Buenas tardes. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. This is a five minute read that will fill you in on the biggest stories of today.
Editor’s Note: There will be no Thursday and Friday afternoon edition. We’ll be back in your inbox on Monday. Happy Thanksgiving Day!
This afternoon will be sunny with a high near 60 degrees. Tonight it will be partly cloudy with a low around 39. Thanksgiving Day will be mostly cloudy with a high near 52. Black Friday will be mostly sunny with a high near 47.
outstanding story
Guaranteed income payments are a financial lifeline for Chicagoans: ‘I had nothing’
When Gail Goodwin began receiving $500 a month through a guaranteed income program, she was able to give money to her grandchildren for the first time in a long time.
“Like the old me,” Goodwin said. “When he had a well-paid job.”
Goodwin, 57, works full-time at a private security firm in Chicago that pays $16 an hour, and it had been difficult to make ends meet. His rent on the southwest side represents more than 40% of his budget.
In Chicago, Goodwin is among thousands of local people participating in experiments to see the results of providing people with a guaranteed income. She is among 5,000 Chicagoans who have received payments of $500 for each of the past four months as part of a year-long program known as the Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot.
Some city residents will also be part of the Cook County Promise Guaranteed Income Pilot Program, which recently selected 3,250 applicants through a lottery to receive $500 a month for two years. Participants are expected to receive their first monthly payment in mid-December.
Both pilots are funded through the federal Bailout Act, and academic researchers are closely monitoring the programs, which target low-income households.
Demographic data on county participants is not yet available.
In the city’s pilot program, the majority of participants, 71%, identify as women, according to city data. About 68% are black, nearly 24% are Latino or Hispanic, and about 16% are white. An additional 3% of the participants are Asian.
The 5,000 participants in the city’s program are spread throughout Chicago. The 60620 ZIP code, which includes Auburn Gresham, has 240 entrants, most concentrated in one area, according to city data. The 60619 ZIP code, which includes parts of Chatham and the South Shore, has 235 participants.
Elvia Malagón has more with the program participants and the impact so far here.
More news you need
- A driver charged with reckless homicide was traveling 75 mph in the wrong lane when he struck a car trying to elude police last weekend in the South Loop, killing the driver of the car, prosecutors said today. The 18-year-old driver was charged with reckless homicide and aggravated reckless driving and was cited for failing to slow down. Our Tom Schuba and Matthew Hendrickson have more on the tragic collision here.
- A teenager has been charged with the fatal shooting of a 7-year-old boy who was struck by a stray bullet while washing his hands at his Humboldt Park home last month, police officials announced yesterday. The 16-year-old suspect, who is being prosecuted as a juvenile, was arrested Monday and charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Akeem Briscoe, police said.
- Trudy Castle and Kimberly DiFrancesco, two sisters from the Chicago area, were each sentenced to 30 months probation yesterday after pleading guilty to joining the January 6 riot at the US Capitol. Federal officials say they became aware of the couple after someone shared photos that DiFrancesco had texted his spouse.
- With the holiday shopping season upon us, experts are warning parents to be on the lookout for toys that have been recalled due to safety concerns but can still be found for sale online. Our Mitch Dudek has more on staying sharp in the midst of your holiday shopping here.
- Bruce Iglauer, the founder of Chicago-based independent blues record label Alligator Records, was recently honored by the Recording Industry Association of America with an event celebrating the label’s 50th anniversary. Although the festivities were held at the RIAA headquarters in Washington, DC, the event was as much a tribute to Iglauer’s legacy of keeping the blues alive as it was to Chicago’s undeniable influence on the genre. Lynn Sweet has more about the celebration here.
- And, in the 35 years since “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” was released on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving in 1987, the reputation of the John Hughes film has only grown, and deservedly so, writes the Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper. Read Roeper’s full ode to the beloved film that he calls “one of the best Thanksgiving movies of all time” here.
bright one
Chicago cultures unite for Mexico-Poland World Cup match: ‘It’s all love at the end of the day’
Simone’s in Pilsen was divided into two sections early yesterday as a monumental World Cup match was about to start: one for Mexico fans and the other for Poland fans.
The bar at 960 W. 18th St. was hoping to make room for rival fan bases for tomorrow’s FIFA World Cup game, considering the two countries facing off represented two of the largest immigrant populations in Chicago.
But from the start, Ania Pniwska, 41, was the only Polish supporter. Pniwska, from Szczecin, Poland, proudly wore a T-shirt that read “POLSKA.” The 41-year-old moved to Pilsen about 15 years ago. Historically, the neighborhood was a haven for Polish immigrants, but in recent decades it has become home to many more Mexican immigrants, as has the city in general.
Today, there are more than 200,000 Chicagoans who were born in Mexico, according to an analysis of 2020 census data by demographer Rob Paral. There are about 32,000 Polish-born residents, the third-most in Chicago after China’s 35,000. The city has long had one of the largest Polish populations outside of Poland. In 2000, there were around 70,000 Polish-born residents.
Married couple Greg and Oralia Niewiadomski watch the World Cup match between Mexico and Poland yesterday at AJ Hudsons Public House.
Greg and Oralia Niewiadomski are married but supported opposing teams at AJ Hudson’s Public House, 3801 N. Ashland, in Lake View.
“My parents were born in Poland and my wife’s parents were born in Mexico,” Greg said. “This is a big problem for us.”
He added: “Obviously we are very competitive about it. But it’s all love at the end of the day.”
Could that rivalry cause friction between the Irving Park couple who have been married for two years?
“When Mexico wins something, I am very unpleasant and he gets upset,” Oralia Niewiadomski said. “I love sports. I love soccer. It’s a big problem. In Chicago there are a lot of Mexican and Polish immigrants,” she said.
“We work hard and we have the same values. At the end of the day, we understand each other, and I love that,” she said.
Michael Loria and David Struett have more with Chicago soccer fans here.
From the press box
Your daily question☕
Where can you find the best Christmas decorations/lights in Chicago?
Email us at newsletters@suntimes.com and we may include your response in the next evening edition.
Yesterday we asked you: What are you grateful for this year?
This is what some of you said…
“This newspaper!” — Jerome Brisadale
“To live another year on this earth after going through some health issues this year.” — maurice snell
“My family, and in particular, my two great-nieces, who are my absolute world.” — mike walsh
“The beauty of our land”. — frank larson
“I’m grateful to still be cancer free.” — tina richmond
“All healthcare workers in the City of Chicago, plus CPD and CFD. God bless our city.” — barbara moss
“I have a new granddaughter, one month old today. I am grateful to be able to watch her and her brother of two years grow up. My kids never met her grandpa, so I never take this for granted.” — Howard Moore
“For being alive. For being the best mother I can be. For having my own place to eat at the table. For having the father of my children in my life. have the best family I have
“Family Thanksgiving Dinner!” — alfredo koopmann
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