Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: The Bears announced Friday they’re moving forward with plans to build a stadium in Indiana. But there’s still a lot to do to make it happen, so Illinois isn’t completely out of contention. We unpack where things stand — and what’s next.
🗞️ Plus: Police quickly close a probe into an ICE-involved crash, what a grocery CEO’s death means for food access in Chicago and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Cubs were bested by the Giants, 2-1; the White Sox lost to the Phillies, 9-5; the Sky fell to the Tempo, 85-68.
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⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌧️
Showers with a high near 83.
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Bears’ board of directors votes to push stadium to Hammond, Indiana
By Patrick Finley and Fran Spielman
Bear Down south?: The Bears’ board of directors met Thursday and decided to move forward with their plans to build a stadium in Indiana, positioning the team to play its home games out of state for the first time in its 106-year history. The team announced Friday it would “advance our stadium development project in Hammond.”
Illinois still an option: The Bears’ Friday announcement tips the scales significantly toward Indiana — but falls short of eliminating Illinois from contention. A source said Arlington Heights is still an option, if the state finds a way to give the Bears property tax certainty on the 326-acre plot they own. It’s unclear if waiting until the Senate and House reconvene this fall would be too late, though. The team considers Arlington Heights — not Chicago — the only viable choice in Cook County.
Dome dreams: The Bears were lured by a sweetheart deal approved by Indiana three months ago, when lawmakers there authorized a stadium authority backed by taxes on admissions, hotels, restaurants and tolls. The Bears have committed $2 billion to their stadium project. The team would keep all revenue generated by the stadium and have the option to buy it back in 40 years, when Indiana taxpayers have paid off the bonds.
What’s next: The Bears have a lot of work to do on the Hammond site before they can finalize a deal — dozens, if not hundreds, of boxes to check in Indiana, ranging from big-picture finalizing details to the mundane traffic studies. It figures to take months.
More on the Bears:
- On Friday, fans outside Wrigley Field, the Bears’ original Chicago home, had strong reactions to the team’s renewed focus on Hammond.
- Downtown and Near South Side business owners and community organizations said they were disappointed by the news.
Columnists react:
- Scoop Jackson: No one will escape blame — and fans’ wrath — if Bears move to Hammond
- Steve Greenberg: The Hammond Bears? You gotta be bleepin’ us
- Rich Miller: A play-by-play of the failed Bears stadium bill
- Neil Steinberg: Bears fans, have you ever actually been to Hammond?
IMMIGRATION ✶
Chicago police quickly close probe of hit-and-run crash during chaotic ICE arrest
By Violet Miller at Jon Seidel
Investigation closed: Chicago police quickly closed an investigation into a hit-and-run crash involving a federal immigration agent who helped detain a man earlier this week in Albany Park.
Key context: The crash happened Tuesday morning in the 3100 block of West Lawrence Avenue, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents chased, shocked and detained a shirtless man as a crowd gathered and documented the violent arrest. Before the man was apprehended, an ICE agent appeared to crash into a woman’s car.
More on immigration: A controversial U.S. Department of Justice official who’s caught the attention of the “Broadview Six” defendants has been in contact with Chicago U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros’ office and was involved in Operation Midway Blitz, sources told the Sun-Times.
GROCERIES 🛒
Save A Lot operator’s death triggers default with Chicago — jeopardizing food access, city deal
By Mariah Rush and Lauren FitzPatrick
CEO dies: Last year, Southwest Side residents celebrated the grand reopening of a Save A Lot, the last from a deal backed by $13.5 million in city money to renovate six of the discount grocery stores in food deserts. The man behind the project, Yellow Banana CEO Joseph Canfield, died of a stroke April 10 at age 54, officials said.
Uncertain future: Canfield was tasked with leading the Chicago stores owned by Ohio-based Yellow Banana and was required to keep them open for at least 10 years. Yellow Banana hasn’t named a successor, and Save A Lot says they’re unaware of an interim CEO. While the Save A Lot stores are still operating, Canfield’s sudden death has triggered a default in their redevelopment agreement with the city, the Sun-Times has learned.
At issue: The default means city officials could force the beleaguered company to pay back millions it received to open stores in neighborhoods traditional grocers had abandoned. And Yellow Banana has yet to be submit the city a succession plan required in case of a key death.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- ‘Emmett at 85′: Through several pieces, a new art show imagines if 14-year-old Emmett Till survived his racially motivated murder to grow old in Chicago surrounded by family. “From Memory to Movement: Emmett at 85,” runs at Bronzeville’s Blanc Gallery through July 25.
- 2 killed in mass shooting: Isaac “Wavy” Bradley, a beloved chef and owner of several restaurants, and Lamar Butler, 32, were killed early Friday in a mass shooting that injured five others in Back of the Yards.
- Cycling advocate killed: Riley O’Neil, 35, was riding his bike Friday in Bridgeport when he was hit with a car door and sent into traffic where an oncoming semi truck hit him. He was a planner for the city’s transportation department, helping to redesign roads to make them safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.
- CPS’ selective test changes: Chicago Public Schools is replacing its current high school admissions test for eighth graders with a different exam that is more than twice as long and will be available only in English.
- Michelada Fest canceled: Just weeks before kicking off in Union Park, organizers canceled the event, citing production costs. It will instead become a street festival set for September in Pilsen.
- Pause on data center tax breaks: Gov. JB Pritzker’s office will halt tax breaks that had been offered to incentivize construction of data centers in Illinois, after state lawmakers failed to advance legislation to rein in developments powering the artificial intelligence industry and driving up energy costs for residents nationwide.
- ComEd clashes with Lincoln Park neighbors: The utility’s proposed one-acre substation is drawing ire and some residents have formed a group in an attempt to block the project.
ON WBEZ 91.5 FM 📻
In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons, 9 a.m.
- What’s next for the Bears?: Democratic Indiana State Rep. Earl Harris Jr., Deborah Carroll of the University of Illinois Chicago and WBEZ’s Cheryl Raye Stout discuss.
- Scuba in the lake: Andrew Zaruba of the Chicago Undersea Explorers Society, Madeline Crispell of the Chicago Maritime Museum and Marianne Preker of Underwater Safaris talk about the history of scuba diving in Lake Michigan.
Say More with Mary Dixon and Patrick Smith, 10 a.m.
- Stadium saga continues: Democratic Illinois State Rep. Nicolle Grasse, Congressman Frank Mrvn and WBEZ’s Michael Puente engage in more Bears stadium talk. This time, callers weigh in.
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏀⚽⚾🏒
- Remembering Stacey King: A member of the first three Bulls championship teams and an Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, King died Sunday at age 59. Quick to turn a phrase, King entertained and informed on Bulls broadcasts, writes Jeff Agrest.
- World Cup travel issues: The U.S. Customs and Border Protection denied entry Friday to an Iraq national soccer team photographer and questioned a player for hours at O’Hare Airport as the team arrived for an exhibition match in Bridgeview ahead of the FIFA World Cup.
- Self-assessment: Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman says he has been terrible this season.
- NHL combine notes: Chase Reid’s dinner, Caleb Malhotra’s connection and more from Blackhawks beat reporter Ben Pope.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 1D: President who taught on the University of Chicago Law School faculty for 12 years
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Families and fans connect at Pokémon GO fest
By Cindy Hernandez and Kade Heather
Thousands roamed Grant Park this weekend for Pokémon GO Fest, which gathered the multigenerational fandom of the video game, trading card and TV show empire for three days.
This year’s fest was so popular, organizers had to scale back its gameplay in other parts of the city, citing strains on cellphone networks as several major events happened nearby including Blues Fest, Beyond Wonderland and a U.S.-Germany soccer match.
As their children wandered the park in search of Pokémon on Friday, many parents found themselves taking a trip down memory lane, recalling their own experiences with the popular franchise that launched 30 years ago.
“I remember playing the game with my friends but I eventually grew out of it,” said Steve Tan, 42, of Bridgeport. “Then my kids started playing and I picked it back up because of them. Now they’re teaching me.”
The franchise’s Pokémon GO game is essentially an app with which, through augmented reality, players can walk around and find Pokémon, overlaying a virtual world onto real-life surroundings.
Launched 10 years ago, fans of Pokémon GO say the game has helped them connect with other Pokémon lovers and explore their surroundings.
WATCH: POKÉMON GO FEST ▶️
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
How do you feel about the Bears possibly moving to Hammond, Indiana?
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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