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Happy Friday. Be on the lookout later today for Urban Nature, the latest newsletter from WTTW News run by our science and nature reporter Patty Wetli. |
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(WTTW News) |
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The Chicago City Council will weigh whether to pay $90 million to resolve 176 federal lawsuits tied to convicted former Chicago Police Sgt. Ronald Watts and his team.
The 180 plaintiffs in the lawsuits, which date back to 2017, spent nearly 200 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted based on what they allege was fabricated evidence gathered by Watts, who was convicted in 2013 of taking bribes, and other officers.
The Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee will consider the proposed settlement, which would be the first global settlement of lawsuits tied to a single officer, on Monday. Chicago taxpayers paid $5.5 million in 2015 to dozens of Black men who said they were tortured by disgraced former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and the detectives who reported to him. A final vote of the City Council could come Sept. 25.
Some backstory:
The lawsuits alleging misconduct by Watts placed “a financial strain on the city due to legal costs and overloading the city Law Department’s docket of pending cases,” a spokesperson for the Law Department said in a statement.
“The global settlement, totaling $90 million, offers a pathway to closure, reducing long-term legal exposure, easing fiscal pressure and reinforcing the city’s commitment to constitutional policing which leads to greater accountability,” according to the statement.
The global settlement was “fiscally prudent,” Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson Lowry told reporters. She said it resolves 64% of wrongful conviction cases pending against the city — and that fighting each case would have cost taxpayers between $350 million and $500 million.
Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said in a statement that “the cases involved in this settlement do not represent the Chicago Police Department of today.”
Taxpayers have already paid $11.4 million to resolve six cases alleging misconduct by Watts, according to a WTTW News analysis. Between 2016 and September 2024, the city had paid private lawyers $25 million to defend the conduct of Watts and the officers who worked with him, Richardson Lowry said Thursday. |
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A homeless encampment is pictured in a file photo. (WTTW News) |
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A North Side homeless encampment was cleared this week following safety concerns from nearby residents and a tent fire that caught the attention of officials back in July.
Legion Park is just one of more than 60 encampments in the city, Chicago Park District General Superintendent and CEO Carlos Ramirez-Rosa said at a Board of Commissioners meeting Wednesday, and clearings are not typical for the city department.
“We don’t have the resources to do sweeps of 60 encampments nor do we have the desire to do sweeps of 60 encampments,” said Ramirez-Rosa. “We’ll just end up with 60 encampments in 60 other parks and continue to exacerbate that cycle of displacing people.”
While there is a municipal code that prohibits overnight sleeping at public parks, Ramirez-Rosa explained, it is seldom enforced unless there’s an issue relating to the health and well-being of encampment residents — which was the case in Legion Park — or if the location of the encampment impedes planned construction activity — as was the case at Gompers Park.
With the impending possibility of a National Guard deployment in Chicago, some advocates for people experiencing homelessness are concerned about how a military presence might affect the vulnerable population.
“That could mean troops going into encampments, pushing people out of those spaces and getting rid of their property,” said Doug Schenkelberg, executive director of the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness. |
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Bruce DuMont is pictured with an antique television and radio. (Courtesy Bruce DuMont) |
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Bruce DuMont, the longtime television and radio correspondent, broadcaster and producer who helped create and lead WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight,” has died at the age of 81
The Museum of Broadcast Communications, which Dumont founded and led, announced his death in a statement.
“Bruce DuMont’s dedication to preserving our broadcast heritage gave Chicago and the nation an invaluable cultural resource,” museum chairman David Plier said in a statement. “We extend our condolences to his family and friends, and we honor his extraordinary contribution to media history.”
A native of New London, Connecticut, DuMont moved to Chicago and launched his broadcasting career in the 1960s, working first as a producer for WGN Radio. He made an unsuccessful run for a state Senate seat in 1978, but returned to journalism soon after.
In 1980, DuMont launched “Inside Politics,” which later became the show “Beyond the Beltway,” a syndicated radio political talk show which ran for decades.
“The format has remained the same,” DuMont told WTTW News during a 2020 interview. “Four people with passion on each side of the political spectrum, getting together and having a lively discussion of what was happening in politics this week. I always thought of it as being by and for and about political junkies.” |
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Tim Evans, who has served as Cook County’s chief judge for more than two decades, was defeated in his run for a ninth term and will be replaced later this year by Judge Charles Beach. He emerged victorious by a vote of 144-109 by Cook County judges.
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Back in the Day: September 12, 1895 - Woman Travels Across the World Via Bicycle, Ends Journey in Chicago to Collect Prize
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In the 1890s, bicycles, a 19th-century invention, were booming in popularity throughout America. “The bicycle craze was both a reality and a symbol—a symbol for personal mobility,” says Roger White, curator in the Division of Work and Industry at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Women were especially fond of riding bicycles, which gave them newfound freedom and agency to travel. No person captured this enthusiasm more than Annie Londonderry, a Jewish Latvian immigrant who became the first woman to bicycle around the world. On this date, 130 years ago, Londonderry finished her globetrotting journey in Chicago, which she started 15 months prior, and collected a $10,000 prize. The reward money came from two wealthy merchants from her home of Boston who bet her that no woman could travel around the world by bicycle. A cycling icon to this day, Londonderry proves what you can do with two wheels, a dream and a bet to prove the doubters wrong. |
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The 2025 Summer Festival Guide
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Members of Chicago's birding community on plover watch in spring 2025. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News) |
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Each Friday, WTTW News highlights the city’s must-see festivals, fairs and neighborhood gatherings. Click here for the full list.
Sept. 10-14: Sound & Gravity Festival (Avondale) | Map
A must-see if you’re a fan of interesting, avant-garde music. Read our preview of it here.
Sept. 12-14: Urban Birding Festival | Various locations
Chicago’s Urban Birding Festival is back in 2025 with dozens of field trips designed to spotlight the city’s avian diversity — some 400 resident and migratory species.
“It is a phenomenal way for beginners to jump in and drink from the fire hose that is the wide world of birding,” said Edward Warden, president of the Chicago Ornithological Society, one of the fest’s organizers.
Sept. 13: Food Truck Festival (West Pullman) | Map
Local favorites like Whadda Jerk, Harold’s Chicken 55 and Tacos 606 highlight this free festival hosted by the Far South Community Development Corp.
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What’s your favorite Chicago Public Library or suburban branch? Tell us where, why and a recent thing you read from there.
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. Here's what you had to say:
“Bezazian is my favorite CPL branch. The staff are friendly, knowledgeable, and treat every visitor to the library with respect. The branch is in a diverse part of the city and makes all members of the community feel welcome and valued through its book displays, programming, and art exhibitions. The most recent book I picked up from CPL is 'The Island of Last Things' by Emma Sloley, a beautiful book set in the world’s last zoo, about the joy of friendship and the importance of acknowledging, honoring, and protecting the other creatures with whom we share our planet.” — Autumn M.
“My favorite Chicago Public Library is the Edgewater Branch because the librarians and staff are super awesome, friendly and helpful. A recent thing I read from there was a book by Frederick Joseph called ‘Better Than We Found It: Conversations to Help Save the World.’” — Elizabeth I.
"CPL Independence Branch." — @ohh_its_les
"Maize Library in Oak Park." — @matmangan
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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