Daywatch: The latest additions to Chicago’s history of street vending

Good morning, Chicago.

On a chilly late winter evening, the smell of cooked meat washed over the traffic backed up outside the Salt Shed music venue.

The smell came from the folding tables and stools set up across the street, where several vendors were selling arepas, empanadas and pastelitos out of multicolored coolers. Benches and a shopping cart were packed with snacks and cans of Sprite and Fanta.

This is where Edwin Bravo was selling tequeños, outside the migrant shelter he’s staying in. Venezuelans more established in the city bring him the precooked food, and in return take a cut of the money, he said. The food at the shelter is terrible, he said, and he figured plenty of residents would take him up on his two-for-$5 special.

Bravo and the others set up on the West Town corner are one type of the street vendors who are becoming an increasingly familiar sight, as those newly arrived in the area look for opportunities to work. They are part of an informal economy that has gained visibility as more than 36,000 people have arrived in Chicago from the southern border since August 2022.

The new arrivals are the latest additions to Chicago’s history of street vending.

Read the full story from the Tribune’s Sarah Freishtat and Kate Armanini.

Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.

Subscribe to more newsletters | Puzzles & Games | Today’s eNewspaper edition

Student at Cooper Dual Language Elementary Academy developed measles on Monday, CPS confirms

The student at Cooper Dual Language Elementary Academy on the Lower West Side is the city’s ninth measles case reported in the past week.

The city’s first case of measles in five years was announced Thursday. The source of that infection in the Chicago case is unknown, but officials said in a news release that the contagious period ended Wednesday.

Cook County lost 24,000 residents last year in latest census survey

Despite an influx of international immigrants, Cook County bucked a broader post-pandemic trend and continued to lose population last year, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released today.

Pritzker administration says insurance bill is an effort to balance needs of companies, consumers

Legislation for implementing the governor’s plan, which is intended to protect consumers from insurance practices that critics say delay or restrict access to necessary care, already has the support of many Democrats and at least one Republican. A committee vote could come as soon as next week, Elgin Democratic Rep. Anna Moeller, chair of the Human Services committee and the bill’s top House sponsor, said during Wednesday’s initial hearing.

Illinois Supreme Court rejects effort to block Bring Chicago Home referendum

The Illinois Supreme Court Wednesday rejected an effort to invalidate the so-called “Bring Chicago Home” real estate transfer tax referendum, clearing the way for the question to remain on ballots and for votes to be counted.

3 men face firearms charges after Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade shooting, authorities say

The new complaints made public Wednesday do not allege that the men were among the shooters. Instead, they are accused of involvement in straw purchases and trafficking firearms.

Texas man who used an iron lung for decades after contracting polio as a child dies at 78

Paul Alexander was 6 when he began using an iron lung, a cylinder that encased his body as the air pressure in the chamber forced air into and out of his lungs. In recent years he had millions of views on his TikTok account.

In one of his “Conversations With Paul” posts on TikTok, Alexander tells viewers that “being positive is a way of life for me” as his head rests on a pillow and the iron lung can be heard whirring in the background.

Column: Dylan Cease trade means it’s full steam ahead for Chicago White Sox Rebuild 2.0

It was only three years ago the Chicago White Sox looked as if they could have a solid rotation for years, headed by Carlos Rodon, Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease and Michael Kopech.

But the best-laid plans of former general manager Rick Hahn didn’t pan out, writes Paul Sullivan. Rodon left as a free agent, Giolito was dealt to the Los Angeles Angels last summer and after Wednesday’s trade of Cease to the San Diego Padres for prospects, Kopech is the last one standing.

How Toni Stone, the 1st woman to play professional baseball, came to be featured in ‘MLB: The Show ’24’

When Stone signed a contract in 1953 with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League, she became the first woman to play in a men’s professional league. She filled Henry Aaron’s second-base position after he joined the Milwaukee Braves.

In “MLB: The Show ’24,” Stone makes history again — this time as the first woman player to be featured in the popular video game.

Uplifting solo show ‘Impact’ was born from the Flight 103 terrorist tragedy

The creative life is a risk-reward endeavor and few know that better than playwright/composer/performer Amy Engelhardt, who told the Tribune’s Rick Kogan earlier this week, “I would characterize my career as crazy amazing,” adding a peasant laugh.

Her journey brings her here with her one-woman show “Impact,” which is part of the Chicago Circus & Performing Arts Festival. This event, now in its third year, takes place March 21-24 at Burning Bush Brewery, after two previous years at the Den Theatre.

Column: The maestro behind ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ theme gets a Music Box tribute

Next Thursday, the Music Box Theatre launches “Cinema Morricone,” sponsored by MUBI. It’s a weeklong, 17-film festival of movies, famous as well as obscure, celebrating the sheer scope and earworm mastery of Italian maestro Ennio Morricone. Tribune film critic Michael Phillips has the details.