Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: Five years ago, the murder of George Floyd sparked Chicago arts groups’ vows to diversify their staffs and boards. We checked in to see who has kept their promises.
🗞️ Plus: Sen. Dick Durbin joins a GOP effort to end the federal government shutdown, President Donald Trump’s misleading crime claims and more news you need to know on this Veterans Day.
📝 Keeping score: The Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama scored 18 of his 38 points in the fourth to send the Bulls to a 121-117 loss.
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⏱️: A 9-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER ⛅
Mostly sunny with a chance of snow and a high near 41.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES 🗞️
Many Chicago top arts organizations won’t say if they’ve fulfilled diversity pledges
By Erica Thompson
2020 vision: After the 2020 murder of George Floyd, leaders of several prominent Chicago cultural institutions pledged to do more to challenge racial discrimination in the arts and better reflect communities they serve.
Key context: Entities like the Art Institute of Chicago confessed to historically excluding artists of color and promised to elevate underrepresented talent. Steppenwolf Theatre vowed to diversify the stories it staged. Merit School of Music and the Obama Foundation made plans to become antiracist organizations.
Five years later: WBEZ and the Sun-Times wanted to know if those promises were kept. We surveyed the largest arts, culture and humanities nonprofits about the demographics of their boards and full-time staff members in 2021 and 2025.
Our findings: There’s been minor progress. Merit School of Music and Navy Pier said people of color now make up the majority of full-time staff members compared to the past. But many organizations declined to talk about their efforts at all. Among major groups that would, the staff and boards remain majority white and not reflective of the city’s broader demographics.
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WATCH: CHECKING ON TOP ARTS INSTITUTIONS ▶️
Sun-Times reporter Erica Thompson breaks down our investigation into promises of diversity the top arts, culture and humanities nonprofits made in 2020 — and if they made good on them. | WBEZ/Sun-Times
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Sen. Dick Durbin faces backlash again for joining GOP in measure to end government shutdown
By Tina Sfondeles
Condemned by Dems: Sen. Dick Durbin is again under fire for voting on a Republican-led measure that would end the government shutdown — angering Democrats who say the extension of health care subsidies must be part of any deal with Republicans.
Key context: Durbin on Sunday joined a group of moderate Democrats in a 60-40 vote to advance a bill to fund the government and to hold a later vote on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire Jan. 1. The agreement would also reverse mass firings of federal workers that began Oct. 1, with workers to receive back pay.
In the House’s hands: The U.S. Senate voted on the final measure Monday night, with the same eight moderates helping the GOP clear the measure. The funding compromise now heads to the House of Representatives, where its fate remains unclear.
Trump’s claims about murder rates, illegal immigration fit red states more than blue ones
By Alden Loury and Sophie Sherry
Crime coverage: A WBEZ and Sun-Times analysis found that some Democrat-led states, like Illinois, have lower rates of murder and overall violent crime than some Republican-led states. The same is true for the growth of undocumented immigrant populations and rates of undocumented immigrants with criminal records.
Trump’s crosshairs: Despite this, GOP-controlled states have escaped the wrath of the aggressive deportation operations that the feds are carrying out in Democrat-run states.
More headlines:
- Shell casings are recovered, arrests made after shots during chaotic scene in Little Village
- Feds ask appeals court to block ‘extraordinary’ order restricting use of force against protesters
- Business and civic leaders say ICE actions harm Chicago’s economy
VETERANS DAY 🇺🇸
Retirement doesn’t mean veterans stop helping their comrades — or country
By Neil Steinberg and Violet Miller
Vets’ POV: Air Force veterans often get overlooked every Nov. 11, Veterans Day. Tom Kittler, a retired Air Force general from Northbrook, doesn’t complain. Instead, he does his part to help other veterans via his involvement with the Northbrook Veterans Center and in mentoring a young astronaut.
Key quote: “We want to spread the word. It’s veterans helping veterans,” he said. “Veterans don’t know about service and benefits. We want to make sure everybody who is entitled to them is knowledgeable.”
Uniting downtown: Sticking out the city’s first full day of snow, Marine Corps veterans gathered Monday in Daley Plaza to commemorate the military branch’s 250th anniversary.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED ✶
- Shutdown, snow, stress: Travelers at O’Hare Airport faced a double-whammy Monday: Weather-related delays and the stress of the fourth day of government-mandated flight cancellations amid an air traffic controller shortage and a prolonged government shutdown.
- Father and son slain: Faustino Alamo, 63, and his son Luis, 25, were gunned down Saturday night outside their Little Village jewelry store after they chased a man who’d stolen merchandise, police said.
- Feds’ redo: The second federal racketeering conspiracy trial of Labar “Bro Man” Spann, the reputed onetime leader of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang, kicked off Monday.
- ‘Superstar’ prosecutor exits: Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker, who helped secure convictions and prison sentences for former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan and ex-Chicago Ald. Edward M. Burke, is leaving the U.S. attorney’s office by the end of the year.
- Marriage equality stays: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a call to overturn its landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
- Ex-Cboe HQ sold: Two developers who purchased the former Cboe Global Markets headquarters in the Loop with plans to convert the building into a data center have sold it to Virginia-based company Legacy Investing.
- Transforming old steel site: Developers behind the forthcoming quantum computing campus re-enrolled the project into a remediation program. Recent tests found metals and other substances in soil and groundwater.
CHICAGO STORIES ✍️
Rapper tells cops to ‘arrest me, daddy’ — but getting arrested won’t stop him
By Mary Norkol
Viral videos: For months, local rapper Adamn Killa has been approaching cops, bending over and daring them to arrest him. “Arrest me, daddy,” he says in several viral videos, before lacing his fingers together and looping them around his head in a now-viral dance. Fans have even joined in when they see him in public. On Monday, the Chicago police listened.
Downtown arrest: Adamn Killa, whose real name is Adam Kelly, was handcuffed and detained by police after he interrupted cops making a traffic stop Downtown with the “arrest me, daddy” refrain. He was held in a squad car for about 20 minutes before being released without charges. Kelly posted a video of the incident on his social media accounts within hours.
Key context: Kelly says the videos are a tongue-in-cheek way to poke fun at officers and highlight problematic law enforcement practices. He says his videos, like the ones in which he did the bit in front of National Guard members in Washington, are a kind of protest.
ARTS AND CULTURE 🎶
- Tortoise reunites: The Chicago-rooted experimental post-rockers released their first album in nine years — a feat they’ll celebrate Tuesday with a performance at the Auditorium Theatre accompanied by the Chicago Philharmonic.
- ‘Hamilton’ returns: Tickets for a spring run of the Tony Award-winning musical at the CIBC Theatre go on sale Wednesday.
- New Year’s celebration: For the first time, “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” will broadcast live from Chicago with its own Central Time countdown this year, ABC announced.
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏈🏒⚾
- Bears analysis: Coach Ben Johnson brings clarity and accountability to the Bears, who lacked it under previous coaches, writes Jason Lieser.
- Crevier’s groove: Defenseman Louis Crevier is working on his passing as he settles into a permanent role in the Blackhawks’ lineup.
- Hendricks bows out: Former Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks will retire after a 12-season major league career that includes 11 on the North Side.
GAMES AND CROSSWORDS 🧩
This week’s Chicago-style crossword theme is: Chicago food 🌭
Can you solve this clue?
32A: Chicago “Bar-B-Q” restaurant so famous it had its own Wikipedia page
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Teens and seniors spent two years creating West Loop mosaic
By Genevieve Bookwalter
Drive south on Ashland Avenue in the West Loop, and where the road dips and pops up again for the train tracks, two new mosaics of red, blue and orange roses burst from a building on the east side of the street.
The rose is a symbol for the Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly Chicago, an organization that for decades has used volunteers to help relieve isolation and loneliness among older adults in their communities. The building is the organization’s longtime home.
The mosaics are the result of a two-year collaboration between Chicago seniors and teens who work with the organization and with Green Star Movement, a nonprofit that taps Chicago Public Schools students to create murals around the city. Volunteers created the massive art project.
“It was the beginning of a match made in heaven,” says Simone Mitchell-Peterson, CEO of Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
Yesterday, we asked you: What are your strategies or tactics to save money at the grocery store?
Here’s some of what you said…
“Only buy the necessities … don’t buy something that I THINK I might eat next week.” — Mark Escobar
“No longer eating meat other than chicken. Not drinking alcohol. Shopping more often in small quantities to avoid food waste.” — Lin Witte
“I ‘clip’ the Jewel weekly coupons [on the app]. I primarily buy produce with those coupons, but I check the meat counter for sales not advertised. I cook my own meals. I stock up on Costco items that I regularly use, when on sale. I also shop [at] Aldi.” — Diana Conley
“Buy ONLY on sale and then stockpile things in a home food inventory. If you “invest” in things that you only bought on sale, you can easily make a 100% return on investment in the course of a year.” — Chuck Karabin
“Buying house brands, shopping at discount grocery stores, only buy what I really need. Make substitutions with less expensive ingredients, shop alone. Never shop on an empty stomach unless you are totally out of food. If necessary, go to a food bank once per month. Share meals with family and friends. Have them over to share portions and go visit them for dinner next time.” — April Santos
PICTURE CHICAGO 📸
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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