Daywatch: Recent traffic woes likely to worsen before it gets better as Bank of America Marathon arrives this weekend
Good morning, Chicago.
Planned Parenthood is launching a mobile abortion unit in southern Illinois to help reach out-of-state patients and decrease wait times, as more states ban or severely restrict terminating a pregnancy.
The abortion provider announced the project Monday, roughly 100 days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 case Roe v. Wade, which established the right to terminate a pregnancy nationwide. Since the June 24 reversal of federal reproductive rights protections, out-of-state abortions have surged in Illinois, where terminating a pregnancy is legal.
“Over the past 100 days, I’ve cared for people from across the country who traveled to southern Illinois for abortion care,” said Dr. Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, which covers southern Illinois. “These patients are navigating a politically designed obstacle course to access abortion and other basic health care.”
The mobile unit is expected to be operational by the end of 2022 and will be located at different points along the southern border of Illinois, though its specific route, times and locations have yet to be determined, Planned Parenthood officials said. It will initially offer only medication abortions but will eventually expand to include first-trimester aspiration abortions, the agency said.
Read more in Angie Leventis Lourgos’ story here.
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Recent traffic woes likely to worsen before it gets better as Bank of America Marathon arrives
Recent traffic backups aren’t a mirage, say transportation officials. It’s really a perfect storm of ongoing construction projects occurring at nearly all points of the expressway system. This includes the Jane Byrne Interchange project, the behind schedule and over budget construction job that offers one of the worst choke points for congestion in the heart of downtown Chicago.
This expressway congestion bleeds into major thoroughfare streets and DuSable Lake Shore Drive. The problem is likely to persist during the short term and, particularly with the Bank of America Chicago Marathon arriving in town Sunday, closing even more heavily traveled downtown streets beginning this week.
Lightfoot’s election-year budget aims to boost spending on police and progressive measures without raising property taxes
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 2023 budget includes an increase in funding for the Chicago Police Department, boosted spending for abortion services and no property tax hike — all moves aimed at avoiding negative attention and addressing voter concerns leading into next year’s election.
The mayor cast her $16.4 billion spending plan — the fourth and final one she will present to the City Council before the February elections — as a “stability budget” aimed at reducing debt and shoring up historically underfunded pensions. It also boosts already high spending on police at a time when Chicago residents are concerned about violent crime.
Dom’s Kitchen & Market announces November opening date for Old Town location
Dom’s Kitchen & Market will open a store in Old Town on Nov. 1, the grocer said Monday.
The specialty grocer, which was launched by Chicago grocery giant Bob Mariano and former Dominick’s affiliates last year, announced the Old Town location, which will be its second, in February. Dom’s new store comes on the heels of its first location in a converted strip mall on Halsted Street in Lincoln Park, which opened in June 2021. At 27,000 square feet, the Old Town store will be 50% larger than its predecessor.
The new location at 1233 N. Wells St. will create 180 jobs, Dom’s said.
Column: Jerry Reinsdorf’s grand vision for the Chicago White Sox ends in disappointment and frustration — not with a victory parade
Jerry Reinsdorf sat in the back of the room Monday afternoon as Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa announced he won’t return in 2023 and general manager Rick Hahn gave an autopsy on the 2022 season, Paul Sullivan writes.
The Sox chairman arrived later than the media and left before Hahn was finished speaking, sneaking away in an inconspicuous manner as though he were merely an interested observer.
Of course Reinsdorf was more than an observer.
6 best new Chicago tacos of 2022 for National Taco Day
Nick Kindelsperger writes, “National food holidays are inherently silly, but I’ll never pass up a reasonable excuse to chat about tacos. Even though I wouldn’t think too hard about why National Taco Day is Oct. 4, why not use this as an excuse to look back on the past year?”
