Good afternoon! Chicago Animal Care and Control is waiving adoption fees this month — and my cats are glad my building has a two-pet limit so I can’t bring any more home. Here’s what you need to know today.
1. About 153,000 customers were without power after severe storms hit Chicago
Chicago-area residents are cleaning up after a stormy night that has caused lingering power outages and transportation delays.
ComEd said it expects to have most customers back online by Wednesday afternoon, but some people might be without power until Friday.
A woman in Northwest Indiana died after a tree fell on her Cedar Lake home. In Chicago, the fire department reported only one injury related to the storms — a woman in serious condition after a tree fell on her car — despite downed trees and power lines.
Metra said service may be changed or reduced throughout the day.
About 10 tornadoes were reported in the Chicago area last night — including twisters near both airports. [Chicago Sun-Times]
U.S. Rep. Mary Miller made that assessment after addressing the Illinois delegation to the Republican National Convention today at their hotel outside Milwaukee, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Miller said the party would have better luck reaching voters in the middle “if the media would accurately report who President Trump is, what he’s done for the American people.”
Earlier, she had told delegates that Democratic supermajorities in the State Capitol had turned it into “a bad idea factory.”
Meanwhile, Chicago’s “rooftop pastor” Rev. Corey Brooks, a Republican who has helped GOP candidates, is expected to deliver the final prayer tonight. [Chicago Sun-Times]
3. Illinois landed a federal partnership to further develop quantum projects
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, will take residency on the state’s quantum campus to establish a program where quantum computing prototypes will be tested, Tina Sfondeles reports for the Chicago Sun-Times.
DARPA said the goal of the project will be to evaluate and test quantum computing claims and “separate hype from reality.” The agency’s central mission is to invest in breakthrough technologies to enhance national security.
Gov. JB Pritzker has been a strong advocate for quantum development in the state, with the goal of putting Illinois on the world stage as “the Silicon Valley of quantum development.”
The location of the campus is expected to be announced soon. [Chicago Sun-Times]
4. Major donors are giving more to Chicago’s non-white arts groups — but progress may be slipping
A new study from Enrich Chicago, a local nonprofit focused on promoting racial equity in the arts, shows a shifting landscape for arts groups that were buoyed by COVID-19 relief dollars, Courtney Kueppers writes for WBEZ.
Among the most significant findings was the shift toward unrestricted grants, which allow organizations to allocate funds where they’re most needed.
The scale of funds available during the COVID-19 pandemic — and the removal of restrictions around those funds — was likely “a one time event,” Enrich Director Nina Sánchez told the station.
Sánchez added that the results lay down a challenge to foundations and ask the question, “What are you going to do now?” [WBEZ]
5. Brookfield Zoo announced a 15-year, $500 million redevelopment project
The west suburban zoo will combine species in exhibits to help guests feel like they’re observing animals in the wild, my colleague Mary Norkol reports for the Chicago Sun-Times.
“The traditional old zoo, you moved from one habitat to the next and you saw one animal, then you saw the next animal, then you saw the next animal,” Brookfield Zoo President and CEO Michael Adkesson told the newspaper. “That’s what we’re really looking to totally disrupt and change.”
The redevelopment also comes with a face-lift for the rest of the zoo, including adding an amphitheater for live music and other performances the zoo already hosts regularly.
Construction has begun in the zoo’s tropical forest area. Buildings that must be renovated will close to the public for a time, but the timelines of those closures haven’t been established yet. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Here’s what else is happening
- New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez was found guilty of all counts in his corruption trial. [New York Times]
- California banned school rules requiring parents be notified of their child’s pronoun change. [NPR]
- Here’s how to help ensure you’re getting the best Amazon Prime Day deals. [NPR]
- Michael Madigan’s lawyers want 14 of the counts against him dismissed, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Oh, and one more thing …
For this week’s Millennium Park 20th anniversary celebration, actor-rapper Common and the city’s cultural planners are putting together what could be a quintessentially Chicago moment, Erica Thompson writes for the Chicago Sun-Times.
Backed by the Grant Park Orchestra, Common will take the Jay Pritzker Pavilion stage on Saturday to perform a free show as part of the four-day celebration of the park’s anniversary.
“We will be creating our own musical movie in a way,” Common told the newspaper. “The corners I’m talking about are not far from where we are. I think we’re creating an experience.” [Chicago Sun-Times]
Tell me something good …
What’s it like being a sports fan in Chicago? Do you have any memories of especially fun games or seasons?
Dave writes:
“My Chicago sports memory is a tie...I know, cheating, but relatedly so.
As a very young lad, about four years old, my dad took me to my first Sox game, at old Comiskey Park. The ‘golden box seats’ that my dad splurged for, first base side, fourth row, were near level with the field, but just up enough my tiny self could see. I brought my new mitt to catch a ball (yeah right, kid!). That dew-laden grass smell, hot dogs and a Coke, my dad eating peanuts he crushed in his gigantic hand...and then the Sox hit a homer and the scoreboard exploded! I’d never seen fireworks so close, so loud, and the Sox managed to win! My love of baseball was cemented.
Twenty nine years later, as my hometown team finally won the World Series my dad swore he would never get to see, I watched those final outs, holding my infant son, Dekken, sitting on the couch. On the phone, talking, and cheering was my dad, himself in the early stages of the pancreatic cancer that would eventually take his life.
Sometimes Life gets you full circle and you don’t always realize it at the time, but I think we both did, and thanks to the White Sox, I have those memories for three generations.”
Feel free to email me, and your response may be included in the newsletter this week.
