Today in Chicago History: Impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich removed from office
Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.
Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)
High temperature: 63 degrees (2013)
Low temperature: Minus 16 degrees (1966)
Precipitation: 1.33 inches (2013)
Snowfall: 5.3 inches (1909)
1856: William Rand cofounded what would become Rand McNally's first print shop with the Chicago Tribune on Chicago's Lake Street. Twelve years later, the company bought the Tribune's share and began printing railroad tickets and timetables.
1981: Jerry Reinsdorf was approved to buy the Chicago White Sox from Bill Veeck.
It only took American League owners 25 minutes to unanimously approve the sale to a syndicate headed by the Skokie real estate developer and New York television executive Eddie Einhorn.
2009: The Illinois Senate voted 59-0 to remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who walked out of the silent chamber after delivering an impassioned plea for mercy, saying he 'never, ever intended to violate the law.'
Within hours they applauded his former running mate and lieutenant governor, Pat Quinn, who was sworn in as the state's 41st governor.
2019: 'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett reported he was a victim of an allegedly racist and homophobic attack. He was later charged with making it up and convicted in December 2021 on five out of six felony counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police. He was sentenced to 150 days in Cook County Jail.
In a stunning move, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned the convictions in November 2024, finding that a special prosecutor's decision to retry him for allegedly staging a hate crime against himself violated his rights after the Cook County state's attorney's office previously dropped all charges.
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Chicago Tribune
11 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Today in Chicago History: Monarch butterfly becomes state's official insect
Here's a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Aug. 19 according to the Tribune's archives. Is an important event missing from this date? Email us. Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago) 1886: Eight radicals who had been rounded up after the Haymarket Affair on May 4, 1886 — in which a bomb was thrown during a Chicago labor rally that resulted in the death of eight police officers and at least four civilians — were convicted by a jury and sentenced to death by hanging. Four of the convicted were hanged. One committed suicide before he could be executed. Death sentences for two others were commuted and one was sentenced to prison. The three surviving Haymarket defendants subsequently were pardoned by Illinois Gov. John Altgeld, who concluded they were all innocent. Though the U.S. honors workers in September — with Labor Day, which also has Chicago roots — the May 1886 events are commemorated in Chicago by a memorial on Desplaines Street, north of Randolph Street: A bronze statue of a wagon that served as a speakers' platform during the labor meeting. 1969: Ken Holtzman pitched two no-hit games for the Chicago Cubs. This first one was probably more noteworthy for two reasons. First, Holtzman did not strike out a single Atlanta Brave in this game at Wrigley Field. Second, Hank Aaron slammed a high fly that actually cleared the left-field wall. Bleacherites were bracing for the descending ball as a souvenir when the wind blew the ball back into the field of play, where Billy Williams caught it for the out. Holtzman, who died in 2024, and Jake Arrieta are the only pitchers to throw two no-hitters for the Cubs in the modern era, with Holtzman's second coming against the Cincinnati Reds on June 3, 1971, at Riverfront Stadium. 1975: Illinois Gov. Dan Walker signed a bill proposed by third graders at Dennis School in Decatur that made the monarch butterfly the state insect of Illinois. Vintage Chicago Tribune: How the Tully monster became Illinois' official state fossilThe students observed the signing in Springfield. 'We have here a group of youngsters who are completing a unique experience in the governmental process,' Walker said. 'They proposed, they lobbied, and today are bringing to fruition a new law.' The state already had a state tree, flower, bird and mineral, but this was the first insect to become an official symbol in Illinois. 2024: Rookie Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson delivered a short, but spirited pitch during the kickoff of the Democratic National Convention. Johnson opened his speech by declaring Chicago 'the greatest city in the world,' shouting out its long roster of Black and female trailblazers over the decades: the journalist Ida B. Wells, women's suffrage activist Jane Addams, civil rights legend the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the U.S.'s first Black president, Barack Obama. 'And now, Chicago — this city of hard work and caring people — is where Democrats will celebrate President Joe Biden and nominate Kamala Harris for president of the United States of America,' Johnson said, to applause. 'As the son of a family that worked to make ends meet, I know that Kamala Harris — the daughter of a mom who worked hard every single day — she is going to look out for the interests of people.' Demonstrators chant, break fencing, but first major protest of DNC stays mostly peacefulSubscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago's past.
Chicago Tribune
a day ago
- Chicago Tribune
Daywatch: A private school loophole
Good morning, Chicago. The Language and Music School in Oak Park advertises 'a year round 'homeschool in school' style of education' where children can learn at their own pace, using a curriculum tailored to their needs and interests — a Spanish-immersive alternative to the perceived rigidness of the public school system. And it all takes place in a Hogwarts-like mansion. Finding the school, said one mother, felt like 'magic.' But she and a few other families have since come to question whether the state is doing enough to keep watch over how this kind of school is run. Although Illinois law allows nonprofit private schools to register voluntarily with the state or seek state recognition, it bars for-profit operations such as The Language and Music School from doing either. In written responses to Tribune questions, conveyed through its attorney, the school said it does not shun government oversight and would immediately seek recognition from the state if the law were changed to allow it to do so. Read the full story from the Tribune's Jonathan Bullington and Gregory Royal Pratt. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including the race to lower SNAP costs, Cardinal Blase Cupich celebrates 50 years with the Catholic Church and how the South Side welcomed Savannah this weekend. Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History A little more than a month after President Donald Trump signed into law a sweeping Republican domestic package that expanded work requirements for SNAP benefits to previously exempt groups such as adults ages 55 to 64, the state and people receiving benefits are getting ready for a recalibration. Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker's administration is sprinting to figure out how to avoid a potential $700 million price tag by changing operations to achieve a level of payment accuracy that the vast majority of states currently do not meet. At the same time, Illinois also must handle the federally mandated work requirements on new groups that experts say could lead to people losing benefits. At a farm in the south suburbs, upbeat Arabic music swept across the land as more than a dozen Palestinian children — many with prosthetic limbs or in wheelchairs — and their families danced and moved to the music in the center of a raised platform. One of the children, Khalil Abu Shaban, traveled in a circle using his wheelchair and periodically sang into a microphone as the dozens who attended the Saturday celebration at Arab Chicago Farm in Frankfort excitedly clapped for him. As climate change and invasive species threaten the whitefish's reproductive patterns, experts say the species is at risk of disappearing entirely from Lake Michigan in the next few years. From salted whitefish exports that poured out of Chicago's harbor in the late 1800s, to whitefish dinners in northern Michigan and Wisconsin, to their integral role in some Anishinaabe creation stories, they've been a cultural and culinary cornerstone of the region for thousands of years. They're also a major economic engine for fisheries across the Great Lakes, which bring an estimated $5.1 billion to the region annually. After mounting pressure from advocates and elected officials, ICE granted Jose Gregorio Gonzalez a temporary humanitarian parole so that they could proceed with the transplant, an unexpected move at a time when the agency is ramping up enforcement. Unlike in past administrations, immigration experts say agents today have less discretion over individual cases and are under pressure to meet deportation quotas, leaving little room for compassion. Cardinal Blase Cupich celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination with a golden jubilee Mass on Saturday at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. Despite major challenges facing the global Catholic Church — from financial woes to ongoing fallout from the church sex abuse crisis — Cupich says his love for pastoring and service hasn't waned since his ordination five decades ago. Bally's Chicago announced Friday it has completed its $250 million initial public offering, adding 1,800 individual investors to the project, but falling short of its fundraising goals. Days after an incident at a bar in Wicker Park, the Chicago Police Department on Friday stripped the police powers of the officer who fatally shot Officer Krystal Rivera earlier this year. A department spokesperson confirmed that Officer Carlos Baker, who is on medical leave from the department, was stripped of his police powers Friday. A former public relations manager for the Chicago Blackhawks filed a discrimination lawsuit against the team last week, alleging he was wrongfully fired after sharing his experiences as a gay man in an article with Outsports, a site covering LGBTQ+ sports news. The Bears crushed the Bills, 38-0, in a nationally televised preseason game, one in which quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills' starters did not play. Still, coach Ben Johnson's new offense was on full display during the opening possession. The dancing, baseball-playing — sorry, Banana Ball-playing — team finished their first trip to Rate Field on Saturday with a second game in as many nights against the Firefighters. The weekend included trick plays, dancing in the heat and nonstop music from start till dawn. Tribune photojournalists captured moments from this year's Chicago Air and Water Show, the largest free show of its kind in the United States. Ten visually impaired models walked in the Beautiful Lives Fashion Show earlier this month at the CD Peacock Mansion in Oak Brook. The inaugural event celebrated the idea that everyone can enjoy clothing — even if they experience it in a different way than most. 'Good fashion feels like the textures that send tingling sensations through your fingers,' said Beautiful Lives Project co-founder Bryce Weiler, who has been blind since birth. 'Textures mean something.'
Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
Video of Merrillville woman's arrest by Lake County Sheriff's Department shows excessive force before miscarriage, lawyer says
A Merrillville woman's lawyer said recently released bodycam footage backs up her accusations that Lake County Sheriff's deputies forcibly pulled her from a vehicle during an arrest despite knowing she was pregnant. Three months later, she had a miscarriage. I'm '(expletive) pregnant,' Shikeia Randolph, 31, yells just before two officers pull her from a red Chevrolet Trailblazer, according to video obtained by the Post-Tribune through a public records request. A federal lawsuit accusing the officers of excessive force was filed two months ago in the U.S. District Court in Hammond. It alleges that a 3:24 a.m. traffic stop on June 5, 2023 was 'pretextual' — for an issue with a license plate cover, then a school truancy warrant — and quickly spiraled out of control. The video from an officer's dashboard camera appears to show, as she is arrested, the two officers turn her on her stomach as one pins her down to handcuff her hands behind her back. Randolph previously told the Post-Tribune she had just stopped for milk at a 24-hour gas station in Gary near Ridge Road and Grant Street with her four kids in the vehicle. She was supposed to drop them off at her mother's house, then head to her early shift as a receptionist at the Gary Housing Authority. Officer Peter Hamady, who pulled her over, is named with the sheriff's department in the lawsuit. His lawyer Casey McCloskey declined comment. In a federal filing on Aug. 7, McCloskey formally denied the accusations against Hamady, saying in part that his actions were 'objectively reasonable' and protected by 'qualified immunity.' Some of Randolph's claims could fall outside of a two-year statute of limitations, he wrote. McCloskey argued because Randolph refused to get out of her SUV, she forced cops to go after her, according to court documents. She disputed this, in interviews with the Post-Tribune. On the way to booking, Randolph tells Hamady the truancy case in Merrillville Town Court was for taking her daughter repeatedly to school a little late when she was in pain from just having another baby, according to footage recorded inside Hamady's police car. He appears to soften. 'I didn't know they had warrants for that,' he said in the footage. In an interview, Matthew Custardo, Randolph's lawyer in the federal lawsuit, argued the use of force was unjustified, even if she was arguing with the cops. 'She was confused why she was being pulled over,' he said. 'She's scared. She has every reason to be a little concerned about what's going on. She's standing up for herself, certainly.' According to the nearly 40-minute bodycam video, police officers tell her to call someone to pick up the kids, so they don't have to call child protective services. Originally, Randolph said she thought it might have been a warrant for an old driving while suspended case. 'Call CPS for what?' she responds in the video. 'A warrant for a suspended license?' 'It's not for that,' Hamady tells her in the footage. After she asks again, he says it's for truancy. 'Listen, you have a warrant,' Hamady said in the video. 'You're lucky I don't have you cuffed out of the car right now. You wanna go that route?' In the video, she accuses Hamady of pulling out of a nearby parking lot before she passed him. 'Ma'am, I was behind you,' he responded in the footage. At least three other officers are in view. 'I'm taking you to court,' she the phone, Randolph tells her mother the '(expletive) police' pulled her over as she asked her to get her kids, according to the video. She asks officers to wait until her mother arrives. 'I guess they are going to take me to jail,' she said over the phone in the footage. Randolph said in a previous interview with the Post-Tribune that the encounter appeared to escalate when she rolled up her window slightly to hear what her mom was saying. The arrest happens within about 12 minutes into the footage. As officers open her car door and grab her arm, Randolph's children can be heard crying in the back seat. 'This is your last warning,' one of the officers said in the video. 'We don't want your kids to see this.' 'You already freaked my kids out,' she said. 'Get out of the (expletive) car,' one officer stated in the footage. I'm '(expletive) pregnant,' she yells just before two officers pull her from the vehicle after she tried to cling to the steering wheel in the video. 'Let me go! Get off of me! Please get off of me! Somebody help me!' After she is handcuffed on the ground, a police dog is seen in the background of the dashboard camera footage. Randolph's white shoes are scattered nearby. 'I'm trying to help you out here,' one officer tells her in the video. Randolph was charged with resisting law enforcement two months later. Hamady's account in court documents makes no mention of her pregnancy. During the ride to booking at the Lake County Jail, they talk at length about her decision to have a fifth child, according to footage inside the police car. Her fiancé wanted one last child, she said. When Hamady asks how far along she is on the video, she responds she's nearly 12 weeks pregnant. 'Well, congrats to you,' he said in the video. Hamady stated in the footage that her bond should be $400. It's 'not Friday, so it's a good thing,' he tells her in the video. 'I'll make sure they keep you updated.' He asks if she's comfortable as late-'90s era music plays over the radio, the footage shows, before they chat about where she is planning to get married. Do you 'want the window open back there, or are you good?' he asks in the video. Since police insisted on towing her red Chevrolet Trailblazer, Randolph's mother had to take four kids back in a cramped sedan, a situation that was not likely 'legally safe,' Custardo said. Randolph's lawsuit alleged her arrest suggested a 'broader pattern' in the Lake County Sheriff's Department, including 'inadequate training,' 'insufficient supervision' and a 'failure to implement effective accountability measures,' according to court documents. The Lake County Sheriff's Department refused to answer questions related to the incident, including what kind of de-escalation training its officers receive at various stages in their careers. Hamady joined the department in 2022, according to court filings. Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. declined comment through a spokeswoman, who said he could not discuss pending litigation. Watching the video with her mother was 'very emotional,' Randolph said in an Aug. 5 interview, especially hearing her kids crying in the video's background. She refused to let her 12-year-old daughter view it. 'I feel better now that I've seen it,' Randolph said. 'It matches the exact story I've been telling for so long.' There's been some 'expected' backlash online after a pair of articles in local newspapers, Randolph said. She was there trying to protect herself and her Williams, her criminal public defender, said she did remember parts of the case in retrospect, and confirmed she tried to get the bodycam from the Lake County Sheriff's Department 'multiple times' since the case was filed in August 2023. Court filings show one discovery request for the body cam was made as late as October 2024. The only reason not to turn it over was if they 'didn't want me to see something,' she said. Randolph was tired of repeatedly coming to court for a slow-moving case, Williams said. She told her client that she could fight to get the bodycam footage, or take a pretrial diversion to get rid of the case in a year. 'It's common to get slow discovery (evidence) when you're requesting bodycams,' Williams said, adding that some police departments are worse than others, but she's had 'good experience' with the sheriff's department in the past. Randolph's case is scheduled for a pretrial diversion hearing on Aug. 15. However, an automatic court filing on Aug. 11 appears to show there may be a snag. Court filings show Randolph, her fiancé and sister were charged June 26 with resisting law enforcement in Hobart. Hobart Police Cpl. Christopher Sipes wrote that Randolph and her fiancé got his attention around 1:30 a.m. May 25 on Main Street for ignoring a 'pedestrian signal.' , Randolph said they were out that night celebrating her fiancé's birthday. As End Zone let out across the street, a crowd, including the half-dozen in her group, were migrating to the other bar, Randolph said. At least two officers were there, as someone behind them yelled something about the guy handcuffed on the ground getting arrested nearby. The officer thought her fiancé said something, she said. Sipes wrote he and the other officer followed them into Cagney's. 'Bulls jersey, stop right there,' the other officer said to Randolph's fiancé, according to court records. As they got to the bar, Randolph said an officer grabbed her arm from behind. According to court documents, when the officer asked for identification, the couple 'ignored' him and said they 'didn't do anything.' Randolph 'stepped in front' of officers to block them from her fiance. As the cops went to arrest them just inside the bar's entrance, the crowd 'became aggressive,' the officer wrote. During a 'struggle' as she was being handcuffed, Randolph's black strapless top fell down, exposing her breasts, records state. Randolph said in an interview she tried to turn away for some privacy, because there were a 'million people standing around.' Once she stood up, an officer wrote, he pulled her top back up, records state. She denied she got in their way or refused to give her identification card. The officer was bigger than her, and it didn't make sense that she could overpower him. The whole incident was 'very unfortunate,' her lawyer Patrick Young said Aug. 7, adding he's working with prosecutors to resolve the case.
