Good morning, Chicago.
Six Chicago Public Schools classrooms have reverted to universal masking, a spokesperson confirmed, amid a spike in cases. The pivot back to required masking in the classrooms is apparently the first in CPS since it dropped its universal mask mandate a week ago, though it continues to recommend masks.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Board of Education is poised to set Aug. 22 as the start of the school year for CPS students. The board is scheduled to vote on the 2022-23 academic calendar at Wednesday’s meeting.
The board is also set to to settle a pair of lawsuits alleging a special education student sexually assaulted two classmates on different dates in a bathroom of a Southwest Side high school.
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During his first months in office, Gov. J.B. Pritzker promised to “overhaul” Illinois’ broken child welfare system following a report that criticized policies for keeping families together after abuse and neglect allegations came to light.
But despite pouring at least an additional $100 million into DCFS each year — and proposing an increase of $250 million this year — the agency remains understaffed and is still failing to get troubled youths into the right places quickly, advocates say.
Two dozen striking WTTW technicians came out from behind the cameras and held a union rally in front of the station’s North Side studios Monday seeking support in their quest for job guarantees and a new labor contract.
The employees, all members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1220, went on strike Wednesday after being unable to reach an agreement with WTTW-Ch. 11 following nearly a year of negotiations. It is the first such strike in the 67-year-history of the Chicago public TV station.
As Chicago’s ward remap battle rages on, attorneys and consultants are cashing in
Negotiations between Black and Latino aldermen over redrawing Chicago’s ward boundaries have resulted in more performative name-calling than compromises, but the city’s cash register keeps ringing for private specialists hired by each side.
Powerful attorneys, map consultants and others working for the City Council’s Black and Latino caucuses, as well as the council Rules Committee that is supposed to be mediating the debate, have so far billed Chicagoans more than $720,000, according to invoices the Tribune received from the city through an open records request.
That dollar figure will undoubtedly get bigger because some consultants and attorneys have only billed through the end of 2021. But the remap cost to taxpayers may skyrocket.
For the first time since being traded to the North Side from the White Sox in the Craig Kimbrel deal, Nick Madrigal played for the Cubs. Yes, it was just a Cactus League game. But it was a long-awaited step in his return from right hamstring surgery. Madrigal led off Monday against the Cincinnati Reds, going 0-for-2 with a pair of groundouts.
Starting pitchers will be on display Tuesday in Cactus League games for the Cubs and White Sox. Here’s a look at what’s happening at both camps.
My worst moment: The time ‘Abbott Elementary’ star Lisa Ann Walter froze in a scene with Tom Cruise
On ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” the hit freshman sitcom that was just renewed for a second season, Lisa Ann Walter plays the tough-talking second grade teacher. The role, she said, fits her like a glove: She knows a guy who knows a guy, not just on the show but in real life too: “Oh, that’s me!”
Walter’s other credits range from “The Parent Trap” (Chessy!) to “Bruce Almighty” to “War of the Worlds,” the latter of which came to mind when she was asked to share a worst moment in her career.
