Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ kids in Colorado, one of 23 states that prohibit the discredited practice, Illinois’ ban remains intact — but could be open to future challenges.
🗞️ Plus: Ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s appeals attorney, Chicago police use a helicopter to retrieve a stolen teddy bear and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Bulls fell to the Suns, 120-110; the White Sox beat the Blue Jays, 3-0; the Cubs won Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Guardians, 1-0, but lost the second game 6-5.
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⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌤️
Mostly sunny with a high near 49.
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Illinois ‘conversion therapy’ ban is intact after SCOTUS ruling but advocates fear challenges
By Violet Miller
High court decision: The U.S. Supreme Court last week ruled against a law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ kids in Colorado, siding with a Christian counselor who argued the law violates the First Amendment. It’s one of 23 states, including Illinois, that prohibit the discredited practice, in addition to four that restrict it.
Illinois acts: State Rep. Kelly Cassidy — one of the lead sponsors of the state’s now 11-year-old ban on “conversion therapy” that was signed into law by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner — said her office was “working closely with advocates to prepare for the possibility that future decisions will” impact Illinois’ law. Other Illinois politicians introduced a bill in the statehouse in January that would prohibit state funds from going to “conversion therapy.”
One man’s story: Curtis Lopez-Galloway, 31, talked with the Sun-Times about his experience growing up as a gay teen in Benton, Illinois, when his parents would drive him to Kentucky for “conversion therapy” sessions at a religious counselor’s home. “It was the darkest time of my life,” said Lopez-Galloway, who went on to create the Conversion Therapy Survivor Network.
HOUSING 🏠
City wants to bring more families to South, West sides, one vacant lot at a time
By Abby Miller
Minding the gaps: Chicago’s Missing Middle Infill Housing program, which launched in 2024, aims to add sorely needed market-rate homes on the South and West sides. The city is pushing to build more of these “missing middle” homes as it looks to create more paths to homeownership without pushing existing neighbors out.
Key context: Across Chicago, many families want to live in affordable, smaller-scale buildings. Two-flats and similar properties are on the market, but depending on where you look, they’re much harder to find. It’s especially true in the South and West sides, where decades of disinvestment have left a patchwork of vacant lots that were once homes for middle-class families.
How it works: Under the program, selected developers can purchase vacant city-owned land for $1 and build single-family homes with accessory dwelling units, two- and three-flats, row houses, town houses, or six-flats. The city also offers $150,000 in construction assistance per unit. That helps developers price the homes at an affordable rate for families making no more than 140% of the area median income.
MONEY DESK 💰
Vendors are burdened by rising costs as Chicago farmers market season ramps up
By Erica Thompson
Farmers market opens: A cold, rainy morning did not deter Chicagoans from kicking off farmers market season at Green City Market Lincoln Park on Saturday. Dozens of loyal customers — including some James Beard-nominated chefs — trudged through wet grass and muddy puddles to purchase eggs, apples, baked goods and wild leeks called ramps.
Key context: The community support comes at a crucial time, as vendors navigate financial burdens brought by rising costs under the Trump administration, which proposed nearly $5 billion in cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for fiscal year 2027. Farmers and retail owners say they’ve been impacted by federal funding cuts and rising gas prices amid the Iran war.
‘Our support’: Sandy Eich, of Kankakee Valley Homestead, lost funding last year when the USDA canceled $1 billion in programs enabling schools and food banks to purchase food from local farmers and ranchers. Eich said vending at farmers markets helped her get out of debt. “It’s the people of Chicago who are coming here … That truly is our support.”
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
What’s your favorite Chicago-area farmers market? Tell us why. 🍅
Reply to this email (please include your first and last name). We may run your answer in a future newsletter or story.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- Stolen teddy bear draws cops: After teens stole a teddy bear from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory downtown, Chicago police officers responded, even using a helicopter to recover the stuffed animal. Two people are reportedly in custody. Police won’t say why a helicopter was used.
- Madigan’s heavyweight: Six months after Michael J. Madigan surrendered to a federal prison, the ex-Illinois House Speaker has enlisted for his appeal arguments Thursday attorney Amy Mason Saharia, whose past clients include Elizabeth Holmes and Hillary Clinton.
- Illinois sues Trump: Illinois has joined 23 other states in filing a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s executive order that would restrict mail-in voting to a federal list of eligible voters.
- CHA power struggle: A top mayoral aide said there will be “consequences” for the Chicago Housing Authority’s decision to hire a new CEO whom Mayor Brandon Johnson has never met, after what the administration claims was a secret process.
- Oval Office replica: A recreation of former President Barack Obama’s White House office is nearly ready for visitors to the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park.
ON WBEZ 91.5 FM 📻
In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons, 9 a.m.
- Despite the University of Illinois men’s basketball loss Saturday, fans rejoiced in the team’s historic March Madness run. Sun-Times’ Steve Greenberg, Robert Rosenthal of the Illini Boardroom podcast and Matt Brown of the Extra Points newsletter weigh in.
- Northalsted suddenly has two hotels in the works that specifically target LGBTQ+ people. Guests Dennis Rodkin of Crain’s Chicago Business, Tristan Schukraft of The Tryst Hotel and Bob Sievers of Backbeat Hotel discuss.
Say More with Mary Dixon and Patrick Smith, 10 a.m.
- WBEZ food contributor Maggie Hennessy talks about her new book “The Burger Bible” and answers: Who has the best burgers in Chicago?
- Brendan Hunt, who plays Coach Beard on “Ted Lasso,” stops by to discuss his career, growing up in Chicago and his new one-man show, “The Movement You Need,” at the Steppenwolf Theater.
RELIGION 🙏
How Olivet Baptist Church welcomed Black migrants
By Nicole Jeanine Johnson
America on the move: In the 1910s, more than 50 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, Black migrants flocked to cities in the North to seek financial opportunities and to escape the relentless grip of Jim Crow.
Olivet’s open arms: Olivet Baptist Church had social workers meet Black migrants at Chicago’s 12th Street platform to help them settle into their new environment. This was just one way that Olivet met Black people’s needs for survival. As it continued to prioritize the community, it grew and became one of the largest churches of its kind, boasting more than 10,000 members at its height in the 1920s. The church connected Black migrants to housing, offered daycare and even created the city’s first kindergarten program, said Olivet’s current pastor, Rev. John L. Smith.
🎧 Listen up: Smith recently stopped by WBEZ’s In the Loop to talk about the rich history of Black churches across Chicago. Listen here.
More in religion:
- Parishioners at an overflowing Holy Name Cathedral reflected on peace during Easter on Sunday. At the Vatican, Chicago’s own Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Easter Mass as pontiff with a call to lay down arms and seek peace to global conflicts through dialogue.
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏀🏒🏈
- To next year’s fight: While Illini fans are lamenting the team’s 71-62 loss to UConn, they say they’re leaving this season with “something to be excited about.”
- ‘Be legends’: Michigan’s Morez Johnson Jr. and Nimari Burnett, both from Chicago, say they know how to rep their city in Monday’s title game.
- Rookie reflections: Ben Pope analyzes where Artyom Levshunov stands after a chaotic Blackhawks rookie season.
- High school football: Safety Darrell Mattison is continuing Morgan Park’s tradition of talented defensive backs and wide receivers.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 1D: Hull House co-founder Addams
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
White Sox fans stay optimistic at home opener: ‘Hope never dies’
By Cindy Hernandez
Despite years of ineptitude and a rough start this year, many White Sox fans who showed up for Friday’s home opener arrived with a mix of nostalgia for the past and hope for the future.
Brothers Michael and Steve Malczewski of Homer Glen began attending Opening Day as young boys, when their father would pull them out of school — a tradition they later passed down to their own children.
On Friday, the brothers carried on that legacy, standing outside Rate Field grilling with family and friends, sharing a sense of optimism about the season ahead.
Win or lose, Dan Kozlowski, of Crown Point, Indiana, said Sox fans would continue to show up for their team.
“Hope never dies,” he said while wearing a white Papal hat and a jersey with Pope Leo on the back. “We’re still here. We’re going to be here every year.”
The Sox would go on to sweep in their series against the Blue Jays this weekend, the first time the Sox have gotten off to a 3-0 start at home since 2004.
WATCH: SOX FANS’ OPENING DAY ▶️
PICTURE CHICAGO 📸
Kids collect plastic eggs during Harvest Worship Center Ministries’ “Easter Eggstravaganza” at Altgeld Park Hope Field in Garfield Park on Saturday.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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