Good morning, Chicago.
The Chicago Transit Authority is ending a contract for unarmed private security guards on the mass transit system in favor of spending on other public safety initiatives, including sworn law enforcement staffing, the agency confirmed yesterday.
In a Friday letter sent to Chicago-based Monterrey Security, the CTA said funds appropriated for the private security contract had been “exhausted” and that Monterrey’s security services should cease immediately. Effective Friday, Monterrey should “cease all work and limit activities to those necessary for orderly Contract wind-down,” said the letter from CTA vice president of security Kevin Ryan, which the Tribune reviewed.
The CTA’s letter cites a section of its contract with Monterrey that says the contract can be terminated “if no funds or insufficient funds are appropriated and budgeted” by the mass transit agency.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Talia Soglin.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: why some Chicago Public Schools parents are pushing back against the May Day agreement, the latest mock draft from Brad Biggs and a closer look at food icon Inocencio Carbajal, El Guëro of Carnitas Uruapan in Chicago.
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McHenry County residents wall off homes against rising Fox River
Jason Bell has lived in Nunda Township for 27 years, long enough to have seen the Fox River flood multiple times. And this week, it’s flooding again.
Along Beach Street in the Bayview Beach subdivision, where homes line a narrow channel off the river, docks and boats have been flooded over. Since Wednesday, Bell has taken time off work, spending his days stacking sandbags along the road, trying to hold the water back from him and his neighbors.
“It’s been all hands on deck,” he said.
Some Chicago Public Schools parents push back against May Day agreement
More than two dozen Chicago Public Schools parents and community members gathered outside a Pilsen elementary school yesterday morning, voicing concerns over the district’s decision to hold a day of civic engagement on May 1.
While classes will remain in session, CPS reached an agreement last week to provide transportation to students who chose to participate in an afternoon rally, and to allow teachers to implement a curriculum on civic engagement.
Judge sentences West Side gang leader to life in prison, calls him ‘boss to a bunch of losers’
Reputed Four Corner Hustlers boss Labar “Bro Man” Spann spent years as a powerful figure in the upper echelon of Chicago’s underworld, a kingpin who used fear, violence and murder to control West Side narcotics markets.
But a federal judge said yesterday that in the end, it was all for nothing.
Lawsuit over National Guard deployment in Illinois runs out of steam, judge dismisses it
Nearly seven months after federal troops were preparing to deploy to Chicago during Operation Midway Blitz, a federal judge yesterday granted a motion to dismiss the state’s lawsuit over the mobilization amid assurances that the presidential orders have been rescinded.
Louisiana community is struggling to understand after man killed 8 children
A stunned Louisiana city struggled to come to grips yesterday with the massacre of eight children carried out by a father who was separating from his wife and used an assault-style weapon despite a 2019 felony firearms conviction.
The violence reverberated across Shreveport a day after the nation’s deadliest mass shooting in two years. Schools brought in counselors for the victims’ young classmates and community leaders called for a citywide reckoning on stopping domestic violence.
Fewer young Americans are pursuing sewing careers. These Chicago tailors think they know why.
Figo Topal has plenty of room to alter clothes in his Lincoln Square storefront, but he chooses to keep his sewing machine in front of the window.“People need to see you work,” he said, his red-framed glasses sliding down to the bridge of his nose as he focused intensely on hemming a pair of beige pants. “That’s the key in this business.”
Topal is one of just 250 professional sewers in the Chicago metropolitan area, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2024. And as Topal and many other skilled trade workers near the end of their careers, fewer young people are pursuing the jobs they leave behind.
Luxury camera store coming to Magnificent Mile, aims to be ‘community center’ for artists
German luxury camera brand Leica will later this month hold a grand opening for its new multistory store and gallery on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile across from the historic Water Tower.It’s Leica’s first gallery in the Midwest and another boost for the famous shopping district. The Magnificent Mile was abandoned by many retailers during the pandemic, but lately has attracted new businesses, including many that provide customers with experiences alongside the sale of goods.
Which direction will the Chicago Bears go with the No. 25 pick? Brad Biggs’ NFL mock draft 3.0.
One thing Bears general manager Ryan Poles talks about consistently is being nimble in the front office.It’s why he mentions having an array of plans and contingencies in free agency, and the Bears also will need a wide menu Thursday night when they choose near the back end of Round 1 in the NFL draft at No. 25.
- Caleb Williams and the Bears — after hitting the ‘reset button’ — get back to work at Halas Hall
- 3 things we learned from the Bears, including Coby Bryant’s similarities to his namesake
Column: ‘Lorne’ documentary shows us the man behind the ‘SNL’ curtain, sort of
Lorne Michaels, the most powerful enigma in television history, ambles, smiles and hides across movie screens for 101 minutes and, along with such friends and former employees as Paul Simon, Steve Martin, Bill Hader, Tina Fey, Colin Jost, Conan O’Brien and many others, gives us a slim portrait of, well, himself, writes Rick Kogan.
Food icon: Inocencio Carbajal, El Guëro of Carnitas Uruapan in Chicago
Inocencio Carbajal founded Carnitas Uruapan at a small storefront in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood in 1975. A big expansion under a new generation led to a location in Gage Park, and finally a stunning flagship in Little Village for their 50th anniversary.
The taqueria still focuses on the so-called little meats from every part of the pig. Carnitas traditionally start with a whole pig. It’s flash-fried golden brown, then slow-cooked for hours. The result is pulled pork that’s crispy, fatty and tender.
