Latest news with #SarahFreishtat
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Daywatch: RTA outlines ‘doomsday' transit cuts
Good morning, Chicago. More than half of Chicago's bus routes could be eliminated, at least parts of four 'L' lines could shut down and Metra weekday service would be slashed to once an hour under a transit doomsday scenario. Those are some of the cuts under consideration if lawmakers fail to plug a $771 million budget gap expected to hit the region's four transit agencies as soon as next year, when COVID-19 relief funding runs out, the Regional Transportation Authority said. Also on the table are fare hikes and job losses. The potential cuts represent a worst-case scenario if none of the budget hole is filled. The reductions would dramatically slash service across the CTA, Metra and Pace, limit access to buses and trains across the city and suburbs and bring dire economic consequences to the region, the RTA warned. Read the full story from the Tribune's Sarah Freishtat. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: the Chicago Board of Education postponing a vote on a controversial budget amendment, tornado damage evident in parts of Gary and how the Cubs spent their time in Tokyo. Today's eNewspaper edition | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History Moving to fulfill a campaign promise, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for the dismantling of the Education Department, an agency Republicans have talked about closing for decades. Here is a look at some of the department's key functions, and how Trump has said he might approach them. The Chicago Board of Education postponed yesterday a controversial budget amendment pushed by Mayor Brandon Johnson, prolonging doubt about who will pay for a new teachers contract and a $175 million pension payment to the city. School board President Sean Harden cited contract negotiations as the reason for the delay. 'We're extremely, extremely close to settling the teachers union contract,' Harden said at the start of the board meeting. After making history in 2017 as Aurora's first Black mayor and cruising to reelection four years ago, Richard Irvin now faces a political challenge partly of his own making as he seeks a third term leading Illinois' second-largest city. The ostensibly nonpartisan April 1 election is a rematch against John Laesch, an Aurora alderman at-large who was one of two candidates Irvin bested by more than 30 points in 2021. But this time Laesch is getting a boost from the Illinois Democratic Party, which entered the fray after Irvin repeatedly slammed Gov. JB Pritzker during the mayor's well-funded but ill-fated bid for the Republican nomination for governor in 2022. Democratic U.S. Rep. Sean Casten said he 'absolutely' will continue to hold town hall meetings even though an event in Downers Grove was cut short by police after heated confrontations between the congressman and a small group of Palestinian and Israeli supporters. Jeron Prentice didn't hear sirens, he didn't get a phone notification, but he knew when the storm hit, he had to hide. 'I didn't have time to make it to the basement,' Prentice said. 'I just made it to the bathroom, and sat in the bathtub, and waited.' Prentice's home, which is owned by his aunt Carolyn Lewis, was one home on 21st Avenue in Gary that was hit by a Wednesday night tornado. The home was missing windows and some of its gutters, and early yesterday afternoon, it was still without electricity and gas. The Chicago Department of Public Health is advising city residents to check their measles vaccination records, as the illness continues to spread in other parts of the country. No cases of measles have been reported in Illinois this year. But across the country, there have been more than 300 cases so far this year in 15 states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Measles cases are still rising. Here's what to know about the contagious virus, including symptoms and boosters. Kasparas Jakučionis never watched NCAA basketball growing up in Lithuania. But a few years ago, he latched onto March Madness and he understood its appeal. 'You can see how every win, every detail in the game matters,' Jakučionis said. 'Every possession matters, and you win or you go home. And that's the beauty of basketball.' The Illinois freshman guard will get his first in-person taste of the NCAA Tournament today when the No. 6 seed Illini face 11th-seeded Xavier at 8:45 p.m. at Fiserv Forum. Genesis Bryant nearly gave up basketball 3 years ago. Now she leads Illinois into 2nd NCAA Tournament in 3 years. Paige Bueckers, Olivia Miles and Aneesah Morrow headline list of 2025 WNBA draft prospects in NCAA Tournament Major League Baseball returned to the Tokyo Dome for the first time since 2019 with the Chicago Cubs' two-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. From opening day at the Tokyo Dome to a welcome dinner full of surprises, here's how the Cubs spent their time in Japan. Thanks to a recent restoration funded by Mellody Hobson and George Lucas via their Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation, the bracingly cockeyed comic romance 'The Annihilation of Fish' has dropped in from the past, with Lynn Redgrave and Margot Kidder in memorable supporting roles. It opens in Chicago today at the Gene Siskel Film Center and the Wayfarer Theatre in Highland Park. Tribune film critic Michael Phillips has this review. Billed as part of the 'Tour Before the Tour,' the British folk rock band Mumford & Sons takes the stage at the Chicago Theatre days before its new album release for 'Rushmere.'
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Yahoo
Tribune files lawsuit against CTA for failing to turn over documents related to 2023 Yellow Line crash, among other FOIA requests
The Chicago Tribune is suing the Chicago Transit Authority for allegedly violating the Freedom of Information Act after the transit agency failed to turn over records related to the 2023 Yellow Line crash, among other requests. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court, cites six FOIA requests made by Tribune reporter Sarah Freishtat over 14 months in which the CTA did not respond promptly, fully or at all. 'The CTA has engaged in a pattern of violating FOIA, requesting extensions of time in response to the Tribune's proper FOIA requests, then failing to produce the requested records, which reflects a complete disregard of its obligation to provide public records,' the lawsuit states. A CTA spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Friday. The first of the six FOIA requests was made Dec. 22, 2023, seeking correspondence between the CTA and federal and state transportation agencies after the Yellow Line crash, which happened one month earlier. In the November 2023 incident, a Yellow Line train, also known as the Skokie Swift, hit a snowplow on the tracks while approaching the Howard station in Chicago, injuring two dozen passengers and causing $8.7 million in damage. Under the state's Freedom of Information Act, public agencies have up to 10 days to comply with or deny an information request. They may also ask for additional time to compile and provide complex records. The CTA took until July 2024 — nearly seven months later — to come up with a 'partial response' to the Yellow Line request, providing communication records related to the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Transit Administration. However, Freishtat never received promised information regarding the CTA's communications with the Illinois Department of Transportation, according to the lawsuit. In addition, the CTA has failed to fully comply with subsequent FOIA requests, including overtime spending, use of CTA vehicles by agency officials, and personnel records of employees involved in the Yellow Line crash. The most recent request was submitted Jan. 13 seeking all severance payments made to CTA President Dorval Carter, who announced he was stepping down at the end of January. The request was extended to Jan. 28, but the CTA has yet to provide the information, according to the lawsuit. This is the fifth lawsuit brought against the CTA in the last year for failure to comply with its FOIA obligations, including one by the Chicago Sun-Times. In recent years, the Tribune has prevailed in several lawsuits against the city of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department for failing to comply with FOIA requests made by reporters. The lawsuit against the CTA is seeking to compel the transit agency to promptly produce all requested non-exempt records, without charging processing fees, as well as awarding the Tribune attorneys' fees and costs. rchannick@
Chicago Tribune
28-02-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Tribune files lawsuit against CTA for failing to turn over documents related to 2023 Yellow Line crash, among other FOIA requests
The Chicago Tribune is suing the Chicago Transit Authority for allegedly violating the Freedom of Information Act after the transit agency failed to turn over records related to the 2023 Yellow Line crash, among other requests. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court, cites six FOIA requests made by Tribune reporter Sarah Freishtat over 14 months in which the CTA did not respond promptly, fully or at all. 'The CTA has engaged in a pattern of violating FOIA, requesting extensions of time in response to the Tribune's proper FOIA requests, then failing to produce the requested records, which reflects a complete disregard of its obligation to provide public records,' the lawsuit states. A CTA spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Friday. The first of the six FOIA requests was made Dec. 22, 2023, seeking correspondence between the CTA and federal and state transportation agencies after the Yellow Line crash, which happened one month earlier. In the November 2023 incident, a Yellow Line train, also known as the Skokie Swift, hit a snowplow on the tracks while approaching the Howard station in Chicago, injuring two dozen passengers and causing $8.7 million in damage. Under the state's Freedom of Information Act, public agencies have up to 10 days to comply with or deny an information request. They may also ask for additional time to compile and provide complex records. The CTA took until July 2024 — nearly seven months later — to come up with a 'partial response' to the Yellow Line request, providing communication records related to the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Transit Administration. However, Freishtat never received promised information regarding the CTA's communications with the Illinois Department of Transportation, according to the lawsuit. In addition, the CTA has failed to fully comply with subsequent FOIA requests, including overtime spending, use of CTA vehicles by agency officials, and personnel records of employees involved in the Yellow Line crash. The most recent request was submitted Jan. 13 seeking all severance payments made to CTA President Dorval Carter, who announced he was stepping down at the end of January. The request was extended to Jan. 28, but the CTA has yet to provide the information, according to the lawsuit. This is the fifth lawsuit brought against the CTA in the last year for failure to comply with its FOIA obligations, including one by the Chicago Sun-Times. In recent years, the Tribune has prevailed in several lawsuits against the city of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department for failing to comply with FOIA requests made by reporters. The lawsuit against the CTA is seeking to compel the transit agency to promptly produce all requested non-exempt records, without charging processing fees, as well as awarding the Tribune attorneys' fees and costs.
