It's Tuesday. Start your morning with these local stories from WTTW News.
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(WTTW News)
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Summer in Chicago statistically means a spike in gun violence.
While overall crime has been on a downward trend, the city is nevertheless on pace to pass last year’s shooting and homicide numbers, according to Chicago Police Department data — with June seeing 43 homicides and 139 shootings, both up from 2025.
Police continue to respond, but some groups think there’s a better way to handle gun violence: community prevention.
Community violence interventionists, or CVIs, walk high-risk neighborhoods hoping to interrupt cycles of violence through direct outreach and trust-building. WTTW News spent the day with one team to see what it’s all about.
On a recent sunny day in Garfield Park, a team of peacekeepers strolled the neighborhood — making contact with people, chatting about what’s going on and building trust along the way.
This is exactly what Vaughn Bryant, executive director of Metropolitan Peace Initiatives, wants to see.
“Community violence intervention is basically sort of a non-punitive approach to gun violence,” Bryant said. “We’re more preventative and intervention. You know, police are more accountability and trying to bring justice.”
Some backstory:
Bryant knows community relations with the police are fraught and have been for a long time.
“A number of factors have led to a mistrust of police,” Bryant said. “There are policies and procedures that you know cities have that the law enforcement, like police, are enforcing that can be racist.”
Bryant sees a way for police to work with CVIs to make communities safer.
“It is really based on the idea that people that live in the local community are closest to the problem and more of the solution,” Bryant said.
Samuel Castro, director of strategic initiatives and partnerships at the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago, agrees.
“Lived experience is something that you can’t learn out of a book,” Castro said. “This is something that we went through.”
Castro and Bryant aren’t alone in this mission of community activism. Metropolitan Peace Initiatives gathered 15 area organizations to form Communities Partnering 4 Peace. It’s work that’s been ongoing for years but has further to go.
“There’s no magical powder in the air,” Castro said. “There’s real humans doing the work that have been impacted by violence, trauma, all through their life, and we’re running back to the fire to help people.”
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Sponsor Message
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The Chicago Symphony Orchestra returns to Ravinia this summer for its 90th summer residency, featuring world-class performances, celebrated conductors, and unforgettable nights in the newly transformed Hunter Pavilion. Plan an evening of extraordinary music in one of Chicago's most beloved outdoor settings. Get tickets at www.ravinia.org!
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(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
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Chicago’s pension debt rose by approximately $500 million in 2025, according to the city’s audited annual financial report, with the amount the city owes to its four pension funds hitting $36.4 billion.
In all, Chicago owed 1.4% more to its four employee pension funds representing police officers, firefighters, municipal employees and laborers at the end of 2025 than it did at the end of 2024, according to Chicago’s 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report.
Chicago’s pension debt has grown by nearly 11% since 2020, adding approximately $3.5 billion to the city’s debt, records show.
More context:
Even as the city’s overall pension debt increased between 2024 and 2025, the assets held by all four pension funds increased, mitigating the city’s overall pension crisis.
The fund designed to pay pensions to Chicago’s police officers is just 25.5% funded, while the fund that pays the pensions of the city’s firefighters is 25.2% funded, according to the city’s annual financial report.
The laborers’ fund has the highest funded level, at 44.1%, while the fund that pays pensions to municipal workers is 28.2% funded, according to the report.
By comparison, public pension funds in other large cities have average funding levels of about 70%.
The city’s pension crisis has eased somewhat since 2023, when the amount the city owed to the four funds hit a record high of $37.2 billion, records show.
That improvement is due in part to the approximately $689 million more the city has paid into its four pension funds than required by state law since 2023, according to the city’s annual reports. In 2025, the city paid approximately $228 million more than required into its pension funds, according to the annual financial report.
The city faces a record-setting $3 billion pension bill in 2027, according to city records.
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FILE - President Donald Trump speaks to the White House Religious Liberty Commission during an event at the Museum of the Bible, Sept. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci, File)
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A report from the Presidential Religious Liberty Commission calls for a clawback of the separation of church and state, a fundamental American legal principle for more than two centuries.
President Donald Trump created the commission via executive order last May. Composed almost entirely of White Christians, the commission made a series of policy recommendations based on the underlying assertion that religious Americans have suffered discrimination for expressing their beliefs in public settings.
Recommendations include creating a Presidential Medal of Religious Liberty, establishing a hotline for individuals experiencing religious discrimination and confirming “federal judges with the courage to decide religious liberty cases on the merits.”
The commission also recommends repealing the Johnson Amendment, which prevents tax-exempt organizations, including houses of worship, from making political endorsements.
Some pushback:
Critics say adopting the recommendations would bring the government dangerously close to endorsing Christianity, while also failing to account for discrimination against other religions like Islam.
Quincy Worthington, a pastor at the Highland Park Presbyterian Church, said the commission’s report is part of a larger shift toward the government tolerating only certain religions.
“I think we gotta be careful about this. We already see the Department of Defense, taking 200 different known religions and narrowing it down and saying, ‘We’re only gonna accept 30,’” Worthington said, referring to a recent Pentagon policy change.
Hassan Aly, an Islamic scholar and founder of the Qiam Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting Islamic values through education, said he admires the American Constitution for preventing the adoption of a state religion.
“I think that the genius of the American constitutional system is that it allows each citizen who lives in this country to practice their own religion with freedom and dignity, but at the same time prevents the state from advocating or adopting one religion over another,” Aly said.
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More From WTTW News:
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Back in the Day: July 7, 1986 - Jimmy Carter Builds Houses in West Garfield Park
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On this day 40 years ago, former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, visited Chicago to spend the week helping build houses in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. On July 7, 1986, which also happened to be the Carters’ 40th wedding anniversary, the couple visited a construction site at the southeast corner of Maypole and Kildare avenues and joined approximately 150 workers in a 14-hour day sawing and hammering. The two stayed at the Guyon Hotel on the West Side for their week-long visit. Construction was completed on the building in four days. Carter told reporters that devoting his post-presidential life to humanitarian work and collaborating with the
Georgia-based charity Habitat for Humanity has given him and his wife ”a new dimension in our lives.” Carter died at 100 in 2024.
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This Week’s Staff Recommendations
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Every Tuesday, WTTW News staffers highlight their favorite things in Chicago. This week, it’s Nicole Cardos, digital video producer for WTTW News, on her favorite indoor escapes from the summer heat.
Nicole Cardos: This might blow some minds, but when it’s summer in Chicago, sometimes I want nothing to do with the great outdoors. And when we have days like last week’s real-feel of 106 degrees, can you blame me? So I bring you some ideas for things to do inside when it’s just too hot to enjoy even Chicago’s lakefront.
Make Something Inside Harold Washington Library’s Maker Lab
Spend an afternoon getting crafty inside the Chicago Public Library’s first (and free!) maker space by reserving a 3D printer, Cricut machine or a button maker.
Shop at One of Chicago’s Global Grocery Stores
Celebrate Chicago’s vibrant immigrant communities by checking out new-to-you ingredients at a grocery store. I recommend exploring Patel Brothers in Rogers Park (2610 W. Devon Ave.) for Indian spices, Joong Boo Market (multiple locations) for Asian flare, or the Polish staple Andy’s Deli in Jefferson Park (5442 N. Milwaukee Ave.) for ready-to-eat meals and desserts.
Watch a (Cheap) Movie
Chicago is home to several historic movie theaters (Music Box, Logan Theatre, Davis Theater) that offer discounted tickets to matinee screenings. For those based near the western suburbs, check out the family-owned theater chain Classic Cinemas, which offers $6 tickets for any showing on Tuesdays.
Visit a Museum
Yes, any one of Chicago’s heavy-hitters (Field Museum, Art Institute and now the Obama Presidential Center — if you can get tickets) is always a good time, but have you heard of the Intuit Art Museum or the International Museum of Surgical Science? No? Google them now and thank me later.
Explore Chicago’s Pedway
Get lost in Chicago’s underworld, aka the Pedway. The city’s pedestrian walkway system connects more than 40 blocks across five miles, taking people to public and private buildings and transit areas, but also expect to find some eateries, bars and shops. Just make sure to print yourself a map before heading down.
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What's one touristy thing that every Chicagoan should do in the city?
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published.
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