Good afternoon! I’m seeing “Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil” at the Goodman Theatre tonight — and resisting ordering the book since my TBR pile is already way too long. Here’s what you need to know today.
1. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to Illinois’ assault weapons ban
The decision comes days before the two-year anniversary of the Fourth of July mass shooting in Highland Park, an attack that left seven dead and prompted the ban, my colleague Jon Seidel writes for the Chicago Sun-Times.
The fight over the law will likely now continue in district courts, which had been waiting for word from the high court.
Illinois’ law bans the sale of assault weapons and caps the purchase of magazines at 10 rounds for long guns and 15 for handguns.
Groups challenging the law made their bid to the U.S. Supreme Court after a federal appeals court found that weapons covered by Illinois’ assault-weapons ban don’t have Second Amendment protection.
Illinois Rep. Bob Morgan, the law’s chief sponsor, wrote that the Supreme Court’s decision will help save “countless lives” and reduce mass shootings. Still, he acknowledged that “more federal trials remain, and our fight continues.” [Chicago Sun-Times]
2. Chicago restaurants are being burglarized in record numbers
There were 635 burglaries reported at restaurants last year — the most since at least 2001 — and the city is on pace to surpass that number this year, my colleagues Ambar Colón, Mohammad Samra and Tom Schuba report for the Chicago Sun-Times.
Though overall burglaries have fallen significantly from the aughts and early 2010s, break-ins at restaurants have made up a much larger share of the city’s total burglaries.
Police have struggled to solve these crimes. Data show an arrest was made in just 3.5% of burglaries targeting restaurants.
Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd Ward, who chairs the City Council Public Safety Committee, told the Sun-Times he sympathizes with business owners and wants to give the Chicago Police Department more tools to fight the burglary surge.
A CPD spokesperson said the department gives businesses safety reviews, “which includes crime prevention and security tips.” [Chicago Sun-Times]
3. A former Cook County employee says he was fired for talking about his boss with investigators
A former aide to Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele has filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit against the county property-tax appeal agency, Steele and her top aide, my colleague Dan Mihalopoulos reports for WBEZ.
Frank Calabrese said he was an appeals analyst and communications director for Steele until he was fired in May after talking about Steele and Chief of Staff Dan Balanoff with investigators for the county’s independent internal watchdog. He also claimed to have been pressured to “engage in political activity” against two other commissioners.
And Calabrese alleged that he was punished for contacting the board’s top lawyer to seek advice after Steele asked him to draft and distribute a memo to county elected officials about the Chicago Bears’ property tax appeal for land the football team had bought in Arlington Heights.
“There’s so many falsehoods in this document I don’t know where to begin,” Steele told WBEZ when asked about the lawsuit. “But under the advice of counsel, neither myself nor my staff will be commenting on this matter until it is resolved.” [WBEZ]
At several parks in the city, families leave old toys at playgrounds for children to enjoy. But as Emmanuel Camarillo reports for the Chicago Sun-Times, the Park District began enforcing decades-old provisions last month that prohibit abandoned objects from being left in playgrounds.
The toys are left behind by families whose own children have outgrown them in the hopes they can bring joy to others rather than throwing the toys in a dumpster. The practice has gone on for years, several parents told the Sun-Times.
A spokesperson said the Park District has received “reports of instances of vandalism involving toys and other items that have been left unattended in parks,” and landscape crews have added toy removal to their weekly routine maintenance checklist. [Chicago Sun-Times]
5. Divvy bikes are ending up in Lake Michigan
A group of volunteers calling themselves The Divvy Fishers Society is joining the rideshare company and the Fire Department in trying to get as many of the bikes out of the lake as possible, Block Club reports.
The Society recently pulled out 17 Divvy bikes near Montrose Harbor and another 15 near the Shedd Aquarium.
Divvy, which is operated by rideshare company Lyft and owned by the city, has long struggled with bikes being stolen, broken and ending up in strange places.
“Tourists come here, rent bikes, leave them idly by the lake and someone runs off with them. It’s a story as old as Divvy,” a former employee told Block Club. “I don’t think the people dumping the bikes in the lake are the ones renting them. … But someone is getting f—ed.” [Block Club Chicago]
Here’s what else is happening
- Rudolph Giuliani, an ally of former President Donald Trump, was disbarred from practicing law in New York. [New York Times]
- Hurricane Beryl grew to Category 5 strength in the southeast Caribbean. [NPR]
- The U.S. will pay Moderna $176 million to develop an mRNA pandemic flu vaccine. [AP]
- Charlotte the stingray, who was declared to be pregnant without a male mate this year, has died. [NPR]
Oh, and one more thing …
Only a few days per year can the rare eastern prairie fringed orchid be fertilized by hand. WBEZ contributor Zachary Nauth recently visited the Nachusa Grasslands, where one volunteer called the mission “plant sex work.”
The goal is to help stave off extinction of the endangered orchid.
By pollinating the plants by hand, the humans were trying to fill in the gaps left by the primary natural pollinator, the sphinx or hawk moth, which has a long tongue uniquely adapted to the fringed orchid flower. Scientists said the moth and the orchid, like so many other species, have been in decline due to the loss of wetlands and other natural habitat.
“The eastern prairie fringed orchid is one of those plants that can thrive in our future — if we make a place for it in our world,” Elizabeth Bach of The Nature Conservancy said. [WBEZ]
Tell me something good …
From a favorite backyard cookout dish to a prime fireworks viewing spot (or less traditional plans), what’s your favorite way to celebrate the Fourth of July in the Chicago area?
Claudia writes:
“My husband and I celebrate the Fourth of July by watching the movie version of the musical, 1776! The Founding Fathers were real men, not saints.”
Paul writes:
“Normally, my favorite way to celebrate Independence Day is watching ‘A Capitol Fourth’ on PBS and heading over to our impressive fireworks display in Woodstock. This year, I may do that — weather permitting — but I’m also seeing a Cubs game at Wrigley. So one way or another, I’ll be having a ball!”
Feel free to email me, and your response may be included in the newsletter this week.
