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Good morning, Chicago. The Chicago City Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a contentious “Snap Curfew” measure. Plus, updates on NASCAR-related street closures and park district swimming pools. |
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Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling addresses the news media on Monday, April 28, 2025, at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News) |
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As the Chicago City Council prepares to vote Wednesday on a measure to allow Chicago Police Department officials to declare a “snap curfew,” questions are swirling about how the city’s top cop would use that power to stop large teen gatherings.
Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling told the federal judge overseeing the department’s efforts to comply with a court order requiring the Chicago Police Department to stop routinely violating residents’ constitutional rights on June 10 that he would “never use” the power to enforce a curfew with just 30 minutes notice.
Responding to concerns from police reform advocates that the proposal would harm CPD’s efforts to build trust among young Black and Latino Chicagoans, Snelling said that provision is “not something that I asked for or that I need.” Instead, Snelling promised to use that power only preemptively, to prevent the gatherings from happening at all. That goal is shared by Mayor Brandon Johnson, who has repeatedly questioned the constitutionality of the proposal.
Snelling’s statement injected new uncertainty over the fate of a measure to allow Chicago Police Department officials to preemptively impose a curfew anywhere in the city and begin enforcing it with just 30 minutes notice in an effort to stop large teen gatherings. Snelling told Pallmeyer he wanted “to be very clear” that he had “never asked for the power to impose a snap curfew.”
More context:
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward), who authored the measure, said Snelling’s “comments were misunderstood” and said the city’s top cop “remains in support of my ordinance.”
The ordinance requires CPD officers to wait 30 minutes before enforcing the curfew. Young people who violate the city’s curfew are not arrested, although multiple violations can lead to legal action.
It will be up to Ald. Jason Ervin (28th Ward) whether to call the measure for a vote at Wednesday’s City Council meeting. Ervin and Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th Ward) joined forces with 15 other alderpeople to use a parliamentary maneuver to block a vote on the measure last month. Vasquez said the confusion over Snelling’s position on the measure is another reason for his fellow alderpeople to vote against the proposal.
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Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears at the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) |
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A former Dolton employee is seeking to halt its purchase of the new pope’s former home, claiming such a move would be “financially irresponsible” as the village is in “severe financial distress.”
Lavell Redmond filed a motion in federal court Sunday that asks a judge to grant a temporary injunction to prevent Dolton officials from buying or attempting to buy the childhood home of Robert Prevost — now known as Pope Leo XIV.
Redmond, an ex-village employee who claimed he was wrongfully terminated in 2022, is already suing the village. He’s claimed the village has refused to enter into meaningful settlement discussions as it cites a lack of funds.
What's going on here?
According to the motion, Dolton officials have expressed an interest in acquiring the home, either through purchase or by eminent domain. But Redmond’s filing cites the findings of an investigation carried out by former Chicago Mayor and federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot, who detailed the village’s “gross financial mismanagement” under its former mayor Tiffany Henyard.
A spokesperson for the village declined to comment on Redmond’s motion, saying they do not comment on pending litigation. But they did state that there has been no settlement agreement reached between the village and Redmond, thus they state it would be “inaccurate to suggest the Village has refused or lacks the funds to pay a settlement that does not exist.”
Some background:
The home was first built in 1949 and is being rehabbed before its upcoming auction by Paramount Realty USA, which has set an opening bid price at $250,000. According to the auction site, the home belonged to the Prevost family for nearly 50 years “and served as the foundation of a life that would lead to the Vatican.” |
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A still from a promotional video for the NASCAR Chicago Street Race. (Courtesy of NASCAR) |
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The 2025 edition of NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race is still more than two weeks away, but downtown road closures and traffic disruptions are scheduled to begin Thursday morning.
The Office of Emergency Management and Communications on Monday released the full list of closures as the city preps for the third annual street race through Grant Park and several highly trafficked areas on July 5-6.
Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, Balbo Drive will become fully closed from Columbus Drive to DuSable Lake Shore Drive, while “No Parking” restrictions will be put in place along Columbus Dr in both north and southbound lanes between Jackson and Balbo drives. Curb lane closures will begin Friday morning on both directions of Columbus Drive between Jackson and Balbo.
Click here for a full list of pre-race closures and where and when they'll take place. |
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Back in the Day: June 17, 1950 - First Successful Organ Transplant Occurs in Evergreen Park |
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Dr. Richard Lawler was a Chicago-born surgeon who led a team of specialists at Little Company of Mary Hospital in southwest suburban Evergreen Park. On this date, 75 years ago, Lawler’s patient was Ruth Tucker, a 44-year-old Chicago woman suffering from kidney failure. At the time, dialysis was not yet available in Chicago — the science was still in its infancy — so Lawler tried something that had never successfully been done before: move a vital human organ from one person to another. After a 45-minute operation, Lawler and his team performed what’s likely the world's first human organ transplant (most accounts claim that happened in 1954 with Boston Dr. Joseph Murray who transplanted kidneys between twins). While Tucker would live for another five years, dying from heart disease and not kidney failure, Lawler’s procedure proved controversial: clergy claimed he desecrated the body of the organ donor while other surgeons called him reckless. While he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1970, Lawler never performed another organ transplant. He died at 86 in 1982 and in 2021, his grandnephew Edmund Lawler wrote a book called “The Graft: How a Pioneering Operation Sparked the Modern Age of Organ Transplants” about the procedure. |
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This Week’s Staff Recommendations
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Every Tuesday, WTTW News staffers highlight their favorite things in Chicago. This week, it’s arts correspondent Marc Vitali on his favorite local Irish pub.
There’s a bevy of beautiful Irish pubs in and around Chicago. Some are authentic, and some pretend to be. But which are the shamrocks and which are the shams?
Marc Vitali: Chief O’Neill’s in Avondale earned its reputation as one of the best, if not the best. The James Joyce in west suburban Berwyn is terrific but would benefit from more live music, and Lincoln Park residents swear by The Galway Arms.
My current favorite is a part-time pub. It’s open fewer than 24 hours per week — just Thursday through Saturday night. It’s also the best Irish pub you will ever find that’s housed within a former Chicago public school.
The Fifth Province sits inside the onetime Mayfair Elementary School near the Wilson Avenue exit of the Kennedy Expressway. A group of Irish Americans purchased the school in 1985 and named it the Irish American Heritage Center. Later they established the Fifth Province in the school’s former library.
The Irish American Heritage Center is massive – it has a museum, an auditorium and classrooms to learn Irish dance. It’s a popular spot for weddings and events. The Fifth Province is just one of its many cornerstones.
On Thursday nights, veteran musicians James Conway and Michael Austin lead an Irish music session that welcomes all. By the time they started to play, more than 20 musicians had gathered by the hearth. Seasoned pros and spirited amateurs sat side-by-side and performed traditional Irish music.
They played fiddles, flutes, guitars, and accordions. Many struck the bodhrán, a handheld frame-drum. Together they made a glorious racket.
Everything added to the atmosphere. There were families with kids bopping around. Our waitress had just arrived from Ireland for her summer job in Chicago; she brought us fish and chips and burgers – nothing fancy, but good enough. The place had character and was filled with characters.
If you seek a welcoming place with lively music, visit the Fifth Province inside the Irish American Heritage Center. You just have to wait till Thursday night.
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What’s your favorite neighborhood to visit on Chicago’s South Side? Tell us why. |
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. |
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