Good afternoon, Chicago. ✶
The CTA’s “Second Chance” program aims to give people with criminal records and other barriers to employment an opportunity to gain job skills by cleaning bus and L car interiors.
But some former apprentices say they feel the agency is taking advantage of them, according to my colleagues Lauren FitzPatrick and Frank Main in their latest Watchogs report.
In today’s newsletter, we’ll look into the program’s claims and the people impacted.
Plus, we’ve got reporting on Jerry Reinsdorf’s new broadcast plan, Shedd Aquarium workers forming a union and more community news you need to know below. 👇
⏱️: A 7-minute read
— Matt Moore, newsletter reporter (@MattKenMoore)
TODAY’S TOP STORY
CTA touts its ‘Second Chance’ program forex-offenders, but few end up with permanent jobs
Reporting by Lauren FitzPatrick and Frank Main
Promises made: Celebrating the “Second Chance” program he helped create, CTA President Dorval Carter lauded it recently as a way to give “individuals with barriers to employment the opportunity to really turn their lives around and provide them with really good CTA, union-paying jobs.”
Promises not kept?: Instead, the Chicago Transit Authority ends up hiring few of the ex-offenders enrolled in its yearlong apprentice program, a Sun-Times investigation has found. Most Second Chance participants get strung along for a second, third and sometimes fourth term as the transit agency’s lowest-paid workers — amid a worker shortage that has curtailed bus and rail service.
The numbers: Since 2011, the Sun-Times found, the CTA has promoted only 14% of its apprentices into full-time jobs with benefits such as health insurance and paid sick leave. During that time, the agency has extended 26% of its apprentices beyond 12 months, with some of them ending up spending more than three years in the program.
Key quote: “They’re using us,” says Gregory Dixon, who spent more than two years as an apprentice, mainly at the Kimball Avenue CTA station yard, cleaning trains overnight. “They use us to do the little stuff. When I was working at Kimball, they had me training people. I trained some of them, a lot of them, on how to clean the train. And I’m still without a job.”
Calls for protections: The unions representing CTA bus and L workers want the program’s rules to be rewritten to better protect the apprentices, who often have the same duties as full-time L and bus servicers — at half the pay — and sometimes find themselves assigned to dangerous tasks. Beyond that, a union official says, they’re held to a tougher disciplinary standard.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
- Jerry Reinsdorf’s broadcast plan: This fall, the Bulls and White Sox owner is expected to take his teams to Stadium, the multiplatform sports network he controls after helping to launch it in 2017. It’s his chance to create something he couldn’t 40 years ago.
- Schools can march in Pride Parade: Organizers have reversed their earlier decision, now allowing some school participation in the June 30 festivities after originally cutting all schools that had previously joined the popular event.
- Real estate firm sued by attorney general: A Chicago investment firm lent millions to a South Florida real estate company that’s now being sued by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul for enticing struggling homeowners to sign 40-year contracts he says were designed to grab their homes’ equity.
- Group wants feds to probe Trump: A watchdog has asked the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate whether former President Donald Trump made “material false statements” on federal financial disclosure reports when he claimed that one of his Chicago companies had a $50 million outstanding loan.
- Shedd workers form union: Shedd Aquarium employees announced Thursday that they’ve formed a union — called Shedd Workers United — joining the wave of workers organizing at Chicago cultural institutions.
- No cracks in Blue Wall?: Top state Democratic Party leaders on Thursday vowed “Blue Wall” unity ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago despite party fissures over the war in Gaza and the ongoing migrant crisis — and polls that show President Joe Biden still must gain ground to win key battleground states.
- Remembering music legend Jun Mhoon: Long before he was a record producer, before he was even a teenager, Jun Mhoon was playing drums on tour with the Staple Singers, gazing in amazement at thousands of faces while warming up crowds for bands like the Doors. Mr. Mhoon died April 13 at age 69.
- Bedard looks back: With his first Blackhawks season over, how does star center Connor Bedard think he did? “Personally, I think I was OK a lot, but maybe not as good as I hoped,” Bedard told the Sun-Times.
WEEKEND PLANS 🎉
💃 Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Through Sunday
📍Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive
The storied dance company returns, ready to perform classic pieces and premiere new additions to the legacy.
Admission: $40+
🎥 Chicago Palestine Film Festival
Saturday-May 4
📍Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St.
This film fest showcases the rich narratives of Palestinian cinema through films Lina Soualem’s “Bye Bye Tiberias,” Sarah Beddington’s “Fadia’s Tree,” Joshua Vis and Eric Schrotenboer’s “The Law and the Prophets” and more.
Admission: $13+
🎶 Record Store Day
Saturday
📍Record stores citywide
This annual event celebrates vinyl and the stores that help keep the music spinning. In stores across the city, you’ll find rare reissues, exclusive Record Store Day releases and more.
Admission: Product prices vary by store
🧶 YarnCon
Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
📍Plumbers Union Hall, 1340 W. Washington Blvd.
“Fiber folk” from all over will descend on Chicago for this convention, which gives attendees the space to promote, sell and enjoy “the independent yarny arts,” organizers say.
Admission: Free
🎨 A Spectacular Black Girl Art Show
Sunday, 3-9 p.m.
📍Zhou B Art Center, 1029 W. 35th St.
This touring art show stops in Chicago to spotlight Black women, showcasing a wide range of works.
Admission: $30+
BRIGHT ONE ✨
How to celebrate weed’s ‘high’ holiday
Reporting by David Struett
Recreational weed has boomed to a $1.5 billion-a-year industry in Illinois — and many celebrations are planned in Chicago for weed’s high holiday of 4/20.
If partaking in recreational cannabis is your thing, here are some ways to celebrate:
420 Sesh Fest in River North
11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
📍Green Rose Dispensary River North, 612 N. Wells St.
Featuring a meet-and-greet with Vic Mensa, this event will have live DJ sets, a magic show and food trucks.
Admission: $20+
420 Smoke Fest Day Party
2-7 p.m.
📍Austin Town Hall Cultural Center, 5610 W. Lake St.
Over in Austin, a 21+ event is planned, touting a cash bar, weed and food vendors.
Admission: $4.20 early, $20 at the door.
420 Run/Walk 2024
9 a.m.
📍West entrance of 606 Trail, 1801 N. Ridgeway Ave.
Hit the pavement in Bucktown for the second annual event held by cannabis run club Runners High Chi, a “community of healthy, active stoners.”
Admission: $50.
Find more events and things to know about 4/20 here or via the button below.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
Saturday is also Record Store Day, so we want to know:
What was the first album you bought on vinyl? What made you purchase it?
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!
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Editor: Ellery Jones
Newsletter reporter: Matt Moore
Copy editor: Angie Myers
