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Happy Friday. Today we start off with a column from science and nature reporter Patty Wetli, plus stories on CPD and more from WTTW News. |
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Chipmunk specimens in the Field Museum’s collection were used to assess how mammals are adapting to urbanization. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News) |
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Patty Wetli: Last week, I wrote an article about research coming out of the Field Museum that indicates Chicago’s chipmunks are evolving in front of our eyes.
Their bodies have gotten bigger and their teeth have gotten smaller over the past 100 years of urbanization, a change Field scientists strongly suspect has been caused by people feeding the chipmunks human food.
“These findings clearly show a very good example of why we should not feed the wildlife,” said Anderson Feijó, assistant curator of mammals at the Field.
And yet people do. All the time.
Last weekend at the Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary, I saw a couple of men feeding peanuts to chipmunks. And another guy feeding seeds to birds. This, in a nature sanctuary, where there are plenty of native plants and natural resources for wildlife to feast on.
Then later, in River Park, along the Chicago River, I saw an entire family — grandparents, parents, kids — tossing bread at the geese and ducks.
What’s a person supposed to do? Smack the seeds out of someone else’s hand? Scold complete strangers? Play them the video recording of Feijó saying “don’t feed the wildlife”?
One time, a few years ago, I actually stopped, in the middle of a run, to tell a woman that feeding bread to birds was bad for them. I felt like a lunatic and also a bit like I’d just told a 4-year-old … SPOILER ALERT … that Santa doesn’t exist. I’d done the “right” thing but it felt “wrong.”
What would you do?
When we see people feeding wildlife, we tend to give them a pass for all sorts of reasons. We say “it’s a cultural thing” or “it brings them joy” or “it connects people to nature.”
All of these excuses boil down to how the action benefits the person. Nowhere do we claim it’s good for the animals.
Shameless plug: On Aug. 21, I’ll be at the Newberry Library for a free screening of the short documentary film “The World of Monty and Rose” and taking part in the Q&A to follow. All the details are online, including how to register. Hope to see you there! |
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Mayor Brandon Johnson fields questions from the news media on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (WTTW News) |
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Recommendations from a task force charged with examining how to rid the Chicago Police Department of officers with ties to extremist and anti-government groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are coming “in due time,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday. He formed the task force five months ago, but the effort has yet to show any sign of public progress.
Johnson said he met with department leaders Monday to discuss the task force’s work There are no public allegations that city workers in any other department other than CPD have documented ties to anti-government or extremist groups.
“There are some recommendations that are coming through,” Johnson said. “In due time, we’re going to release some of those recommendations.”
Johnson said the effort was focused on city employees’ behavior, not their affiliations with extremist and anti-government groups.
“Look, you may not be a part of an official group that has been known to be extreme, but your behavior could still be biased or racist,” Johnson said. “And we’re working to root that out across our systems.”
Some backstory:
That approach is similar to the one adopted by the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, which voted unanimously in November 2023 to ban officers from associating with hate groups and extremist organizations.
That policy focuses on officers’ conduct and bans them from belonging to what it calls “biased organizations” or engaging in “active participation” with them, which is defined as recruiting new members, fundraising, organizing events or promoting them on social media.
A year ago, Inspector General Deborah Witzburg publicly urged Johnson to form a task force and “implement a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach to preventing, identifying and eliminating extremist and anti-government activities and associations within CPD.”
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Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling discusses plans for a rally and march down Michigan Avenue on Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News) |
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At the first Chicago City Council hearing into CPD’s efforts to comply with a court order requiring officers to stop routinely violating Black and Latino residents’ constitutional rights in 15 months, there was no sign any urgency surrounds the reform effort.
None of the alderpeople at the sparsely attended committee hearing, which lasted for approximately an hour, pressed Deputy Chief Ralph Cruz or Executive Director Allyson Clark-Henson of CPD’s Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform on why CPD had fully complied with just 16% of the court order known as the consent decree by the end of 2024.
Only Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th Ward) expressed frustration with the time it was taking for CPD to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers, as required by the now nearly six-and-a-half-year-old binding court order.
“This has been an unending process,” said Lopez, who frequently criticizes Mayor Brandon Johnson’s policies and initiatives. “We can’t keep throwing money at this.”
In all, the city set aside at least $887.6 million to implement the consent decree between 2020 and 2025, according to Chicago’s annual budget overviews. |
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Michael McClain, who long served as the right-hand man and confidant of ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, was sentenced to two years in prison following his conviction in a yearslong conspiracy to bribe his former friend and ally.
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Even as the Cook County state’s attorney declared a pilot program that allows Chicago police officers to file felony gun charges without first getting approval from a prosecutor an “overwhelming success,” critics renewed their objection to the effort, saying it creates a “two-tiered system of justice” in Chicago.
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Back in the Day: July 25, 1984 - ‘Weeping’ Virgin Mary Statue Hit By Gunfire |
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Chicago boasts a large Catholic population (according to PEW Research Center, it's almost 30%). After all, the Pope is from here. Over the years, the faithful have claimed to see the Virgin Mary in the most unexpected places: the chimney of a bowling alley, in a tree, outside their windows, etc. In 1984, parishioners at St. John of God Catholic Church on the South Side witnessed clear liquid drip from the eyes of a 39-inch wooden statue of the Virgin Mary in the chapel. The unexplained religious vision boosted the church's attendance and donations box. A few months later, on this day in 1984, a gunman entered the church and fired three shots at the statue, hitting it once on the robe. Witnesses reported that the gunman was laughing as he fired and left the church. A week later, a 23-year-old Chicago man was charged with the shooting. The church closed in 1992. |
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Nature Calls: This Week’s Outdoor Events and Activities |
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Every Friday, WTTW News science and nature reporter Patty Wetli highlights the best ways to get outside.
Heads up — registration is open for Chicago’s second annual Urban Birding Festival, set for Sept. 12-14. You know what they say about the early bird: We hear some of the field trips are already filling up, so don’t procrastinate.
Another weekend, another garden walk — or two. The Ravenswood Neighborhood Association’s 4th annual garden crawl is Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Swing by for self-guided or guided tours, workshops and a mini-market. On Sunday, Ravenswood Manor is hosting its 68th annual garden walk, 1-5 p.m., wrapping up with a free concert by the Horner Park Jazz Band at 4 p.m.
Here’s a walking tour that’s made in the shade: Lincoln Park Zoo has a map of trees of interest on its grounds. Print or download and visit these other zoo residents. Gates are open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays; admission is free. (Note: The zoo is closing at 3 p.m. Friday for a special event.)
Step back in time to the 18th century at Isle a la Cache Museum in Romeoville, where all the buildings will be open to visitors on Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., during a free campus exploration day. Meet one of the museum’s newest ambassador animals: a hybrid box turtle.
The 7th annual commemoration of Chicago’s 1919 race riots takes place Saturday, with a two-hour bike tour of historic sites in Bronzeville and Bridgeport. Check-in starts at 9:15 a.m., the program starts at 9:30 a.m., and the ride kicks off at 10 a.m. Registration is required.
Choose your own volunteer adventure — Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves has multiple opportunities this weekend. Help restore habitat at one of the region’s protected natural areas, from savannas to woodlands to bogs. |
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What’s your favorite bookstore 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:
Seminary Co-op Bookstore, 5751 S. Woodlawn, hands down, no contest. Why? It’s an independent, non-profit bookstore, with a huge selection of academic books. The Front Table, where you can always find a book you didn’t know you wanted to read, greets you when you arrive. (Someone once said that having your book on the Front Table was the Pinnacle of Academic Achievement.) The design (by Stanley Tigerman) is lovely: a large open space in front, and then many smaller, kiosk-like spaces where you can browse quietly, leaving the world behind. And there are no tchotchkes, just books. — Joan P
The Book Cellar! Staff are so helpful and give amazing recommendations—@equelley
Myopic. Claustrophobic bliss. Organized chaos. Always a surprise book in the peripheral. — @bossa_iv
Jarvis Square Books in Rogers Park! I mean, how often is it you get to peruse a bookstore owned by an author? — Julie B.
Tangible Books in Bridgeport - floor to ceiling book shelves, 2 floors, it's like a maze of books - in the best way! — Declan K.
Women and Children First because of their vast collection of LBGT books! — @tomboy.macy
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5:30 PM | 7:00 PM |
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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