“Ghost guns” are displayed at the headquarters of the San Francisco Police Department in 2019. | AP file

Much attention will be devoted to legislative and congressional maps, but addressing gun violence is crucial, too.

Illinois lawmakers should divert their attention from maps, maps, maps during their veto session next month to address four important gun safety issues.

Redrawing the legislative and congressional maps that will shape Illinois elections for the next 10 years will be a time-consuming process in the upcoming session, which will run for just six days over two weeks later this month. We get that. And every lawmaker is naturally extremely concerned about what their district will look like.

Other big issues may be on the table, as well, including abortion rights for minors and amending the Health Care Right of Conscience Act.

But all the same, legislation that could make a difference in quelling the gun violence that has beset Chicago and other towns in Illinois should not be overlooked. We urge the Legislature to take up at least these four issues:

‘Ghost guns’ On Thursday, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and state Sen. Jacqueline Collins, D-Chicago, called for a ban on “ghost guns,” which are firearms that purchasers assemble themselves. Ghost guns, which don’t have serial numbers and can’t be traced, are showing up on the streets with greater frequency. Because kits for the guns, which can be delivered almost fully assembled, don’t require background checks, criminals banned from normal gun purchases can easily buy them.

Illinois recently enacted a helpful law that requires guns to be traced through a background check even in private sales. Ghost guns weaken that law.

Mentions of ghost guns are becoming more common in police reports. According to Dart’s office, the number of ghost guns recovered by law enforcement shot up nearly 400% across the country between 2016 and 2020. Just on Tuesday, San Diego police seized 45 ghost guns in a raid.

It is important for the police to be able to trace guns because that is how many violent crimes are solved. Also, tracing guns allows law enforcement to hold straw purchasers accountable when it is their guns that turn up at crime scenes.

Dart’s and Collins’ proposed legislation would ban privately made firearms unless they are registered with the state and have a serial number.

Guns in the Cook County forest preserves On Sept. 13, U.S. District Judge Robert Dow ruled that a ban on the concealed carrying of firearms in the 70,000 acres of the forest preserves is unconstitutionally broad. Instead of ordering that his ruling be immediately enforced, Dow gave the Legislature until March 15 to fix the law to keep it within constitutional bounds, perhaps by more clearly defining what makes forest preserves “sensitive areas.” The Legislature should do so.

The forest preserves have traditionally been idylls where people can escape the hectic urban environment. In the summer, large groups fill the groves for cookouts, and the presence of alcohol does not mix with well with firearms. People go to the forest preserves in hopes of seeing natural vistas and wildlife, not guns.

Gun crimes have been spilling into all sorts of areas where they previously were rare. Expressway shootings are closing in on 200 for this year, compared to 52 in 2019. Armed carjackings have nearly doubled this year and are spilling into the suburbs. Bullets have been flying in large numbers recently along Irving Park Road, in Wicker Park, Austin, Englewood, at Grand and Milwaukee near downtown and elsewhere. In Chicago, four people were killed and 38 were wounded over the past holiday weekend.

It would be tragic if the forest preserve district’s groves, prairies, trails and bike paths were added to those places where people are hesitant to venture. And if the ban on guns in forest preserves falls, what happens to the gun bans on public transportation, in places of worship or other areas where firearms are now prohibited?

Stand your ground More than half of U.S. states have enacted “stand-your-ground” laws, which result in more homicides because they allow people to use deadly force in public, even if they safely could have stepped away from an incident. The laws are also called “shoot first” laws because they encourage quick triggers. Illinois has enacted no such law, but the courts here have ruled that people do not have a duty to retreat, which enshrines a similar idea into case law and jury instructions.

Although Illinois’ case law does not go as far as statutes enacted in other states, any type of stand-your-ground rules can make people think they have the right to shoot first.

Case law can be overridden by the Legislature. On this issues, lawmakers should do so.

Lost and stolen guns Illinois has enacted a law to require the reporting of lost and stolen guns to help crack down on gun trafficking. But police say the penalties are so weak, the law is easy to ignore.

“The General Assembly could move very quickly” on this isssue, said Kathleen Sances, president and CEO of G-PAC, a gun-safety group.

Recently, the Chicago police department assigned about 50 more cops to investigate gun trafficking. Stiffer penalties for not reporting lost and stolen guns would help them get the job done.

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Bears quarterback Justin Fields (1, throwing a completion to Darnell Mooney) threw for 111 yards against the Raiders last week. | Rick Scuteri/AP

The Bears took what the Raiders gave them Sunday — rushing for 143 yards but passing for only 111. “We feel good about some of the things that we had in [that] game plan and did not use,” offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said.

Justin Fields’ first NFL touchdown pass was notable to Bears offensive coordinator Bill Lazor — not because it was his first, but because it wasn’t easy.

On a second-and-goal play from the Raiders’ 2-yard line, Fields saw tight end Justin Horsted engaged with Raiders cornerback Amik Roberson in the back of the end zone. Fields made a pinpoint throw that allowed Horsted to disengage with Roberson just enough to reach out and make the catch and give the Bears a 7-3 lead en route to a 20-9 victory at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

“A lot of guys come out of college and they look for their receivers to be wide open, and he wasn’t wide open,” Lazor said. “He was more NFL open, and he still gave [Horsted] a chance. That’s the big thing I took from [that play]. That was just good.”

What Lazor was most pleased with was that Fields didn’t play it safe. He took a chance. And while that was a two-yard touchdown pass, its still indicated an aggressiveness he hopes will pay off with downfield throws for big gains in the future.

Fields has one turnover in two games with Lazor calling the offensive plays — an interception by Lions cornerback Amani Oruwariye that was tipped at the line of scrimmage. He also fumbled against the Lions but recovered it.

“I can probably in my mind picture all these plays through training camp where he took the shot and shouldn’t have — or took a shot and we’re pleased he tried even though the defense got their hands on the ball,” Lazor said.

“That’s the balance for a quarterback, because what you don’t want is a cautious quarterback. You want a guy who’s aggressive, but who’s smart. The balance of that is the key to growth. I think he’s done a good job with that and he’s taken some throws down the field.”

The Bears had four pass plays of 27 yards or more against the Lions — Fields’ first game with Lazor calling the offensive plays. But the passing game was stifled against the Raiders. Fields threw for 111 yards. His long play was 18 yards to running back Damien Williams on a short throw. His longest pass play to a wide receiver was 15 yards to Darnell Mooney.

The Bears were glad to take what the Raiders were giving them — they rushed for 143 yards even with running back David Montgomery out with an injury. And while the passing game was stunted, Fields did not throw an interception, was sacked twice and did not fumble.

Even so, Lazor still lamented some chances not taken — by him more than Fields.

“I think he’s right on track,” Lazor said of Fields. “You have to take some shots to get some big plays. We came out of the game with the win. We’re all happy. At the same time, a lot of us — myself included — look back and say, ‘OK, what could I have done to get a little more explosion out of the game?'”

Lazor hopes to answer that question Sunday against the Packers. There is always some room to open things up.

“You can’t do it 100% regardless,” Lazor said. “If they line up a corner 15 yards deep, it’s going to be tough to get behind them. But there’s always a way. They can’t take everything away. So we feel good about some of the things that we had in the last game plan and did not use.

“We wold always like to have the balance of being able to spread the field — quicker throws, medium-range chunks; deep throws down the field. The way the defense plays might dictate the way … you want to attack them. There’s always some balance of those three things in the plan, and I think we we did a good job [in practice] of having that ready to go.”

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Serenity Broughton, left, and her sister Aubrey, who were shot in a car on Aug. 15. Serenity died of her wounds. | Provided

“There were 29 shots fired here — 29 shots,” Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said during Aireon Luster’s bond hearing Thursday. Luster and the second gunman “lit up that block. They did not care who was out there in the middle of the afternoon,” Murphy said.

New witness testimony led to this week’s murder and attempted murder charges against a west suburban man who was previously arrested and charged in connection with Serenity Broughton’s fatal shooting but then released, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times Thursday.

When Aireon Luster was initially arrested for allegedly killing 7-year-old Serenity’s last month, Cook County prosecutors cited a lack of evidence and rejected charges against him.

That rejection brought an already simmering rift between State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office and Area 5 police detectives to a boil, leading police to sidestep prosecutors to charge Luster with Serenity’s murder — only to have to “uncharge” him roughly 10 hours later.

The case highlighted the strained relationship that has developed between Foxx’s office and police and left Serenity’s family wondering if they would ever get justice for her murder.

On Wednesday, Luster, 24, was again charged with being one of two alleged shooters who opened fire on the afternoon of Aug. 15 as Serenity’s mother was placing her and her sister Aubrey, 6, into the family’s car in the 6200 block of West Grand Avenue.

The hail of bullets were apparently meant for Serenity’s uncle, but instead Serenity and Aubrey were struck in their chests, prosecutors said.

Serenity later died at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.

Chicago police
Aireon Luster

“There were 29 shots fired here — 29 shots,” Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said during Luster’s bond hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse Thursday. Luster and the second gunman “lit up that block. They did not care who was out there in the middle of the afternoon,” Murphy said.

Prosecutors said the shooting stemmed from threats Luster, a member of the Mafia Insane Vice Lords street gang, had been trading with the girl’s uncle, who is a member of a rival gang, the Four Corner Hustlers.

Just before the shooting, the girl’s uncle responded to a threat by telling Luster “he knew where to find him,” Murphy said.

A half hour later, a silver Chevrolet Impala and its license plate was recorded by surveillance cameras as drove down the block and parked in a nearby alley, Murphy said.

Luster was allegedly seen getting out of the driver’s seat while another person took his place. Then, Luster and a second passenger from the Impala walked down a nearby gangway, Murphy said.

What happened next wasn’t caught on surveillance video, but seconds later, a volley of shots rang out and Luster and the other shooter were seen running back to the waiting car, prosecutors said.

Shell casings that were recovered showed two different weapons were used in the attack, Murphy said.

Luster also owns an Impala and cellphone records show he was in the area at the time of the shooting, prosecutors said. However, the license plates captured on surveillance cameras at the time of the shooting had been stolen and were not on Luster’s car when it was located later.

Sources have told the Sun-Times the girl’s uncle has been “uncooperative and remains uncooperative,” in helping with the investigation.

Murphy briefly mentioned Luster’s previous Sept. 1 arrest but didn’t go into detail about the charges being rejected then and the resulting tension between police and prosecutors.

Much of the evidence against Luster that was detailed in court Thursday appeared to have changed little from that time. But sources said two witnesses who have since testified before a grand jury made the difference in the office approving charges this time.

One witness is an associate of the girl’s uncle who knows Luster and saw him threaten the girl’s uncle on a FaceTime call just before the shooting, a law enforcement source said.

The second witness is a neighbor who saw the attack and later identified Luster from a photo lineup, but had not testified before a grand jury when detectives initially sought charges, that source said.

In a preview of the difficulties prosecutors will face as they take the case to trial, an assistant public defender disputed the quality of the evidence against Luster, saying the cellphone records unlikely pinpoint exactly how close his mobile had been to crime scene.

The defense attorney also suggested there could be issues with the witnesses’ identification of Luster and the quality of the surveillance recordings.

Before Judge David Navarro ordered Luster held without bail Thursday, he lamented that what took place before Serenity’s murder “started as part of some social media or dispute between two individuals, members of rival street gangs.

“It is the tragic reality of gang violence that unintended victims are often caught up in those violent and careless acts,” Navarro added.

Luster is expected back in court Nov. 3.

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Marist High School, at 4200 W. 115th St. in Mt. Greenwood. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

I asked my kids, who are students at the school, and learned that many teens at the homecoming dance sat or knelt during songs they didn’t like. But they also danced to many other Latin songs.

As a parent of two kids at Marist High School who attended the Homecoming dance, I was alarmed to learn that students exhibited racist behavior by sitting during a Latin-themed song.

But then I asked my kids and learned that many sat or knelt during many songs they didn’t like. And in turn they danced to many other Latin songs.

Is this what our world has come to? We now pass judgment and find racial animus based on what songs our kids like at a dance. Please. We force them to respect and like all music? What a repressive society.

The problem is not the songs or the kid’s behavior. The problem is our desire to find — even manufacture — “racism.” It’s as if there is a demand to be aggrieved so we must invent the supply.

It is sick and must stop.

Jim McIntosh, Beverly

SEND LETTERS TO: [email protected]. Please include your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes. Letters should be approximately 350 words or less.

Teens always protest songs

When I was in high school in the 1980s, we constantly protested songs we didn’t want to hear by sitting on the dance floor. It has nothing to do with racism. We were protesting the DJ for playing bad songs. Back then, we protested in that way against Michael Jackson songs cause he was a child molester.

Thirty-five years from now, kids will be sitting in protest against some other song; its what teenagers do. And I don’t believe for one second there were racial slurs. The only racial stereotype I read was from the girl who said “How would you like it if we kneeled to your country music.”

This is not appropriate news, this is hate news. Kneeling during a bad song and protesting is covered under the First Amendment.

Mike Soltysiak, Chicago Ridge

Happily, La Russa is no Trump

Alas, our White Sox lost the American League playoffs to the Houston Astros, three games to one. It’s a good thing Sox Manager Tony La Russa is not of like mind with Donald Trump, or he’d be claiming the games were fixed and the Sox actually won. He would be exhorting Sox fans to storm the ballpark in pointless wild-eyed protest, shouting “Stop the steal!”

Ted Z. Manuel, Hyde Park

See ya next year, fellow Sox fans

So the White Sox lost to the Astros. Get over it. Let’s look back instead at all the great things the Sox accomplished in 2019 and 2021. They thrilled us with two no-hitters. They hit many homeruns and made sensational plays. Think about how that Field of Dreams game played out. It was like a movie, but in real life.

Even with all their injuries, the White Sox gave us a lot of thrills. Next year, we will be better. Well, maybe. We just don’t know. But let’s show up and see.

See ya in 2022.

Carl F Rollberg, Calumet Park

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Bears RB Khalil Herbert ran for 75 yards on 18 carries in the win over the Raiders. | David Becker/AP

Williams tested positive for coronavirus and is unlikely to be available Sunday against the Packers. That means a sixth-round pick gets another chance to prove he belongs.

The Bears are down to their third-string running back as they prepare to face the Packers after Damien Williams tested positive for coronavirus. They put Williams on the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday, and the chances of him being available Sunday are extremely low.

If Williams is vaccinated, which is unknown, he would need to test negative twice — 24 hours apart — before kickoff to be cleared to play. If he is unvaccinated, he will be out a minimum of 10 days, which means the soonest he’d be eligible to return would be the day before the Bears face the Buccaneers.

Teams are not allowed to disclose a player’s vaccination status. Williams hasn’t been asked by the media since June, when he said he was unvaccinated.

The Bears have not had a player miss a game under the NFL’s COVID-19 policy this season.

Williams’ exit came when the Bears were already playing without injured starter David Montgomery. He’ll miss at least the next two games because of a sprained knee.

So who steps into the spotlight as their primary running back? Khalil Herbert, a rookie.

The Bears are high on Herbert after he ran for 75 yards on 18 carries in the win over the Raiders, but that’s just one game. The Bears drafted him out of Virginia Tech in the sixth round — the 217th selection overall and No. 15 among running backs.

“I’ve still got a lot to prove, still got a lot to fix, still got a lot to work on,” Herbert said Thursday.

He began his college career at Kansas before transferring to Virginia Tech as a fifth-year senior. He ran for 1,183 yards and eight touchdowns on 155 carries in 2020.

The Bears didn’t necessarily plan to give Herbert so many carries against the Raiders, especially with Williams being a seven-year veteran, but he made a strong case early.

He ran for 11 yards on his first rush and added runs of nine, seven and eight yards in the second quarter. He averaged 6.3 yards per carry in the first half and went all afternoon without losing a yard.

“Sometimes with the backs, it’s the flow of the game and how many hits they’re taking,” offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said. “And then some plays obviously are planned specifically for a guy because it’s something that he’s good at.”

Herbert began his career as a kick returner, then the Bears moved him to offense full-time when Montgomery went down. Ryan Nall (five carries in three seasons) is the only other healthy running back on the active roster, and they have Artavis Pierce on the practice squad.

While he was penciled in for special teams, Herbert has been fully engrossed in learning the offense since he reported for rookie minicamp in May. He quickly became a favorite teammate of fellow rookie Justin Fields, who was impressed by his work ethic from the beginning.

“He’s treated this whole process like a veteran,” Fields said. “Literally every time I pull up [to Halas Hall], he’s always here. After practice he’s always out there doing extra little moves, or on the [pass-catching] machine.”

Now, he and the Bears will find out what that work was worth. The team would rather not be in this situation, but it gives Herbert an opportunity to show he’s much more than a fringe player. And after climbing from near the bottom of the roster to being a key contributor last week, he deserves that shot.

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The Bears put veteran running back Damien Williams on the reserve/COVID-19 list. | Rick Scuteri/AP

The Bears are running out of running backs.

Jason Lieser, Patrick Finley and Mark Potash break down Damien Williams’ positive coronavirus test and what it means for Khalil Herbert, debate the best way to stop Aaron Rodgers and make their pick for Sunday’s Bears-Packers game.

New episodes of “Halas Intrigue” will be published regularly with accompanying stories collected on the podcast’s hub page. You can also listen to “Halas Intrigue” wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Luminary, Spotify, and Stitcher.

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Dirksen Federal Courthouse | Rich Hein/Sun-Times file photo

Ivan Bermudez was charged along with William Lorenz in August 2020. The pair spoke by phone about looting in the city on May 31, 2020, and Lorenz said he wanted to go “score,” according to Bermudez’s plea agreement.

A federal judge handed a 15-month prison sentence Thursday to a Chicago man who tried to steal a drug containing codeine from three Walgreens pharmacies amid the looting here in May 2020.

U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman delivered the sentence to Ivan Bermudez, who pleaded guilty last June.

“The police aren’t solely responsible for maintaining civil order in this country,” Feinerman said during the hearing. “All of us are.”

The judge also noted that the pharmacy break-ins took place while people were protesting the murder of George Floyd by then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

“People have to know that if you contribute to a situation like that, contribute to the looting, in that kind of historical moment, that you’re not going to get a slap on the wrist,” Feinerman said.

Before he learned his sentence, Bermudez told the judge, “I’m truly ashamed of my selfishness. I wasn’t thinking of my family.”

“I truly regret my behavior and decisions I made,” Bermudez said. “If given the opportunity, whatever happens, I promise to never, ever commit such a stupid mistake again.”

U.S. District Court records
Ivan Bermudez

Bermudez was charged along with William Lorenz in August 2020. The pair spoke by phone about looting in the city on May 31, 2020, and Lorenz said he wanted to go “score,” according to Bermudez’s plea agreement. Bermudez took that to mean Lorenz wanted to get promethazine with codeine from Walgreens pharmacies, the document said.

Bermudez took a bus to North Avenue and Pulaski Road and met Lorenz by a Walgreens there, according to the plea agreement. They went inside and found the store already looted. While inside, Bermudez grabbed one bottle of promethazine, according to the document. Bermudez also went to a nearby store, and then he called Lorenz to meet back up.

The plea agreement said the two then traveled in Lorenz’s car to another Walgreens at Kedzie and Armitage avenues. Bermudez noticed the outer door was open, and the pair went inside, the plea agreement said. Lorenz then used a sledgehammer to break a window on a door to the pharmacy, according to the document. They went inside searching for drugs but wound up taking nothing.

The pair also went to a Walgreens near Irving Park and Pulaski roads, where Lorenz also used the sledgehammer to break the window on a pharmacy door, according to the plea agreement. Again, they wound up leaving without taking any items.

The damage to the Walgreens stores on Armitage Avenue and Irving Park Road amounted to $7,851, records show.

Michael Johnson, Bermudez’s defense attorney, noted to the judge that there’s no evidence that his client “ever used or touched or held this sledgehammer.”

Records show Lorenz pleaded guilty in April, and his sentencing hearing is on hold.

But Bermudez’s sentencing is the latest in federal court to stem from the summer 2020 rioting in Chicago.

In recent months, judges have given sentences ranging from a year to 18 months to three men caught illegally with guns amid the various rioting and looting. Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman gave probation to Jacob Fagundo, who admitted setting fire to a CPD SUV during the May 2020 riots.

In Minnesota, a federal judge handed a hefty prison sentence of nearly nine years to Matthew Lee Rupert of Galesburg, who burned down a store in Minneapolis in May 2020 before moving on to Chicago, where he was arrested.

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Dirksen Federal Courthouse, 219 S. Dearborn St. | Sun-Times file

The money paid for more than 80 flights for Stuart Nitzkin and members of his family, according to the feds. It paid for vacations to Scotland, Puerto Rico, Las Vegas, Florida, Arizona and Denver, including stays at Ritz-Carlton hotels in several cities and The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas.

Accusing him of “greed” and a “skewed way of looking at the world,” a federal judge handed a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence Thursday to a onetime disabled children’s charity director who prosecutors say stole nearly $1 million from the organization.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis handed down the sentence to Stuart Nitzkin of Deerfield, who admitted earlier this year he submitted bogus invoices, receipts and other reimbursement requests to pay for luxury vacations, tickets to NBA games and other personal expenses.

“This was just simple greed,” Ellis said. “And it was your attempt to live a life that you couldn’t afford.”

Before he was sentenced, Nitzkin apologized to the judge and said, “I know that I can bring value to the world, and I pledge to do so.” He added, “Nothing like this will ever happen again.”

Nitzkin served as executive director of American Friends of Israel Sport Center for the Disabled, court records show. Prosecutors say Nitzkin had previously worked as a telemarketer and a salesman before taking the job, which eventually paid a salary of $150,000 a year.

During the summers of 2014 through 2016, prosecutors said he also worked for an unaffiliated camp in Wisconsin. He made $100,000 as the camp’s co-director, they said.

Meanwhile, the feds say Nitzkin stole $831,400 from the disabled children’s charity. They said his fraudulent transactions ranged from less than $100 to thousands of dollars. They said he paid for home and auto insurance, purchases at “a large appliance and television store,” duct cleaning, property taxes, a health club and treatment at the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute.

The money paid for more than 80 flights for Nitzkin and members of his family, according to the feds. It paid for vacations to Scotland, Puerto Rico, Las Vegas, Florida, Arizona and Denver, including stays at Ritz-Carlton hotels in several cities and The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas.

Nitzkin charged the charity more than $7,000 for Chicago Bulls tickets in 2014 and more than $10,000 for Bulls tickets in 2015, and also bought tickets to Cleveland Browns games, prosecutors say. He also spent the money at Bed, Bath and Beyond, Macy’s, Target, and even Dairy Queen.

“[Nitzkin] repeatedly has said that he would ‘never hurt the kids,’ but that is exactly what he did,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg wrote in a court memo last month.

The prosecutor wrote that the charity “had to spend considerable time and money dealing with accountants and lawyers” to straighten out the mess Nitzkin left behind, and to reassure and rebuild its donor base. Mecklenburg also acknowledged that, “with the help of its donors, the charity is now more successful than ever.”

But the prosecutor also wrote that Nitzkin “has been thriving financially and has the means to pay the charity full restitution” — but “has chosen not to do so.” Rather, she wrote that Nitzkin settled a lawsuit from the charity for $315,000, meaning he “still owes the charity more than a half million dollars.”

Mecklenburg said a friend financed Nitzkin’s purchase of a successful staffing company for millions of dollars. She wrote that Nitzkin pays himself “a lucrative salary” there, in excess of what he made at the charity, “as well as regular substantial bonuses and a car allowance that exceeds his car costs.”

Nitzkin owns a home in Deerfield, land in Texas, Colorado and Missouri, has multiple financial accounts and has a net worth in the millions, Mecklenburg wrote.

“Nitzkin has been thriving for the past five years, while the charity has suffered,” she argued.

When she handed down the sentence, Ellis ordered Nitzkin to pay the remaining $516,400 in restitution. She also told him, “There was no reason at all that you could not have paid restitution over the last couple of years.”

“What that would have shown is that yes, you really were remorseful, and that yes, you took responsibility for what you did,” Ellis said.

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Spooky season isn’t complete without pumpkin patches and corn mazes. Not only are they fun fall activities for all ages, but let’s be honest…we do it for the Gram too! We’ve rounded up a list of the best corn mazes and pumpkin patches near Chicago for your fall festivities and your Instagram feed.

Looking for Halloween happenings at bars and restaurants? We have a full guide for that as well!

1467 N Elston Ave. Chicago, IL 60642

Surround yourself with two acres of outdoor fun at this pumpkin patch in the heart of Chicago in Goose Island. This pop-up experience includes a larger-than-life corn maze, pumpkin patch, carnival games, ax throwing, fortune tellers, food trucks, and full bars. Jack’s also has plenty of photo-op spots like its popular pumpkin house and oversized pumpkin spice latte. It’s the only place in the city proper where you can get your fix of outdoor fall fun. 

29W310 North Ave. West Chicago, IL 60185

With a haunted-themed hayride and barn experience, Sonny Acres Farm in Chicago is all about the spooky season vibes. The farm is a family-owned and operated business and has been serving the community since 1883. It has the classics like a pumpkin patch, petting and self-feed zoos, hayrides, and pony rides, but Sonny Acres Farm can get the adrenaline pumping too. When the sun sets, experience a haunted hayride and barn complete with spooky characters from clowns and zombies to goblins and ghouls.

16849 S Cedar Rd. Homer Glen, IL 60491

You can find an entertaining corn maze about an hour’s drive southwest of Chicago. You can get lost in the cornfields with two mazes at different levels. For a challenge, make your way through 3.4 miles of tall corn. If you want a quicker bout or are accompanying children, walk through Konow’s 0.4 mile-maze. Konow’s also has an animal barn with pigs, sheep, alpacas, cows, and more. An indoor western town brings you back to the old days. Inside, you’ll also find two large corn pits, a western-style shooting gallery, a hands-on mining experience, straw playgrounds, mechanical bull, bounce house, and more.

13341 W 151st St. Homer Glen, IL 60491

If you’re looking for more of an amusement park vibe, Bengtson’s has got it covered. Rooster Rodeo is one of the farm’s newest attractions and is a fun roller coaster track ride. Other new attractions include Rockin’ Rabbits, a bouncing mechanical ride, and Barrel Blast, a rustic take on the classic spinning teacups ride. Bengtson’s also offers a few other farm-themed track rides, a 90-feet fun slide, pig races, a petting zoo, pony rides, and of course, a pumpkin patch. 

3709 Miller Rd. McHenry, IL 60051

Approximately 50 miles northwest of Chicago, you’ll find the popular pick-your-own destination Stade’s Farm & Market in McHenry. The farm produces 2,200 acres of corn, soybeans, and fresh fruits and vegetables that are sold in the Farm Market. If you’re more of the DIY type, you can also harvest your own apples, strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, peppers, and more. There are about 30 acres of pumpkins in its pumpkin patch so you’re bound to find the perfect one! Stade’s has 35+ farm-related attractions, including a petting zoo, corn maze, giant slides, and hayrides. 

909 English Prairie Rd. Spring Grove, IL 60081

If you really want to master the corn maze, go to Richardson Adventure Farm for the ultimate challenge. Home of the 28-acre corn maze, Richardson will have you winding through ten miles of live corn. This behemoth of a maze is actually composed of four smaller mazes with its own paths and checkpoints, so you can do just one maze or all four if you’re feeling adventurous. The farm also has a bungee-enhanced bouncer, carousel, slides, two-pedal kart tracks, paintball shooting, and more attractions. If you’re looking for an adrenaline rush, Richardson also has unique experiences like zip-lining and zorbing.

Featured Image Credit: Sonny Acres Farm

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Brett McMurphy has put out his 2021 NCAA College Football bowl predictions and they are sure to catch the ire of Notre Dame football fans everywhere.  McMurphy has the Fighting Irish schedule to play in the Cheez-It Bowl against the Texas Longhorns on December 29th in Orlando, Florida with the Longhorns being favored by three points.

Notre Dame most recently played in the Cheez-It Bowl after the 2019 season against Iowa State. While the matchup with the Longhorns would be much more noteworthy due to the matchup of two iconic brands in the college football world, what will concern Notre Dame fans is what this bowl slot typically means for the type of season Notre Dame had.

Slotting into the Cheez-It bowl would mean the Irish went 9-3 during the season, or as they did in 2019, went 10-2 with a terrible second loss on their resume and they could not rise above #15 in the playoff rankings.  This lower bowl selection also aligns with some reduced optimism for the Notre Dame season coming out of Las Vegas, where Notre Dame’s win total is now predicted at eight games.  For a program coming off a playoff appearance, four straight 10 win seasons (and 5 in the last 6), an eight-win campaign, and a bowl game in a bad time slot in Orlando are less than ideal.

Notre Dame kicks off its 2021 season on Sunday, September 5th at Florida State in what many are saying could be a tricky game for the Irish as they break in a new quarterback and many new faces on defense.

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