It’s Tuesday. Stay dry with the latest headlines from WTTW News.
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Invasive carp are voracious feeders that grow and multiply rapidly. (Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee)
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Juvenile invasive silver carp were discovered last week further up the Illinois River than ever before, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) announced.
Sampling crews removed hundreds of small silver carp — 4 to 6 inches long — from the Marseilles Pool on a stretch of the river that’s just 80 miles from Lake Michigan, according to IDNR.
While adult invasive carp have previously been found that far north, the presence of young carp indicates a spawning event occurred, possibly even further upriver. Silver carp eggs float downriver for miles through their early life stages before reaching juvenile size.
Fish biologists consider invasive carp populations to be established in an area when multiple life stages of young and adult invasive carp are present.
More context:
In the years since intensive, multi-agency monitoring of the Illinois River began in 2010, established invasive carp populations have been detected in the waterway’s lower 240 miles from the Mississippi River up to Peoria. But north of Peoria, the stages of juvenile development had been absent.
Crews are now conducting electrofishing operations as well as additional monitoring surveys of the upper river and tributaries to assess the extent of the spawning event. They’ll also study the microchemistry of the captured silver carp to learn more about their origin, IDNR said.
So far, the forward progress of adult silver and bighead carp has been held to an area of the river approximately 50 miles from Lake Michigan. Partner agencies will ramp up monitoring in that section — called the Dresden Island Pool — as a precaution.
On the Illinois River, any indication of a change in the status or distribution of invasive carp triggers specific protocols among partner agencies, which include IDNR, the Illinois Natural History Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Geological Survey.
The discovery of a sizable number of juvenile silver carp comes at a critical juncture in the effort to stop the invasive fish from entering Lake Michigan, where they could devastate the local fishery and recreation economies, as well as the aquatic ecosystem.
In late July, the Army Corps of Engineers issued a stop work order on construction of the Brandon Road Interbasin Project — a series of barriers and deterrents designed to halt the invasive carp from infesting the Great Lakes. The order noted the project was under administrative review.
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(WTTW News)
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The Chicago police officer who shot into a moving car that investigators concluded posed no threat to officers, wounding two men in June 2020, will not be fired, according to documents obtained by WTTW News.
Instead, Officer Charles Harris II should face a suspension of 30 days, former Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling determined, rejecting the recommendation from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability to fire Harris for his actions on June 12, 2020, in Englewood near 71st and Halsted streets, records show.
Some backstory:
The disagreement between the city’s former top cop and the agency better known as COPA meant it was up to Chicago Police Board Member Arlette Porter, who was randomly chosen in keeping with the city’s rules, to determine whether Snelling met “his burden of overcoming” former Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten’s recommendation, which was initially upheld by her replacement, LaKenya White.
After Porter asked CPD brass and COPA officials in February to provide her with an analysis about whether the city was prevented from disciplining Harris for using excessive force against the men he shot because the five-year statute of limitations had expired, White dropped COPA’s appeal of Snelling’s objection.
COPA determined Harris should face a 29-day suspension for failing to activate his body-worn camera as required and failing to notify his supervisors that he had fired his gun, records show.
The records published Thursday by COPA do not make clear why the probe of the June 12, 2020, shooting was not completed until Jan. 23, 2024. It was also not clear why COPA chose a 29-day suspension after Snelling recommended 30 days.
Snelling, who retired from CPD a month ago, frequently objected to COPA’s findings, especially when the agency recommended officers face significant discipline.
In February 2024, Snelling blasted Kersten at a meeting of the Chicago Police Board and accused her of treating CPD officers so unfairly that they were at risk of suicide while compromising public safety.
Snelling refused Kersten’s recommendation to fire Harris a month after that confrontation, records show.
Harris, who earns more than $111,200 annually, has been stripped of his badge and assigned to administrative duties, according to a CPD spokesperson. Harris could not be reached for comment by WTTW News.
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Walter Payton College Preparatory High School in Chicago. (WTTW News)
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Four Chicago Public Schools high schools have been ranked among the best in the country, according to a new list from U.S. News & World Report.
The annual top high school rankings list was released Tuesday and included Northside College Prep, located in Chicago’s North Park neighborhood, as the top high school in Illinois and the 30th best high school in the country.
That marks a 10-place jump from last year’s rankings.
Other CPS schools included among the nation’s Top 100 were: Walter Payton College Prep (No. 54), Lane Tech (No. 80) and Jones College Prep (No. 99). Whitney Young Magnet High School finished just outside the Top 100 at No. 104.
While CPS has regularly held the top five high schools in Illinois in the U.S. News rankings, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora broke through this year, placing fourth in the state and No. 88 in the nation.
U.S. News & World Report said its rankings are based on several performance indicators including student achievement on state-required assessments, strong graduation rates and college readiness measures.
Schools are evaluated on how effectively they serve all students, including underserved populations, the outlet said.
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Back in the Day: August 18, 2018 - Local Nun Stuns With Impressive First Pitch at White Sox Game
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On this day eight years ago, it was Marian Catholic High School night at Guaranteed Rate Field and the White Sox brought out the school’s theology teacher, nun Sister Mary Jo Sobiek, to throw the first pitch. Yes, it’s not every day you see a habit-wearing nun play baseball, but it’s especially rare to see a first pitch this professional and stylish no matter who is throwing the ball. Before the pitch, Sister Mary Jo prayed, took the mound, bounced the baseball off her arm, caught it and sent a perfect strike over the plate to Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito. After the throw, Giolito talked to reporters. "That was awesome," said Giolito. "She had a whole routine. She had it planned out. I was just lucky to be back there. She threw a perfect pitch. I think that she played some softball growing up and stuff, so she definitely had a background. It ended up being great."
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This Week’s Staff Recommendations
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Every Tuesday, WTTW News staffers highlight their favorite things about Chicago. This week, it’s reporter Heather Cherone on the book you need to read before the next election for Chicago mayor.
Heather Cherone: With nearly a dozen people eager to deny Mayor Brandon Johnson the second term he has yet to announce he wants, the best way to understand what is happening in Chicago politics is to time-travel back to the 1980s by reading “Fire on the Prairie” by Gary Rivlin, who would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize.
The book, published in 1992, tells the story of Harold Washington, who was the first Black man elected Chicago mayor. Decades after his unexpected death, Washington is remembered by many as a secular saint who energized Black Chicago and paved former President Barack Obama’s path to the White House.
But, in fact, Washington spent much of his time as Chicago mayor battling critics on the City Council who incessantly criticized his leadership, and worked ceaselessly to thwart his policies and initiatives. When he ran for reelection, many City Hall observers warned he was facing certain defeat after four years of racial strife across the city and metaphorical war on the floor of the City Council chamber.
But Washington surprised the pundits and the aspiring members of the chattering classes, again, defeating both a former and a future mayor.
A plan announced in 2021 to transform “Fire on the Prairie” into a limited series for a streaming platform starring Wendell Pierce as Washington has yet to materialize, but those who’d rather watch a movie rather than read a book might be in luck.
“Punch 9 for Harold Washington,” a fabulous documentary by Joe Winston, is available to stream on Kanopy, and covers much of the same ground.
History doesn’t always repeat, as Mark Twain memorably said. But it just might rhyme.
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Where’s your favorite place to watch sports in Chicago? Tell us why.
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published.
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