Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: After the city closed 50 schools in 2013, shootings increased near the buildings that sat empty, a new study finds.
🗞️ Plus: A record-breaking number of 311 calls after last week’s storms, another Loop building goes residential and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Cubs beat the Rockies, 5-4.
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⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌧️
Showers and thunderstorms likely with a high near 73.
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Shootings increased near closed schools that sat empty, study finds
By Nader Issa
Violence after closings: Chicago’s closing of 50 schools in 2013 led to a 10% increase in gun violence in the areas surrounding the vacated buildings, compared to neighborhoods with similar demographics where schools didn’t close, according to a new study from the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Researchers also found no statistically significant increase in shootings in communities where closed schools were repurposed.
Community impact: The study adds to a pile of evidence that at best, closures didn’t produce transformative outcomes for students and communities; and at worst, they hurt kids and neighborhoods. The research also increases pressure on public officials to solve longstanding budget challenges, particularly at schools that have lost significant enrollment over the past two decades — either without closing more schools or with plans for vacant buildings.
Key context: Our 2023 investigation found a slew of broken promises by leaders in the decade after the closings. Many buildings were not repurposed, despite vows by city officials to reuse them as community centers, housing or other projects; only 20 are back in use. Academic outcomes didn’t improve for students who left the closed schools. And increased funding didn’t last at schools that absorbed them.
WEATHER REPORT ⛈️
Chicagoans made record-breaking number of calls to 311 about severe weather
By Cam Rodriguez
Calls on the line: From Wednesday afternoon to Sunday night, as severe weather rolled into the area, Chicagoans filed more than 20,000 weather-related complaints with the city’s non-emergency hotline, according to our analysis of data. Since the hotline relaunched in December 2018, the highest single-day total of weather-related calls was made Thursday. Wednesday took second place.
Widespread damage: The complaints, called in from each of Chicago’s 50 wards, paint a picture of how power outages, flooding and downed trees took over city services, block by block. While no tornadoes were confirmed to have touched down in Chicago last week, the city was hit with powerful straight-line winds, which can have similar impacts.
Zooming in: The overwhelming majority of calls were classified as “tree emergencies,” which are those that block roads or sidewalks or have fallen on houses or vehicles. Many blocked streets and downed trees were on the Southwest and Far South sides, including the 23rd and 18th wards, as well as the 21st, 8th and 9th wards. The ward with the most 311 calls was the 13th, with more than 1,100 weather-related complaints logged with OEMC between Wednesday and Sunday.
LET’S HEAR FROM YOU 🗣️
Do you have flooding questions? Ask our journalists — fill out this form to share your questions about flooding in and around Chicago.
CASINOS AND GAMBLING 🎰
Lawmakers don’t act on Pritzker’s play for gambling regulation boards’ merger
By Mitchell Armentrout and Robert Herguth
No merger: State lawmakers adjourned for the summer without advancing a bill to merge the Illinois Gaming Board with the state Racing Board into a streamlined Department of Gaming Regulation and Enforcement — one that’s not subject to open meetings that are accessible to the public and press. Gov. JB Pritzker had presented the plan earlier this year, citing efficiency.
Key context: Both the existing boards meet publicly to deliberate lucrative gambling licenses and disciplinary matters. Pritzker’s merger plan would have eliminated the appointed boards and taken discussions and decisions on the state’s multibillion-dollar betting industry behind closed doors.
Why it didn’t fly: Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, said Pritzker’s team would have to spend more time “educating our members on why it’s needed.”
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- Loop building goes residential: A Wacker Place building that once served as a hub for manufacturing women’s hats and held offices for Esquire magazine is close to its next life as apartments.
- Queen of Martyrs School closing: With a projected enrollment of just 140 students, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced the Evergreen Park school’s closure. It follows allegations that a former substitute teacher groomed and inappropriately touched a second grader.
- ComEd convictions undone: The question of whether to retry two former ComEd officials in a massive corruption case landed in front of U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros on Monday, when Chicago’s federal appeals court released a 16-page opinion formally wiping out their convictions.
- Social media tax windfall: Chicago is on pace to collect $49.2 million in the first year of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s groundbreaking tax on social media companies — nearly 60% above the city’s original estimate — raising the stakes for a court challenge by Big Tech.
- AI glasses ban: Illinois lawmakers advanced a bill late in the spring session to bar drivers from wearing smart glasses powered by artificial intelligence. The bill awaits Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature.
JAMES BEARD AWARDS 🍽️
Jacob Potashnick of Feld wins regional chef James Beard Award after comeback year
By Courtney Kueppers
Chicago’s winner: Chef Jacob Potashnick took home the city’s sole James Beard Award during Monday night’s ceremony at Lyric Opera House, calling it a win for Chicago and for local farmers who supply him. Potashnick won in the regional Best Chef: Great Lakes category, in which fellow Chicagoan Norman Fenton of Cariño was also a finalist.
The ceremony: Often called the “Oscars of the food world,” the ceremony brought musicians like Run the Jewels and Jon Bon Jovi to town, along with leading chefs from across the country. Winners and presenters emphasized how the industry is withstanding challenges ranging from federal immigration enforcement to rising costs.
ON WBEZ 91.5 FM 📻
In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons, 9 a.m.
- Housing near Obama Center: How well has Chicago enforced an ordinance protecting residents near the Obama Presidential Center from displacement? Sidnee King Pineda of the Illinois Answers Project and Infiniti Gant of Southside Together discuss.
- South Side Airbnbs: A boom in Airbnbs near the Obama Center could drive up rents and displace residents. WBEZ’s Alexandra Salomon and Cam Rodriguez, along with Kristy Ramsey, a Woodlawn Airbnb host, unpack the issue.
Say More with Mary Dixon and Patrick Smith, 10 a.m.
- Joabe Barbosa: The grad student and social media star, who just completed his goal of running every block in Chicago, talks about setting and accomplishing big goals. Callers weigh in.
SUMMER SMASH RECAP 🎶
- Day one: Over the weekend, hip-hop and EDM fans amassed at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview for the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash, with South Shore native G Herbo and North West, daughter of Kim Kardashian and Ye, among the acts kicking things off. Friday headliners also included hometown star Chief Keef, Lil Uzi Vert and Sexyy Red.
- Day two: Saturday’s sets veered into EDM and hyperpop territories as Skrillex and Chicago-born 2hollis drew big crowds.
- Day three: The fest’s final day centered on Atlanta rapper Lil Baby and Playboi Carti, speaking to a history of strong creative connection between the southern city and Chicago, while homegrown talents like Adamn Killa also lit up the stage.
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏀⚾
- Bulls’ new skipper: The Bulls announced Tiago Splitter will be the organization’s 25th head coach, replacing Billy Donovan. A former NBA Championship player with the Spurs, Splitter became an assistant coach in Brooklyn in 2019, eventually working his way to Portland, Oregon, where he became head coach.
- Diggins digs in: The Liberty are surging while the Sky are still searching for consistency. Skylar Diggins wants them to prove they can finish and fix the details that keep costing them.
- White Sox play match game: The Sox signed Seranthony Dominguez to be their closer, but they don’t always use him that way.
- Cubs analysis: Pete Crow-Armstrong on Monday hit for the 13th cycle in team history, but the Cubs need more than “MVPETE” to be dangerous again.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 9A: First female mayor of Chicago (or any major American city!)
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Joabe Bayer Barbosa finishes running all 4,000 miles of city’s streets
By Sun-Times staff
On Sunday, Joabe Bayer Barbosa completed his run of Chicago’s 4,000 miles of public streets.
Barbosa, 25, embarked on his final run down Michigan Avenue from Oak Street to Ida B. Wells Drive with a crowd of fans. Several donned Chicago flags as capes, as he has done throughout much of his journey through the city.
The London native is a clinical psychology doctoral student at Roosevelt University who got into running as a way to recover after a mountain hiking accident. He took on this challenge in August 2024. Barbosa began documenting his journey to run every city street on Instagram and TikTok, racking up millions of views and gaining new fans as government officials and community leaders joined him, and completing the last 20% of the map over the past four months.
You can hear Barbosa on WBEZ’s “Say More” talk show at 10 a.m. today.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
What book are you reading to start this summer off? Tell us why you’d recommend it — or wouldn’t.
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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