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Read up on what’s happening in Chicago today from WTTW News.
Note: The subject line of yesterday’s newsletter incorrectly identified the commission Anthony Driver Jr. leads. He is the president of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability. We regret the error.
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The CTA’s South Terminal at 95th/Dan Ryan. A plan to extend the Red Line would connect the terminal to 130th Street. (Chicago Transit Authority / Flickr)
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The Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line Extension project will create four new stops in South Side neighborhoods, extending 5.5 miles southward to 103rd Street, 111th Street, Michigan Avenue and 130th Street. Construction begins late 2025 and the process, which entails taking property and relocating residents, is already underway. Neighbors in those nearby communities harbor both concerns and hopes about the five-year construction project.
Here’s what some had to say:
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“People have been waiting for this for decades and even generations,” said Louis McFarland, a South Side resident and professor at Chicago State University. “l’m very skeptical of these kinds of projects: I wonder if this stuff is for the people who are in this neighborhood now, or somebody who’s going to replace them in a few years.”
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“It will open up a different world for folks who don’t have the necessities to travel out of here or have a time constraint,” said Adella Bass-Lawson, health equity director at People for Community Recovery. “And it gives them an opportunity to see the other side of Chicago. It’s beautiful.”
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Mayor Brandon Johnson addresses the news media on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (Heather Cherone/WTTW)
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Chicagoans should not “tolerate” a budget that cuts city services and orders thousands of layoffs, leaving city officials little choice but to hike taxes by a total of $234 million, Mayor Brandon Johnson said Monday. His latest budget proposal, which includes a $68.5M property tax hike and a $165.5 million increase in other taxes, faces two key tests today.
The City Council’s Finance Committee will consider the proposal at 9 a.m, and the Budget Committee will meet at noon to consider legislation that would implement the proposed $17.3 billion spending plan. If both panels endorse the plan, a final vote could come on Friday by the full City Council. There are 22 days before the deadline to avoid an unprecedented shutdown of Chicago’s government.
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Staff at the Field Museum fit the T. Rex model with a Santa hat. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)
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In a first for the Field Museum, the exhibits staff has outfitted four of its dinosaur replicas (OK, three dinosaurs and one pterosaur) in Santa hats to celebrate the festive season. “We do all kinds of serious work here, it’s nice to have a little fun,” said Gedi Jakovickas, exhibition production supervisor, who oversaw hat placement.
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Back in the Day: December 10, 1924 - First LGBTQ Rights Organization Forms in Chicago
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Henry Gerber was a Bavarian-born immigrant living in Chicago in the early 1900s. While serving in the Army in Europe following World War I, he discovered Berlin's gay culture and Magnus Hirschfeld’s Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, the world's first gay rights organization. Upon his return to the States, he started an organized movement for gay rights. On this day 100 years ago, Gerber and six other men applied for a charter incorporating the Society for Human Rights. Though it was short-lived (thanks to police raids and homophobia), it was the first known organization working for gay rights in United States history. Gerber’s home at 1710 North Crilly Court was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2015 and Gerber's name adorns the Gerber/Hart Library & Archives in Rogers Park.
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What's a locally made product (book, food item, piece of clothing, etc.) that would make a great holiday gift?
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. |
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- Our Spotlight Politics team on the flap over a top mayoral aide's residency and the latest on the city budget.
- A longtime political insider's new book on the reign of Mayor Richard M. Daley.
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5:30 PM|10:00 PM |
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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