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DENVER — Colorado’s attorney general said Wednesday that a grand jury indicted three officers and two paramedics in the death of Elijah McClain, a Black man who was put in a chokehold and injected with a powerful sedative two years ago in suburban Denver.

The 23-year-old’s death gained widespread attention during last year’s protests against racial injustice and police brutality following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

McClain’s pleading words that were captured on police body camera video — “I’m just different” — have been posted on signs at protests and spoken by celebrities who joined those calling for the prosecution of the officers who stopped McClain as he walked down the street in the city of Aurora after a 911 caller reported he looked suspicious.

Stories about McClain, a massage therapist family and friends described as a gentle and kind introvert, filled social media, including how he volunteered to play his violin to comfort cats at an animal shelter.

Attorney General Phil Weiser said Officers Randy Roedema, Nathan Woodyard and Jason Rosenblatt and fire department paramedic Jeremy Cooper and fire Lt. Peter Cichuniec were all charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Roedema and Rosenblatt also each face a charge of second-degree assault with intent to cause bodily injury and one count of a crime of violence related to the assault charge. Cooper and Cichuniec also each face three counts of second-degree assault.

The Associated Press has sought comment from lawyers for the defendants, and the Aurora Police Department said it was working on a statement.

“Our goal is to seek justice for Elijah McClain, for his family and his friends,” Weiser said at a brief news conference, which he left without taking questions.

“He was a son, a nephew, a brother, a friend. When he died he was only 23 years old,” Weiser said. “He had his whole life ahead of him. His family and his friends must now go on and live without him.”

Elijah’s mother, Sheneen McClain, “is overwhelmed emotionally by this news and appreciates the hard work of Phil Weiser and the rest of his team. There is not a day that goes by that she does not think of her son Elijah,” according to a statement from her lawyer, Qusair Mohamedbhai.

Facing pressure during nationwide protests last year, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis ordered Weiser to open a new criminal investigation. A district attorney had said in 2019 that he could not charge the officers because an autopsy could not determine how McClain died.

In January, Weiser announced the grand jury investigation, noting its power to compel testimony and documents that would otherwise be unavailable.

It was one of several investigations prompted at least in part by McClain’s death, including separate reviews of McClain’s arrest commissioned by the city of Aurora and a comprehensive review of the Police Department. The attorney general’s office also is conducting a civil rights investigation into the agency, the first under a new police accountability law in Colorado.

Aurora’s highly critical review did not find any evidence to justify officers stopping McClain as he walked home from the store on Aug. 24, 2019, after a 911 caller had reported a man wearing a ski mask and waving his hands who seemed “sketchy.” His family said McClain wore the mask because he had anemia that caused him to get cold easily.

Police body camera video shows an officer getting out of his car, approaching McClain on the sidewalk and saying, “Stop right there. Stop. Stop … I have a right to stop you because you’re being suspicious.”

In the video, the officer puts his hand on McClain’s shoulder and turns him around and repeats, “Stop tensing up.” As McClain verbally protests, the officer says, “Relax, or I’m going to have to change this situation.” As the other officers join in to restrain McClain, he asks them to let go and says, “You guys started to arrest me, and I was stopping my music to listen.”

What happened next isn’t clear because all of the officers’ body cameras come off as they move McClain to the grass, but the officers and McClain can still be heard. An officer says McClain grabbed one of their guns. McClain can be heard trying to explain himself and sometimes crying out or sobbing. He says he can’t breathe and was just on his way home.

“I’m just different. I’m just different, that’s all. That’s all I was doing. I’m so sorry. I have no gun. I don’t do that stuff. I don’t do any fighting. Why were you attacking me? I don’t do guns. I don’t even kill flies. I don’t eat meat. … I am a vegetarian,” he said.

One officer eventually retrieves his camera, which shows McClain handcuffed, laying on his side and periodically vomiting as another officer leans on him. An officer who arrived later threatened to get his police dog to bite McClain.

Paramedics arrived and injected the 140-pound McClain with 500 milligrams of ketamine — more than 1 1/2 times the dose for his weight. The fire department is allowed to use the drug to sedate combative or aggressive people, but there’s a lack of police training, conflicting medical standards and nonexistent protocols that have resulted in hospitalizations and even deaths when it’s used during police encounters.

Within five minutes, according to a federal lawsuit from McClain’s family, he stopped breathing. He died six days later after being declared brain dead and taken off life support.

A pathologist who conducted an autopsy said a combination of a narrowed coronary artery and physical exertion contributed to McClain’s death. Dr. Stephen Cina found no evidence of a ketamine overdose and said several other possibilities could not be ruled out, including an unexpected reaction to ketamine or the chokehold causing an irregular heartbeat.

The carotid hold that was used on McClain involves applying pressure to the sides of the neck, stopping the flow of blood to the brain to render someone unconscious. It has been banned by police departments and some states, including Colorado, following Floyd’s killing.

A lawsuit from the family alleges that McClain died as a result of a dramatic increase of lactic acid in his blood caused by excessive force used by police over about 18 minutes, combined with the effects of the ketamine. They claim that police continued to “torture” McClain even after he was restrained, treatment they say is a result of the department’s history of “unconstitutional racist brutality.”

The attorney general’s announcement comes after three Aurora officers, including one involved in the encounter with McClain, were fired and one resigned last year over photos mimicking the chokehold used on the 23-year-old.

The department’s new chief, who fired those officers as its interim leader, has vowed to work to rebuild public trust since McClain’s death and other police encounters with people of color.

However, Vanessa Wilson spent her first days as chief last year apologizing after Aurora officers put four Black girls on the ground and handcuffed two of them next to a car that police suspected was stolen but turned out not to be.

A prosecutor later decided there was no evidence the officers committed a crime but urged the Police Department to review its policies to ensure that something similar does not happen again.

In July, an Aurora police officer was charged with assault after being captured on body camera video pistol-whipping and choking a Black man during an arrest. Another officer was charged with not intervening as required under the police accountability passed amid last year’s protests.

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NEW YORK — Lil Nas X has been awarded the inaugural Suicide Prevention Advocate of the Year Award from the advocacy group The Trevor Project.

The Trevor Project is a nonprofit dedicated to suicide prevention and crisis intervention for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning young people.

The group cited Lil Nas X’s “openness about struggling with his sexuality and suicidal ideation, his continued advocacy around mental health issues, and his unapologetic celebration of his queer identity.”

In an interview, Amit Paley, CEO and executive director at The Trevor Project, said the awareness that the “Old Town Road” artist has brought to suicide prevention and mental health has been “profound.”

“He has done it in a way that has resonated and impacted communities where these conversations are often taboo, but where they are so needed,” Paley said.

“The fact that he has been so open, so vulnerable about his mental health journey, his thoughts of suicide, he is really helping to destigmatize conversations that are too often shrouded in shame.”

In February, Lil Nas X shared a series of intimate TikTok videos documenting his life story, including his battle with depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation during his rise to fame. In May, he released a music video which depicts Lil Nas X uplifting a younger version of himself in high school when he was contemplating suicide and struggling to come to terms with his sexuality.

“It’s particularly inspiring to see someone who is Black and LGBTQ and proud and unapologetic,” said Paley. “And to see someone talk about their experiences with depression and anxiety and suicidal ideation and to talk about those as part of their art and part of their platform to make other people comfortable talking about the challenges that they are going through.”

The Trevor Project’s national survey on LGBTQ youth mental health in 2021 found that 42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth.

Paley said the past year has been an especially challenging time for LGBTQ youth, both from a public health perspective and also financially and emotionally. The pandemic may have cut them off from school and resources there for support.

“They might have been trapped in homes with families that were unsupportive or at times rejecting. They might be encountering emotional or even physical abuse or at times thrown out of their homes and experiencing housing instability,” said Paley.

“We had a political climate that has been very challenging for LGBTQ people and especially we’ve seen in states across the country legislation targeting transgender and non-binary young people. All of these things have an impact on people’s mental health.”

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The Cinderella fairy tale has been adapted time and time and time again for the movies and TV, from the 1950 Disney animated version to the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals from 1957 and 1997 to Kenneth Branagh’s 2015 take to outliers such as “Ella Enchanted” and the Jerry Lewis comedy “Cinderfella” — and now we’ve got a new jukebox musical update with some modern and progressive themes about gender roles, and it’s a most welcome addition to the library.

Writer-director Kay Cannon is the author of the “Pitch Perfect” movies, and “Cinderella” has a similarly upbeat, breezy and sentimental style, laced with some sharp humor and filled with familiar and catchy pop tunes refashioned to fit the storyline. The popular singer-songwriter Camila Cabello makes her acting debut as the titular character, and she’s a revelation, as the camera loves her and she displays not only the expected vocal chops but a real knack for comedy, as this version of Cinderella is particularly charming when she’s floundering about and getting into embarrassing situations of her own making. Whether she’s called out by the king for perching on a statue in the town square or wobbling about on glass slippers that are as uncomfortable as glass slippers would be in real life, Cinderella just keeps winning us over. Any prince would be lucky to have her heart.

This version of “Cinderella” is still set in the fairy tale past — but we’re in a world where the costumes pop with color and the dialogue is very much of the 21st century and we get lavish production numbers set to tunes such as “Rhythm Nation,” “Material Girl” and “Whatta Man” — each song perfectly tailored to fit a particular moment in the story. Cabello’s Cinderella lives in the basement of the house of her still-pretty-terrible stepmother Vivian (Idina Menzel) and her step sisters Anastasia (Maddie Baillio) and Drizella (Charlotte Spencer), but early on there are some indications Vivian has some vulnerability and a back story that will make her more sympathetic, while Anastasia and Drizella aren’t fully on board with the way their mother treats Cinderella. Everybody’s just a little bit more … human.

Meanwhile, at the castle, Pierce Brosnan’s bombastic and terribly old-fashioned King Rowan is growing increasingly impatient with his son Prince Robert (Nicholas Galitzine), who doesn’t want an arranged marriage and would actually like to find someone he truly loves. As for Princess Gwen (Tallulah Greive), who is much more interested in government and has some wonderful ideas about how to help the people and improve the economy and modernize things all around — the king barely acknowledges her existence. (At one point when Princess Gwen isn’t allowed to sit with the king’s advisors, she says, “You’re literally not letting me have a seat at the table?!”)

Billy Porter plays this movie’s version of the Fairy Godmother, a wish-granter known as “Fab G.”Amazon Studios

As we follow the basic framework of the original story, complete with mice (James Corden, Romesh Ranganathan and James Acaster) who are magically transformed into footmen, and a ball at the palace where Prince Robert is to find his princess, “Cinderella” continues to introduce delightful spins, e.g., the amazing life force that is Billy Porter playing a genderless version of the Fairy Godmother known as “Fab G.,” who magically appears to Cinderella, whips up a fabulous dress for her and boosts her confidence by singing Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Shining Star,” because that’s exactly who she is.

Minnie Driver as Queen Beatrice provides some comedic relief counterbalance to Brosnan’s pompous king, finally standing up to him and also pointing out he has a terrible singing voice — a sly nod to Brosnan’s less than overwhelming turn in the feature film version of “Mamma Mia!” Idina Menzel is her usual spectacular self as arguably the most nuanced and empathetic “evil” stepmother in “Cinderella” history. It’s also pretty great when Cinderella, while flattered by the prince’s pursuit of her, makes it clear she’d really like to pursue a career as a dress designer and doesn’t just want to be a princess lolling about in a castle all day. “Cinderella” is filled with positive messages for princes and princesses of all ages, the soundtrack is irresistible and Camila Cabello can now add “movie star” to her resume.

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The NFL Players Association has launched an investigation following Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer’s admission that vaccination status factored into the team’s roster decisions.

NFLPA spokesman George Atallah confirmed the union’s action in an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday night, hours after Meyer told reporters: “Everyone was considered. That was part of the production, let’s start talking about this and also, ‘Is he vaccinated or not?’ Can I say that that was a decision-maker? It was certainly in consideration.”

The Jaguars attempted to clarify Meyer’s comments Wednesday with a statement.

“Availability is one of the many factors taken into account when making roster decisions,” the team said. “We have vaccinated and unvaccinated players on our roster, and no player was released because of their vaccination status.

“Ultimately, decisions are based on a player’s ability to help the Jaguars win. We educate our players and respect personal decisions as it pertains to the vaccine. We want to keep our players, staff and families safe as we comply with protocols related to both health and safety and competition on game days.”

The NFL hasn’t mandated COVID-19 vaccines but has incorporated strict protocols for players who aren’t fully vaccinated.

Meyer pointed to defensive end Josh Allen missing one week because of protocols. Allen, who is not vaccinated, was activated from the COVID-19 list Monday.

“Well, Josh Allen’s never had (COVID),” Meyer said. “He’s not played in two weeks. So he’s never had COVID. I don’t know if I’m allowed to say that, but he’s never had COVID. So that’s pretty punitive.”

The Patriots released Cam Newton, the 2015 NFL MVP, in a surprise move to pave the way for rookie quarterback Mac Jones. Newton is not vaccinated and missed practice last week due to the protocols.

Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman raised his eyebrows when asked about Meyer’s comments and if the team made similar decisions.

“We cut the roster based on the 53 best guys that we thought could help our football team,” Roseman said. “And then going forward, when we look at guys, we’re going to look at them based on their ability, how they fit our system, what their background is, to make sure we’re bringing in the right people into this building. That’s really how all our discussions have been about.”

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Heavy rains from Hurricane Ida have forced Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee to cancel as organizers say the waterlogged festival grounds are unsafe for driving or camping.

The annual festival was scheduled to start Thursday on the site of a former farm in Manchester, about an hour southeast of Nashville.

On social media Tuesday, the festival said that tremendous rainfall over the last 24 hours, remnants of Ida’s powerful winds and rain, have saturated the paths and camping areas.

The festival had earlier warned fans that camping capacity would be reduced because of the rain, but by Tuesday afternoon, the festival said its central stage area was also waterlogged.

Artists who were scheduled to headline include Tyler, the Creator, deadmau5, Lizzo, My Morning Jacket, Foo Fighters and Megan Thee Stallion.

The festival’s attendance in 2019 was around 80,000 but last year’s event was postponed to this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Refunds were being offered for fans.

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Imagine Illinois high school basketball right now if Patrick Baldwin, Jr., had just graduated and Amari Bailey was a senior-to-be?

True, it’s only two players. But what a pair it would be.

That would have been like going down memory lane with back-to-back years of having another round of Jabari Parker and Jahlil Okafor, just as we did in 2013 and 2014 when those two garnered national headlines throughout their careers.

Baldwin and Bailey never did play a minute of high school basketball in this state. Although both were middle school prodigies and already well known in the sport, Baldwin left months before attending Loyola Academy while Bailey was rumored to be leaning towards Whitney Young out of 8th grade.

Back in the spring of 2017, I put together an Illinois star power poll that ranked every top player in the state as a prospect, regardless of age or class.

The key word, just as I stated a little over four years ago, is prospect. As always, we’re talking projection and the future rather than current best player.

There is a whole lot of uniqueness throughout the detailed piece I wrote four years ago — both then and even now looking back.

The top player listed in that story (Baldwin) wasn’t even in high school yet, while another player ranked among the top prospects at the time (Bailey) was just a seventh-grader!

Anyone who follows my work closely knows I try to stay away from over-hyping and going ga-ga over any player prior to entering high school. Roughly 99 percent of the time there is no need to. But there have been a few exceptions, a time where you just can’t ignore the obvious.

Over the past 10 years I know I went overboard on Jabari Parker, Jahlil Okafor and Jalen Brunson before they were officially in high school. Those three all panned out and then some.

There were plenty of familiar names in that rankings story from four years ago. EJ Liddell of Belleville West and Ayo Dosunmu of Morgan Park were near the top. A pair of budding, young stars at the time, DJ Steward and Adam Miller, were just completing their sophomore years at Fenwick and Peoria Manual, respectively.

But the two that raised eyebrows then and still stand out today are the aforementioned Baldwin and Bailey. Indeed, the superlatives were flowing before they were in high school.

Baldwin, fresh out of Haven Middle School in Evanston in the spring of 2017, was at the top. He was the 14-year-old eighth-grader who I ranked as the very best college prospect in the state regardless of class.

It helped that there weren’t any transcendent prep hoops stars in high school at the time. There wasn’t a version of Parker or Okafor or an Anthony Davis, all of whom would be more of a sure thing as a junior or senior in high school than any 8th grader could be. But Baldwin was such a no-brainer, even at that early age.

Instead of going to Loyola Academy for his freshman year, Baldwin headed to the Milwaukee suburbs to play his high school basketball. His father, Pat Baldwin, Sr., who was then an assistant coach at Northwestern, was hired as the head coach at Wisconsin-Milwaukee in June of 2017.

Thus, all Loyola coach Tom Livatino has is the lasting memory of coaching one of the elite players in the country for a couple of weeks in the summer, which included Baldwin’s public debut at the Riverside-Brookfield Shootout.

All Loyola did without Baldwin was win 24, 23 and 30 games and three regional titles in Baldwin’s first three seasons before the Covid-shortened 14-win season a year go.

Today? Baldwin was a five-star recruit and top five player in the country in the Class of 2021. He was named a McDonald’s All-American. The 6-10, smooth shooting forward will play next year for his father at UW-Milwaukee and ultimately be a NBA Lottery pick sooner than later.

Also high on that list four years ago was Amari Bailey. He was a silky 6-2 lefty guard who just completed seventh-grade at Skinner West Elementary back in 2017. Here was the description of Bailey from that story:

“Rarely has the City/Suburban Hoops Report highlighted players this young. But it’s impossible to keep him off the list. He already brings a “Wow” factor for a player so young with pure, natural basketball ability and unique physical tools. His passing ability is off the charts and he calmly and cooly plays the game while featuring a legit jumper with three-point range.”

Bailey was just one of those very rare talents you see at such a young age who you just know is destined to be a pro as long as the road there stays clear of debris.

Unfortunately, we never were able to see Bailey play in this state, either. Bailey left Chicago for California where he currently plays in the spotlight with Lebron James’ son, Bronny, at Sierra Canyon.

Since his departure from Chicago, the hype surrounding Bailey only expanded and increased. Now Bailey, a UCLA commit, is a projected NBA Lottery Pick in 2023 who hangs with Lebron and music icon Drake. Things worked out pretty well for the kid.

With the top two players in the Class of 2022, Jalen Duren of Montverde Academy in Florida and Emoni Bates of Michigan, recently re-classifying to the Class of 2021, Bailey is now the No. 2 ranked player in the country in his class by both Rivals and 247Sports. ESPN has already elevated Bailey to the top of the class.

Imagine if the state would have been fortunate enough to have had Baldwin and Bailey play their high school basketball here in Illinois?

Instead of discussing how the state has been lacking the surefire, high-level college prospects in recent years, Baldwin and Bailey would have fallen right in line with so many other past greats this state has churned out.

Prep basketball stars shine a spotlight on the sport, especially in the state of Illinois. These two would have only added to the great basketball legacy in Illinois and enhanced the star power this state has produced and been recognized for.

The loss of Baldwin and Bailey in the Class of 2021 and Class of 2022, respectively, followed the departure of another highly-ranked player who left the state: Nimari Burnett.

After making a name for himself at Beasley Elementary, Burnett starred as a freshman at Morgan Park during the 2016-17 season. He scored 20 points in the state championship game win over Fenwick. But Burnett started a wave of big-time talent to leave the state.

Burnett departed for California and finished his prep career at Profilic Prep as the No. 27 ranked player in the Class of 2020.

Burnett, who was named a McDonald’s All-American, signed with Texas Tech out of high school. He transferred this past year and will begin his sophomore year at Alabama this year.

While Burnett, Baldwin and Bailey were headline-grabbing high school stars at the national level, there have been so many others who have also left Illinois.

Currently, Jeremy Fears, Jr., who left Joliet West for La Lumiere in Indiana following his freshman year, has a ton of high-major interest and offers. The 6-1 guard is another top 100 talent nationally who would have generated buzz and headlines if he had stayed playing in Illinois.

And Matas Bazelis, a skilled and versatile 6-8 junior, would be the No. 2 ranked player in the state in Class of 2023 if he had stayed in Illinois. But Bazelis, another high-major talent who is among the top 50 players in the country, bolted for Brewster Academy in New Hampshire after one year at Hinsdale Central.

These five departures in particular — Baldwin, Bailey, Burnett, Bazelis and Fears — have completely changed the landscape of Illinois high school basketball during this five-year window.

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A 4-year-old girl was recovering Wednesday morning after being shot in the arm when people in two cars began shooting at each other in Englewood on the South Side.

The girl was on the sidewalk in front of her home when she was shot around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 600 block of West 61st Street, Chicago police said.

The girl’s father drove her to Saint Bernard Hospital, and she was transferred in good condition to Stroger Hospital.

The two cars both fled east. Police reported no arrests and have released no description of the cars or suspects.

A witness told reporters on the scene that people near the girl “ducked her down behind a car.”

The man said one of the shots shattered the front passenger window of his car.

“It almost hit me in the head,” said the man, who asked not to be identified. “It was coming from everywhere. And I just heard the little girl screaming.”

A 4-year-old girl was shot and wounded Tuesday afternoon after people inside two cars began shooting at each other in Englewood on the South Side.

The girl was shot in her arm on the sidewalk in front of her home around 4:30 p.m. in the 600 block of West 61st Street, Chicago police said.

The girl’s father drove her to Saint Bernard Hospital, police said. She was then transferred to Stroger Hospital in good condition.

The shooters both drove away eastbound, police said. A police spokesperson on Wednesday could not provide further description of the shooters.

No one was in custody.

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Summer’s end comes and the kids go back to school, but memories linger.

Because of Covid, Aaron Stream could ot take his sons on the annual fishing trip in Canada the last two years. This year they went to Minnesota instead. The highlight came on Leech Lake the last week of July.

“My oldest son Charlie Stream, 14, was casting for northern pike with a perch-colored spoon and he hooked into a 44-inch beauty [of a muskie],” Aaron emailed. “As soon as he hooked into it, the monster went completely airborne and took off screaming. After a 15-minute battle and a net job with a walleye net, we were able to get the fish in for a quick picture.

“It was a moment none of us will forget. I told my son it is by far my favorite fishing memory of mine in my 43 years of walking around.”

I have a new term: walking-around memory.

Isaac Biggerstaff, 14, caught his first fall Chinook solo kayak fishing on Lake Michigan, first out Racine, Wis., then out of Waukegan the next night, the best a 24-pounder from Racine.Provided

Then there’s Isaac Biggerstaff, 14, who earned Fish of the Week last fall for catching a nice Chinook while kayak fishing out of a tandem with his father, Matt.

“We outgrew that and upgraded to individual kayaks, so this is Isaac’s first fall fishing solo for king salmon on Lake Michigan,” Matt Biggerstaff emailed. “We fished Racine [Aug. 21] and Waukegan [the next] night . . . and Isaac delivered!

“He caught two kings each night, including a 24-pound bruiser in Racine that ripped off 300 feet of line before Isaac finally got him into the ‘yak. The fall king run is still in the early stages, but Isaac is off to a great start.”

Rob Abouchar has several rewarding roles in life: reggae musician, West Leyden teacher and coach of the Leyden bass-fishing team.

“One of the things that I enjoy about teaching people how to fish or guiding is the reaction when they catch their first or biggest fish (such as Krissy Barron above): Usually a loud vocalization followed by a big childlike smile,” he emailed. “[Aug. 20] was a great example of this with students and staff catching bluegill from the fishing pier at Wood Dale Grove. Plenty of bluegills were going on ice jigs tipped with butter worms.”

I have a new description of first/best fish: “loud vocalization followed by a big childlike smile.”

Krissy Barron, one of the people taught fishing by Leyden bass-fishing coach Rob Abouchar, showed her reaction when catching this bluegill while they fished at Wood Dale Grove.Provided

WILD THINGS

Birders have reported spotting many common nighthawks in the last week. I keep hoping to catch some on night broadcasts of Sox or Cubs games, but, if there has been some at the parks, I missed them.

STRAY CAST

Watching Justin Fields hit a tiny open window with a pass is like watching a top bass angler demonstrate pitching a jig into an opened 28-ounce can.

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The Junk ($14) is one sloppy burger. Unwrap it just enough to keep it intact and revel in its precipitous architecture — a cheese-cloaked patty heaped with fried onions, mushrooms, lettuce, and tomato. One side of the bun is slick with garlicky mayo and mustard, the other with avocado. It’s junk food, but don’t hold that against it: This burger and everything else on the menu are totally vegan.

Bobbie Beaugard-Williams has cheerfully reappropriated the term “junk food” to describe her offerings. There’s a lineup of Impossible burgers, including the Filthy Philly, with green peppers and vegan mozzarella ($13). But Beaugard-Williams serves full-service junk, so don’t overlook the terrifically crispy Fire Bird “chicken” sandwich with Cajun aïoli ($14). Everything comes with excellent skin-on fries, three packets of ketchup, and a wad of napkins.

Why not just get a beef burger? The roots of Black vegetarianism go at least as far back as the Nation of Islam, but spots like this are opening around the country — Atlanta’s Slutty Vegan gets lines around the block — to reach the burgeoning population of Black vegans. For Beaugard-Williams, it’s to keep her blood pressure in check. For me — I’m neither Black nor vegan — this food hits the spot and sits well afterward. Maybe this is the methadone of burgers, but count me one satisfied junkie.

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With its vibrant interior and modern Jamaican dishes, Dr. Bird’s Jamaican Patty Shack feels totally fresh — but it happens to be an offshoot of a 40-year-old family restaurant in Buffalo. “Our family showed us the way; we’re just continuing the legacy and putting our spin on it,” says Hakim Lee, who opened the Noble Square spot (1215 N. Milwaukee Ave.) with his brother Changa in May. You’ll find flaky patties along with jerk salmon roti, but the star is the rasta pasta, an homage to the flavors of the island created by Jamaican immigrants to New York, including their father, who has served it since 2005. The Lees take his recipe in a new direction.

The Sauce This creamy rendition is extra herbaceous, with loads of rosemary, basil, thyme, and parsley. The Lees use Gruyère instead of cheddar and add coconut milk, jerk seasoning, and roasted tomatoes to amp up the umami.

The Jerk Add jerk shrimp, chicken shawarma, skirt steak, salmon, or jackfruit, a vegan option that mimics pulled pork. Each one is marinated with spices for 24 hours, smoked on pimento wood from Jamaica, and finished on the grill.

The Toppings When combined with the bright green sauce, the red and yellow bell peppers complete the colors of the Rastafarian movement that gives the dish its name. A shower of grated Gruyère makes it extra cheesy.

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