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After last week’s ruling striking down an assault weapons ban, we take a look at what happens next. And it’s never too early to start planning for the holidays with our just-published events guide.
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A federal judge last week ruled Illinois’ ban on so-called assault weapons unconstitutional. Here's a look at the reaction and next steps:
The Protect Illinois Communities Act has since 2023 banned assault weapons, as well as 15-round handgun magazines and 10-round long-gun magazines.
Gun owners argue the ban infringes on their constitutional right to bear arms. Gun control advocates argue the ban is common sense and a way to protect Illinois residents from guns that are designed to be extra lethal.
Some background:
The law was created after a shooter used an AR-15-style rifle to kill seven people at a Highland Park Fourth of July parade in 2022.
The reaction from gun rights advocates:
“I think going back to Judge McGlynn’s 168-page opinion, he states very plainly that, yes, sympathy is due to the people who are injured, maimed or have loved ones injured or maimed in high-profile mass shootings, but this doesn’t give you the pretext to strip the law-abiding rest of society of their rights and property and their important right to self-defense just because of the depraved acts of a deranged individual,” said Dan Eldridge, president of Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois. He’s among the gun shop owners suing Illinois in the federal case.
The reaction from those planning an appeal:
“(Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul) knew what was going to happen, and he said, ‘We’re ready to go,’” said John Schmidt, a member of the Gun Violence Prevention PAC’s executive board and a former associate U.S. attorney general. “They’ll do a good job again in the court of appeals. I’m optimistic about the court of appeals. Courts of appeals don’t change their minds very often, although sometimes they do.”
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(WTTW News)
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Chicago’s embattled music festival scene has lost one of its premier events, at least for 2025. Pitchfork announced Monday it had made the “difficult decision” not to host Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago next year.
“Nineteen years of music and memories. Thank you, Chicago,” Pitchfork Chicago posted on social media.
The 2024 Pitchfork Festival closed out in July in Union Park, with headliners Alanis Morissette, Carly Rae Jepsen and Black Pumas among others.
What happened?
Questions remain as to whether the cancelation is limited to 2025 or whether Pitchfork Chicago is gone for good. And what does this mean for other Pitchfork music fests in London, Paris and Mexico City?
When asked for comment, a Pitchfork spokesperson pointed WTTW News to the PR team at Condé Nast, the media conglomerate that purchased Pitchfork in 2015. Reps for Condé Nast did not immediately respond to WTTW News’ query.
Devastated fans filled the information void by blaming cost cutting at Condé Nast — which placed Pitchfork magazine under the GQ umbrella and laid off staff at the music publication back in January 2024, as reported by the New York Times.
Others pointed fingers at disarray within the city of Chicago, while still others pointed to a struggling market for music festivals in general.
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Lightscape. (Courtesy of Chicago Botanic Garden)
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From light shows to theater, themed bars and dance spectacles, there’s something for everyone to enjoy this holiday season. We’ve rounded up some of the season’s highlights in Chicago and the suburbs. Take a look.
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This Week's Staff Picks Go Vegan
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Every Tuesday, a WTTW News staffer weighs in with some of their favorite local places or things.
WTTW News reporter Eunice Alpasan shares her local recommendations for vegan-friendly restaurants, whether you’re a longtime vegan or someone dabbling in eating a more plant-based diet.
Demera - Ethiopian - 4801 N. Broadway
My go-to order: Vegan Bayanetu ($26.50). From the Amharic word meaning “many kinds,” the bayanetu offers a sampling of various vegetable dishes atop injera, a spongy, fermented bread made with teff and whole wheat flour.
Boonie’s - Filipino - 4337 N. Western Ave.
My go-to order: Pancit Canton ($15) and Maitake Piaparan ($20). When I first decided to go vegan nearly a decade ago, one of the hardest parts was the guilt of feeling like I was losing parts of my culture, an issue I was already grappling with as a first-generation Filipino American. As the city continues to see more Filipino restaurants open, it warmed my heart to take my family to Boonie’s.
My go-to order: Tamale ($3.99) and either a torta ($8.75) or the flautas dinner ($15.99). Here are a combination of things that are sometimes hard to find in plant-based spots: Unpretentious. Huge menu. Reasonable prices.
Read Eunice's full list and menu picks.
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Back in the Day: November 12, 2004 - Tammy Duckworth’s Black Hawk Helicopter Crashes in Iraq
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Before Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s life in Democratic politics, the Thailand-born and Honolulu-raised politician also served in the military. In 2014, she retired from the Army National Guard as a lieutenant colonel. A combat veteran, she served in the Iraq War as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot. On this day 20 years ago, a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents struck the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting. In her 2021 book “Every Day Is a Gift,” she wrote, “The explosion vaporized my right leg. It blew my left leg up into the bottom of the instrument panel, shearing off the shin below the knee and leaving my leg hanging by just a thin thread of flesh.” Still, she survived and devoted her life to public service and government. Duckworth has been the junior U.S. senator from Illinois since 2017 and from 2013-2017 represented Illinois’ 8th Congressional District.
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Where can we find the best cheeseburger in Chicago? Tell us where and why it’s the best. |
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published.
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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