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It's Friday. WTTW News will continue to bring you essential local stories about Chicago. You can donate to the Fund for Independent News here.
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(Pixabay) |
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Patty Wetli: How’s your summer going?
Personally, I miss June. Specifically, June’s temperatures, which hit that sweet spot of not too hot but not too cool. I’m not a huge fan of heat, which I define as anything over 85 degrees, but I guess I’d better get used to it.
According to a newly updated report on projected climate change impacts in the Great Lakes region, things are going to get a lot toastier in the next decade.
The 2025 update to a 2019 scientific assessment found that warming is accelerating: The mean annual temperature during 2017-2024 was 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than during 1986-2016 in the Great Lakes states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.
That’s nearly two-thirds as much as the 1.6 degree increase from prior decades. If emission rates remain high, the report predicts that urban areas like Chicago will see a spike in extreme heat, measured in “hot hours” — when temperatures top 95 degrees.
Between 2018 and 2024, urban areas in the Great Lakes experienced 30 cumulative hot hours (cumulative as opposed to consecutive) during the summer season. By the mid-2030s, that number could skyrocket to more than 200 cumulative hot hours.
“This increase in hot hours will not only translate to higher loads on our energy systems and residents but also be dangerous to vulnerable populations and workers working outside,” the report said.
Those 200 cumulative hot hours would feel like the 1995 heat wave — every summer.
You can read the entire updated report here, and the 2019 assessment here. |
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A homeless encampment in Humboldt Park. (WTTW News) |
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The number of Chicagoans living in city shelters or on city streets dropped 60% between January 2024 and January 2025, according to the annual survey used by federal officials to track homelessness, but remains at an all-time high, city officials announced Thursday.
More than 7,450 people in Chicago lacked a permanent place to sleep, according to the annual “point-in-time” count, which sends volunteers out to count the number of unsheltered people on the city’s streets on a single night and is used by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development officials to determine federal funding levels. The 2025 count took place on Jan. 23.
Maura McCauley, acting commissioner for the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, said city officials were “extremely happy” that count reflects city officials’ efforts to making homelessness in Chicago rare, brief and non-reoccurring.
In spite of that apparent progress, more people were unhoused in Chicago in January 2025 than at any point since Chicago began conducting this annual survey in 2005.
Why the drop?
That reflects the end of the city’s dedicated effort to care for migrants who make their way to Chicago after crossing the southern border. In all, more than 51,000 “new arrivals” made their way to Chicago from the southern border after requesting asylum, many on buses paid for by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Why is it still high?
The number of longtime Chicagoans who are unhoused grew by 38% between January 2024 and January 2025. That comes on top of a 25% increase in homelessness among longtime Chicagoans between January 2023 and January 2024.
By contrast, the number of Chicagoans city officials consider to be “newcomers,” people who were born in another country but recently arrived in Chicago dropped 90% between January 2024 and January 2025.
Some facts:
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Approximately 17% of people living in Chicago’s shelters are newcomers.
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More than 1,300 Chicagoans were completely unsheltered on the city’s streets at the time of the survey, an 18% drop from the 2024 survey.
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Sponsor Message |
Navy Pier's Pier Park is the go-to spot for summer fun.
Soar above the city on the Centennial Wheel and take in iconic skyline views. Keep the fun going with a ride on the Wave Swinger, a spin on the carousel, or a round of mini golf along Lake Michigan. It's where family outings, date nights, and spontaneous afternoons turn into lasting memories. Get your tickets here now and start planning the perfect summer day. |
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The grave of Gen. Thomas Ransom at Rosehill Cemetery. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News) |
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This month 162 years ago, the 8th Illinois Cavalry engaged in the first action of the Battle of Gettysburg, defending Union positions and delaying the advance of waves of Confederate infantry. Incredibly, the fighting that first day killed only one soldier from the 8th Illinois Cavalry; Private David Diffenbaugh of Freeport, Illinois, is buried at Gettysburg National Cemetery in Pennsylvania. Other veterans of the 8th Illinois Cavalry are buried in Rosehill Cemetery’s Civil War memorial area, a stone’s throw from the entrance to the Chicago’s largest cemetery at 5800 N. Ravenswood Ave.
Rosehill’s Civil War monuments and memorials are hallowed ground and a beautiful setting to reflect on the sacrifice these men made to preserve the Union.
Historic walking tours of Rosehill Cemetery are on the second Saturday of every month, April through November. It’s free and meets at the main gate at 10 a.m. |
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Gov. Pritzker, along with 16 governors of Democratic-led states, signed a letter Thursday to demand the release of billions of dollars in K-12 and adult education grant funding that is being withheld by the Trump administration.
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Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was among hundreds of ex-Department of Justice officials who signed a letter opposing the appointment of Trump attorney Emil Bove to an appellate judgeship, citing their “deep concern” for the future of the U.S. justice system.
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Back in the Day: July 18, 1995 - Barack Obama’s “Dreams from My Father” Published |
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Before Barack Obama was president of the United States and before he was the junior Senator from Illinois and before he gave a star-making keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention that launched him into the national consciousness, he was a community organizer in Chicago who wrote a book about his unlikely background. On this day 30 years ago, Obama published his memoir "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance." The book tracks Obama's journey, as the son of a white American mother and a Black Kenyan father, from Hawaii to Indonesia to Harvard to Africa to Chicago. A New York Times review in 1995 wrote that, "At a young age and without much experience as a writer, Barack Obama has bravely tackled the complexities of his remarkable upbringing." It has sold over 7 million copies worldwide and is available in more than 40 languages. |
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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.
Patty Wetli: Did you know that the sand at Indiana Dunes “sings”? This video sounds more like barking to us, but it’s still pretty cool. If you’re heading to the Dunes this weekend, have a good listen.
One of Chicago’s longest running garden walks, the Sheffield Garden Walk, takes place this Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. both days. Stroll the 50-plus gardens on your own or join a tour led by guides from the Chicago Architecture Center. Pick up a map for $12; guided tours cost extra.
Big Marsh Park is one of the wildest places in Chicago, reclaimed from a former industrial site on the city’s Southeast Side. Swing by Saturday morning, 9:30-11:30 a.m., for a volunteer stewardship event. Come prepared to pick up trash, help with invasive species control and other activities.
The Chicago Park District is hosting a free, drop-in family fishing session at Palmisano Park in Bridgeport on Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., for ages 8 and up. Equipment, bait and instruction provided. Here’s a fun fact: This former quarry-turned-park is also a great place to catch a glimpse of Chicago’s bedrock, which was once a coral reef.
If you have your own angling gear, the Will County Forest Preserve District is keeping the Monee Reservoir open til midnight on Saturday for fishing under the stars. Fish get more active at night when the water cools, so this could be your best chance to actually hook something. No boat or equipment rental will be available, but concessions will be open starting at 7 p.m.
Fireflies are all the buzz this summer, with more of them seemingly out and about than in recent years. Learn all about lightning bugs at the Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center in Willow Springs, and then release them into the preserve. Sunday, 8:30 p.m.; free, but registration is required. |
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What's the best place to get Italian ice in the Chicago area? Tell us where and why. |
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. Here's what you had to say:
"Miko's fresh fruit in all of their ices!" — Samay G.
Until 2023 when it closed, Gina’s in Berwyn would have been my answer. Staple of summer when I was growing up. — Chris P.
"Massa Cafe Italiano in Elmwood Park - and it's not even a contest. All their incredible flavors aside, their basic lemon ice is so creamy, it's amazing that there *isnt* any dairy in it." — @xnoiidb |
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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