Happy Friday. It’s supposed to hit 70 degrees. Enjoy it.
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Dyeing the Chicago River green for St. Patrick's Day is a decades-old tradition. (Tzido / iStock)
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Patty Wetli: The Chicago River is about to get its annual St. Patrick's Day dye job on Saturday.
This decades-old tradition routinely attracts tens of thousands of revelers to the riverfront, but in recent years it's also attracted criticism from environmentalists.
Sure, the spectacle of a neon ribbon of green snaking its way through Downtown's skyscrapers looks cool, especially on social media, but what about the harm the dye causes the river's ecosystem, including the fish that live in the waterway?
At least one scientist says the fish don't really seem to object to whatever Plumbers Local 130 is adding to the river.
Austin Happel, a researcher at the Shedd Aquarium, tagged nearly 100 fish back in 2023 and has been tracking their movements via “pings” on the close to three dozen acoustic receivers he's positioned up and down the river.
On St. Paddy's Day 2024, five of Happel's tagged fish were hanging out in the Riverwalk section of the river when motorboats began dispersing dye into the water.
Nothing happened.
Per Happel’s observations, there were no changes in behavior that would indicate the fish were in any way aggravated by the dye.
By contrast, a massive rainstorm in July 2023 sent fish scrambling when the city’s sewers were overwhelmed and wastewater was dumped into Bubbly Creek on the river’s South Branch.
The moral of this particular story, he said, is that while the high-profile dyeing of the river has drawn a good deal of scrutiny, incidents like combined sewer overflows have a far greater impact on fish, but typically occur out of sight.
For more on this fish tale, head to our website.
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(Chainarong Prasertthai / Stock)
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Illinois has bet big on gambling by legalizing online sports betting and sports books at horse racetracks and casinos. The state has also permitted 16 casinos, in addition to authorizing slots machines at bars, restaurants and truck stops — collectively bringing in $1.76 billion in tax revenue last year.
Now state lawmakers are considering giving residents another legal way to take their chances: mobile gambling. Instead of going to a casino to play poker or a bar to play the slots, so-called iGaming participants could play on their tablets or phones, a change that backers told lawmakers at a Springfield hearing could bring in another $1 billion annually.
For:
“We cannot ignore the tremendous boon this bill would have for our state’s coffers,” said state Rep. Edgar Gonzalez Jr. (D-Chicago), sponsor of House Bill 3080. “Illinois is gambling with its future by delaying the adoption of iGaming.” Gonzalez said people are already gambling on their cellphones through offerings of illegal operators, so it would be safer — and more fiscally prudent — for Illinois to give in to the inevitable by legalizing, taxing and regulating the practice.
Against:
But Ivan Fernandez of the Illinois Gaming Machine Operators Association, which represents the manufacturers, distributors and video gambling terminal operators, predicted issues arising from “putting online casino gambling at people’s fingertips on millions of cellphones, tablets and computers available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, when people are most vulnerable, when they’re alone.”
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An aerial view of the Chicago Area Confined Disposal Facility, a 45-acre site on Chicago’s Southeast Side that has been in operation since 1984. Inset: The CDF is outlined in red. (Army Corps of Engineers)
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Following a yearslong battle with community groups and environmentalists, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced it’s withdrawing a plan to expand a toxic sludge dump on Lake Michigan. The dump — known as a confined disposal facility — was constructed in 1984 to store polluted sediment dredged from the Calumet River and Cal-Sag Channel. When it reached capacity, the initial plan was to top off the 45-acre site and turn it over to the Chicago Park District. Instead, the Army Corps proposed a 22-foot vertical expansion that would extend the dump’s life for another 20 years. In January, the state of Illinois informed the Army Corps it would oppose the expansion, and
in response to that decision, on Tuesday, the Corps announced it had dropped the plan.
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Back in the Day: March 14, 1933 - Quincy Jones Born in Chicago
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On this day in 1933, one of the most influential and ubiquitous figures in American music, the record producer Quincy Jones, was born on the South Side of Chicago. After his family moved to Washington state, Jones developed a love for music that brought him to the Berklee College of Music and later Hollywood, where he found work as a jazz trumpeter, composed for film, and arranged and wrote songs for the big bands of Count Basie, Frank Sinatra and others. His career was wide-ranging and expansive — everything from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” to the soundtrack to “In Cold Blood,” to the 1962 smash-hit “Soul Bossa Nova” has his signature touch. By the time of his
death in November 2024, Jones had won 28 Grammy Awards and had been nominated 80 times.
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Nature Calls: This Week’s Outdoorsy Events and Activities
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Each Friday, WTTW News science and nature reporter Patty Wetli tells you how to get outside.
Hurray, spring ephemeral flowers are beginning to bloom. Let us know if you see, or smell, any skunk cabbage!
Here’s a non-traditional St. Patrick’s Day event: a Celtic mythology walk, Saturday at 1 p.m. Head to Bemis Woods near Western Springs for a guided stroll through the forest, featuring stories from Celtic mythology about humans’ connection to nature. Meet at Grove 7.
The Mudhen Run is back at Big Marsh Park. This 5k fun run — named for a bird also known as the American Coot — kicks off Saturday at 8 a.m. The course winds through the largest natural area in Chicago. Registration is free, but required.
North Park Village Nature Center on Chicago’s North Side is hosting a two-day maple tree festival, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. Celebrate and honor maple trees, and observe and taste the maple syrup process.
Wanna help save the planet? Check out Reuse-a-Palooza at The Plant in Back of the Yards, Sunday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Learn how to reuse, repair, repurpose and recycle items, and generally change consumption habits to be more environmentally friendly.
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What is the first thing you want to do in Chicago when the weather gets warm again?
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. Here's what you had to
say:
I'd like to take a Chicago Architecture Boat Trip again. It's been so many years since my last boat view if this beautiful city — Ann T.
Sit on the patio while I'm on the grill or griddle. — @Riverratbri
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5:30 PM | 7:00 PM
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Want more WTTW News content? Follow WTTW on Instagram to check in with us daily, go behind-the-scenes, and more.
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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