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It’s Friday. WTTW News reports on a Chicago Police officer who was killed last night in Chatham, science and nature reporter Patty Wetli has a new column and more. |
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Double rainbow, June 4, 2025. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News) |
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Patty Wetli: Earlier this week, I was walking home from the gym, complaining to my husband that life was missing a certain joie de vivre.
And then bam! Nature sent me a double rainbow.
Maybe you saw it Wednesday night — it was spectacular and lasted forever. I took soooo many pictures, none of which remotely captured the brilliance or intensity of the colors.
“Just because my phone doesn’t do it justice doesn’t mean it isn’t beautiful. I still saw it,” I said to my husband. I don’t know who I was trying to convince — him or me.
The whole walk, I kept turning around. Yep, rainbow still there. If anything, instead of fading, it felt like it was getting bigger and brighter.
We were heading west, and it was so much fun to see people coming towards us in the opposite direction, their faces lighting up.
One little girl’s squeal — “It’s a rainbow!” — was audible a block away, and we watched as she tugged on her mom’s hand and ran to get a better look. They raced past a woman waiting for a bus, who noticed the commotion, looked up from her phone, and joined the impromptu rainbow viewing party.
We joked that we should poke our heads into the corner bar and yell “RAINBOW!!” Instead, I texted a picture to my sister in Ohio, because I knew she’d appreciate the excitement of the moment.
“Even ‘dudes’ were stopping,” I wrote. (By “dudes” I meant the guy leaning against his car in the strip mall parking lot, cigarette dangling from his mouth, phone pointed at the sky.)
“Rainbows capture everyone’s attention,” she texted back.
I thought about ancient people and how awestruck they must have been whenever one of these multi-colored arches appeared in the heavens. Now here we are, with so much technology and information at our fingertips, and rainbows still have the power to amaze and delight.
We know there’s science behind it — something to do with raindrops and sunlight and refraction — but anything that can stop a bunch of grown-up, jaded urbanites in their tracks, well that’s a bit of magic, too. |
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Foellinger Auditorium on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is pictured in a file photo. (Wolterk / iStock) |
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In the Trump administration’s latest attack on international students, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last week the U.S. will begin “aggressively” revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party and those studying in “critical fields.”
State Department officials did not share what the department defines as “critical fields.”
One international student from China at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign described feeling helpless after learning about those plans. “We are just students, we just want to learn something, we just want to do our education, we want to explore our research interests,” said the communications Ph.D. student. WTTW News agreed to not name the student due to fear of retaliation.
The announcement is another instance of how growing tensions between the U.S. and China have affected his life while studying in the U.S., the student said, having experienced anti-Asian and xenophobic remarks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, he is among a large community of Chinese students at the University of Illinois facing growing uncertainty while navigating the feasibility of continuing to study in the U.S.
“We did nothing wrong, but we still face pressure, fear and consequences,” he said.
More context:
Public research universities with high international student enrollment from China like the University of Illinois are bracing for what a potential blow from the loss of Chinese student enrollment could have on research efforts and the school’s bottom line.
International students contributed $2.4 billion in Illinois during the 2023-2024 academic year, according to a study by NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
The majority of international students use personal funds as their primary funding source to pay for their education, according to the Institute of International Education, and are more likely to pay more in tuition compared to domestic students who might qualify for in-state tuition or federal financial aid. |
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(WTTW News) |
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A “young, vibrant and hardworking” Chicago police officer was fatally shot while pursuing a fleeing suspect in the Chatham neighborhood late Thursday night.
The officer, a 36-year-old woman and mother of a young daughter, was killed during a foot pursuit, according to Police Superintendent Larry Snelling. She was identified Friday morning as Krystal Rivera, according to Cook County Medical Examiner’s records.
“She was protecting lives and she was a hero and she lost her life tragically doing the job that she loved,” Snelling said. “She wanted to make Chicago a better place, she wanted to make it safer and we thank her for that.”
Rivera was a four-year department veteran assigned to a 6th District tactical team that was on patrol Thursday when they attempted to conduct an investigatory stop on a male they believed to be armed in the 8200 block of South Drexel Avenue.
That person fled into a nearby apartment, Snelling said, and when officers followed inside, they were confronted by a second person armed with a rifle who pointed that weapon at police. Snelling said at some point, one officer discharged their weapon.
During that encounter, police said, Rivera was shot in the chest. She was rushed to a local hospital where she died of her injuries. |
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Back in the Day: June 6, 2020 — 30,000 People Rally at Union Park to Protest Police Brutality, Death of George Floyd |
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Summer 2020 was marked with mass protests outraged about the killing of George Floyd and calls for an end to police brutality. On this day five years ago, one of the largest demonstrations of the summer gathered on the Near West Side. An estimated crowd of 30,000 packed Union Park at 1501 W. Randolph St. for a rally put together by the civic organization Activate: Chi. After activists spoke to the throng of people, the crowd moved down Ashland Avenue to Division Street and then Clybourn Avenue. The march remained peaceful. That same day, city officials announced that they planned to spend as much as $1.2 million to hire 100 private security guards to patrol the South and West sides to protect businesses from potential looting and damage. |
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Nature Calls: This Week’s Outdoor Events and Activities |
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Every Friday, WTTW News science and nature reporter Patty Wetli highlights the best ways to get outside
I don’t know what your social media algorithms are serving up lately, but my feeds have been full of pictures of turtles, especially snapping turtles. Chicago’s famous Chonkasaurus has been spotted on the river, near the Wild Mile, but there are plenty of other snappers out there, including a pair we accidentally caught mating in Lincoln Park last year. Keep an eye out!
Speaking of turtles, they’re just some of the wildlife you’ll see on a<> Shedd Aquarium Kayak for Conservation tour. Paddling opportunities are now up and running on weekends, led by a guide from Shedd’s conservation team. You’ll explore the Chicago River and learn about its history and revitalization efforts.
Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves is holding a kickoff for a new volunteer stewardship community Moraine Hills State Park in McHenry County. The park’s rare old-growth woodland is in need of TLC to maintain the habitat’s biodiversity. Join the effort, Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“Patterned by Nature” opens Saturday at Chicago Botanic Garden, running through Sept. 21. Discover gardens and art installations inspired by eye-catching patterns — a tartan pattern created from different colors of daisies, for example, or succulents and agave transformed into paisley.
If you’re up for a challenge, the Will County Forest Preserves just dropped the latest batch of “missions” as part of the Be a Trailblazer series. Search for bugs, trees, plants, geocaches and geographic features, through Aug. 9. People who complete missions will be entered in random drawings for prizes including camping equipment, fishing gear, a kayak and more.
Northerly Island is arguably the most successful conversion ever of a small private airstrip into a public park and natural area. Check out this lakefront jewel during a family fishing session hosted by the Chicago Park District, Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
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What’s the most overrated thing about summer in Chicago? |
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. Here's what you had to say:
"Nothing" — @charbles_k
“Sadly, in my view, the Taste of Chicago has become seriously overrated. What was once arguably the highlight of the summer – and likely a national tourism draw – has become a mere shadow of its former ‘glory’. It has been trimmed and bounced around so much that I no longer look forward to it. I would much rather they brought it back to late-June, and maybe moved the NASCAR event (also overrated) to another time – perhaps a series of Tuesday afternoons?” — Mike B.
"Our beaches! Sure they look beautiful, but they're too cold and too crowded!" — @mattformanski
"Air & Water Show and there’s no close second." — @CHI_JFK
"Navy Pier" — Meagan C.
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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