Good afternoon! Has it rained every morning so far this week? It looks like we might also see rain again tomorrow. Here’s what you need to know today.
1. The pace of migrants arriving in Chicago is accelerating
Twelve more busloads of migrants arrived in Chicago over the weekend, more than in any two-day period since the crisis began in August 2022, my colleague Michael Loria reports.
The newest arrivals also highlight the limits of the Biden administration’s move to grant temporary legal status to migrants arriving from Venezuela, Loria reports.
Almost a quarter of all arrivals came after Aug. 2, past the July 31 cut-off date for temporary federal protections.
“That’s not right. The 31st of July — why that day?” said Marioxi Leon, a former elementary school teacher who arrived in Chicago this month with her three daughters and dog. “I need work, too, to help take care of these four.” [Chicago Sun-Times]
Meanwhile, Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th Ward, wants voters to decide if Chicago should remain a sanctuary city. [Chicago Sun-Times]
2. A long-awaited antitrust lawsuit was filed against Amazon
The Federal Trade Commission and 17 states today filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, setting the stage for “one of the most significant legal challenges brought against the company in its nearly 30-year history,” The Associated Press reports.
The sweeping lawsuit alleges the online retail giant engaged in monopolistic practices that resulted in higher prices for shoppers and high fees for merchants on the platform.
The lawsuit has the potential to dramatically alter the way Americans shop. Previous antitrust lawsuits have resulted in companies being broken up into smaller ones to restore fair competition.
FTC chairman Lina Khan dodged questions of whether that will happen to Amazon.
“At this stage, the focus is more on liability,” she said. [AP]
3. A City Council member violated the First Amendment by blocking critics online, a federal judge rules
Ald. Jim Gardiner, 45th Ward, violated the First Amendment rights of six critics who were blocked from his official Facebook page, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ruled this week.
The ruling comes after members of the City Council were warned by ethics officials in 2019 that blocking people or deleting comments on their social media accounts could put them in legal jeopardy, WTTW News reports.
Gardiner now faces a trial to determine if he should pay the six critics.
“In response to a request for comment from WTTW News via text message, Gardiner initially responded with a phone call before saying he had called back by mistake ‘after hitting the wrong button.’ He hung up without comment,” WTTW reports. [WTTW News]
4. Britney Spears’s black Mercedes is for sale
The Volo Museum, located in northwest suburban Volo, is selling the pop singer’s former 2006 Mercedes Benz for $69,998, my colleague Dorothy Hernandez reports.
Spears owned the car during a tumultuous period of her career, enduring tabloid scandal after tabloid scandal, including when she shaved her head before a judge placed her under a controversial conservatorship.
“It’s probably one of the most photographed and videotaped cars in the world,” said Brian Grams, director of the Volo Museum, in a statement. “The car is infamous.”
Spears has since been released from the conservatorship, which was the subject of a critically acclaimed documentary, Framing Britney Spears. The singer is reportedly working on a comeback album. [Chicago Sun-Times]
5. Squirrels are going nuts
If you’ve walked outside recently, you’ve probably seen acorns piling up near trees, on sidewalks and even by bus stops.
Oak trees are dropping more acorns than usual right now, and squirrels are having a heyday.
“The squirrels have gone wild,” Tim Rosado, who lives in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood, told Block Club Chicago. “It’s like they’re not afraid of humans anymore. They used to be more skittish, but now they’re just hanging out, eating acorns or gathering them and they’re not bothered by anything else.”
Every three to six years, oak trees go through masting events, dropping large amounts of acorns and increasing the chance they will grow into trees. [Block Club Chicago]
Here’s what else is happening
- President Joe Biden today joined striking autoworkers in Michigan. [CNN]
- JPMorgan will pay $75 million over claims it enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking. [AP]
- Taylor Swift appears to have boosted sales of Travis Kelce’s jersey by nearly 400% after being seen with the Kansas City Chiefs player. [AP]
- Stanley Kubrick’s Cold War satire Dr. Strangelove is being adapted for the stage. [Hollywood Reporter]
Oh, and one more thing …
Theaters in Chicago and across the nation are wrestling with the same challenge since the pandemic: How do you get people off the couch, away from TV streaming services and into theater seats?
One storefront theater company is going for the jugular with an American Psycho musical, my colleague Courtney Kueppers writes.
The upstart theater company, Kokandy Productions, has navigated an unpredictable few years through a combination of business savvy and enthusiasm for stripped-down, in-your-face productions.
Scot Kokandy, the founder of Kokandy Productions, and Derek Van Barham, the company’s artistic director, say they try to identify their audiences beyond the musical theater diehards.
So a summer production of the Spongebob The Musical was for families. And a production of Cruel Intentions was for nostalgic millennials.
“We’re not like the ‘we only do movie musicals’ company and I don’t want us to be thought of as that, but that’s certainly an easy entry point for some audience members,” Van Barham said. [WBEZ]
Tell me something good ...
October is quickly approaching, and I’ve been in the mood for scary stuff. What’s one of your favorite scary movies or stories?
Brian Nolan writes:
“I was 7 or 8 when the Hitchcock movie The Birds came on TV. My parents had the good sense not to let me watch it, but they had a party that night and I snuck down and saw it anyway. I think I had nightmares for weeks! A couple years ago I was in New Mexico on business and had to pass by a tree filled with hundreds of crows, and that same sense of foreboding came right back.”
And Joyce Miller-Bean writes:
“One of the scariest short stories I’ve ever read which still chills me is Manly Wade Wellman’s Where Angels Fear. Best believe what you hear about haunted houses.”
Feel free to share your favorite scary movies or stories, and your response might be shared in the newsletter this week.
