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A Plainfield landlord was sentenced to 53 years in prison Friday for attacking his Palestinian American tenant and killing her son, 6-year-old Wadee Al Fayoumi — stabbing him 26 times — in one of the most violent hate crimes to immediately follow the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel. Joseph Czuba, 73, was convicted of murder and hate crime charges in late February after a four-day trial. Prosecutors said he carried out the murder after becoming increasingly paranoid about the war in Gaza after listening to commentary on conservative talk radio. A jury deliberated for a little over an hour before convicting him of all counts.The sentencing concludes a case that drew international attention to Islamophobia in America after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel. Thousands attended Wadee’s funeral. Earlier this year, Wadee's mother Hanan Shaheen discussed Islamophobia with then-President Joe Biden at the White House. President Joe Biden and Hanan Shaheen, mother of Wadee Al Fayoumi, a six-year-old Palestinian American boy who was killed in a 2023 hate crime in Plainfield, Illinois, hold hands during a White House meeting this week.Adam Schultz/White House At the trial, Shaheen testified that Czuba started treating her differently after the Oct. 7 attacks. She testified that he told her, “Your people are killing Jewish [people] and babies in Israel. Muslims are not welcome here, not in my home.”On the morning of Oct. 14, 2023, Czuba banged on her door as Shaheen was in her bathroom preparing to give her son a shower, she testified. Czuba pushed into the unit and began stabbing her while yelling, “You Muslim must die," she testified. Shaheen locked herself in a bathroom and called 911, she testified. But while inside, she heard her son screaming. Police arrived and found 62-pound Wadee on a bed, bleeding. He had been stabbed 26 times. Officers found Czuba at the scene covered in blood with a holster for a knife attached to his side, according to police testimony.Czuba was recorded in the back of a squad car telling an officer that he was afraid for his life."I was afraid they were going to do jihad on me," he said in video shown during the trial.Czuba’s now ex-wife, who was not home at the time of the attack, testified that she pushed back against Czuba's claims that Shaheen would bring friends over to harm him. She testified that Czuba had no reservations about Shaheen's Muslim faith or Palestinian background when he began renting to her in 2021 at Czuba's Plainfield property on Lincoln Highway. Joseph Czuba stands before Circuit Judge Dave Carlson for his arraignment in the murder of 6-year-old Wadee Al-Fayoumi, at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet.Charles Rex Arbogast/AP Related Landlord convicted of hate crime murder of Wadee Al Fayoumi — ‘a kindergartner, not even 4 feet tall’ Landlord accused of stabbing Palestinian American tenant, killing boy in hate crime: ‘I was afraid they were going to do jihad on me’ Landlord accused of killing boy in hate crime ‘had blood all over his body, all over his hands,’ police testify

When a stretch of North Lincoln Avenue was closed to traffic for construction recently, it created a pedestrian-only zone for a block in Lincoln Square. So, we asked readers what road in Chicago they'd like to see closed to vehicles. Here's what you told us, lightly edited for clarity:"Blue Island between 18th and 21st streets. It’s a lively area with tons of foot traffic no matter the time of day."— Carina Chappell"LSD every Sunday. Rio does it."— Melissa Smejkal "Clark Street through Andersonville in the summer. The city did this in the Gay Village where I lived in Montreal. Cafes can use the street for dining, it opens everything up for festivals, and it gives everyone some breathing room to enjoy the weather."— Adrianne Schoen Related Lincoln Square road closure offers glimpse of car-free streets: ‘A nice little breather’ "None, streets are for cars."— Bill Klosa "In an ideal world it would be Milwaukee from Division to North — pedestrian-only and open container. ... More likely options would be a few different stretches of Lincoln or Armitage or Southport."— Robert Miller"Every ward should have a space like that."— Chima Chima"State Street downtown. Wide street, big enough for entertainment, shopping, iconic signage."— Dan Schiller"None. They did that with State Street and it killed off everything there, all business, retail, and foot traffic. That was 40 years ago, and it never fully recovered."— Trey Hancock"West Sheridan Road between inner LSD and Broadway because it’s such a pretty street but has so much noise from traffic and the bus route. At one end is a cute triangle park and at the other is a bodega and coffee shop. The area in between would serve as a nice in neighborhood pedestrian esplanade with benches and plantings."— Zach Waymer "Milwaukee aka Kilwaukee. Just let the bicycles have it. The city tightened the street so much it’s impossible to get a bus up and down there safely."— Jay Ruff"Michigan Avenue (partially) and extend sidewalks for public art and outdoor seating."— Johnny Ray Noon "Southport in Lake View."— Stephen Wanca "Lincoln Avenue from Armitage to Fullerton. Lincoln from Montrose to Lawrence."— Dan Boland "Broadway from Belmont to Diversey."— Andres Chamorro "The clubs down Hubbard. They already close the street at night. Why not just make it permanent?"— Clif Schramm "Let's just make Wacker pedestrian because we know we all know dread driving it."— MG Zee"Every diagonal street, because cars have created enough carnage, pollution and noise to no longer deserve to use a hypotenuse as a shortcut. Ever."— Collin Pearsall

When Tammy Rutledge took over as head of Chicago’s specialty public health clinics in 2022, she realized immediately they needed a vibe shift.In Lake View, hard plastic chairs hadn’t been replaced in at least 25 years. Old, haunting posters about sexually transmitted infections hung from tape on the hallway walls. Piles of condoms, dental dams and other prophylactics rested on a rickety cart.“I called it the hallway of gloom,” Rutledge says. Artist Max Sansing created this mural at the Roseland East 115th Street Health Hub.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times The situation at the Roseland clinic wasn’t much better, she says.So Rutledge ripped down posters, replaced furniture and renamed the offices from STI Specialty Clinics to Lakeview North Clark Street Health Clinic and Roseland East 115th Street Health Hub. The Roseland location also offers mental health and immunization services.Along with that rebranding, Rutledge worked with Chicago’s Department of Cultural Arts and Special Events to commission murals for the front facade and inside walls at both clinics.Now, “what I see in both of our spaces is, the clients seem a lot more relaxed. We haven’t had those altercations we used to have sometimes, with people being all uptight and loud. They come in, we have magazines, they’re sitting down, they look at the art and say, ‘Oh, this is really nice,” Rutledge says. “They sit on the sofas, and you can tell the temperament is very, very different.”Artist Caesar Perez of Pilsen created the Lake View murals, while Max Sansing of Woodlawn crafted the murals in Roseland.In Lake View, the inside walls feature brilliantly colored flowers, herbs, medicinal plants, bees, dragonflies and a field mouse with a heart-shaped nose. Artist Caesar Perez of Pilsen stands next to one of his murals in the main hallway of the Lakeview North Clark Street Health Clinic.Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times The bright imagery stretches floor-to-ceiling, with phrases describing what the traditional medicinal plant is and how it is used. Those include “ 'Alfalfa' Medicago Sativa/Help Lower Cholesterol and Blood Sugar Management” and “ 'Jacobs Ladder' Palemonium Caeruleum/Helps Wounds Heal Faster,” for example.Perez often uses elements of nature in his work, so the medicinal plants were a natural inclusion.He sought “to show people that these plants are from nature, and they're made to help you heal. I like the combination of Eastern and Western health philosophy: You eat properly every day and maintain it by getting checkups and stuff like that.”On the facade of 2849 North Clark St., a mural stretches like a banner across the entryway and front windows. The flowers bloom on that mural as well, with birds clutching ribbons and sweeping across them. The colors morph from the brilliant jewel tones to the pastel colors included in the Progress Pride Flag.Rutledge says she appreciates the unique ways that Perez displayed the animals in his artwork. For example, “he would have a tiger flying in the air and a bird in the water,” symbolizing the individualism of people living in Lake View.In Roseland, Sansing shared childhood memories of driving by the building at 200 E. 115th St. with his mom from their home in nearby Avalon Park. Artist Max Sansing created this mural at the Roseland East 115th Street Health Hub. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times 1 of 5 A mural by Caesar Perez decorates the facade of the Lake View clinic. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times 2 of 5 Arist Max Sansing included images of a key in the Roseland mural. “A lot of my work deals with coming to a crossroads in your life and deciding which door to unlock to go forward,” he says. | Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times 3 of 5 A mural by Caesar Perez decorates the hallway of a Lake View clinic. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 4 of 5 Tammy Rutledge, who heads Chicago’s specialty public health clinics, checks out the mural at the Lakeview Health Center on North Clark Street. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times 5 of 5 For his mural, both inside and out, he included a spectrum of the colored roses that earned the neighborhood its name. He also added the field house from nearby Palmer Park and a window from Roseland’s Greater Tabernacle Cathedral, a Chicago landmark and the place where former President Barack Obama served as executive director of the nonprofit Developing Communities Project. Faces resembling those from the neighborhood and others that Sansing knows gaze out from the front facade.Sansing also included images of a key, which often can be found in his artwork: "A lot of my work deals with coming to a crossroads in your life and deciding which door to unlock to go forward," Sansing says. The key has a personal meaning as well. It's Sansing's father's CTA key from his time working as an L train engineer when Sansing was a kid. After his dad died, Sansing kept that key. "He would open up all these doors and I thought it was so cool. Black man got a key to the city," Sansing says.Of the images he chose, he says, “I wanted something to calm the anxieties. This is a place where we’re finding out what’s going on with you, but also people can help and understand your circumstances. There’s people who are familiar with whatever’s going on with you there. I think that’s needed, especially in communities like Roseland.” Murals and Mosaics Newsletter Chicago’s murals and mosaics sidebar Chicago’s murals & mosaicsPart of a series on public art in the city and suburbs. Know of a mural or mosaic? Tell us where, and email a photo to [email protected]. We might do a story on it.

American employers added a surprising 177,000 jobs in April as the job market showed resilience in the face of President Donald Trump's trade wars.Hiring fell slightly from a revised 185,000 in March, but that is above economist projections of 135,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.2%, the Labor Department reported Friday.Trump’s aggressive and unpredictable policies — including massive import taxes — have clouded the outlook for the economy and the job market and raised fears that the American economy is headed toward recession.Friday's report showed employment, one of the strongest aspects of the U.S. economy, remains solid, yet many economists anticipate that a negative impact from trade wars will materialize this year for American workers and potentially, President Trump.“Politicians can count their lucky stars that companies are holding on to their workers despite the storm clouds forming that could slow the economy further in the second half of the year," said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds, a financial markets research firm.Transportation and warehousing companies added 29,000 jobs last month, suggesting companies have built up inventory before imported goods are hit with new tariffs. Health care companies added nearly 51,000 jobs and bars, restaurants almost 17,000 and construction firms 11,000. Factories lost 1,000 jobs.Labor Department revisions shaved 58,000 jobs from February and March payrolls.Average hourly earnings ticked up 0.2% from March and 3.8% from a year ago, nearing the 3.5% that economists view as consistent with the 2% inflation the Federal Reserve wants to see.Trump’s massive taxes on imports to the U.S. are likely to raise costs for Americans and American businesses that depend on supplies from overseas. They also threaten to slow economic growth. His immigration crackdown threatens to make it more difficult for hotels, restaurants and construction firms to fill job openings. By purging federal workers and canceling federal contracts, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency risks wiping out jobs inside the government and out. Related Chicago joins lawsuit to block Trump’s dismantling of federal bureaucracy The drastic changes have shaken markets and consumers. The Conference Board, a business group, reported Tuesday that Americans’ confidence in the economy fell for the fifth straight month to the lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.Still, Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank, called the jobs report “reassuringly normal. The fears of a softer labor market due to tariff uncertainty went unrealized last month. ... There are signs that businesses are reining in plans for hiring and capital spending and that consumers are turning more cautious toward discretionary spending.’’American workers have at least one thing going for them. Despite the uncertainty about fallout from Trump’s policies, many employers don’t want to risk letting employees go — not after struggling to bring people back from the massive but short-lived layoffs from the pandemic.“For now, the unemployment rate and the number of people filing claims for jobless benefits every week remain low by historical standards,” Boston College economist Brian Bethune said this week.The federal government’s workforce fell by 9,000 on top of 17,000 job losses in February and March. The full effect of Musk's DOGE cuts may yet to be seen. Bethune noted job cuts by the billionaire’s DOGE are still being challenged in court. Also, some of those leaving federal agencies were forced into early retirement and don’t count as unemployed.After the jobs numbers were released, Trump repeated his call for the Federal Reserve to lower its benchmark short-term interest rate, which it raised to combat inflation. Trump said on social media platform Truth Social that there is “NO INFLATION” and “employment strong.”Yet as long as the job market remains healthy, the Fed will likely stay on the sidelines as it takes time to evaluate the impact of tariffs. Fed chair Jerome Powell has underscored that the duties are likely to push up prices in the coming months, making the central bank wary of the potential for higher inflation. Related Grocery shoppers look for deals, alter buying habits amid Trump administration’s tariffs The Fed typically fights inflation with higher interest rates, so it is unlikely to cut its key short-term rate anytime soon. It may change course if layoffs spike and unemployment rises.Some U.S. companies stand to benefit from Trump’s protectionist policies.Allen Jacoby, executive vice president of textile division at Milliken & Co., said that cheap Chinese imports have hurt business at the Spartanburg, South Carolina, manufacturer. His division makes Polartec fabric for brands such as North Face and Patagonia and has closed six plants and reduced its payrolls 12% since 2019.Trump’s tariffs, he said, could improve Milliken’s sales and hiring. “It’s too early to tell, but there’s more optimism than pessimism,” he said.Most Americans still enjoy job security, yet many who have lost jobs say that it's now harder to find work.Jason Schunkewitz, 33, was laid off by a startup that uses virtual reality to train caregivers. Single and debt free, the Denver resident took some time off before beginning the job search in earnest.He has a background in jobs training and economic development — a field heavily reliant on government grants. Trump spending cuts have eliminated some grants and generated uncertainty about others. Schunkewitz now says many nonprofits have postponed hiring.“It’s just been silent in some cases,’’ he said. “It’s very tricky to navigate.’’ He's now focusing his job search on private companies, which might be more secure.Schunkewitz is also developing a business making charcuterie-to-go packs — cured salami, aged cheese, dried fruit — for skiers, hikers and other adventurers. The business is in the early stages, but he said, “I hope it becomes a full-time job.’’

Eighteen people, 17 of whom are minors, were listed in good condition at hospitals following a school bus crash in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood Friday morning, fire officials said.One adult and 17 minors were taken to nearby hospitals after the crash, all in good condition, according to the Chicago Fire Department. They were taken to Little Company of Mary Medical Center, Advocate Christ Medical Center and Holy Cross Hospital.An SUV tried to turn in front of the school bus, and the bus struck the SUV's passenger side around 7:30 a.m. Friday morning near 111th Street and Pulaski Road, according to Chicago police.The bus was transporting suburban high school students, police said.Citations against the driver of the SUV are pending, police said.