Daywatch: 17-year-old Connor Bedard is a Chicago Blackhawk

Chicago Tribune staff, Chicago Tribune
·3 min read
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Good morning, Chicago.

The wildfire smoke that arrived in Chicago on Tuesday took many by surprise, including weather experts. When it will leave remains unclear.

Forecasters had predicted improved conditions for Wednesday, but air quality and visibility remained the same or worsened, weather officials said. That’s because dynamics like location and weather patterns make the smoke’s path difficult to predict.

For the second day in a row, air quality was considered “very unhealthy” in the Chicago area, according to AirNow, a website combining county, state and federal air quality data. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency forecast that air quality could improve today to “unhealthy for sensitive groups” like children and adults with respiratory conditions.

Gino Izzi, senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Romeoville, said it’s difficult to forecast when the smoke will completely clear up, as this is “uncharted territory.”

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Bill to stop student ticketing suffers setback, delaying action to protect families from costly fines

Top Illinois officials agreed last year that police shouldn’t ticket students for minor misbehavior at school and pledged to make sure it didn’t happen anywhere in the state. But a bill to end the widespread practice fizzled this spring because of disagreement over whether it would accomplish its goal and confusion about whether police would still be able to respond to crime on campus.

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