Daywatch: School board elections see general pushback against conservatives
Good morning, Chicago.
Voters across the Chicago suburbs and around the state turned back attempts to pull local school boards to the right in Tuesday’s elections, though conservative candidates had pockets of success, winning enough seats to take control in some districts.
Typically low-cost, low-interest school board races have become national political proxy fights following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Chicago suburbs have become a key battleground.
Efforts by conservative groups pushing national Republican talking points about “parental rights,” “gender ideology” and “critical race theory” were met in Illinois with an unprecedented pushback from the state Democratic Party, which pledged nearly $300,000 to oppose candidates it labeled “extremists.” Teachers unions also took a more active role in campaigning this spring.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Dan Petrella and Zareen Syed.
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City keeps plenty of salt on hand for roads, even when there’s little snow on the ground
Chicago’s 2023 winter season has been mild, with snowfall at the lowest it has been in 12 years. To clear the roads of the 18 inches of snow that did fall, the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation used 132,363 tons of salt, or less than a third of its annual inventory, to prevent slippery driving conditions.
So what happens to the salt that isn’t used?
Former McPier leader Juan Ochoa testifies at ‘ComEd Four’ trial about his path to utility’s board
The plan to get Juan Ochoa appointed to a lucrative position on Commonwealth Edison’s board of directors had been in the works for nearly eight months when then-House Speaker Michael Madigan got a call from his closest confidant saying it was close to a done deal.
“Speaker, Juan Ochoa. You may call him,” Michael McClain, a former lobbyist working as a consultant for the utility, said on the July 17, 2018, call.
‘Faith in the future.’ Ukrainians prepare to celebrate their first Easter in Chicago
As the mother’s fingertips touched the soft buds of a pussy willow branch blessed by a priest a few minutes prior, the familiar texture took her back to her homeland, war-torn Ukraine.
To begin Holy Week, 48-year-old Bohdana Stasiv and her son Maksim, 24, celebrated Palm Sunday at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood.
Column: White Sox are trying not to panic after a mind-numbing series against the Giants
If the Sox were a dating app, they’d be a quick “swipe left,” writes Paul Sullivan. And if first impressions are lasting, this team is deep trouble.
We saw enough this homestand to discover manager Pedro Grifol has no problem sticking with struggling starters or sending the same position player out to the mound twice in three days to save his bullpen.
88 concerts for summer
It’s been a nonstop drumbeat of concert announcements for 2023: Taylor Swift, Springsteen, Beyoncé, Drake. LCD Soundsystem is coming in a new Re:SET festival. Just announced on the heels of a Wilco residency, Jeff Tweedy will tour solo this summer starting at the Vic.
The concerts on this list begin this weekend and stretch through the end of September.
