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It’s Thursday. Catch up on the latest headlines from WTTW News.
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Chicago Police Department headquarters. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News) |
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The significant increase in the number of times Chicago police officers have used force against Black and Latino Chicagoans since 2021 violates the federal court order known as the consent decree, a coalition of reform groups told the federal judge overseeing efforts to reform the Chicago Police Department.
The coalition of police reform groups that forced the city to agree to federal court oversight told U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer in a court filing made public Tuesday that they plan to formally ask her to order CPD to swiftly stop officers from shooting, tasing, striking and using chokeholds against Chicagoans. The consent decree requires CPD to stop routinely violating Black and Latino residents’ constitutional rights and overhaul the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers.
“CPD has failed to rein in its culture of brutality and abuse,” the coalition said in its court filing.
The coalition asked the independent monitoring team charged with keeping track of the city’s compliance with the consent decree to convene a meeting with the city, police brass and the Office of the Attorney General within 45 days to discuss the coalition’s concerns.
Some backstory:
The number of times Chicago police officers used any kind of force against members of the public increased 75% between 2021 and 2024, as documented by the number of Tactical Response Reports filed by officers, according to CPD data cited by the coalition led by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.
More than 72% of those who were subjected to force by a CPD officer since the consent decree took effect in 2019 were Black, according to the coalition’s court filing, citing CPD data. Black Chicagoans make up less than 30% of the city’s population, according to the 2020 census.
Before 2019, 93% of the people CPD officers used force against were Black or Latino. In 2024, 90% of the people CPD officers used force against were Black or Latino, according to the coalition’s filing.
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A person working at the Querrey Simpson Institute of Bioelectronics at Northwestern University. (WTTW News) |
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In a laboratory just north of Chicago, the future of medical monitoring is quietly taking shape.
From flexible electronic monitors the size of a Band-Aid to tiny pacemakers that dissolve harmlessly in the body when no longer needed — the work of the Querrey Simpson Institute of Bioelectronics at Northwestern University at times seems truly miraculous.
What makes such breakthroughs possible is a new generation of flexible and, at times, dissolvable electronics pioneered by professor John Rogers and his team.
More context:
Rogers is a professor of materials science and engineering, biomedical engineering and neurological surgery at Northwestern University.
“I’ve always been interested in how you can connect sort of fundamental scientific research to technologies that have a broader societal impact,” Rogers told WTTW News.
One such invention is the lab’s creation of small flexible health monitors first developed by Rogers’ team for use on premature babies in Lurie Children’s Hospital. That technology has since evolved to help babies halfway around the world.
“Program managers from the Gates Foundation and the Save the Children organization proactively reached out to us and asked whether we could adapt those technologies for deployment into resource-constrained areas of the globe,” said Rogers. “So not just thinking about using in U.S. hospitals, but could you take those technologies and adapt them for deployment into lower- and middle-income countries where there’s no monitoring technology at all?”
Rogers explained that the concept was to do for medical monitoring what has happened with telecommunications in many of those lower- and middle-income countries — and just leap ahead to the latest technology.
“Just leapfrog landlines. You go straight to the smartphones,” Rogers said. “That was kind of the mindset.” |
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(WTTW News) |
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A Chicago police officer is accused of using his official credentials to purchase an assault weapon and another firearm in an attempt to smuggle them into Mexico.
According to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday, Officer Kevin Rodriguez has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and straw purchasing firearms as part of the alleged scheme.
A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department on Wednesday said Rodriguez was immediately placed into no-pay status following the federal indictment and has been relieved of his police powers since July 3.
“The Chicago Police Department has no tolerance for criminal actions by any of our members,” the department said in a statement. “The alleged actions of this one police officer do not represent the lifesaving work being done by our department.”
Rodriguez was charged alongside Diego Valdez, who faces counts of conspiracy and firearm trafficking. In addition to the federal case, the CPD has also launched its own internal investigation into Rodriguez.
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Back in the Day: September 25, 1977 - First Chicago Marathon |
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The first Chicago Marathon took place on this date 48 years ago. Via WTTW’s Remembering Chicago: “At 8 a.m. on the morning of September 25, 1977, Chicago saw 4,214 runners take their first strides of the 26.2 miles they would cover that day. The former First Lady of Chicago, Eleanor Daley, urged the runners on their way while the Marist High School band played. Dubbed the Mayor Daley Marathon after the passing of Richard J. Daley, the race was renamed the Chicago Marathon a year later.” While the first iteration of the event started in Daley Plaza, over time it generally started and finished in Grant Park and the current course charts through 29 of the city's neighborhoods. The 47th iteration of the event, now called the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, returns Sunday, Oct. 12.
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This Week’s Arts and Culture Events |
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Each Thursday, WTTW News arts correspondent Marc Vitali has dutifully and thoughtfully highlighted the city’s must-see cultural events. This is his final Artbeat column.
Marc Vitali: After 37 years, I’m leaving WTTW (amicably, I’m glad to say), but my relationship with PBS started much earlier. In the fall of 1969, I was in kindergarten. The teachers gathered all classes into the one room with a TV, and we watched “Sesame Street” early in its first season. Before long, I was hooked on “The Electric Company” and “Zoom.” Later, I discovered “Monty Python,” “Nova,” “Sneak Previews,” “American Masters,” “Antiques Roadshow” and a thousand others. Take it from a PBS lifer: public media is absolutely essential in reflecting who we are and shaping what we can be. Support it – our country and culture depend on it. Wishing you happy trails and quality programming ...
“The Disappointed Tourist” - Chicago Architecture Center
300 paintings depict places that aren’t there anymore. This ongoing project by artist Ellen Harvey is a tapestry of artwork that connects nostalgia, memory and preservation. The sites were nominated by the public and include many Chicago locales (Chicago Stadium, Mecca Flats, and the old Prentice Women’s Hospital). While you’re at the Center, sign up for a tour to visit places that are still with us. Opens Monday, Sept. 29.
“Big White Fog” – Court Theatre
Court Theatre kicks off their fall season with a nearly forgotten Chicago play from the 1930s. A family drama set on the South Side, it’s a potent dose of American realism. Ron OJ Parson directs a big cast in this Depression-era story of hope and despair. Theodore Ward wrote the play supported by funds from the Federal Theatre Project. Can you believe it? The economy was a wreck, and we had a government that trusted artists and funded them. Through Oct. 12.
Dia de Muertos: A Celebration of Remembrance – National Museum of Mexican Art
Blending Indigenous and Catholic beliefs, the Mexican “Day of the Dead” is the tradition of celebrating loved ones who have passed away during the year. This 39th annual exhibition features artwork and ofrendas – offerings on altars that keep alive the memory of those who are gone. This collective tribute is a dependably colorful and moving show that changes year to year. Through Dec. 14.
“Ava: The Secret Conversations” – Studebaker Theater
Evanston native Elizabeth McGovern (Lady Cora in “Downton Abbey”) stars as Hollywood legend Ava Gardner. McGovern also wrote the show. She based it on a series of interviews given by the star that were initially barred from publication. Ava Gardner recounts her complex and turbulent life – including marriages to Mickey Rooney and Frank Sinatra –in this two-hander (theater-speak for “there are only two actors onstage”). Through Oct. 12.
“Rome Sweet Rome” – Chicago Shakespeare Theater
A new show from the Q Brothers Collective is always reason to celebrate. This time, it’s a wild satire of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” complete with ‘90s hip hop beats and tons of onstage energy. Political power struggles and ludicrous executive orders add up to a stabby assassination. If you know a young person that you’d like to introduce to Shakespeare, look no further. Through Oct. 19.
Chicago Architecture Biennial – Chicago Cultural Center & other locations
The theme and title this year is “SHIFT: Architecture in Times of Radical Change.” It’s an opportunity to explore how architecture engages with the profound transformations shaping the world today. Featuring 100 projects from artists and architects around the world, the biennial is centered at the Chicago Cultural Center with other works at the Stony Island Arts Bank, the Graham Foundation and the Museum of Science and Industry. Through Feb. 28, 2026. |
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What's your favorite neighborhood bar in the Chicago area?
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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