Good afternoon, Chicago. ✶
For today’s newsletter, we’re breaking format a bit and sharing a comic from artist Josh Neufeld, who has used the art form to tell the true story of community collaboration on the West Side.
You’ll find panels depicting the Alive Faith Network coalition of churches teaming up with Rush University Medical Center to address major health concerns for Chicagoans.
Plus, we’ve got reporting on former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s return to the stand for cross-examination, must-try black mole croissants and more community news you need to know this afternoon.
⏱️: A 7-minute read
— Matt Moore, newsletter reporter
TODAY’S TOP STORY
Comic illustrates real-life fight on the West Side to lower blood pressure, save Black lives
Reporting by Josh Neufeld | The Journalist’s Resource
Health emergency: Black Chicagoans have a life expectancy nine years shorter than other Chicago residents. A big factor is uncontrolled high blood pressure, which is significantly more prevalent in Chicago’s African American population than among other groups.
Artistic depiction: Josh Neufeld has used comics journalism to tell the story of the Alive Faith Network coalition of churches on the West Side working with Rush University Medical Center on an innovative community health worker intervention aimed at reducing blood pressure among the congregants of several area churches.
Panels from the “Closing the Gap” comic. Read at your own pace here or via the link below.
Josh Neufeld/The Journalist’s Resource
‘Closing the Gap’: Neufeld’s comic draws on research published by the journal Prevention Science, along with additional sources — including interviews with five of the people involved in this effort: Elizabeth “Beth” Lynch, LaDawne Jenkins, Steve Epting Sr., Teresa Berumen and Anthony Hixson.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
- Contract talks continue: Chicago Teachers Union leaders argue Chicago Public Schools has the money to settle tense contract negotiations without midyear budget cuts. CPS officials argue that’s not the case if the district will be required to make a pension payment that City Hall is counting on.
- Girl dies in Albany Park apartment: A 10-year-old girl has died, and a 12-year-old is hospitalized in serious condition after being found Monday in an Albany Park apartment with high carbon monoxide levels. Officials say the residence lacked carbon monoxide and smoke detectors.
- Madigan returns to the stand: Former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, who faces charges of racketeering, bribery, wire fraud and extortion in federal court, returned to the stand Tuesday for cross-examination. Follow along with our live updates from the court room.
- Michelle Obama to skip swearing-in: Former first lady Michelle Obama will not attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration Monday, her office confirmed. Former President Barack Obama will be there.
- Ed Kelly at 100: Months after Kelly’s centennial, columnist Neil Steinberg visited the former Democratic Party slate-maker and Chicago Park District powerhouse at home, where he reflected on his long career.
- Remembering Leopold ‘Leo’ Segedin: The Chicago-born creative taught art for more than 30 years at Northeastern Illinois University before retiring in 1987 and painting every day. He died Jan. 7 at age 97.
- Coyote at Aldi: A very panicked-looking coyote trapped in a Humboldt Park supermarket cooler on Monday was rescued by a police officer who pulled it out by its tail, police said.
SUN-TIMES STAFF SUGGESTS 🍽️
Warm up at Sunset Phở Caffe
For today’s Sun-Times staff suggestion, I caught up with our Blackhawks beat reporter Ben Pope, who recommends stopping by Yugoslavian-Vietnamese fusion restaurant Sunset Phở Caffe in Lake View East.
Ben tells me that while he has had pho on road trips to Vancouver, there’s no comparison to Sunset Phở, which has become one of his favorite restaurants in Chicago.
What to order: “The menu has quite a bit of variety, but I usually stick to the classics — summer rolls and pho — and am always rewarded,” Ben says. “The noodles are perfectly soft, and the broth is more flavorful and multifaceted than any broth I’ve ever had before.”
Bottom line: “Especially in the winter, there’s nothing better to warm you up,” Ben says.
📍Sunset Phở Caffe, 2856 N. Clark St.
BRIGHT ONE ✨
Loba Pastry owner blends classic recipes with Mexican flavors
Reporting by Ambar Colón
Valeria Socorro Velazquez Lindsten spent a lot of time learning about food from the women in her family back home in the Mexican city of Guadalajara.
Socorro, owner of Loba Pastry at 3600 N. Lincoln Ave., said her upbringing taught her the importance of using high-quality, seasonal ingredients in her cooking. As a result, many of the menu items at Loba are only available during certain times of the year, including black mole croissants.
In the fall and winter, Loba’s black mole or mole negro croissants, are made with a mole paste of at least a dozen ingredients, including black sesame seeds, black cocoa powder, star anise, bananas and roasted chili peppers. A decadent piece of dark chocolate awaits at the pastry’s center.
Making the croissants is a weeklong process, so they’re only available on Sundays and Mondays.
Socorro trained in the style of classic French pastries, so Loba fuses those techniques with Mexican flavors.
But customers won’t find basic cookies or brownies at Loba Pastry.
“I don’t make any of the traditional stuff. It is just adjacent to traditionality, and the mole croissant fits right into it,” she said. “As much as it is the standard, I always wanted to put my own feelings into it, and that is from growing up Mexican.”
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
What should the coyote Chicago police found at Aldi be named?
Email us (please include your first and last name). To see the answers to this question, check our Morning Edition newsletter. Not subscribed to Morning Edition? Sign up here so you won’t miss a thing!
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Written by: Matt Moore
Editor: Esther Bergdahl
Copy editor: Angie Myers