It's Thursday. Celebrate "Almost Friday" with these stories from WTTW News.
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The Dirksen Courthouse is pictured in Chicago. (Capitol News Illinois)
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Chicago’s U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros announced “sweeping” reforms to his office’s grand jury procedures, days after allegations of prosecutorial misconduct by his staff tanked the “Broadview Six” case and sparked widespread blowback against his office.
Boutros said the new internal reforms, which took effect Tuesday, will improve transparency and effectiveness while “greatly reducing the likelihood of mistakes and errors.”
“These remediations should also be deeply curative and put to rest once and for all the divergent practices that have existed across the Office for decades, including from one Assistant U.S. Attorney to another as well as from one generation to the next,” he said in a statement. “That’s because these are clear, bright line rules that everyone must abide by, which should streamline and simplify the decision-making and disclosure process, as opposed to bedevil it.”
The new procedures establish “clear and unequivocal expectations and rules” for federal prosecutors relating to grand jury disclosures and the timing of those disclosures, Boutros’ office said. It also includes an expanded education about grand jury presentations and additional training from national experts.
The announcement comes less than a week after Boutros personally dismissed all charges against the “Broadview Six” and apologized in open court for his prosecutors’ conduct in securing charges in the politically-charged case.
More context:
While the criminal charges are gone, the fallout from the bombshell developments continue after U.S. District Judge April Perry last week revealed the substantial misconduct government prosecutors allegedly engaged in and covered up in redacted grand jury transcripts.
Perry found the assistant U.S. attorneys handling the case engaged in “vouching,” held improper communications with grand jurors outside of the court proceedings and excused some jurors who disagreed with the government’s theory of the case.
According to Boutros, after doing so, his office launched a review of other grand jury presentations that could have been “impacted in a similar fashion.” He said that process is “far along” but also remains ongoing.
Chris Parente, a defense attorney in the Broadview case, also said this week he has reason to believe Boutros himself had some sort of “personal contact” with the grand jury, though the U.S. Attorney’s Office has denied that claim.
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Members of the Illinois General Assembly applaud U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin on May 27, 2026. (Nick Blumberg / WTTW News)
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“My life has been genuinely enriched by helping people from our great state and nation. I hope that yours will be as well.”
That was one of the messages from long-serving U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin at a joint session of the Illinois House and Senate on Wednesday, where he was warmly received by fellow Democratic lawmakers who celebrated his lengthy career and repeatedly lauded his accomplishments.
“He has not survived in public life by becoming smaller, louder, or meaner,” state Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) said, recalling his time working in Durbin’s office. “He’s endured because he has a compass.”
Durbin, who’s set to leave office in January after three decades in the U.S. Senate, ticked off some of his proudest accomplishments along with a warning about the political divisions currently facing the country, citing Abraham Lincoln’s famed “House Divided” speech delivered at the State Capitol.
“The challenges we face in the days ahead could be just as serious,” Durbin said. “I hope that those of us blessed to live in this Land of Lincoln will remember his warnings in 1858 and his counsel for those who lead this nation in our time.”
Lawmakers saluted Durbin as a committed public servant who took on an array of projects, from battling smoking on airplanes to championing the long-debated DREAM Act that would provide a legal pathway to citizenship for people brought to the country without documentation as children – advocacy that state Rep. Dagmara Avelar said helped lead to the DACA program.
Some backstory:
The 81-year-old announced in April of last year he would not seek another term, touching off a race to succeed the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat.
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton emerged victorious in the race for the Democratic nomination over Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly and is set to face Republican Don Tracy, former chair of the Illinois GOP.
At the time he announced his retirement, Durbin said that while he currently feels up to the job he couldn’t guarantee the same would be true at the end of another term.
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The Obama Presidential Center, 6001 S. Stony Island Ave., is set to open to the public on June 19. (Courtesy of Obama Presidential Center)
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The Obama Presidential Center is serving up a taste of the kind of programming visitors can expect in the future during the center's free three-day grand opening festival, June 19-21.
There will be music and dancing on the Plaza; Double Dutch performances in the Home Court athletic center, along with play stations led by mascots from Chicago's pro sports teams; drop-in gardening activities; and guided and self-guided tours of the campus.
Tickets to the museum itself are sold out for the opening, but no admission is required to attend the festival. Organizers are asking people to register in advance online in order to get an approximate headcount for various activities.
Rounding out the weekend's entertainment:
Family-friendly activities such as face painting, art making and photo booths.
Performances and programs featuring artists whose work has been commissioned for the center.
Story time and hands-on activities at the center’s Chicago Public Library branch.
Talks in the center’s auditorium on topics including arts, culture and democracy.
Hours for the festival are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on June 19 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 20-21.
Later in the summer, the center will host a free Independence Day celebration, “The People’s Fourth,” and a birthday party with karaoke on Aug. 4 in honor of Barack Obama.
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More From WTTW News:
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Chicago taxpayers paid $27,500 to a Chicago native who was stopped by the same tactical team of officers who would days later pull over Dexter Reed and fatally shoot him in a barrage of gunfire after he fired at officers, records show.
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Back in the Day: May 28, 1926 - Jazz Pianist and Chet Baker Collaborator Russ Freeman Born in Chicago
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On this day 100 years ago, Russ Freeman, a jazz pianist, composer, bebop artist and major collaborator with trumpeter Chet Baker, was born in Chicago. After his family relocated to Los Angeles when Freeman was a child, he became classically trained in piano. His early career was marked by performances with Charlie Parker and Freeman’s ease at translating the New York City bebop sound that was surging in popularity during the 1940s for a West Coast sensibility. Following a short stint in the late ‘40s suffering from a heroin addiction, he cleaned up in the early ‘50s by entering a creative partnership with Chet Baker. Freeman arranged songs, wrote compositions and served as
the trumpeter's musical director. That collaboration resulted in several of Baker's most enduring recordings and concerts. In the following decades, he continued performing and died at 76 in 2002.
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This Week’s Arts and Culture Events
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Every Thursday, WTTW News newsletter producer Josh Terry highlights his picks for the week’s must-see cultural events.
Notice the thermometer ticking higher and higher? Did you see a weather forecast of clear skies and sunshine throughout the week? Look out the window and see your neighbors enjoying the great outdoors? If you live in the Chicago area, you’re answering yes to each one of these questions. After a chilly winter and rainy, unpredictable spring, it’s finally feeling like summer. It’s the perfect time to get out of the house and enjoy what the city has to offer, like this small selection of enriching and entertaining cultural events.
Comedy: “Comedy Bang Bang!” — Chicago Theatre
“Comedy Bang! Bang!” is a podcast and talk show hosted by Scott Aukerman that has been airing since 2009. Featuring marquee guests, improv jokes, insider gags and ample charm, Aukerman is taking the long-running show to the stage Thursday at the Chicago Theatre. He’ll be joined by comedian and frequent guest Paul F. Tompkins. Buy tickets here.
Museum: Groundwaves Generations with MURS — National Public Housing Museum
On select Sundays this year, the National Public Housing Museum will be hosting an all-ages, interactive day party of hip-hop, art and immersive experiences. On Sunday, May 31, West Coast hip-hop veteran MURS hosts the event, which will also feature “a live performance by PHENOM Universal, a Poetry Making Playground Pop Up with Kuumba Lynx, facepainting with Iiimagine, a magic performance by The Spellbinder” and more. For more information, click here.
Film: “Carolina Caroline” — Music Box Theatre
The 2024 film “Snack Shack” was a delightful coming-of-age movie centered around a poolside hot dog stand run by aimless high schoolers during summer vacation. Adam Rehmeier was the director and screenwriter behind that film and has followed it up with “Carolina Caroline.” Starring Samara Weaving and Kyle Gallner, it follows a young woman “whose desire to leave her small Texas town brings her into the orbit of a charismatic con man.” It boasts notable guest stars like Kyra Sedgwick and a soundtrack of country heavy hitters like Jason Isbell and Chris Stapleton. On Monday, Rehmeier will visit the Music Box for a screening and post-film Q&A on Monday, June 1st at 7 p.m. For more information and tickets, click here
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What's your favorite small concert venue in the Chicago area? Tell us why.
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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