Good morning, Chicago.
Nearly half a billion dollars in taxable real estate value has been added onto the Cook County rolls after the county assessor fixed hundreds of mistakes identified in an investigation by the Illinois Answers Project and Chicago Tribune.
The corrections come as Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s office in recent months audited key records tied to thousands of properties across the county following last August’s report, which found the office had misclassified and undervalued properties by missing new construction and significant property improvements.
In all, using publicly available sales and satellite data, the Tribune and Illinois Answers found the office had failed to accurately assess at least 620 new or renovated properties during the 2023 tax year. In some instances, Kaegi’s office assessed mansions as vacant lots and missed the bulk of two new subdivisions in a far south suburb.
Read the full investigation from the Tribune’s A.D. Quig and Illinois Answers Project’s Alex Nitkin.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including Mayor Brandon Johnson doubling down on outreach to Black Chicago, a proposal to fix the Tokyo Series and a look back at a place found on no modern Chicago maps: Kilgubbin.
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The ‘Re-Reconstruction’: Mayor Brandon Johnson doubles down on outreach to Black Chicago
Mayor Brandon Johnson has made weekly rounds with Chicago’s Black media outlets and embarked on a “Faith in Government” tour this year, arenas where he’s evidently felt more comfortable antagonizing naysayers and casting his dust-ups as part of an existential battle against a political establishment that doesn’t want Black Chicagoans to prosper.
The strategy, while not wholly new for Johnson, comes as the Black and progressive bases that formed his road to victory in 2023 show early signs of eroding.
Gov. JB Pritzker wants phones out of the classroom. Not everyone agrees.
Gov. JB Pritzker’s proposal, which is now incorporated into bills introduced in both the state House and Senate, would require school districts to adopt guidelines to prohibit students from using cellphones during instructional time, while providing secure and accessible storage for the devices, before the 2026-27 school year.
CTA slow zones are growing, and that means longer commutes for ‘L’ riders
In February, slow zones covered some 30% of the rail system, up from 13% five years earlier. Slower trains mean slower trips for riders, yet another source of frustration the CTA must contend with after years of complaints about service, conditions and safety. It is also one more hurdle for the CTA to overcome as the agency faces ridership that has still not returned to prepandemic levels, talk of transit reform in Springfield and looming local and federal financial concerns that could affect funding for work to bring trains back up to speed.
Immigrant families scramble as state health insurance for some noncitizens faces the axe in Gov. JB Pritzker’s budget plan
In just a few months, more than 30,000 other immigrants in Illinois may be uninsured once again as Gov. JB Pritzker has proposed eliminating funding for the program that began in 2022 for noncitizen immigrants ages 42 to 64.
While coverage would continue for noncitizen immigrants 65 and older, cutting the program for the 42-to-64 age group is a significant piece of Pritzker’s plan to balance a $55.2 billion state budget proposal. The governor estimates it will save $330 million as costs are rising and growth in income and sales taxes is slowing, developments that continue to strain the state’s finances and force difficult decisions to ensure the state lives within its means, Pritzker has said.
Marian ‘Cindy’ Pritzker, family matriarch, philanthropist and governor’s aunt, dies at 101
For decades, Marian “Cindy” Pritzker, the matriarch of one of Chicago’s wealthiest and best-known families, was a mainstay in Chicago’s philanthropic, cultural and civic communities.
Pritzker, who was 101, died Saturday, according to a family spokesperson. She was Gov. JB Pritzker’s aunt and had homes in the Streeterville neighborhood and Rancho Santa Fe, California.
University of Chicago under investigation as part of Trump’s anti-DEI initiative
The University of Chicago is among over 50 higher-education schools under investigation for alleged racial discrimination as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which his administration says exclude white and Asian American students.
Arlington Heights mayoral candidates want to bring the Chicago Bears, but they say it has to benefit the village
Candidates to be the next mayor of Arlington Heights all want to bring the Chicago Bears to the village, under the right circumstances — but they differ slightly on the details of how to make that happen.
The three candidates spoke to a packed auditorium at the Village Hall Thursday, vying to succeed Mayor Tom Hayes, who is retiring at the end of his term this spring.
Column: ‘Unlimited money’? No, but Chicago Bears have division rivals’ attention with offseason roster rebuild.
The Chicago Bears aren’t the only NFC North team that invested in the line of scrimmage during a whirlwind start to the NFL’s new year, writes Brad Biggs.
They’re just the team that has done the most work in the trenches after a 5-12 season, the sixth time in the last 11 years they finished last in the division.
No. 6 seed Illinois glad to be sent to ‘Big Ten country’ in Milwaukee for its NCAA Tournament opener
Illinois coach Brad Underwood said he loved the location of his team’s NCAA Tournament draw Sunday evening.
The Illini earned the No. 6 seed in the Midwest Region and will play their first-round game at 8:45 p.m. Friday in Milwaukee. That means Illini fans can drive to the team’s fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance in a matter of a few hours from Champaign — and less from Chicago. Underwood said he’s excited to play in “Big Ten country” in Wisconsin.
Column: As the Chicago Cubs prepare for the season opener in Japan, a modest proposal to fix the Tokyo Series
Major League Baseball needs Japan as its closest friend and most avid consumer of MLB products, including jerseys, caps, bobbleheads and Topps cards, writes Paul Sullivan. Playing an actual series in Japan every year makes a lot of sense, and it probably should always feature the Dodgers as one of those teams for at least the length of Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million contract.
But opening day?
Decades before Irish were Chicago political royalty, they lived in a ramshackle slum called Kilgubbin
Kilgubbin won’t be found on modern-day maps of Chicago, but there once was a place known by that name — a settlement of Irish immigrants on the city’s North Side.
In the 1850s and 1860s, Kilgubbin was often mentioned in the pages of the Tribune and other Chicago newspapers. The name became symbolic of slums where poor Irish immigrants lived in ramshackle shanties, squatting on property they didn’t own.
A Chicago ‘high holiday,’ St. Patrick’s Day celebrated with green-dyed river and thousands for downtown parade
Crowds began forming early Saturday morning in downtown Chicago to kick off the city’s St. Patrick’s Day weekend, with thousands lining Wacker Drive from Wolf Point to DuSable Lake Shore Drive to watch the traditional dyeing of the Chicago River.
