Zac Clingenpeel/Sun-Times
The South Chicago Police District is partnering with Operation Safe Pump in an effort to prevent carjackings outside grocery stores and shopping centers.
South Chicago District Cmdr. Robert A. Rubio said officers will monitor parking lots and escort shoppers to their cars in areas with higher rates of carjackings. Rubio made the announcement outside Stony Island Plaza, at 95th Street and Stony Island Avenue, site of a carjacking two days earlier.
The Operation Safe Pump and Safe Shop initiative, announced two weeks ago as Operation Safe Pump, is an effort by Early Walker, owner of W&W Towing, and the Kates Detective and Security Agency to combat a surge in carjackings throughout Chicago. Guards from the Kates agency have been posted at gas stations, mostly on the South Side, during busy times.
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This afternoon will see a high near 34 degrees and the biggest winter storm of the season yet, with up to eight inches of snow possible in the Chicago area. The heaviest snowfall is expected from 6 p.m. to midnight. Tonight’s low will be near 30 degrees. Tomorrow, the snow continues through the early afternoon; the high will be around 32 degrees.
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Restaurants, bars and other businesses in nearly 30 counties in northwest and west-central Illinois got some good news today.
The Illinois Department of Public Health announced it is moving Region 1 and Region 2 to Phase 4, allowing many businesses – as well as museums – to reopen, effective immediately.
KELLI SMITH
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO â Joe Starnes canât hold a cup of coffee in his right hand. He canât hold much of anything.
Itâs been five months since Starnesâ right arm was damaged when someone pulled up next to him late one summer night and fired about 14 bullets into his SUV as he was driving home on the Dan Ryan Expressway.
âWhen you get shot, your whole life is changed,â Starnes said. âEverything is different.â
The shooting was one of 128 that happened on Chicago-area expressways in 2020 â an unprecedented spike that left a trail of grieving loved ones and traumatized victims like Starnes who now wonder what is being done about the disturbing trend.
A Place at the Table is a nonprofit restaurant that serves people who can’t afford to pay the cost of their meal side-by-side with those who can. The Raleigh, N.C.-based restaurant is owned by Maggie Kane, who wanted to create a place where the homeless can eat a meal with dignity. homeless Jun 12, 2020
A 38-year-old San Andreas man was charged with poisoning after prosecutors said he gave eight homeless people food laced with pepper spray in exchange for beer, causing several to be hospitalized after they suffered seizure-like symptoms, vomiting, and difficulty breathing in acts recorded on video. William Robert Cable was arrested May 22. He was charged with eight felony counts of…
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Santa Claus traded Prancer, Dancer, Dasher and the rest of his reindeer for a police escort Thursday as he arrived in Englewood on a flatbed tow truck carrying hundreds of freshly wrapped presents for neighborhood children.
Music and celebratory sirens blared from a Jeep Wrangler that led the motorcade and featured flashing white lights.
“This was such a lovely event and fun for the kids since they could pick out whatever gifts they wanted,” said Englewood resident Sherry Brown, who brought her seven grandkids with her. “This is a blessing and there were enough gifts for everyone.”