The collection of mini-parks and lime-green benches that line the curbs along West 75th Street drew the attention of national urban design experts last fall and reenergized Chatham’s “Restaurant Row” into a South Side social scene.

Since the 75th Street Boardwalk was installed in September, it has received multiple national awards for design and planning, and businesses along the strip reported boosts in sales during events hosted by the Greater Chatham Initiative. Vice President Kamala Harris even dropped by for a slice of cake from the Brown Sugar Bakery in April and commented on the business’ bright green booths, owner Stephanie Hart said.

“The boardwalk is special. Kamala Harris is someone who has spent time in Black communities all over the country,” Hart said. “She noticed it was something different.”

But then two months later, the boardwalk got unwanted attention.

On the morning of June 12, a pair of masked gunmen stepped out of an alley near the neighborhood’s most famous establishment, Lem’s Bar-B-Q, and opened fire into a crowd of hundreds that had gathered for an impromptu block party. Kimfier Miles, a 29-year-old mother of three, was killed and nine others were wounded.

Soon, rumors circulated that the boardwalk would be torn down. But that won’t be happening.

By the end of the month, organizers will remove the plywood “parklets” so they can be replaced with portable units for the seasonal “Boardwalk 2.0,” Nedra Sims-Fears, executive director of the Greater Chatham Initiative, said.

“We are bringing the boardwalk back,” Fears Sims said. “We cannot let it be the case that we say ‘Too many people are coming to the boardwalk, so the boardwalk needs to go away.'”

Local businesses and the GCI hosted family-friendly weekend events boosted sales amid the pandemic malaise. But after hours, nighttime throngs of hundreds descended on 75th Street, creating a free-form party that included massive portable speakers, outdoor grills, coolers of drinks and a distinct Mardi Gras vibe.

For weeks in the early spring and summer, the gatherings were raucous, but safe. A popular Instagram account featured a picture of a crowd clogging the street on June 6 with the caption: “They had 75th St last night looking like Vegas. No shooting, no fighting. #ChicagoIsOpen #SummerTimeChi“

Carmen Lemons, whose family has operated Lem’s Bar-B-Q, at 311 E 75th St., since the late 1960s, grew concerned by the crowds. Lem’s always has line of customers during business hours — which used to extend to 3 a.m.– and has never had seating for diners. Allowing massive, late-night gatherings was inviting chaos, Lemons said.

“In this day and time, it’s not safe to have a crowd like that. It’s a chance for something bad to happen,” she said. “Please don’t say I am against the boardwalk. But we’re not the North Side. Very seldom do people eat at the curbside on the South Side.”

Marlon Mitchell, whose family has operated Frances’ Cocktail Lounge next door to Lem’s for more than 50 years, said that a more watchful police presence has prevented similar crowds from forming as they did before the shooting. He believes that the gatherings could have been made manageable.

“Police are here now, they’re involved,” Mitchell said. “But they were three or four weeks too late.”

The 75th Boardwalk was a pilot of sorts for the city’s Chicago Al Fresco program, which offered funding for restaurants and businesses in working-class neighborhoods on the South and West sides to install or expand outdoor dining and community space, said Robert Fotjick, senior director of neighborhood strategy for Choose Chicago.

The Al Fresco program will bring similar portable parklets to Little Village, South Shore, Belmont-Cragin and other neighborhoods that have higher levels of violent crime, and that’s by design, Fotjick said. The same neighborhoods could benefit from outdoor spaces that foster community, he said.

“[After the shooting], there was never any thought of pulling back on our side,” Fotjick said about the 75th Street Boardwalk. “Unfortunately, gun violence is a reality in Chicago and other major cities….We need to find ways to create vibrancy in those communities.”

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Nothing to see here, folks.

Not Friday at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs got back to their losing ways in a 6-2 game against the lowly Royals.

Not with playing-out-the-string Zach Davies — the subpar veteran starter who in no way, shape or form is part of the Cubs’ wide-open future — on the hill.

Not even with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flying for hours of practice in the skies above the ballpark ahead of Saturday’s and Sunday’s lakefront air shows.

OK, fine, the Blue Angels were kind of cool to watch. They certainly were more entertaining than one of two games on Friday’s major league schedule involving opponents with losing records. (We see you, Diamondbacks and Rockies.)

The air shows, by the way, are part of mayor Lori Lightfoot’s “Open Chicago” initiative to safely and fully reopen the city. Fully refilling the stands at Wrigley is another matter altogether. By the looks of Friday’s crowd, the joint won’t be rocking again for quite some time.

But if there’s one thing about this Cubs team that’s worth watching the rest of this lost season, it’s the trio of 26-year-old rookie starting pitchers who potentially could fit nicely into whatever president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer is calling this rebuild.

Right-hander Adbert Alzolay has been in the rotation all season, taking his lumps — he’s 4-13 with a 5.16 ERA — but flashing enough ability to remain interesting. Alzolay is on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring but making progress toward a return. He threw a bullpen session Friday that went well, according to manager David Ross, and added some light running and agility work on the field.

Lefty Justin Steele, a fifth-round pick by the Cubs in 2014, is two starts into his own audition after making 11 appearances out of the bullpen and then getting stretched out over several weeks at Triple-A Iowa.

And now comes righty Keegan Thompson’s turn to show what he’s got. Thompson, a third-round pick by the Cubs out of Auburn in 2017, made 27 relief appearances this season before being sent down to Iowa to get stretched out for starter’s duty. After four scoreless starts — none of which lasted longer than 4 1/3 innings — against Triple-A foes, he’ll face the Royals on Saturday.

“When you have these guys go down there and dominate — which they should — and [with] the success [Thompson] has had here, and just getting his pitch count up, it’s a good indication that as soon as they’re ready to be able to start, to give some length, they’re ready,” Ross said.

Alzolay, Steele and Thompson are all homegrown pitchers, a wonder in itself given Hoyer and former boss Theo Epstein’s unfortunate track record with the Cubs of drafting and developing starters. Any of the three could work out. Any of the three might not. But at least they’re in the hunt for important roles with the team in 2022, when Kyle Hendricks will be at or near the front of the rotation, Alec Mills might be at or near the end of it and, well, who the heck knows other than that?

It’s a three-headed audition. It might even beat watching planes buzz past on their way someplace else.

“That is definitely a positive and something we look forward to seeing, how much success they can have in the starting rotation,” Ross said. “Because they’ve already done a nice job out of the bullpen.”

Davies (6-10) gave up four home runs, two of them to All-Star catcher Salvador Perez, as a two-game Cubs winning streak met a quiet end. Davies has only one win since late June, not what the Cubs had in mind when they acquired him from the Padres in the Yu Darvish trade.

There’s some pretty clear writing on the wall.

“It’s a transition period for the Cubs,” he said. “I’ve been a part of that before. I’m going through it now with these guys. … And this is a good time for guys to come up and prove themselves and give themselves a big-league job for next year.”

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Kendrick Lamar has been quiet long enough.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper posted a lengthy statement on a new website, oklama.com, that indicates his next album will be his last for Top Dawg Entertainment, the label he’s been with since his 2011 debut, “Section.80.”

“As I produce my final TDE album, I feel joy to have been a part of such a cultural imprint after 17 years. The Struggles. The Success. And most importantly, the Brotherhood. May the Most High continue to use Top Dawg as a vessel for candid creators. As I continue to pursue my life’s calling,” Lamar wrote.

Fans have anticipated a new record from Lamar for months, even speculating last year that he was about to leave the label. Lamar, 34, dismissed the claims and posted a video on the Instagram account of Top Dawg CEO, Anthony Tiffith, to proclaim his loyalty.

But Friday afternoon, Tiffith’s Instagram acknowledged Lamar’s impending departure.

“With this being Dot’s last album on TDE, this is more of a VICTORY LAP, a celebration,” he wrote, referring to Lamar by his old stage name, K. Dot. “I know he will be successful in whatever it is he decides to do and will have our FULL support.”

In 2018, Lamar wrote and produced 14 songs for the soundtrack to “Black Panther,” receiving kudos and scooping up another Grammy for “King’s Dead” (best rap performance).

But Lamar’s artistry hasn’t been on full display since his 2017 multi-platinum smash, “Damn,” which earned a best rap album Grammy (he competed for album of the year, but lost in a crowded field to Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic”).

Lamar’s website posting also references an apparent life of quietude and contemplation as he mentions going “months without a phone” and time spent writing, listening and “collecting old Beach cruisers.” He reports that “love, loss and grief have disturbed my comfort zone, but the glimmers of God speak through my music and family.”

Lamar’s contemplations include a hopeful bent as well: “There’s beauty in completion,” he writes. “And always faith in the unknown.”

He signed his words from, Oklama.

Lamar is scheduled to headline the first day of the Day N Vegas weekend festival on Nov. 12, but his performance is billed as a retrospective (“From ‘Section .80” to “Damn,” the poster reads). It is the only live date on his calendar this year.

Read more at usatoday.com.

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It’s billed as the “premiere hip-hop music festival in the Midwest.” And with good reason. Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash Festival has returned, this time in a three-day iteration in Douglass Park, featuring an eclectic lineup of musicmakers and emcees.

Here’s a look at some of the sights and sounds of the 2021 festival.

Festival goers await entry on Day 1 of the Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park on Aug. 20, 2021.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Chicago-native Supa Bwe performs on day one of the Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park, Friday afternoon, Aug. 20, 2021.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Chicago-native Supa Bwe jumps into the crowd as he performs on day one of the Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park, Friday afternoon, Aug. 20, 2021.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Festival-goers dance as Chicago-native Supa Bwe performs on day one of the Summer Smash Festival in Douglass Park, Friday afternoon, Aug. 20, 2021.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

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A 9-year-old boy was hit in the arm by crossfire Friday afternoon on the Far South Side, just around the corner from where his father was killed in a mass shooting four years ago.

Derwin Moore Jr. – called DJ by his family — was leaving a corner store with his mother and two siblings in the 400 block of East 111th Street when gunfire erupted around 12:10 p.m., hitting him and a 22-year-old man, according to police.

“We were caught in a massive crossfire,” said the boy’s mother, Ashley Van, 30, fighting back tears. “I’m just grateful to God because that’s who saved my child. I’m just thankful my baby made it.”

Police said they were looking for two gunmen who stepped out of a gray Dodge Durango and opened fire.

DJ was in good condition at Comer Children’s Hospital, police said. The man was shot in the ankle and taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in fair condition, officials said.

Another family member said the boy was “doing okay. He’s scared. He’s a playful boy, likes to go swimming and record YouTube videos. He’s just a regular kid.”

DJ and his siblings have a YouTube channel, Moore Family CMG, where they upload prank videos, dances, gameplays, and reactions, according to the family.

As relatives waited outside the Friday, they talked about a shooting in 2017 in almost the exact same place that took the life of the boy’s father, Derwin Moore Sr.

Moore, 35, was standing with three other men near his home in the 11000 block of South Eberhart Avenue early on July 5 when several gunmen opened fire from a passing black SUV, according to police.

Moore and another man were killed, and the two other men were wounded in the wrist and arm.

His son is the fourth young child to be shot in Chicago this week.

Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), right, speaks with Chicago Police Department officials after a 9-year-old boy and a man were both shot Friday afternoon in the 400 block of East 111th Street in Roseland.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

On Wednesday night, a 7-year-old boy was shot while sitting in a parked car with his mother in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood, according to Chicago police. He was hit in the abdomen but was stabilized at a hospital.

On Sunday afternoon, a 7-year-old girl was killed and her 6-year-old sister seriously wounded shortly before 3 p.m. in the 6200 block of West Grand Avenue.

“Unfortunately we’re out here again,” said Ald. Anthony Beale, whose 9th Ward covers the block where Friday’s shooting took place. “Another kid being shot with senseless gun violence here in the city of Chicago.”

The alderman blamed Supt. David Brown for diverting officers to the downtown and leaving his community more vulnerable. Beale said the 5th police district, which includes his ward, is down 120 officers.

“There’s no way we can continue to fight crime with those numbers,” he told reporters at the scene. Beale said other areas of the city are experiencing the same problems “except downtown.”

“Treat me like I’m downtown here in the community,” he said. “Treat the rest of the city like we’re downtown.”

Sun-Times photographer Patricia Nabong contributed

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A woman died five days after she was seriously wounded in a triple shooting inside a West Woodlawn apartment building last weekend.

Delphine Shields, 49, died Thursday at the University of Chicago Medical Center, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. She died of complications from gunshot wounds.

Gunfire broke out last Saturday night at an apartment in the 6200 block of South Rhodes Avenue, police said.

A 17-year-old boy in the hallway was seriously wounded, police said. A 55-year-old man inside the apartment on the stairs was shot in his leg.

Shields, who was outside on the steps, was shot in her torso and hospitalized.

No arrest has been reported.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

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Chicagoans seemed to be on board Friday with the city reinstating an indoor mask mandate – and Cook County residents will be under a similar requirement starting Monday.

County health officials announced that all individuals will be required to wear a mask indoor in multi-unit residential buildings and public places, such as restaurants, movie theaters, retail establishments, fitness clubs and on public transportation. Businesses have been ordered to post signs.

“We have no choice but to mandate that people wear masks indoors to help contain this spread of the virus,” Dr. Rachel Rubin, co-lead and senior medical officer of Cook County Department of Public Health, said in a statement.

The city and county mandates, which apply to anyone age 2 or older and regardless of vaccination status, comes amid a surge in the Delta variant and after two months of relative face freedom following the lifting of most COVID-19 restrictions locally.

“It’s a little thing to prevent a big thing,” said Don Brogdon, 61, as he left a Mariano’s grocery store Friday in Roscoe Village.

Speaking through a mask adorned with playful Australian Shepherds, Mary Rhodes, 78, said bringing the mandate back was a “no brainer.”

“The mayor is doing the right thing, and I hope businesses enforce it,” said Rhodes, a retired fundraiser from North Center whose son, a therapist in Chicago, recently had a breakthrough case of COVID-19.

“And it’s the right thing for kids,” said Rhodes, noting she was old enough to remember the scourge of polio and how it some kids had to be put on “iron lungs.”

She said she gets “ticked off” over people who refuse to wear masks because they feel it steps on their personal liberty.

“You can’t shout fire in a crowded theater, and those people that think their rights are being infringed upon need to read a little more,” she said.

Alaina Davis, 40, a data administrator for a large hospital system, said hates masks but appreciates the need to wear one.

“I’m tired of it. For me to get a shot and be fully vaccinated and go through the side effects and still have to wear a mask, it’s hell, it’s really hell and it’s disappointing,” said Davis, who lives in Maywood and was leaving a salon in Humboldt Park after getting her hair done.

“But I think about the children and the elderly when it comes to wearing a mask,” she said. “You don’t want to see anyone fighting for their life on a ventilator.”

Eduardo Arocho, 50, who gives walking tours of Humboldt Park, thinks the mask mandate should never have been removed.

He pointed to himself as proof they work. “I haven’t died … so, so far so good,” Arocho said.

Edwin Torres, 34, and his wife, Emily Guerrero, 30, disagree on masks, but both will wear them.

“I think it’s a good thing because you don’t know who’s actually vaccinated and who’s not, so it would be the best thing for us to go back to a mask mandate until we get it under control,” Torres, a general contractor from Humboldt Park, said while walking his dogs.

For Guerrero, though, the toothpaste is already out of the bottle.

“It’s too late, the city opened up, and we did way too much to go back to the mask mandate. I feel like it’s pointless; whatever is going to happen already happened,” she said, referring to infectious spread.

Madelyn Amos, 23, applauded the mask mandate.

“I’ve had COVID, and it was horrible. So if I can protect someone from not having that experience I’d do what it takes, plus I have three friends who’ve had breakthrough cases,” she said.

Peter Hong, 51, a pastor from Logan Square who was headed inside a Planet Fitness in Logan Square to lift weights, said he’s “100 % in favor” of the mandate.

“I think it’s important for us to look out for the common good, or our collective need as a society,” he said.

Cornell Shepard, who works as a convention center security guard and lives in Bronzeville, doesn’t think COVID-19 is as dangerous as it’s being portrayed and doesn’t believe in masks — but he’ll wear one anyways.

“I think it’s just a simple cold,” Shepard, who is unvaccinated, said while filling up his car at a gas station at 47th Street and Michigan Avenue.

“The youth, we don’t need them. But I don’t have a problem with wearing a mask, I will abide by it. But it sucks, man, it sucks.”

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It didn’t take Lonzo Ball very long to learn the true business-side of basketball.

Some lessons came easy like when Los Angeles selected the hometown kid No. 2 overall back in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Some may have felt more like a punch to the chest, first with being traded from those same Lakers after just two seasons, and then being a part of a sign-and-trade that sent the point guard from New Orleans to the Bulls last month.

In Ball’s world, however, it’s just the plan. It’s a wave that a player has very little control of, so why not jump on it and enjoy the ride?

“I mean the way I live my life I think everything happens for a reason and everything plans out the way it’s supposed to plan out, so I think at this point in my life it was time to be a Chicago Bull,” Ball said last week, when discussing his departure from the Pelicans. “I’m happy to be in Chicago. Obviously I got good vibes from the guys over there in New Orleans and stuff, it could have worked out, but like I said everything works out for a reason.”

And it very well may for Ball. But the NBA loves a good storyline, so in releasing the 2021-22 regular season schedule on Friday, that was definitely not be lost on the Association.

After a busy offseason in which the Bulls added not only Ball, but veteran scorer DeMar DeRozan, and defensive pest Alex Caruso, the Bulls will try and match the hype surrounding the new look, tipping off the year in Detroit on Oct. 20. But it’s the home opener at the United Center two nights later that goes down as an early game to keep eyes on, as the Bulls host Ball’s former team when the Pelicans come to town.

Yes, Zion Williamson is a must-see attraction, but it will also be a chance for Ball to show New Orleans’ brass that it made a mistake in not considering him a core piece, as well as the Bulls getting reacquainted with Tomas Satoransky and Garrett Temple, who were sent in a package for Ball.

An early-season test for both teams without question, but not the only circle-the-calendar games to keep an eye on for the Bulls.

Oct. 28 – Knicks at Bulls – Anytime former coach Tom Thibodeau comes backs to Chicago it’s an event, and he always seems to be bringing a few familiar faces with him. It will be yet another return home for Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson, who still hold a place in the city’s heart.

More importantly, Thibodeau and the Knicks are potentially one of the teams in the Eastern Conference that the Bulls could be jockeying for playoff position with if everything goes as planned. They are a hard-playing group, and will give the Bulls an early indicator of just how tough they’ve become since last season.

Nov. 15 – Bulls at Lakers – Yes, the Caruso homecoming game will be interesting, but not as much as the Bulls getting a taste of what NBA elite is supposed to look like.

Los Angeles is again a favorite to represent the Western Conference in the Finals, and if healthy will show the Bulls just where the bar is set.

Dec. 11 – Bulls at Heat – The Heat will be the ultimate hard-hat team this upcoming season, testing opposing offenses on a nightly basis. Jimmy Butler & Co. are in Chicago a few weeks earlier, so it will be a second meeting, but this time in Miami on a Saturday.

Anyone that knows the league also knows that South Beach and everything that goes on there on a Friday night is almost undefeated.

Mar. 18 – Bulls at Suns – The Suns were a young team on the come-up that became infused with championship potential with a coaching change and then a capable point guard. The Bulls are trying to mimic that model.

Sure, Ball is no Chris Paul, but the hope is the Bulls can still make that jump and start making noise in the East.

April 6 – Celtics at Bulls – The regular season ends with the Bulls playing five home games at the United Center before the finale at Minnesota. All five will be a challenge, but Boston could be a team the Bulls are neck-and-neck with at the time, so this meeting could have serious seeding consequences.

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Authorities should be wary of using ShotSpotter, a detection system that alerts police to gunshots, as the heart of criminal cases against individuals.

Police use bloodhounds to help find evidence at crime scenes, but Illinois courts don’t allow handlers to interpret what the dogs were thinking on the scene. Similarly, ShotSpotter is useful when it quickly directs police to gunfire, but using it in court as definitive evidence of where a shot was fired raises red flags.

Accused individuals have a constitutional right to cross-examine their accusers. But, just as with bloodhounds, they can’t cross-examine ShotSpotter or do their own analysis of its data. ShotSpotter’s forensic analysts submit a report based on a deeper dive into data gathered by the surveillance equipment, but the company that owns ShotSpotter keeps its algorithm secret.

A Chicago man, Michael Williams, was in jail for almost a year after prosecutors based a murder case against him on data from ShotSpotter. In July, a judge dismissed the case after prosecutors said they had insufficient evidence. The case against him had rested on video of a car driving through an intersection and data from ShotSpotter that pinpointed that as the spot where a gun was fired in the car. ShotSpotter says it told prosecutors its evidence was not sufficient to support the theory of the crime because its system does not work indoors, including inside a car.

ShotSpotter can turn up useful evidence if police arriving on a scene find witnesses or shell casings, even if the shooting has stopped before they get there and the shooters are gone. Police say ShotSpotter is often on target. But until independent, peer-reviewed double-blind studies confirm the accuracy of ShotSpotter, its ability to pinpoint exactly where a shot took place is not irrefutable evidence that should be the foundation of a criminal court case. Yet ShotSpotter evidence has been admitted in about 200 court cases in 20 states.

ShotSpotter says it provides an important service because 80% to 90% of the time residents don’t bother to report gunfire, which normalizes gunplay on the streets, while SpotSpotter flags almost 100%. But ShotSpotter is unpopular among activists who say it is inaccurate and that money spent on the alarm system could be used in more productive ways. On Thursday, activists in Englewood protested against the city’s decision to extend its $33 million ShotSpotter contract for two years.

The late University of Illinois Chicago School of Law professor Melvin Lewis used to say that too often the only standard courts set for forensic evidence was that it be incriminating to the defendant. We need a higher standard for ShotSpotter.

Send letters to [email protected].

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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 partly sunny with a high near 89 and a chance of thunderstorms. Tonight is expected to be partly cloudy with a low around 72. Tomorrow will be partly sunny with a high near 88 and a chance of showers.

Top story

Car insurers’ pandemic windfall could have paid Illinois drivers $99 more per car in ‘coronavirus relief’ refunds

With people driving less during the COVID-19 pandemic, automobile insurers came out ahead an estimated $29 billion last year compared to previous years, according to a new analysis by two consumer groups.

Some insurers made a show of sharing those savings by sending refund checks to drivers more than a year ago. But they kept much of the coronavirus windfall for themselves.

That’s according to an analysis by the Consumer Federation of America and Center for Economic Justice.

At our request, they also looked at the amount of money automobile insurers took in last year from Illinois drivers, the amount that was refunded and the additional revenue resulting from fewer accident claims because more people were working from home.

In Illinois, they found that the insurers’ coronavirus windfall amounted, on average, to what could have been an additional refund of about $99 per car for 2020, says Douglas Heller, an insurance expert for the consumer federation.

With the onset of the pandemic, “They were using premiums that had no relationship to the world as it existed,” Heller says of car insurance companies.

The analysis found that auto insurers nationally ended 2020 with “windfall profits of at least $29 billion” based on the premiums they took in and claims they paid compared with the average of four previous years.

Stephanie Zimmermann has more here.

More news you need

A 9-year-old boy and a 22-year-old man were wounded in a drive-by shooting this afternoon in Roseland, police said. The boy is at least the fourth child to be shot in the city this week.

The Illinois General Assembly is expected to return to Springfield on Aug. 31 for a special session to amend recently written legislative maps after the release of new census figures. In the spring, Democrats passed the maps into law based on population estimates instead of waiting for the official census data.

Two people arrested after allegedly speeding from the scene of a deadly shooting of a retired school teacher Tuesday have been released without charges. There is no one else in custody for the murder of Denise Huguelet, police said this morning.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a package of legislation today aimed at combatting domestic violence. The legislation was sparked in part by the death of 18-month-old Colton Miller, whose father shot him before turning the gun on himself two years ago.

Edgewater’s Epworth United Methodist Church — a landmark for more than 130 years — is up for sale, an old and increasingly common story in Chicago. The church also serves as a men’s homeless shelter, creating uncertainty for those served by the facility.

Three people were killed in a wrong-way crash on the Stevenson Expressway early this morning, including a father from Oak Lawn remembered as the “backbone” of his family. A driver going the wrong way entered I-55 at Cicero Avenue and collided head-on with another car around 12:35 a.m., police said.

A local non-violence program is helping Chicagoans who dropped out of high school receive their diplomas while offering resources like therapy and job training. Creating Real Economic Destiny, or CRED, held a graduation ceremony for several participants yesterday.

A bright one

Former cake decorator brightens Southwest Side viaduct with a mural

Anne Heisler didn’t learn the intricate painting skills she uses as a muralist the traditional way.

She picked them up working for about 15 years as a cake decorator after dropping out of college.

She put that to use on a recent mural commission that brightens a viaduct at 47th Street and Archer Avenue in Archer Heights on the Southwest Side. Hired by a neighborhood group, she designed the 113-feet-wide by 14-feet-tall mural and painted it with others from Provoke Culture, a group of artists headed by Sam Kirk.

Anne Heisler’s mural as seen painted on a viaduct at 47th Street and Archer Avenue in Archer Heights on the Southwest Side.Anne Heisler

The Archer Heights mural is Heisler’s first big mural. It took about a month to design and a week to paint, thanks in part to disruptions from pigeons that kept flying around her concrete canvas.

The mural features four portraits. Heisler, who grew up in Evanston, says she has always loved drawing people.

Heisler says she was trying to reflect the neighborhood with the viaduct mural.

Lu Calzada has more on the story behind the mural here.

From the press box

Don’t boo Mitch Trubisky when he returns to Soldier Field tomorrow. “That’d be petty, misguided and embarrassing,” writes Jason Lieser.
Here are some under-the-radar Bears to watch for during the preseason matchup against the Bills.
White Sox outfielder Brian Goodwin’s on his fifth team in six seasons. He says none of them have been like this team.

Former Bears running back Thomas Q. Jones wants to defy Black male stereotypes on TV with his new show, “Johnson,” which he stars in and produces. Our Evan F. Moore spoke to Jones about the show, which is about four Black men with the same last name dealing with fatherhood, careers and everything else.

Your daily question ?

What is your favorite mural in the city? Tell us why.

Reply to this email (please include your first name and where you live) and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday, we asked you: What’s one touristy activity that you, as a Chicagoan, have never done? Here’s what some of you said…

“Been to the Bean, stood on the ledge of the Sears Tower, or ridden the Ferris wheel at Navy Pier.” — Steph Villagomez

“Never took a Riverfront boat ride or visited the Willis Tower. Embarrassed to say that I visited the Chicago Art Institute for the first time recently, and I’ve lived here for over 30 years!” — Lori Hill

“I often get dragged for this, but I’ve lived here 8 years and never had Portillo’s.” — Meg Thomas

“I have never been to Wrigley Field, the Art Institute, and have never been on a river boat tour.” — Ashley O’Connor

“I’ve never eaten dinner at the Signature Room on the 95th Floor of the Hancock Building.” — Tricia Fitzgerald

“Gone to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Home and Studio and Hemingway’s childhood home, both in Oak Park. Even though I grew up in Chicago about a mile and half away, never had any desire to go to either.” — Tim Moran

“I don’t think I’ve ever been at a beach on Lake Michigan. Navy Pier a bunch, but never at the beach. Also, I’m a jazz/blues musician who’s never been at any of the festivals: no Lollapalooza, Blues Fest, Jazz Fest, Grant Park Festival — not even Taste of Chicago.” — John Connolly

“I have never visited the Adler Planetarium, gone to the dyeing of the Chicago River or to either St. Patrick’s Day parade.” — Melissa M. Lipton

“Never been in a water taxi or on the Spirit of Chicago.” — Barbara Buckner

“I’ve never eaten a hot dog without ketchup.” — Diana Garcia

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