Chicago news roundup: Pilsen activist’s fight to close scrap-medal shredder, CTU’s mayoral endorsement and more

Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a five-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will be mostly sunny with a high near 62 degrees. Tonight will be mostly clear with a low near 46. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high near 66. 

Top story

In Pilsen, a community effort builds to shut down Chicago’s last big scrap-metal shredder

At a West Side church last spring, Mary Gonzales trotted out a classic community organizing tactic, asking a group of elected officials and bureaucrats — one by one in front of a crowd of several hundred people — to pledge to do everything in their power to reduce pollution in the neighborhood.

Each person was asked: “Will you, within your authority, act to reduce air pollution in the next two years?”

Every one of them — members of the Chicago City Council, state representatives and government executives — responded: “Yes.”

Gonzales, 81, plans to press her case again tonight as community members gather at St. Paul’s Catholic Church at 2127 W. 22nd Pl. to press their case to shut down a nearby scrap-metal shredding operation owned by Sims Metal Management.

With the 2020 closing of General Iron’s automobile-shredding site in Lincoln Park and City Hall’s subsequent denial of its bid to reopen at a new location on the Southeast Side, Sims, 2500 S. Paulina St., is the only large-scale metal scrapper still operating in Chicago, shredding cars, large appliances and other items for reuse.

Gonzales — joined by her younger sister Theresa McNamara, 61 — has been organizing community residents, forming a coalition of community, health and religious groups that includes the 6,000-member St. Paul congregation, where Gonzales leads the social justice committee. Even with support of the church and others, Gonzales says she knows she’s facing a tough fight but says she and her sister have been inspired by the work of their mother, Pilsen activist Guadalupe Reyes, who died in 2000.

“We’re going to give it everything we’ve got,” Gonzales says.

Brett Chase has more on Gonzales’ fight here.

More news you need

1. A 55-year-old woman was killed this morning when suspected carjackers crashed into her car as they fled Chicago police in South Lawndale. Four suspects were arrested and are believed to have stolen at least three vehicles before they struck a Toyota driven by Dominga Flores, police said.
2. Just three months into a one-year sentence for taking bribes, former Crestwood mayor Louis Presta is set to be released from federal prison in Kentucky. Presta will be under home confinement supervised by the federal probation office for the remainder of his sentence and will have to repay $70,000 in restitution.
3. In a slight to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the Chicago Teachers Union and United Working Families have both announced that they are endorsing Cook County Commissioner and CTU organizer Brandon Johnson in the mayoral race. However, Johnson has not yet announced that he will run, our Fran Spielman reports.

A bright one

Chicago artist Pinqy Ring talks using hip-hop to build hope

Marisol Vélez, better known by her stage name Pinqy Ring, uses the power of hip-hop to help others just as it helped herself. She uses her music as a platform for spreading knowledge and sharing her story with others.

Vélez knows the challenges of a life impacted by trauma and adversity, as she’s walked that path before. After suffering severe injuries in a car crash and falling into a life of apathy, Vélez found her saving grace in hip-hop.

“It gave me the platform and language to speak on my story, and the story of many marginalized communities,” she explained.

Nowadays, Vélez can be found dropping bars and sharing her hip-hop story across the world. She works with the State Department’s Hip-Hop Diplomacy program, as well as her own Pinqy Project, to facilitate emotional learning, storytelling and teaching, and to provide guidance to youth in underserved communities.

It may come as no surprise Vélez uses her own musical platform to educate and advocate, as heard in her new single “Victory,” featured in Vocalo’s July “In Rotation” playlist. The track is an assertive stream of Vélez’s rhymes on resistance and gentrification. “Victory” also samples the voice of Jose “Cha Cha” Jimenez, one of the leading founders of revolutionary activist group The Young Lords, to pay homage to the group and educate listeners.

“Like the saying goes, ‘If you don’t know where you’ve come from, then you don’t know where you’re going,’” Vélez explained. “Understanding the lands you lay your head on and honoring the people who had that land stolen from them can go a long way.”

Our colleagues at Vocalo have more with Vélez from their recent chat with the artist here.

From the press box

• Our experts make their Bears-Giants predictions for Sunday’s game.
• The Bulls didn’t waste any time in training camp throwing rookie Dalen Terry into the fire against Zach LaVine, and he quickly found out “there’s a big difference between Summer League competition and max contract competition,” Joe Cowley writes.
• White Sox utility player Leury Garcia on how this season went: “Not good at all. Since Day 1, I’ve been up and down. It was not the best season. It was the worst season.”

Your daily question☕

What’s something about Chicago that you will always defend?

Send us an email at newsletters@suntimes.com and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday, we asked you: If you were writing a Chicago-set romcom, where in the city would your lovebirds meet?

Here’s what some of you said...

“On the Red Line of course. Where me and my hubby met 18 years ago.” — Trina Bina

“Ogilvie Station. Because that’s where I first met my husband.” — Laurie Alfaro 

“If it’s an online date, The Lincoln Park Zoo. If it’s a meet-cute, Riot Fest.” — Julien Christopher Smasal

“Adler Planetarium under the stars!” — Valerie LaBerge

“Wrigley Field, hands down.” — Dawn Lee

“O’Hare Terminal 5. Where me and my wife met nearly 13 years ago.” — Erika Hoffmann

“In the summer, Oak Street Beach. Winter, Art Institute-room with the Impressionists.” — Kaye Grabbe

“Union Station in the great hall.” — Donald Ray Brewster

“At the bridge over the Chicago River near the Tribune Tower.” — David Foster

“Montrose Beach! It’s perfect for lovebirds. That was kind of a softball, really.” — Charlie Kehm

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