Good afternoon, Chicago. ✶
It’s official — the Bears would like to stay in Chicago.
The team has apparently abandoned plans to build a stadium on the site of the old Arlington International Racecourse — after spending $197.2 million to acquire it.
Instead, during a news conference at Soldier Field this afternoon, Bears leadership announced plans to pursue a $4.6 billion domed lakefront stadium development.
In today’s newsletter, we’ll look into those plans.
Plus, we’ve got reporting on a civil rights lawsuit filed by the family of Dexter Reed, why President Joe Biden abandoned his bid to make April Perry the first female top federal prosecutor, and more community news you need to know below. 👇
⏱️: A 7-minute read
— Matt Moore, newsletter reporter (@MattKenMoore)
TODAY’S TOP STORY
Bears reveal plans for $4.6 billion domed lakefront stadium development: ‘This is not an easy project’
Reporting by Fran Spielman, Tina Sfondeles and Mitchell Armentrout
New stadium plans: At a Soldier Field news conference Wednesday, the Bears unveiled their plans for a domed “state-of-the-art, publicly owned stadium — along with additional green and open space with access to the lakefront” on the Museum Campus.
Expected price tag: The cost of the total project, with the envisioned hotel, bars and restaurants, will be $4.6 billion, partly funded with 40-year bonds backed by the city’s hotel tax. The remaining debt on the renovation of Soldier Field would be rolled into that 40-year payback plan.
Who’s footing the bill?The Bears say they have already committed to investing more than $2 billion in private money to build the $3.2 billion stadium south of Soldier Field. They’re also counting on a $300 million loan from the NFL and $900 million in bonds issued by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority.
Outstanding costs: The $4.6 billion price tag for the lakefront project still would not include taxpayer-backed infrastructure improvements needed to make the stadium — and the whole Museum Campus — more accessible. But Mayor Brandon Johnson, who attended Wednesday’s conference, said the financing plan does not call for “implementing any new taxes on the residents of the city of Chicago.”
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
- Dexter Reed’s family sues: A lawsuit filed by Reed’s mother contends he was killed by Chicago police officers who unlawfully pulled over his SUV last month and were “outrageously” aggressive as they approached him.
- Perry to be nominated as federal judge: President Joe Biden ended his bid to make April Perry the first woman to serve as Chicago’s top federal prosecutor by instead nominating her for a lifetime role as a U.S. District Court judge for the Northern District of Illinois. For months, the effort to confirm Perry was stalled by Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance.
- Biden’s war aid measure: On Wednesday, President Biden signed into law a $95 billion war aid measure that includes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and that also has a provision that would force social media site TikTok to be sold or be banned in the U.S.
- Dom’s Kitchen and Foxtrot sued: The brands’ parent company is facing a class-action lawsuit, a day after closing its stores with little notice to customers and staff. The complaint said the companies violated the state and federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act by failing to properly notify employees that they’d be laid off.
- ‘Rat hole’ removed: The rodent-shaped dent in a Roscoe Village sidewalk that went viral in January was removed Wednesday morning by a city crew. Officials say the concrete slab was preserved, and its destination is being decided.
- 1.5 stars for ‘Sasquatch Sunset’: In this ambitious but quite disgusting and weirdly inconsistent Bigfoot drama/satire, Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough don fur and makeup and spend most of the movie scratching, sneezing — and worse, writes Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper.
MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR 👋
Thaddeus Tukes, a Chicago jazz wunderkind
Reporting by Hannah Edgar | WBEZ
Thaddeus Tukes is an artist on the move — and not just because he’s busy. As one of the few vibraphonists in the city, Tukes, 30, is among the heirs apparent to Chicago’s straight-ahead jazz community. And he recently began pursuing a new calling: music therapy. He finishes up his degree this year at Illinois State University, in downstate Bloomington–Normal.
Before pursuing his degree, Tukes lived in Hyde Park, having moved there from 103rd and Cottage Grove when he was a teenager.
Musically precocious from an early age, Tukes passed through educational programs such as the Chicago Symphony’s Percussion Scholarship Program, the Ravinia Jazz Scholars and the After School Matters Big Band — for which, in a full-circle moment, he’s since taken over as a summer instructor.
After graduating from Northwestern’s prestigious school of music in 2016, Tukes had all the hallmarks of someone well on their way to a successful jazz career. Then, the pandemic struck. Igniting his music with moral urgency, Tukes founded the Chicago Freedom Ensemble, a marching band that appeared at protests across the city during the summer of 2020.
The protests ebbed, but those uneasy months left Tukes changed. He stepped back to assess his career trajectory ahead, with the promise of big record labels and agencies, and how much of it he found artistically and spiritually fulfilling. Not enough, he concluded. Within the month, Tukes applied to Illinois State’s graduate program for music therapy and was accepted. He enrolled in 2022 and has balanced his coursework with his performing career ever since.
“To me, jazz is a very sacred thing. You shouldn’t be a pastor because your father was a pastor — you should feel called by the Spirit. And that’s how I feel about jazz,” Tukes said.
BRIGHT ONE ✨
Lion cub returns to Lincoln Park Zoo exhibit weeks after unprecedented surgery
Reporting by Mary Norkol
When four lion cubs romped around their exhibit at Lincoln Park Zoo Tuesday, it might have appeared to be any regular day.
And that’s what their veterinarians hoped for — nothing out of the ordinary. But it was a big day. One of the 15-month-old lion cubs, Lomelok, was reintroduced to the outdoor exhibit as part of his recovery from spinal surgery March 5.
Lomelok was born with an abnormality in his lower spine, affecting his movement and activity in his back legs. That led to a slipped disc in his spine, which affected his mobility even further.
After several MRI scans, medications and weighing the risks and benefits of performing major surgery on a growing lion cub, the veterinary team at Lincoln Park Zoo and Med Vet Chicago decided it was worth trying. The location of the affected disc meant it was more likely to be a successful surgery, according to Dr. Kate Gustavsen, Lincoln Park Zoo senior associate veterinarian.
The surgery was successful, thanks to the preparation the vets did by speaking with experts at other zoos who had performed similar procedures.
When Lomelok was first brought back to the outdoor exhibit, he trotted around the space. With his mane just starting to sprout from his neck and head, he pawed at his brothers, rolled around in the grass and sniffed nearly everything, moving cautiously but confidently.
He walked, ran and played around the exhibit without much indication of his recent surgery, aside from the patches of hair regrowing where it was shaved for the procedure. Most of all, he lounged around on the rocks with his brothers.
“I love to see that as a doctor,” Gustavsen said. “I want him to take it easy. None of this would have worked as well as it did if we didn’t trust him to know his limits.”
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
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Editor: Satchel Price
Newsletter reporter: Matt Moore
Copy editor: Angie Myers
