FREEANDFREAKYSINCE | APRIL Does the punishment fit the cannabis crime? Tatiana Walk-Morris 10 The future of CBD is female Ariel Parrella-Aureli 20 The last men’s hotel For those who live there, the Ewing Annex Hotel is a refuge, an artifact, and a last chance. The man who’s been holding it together for more than 20 years is about to retire. By KP| THIS WEEK CHICAGOREADER | APRIL | VOLUME NUMBER IN THIS ISSUE TR - inIllinoisbutexpungingrecords 37 ChicagoansofNoteAnnie @ andfreeingprisonersremains Saundersveterinarianandfounder complicated ofPunkHouseChicago PPTB PECKH 38 RecordsofNoteThisweekthe ECS K Readerreviewscurrentreleases PMKW byFauvelyBongzillaPansyDx GDAH MEP M DamonLocks&BlackMonument TDEKR Ensembleandmore CEBW 41 Rescheduled AEJL FILM EarlyWarnings SWMD LG 28 ReopeningLocalmovietheaters concertsandotherupdatedlistings DI BJ MS andfi lmprogramsarereturningto 41 GossipWolfAnewZoomopera LCSC-J businessnotquiteasusual honorsthehealthcareworkers SJR FOOD&DRINK F AM R 04 Sula|ReviewAfatherand 30 FilmmakingKyraJonesfl ipsthe fi ghtingCOVIDcountrycat daughterteamslingloaded scriptonsexualassaultfi lms LawrencePetersleadsaworkshop ---------------------------------------------------------------- wienersfromastoragecontainerin 12 HousingForthosewholivethere 31 MoviesofNoteFrenchExit foraspiringrecordcollectorsand DDJ D Bronzeville theEwingAnnexHotelisarefuge isafascinatingescapeMonday rapperDefceedropsanexpanded SMCJ G EBAT anartifactandalastchanceThe looksataloveaff airbeyondthe versionofhislatestEP A NEWS&POLITICS manwho’sbeenholdingittogether happilya erandWolfwalkersisa 06 Joravsky|PoliticsThereare foryearsisabouttoretire charmingtalewithahugeheart OPINION SI D M N billionsofreasonstokeepthe 44 SavageLoveDanSavage D DCW schoolsundermayoralcontrol ARTS&CULTURE off ersadvicetoawomanwhose MPCY 18 HealthPainfulsexshouldn’tbea depressedexisnowdatingaman D E ASL K mysterycondition MPD 20 WeedforWellnessTwolocal CLASSIFIEDS A A C womenentrepreneursarebringing 45 Jobs SE CK K holisticwellnessbetteraccessand 45 Apartments&Spaces ADVERTISING equitytothecannabisindustry 45 Marketplace -- @ C THEATER - @ 22 DanceChoreographerRikaLin VPSA M usesclassicalJapaneseformsto O P L SDAN SAR examinegenderandidentity DG FDG’ MUSIC&NIGHTLIFE L M-H TP 08 Isaacs|CultureTheChicago 26 ReclaimingHistoryGhostlight 32 FeatureTheJeff ersonParkEXP WR L S MonumentsProjectwantsusto Ensemblespotlightsunsungwomen concertseriesbringsadiversityof P BB --- NA rethinkourpublicart playwrightsofthepast soundstoaneighborhoodlibrary E AH VMG-­­­- ­-­ 10 CriminalJusticeWeedislegal andtotheInternet JLSB ---------------------------------------------------------------- DC [email protected] THIS WEEK ON CHICAGOREADER.COM -- CHICAGO READER LC BPD R L TE R A-S V READER INSTITUTE FOR COMMUNITY JOURNALISM INC C E R TCB DA CV F KL HJK-P D R LSV ---------------------------------------------------------------- RISSN- RLC S M SC IL -- C ©C R ‘Gaslight our conscience’ What are human rights? Redefi ning sci-fi P C IL How suburban infl uence Two books highlight the creativity Made for Love stands out with A C RR defeated a resolution to of the incarcerated—and their slapstick comedy and a complex RR T ® condemn the Indian government lack of basic necessities. look at female liberation. 2 CHICAOREADER - APRIL ll Take it anytime. Mix it with anything. Feel it fast. 5mg Easy-dose Reservoir Fast-acting Water-soluble Formula Pocketable Design Available in 4 flavors Introducing Select Squeeze Scan QR code to find THC Beverage Enhancer Select near you ll APRIL - CHICAOREADER 3 Search the Reader’s online database of T thousands of Chicago-area restaurants R E. st FOOD & DRINK at chicagoreader.com/food. thehotdogbox.com Clockwise from le : The Compass Steak Dog, the Yeah Man Jerk Salmon Hot Dog, and the Bronzeville Bourbon Steak Dog NICKMURWAYFOR CHICAGOREADER Vienna dog dressed far off the traditional template. “I love to drench my hot dog in barbecue sauce,” he says. “My wife and I make a special bourbon barbecue sauce, sweet with a hint of smokiness. I would just eat it plain but I knew I needed more texture.” He layered on a carrot-cabbage slaw, sport peppers, and crumbled bacon, and dubbed it the Bronzeville Bourbon Dog, which remains his best seller. Morelli was looking to hire outside help, but instead brought on his nine-year-old daughter Brooklyn, who was already a regular presence on his recordings and videos. When she wasn’t in her online classes, she helped taking orders, washing dishes, and shopping. Together they’ve become the father-daughter Instagram (@thehotdogboxchicago) face of the business, cracking corny jokes and playing Connect Four by the takeout window. Brooklyn takes a starring turn in the full choreographed video they released during the slow winter months. Her celebrity threatens to overtake her fa- ther’s. “People started asking for Brooklyn on days when she’s not here,” he says. Morelli experimented with new dog variet- ies over the months, but a key adoption was a four-ounce fi let mignon dog over the winter, with a pronounced heft and beefiness that could stand up to increasingly dense strata RESTAURANT REVIEW of toppings. These include the surf-and-turf Compass Steak Dog, piled with snappy shrimp, spinach, and a creamy chipotle honey sauce he Bobby Morelli is the sausage king of Bronzeville started to bottle and sell along with the cran- berry honey mustard that appeared on the A father-and-daughter team sling loaded wieners from a storage container. Prairie Blues Steak dog, with collard greens, carrots, and feta cheese. Morelli also brought By MS on a salmon sausage with teriyaki and jerk expressions, and added chicken and vegan sausage substitute options. He’s still in R&D mode, currently testing obby Morelli has no professional culi- loaded wieners whose ambition and audacity partner who was to handle the cookie end of recipes for summer limited editions, like a nary experience. He’s an R&B and pop hasn’t been seen since the glory days of Hot the business bailed, and Morelli scrambled to chicken-and-wa e dog, and a steak dog with Brecording artist with a web design and Doug’s. come up with a new business model. Moroccan-style tomato and onion relish, feta, marketing agency whose plans for those proj- Morelli released a new album, Life on “What else can I do that would be simple but sour cream, and spinach. He’s also toying with ects tanked with the onset of the pandemic. Replay, last April but quickly had to cancel still fun that would make this business be year the idea of an alligator dog, which he worries He’s also a borderline pescatarian who since scheduled tour dates in Atlanta, Miami, and round vs. seasonal,” he says. “I was like ‘Well, might be ahead of its time in the neighbor- August has more or less become the sausage Dallas. A lot of his small business clients closed hot dogs.’ I’m walking through the grocery hood, but he didn’t come to Bronzeville to not king of Bronzeville. or downsized, and he was searching for the store and I’m thinking, ‘What can I do to make push things. That’s when, after just a few weeks of plan- proverbial pandemic pivot when he teamed a hot dog that stands out?’” “It’s defi nitely gonna be out there,” he says. ning, he threw himself into The Hot Dog Box, a up with a partner to open a cookies and ice Morelli opened on August 1 with a classic “But it’ll still make sense.” v steel shipping container fronting 51st street at cream concept at the seven-year-old container Chicago-style Vienna Beef natural casing dog, Boxville Marketplace, with a growing menu of market. Then, three weeks before opening, his dragged through the garden, and another @MikeSula 4 CHICAOREADER - APRIL ll We Love CHICAGO Our Readers Love YOU Advertising in the Chicago Reader not only helps your business succeed, but also helps support the Reader in its ongoing mission AD HERE YOUR to provide local, community journalism to the Chicago community and beyond. Our readers are LOCAL and LOYAL, and they should know about your business! Ad options include: Print Find out more at Online chicagoreader.com/ads Email or contact us at Social [email protected] Podcasts and more! 21+ The Reader 420 Companion is filled with great recipes, activities and coloring pages. Details may be found at chicagoreader.com/420book ll APRIL - CHICAOREADER 5 NEWS & POLITICS The current board, all appointed by Mayor POLITICS ipality in the state without an elected school Lightfoot, none elected by the people board. CHICAGOBOARDOFEDUCATION His bill—sponsored in the house by state School board politics representative Delia Ramirez—would divide Chicago into 20 districts. Each district would The billions of reasons to keep the schools under mayoral control elect one school board member. And there’d be billion that Mayor Rahm got the City Council a school board president elected citywide. to give to Lincoln Yards. By BJ In the past, former senate president John As such, mayors want rubber-stampers on Cullerton did Mayor Rahm’s bidding, killing the school board so that there’s no opposition Martwick’s bill in the senate. from CPS when money gets diverted from the But Cullerton has retired—replaced by Oak schools for various development schemes. t the risk of sounding like Richard Nixon, $1.3 billion Lincoln Yards boondoggle, and, Park senator Don Harmon. He didn’t bring the And so, there’ve been nothing but yes men I want to make something perfectly of course, the failed effort