The city’s looming budget crisis hangs over stories on Chicago’s shelter space and a lawsuit alleging inaccessible public housing. Read on for more from WTTW News.
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The city of Chicago’s landing zone for migrants at Desplaines and Polk streets on Jan. 3, 2024. (WTTW News)
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Migrants who make their way to Chicago will no longer be guaranteed a bed in a city shelter, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced, as city, state and county officials launch a unified system to assist all unhoused Chicagoans. Starting today, only migrants who have been in the country for less than a month will be eligible for a spot in one of the city’s 13 shelters designated for new arrivals.
Those who do get a spot in a city shelter will no longer be guaranteed a place to live for at least 60 days, as has been the case since the humanitarian crisis began more than two years ago, officials announced. Only those with an illness, disabilities or pregnancy will be eligible for extensions through Jan. 1. No extensions will be offered after that.
Some backstory:
Starting in August 2022, approximately 50,000 people, many fleeing violence and economic collapse in Venezuela, arrived in Chicago. That strained the city’s social safety net, ballooned the city’s budget shortfall and exacerbated tension between Chicago’s Black and Latino communities.
The announcement represents Johnson’s most significant attempt to reduce the city resources set aside specifically for migrants and comes a little more than a week before Johnson lays out his plan to fill not just the projected $982.4 million shortfall facing the city in 2025 but also the $222.9 million gap in this year’s city budget.
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(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
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Chicago has spent more than $4 million paying outside attorneys to fight a lawsuit that slams the city for failing to make its affordable housing program accessible. In addition to the legal costs, the case could jeopardize the city’s chance at millions of dollars in grant money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
How did this happen?
Earlier this month, the city sent in its proposal for HUD’s Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing grant program, which awards municipalities up to $7 million to help create and preserve affordable housing. Among the program’s eligibility requirements is that applicants can’t be subject to what’s known as a statement of interest from the DOJ in a pending lawsuit.
But Chicago was hit with just such a statement in a case from 2018. The lawsuit, brought by the disability advocacy organization Access Living, contends that the city’s affordable housing portfolio doesn’t have the required number of accessible units featuring things like grab bars in bathrooms and doorways wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair.
That grant cash could be a no-go because the U.S. Department of Justice has sided with the plaintiffs.
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Chicago speed limit sign. (WTTW News)
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Chicago’s default speed limit could drop to 25 mph from its current baseline of 30 mph after a panel of alderpeople backed the measure aimed at getting drivers to slow down. The committee voted eight to five, passing the push to lower the default speed limit. While the full City Council will meet today, there likely won’t be an official vote on the speed limit ordinance because of the quick turnaround.
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Back in the Day: October 22, 1963 - The Chicago School Boycott
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Today marks 61 years to the day nearly 250,000 Chicago Public Schools students didn’t show up for class. They weren’t playing hooky; they were protesting. On that day in 1963, students and parents flooded Chicago’s streets in what’s known as Freedom Day, a massive demonstration against CPS segregation and the superintendent at the time, Benjamin Willis. Local schools were overcrowded and Willis refused to allow students to cross the color barrier, instead placing small, unairconditioned trailers in the parking lots of Black schools. The action was organized by a coalition of 20 civil rights groups and organizations, including CORE, the NAACP and the Urban League. The
Tribune tabulated that 47% of all CPS students participated. Though the action did not get Willis fired and Chicago schools did not desegregate immediately, it did inspire protest movements for years to come. WTTW News reflected on the Freedom Day Boycott on its 60th anniversary.
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Brandis Friedman’s 5 Favorite Books About Chicago
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Every Tuesday, a WTTW News staffer weighs in with some of their favorite local places or things.
Brandis Friedman: This is by no means an exhaustive list (is that even possible?) But these are the ones that make my list today.
"The Warmth of Other Suns," Isabel Wilkerson — This one isn't only about Chicago, but it hit home for me when I read it. I had just moved to Chicago, from Washington, DC. But as an original Mississippian (mostly), I was really touched by the stories of Black Mississippians who fled the Jim Crow South for
Chicago, only to find an entirely new set of struggles.
"The Jungle," Upton Sinclair — The book illuminates a dark history in Chicago, about the living and working conditions of stockyard and slaughterhouse workers in the early 1900s.
"The Devil in the White City," Erik Larson -- I feel like this one doesn’t really need a description. But here goes: it's about the architect of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893...AND a serial killer. There ya go.
"City of Scoundrels," Gary Krist — another important part of Chicago's history: a blimp crash over the Loop, a transit strike ...and the 1919 Race Riot.
"The South Side," Natalie Moore — OK, I haven't read this one yet, but I possess the book and fully intend to read it, because I’m in the Natalie Moore fan club. I’m interested in her modern-day examination of segregation in Chicago.
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Tell us about the last concert you attended in Chicago. What did you see and where was
it?
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published.
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With Chicago's public transportation system facing a fiscal cliff, we sit down with leaders from the CTA, Metra, Pace and RTA.
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5:30 PM | 10:00 PM
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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