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Brave today’s heat and brush up with the latest stories from WTTW News. Today we have the fight to bring parole back to Illinois, more details on the Blue Line shooting and a state tax credit you should know about for some K-12 education expenses.
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The nonprofit Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project conducts a class at Stateville Correctional Center. (WTTW News) |
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Brandis Friedman has the story of incarcerated men who say they are “working toward a more just and humane legal system.” Parole Illinois is an organization formed by men incarcerated in Illinois prisons who want to reinstate the parole system after the state abolished it in 1978.
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What does Illinois have instead of parole? Current Illinois law calls for determinate sentencing. That means if someone is sentenced to six years, they serve the entire six years. They can shave time off that sentence for good behavior and by participating in classes and training. Once that time is earned, they’re released from prison on mandatory supervised release where they still have to follow specific rules and check in with a supervising officer regularly.
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Why parole is different: Under parole, once a person has served a certain amount of time in prison, they can make their case to a parole board. Advocates refer to it as earned reentry.
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“Earned Reentry”: “What we’re proposing is not a get-out-of-jail card. We’re advancing an earned reentry bill, and it requires people to spend 20 or more consecutive years in prison before they’re eligible. And it’s a review process. After 20 years, you can present the best version of yourself before the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.” —Raúl Dorado, inmate at Stateville Correctional Center and Parole Illinois co-founder
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Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx on Sept. 3, 2024, speaks to reporters at the Forest Park Village Hall over the shooting death of four people on a CTA Blue Line train in Forest Park, Ill. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere / Chicago Sun-Times via AP) |
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Four people were killed in a horrific mass shooting Monday morning on a Blue Line train in suburban Forest Park, and a Chicago man has been arrested and charged with four counts of first-degree murder. Rhanni Davis, 30, was ordered detained pending trial at a bond hearing Wednesday afternoon. No motive was given in the attack.
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After police arrested Davis Monday morning, prosecutors said he was wearing the same clothing and carrying the same North Face bag that CTA surveillance cameras had spotted him wearing before the shooting. He had a handgun and 9mm ammunition with him as he was detained.
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Testing from Illinois State Police confirmed the shell casings on the scene were fired from the handgun Davis was carrying, prosecutors said. His hands also tested positive for gunshot residue.
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CTA President Dorval Carter on Tuesday called the shooting “a very random, isolated incident.”
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Chicago Favorites: Actor and ‘Civics Geek’ Pat Whalen on Food History
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Every Wednesday, we profile interesting Chicagoans in our “Everybody’s Got a Story” series. The next day, we run picks from these locals about their favorite things in the city. Here’s Pat Whalen, actor, self-professed “civics geek” and host of the “Good Evening With Pat Whalen” talk show.
When Pat Whalen is interviewing a guest, he prefers to skip big-picture overviews for in-depth discussions of public policy’s nitty gritty details. Though it’s ostensibly a comedy show, when Whalen chats figures like Lori Lightfoot, J.B. Pritzker and Brandon Johnson, it’s a substantive conversation that gets at the minutiae of the biggest issues facing the city. “Something I want to talk about more is food, and how food relates to the history and cultural history of our city,” says Whalen. “I had John Zaragoza of Birria Zaragoza on my podcast, and he’s telling me why people say Chicago is the best Mexican food in the country. He goes through why Mexican people came here and how that migration affected both our history and our food.”
If you go out to eat, Whalen suggests digging into how our city’s food has changed over time thanks to immigrants and a shared civic history. You can draw the same connections to pizza and the Chicago-style hot dog. “Making these historic connections helps you understand that change is possible in a more general sense,” he says. “The present can affect the future, and that’s an idea that I think we really need to have more emphasis and support for these days.”
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Learn more about advertising & sponsorship with WTTW. |
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Back in the Day: September 5, 1964 - The Beatles Play Chicago for the First Time |
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The Beatles perform on "the Ed Sullivan Show" in February 1964, the same year they played Chicago for the first time. (Bernard Gotfryd via the Library of Congress) |
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Around 4:30 p.m. on this date 60 years ago, the Beatles landed at Midway Airport to 5,000 screaming fans. It was their first-ever appearance in Chicago. The Fab Four were promoting their film “A Hard Day’s Night” and were on a 29-day tour that would see them travel 22,000 miles in that short period of time. That night, they were to play the South Side’s International Amphitheatre to a crowd of 13,000. According to the Chicago Tribune, they were paid $30,000 and “played 34 minutes to a screaming audience that made the effortless melodies and lovelorn lyrics of the 11 songs–from ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ to ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’–virtually an afterthought.” The band would come back to play Comiskey Park in 1965 (which included a stop at Margie’s Candies) and would return to the International Amphitheatre in 1966.
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Learn more about advertising & sponsorship with WTTW. |
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What was the best local thing you did this summer? |
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers will be published Friday. |
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Other News From Around Town: |
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At 68, Chicago Folk Songwriter Mark Dvorak Still Has Plenty of Stories To Tell (WBEZ)
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The Nazi of Oak Park (Chicago Magazine)
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Maurie and Flaurie, the 12-foot-tall hot dog statues with glowing eyes on Superdawg's roof, are coming down to get a makeover. (Superdawg)
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On the Artbeat With Marc Vitali
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Taste of Greektown. (Dimitri Kandalepas) |
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Whether you’re looking for a cultural fix while awaiting the Bears game — or seeking alternatives to all things football — here are five things in this week’s arts schedule that look like easy wins.
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Noir City – The theme of this festival of crime cinema is “Darkness Has No Borders,” and it pairs American movies with foreign films that weave deadly webs. TCM’s Eddie Muller hosts select screenings at the Music Box Theatre.
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Evanston Folk Festival – Inaugural fest boasts an outstanding lineup with Patty Griffin, Sierra Ferrell, Robbie Fulks and more on the lakefront at Dawes Park — plus auditorium shows with Rufus Wainwright and Steve Earle.
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“The Audience” at Drury Lane Theatre, Oakbrook Terrace – A theater known for colorful musical revivals takes a dramatic turn with an intimate portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Written by Peter Morgan, creator of “The Crown.”
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South Asia Institute – On Saturday, three contemporary artists born in India lead a tour of their new exhibition, “What is Seen and Unseen: Mapping South Asian American Art.” Part of the Terra Foundation’s Art Design Chicago initiative.
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Taste of Greektown – The city’s biggest celebration of Hellenic cuisine and culture returns for its 34th year. With food, live music and one popular event that I won’t stick around for — a gyros eating contest.
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We break down presidential candidates' plans for immigration reform and what's outlined in Project 2025.
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Amid major food recalls, a look at what's being done to help people access food locally.
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5:30 PM | 10:00 PM |
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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