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It’s Thursday. Take a minute to catch up on the latest stories from WTTW News.
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Bruce Wexelberg explains how he counted rings to estimate the age of a parkway tree cut down after this summer's storms. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)
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Matt McDermott and Bruce Wexelberg are still getting used to how bright it is inside their house, ever since they lost one of the parkway ash trees that used to shade the front corner of their Lincoln Square bungalow.
“Our new view out our front door is just open land now, instead of seeing the ash tree right there,” McDermott said.
The ash was a casualty, in a roundabout way, of this past summer’s storms, like so many thousands of trees across Chicago. But it’s hardly been forgotten. In fact, the remaining stump has become something of a neighborhood conversation piece.
“Now it’s an attraction,” McDermott said. “People stop and look at the stump.”
More context:
Wexelberg, who’s a certified TreeKeeper, turned the tree’s base into a quasi memorial.
“I got a grinder with a sanding disc and I sanded down a strip across so that it was smooth,” he said. “And then I drew a line straight across with a straight edge (ruler) and a pencil, and I counted all of the rings.”
Every 10 rings, he made a hash mark — 10 years, then 20, then 30 — first in pencil and later in Sharpie.
Given the tree’s size, McDermott, who’s lived in the house since 1987, thought maybe the ash had been planted in the ‘60s or ‘70s.
But Wexelberg’s tally blew past McDermott’s educated guess.
The total was 98 rings, dating the ash back to 1928, just three years younger than the house itself.
“Most people walk by trees and they don’t really notice or think that tree might have been here 100 years,” Wexelberg said. “It’s also a way to honor the tree, like, ‘I’ve been here for 98 years.’ A lot longer than any of us, you know, so I think it’s a tribute to the tree. We’ve had a lot of people stop and say that was really cool to put the markings down.”
To date a tree, professionals use a hollow hand drill called an increment borer to remove a pencil-width piece of wood from living trees in order to obtain an approximate age.
But old-fashioned ring counting remains a tried and true method, and for an amateur, Wexelberg’s technique was spot on.
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Sponsor Message
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Full Spectrum Education, Northeastern Illinois University’s Goodwin College of Education, and NEIU Libraries presents “Reckoning with Redress,” an exhibition tracing the history of the Japanese American Redress Movement. The exhibit also commemorates the 45th anniversary of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) hearings held on the NEIU Main Campus.
Explore art and archival materials from NEIU’s testimony archive, community collections, and national archives, all sharing stories of those who fought for justice. This free public exhibit runs now through October 31st at the Ronald Williams Library Gallery on the main campus.
NEIU.edu/reckoning-redress-three-part-series
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In Edgewater, 90 affordable units are set to be built near Broadway and Thorndale Avenue by Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp. (Courtesy of Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp.)
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The Chicago City Council approved plans Wednesday to build nearly 200 new homes and set them aside for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans in Edgewater and Humboldt Park.
Those two long-in-the-works developments will get city subsidies totaling $57.6 million, including the first large chunk of funds from Mayor Brandon Johnson’s signature economic development effort.
Both projects are also set to take advantage of city programs to borrow funds, more evidence of how complicated — and expensive — it is to build affordable housing in Chicago.
Some backstory:
In Humboldt Park, the Von Humboldt Elementary School — shuttered by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel — is finally set to be transformed into 103 new apartments, all set aside for Chicagoans making no more than 60% of the city’s area median income, which is $72,900 for a family of four, records show.
That project relies on a $35.6 million city subsidy from the city’s Housing and Economic Development Bond. In 2024, the City Council agreed to borrow a total of $1.25 billion through 2028 to fund a wide-ranging slate of projects designed to expand the supply of affordable homes and good-paying jobs.
The $95 million project, first proposed in 2016, is central to efforts to build more affordable housing in Humboldt Park, where rents have soared and gentrification has flourished, Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward) said.
The shuttered school, built 130 years ago, has become a magnet for so-called “urban explorers” who film themselves exploring abandoned buildings, creating a nuisance and making the renovation more expensive because of damage and scavenging, said Fuentes, who is running for reelection.
In Edgewater, 90 affordable units are set to be built near Broadway and Thorndale Avenue by Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp., which has built several similar developments throughout the city.
In addition, the City Council approved a $201.6 million subsidy for a development set to build more than 3,700 apartments and condominiums on vacant land between Bucktown and Lincoln Park.
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(Department of Justice, Capitol News Illinois)
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A federal judge will hear oral arguments and could rule as early as next week on a request from the former “Broadview Six” defendants as they seek a special prosecutor to investigate potential wrongdoing that led to the collapse of the high-profile case against them earlier this year.
U.S. District Judge April Perry set a hearing for Oct. 1 to hear arguments both from attorneys for the six former defendants, as well as federal prosecutors within Chicago’s U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros’ office.
Some backstory:
Next week’s hearing comes more than four months after Boutros personally appeared in Perry’s courtroom to apologize to the judge and formally dismiss the case after Perry and defense attorneys learned of alleged misconduct by one of Boutros’ prosecutors before the grand jury that brought charges in the case.
Oak Park Village Board Trustee Brian Straw, former 9th District congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh, her campaign staffer Andre Martin, Democratic Committeeperson Michael Rabbitt, ex-Cook County Board candidate Catherine Sharp and musician Joselyn Walsh were charged following a confrontation on Sept. 26, 2025, between protesters and federal agents outside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s processing facility in west suburban Broadview.
Unsealed transcripts from the grand jury proceedings in that case revealed Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg allegedly excused skeptical grand jurors, admitted speaking with grand jurors outside of the hearings and “vouched” for the merits of the allegations against the defendants.
Perry at the time said she had never seen the “types of prosecutorial behavior before a grand jury that I saw in those transcripts.”
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More From WTTW News:
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Back in the Day: September 24, 2000 - White Sox Make Playoffs, Clinch AL Central
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The Chicago White Sox had a disappointing 1999 MLB campaign that ended with a record of 75-86, but in the 2000 season, they surprised everyone and soared past expectations. Their strength came from a young core of players in Ray Durham, Paul Konerko, Carlos Lee, Jim Parque and Magglio Ordonez, which led to the slogan, “Hey, the Kids Can Play!” On this day 26 years ago, the White Sox clinched the AL Central in an extra-inning thriller against the Minnesota Twins. A Lawton walk-off home run sealed the deal and would send the South Siders to their first playoff berth since 1993. They’d lose in the first round, but Konerko would lead the team to the World Series in 2005.
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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.
Whether it’s an orchestra honoring great composers, an acclaimed play hitting an iconic theater, a director Q&A at an arthouse cinema or a casual, art-filled neighborhood stroll, you have tons of great cultural events to choose from this weekend.
Theater: “Topdog/Underdog” — Steppenwolf Theatre
Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “Topdog/Underdog" returns to Chicago stages at Steppenwolf. The play follows two brothers, Lincoln and Booth, who navigate an intense sibling rivalry (true to their names) and the American dream. It’s raw and tragic, but not without humor and heart. Buy tickets for the show, which ends its run on Nov. 1, here.
Music: “Mäkelä Conducts Sibelius & Shostakovich” — Symphony Center
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will celebrate the iconic Finnish composer Jean Sibelius and the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Conductor and Zell music director designate Klaus Mäkelä will lead CSO through Sibelius’ Seventh Symphony and Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony. Buy tickets here.
Film: “The Oldest Person in the World” — Gene Siskel Film Center
Documentarian Sam Green has long been fascinated by aging and people who become the oldest person in the world. Since 2015, he’s been interviewing those who’ve claimed that oft-changing title to discover their secrets, but instead he found far deeper truths about what it means to be alive. “The Oldest Person in the World” hits the Gene Siskel Film Center this weekend and the director will attend two screenings with a Q&A. Buy tickets here.
Art: 13th Annual Beverly Art Walk — Multiple locations
Head to the South Side for the 13th annual Beverly Art Walk. Organized by the Beverly Area Arts Alliance, it features more than 150 artists from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. To plan your trip and see all the participating venues and locations, check here.
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What was the best local festival you attended this year? Tell us why.
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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