Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about an eight-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.
— Matt Moore (@MattKenMoore)
Weather ☁️
This afternoon will be cloudy with wind gusts as high as 45 mph and a high near 73 degrees. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a low near 34. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high near 53.
Top story
Long to-do list looms for new Mayor Johnson
After an exhausting mayoral campaign and a five-week sprint to the runoff finish, Chicago’s mayor-elect would probably like to catch up on sleep and take a long vacation.
But the challenges confronting Brandon Johnson, who will soon become the city’s 57th mayor, are so daunting, a long weekend might have to suffice.
From assembling a personal staff and cabinet and choosing a new police superintendent from three finalists chosen by a civilian oversight agency to speeding up police hiring and devising a plan to stop the traditional summer surge of violent crime, the new mayor has his work cut out for him.
Here are some of the many items on the mayor-elect’s to-do list:
CPD superintendent
If one appointment can make or break a Chicago mayor, this is it. Outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s decision to go around the Police Board she once led to choose retired Dallas police chief David Brown and stand by him for three years was one of her biggest failures.
Chicago Public Schools
At its final meeting before the runoff, the Chicago Board of Education warned of a looming, $628 million deficit in a school system that has hemorrhaged students for more than a decade. Federal stimulus funds propping up CPS will dry up in just two years.
The contract with the Chicago Teachers Union expires next summer. Negotiations on what will almost certainly be the last contract hammered out by a mayoral-appointed board are expected to begin later this year. A moratorium on school closings expires in 2025. The school board has urged the new mayor to lobby the Illinois General Assembly for pension relief and other structural changes to plug a budget gap that will grow to $750 million in the coming years.
Chicago Transit Authority
Total ridership on CTA buses and trains rose 24% last year, but is still just half what it was before the pandemic. The number of employees still working from home is not the only culprit. Employee shortages, service reliability and complaints about security, maintenance and rider behavior also are keeping passengers away. RTA Chairman Kirk Dillard has sounded the alarm about a mass transit “funding cliff” that will leave the CTA, Metra and Pace $730 million short of the operating funds they need by 2025, when federal stimulus funds run out. Fare hikes alone can’t dig the system out of the hole, Dillard has said.
Homelessness and affordable housing
The recent furor over homeless persons living at O’Hare Airport underscores the urgency of this issue. So do the encampments that have popped up all over the city along, as well as the estimated 12,000 CPS students who are homeless. Chicago needs to do more to confront its homeless crisis, even after receiving a $60 million federal grant — the largest single grant in a $315 million pot of money doled out in February by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Read our Fran Spielman’s full to-do list for the new mayor in her latest analysis.
More news you need
- A Chicago Fire Department lieutenant died battling an extra-alarm blaze in a high-rise building this morning near Gold Coast — the second firefighter to die in the line of duty this week. Lt. Jan Tchoryk went down in the staircase of the building heading up to the 27th floor, Chicago Fire Department officials said.
- SWAT officers responded to the Trump International Hotel and Tower this morning after an armed woman walked into the downtown skyscraper during an apparent domestic-related incident, sources said. Our wire desk has more on this developing story.
- During yesterday’s iteration of the ComEd bribery trial, jurors were taken back to 2019, when, after secretly recording then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and other political insiders for more than a year, FBI agents raided the homes of various Madigan allies in May 2019. Those raids did not uncover evidence that Madigan allies did any real work for ComEd — yet they still received large sums of money, prosecutors argued. Our Jon Seidel has a full recap of the arguments.
- For many of our Jewish readers, Passover begins this evening. Our David Struett has a rundown on one of the most widely observed holidays in the Jewish religion.
Elections 2023 🗳️
The race for City Council
In addition to the mayor’s race, yesterday’s runoff also saw Chicagoans in 14 wards choose the leadership they want to represent them on City Council.
This year’s election ushered in potentially historic gains in diverse representation on City Council, including a record number of Latino members. And with Ald. Nicole Lee’s victory and Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth apparently on track to win in the 48th Ward, the number of Asian American City Council members could grow to two.
While some numbers could change as mail-in ballots continue to trickle in, here are the key updates:
- In the 4th Ward race to replace Ald. Sophia King, whose seat was left open when she unsuccessfully ran for mayor, state Rep. Lamont Robinson claimed victory.
- Community organizer Desmon Yancy was leading lawyer Martina Hone to succeed retiring Ald. Leslie Hairston in the 5th Ward.
- Pastor William Hall won the 6th Ward runoff against fellow minister Richard Wooten to replace outgoing Ald. Roderick Sawyer.
- In the 10th Ward, police Officer Peter Chico finished first over community organizer Ana Guajardo to succeed retiring Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza.
- Incumbent Ald. Nicole Lee held onto her 11th Ward seat last night as her opponent, Anthony Ciaravino, conceded not long after the polls closed.
- Community organizer Ronnie Mosley declared victory in the 21st Ward — despite a narrow lead over retired firefighter Cornell Dantzler, who refused to concede in the runoff to replace outgoing Ald. Howard Brookins Jr.
- Ald. Monique Scott declared victory in the 24th Ward, less than a year after she was appointed to the role after her brother stepped down from the City Council.
- Ald. Chris Taliaferro sought to hold onto his 29th Ward City Council seat after write-in votes forced him into a run-off with CB Johnson.
- Political newcomer Ruth Cruz declared victory over Jessica Gutiérrez, the daughter of former U.S. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez in the 30th Ward. Jessica Gutiérrez, making her second run for the seat, did not concede.
- Ald. Gilbert “Gil” Villegas cruised into another term last night in the 36th Ward, defeating challenger Lori Torres Whitt.
- In the 43rd Ward, appointed incumbent Ald. Timmy Knudsen suggested his slim lead over challenger Brian Comer would be enough to extend his brief City Hall tenure — but Knudsen wasn’t asserting victory yet, and challenger Brian Comer wasn’t giving up.
- Embattled Ald. James Gardiner defeated attorney Megan Mathias in the 45th Ward race.
- Community organizer Angela Clay won the 46th Ward, with the Chicago Teachers Union-backed candidate poised to become the youngest member of the City Council.
- In the 48th Ward, progressive organizer Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth declared victory — but her opponent, affordable housing developer Joe Dunne, wasn’t ready to concede the race.
A bright one ☀️
Grocery store pop-up opens in West Garfield Park, offers residents a taste of things to come
Spring break for CPS students began Monday and fourth-grader Leona Taylor started it by taking off for . . . West Madison Street, where she hoped to spread the word about a new grocery store opening in the West Side neighborhood.
Taylor, a student at Jacob Beidler Elementary School in East Garfield Park, tried to get the attention of passersby about the Garfield Park Community’s Council’s pop-up grocery in West Garfield Park, which opened Monday and — unlike spring break — lasts through the end of the month. It’s open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday.
The pop-up, managed by Taylor’s mother Samantha Taylor, is the latest effort to make up for the lackluster grocery stores in the neighborhood, where, since the Aldi on Madison Street closed in 2021, residents have been left with little beyond the Save-a-Lot at Madison and Pulaski Road. It’s small, but contains enough of everything that Taylor hopes in the short term, residents won’t have to go to Oak Park for groceries, and in the long term gives them an idea of what things will be like if the area had a permanent, community-led grocery store.
“There’s a change coming,” Taylor said. “This is about waking people up.”
The pop-up, she said, is just the opposite of the Save-a-Lot, where, she believes, the quality is much lower.
Inside the pop-up, crates of fresh bell peppers and mangoes were laid out on tables. A fridge contained cuts of meat from baby back ribs to turkey tails, as well as milk and eggs. There were also shelf-stable goods and cleaning products. Located at 4316 W. Madison St., the store accepts LINK cards. It was funded through a $100,000 private donation, organizers said.
Shoppers will be invited to fill out a survey about what they would like to see in a permanent grocery that the Garfield Park Rite to Wellness Collaborative plans to bring to the area. Customers also can learn more about the council’s outdoor market, set to reopen every other weekend in June in East Garfield Park.
Our Michael Loria has more on the grocery store pop-up.
From the press box
- Eloy Jimenez is back on the White Sox’ 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain.
- Today’s Cubs-Reds game has been postponed due to weather.
Your daily question☕
With the end of the runoff election, what’s something you think the city should focus on now?
Send us an email at newsletters@suntimes.com and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.
Yesterday we asked you: What was your experience like voting Tuesday?
Here’s what some of you said…
“I went when the polls opened ... it took me 5 minutes.” — Sherronda Bohanon
“Wet.” — Brett Bowman
“The first time, there was no one else voting. The second time voting, there was a small line.” — Stef F.
“Very quick and easy. Voted this morning at 9 a.m. and was in and out in five minutes.” — Yonatan B.
“It was great. It took me longer to remember my ward number than it did to vote.” — Diane Stone
Thanks for reading the Chicago Sun-Times Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.
