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Mike Nowak, center, stands with Nic Romano, right, and panhandler Tony Ortega under the Kennedy Expressway and California Avenue on Feb. 22, 2016. Nowak used to see Romano a few years ago panhandling on the spot where they are standing.
Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune
Mike Nowak, center, stands with Nic Romano, right, and panhandler Tony Ortega under the Kennedy Expressway and California Avenue on Feb. 22, 2016. Nowak used to see Romano a few years ago panhandling on the spot where they are standing.
Chicago Tribune
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Nic Romano was a heroin addict and panhandler who turned his life around. Mike Nowak used to give him money on the street and ran into him again, at Romano’s work. They later visited the underpass where they met.