Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: The murder of a Loyola University student puts Chicago back at the center of the country’s fight over immigration.
🗞️ Plus: A look at a finalist for CEO of Chicago Public Schools, where to see axolotls locally and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Blackhawks beat the Islanders, 4-3.
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⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER ☀️
Partly sunny with a high near 71.
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Sheridan Gorman’s killing puts Chicago back at center of bitter fight over immigration
By Sophie Sherry, Tina Sfondeles, Fran Spielman and Mitchell Armentrout
Gun, immigration issues: Months after President Donald Trump ended a deportation blitz in Chicago, the city and its sanctuary policies have landed back into the national spotlight following the fatal shooting of Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman, 18. Her death has become a rallying cry for politicians demanding stricter immigration enforcement, as alleged gunman Jose G. Medina is a Venezuelan immigrant.
Trading blame: Trump called Gorman’s killing “devastating” and blamed the “open door policy” of President Joe Biden. Other Republicans have directed their anger at Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson. But Pritzker said failures within the system “extend beyond the borders of Illinois.” At a Tuesday news conference, he said, “They’re national failures — a failure to have comprehensive immigration reform, a failure of the president to follow his own edict to go after the worst of the worst.”
Politicizing murders: Gorman’s death is quickly becoming as symbolic to Republicans as the murder of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student slain in 2024 by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan native who was in the U.S. without legal status. The Trump administration often invokes Riley’s name to justify mass deportations. But research including a Northwestern University study from 2024 shows immigrants are consistently less likely to commit crimes than those born in the U.S.
HOUSING 🏠
Chicago Housing Authority board commissioner is accused of defrauding agency
By Lizzie Kane and Dan Mihalopoulos
Fraud investigation: When Debra Parker was appointed to the Chicago Housing Authority board in 2018, she was touted as the first person with a housing voucher to serve as a board member. Eight years later, she’s fighting to keep her seat and the voucher itself, after an internal investigation by the CHA revealed that she committed fraud, according to a copy of the hearing officer’s decision reviewed by the Sun-Times and WBEZ.
Key context: The 62-page decision became public Tuesday, in response to a court motion filed on behalf of WBEZ and the Sun-Times. Parker currently receives a subsidy to rent a four-bedroom home on the city’s South Side, according to records. However, the document indicates Parker and her son — who both are supposed to be living at the South Side home — have actually been residing with her fiancé, Charles Bell, in a luxury high-rise in River North.
Key quote: CHA Board Chair and interim Operating Chairman Matthew Brewer told Mayor Johnson he should consider removing Parker. Records show Parker sued the CHA and Brewer in Cook County Circuit Court, seeking an emergency hearing to prevent the housing subsidy from being taken away. Asked for comment Tuesday, Parker said, “Y’all so obsessed with me. Do what you do,” and hung up the phone. She then called back and said she “never committed any kind of fraud in my life. I’m 59 years old and never ever been involved in anything like that.”
EDUCATION 📚
CPS CEO finalist courted controversy in past jobs but defenders praise bold vision
By Emmanuel Camarillo
Remaining candidates: When a former leader of New York City’s school system withdrew from consideration to become CEO of Chicago Public Schools last week, the district was left with two candidates: Interim CPS CEO Macquline King; and Sito Narcisse, who once led Louisiana’s second-largest school district. Narcisse has been linked to controversies in previous roles, leading some to question how he became a finalist.
Controversy and lawsuit: When Narcisse was superintendent of Louisiana’s East Baton Rouge Parish Schools in 2023, families sued him and the school board, alleging the district misled parents when it promoted a career fair that included overt religious messaging. Plaintiffs claim organizers split high schoolers by gender and had boys compete in physical contests while girls were “graphically lectured by pastors and other religious figures about virginity, rape, abuse, and suicide and were told to ‘forgive’ their rapists and abusers.” Narcisse has said he was “not aware of any religious components.”
Critics and supporters: Some teachers and ex-school board members who worked alongside Narcisse have criticized his leadership style, saying he has a bold vision for education but sometimes overlooks community concerns. But supporters say his initiatives focus on what’s best for students and that the pushback stems from resistance to altering the status quo.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- Broadview mayor’s demands: The mayor of west suburban Broadview is calling on the federal government to shut down an immigration detention center and to pay back $700,000 to the village for economic losses suffered by nearby businesses.
- Johnson staffing drama: The mayor said Tuesday he was unaware before Garien Gatewood was fired that the deputy mayor for community safety had filed a complaint against the top mayoral aides accusing them of interfering in City Hall’s contracting process.
- CTA funds: A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Transportation must unfreeze more than $3 billion it was withholding from the Chicago Transit Authority for the Red Line extension and other projects.
- Airport waits: Wait times at Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports have not been as long as those reported at other U.S. airports, though both had some bottlenecks in recent weeks.
- Delivery robot mishap: Video of a delivery robot rolling through the shattered glass of the bus shelter it destroyed in West Town went viral earlier this week.
- New residents: Dozens of dogs from California were taken in Tuesday by PAWS Chicago after an animal abuse probe led to one of Los Angeles’ largest pet seizures, according to officials with the Chicago group.
HISTORY 📜
Chicago’s first art galleries elevated city’s image but created barriers
By Erin Allen
Chicago art history: Today, experiencing art in Chicago is a matter of stepping outside to see a beautiful mural or visiting institutions like the Art Institute or the DuSable Museum. This got a Curious City listener wondering: What was the city’s first art gallery?
It depends: Naming Chicago’s first art gallery depends on what one considers a gallery at all. In the 1840s, exclusive spaces opened, many of which called themselves galleries. These were often places for patrons to see expensive art for sale, such as an auction house or an art dealer, according to Anne Helmreich, director of the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution. It wasn’t until 1865 that Chicago saw the modern idea of a commercial art gallery: Crosby’s Opera House and Art Gallery. The space was immense in size and scope, complete with 18-foot ceilings and a skylight.
Lack of representation: Most 19th-century art in commercial galleries was created by wealthy white men with access to art supplies and education. Native artists in the Great Lakes region made intricate beadwork and wove other designs, but these works were often displayed at fairs as artifacts. And the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition had the potential to exhibit achievements of Black people nearly 30 years after the end of slavery, but fair organizers refused to allow them a voice.
FROM THE PRESS BOX ⚾️🏒🏀
- Staying a Cub: Pete Crow-Armstrong reportedly will sign a six-year, $115 million contract that will start next season and run through 2032.
- Sox get sued: Frank Thomas sued the White Sox, Nike and Fanatics, alleging the team is profiting off his name and likeness on a new line of jerseys his without compensation or consent.
- NHL debut: Anton Frondell, the No. 3 pick from last summer, made his much-anticipated NHL debut Tuesday against the Islanders.
- Blame game: It’s not off the table that Bulls coach Billy Donovan will leave this offseason or that general manager Marc Eversley will be the next scapegoat.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 1D: 🌭 Grocery story chain with a mascot named Jojo
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Axolotls! Where to see the amphibians in Chicago
By Alison Bowen for WBEZ
My son, who could not be more excited, shouted from across the aquarium for me to come look. Was it a turtle? A small shark? When I meandered over to the aquarium window inside the Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center in Willow Springs, I found what had captured his attention: A strange, swimming white blob with gills behind its head.
Allow me to introduce the axolotl, an amphibian and also all the rage at the moment in many Chicago classrooms. Leaping into the spotlight thanks to their quirky charm, regenerative superpowers and a starring role in the popular video game Minecraft, they are budding stars at local aquariums. As the popularity of the axolotl has grown, attention is trickling down through multiple age ranges, with books, stuffed animals and even a ceramic paint set at Target.
Like many families, after we saw one, our child — and OK, also maybe a parent or two — became obsessed. Down an aquatic rabbit hole we went. We found other places in the Chicago area to add to our list to be checked off on our axolotl adventure: Individuals are on display at the Pilcher Park Nature Center in Joliet, at the Brookfield Zoo and at the Lincoln Park Zoo.
PICTURE CHICAGO 📸
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Written and curated by: Phyllis Cha
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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