Daywatch: Blackhawks owners propose 700-acre development
Good morning, Chicago.
In the aftermath of the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, police departments across the country — and internationally — have continued to struggle to keep recruitment numbers up.
So far this year, more than 630 members of the Chicago Police Department have retired and collected their pension, according to data from the Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago. In 2021 that number was around 660, after about 560 left in 2020.
But Yolanda Talley, chief of the internal affairs bureau and the recruitment and retention unit, said CPD has been making good progress this year in bringing on new hires. Its goal is to make 1,000 new hires by the year’s end.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Paige Fry.
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State commemorates Barack Obama’s 2007 presidential announcement with marker at Old State Capitol
The weather turned frigid in the state capital on Wednesday, just in time for the dedication of a marker commemorating the day nearly 16 years ago when thousands braved single-digit temperatures to see then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama announce his 2008 presidential bid from the steps of the Old State Capitol.
The roughly 47-by-44-inch marker, which stands on the southeast corner of the Old Capitol grounds in downtown Springfield, also commemorates Obama’s 2008 announcement that then-Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware would be his running mate. It adds historical resonance to a building most famous as the site of Abraham Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech to the 1858 Republican State Convention.
Indiana’s attorney general asks state to discipline doctor who spoke of 10-year-old’s abortion
Indiana’s Republican attorney general asked the state medical licensing board to discipline an Indianapolis doctor who has spoken publicly about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim who traveled from Ohio after its more-restrictive abortion law took effect.
The complaint alleges Dr. Caitlin Bernard violated state law by not reporting the girl’s child abuse to Indiana authorities, even though public records show she reported the abortion and abuse within Indiana’s required three-day reporting period for a girl younger than 16, and violated patient privacy laws by telling a newspaper reporter about the girl’s treatment.
Naperville woman sentenced to probation in Jan. 6. riot at US Capitol
A Naperville woman was sentenced to a year and a half of probation for entering the U.S. Capitol with a friend during the Jan. 6 attack and following a mob into a senator’s private office, where rioters were rummaging through belongings as security alarms blared. Dawn Frankowski, 54, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a misdemeanor count of illegally demonstrating inside a restricted government building.
Prosecutors had asked for a month behind bars, saying that even though Frankowski did not commit any acts of violence she made comments on social media after the events at the Capitol suggesting she “held out hope there would not be a peaceful transfer of power.”
Blackhawks owners propose 700-acre development
Roughly 700 acres of land at Ivanhoe Farms along Route 60 in unincorporated Mundelein could be turned into a major housing and commercial development after the Wirtz family — which owns the Chicago Blackhawks — has proposed a project to the village. The Mundelein Village Board will consider a proposal by the Wirtz family to annex the land into the village at its Dec. 12 meeting.
Village Administrator Eric Guenther said that if the property is annexed, the owners could access resources like sewer and water services by being a part of the village, rather than having to find alternative options if it remained unincorporated territory.
What’s the current state of Chicago baseball? 4 lifelong Cubs and White Sox fans weigh in.
Fans often have a “Don’t Stop Believin’ " mindset about their teams, but after the Cubs and White Sox had less than stellar seasons — though one was expected — the Tribune spoke with four lifelong fans about the state of Chicago baseball, how they think their teams can improve and what it would take to abandon their fandom.
Poetry has a new editor — and now a new issue
The new editor of Poetry magazine, one of the city’s most important and influential publications, is Adrian Matejka, a great poet and a good guy. He is the magazine’s first Black editor, hired in the footsteps of Michelle Boone, who in 2021 became the first woman and person of color to be president of the nonprofit Poetry Foundation, which publishes the magazine.
It’s time to give a fresh look to this important Chicago magazine, writes Rick Kogan.
