Daywatch: Tree inequity in Chicago neighborhoods
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Good morning, Chicago.
The parkway in front of Marco De La Rosa’s home remains bare. There isn’t a sapling to bloom in spring or a shade tree to temper the summer heat along this stretch of seven properties in a row in Gage Park, a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood on the Southwest Side. De La Rosa tried to change that. More than 2 ½ years ago, the former environmental science student asked the city to plant a tree.
“I feel disappointed,” he told the Tribune. “But I also don’t feel surprised.”
Over the past decade the city has backtracked on ambitious goals made years ago to provide residents with trees, particularly on the South and West sides where researchers say trees are needed the most, a Tribune investigation found.
The failures come as research shows trees blunt the warmer, wetter effects of climate change in the Great Lakes region. Fewer trees in neighborhoods can mean hotter temperatures, more flooding, dirtier air and higher electric bills — all of which can affect mental and physical health.
— Morgan Greene and Joe Mahr
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U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger says Trump lacks ‘mental capability’ to be president again if he believed election was stolen
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Kinzinger, one of only two Republicans on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, also warned that if Trump were elected president again, he would install government leaders who value loyalty to him over their oath to the country.
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A stoic politician whose life was beset by personal tragedies, Ryan rose from DuPage County state’s attorney to serve two terms as Illinois attorney general, but was twice defeated bids for governor.
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