Good afternoon, Chicago. ✶
In today’s newsletter, we’re unpacking the breaking news that Chicago’s new Board of Education president, the Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson, is resigning.
We’ll look into why and what it means for this tumultuous time for Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration.
Plus, we’ve got reporting on the latest in the trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, a look at Chicago’s iconic theme parks through the ages, a Blackhawks baby boom and more news you need to know below. 👇
⏱️: A 7-minute read
— Matt Moore, newsletter reporter (@MattKenMoore)
TODAY’S TOP STORY
CPS Board of Education president resigns
Reporting by Nader Issa and Sarah Karp | WBEZ
The Rev. resigns: Amid a wave of backlash over troubling social media posts that were criticized as antisemitic, misogynistic and conspiratorial, Chicago’s new Board of Education president, the Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson, is resigning at the request of Mayor Brandon Johnson.
CPS struggle: It’s the latest stunning development in the ongoing leadership struggle atop Chicago Public Schools. Johnson and six other board members took their positions last Thursday after the entire school board resigned. The mayor announced them as his chosen replacements earlier in the month.
Lingering questions: Johnson was not well known in Chicago’s education community, but he was touted as an economic development expert, who helped get contracts for minority-owned companies. He regularly hosts a WVON radio program and founded a consulting company. There also have been questions about whether Johnson lives in Chicago and about his past. He was disbarred in Ohio as a lawyer nearly 30 years ago, and at one point was so delinquent on his child support that he had a lien on his house.
Key context: The resignation is another blow to the mayor, who has suffered one setback after another in his dealings with the school system.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
Fresh Market opens: The national grocery chain opened Wednesday inside the former Dom’s Kitchen & Market, which abruptly closed earlier this year. Many residents gathered outside for the chance to get a first look.
Jury hears secret recording: Jurors in the trial of former House Speaker Michael J. Madigan today heard how his allies quietly raised money for an aide ousted after sexual harassment allegations.
UChicago Medicine receives $75M donation: The gift from AbbVie Foundation is intended to help build a new cancer pavilion — an $815 million, 575,000-square-foot building set to open in 2027.
More Lincoln Park luxury apartments: A luxury apartment building in Lincoln Park broke ground Wednesday, making it one of the only ground-up projects in the neighborhood during an unstable time for new development.
Plan for Thompson Center atrium: Google will refashion the ground floors of the former Thompson Center atrium into a hotel lobby-like space with restaurants, retail, seating and greenery, according to a new rendering obtained by the Sun-Times.
Why do we like being scared?: Many people enjoy the terrors of haunted houses and horror movies, finding delight in the jump scares and all things macabre. We explored why.
Halloween today, Christmas tomorrow?: Chicago’s 93.9 LITE FM announced this week that its annual holiday music extravaganza kicks off Friday.
CHICAGO HISTORY ⏳
Documentary takes fast ride through the past of local amusement parks
Reporting by Richard Roeper
For generations of lifelong and longtime Chicago area residents, there was a time in their childhood when they were told Santa Claus didn’t live at the North Pole.
He resided in East Dundee, Illinois, about 40 miles outside the city, in a place called Santa’s Village. For a time, Santa closed up shop there, but he’s been back in business since 2011, in the renamed Santa’s Village & Water Park.
As we’re reminded in the recent “Amusement Parks” episode of the “Chicago Stories” documentary series on WTTW-Channel 11, the Chicago area has a rich and vibrant history of amusement parks.
That includes Kiddieland in Melrose Park, Fun Town on the Far South Side and Ravinia Park in Highland Park, which opened in 1904 and had a relatively short run as “the highest-class amusement park in the West” with a casino and rides and a skating pond before becoming the music venue we know today.
The doc marks the Columbian Exposition of 1893 as a great influence on amusement parks, from the Midway Plaisance, a milelong zone with rides and games and attractions to the introduction of the Ferris wheel.
By the turn of the century, amusement parks were popping up all over the U.S., and Chicago had more than any other city. The granddaddy of them all was the legendary Riverview Park in Roscoe Village. The doc also makes stops at Paul Boyton’s Water Chutes and the behemoth in Gurnee now known as Six Flags Great America.
BRIGHT ONE ✨
Blackhawks players enjoying a collective baby boom
Reporting by Ben Pope
The Blackhawks are teeming with toddlers.
Eight Hawks have had children within the last two years, meaning advice about smooth diaper changes has been exchanged around the locker room almost as frequently as advice about smooth line changes these days.
“It lets you forget about the hockey side of life,” defenseman T.J. Brodie said. “When you’re at home, you have other responsibilities; it’s not just going home and worrying about yourself. It’s nice that way.”
Hawks forward Joey Anderson’s second daughter, Suzie, was born this summer, not long after Jason Dickinson and Taylor Hall welcomed their first kids and shortly before Connor Murphy and Ryan Donato had their first.
Brodie, Craig Smith and Tyler Bertuzzi, meanwhile, moved their young families to Chicago after signing with the Hawks this summer. New goalie Laurent Brossoit will soon make it nine Hawks with babies. Nick Foligno, Pat Maroon and Arvid Soderblom already have older children.
“It is really nice that everybody is at the same stage of life,” Dickinson said.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
What is your definitive Chicago theme park memory?
Be sure to tell us which theme park, and around which decade, your memory is from. 🎢
Email us (please include your first and last name). To see the answers to this question, check our Morning Edition newsletter. Not subscribed to Morning Edition? Sign up here so you won’t miss a thing!
ONE MORE THING 👻
A huge shoutout to our Sun-Times photojournalists who, while on assignment this week, have stopped to capture some fantastic Halloween displays.
And thank you to the readers who have emailed us photos of their Halloween decorations — or shared photos of their neighbors’ setups.
We’re still adding to our spooky gallery, so give it a look-through and feel free to email us photos to make sure your neighborhood gets some shine.
We’re wishing you a fun and safe Halloween.
We’ll see you back here Friday. 🎃
SEE OUR FULL HALLOWEEN GALLERY
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Written by: Matt Moore
Editor: Esther Bergdahl
Copy editor: Angie Myers