Happy Friday. This weekend, try exploring a new neighborhood or maybe catch some live music around the city. Today, we talk about the impending anniversary of the Pretrial Fairness Act, legionella levels at Dirksen courthouse, and Patty Wetli talks birds and bats.
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A male sihek named Yayas (pronounced Za-zass like “sass”), who originated at Brookfield Zoo Chicago, is among the nine that will be released at Palmyra Atoll. (Thomas Mangloña / KUAM)
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Earlier this week, I covered Brookfield Zoo’s role in helping to reintroduce an all-but-extinct bird — Guam’s sihek — back into the wild. I’d never heard of this bird before, and now I find myself totally invested in its comeback story. I mean, look at this gorgeous creature with its goofy beak. How can you not love it and root for its survival?
Now substitute in your head the image of a bat. Different reaction, yes? Most of us only hear about bats when the health department reports a case of rabies. Most of us only see them in horror movies or our nightmares. If bats were to disappear from the planet, plenty of people would likely say “good riddance.”
Well, bats are disappearing, their populations collapsing in North America due to a deadly fungus that causes white-nose syndrome. And the consequences to humans are already measurable. Eyal Frank, an environmental economist at the University of Chicago, researched the link between declining numbers of bats — which play a vital role in insect control — and rising use of pesticides among farmers. The results were scary.
He found that farmers compensated for bat decline by increasing their insecticide use by 31%. Those chemicals, in turn, adversely affected human health, with infant mortality up 8% in areas affected both by the bat die-offs and the increased insecticide use. Frank’s conclusion: “Species interactions can extend beyond an ecosystem, with outcomes affecting agriculture, human health and the economy.” — Patty Wetli
Send a bat signal:
Lincoln Park Zoo’s Urban Wildlife Institute is monitoring bat diversity in and around Chicago to gain a better sense of which species are present, how they’re faring and how they’re using the urban environment. Send your bat photos, stories and tips to batsignal@lpzoo.org.
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Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Jan. 31, 2023. (WTTW News)
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Nearly a year ago, Illinois became the first state to completely eliminate cash bail. Now, people who live in the state no longer have to put up money to get out of jail while awaiting trial. Proponents argued that cash bail disproportionately impacts low-income communities and people of color who often can't withdraw large sums of money, while critics said that crime would drastically increase. With the first anniversary of the Pretrial Fairness Act approaching, WTTW News reporter Amanda Vinicky covered a summit featuring Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, who spoke about the landmark legislation and her defiant response to critics.
On critics like Darren Bailey, who said the law would unleash “The Purge,” and conservative radio host Dan Proft, who mailed fake newspapers to Illinois residents that claimed the law would cause the “end of days.”
“It’s not that they just lied,” Foxx said of Pretrial Fairness Act opponents, but she said they intentionally spread misinformation for political purposes that was picked up by mainstream media, and “it was done in a way where race was at the root.”
What the data says:
Loyola Center for Criminal Justice’s David Olson compared the first six months of last year with this year, and found property and violent crime down both statewide and in Cook County.
“We’re not saying that the Pretrial Fairness Act reduced crime,” Olson said. “We’re also not saying that the drop in crime might not have been larger (had the law not been in effect). But this is at least to put out that crime has not gone up."
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The Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago. (Hannah Meisel / Capitol News Illinois)
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Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told court officials that the Everett M. Dirksen U.S. Courthouse’s water system has widespread issues with legionella bacteria. This is not good news. For those not aware, legionella is spread through water systems and can cause a severe form of pneumonia called Legionnaires’ disease.
WTTW News obtained documents showing positive results for legionella bacteria across dozens of tests in 2023 and 2024. While many of those tests merely showed reportable levels of legionella, some found fixtures with potentially dangerous levels of the bacteria — including in a kitchen used by jurors and in the building’s public cafeteria.
Some key facts:
The fixture in the juror kitchen was found to be contaminated last year — while two cafeteria fixtures tested positive as recently as July.
This isn't the only federal building dealing with this. The Chicago Sun-Times first reported the legionella contamination at Dirksen, the Ralph H. Metcalfe Building and the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building and U.S. Post Office.
Court officials told Dirksen employees earlier this summer that they planned to investigate infrastructure and equipment throughout the building to determine how to proceed
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Back in the Day: September 13, 1999 - Former Chicago Bear Runs for Illinois Supreme Court
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Hon. Robert Thomas appears on "Chicago Tonight" in 2020. (Credit: WTTW News)
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Bob Thomas was a kicker for the Chicago Bears from 1975-1984. To date, he’s fourth on the all-time leading scorer list in franchise history. But unlike other players who start restaurants, become coaches or launch podcasts after their football careers, Thomas decided to become a judge. He received his law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1981, and on this day 25 years ago, he launched his campaign for Illinois Supreme Court. He had already been an Illinois Appellate Court justice. “I’m proud of my decade with the Chicago Bears, but this race should be about more than life experience,” he said at the time. “It should be defined in terms of judicial experience and integrity.” He was elected in 2000 and served on the Illinois Supreme Court until his retirement in 2020.
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Other News From Around Town:
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With football season starting, where is your favorite place in the city to watch the Chicago Bears?
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published.
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Many of our readers seem to be prefer the comfort of home when watching games. (It does make it easier to scream at the TV that way.)
My husband Ed and I watch the Bears in our basement Man Cave. Cool, dark, a beer fridge and a big-screen TV! What more do we need? — Mary N.
My favorite place to watch the Bears is Logan Square’s Whirlaway Lounge. Regulars cook chili, and the bartender Maria Jaimes, who’s owned the bar since 1980, is a gem. She’s a friendly and gregarious neighborhood staple who will put a smile on your face no matter how bad the team is playing. — Daily Chicagoan newsletter producer Josh Terry
I prefer to watch from the comfort of my couch:
The weather is usually better here;
I can more easily watch replays of the referee’s errors;
I can skip most of the commercials (provided I start watching 30-45 minutes after kick-off). —Mike B.
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5:30 PM | 7:00 PM | 10:00 PM
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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