Daywatch: Rising food costs and the social media uproar over a burrito price | Pritzker vetoes COVID sick leave bill for school employees | Al Capone’s death, 75 years later

Good morning, Chicago.

For a brief moment over the weekend, west suburban Hinsdale became the center of an internet viral moment involving inflation, burritos, wealth and privilege. The scorn of social media users was focused on the lead anecdote of a Friday New York Times article about food inflation: A Hinsdale stock trader voiced his annoyance with an increase in Chipotle’s burrito price. He walked out of the eatery after learning the price of a burrito was over $9, when it previously hovered around $8.50.

The internet furor that briefly caused the tony suburb to trend on Twitter underscores the disparity in how Americans are experiencing widespread inflation.

Like in other sectors, consumer prices for food products have substantially increased since last year. Rising food prices affect everyone, but the phenomenon has been particularly harmful for those who already struggled with food insecurity, experts say.

Madeline Buckley, Tatyana Turner and Lisa Donovan

Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.

COVID-19 tracker | More newsletters | Puzzles & Games | Daily horoscope | Ask Amy | Today’s eNewspaper edition

Nearly 10,000 women traveled from out of state to have an abortion in Illinois in 2020 — a 29% increase

State health statistics show 9,686 out-of-state women terminated a pregnancy in Illinois in 2020, comprising about 21% of all 46,243 abortions performed statewide. This was over 2,000 more than the 7,534 women who came here from another state in 2019.

The rise in travelers was anticipated by reproductive rights advocates and opponents of abortion alike, attributed largely to nearby states with increasingly stringent abortion laws, including those mandating waiting periods, gestational limits and more regulations on clinics.

Pritzker vetoes proposal to pay COVID-19 sick leave to all school employees, says only fully vaccinated should be compensated

Gov. J.B. Pritzker vetoed legislation Monday that would have guaranteed COVID-19-related sick leave for school employees, while signaling support for a “compromise” plan that would limit compensation to only those who are fully vaccinated.

Pritzker and leaders with the state’s two largest teachers unions have been huddling for weeks, with the unions urging Pritzker to sign the School Employee Benefit and Wage Protection bill after it passed with strong bipartisan support in October.

Hinsdale District 86 anti-racism consultant withdraws training proposal, citing hate mail and hostile comments from residents

An equity and anti-racism consultant withdrew her proposal to provide training to faculty at Hinsdale High School District 86 ahead of her presentation to the Board of Education, citing a hostile environment that exhibits “racism.”

At the beginning of a school board meeting earlier this month, the district’s superintendent read a letter from the North Carolina-based consultant:

“The vitriol and lack of professionalism in the direct messages I received from members of your school community demonstrates a clear lack of goodwill to address issues of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in your district,” the letter stated. “I got several messages yesterday and really think Hinsdale is a dangerous place and would not be physically comfortable there.”

CTA tracks will be demolished and rebuilt on North Side as the next phase of the Red-Purple Line project begins

CTA tracks through part of Lakeview will soon start coming down, as the next phase of a major Red and Purple Line modernization project gets underway.

Months after the completion of a flyover near the busy Belmont train station that carries northbound Brown Line trains over the Red and Purple tracks, the CTA is embarking on the next piece of the project: Tracks just north of the station will be demolished and rebuilt, straightening a curve.

Al Capone’s final days, death in Florida and burial in Chicago — why we remember it 75 years later

Tuesday marks the 75th anniversary of Capone’s death. Some wonder if the legendary Chicago Outfit boss should be remembered given his brutal resume — which included bootlegger, racketeer and suspected orchestrator of the St. Valentine’s Day massacre in 1929. The Chicago Crime Commission named him “chief of gangland,” and the Tribune first referred to Capone as “public enemy No. 1″ in 1930. Tribune readers voiced the same concerns following a front-page headline about his impending death in 1947.

Advertisement