Good afternoon! It’s Friday, and regardless that I don’t have tickets to the massive live performance subsequent week, possibly the Oasis pop-up retailer is gonna be the one which saves me. Right here’s what else you might want to know in the present day.
1. No matter occurred to the Kennedy Expressway underpass picture some noticed because the Virgin Mary?
A vandal as soon as scribbled “Large Lie” over the form. Skeptics noticed it as a watermark with solely a coincidental resemblance to the define of Jesus’ mom, as generally portrayed.
Extra graffiti, together with time and the weather, have made any remaining contours troublesome to establish. And scattered rubbish and piles of rubble have changed the saint candles, flowers, stuffed animals and written prayer requests that for a lot of the previous 20 years made the location alongside the Fullerton Avenue underpass one of many Chicago space’s most enduring makeshift shrines.
Nonetheless, a number of instances per week, unique spotter Obdulia Delgado drives previous the location — nicknamed by some “Our Woman of the Underpass” and “Virgin of the Viaduct.” She advised my Solar-Occasions colleague Robert Herguth she’s heartened when she sees passersby slowing down or wanting towards the south-facing wall with the form.
“We want her,” Delgado stated on the web site, as site visitors roared above and unhoused individuals slept close by. “Particularly with our busy world and all of the crime that doesn’t cease, all of the disappointment. We want her.” [Chicago Sun-Times]
2. Various power suppliers have value Illinois shoppers greater than $2 billion, watchdog group says
What millennial who grew up on “Captain Planet” doesn’t wish to assist renewable power and be the change in our power-hungry world? But different electrical energy suppliers — companies recognized for ringing individuals’s doorbells and promising nice offers — don’t ship long-term financial savings, in accordance with an evaluation of state knowledge by the nonprofit Residents Utility Board.
ComEd and Ameren ship electrical energy over their strains and situation month-to-month payments, however for the reason that mid-Nineteen Nineties, Illinoisans have been free to decide on one other firm to produce their electrical energy. Some different suppliers have been an excellent deal when electrical utilities have been locked into costly contracts, my Solar-Occasions colleague Stephanie Zimmermann writes, however that hasn’t been the case for at the very least 10 years, CUB stated.
ComEd prospects who used another provider on common paid about 2.74 cents per kilowatt-hour greater than the utility’s provide worth, an Illinois Commerce Fee report discovered. The very best different provider fee in ComEd’s service territory was 39 cents per kilowatt-hour on the finish of final yr.
For comparability, ComEd’s present worth is about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour. A 2024 Solar-Occasions investigation additionally discovered some different suppliers pitching “clear electrical energy” had charges that have been roughly double what ComEd was charging. [Chicago Sun-Times]
3. CTA will get $74M from Metra, Tempo to delay 40% service cuts subsequent yr
The Regional Transportation Authority’s board of administrators voted unanimously yesterday to reallocate funds from Metra, Tempo and the RTA to the CTA’s 2026 funds. That ought to stave off service cuts by two to 3 months subsequent yr to purchase time for state legislators to move a funding invoice and plug a multimillion-dollar funds gap, my Solar-Occasions colleague David Struett experiences.
However state lawmakers nonetheless face stress to prop up the transit companies that haven’t regained ridership misplaced in the course of the coronavirus pandemic. With out extra funding from the state, the RTA has warned that transit companies will increase fares and minimize service.
RTA board member Dennis Mondero, representing Chicago, warned that cuts must be prevented in any respect prices so companies don’t endure a “demise spiral” of shoppers who by no means return. [Chicago Sun-Times]
In the meantime, Chicago’s new aviation commissioner has a laundry record of attainable — and envelope-pushing — transformations for the customarily irritating passenger expertise at O’Hare Airport, together with mini-golf, sensory rooms and biometric screening. [Chicago Sun-Times]
4. Likelihood the Rapper’s ‘Star Line’ delivers a love letter to Chicago’s Black artistic class
When Likelihood The Rapper dropped his pivotal mixtape “Acid Rap” again in 2013, the Chicago native was decided to carve his title alongside rap’s legends. Nonetheless, the Grammy-winning star was considerably humbled when his 2019 debut album, “The Large Day,” was lambasted by critics and followers alike.
On the time, Likelihood appeared like a caricature of the emcee who proudly positioned all the metropolis of Chicago on his shoulders, writes WBEZ contributor Candace McDuffie. Now, six years and one divorce later, he has turn out to be extra pensive than ever — and we hear it unfold on “Star Line.”
The 17-track album facilities Blackness in an expansive and thrilling manner. Its title pays homage to Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey and his Black Star Line endeavor, which inspired and helped Black People make the pilgrimage to Liberia. Following his personal travels to Jamaica and Ghana, Likelihood seems to be critically pondering extra on this path. A few of Chicago’s most proficient Black artists make visitor appearances on this spectacular physique of labor. [WBEZ]
5. Labubu looking? Some Chicagoans are spending a whole bunch to snag the viral monster doll
Now that you understand what number of tooth it ought to have (don’t neglect: 9!), you’re totally geared up to leap aboard the Labubu prepare. My Solar-Occasions colleagues Mariah Rush and Grace Logan took on the problem of monitoring them down with the assistance of some native consultants.
Labubus have been seen at Paris Vogue Week and hanging off the purses of celebrities like Rihanna and Woman Gaga — even Ald. Anthony Quezada (thirty fifth) was noticed with one final month, although he stated it was faux.
“From a client tradition perspective, it’s giving adults permission to play,” stated Jenna Drenten, professor of promoting at Loyola College Chicago. “In opposition to the backdrop of all the things else taking place on the planet proper now, there’s not a variety of permission to play.”
Labubu homeowners’ love of play, notably in personalizing their dolls, has spawned an upcoming competition: Blazed Bakery in Logan Sq. is internet hosting a Labubu Palooza tomorrow. Followers could have the chance to customise their Labubu with face tattoos, outfits, tooth gems, piercings, nail units and chains. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Right here’s what else is occurring
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is constructing an immigrant detention heart on the location of a former World Warfare II internment camp for Japanese People. [NBC News]
- The FBI this morning searched the house and workplace of former Trump nationwide safety adviser John Bolton, who has turn out to be a vocal critic of the president. [CNN]
- Sister Jean Dolores Bertha Schmidt, the beloved nun and basketball chaplain at Loyola College Chicago, turned 106 yesterday. [Chicago Sun-Times]
- With out explicitly saying so in a speech in the present day, the chair of the Federal Reserve raised expectations that rates of interest might be minimize subsequent month. [BBC]
Oh, and yet one more factor …
Nearly two days after being reunited, Angel Santiago, 58, of Logan Sq., was none the wiser on who took his service canine Bam Bam two months in the past and what they have been after. Sitting in his lounge with an alert and mild Bam Bam, Santiago stated the dachshund is just not again to his outdated self simply but.
“We’re getting there,” he advised my Solar-Occasions colleague Janani Jana yesterday afternoon. “It’s arduous for him to sleep at night time. He has actually dangerous anxiousness points. I solely take him out on his leash within the again as a result of he’s skittish to go outdoors.”
Misplaced Canine Illinois, a nationwide nonprofit that tracks misplaced pets and reunites them with their homeowners, stated they’ve a selected crew of “microchip hunters” who observe homeowners of pets with ‘dead-end microchips’ — chips that haven’t been up to date or registered. The crew labored on 1,500 circumstances final yr with a crew of 20 to 25 volunteers, stated co-director Jeanette Garlow.
“Everyone had tears of their eyes after they knew [Bam Bam] had been reunited,” stated Garlow, including that the microchip was key in serving to get Bam Bam again dwelling. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Inform me one thing good …
What’s essentially the most memorable object you’ve present in an surprising place?
Emma says:
“After I was 4, my household moved into a brand new home. Within the basement, I discovered a GI Joe motion determine that absolutely unnerved me. After days of preoccupation and anxiousness, I insisted that my mom place him right into a espresso can, tape the can shut with duct tape, and throw him into the dumpster outdoors. I nonetheless get the creeps after I see these dolls.”
Ellen says:
“Years in the past I used to be pushing my child buggy on Diversey and on the sidewalk was an arresting tableau of a child bottle, a puddle of spilled milk, and a blue child blanket. All the time puzzled what had occurred.”
Diane says:
“I’ve additionally discovered a pockets full of money from a chair on the Boston Copley Lodge foyer and contacted the proprietor from his enterprise card, he had a really giant amount of money as he was shopping for an engagement ring!”
Thanks a lot on your tales — I want I may have shared all of them. I at all times did love show-and-tell in school! Bianca shall be again from trip subsequent week, and I shall be again behind the scenes modifying this article. It’s been such a pleasure listening to from everybody! Take care and have an amazing weekend.
Join The Rundown and different newsletters and e-mail alerts from WBEZ by clicking right here. Hearken to our radio round-up of day by day information tales wherever you get podcasts.
