Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.
This afternoon will be mostly sunny with a high near 78 degrees. Tonight will be mostly clear with a low around 56. Tomorrow will be sunny with a high near 78.
Top story
Chicago police were alerted to two reports of gunfire, hours apart, at Englewood home where 4 were killed and 4 others wounded
Three women and a man were shot and killed, and four other people were seriously wounded, when an argument broke out inside a home in Englewood on the South Side early today, according to Chicago police.
The four were pronounced dead shortly before 6 a.m. at the scene, a two-story house with a gray stone front in the 6200 block of South Morgan Street.
Chicago police spokesman Tom Ahern initially said all four were women, but he was corrected by Police Supt. David Brown at a news conference.
A witness told police there were two volleys of gunshots inside the home, hours apart.
The first was around 2 a.m., when Brown said the ShotSpotter system alerted police to gunfire near the Morgan address. Brown did not say if police responded to the alert.
The witness heard shots again around 5 a.m., around the time officers arrived to find the eight victims. Police found shell casings inside the house and a large-capacity “drum magazine.”
There was no sign of forced entry, Brown said. At least one of the victims likely lived at the address, but Brown did not elaborate on the relationships of the victims and the shooter.
Read our reporters’ full story here.
More news you need
- Chicago’s big reopening weekend left the city’s beaches and parks littered in trash, and Mayor Lightfoot called out residents to do more to clean up after themselves today. The head of Chicago Park District also noted that the city still has more summer jobs available than applicants.
- A West Side animal boarding business is under fire on social media after a dog died in its care last week when it was left in a vehicle during the recent heat wave. The Illinois Department of Agriculture, which licensed the business, says it’s investigating the incident.
- Chicago’s reawakening hotel industry and union leaders have forged a deal on a “Right to Return to Work” ordinance requiring hotels to rehire employees laid off during the pandemic. The ordinance will help protect older, more senior employees from pushed out in favor of younger, lower-paid workers.
- A grueling year for the eighth-graders at Jensen Miller Scholastic Academy on the West Side ended on a high note with surprise gifts from local non-profit Dion’s Chicago Dream. Happy students got computer tablets, sneakers and other goodies.
A bright one
Obamas return to Chicago — as works of art
Let’s face it, most official portraits are traditional and, well, a little staid. While their subjects are usually respectfully and skillfully depicted, these often easy-to-forget paintings offer little in the way of visual pizzazz.
But the portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery buck convention in almost every way, and crowds have flooded this arm of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., since the works were unveiled in 2018.
In part because of the unprecedented appeal of these works, the Portrait Gallery decided to tour them to five major museums across the United States, starting June 18 at the Art Institute of Chicago. (The exhibit will run through Aug. 15.)
“These portraits have gotten a very different reception than any other presidential portraits in our history,” said Taína Caragol, curator of painting and sculpture and Latino art and history at the National Portrait Gallery. “I think that is because the artists that the Obamas chose are very much part of the contemporary art world and not the formal tradition of state portraiture.”
The portraits will be shown in the first-floor Abbott Galleries in the Art Institute’s Modern Wing, and museum officials expect a big turnout. Perhaps more important, he said, they hope these works draw many first-time visitors.
Read Kyle MacMillan’s full story on the Obama portraits’ upcoming Chicago exhibition run here.
From the press box
- With things going well for both the Cubs and White Sox so far this season, Rick Telander can’t help but wonder if the first crosstown Chicago World Series since 1906 is possible.
- Lexie Brown has turned her opportunity with the Sky into a spot on the roster for the rest of the year after signing a rest-of-season contract with the team.
- The Bears worked out former Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall yesterday, a source confirmed to Patrick Finley. Marshall, a former teammate of Danny Trevathan, hasn’t played an NFL snap since 2018.
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Yesterday, we asked you: How did you enjoy the first weekend in Chicago without pandemic restrictions in over a year? Here’s what some of you said...
“Loved it! My wife and I were in town from San Diego for a wedding and got to do a lot of fun things all across the city. Botanical gardens, Sox game, Navy Pier, the Windy and then the wedding and my cousins birthday party. Threw in some Portillo’s, Al’s beef and Giordanos and it was a great weekend all the way around!” — Dan Giles
“Loved watching my Cubbies with everyone around rooting them on.” — Alisa Dube
“I saw the Cubs snag another W with 39,000 other Cubs fans and saw five of my closest friends at a restaurant in Logan Square. I have witnessed a lot of loss felt a lot of emotions over the past year. Moments like these spent this weekend made me exceptionally grateful.” — Melissa McGlynn
“Did what I always do, chilled in my backyard.” — Dre Jackson
“Pretty much the same, just stayed further away from people who weren’t wearing masks.” — Sarah Villegas
“Will still wear mask. There are those who don’t care, I do.” —Krystyna Szczur
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