This week’s issue of the Chicago Weekly includes a Perspectives piece by University of Chicago alum Ryan McCarl about an attack on the UofC Men’s Cross Country team that left one student permanently injured. At press time we still didn’t have all the details on the attack, but since then we’ve found out the whole story.

Two weeks ago, on Friday, October 15, 15 members of the Men’s Cross Country team were running west along Garfield Boulevard, a route they’ve often run before. At about 3:50, when they reached Garfield and State, an eastbound green Buick sedan drove by and opened fire with paintballs. Second-year Andrew Wong turned to look at the car and was struck on the bridge of his nose by a paintball, which ricocheted into his right eye. His cornea was scratched and his iris was partially (and permanently) detached, allowing bright light into his inner eye. Wong went to the ER that night and has seen an ophthalmologist several times since then. Read the rest of this entry »

South Side Masonic Temple; flickr/MEEP!!!

Landmarks Illinois released its 2009-10 Chicagoland Watch List for historic buildings this week. It includes the South Side Masonic Temple at 6400 S. Green St. in Englewood. The building apparently has a number of auditoriums in a variety of architectural styles, from Art Deco to Islamic Revival. The Masons have been out for decades, and after a failed attempt to renovate the building into a high school in the ’90s it’s been essentially neglected. Landmarks Illinois maintains the building is still structurally sound, but for how much longer is unclear.