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This Thursday, WTTW News digs into Riot Fest's sudden return to Douglass Park, the CTA Red Line extension and how Cook County judges will handle DNC arrests.
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Credit: (Riot Fest) |
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After a dramatic announcement two months ago that Riot Fest would be relocating to suburban Bridgeview’s SeatGeek Stadium, the music festival has pulled an about-face and will be returning to Douglass Park Sept. 20-22, pending Park District approval.
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Wait, What?: Riot Fest, the Chicago Park District, and Ald. Monique Scott (24th Ward) released the news of the punk rock festival's return just a month before it starts.
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“Festivals are about activating and enhancing communities, and the North Lawndale community has been very clear that Riot Fest’s home is in Douglass Park,” Chicago Park District General Superintendent Rosa Escareño said.
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A Final Vote: The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 11, which would be a tight deadline to consider the Riot Fest permit.
Riot Fest is scheduled to happen Sept. 20-22 at Douglass Park. Check the lineup and ticket options here. |
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A southbound CTA Red Line train is pictured in a file photo. (WTTW News) |
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Applause broke out Wednesday at the Chicago Transit Authority’s board meeting after directors approved a $2.93 billion contract for the design and construction of the Red Line Extension to 130th Street.
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Here’s what’s coming: The Red Line Extension will add 5.6 miles of track past the current 95th Street terminus, with stations at 103rd Street, 111th Street, Michigan Avenue near 115th Street, and 130th Street.
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Models show it will significantly reduce travel times for Far South Side residents who are underserved by transit and cut off from job and recreational opportunities.
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The project is expected to break ground in late 2025, with service beginning in 2030. The train line was first floated back in the 1950s.
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What else happened: CTA leaders were also pushed to take a more active role in advocating for a dedicated bus lane on North DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
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The Illinois and Chicago departments of transportation have spent more than a decade developing plans to overhaul the aging roadway between Grand and Hollywood avenues.
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Chicago Favorites: The Magic of West Town, a 'Funny Little Neighborhood' |
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Every Wednesday, we profile interesting Chicagoans in our “Everybody’s Got a Story” segment. We ask these locals about their favorite things in the city. You’ll find those suggestions in this newsletter each Thursday. Here’s Villanelle co-founder and Drinking Policy creative director Whitney LaMora’s.
Villanelle, the queer wedding and events venue from Whitney LaMora and Chef Zoe Schor’s Drinking Policy’s hospitality collective, is located on Chicago Avenue. “On our street alone, we are surrounded by so many incredible female-owned businesses,” says LaMora. “We've got The Garage and Starship Salon across the street. We got the Beetle next door, we've got Chocolat, we've got Squasht and Komoda up the block.”
To Lamora, establishing yourself in a neighborhood and the camaraderie it brings are some of the many special things about living in Chicago. “West Town is a funny little neighborhood that we've watched grow and change so much,” she says. “These businesses are all friends of ours, and one of the best things about owning a local business is seeing so many of these people all the time. With the friendliness of the neighborhood, it’s so easy to become a regular somewhere and get to know the folks.”
Read our interview with LaMora in yesterday’s Daily Chicagoan. |
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Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Aug. 13, 2024. (WTTW News. |
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Before the DNC, Cook County judges have been ordered to clear their schedules to prepare for the possibility of mass arrests.
The administrative order comes from Chief Judge Timothy Evans. His order also includes establishing a temporary facility at Belmont and Western avenues that would handle cases of arrested protestors.
What Chief Judge Evans said: “The citizens of our country deserve the right to be able to raise their issues to the members of their government.” |
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Maxwell Street, Chicago, November 1987; photographer, Jeff Wassmann (Wikimedia) |
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In the late 19th century, Jewish immigrants settled in Chicago and started the Maxwell Street Market. Centered at Maxwell and Halsted streets, the open-air bazaar served as a multicultural hub for the city. As new immigrant populations moved in and the neighborhood changed, so did the market. By its demise in 1994, the Maxwell Street Market ran nine square blocks. The city had sold much of the land making up the market to the University of Illinois Chicago, which was expanding its campus. Thirty years ago today, the city started giving sellers eviction notices to begin construction.
After 1994, the city moved the market a few blocks east to Canal Street to make room for the new college development. Later in 2008, it moved again to 800 S. Desplaines St. in the South Loop. Now, in partnership with UIC, the Maxwell Street Market is back in its original location. “The Maxwell Street Market has been a Chicago tradition for more than a century,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a May news release. “It not only promotes entrepreneurship, but also provides critically important opportunities for small businesses including craftspeople, artists, farmers, restaurateurs, and re-sellers.”
The Maxwell Street Market runs 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Sept. 1, Sept. 29 and Oct. 27. |
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Learn more about advertising & sponsorship with WTTW. |
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Other News From Around Town |
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Key Figure in Crooked Bridgeport Bank Scandal Gets 25-Year Sentence (Chicago Sun-Times)
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Chicago’s New Kings of Barbecue Reign in Beverly (Eater Chicago)
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New Concessions in O’Hare’s Terminal 5 Include Local Favorites Metropolis Coffee and Publican Quality Bread (Chicago Tribune)
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On the Artbeat With Marc Vitali |
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After more than 25 years covering the arts at WTTW, I’m a picky patron of theater, museums and offbeat cultural events. This is what I’d do over the weekend (if it was longer than two days and I had the power of teleportation).
“Road Signs” at A Red Orchid Theatre – now through Aug. 31.
The theater has a rep for rigorous drama performed practically in your lap by folks like Kirsten Fitzgerald and that guy with two Oscar noms, Michael Shannon. Their tiny home on North Wells now hosts Jon Tai, a magician steeped in storytelling. With a surplus of great magic acts in Chicago, the big reveal here should answer two questions: what makes Mr. Tai stand out among the crowded competition, and how does his work mesh with the mission of this highly respected theater? Tai’s “Road Signs” is said to be astonishing and actually moving – and when was the last time David Copperfield gave you the feels instead of the creeps?
Tickets: aredorchidtheatre.org
Other events worth checking out:
Now through Saturday, Aug. 24:
“Death, Let Me Do My Show” at Steppenwolf Theatre. Tickets.
Friday, Aug. 16:
CSO: The Princess Bride in Concert at Ravinia. Tickets.
Friday, Aug. 16, through Sunday, Aug. 18:
Fan Expo at Rosemont’s DES Convention Center, Rosemont. Tickets.
Thursday, Aug. 15, through Sunday, Aug. 18:
Circus Hamlet at Studebaker Theater. Tickets. |
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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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