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It’s another Monday and another Daily Chicagoan newsletter with everything you need to know about your city today from WTTW News. |
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(WTTW News) |
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Chicago police officers accused of serious misconduct have the right to ask an arbitrator — and not the Chicago Police Board — to decide their fate, but those proceedings must take place in public, an Illinois Appeals Court ruled.
The ruling, which is likely to be appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, endorses the effort backed by the city’s largest police union to upend the system used for 60 years to punish officers.
However, it affirmed Cook County Judge Michael Mullen’s March 2024 ruling that allowing cases that could allow officers to be fired or suspended for more than a year to take place behind closed doors goes “against a dominant and well-defined public policy.”
“While there is no specific public policy that requires all police misconduct hearings to be open to the public, we find that to suddenly shut the door after 60 years of open hearings severely undermines the public policies discussed above,” according to the decision authored by Justice Sharon Oden Johnson and joined by Justice Mary Mikva of the Illinois 1st District Appellate Court.
Oden Johnson and Mikva agreed with Mullen that the consent decree, a federal court order requiring the Chicago Police Department to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers, requires discipline hearings to take place in public.
Justice Raymond Mitchell dissented, writing in a separate opinion that he would have reversed Mullen’s ruling.
“To conclude otherwise invites parties to relitigate every labor arbitrator’s decision under the guise of public policy,” Mitchell wrote. “That is repugnant to the explicit, well-defined, and dominant public policy in favor of collective bargaining and the arbitration process that goes with it.”
More context:
The appeals court unanimously reversed Mullen’s ruling allowing police brass to continue to suspend officers facing serious discipline without pay until their cases are resolved. The appeals court sent that issue back to the Cook County Circuit Court for reconsideration.
If upheld, the ruling would require city officials to set up an entirely new system to decide the most serious cases of police misconduct and could gut the power of the Chicago Police Board, which is now responsible for deciding those cases. |
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(Patty Wetli / WTTW News) |
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The Chicago Park District has announced a phased closing of pools and beaches, beginning Sunday, as an attempt to balance the reality of back-to-school clashing with the dog days of summer.
Heat may linger well past Labor Day, but many of the district's student-aged lifeguards head back to high school and college in August. Chicago Public Schools first day of the 2025-26 academic year is Aug. 18.
The district's goal is to continue to provide Chicagoans with cooling options to the extent possible.
All 22 lakefront beaches, an inland beach at Humboldt Park, and 19 neighborhood pools will remain open through Labor Day, the Park District said.
The 19 neighborhood pools were chosen based on criteria that included: the ability to accommodate a large volume of patrons; areas with high heat risk; and the variety of features, such as water slides, pool depth range and ADA accessibility.
Schedules for individual pools are posted on the Park District's website.
The overall schedule for pools and beaches:
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Aug. 10: 15 indoor and outdoor pools will close.
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Aug. 17: 42 indoor and outdoor pools will close.
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Sept. 1: Last call for beaches and the remaining outdoor pools.
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Sept. 2: Indoor pools reopen for open swim and lap swim.
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Sept. 30: Water spray features will close for the season by the end of the month.
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Josephine Christopher has incorporated a pond and a greenhouse into her Dunning back yard. (Courtesy Chicago Bungalow Association) |
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Chicago gardeners and homeowners had the chance to show off their green thumbs and bungalows this year. The annual Bungalow Garden Contest, held by the Chicago Bungalow Association, announced its winners.
Owners of all types of bungalows — brick, stucco, wood frame, etc. — were eligible to apply. The contest was divided into three categories: front garden, rear/side garden, and planter boxes and beds. Chicago's bungalows may be modest in size, but that doesn't keep their owners from having grand ambitions when it comes to gardening. These finalists all exude imagination, whimsy and natural beauty.
Read more to check out the winners in Best Curb Appeal, Best Backyard Oasis, Best Pollinator Garden, Best Vegetable and Herb Garden and Best Bungalow Window Box. Winners received $500 and runners-up earned $250. |
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Back in the Day: August 11, 1929 - First Bud Billiken Parade |
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Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people gathered along Dr. Martin Luther King Drive in the South Side for the Bud Billiken Parade and Festival. The celebration, which starts in Bronzeville and ends in Washington Park, has been an annual affair since 1929. It’s the largest parade celebrating Black culture in the United States. On this day 96 years ago — Aug. 11, 1929 — the parade was founded by newspaper publisher Robert Sengstacke Abbott. His “The Chicago Defender” broadside featured a comic strip character and youth section called “Bud Billiken,” and Abbott thought of throwing a party to celebrate Chicago’s youth and the children who sold his newspapers around Chicago. It’s since grown to involve celebrities, businessmen and local leaders. Last weekend, the Grand Marshal of the festivities was “Chicago P.D.” star LaRoyce Hawkins. |
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This Week’s Civic Events and Meeting |
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Every Monday, WTTW News highlights the best ways to get involved with local government.
Chicago's Board of Ethics
The Board of Ethics administers Chicago’s Governmental Ethics and Campaign Financing Ordinances, and will be holding its monthly meeting on Monday at 3 p.m. 740 N Sedgwick Ste 500. More details can be found here.
City Club of Chicago
On Tuesday at noon, join City Club of Chicago, City of Chicago’s Budget Director Annette Guzman and Jill Jaworski, Chief Financial Officer at the City of Chicago, for a roundtable discussion on "Chicago's Fiscal Framework: Inside Out." Tickets and details can be found here.
Chicago Transit Board
The Chicago Transit Board's monthly meeting is on Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the main offices of the Chicago Transit Authority, 567 W. Lake Street, Second Floor Boardroom, Chicago, Illinois. Board meetings are open to the public. The meetings are live-streamed. |
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What's your favorite music festival held in Chicago? From your neighborhood block party to Lollapalooza, tell us where, why and when. |
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. |
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5:30 PM | 10:00 PM |
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Want more WTTW News content? Follow WTTW on Instagram to check in with us daily, go behind-the-scenes, and more. |
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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