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Happy Friday, Chicago. Be prepared for more rain and a threat of flooding later today. This morning we have a column from our nature reporter Patty Wetli as well as updates on the latest city settlements and more. |
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Konza Prairie. Trust me, it’s gorgeous. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News) |
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Patty Wetli: Saturday is “Unplug Illinois,” a day when folks are encouraged to get off their electronic devices and go do something creative or playful or outdoorsy.
I’d never heard of the campaign before — so maybe I’m not as plugged in as I thought — but it’s now in its seventh year and is sponsored by the Illinois Park and Recreation Association.
You can visit the group's website, just NOT on Saturday, for a list of unplugged events planned in the area. But then how many of us will want to document all the cordless fun we’re having?
Like, if you spend Saturday hiking, playing mini-golf or hitting up a water park, are you telling me you won’t feel the itch to pull out your phone and capture the moment to prove it happened?
A couple weeks ago, I road-tripped to and from Colorado with my husband and on the way home, we stopped to check out Konza Prairie in Kansas. (Shout out to the Nature Conservancy, which owns/protects a number of the coolest places we came across in our travels.) Konza was, my husband declared, the most amazing of all the prairies I’d ever dragged him to.
But it did not photograph as such. We were there in the middle of the afternoon and my phone’s camera just could not cope with so much sunlight directly overhead. It also struggled to accurately tease out the landscape’s subtleties. My eyes saw a variety of plants and textures and colors; the camera saw a mess of green.
I heard myself say the following: “Just because it doesn’t look good in photos doesn’t mean it isn’t beautiful. We still saw it.” As if I had to convince myself.
Ack. I can’t believe those words came out of my mouth. But that’s where we’re at in 2025. I’m not sure what unplugged even means anymore.
If you have strategies for disconnecting, let’s hear them. |
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Jackie Wilson responds to a question from the media at a news conference announcing a lawsuit filed on his behalf on Wednesday, June 30, 2021. (WTTW News) |
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City lawyers recommended this week that Chicago taxpayers should pay about $35.2 million to settle four new and separate lawsuits alleging police misconduct and wrongful conviction. All proposals are set to be considered Monday by the City Council’s Finance Committee. A final vote of the City Council for all four lawsuits could come on Wednesday.
Here's the breakdown:
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$3 million to a man seriously injured when a police vehicle pursuing a man during a 2018 chase ran him over. Matthew Aguilar was injured just before midnight on Oct. 9, 2018, when he was struck by an unmarked Chicago police vehicle, which ran over his face.
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$12.7 million to a Chicago man exonerated in the 1982 killings of two on-duty Chicago police officers. For more than four decades, Jackie Wilson has said he was tortured by disgraced former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and the detectives who reported to him. A Cook County judge in December 2020 declared that Wilson was innocent.
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$17 million to a man who spent 23 years in prison after he was framed by a disgraced former Chicago police detective for a 1994 murder. Roberto Almodovar Jr., was convicted and sentenced to life in prison after being investigated by Reynaldo Guevara, a former Chicago police detective accused of routinely framing suspects. His convictions were vacated.
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$2.5 million to a family who said their 5- and 9-year-old children were held at gunpoint during a botched November 2017 no-knock raid of their McKinley Park apartment.
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Loretto Hospital in Austin. (WTTW News) |
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Medicaid cuts in the massive new federal spending bill have left some so-called safety-net hospitals in limbo. These facilities serve mostly Medicaid recipients and uninsured patients, and rely heavily on government reimbursements. With funding at risk, hospitals are warning they might have to close — and leave communities without badly needed access to care.
Once Medicaid funding is cut, as many as 330,000 people in Illinois could be impacted, officials said. Advocates say low-income patients don’t have many options if they lose Medicaid coverage and or if their local hospital closes. People could end up not seeking preventative care and pushing off routine check-ups until their conditions become life-threatening emergencies. Medicaid cuts would hit local hospitals like Mount Sinai Hospital hard; 70% of the hospital’s patients are on Medicaid. Dan Regan, Sinai’s communications vice president, said the cuts will be felt far beyond hospitals’ bottom lines and everyone will feel the effects. |
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For nearly a decade, national guidelines have recommended introducing safe forms of peanut-containing foods to infants to help reduce allergy risk; however, a new study by Northwestern Medicine found that many families aren’t receiving that guidance from their pediatrician.
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Back in the Day: July 11, 1951 - Cicero Race Riot |
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On July 11, 1951, one of the darkest chapters of local history occurred when a riot broke out after a young Black couple moved into an apartment in the all-white Western suburb of Cicero. Harvey Clark Jr., a 29-year-old World War II veteran and bus driver had been living with his wife, Johnetta, and their two children (alongside another family of five) in a South Side tenement. The couple chose relatively cheap and spacious Cicero, which was also closer to his work, but the sheriff turned them away when they first tried to move in. “Get out of here fast,” the sheriff told Mr. Clark. “There will be no moving into this building.” The Clarks were legally allowed to live there and with a court order in hand, moved in. By nightfall, an angry, violent mob of 4,000 white residents formed around their house. The rioters threw rocks, burned the building, broke into their apartment and tossed the Clarks’ belongings out of the windows. They even chucked stones at Fire Department workers trying to quell the flames. Even after Gov. Adlai Stevenson called in hundreds of National Guard soldiers, it still took a couple of days for the rioting to subside.
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Nature Calls: This Week’s Outdoorsy Events and Activities |
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Every Friday, WTTW News science and nature reporter Patty Wetli highlights the best ways to get outside.
Chicago’s bungalow owners are competing in the Bungalow Association’s annual garden contest and voting is open to the public. Click here to cast a ballot.
Speaking of gardens: A pair of private Lake Forest gardens will be open to visitors for one day only as part of the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days program, Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tour the Glore House Garden (Lake Forest’s only Frank Lloyd Wright home) and/or Pond Ridge. Registration required; tickets are $10.
Brookfield Zoo is celebrating the grand opening of its new three-acre primate habitat all weekend. Separate reservations are needed to enter the Bramsen Tropical Forests exhibit area, but there’s no additional cost for members or with general admission.
Try your hand at fishing at the Chicago Park District’s drop-in event at River Park, Saturday, 1-4 p.m. Free, no registration required, all equipment provided.
Curious about mushrooms? Learn about fungi and then take a guided walk to put that info to use. Sunday, 1 p.m., Sagawau Environmental Learning Center in Lemont. Free, but registration required.
Urban Rivers is throwing its fourth annual Wild Mile block party on Sunday, 3-8 p.m. Swing by for food, drinks, music and a prize raffle. Admission to the event is free but an RSVP is requested. |
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Your friend wants to take a short, weekend road trip outside of Chicago. Where are you telling them to visit? |
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. Here's what you had to say:
"Galena. Wonderful little touristy place tucked in the northwest corner of the state." — @davidgkowalski.bsky.social
"Bahai Temple in Wilmette. Bonus if you take the Green Bay Bike Trail. Several outstanding coffee shops and bakeries nearby for after your visit." — @michaelgalassini.bsky.social
"Sherman Dairy in South Haven" — @adameatsicream
"The Michigan shoreline. St. Joseph, New Haven, New Buffalo, Saugatuck and quaint small towns nearby will do." — Meriam L.M.
"Dubuque, Iowa! Hike the Mines of Spain, visit the National Mississippi River Museum and aquarium, ride the Fenlon Place elevator, and support the community with a visit to Convivium." — Heather J.
"Milwaukee’s Third Ward with its Public Market and adjacent restaurants" — Jon K.
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5:30 PM | 7:00 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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