Daywatch: Alleged Highland Park shooter passed through Illinois gun-permitting system intended to stop him | Tribune investigation: Forever chemicals in Illinois drinking water
Good morning, Chicago.
Mourning for the seven victims of Monday’s Highland Park mass shooting continued Saturday morning with the wake and funeral of 69-year-old Eduardo Uvaldo.
Uvaldo was one of seven people killed after Robert Crimo III allegedly opened fire at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park.
His funeral was held at The Memorial Chapel Funeral Home, 1521 Washington St., in his hometown of Waukegan, drawing approximately 500 guests, including Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, and Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering.
And Christopher Borelli gives us some context on Highland Park and what many of its residents want a national audience to know about the suburb of 30,000.
As Borelli writes: “Unlike other rich suburbs, it was also established partly as a refuge for marginalized — namely, Jewish — families who weren’t welcome elsewhere on the North Shore. ... Here, Tom Cruise, left alone in his parent’s palatial home, danced in his underwear for ‘Risky Business.’ Here, John Hughes returned often for WASP-y images of comfort in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,’ in ‘Sixteen Candles.’
In other news, Saturday there were dueling abortion protesters that took over streets and sidewalks in Chicago’s Loop.
In total, hundreds of demonstrators from both movements streamed down main thoroughfares downtown such as Michigan Avenue, next to where the Taste of Chicago food festival was taking place, following an anti-abortion “March for Life Chicago” rally at Federal Plaza.
The crowd was bifurcated into a sea of yellow umbrellas — a symbol of opposition toward abortion rights — and a mass of green, the worldwide color of the abortion rights movement. A few advocates from the latter cause marched sideways so they could carry a large green banner reading “We Won’t Go Back.”
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Like another before him, alleged Highland Park mass shooter passed through Illinois gun-permitting system intended to stop him
By the time Highland Park police arrived at Robert Crimo III’s home in September 2019, there had already been several signs of trouble.
A reported suicide attempt. Domestic violence calls to his family home. And then someone contacting police to say they heard Crimo had threatened people at the house, and that he had several knives.
Crimo had made threats “that he was going to kill everyone,” a police report reads.
The episode was alarming enough for police in Highland Park to alert state authorities in the event Crimo was seeking a gun permit. He wasn’t, but a few months later when he did seek one, the warning was not enough to keep him from acquiring it and later buying a high-powered rifle he allegedly used to rain bullets on the community’s Independence Day parade this week, killing seven and wounding many more.
Highland Park residents rally for new gun laws after parade shooting
What we know about the mass shooting at a Highland Park Fourth of July parade
More than 8 million Illinoisans get drinking water from a utility where forever chemicals have been detected, Tribune investigation finds
Something as simple as drinking tap water is exposing millions of Illinoisans to toxic chemicals that build up in human blood, cause cancer and other diseases and take years to leave the body.
Scientists call the chemicals per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS. They are commonly known as forever chemicals because they don’t break down in the environment.
Until now the scope of PFAS problems in Illinois remained unknown. More than 8 million people in the state — 6 out of every 10 Illinoisans — get their drinking water from a utility where at least one forever chemical has been detected, according to a Chicago Tribune investigation that included a computerized analysis of test results and a review of court documents, government records and scientific studies.
JW Marriott foreclosure auction could be a broader sign of distress for the downtown hospitality industry
Wells Fargo Bank took control of the 610-room JW Marriott Chicago hotel Friday morning with a winning bid of nearly $251 million during a foreclosure auction.
Orlando-based owner Estein USA hadn’t made a payment on the $203 million loan tied to the property at 151 West Adams St. since last summer, according to the Illinois Foreclosure Listing Service. The amount owed eventually grew to $243 million, and as trustee for investors in the loan, Wells Fargo filed a foreclosure lawsuit last year, and a sheriff’s sale was set for Friday. The bank was the sole bidder on the hotel, which remains open.
Column: Fans return to WNBA All-Star weekend in full force, but organizational missteps cause frustration
Some missteps overshadowed the league’s first All-Star weekend held in Chicago, writes Shakeia Taylor.
There was no shortage of demand to see Sunday’s game. According to ticket reseller Vivid Seats, the average ticket price on the secondary market was $164, the highest for a WNBA All-Star Game in the last five years — and 64% more than the second-highest.
But unlike past years, fans were not invited to attend Saturday’s 3-point and skills competitions. Instead of holding the events at Wintrust Arena, which was committed to host the Nike Nationals high school girls basketball tournament, the league staged them inside McCormick Place with temporary courts and bleachers.
As the Sky’s Allie Quigley made history by winning her fourth 3-point competition, Sky fans were relegated to watching it on TV.
Pitchfork Music Festival 2022: The must-see bands and all the entry details
After a delayed start to the Pitchfork Music Festival last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s event returns to its rightful home in July. And like all years, the 2022 Pitchfork Music Festival promises an eclectic lineup across multiple genres, featuring musical acts both big and small.
Whether you’re looking to groove to classic hip-hop with The Roots or settle in for a late night of indie dad rock from The National, this year’s lineup has a little bit of everything for the music site’s broad array of fans.
