmings, gorgeous kitchenwares and such special toys for kids. Definitely a holiday shopping destination.” — Cathy Ankuda
“Bookie’s in Beverly and Belle Up Boutique, also in Beverly.” — Jane Feurer
“Sprocket & Stone in Hyde Park for pet gifts and treats!” — Sylvia Bridges
“Foursided Cards and Gifts in Lakeview and Andersonville. Great selection of ornaments and many other gifts.” — Aaron Hoffman
“American Science & Surplus. They have so many great gifts for kids and super useful items for the home.” — Emma Rose Goerisch
Thanks for reading the Chicago Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.
Sign up here to get the Afternoon Edition in your inbox every day.
