A new normal begins to emerge in a deeply wounded Highland Park – Chicago Tribune

Good morning, Chicago.

Days after a mass shooting that killed seven people, how does a community like Highland Park begin to heal? How and when does it begin to go back to “normal?”

At the same time that a judge held the alleged shooter held without bail on seven counts of first-degree murder on Wednesday, people in Highland Park were still processing what happened two days earlier.

Silvia Schneider Fox and her daughter placed red roses at a makeshift memorial along Central Avenue. “I keep thinking, ‘How will I be able to bring myself to walk this block?’ ” she said.

“I can’t even glance into town,” said Sherry Levin. “It’s so traumatic. It’s so deep.”

“They robbed this town of innocence. They’ll rebuild — yeah, of course, it’s Highland Park — but it’s going to be hard,” Marlena Jayatilake said.

What was usually an upbeat Wednesday Evening Market in Highwood was converted into a candlelight vigil as the city showed its support for those affected by Monday’s mass shooting. Neighbors hugged and gathered in small circles around the park to talk, a blend of conversations in Spanish and English.

See stirring photos from the vigils and prayer services held in the wake of the Highland Park mass shooting.

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A Lake County judge ordered Robert E. “Bobby” Crimo III, accused of carrying out the rooftop massacre at Highland Park’s Independence Day parade, held without bail on seven counts of first-degree murder.

Just after the hearing, Lake County Deputy Sheriff Chris Covelli dropped a startling new allegation, telling reporters Crimo happened upon a “celebration” in the Madison, Wisconsin, area after fleeing Highland Park and “seriously contemplated using the firearm he had in his vehicle to commit another shooting.”

Two days after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Independence Day parade shocked the country and put renewed focus on weaknesses in Illinois’ gun laws, authorities continued to hash out how alleged gunman Robert Crimo III apparently bought a high-powered rifle despite troubling episodes in his background.

A 2019 report from Highland Park police warning that Crimo could pose a “clear and present danger” did not meet standards to declare him an imminent threat, said representatives of the Illinois State Police, which administers permits. And nothing under current law would have stopped them from issuing him a gun permit a few months later, ISP Director Brendan Kelly told reporters Wednesday.

Crimo went on to legally obtain several firearms — including the rifle he allegedly used to shoot dozens of people at the Highland Park parade this week.

The family of Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, prayed for a miracle after the grandfather was shot while attending the Highland Park Fourth of July parade Monday morning. His daughters, on social media, pleaded with others to join them in prayer, sharing a photo of Uvaldo sitting in front of the Louvre in Paris, wearing a blue shirt and a soft smile.

But Uvaldo didn’t make it and on Wednesday morning, requests for prayers for a miracle turned into prayers for strength for the family he leaves behind. Uvaldo died just before 8 a.m. Wednesday at Evanston Hospital, surrounded by his family, said Jackie Tapia, a close family friend.

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When Lindsay Meltzer ushered approximately 100 people into the basement of Bright Bowls — the business she has operated on Central Avenue — to escape a gunman in downtown Highland Park on July 4, she did not think she was doing anything special. “I did what anyone else would have done,” Meltzer said.

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering considers such people, who went out of their way to aid others as a gunman was firing into the crowd on Central Avenue between First and Second streets Monday, more than worthy of praise.

Patrick Daley Thompson, former 11th Ward alderman and scion of the Daley political dynasty, was sentenced to four months in prison for tax evasion and lying to banking regulators.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama made Thompson the first member of the Daley family to go to prison — a prospect that would have been unfathomable to many when the family was at its political zenith.

Chicago is hosting the WNBA All-Star Game this weekend at Wintrust Arena — home of the defending champion Sky — for the first time. There will be several festivities to observe and partake in at the 10,387-seat venue and surrounding area, so here’s a breakdown of what to know, what to see, where to go and how to get there.

“Right now, it can feel like the walls are closing in,” Nina Metz writes. “The coronavirus persists and keeps mutating. Incomes haven’t kept pace with soaring expenses. Rights and protections are being rolled back, with the promise of more to come. Another Black person killed by police. Another gun massacre. I could go on.

“I wonder if the stories Hollywood has been telling us these past few years foster a defeatist sentiment, as well.”