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Chicago Tribune
4 days ago
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Daywatch: HUD drops housing discrimination complaint against Chicago
Good morning, Chicago. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is dropping its investigation into whether or not aldermanic prerogative, which typically gives Chicago aldermen the final word on zoning decisions in their ward, resulted in housing discrimination. In a letter HUD sent yesterday to the complaining parties, which was obtained by the Tribune, the agency said it was closing the case to instead focus on 'real concerns regarding fair housing.' 'It is the Department's policy to focus on the original understanding and enforcement of the law and therefore rightfully return such decisions on zoning, home building, and more, to local leaders who are directly responsible for those matters,' the letter says. 'HUD enforcement will continue to prioritize investigations of specific allegations of actual discrimination, rather than dictate or influence land use policy.' Read the full story from the Tribune's Lizzie Kane and Alice Yin. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including what we know about yesterday's ground stop of United flights, what's on deck for the Cubs and White Sox and what to do this weekend. Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History United Airlines paused departures of flights nationwide yesterday evening due to an unspecified technology issue at the Chicago-based carrier. At about 9 p.m., the carrier in a statement said the technology issue had been resolved and that 'while we expect residual delays, our team is working to restore our normal operations.' The Chicago man accused of fatally shooting two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington outside a Jewish museum has been indicted on federal hate crime and murder charges, according to court documents unsealed yesterday. The indictment, filed in federal court in Washington, charges Elias Rodriguez with nine counts, including a hate crime resulting in death. The indictment also includes notice of special findings, which would allow the Justice Department to potentially pursue the death penalty. Gov. JB Pritzker emphasized his administration was closely coordinating with state and even local law enforcement to protect Texas House Democrats who fled to Illinois to stop a Republican congressional remap, especially after a bomb threat caused the lawmakers to be evacuated yesterday from their suburban hotel. The Department of Justice placed Chicago, Cook County, and the state of Illinois on its latest 'sanctuary jurisdiction list,' with Attorney General Pam Bondi promising to 'continue bringing litigation' against places the department says stand in the way of federal immigration enforcement. A Chicago police officer with a history of financial trouble has been indicted on federal bank fraud charges alleging he lied on loan paperwork tied to the purchase of three properties in 2019. Nine months after an Illinois appeals court called the circumstances surrounding the murder case against a Chicago man 'extraordinary' and reversed his convictions, his quest for an on-paper exoneration in the form of a certificate of innocence has been delayed after the Cook County state's attorney's office reassigned the case to outside prosecutors. Kevin Jackson, whose journey for release from prison in a 2001 murder case took many twists and turns, was in court Wednesday as Cook County Judge Erica Reddick granted a request by special prosecutor Fabio Valentini to give the state nearly two more months to respond to Jackson's petition for a certificate of innocence. Top Trump administration officials boast that a new state partnership to expand immigrant detention in Indiana will be the next so-called ' Alligator Alcatraz.' However, the agreement is already prompting backlash in the Midwest state, starting with its splashy 'Speedway Slammer' moniker. Here's a closer look at the agreement, the pushback and Indiana's role in the Trump agenda to aggressively detain and deport people in the country illegally. The Cubs head into an off day after avoiding a three-game sweep for the first time this season with a win in yesterday's series finale against the Cincinnati Reds. They head to St. Louis and then Toronto as they look to get the offense back on track. Meanwhile, the Sox haven't had much success against the American League Central (7-20). In the sci-fi comedy 'Demascus,' a man attending therapy tries a new technology that allows him to visit alternate versions of his life that exist in his subconscious in an effort to figure out why he's feeling so bleh, writes Tribune film and TV critic Nina Metz. But which version is closest to his real life? Actually, which one is his real life, anyway? The story premise sounds like Stephen King or M. Night Shyamalan material, though writer-director Zach Cregger has cited Paul Thomas Anderson's sprawling wonder 'Magnolia' as a chief inspiration. In the town of Maybrook, a terrible thing happened not long ago, the young narrator tells us. Seventeen students from schoolteacher Justine Gandy's third-grade class left their beds and their homes at 2:17 a.m. one night, running, arms outstretched, to a destination and a fate unknown, writes Tribune film critic Michael Phillips. Here are our picks for events in and around Chicago this weekend.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Daywatch: Chicago Housing Authority is owed millions in rent, report finds
Good morning, Chicago. More than 1,000 Chicago Housing Authority residents who are behind on rent have not paid for an average of nearly two years. CHA's Office of the Inspector General report from the last quarter of 2024 found that as of March 1, 2024, CHA was owed more than $10.4 million dollars in rent by these 1,394 residents and was failing to enforce its lease agreements with them. CHA is the third largest public housing authority in the country, serving more than 65,000 households, and it also is the largest single owner of rental housing in the city with more than 21,000 public housing units. The agency has a 2025 budget of $1.3 billion. The OIG advisory comes as the agency is managing senior staff turnover, including in its general counsel position, and is searching for a permanent replacement for former CEO Tracey Scott. Read the full story from the Tribune's Lizzie Kane. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day. Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History A Delta Air Lines jet flipped on its roof while landing Monday at Toronto's Pearson Airport, but all 80 people on board survived and those hurt had relatively minor injuries, the airport's chief executive said. Snow was being blown by winds gusting to 40 mph when the flight from Minneapolis carrying 76 passengers and four crew attempted to land on a dry runway at around 2:15 p.m. Authorities said the cause of the crash remained under investigation. Mexico said yesterday it's awaiting a new response from Google to its request that the tech company fully restore the name Gulf of Mexico to its Google Maps service before filing a lawsuit. A number of high-profile employers in recent months have taken steps to significantly curb pandemic-era remote work. And the latest return-to-office mandates may help give a boost to businesses in Chicago, especially in the Loop. Gov. Mike Braun's property tax plan has now become an act after the Indiana Senate passed it in a 37-10 vote. The bill changes the homestead standard deduction amount of 60% of the homestead's assessed value if the value is more than $125,000 or $48,000 plus 60% of the remaining assessed value if the homestead has an assessed value of $125,000 or less. Illinois secession bill passes out of Indiana committee, but even supporters aren't totally on board Indiana House legislation focused on nuclear energy moves to Senate Tom Davis and Eleni Vrettos were supposed to be celebrating on Saturday, but instead after their vows, the bride and groom found themselves racing to their Cicero home after learning it had exploded. Dressed in her gown and heels, Vrettos trudged her way through the snow to find smoke streaming out of the place she called home for most of her life. Her beloved cats, who she called her children and named signature drinks after at the wedding, gone. Behind the scenes at the Brookfield Zoo, five spider monkeys are preparing to make their public debut this summer. Their journey began more than a year ago when they were confiscated from smugglers at the Mexican border after being snatched from the wild, their mothers killed in the process. While noting last week that the season-opening two-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 18-19 in Japan is important, Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell stressed that it's only two games. That suggests he won't try to rush players back from any nagging injuries just to play in the series. Photos: Chicago Cubs media day 2025 Luis Robert Jr. had been mentioned in trade speculation throughout the offseason. But the center fielder was back at Chicago White Sox camp on Monday, participating in the team's first full-squad workout of the spring. Kay Smith illustrated cookbooks and children's books before gaining a reputation for her watercolor paintings of historic landmarks that led to what she called her 'American Legacy' collection. Smith, who taught painting at the Old Town Triangle Association for two decades, was named Artist Laureate of Illinois in 1994. Her work was displayed in the state of Illinois' executive mansion, the Three Arts Club of Chicago and the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Missouri. Pan-Africanism is a theory that proclaims peoples of African descent, worldwide as a group with shared ancestry and experiences of oppression and calls on them to unite for a better future. It's been around since about 1900. 'Project a Black Planet' at the Art Institute explores its cultural manifestations through more than 350 objects created by artists from Africa, North and South America and Europe, writes Lori Waxman. In 1978, Harold Pinter wrote a play about an affair that wrecks a marriage. The canonical work, 'Betrayal,' is structured in reverse chronology. The first two scenes of the far-from-merry Pinter play take place after the affair has ended, in 1977. The final scene of the play ends even as the affair begins, in 1968. Pinter wrote Emma to be 29 when it began, Jerry and Robert, about 32. Those are not the age ranges of the actors director Susan Booth has cast in her made-in-Chicago revival of the play, that opened last night at the Goodman Theatre. But the older actors were cast by Booth with intentionality. Robert Sean Leonard is 55. He plays Robert. Ian Barford is 58. He plays Jerry. Helen Hunt is 61. She plays Emma.
