Happy Friday, Chicago. Before your weekend, take a minute to catch up on these stories from WTTW News.
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(Wirestock / iStock)
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The Chicago Park District has unveiled a bold and ambitious updated framework plan for Grant Park, one full of ideas both big and small aimed at breathing new life into underused spaces while burnishing historic assets that have perhaps lost a little luster.
The new framework has been three years in the making and will guide development in Chicago’s “front yard” for the next two decades, building on a 2002 plan that delivered additions including Maggie Daley Park.
Several of the plan’s biggest swings tackle Grant Park’s wonky layout: 300-plus acres bisected by streets and railroad tracks. To create cohesion and a friendlier environment for pedestrians, one audacious proposal would send a portion of DuSable Lake Shore Drive underground in order to connect Buckingham Fountain with the lakefront.
Another would create an entirely new landscape feature, dubbed the Forest Line, out of thin air. This linear, north-south parkland would, like Millennium Park, be constructed as a deck over Metra tracks.
For now, the Forest Line and the DuSable Lake Shore Drive tunnel exist only in the imagination.
“These are not technical drawings. These are not engineering drawings that we’re going to go out and build tomorrow,” said Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, general superintendent and CEO of the Chicago Park District, as he kicked off the framework presentation. “This is a sketch of what we should aim toward. It’s our North Star.”
Here are some notable framework highlights:
Columbus Drive is seen as an impediment to movement throughout the park. Recommendations are to put the drive on a “road diet,” shrinking the lanes for cars and adding a dedicated trolley lane, along with a dedicated bike lane.
Congress Plaza would be restored to its intended glory as a major gateway to the park. Lawn terraces would be anchored by a cascading fountain that will serve as a counterpoint to Buckingham Fountain.
On the north end, a pedestrian bridge over DuSable Lake Shore Drive would connect the park to the lakefront.
The historic core will retain its formal landscape design, but fanning out to the north and south, plantings will be more naturalistic to increase biodiversity and support pollinators and other wildlife.
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Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling addresses the news media on Tuesday, Jan. 28. 2025. (WTTW News)
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Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said he backed an effort to give the agency charged with probing police misconduct the authority to investigate whether CPD officers and leaders have violated city law by helping federal immigration agents because no one would “trust” probes conducted by internal affairs.
That measure would give the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, known as COPA, the authority to investigate whether CPD officers helped federal agents carry out deportations. A final vote by the Chicago City Council is set for Feb. 18.
More context:
Snelling’s remarks came during the meeting of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability on Jan. 29 while he pushed back on the police oversight board’s decision to require him to explain why the number of times police officers used force against individuals has significantly increased since 2022.
Several members of the public urged the commission, known as the CCPSA, to do more to ensure that CPD officers comply with the Welcoming City Ordinance, which prohibits all city employees from helping federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in nearly all cases.
“When it comes to the Chicago Police Department, there’s always going to be this trust factor,” Snelling said. “And no matter what we say sometimes, people are not going to believe it. This is why I was in agreement with COPA taking the investigations as it relates to ICE. Why? Because right now, BIA is doing that work. So the question is, would anybody in here believe that it’s a fair investigation if the Bureau of Internal Affairs is doing that work? I would think not. So, I believe that there should be an outside body doing that work. There’s the credibility that would come.”
CPD, which has faced decades of scandals, misconduct and brutality, is under a federal court order, known as the consent decree, that requires CPD to overhaul the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers. A federal probe found officers routinely violated the civil rights of Black and Latino Chicagoans.
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(City of Gary, Indiana)
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The blitz is on as Indiana pushes to become the new home of the Chicago Bears.
State lawmakers there are considering Senate Bill 27, which would allow a government authority to buy land and finance the construction of a new NFL stadium. The bill passed out of Indiana’s Senate last week by a 46-2 vote and now heads to the state House. It has the support of Indiana Gov. Mike Braun — and Bears leadership.
Indiana state Rep. Earl Harris Jr., a Democrat and co-sponsor of SB27 whose district includes East Chicago, joined “Chicago Tonight” to discuss Indiana’s efforts to court the Bears.
WTTW News: What have you heard from constituents, either yours or other Indiana residents, about the possibility of a Bears stadium in Indiana?
Harris: It’s a lot of excitement. I’m at the statehouse, and almost every day I’m asked about it.
Should this bill pass and be signed into law, do you have any sense of how long it might take for an actual stadium deal to come together?
Harris: I’m going to presume that’s going to happen fast as well. Again, that’s how we work things here in Indiana, we want to get things done as soon as possible. Let’s get it locked in and let’s get it moving.
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More From WTTW News:
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Back in the Day: February 6, 1988 - Michael Jordan Bests Dominique Wilkins in Dunk Contest
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On this day, 38 years ago, the most iconic Slam Dunk Contest in NBA history occurred as the Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan bested the Atlanta Hawks’ Dominique Wilkins in a thrilling matchup. The two had faced each other three years prior, when Wilkins edged out the then-Bulls rookie by a slim margin. This time the result would be different. The two combined for four out of six possible scores and Jordan needed a near-perfect score to beat Wilkins in the final round. For his final dunk, Jordan took off running and jumped from the free-throw line, and slammed it down to win the title. The contest happened during the 1988 All-Star game, which happened to be held in Chicago.
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Other News From Around Town
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This Friday, WTTW News highlights our favorite stories about Chicago from local and national press.
The Real Story Behind the Midnight Immigration Raid on a Chicago Apartment Building (ProPublica)
"For months, the Trump administration has justified its dramatic midnight raid on a Chicago apartment complex by saying that it had intelligence that the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had taken over the building. But officials have provided no evidence to back up the claim.
Now, new documents confirm in the government’s own words that what prompted the raid was more pedestrian: allegations that immigrants were squatting in the complex. And the landlord had given federal officials, who were already targeting immigrants in Chicago, the blessing to search the building."
Marimar Martinez, Shot by Border Patrol in Chicago, Speaks Out After Good, Pretti Deaths: ‘I Am Their Voice’ (Chicago Sun-Times)
“In a wide-ranging interview this week with the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ, [Marimar] Martinez discussed her shooting [by federal agents], the federal government’s failed attempt to prosecute her and the role she now sees for herself in a fight for accountability.
Martinez spoke with the Sun-Times and WBEZ about fear within immigrant families, and her refusal to give in to it. She discussed Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti, two fellow U.S. citizens fatally shot by immigration authorities last month in Minneapolis."
Accused Fake Cop Beats Third Impersonation Case After Defending Himself in Cook County Trial (Chicago Sun-Times)
"Robert Ellis, 67, was charged with presenting a badge from a fake police agency when he applied for a license plate at the Illinois Secretary of State’s office in 2021. After a judge acquitted him, he told the Chicago Sun-Times, 'I had a sword hanging over my head for eight years. I feel like Martin Luther King. Free at last. Free at last.'"
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What's the one thing out-of-towners get wrong about
Chicago?
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. Here's what you had to
say:
"The musical 'Chicago'" — @queen_madame_x
"They think we're exaggerating how great the city is and how much we all love being from here!!" — @thighxpriestex
"They underestimate how cold Chicago can get out here during the winter, especially when that wind kicks in." — @ECWitIt
"Non-Chicagoans worry about the crime. Chicagoans worry about the cars." — @krankenbruder.bsky.social
"They don't leave the tourist traps and get in the neighborhoods. The neighborhoods are the joy and hidden gems of city life." — @berinader
“Chicago-style pizza is thin-crust tavern style. Deep dish is for the tourists.” — Cristian I.
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