It’s Thursday. Get to the end of the week with good momentum by reading these stories from WTTW News.
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(WTTW News)
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A key city panel ratcheted up the pressure on Mayor Brandon Johnson to replace the city’s controversial gunshot detection system, which he scrapped two years ago.
Chief Procurement Officer Sharla Roberts told the Chicago City Council’s Public Safety Committee on Tuesday that officials are still weighing the bids submitted by nine firms, including one by SoundThinking, the firm that operates ShotSpotter.
Roberts repeatedly told the committee that she and her staff were “working diligently” to bring the nearly 19-month effort to negotiate a new contract to a successful end — but declined to say much more, citing the need to keep the discussions confidential.
Roberts did not tell the increasingly exasperated alderpeople how long the process is likely to take — even as the city prepares for the summer months, when violence typically spikes.
“This was a total waste of time,” Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38th Ward) said at the end of the hearing, which lasted more than an hour.
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward) said he would hold another hearing on the effort to replace ShotSpotter on June 3 to give alderpeople another chance to “get answers.”
Some backstory:
During 2025, the first full year without a gunshot detection system, the number of Chicago homicides hit a 60-year low.
Chicago’s homicide rate dropped by approximately 29% in 2025, as compared with 2024, according to Chicago Police Department data. The city’s overall violent crime rate decreased by nearly 23%, according to CPD data.
The City Council twice rebuked Johnson over ShotSpotter and demanded that he reverse his decision to scrap the system, which he has said leads to the overpolicing of neighborhoods home to a majority of Black and Latino Chicagoans.
The City Council attempted to give Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling the power to bypass the mayor’s office and directly ink a contract with SoundThinking, the firm that operates ShotSpotter. Snelling supported the use of the system, but did not openly defy the mayor, who appointed him and has the power to fire him.
Snelling and other supporters of the gunshot detection system said it helped officers save lives when shootings were not reported to emergency services.
ShotSpotter was never used to dispatch paramedics.
Johnson has repeatedly said there is “clear evidence (ShotSpotter) is unreliable and overly susceptible to human error.”
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Chicago’s hybrid Board of Education meets for the first time at the Chicago Public Schools Loop headquarters on Jan. 15, 2025. (WTTW News)
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Members of Chicago’s Board of Education are calling on Springfield politicians to step up its funding for Chicago Public Schools as the cash-strapped district faces impending staff cuts to fill a $732 million budget gap.
Board vice president Angel Velez and five other members called on Illinois legislators to prioritize students over a new stadium for the Chicago Bears and the pending megaprojects bill, saying the cuts announced this week threaten to “devastate classrooms.”
“CPS faces a funding crisis unlike anything we have seen before,” Velez said Wednesday. “This is not just a numbers problem, it is a moral issue.”
More context:
Funding from Springfield has regularly been an issue for CPS, which says it is only getting 73% of what is considered “adequate” under the state’s evidence-based funding formula.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, along with leaders from CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union, have been vocally critical of state legislators for prioritizing a bill designed to seal the deal for a new domed stadium for the Chicago Bears in Arlington Heights.
CPS leaders this week announced the district faces a $732 million budget shortfall they said is driven by a lack of state and federal funding, decreasing student enrollment and an increased need to provide for those students with the greatest needs.
The district hasn’t yet provided specific numbers on its expected number of staffing cuts to help fill that gap, but said this week it will cap the number of teacher losses at four for elementary schools and at six for high schools.
Board members on Wednesday said those cuts will disproportionately harm Black and Brown students, and said cuts are expected to impact teacher, counselor, coaching and classroom assistant positions.
“We cannot allow megaprojects to destroy public education,” board member Debby Pope said. “We cannot tell our children, no, we don’t have enough for you because we’re building a beautiful new stadium. What kind of a message is that to our young people?”
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A herd of bison have settled into their new home at Burlington Prairie in Kane County. (Courtesy Forest Preserve District of Kane County)
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Back in December, when six bison were released onto Burlington Prairie in Kane County, one of the newcomers was hiding a secret.
Well, the secret is out. On May 9, one of the herd's females gave birth to a calf, the first baby bison born on tallgrass prairie in the county in 200 years, officials estimate.
“These things aren’t always planned, as you can imagine,” said Laurie Metanchuk, spokesperson for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County.
Apart from the calf, the herd's bison — three males and three females — are all one or two years old. Bison females, known as cows, typically begin reproducing when they're two or three years old, with a gestation period of nine or 9.5 months.
“We knew it was possible that they could reproduce soon, but it was more likely that they’d have young, later,” Metanchuk said. “It was an incredible surprise when one of the bison recently started showing signs that it was expecting.”
In a unique arrangement, the bison roam on land owned by Kane County forest preserves, but the Chicago-based American Indian Center owns the bison (though the center prefers the word “steward” versus “owner”). Woodstock-based Ruhter Bison is on board as the herd’s day-to-day caretaker.
For members of Chicago's Native community, the herd represents an opportunity to reclaim pieces of tribal history and culture. The arrival of the calf has been an unexpected blessing.
“It is one thing to talk about restoring relationships with land and relatives,” Jay Young, co-executive director of the American Indian Center, said in a statement. “It is another thing to see new life come from that work."
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More From WTTW News:
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Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th Ward) sued the city of Chicago, the Chicago Board of Ethics and former Inspector General Deborah Witzburg on Wednesday, alleging they “maliciously” conspired to charge him with violating the city’s ethics ordinance by directing a city employee to issue “unfounded
citations” that could have forced a frequent critic and political foe to pay more than $600 in fines.
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Back in the Day: May 14, 1920 - Michigan Avenue Bridge, Now Called the DuSable Bridge, Opens
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On this day 106 years ago, Mayor William “Big Bill” Thompson, Chicago Plan Commission head Charles H. Wacker and Michael J. Faherty, the driving boss of the bridge builders gathered for a ribbon cutting ceremony to unveil the Michigan Avenue Bridge. Plans for a link between Grant Park and Lincoln Park, a boulevard connecting the North and South Sides, had been in the works since at least the 1890s. It was further elaborated in the 1909 Burnham Plan for Chicago and construction started on the bridge in 1918. It opened on May 14, 1920, and has stood tall to this day. In 2010, it was renamed the DuSable Bridge, after Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the Haitian trader who founded
the city. As the Tribune points out, the ribbon-cutting ceremony almost faced a serious accident. During the festivities, someone raised the south drawbridge unaware that four cars were on it and slipping. Police officers fired their guns to alert the mechanic, and calamity was staved off.
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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.
This week, a new study from the University College of London showed evidence that engaging in arts and culture regularly (“participating in arts activities and attending events, such as viewing an exhibition”) reduces biological ageing and is associated with improved health. Researchers said that the results were "so dramatic that it is comparable to the difference between smokers and those who have given up smoking."
Should we view exploring the city’s cultural offerings as comparable to exercise and a good diet? I think so. Either way, the science shows it’s probably good for you.
Film: "Everyone Is Lying to You for Money" — Music Box Theatre
When you follow Ben McKenzie’s career, you’d first think he was on a conventional actor path. He was the heartthrob on the excellent teen drama “The O.C.,” tortured cops on the underrated “Southland,” and the D.C. “Batman” vehicle “Gotham.” The further you track his timeline, you’ll notice he co-wrote a book, on, uh, the risks associated with cryptocurrency with investigative tech journalist Jacob Silverman. It’s an excellent primer into the scam-filled world of Bitcoin and crypto-trading. It’s now a documentary called "Everyone Is Lying to You for Money, “ and McKenzie will appear at the Music Box for a Thursday evening premiere screening. Buy tickets here.
Theater: "The Targeted" — Chopin Theatre
Written by Hanna Kime and directed by Grace Dolezal-Ng, A Red Orchid Theatre presents "The Targeted," a brand new play that follows vast government conspiracies, repressive surveillance tactics and systematic torture of “Targeted Individuals.” Part sci-fi, part-satire, and part “tragicomedy about community,” this production’s previews started earlier this month and officially opens Sunday for a run at the Chopin Theatre that lasts until June 14. Buy tickets here.
Art: Planting Seeds: An Indigenous Zine Fest — Newberry Library
On Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Newberry Library is hosting “Planting Seeds: An Indigenous Zine Fest.” It will feature “zines and prints by Indigenous creators from across the globe. The event will include hands-on art activities led by artists, and a display of zines and comics by Indigenous artists from the Newberry's collection.” The event is free, and more info can be found here.
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Who is your favorite musical artist from 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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Ginger Lane, a Chicago Holocaust survivor, and her two daughters discuss "UnBroken," a documentary about how Lane and her siblings escaped Nazi Germany.
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5:30 PM | 10:00 PM
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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