Good morning, Chicago.
Yesterday morning, just before thousands of people swarmed downtown Chicago for the final day of Lollapalooza, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Dr. Allison Arwady held an unusual weekend news conference to talk about COVID-19 amid the spread of the delta variant. The top doctor said there aren’t plans to shut down the city, but that people need to again “step up” and get vaccinated, as well as continue wearing masks.
The comments came just two days after the city hit the CDC’s threshold of “substantial” COVID-19 transmission, and officials advised that everyone over the age of 2 to wear a mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status. Illinois as a whole also seems to be headed in the wrong direction when it comes to coronavirus cases. As of Friday, the state’s cases had increased by nearly 50% from the previous week.
And in Tokyo, it was a controversial — and abrupt end — to Wilmette sailor Maggie Shea‘s Olympics, while Prospect hurdler David Kendziera continued to defy the odds in his Olympic debut. We have a new local medalist in Geneva’s Kevin McDowell, who won silver in the triathlon team event a decade after beating cancer. And we got some tips on how to watch BMX freestyle from a longtime Chicagoan who is one of six judges in the new Olympic event. See who has won medals for Team USA so far, keep tabs on our 60+ local Olympians and keep current with Day 10 events here.
— Nicole Stock, audience editor
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As COVID-19 cases spike in and around Chicago due to the highly contagious delta variant, restaurants and bars have swiftly reexamined protocols and procedures without waiting for government mandates, especially as so-called breakthrough cases among vaccinated people emerge.
Some are reverting to safety measures of recent months, including returns to mask mandates and social distancing. Others are temporarily closing due to positive cases on staff or moving to allow in only vaccinated customers.
Businesses weigh asking customers to put masks back on in light of new CDC guidelines. ‘For most people, this is a huge step backward.’
Chicago is getting an elected school board. How will that work?
The board overseeing Chicago Public Schools will triple in size and transform into a fully elected panel by 2027, under a measure Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law Thursday.
The Chicago Board of Education is now composed of seven people appointed by the mayor. Under the new structure, a group of 21 elected and appointed board members will take over in 2025. The first school board selected only by voters will be seated in January 2027. Here’s what you need to know.
After fire tragedies in Chicago, city officials repeatedly failed to follow through on their reform promises, according to an April investigation by the Better Government Association and the Chicago Tribune. The report detailed how systemic failures in Chicago’s inspection and enforcement system contributed to 61 deaths from fatal fires in buildings the city was warned were unsafe.
Across the country, other cities have responded to loss of life by beefing up housing inspections and implementing more effective enforcement programs. Chicago officials responded to the BGA/Tribune investigation by denying any systemic problems with code enforcement and saying they bore no responsibility for the 61 deaths.
To find potential fixes for Chicago’s failures, the BGA and Tribune examined practices in the nation’s 20 most populated cities, including reforms prompted by tragedy. Here are nine things other cities are doing to make buildings safer for their citizens.
With an estimated 300 trillion invasive mussels blanketing Lake Michigan, eradication may be impossible. At Good Harbor Reef in Michigan, an army of scientists is on the front lines of the battle to reclaim parts of the lake for fish spawning.
Scientists study the genetics of invasive mussels seeking ways to turn off the genes that allow them to spread and survive
Musicians say TikTok is a ‘launching pad’ for their careers. Lollapalooza’s lineup agrees.
Megan Thee Stallion’s status as a headliner at Lollapalooza marked a transition in the music industry: Internet clout rivals traditional fame.
Megan Thee Stallion, who performed at the festival’s biggest stage Saturday night, has found immense popularity on the video streaming app TikTok. Hits like “WAP” and “Savage,” and corresponding viral dances, made her the No. 1 most played artist on the app in 2020 — a testimony to the platform’s ability to turn people into celebrities overnight.
Chicago magazine’s favorite Lollapalooza looks
![A Carpentersville man remains in Lake County Jail as Thursday, held on sexual assault charges after he reportedly groped a co-worker. According to a Lake Zurich Police Department news release, officers responded April 19 to the 600 block of America Court on a call of a sexual assault. Officers said a man at the assisted living complex, who was identified as Everado Cardenas, of the 100 block of Bolz Road in Carpentersville, was accused of “[grabbing] the breast and genitals of another employee of the business without her consent,” according to the release. Cardenas, 53, was arrested at the scene. […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/migration/2018/08/23/7XZEANKDMZBJLMO6IIT6OFUP6M.jpg?w=535 "A Carpentersville man remains in Lake County Jail as Thursday, held on sexual assault charges after he reportedly groped a co-worker. According to a Lake Zurich Police Department news release, officers responded April 19 to the 600 block of America Court on a call of a sexual assault. Officers said a man at the assisted living complex, who was identified as Everado Cardenas, of the 100 block of Bolz Road in Carpentersville, was accused of “[grabbing] the breast and genitals of another employee of the business without her consent,” according to the release. Cardenas, 53, was arrested at the scene. […]")
