Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: More Airbnbs are popping up on the South Side as the Obama Presidential Center nears its June 19 opening, which housing advocates worry is driving the disappearance of affordable housing.
🗞️ Plus: New bill targets e-bikes and e-scooters, drama at Simeon Career Academy, and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Cubs beat the Athletics, 7-6.
📧 Subscribe: Get this newsletter delivered to your inbox weekday mornings.
⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌧️
Showers with a high near 82.
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Obama Center causes Airbnb boom, disappearance of affordable units, advocates say
By Esther Yoon-Ji Kang and Cam Rodriguez
Center of attention: As Airbnb hosts open rooms and apartments to tourists coming to check out the Obama Presidential Center, some see real opportunity. But others worry that in historically affordable neighborhoods, like Woodlawn, things are changing.
At issue: Researchers say short-term rentals can deplete a neighborhood’s housing stock, pushing up prices and rents. Housing advocates and renters say they’re being priced out. Some advocates and lawmakers also say the city isn’t doing enough to enforce laws meant to protect the housing supply.
Zooming in: While licenses for short-term rentals have declined citywide since 2019, they have increased by 46% in the 20th Ward, which includes most of the Woodlawn community just west of the Obama Presidential Center.
WATCH: OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER TOUR ▶️
TRANSPORTATION 🚲
Fast e-bikes and e-scooters will require license, insurance under new bill
By David Struett and Anna Savchenko
Powering down?: Lawmakers in Springfield passed legislation this week regulating high-speed electric bikes, e-scooters and other battery-powered devices that are fueling an uptick in emergency room visits.
Nuts and bolts: The bill on Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk would classify e-bikes and e-motos that travel faster than 28 mph as motor vehicles starting Jan. 1, 2027, and would subject their riders to drunk driving laws. Owners would be required to have a driver’s license, carry insurance and register these vehicles, which would not be allowed on bike paths or lanes. E-scooters, electric skateboards and electric unicycles would be prohibited from operating past 28 mph on roads, bike lanes, bike paths and sidewalks.
Teen perspective: The number of e-scooters on the streets has meant an uptick in crashes, some fatal. Many teenagers are unfazed by the risks and prefer the scooters for transportation. WBEZ spoke with students at Lane Tech College Prep, the city’s largest high school, to hear why they ride.
ARTS AND HEALTH ❤️
New program brings playful performances to kids in hospitals
By Courtney Kueppers
Play is the thing: This semester, 10 Northwestern University students have been bringing playful, small-scale theater to the city’s pediatric hospitals. The interactive show features two actors, a giant cardboard backpack full of props – and imagination. It can be performed for an audience as small as one, beside a child’s hospital bed, or for a larger group in a lobby or playroom.
The goal: Titled “Let’s Go Camping!,” the show was developed in part by Northwestern professor Elizabeth Brendel Horn, who wants to provide young patients a chance for a fun, imaginative escape and to give theater students a wider idea of what they can do with their degrees.
Change of plans: Student Laura Fajardo-Riascos said that as she prepared for graduation, the class inspired her to shift her focus on theater for young audiences vs. appearing onscreen. “I’ve just realized that there’s so much more that you can do with performance and acting and the art of theater,” she said.
PUBLIC SAFETY 🚨
- FBI hunt led to shooting: Abdulhafedh Abdulhafedh, alleged leader of a bank robbery crew who was killed in a shoot-out in East Garfield Park last week, was the subject of a weekslong manhunt powered by surveillance cameras, tracking devices and cellphone monitoring.
- Loved ones mourn after hit-and-run: Lisa Barber died May 24, nearly two weeks after she was hit by a car while crossing the street. Barber, 45, was a beloved hairdresser. “When you spoke with her, you knew she was listening and knew she cared,” one friend said.
- Amazon worker killed: A gunman fled the scene after Travion Taylor, an Amazon employee, was fatally shot Thursday morning at the company’s fulfillment center in Melrose Park.
- Slain student honored: Tilden High School students, staff and community members participated in a peace walk Thursday in Back of the Yards to honor Pedro Ramirez, 17, who was fatally hit by stray gunfire May 26.
- Acting AG backs Boutros: Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Justice, on Thursday supported U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros, touting an increase in indictments in Chicago despite mounting questions about how Boutros and his team secured some of those indictments from grand jurors.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- Rideshare union measure: A new bill awaiting Gov. Pritzker’s signature will allow ride-hailing drivers in Illinois to form a union. Illinois is only the third state to pass similar legislation, after California and Massachusetts.
- School board race: Nearly every incumbent running for the Chicago School Board who is aligned with the Chicago Teachers Union is facing challenges to their candidacies and could be thrown off the ballot.
- Vatican reviews Chicago closings: Pope Leo XIV’s Vatican is considering a last-ditch appeal from a group of parents trying to prevent the closure of St. Hubert Catholic School in Hoffman Estates. The school was among six local Catholic schools shuttered this year.
- From synagogue to public park?: Emanuel Congregation plans to redevelop its site at 5959 N. Sheridan Road into retail, residences and a new synagogue. A group of Edgewater residents is calling on the Chicago Park District to purchase the parcel and turn it into a public park.
- Help for small biz bills: ComEd is offering payments of up to $500 for small business customers who can’t pay their electric bills following two years of price spikes related to data center growth.
- Things to do June 5-10: The Chicago Blues Festival, the American Writers Festival, Fuego de Cumbia and the African Diaspora International Film Festival are just some events worth attending in the days ahead.
ON WBEZ 91.5 FM 📻
In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons, 9 a.m.
- Weekly news recap: WBEZ’s Mawa Iqbal, Chicago Tribune’s A.D. Quig and Block Club Chicago’s Quinn Myers break down the week’s top stories.
Say More with Mary Dixon and Patrick Smith, 10 a.m.
- Green plan: Chicago is updating its green infrastructure plan and taking public comment until July 10. What does flooding look like in your neighborhood? Do you have enough trees on your block? Callers weigh in.
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🎙️⚾🏀🏈
- Benetti’s back: After a bitter breakup with the White Sox, Jason Benetti has mended fences on the South Side and will arrive on the North Side for “Sunday Night Baseball” on NBC.
- Ben Brown’s big year: Ben Brown has surprisingly been the Cubs’ best pitcher. Is the All-Star Game next?
- Sky skid: The Sky need to get their spirit involved, writes Alissa Hirsh.
- Angel Reese sells home: Two months after being traded to Atlanta, the ex-Sky star has listed her former Lemont digs for $1.45 million.
- Next season hopes: As hype swells for Bears QB Caleb Williams, coach Ben Johnson is still harping on every detail.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 2D: Cubs pitcher Imanaga who has been honored with a namesake Portillo’s meal
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
At Simeon Career Academy, drama students shine in school’s first play in decades
By Sarah Karp
Simeon Career Academy is known for its sports and trades programs.
So when the high school decided to put on its first play in recent memory, students had no idea what they were in for.
With money from a grant the school had won, drama teacher David Hossler hired a director and bought materials so Simeon’s carpentry program could build the set for “The Piano Lesson.” They also paid adults to help with the music and production design.
But the job was not easy. Even though the students were enrolled in an upper-level drama class, most of them had never been in a play before. And because Simeon had not done plays, many had not even seen one.
The students turned actors practiced daily for most of the school year. At home, they went over their lines, recruiting their moms to help. And even on dress rehearsal day, there were stumbles and stops.
“It’s been a pretty serious, hard process, because I never did a play before,” senior Semaj Jackson said. “But we’re getting through it.”
She said the actors sometimes made mistakes during rehearsals and would laugh for “like 10 minutes.” But on the day of the play, they got it together.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
What was the first play or musical you ever saw?
Reply here with your answer (please include your first and last name). We may run your answer in a future newsletter or story.
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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