|
Happy Friday. End the shortened work week with these stories from WTTW News, including one on potato chips based off iconic Chicago foods. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Bird friendly pattern on glass at McCormick Place Lakeside. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News) |
|
Patty Wetli: A groundbreaking law is about to take effect in Lake County, and you probably haven’t heard much about it.
Earlier in May, the Lake County Board passed a bird-friendly building ordinance that will apply to new residential construction. Previous ordinances passed by the board had applied bird-friendly requirements to government buildings, and commercial and non-residential buildings. The addition of residential construction puts Lake County on the leading edge of bird-friendly mandates, according to the American Bird Conservancy. Both the commercial/non-residential and the residential ordinances apply to construction in unincorporated Lake County.
Under the new law, projects must incorporate at least 80% bird-friendly glass on exterior surfaces between ground level and 100 feet high. Options include exterior screens, bird-safe films or coatings, or etched or fritted glass, among others. Single-family homes might seem like a strange target of bird-friendly laws. Aren’t skyscrapers and glass boxes like McCormick Place Lakeside deadlier?
Actually, no. Research has shown that buildings one to three stories tall account for 44% of all bird fatalities. To birds, the glass is invisible, and they don’t perceive visual cues like window frames the same way humans do.
“Countless birds make our neighborhoods their home too,” Marah Altenberg, Lake County Board member and chair of the Planning, Building Zoning and Environment Committee, said in a statement. “By encouraging bird-friendly building design, we’re reducing avoidable harm and preserving the natural beauty of Lake County. The law takes effect July 12.
Meanwhile, Chicago — often dubbed the deadliest city for birds — has struggled to codify bird-friendly guidelines into law. Currently, bird-friendly elements are included among the buffet of options developers can choose from to qualify as “sustainable.” |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Oct. 9, 2024. (WTTW News) |
|
Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez called his nearly four years as district leader the “experience of a lifetime” as he prepares to leave his post months after his termination by the Board of Education.
Martinez on Thursday reflected on his time as Chicago’s schools chief during what will be his final monthly meeting of the board before he exits the city to take over as Massachusetts’ next school board commissioner.
Martinez’s dismissal came following a months-long feud with Mayor Brandon Johnson over district finances and ongoing negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union — where Johnson worked as an organizer prior to his election victory in 2023 — over a new contract. That contract was eventually finalized in April.
His final day with CPS will be June 18. Johnson has not yet named an interim successor while the board has begun its search for a permanent replacement.
He said Thursday he was proud of the way he and the school district navigated the COVID-19 pandemic when he became schools chief, using federal relief funds to “invest largely in our people to meet the challenge of the moment” by hiring more teachers, tutors, counselors and support staff to help students during an unprecedented crisis. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Three bags of Chicago-inspired chips from Local Style Chips. (WTTW News) |
|
Chicago food culture is built on some of the city’s most famous foods: deep dish pizza, Italian beef, and of course, the classic Chicago-style hot dog. Now, a local entrepreneur is putting all of those flavors in the bag, and adding a little crunch to the city’s food scene.
Laura Gardner, owner of Local Style Potato Chips, set out to combine her love of potato chips and Chicago foods to make the ultimate snack. Though not a Chicago native, Gardner has taken on the city as her chosen home and fell in love with all aspects including the culture, nightlife, and of course, the food.
Gardner believes one of Chicago’s greatest attributes is its ability to blend highbrow and lowbrow — which helped spark her inspiration to create this new line of potato chips. Once she decided to venture down this career path, she had no trouble with selecting the first flavors. Gardner simply followed the city’s “holy trinity” of deep dish pizza, Italian beef and the Chicago-style hot dog. The brand also includes a traditional classic kettle chip and a hot giardiniera flavor — what Gardner calls Chicago’s best kept secret. |
|
|
|
|
|
Back in the Day: May 30, 1995 - Feds Take Over Chicago Housing Authority |
|
In 1995, the Chicago Housing Authority was in dire straits. Cash-strapped and facing crumbling buildings, dwindling pension funds, and rising crime rates, the entire board of the agency resigned in May of that year. That move paved the way for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to assume control over the beleaguered agency and its 40,000 housing units. It was then the largest-ever federal takeover of a housing agency. "It's fair to call it the largest troubled public housing in the country," Housing Secretary Henry G. Cisneros said in an interview then. It also wasn’t the first time the feds had threatened to take over the CHA: they tried in 1987, but then Mayor Harold Washington forcefully opposed the plan. After a severe overhaul, management was returned to a new CHA board in 1999. |
 |
|
|
|
Nature Calls: This Week’s Outdoorsy Events and Activities |
|
Every Friday, WTTW News science and nature reporter Patty Wetli highlights the best ways to get outside.
We’re big fans of Cindy Crosby’s blog Tuesdays in the Tallgrass. If you’re ever short on inspiration for a new natural area to visit, check out her archives.
For a different perspective on some of the city’s green spaces, sign up for a Chicago Architecture Center walking tour. Guides lead guests through Lincoln Park, Grant Park, the Riverwalk and Graceland Cemetery, to name a few.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has been spotlighting Kankakee River State Park on its social media channels all week. Well, mission accomplished — now we want to pay a visit.
Check out “Weaving with Weeds” at the Trailside Museum of Natural History in River Forest. You’ll learn weaving techniques and create a small basket. Saturday, 1-3 p.m.; free, but registration is required.
Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the Dupage County forest preserves’ native plant nursery at the Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville. Saturday; tours at 9, 10 and 11 a.m.; cost is $5, registration required.
On Saturday, Adler Planetarium is hosting mission specialists involved with NASA’s Parker Solar Probe. Get tickets to a lecture and other sun-related programming. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chicago's beaches opened for swimming last Friday. What's your favorite lakefront beach? |
|
|
|
Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. Here's what you had to say:
"My vote is 12th Street Beach. Reasonable walk from my apartment and just far enough away on Northerly Island that it doesn’t get as crowded as other beaches. Oh, wait. Maybe I shouldn’t let that particular cat out of the bag." — Jim W.
"Promontory Point" — Edgar F.
"IL Beach State Park" —@windycitysalmon.bsky.social
"Rainbow Beach, the absolute best view of the city." — @CariniVice
“Hollywood (Osterman Beach)! Wish there was parking though” — @cheeseevictoria
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
5:30 PM | 7:00 PM |
|
|
|
|
Want more WTTW News content? Follow WTTW on Instagram to check in with us daily, go behind-the-scenes, and more. |
|
Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
|
|
|
|
