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Pilsen metal scrapper Sims gets City Hall OK over neighbors’ protests

2024-12-17T08:45:02.592-06:00

Almost three years after the city denied a controversial scrap metal operation’s bid to open on the Southeast Side, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration gave the OK to a similar polluting business, Sims Metal Management, to continue shredding cars, appliances and other junk at its longtime home in Pilsen.

Sims runs junked cars and other large items through massive shredding equipment that separates and salvages metal for resale. The process creates air pollution, and that’s been the focus of concern around the operation’s permit application since it was filed in December 2021.

Sims is the only car-shredding operation in Chicago, and community members sought to derail the company’s efforts to get a new permit from the city. Some called for a health impact study to determine if Sims and other nearby polluters in the industrial area of Pilsen are harming residents.

Pilsen ‘serial polluter’ shouldn’t get new permit for shredding metal, residents say

The health department said in a statement that it “will enforce compliance with the permit conditions,” and that “any violations or risks identified will result in immediate corrective action to protect the community.”

In a statement, Sims said "this approval is the right decision so that the critical work of recycling can continue in Chicago," referring to the salvaging of scrap metal. "We remain fully committed to continuing to achieve the city’s operational expectations.”

Sims has run afoul of federal and state pollution laws in the past.

The business at 2500 S. Paulina St. is in the process of building pollution-control equipment mandated by the state following a lawsuit. In 2021, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul sued Sims saying the business had not demonstrated it was reducing air pollution.

The company previously entered into a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to improve its pollution controls.

Sims was then required by EPA to install air monitors around its Pilsen operation in 2022.

Those air monitor results were monitored by the EPA, and city officials said the findings were considered as they decided the merits of Sims’ permit application.

“Emissions from Sims would not cause either short- or long-term health effects for the community near the facility,” the city has said, citing EPA findings.

The city said air monitoring will continue.

The Sims outcome is much different than one for another similar metal scrapper.

In February 2022, the public health department of then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot rejected a permit application from the owner of the relocated and rebranded General Iron metal-shredding business. General Iron was moving from its longtime home in Lincoln Park, where neighbors complained about the pollution, smells and noise from the operation.

In a letter to General Iron’s owner, health officials said then that they found “the facility proposes to undertake an inherently dangerous activity in a vulnerable community.”

That fully built operation is standing idle at East 116th Street along the Calumet River. The company brought multiple lawsuits against the city over the matter. Two court cases are still pending.

Johnson unveils city reforms to fight environmental racism

"It's abundantly clear that [the health department] did not apply the same standards to Sims," the Southeast Side operation's owner, Reserve Management, said in a statement.

Similar to the Southeast Side, Pilsen is also considered an “environmental justice” community, which refers to a low-income area that already is inundated with pollution and other social stressors that can have an effect on the health of residents.

Eddie Acevedo forgets glasses, and past testimony, as he takes stand in Madigan trial

2024-12-17T08:31:49.867-06:00

Convicted former state Rep. Edward "Eddie" Acevedo briefly took the witness stand Monday and contradicted prosecutors’ claim that he did no work for the thousands of dollars he was paid by two utilities allegedly trying to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan.

But that apparently differed from what the onetime assistant majority leader previously told authorities and a grand jury. Acevedo told jurors Monday that he couldn’t remember his past comments. He also admitted he’d been prosecuted for tax evasion and wasn’t happy about it.

And he forgot his eyeglasses — a move that seemed to annoy U.S. District Judge John Blakey so much that he threatened Acevedo with contempt if he forgot them again Tuesday, when his testimony is expected to resume.

"I’ll buy him a pair of glasses and bring it myself," Acevedo's attorney, Gabrielle Sansonetti, assured the judge.

In short, Acevedo seemed just as troublesome as predicted in his first 30 minutes on the witness stand in Madigan’s trial. Defense attorneys have warned that Acevedo’s testimony would come at the feds' "own peril," but prosecutors have not been deterred.

Madigan is on trial for an alleged racketeering conspiracy, and Acevedo plays a key role in two schemes outlined in the 117-page indictment handed up against Madigan and his longtime ally, Michael McClain. Acevedo has been described to jurors in multiple trials as being “loose-lipped,” belligerent and having a drinking problem.

But this is the first time the former legislative leader has taken the witness stand. Blakey compelled him to testify, ordering that nothing he says can be used against him unless he fails to tell the truth.

Trial highlights

Former state Rep. Eddie Acevedo testified that he worked for the money he was paid by AT&T Illinois.
Acevedo’s testimony apparently contradicted his previous comments to authorities.
Judge John Blakey threatened to hold Acevedo in contempt if he forgets to bring his eyeglasses to court again.

The judge also overruled concerns from defense attorneys. Sansonetti says Acevedo has dementia, and Madigan’s attorneys have said his testimony will "be an absolute mishmash on the facts."

Acevedo again used a walker as he entered the courtroom. Unlike former Chicago Ald. Danny Solis — another high-profile witness who testified against Madigan — the path Acevedo chose to the witness stand took him right by his fellow Southwest Side Democrat's seat at a defense table.

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan walks out of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse on Thursday.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times file

Acevedo had his back to the courtroom gallery at the time, but Madigan could be seen training his narrowed eyes on Acevedo as his former ally slowly walked by.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu began questioning Acevedo by confirming he once served as a Chicago police officer. Acevedo, 61, told jurors he takes medication for epilepsy and suffers seizures. He also said he has high blood pressure and congestive heart failure — but assured the prosecutor he was lucid and capable of testifying.

Acevedo asked Bhachu to repeat several questions — and he turned his face often to try to hear better.

"I don’t have my glasses but I will do my best," Acevedo said when asked to look at a transcript of his grand jury testimony. A frustrated Blakey implored him to take a closer look.

"Why don’t you move your face closer to the screen and let me know if you can see that, and if you can’t, let me know," Blakey said.

Acevedo told the judge he’d rushed out of his house and left his glasses behind. But he said the blurry glimpses of his past testimony failed to refresh his memory.

Prosecutors say Acevedo was paid $22,500 by AT&T Illinois after leaving the Legislature in 2017, allegedly because AT&T was trying to influence Madigan as key legislation moved through Springfield. The feds say Acevedo did no work for the money.

Former state Rep. Edward “Eddie” Acevedo leaves the Dirksen Federal Courthouse last week.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Acevedo testified Monday that he told "anyone who would listen to me" — including Madigan — that he was looking for work as a lobbyist or consultant at the time. He acknowledged that, when AT&T offered him the money, he initially "told them I had frustration that other people were getting way higher wages than I was."

But when Bhachu repeatedly tried to confirm with Acevedo that he did no work for the AT&T money, Acevedo insisted that "me and my sons were having our own meetings on the side" and "we worked on it together, me and my sons."

Eventually, Acevedo acknowledged he did not create any "work product" on his own.

Acevedo and two of his sons served short prison sentences for cheating on their taxes in prosecutions related to the Madigan investigation.

When Bhachu asked Acevedo if he told authorities in 2019 that he’d never created any work product for AT&T, Acevedo told the prosecutor, "I don’t remember that, but if you say it, I must have said it." When Bhachu insisted that he hadn’t done any work, Acevedo said, "Yes I did."

"I told you," Acevedo said. "I went to hearings. I went to meetings. And I would always fill in Steve Selcke on what was happening."

Selcke was an AT&T lobbyist who previously testified in the trial of ex-AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza. Prosecutors have indicated they don’t plan to call him in Madigan’s trial, and defense attorneys say it’s because Selcke’s testimony was problematic.

Acevedo was also paid $120,000 in a similar scheme involving ComEd. That’s a topic to which prosecutors are likely to turn their attention when Acevedo’s testimony resumes Tuesday.

Mayor appoints new members to fill CPS school board

2024-12-17T08:01:36.649-06:00

In a set of appointments that round out Chicago’s new 21-member Board of Education, Mayor Brandon Johnson tapped a group of mostly community organizers and activists and kept all but two of his current school board members.

The mayor’s 11 seats represent a majority of the school board and solidify his strong influence over Chicago Public Schools for the next two years. Johnson named 10 members Monday and said an 11th is still being vetted.

They join the 10 others who were chosen by voters in Chicago’s first-ever school board elections in November. Four of those elected members were endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union — the mayor’s staunch allies who helped vault him into office. That puts 15 out of 21 seats in the mayor’s ideological corner.

“Here’s what I look for: People who actually love and believe in public education,” Johnson said at a news conference Monday after the City Council passed the second budget of his term.

Johnson said he wanted board members who “understand the urgency” of President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for the U.S. Department of Education, which many advocates have said could harm public schools. He said it was important to him that board members care for families, who he said have been neglected, and teachers, who he said face unfair attacks. And Johnson indicated his board appointees should direct the school district to take on a disputed pension payment for non-teacher CPS employees.

The mayor had a bit of a puzzle when choosing appointees. By law, he had to choose people who live on the opposite side of their school board district as the elected members. The board president could be from anywhere in the city. Monday was the deadline to announce his picks.

Johnson’s 11 appointees are led by new school board president Sean Harden, a consulting executive who worked as an executive assistant to former Mayor Richard M. Daley in the mid 2000s, then for CPS as deputy CEO for community affairs from 2009 to 2011 under then-schools chief Ron Huberman. Since then, he has been involved in real estate development, community revitalization and workforce development organizations.

Harden was announced as a board member and sworn in last week during the final school board meeting of the year, but he was not named the new board president until Monday.

“Each of these leaders brings a unique perspective and an unrelenting commitment to the success of Chicago’s students,” Harden said in a statement released by the mayor’s office. “Together, we will prioritize equity, amplify community voices and create opportunities that unlock the potential of every child in our city.”

In addition to Harden, four current board members are keeping their seats: Longtime teacher and former CTU staffer Debby Pope from the North Side’s 2nd District; political consultant Michilla Blaise from the West Side’s District 5; labor and grassroots organizer Frank Niles Thomas in District 9 on the Far South Side; and community organizer Olga Bautista from the Southeast Side’s District 10. Mary Gardner and Rafael Yañez are leaving the board.

The mayor filled out the rest of his appointees with Ed Bannon, a longtime member of Dever Elementary’s Local School Council who ran for alderperson against Ald. Nick Sposato (38th) in 2023. Norma Rios-Sierra is a Logan Square artist, activist and parent. Pastor Emma Lozano is a prominent immigration activist who described herself as a “champion for bilingual education” in the mayor’s office’s press release.

Karen Zaccor is one of two newly appointed members who had run an unsuccessful CTU-endorsed bid for an elected seat. Zaccor finished second among six candidates in a crowded race to represent the 4th District, which encompasses communities along the north lakefront. Zaccor just retired from teaching this past June after 28 years in the classroom.

Appointee Anusha Thotakura lost the race to represent District 6, which stretches all the way from some Near North Side neighborhoods into the South Side. On the campaign trail, Thotakura touted her time as a math teacher in California. Since then she has worked for progressive organizations in Chicago and is currently the director for Citizen Action Illinois, a progressive policy advocacy coalition.

At 26, Thotakura will likely be the youngest member of the board and the only Asian American. She lives in the West Town neighborhood.

Ahead of the announcement, some 140 parents organized by the advocacy group Kids First Chicago sent a letter to the mayor asking that he make sure the racial makeup of the board — the appointees together with the elected members — reflects the students in the district, who are nearly 90% Black and Latino.

In the end, seven of the 21 are white, six are Black, seven are Latino and one is Asian American.

Growth of Chicago area data centers taking off with no signs of a slowdown

2024-12-17T05:00:00-06:00

Data centers — sprawling facilities that help power the tech behind everything from online shopping to scheduling dentist appointments — are popping up across the country, and Chicago has been recognized as one of the leaders.

Industry experts say Chicago and nearby suburbs will continue to be an industry powerhouse, with 30 data center projects planned over the next five years.

Utility infrastructure will also expand as companies look toward the suburbs to fit their land needs. But if large companies like Microsoft, Meta or Oracle secure agreements for new data centers, it could eat up the region's extra power capabilities.

The number of data centers in Greater Chicago shot up nearly 20% between 2020 and 2022, according to research firm Mangum Economics. It said over $4 billion has been invested in data centers since 2020 with an additional $4 billion in investments announced.

This means additional property tax revenue, thousands of construction jobs and a new life for vacant buildings. The train isn’t predicted to slow down as AI and other advanced technologies require colossal amounts of data, which needs to be stored.

Pete Marin, CEO and president of T5 Data Centers, said a big selling point is the reliability of the Chicago area's power. He cited its central location and lack of extreme heat, which can impact data centers.

T5 Data Centers president and CEO Pete Marin during the company’s groundbreaking ceremony for its future Northlake data center.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

“All these things contribute to that success,” Marin said, of the industry's growth in the region.

Georgia-based T5 broke ground in September on a 250,000-square-foot data center in Northlake. It continues to explore more opportunities for data centers in Chicago’s suburbs.

“The data center industry is the backbone of our modern economy,” said Brad Tietz, vice president of government relations and strategy at the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. The chamber has been a key player in promoting the growth of data centers and a growing sector of its members are in the digital infrastructure space.

Chicago hit record levels of data center growth in the first half of 2024 with 346 megawatts absorbed. In 2023, more than 204 megawatts total were absorbed in the Chicago market, said a report from commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.

The 1,279 megawatts in operation in the Chicago area is “basically like a nuclear power plant,” Alex Smith, executive vice chair at Cushman & Wakefield, said. “It’s a massive amount of power.”

Cushman & Wakefield named Chicago as one of the top 10 U.S. markets for data centers this year, with vacancy at 2% in June.

Tietz attributes the growth to city and state incentives and Illinois's business-friendly environment.

The state’s data center investment program, enacted in 2019, helped kickstart much of the region’s explosive growth. It provides owners and operators of qualifying data centers with exemptions from a variety of state and local taxes, according to the Illinois Department of Commerce.

Construction equipment signals that development has started on T5 Data Center’s Northlake facility.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Powering the demand

Melissa Washington, ComEd’s senior vice president of customer operations and strategic initiatives, said ComEd improved its reliability by more than 70% since 2012, a figure that is “extremely attractive” to data center companies, which can't withstand long lower outages because they need to continually store and manage a high volume of information.

ComEd has two main investment focuses: reducing the frequency of outages and improving power restoration time. It has invested in technology that makes it easier to isolate where power outages are and restore power, Washington said. It’s also replaced and refurbished infrastructure that reduces outage frequency.

But the growth of data centers also means a growing demand for power and infrastructure, costs that could impact a consumer's utility bill.

ComEd electric bills to go up more than $10 a month. Here’s why.

ComEd declined to comment on potential price hikes, and said in an emailed statement, "ComEd has an obligation to serve the load requests of our customers, regardless of industry. We remain engaged with policy makers and other stakeholders to monitor load growth and development of renewable energy resources, in accordance with the goals of CEJA."

Illinois has excess utility capacity — the ability to generate more electricity — that can be distributed to the grid, Smith, of Cushman & Wakefield, said. But if more land acquisitions and commitments for data centers are made in the next 12 to 14 months, that capacity will likely diminish, he said.

Washington said the issue isn’t power constraints: It’s evaluating if more infrastructure is needed in areas where data centers are proposed then building it.

“When you take a look at the grid, there may be upgrades that we need to implement in order to deliver the power,” she said. “The timing in which we're able to deliver the power depends on how big the ask is, and whether or not there's already infrastructure in that location. … If you’re asking for something huge, it may take a little longer.”

Sarah Moskowitz, executive director of the nonprofit Citizen’s Utility Board, said the growth of data centers is a piece of a larger issue, which is the growing demand for electricity and what that means for consumers.

“We need to take steps to ensure that electric customers aren't left unfairly shouldering the costs of [data centers],” Moskowitz said.

CUB, which advocates for utility consumers, is calling on regulators and grid operators to put structures in place that separate speculative projects from those that have been confirmed so utility customers don't subsidize unnecessary distribution and system build-outs.

"The concern arises when you have the electric utilities and the grid operators setting policies assuming that they're all going to get built and those policies can come back in and end up costing consumers of electricity unnecessarily," Moskowitz said. “There's a big difference between a data center that is knocking on the door of the utility and says it's interested in being there versus a data center that has entered into a contract and put down money. One of those is reasonable to include in a load forecast and another isn't.”

Future for data centers

Several data center projects announced or underway have the potential to bring new life to old sites in Chicago and its suburbs. CME Group and Google announced in July that they would build a colocation data center in Aurora, about 35 miles from CME’s downtown Chicago headquarters.

In Hoffman Estates, Compass Datacenters kicked off work to transform the former Sears headquarters into one of the largest data center campuses in the state. Demolition is underway on the 197-acre site, and it's expected to take about 18 months.

“Everything is going according to plan,” a Compass spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Demolition efforts continue with the recycling and reuse of asphalt and concrete.”

Prime Group and Capri Investment Group — the developers overhauling the James R. Thompson Center — purchased the former Cboe Global Markets headquarters, 400 S. La Salle St., with plans to turn it into a data center.

The former Cboe Global Markets headquarters at 400 S. La Salle St., which will become a data center.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

"We are still in the preliminary stages of project concept and design, but there is a fair amount of interest even at this early stage,” Quintin Primo, founder and executive chairman of Capri Investment Group, said in a statement.

Smith said conversion projects like Prime and Capri's will likely be rare. Data centers are “specialized buildings,” and re-working an existing building can be difficult. But as office space remains in limbo, it's a way to re-energize those buildings.

ComEd expects data centers to continue their takeoff in Chicago. Data centers make for long partnerships, Washington said, and many are repeat ComEd customers who want to expand.

“I think Illinois has shown that it embraces data centers, and I expect that that's also a very attractive thing,” Washington said. “The things that they seek — whether it's competitive rates, reliability, the fiber optics and also great partners — that's going to stay and remain.”

Chicago’s city council narrowly approves a new city budget that avoids a property tax hike

2024-12-16T17:12:01.855-06:00

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $17.1 billion budget for next year has passed the city council by a thin margin after the mayor made significant compromises amid weeks of stalemate.

The 27-23 vote came after an hour and a half of debate, where Johnson faced stinging critiques from both opponents and allies about a messy and protracted budget process that one alderperson argued has fractured relationships in city council and diminished residents’ trust in government even further.

“The fault lies squarely with you and your administration,” said Ald. Maria Hadden, 49th Ward, a once-ally of Johnson’s and co-chair of the council’s progressive caucus. She voted "yes" on the budget, while co-chair Ald. Andre Vasquez, 40th Ward, voted against it.

In an interview with WBEZ after the budget vote, Johnson declined to say whether he takes accountability for the protracted budget process. Instead, Johnson continued to tout what he has called one of the “most collaborative” budget processes in the city’s history. And he blamed this year’s arduous budget process on a lack of progressive revenue options at the local and state level.

“I'm grateful that we have people who are committed to building an economy that works for working people. Now we get to lock arms together and work collaboratively to fight for progressive revenue [in Springfield],” Johnson said.

Johnson didn’t say which revenue streams he would lobby for at the state level come next year, but referenced a proposed graduated income tax that voters previously rejected. He said there is a renewed commitment from Gov. JB Pritzker to work together on finding progressive revenue streams.

“We're already seeing a shift,” Johnson said. “The fact that we're having regular conversations is certainly indication and proof.”

The final budget avoids layoffs, furloughs or cuts to basic city services such as garbage collection or tree-trimming, but it nixes some progressive programs funded by one-time federal pandemic relief funding. It continues a policy popular with fiscal experts to make an advanced payment on the city’s underfunded pensions. The budget relies on a host of increased taxes and fines, hundreds of millions in “efficiencies” and cuts to vacant positions, and the restructuring of some of the city’s debt.

Notably, after demands from alderpersons across the political spectrum, the budget does not include a property tax on Chicago residents, despite Johnson’s initial plan for a $300 million increase. At the time he pitched it, Johnson, who campaigned against raising property taxes, said it was ultimately the “best option” after an “excruciating process” to close the city’s massive $982.4 million deficit.

But facing a Dec. 31 deadline to get a deal done, Johnson shrunk his call for a property tax hike down to $68.5 million, though that still wasn’t low enough to pass the city council.

To nix the property tax completely, Johnson found $44.9 million in “expenditure cuts” and another $23.6 million in “efficiencies.” That’s atop the hundreds of millions Johnson had already trimmed from the budget.

The savings and cuts include eliminating a handful of positions from Johnson’s own office, saving $1 million, according to estimates shared with alderpersons. They also include nearly $3 million in middle-management cuts, including 13 positions at the Chicago Police Department. The city also found $5 million in “energy and facility management efficiencies."

Most significantly, the city will reduce its debt obligation payment by $40 million. That money was slated to go toward debt related to the redevelopment of the city’s old Michael Reese hospital.

Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th Ward, voted in favor of the budget and was pleased with delaying the debt service payment in order to avoid a property tax increase.

“It’s not paying debt when we cannot afford it,” Sigcho Lopez said. “I mean, a lot of families are familiar with this: When we need to feed our children, when you need to make a payment for a mortgage, we don't prioritize that. We prioritize the urgent needs, and that's what we do.”

Even those who voted in favor of the budget, however, admonished the administration for a messy and delayed budget process. The mayor initially delayed his budget address by two weeks, and budget hearings were regularly canceled and rescheduled as the mayor’s team attempted to negotiate the property tax increase.

Hadden said those changes signaled “an utter disregard for people’s time,” kept her from attending to business in her ward and will lead to delays in contracts in the first quarter of 2025.

“We may pass a budget today, but this delayed process has already caused strife,” she said. “We’re going to feel the pain of this in the first quarter of 2025 … This process was anything but progressive.”

Still, Hadden added that many members of the 19-member progressive caucus would vote in favor of the budget. “Without our support, we would have had to recess again today,” she said.

On Monday, Hadden ended her floor speech by thanking those who voted in favor of the budget for ensuring people get paid on time. And to a group of aldermen who “offered no solutions” while calling for cuts to services, Hadden said, “Good luck on your crusade.”

The budget does include cuts to progressive programs Johnson had been adamant about keeping. Budget officials previously frowned upon cutting the programs as a one-time fix because they are funded with one-time pandemic federal relief money. One of the programs being slashed is $31 million for a popular guaranteed basic income pilot that Johnson was expected to relaunch to issue a second round of $500 payments to low-income residents.

Johnson is also reducing the number of youth jobs included in his initial proposal. His initial proposal included 2,000 additional youth jobs for 2025, but the budget passed Monday cut that in half, said Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosa, 35th Ward.

Ramirez Rosa voted in favor of the budget and said the change to youth employment, one of Johnson’s cornerstone priorities, underpins how much the mayor was forced to compromise.

“The mayor continued to take a cut and continue to shift dollars in order to respond to council critics who said that they wanted to see even more changes to this budget,” Ramirez Rosa said. “This is the first time in my decade here in city council that we've actually seen a reduction in the mayor's office budget. … Council critics did not want to see [an] increase [in youth employment], he cut that in half.”

Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd Ward, acknowledged that the mayor’s budget process has “included democracy” because he has made compromises in response to aldermanic concerns — namely by removing the proposed property tax increase.

But he argued that without structural changes to city spending, the council simply “kicked the can down the road.”

Ald. Nicole Lee, 11th Ward and co-chair of the council’s budget committee, voted against the plan, arguing the debt repayment delay “feels like a little bit of a scoop and toss,” and that other cuts made were not adequate because they didn’t prevent other fines and fees.

“We owe it to the taxpayers to make sure that we've looked under every nook and cranny for every efficiency and cut possible before we come back to ask for one more penny in any taxes,” Lee said. “And while we're doing away with the property tax levy, we still have over $200 million in other taxes that are rather regressive at the end of the day. Bag tax, streaming tax — these are going to hit working people, and I'm uneasy about the proposals to make up the revenue.”

The messy and delayed budget process has been a political embarrassment for Johnson, though he has insisted the chaos is a result of his willingness to collaborate, at one point dubbing himself the “Collaborator-in-Chief.”

Ald. Andre Vasquez, 40th Ward, once an ally of Johnson’s, voted against the plan and gave one of his harshest assessments of the mayor to date.

“Chicagoans don't have any more patience for excuses, for hollow or basic answers and for obliviousness from their mayor,” Vasquez said. “Chicago deserves serious, responsible and focused leadership to address the challenges ahead.”

Mariah Woelfel covers Chicago politics for WBEZ.

The 18 best reads of 2024, handpicked by our staff

2024-12-16T16:39:54.625-06:00

The end of 2024 is here, and you know what that means: a seemingly endless parade of end-of-year lists. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all of the best-of things you haven’t gotten around to, but we offer something different: an unpretentious list that comes from our staff of book lovers.

Whether you speed-read 100 books a year or take your time with a special few, here are 18 of our favorite reads of 2024, with the recommendation verbatim from the person who suggested it. Did you love a book this year that isn’t on this list? Write us at arts@wbez.org and we may include your pick in our weekly Green Room newsletter.

Our favorite books of 2024

Fiction

Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli
Great Expectations by Vinson Cunningham
James by Percival Everett
All Fours by Miranda July
Sandwich by Catherine Newman
God of the Woods by Liz Moore
State of Paradise by Laura van den Berg
The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
Not Till We Are Lost by Dennis E. Taylor
The Hunter by Tana French
You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue, translated by Natasha Wimmer

Nonfiction

There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib
The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoë Schlanger
War & Peace & War: Twenty Years in Afghanistan by Andrew North
Never Saw Me Coming: How I Outsmarted the FBI and the Entire Banking System—and Pocketed $40 Million by Tanya Smith
How to Build a Fashion Icon by Law Roach
Carson the Magnificent by Bill Zehme with Mike Thomas

Graphic

Tender by Beth Hetland

Fiction

Courtesy of Wednesday Books

Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli

Wednesday Books, Feb. 20

“Heartless Hunter is a romantasy cat-and-mouse chase between a witch and a witch hunter, with a unique magic system, detailed worldbuilding, poignant meditations on grief and persecution, and LOTS of twists and turns. I read it in TWO book clubs and literally couldn’t put it down. When I couldn’t sit and read it, I would listen to the audiobook because I needed to know what happened next!” — Daryn Robinson, membership associate at WBEZ

Courtesy of Hogarth

Great Expectations by Vinson Cunningham

Hogarth, March 12

“Much like the classic Charles Dickens novel of the same name, this debut novel from New Yorker staff writer Vinson Cunningham focuses on an education of sorts. Protagonist David Hammond, an early-twenties college dropout with a young daughter, is working as a tutor when he lands an opportunity to work for an illustrious young politician from Illinois running for president. He is simply referred to as ‘the Senator’ (who could it be!). David learns what it means to contend with race, Christianity and relationships in the context of moving up in the ranks of a political campaign.” — Sofie Hernandez-Simeonidis, arts & culture digital producer at WBEZ

Courtesy of Doubleday

James by Percival Everett

Doubleday, March 19

“How can an author have horror and humor at the same time in a book about slavery? This book is a reimagining of Huckleberry Finn as told through the eyes of the enslaved Jim, or James. The satirical nature of this book continues to amaze me. I’ve never read anything like this. It has risen to my top 10 novels of all time.” — Natalie Moore, columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times

Courtesy of Riverhead Books

All Fours by Miranda July

Riverhead Books, May 14

“Miranda July is a wildly creative, thought-provoking artist, so anything by her will bring elements of surprise, delight and introspection. But it’s the topic of the book that felt so revolutionary — and no, I don't mean the strange, varied sexual exploits through the book, of which there are many. It was a book about perimenopause, through and through. A stark, hard look at being a middle-aged woman, with half her life behind her and wrestling with her past — and uncertain about her future. I haven’t felt that character handled with such care since Mrs. Dalloway.” — Melissa Bell, CEO at Chicago Public Media

Courtesy of Harper

Sandwich by Catherine Newman

Harper, June 18

“This short and sweet book described midlife as both a mother and child in a super compelling manner. While I am not fully at this stage, it resonated with me to read from the perspective of a woman who has made challenging decisions, loves those around her fiercely, got things wrong and is still so lovable and funny.” — Stephanie Bassill, HR manager at Chicago Public Media

Courtesy of Riverhead Books

God of the Woods by Liz Moore

Riverhead Books, July 2

“I couldn’t put this book down! It has the suspense of a whodunit mystery with the rich character development you might expect to find in a fiction novel. Alternating point-of-view chapters highlight the complicated experiences and feelings of so many, from a friend of the missing teenage girl to a serial killer on the run to a camp counselor caught in a toxic relationship. The setting, an Adirondack summer camp, is a character all of its own. Interwoven is an exploration of class, gender dynamics and a whole lot more.” — Sarah Darby, director of audience insights at WBEZ

Courtesy of Farrar, Straus and Giroux

State of Paradise by Laura van den Berg

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, July 9

“I’d heard of Laura van den Berg as a writer of ‘weird art books.’ This one is not that, although there is a strong sense of the surreal and uncanny throughout. The author convincingly plays with the ideas of fiction and reality blending into the landscape of a personified Florida — and man, Florida is angry! Facing a catastrophic future, humanity may not survive.” — Chase Browning, promotions producer at WBEZ

Courtesy of Viking

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman

Viking, July 16

“This book is a different take on the legend of King Arthur. A young knight makes his way to compete for a spot at the fabled Round Table of legend, only to find out that he’s too late. What he finds is a king who was killed in battle two weeks before, and only a handful of oddball knights remain. The young knight leads a ragtag group on an adventure to find Excalibur and rebuild the storied court of Camelot — and Britain itself — and to discover why King Arthur fell in battle. If you like medieval sword and sorcery books, this is definitely one to check out.” — Zach Kalmus, preprocess manager at the Chicago Sun-Times

Courtesy of Audible

Not Till We Are Lost by Dennis E. Taylor

Audible, Sept. 5

“I’m a big science fiction nerd. This is the fifth book in the Bobiverse series, and I feel like I’ve been waiting for it for ages. Dennis Taylor does a great job of crafting an easy read that explores interesting theoretical science without getting too in the weeds. This one touches on wormholes, the ‘great filter’ theory and much more. The audiobooks are also fantastically read by Ray Porter. I’ve since looked for other books specifically read by him, because there’s something so comforting and nostalgic about his delivery.” — Ethan Schwabe, master control engineer at WBEZ

Courtesy of Penguin Books

The Hunter by Tana French

Penguin Books, March 5

“I’m a sucker for a Tana French book. She has this beautiful way of slow-burning a story and then smacking you in the face repeatedly as you get to the end. All of her books are so character-driven, you can almost touch them. This is the second book of a continued series following Cal Hooper, a retired CPD officer who moved to a country town in Ireland hoping for some relaxation. Of course, these things don’t always go as you plan. I loved the nuance in the relationships. The spiciness of a small town in ways that you don’t really know unless you’ve experienced that yourself (everyone knowin’ your business, especially if you’ve been there all your life). The woman spins a fine yarn.” — Ariel Van Cleave, managing editor, audio news at WBEZ

Courtesy of Riverhead Books

You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue, translated by Natasha Wimmer

Riverhead Books, Jan. 9

“This is an imaginative retelling of the conquistadors’ invasion of the Aztec Empire. Funny, strange, vivid and unlike anything I've ever read. The fabulous descriptions of the long-gone city of Tenochtitlan were mesmerizing, and I loved how the story imagined a different ending for Hernán Cortés and his bumbling cronies.” — Jared Natzke, member services lead at WBEZ

Nonfiction

Courtesy of Random House

There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib

Random House, March 26

“The way in which Abdurraqib uses the sport as a lens to view the places and people that make us is really quite remarkable. The book is structured like a basketball game, with four ‘quarter’ sections. It’s about basketball, but so much more — as an Ohioan, Abdurraqib writes about the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James and who gets to be great, how our hometowns shape us and the hope that we will always hold for the people and places that make us, even after we leave them. As a poet, Abdurraqib’s writing is lush and moving, and he does a fabulous job narrating the audiobook, which is how I read this!” — Abby Miller, development reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times

Courtesy of Harper

The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoë Schlanger

Harper, May 7

“Lately, I’ve been trying to grow my understanding of the natural world. Learning about the most recent research into how plants engage with the world has helped me see how interconnected life is, and the importance of respecting all forms of life.” — David MacKay, on-air fundraising manager for WBEZ

Courtesy of Ithaka

War & Peace & War: Twenty Years in Afghanistan by Andrew North

Ithaka, Aug. 1

“This book taught me a lot about the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan through the lens of multiple Afghan citizens, shining a light on personal stories and the feelings on the ground during that time. It made me reflect on how I remembered news about Afghanistan as a child, and it gave me a point of view I had never thought about before. Author and journalist Andrew North details what it was like covering the instability of the region at the time and his experience being kidnapped by the Taliban.” — Araceli Gomez-Aldaña, reporter at WBEZ

Courtesy of Little, Brown and Company

Never Saw Me Coming: How I Outsmarted the FBI and the Entire Banking System—and Pocketed $40 Million by Tanya Smith

Little, Brown and Company, Aug. 13

“Tanya Smith’s book has all the elements I like in a book — rich storytelling, details that make the characters come alive, escapades different from daily life and the kind of suspense that has you rooting for the author, even when you know she’s made a career out of being a criminal. The fact that she is an identical twin and used this to her advantage during the police investigation demonstrated how smart she was able to stay off of law enforcement’s radar for so long.” — Kate Verrant, assistant general counsel, labor & employment, Chicago Public Media

Courtesy of Abrams

How to Build a Fashion Icon by Law Roach

Abrams, Oct. 1

“For those not familiar with Law, he’s a celebrity stylist and image architect — a term he coined — from Chicago. He’s styled celebrities like Zendaya, Celine Dion, Ariana Grande, Mary J. Blige, and the list goes on and on. The book is part memoir, part fashion tips; he’s really trying to help other people discover themselves and their style through confidence-building.” — Morgan Ciocca, digital producer at Vocalo

Courtesy of Simon & Schuster

Carson the Magnificent by Bill Zehme with Mike Thomas

Simon & Schuster, Nov. 5

“Largely just because it managed to actually exist, after being eagerly awaited for many years but delayed by Zehme's health issues, anxieties and, ultimately, his death. But it’s also a satisfying read probing Johnny Carson’s appeal, aloof personality and dark side.” — Darel Jevens, entertainment editor at the Chicago Sun-Times

Graphic

Courtesy of Fantagraphics

Tender by Beth Hetland

Fantagraphics, March 12

“This is a wild, funny, horrifying, Chicago-set graphic novel. It riffs a lot on social media addiction, toxic positivity and trying to find human connection in an increasingly impersonal society. It follows this young millennial woman who’s sort of striving for the Instagram-perfect life of finding a husband and kids, and when things don’t go her way, she starts falling down a dark path. The book takes a few pretty wild turns that are worth sticking around for.” — Mitch Armentrout, politics and government reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times

The Rundown: Is environment a priority for Mayor Johnson?

2024-12-16T15:45:00-06:00

Good afternoon! ‘Tis the season to walk around looking at holiday decorations. Here’s what else you need to know today.

1. A City Hall ouster exposed the rift in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s environmental mission

Raed Mansour, Chicago’s point person on air pollution and extreme heat, was pushed out, raising questions about the mayor’s commitment to neighborhoods choked by pollution, my colleague Brett Chase reports.

A program to install 140 sensors across the city was expected to get up and running early next year, a goal that is now delayed. The sensors would detect fine particle pollution and nitrogen dioxide, which is a common pollutant from cars, trucks and factories.

“Those monitors could be utilized in our community rather than collecting dust,” said Cheryl Johnson, executive director of People for Community Recovery in Riverdale on the Far Southeast Side. “When the city makes the commitment to provide resources, make it happen. In our community, we’ve been waiting over 30 years for air monitors.”

Mansour resigned, though emails and interviews reveal that the city’s public health department officials forced him out after a disagreement with Dr. Horace Smith, a political appointee, during a public health board meeting in October.

The friction centered around Mansour’s presentation of an already funded plan that Smith suggested was not a good use of money because other public health needs, such as access to fresh food and medical care, should be prioritized. [Chicago Sun-Times]

2. Here’s what to expect from an Amtrak-led initiative to renovate Union Station

The $400 million project is set to begin next year and is part of the Chicago Hub Improvement Program, which also includes upgrades to rail infrastructure in and around the city, Block Club Chicago reports.

The effort overall aims to boost railroad efficiency in the Midwest and help Amtrak reach its goal of doubling ridership by 2040.

Union Station hasn’t been renovated since 1991, and those upgrades were only expected to last 10 to 15 years, an Amtrak spokesperson told Block Club.

Construction will take place in a part of the station not currently used for passenger rail, so Amtrak does not expect the renovations to disrupt service.

Though some renovations are set to take place next year, others are still in the planning stages, such as efforts to overhaul the main concourse. Those improvements are expected to focus on increasing accessibility and creating more space for passengers, according to the Amtrak website. [Block Club Chicago]

3. Gov. JB Pritzker is calling for a crackdown on delta-8 — but hemp entrepreneurs are decrying a ban

A bill sponsored by state Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Hillside, would limit sales of most hemp-derived products to licensed cannabis dispensaries, Mitchell Armentrout reports for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Pritzker threw his support behind the effort, calling it a matter of protecting children.

“As this market has flourished, there have been far too many stories of people, especially children, ingesting intoxicating hemp products and getting sick,” Pritzker said during a West Loop news conference. He held up bags labeled “Nerdy Bears,” an example of the unregulated psychoactive gummies that are packaged to resemble familiar candy brands.

Hemp industry advocates say the bill would wipe out thousands of jobs and criminalize nonintoxicating CBD products to the benefit of billion-dollar cannabis corporations. [Chicago Sun-Times]

4. The Spirit of Progress statue on top of the former Montgomery Ward building is set to get repairs

The artwork depicts the Roman goddess Diana and was installed in 1929. The 22.5-foot tall female figure stands with her left foot on a globe and holding a torch high in her right hand, and in the other she points a caduceus, an ancient symbol of commerce.

Diana was taken down Saturday and will be reinstalled next spring. The Conservation of Sculpture and Objects Studio in Forest Park will restore and repair the bronze figure.

Restoring the Spirit of Progress is one of several projects underway to maintain and preserve the building, which is now condominiums. [Chicago Sun-Times]

5. An auction highlighted pieces of the old Marshall Field’s Christmas windows

Thirty bidders purchased some of the automated figures that were once part of the former department store’s State Street displays during an auction earlier this year, the Chicago Tribune reports.

“These things are synonymous with all those warm and fuzzy feelings that we have at that time of year, and those kinds of expeditions to the Loop and its department stores,” said Gabe Fajuri, the Potter & Potter auction house’s president.

Marshall Field’s is now a Macy’s, and the other big department stores that once lined State Street have also since been bought — so the Christmastime windows aren’t what they once were. For example, this year’s Macy’s displays feature gift boxes in red paper with white stars in one window and a large stuffed teddy bear in another. [Chicago Tribune]

Here’s what else is happening

At least three people died in a shooting at a Christian school in Wisconsin. [Wisconsin Public Radio]
As drone sightings spread across the East Coast, federal officials still don't know much. [NPR]
President-elect Donald Trump proposed ending daylight saving time. Here's what that could look like in Illinois. [NBC Chicago]
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a longtime theater lover, made her Broadway debut. [NPR]

Oh, and one more thing …

In case you missed it, my colleagues started a project called Prisoncast!, an audio and journalism initiative organized by WBEZ and Illinois Public Radio to serve people inside Illinois prisons and their loved ones outside.

Everything on the show comes directly from an idea, question or request from someone currently or formerly incarcerated, their loved ones or from groups that work with this community.

The next Prisoncast! airs at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 22, on WBEZ 91.5 FM. You can learn more about the project in the link. [WBEZ]

Tell me something good …

What’s your favorite Chicago-specific gift to give family and friends who don’t live in the area?

Feel free to email me, and your response may be included in the newsletter this week.

FBI recordings show the anatomy of an alleged Chinatown corruption scheme

2024-12-16T14:14:59.387-06:00

Prosecutors are close to wrapping up their side of the story in the federal racketeering conspiracy trial of ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan and co-defendant Michael McClain.

Some of the key pieces of evidence involve secretly recorded conversations both had with government mole and former Chicago Ald. Danny Solis about a parcel of land in Chicago’s Chinatown — a parking lot owned by the state that developers wanted to turn into a hotel.

But to make that happen, the developers needed Michael Madigan’s help in Springfield. Madigan, in turn, allegedly wanted those developers’ business for his law firm, and prosecutors say he hatched a plan for a deal.

The scheme is an important snapshot of the bigger alleged criminal enterprise the government says Madigan led.

WBEZ reporter Dave McKinney breaks down the alleged scheme, and spoke with State Rep. Theresa Mah, whose district includes Chinatown, about seeing the parking lot scheme come full circle as Madigan and McClain face the prospect of federal prison.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker calls for crackdown on delta-8

2024-12-16T08:04:52.886-06:00

Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday picked a side in Illinois’ long-running debate over how to regulate delta-8 and other hemp-derived products, throwing his support behind a bill that would effectively ban most sales of the weedlike substances that have soared in popularity thanks to a loophole in federal law.

Pritzker called it a matter of protecting children, despite vehement opposition from hemp industry advocates who say state Sen. Kimberly Lightford’s bill would wipe out thousands of jobs and criminalize nonintoxicating CBD products at the benefit of billion-dollar cannabis corporations.

Gov. JB Pritzker holds up delta-8 products at a Friday news conference.

State of Illinois livestream

The bill sponsored by Lightford, a Hillside Democrat, would limit sales of most hemp-derived products to licensed cannabis dispensaries — except for hemp-based beverages, which could also be sold by licensed alcohol sellers and distributors.

But pending a lengthy evaluation period to set consumer safety and licensing standards, most of the hemp product merchants who have proliferated in an estimated $800 million industry would be cut out completely.

Pritzker, who championed weed legalization when he took office, has long called for regulations on hemp products, as have leaders of both the cannabis and hemp lobbies.

Hemp sellers push back on delta-8 ban as lawmakers tackle unregulated cannabinoid market

The governor said Lightford’s approach was better than alternatives offered by hemp industry leaders who welcome stringent licensing requirements that would let them stay in business.

“I understand that there are a lot of stores that are selling these products that would not be able to sell these products,” Pritzker said. “But typically, they’re not stores that are dedicated to this product. There are a few, but mostly these are convenience stores, gas stations. They’ve got other products that they sell. They wouldn’t go out of business not selling this one.”

Lightford’s bill passed the Illinois Senate on a 54-1 vote in the spring, but never made it to the statehouse floor. It’ll require a three-fifths House majority to pass it by the end of the lame duck session Jan. 7.

State Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Hillside, speaks at a Friday news conference alongside Gov. JB Pritzker.

Mitchell Armentrout/Sun-Times

West Side state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, will be fighting it. He’s pushing to limit sales to people 21 or older, require manufacturers to undergo product testing to obtain $500 licenses, impose a 10% tax rate on sellers and — most importantly — allow current sellers to stay in the market.

“To think we’re going to turn back the hands of time for a prohibition when we thought we learned from the prohibition of cannabis — that’s what’s most disappointing,” Ford said. “With synthetic drugs being spewed in communities, when you drive it to the underground market, it makes it more dangerous for people, and that was the main reason we regulated cannabis.”

Bears star Steve McMichael’s ALS journey would be rougher without hemp products

The hemp-based brouhaha centers around delta-8, the mind-altering substance that can be derived from the plant, which federal lawmakers didn’t account for when they legalized sales of hemp derivatives in 2018.

Other derivatives like CBD are used in a wide array of lotions, oils, shampoo and more popular wellness products that don’t have psychoactive effects.

Lightford said her bill “protects consumers, helps our cannabis industry flourish, keeps the promise to our social equity communities and doesn’t stifle reputable hemp business establishments.”

Numerous CBD-derived products sit on the shelves of Cubbington’s Cabinet located at 2015 W. Roscoe St. in the Roscoe Village neighborhood, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

But Jennifer Weiss said she’s terrified the proposed legislation would drive her out of business at Cubbington’s Cabinet, her Victorian-inspired apothecary in the Roscoe Village neighborhood.

“Almost every single thing that I sell, due to the various components of the bill, would be banned,” said Weiss, who added that she opened the shop in 2020 specifically because of the lack of regulations around hemp products. “I wanted to provide a trustworthy source of these products. We’ve been pushing for thoughtful regulation.”

Charles Wu, CEO of Chi’Tiva locations and director of the Illinois Hemp Business Association, estimated 10,000 people would be put out of work from the hemp product industry if Lightford’s bill becomes law. He called it “an unjust and cynical attempt to protect the handful of billionaires who own most of the licensed cannabis industry.”

Editorial: Take action to keep dangerous delta-8 products away from kids

“It’s like a Coke vs. Pepsi situation, and Coke gets to make all the rules, which is not cool,” Wu said. “We’re not the bad guys. We’re not like the out-of-staters who are shipping in this [lookalike packaging] crap that the cannabis side tries to paint us as. We have been willing and asking for much more strict, limiting licensing.”

Tiffany Chappell Ingram, director of the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois, said in a statement that “we look forward to working collaboratively to put in place a measure that will empower consumers, protect public health and help ensure our state’s legal cannabis industry can reach its full potential.”

Spirit of Progress statue, atop the former Montgomery Ward building since 1929, to get repairs

2024-12-16T07:56:59.123-06:00

Even a goddess needs some tender loving care — especially after being out in the elements for nearly a century.

The Spirit of Progress, which depicts the Roman goddess Diana, is heading to the suburbs to get some work done.

The statue has stood on the tower of the Montgomery Ward and Co. administration building since 1929. Constructed in 1927 on the east bank of the Chicago River, the building is now condominiums.

Diana was taken down Saturday and will be reinstalled next spring. The Conservation of Sculpture and Objects Studio in Forest Park will restore and repair the bronze figure.

Restoring the Spirit of Progress is one of several projects underway to maintain and preserve the building, according to the One River Place Condominium Association, which manages the building at 758 N. Larrabee St.

The Spirit of Progress, a statue installed on top of the Montgomery Ward administration building in 1929, was taken down Saturday for repairs. It will be reinstalled in the spring.

Barry Butler Photography

"We are proud to be maintaining this important aspect of the Chicago skyline," the association's board and homeowners said in a statement.

The 22.5-foot tall female figure stands with her left foot on a globe and holding a torch high in her right hand, and in the other she points a caduceus, an ancient symbol of commerce.

The Spirit of Progress is a replica of a gilded weather vane, called Progress Lighting the Way for Commerce, on the former Montgomery Ward offices at 2 N. Michigan Ave, according to the history website Chicagology. That statue and the tower it stood on came down in 1947 when the building was found to be structurally unsafe.

That statue was modeled after the weather vane on top of the Agriculture Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.

The Spirit of Progress is a replica of a weather vane that sat atop the Agriculture Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.

Barry Butler Photography

The sculptor of Diana was unknown for several years and remains disputed, according to the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Chicagology.

It could be the work of Joseph Conradi, who did several sculptures for Chicago buildings. At least two of Conradi's relatives have said he made it, according to Chicagology. But photo captions from 1929 credit the artist George Mulligan.

The Montgomery Ward administration building and the original catalog house building across the street were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The condo association is currently seeking city landmark status for the building.

The Spirit of Progress, a statue installed on top of the Montgomery Ward administration building in 1929, was taken down Saturday for repairs. It will be reinstalled in the spring.

Barry Butler Photography

Editor's note: The Conservation of Sculpture and Objects Studio is in Forest Park. The town was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.

Prisoncast! FAQ and how you can get involved

2024-12-16T07:08:14.078-06:00

Listen to the Prisoncast! holiday show on WBEZ and all Illinois Public Radio statons statewide on Sunday, Dec. 22 from 2-4 p.m. CT.

**What is Prisoncast!?**

Prisoncast! is an audio & journalism project organized by WBEZ in Chicago & Illinois Public Radio stations to serve people inside Illinois prisons & their loved ones outside. Everything you hear on the show comes directly from an idea, question or request we get from someone currently or formerly incarcerated, their loved ones or from groups that work with this community. Scroll to the bottom to find how and where you can listen to the radio show!

Our goal is to create an experience families can share, even when separated by miles of road, brick walls and wire fencing. We produce journalism and interview segments that provide practical, actionable information and accurate news based on what you tell our journalists you need. We strive to do this show with you and for you.

How do I submit requests for the show?

People with internet access can fill out surveys electronically at this link. People outside can make requests and record a voicemail dedication at 312-893-2931, or send a voice memo or email to prisoncast@wbez.org. People inside can fill out a paper survey and mail it back to: Prisoncast! c/o WBEZ, 848 E. Grand Ave., Chicago, IL., 60611-3509. We will also add you or your LO on GTL if you request it!

Are you playing all requests on the radio?

No. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we likely will not be able to air all the requests we receive during the two-hour broadcast. But we save all requests we get, and often air them on subsequent shows!

Will I know ahead of time if my request will be aired during the broadcast?

If you're on the outside, we will reach out to you to let you know if we are airing your request. We work hard to let incarcerated folks know early so they can listen, but we can't guarantee that we will be able to notify you in time for the show, given the challenges of communicating inside prisons and jails.

**I or my LO inside wrote to Prisoncast! and never heard back from you. What’s the deal?**

We work hard to personally write back everyone who writes to us, either electronically or via snail mail. But as you might imagine, we get hundreds of letters and GTL messages from folks inside! We are grateful for each of them, as we literally can't make Prisoncast! without your engagement. But it may take us a few weeks — or even a couple months — to respond to letters and tablet messages.

How & when can I listen?

You can listen on an old-school radio (find your local station on the next page). You may also listen on a GTL tablet’s FM radio app. Both programs will air on NPR (National Public Radio) stations all across Illinois. Please note that some correctional facilities have spotty or no radio coverage! We are aware of this and are working to address it. Please let us know if your facility gets coverage! Either way, it helps us to map out where we can and can't reach folks.

Facility	IPR station
Big Muddy River Correctional Center	WSIU, 91.9FM, 90.3FM, 88.9FM + WILL, 580AM
Centralia Correctional Center	WSIU, 91.9FM, 90.3FM, 88.9FM + WILL, 580AM
Danville Correctional Center	WILL, 90.9FM + 580AM
Decatur Correctional Center	WUIS, 91.9FM + WILL, 90.9FM + WILL, 580AM + WGLT, 89.1FM
Dixon Correctional Center	WNIJ, 89.5FM, 89.1FM, 90.5FM, 91.3FM + WVIK, 90.3FM, WILL 580AM
East Moline Correctional Center	WVIK, 90.3FM + WILL, 580AM
Graham Correctional Center	WUIS, 91.9FM, 89.3FM + WILL 90.9FM + 580AM
Hill Correctional Center	WCBU, 89.9FM + WILL, 580AM + WIUM, 91.3FM, 89.5FM, 90.7FM
Illinois River Correctional Center	WCBU, 89.9FM + WGLT, 89.1FM, WUIS, 91.9FM + WILL, 580AM + WIUM, 91.3FM, 89.5FM, 90.7FM
Jacksonville Correctional Center	WUIS, 91.9FM + WILL, 90.9FM, 580AM + WIUM, 91.3FM, 89.5FM, 90.7FM
Kewanee Life Skills Re-Entry Center	WVIK, 90.3FM + WILL, 580AM + WIUM, 90.7FM + WCBU, 89.9FM
Lawrence Correctional Center	WSIU, 91.9FM, 90.3FM, 88.9FM + WILL, 580AM
Lincoln Correctional Center	WUIS, 91.9FM + WILL, 90.9FM, 580AM + WCBU, 89.9FM + WGLT, 89.1FM
Logan Correctional Center	WUIS, 91.9FM + WILL, 90.9FM, 580AM + WCBU, 89.9FM + WGLT, 89.1FM
Menard Correctional Center	WSIU, 91.9FM, 90.3FM, 88.9FM
Murphysboro Life Skills Re-Entry Center	WSIU, 91.9FM, 90.3FM, 88.9FM
Pinckneyville Correctional Center	WSIU, 91.9FM, 90.3FM, 88.9FM + WILL, 580AM
Pontiac Correctional Center	WILL, 90.9FM, 580AM + WCBU, 89.9FM + WGLT, 89.1FM + WBEZ, 90.7FM + WNIJ, 91.3FM
Robinson Correctional Center	WSIU, 91.9FM, 90.3FM, 88.9FM + WILL, 580AM
Shawnee Correctional Center	WSIU, 91.9FM, 90.3FM, 88.9FM
Sheridan Correctional Center	WNIJ, 89.5FM, 90.5FM + WBEZ, 90.7FM + WILL, 580AM
Southwestern Illinois Correctional Center	WILL, 580AM
Stateville Correctional Center	WBEZ 91.5FM, 91.1FM + WILL, 580AM
Taylorville Correctional Center	WUIS, 91.9FM + WILL, 90.9FM, 580AM
Vandalia Correctional Center	WILL, 580AM + WUIS, 91.9FM + WSIU, 90.3FM
Vienna Correctional Center	WSIU, 91.9FM, 90.3FM, 88.9FM
Western Illinois Correctional Center	WUIS, 91.9FM, 89.3FM + WIUM, 91.3FM, 89.5FM, 90.7FM

Johnson's latest budget proposal has no property tax hike, cuts 10 jobs from his office

2024-12-15T16:06:02.989-06:00

Mayor Brandon Johnson is now offering to eliminate a revised $68.5 million property tax increase and cut 10 jobs from the mayor’s office in hopes of ending Chicago’s marathon budget stalemate.

With just over two weeks to go before the Dec. 31 deadline that would trigger an unprecedented government shutdown, the Johnson administration spent Sunday briefing small groups of alderpersons on his latest offer.

It calls for:

The twice-revised $68.5 million property tax increase to be eliminated altogether.

Skipping a $40 million payment on a loan taken out to buy the site of the since-demolished Michael Reese Hospital. That land was to be used for an Olympic village had Chicago landed the 2016 Summer Games.

$10 million in “cost recovery” by charging organizers of “ticketed events” for police and traffic services. Over the years, the city has attempted to recover costs from professional sports teams but failed miserably.

$5 million in unspecified energy savings.

$8 million in public safety cuts, presumably by eliminating police vacancies.

$1 million in savings by eliminated 10 jobs from his own office budget. The mayor's office budget has ballooned under Johnson and his predecessor, Lori Lightfoot.

$2.8 million in savings by putting the city’s bloated bureaucracy on a diet by eliminating middle-management jobs in city departments, including deputy commissioners and their assistants.

The mayor still appears to be resisting any layoffs or furlough days.

Johnson’s original proposal of a $300 million tax hike was unanimously rejected by the City Council. The mayor’s subsequent offers to cut the increase in half — to $150 million — then settle for $68.5 million also fell at least seven votes short of the 26 required for passage.

It’s not at all clear whether the embattled mayor’s latest offer will be enough to get his $17.3 billion budget over the finish line.

ANALYSIS: Mayor Johnson must consider ideas he had ruled out

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), Johnson’s hand-picked Public Safety Committee Chair, characterized the proposal as “tinkering at the margins.”

Hopkins said he doesn’t trust the sources of revenue Johnson hopes to use to replace the $68.5 million property tax levy.

He was particularly troubled by skipping the Reese payment, given that the budget already is precariously balanced with one-time revenues, including savings generated by a massive refinancing.

“We’ll be downgraded for that,” Hopkins said, referring to the all-important bond rating that determines city borrowing costs.

In a text message to the Sun-Times, Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Andre Vasquez (40th) said skipping the Reese payment could cost the city several million dollars.

Skipping a Reese payment is "crying uncle," Hopkins said. "That’s just admitting that we are out of ideas."

How we got here: 2025 city budget

Dec. 13: Mayor Brandon Johnson calls off vote on 2025 city budget

Dec. 10: City budget with $68.5M property tax hike squeak through committees

Dec. 5: City Council majority demands Johnson make deeper spending cuts

Nov. 19: Johnson accuses critics of ‘tantrums,’ says it’s time they ‘grow up’

Nov. 14: City Council unanimously kills proposed $300M property tax increase

Oct. 30: Mayor Johnson unveils $17.3B city budget, proposes steep property tax increase

Johnson deserves credit for “doing one thing we asked him to do” by holding the line on property taxes as he promised to do during the mayoral campaign. But that “doesn’t automatically mean” he is prepared to support a budget that still includes “very little cutting," Hopkins said.

“This is barely denting the surface” of a city budget that has at least 30 percent more full-time employees than it did pre-pandemic, he said. “We have loaded up this city with more new employees — and they’re everywhere. Many of them were funded with ARPA funds. The ARPA funds are gone. We cannot bake them into the budget going forward. It’s not sustainable.”

Southwest Side Ald. Marty Quinn (13th), one of the mayor’s most outspoken Council critics, said the mayor’s latest offer doesn’t “do enough to get the structure right” in preparation for even bigger shortfalls next year and the year after.

“We have to continue to press the envelope on right-sizing,” Quinn said.

“As a Council, we’re just scratching the surface to gain our independence. Let's continue to push the envelope. We're solidifying ourselves as co-equal."

Ald. Brendan Reilly and other members of the “Common Sense Caucus” address reporters in the hallway outside the City Council chambers on Friday after the Council recessed for the day.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Ald. Maria Hadden (49th), the other co-chair of the Progressive Caucus, refused to comment Sunday while awaiting their budget briefings. Ald. Walter Burnett (27th), the Council's dean and vice mayor who also serves as Johnson's de-facto floor leader, did not return phone calls or text messages.

Hopkins said he's uncertain the mayor's latest offer would get 26 votes. The Council recessed its Friday meeting and is expected to reconvene at 1 p.m. Monday.

"So many of the Progressive colleagues seem to just hang their hat on the property tax increase. They didn't want to be on the hook for it. Now, they're not on the hook for it," Hopkins said.

"The mayor's trying to cut deals [by saying], `We took away the property tax increase. Here's your field house. Here's whatever else you wanted.' So he may get to close that gap" and pass a budget.

Johnson had called off a vote scheduled for Friday when, after days of frenzied lobbying, he still had only 19 rock-solid votes.

A raucous day at City Hall Friday included a packed hallway news conference by members of calling themselves the "Common Sense Caucus," demanding more cuts.

“We’re going to tell the departments, ‘Here’s your budget from 2020, plus the cost of inflation going forward. That’s your number. Figure it out,’” said Ald. Anthony Beale (9th).

Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) speaks during a Chicago City Council meeting at City Hall Friday.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) said he could even be willing to consider eliminating Chicago Police Department vacancies. That funding for vacant CPD jobs often is used to cover overtime. Cutting them this year "is a fair compromise to allow us to plug this gap with the implicit understanding that we could come back and restore those [police] positions next year,” Reilly said.

The search for more votes is all but certain to require the mayor to scrap other ideas he had tried to save, such as spending $50 million to create 2,000 more summer youth jobs, or making an additional $270 million payment toward city pensions. Canceling that payment likely would hurt the city's credit rating. But so could a protracted budget battle.

Civic Federation President Joe Ferguson has estimated all it would take to get Johnson’s $17.3 billion budget over the finish line is $150 million worth of cuts.

That may sound like a lot, but, Ferguson noted, the city’s budget is 47% higher than it was pre-pandemic, not counting pension costs.

“To say there is no option in the way of … workforce reductions [and] shared sacrifice is just not playing ball with folks that are trying to come to some form of common ground."

Biden commutes sentences of 2 Illinois megafraudsters

2024-12-15T08:40:56.993-06:00

A disgraced ex-municipal comptroller who embezzled nearly $54 million from her northwest Illinois city received a commutation from President Joe Biden on Thursday, wiping out about four years in a residential reentry program remaining on her sentence for the staggering financial crime.

Former Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell was among a record-high 1,499 people to receive commutations in a single day from the outgoing president, a list that also included another infamous Illinois fraudster: Eric Bloom, who bilked investors out of more than $665 million in the biggest financial fraud case ever tried in Chicago.

Bloom, formerly of Northbrook, had another 1½ years to go on his reentry program until the wave of commutations from the White House, which focused on criminals who had been released from prison and placed on home confinement early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden also pardoned 39 people, including a clean slate for one Illinoisan: 51-year-old Diana Bazan Villanueva of La Grange, convicted of a nonviolent drug crime when she was in her 20s.

“In the years since, Ms. Villanueva has been a dedicated mother to her children and has worked in payroll and accounts,” the White House said in a statement. “Ms. Villanueva also regularly volunteers at school events, fundraisers, and annual autism-related charitable events. Friends and coworkers uniformly praise Ms. Villanueva and describe her as warm, reliable, and always eager to help.”

Villanueva couldn’t be reached for comment.

Pardons — a power granted presidents and typically exercised late in their terms — clear a person’s criminal record. Commutations reduce sentences but don’t exonerate people of crimes.

The White House didn’t elaborate on the commutations for Crundwell or Bloom.

Dixon Mayor Glen Hughes said, “Most of the city is probably stunned, and maybe even angry, that President Biden would provide clemency to Rita Crundwell, the perpetrator of probably the largest municipal misappropriations of funds in U.S. history.”

“The Crundwell incident is one that the City would like to move past,” Hughes said in an email. “Although today’s news will be a dark moment in Dixon’s history, Dixon has recovered very nicely both financially, and developmentally, from the Crundwell days.”

Crundwell, 71, captured national headlines for her brazen misconduct at the expense of taxpayers in Dixon, a city of 15,000 about 100 miles west of Chicago.

She was handed a 19-year sentence in 2013 after pleading guilty to stealing more than $53.7 million from Dixon while serving as comptroller between 1990 and 2011, siphoning roughly $2.5 million per year from city accounts to her own.

The windfall funded a championship-winning horse breeding business, classic cars and a lavish lifestyle for Crundwell, who also bought a house in Florida and four dozen trucks.

Rita Crundwell and her horse, Pizzazzy Lady, at the 2011 American Quarter Horse Association World Championship Show in Oklahoma City.

By the time she was sentenced, the feds had recovered about $12.4 million for Dixon, the childhood hometown of President Ronald Reagan.

Before she was released from the medium-security federal prison in downstate Pekin in 2021, Crundwell wrote in a letter seeking compassionate release that she “had several offers for books and movies. My reply has always been I would not speak to anyone until I was released and any remuneration would go first to the city of Dixon.”

Bloom defrauded investors

Bloom, 59, got a 14-year sentence in 2015 for wire and investment adviser fraud as head of Sentinel Management Group Inc., which used customers’ money to take out a massive loan for Bloom’s own risky portfolio, which crashed.

Bloom strung along key investors in 2003 by artificially boosting their returns at the expense of less favored clients, costing them all more than half a billion dollars by the time the scheme fell apart in 2007.

Eric Bloom leaves the Dirksen Federal Building after being found guilty in 2014.

Michael Schmidt/Sun-Times Media

Prosecutors declared it the largest financial fraud case ever prosecuted in Chicago’s federal court.

Before the commutations, Crundwell and Bloom were registered at residential reentry management field offices — better known as halfway houses — in Downers Grove and Miami, respectively, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons, but it wasn’t clear where either has been living.

Crundwell previously suggested she could live with her brother on his farm in Dixon.

The Biden administration granted thousands of prisoners compassionate release early in the pandemic to help slow the spread of the virus in prisons, which proved to be major vectors for COVID-19.

Before Thursday’s record-setting 1,538 clemency grants, the previous high was set by former President Barack Obama in 2017, when he pardoned or commuted sentences for 330 people.

Biden could grant more clemency petitions before his term ends next month.

Contributing: Associated Press

Chicago City Hall ouster exposes rift in mayor’s environmental mission

2024-12-15T05:00:00-06:00

For almost three years, Raed Mansour has been the city’s top official investigating two major health threats to Chicagoans: air pollution and extreme heat.

Moving ahead on a plan to install about 140 air pollution sensors across the city — at a cost of almost $1 million — Mansour invited more than a dozen community members from some of the most polluted neighborhoods to see the devices and help assemble them at a North Side city warehouse in early November.

But on Nov. 7, just one day before unpacking the monitors, the group was told Mansour was no longer working for the city, a significant setback for the first large city-run, community-focused pollution monitoring effort. Mansour was forced out in a political move that is exposing a division over Mayor Brandon Johnson’s public health departments’ priorities, particularly related to the environment.

The air program was expected to get up and running early next year, a goal that is now indefinitely delayed, though Johnson’s top health official says it will get done. The sensors detect fine particle pollution and nitrogen dioxide, which is a common pollutant from cars, trucks and factories.

Mansour’s ouster is the type of behind-the-scenes politics that would’ve been largely overlooked had it not been flagged by community advocates who knew how integral he was to an air-quality assessment that they deemed important. The devices are a step toward understanding how air pollution can significantly fluctuate in low-income communities of color.

Earlier this year, Raed Mansour of the Chicago Department of Public Health attended a White House summit on extreme heat. His recent ouster was a shock to advocates who worked with him on heat and air pollution research.

Chicago Department of Public Health

"Those monitors could be utilized in our community rather than collecting dust," says Cheryl Johnson, executive director of People for Community Recovery in Riverdale on the Far Southeast Side. "When the city makes the commitment to provide resources, make it happen. In our community, we’ve been waiting over 30 years for air monitors."

Johnson said her team had an "excellent" relationship with Mansour and that she was sad to see him go.

Low-income communities in Chicago and across the United States have been hit the hardest by bad air quality, leading to respiratory illnesses and lower life expectancies than more affluent areas. While city health officials dismiss concerns about the delay of the program, advocates say the monitors are critical to informing elected officials on a life-threatening problem.

Southwest Side is hottest part of Chicago during summer, climate study finds

Trust is broken

For Alfredo Romo, executive director of McKinley Park group Neighbors for Environmental Justice, advocacy is seriously personal. A survivor of a rare cancer, his Southwest Side community is inundated with pollution from large diesel-fueled trucks that travel to and from dozens of warehouses and intermodal facilities. Air quality is bad, he says.

Romo has been hesitant to trust city officials, though he agreed to partner on the air project, he says.

That trust in the city was broken after Mansour was pushed out.

"We are community partners in this project," Romo says. "I’m troubled."

As a candidate for mayor, Brandon Johnson attended a service by Horace Smith, pastor at Apostolic Faith Church in Bronzeville in April 2023. Johnson has nominated Smith to lead the Chicago Board of Health.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times file

The friction began with a presentation to an advisory panel, the Chicago Board of Health, on Oct. 30. Mansour presented an already funded plan that involves participation from at least half a dozen community organizations representing Little Village, McKinley Park, multiple Southeast Side neighborhoods and other areas affected by air pollution.

Smith, a pediatrics specialist, Bronzeville pastor and longtime board member whom Mayor Johnson nominated to lead the health panel, questioned Mansour on the program, asking why it was necessary and suggested money could be better spent elsewhere.

When Mansour said he disagreed with Smith, the staffer was admonished by Fikirte Wagaw, first deputy commissioner of the health department.

From there, records show another high-ranking official, Deputy Commissioner Maribel Chavez-Torres, demanded a meeting with Mansour over "inappropriate" comments at the meeting. Dave Graham, director of environmental health and safety compliance, was copied on the message.

Chicago Public Health Commissioner Olusimbo Ige sent an email to the board apologizing for "harm that the interaction may have caused." Ige also called Smith to apologize, according to Smith.

"It wasn’t that big of a deal," Smith said in an interview, relaying what he told Ige. "She said, 'He’s going to probably resign,'" Smith said, referring to Ige and Mansour.

Smith said his comments at the board meeting weren’t meant to diminish the need for air monitoring. He said he was expressing an opinion that there were other important health issues, including access to fresh food and medical care, that the city could fund.

"My point is if you ask Horace Smith how should money be utilized, air monitoring would not be my first priority," he said.

Smith, 75, is the longest-serving member of the health board and the only person Brandon Johnson has nominated to continue. Near the end of his campaign for mayor in early 2023, Johnson appeared with Smith at his church, Apostolic Faith Church, 3823 S. Indiana Ave.

As a board member and potentially the panel’s next president, Smith gives advice to both the mayor and Ige on public health matters.

"For me, it sounded like a healthy exchange," said board member Carmen Vergara, who was present for the discussion between Smith and Mansour. "We need to hear from the staff, and these are the kind of conversations we should be having."

Mansour forced out

Emails, obtained through open records requests from Anthony Moser with Neighbors for Environmental Justice and shared with the Sun-Times, show Mansour was under pressure from his public health bosses before he resigned.

Forcing Mansour out, in turn, halted the air monitoring, Moser says.

"It’s just a real head-scratcher," Moser says. "I don’t understand why they were so adamant about hitting the brakes" on the air sensors.

Olusimbo Ige, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, says a plan to install more than 100 air pollution monitors across the city will continue even after the departure of the person leading the effort.

Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times

Ige, who was appointed by Johnson last year for her expertise on mental health, says the air monitoring will go forward, though she cannot say when.

"We are committed to a participatory process, but we have to map all the stakeholders that need to be a part of this process. We want to make sure that people understand what these data will be used for," Ige says. "We’re not worried about the work continuing because one staff person transitioned."

In an interview, Ige also referred to the monitoring as a "pilot" program with a short shelf life.

"We have one or two years to pilot this and say 'well, is this a good way to get communities more involved in environmental issues?'"

The air monitors network is actually written into a settlement agreement between the city and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development over a civil rights complaint that accused Chicago of environmental racism.

Chicago, HUD settle environmental racism case as Lori Lightfoot leaves office

The air monitoring project has been underway for two years with the help of at least half a dozen community organizations.

The argument for air monitoring is to identify areas of the city that are overburdened with pollution and then to find solutions to help residents in those areas, often low-income communities of color on the West Side and across the South Side.

The air sensors will be the first across the city since Microsoft ended its 100-monitor network in March 2023. The tech giant gave no reason for ending what was deemed a pilot project.

Having learned from Microsoft’s experience, Mansour worked with community groups to get their input. For instance, the Microsoft network was limited in parts of the city and did not provide monitoring on the heavily industrial Southeast Side.

It was a unique collaboration, according to those involved.

City announces plan to expand air pollution monitoring, cut greenhouse gases by 60%

Air monitors are necessary to address serious air quality issues in Chicago, says Dr. Howard Ehrman, a former assistant health commissioner under Mayor Harold Washington.

"That’s part of fixing the problem," he says.

Ehrman, who watched a livestream of the October meeting during Mansour's presentation, said he witnessed a "dialogue between the two that was strong but nothing inappropriate."

He says he’s glad that Ige is committing to continuing the program and urges community members to hold her accountable.

Air, heat and trees

Mansour’s role at the city extended beyond air quality.

He was the health department’s lead on studying extreme heat, which scientists have attributed to climate change, and he was instrumental in planting thousands of trees. Mansour worked with multiple city departments to plant more trees, especially in areas that had been barren for decades.

Mansour declined to comment for this article but provided a statement saying that he was proud of the work on air and other issues with community participation.

"This work, like the heat and tree planting initiatives I was asked to co-lead on behalf of the city, was a collaborative community-driven effort focused on addressing environmental disparities in our most vulnerable communities," the statement said. "I was humbled and privileged to work on these projects that the community and the city entrusted me with and turn the voice of community concerns into action together."

Daniel Horton, an associate professor at Northwestern University’s Climate Change Research Group, says Mansour’s work on air quality put Chicago in a position to be a leader among U.S. cities in tracking pollution in poor areas.

"The loss is a huge blow to better understanding and protecting the public health of the people of Chicago," says Horton, who also worked closely with Mansour on understanding how intense summer heat affects parts of the city differently.

Cheryl Johnson, who leads People for Community Recovery, says the city must keep its promise to install air monitors in Chicago’s most polluted neighborhoods.

Anthony Vazquez / Sun-Times file

Cheryl Johnson has been advocating for cleaner air for decades. She inherited her job as an environmental advocate from her mother, Hazel Johnson, a legendary activist.

The air sensors, she says, are absolutely necessary toward fixing environmental racism in Chicago’s Black and Brown neighborhoods.

"The goal was to make sure industry is in compliance," Johnson says. "Anytime you interrupt my quality of life because I can’t breathe — that’s a problem."

Property records raise new questions about influential Cook County judge

2024-12-14T08:07:16.051-06:00

As the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board investigates powerful Cook County Judge E. Kenneth Wright Jr. for claiming improper property tax exemptions in Will County, a new Injustice Watch examination raises ethical questions about Wright’s Chicago property holdings.

The investigation revealed Wright obtained four properties through the estates of his former law clients, sometimes serving as a beneficiary and an executor of the estates. In two cases, records show, his dead former clients filed property tax appeals on property owned by Wright — one more than two decades after the client’s death.

Records also show Wright repeatedly failed to disclose ownership in some of his Chicago properties in required ethics statements.

E. Kenneth Wright

And now, two families of his deceased former clients have come forward in interviews with Injustice Watch to claim Wright took advantage of his position of trust — in one case, by allegedly engaging in an overly familiar relationship with a law client before she died, and in the other, allegedly betraying the wishes of a longtime friend.

“He did this underhanded,” said Deborah Elligan, 75, the daughter-in-law of deceased Wright client Lydia Adams, who signed a will enabling Wright to buy her home at a discount.

Wright, 83, declined numerous requests to be interviewed and did not respond to detailed emails outlining the allegations in this story.

The loyal Democrat was tapped to become a judge in 1994 and rose to become a highly respected presiding judge overseeing dozens of colleagues in Cook County Circuit Court's 1st Municipal District. Before joining the judiciary, he was a solo practitioner handling mostly estates.

The investigation — which included thousands of pages of land and court records, interviews with surviving relatives of his deceased former law clients and consultation with legal scholars who suggest the judge may have breached his ethical obligations — revealed how little scrutiny Wright’s background and finances faced as he rose to prominence in the Cook County judiciary.

An obituary photo from Lydia Adams’ April 16, 1992 death.

Courtesy of Deborah Elligan

This year — as Wright faced a retention vote in the Nov. 5 election — Injustice Watch flagged his residency conflict during a routine background search for its judicial election guide. The search found Wright had a general homestead exemption on his Joliet ranch house since at least 2005 and another senior citizen tax exemption on that property since 2018.

Officials at the office of the Illinois Secretary of State also confirmed Wright’s driver’s license has listed the same Joliet address since 1977. The Illinois Constitution requires judges to live in the jurisdiction where they serve, and state law allows homeowners to benefit from tax exemptions only on their principal residence.

Law professors who examined the facts surrounding how Wright obtained his properties said courts generally prohibit estate lawyers from engaging in business transactions with their clients because such dealings suggest undue influence, financial exploitation or perhaps even fraud.

“Anytime an estate planning attorney receives a substantial gift from a client’s will, it raises potential ethical and legal issues,” said Peter Wendel, a law professor at Pepperdine University. “An attorney who engages in such conduct has a lot of explaining to do.”

Another Wright client, Elmer Scott, ran a Morgan Park hardware store and owned several South Side properties until his death in 2006 at age 84. During the 1990s, records show Wright represented Scott in property and probate matters. But their friendship — and Wright’s legal advice — continued after Wright became a judge, according to Rose Scott, 79, Scott’s widow.

The former home of Elmer and Rose Scott at 11247 S. Vincennes Ave.

David Jackson / Injustice Watch

Rose Scott said she followed Wright’s guidance because she trusted her former husband’s friend and attorney and was unsure how to assert her rights in court.

She said she was shocked to learn Wright took title to her husband’s former home.

“People with titles and positions are expected to do right by others, but as soon as his [Elmer Scott’s] eyes were closed, this person starts raking in,” she said.

In 2003, Cook County Circuit Chief Judge Timothy Evans appointed Wright as the presiding judge of Cook County’s 1st Municipal District, putting him in charge of more than 40 other judges in Chicago’s housing, evictions and small claims courts.

After Injustice Watch’s initial October report on Wright’s residency conflict, he told leading bar associations his Will County property tax exemptions were inappropriate, and he had moved to revoke them. Will County officials confirmed Wright had corrected the record and eliminated the exemptions.

The Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association advised a “no” vote for Wright’s retention to the bench, and both groups are now reviewing how they evaluate judges’ performance and fitness for office.

The conflict nearly cost Wright his job, but he narrowly won retention in the November election.

To read the full Injustice Watch investigation, please go here.

David Jackson reports for Injustice Watch, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit journalism organization.

Injustice Watch Reporter Kelly Garcia contributed.

Cook County official Samantha Steele tried to 'escape' after alleged DUI crash, 911 caller said

2024-12-13T16:20:48.362-06:00

A Cook County elected official tried to flee the scene of a crash she allegedly caused while driving drunk last month in Andersonville, according to a 911 caller who told a dispatcher the driver was clearly intoxicated.

Samantha Steele, a Democratic member of the obscure but influential Cook County Board of Review, is facing a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence following the Nov. 11 crash in the 5000 block of North Ashland Avenue.

No one was injured in the collision, but two parked cars were damaged, and Steele’s Honda was left inoperable. Still, she allegedly tried to take off before police arrived at the scene.

“She’s trying to turn her wheels and escape, but her car is messed up. She’s not going anywhere. She’s been talking about she doesn’t want to deal with this,” Dylan Roh told a 911 dispatcher, describing Steele as “drunk” and “messed up.”

In an interview, Roh and his partner Eli Montemayor recalled they were preparing to put their child to sleep when they heard the crash, ran to their window and realized their car had been struck. Montemayor, who uses they/them pronouns, said they rushed outside and found Steele sitting in her car.

“Immediately, it was really clear to me that she was under the influence of something,” Montemayor said. “Her eyes were kind of like rolling back into her head and … there was a really long delay between her answers to me, like it looked like my words weren’t really landing.”

Montemayor said Steele eventually indicated she wanted to leave after Montemayor tried to swap insurance information. “She was like, ‘I don’t really want to deal with this. Can I go?’ ” Montemayor recalled.

Dylan Roh (left) and Eli Montemayor assess some of the wreckage left behind after Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele was involved in a crash in the 5000 block of North Ashland.

Tom Schuba/Sun-Times

A short time later, Montemayor and Roh said they separately witnessed Steele turning her car’s steering wheel in what they viewed as attempts to flee. Roh said he saw Steele’s Honda “jerk” forward about 2 feet, but the serious damage to her car likely prevented her from driving away.

Montemayor said they were “genuinely a little bit mind-blown” to learn Steele holds public office.

“This is an elected official who very easily could have killed one of the people who could have elected her,” Montemayor said. “She serves constituents who are nearby — like, that was insane.”

When police responded to Roh's call, Steele made sure the officers knew she was a politician.

One officer told her, “Ma’am, if you don’t exit the vehicle. … I’m going to help you to exit, and you don’t want that.”

“You don’t want that! I’m an elected official,” Steele allegedly shot back.

“Elected official of what?” the officer asked.

“Cook County,” Steele told him.

When the officer asked for her name, Steele held out her hand and said, “I’m Sam.”

The cop replied, “Sam who?” But Steele did not give the police her full name at that point.

Despite several requests, Steele would not initially provide officers with her driver’s license or get out of the car.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, she drank from what seemed to be a water bottle and used her cellphone to call the person she described many times as her attorney — Democratic Cook County Commissioner Scott Britton of Glenview. She gave only her driver’s license to police and left the car after Britton advised her over the phone to do so.

Cook County Commissioner Scott R. Britton, seen at a board meeting of the Cook County Forest Preserve at the County Building on Dec. 17, 2019, has said he is not a defense attorney and will not be representing Samantha Steele in her case.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file

After Britton arrived at the scene, Steele said she was not drinking from a half-empty bottle of wine that was found in the car. Britton interjected: “Don’t say anything. Don’t say anything.”

Two days after the arrest, Britton said he was not a defense attorney and would not be representing Steele in her case.

The attorney Steele has hired, John Fotopoulos, declined to comment for this story. Fotopoulos has filed a motion seeking to prevent Steele’s driver’s license from being suspended — a move that was ordered based on her refusal to submit to a sobriety test.

Steele’s initial court appearance is set for Dec. 27.

Meanwhile, Steele continues to serve on a three-member board that has the power to rule on property tax appeals, effectively reducing tax bills. An Evanston resident, she represents the board’s district covering much of Chicago’s North Side and its northern suburbs.

Amid calls for her resignation, she appeared virtually earlier this month at the board’s first public meeting since she was arrested.

The Rundown: Millions budgeted for ghost cops

2024-12-13T15:45:00-06:00

Good afternoon! It’s finally Friday, and temperatures are expected to be mild again this weekend. Here’s what else you need to know today.

1. As Mayor Brandon Johnson struggles to balance Chicago’s budget, he’s reserving millions for cops who’ll never be hired

The mayor’s budget recommendation, now scheduled for a City Council vote next Wednesday, includes 1,056 vacant sworn-officer positions, on top of the 11,661 cops employed by CPD as of last month. Factoring in the usual pace of retirements and resignations, actually filling all those positions would take a police hiring surge like few the city has ever seen, my colleague Chip Mitchell reports for WBEZ.

CPD hiring has not substantially outpaced the department’s attrition for six years. That means most of the funds set aside by Johnson for those additional police salaries are destined to be spent on other things.

Some public health advocates have pushed for these salaries to be shifted to public health programs, youth jobs and a guaranteed income pilot that is on the chopping block.

The practice of budgeting for officers who will never be hired isn’t new. Lori Lightfoot, mayor from 2019 to 2023, set aside funds for hundreds of ghost cops in each of her four annual budgets. The 2022 version marked a high point for those funded vacancies: 1,566. Hundreds of ghost cops appeared in all eight of former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s city budgets and in many of former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s too. [WBEZ]

2. City Council members are complaining about what Mayor Johnson’s budget proposal lacks

Some alderpersons say the budget should include more spending cuts rather than increases to property taxes, my WBEZ colleague Mariah Woelfel reports.

The budget slated for a vote today was the mayor’s third attempt at a proposal that could satisfy at least 26 council members. The main sticking point has been a property tax increase Johnson has said is necessary to avoid layoffs or cuts amid a nearly $1 billion deficit. The current proposal includes a $68.5 million hike — far from the $300 million hike Johnson initially proposed.

Some council members want to slash vacant positions, and others wish to prioritize cutting services to avoid tax increases.

Opposition spans the political spectrum, including from those in Johnson’s own progressive wing. Ald. Maria Hadden, 49th Ward, a progressive who was going to vote “yes” on the budget, ultimately blamed the delay on the fact that “the fifth floor can’t get relationships together.”

The delay pushes the city closer to a Dec. 31 deadline to pass the budget and heightens the risk of entering the unchartered territory of a government shutdown. [WBEZ]

3. The growth of Chicago area data centers is taking off with no signs of a slowdown

Chicago has emerged as one of the top U.S. markets for the facilities, attracting the industry’s biggest players — but they require a lot of electricity, my colleague Abby Miller reports.

The centers help power the tech behind everything from online shopping to scheduling dentist appointments.

Industry experts say Chicago and nearby suburbs will continue to be an industry powerhouse, with 30 projects planned over the next five years.

4. President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of two Illinois mega-fraudsters

Ex-Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell, who stole $54 million from the northwest Illinois city, and ex-Northbrook CEO Eric Bloom, who lost his investors more than half a billion, saw their federal sentences slashed, Mitchell Armentrout writes for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Biden also pardoned 39 people, including a clean slate for one Illinoisan: 51-year-old Diana Bazan Villanueva of La Grange, convicted of a nonviolent drug crime when she was in her 20s.

Pardons — a power granted presidents and typically exercised late in their terms — clear a person’s criminal record. Commutations reduce sentences but don’t exonerate people of crimes. [Chicago Sun-Times]

5. PAWS Chicago is looking for homes for 200 pets by the end of the year

As part of the effort, the shelter is holding a holiday adopt-a-thon today through Dec. 21, Block Club Chicago reports.

Appointments are recommended for prospective adopters, but walk-ins are welcome. All household members are required to be present when adopting.

“When you adopt, you’re not only saving a life, but also making room to save even more pets in need,” Paula Fasseas, PAWS Chicago founder and executive chair, said in a news release. “Adopting a pet during the holidays brings unconditional love and joy into your home, creating lasting memories for both you and your new companion.” [Block Club Chicago]

Here’s what else is happening

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was injured during a trip abroad. [NPR]
An American released from a Syrian prison was flown out of the country, a U.S. official said. [AP]
Stanley recalled about 2.6 million travel mugs because of an issue with the lids. [NPR]
Here’s how to watch the Geminids meteor shower this weekend. [Chicago Tribune]

Oh, and one more thing …

Chance the Snapper, the alligator caught in the Humboldt Park Lagoon in 2019, has grown to 7 feet, 1 inch — and he’s helping scientists study cancer, Block Club Chicago reports.

A nonprofit started by Frank Robb, who caught the alligator, has been collaborating with a lab at the University of Louisville to study how alligators avoid chemical-induced cancer.

Researchers have been using Chance the Snapper’s measurements and blood samples as part of a control group in the study. [Block Club Chicago]

Tell me something good …

What encounters have you had with wild animals in the Chicago area?

Nora writes:

“One early morning this April I was startled awake around 2am to the sounds of screaming. I was absolutely terrified. I was pretty sure it was an animal (possibly one dying) but I had never heard any sound like it before. The scream would sound for a few seconds, pause and then start up again — it sounded like it was coming from right outside of my bedroom window.

I peeked through my window blinds trying to find the source of the screams but didn’t see anything. I then went to the front room and pulled back the curtains to see a fox on my front lawn…screaming. The fox turned his head, made direct eye contact with me and opened his mouth to let out a long scream! I stood there and stared at him screaming for several minutes before he trotted into the street and, no lie, started to hop onto the roofs of parked cars, one by one.

I watched laughing for bit and then tried to go back to bed. It was pretty hard after being jarred awake by violent screaming only minutes before.

I had managed to fall asleep but when 4am came around I was woken up again to the sound of the fox screaming again! I ran to the front window and there he was; screaming. He continued to scream for a bit and then, again, went into the street and hopped onto parked cars.

Even though I was slightly sleep deprived the next day, I remained extremely amused by what had happened. Mostly because I had finally found the answer to ‘What Does The Fox Say?’ ”

And Lindsay writes:

“While biking the lakefront South of Foster, I saw a falcon eating a rabbit. It pulled a long dangling strip of flesh or gut from the poor thing, and stared at me with it hanging from its beak. I must have said OMG a dozen times, it was so unsettling.”

Thanks for all the responses this week! I’m sorry I couldn’t include them all, but it was fun reading all your stories.

CPS officials propose saving 5 Acero charter schools

2024-12-13T14:13:01.701-06:00

A top Chicago Public Schools official is recommending closing only two of the seven Acero charter campuses slated to shut down, then considering whether to take over the other five schools in two years, arguing that could minimize the effects on families while erasing the charter organization’s financial deficit.

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That path was one of five options that CPS leaders presented to Board of Education members Thursday for how to address the proposed closings. Others included the school district taking over the operations of the publicly funded but privately managed charter schools, letting all of them close, or providing more funding to keep all seven schools open for at least two more years.

Several board meetings have been packed with Acero parents, students and staff decrying the closings — which would be Chicago’s largest since 50 were shuttered in 2013 — and asking the district to intervene.

School board members have also been highly critical of Acero — to the point that the charter network threatened legal action against the board last week for “defamatory” and “reckless” comments.

The board has demanded that CPS leaders come up with alternative solutions to the cited financial troubles of the Acero charter network.

But the Acero closings have become key fodder in the ongoing strife between Mayor Brandon Johnson and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, and Johnson’s handpicked board removed a CPS presentation of various solutions from a meeting agenda last month, frustrating district officials. That presentation happened at Thursday’s meeting instead.

“What we have heard from the families is that we should not close the campuses,” senior CPS official Alfonso Carmona told the Board of Education. “So when I think about [allowing Acero to close all seven schools] — the option we have historically done in the past for charter schools — that’s an option that honestly, in my opinion, should be taken out of the equation.”

But Acero’s projected financial deficits that have been cited in the decision to close the schools do require action, Carmona said.

Absorbing the schools into CPS could cost up to $28 million, he said. Alternatively, giving Acero more cash to keep running all seven would take around $3.2 million. But that would be a temporary solution for just one year, and it would create precedent that CPS would step in to provide more funding to charter operators facing financial hardship, officials said.

So Carmona recommended allowing the closure of the Paz campus in Little Village, a 98-student elementary school, and Cruz, a K-12 school in Rogers Park with 542 children. Carmona said those two schools are chief contributors to Acero’s projected financial deficit, which he predicted might entirely disappear if they closed. Under this plan, CPS would provide Acero with little to no additional money to keep operating the other five schools for two years, then consider taking them over in 2026.

It’s unclear whether Acero officials would agree to any of these plans. CPS and the school board don’t have the authority to force Acero to keep its schools open. But officials from both the district and charter operator have expressed a willingness to work together to find a solution.

The Board of Education didn’t vote on any of the five paths forward, but a few board members said they’d like to move quickly.

“Come as you are”: Chicago’s oldest Latino theater company spotlights Spanish-language theater

2024-12-13T13:11:30.113-06:00

Chicago has a large theater scene, but Aguijón Theater in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood is one of the city’s only establishments producing work in Spanish. For 35 years, the company has offered Spanish speakers opportunities to perform and see theater in their native language.

This winter, it’s presenting Adverses, a Latin-Caribbean retelling of the Greek tragedy Electra. The piece mixes Caribbean rhythms and Latin hits with a story about a mother and daughter competing for power and love.

Idalia Gutierrez has been seeing shows at the venue for 15 years. She calls Aguijón Theater a community gem.

“Aguijón just does a great job at telling people, ‘Come as you are,’ ” Gutierrez said.

Adverses runs through this weekend.

Anita Li is a freelancer and a journalism student at Northwestern University. You can contact her at anitali2025@u.northwestern.edu.

As Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson delays budget vote, City Council members complain about what the budget lacked

2024-12-13T12:30:21.358-06:00

A vote on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $17.3 billion spending plan for next year has been delayed until at least Monday after weeks of stiff headwinds that the mayor’s team determined they couldn’t yet overcome.

The delay pushes the city closer to a Dec. 31 deadline to pass the budget and heightens the risk of entering the unchartered territory of a government shutdown — though Johnson attempted to beat back fears of that possibility at a Friday afternoon news conference.

“The reality is we're very close, but we're still not there yet … I am still very optimistic that we will pass a balanced budget before the end of the year,” Johnson said, while also warning that failing to do so could mean a halt to services or pay for city workers. “We are not Congress. We don't mint money. If there is no budget by the end of the year, there's no appropriations for services to continue.”

The budget slated for a vote Friday was the mayor’s third attempt at a proposal that could satisfy at least 26 of the city’s council members. The main sticking point has been a politically unpopular property tax increase that Johnson has said is necessary to avoid layoffs or cuts amid a nearly $1 billion budget deficit. The current proposal includes a $68.5 million hike — a far cry from the $300 million hike Johnson initially proposed and then walked back.

Ald. Maria Hadden, 49th Ward, a progressive who was going to vote “yes” on the budget Friday, argued opponents of the budget who are dissatisfied with Johnson “just want to be oppositional.”

“They're upset with him,” she said. “I think this is some people in council just kind of flexing — if you want to go that route — on things that they feel like he hasn't compromised enough on, or he hasn't talked to them enough, or they feel disrespected, or they feel like he's not listening.”

But she noted that opposition to this budget proposal spans the political spectrum, including from those in Johnson’s own progressive wing. Hadden ultimately blamed the delay on the fact that “the fifth floor can't get relationships together.”

Ald. Jessie Fuentes, a progressive ally of Johnson’s, said she has a “moral obligation” to the residents of her working class 26th Ward not to raise property taxes. Fuentes is pushing for the mayor to instead cut roughly 1,100 vacant police positions from the budget, which healthcare advocates have estimated could save nearly $170 million, enough to forgo a property tax increase.

“There is money there to ensure that we can represent working families and not have to raise their taxes,” Fuentes said. “And there's going to be enough vacancies for us to be able to trim away at to pass a budget that is balanced.”

But Hadden argued Fuentes filed the amendment to cut those vacancies from the budget way too late — just days ago. It’s unclear if Johnson will consider the amendment or if it could get passed.

After the vote was delayed, some of the council’s most conservative members held a news conference to again push the mayor to cut services or find more efficiencies in order to avoid a property tax increase. The mayor has ruled out cuts to services such as garbage collection or street cleaning.

Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd Ward, said cutting police vacancies could be “part of the conversation” if they aren’t sworn officer positions.

“We'd have to focus on civilian positions and any position that can't be filled realistically in the next fiscal year, we could talk about that,” Reilly said. “I can tell you, most of the folks here standing today are 100% pro-public safety and pro-police, but that's part of the conversation.”

Johnson did not say whether he had already considered the specific proposal to cut police vacancies in his initial budget proposal, or whether he thinks his police superintendent Larry Snelling would agree to that plan. He said he would consider it over the weekend and joked that it wouldn’t be hard to find support for the idea — which he attributed to Reilly — from progressives on the council.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th Ward, admonished the administration for delaying Friday’s vote. He believes the budget proposal should be sent back to committee, not negotiated behind closed doors over the weekend.

“You're going to make a $68 million budget amendment, not explaining it to the council members. Where are you going to make up that difference?” said Villegas, who has argued against a property tax increase himself in favor of cuts and efficiencies.

“There's a lot of room to negotiate, and unfortunately, the administration doesn't want to negotiate,” Villegas said.

Johnson and the city’s attorney, Jeff Levine, said the current plan is to work around the clock over the weekend and pull the proposal back up for a vote on Monday, without sending any amendments through committee.

“We can take care of it on Monday,” Levine said. “The rules do allow for amendments in real time to the items that are currently sitting in the virtual sideline.”

Johnson’s team has made numerous compromises on his initial budget pitched in October. To offset the smaller property tax hike and with few progressive tax options to lean on, the Johnson administration relied on making an additional $90 million in spending cuts and raising $256 million in new revenue through a slew of other taxes and fees.

Taxes on everything from plastic checkout bags, streaming services and parking garages would increase under the current proposal. But the final budget notably leaves out previously proposed hikes on the city’s alcohol tax and garbage collection fees after City Council pushback.

The budget also repurposes $74 million in pandemic federal relief funds that were programmed for community initiatives — a move that budget officials previously frowned upon as a one-time fix. One of the programs being slashed is $31 million for a popular guaranteed basic income pilot that Johnson was expected to re-launch to issue a second round of $500 payments to low-income residents.

Hadden said though she didn’t like seeing those cuts, they allowed for a lower property tax increase and therefore won her over. But she added she was uncomfortable with the idea of Johnson casting a tiebreaking vote on the budget — which could have been the case had the administration pushed forward with a vote Friday.

“This is a collaborative exercise in consensus building, right? It's just as important how we do things is as important as what we do. Yes, we need to pass a balanced budget. We also need to work together as City Council to represent Chicago and their best interests,” Hadden said.

She added the city has the work together to face “possibly huge challenges facing us post [Donald] Trump inauguration.”

The delay on the budget vote came on a day the council was supposed to honor members of the transgender community who have died or been killed as a result of anti-trans hate. The resolution was not heard because the meeting was immediately delayed after it started.

Hadden noted the acrimony over the budget has distracted from those and other important issues in her ward.

“It's been frustrating to have a process extended unnecessarily,” Hadden said. “Every day that we're here, we're not doing things in our wards … I'm also not helping my constituents prepare for what's coming, whether it's the LGBT community, whether it's undocumented folks or documented immigrants. We have a lot of fears and concerns and anxieties about what's happening, and I don't have time to work on it, or to help people.”

Mariah Woelfel covers city politics and government for WBEZ.

Mayor Brandon Johnson calls off vote on 2025 city budget

2024-12-13T08:04:11.424-06:00

After a frantic search for votes that came up short, Mayor Brandon Johnson has called off Friday's vote on his 2025 budget — a vote he was destined to lose.

Even some members of the mayor's Progressive Caucus, including Alds. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd), Jessie Fuentes (26th) and Angela Clay (46th), were refusing to play along by passing a budget balanced with the help of a $68.5 million property tax and a slew of other taxes.

They may well have been afraid to go down with the ship. Johnson already was short of votes, and no one wanted to be on the losing side.

Johnson will now spend the next few days making additional changes in hopes of attracting the 26 votes needed to pass the budget at a meeting next Wednesday.

What's most surprising about Friday's embarrassing cancellation is that the vote had been scheduled at all. A central rule of politics is to never call for a vote you're destined to lose. Johnson never apparently had the votes, but set Friday's meeting in hopes of persuading those on the fence. He never had more than 19 rock-solid votes.

Fearful of a reduction in the city’s bond rating that could cost the city’s ability to borrow money, Johnson has steadfastly refused to reduce a big chunk of his budget: a $272 million pension advance payment, above the amount actuarially required.

But Wall Street is watching, and the marathon budget stalemate will likely cause that drop anyway. Shrinking the pension advance therefore becomes more likely.

How we got here: 2025 city budget

He also will need to consider deeper cuts in City Hall bureaucracy, even the layoffs he previously has ruled out.

Johnson has struggled to get the 26 votes he needed to pass the budget and revenue package, even after rewriting both several times.

The mayor originally proposed a $300 million property tax increase that broke his campaign promise to hold the line on property taxes, then agreed to cut it in half after the City Council took the extraordinary step of rejecting it by a unanimous vote.

Only then did he land on the $68.5 million increase, which matches the increase in the cost of living over the last two years.

He proposed a 34% increase in the liquor tax, then agreed to scrap altogether after an outcry from the hospitality industry and border ward alderpersons whose bars, restaurants and liquor stores could lose business to surrounding suburbs.

The mayor agreed to restore 162 Chicago Police jobs tied to implementing a consent decree outlining the terms of federal court oversight over the Chicago Police Department after Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul threatened to ask a judge to hold the city in contempt.

And he cut $90 million worth of spending from federal pandemic relief funds, in part by scrapping a second round of guaranteed basic income.

Johnson steadfastly refused to avoid layoffs of furlough days that would impact the unions that put him in office. Nor would he risk eliminating hundreds of police vacancies.

He also resisted calls to roll back city spending to pre-pandemic levels and cancel $50 million in new investment in youth jobs and his unified “One Shelter” program.

Instead, he cobbled together $256 million in taxes, fines and fees that beleaguered Chicago taxpayers would feel at multiple levels.

The $68.5 million property tax increase is expected to cost the owner of a home valued at $500,000 roughly $111.

The $1.878 billion property tax levy that includes the increase was lumped into the overall tax package for fear that Johnson would lose a vote on a standalone $68.5 million property tax increase.

In the past, the property tax levy has been a separate vote. Failing to do so could raise legal questions. And it may not comply with a state law that requires the city to notify property owners of the levy for the coming year at least 20 days before Dec. 31.

The budget also includes increased taxes on everything from cloud computing, streaming services and parking to downtown congestion and take-out bags.

The increase in the personal property lease tax — from 9% to 11% — on cars, business equipment, software and cloud computing is expected to generate $128 million. But, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce President Jack Lavin has condemned the increase as a “job-crushing head tax.”

He has accused Johnson of relying on a “nickel-and-dime approach” that will be felt by “every Chicago resident” already squeezed by rising cost of groceries, housing, health care and child care.

Chicago Mayor Johnson is reserving millions for cops who’ll never be hired

2024-12-13T05:00:00-06:00

As Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson struggles to close a 2025 budget gap using a bevy of tax hikes, he is following a path of previous mayors by setting aside funds for the salaries of hundreds of police officers he has no reasonable hope of hiring, a WBEZ analysis of city data has found.

Johnson said Friday afternoon he would work through the weekend to build support for his budget proposal in hopes of passing it Monday. That plan includes 1,056 vacant sworn-officer positions, on top of the 11,661 cops employed by CPD as of last month. Factoring in the usual pace of retirements and resignations, actually filling all those positions would take a police hiring surge like few the city has ever seen.

But, like overtime and settlement portions of Johnson’s proposed police budget, these officers appear to be fictional. Call them ghost cops.

“There’s certainly a transparency problem whenever we are spending money on something different than what we are saying it’s budgeted for,” Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said.

Some public health advocates are pushing an alternative to the ghost cops. This week Ald. Jessie Fuentes, 26th Ward, filed a proposed budget amendment that would shift an estimated $166 million for those salaries to city public health programs, youth jobs and a guaranteed income pilot that is on Johnson’s budget chopping block.

At a City Hall news conference to support the measure this week, Ald. Rossana Rodríguez-Sánchez, 33rd Ward, said the police positions “are just sitting there, not providing safety for anybody.”

“How about we use that money [to] provide safety for people?” Rodríguez-Sánchez asked.

But Johnson has shown little interest.

In that regard, he resembles his City Hall predecessors. Lori Lightfoot, mayor from 2019 to 2023, set aside funds for hundreds of ghost cops in each of her four annual budgets. The 2022 version marked a high point for those funded vacancies: 1,566.

Hundreds of ghost cops appeared in all eight of former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s city budgets and in many of former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s too.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson waves beside Ald. Jessie Fuentes, 26th Ward, during the Puerto Rican People’s Day Parade in June. Fuentes has filed a proposed budget amendment that would shift millions in funds from vacant police positions.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Walter Katz, deputy chief of public safety under Emanuel from 2017 to 2019, said mayors spurn trimming vacancies from CPD’s budget — even when the city’s budget gap is large and when crime is trending down, as in Chicago — “because once you’ve given up positions in a budget, it may be more difficult to get them back in the future.”

A former top CPD official who served in recent years said no politician wants headlines about cutting police personnel. That includes Johnson, who struggled in his 2023 mayoral campaign to distance himself from statements that seemed sympathetic with the “defund the police” movement.

Spokespersons for Johnson’s office and the city’s Office of Budget and Management did not answer why the mayor has reserved funds for ghost cops in both his annual budgets since taking office in May 2023.

The City Council must approve a budget by Dec. 31.

Chip Mitchell reports for WBEZ Chicago on policing, public safety and public health. WBEZ politics reporter Tessa Weinberg contributed. Follow them at Bluesky: @chipmitchell1 and @tessaweinberg. Follow them at X: @ChipMitchell1 and @Tessa_Weinberg.

The Rundown: The rising price of concert tickets

2024-12-12T15:45:00-06:00

Good afternoon! “Wicked” sing-along showtimes are coming soon. Here’s what else you need to know today.

1. Chicago’s indie music venues have a Taylor Swift problem

The willingness to spend astronomical figures on major arena shows is having a downstream impact on Chicago’s concert halls, my colleague Sofie Hernandez-Simeonidis writes for WBEZ.

Concert tickets have generated widespread handwringing in recent years. An anxiety-inducing Ticketmaster queue is a nearly universal experience these days, as well as budgeting $100 for a coveted ticket — and often paying hundreds more.

Today, the average ticket hovers around $127, according to a midyear report from Pollstar. And concertgoers spending more on fewer artists also has an effect on smaller, more often locally owned venues: They may be less likely to make the leap on a performance for an artist they’re less familiar with.

“Coming out of lockdown was great in so many ways. We were selling out of everything,” said Brent Heyl, the director of music of 16 on Center, a Chicago hospitality group that owns and operates venues like The Salt Shed, The Empty Bottle and Thalia Hall. “I think a lot of people were buying tickets to shows to support the venues. Now there’s this whiplash where [audiences] got a little tired of going to shows, or they spent all their concert money.”

The plague of high ticket prices — and changing consumer behavior as a result — has also hit music festivals, including Chicago’s Pitchfork fest, which announced earlier this year it was leaving the city. Some people may splurge. But other concertgoers are skipping festivals and instead choosing a single big show. [WBEZ]

2. IBM will join Illinois’ sprawling quantum park on the South Side

The announcement marks the first Fortune 500 company to join the soon-to-be-constructed Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park on the South Side, Tina Sfondeles reports for the Chicago Sun-Times.

It’s a huge win for Gov. JB Pritzker, who has for years sought to make Illinois a global leader in quantum computing and innovation. The announcement comes a day after the City Council gave the multibillion-dollar quantum computing campus final zoning approval.

The National Quantum Algorithm Center will be anchored by IBM’s modular quantum computer, called IBM Quantum System Two, which will try to advance quantum supercomputing across industries.

Beyond the potential advances in quantum technology, the center is expected to spur economic development by attracting scientists from across the world. Pritzker is also hoping IBM’s decision will continue to help advance federal research grants and private investments towards the quantum campus.

The center will operate temporarily out of Hyde Park Labs, a commercial science and tech hub affiliated with the University of Chicago. After the state’s quantum campus is built, the center will move to the 128-acre Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park. The 440-acre development will be completed in phases over the next four to six years. [Chicago Sun-Times]

3. Here are more than a dozen ways Cook County’s property tax system could be more fair

A new study calls for government agencies involved in the Cook County property tax system to better collaborate to help the system become more fair and equitable, as a growing chorus of homeowners complain they are struggling to pay skyrocketing bills, my colleague Kristen Schorsch reports for WBEZ.

A common theme in the study is that communication between county Assessor Fritz Kaegi and the county Board of Review needs to improve. These two key county agencies help determine the fate of how much commercial property owners pay in taxes and how that burden shifts to struggling homeowners.

Researchers found there’s a big gap in how much data these two agencies share to figure out how much a property is worth, leading to wild fluctuations in how much everyone in Cook County pays in taxes.

If the county has a more accurate picture of how much residential property owners owe in taxes each year, the government could come up with better ways to help people who are struggling to pay their bills, said Rachel Ruttenberg, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s deputy chief of staff for policy. [WBEZ]

4. A state contract raised questions about the future of paper mail in Illinois prisons

The Illinois Department of Corrections is rolling out a program that would allow prisons to electronically scan incoming mail, despite objections from some prison reform groups, my colleague Mawa Iqbal reports.

The change comes as state lawmakers and the union representing prison guards raise concerns about drugs like fentanyl getting inside prisons through paper mail. Paper is sometimes sprayed or soaked in illicit substances, such as synthetic drugs or even roach killer, then mailed into prisons where people can get high by smoking it. That’s contributed to a huge spike in prison drug overdoses nationwide in recent years. The union said guards have reported getting sick after handling tainted mail.

But Restore Justice, along with dozens of legal and community groups, sent a letter to IDOC last month urging them not to replace postal mail with a scanning system and to instead “explore evidence-based solutions that foster safety and rehabilitation.” [WBEZ]

5. Brookfield Zoo’s new honeybee exhibit offers families immersion with protection in mind

The display was designed to help kids see bees up close — and even learn what it’s like to be one — with the hope they go home and work to protect them, Davis Giangiulio reports for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Located inside the zoo’s Hamill Family Play Zoo, the exhibit features two locally rescued honeybee hives for observation and a play area where kids can pretend to be a bee.

“You can see them working to clean out the hive, caring for the queen, you can actually see the queen laying eggs in cells and the worker bees capping the honey,” said Jennifer Baader, Brookfield’s senior vice president of government affairs and community programs.

Though bees have made headlines recently for a resurgence, Baader said bees native to the greater Chicago area, such as bumblebees, are still struggling. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Here’s what else is happening

The White House is cracking down on bank overdraft fees. [AP]
Time magazine named President-elect Donald Trump its Person of the Year. [NPR]
Here’s what to know about an effort to make college in Illinois more affordable. [WBEZ]
Michael Jordan’s Highland Park mansion sold for $9.5 million. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Oh, and one more thing …

My colleagues distilled some Chicago news highlights into a crossword puzzle.

And, this being the season of joy, the station is offering successful solvers a chance to win $100.

Happy solving! [WBEZ]

Tell me something good …

What encounters have you had with wild animals in the Chicago area?

Colette writes:

“When builders were getting ready to build The Cooper apartment building at 720 S Wells in 2016, they dug up old concrete from the lot and piled it up near the river. It created a perfect den for coyotes. There was a whole fleet living there for months. We saw very few rabbits and rats that year. The coyotes have since moved across the river by the main post office, but we don’t hear them as often.”

Deb writes:

“I live along the Chicago River and see wonderful evidence of how it is becoming more healthy by the animals swimming, flying, and hunting there, including a bald eagle last winter! My favorite are the brief sightings of those wiley coyotes and their haunting howling some nights. But the most surprising was when I was walking in Horner Park at dusk and heard a loud swooping and swishing so close by my head I actually ducked. It was a great horned owl flying past, not three even three feet above me!”

And Liz writes:

“As I drove home near Central and Caldwell after dark last week, a pair of frolicking foxes were chasing each other back and forth across the road at lightning speed. At first they moved so fast i couldn’t make out what creatures they were. As I got closer I recognized they were foxes, and the one in front had something in its mouth. It was an epic game of keep-away!”

Feel free to email me, and your response may be included in the newsletter this week.

IBM will join Illinois' sprawling quantum park on South Side, state aims to be 'the global quantum capital'

2024-12-12T15:06:04.521-06:00

Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday announced that IBM will partner with the state to create a new national quantum algorithm center in Chicago — marking the first Fortune 500 company to join the soon-to-be-constructed Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park on the South Side.

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It’s a huge win for Pritzker, who has for years sought to make Illinois a global leader in quantum computing and innovation. The announcement comes a day after the City Council gave the multibillion-dollar quantum computing campus final zoning approval.

The newly announced National Quantum Algorithm Center will be anchored by IBM’s modular quantum computer, called IBM Quantum System Two, which will try to advance quantum supercomputing across industries.

"The list of public and private institutions looking for a place in our quantum ecosystem is growing by the day, and Illinois is quickly becoming their destination of choice," Pritzker said at a Chicago press conference. "As a reminder, being at the forefront of this industry holds the potential to deliver long-term, broad-based economic prosperity for our people."

Beyond the potential advances in quantum technology, the center is expected to spur economic development — attracting scientists from across the world. Pritzker is also hoping IBM’s decision will continue to help advance federal research grants and private investments toward the quantum campus.

IBM's investment will begin with 50 new permanent jobs, in addition to construction jobs for the new facilities. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna estimated the company's initial investment to be "in the tens of millions, maybe it reaches the lower hundreds."

"We are putting in a system that we don't really put a commercial value on. It has got an incredible amount of R&D [research and development] and early manufacturing that's going to go into it," Krishna said. "More important is the number of people we're putting in."

Krishna said quantum computing has the capacity to do everything from helping fight climate change, creating better batteries, making food safer and stemming financial risks.

"All of these are problems that we believe are going to be within the reach of quantum computing in this decade," Krishna said.

The new IBM center will operate temporarily out of Hyde Park Labs, a commercial science and tech hub affiliated with the University of Chicago. After the state’s quantum campus is built, the center will move to the 128-acre Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park. The 440-acre development will be completed in phases over the next four to six years.

Pritzker pushed to create the park, which will be financially backed by $500 million in state funding. Cook County is chipping in with about $175 million in tax breaks over the course of 30 years, and the city is kicking in $5 million.

California-based PsiQuantum plans to build the world’s first commercially useful quantum computer at the massive site, which has struggled to find development since U.S. Steel closed the South Works in 1992. According to the site's developer Related Midwest, the first phase of the project will focus on the 128-acre park, anchored by PsiQuantum. Related Midwest will also expand access to more than 100 acres of parkland on the site — and they estimate that more than 20,000 jobs will be created through the park's development.

Rendering of PsiQuantum’s facility at the former South Works site, which will have the country’s first utility-scale quantum computer.

PsiQuantum

In July, Pritzker announced the U.S. Department of Defense’s research and development agency, or DARPA, will take residency on the state’s quantum campus to establish a program where quantum computing prototypes will be tested.

According to DARPA, the goal of the “Quantum Benchmarking Initiative,” or QBI, will be to evaluate and test quantum computing claims and “separate hype from reality.”

The quantum campus will feature a cryogenic facility, which is needed for research and development for microelectronics and quantum technologies. It’s expected to generate up to $60 billion in economic impact, according to estimates from the governor’s office. It’s also expected to create thousands of jobs, but the governor framed it as having the potential of creating “tens of thousands and perhaps more, jobs.”

Chicago is already home to the Chicago Quantum Exchange, first launched in 2017 with Argonne and Fermi national laboratories, which now has one of the largest teams of quantum researchers in the world.

When he was mayor, Rahm Emanuel helped jump-start Chicago’s path to quantum development in 2018, announcing the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign would join the University of Chicago’s efforts in quantum technology with the Fermi and Argonne National Laboratories as part of the Chicago Quantum Exchange. In his more recent role as U.S. ambassador to Japan, Emanuel has helped secure multimillion-dollar research deals between the University of Tokyo and the University of Chicago.

Oak Park Detective Allan Reddins honored as a ‘mighty hero,’ pride of the South Side

2024-12-12T15:04:10.315-06:00

Detective Allan Reddins was remembered Thursday as a proud father, a caring friend and a rising star in the Oak Park Police Department.

Mourners packed the Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn for Reddins' funeral. He was killed in the line of duty Nov. 29. He joined the Oak Park Police Department in 2019 after serving for two years as a Metra police officer.

“I knew immediately Allan was an asset to the Oak Park Police Department and to the Oak Park community,” Oak Park Police Chief Shatonya Johnson said during her eulogy.

“Allan was wise beyond his years,” Johnson added. “No one would have known he had just shy of eight years in this profession. His commitment to serving is unparalleled. His dedication to the department and to the Oak Park community was undeniable.”

Reddins, who became a detective in 2022, was working patrol the day he died because of staffing shortages. He responded to a call of an armed man leaving a bank in downtown Oak Park. After Reddins and another officer approached the man, he pulled out a gun and fired shots, striking Reddins.

Pallbearers for Oak Park Detective Allan Reddins carry his casket to the hearse after his funeral at Apostolic Church of God on the South Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Detective Reddins, 40, was shot and killed Nov. 29 when an armed gunman opened fire near the Oak Park Public Library during a brief standoff with police. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

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Chicago police officers salute as pallbearers for Oak Park Detective Allan Reddins carry his casket to the hearse after his funeral at Apostolic Church of God on the South Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Detective Reddins, 40, was shot and killed Nov. 29 when an armed gunman opened fire near the Oak Park Public Library during a brief standoff with police. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

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Members of the Chicago Police Department honor guard march after the funeral for Oak Park Detective Allan Reddins at Apostolic Church of God on the South Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Detective Reddins, 40, was shot and killed Nov. 29 when an armed gunman opened fire near the Oak Park Public Library during a brief standoff with police. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

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Hundreds attend the funeral for Oak Park Detective Allan Reddins at Apostolic Church of God on the South Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Detective Reddins, 40, was shot and killed Nov. 29 when an armed gunman opened fire near the Oak Park Public Library during a brief standoff with police. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

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Mourners hug after the funeral for Oak Park Detective Allan Reddins at Apostolic Church of God on the South Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Detective Reddins, 40, was shot and killed Nov. 29 when an armed gunman opened fire near the Oak Park Public Library during a brief standoff with police. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

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Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling greets mourners after attending the funeral for Oak Park Detective Allan Reddins at Apostolic Church of God on the South Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Detective Reddins, 40, was shot and killed Nov. 29 when an armed gunman opened fire near the Oak Park Public Library during a brief standoff with police. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

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The funeral procession for Oak Park Detective Allan Reddins departs for the cemetery from Apostolic Church of God on the South Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Detective Reddins, 40, was shot and killed Nov. 29 when an armed gunman opened fire near the Oak Park Public Library during a brief standoff with police. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

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Evanston Police Chief Schenita Stewart and Oak Park Police Cmdr. Schonella Stewart, twin sisters and colleagues of Reddins, described their friend as the pride of the South Side, where he grew up. Reddins attended St. Ailbe elementary school and Harlan High School. He studied criminal justice at Triton College and later finished his degree at Loyola University.

“People from the South Side of Chicago can do anything and become anyone. His determination in both life and his career proved that to be true,” Schenita Stewart said. “Allan was not just a hero. He was a mighty hero.”

Being a father was Reddins’ most cherished role, Schenita Stewart said. His 19-year-old son Jayden Reddins is a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

“Allan never missed an opportunity to brag about Jayden. Not just about his academic successes, but also about the kind and compassionate person he has become,” Stewart said. “Jayden embodies the values Allan held closest to his heart: integrity, humility and an unwavering sense of kindness toward others.”

Reddins' childhood friend James Butler remembers the day Jayden was born. Reddins called him, jubilant with the news that he was now a dad. He later would ask Butler to be Jayden's godfather.

"I saw the change in him, the growth," Butler said. "He was dedicated to being a great father, a provider to his family."

A poem written by Reddins’ younger brother, Johnny Bradbury, was also read aloud during Thursday’s service.

“The day you left felt like my soul was gone. Your spirit and your energy was so bold and strong,” the poem reads. “You always told me to remain solid and to stay 10 toes down. But without you, who else can I look up to now? My heart aches so bad because you're not here. Never thought I would lose you so soon.”

Here are more than a dozen ways Cook County’s property tax system could be more fair

2024-12-12T12:21:14.602-06:00

A common theme theme in the study is that communication between county Assessor Fritz Kaegi and the county Board of Review needs to improve. These two key county agencies help determine the fate of how much commercial property owners pay in taxes, and how that burden shifts to struggling homeowners.

“If we get commercial property right, it’ll help residents because they’ll be paying a fair share,” said Jim Thompson, director of property tax policy for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. “Everyone will be paying a fair share.”

If the county has a more accurate picture of how much residential property owners owe in taxes each year, the government could come up with better ways to help people who are struggling to pay their bills, said Rachel Ruttenberg, Preckwinkle’s deputy chief of staff for policy. For starters, there’s a new $15 million homeowner relief fund next year.

For business owners, knowing what they might pay in property tax bills each year could help them better plan, Thompson said.

“If we have a system that is transparent, that’s predictable, that is fair and that people understand, it builds trust back into the system,” Thompson said.

Preckwinkle launched a property tax reform working group in 2021 to take a deeper look at how to fix the county’s complicated and confusing property tax system, which involves a web of agencies.

Property taxes are key to funding schools, libraries, park districts and other layers of government. But a common criticism is that the system is unfair, with people who live in low-income areas of the county socked with rising property tax bills they can’t afford, while landlords complain they pick up more than their fair share.

The Cook County Assessor values property and if a taxpayer doesn’t agree with the findings they can appeal to the Cook County Board of Review, which has three commissioners. Voters elected the people who run these agencies, and these leaders also are part of Preckwinkle’s property tax reform working group.

Cook County hired Josh Myers Valuation Solutions to review the way the county values commercial properties, from offices in skyscrapers to warehouses and neighborhood strip malls. Over the years, there’s been a volley of fingerpointing between the assessor and Board of Review commissioners as the burden of which taxpayers pay more or less shifts around the county.

“Concerns have been raised by stakeholders in these processes regarding the accuracy of mass valuations, the number of appeals, the large number of appeals at the (Board of Review) level that result in reductions” and the dynamics of the relationship between the assessor and Board of Review offices, the study found.

Since February, researchers have pored over close to 100,000 commercial and industrial properties and thousands of sales. They found the values of commercial properties in Cook County often don’t meet industry standards, and the inconsistent methods the Assessor and Board of Review each use to determine property values combined with not doing a good job of sharing data contributes to substantial discrepancies in property values and assessments. These are some of the most important indicators for how much a property owner pays in taxes, Thompson said.

The study also found that commercial properties are frequently underassessed around the county, particularly in the south and north suburbs. That means homeowners could be paying more than their fair share.

Researchers recommended more than a dozen areas where procedures for assessing properties could be improved. Some ideas have already been implemented.

Suggestions include storing data in a centralized database with information about properties, like the type (such as an office building) and where they are located. For example, commercial taxpayers often don’t provide appraisals outlining the fair market value of their properties, or their income and expenses that would help the assessor better determine how much their properties are worth. Yet when they appeal to the Board of Review, they almost always provide this information. There’s no effective process in place to share this data with the assessor’s office.

Researchers recommended employees at the assessor’s office attend hearings before the Board of Review more regularly to defend the way they determine how much properties are worth.

Another suggestion: if analysts at the assessor’s office and Board of Review met more regularly to talk about how they each approach valuing property, they might create more consistent methods, the study found, creating less of a rollercoaster of a process.

Thompson said the conflicts between the assessor and Board of Review go back decades. In a statement, both offices supported collaborating more.

Kristen Schorsch covers public health and Cook County for WBEZ.

WBEZ’s 2024 Chicago news crossword puzzle

2024-12-12T09:57:51.495-06:00

Well, it’s been a year in Chicago news. We’ve seen a wreck of the Wienermobile on the Tri-State and a wreck of a baseball team on the South Side. We’ve seen Riot Fest first here, then there, and Pitchfork here, then nowhere. We’ve seen the Chicago Symphony Orchestra appoint a new music director who was not yet born when Jordan unretired (the first time). We’ve distilled some highlights of the year in Chicago news into this crossword puzzle, which will surely bring our city so much joy that we will instantly have a budget and a teachers’ contract. Or at least divert us for a few minutes.

Oh! And this being the season for joy, WBEZ is offering eager solvers who finish the puzzle the option to enter a lottery for a $100 gift card. Simply complete the form below to enter to win. The deadline is Friday, Dec. 20, at 9 a.m. Happy solving.

‘Shame on you!’ Acero Charter community tells charter leaders

2024-12-12T09:38:41.368-06:00

Acero Charter Schools community members raged during an emotional meeting Wednesday night in Gage Park against the private organization’s leadership, urging the board to reverse course on its plan to shutter seven schools next year.

Dozens of students, teachers, parents, staff and Chicago Teachers Union members attended a rally outside Acero Idar Elementary School ahead of the board meeting.

They chanted “Whose schools? Our schools” and “Save our schools.” Many held up signs reading “Keep Tamayo open” and “Keep our schools open.”

Parents, students, CTU members rallied outside Acero Idar Elementary before Wednesday night’s contentious meeting.

Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times

Reyna Rodriguez, mother of students at Esmeralda Santiago — one of the schools slated for closure — said she doesn’t want to spend the holidays looking for a new school for her children. She said that if Acero CEO Richard Rodriguez can’t figure out how to keep the schools open, he should resign.

“I don’t want to have to worry thinking, 'Oh, are they going to close the schools, do I have to keep looking for my son’s school?'” Reyna Rodriguez told reporters at the rally. “Rich Rodriguez, make up your mind. If you cannot do your work, quit my friend.”

During the board meeting, which was held inside the school’s gymnasium, Acero officials ceded their speaking time to allow more time for public comment. It was the first time since the closures were announced that families had a chance to face the board, CTU leaders said. More than 200 people packed the gym. Speakers, including several young children, had harsh words for Acero leaders.

Acero community members attend the first public meeting since the charter operator decided to close seven schools before the next school year. They had tough words for the charter leaders.

Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times

“It appears to us that you view students as dollar signs and prioritize making money to giving students an education,” said Melanie Soto, an eighth grader at Sandra Cisneros Elementary, another school that is planned for closure.

“You are not only leaving teachers and students with no schools or jobs, you are destabilizing and tearing apart our communities,” said America Murillo, Soto’s classmate. “This is deeply disappointing because we are supposed to look up to you, Mr. Rodriguez.”

Many had the same message for the board: "Shame on you."

Acero announced plans in October to close seven of its 15 campuses at the end of this school year, citing rising expenses and falling enrollment over the last several years. The schools primarily serve Latino students, and these would be the largest school closings ever in Chicago’s Latino communities, affecting 2,000 students.

Acero has come under fire from parents, students, educators, the mayor and board members for the proposed closings. Among the solutions proposed by CPS include giving Acero more money to continue running the schools for a short time and the district taking over the schools.

Contributing: Sarah Karp, Nader Issa

Michael Jordan's Highland Park mansion sells for $9.5 million

2024-12-12T09:29:54.817-06:00

After more than 12 years, Chicago Bulls legend and NBA Hall of Fame great Michael Jordan’s Highland Park mansion has sold for $9.5 million.

The mansion, at 2700 Point Lane, sits on over seven acres and first went on the market for $29 million in 2012. The property went under contingent contract in September with an asking price of $14.855 million.

The 56,000-square-foot mansion sold Tuesday for $9.5 million, according to the mansion’s listing on the real estate marketplace Zillow.

The name of the buyer was not known.

The custom-designed mansion, built in 1995 after Jordan announced his return from his first retirement, features nine bedrooms and 19 bathrooms, as well as a basketball court, cigar room, tennis court and swimming pool.

The asking price was reduced several times, last changing in 2015. That year, Jordan was willing to include 29 pairs of signature Jordans for whoever met his asking price.

Listing agent Katherine Malkin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gov. JB Pritzker nominates Gia Biagi to lead state transportation department

2024-12-12T09:24:34.18-06:00

Gov. JB Pritzker has nominated former Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Gia Biagi to lead the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Biagi led the city's Transportation Department for nearly four years after being appointed by then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot. She is replacing Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Omer Osman, who is retiring.

Biagi's appointment as IDOT secretary is pending state Senate approval.

Pritzker, at an unrelated news conference Wednesday, said he hopes the appointment helps speed up construction projects that had slowed due to labor market challenges during the pandemic.

"One of the things that Gia will be very good at is focusing on speeding up that process and making sure that we're delivering on all the promises that have been made by the Rebuild Illinois program," Pritzker said, referring to the 2019 infrastructure spending bill.

"We've done an awful lot, I want to be clear," Pritzker said, "... but we want to make sure that those projects get done in the timely fashion. And she is going to do a great job."

Biagi left the city’s Transportation Department in August 2023, early in Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration. She had taken heat for Lightfoot’s decision to reduce the ticketing threshold for Chicago speed cameras.

But she also took credit for adding 100 miles of bike lanes and implementing pedestrian safety projects at more than 1,000 high-crash intersections. Biagi also expanded the city’s Divvy bike-share program into every neighborhood and developed a “mobility and economic hardship index” to prioritize infrastructure investments.

After leaving CDOT, she returned to the Chicago architecture firm Studio Gang, where she took a leadership post.

Osman was appointed state transportation secretary by Pritzker in 2019. Osman began his career at IDOT in 1989 as a civil engineer.

Osman oversaw the agency as it began work on the state's Rebuild Illinois infrastructure bill, which put over $20 billion toward rebuilding the state's roads and bridges.

In 2023, a state inspector general report accused Osman of violating a state rule by allowing certain employees to delegate duties so they could bypass the state's revolving door policy. The policy prohibits retiring employees from working with state-connected vendors for one year after they leave the state transportation department.

Contributing: Tina Sfondeles

Omer Osman at a news conference in Springfield in 2019.

Jerry Nowicki/Capitol News Illinois file

Red Line extension, quantum computing campus get final zoning approval

2024-12-12T07:30:52.927-06:00

Two projects that could change the economic face of Chicago — the CTA’s $5.3 billion Red Line extension and a multibillion-dollar quantum computing campus on the Far South Side — got final zoning approval Wednesday as the City Council teed up Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2025 budget for a nail-biting final vote on Friday.

One day after the mayor’s $17.3 billion budget and the $256 million in fines and fees to support it squeaked through the Budget and Finance committees, the full Council deferred and published both ordinances, setting the stage for Friday.

If the Council approves the budget package, it would beat a Dec. 31 deadline to avoid a government shutdown. But Johnson could be forced to cast a tie-breaking vote — the third of his 19-month tenure. That’s how touch-and-go the negotiations have been, even after the $300 million property tax increase Johnson originally proposed was reduced to $68.5 million.

Wednesday’s meeting was the legislative calm before the storm, but it still wasn't all smooth sailing.

The City Council chambers were evacuated for nearly two hours by a fire on the Cook County side of the building.

When members returned, Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) briefly threatened to block the entire Zoning Committee agenda from being voted on by the Council. That's because that report did not include the committee's rejection of Sterling Bay's plan to build a pair of residential buldings in Lincoln Park. Waguespack opposes the project because of concerns about the height of the buildings, the lack of parking and the traffic the project would create.

Waguespack ultimately agreed to withdraw his roadblock and keep working on the project, which Johnson supports.

That allowed the Council to do its part to turn the 50-year-old dream of extending the Red Line into reality by rezoning dozens of properties along the proposed 5.6-mile route — property the CTA has or will acquire for track alignment, four stations, a sub-station and a rail yard. The Red Line now ends at 95th Street; the extension would run south to 130th Street.

The CTA is in line to receive a nearly $2 billion federal grant, the largest in its history, to cover half the cost of the extension. The project would provide CTA rail service to the only part of Chicago without it.

Looking south from 95th Street at the end of the Red Line. The city plans to extend the Red Line to 130th Street, but has not yet secured all the federal funds it needs, and that money could be at risk in a second Trump administration.

Sun-Times file

But embattled CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. still hasn’t secured the full-funding agreement needed to lock down federal funding for the extension, even after disclosing in August that the project's overall cost has ballooned from $3.6 billion to $5.3 billion.

Without it, there are concerns the federal spigot could run dry after Donald Trump becomes president.

The CTA still hopes to nail down that full-funding agreement before President Joe Biden leaves office Jan. 20.

“I don’t know if it’ll be before the holidays. It could be after the holidays,” CTA spokesperson Catherine Hosinski said Wednesday.

In 2016, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel moved heaven and earth to nail down $1.1 billion in federal grants to modernize a stretch of the Red Line on the North Side before then-President Barack Obama left the White House. Emanuel convinced the Council to authorize a transit tax increment financing district to provide the local matching funds and signed the ordinance on the final day for the city to demonstrate its commitment.

Computer project glitches

The rezoning that will convert more than 400 acres of land at a long-shuttered U.S. Steel facility into a new quantum computing campus has had its own share of controversy.

Residents of a Southeast Side area that has long been Chicago’s favorite dumping ground have raised environmental concerns and urged city and state officials to slow down development to give them time to nail down a community benefits agreement.

California-based PsiQuantum plans to build the world’s first commercially useful quantum computer at a massive site that has eluded development since U.S. Steel closed the South Works in 1992.

It will anchor the 128-acre Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park, which could be home to other technology and innovation companies. Developer Related Midwest said it’s talking to a “major” employer for the north end of the site, separate from the campus.

The 440-acre development will be completed in phases over the next four to six years.

Quantum computing creates infinite combinations of the binary bits used by computers to calculate larger and more complex problems. It could lead to the manufacturing of new medications and make sensitive data almost impermeable to hacking, among other possibilities touted by experts — but many of those possibilities are yet to be realized.

What to know about an effort to make college in Illinois more affordable

2024-12-12T05:00:00-06:00

If you are a person who exists in America, you’ve likely heard about how expensive college has gotten. Maybe you’re putting a good chunk of your paycheck toward student loan payments, or you’ve heard friends complain about the cost of sending their kids to college.

What you may not realize is the problem is especially bad in Illinois, where public colleges have become particularly unaffordable. That’s shut out a lot of students, including those who would most benefit from the social mobility that comes with a degree.

Now, a group of Illinois legislators and advocates is proposing groundbreaking legislation to try and address the problem. The bill has largely flown under the radar, perhaps because of its very unsexy name: the Adequate and Equitable Funding Formula for Public Universities Act. Or maybe it's because the formula it prescribes, by necessity and design, is incredibly complex.

Fortunately for you, we’ve been spending months learning about this effort. Here’s what you should know — and why you should care.

Have a young child? This legislation could mean that in 10 years or more, when they’re getting ready to graduate high school, they may have public college options in Illinois that are actually affordable.

Right now, there’s no system to determine how much money public universities need to educate students. Instead, college leaders go to Springfield to ask for money and cross their fingers that they get it. Over time, they’ve gotten less and less.

From 2000 to 2022, state funding for public universities was cut nearly in half, in inflation-adjusted dollars. It used to make up most of their revenue, but now, the colleges have come to rely mostly on tuition. In turn, the cost of attending a public college in Illinois has skyrocketed, especially in comparison to how much families in the state earn.

Legislators want to shift the financial responsibility for educating and training Illinois residents from students back to the state. The hope is that, in a decade, tuition rates at places like Governors State University in Chicago’s south suburbs and University of Illinois Springfield won’t leave students hobbled with debt — or shut out of college altogether.

Everyone talks about the well-known, fancy schools, but most people go to college close to home. The formula could turn the tide for smaller public universities that serve many of the state’s marginalized students.

Using any formula would be a big change for the state. But legislators and advocates are pushing for something unlike any other in the country.

If the AEFFPUA passes (we doubt this acronym will stick), the state would distribute money based on how much each public university needs to educate and support the specific kinds of students it serves, setting aside more money for students who are first-generation, low-income or racially marginalized.

Dividing up the pie this way could help the state’s public regional universities recruit and get more of these students to graduation. Take Chicago State University: Seven in 10 students at the South Side college are Black. More than half have low family incomes.

Unlike the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, which serves students with more means, Chicago State has not been able to increase its tuition much to make up for huge declines in public funding. That’s impacted the services the school can offer, which leads to lower enrollment, which means even more cuts. It’s a cycle that hurts Black and poor students in the state.

“A parent now with a 7-year-old maybe wouldn't look at Chicago State, because if they drove past it, they’d see a stop sign that might be crooked and a little bit of flooding due to the bad infrastructure,” said Christian Perry, policy director for the advocacy group Partnership for College Completion.

Perry said the funding formula could provide the resources to restore the campus to what it was like when his grandfather got his bachelor’s degree there in the 1970s.

“It could be buzzing and humming with more students, and you might feel a bit more comfortable trying to strong-arm your baby to stay home and go to Chicago State because of the amenities and what they can offer,” he said.

Alas, nothing in life is free.

Fully funding the formula will require $135 million more in higher education spending each year for the next 10 years. That adds up to an extra $1.4 billion dollars over a decade from taxpayers.

But advocates, researchers and policymakers say the payoff will be many times that.

Mike Abrahamson, a researcher for the Partnership for College Completion, estimates that fully funding the proposed higher education formula would lead to nearly 30,000 more college graduates in the state, who would contribute $6 billion in taxes over their lifetimes.

“It's obviously a big, scary number for a lot of people,” Abrahamson said of the funding proposal. “But it would bring us back to around what we invested in the early 2000s, when our university system was thriving.”

Lisa Kurian Philip covers higher education for WBEZ, in partnership with Open Campus. Follow her on Twitter: @LAPhilip.

Chicago’s indie music venues have a Taylor Swift problem

2024-12-12T05:00:00-06:00

The late afternoon sun was setting over United Center Parking Lot K as a line of tittering general admission holders queued up to see Billie Eilish.

In the sea of baggy pants and mustard-yellow hoodies stood Paul Sanders, 28, who paid around $200 via Eilish’s presale on Ticketmaster for the November show. “The first time I saw her was at Coachella, and it was probably the best experience I’ve ever had at a concert,” said Sanders.

How much would you spend on potentially the best concert of your life? Friends Nia Jordan, 23, and Eliana Brinkerhoff, 23, frequent shows together, even though Jordan lives in West Garfield Park and Brinkerhoff in Michigan. They were also eager to spill what they’ve spent on concert tickets.

“I got presale [on] Ticketmaster, I got both our tickets. I think that was about $250 each for pit,” said Brinkerhoff, who has seen Eilish four times. “The artist really keeps you coming back,” said Jordan, “and the community.” She’s seen three Eilish shows.

Concert tickets have generated widespread handwringing in recent years; an anxiety-inducing Ticketmaster queue is a nearly universal experience these days, or budgeting $100 for a coveted ticket and paying hundreds more. Despite efforts from federal legislators and ticket-sellers themselves to make prices more transparent to the consumer, concert tickets have outpaced inflation for a decade.

The United Center has hosted a number of large touring acts this year, including Billie Eilish, Peso Pluma and Stevie Wonder, whose crowd is pictured here.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times

Today, the average ticket hovers around $127, according to a midyear report from Pollstar. That’s only partially due to the nature of services like Ticketmaster. There’s another factor at play: our willingness, as concertgoers, to pay premiums for artists we adore.

Our tendency to spend astronomically on fewer artists also has an effect on smaller, more often locally owned venues. We may be less likely to make the leap on a performance that we’re not as familiar with.

The plague of high ticket prices — and changing consumer behavior as a result — has also hit music festivals. Just think of the final Pitchfork Chicago Festival (RIP): The highest single day-pass at Pitchfork in 2007 was $25; by 2024, it was a whopping $379. Of course, the recent price bakes in all the “extras,” such as exclusive lounge access and private viewing platforms.

Some people may splurge. But other concertgoers are skipping festivals and instead choosing a single big show, like Eilish.

Billie Eilish performed at the United Center in 2019 (pictured) and in 2024. At her most recent performance in Chicago, general admission attendees said that they spent upwards of $200 per ticket.

Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP

‘I don’t care how much I have to work for it’

An extreme but common example of concert ticket inflation is Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, for which Chicagoans paid a median price of about $2,300 per ticket on resale sites.

But MIT economist Sara Fisher Ellison, who focuses largely on e-commerce markets, argues that internet tech–driven factors are also likely to blame for the uptick in ticket prices.

The internet, she says, makes it easier for concertgoers to learn about shows, compare their options and watch clips of previous performances. She calls this pre-research on an artist “match quality.”

“The willingness to pay for that particular match might be very high,” Ellison said. “Even though high prices often seem like something that’s bad for consumers, [they] can signal that consumers are just willing to pay more for a concert that they’re very sure that they want to attend.”

Gone are the days of waiting in long lines for concert tickets; the internet has taken over the process. Here, fans wait in line for tickets to attend the Glee musical concert in 2010.

Ross D. Franklin/AP

Another factor is driving ticket-buying behavior, according to Ellison: The internet actually makes it more difficult to compare price points. She calls it “search obfuscation,” and it means that the thing you’re searching for online is purposefully hard to find.

When you go to buy a concert ticket, you may visit a few different websites to find the best seats for what you think is the best price. You add the tickets to your cart and check out, only to be hit with surcharges that you weren’t expecting.

“You can imagine having to train a human being to sell tickets under circumstances like that, where every single transaction, the seller has to say, ‘Would you like to upgrade to this? Where would you like your seat to be? Are you willing to pay more to have this sight line?’ ” Ellison explains.

Ultimately, the combination of match quality and search obfuscation creates the perfect alibi for ticketing companies. They’re able to hide prices until the very end of the ticket-buying process, while being certain that consumers will pay those high prices.

When asked, multiple fans admitted that the concept of a concert budget fell by the wayside when it came to their favorite musicians.

“If it’s something I really want to go to, I usually find ways to make it work,” said Charles, a 25- year-old Eilish fan from Moline. “I don’t care how much I have to work for it. I will make it work.”

It’s not just ticket companies bumping up their prices. Artists themselves are commanding more per ticket, and that’s due in part to changes in the ways we listen to music. With streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music now dominant, musicians can no longer count on album sales to earn a living. In fact, record sales only count for about one-fifth of what they did in 2007.

Artists have had to shift the way that they make money, increasing the value of revenue streams such as merch sales and social media (think Jason Derulo on TikTok or T-Pain on Twitch), especially through the most traditional route: live performances. It’s easy to see the difference in these shows. Swift, one of the biggest pop acts in the world, just concluded the nearly two-year-long run of the Eras Tour, logging the highest-grossing tour of all time before even hitting the one-year mark.

The Salt Shed, a Chicago venue run by hospitality company 16" on Center, hopes to craft a community-oriented feel with a new cocktail lounge and daylong events.

Courtesy of Nick Langlois

‘It’s forcing us to look at our revenue streams’

So maybe you’re not a fan of the big pop stars who sell out arenas. Even if you’re going to shows at smaller venues, you may still feel the pinch of increased ticket prices. Chicago’s small and midsize venues are feeling the aftershocks: People who spend big bucks on one concert they really enjoy may not go out of their way for up-and-coming artists at smaller, locally owned venues.

So, concert halls around Chicago are adapting.

Take The Salt Shed, which has an indoor capacity of 3,600. Just this year, it’s hosted performances by musicians like André 3000, PJ Harvey and Jon Batiste.

The same owners also run The Empty Bottle, with a smaller capacity of 400. The Bottle, in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood, has a fiercely loyal consumer base, plus a pattern of lower ticket costs (about $15 to $25) and consistent music curation; there’s a concert practically every night of the week.

“The Empty Bottle has a community within itself, and all the folks here work hard to maintain that,” said Heyl of 16 on Center. “You see a lot of familiar faces. There’s people who really just consider it part of their home.”

The Empty Bottle has a capacity of 400 and a fiercely loyal consumer base.

Courtesy of Bryan Allen Lamb

Heyl hopes that The Salt Shed can adopt a similar community-oriented feel at a larger scale, even off its industrial stretch of Elston Avenue along the Chicago River. Yes, the venue is mostly used for concerts, but 16 on Center just opened a new cocktail lounge there, while also promoting a skyline “rooftop” view and daylong markets and events.

“Nothing’s guaranteed, but you can at least get to a place where you’re able to host great bands and get them good deals,” said Heyl. “Especially at the smaller level, the best place to possibly be is to have an audience where people are just coming back to the venue because they know there’s good shows.”

Other venues are looking at diversified revenue streams, like craft cocktails, to offset changing fan behavior and the steeper costs of putting on shows. While he doesn’t see direct competition between his venue and large-scale sites like the United Center, Eric Henry, director of operations of the 350-capacity Sleeping Village in Avondale, is actively trying to fight off price obfuscation by using the ticket service DICE. The platform shows consumers the price they’ll pay for an event before adding that ticket to their cart. It also defends against scalpers, because you can’t buy DICE tickets from third-party resellers.

This transparency is important to Henry, who says Sleeping Village is trying to make its messaging on pricing clearer to fans.

“If [smaller, independent spaces] could collaborate and all get together on what ticketing platform we use and really get that information in front of people more regularly, [people could] see what’s going on at all the venues that are not going to be $200 for a ticket,” he said.

Sleeping Village in Avondale wants to make its messaging on ticket pricing clear to fans.

Courtesy of Sleeping Village

Rising artist and staffing costs also play a part in ticket prices. Venue owners have to balance what they charge with the responsibility of securing a living for both artists and employees.

“One of our mission statements as a company is to do our best to fairly compensate artists for their work,” said Henry. “[Musicians] experience the same hardships that businesses do in terms of inflation.”

Another consumer pattern hampering smaller Chicago venues: We’re drinking less.

“Venues depend on alcohol sales as one of their main revenue streams, so you’re able to give a little more to the artists if you’re making a little more off the drinks. That has changed pretty significantly since reopening [after lockdown],” said Henry.

Heyl agrees. “It’s forcing us to look at our revenue streams and see how else we are able to stay afloat and maintain the level of promotion and production that we’re used to,” he said. “Is it food sales? Merch sales?” Both Heyl and Henry noted that their respective venues have ventured into nonalcoholic drinks, all part of keeping an eye out for what customers may want.

Back in line at the Eilish show, the anticipation ramps up the closer it gets to doors opening for general admission. Fan-since-Coachella Paul Sanders wonders aloud if there will be any special guests — another phenomenon driving fans to plunk down hundreds, sometimes thousands, on big-name artists.

After all, Swifties obsessed about Taylor Swift’s surprise song selections, and TikTok For You Pages were chock-full of Charli xcx and Lorde videos when they performed together at Madison Square Garden earlier this year. It’s all part of the package now.

“They can do anything in any city,” said Sanders. “You never know what to expect.”

Sofie Hernandez-Simeonidis is a digital producer on WBEZ’s Arts & Culture desk.

Brookfield's new honeybee exhibit offers families immersion with protection in mind

2024-12-12T05:00:00-06:00

Brookfield Zoo Chicago opened a new exhibit Monday where kids can see bees up close — and even learn what it's like to be one — with the hope they go home and work to protect them.

Located inside the zoo’s Hamill Family Play Zoo, the exhibit features two locally-rescued honeybee hives for observation and a play area where kids can pretend to be a bee.

Jennifer Baader, Brookfield’s senior vice president of government affairs and community programs, said the exhibit has been under construction for about six months. It was done in partnership with Illinois Bee Rescue, a local bee conservation organization, that helped design the unique observation hives.

Baader said the hives' clear front panels allow visiting families to watch the bees within.

“You can see them working to clean out the hive, caring for the queen, you can actually see the queen laying eggs in cells, and the worker bees capping the honey,” she said.

Illinois Bee Rescue recently rescued the hives that include an estimated 45,000 bees and provided them to Brookfield, the zoo said in a news release. One hive was found in an attic in a Naperville home, and another was near a window in a building in Lincoln Park.

The Illinois Bee Rescue will also come and check in on the bees at the exhibit and even use them to sell local products like honey and lip balm.

Honey bees in a cassette. The hives were locally rescued by Illinois Bee Rescue.

Brookfield Zoo Chicago

Beyond the observation point, there is also a play area for kids that features a child-sized honeycomb hive, which children can step inside wearing a bee costume. They can pretend to collect pollen and nectar from flowers, and then return to the honeycomb to make honey.

Brookfield is also planning on eventually featuring another playful activity where kids can pretend to be a beekeeper and care for hives.

It’s all about driving home the message of protecting the bees. According to Brookfield, bees pollinate 80% of flowering plants, including more than 150 fruits and vegetables, which allows those plants to reproduce.

“We really want them to appreciate these animals before we ask them to save them,” Baader said. “It’s about building that connection between children and the environment and nature, and building an empathy for an animal by understanding what they need to survive.”

After that empathy is built, Brookfield wants to encourage visitors to take their own action. Baader said tips include planting flowers native to the area, like coneflowers and goldenrods, in a personal garden to support the native bee population. She added not using chemicals on a personal lawn and researching the pesticides a house is using can be helpful, too.

Bee populations were declining significantly for quite some time as urbanization, climate change and increased use of pesticides have harmed them. Though bees have made headlines recently for a resurgence, Baader said bees native to the greater Chicago area, like bumble bees, are still struggling.

The exhibit is open now, but until Dec. 30, visitors can only visit it on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

State contract raises questions about the future of paper mail in Illinois prisons

2024-12-11T18:00:23.1-06:00

The Illinois Department of Corrections is rolling out a program that would allow prisons to electronically scan incoming mail, despite objections from some prison reform groups.

In late October the state entered into a four-year agreement with Texas-based ICSolutions, which offers telecommunication services to correctional facilities, according to a contract obtained by WBEZ through a Freedom of Information Act request. It comes as state lawmakers and the union representing prison guards raise concerns about drugs like fentanyl getting inside prisons through paper mail.

People in Illinois prisons are allowed to buy highly restricted e-tablets, similar to iPads. While they don’t have unfettered internet access, they can text and email loved ones for a fee through a secure website, listen to music and podcasts, and watch videos.

But the new contract with ICSolutions could also signal that the IDOC is considering new restrictions on paper mail coming into prisons. Paper is sometimes sprayed or soaked in illicit substances, such as synthetic drugs or even roach killer, then mailed into prisons where people can get high by smoking it. That’s contributed to a huge spike in prison drug overdoses nationwide in recent years. The union representing prison workers says guards have reported getting sick after handling tainted mail.

The company's technology “reduces the amount of regular offender mail that is handled by the institution, which in turn reduces opportunities for introduction of contraband, and time spent reviewing contents and distributing mail,” the vendor writes in its proposal to the state. Per the agreement, state facilities can scan and digitally deliver postal mail to people on an “individual basis.”

But it’s not clear when IDOC would roll out widespread mail-scanning, or where it might begin to replace paper mail. Spokesperson Naomi Puzzello said in a statement that the agency is still figuring out a timeline for rolling out the program, and it is are “committed to continued dialog with key stakeholders on this issue.”

IDOC had already launched a pilot program to scan non-privileged mail coming into downstate Menard and Pinckneyville Correctional Centers.

Under that program, the warden overseeing the prison can put people under “mail scan status” if, for example, there’s evidence the person misused the mail system to get drugs inside prison. That means they’d only have access to a photocopy of their original mail, and will no longer receive items that cannot be scanned, such as books, magazines or newspapers, unless they are mailed directly from the publisher, or brought to the facility by an approved visitor.

Republican state senator Terri Bryant’s district includes Menard and Pickneyville’s facilities. She said in a press conference at the state Capitol last month that she had recently paid a visit to nine facilities, including Western Illinois Correctional Center, about 40 miles from the Missouri state line.

“[The staff] brought boxes of evidence bags to us, where we saw the tainted mail that was coming in,” Bryant said. “They had bags and bags of evidence just [from] Western alone.”

Before joining the legislature, Bryant worked for the IDOC for 20 years. She said she has been “beating the drum” on the issue of drugs coming into prisons for the past two years, after hearing several reports of exposure and hospitalization from staff members inside.

“Where do we start? We start with the scanned mail,” Bryant said. “We start with stopping [staff members] from bringing their dishes in ...we go back to patting [visitors] down.”

And while the labor union representing IDOC prison workers is joining the call to ban incoming paper mail, several prison reform groups are staunchly opposed.

Restore Justice, along with dozens of legal and community groups, sent a letter to IDOC last month urging them not to replace postal mail with a scanning system, and to instead “explore evidence-based solutions that foster safety and rehabilitation.”

James Swansey is part of the group’s policy team. He was incarcerated in IDOC for 28 years, and was released four years ago. He said evidence that scanning mail will lead to less drug exposure is scant, and restricting people’s access to paper mail should not be taken lightly.

“While I was incarcerated, I had letters from my grandmother, and I still have those,” Swansey said. “I did lose her while I was incarcerated, but it's just the fact that I can go back and reread these letters.”

Swansey said his team has had trouble getting answers on drug exposure incidents from IDOC. But he said they will be in Springfield in January during the legislative lame duck session to talk to lawmakers.

“We can all… have a logical solution, instead of it being reactionary,” Swansey said. “Reactionary solutions may have a lot of unintended consequences for the incarcerated population.”

Mawa Iqbal covers state government and politics for WBEZ. Follow her @mawa_iqbal.

The Rundown: What sanctuary laws mean for immigrants

2024-12-11T15:45:00-06:00

Good afternoon! The Kennedy’s express lanes may not reopen ahead of holiday travel this month. Here’s what else you need to know today.

1. Chicago and Illinois have sanctuary laws. What does that actually mean?

Chicago is widely known as a sanctuary city because it has laws that prohibit local officials from helping federal immigration agents enforce immigration law.

Advocates hope these sanctuary laws can help protect immigrants from deportation — but there are limits, my colleague Adriana Cardona-Maguigad reports.

Law enforcement officials throughout the state and any government authorities in Chicago are prohibited from sharing information about undocumented immigrants, including their addresses. This is particularly important to DACA recipients or immigrants who have secured Temporary Protected Status to be in the country legally and who fear they could become targets if President-elect Donald Trump ends those programs.

Experts say sanctuary laws help protect undocumented immigrants from being criminalized and targeted by local police. In turn, they help build trust between police and local communities, and research shows this reduces crime.

But the federal government can enforce immigration law anywhere in the country, even if local authorities don’t help. For example, city and state law enforcement agents can’t stop ICE agents from arresting noncitizens if the agents have a warrant signed by a judge ordering the arrest and deportation of an individual. [WBEZ]

2. A high-ranking Chicago cop faces suspensions for disparaging gays and leaking kids’ records to the deputy mayor

Investigators have found that a high-ranking Chicago police official should be suspended in two separate disciplinary cases — one focusing on inflammatory comments he made about Palestinians’ treatment of gay people and another hinging on the improper disclosure of juvenile criminal records to a top mayoral aide, my colleague Tom Schuba reports.

In each case, the Chicago Police Department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs has recommended that Area 1 Deputy Chief Don Jerome should be suspended for 28 days.

Meanwhile, Jerome has remained on active duty in a highly visible position as police officials determine his fate. “The disciplinary process is being finalized,” a police spokesperson told the Chicago Sun-Times, declining further comment.

Jerome has faced dozens of complaints since joining the police department in 1994, a handful of which were sustained, according to a database maintained by the Invisible Institute, an independent newsroom focused on police accountability. Most notably, Jerome was suspended for 28 days for his role in the cover-up of then-Superintendent Eddie Johnson’s drunken driving incident in 2019. [Chicago Sun-Times]

3. The CPS School Board is not expected to act on CEO Pedro Martinez’s contract tomorrow

There’s nothing on the agenda related to Martinez’s contract for the last scheduled meeting of the year, which threatens to prolong the drama around his job status through the holidays and into the new year, my colleagues Nader Issa and Sarah Karp report.

The Board of Education offered Martinez a buyout last week, but he has so far opted to remain in his role. The board could still find a resolution this month — whether to fire Martinez or reach a settlement — and schedule a special meeting to take a vote. Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union have been taking steps to push out Martinez for months.

Speculation had grown that the tension between Johnson, his handpicked school board and Martinez would come to a head this month before the larger board takes over next month. It will be harder to build consensus at that point, especially with the addition of a few newly elected school board members who oppose the mayor and his CTU allies who have called for Martinez’s firing. [Chicago Sun-Times/WBEZ]

4. Home Run Inn and the city teamed up to provide 5,000 frozen pizzas to Chicago shelters

Being in business for 100 years is somewhat of “a miracle” for Home Run Inn, an owner said. So when thinking about how to give back to the community that had supported it for a century, the family-owned business partnered with the city to deliver pizzas during the holidays to city-run homeless shelters, Davis Giangiulio writes for the Chicago Sun-Times.

“One of our cornerstone values is giving back to the communities we serve,” said Gina Perrino Bolger, a Home Run Inn senior vice president and fourth-generation family member. “The City of Chicago has been so good to us for over 100 years. This is the least we can do.”

Brandie V. Knazze, Family and Support Services commissioner, said the department reaches out to shelters across the city and offers the pizzas to anyone who needs or wants them. She said Chicago businesses providing support is critical for the city, staff and those seeking shelter. [Chicago Sun-Times]

5. A Northwestern music detective resurrected a trove of 400-year-old Christmas music

Chicago’s own Newberry Consort will perform works of music from 17th-century Guatemala and Mexico that haven’t been heard by modern audiences, WBEZ contributor Hannah Edgar reports.

The Consort plays old music using instruments and techniques from the period and hosts its annual “Latin American Christmas” concerts this Friday through Sunday, culminating in a matinee at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen.

This year’s program features something unique: The “backbone,” in director Liza Malamut’s words, is nine pieces studied and edited by Paul Gustav Feller-Simmons, a Ph.D. student at Northwestern University. Four of the works were written and performed in a convent in Puebla, Mexico, between 1630 and 1740 and now reside at the Centro Nacional de Investigación, Documentación e Información Musical (CENIDIM) in Mexico City. The other five were discovered in a chest in the Guatemalan highlands and are even older, dating between 1562 and 1635. Those manuscripts are now held at Indiana University.

Here’s what else is happening

Albertsons sued Kroger and ended its failed grocery megamerger. [NPR]
An Illinois man was arrested for allegedly assaulting South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Here’s how Chicago is preparing for a new strain of mpox that has arrived in the U.S. [Chicago Tribune]
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association received a $50 million gift. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Oh, and one more thing …

The Tom and Jerry didn’t originate in Chicago, but the cocktail is now a holiday tradition, WBEZ contributor Andrew Meriwether reports for Curious City.

A T&J is akin to a warm eggnog, but what really makes it stand out is its viscosity. That’s because at the base of any Tom and Jerry is a batter, similar to what you might use for pancakes. It’s made from sugar, eggs, autumnal spices and vanilla.

While the exact birthplace of the Tom and Jerry is likely lost to history, its tradition has seen a resurgence in the Midwest, along with interest in other traditional cocktails like eggnog, old-fashioneds and martinis. At the height of the season, Miller’s Pub in the Loop goes through 12 gallons of Tom and Jerry batter a day. [WBEZ]

Tell me something good …

What encounters have you had with wild animals in the Chicago area?

Laurel writes:

“Twice this summer for the first time ever since we moved into our Oak Park home 28 years ago, I saw a fox in our backyard. The first time was through the kitchen window and s/he was beautiful with a big red ruff. The second time I was walking into the backyard from one side of the house and the fox was running away along the other side. I also saw foxes twice while I was out walking at dawn, once in someone else's yard, and once running across the street to hide under porch stairs. The summer of the fox!”

Rachel writes:

“Oh my gosh you should have been there May 19, 2024, when I happened upon a wild turkey escaping my backyard, flapping noisily over our short gate, and strolling down Bernard Street to cross Foster! I have never been so shocked. Apparently there are 1-2 turkeys spotted only very recently in Labagh woods and this had to be one of them.”

And Michele writes:

“My husband and I were at Chicago Botanical Garden this past Saturday evening for Lightscape. As we were driving around finding a place to park, two deer crossed the parking lot in front of our vehicle. It makes sense that deer would enjoy the Garden, but it's the first time we've seen any animals, in over 20 years that we've visited there. A happy surprise to begin our Lightscape visit.”

Feel free to email me, and your response may be included in the newsletter this week.

Home Run Inn and city team up to provide 5,000 frozen pizzas to Chicago shelters

2024-12-11T10:35:55.522-06:00

Being in business for 100 years is somewhat of "a miracle" for Home Run Inn. So when thinking about how to give back to the community that had supported it for a century, the family-owned business partnered with the city to deliver pizzas during the holidays to city-run homeless shelters.

La Voz Sidebar

Lea este artículo en español en La Voz Chicago, la sección bilingüe del Sun-Times.

On Tuesday at the company's original storefront on West 31st Street in Little Village, Home Run Inn and Chicago Department of Family and Support Services employees provided more than 5,000 pizzas that will go to more than 30 homeless shelters across Chicago as part of its third annual “Miracle on 31st Street” event.

With over 400 cases holding 12 frozen pizzas each, cars lined up through the parking lot at Home Run Inn’s Little Village location to pick up pies for their respective shelters. Singers from The Caroling Connection performed for the waiting crowd.

Dreezy Claus places pizza boxes into a vehicle during a giveaway Tuesday outside Home Run Inn Pizza in Little Village.

Dreezy Claus, who brands himself as “Chicago’s Black Santa,” made an appearance to help load up vehicles.

The pizzas, which are all donated by Home Run Inn, are extremely helpful, said Kecya Thurman, the manager at North Side Housing and Supportive Services shelter, 7464 N Clark St. in Rogers Park. The shelter just opened on Monday.

“Our cook hasn’t started cooking yet, so [the shelter residents] can have this for dinner or lunch,” she said. “The shelter residents like pizza. The city told them they were going to have pizza on Tuesday, so they were very excited.”

Brandie V. Knazze, Family and Support Services commissioner, said the department reaches out to shelters across the city and offers the pizzas to anyone who needs or wants them.

She said Chicago businesses helping support these shelters is critical for the city, staff and those seeking shelter.

“There are still good people out there. There are still corporations out there who are giving back to community,” she said. “We want to make sure our families, our residents and our shelters know that they are loved.”

LaDonna Kelly, who was collecting pizzas for the Primo Center for Women and Children in Austin, said the food comes when they see an influx of new residents seeking shelter as the temperatures drop.

The frozen pizzas are also convenient and accessible for residents, Kelly said.

“Sometimes our families don’t arrive until 12, 1 a.m.,” Kelly said. “This is essential for us to have because they can’t go upstairs and prepare a whole meal. It’s just helpful … it’s amazing.”

Responses like that are why Home Run Inn has kept the event going, Bolger said.

“When we do this, we’re able to provide smiles,” she said. “It’s kind of a miracle we’ve been here for 100 years, and we’re able to support this community as long as we have.”

LaDonna Kelly with the Primo Center for Women and Children, receives a hug while picking up boxes of frozen pizza during a giveaway Tuesday outside Home Run Inn Pizza in the Little Village neighborhood.

Madigan judge says ex-Rep. Eddie Acevedo must testify at trial, rejects competency concerns

2024-12-11T10:27:09.483-06:00

The judge presiding over former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan’s corruption trial ruled Wednesday that ex-state Rep. Edward “Eddie” Acevedo must testify if called by the feds — but defense attorneys warned that prosecutors summon him “at their own peril.”

U.S. District Judge John Blakey ordered Acevedo to testify despite concerns about Acevedo’s mental health. Prosecutors say they will likely call Acevedo, 61, to the stand Monday. He won’t undergo a video deposition that had been considered to safeguard his testimony.

Still, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu warned that Acevedo earlier made comments in front of a grand jury about Madigan that weren’t prompted by a prosecutor. A similar outburst at trial could be problematic and even lead to a mistrial motion.

Troublesome testimony could be edited out of a video deposition, and Blakey raised the idea earlier this week. But lawyers on both sides of the case ultimately chose not to pursue it. Madigan attorney Todd Pugh warned that prosecutors call Acevedo “at their own peril.”

“We will timely object as matters come,” Pugh said.

The warning didn’t seem to deter prosecutors a bit.

Trial highlights

Judge Blakey ruled that ex-state Rep. Eddie Acevedo will have to testify despite competency concerns.
Jurors heard testimony about alleged efforts by AT&T Illinois to bribe Michael Madigan.
Prosecutors still expect to rest next week.

Acevedo, a former assistant House majority leader who served a six-month prison sentence for tax evasion in 2022, plays a role in two alleged schemes at issue in Madigan’s trial. Jurors heard extensive testimony about one of them later Wednesday.

Madigan and Acevedo are both Democrats from Chicago’s Southwest Side. Madigan resigned in 2021 and is now on trial for a racketeering conspiracy. Michael McClain, his longtime ally, is also on trial and accused of acting as Madigan's agent.

Blakey and the lawyers met privately with Acevedo in the judge’s chambers on Tuesday. Then, the judge heard further arguments from the lawyers Wednesday morning. But it turned into a dizzying back-and-forth that Bhachu said even left his head “spinning.”

Defense attorneys explained that their earlier meeting with Acevedo did not leave them fearing an outburst from the former lawmaker. But Madigan attorney Dan Collins told the judge that Acevedo “lacks any type of recollection on the facts at issue.”

“This is going to be an absolute mishmash on the facts,” Collins said of Acevedo’s testimony.

Gabrielle Sansonetti, Acevedo’s attorney, told the judge that anything Acevedo says will be compromised because he’s been diagnosed with dementia.

“Everybody has an interest in this proceeding and how it goes,” Sansonetti said. “I have an interest in Mr. Acevedo. That’s my interest. And not putting somebody on the stand to just humiliate them. For what reason?”

Ultimately, Blakey called Acevedo up to a podium in front of his bench. Acevedo, using a walker, listened as the judge told him there’s a difference between "credibility" and “competency.”

“If you give truthful answers to questions in this proceeding, they cannot be used against you directly or indirectly," Blakey told Acevedo, reiterating an immunity ruling Blakey issued last week.

The judge added, “You will have to testify.”

When he asked if Acevedo understood, Acevedo said, “Yes sir.”

Despite the drama over Acevedo’s testimony, prosecutors continued to make their case to the jury, with an apparent goal of resting next week. The feds walked jurors through a series of emails and text messages showing how AT&T lobbyists maneuvered in an ultimately successful bid to get a prized piece of legislation passed in Springfield — and quickly connected with McClain to make it happen.

Why the Madigan trial matters

Michael J. Madigan was the longest-serving state House speaker in the United States. That position made him the leader of the Illinois House of Representatives for nearly four decades, where he shepherded legislation that affected everyday life in Illinois. He also served for more than 20 years as the head of the Democratic Party of Illinois. Ultimately, he rose to become one of the most dominant politicians in Illinois since the late Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley.

Read all our coverage of the historic trial here.

As the company aimed to change a state law requiring AT&T Illinois to provide landline service statewide, its president Paul La Schiazza reminded his team of lobbyists in February 2017 that “no bill can get through the legislature and to the Governor without the tacit approval of the all-powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan.”

Jurors saw further emails from La Schiazza reporting that Madigan had assigned their bill as a “special project” to McClain, who in a separate email asked lobbyist Robert Barry if there was “even a small contract for Eddie Acevedo?”

The AT&T team then arranged for Acevedo to be paid through the firm of Tom Cullen, a longtime Madigan staffer-turned-lobbyist who was also contracted with the telecom giant.

Acevedo previously served as a key ally of Madigan's as chair of the statehouse Latino Caucus, Cullen said.

He and the AT&T lobbyists met in the Capitol to offer Acevedo a $2,500-per-month contract for what amounted to “busy work,” Cullen testified, but an angry Acevedo rebuffed them, complaining that he was “worth more money and AT&T was being cheap.”

“He said, ‘f— AT&T. They can kiss my ass,’” Cullen told the court.

Acevedo later called back and took the deal, Cullen said.

Cullen also walked jurors through a set of payments to another Madigan loyalist, ex-aide Kevin Quinn, who was forced out of the speaker’s 13th Ward organization over sexual harassment allegations, although jurors have only been told it was “misconduct.”

Prosecutors played a recorded phone call of McClain asking Cullen to join “a bunch of us” in paying $1,000 per month to Quinn to “keep him afloat.”

Cullen eagerly agreed, saying “it’s not even a question.”

Asked in court if he had any actual need to hire Quinn, Cullen said “not really.”

So why commit to monthly contracts totaling $6,000 for Quinn?

“I was loyal to the operation,” Cullen said. “I was loyal to Mike McClain.”

This Northwestern music detective resurrected a trove of 400-year-old Christmas music

2024-12-11T05:00:00-06:00

What did “Christmas past” sound like, exactly?

Courtesy of a Chicago-area music scholar with a talent for digging up the past, local audiences will be the first in centuries to hear a series of old carols that trace back to 16th and 17th–century Mexico and Guatemala.

The group behind the project is the Newberry Consort, which plays old music using instruments and techniques from the period. The Consort hosts its annual “Latin American Christmas” concerts Dec. 13–15, culminating in a matinee at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen.

Newberry Consort will present a beautiful approximation of what one might have heard 400 years ago in the newly discovered holiday carols.

Courtesy of Newberry Consort

Featuring eight instrumentalists and six singers, this weekend’s performances will mark the first time this music has been performed since the works were rediscovered and catalogued by scholars in the 1960s. Furthermore, these old carols will soon be available to anyone who wants to perform them; Feller-Simmons is publishing an anthology of this music and more in 2025.

“Paul has transcribed all of these to modern notation. We’re very, very grateful to him for making these available to us,” Malamut told WBEZ.

If you go: “A Latin American Christmas: A Musical Pilgrimage to Guatemala, Mexico, Chile, and Beyond” runs 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13 at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church, 4220 N. Sheridan Road; 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Evanston, 939 Hinman Ave.; and 4 p.m. Dec. 15 at the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St. Tickets $25–$65; $10 students; children under 16 are free with an adult.

How these carols were reintroduced to the present-day holiday canon is a story of scholarship, patience and modern-day musical archaeology, the kind practiced by Feller-Simmons, 35.

The digging started back when he was an undergraduate student in Chile, assisting musicologist Alejandro Vera in his recovery of a rare manuscript by Santiago de Murcia, a renowned composer of Baroque guitar music. In recent years, he’s worked with another scholar, Cesar Favila, on a project documenting the centuries-old music of Latin American nuns.

Ultimately, Feller-Simmons’ research was a great fit for the Newberry Consort, which wanted to broaden the concept of its annual “Mexican Christmas” concerts to encompass more historical sounds of Latin America.

Just like travel in those days, it took some time for musical fads to cross the Atlantic. The music of colonial Spain tended to be old-fashioned compared to what was happening in mainland Europe. Even the earliest pieces on the Newberry Consort’s program, from the 1560s or so, contain music more akin to that composed in 1510.

“It would be like listening to swing today,” Feller-Simmons said.

Some of the music is signed by composers or copyists, while other pieces are anonymous. But the manuscripts offer up clues that Feller-Simmons has worked to decode.

For example, some of the Old Spanish inscriptions in the Guatemalan manuscripts contained enough unusual misspellings and syntax errors that he suspected their copyists were non-native speakers — quite likely some of the countless Indigenous Americans who converted under duress by Spanish missionaries. Other songs in the collection were written in the Mayan languages spoken in the region.

Some of the manuscripts were discovered in a chest in the Guatemalan highlands dating between 1562 and 1635.

Courtesy of Paul Gustav Feller-Simmons/Lilly Library, Indiana University Bloomington

Names also appeared in the Puebla manuscripts — of women, most likely the nuns tasked with copying down the music. Those signatures tell us a lot about how the music was created and credited, Feller-Simmons said.

“We tend to privilege composers, sidelining the invisible labor of historical performers and other musical actors. This music was made for the nuns, copied and performed by them in a female space,” he said.

Gender roles in Indigenous cultures don’t easily map onto the patriarchal attitudes of colonial Spain. Catholic authorities forbade nuns from playing “improper” instruments, like percussion or brass. Even those playing “acceptable” instruments were often not “acceptable” to see: Some convents had nuns perform behind the cloister for outside visitors.

To emphasize the context of the convent music, Newberry Consort director Malamut, who is also a trombonist, will have only female musicians perform the Puebla pieces. But most of the program, like the Consort itself, is co-ed.

“If we’re really trying to get as close to reality as possible, I wouldn't even be on the stage,” she said.

Deciphering these manuscripts, as Feller-Simmons has, takes time and patience. Besides the expected wear and tear, worms nibbled through some of the sheets. It was even more challenging to convert them into a performance-ready edition. The music doesn’t exist in a full score, with all the lines printed on the same page. Instead, only the individual parts survived — meaning researchers needed to round them all up to reconstruct how the works might have sounded. The notation style and clefs used in the manuscripts are also archaic.

“Some historical performers can probably read from the manuscripts, but it’s not the most comfortable thing,” Feller-Simmons said.

Instrumentation is never specified in the manuscripts.

Courtesy of Paul Gustav Feller-Simmons/Lilly Library, Indiana University Bloomington

As is typical for the time period, instrumentation is also never specified in the manuscripts. The Consort has made educated guesses about what instruments might have been at the musicians’ disposal and how they might have functioned in the ensemble. For that, Malamut scoured primary sources — correspondence, receipts, transatlantic cargo lists — for clues.

“We have a lot of plucked instruments: harp, guitars and sometimes even lute or theorbo could have been used,” she said. There is even evidence of a bajón, more or less an early version of the bassoon.

“The convents would have used those instruments to play the bottom of the range if they didn’t have a woman who could sing that low,” said Malamut.

How the Guatemalan manuscripts ended up in Bloomington, Ind., reflects the fraught colonial history of the region. Catholic missionaries who returned to the Huehuetenango region’s parish in the 1960s were shown some old chests in its holdings. Inside were some 50 books of music, preserved and venerated by area parishioners like relics. Interspersed in the books’ pages were brief accounts of local history, noting visits from church dignitaries and documenting births and deaths.

Feller-Simmons studied and edited a series of old carols that trace back to 16th and 17th–century Mexico and Guatemala.

Courtesy of Paul Gustav Feller-Simmons

The books were taken for research, but most were sold off at auction to collectors. To date, only 19 of the 50 books survive and 17 of those ended up at Indiana University. Microfilm copies were made of some of the lost texts, but not all.

“They might be somewhere in some private collection, and they don’t even know what they have,” Feller-Simmons said.

Despite the remarkable detective work by Malamut, Feller-Simmons and others, some basics — like when and why these pieces were performed — remain lost. Yet another open question is how much Indigenous Mayan instruments and musical traditions mingled with Western ones. European written sources are unlikely to be objective or accurate on that point.

So, what you’ll hear this weekend is a beautiful approximation of what one might have heard 400 years ago. For perfomer–scholars like Malamut, that uncertainty comes with the craft.

“In a certain sense,” she said, “we have to respect that we’re never really going to know.”

Hannah Edgar is a Chicago-based culture writer. Their work appears regularly in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reader, Musical America and Downbeat.

Chicago and Illinois have sanctuary laws. What does that actually mean?

2024-12-11T05:00:00-06:00

President-elect Donald Trump and his allies have promised to deport people without legal status en masse and to crack down on existing protections and programs that create pathways to legal status.

This could impact roughly half a million undocumented immigrants in Illinois, including some 30,000 recipients of DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (also known as DREAMers), and tens of thousands of recently arrived migrants.

Chicago is widely known as a sanctuary city, because it has laws in place that prohibit local officials from helping federal immigration agents enforce immigration law. Illinois has had a similar law in place since 2017 called the TRUST Act. Some suburban townships also have their own versions, including Evanston and Oak Park.

Advocates hope these sanctuary laws can help protect immigrants in coming years from deportation. But there are limits.

What does it mean to be a sanctuary city?

There is no legal definition, but it has become an unofficial term for any jurisdiction — whether a state, county or city — that discourages local law enforcement from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, officials. That usually means not collecting or providing information about residents’ immigration status — including anyone held at a local jail or prison — unless that person has a federal criminal warrant.

How do Illinois’ and Chicago’s sanctuary laws protect undocumented immigrants?

Both laws prevent local enforcement officers from asking for a person’s immigration status, detaining someone because of their immigration status or cooperating with federal immigration agents in several crucial areas.

This helps protect undocumented immigrants, because ICE agents seek local law enforcement help when they’re going after noncitizens with reported immigration violations. When an undocumented person is incarcerated, for example, ICE might issue a detainer asking local law enforcement to notify them before releasing these noncitizens and to hold them an additional 48 hours until ICE can take custody. Illinois law prohibits this type of collaboration, except where the person faces a federal criminal warrant. Chicago makes the same exception.

Illinois law also prevents local officials from supporting ICE with manpower, such as transporting detained immigrants or creating security perimeters for immigration raids.

Law enforcement officials throughout the state and any government authorities in Chicago are also prohibited from sharing information about undocumented immigrants, including their addresses. This is particularly important to DACA recipients or immigrants who have secured Temporary Protected Status to be in the country legally and who fear they could become targets if Trump ends those programs.

Both sanctuary laws also prohibit local officials from asking an individual’s immigration status during routine interactions, such as traffic stops.

Why were sanctuary policies created?

Chicago’s sanctuary city status dates back nearly 40 years, when then-Mayor Harold Washington issued an executive order prohibiting city employers from asking about an individual’s immigration status or assisting federal immigration officials with enforcement. In 2006, the order became city law as the national immigration debate took center stage in Congress. In 2012, this law was expanded and codified as the Welcoming City ordinance. In 2017, former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner signed the TRUST Act, prohibiting law enforcement agents throughout the state from collaborating with ICE.

Can local law enforcement stop federal agents from arresting undocumented immigrants?

The federal government can enforce immigration law anywhere in the country, even if local authorities don’t help.

So, for example, city and state law enforcement agents can’t stop ICE agents from arresting noncitizens if the agents have a warrant signed by a judge ordering the arrest and deportation of an individual.

Trump recently confirmed plans to declare a national emergency and use the U.S. military to assist with the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. While such an action would violate federal law under normal circumstances, experts have speculated that Trump could invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, which gives the president emergency powers to use federal troops on domestic soil to curb local unrest or rebellion.

Such a decision would likely face legal challenges.

“The Trump administration would have to argue that the mere presence of undocumented people or immigrants in a community rises to that level,” said Fred Tsao, senior policy counsel at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. “Any fair-minded federal official would have trouble squaring with the spirit of the law.”

But, he added, “the federal courts are very different from the way they were four years ago [or] eight years ago.” With Republicans controlling Congress next year, “Trump is going to have an easier time confirming new judges — so, that’s a concern."

Adriana Cardona-Maguigad covers immigration for WBEZ. Follow her on X @AdrianaCardMag.

Why is the Tom and Jerry a Midwest holiday tradition?

2024-12-11T05:00:00-06:00

Entering Miller’s Pub, it’s easy to see why it’s a holiday gathering spot. The restaurant is warmly lit with vintage stained glass fixtures, and dark woods combine with classic Christmas decor for a cozy ambiance.

Among those who gather is special education teacher Jason Munchoff, who has met his friends here for an annual holiday celebration since 2007. Essential to their festivities is drinking a Tom and Jerry.

“I'm really into traditions, especially around the holidays,” he said. “I really like doing things over and over again. It just gives that good feeling.”

Andy Gallios is co-owner of Miller’s Pub, known today for its Tom and Jerry cocktail during the holidays. The business is passed down from his father and uncle.

Susie An/WBEZ

Sparrow owner Peter Vestinos whips up the base of any Tom and Jerry, a batter similar to what you might use for pancakes.

Andrew Meriwether/WBEZ

Standing behind the bar, next to a large silver bowl full of fluffy batter, is Miller’s Pub co-owner Andy Gallios. To make a T&J, he scoops a small ladle of batter into a mug, adds rum and brandy, then fills it to the brim with warm water or milk.

Gallios isn’t sure exactly why Miller’s started making the Tom and Jerry, but he does know they’ve been serving it since the 1950s, when his father and uncle first purchased the bar and restaurant. “It’s the same recipe, same method, same guy in the basement making the batter,” Gallios said.

Munchoff has always wondered where this decadent drink came from and why it’s been such a mainstay in Chicago and the Midwest. It turns out the history of the T&J is really a story of how cocktails came to America.

Drunk history

While Miller’s Pub is synonymous with the Tom and Jerry in Chicago, its popularity in the city and in neighboring Wisconsin goes as far back as the mid-19th century.

Chicago Tribune articles from the time feature recipes and interviews with hotel barkeeps. One even documented a raging debate about whether hot cocktails are good for one’s health. But the drink’s actual origins are a bit of a mystery, with numerous figures claiming the title of inventor.

One prominent contender is Jerry Thomas, considered by some to be the father of American mixology. His 1862 book, Bar Keepers Guide, played an important role in popularizing many mainstay cocktails in the U.S. The mixologist claimed to have invented the cocktail in 1847, according to historian David Wondrich.

Other experts question Thomas’ narrative, pointing to newspaper articles as far back as 1827 that discuss a near-identical beverage with a different name. Thomas was born in 1830.

Chicago Tribune articles from the mid-19th Century feature Tom and Jerry recipes, and interviews with hotel barkeeps. One even documented a raging debate about whether hot cocktails are good for one’s health.

Chicago Tribune archive. Mary Hall/WBEZ

And consider this: Egg and sugar–based cocktails such as the egg posset, egg flip and rum flip — all possible T&J precursors — were already popular in the United Kingdom at least a decade before that.

Historian Anistasia Miller believes the famous French chef Alexis Benoît Soyer, who moved to London in 1830, could be the father of the T&J. He was known as a prolific cocktail inventor and is credited with making an ice cream Champagne drink for Queen Victoria, the first ever blue cocktail and even the Jell-O shot.

Her evidence: Young Jerry Thomas visited Soyer in London in a bid to work at a new restaurant Soyer was opening. Thomas did not get the job, but he likely brought back inspiration, introducing Americans to many British drinks and Soyer’s creations as his own.

“You wouldn’t even realize [these drinks] were British, except you’d have to read the type, which is a really tiny, like almost two millimeter tall type that says ‘after Soyer,’ ” Miller said.

But there’s another possible origin of the Tom and Jerry, or at least the drink’s moniker. In 1821, writer Pierce Egan published the novel Life in London, a satire following the inebriated misadventures of two posh aristocrats, Tom and Jerry.

An illustration in Pierce Egan’s Life in London show men drinking and smoking in the Fleet Prison. After the book and play’s success, the phrase “Tom and Jerry” became shorthand for drunken mischief.

Courtesy of The Trustees of the British Museum

The stage play based on the novel became a hit on Broadway in New York City. Suddenly, the phrase “Tom and Jerry” was everywhere, as a shorthand for drunken mischief.

The names also became associated with illicit drinking houses, sometimes called Tom and Jerry shops, where patrons could find warm pick-me-ups on winter nights.

“The Tom and Jerry shops could have had egg flips and egg posits and rum posits and things like that,” Miller said. “People just ended up saying, ‘Oh, I'm going to go over to the Tom and Jerry shop and have a Tom and Jerry.’ ”

Topping off tradition

While the exact birthplace of the Tom and Jerry is likely lost to history, its tradition is alive and well. In fact, it’s seen a resurgence in the Midwest, along with interest in other traditional cocktails, like eggnog, old-fashioneds and martinis. Gallios says at the height of the season, Miller’s Pub goes through 12 gallons of Tom and Jerry batter a day.

While Miller’s offers a classic take, those looking for an elevated experience can visit The Duck Inn in Bridgeport or Sparrow in the Gold Coast.

Duck Inn owner Brandon Phillips makes a Tom and Jerry cocktail featuring duck eggs, tapioca powder and specially made milk tea for extra richness.

Andrew Meriwether/WBEZ

Duck Inn owner Brandon Phillips grew up drinking virgin versions of the Tom and Jerry around the holidays. Although he still goes to Miller’s Pub each year, his restaurant offers a more sophisticated version: For one, he uses duck eggs for added richness and mixes tapioca power in the batter. He also brews a specially made milk tea, featuring hand-harvested spruce tree tips. Finally and most deliciously, Phillips sprinkles sugar over the foamy top and torches it for a creme brulee–like finish.

Phillips’ unique take on the historic drink doesn’t stand alone. On the other side of the city, you can get your drink in a collection of vintage Tom and Jerry mugs at Sparrow, a cocktail bar designed to feel like a 1920s expat bar in Havana. Their batter packs an additional punch with allspice. Owner Peter Vestinos imagines a barkeep serving up their Tom and Jerry to homesick patrons.

For Phillips, a Tom and Jerry at Miller’s Pub offered a warm welcome when he first moved to Chicago from Wisconsin. He hopes he can do the same for his customers during the holidays. “It felt like such a piece of home to me,” he said, “to be able to go to Miller’s and have a Tom and Jerry."

For those interested in mixing the beverage for themselves, we’ve included a few classic recipe, as well as Phillips’ luxurious take, below.

Andrew Meriwether is a reporter and producer based in Chicago. Keep up with his work at andrewmeriwether.com.

More about our question-asker: Jason Munchoff

CPS School Board is not expected to act on CEO Pedro Martinez’s contract on Thursday

2024-12-10T18:40:45.719-06:00

The Board of Education has not scheduled a vote to fire or otherwise push out Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez this week, which threatens to prolong the drama around his job status through the holidays and into the new year.

A meeting agenda posted Tuesday afternoon for the school board’s Thursday evening meeting does not list action toward Martinez’s dismissal or for a separation settlement. The board offered Martinez a buyout last week but he has so far opted to remain in his role.

The Board of Education could still find a resolution this month — whether to fire Martinez or reach a settlement — and schedule a special meeting to take a vote. Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union have been taking steps to push out Martinez for months.

But this week’s meeting is the last regularly scheduled one until late January, when a new 21-member partially elected board is set to take office. Thursday's meeting was pushed back from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. A CTU rally was subsequently scheduled for 3 p.m. that day.

If there is no action before the board's January meeting, it will be up to the newly seated board to decide whether or not to retain Martinez. A large group of CPS administrators, a group of aldermen and others want him to stay.

Speculation had grown that the tension between Johnson, his handpicked school board and Martinez would come to a head this month before the larger board takes over. It will be harder to build consensus at that point, especially with the addition of a few newly elected school board members who oppose the mayor and his CTU allies who have called for Martinez’s firing.

The CTU has also been joined by the current Board of Education in pushing for a resolution to their contract negotiations this month. The union has called Martinez an obstacle to an agreement, and the board has tried to pressure him to make a deal.

The Rundown: Trump’s mass deportations may start in Chicago

2024-12-10T15:45:00-06:00

Good afternoon! A Chicago nonprofit has 30 sites where you can drop off your broken holiday lights to be recycled. Here’s what else you need to know today.

1. Chicago will be ground zero for mass deportations, President-elect Donald Trump’s border czar told Illinois Republicans

Tom Homan came to Chicago yesterday to suggest Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker “come to the table” and negotiate with him over a mass deportation plan he declared would start right here, Tina Sfondeles reports for the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Trump administration’s plan includes verifying the status of asylum seekers and arresting people who are found harboring criminals, regardless of whether he has cooperation from the city.

To Johnson, who has said he would protect the city’s immigrants from federal agents, Homan said, “If he doesn’t want to help, get the hell out of the way.” Homan urged the mayor to meet with him, following the lead of New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Asked about Chicago’s refugees after his address, Homan said they would be removed only if a court deemed it.

“If they’re going through immigration proceedings for asylum, the hearings have to happen. They get due process,” Homan said. “When they’re ordered removed, that’s when it’s my problem.” [Chicago Sun-Times]

2. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $68.5 million property tax increase squeaked through the Finance Committee

The Finance Committee’s 14-12 vote sets the stage for the marathon budget stalemate to end when the City Council conducts a final vote Friday, averting what might have been Chicago’s first budget shutdown in anyone’s memory, my colleague Fran Spielman reports.

Along with a much smaller property tax increase, the revamped proposal raises taxes on everything from cloud computing, streaming services and parking to downtown congestion and plastic bags.

Some council members, including Anthony Beale, 9th Ward, and Ray Lopez, 15th Ward, accused the mayor of “nickel-and-diming” beleaguered Chicago taxpayers to support a budget that has ballooned by $5 billion since the pandemic.

“The budget is still bloated. And we’re going to go ahead and accept it. This is not what the people of Chicago are asking for. The people of Chicago are asking for cuts and efficiencies. Not layoffs. That’s the narrative they want everybody to believe — that we’re pushing for layoffs,” Beale said. [Chicago Sun-Times]

3. Chicago has a new Michelin-starred restaurant

Cariño, the Uptown restaurant that chef Norman Fenton opened a year ago, earned its first Michelin star. The Michelin Guide praised the tasting menu’s dishes, including huitlacoche ravioli with fried corn silk, queso truffle quesadilla, al pastor-style lamb tartare tostada and chips and salsa in the form of salsa verde jelly and a tortilla crumble.

Meanwhile, four Chicago restaurants lost a star. Brewery Moody Tongue went from two stars to one, and three lost their single stars: sushi restaurant Omakase Yume, Spanish and Portuguese seafood restaurant Porto and New American establishment Temporis.

You can see the full list of eateries with Michelin stars in the link. [Block Club Chicago]

4. The Shedd Aquarium unveiled its new rotunda centerpiece

“Wonder of Water” consists of two tanks: one saltwater and one freshwater, Stefano Esposito reports for the Chicago Sun-Times. The previous display only had one tank.

The new exhibit opened to the public today and is part of a $250 million renovation expected to be complete in 2027.

The aquarium said its goal is to connect visitors to the more expansive areas devoted to saltwater and freshwater, including a planned 175,000-gallon tank featuring an acrylic visitor tunnel and housing many of the sea creatures visitors saw in the old Caribbean Reef, including Nickel, the green sea turtle. That exhibit is expected to open in Spring 2026. [Chicago Sun-Times]

5. What’s behind a proposed movie music production complex on Chicago’s South Side?

The former site of the Union Stockyards may soon become a hub for an industry far removed from its meatpacking past, WBEZ contributor Hannah Edgar reports.

Plans for an $80 million development include a scoring stage that would eclipse even the West Coast’s storied Skywalker Sound. The stage’s size and capacity alone — approximately 6,000 square feet and able to hold around 100 musicians — will make it one of the largest in the country.

The proposal also includes event and performance spaces, classrooms, a café, a gift shop and a small Chicago music museum, building on long-simmering — and long-stalled — plans to establish a blues or house museum in the city.

A scoring stage would benefit the city because without the necessary infrastructure, Chicago musicians can’t tap into valuable film, TV and advertising income streams. The city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events has said it is trying to boost those streams amid precarious budget gaps. [WBEZ]

Here’s what else is happening

Here’s what to know about Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO. [NPR]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu testified in his long-running corruption trial. [AP]
The Labor Department is investigating HelloFresh for child labor violations at an Aurora, Ill., facility. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Illinois ranked fourth for whooping cough cases nationwide. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Oh, and one more thing …

If you’ve ever shown up to a bar on a Sunday afternoon or listened to a concert at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, you’ve experienced firsthand the lasting impact of German culture in the city, my colleague Erin Allen reports for WBEZ’s Curious City.

There are key organizations, including the Goethe Institute and DANK Haus, but there are also subtler, everyday activities Chicagoans participate in that would be different had German immigrants never settled in this area centuries ago.

Curious City spoke with two experts on German language and culture. They discuss how it has shaped Chicago’s history and present, from the products we consume to the rights and freedoms we enjoy. [WBEZ]

Tell me something good …

What encounters have you had with wild animals in the Chicago area?

Mike writes:

“I am very fortunate living on the edge of Busse Woods and Busse Lake. Walk there everyday with my dog, and see things almost daily. Last week a deer, Cooper's hawk, and a pack of coyotes crossed the ice for the first time this year to hunt on the islands. Today a mature bald eagle swooped right over us and scooped up a dead fish a fisherman had tossed on the ice. See river otters, beaver, mink- and in 15 years saw one bobcat. Nature is there in full view literally everyday.”

Beth writes:

“I was taking a run around dusk one evening near the totem pole in Lincoln Park near Addison. As I turned the corner, there was a family of five raccoons sitting on their haunches. The big one seemed to be a couple of feet tall. I have a healthy fear of them, so I stopped and backed away slowly.”

And Becky writes:

“We walked outside one day to find a hawk sitting very calmly in a circle of feathers we knew belonged to a local mourning dove. They’re not very smart.”

Feel free to email me, and your response may be included in the newsletter this week.

Chicago restaurant Cariño garners its first Michelin star

2024-12-10T14:03:52.8-06:00

A year after opening Cariño in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, the announcement that his restaurant, “a love letter to Mexico," earned its first Michelin star this week left chef and owner Norman Fenton feeling validation.

“[Getting a Michelin star] just validates what I've been doing for over 20 years and what I focused my entire energy and life into,” Fenton told the Sun-Times on Tuesday. “I've missed a lot of moments over the past 20 years that most people would have enjoyed — birthdays, holidays — all at the expense of trying to perfect my craft.

"It means it's just the start of an even more beautiful journey.”

That journey for Fenton began at age 14 when he was making prime ribs at a family-owned restaurant in suburban Detroit. After graduating from culinary school and working at restaurants in Michigan, he moved in 2015 to Chicago, where he landed at the Alinea Group’s The Aviary and then Schwa, where he helped maintain the restaurant’s Michelin star.

In 2019, he traveled to Tulum, Mexico, drawn to the town's booming culinary scene. There, he met his wife, Karina, and his future business partner for Cariño, Karen Young, the owner of Wild Tulum. He became executive chef at Wild Tulum, a post he still holds in addition to running Cariño.

Norman Fenton and Karen Young are business partners in Cariño.

Tulum Pluton

His wife hails from Cancun and their two sons were born there. When creating Cariño, “the inspiration comes from my family, from my wife and kids and them embracing me into their culture, teaching me about their culture,” Fenton said.

“[Cariño] is really just a love letter to Mexico and the people there, and the people that have accepted me into their culture and embraced the different viewpoints I've had with some of the cooking, flavor profiles and everything within the food.”

One dish that received praise from the Michelin Guide was the ravioli with huitlacoche, a “beautiful ingredient” embraced in Mexico.

“Here in the States, we call it corn smut and the farmers were taught to eradicate it with pesticides because it was undesirable because of the way it looked. In Mexico, they embraced it and found a way to utilize it. And I think that speaks very true to their culture of how they're very economical and how they utilize a lot of things that come from their country.”

Carino’s huitlacoche ravioli was lauded by the Michelin Guide.

Provided

At Cariño, 4662 N. Broadway, he celebrates huitlacoche’s “nutty, roasty, unique flavor” in the ravioli dish that’s layered with different kinds of corn ingredients, “and then, because it's the truffle in Mexico, we pair with a little bit of truffle, and then, boom, we have a pretty stunning pasta dish that will probably never leave the menu.”

The Michelin Guide lauded Fenton for his “distinct, ambitious manner” in his approach to Mexican cuisine.

“Indeed, this tasting menu features boldness and creativity in spades, starting with ‘chips and salsa’ in the form of salsa verde jelly and a tortilla crumble. The best seats are at the counter, which offer an up-close view of this small team, all of whom work diligently and engage with guests freely.”

Also in Chicago, Alinea retained its three stars as did Smyth, which garnered three stars last year. Logan Square pasta-focused hot spot Daisies received a Green Star, honoring sustainability, for the second year in a row.

Complete list of 2024 Michelin-starred restaurants in Chicago

Three Michelin Stars

Alinea
Cuisine: Creative

Smyth
Cuisine: Contemporary

Two Michelin Stars

Ever
Cuisine: Modern

Oriole
Cuisine: Contemporary

One Michelin Star

Atelier
Cuisine: American

Boka
Cuisine: Contemporary

Cariño
Cuisine: Mexican

EL Ideas
Cuisine: Contemporary

Elske
Cuisine: Contemporary

Esmé
Cuisine: Contemporary

Galit
Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Indienne
Cuisine: Indian

Kasama
Cuisine: Filipino

Mako
Cuisine: Japanese

Moody Tongue
Cuisine: Contemporary

Next
Cuisine: Contemporary

Schwa
Cuisine: Contemporary

Sepia
Cuisine: American

Topolobampo
Cuisine: Mexican

Green Star

Daisies
Cuisine: Italian

Bib Gourmands

The Michelin Guide also named its list of Chicago restaurants that are Bib Gourmands. These awards recognize restaurants that offer "a three-course meal at a reasonable price."

"What Bib restaurants do have in common is their simpler style of cooking, which is recognizable and easy-to-eat. A Bib Gourmand restaurant will also leave you with a sense of satisfaction, at having eaten so well at such a reasonable price," according to Michelin.

The latest restaurant to join the list of unique and more budget-friendly restaurants is Sifr in River North. Michelin called it a "Middle Eastern charmer" and highlighted the hummus as "a gorgeous mosaic of charred green chickpeas, crispy chickpeas, zhoug, and za’atar raise this familiar dish to wonderful heights."

There are 38 total restaurants to be recognized. Here's the complete list of Chicago's 2024 Bib Gourmands:

Birrieria Zaragoza
Cuisine: Mexican

Boonie's
Cuisine: Filipino

Cellar Door Provisions
Cuisine: Mediterranean

Chef's Special Cocktail Bar
Cuisine: Chinese

Chilam Balam
Cuisine: Mexican

Ciccio Mio
Cuisine: Italian

Daisies
Cuisine: Italian

Dear Margaret
Cuisine: Contemporary

Frontera Grill
Cuisine: Mexican

Ghin Khao
Cuisine: Thai

Giant
Cuisine: American

Gilt Bar
Cuisine: Gastropub

Girl & The Goat
Cuisine: Contemporary

HaiSous
Cuisine: Vietnamese

Kie-Gol-Lanee
Cuisine: Mexican

Lardon
Cuisine: Deli

Longman & Eagle
Cuisine: Gastropub

Lula Cafe
Cuisine: American

Mama Delia
Cuisine: Spanish

mfk.
Cuisine: Spanish

Mi Tocaya
Cuisine: Mexican

Mott St.
Cuisine: Fusion

Munno Pizzeria & Bistro
Cuisine: Pizza

Perilla
Cuisine: Korean

Pleasant House Pub
Cuisine: Gastropub

Pompette
Cuisine: Contemporary

Proxi
Cuisine: International

Sochi
Cuisine: Vietnamese

Sol de Mexico
Cuisine: Mexican

Superkhana International
Cuisine: Indian

Table, Donkey and Stick
Cuisine: Austrian

The Duck Inn
Cuisine: Gastropub

The Purple Pig
Cuisine: Mediterranean

Tortello Pastificio
Cuisine: Italian

Union
Cuisine: American

Virtue
Cuisine: Southern

Yao Yao
Cuisine: Chinese

Mayor Brandon Johnson $17.3B budget and $68.5M property tax hike squeak through committees

2024-12-10T12:20:13.614-06:00

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $17.3 billion budget and the tax and fee increases to support it squeaked through a pair of City Council committees on Tuesday, but not before the mayor’s fragile coalition nearly fell apart.

By a 14-12 vote, the Finance Committee approved a revised revenue package that includes a $68.5 million property tax increase and ramped-up taxes on everything from cloud computing, streaming services and parking to downtown congestion and plastic bags.

The Budget Committee vote on the spending plan itself was 17-16.

That only happened after top mayoral aides agreed after a lengthy recess to strike more than $80,000 worth of amendments that would have increased the budgets of two members of Johnson's leadership team — Housing Chair Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) and Police Committee Chair Chris Taliaferro (29th) — in an apparent attempt to lock down their votes.

Both men denied having traded the increases in exchange for their votes.

Tuesday's votes set the stage for the marathon budget stalemate to potentially end Friday, averting what might have been Chicago’s first budget shutdown.

The full City Council will meet Wednesday to defer and publish the budget and the revenue ordinance used to support it, then return on Friday for the final vote.

Johnson managed to eke out a two-vote victory in the Finance Committee, but he took a verbal beating in the process.

Council members Anthony Beale (9th) and Ray Lopez (15th), two of the mayor’s most outspoken aldermanic critics, questioned the mayor’s decision to lump the $68.5 million property tax increase into an overhauled revenue package after Johnson’s original proposal for a $300 million property tax hike was unanimously rejected.

Normally, the property tax levy gets a separate vote.

They accused the mayor of “nickel-and-diming” beleaguered Chicago taxpayers to support a budget that has ballooned by $5 billion since the pandemic.

“We’re going to just continue to fine and fee the people of Chicago without any thorough cuts and efficiencies that they’ve been asking for,” Beale told Budget Director Annette Guzman.

Beale was not appeased when Guzman argued that the city’s corporate fund has only grown by $1 billion. The rest of the increase is in "grants, special revenue and enterprise funds."

“The budget is still bloated. And we’re going to go ahead and accept it. This is not what the people of Chicago are asking for. The people of Chicago are asking for cuts and efficiencies," Beale said. "That’s the narrative they want everybody to believe — that we’re pushing for layoffs.”

Lopez pointed to a poll commissioned by the Common Sense Caucus. It shows that 63% of those surveyed support cutting vacant positions in city government and that a majority favor a 5% cut in overall spending.

“One of us is being truthful. One of us is actually connected to reality. Time is going to show which one of us is correct,” Lopez said.

Lopez accused the mayor of presenting the Council with a "manufactured crisis" to try to "force our hand and threaten us to be here for the holidays.”

Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) dissected the mayor’s revised revenue package, which encompasses a broader congestion fee on people who use ride-hailing apps, including weekend rides.

Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd)

Sun-Times file

“When those constituents are hailing an Uber home from their late-night shift working in the hospitality industry downtown now on a Saturday or Sunday night, they’ll have their local alderman to thank for taking money out of their pocket because they worked until 3 in the morning to earn, just so they can get home safe because the CTA is too dangerous,” Reilly said.

Chicago already has the "highest parking garage tax in the entire nation," and Johnson wants to make it "even bigger," Reilly said before setting his sights on the other increases.

"When you’re at the grocery store and you’re paying your bag tax, that’s now 10 cents. Thank your local alderman for that, too," he said.

"The [cloud computing] going up two points, [already] the highest in the nation at a time when our tech industry is starting to consider other locations to do business. Couldn’t pick a better time for that $128 million tax [increase], folks. And then we’ve got the city’s amusement tax that will be applied to streaming and cable television. So those of you who get that monthly bill, thank your local alderman.”

Reilly ridiculed Johnson for proposing a $300 million property tax increase, offering to cut it in half, then shrinking it even further — to $68.5 million that, he claimed, has not been justified.

“We have a spending problem in the city of Chicago. We don’t have a revenue problem," Reilly said. "We’re spending far too much money."

South Side Ald. David Moore (17th) said he voted for the budget after the Johnson administration "committed to working with me" to make Ogden Park and a new $30 million field house there a "priority."

Shedd Aquarium's Caribbean Reef makes way for new centerpiece with twice the tanks

2024-12-10T09:36:27.215-06:00

A world where life flutters, shimmers and gently sways, like the forest scenes from the original "Avatar" movie, a kaleidoscope of colors that shouldn't exist in nature.

Corals in pink, purple, peach, turquoise — some shaped like crumpled velvet, others resembling fantastical wind instruments or dinner plates.

That's the saltwater side of the Shedd Aquarium's new "Wonder of Water" centerpiece beneath its rotunda — part of $250 million worth of renovations, expected to be complete in 2027.

It has replaced the Caribbean Reef, a living carousel of sea creatures — turtles, rays, bonnethead sharks and fish with scales like polished armor.

In the new exhibit, open to the public on Tuesday, a curved walkway cuts between two kidney-shaped tanks — the other, a freshwater world — where before, there was just one huge tank.

Left: “Wonders of Water” photographed on December 5, 2024. Right: the Caribbean Reef in January 2021.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times and Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

The re-imagined space may come as a shock to repeat visitors for whom the Caribbean Reef was a must-see — especially when staff dropped into the tank in scuba gear to feed the hungry residents. The previous tank was built in the early 1970s; when the aquarium opened in 1930, the space contained an open-air "swamp" — a rock garden and sunken tropical pool, filled with turtles, frogs and fish.

“You don’t have to get rid of something, but when you think about what Shedd exists for — to spark that curiosity, to spark the conservation ... that care for the aquatic environment — all of that happens because people are drawn in and they connect with animals," said Sarah Hezel, Shedd's vice president for design and exhibits. “We are constantly trying to figure out the best way, even more improved ways, to care for the animals that are in our collection and even more impressive ways to connect people to them.”

A crowd in 1930 looks at the open-air “swamp,” filled with turtles, frogs and fish, that used to occupy the space under the Shedd Aquarium rotunda..

Sun-Times file

But "impressive" doesn't mean bigger in a space hemmed in by Shedd's Beaux-Arts style octagonal glass dome.

"This is a very unique space within Shedd. It has architecture with a capital 'A.' You have to address the space," Hezel said.

The new exhibit will help connect visitors to the more expansive areas devoted to saltwater and freshwater, including a planned 175,000-gallon tank — featuring an acrylic visitor tunnel — that will house many of the sea creatures visitors saw in the old Caribbean Reef, including Nickel, the green sea turtle. That exhibit is expected to open in spring 2026.

The old saltwater tank, unlike the new one, had fake coral — for a number of reasons.

Fish swim inside the freshwater aquarium that is part of “Wonder of Water” at the Shedd Aquarium.

“To have fish that we had of that size producing that much waste, the necessary filtration is almost impossible, which is why you’ll see smaller but more numerous schools of fish in here," Brendan Wylie, an aquarist who specializes in the study of coral reefs.

Fish like the bubblegum-pink Anthias or the midnight-blue Purple Tang.

The centerpiece of the freshwater tank is a ropy, submerged tree trunk (made of fiberglass) that offers habitat for the fish, which include shimmering Moonlight gouramis, native to the tropics.

Hezel understands that visitors may be more drawn to the showier corals.

Brendan Wylie, senior aquarist at the Shedd Aquarium, looks over the new saltwater tank in “Wonder of Water.”

"There's always something stunning about living corals," she said, But, "it's the contrast: When you walk into this space, you see that there is a color contrast, there is a movement contrast between the two. And they are all essential habitats — and the health of any one aquatic habitat feeds into the health of another."

Illinois ranks fourth for whooping cough cases nationwide

2024-12-10T08:57:50.284-06:00

Whooping cough cases remained high this year in Illinois, a trend likely driven by low vaccination rates and waning vaccine immunity, but also by better detection through more and improved testing.

As of the end of November, 1,902 whooping cough infections were reported in Illinois this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That's three times more cases compared to the same time last year and the highest number of cases the state has seen since 2012, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Cases in Chicago have also reached a 12-year high at 265 reported cases, the Chicago Department of Public Health reported.

"Increasingly, since the COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing many of these infectious diseases have high numbers after dropping during the pandemic, including whooping cough," Sameer Vohra, the director of the state's health department, told the Sun-Times.

Before the pandemic, spikes in whooping cough cases would happen every three to five years, according to the city health department.

Whooping cough, also called pertussis, is a highly contagious respiratory disease. The telltale symptom of the infection is a cough that lingers and gets worse over several weeks. The infection is most severe in infants. One in three babies under a year old with whooping cough are hospitalized.

In October, 408 whooping cough cases were recorded in Illinois, the largest monthly total in 20 years, according to the state health department.

Illinois has the fourth highest amount of cases in the country, according to the CDC's figures. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and New York have reported more infections this year.

Larry Kociolek, an infectious disease doctor at Lurie Children's Hospital, has noticed an increase in cases this year. A low vaccination rate is partly to blame, he said. People got behind on their vaccinations during the pandemic and still haven't caught up. The effectiveness of the pertussis vaccine also wanes over time.

"The most significant impact of the pandemic on whooping cough would be declining vaccination rates leaving people more vulnerable and more exposed," Kociolek said.

The DTaP vaccine for kids is five doses given throughout the first six years of a child's life, which requires regular primary care visits.

"There are several doses given during childhood. The vaccine gets more effective over time," Kociolek said. "But immunity wanes when entering adolescence, so that's why we give a booster and then again in early adulthood."

Illinois is still not back up to routine immunization rates compared to before the pandemic, Vohra said. For kindergartners, the state vaccination rate is 91.7%, slightly lower than the national rate of 93.1%.

"One of our continued messages is how important these routine vaccines are and how they can make a really big difference for preventing severe disease," Vohra said.

Another explanation is doctors are testing for whooping cough more, so they’re identifying more cases, Kociolek said.

"Pertussis is easier to diagnose now than a decade ago," Kociolek said. "Rapid and highly accurate tests are now more available, making it easier to recognize cases."

The most effective way to prevent whooping cough is for both kids and adults to be vaccinated, Kociolek said. It’s recommended adults get the Tdap vaccine booster every 10 years, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis.

Vaccinations are especially important for pregnant people and anyone caring for infants and young children, he added.

For both kids and adults with whooping cough, Kociolek recommends seeking medical help if the cough gets more severe and the person is struggling to breathe or throwing up because of the cough.

Chicago to be ground zero for mass deportations, Trump border czar tells Illinois GOP

2024-12-10T07:31:13.67-06:00

President-elect Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan came to Chicago on Monday to implore Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker to "come to the table" and negotiate with him over a mass deportation plan that he declared would start right here.

La Voz Sidebar

Lea este artículo en español en La Voz Chicago, la sección bilingüe del Sun-Times.

Homan, the former acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trump’s first term, began a 20-minute address at a Northwest Side GOP holiday party with some light ribbing before detailing his plan, which includes verifying the status of asylum-seekers and arresting people who are found harboring criminals.

"Chicago’s in trouble because your mayor sucks and your governor sucks," Homan said to cheers. Later, he called both "terrible" while also telling them to "come to the table."

Tom Homan, President Elect Donald Trump’s pick for “border czar,” addresses Illinois Republicans on Monday.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

To Johnson, who has said he would protect the city's immigrants from federal agents, Homan said, "If he doesn’t want to help, get the hell out of the way."

Homan threatened to arrest people who are found with the criminals he is targeting, regardless of whether he has cooperation from the city. He urged the mayor to meet with him, following the lead of New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

"When they go find that bad guy, and when they find him, he’s probably going to be with others. Others that are not a priority because they’re not a criminal. But guess what? They’re going to be arrested, too," Homan said. "Because he forced me into that position. So he wants to play the game. I’ll play that game."

As next Trump presidency looms, Chicago groups serving immigrants are bracing for the unexpected

Homan reiterated that there was no plan to separate families, but said "it may happen.

"I’m not looking to separate families at all. That’s not my goal," Homan said. "My goal is to enforce the law, but if you put yourself in that position, it may happen. But there’s no plan in this administration right now to separate families. It just isn’t. However, we’re going to enforce the law. So if you put yourself in that position it’s on you."

President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for “border czar” Tom Homan said Monday that Trump’s approach to mass deportation does not involve any plan to separate families, but added, “it may happen.”

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

In an interview on NBC’s "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Trump said he wanted to end birthright citizenship, which would take away citizenship from those born in the U.S. to undocumented parents — despite the U.S. Constitution enshrining those rights in the 14th Amendment. Trump also said he would be open to working with Democrats to ensure that Dreamers — undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children — would be able to stay in the country.

Homan said the parents of Dreamers will have two options: "You can either take a child home with you, or they just stay here. But you don’t get a pass."

He also accused asylum-seekers of coming to the U.S. "for a job," saying "they’re not escaping fear and prosecution from their own government.

"Nearly nine out of 10 people who claim asylum at the border never get relief from those courts," Homan said. "They simply don’t qualify for asylum."

He said those who don’t quality for asylum through the courts would get an order of removal.

"If we don’t, what the hell are we doing? Shut down immigration court?" Homan said. "There’s no more consequences. We have to remove them if the law requires."

Of his controversial plan, Homan criticized media coverage and denied that it is "racist."

"We know exactly who we’re going to arrest. We know most likely where we’re going to find them. We know a lot about them because of investigative case files," Homan said. "So it’s not a sweep. It’s not an uncontrolled operation. It’s a very targeted operation."

Asked about Chicago’s refugees after his address, Homan said they would be removed only if a court deemed it.

"If they’re going through immigration proceedings for asylum, the hearings have to happen. They get due process," Homan said. "When they’re ordered removed, that’s when it’s my problem."

Homan was keynote speaker at the event, hosted by the Law & Order PAC & Northwest Side GOP and attended by Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38th). Sposato's ward saw a big Trump bump in the November election compared to 2020. Support for Trump in Chicago has nearly doubled since his first presidential bid.

Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38th) attends Law & Order PAC event where President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for “border czar” Tom Homan laid out his deportation plans on Monday.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Trump has vowed to stop federal funding to sanctuary cities such as Chicago. Days after the presidential election, Johnson said the city would continue to protect immigrants — and wouldn’t allow Chicago police officers to help federal agents deport Chicago residents.

Pritzker is in discussions with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office to explore what further legal resources or staff they’ll need to challenge Trump policies, including the potential for Trump to try to withhold federal grants for police in blue states in order to enact his mass deportation plan.

Pritzker has called any such action "illegal" and said the state would take legal action.

Just days after the election, the governor sounded a defiant tone.

"To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior," Pritzker said. "You come for my people. You come through me."

On Monday, his administration took a less combative stance.

"It’s no secret that Illinois will face countless, baseless attacks over the next four years from the Trump Administration," Pritzker spokesman Alex Gough said Monday. "Rather than responding to every ridiculous boast from Trump lackeys, Governor Pritzker is focused on what he was focused on during the first Trump term: leading our state with competence instead of chaos."

What’s behind a proposed movie music production complex on Chicago’s South Side?

2024-12-10T05:00:00-06:00

The former site of the Union Stockyards may soon become a hub for an industry far removed from its meatpacking past.

Third Coast Music, a barely three-year-old nonprofit, won the city’s call for proposals to develop the landmarked former Stockyards Bank Building and an adjacent empty lot at 41st and Halsted streets. The winning proposal, designed by architecture firm HED and announced in November, will transform the site into an $80 million music production center and event space.

The proposed development would result in a complex like none other in the Midwest, anchored by a 32,000-square-foot facility housing a massive scoring stage and control room. The stage’s size and capacity alone — approximately 6,000 square feet and able to hold around 100 musicians — will make it one of the largest in the country. Even the storied stage at Skywalker Sound, north of San Francisco, is less than 5,000 square feet.

The proposed music complex would include a sound stage, control room and event and performance spaces in the former Stockyards Bank Building and adjacent lot.

Manuel Martinez/WBEZ

Until now, Third Coast Music, the group leading the project, mostly flew under the radar. It was incorporated as a nonprofit with the singular goal of getting Chicago its very own scoring stage. If all goes according to plan, the project will break ground in spring 2026, after securing funding by the end of next year.

“Not only are we going to build something from the ground up, but we can take the best of all the scoring stages in California and hopefully make one of the best scoring stages that people, not only locally but internationally, will want to visit,” said Susan Chatman, president and cofounder of Third Coast Music.

The need for a scoring stage in Chicago is personal for Chatman, a professional violinist and South Side native. Universal Recording Corporation, which once had a large recording room, closed in 1989; Chicago Recording Company also has large recording studios, but none big enough to accommodate a full symphony orchestra. Without the necessary infrastructure, Chicago musicians can’t tap into valuable film, TV and advertising income streams — streams that the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) has said it is trying to boost amid precarious budget gaps. Chatman herself eventually decamped to Los Angeles to work in the city’s many studio orchestras, where she’s been ever since. She’s certainly not the only one.

Katherine Hughes. Susan Chatman and Rich Daniels, the founders of Third Coast Music, want to fill the need for a scoring stage in Chicago.

Courtesy of Third Coast Music

“Chicago needs a spot like this. We have layers of freelancers that would all thrive in this sort of work environment,” Dan Nichols, a recording engineer and founder of Aphorism Studios, told WBEZ.

If there ever was a time for Chicago to have a scoring stage, this is it. According to the Chicago Film Office, a division of DCASE that coordinates with production companies, Chicago is currently the fourth largest production market for television series in the U.S. Film and TV production in Chicago generated a peak $691 million in economic activity in 2022, the last year on record. And production revenue has been on the rise since 2008, when the General Assembly passed the Illinois Film Production Tax Credit. Through at least 2033, film, TV, streaming and advertising companies receive a 30% transferable tax credit on all qualified expenditures, including production spending and salaries. As an extra incentive to showrunners, Illinois is the only state not to impose a cap on those credits.

Despite the industry’s rapid growth, facility limitations here often require production companies to complete their projects in Los Angeles or New York. Third Coast Music’s scoring stage brings Chicago closer to hosting large film or television projects end to end — all within city limits.

“While Chicago continues to assemble the building blocks needed to support long-form, full-service post-production, the absence of a scoring stage remains an impediment to Chicago becoming an essential national hub for post[-production] as it has become for production,” the Chicago Film Office said in an emailed statement. “Making Chicago a place where film, TV, music, and media creatives have the infrastructure to create projects from start to finish will transform the City’s industry, thereby elevating the art form and amplifying its cultural and economic impact.”

The film and television industry isn’t the only sector that stands to benefit from Third Coast’s proposal. Large ensembles like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra or Grant Park Festival Chorus could conceivably work there in the future, rather than record in venues primarily designed for live performance.

Third Coast Music’s scoring stage brings Chicago closer to hosting large film or television projects end to end — all within city limits. Pictured is the proposed building that would sit at 41st and Halsted streets.

Courtesy of Third Coast Music

Charlie Post, the audio engineer of the Chicago Symphony and downtown venue Guarneri Hall, said he met with Chatman and one of her Third Coast co-founders, Chicago violinist Katherine Hughes, as early as 2020 to discuss the proposal. Even then, he thought the concept was “fantastic.” He echoes the idea that a space like it is much needed in the city.

“Only a handful of venues in Chicago have an acoustic that supports large orchestras. You need sufficient space for the overtones of the instruments to interact,” Post said.

The challenge will be keeping it open. Both Post and Nichols have watched countless studio spaces shutter over the years. The development’s steep $80 million price tag is just the beginning.

The Third Coast team was optimistic on that point. The organization’s nonprofit status opens up the project to tax credits, grant revenue and tax increment financing (TIF) funds. They also hope that the same philanthropy sector that supports live music elsewhere in the city will crack their wallets.

Like countless other city institutions that have added donors to their monikers — most recently, the Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science of Industry — naming rights are on the table too.

“We've seen that copious amounts of times in this town,” says Rich Daniels, vice president of Third Coast and the former musical director of the Fox drama Empire. “So, great — for $25 million, your name here.”

Hannah Edgar is a Chicago-based culture writer. Their work appears regularly in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reader, Musical America and Downbeat.

Alderperson, new school board member say don't fire CPS CEO before partially elected panel takes over

2024-12-09T21:07:34.852-06:00

With Chicago’s Board of Education meeting for the final time this week before a partially elected board takes over in January, some officials are warning the current board against making any big decisions before then — including ousting Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez.

An alderperson, a newly elected board member and some education advocates held a news conference Monday urging the board not to fire Martinez. They’re among many who have supported the schools chief and opposed efforts by Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union to push him out. Almost 700 principals and assistant principals also signed a letter asking the board to hold off on changes.

Later, 21 alderpersons signed on to a letter to the school board offering their "full support” for Martinez’s retention. "We ardently believe that CEO Martinez is the logical choice to guide CPS through these troubled times," they wrote.

“I think it's only right that the temporary board should adhere to the folks that are involved in education to wait until any type of major decisions are done,” said Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th), who signed the letter.

WBEZ and Chicago Sun-Times reported last week that the school board offered Martinez a buyout in the latest effort to get him to leave. Negotiations are ongoing, but Martinez has so far not taken the offer.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) spoke at a news conference Monday about CPS CEO Pedro Martinez’s future. “I think it’s only right that the temporary board should adhere to the folks that are involved in education to wait until any type of major decisions are done.”

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file

The tension could come to a head this week, either through a settlement or Martinez’s dismissal. The school board is set to release its agenda on Tuesday for this Thursday’s scheduled meeting. A vote to fire Martinez would have to be explicitly listed on that agenda for action to be taken, legal experts have said.

The mayor and his handpicked board, which was appointed after the entire previous board resigned in October, could be feeling a sense of urgency to act. They’re close allies of the Chicago Teachers Union, whose leaders are insisting they land a contract agreement before mid-January when the new board takes over and President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

While both CTU and CPS say some progress has been made in contract talks, they remain far apart on some major issues. That includes financial terms and others that are more policy-related.

Carlos Rivas Jr., elected to the school board in the 3rd District, said he’d like to have time to evaluate Martinez’s performance once he takes office in January even if it takes a bit for the new board to get up to speed. But he said he hoped the board would keep Martinez.

“I wouldn’t want us to be put in the place of less autonomy and capability to decide things for the district,” Rivas said.

The Rundown: Syrian Americans react to Assad regime’s fall

2024-12-09T15:45:00-06:00

Good afternoon! A snowy owl was caught chilling along the lakefront on the South Side. Here’s what you need to know today.

1. Syrian Americans in Chicago are celebrating the fall of the Assad regime

Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, whose family ruled over the country for 50 years, fled to Russia yesterday after a rebel advance seized control of the Syrian capital Damascus. It brought an end to a nearly 14-year civil war and a decadeslong dynasty.

For many, the end of the Assad government is something they hoped for but never expected to see in their lifetime, Jake Wittich reports for the Chicago Sun-Times.

“It feels like this is a dream,” Salem Bara from Chicago told the newspaper. “We never thought this would happen that fast, but we’re very excited for the future of Syria and our people.” [Chicago Sun-Times]

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians were killed, many of them civilians and mostly by the Syrian military, since the Assad family took power. In a defining moment of his rule, Assad's security forces killed an estimated 20,000 people in the city of Hama in 1982 as they crushed an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group. When the 2011 Arab Spring inspired peaceful street protests opposing Assad, the government responded with violent crackdowns, and a civil war began. [NPR]

A United Nations official said the country’s public sector had come “to a complete and abrupt halt.” Meanwhile, streams of refugees crossed back into Syria from neighboring countries, some looking for friends and relatives who disappeared during Assad’s rule. [AP]

2. Local Ukrainians are fearful — and hopeful — about Trump’s impact on the war roiling their homeland

Trump’s vow to end the war in Ukraine in one day has been met with deep skepticism. His desire to make America a stronger foreign leader could mean emboldening Ukraine against Russia and its allies. But Trump could also choose to stop supporting Ukraine or force it into capitulation — turning Ukrainians’ worst fears into reality, my colleague Tina Sfondeles writes.

For local Ukrainians, Trump’s plans for mass deportations also bring into question whether an estimated 30,000 Ukrainian refugees in Chicago — who were allowed to enter the U.S. legally under an executive order issued by President Joe Biden — will be safe.

Biden’s “Uniting for Ukraine” program required Ukrainians to have a sponsor in the U.S., complete vaccinations and other public health requirements, and pass other security checks. Without an extension, the program will end in 2026.

“The City of Chicago being a sanctuary city, it’ll be a little harder to do that [deport refugees and green card holders],” said Mariya Dmytriv-Kapeniak, 49, of Ukrainian Village. “We also work with the City Council, and we have had that discussion, but still there’s a lot of fear about that specific program ending, and tens of thousands being in an uncertain position — or left illegal overnight.” [Chicago Sun-Times]

3. Sen. Dick Durbin will decide if he will seek another term after the first of the year

The biggest political guessing game in Illinois is whether Durbin, the state’s most powerful advocate in Congress, will seek a sixth term in 2026, my colleague Lynn Sweet writes for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Last week, he was reelected to be the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, a vote of confidence from his colleagues. Durbin has held that job, called the “whip,” since 2005.

As Sweet reports, Durbin’s self-imposed timetable “means the many Democrats who are considering running for the rarely open Senate seat — and that’s just about every statewide elected official and about half of the 14-member Illinois Democratic congressional delegation plus, perhaps Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor and now U.S. ambassador to Japan — may have to start making plans in a few weeks.” [Chicago Sun-Times]

4. Chicago’s sunsets are getting slightly later beginning today

The sun will set about 1 second later than yesterday — and will slowly continue going down later each day.

But, as Block Club Chicago reports, even as the sun starts to set later, the days will get shorter until Dec. 21. That day will have nine hours, 10 minutes and 59 seconds of sunlight, making it the city’s “shortest day” of the year.

Chicago will have at least nine hours of daylight every day and will start seeing 10 hours of sun in February. [Block Club Chicago]

5. More Muslim girls are playing youth sports and celebrating their religion while doing it

The trend coincides with a change in Illinois law making it easier for student athletes to wear religious clothing while competing, Anna Savchenko reports for WBEZ.

In 2021, a law went into effect allowing students to freely wear hijabs, leggings and long sleeves without needing a waiver from their school district.

Muslim Civic Coalition president Dilara Sayeed, whose group helped draft the bill, said the change gives boys and girls in Illinois the chance “to play in uniforms that meet their faith traditions and not have to constantly be seeking approval to do it.”

And around the same time, a number of basketball leagues in the Chicago suburbs aimed at Muslim girls sprang up. [WBEZ]

Here’s what else is happening

Police are questioning a man in the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting investigation. [AP]
Here’s the full list of this year’s Golden Globes nominees. [AP]
Axing a guaranteed income program to fill the city's budget hole will cost Chicago long-term, advocates say. [WBEZ]
Midwives and family medicine doctors filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Public Health over their sudden departure. [WBEZ]

Oh, and one more thing …

Most of the boats that tie up in Monroe Harbor in the warm months have gone to their winter hideaways, but one, by far the largest, is still there.

The Abegweit, originally built to survive the icy, storm-tossed Northumberland Strait between Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, was retired in 1982 and arrived in Chicago the following year. Today, the boat serves as the home of the Columbia Yacht Club.

WBEZ contributor Dennis Rodkin got an inside look for Reset’s What’s That Building? series. You can see photos of the staterooms, dining areas and more in the link. [WBEZ]

Tell me something good …

All these animal sightings in the city make me a little jealous of anyone who’s spotted an owl, fox, coyote or alligator while living in Chicago. So I’m wondering, do you have a wild-animal encounter that stands out?

Feel free to email me, and your response may be included in the newsletter this week.

Chicago mayor’s chief of staff says ‘peace circle’ plan was for other problems a former top staffer faced

2024-12-09T14:54:39.352-06:00

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson's chief of staff denies that she recommended using a "peace circle" to address allegations of sexual harassment or misogyny against former communications director Ronnie Reese, saying that recommendation was made to address other issues Reese was facing in the office.

In an interview with WBEZ, Cristina Pacione-Zayas defended the actions she took in response to three complaints made against Reese but said the “peace circle” idea was meant to address other broader communication and management issues that Reese faced. She said those broader issues put Reese on a performance improvement plan, and Pacione-Zayas indicated those issues predated the allegations of misogyny or sexual harassment.

“I did not and would not have ever offered [a peace circle] for a serious allegation like sexual harassment,” Pacione-Zayas said.

Pacione-Zayas was made aware July 30 of three complaints, including one from a press office staff member that included allegations of misogyny and an alleged inappropriate incident where Reese told a staffer “Love you” after an unwanted hug, according to documents WBEZ obtained. Pacione-Zayas received an email from the city’s human resources department, in which an HR staffer described the allegations generally but did not attach the 29-page complaint.

The next day, according to Pacione-Zayas’ email response to the HR department, Pacione-Zayas held a previously scheduled meeting with members of the mayor’s press office. It was there she said she referenced a “restorative justice” model for Reese.

A restorative justice “peace circle” is a process where a group can attempt “to restore ‘the peace’ or repair relationships. There's usually an acknowledgment of harm, and then from there, there is a shared responsibility for repairing the harm,” Pacione-Zayas said.

But the suggestion was opposed by staffers who were “unanimously against [Reese’s] inclusion due to the shared fear of retaliation,” the 29-page complaint detailing allegations of misogyny and sexual harassment notes.

The suggestion of “peace circles” became a flash point in a budget hearing last week, in which some alderpersons pressed the human resources department commissioner on whether it’s a recommended tool to address sexual harassment complaints.

Despite being aware of the general complaints of misogyny at the time she suggested the peace circle, Pacione-Zayas insisted to WBEZ that the suggestion was “separate and apart” from those allegations and meant to address broader management issues he faced. Pacione-Zayas did not provide details on the broader performance issues.

She also stressed a need for “due process” around allegations of sexual harassment.

“Any type of sexual harassment is not at all tolerated. But again, these were allegations. There did need to be due process,” Pacione-Zayas said. “There is another opportunity for somebody to give ‘Hey, this is my side of the story,’ and you then monitor and check for any changes or any other complaints. So that was one track, and then I was dealing with the writ large general concerns.”

In response to the formal complaints of misogyny and more, the city’s human resources department recommended Pacione-Zayas provide coaching to Reese, in addition to him enrolling in two training courses, according to emails obtained by WBEZ via an open records request. The HR department stressed that “Reese should also be informed that as a higher-level supervisor with public-facing duties, he is also held to higher standards and may be subjected to a higher level of discipline, including discharge.”

When asked whether she felt training and coaching was sufficient in the face of allegations of misogyny and homophobia, Pacione-Zayas said she followed the recommendations of the city’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, including meeting with Reese on Aug. 5, less than a week after being notified of the complaints.

“I followed the EEO policy. They were allegations, and, you know, they did provide me with alternative action to address [them], which I followed all those things,” Pacione-Zayas said.

On Aug. 5, Pacione-Zayas also began a performance improvement plan, she said to address the broader management and communication issues. A spokesperson for the mayor's office said that plan had a Sept. 27 deadline, which Reese failed to meet. Reese asked for an extension and still did not complete the goals of the plan, a spokesperson said. At that point, the process of termination began. The mayor’s office declined to provide copies of the plan, stating it was protected for privacy.

Reese did not respond to a request for comment.

What the mayor knew and when

When asked whether there was anything Pacione-Zayas withheld from the mayor throughout the entire process, she said she informed the mayor of the formal HR complaints against Reese, how she was addressing them and “generally what I was doing across the entire office.”

But Pacione-Zayas echoed Johnson’s explanation that neither she nor the mayor were aware of more specific details of the sexual harassment allegations until the complaints were made public a month after Reese was fired.

Though Johnson denies finding out the specifics of the allegations against Reese until they were made public by the Chicago Tribune in late November, on Oct. 19, Johnson sent a cryptic text to Chicago Teachers Union president Stacy Davis Gates, Reese’s longtime colleague, stating “Ronnie!” and “Call me,” The Chicago Tribune reported.

Johnson has declined to say what the message was in reference to. He was made aware of Reese’s impending termination after Reese failed to meet the performance plan goals, Pacione-Zayas said. That would have been sometime between Sept. 27 and Oct. 22. Reese was put on paid administrative leave on Oct. 23 and officially fired Nov. 5.

Reese has since been placed on the city’s do-not-hire list in the wake of the complaints' release, Pacione-Zayas said.

Calls for reforms

Pacione-Zayas said for the last several months, she has been working with the city’s law and human resources departments to review the city’s personnel rules, which were last updated in 2014.

“With the recent news, people are asking if we're living up to our values, and you know, I want them to know that I am forcing that question in every single aspect of the infrastructure throughout the city,” Pacione-Zayas said.

When asked if the process for reporting complaints needed to be reformed, Pacione-Zays said the process “is what it is.”

“It's what we have to abide by,” Pacione-Zayas said.

Alds. Scott Waguespack, 32nd Ward, and Gilbert Villegas, 36th Ward — who employs one of the former mayor’s office staffers who was terminated after raising issues under Reese — have called for the city’s do-not-hire policy to be reformed after former mayor’s office staffers believe they were placed on the list in retaliation.

Mariah Woelfel and Tessa Weinberg cover city politics and government for WBEZ.

U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski testifies about influence of 'Sphinx' Madigan during Pritzker ascension

2024-12-09T14:03:03.829-06:00

U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski told jurors in former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan’s trial Monday that Gov. JB Pritzker’s team gave “serious consideration” to job recommendations from Madigan and other legislative leaders, but would “absolutely not” have acted based on a private payment or benefit to Madigan.

Budzinski also acknowledged that Madigan was known around Pritzker’s office as “Sphinx” — a nickname Budzinski used in a December 2018 email but credited to others while testifying.

“I never talked to them about it,” said Budzinski, a former Pritzker aide, when asked to explain the nickname.

Trial highlights

U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski testified about Michael Madigan’s influence on Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration shortly after Pritzker was elected.
A lawyer for state Rep. Edward “Eddie” Acevedo said he shouldn’t have to testify because he has dementia.
Prosecutors now expect to rest next week.

Budzinski, a Springfield Democrat who was elected to the 13th Congressional District seat in 2022, served as executive director of Pritzker’s transition team after his 2018 election and then served as senior adviser once he was sworn into office.

Prosecutors called Budzinski to testify while laying out evidence of a scheme in which Madigan allegedly agreed to help then-Chicago Ald. Danny Solis secure a paid seat on a government board in 2018 and 2019. Budzinski was not involved and is not accused of wrongdoing.

Testimony in the trial ended early Monday, after Budzinski left the stand, due to services for 7th Circuit Judge Joel Flaum, who died Wednesday. Prosecutors are nearing the end of their case against Madigan but told U.S. District Judge John Blakey they now expect to rest early next week.

Madigan is accused of leading a criminal enterprise designed to enhance his political power and reward his allies. Solis was the powerful chairman of the City Council’s Zoning Committee, and prosecutors say Madigan used the former 25th Ward alderman to steer business to Madigan’s private tax appeals law firm.

In one such example, the feds say Madigan asked for Solis’ help connecting with the developers of Chicago’s Old Post Office after Solis asked for help landing the board seat. Solis was working undercover for the FBI at the time, and his request was a ruse.

Solis agreed to wear a wire for the FBI after agents confronted him with evidence of his own wrongdoing in June 2016. However, the Chicago Sun-Times exposed his undercover work in January 2019, and jurors have seen no record of Madigan actually referring Solis to Pritzker’s team.

Still, Budzinski testified about the influence Madigan had at the time. She said the Pritzker team had roughly 1,500 positions to fill after his election. She said the incoming governor’s staff “gave serious consideration” to recommendations from Madigan — as well as other top legislative leaders.

Jurors saw one email in which Budzinski referred to Madigan as “Sphinx” as she passed along a list of his recommendations. In another Dec. 24, 2018, email seen by the jury, Budzinski tried to make sure a recommendation didn’t fall through the cracks.

“We need to call him at least,” Budzinski told people in charge of personnel about one possible candidate for an Illinois Department of Transportation slot. “The Speaker raised with JB yesterday.”

Budzinski testified that she felt it important to be “responsive” to Madigan’s recommendations, but that it wasn’t necessary to “act” on them. And when asked if anyone was appointed based on a private payment or benefit to Madigan, she told a prosecutor “absolutely not.”

“Because that would be wrong, and we have a process, we would never do that,” Budzinski said.

Why the Madigan trial matters

Read all our coverage of the historic trial here.

Earlier Monday, Blakey heard from Gabrielle Sansonetti, defense attorney for former state Rep. Edward “Eddie” Acevedo. The judge on Friday immunized Acevedo and ruled that he could not avoid testifying in Madigan’s trial by asserting his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself.

Acevedo is one of five Madigan allies who prosecutors say were paid by ComEd through third parties in order to curry favor with Madigan. Acevedo allegedly received $120,000 as part of that scheme. The feds also say AT&T Illinois bribed Madigan in 2017 by paying another $22,500 to Acevedo.

Acevedo has not been charged as a result of any of that conduct, but he served a six-month prison sentence in 2022 for tax evasion in a spinoff prosecution. Prosecutors have argued Acevedo was important to Madigan because the fellow Southwest Side Democrat was a leader in the Latino community, and that population had begun to grow in Madigan’s 22nd District.

Sansonetti argued Monday that Acevedo has dementia and “the impact of that in his testimony is concerning and is a matter that is legitimate.”

However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said Acevedo previously testified before a grand jury and “he had specific recollection of particular events.”

Blakey agreed to meet with Acevedo on Tuesday to assess his ability to testify. That will likely mean another short day of testimony for jurors.

Contributing: Dave McKinney

Syrian Americans in Chicago celebrate fall of Assad regime

2024-12-09T07:15:33.425-06:00

A joyous crowd of several hundred Syrian Americans from the Chicago area rallied downtown Sunday, celebrating their country’s newfound freedom from the Assad regime.

The revelers filled the Congress Plaza Garden at the southeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Wells Street, singing in Arabic, dancing and waving large three-star Syrian flags, which predate the Assad government and were adopted by the revolutionaries that overthrew it.

Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, whose family ruled over the country for 50 years, fled to Russia on Sunday after a rebel advance seized control of the Syrian capital Damascus. It brought an end to a nearly 14-year civil war and a decades-long dynasty.

For many, like Salem Bara from Chicago, the end of the Assad government is something they always hoped for but never expected to see in their lifetime.

"It feels like this is a dream," Bara said. "We never thought this would happen that fast, but we're very excited for the future of Syria and our people."

Bara said his uncle was one of many people the Assad government had jailed. His family hasn't heard from him since.

"So many have gone to jail that people were scared the whole time," Bara said. "We are very grateful that decades of fear is over. There is a lot for us to be celebrating today."

Salem Bara says his uncle has been imprisoned under dictator Bashar Assad in Syria and the family hasn’t gotten word from him.

Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times

Qutaba Alzoubi stood at the top of the plaza’s steps, waving a large Syrian flag with his cousin, who fled the country two years ago, he said.

"He has seen everything, and his uncle died during the war," Alzoubi said. "But that's why we're out here. We're doing it for him and to show our support for Syrian people."

Many who attended the rally carried signs with messages celebrating the end of Assad’s rule.

“The feeling of freedom cannot be explained,” one sign read. Another stated, “Let the Ummah’s heart beat as one,” referring to the international Muslim community.

The news that the government of Bashar Assad in Syria had been overthrown brought crowds to a rally downtown Sunday. President Joe Biden said the sudden collapse of the Assad regime is a “fundamental act of justice” after decades of repression.

Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times

Some brought balloons that they released into the air, while others passed out traditional Syrian foods. At one point, small fireworks were set off close to Michigan Avenue.

"Everyone is very happy and hopeful for a better Syria and to be able to return someday," said Layanne Malluhi, of Lake View.

Malluhi said she's had many extended family members who were jailed in Syria for speaking up and rebelling against the Assad regime.

With the Assad government having ended, Malluhi said she's left feeling hopeful that Syria can rebuild into something stronger.

"A better future for us is possible, and we can have a Syria that is livable and a country that is much better than it was before," Malluhi said.

Contributing: Associated Press

Hundreds of people celebrate as members of Chicago’s Syrian American community host a solidarity rally downtown after the rebel overthrow of dictator Bashar al-Assad, at Congress Plaza Garden, 501 S. Michigan Ave., on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. | Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times

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Chicago-area Ukrainians fearful, hopeful about Trump's impact on war in homeland

2024-12-09T07:08:18.651-06:00

Ukrainians in Chicago are fearful — but also hopeful — of what a second Donald Trump presidency will mean for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s targeted war on their homeland, and for the hundreds of thousands of refugees now living and working in the U.S.

"Everyone really doesn’t know what’s going to happen to that program. It could be an executive order from President Trump that could end that program," said Mariya Dmytriv-Kapeniak, president of the Illinois division of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. "If that is taken away, that is the biggest fear, because there is new, other rhetoric that even green card holders might be deported."

Fears for refugees in Chicago

The Biden executive order that allowed 30,000 to 40,000 Ukrainian refugees to come to Chicago is a huge concern for local Ukrainians, according to Dmytriv-Kapeniak, a doctor who came to the U.S. from the Ternopil region 30 years ago.

The program allowed Dmytriv-Kapeniak to bring her two nieces to Chicago in 2022 and quickly obtain their work permits. "They could get basically everything that green card holders, permanent residents" would, Dmytriv-Kapeniak said.

Biden in April 2022 created the "Uniting for Ukraine" program through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, establishing an avenue for Ukrainian citizens displaced by the war to apply for humanitarian parole in the U.S.

Ukrainians had to have a sponsor in the U.S., complete vaccinations and other public health requirements and pass other security checks. That program was intended to last two years — but was extended for another two years in February. Without an extension, the program will end in 2026.

More than 170,000 Ukrainians were allowed into the U.S. under that program, according to the State Department.

"The city of Chicago being a sanctuary city, it’ll be a little harder to do that [deport refugees and green card holders]," said Dmytriv-Kapeniak, 49, of Ukrainian Village. "We also work with the City Council, and we have had that discussion, but still there’s a lot of fear about that specific program ending, and tens of thousands being in an uncertain position — or left illegal overnight."

Trump and his border czar, Tom Homan, have said they would begin their mass deportation plan by deporting immigrants who lack permanent legal status and face criminal charges. But Trump could also quickly end Biden’s executive orders — including programs that have placed Afghans, Haitians and Venezuelans under temporary protected status.

Push for more U.S. aid

For now, local Ukrainians are doing what they have been since the war began nearly three years ago: raising money, educating Americans about the horrors of the war, and fretting about what the end of aid to Ukraine could mean.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has rejected the White House’s request to include $24 billion in additional aid to Ukraine in an end-of-year stopgap bill, saying the decision is up to Trump. Johnson also said Trump’s victory "will change the dynamic of the Russian war on Ukraine, and we’re seeing that happen.

"It is not the place of Joe Biden to make that decision now; we have a newly elected president, and we’re going to wait and take the new commander in chief’s direction on all that," Johnson said, "so I don’t expect any Ukraine funding to come up now."

Biden’s request would have provided aid to Ukraine through 2026 — with the expectation that Trump could pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate with Putin to end the war.

For many, the end of aid to Ukraine seems nonsensical — considering there has been some bipartisan support, and because a large share of money in aid legislation is being spent in the U.S. to pay for workers to produce weapons that are being shipped to Ukraine or will replenish U.S. stockpiles.

"It’s only going to hurt him and his administration in the future, because if Ukraine does not win this war, there are a lot of countries like Poland... and many other NATO countries that are fully aware that they will be next," said Mila Ugryn, a Logan Square resident who emigrated to the U.S. in 2003 from the Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk. “If you think about it logically, it doesn’t make sense [to end aid] ... It’s the least cost-effective way to support Ukraine. And if you compare the amount of money the United States is putting toward aid for Ukraine, how little it is in comparison to Israel [historically] and just other wars in general, it’s a very small cost."

Mila Ugryn, a Logan Square resident who immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine in 2003, says it would make no sense for the incoming Trump administration to stop supporting her homeland in its defense against Russian forces. “If Ukraine does not win this war, there are a lot of countries like Poland ... and many other NATO countries that are fully aware that they will be next.”

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Some Ukrainians believe European allies will "step up" to support the war, whether or not the U.S. continues the same amount of funding.

"You see partners like France and England, I think they kind of realize the situation of what could happen if Russia won, and how dire that would be to them," said Mike Kalynyuk, an Oak Park resident who was born in Ternopil. "Personally, I think those are the ones that are going to be stepping up, as well as Poland … the Europeans are going to have to step up."

Watching from afar

Marta Farion, an attorney, is president of the Kyiv-Mohyla Foundation of America, which helps support students at Ukraine’s oldest university. The group’s mission prior to the war was to fund those students' education. Now it’s also to send money for basic needs, like heat and the transformation of school basements into bomb shelters.

"These are students that lost their parents, lost their homes, and they had to escape to Kyiv," said Farion, 77. "And the university took them in … I am in touch with them almost daily."

Local Ukrainians are trying to live their daily lives in Chicago while staying glued to Ukrainian news and social media accounts. They also make regular check-ins with those on the front lines. Dmytriv-Kapeniak speaks daily to a close friend who is helping to hold the front line against Russian forces in the Donetsk region. Kalynyuk had two cousins serving on the front lines — though they were later released because they each had three kids.

"He told me stories like, 'We don’t eat for three days, and we don’t have ammunition,'" Kalynyuk said.

Ugryn posts Ukrainian war news daily to her Instagram stories, a grim juxtaposition of her life in Chicago and the bloodshed in her home country. But she still has hope, especially given Trump’s erratic nature.

"His unpredictability can be a plus for him, and he tends to kind of make decisions on the fly," Ugryn said. "I hope that the best-case scenario is that he thinks three steps ahead. … And I hope he just really thinks this through and understands that the way forward is for countries to support each other. Because as soon as you kind of decide that we don’t live in a global world, what ends up happening is the war that is happening."