Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: As the Chicago school board election nears, parents say one anti-teachers-union group broke the rules against campaigning on school grounds.
🗞️ Plus: The Art Institute returns Nazi-looted artwork, why more kids are taking the “bike bus” and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Cubs fell to the Marlins, 8-2; the White Sox beat the Royals, 14-11; the Sky beat the Tempo, 97-85.
☁️ Today’s weather: Cloudy with a high near 65.
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⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
CPS parents incensed by political group at school event
Reporting by Sarah Karp
Parental concerns: Parents and other members of a Local School Council are asking Chicago Public Schools to sanction Common Ground Collective, an organization they say violated CPS’ rules by electioneering at a back-to-school festival on school grounds. A nonprofit affiliated with the group, which is heavily funded by billionaire Michael Sacks and opposes the Chicago Teachers Union, paid for the DJ and handed out fliers with QR codes directing to endorsements.
Key context: The controversy illustrates how schools are navigating ethically thorny situations ahead of the Nov. 3 election, when voters will elect all 21 members of the school board for the first time. Some see this election as a test of whether anyone can wrest control from the powerful CTU and Mayor Brandon Johnson, a CTU ally.
At issue: As of Tuesday, $3.3 million has poured into the coffers of school board candidates. On top of that, political groups are spending on ads about candidates. Much of the money has come from political action committees with ties to other entities and individual donors, which has made it difficult for principals, parents and others to decipher who is truly behind an effort and whether it’s political in nature.
HEALTH 🩺
Terminally ill Illinoisans can now end their lives
Reporting by Kristen Schorsch
‘Deb’s law’: In Illinois, terminally ill residents with less than six months to live can now request a prescription for medication to end their lives. That’s a result of “Deb’s Law,” inspired by Deb Robertson, who has an aggressive form of cancer and spent years advocating for the right to end her life with medication, should she choose to do so. Gov. JB Pritzker signed the bill into law last year, saying he’d been moved by stories of people or their loved ones who suffered from a terminal illness.
What to know: The measure has become a lightning rod for some religious and disability rights groups who worry it could lead to abuse, but despite court challenges, the law still stands. We’ve broken down what to know, including how to make a request, how to find a participating doctor and the potential barriers.
AI 🤖
Gov. Pritzker assembling cabinet to assess AI threats
Reporting by Mitchell Armentrout
AI assessment: Pritzker is convening a panel of experts to advise state officials on the potential threats of artificial intelligence as industry leaders warn the burgeoning technology could spell doomsday for humanity if left unchecked. Pritzker said he will name Illinois Artificial Intelligence Cabinet members “in the coming weeks,” and they’ll have backgrounds in academia, law, ethics and governance.
Key context: Pritzker’s order comes in the wake of former Anthropic AI researcher Jacob Coxon’s media blitz this month warning that aggressive industry development in the absence of federal regulation “could kill us all by the end of the decade.”
CITY HALL 🏛️
- Mayoral hopeful sues candidates: Attorney William J. Quinlan is asking a judge to force three mayoral challengers — Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley and Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas — to choose between running for reelection or mayor.
- City vs. cop union fight escalates: The Illinois Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Thursday on whether disciplinary hearings for Chicago police officers accused of serious misconduct must remain open to the public.
- New 911 system: The city is rolling out a new computer-aided 911 dispatch system that Mayor Johnson’s office says will help improve emergency response times. Several alderpersons are pushing back with concerns.
- Top city lawyer steps down: Mary Richardson-Lowry is stepping down from her role as the city’s corporation counsel. Mayor Johnson has tapped career academic Renee Hatcher to replace her.
- Megaproject TIF support: A City Council committee approved the mayor’s $201.6 million subsidy plan for Foundry Park, the $3 billion replacement for the failed Lincoln Yards megaproject.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- Looted art returned: The Art Institute of Chicago will return a painting by Jean Metzinger to the descendants of late art collector Emanuel Lewenstein, whose family was persecuted after Nazis took the Netherlands and looted the work.
- Misconduct unearthed: After being charged by Illinois’ special prosecutors, attorney Julie Ajster and court researcher Bradley VanHoose used their research skills to gather records on the prosecutors who attacked them in court.
- Hotel workers ready to strike: More than 7,000 members of Unite Here Local 1, which represents attendants, cooks, dishwashers, front desk agents, servers and food service workers, voted Monday night to authorize a strike.
- Gas prices rise: Ongoing geopolitical conflicts have sparked the latest surge and record prices for diesel. Prices may continue to rise.
ON WBEZ 91.5 FM 📻
In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons, 9 a.m.
- Gas prices: Rideshare and cab drivers join the show to explain how they’re feeling the pinch at the pump.
- Lincoln Park pushback: Developers want an electrical substation. Some neighbors are pushing back. For today’s show, both sides discuss.
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German journalist reflects: German public television journalist Marc Feuser stops by to talk about the last two months he has spent as a fellow at Chicago Public Media.
Say More with Mary Dixon and Patrick Smith, 10 a.m.
- Montgomery Ward memories: An Aurora man unearthed a 1983 tape of in-store announcements and music from the store and shared it online. He joins the show to discuss the response he received.
PRESS BOX 🏈⚾🏀
- QB woes: With Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent out, that means the only healthy quarterback on the Bears’ active roster is 38-year-old Case Keenum, who hasn’t thrown a regular-season pass since 2023.
- Cubs’ ‘good news’: The team said Alex Bregman could return before the regular season ends.
- Jaquez’s reminder: Gabriela Jaquez has taken advantage of more minutes lately and won the matchup against her friend and ex-UCLA teammate Kiki Rice on Tuesday, reminding the Sky why they drafted her at No. 5.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 1D: Common springtime visitor at the Chicago Botanic Garden
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Instead of driving to school, more kids are taking the ‘bike bus’
Reporting by David Struett
It might’ve looked like a bike parade at first glance. It was Friday morning in Ravenswood, and a couple dozen children and parents were on bicycles. As they rode through the neighborhood, more kids and parents joined.
“Big crowd today,” one neighbor told the group. She stood in her front yard, waving and photographing the group of cyclists. Parents and kids yelled back, “Good morning!”
But it wasn’t a parade. They called it a bike bus. Since they first appeared in Chicago about four years ago, bike buses — groups of kids and parents bicycling to school — have been growing in popularity.
Parents typically organize the bike bus and ride as chaperones, blocking drivers at intersections as the group passes.
People ride for a few reasons. A bike bus provides safety in numbers for parents wary of letting their child bike alone to school. Some people join to socialize. And then there’s the excitement. Bike buses are also about pushing back against the city’s car-centric culture.
“A lot of it is, we’re a big group. We’re visible. We’re keeping each other safe,” one bike bus parent said.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
Where is your favorite place to ride a bicycle in the Chicago area? Tell us why.
Reply to this question via email (please include your first and last name). We may run your answer in a future newsletter or story.
PICTURE CHICAGO 📸
Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, attends a street sign dedication ceremony in honor of his mother, Dr. Donda West, in South Shore.
Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Michael Lansu