Daywatch: Catalytic converter theft rising in Chicago
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Good morning, Chicago.
Devin McGregor, 5, had only attended three days of kindergarten at Willard Elementary School in Evanston before he was shot in the head Sunday. Now the boy is fighting for his life.
According to relatives, Devin absolutely loved school. “He was so excited, that’s all he talked about,” said Tervalon Sargent, Devin’s maternal grandfather. “Everyday he was like, ‘man, grandpa, school is the best.’ ” A moment of silence was held for Devin and his family during the Evanston/Skokie District 65 Board of Education meeting on Monday night.
Devin and his father, a 25-year-old man, both were shot Sunday night in the 7600 block of North Paulina Street, near West Howard Street, around 5 p.m. when a black Hyundai pulled up beside the family’s vehicle, according to Brendan Deenihan, chief of detectives with Chicago Police. Deenihan and other law enforcement officials spoke at a Monday morning news conference at which authorities said Devin had been in a vehicle with his mother and father when the shooting occurred, but a police report obtained by the Tribune tells a slightly different tale.
Read the full story from Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas.
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Catalytic converter theft rising in Chicago: Removing auto exhaust device takes a minute, but replacing it could take months
Part of the automotive exhaust system that filters emissions, the catalytic converter has become a target for mechanically-inclined thieves in Chicago and across the U.S., who work like pit crews to jack up or slide under a vehicle, saw off the device and abscond with the goods in a matter of minutes.
The catalytic converter contains valuable precious metals including rhodium, palladium and platinum, which can fetch hundreds of dollars in resale on the black market. But the repair bills can run into the thousands of dollars for car owners, and with supply chain disruptions, the wait for replacement parts can take months.
North Side Ald. Tom Tunney joins growing group of incumbents saying they’ll step down from the City Council next year
Chicago’s first openly gay alderman, North Side Ald. Tom Tunney, said he will not run for reelection to the City Council after his term expires next year.
Within hours of his announcement, Tunney followed a well-worn path in Illinois politics and threw his support behind a longtime staffer to succeed him.
Sacred Rose attendees say music festival charged thousands in unprompted credit card charges
The fun stopped for some Sacred Rose festivalgoers when they checked their bank accounts. After a weekend full of music including Americana, psych-rock, jam bands, soul and bluegrass, some attendees of the fest in Bridgeview reported thousands of dollars in unexplained credit card charges.
Complaints about the pricey unprompted payments began to spread across social media Monday as folks who went to the music fest tried to figure out where the charges came from. The issue stemmed from a payment processor configuration error with food and beverage service at the venue, SeatGeek Stadium, according to a statement from the venue.
‘It was Princess Diana. It was great fun!’: Q&A with a former Northwestern president on her 1996 Chicago visit
During a phone interview Monday, former Northwestern University President Henry Bienen, shared his reflections on Princess Diana’s 46-hour visit to Evanston and Chicago, the one part of Diana’s trip his wife will never let him forget, and why he just might be the right person to convince Northwestern grad Meghan Markle — Diana’s daughter-in-law and Duchess of Sussex — to visit campus.
The Chicago Bears’ initial 53-man roster is set. Here’s a position-by-position analysis of where the team might be headed.
The Chicago Bears set their initial 53-man roster Tuesday afternoon, making a wave of cuts and remaining open-minded to continuing to mold the team in the days and weeks ahead.
The roster undoubtedly will undergo a series of changes before the season opener Sept. 11 against the San Francisco 49ers at Soldier Field. The Bears have until 11 a.m. Wednesday to make waiver claims on players released by the other 31 teams. At that point, they also will begin to assemble their 16-player practice squad.
Piccolo Buco by Cooper’s Hawk transports Neapolitan-style pizza from the cobblestone streets of Italy to Oak Brook
On a late afternoon break from hand-stretching pizza dough, Luca Issa walks up a couple of floors to hop on a Zoom call. It’s lucky, to say the least, to run a restaurant in the same building as your mother, he says, eager to begin the conversation about how on earth a “hole in the wall” pizza place in Rome made its way to Oak Brook.
Issa, chef and owner of Piccolo Buco in Rome, recently inked a partnership with Illinois-based restaurant and winery chain, Cooper’s Hawk, to open up a massive space in Oak Brook that serves up the same Neapolitan-style pizza to a crowd of curious Americans.
