Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: In Joliet, the rise of next-day deliveries has meant thousands of semitrucks roll in and out of sprawling warehouses, making for at times deadly conditions on the highway some call “Die-80.”
🗞️ Plus: Cook County’s property tax sale violations, the Chicago Public School Board’s $60,000 investigation into leaks and more news you need to know.
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⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌤️
Partly sunny with scattered showers and a high near 77.
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Life and death roll along near southwest suburbs’ booming warehouse hub
By Cam Rodriguez
‘Die-80’: Every day, 20,000 semitrucks roll in and out of sprawling warehouse complexes along Interstate 80, supporting the rise of next-day delivery. They pummel the roads, belch fumes and cause deadly crashes — on average, one death every month and nearly 550 people a year are injured. Some even have a nickname for this stretch of highway: “Die-80.”
Warehouse boom: Since 2000, retail giants and developers have erected more than 146 million square feet of warehouse space in the Chicago area — equivalent in size to roughly 1,400 Home Depot stores. The warehouses have brought new jobs. Still, people who live nearby say what’s happened around them is a cautionary tale for other communities hoping to cash in on the warehouse boom.
Road hogs: The 20,000 trucks pass through Joliet every day. Most keep to I-80, but up to 6,400 — more than five times as many as before the warehouses — use local roads and state highways. They batter the pavement, contributing to road damage that requires millions of dollars of repairs, paid for by local and state governments, according to budget and grant documents.
PUBLIC SAFETY 🚨
Cop appears to yell ‘I’ll kill you’ before fatally shooting fleeing driver, video shows
By Sophie Sherry
Deadly shooting: Body camera footage released Monday appears to show that a Chicago police officer threatened to kill a fleeing driver, Derek Jordan, just seconds before opening fire into the passenger side of his car, killing him March 9 in Humboldt Park. “Get out of the f – – – ing car or I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you,” the cop screams out before firing six shots into a tinted window. Jordan was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after. Attorneys for his family argue the shooting was unnecessary, caused by the officer’s “failure to de-escalate.”
Before firing: Officers had attempted to stop Jordan’s white Mercedes, which was wanted in connection with a shooting earlier in the day on Interstate 290, according to the Civilian Officer of Police Accountability. Jordan allegedly fled and struck a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
BUSINESS 💳
Battle continues over Illinois law to limit credit card fees
By Amy Yee
Fees feud: A battle over credit card transaction fees continues after a federal appeals court on Friday sent the case about a new Illinois law seeking to limit so-called swipe fees back to District Court.
The cost: When customers use credit cards, businesses typically pay credit card companies an interchange fee on each transaction, including sales tax and workers’ tips, that ranges from about 2% to 4%. In 2024, Illinois passed the first law in the nation to end credit card fees on sales tax and tips that businesses pay, but card companies and banks are challenging it.
COURTS ⚖️
- Murder trial begins: A man who ran to help visiting graduate student Anat Kimchi after she was fatally stabbed downtown in June 2021 testified Monday that he saw defendant Tony Robinson attack her and that Robinson later threatened him with a knife.
- Man hopes for retrial: Anthony Garrett, who says Chicago police beat him into confessing to the 1992 murder of a child, is closer to finding out if he’ll get a new trial. His hopes hinge on ex-Chicago cop Richard Zuley’s alleged ties to Guantánamo Bay torture.
- ICE-sighting apps OK: Last week, a federal judge ordered the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security not to pressure Facebook and Apple to ban ICE-monitoring apps and social media groups.
- Probe decision delayed: A Cook County judge questioned prosecutors Monday about whether protocols they announced this year for the potential prosecution of Operation Midway Blitz agents ruled out charges for nonviolent crimes such as conspiracy or perjury.
- County liable for paying back: A federal judge ruled Monday that Cook County is liable to pay back potentially millions of dollars to people who lost their homes in the county’s annual property tax sales, three years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the system unconstitutional.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- No results: The Chicago Board of Education’s nearly $60,000 investigation into who was responsible for leaking information to the media was unable to reach a conclusion, according to a report released last week.
- Reward for shooting info: A $10,000 reward was being offered by county authorities for information leading to an arrest in the fatal shooting of Uber driver Jassen Cho and his passenger, Damarion Johnson.
- UC project aid OKd: Chicago taxpayers should help bankroll development of a “cultural and entertainment district” around the United Center, a key City Council panel said Monday, voting unanimously to provide $54.7 million in tax breaks for the first phase of the massive development
- Arts workers on tight budgets: Nearly two-thirds of arts workers in Chicago reported earning less than $40,000 annually in a new survey. Those earnings fall below the city’s overall average income per capita for the years surveyed.
- John Prine tribute fest: An all-star Americana lineup will pay tribute to the late musician at the Chicago Theatre in October, with performers including Steve Earle, Margo Price, Joy Oladokun, Ratboys, Shemekia Copeland and Alynda Segarra.
FROM THE PRESS BOX ⚾🏀🏈
- Crosstown connection: When Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami signed with the White Sox this winter, he reached out to Cubs veteran Seiya Suzuki for advice.
- New Sox: A quarter of the way through this season, the White Sox bear little resemblance to their 2023-25 version.
- Golden State trial: The Sky will face the first true playoff-caliber test Wednesday against the Valkyries.
- Bears changes: The team signed four players and announced WR Squirrel White’s retirement.
- U of C Maroons’ true colors?: After more than 100 years without a conference championship in baseball, the Division III Maroons kicked the drought and are gearing up for the NCAA Tournament.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 6A: Visit Navy Pier’s Retro Roller Rink this summer, say
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
‘The Bear’ spotlights historic Koney King in Gary
By Michael Puente
For more than a hundred years, Koney King has been one of the best-kept secrets in Gary, Indiana, famous for its hot dogs, chili dogs, hamburgers and more served behind a double horseshoe counter with old-school swivel stools.
After its brief cameo last week in a surprise episode of the FX smash-hit show “The Bear,” the word is now out, and one of its workers has even become a minor celebrity.
“A lot of people are coming in and saying we saw you on ‘The Bear!’ A lot of people now want to come in and try us out,” said Elisha Evans, who’s worked at Koney King on Broadway for seven years and makes an appearance in the episode.
Koney King owner James Hendricks purchased the business seven years ago and also owns the barbershop next door. He said business had always been solid but after the episode aired, there’s been an increase in foot traffic.
“There are people that have shown up that haven’t been here in 30 years, and they find it open and they are surprised,” Hendricks said. “There’s an uptick. A lot of people are now able to experience what Koney King is.”
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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