CPS board president Ed resigns

Good morning, Chicago. ✶

In today’s newsletter, we share the breaking news that the new president of the Chicago Board of Education, Reverend Mitchell Ikenna Johnson, is resigning.

We’ll take a look at why and what this means during this tumultuous time for Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration.

Plus, we’ve got coverage of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s recent trial, a look at Chicago’s iconic theme parks through the ages, the Blackhawks’ baby boom, and more news to know below.

: 7-minute reading

— Matt Moore, Bulletin Reporter (@MattKenMoore)

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TODAY’S TOP STORY

The President of the CPS Board of Education resigns from his position

Reporting by Nader Issa and Sarah Karp | WBEZ

Fr. resigns: Amid a wave of backlash over disturbing social media posts that have been criticized as anti-Semitic, misogynistic and conspiratorial, the new president of the Chicago Board of Education, the Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson, is resigning at the request of Mayor Brandon Johnson.

PKP fight: This is the latest stunning development in the ongoing leadership battle for Chicago Public Schools. Johnson and six other board members took up their positions last Thursday after the entire school board resigned. The mayor announced them as his chosen replacements earlier this month.

Constant questions: Johnson was not well known in Chicago’s education community, but he was touted as an economic development expert who helped win contracts for minority-owned businesses. He regularly hosts a radio show on WVON and founded a consulting company. There were also questions about whether Johnson lived in Chicago and about his past. He became disbarred in Ohio nearly 30 years ago and at one point fell behind on his child support payments to the point where his house had a lien on it.

Key context: The resignation is another blow to the mayor, who has experienced successive failures in his contacts with the education system.

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WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING?

• Opening of the Fresh Market: The national grocery chain opened Wednesday in the former Dom’s Kitchen & Market, which closed abruptly earlier this year. Many residents gathered outside to get a chance to get a first look.
• Jury hears secret recording: Jurors in the trial of former House Speaker Michael J. Madigan heard today how his allies quietly raised money for an aide expelled after sexual harassment allegations.
• UChicago Medicine receives $75 million donation: The AbbVie Foundation’s gift will help build the new Cancer Pavilion, an $815 million, 575,000-square-foot building scheduled to open in 2027.
• More luxury apartments in Lincoln Park: Construction began on Wednesday on a luxury apartment building in Lincoln Park, making it one of the few projects underway in the area during a volatile time for new development.
• Plan of the Thompson Center atrium: Google will transform the ground floor of the former Thompson Center atrium into a hotel lobby-style space with restaurants, shops, seating and green space, according to a new rendering obtained by the Sun-Times.
• Why do we like to be afraid?: Many people enjoy the horror of haunted houses and horror movies, finding pleasure in jump scares and anything macabre. We found out why.
• Today is Halloween, tomorrow is Christmas?: Chicago station 93.9 LITE FM announced this week that its annual holiday music event begins Friday.

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HISTORY OF CHICAGO

The documentary is a fast journey through the past of local amusement parks

Reporting by Richard Roeper

For generations of longtime Chicagoans, there was a moment in their childhood when they were told that Santa Claus didn’t live at the North Pole.

He lived in East Dundee, Illinois, about 40 miles from the city, in a place called Santa’s Village. Santa closed his shop there for some time, but in 2011 he returned to business in the renamed Santa Claus Village and Water Park.

As we were reminded in a recent episode of the Chicago Stories documentary series, “Amusement Parks” on WTTW Channel 11, the Chicago area has a rich and vibrant history of amusement parks.

These include Kiddieland in Melrose Park, Fun Town on the Far South Side, and Ravinia Park in Highland Park, which opened in 1904 and was for a relatively short time “the first-class amusement park in the West” with a casino, attractions, and an amusement park. a skating pond before it became the music venue we know today.

The document points out that the 1893 Columbian Exposition had a huge impact on amusement parks, from the Midway Plaisance, a mile-long area with rides, games and attractions, to the introduction of the Ferris wheel.

By the turn of the century, amusement parks were popping up all over the United States, and Chicago had more of them than any other city. The granddaddy of them all was the legendary Riverview Park in Roscoe Village. The documentary also stops at Paul Boyton’s Water Chutes and Gurnee, now known as Six Flags Great America.

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BRIGHT

Blackhawks players are experiencing a collective baby boom

Reporting by Ben Pope

The Blackhawks are full of little kids.

Eight Hawks have had babies in the last two years, which means smooth diaper changing advice is now being exchanged in the locker room almost as often as smooth diaper changing advice.

“It makes you forget about the hockey side of life,” defenseman TJ Brodie said. “When you’re at home, you have other responsibilities; it’s not just coming home and worrying about yourself. That’s nice.”

Hawks forward Joey Anderson’s second daughter, Suzie, was born this summer, shortly after Jason Dickinson and Taylor Hall welcomed their first children and shortly before the birth of Connor Murphy and Ryan Donato’s first child.

Meanwhile, Brodie, Craig Smith and Tyler Bertuzzi moved their young families to Chicago after signing with the Hawks this summer. New goaltender Laurent Brossoit will soon join nine Hawks with children. Nick Foligno, Pat Maroon and Arvid Soderblom already have older children.

“It’s really nice that everyone is in the same stage of life,” Dickinson said.

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YOUR DAILY QUESTION

What is your ultimate Chicago theme park memory?

Be sure to tell us which theme park and decade your memory comes from.

Write to us (please provide name and surname). To find out the answer to this question, check out our Morning Edition newsletter. Don’t subscribe to the Morning Edition? Register here so you won’t miss anything!

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ONE MORE

A huge shout-out to our Sun-Times photojournalists who stopped while on assignment this week to capture some fantastic Halloween displays.

We would also like to thank the readers who emailed us photos of their Halloween decorations or shared photos of their neighbors’ arrangements.

We’re still adding to our spooky gallery, so review this and feel free to email us photos to make your neighborhood shine.

We wish you a nice and safe Halloween.

See you here on Friday.

SEE OUR ENTIRE HALLOWEEN GALLERY

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Thank you for reading this afternoon’s edition of the Sun-Times.
Have a story you think we missed? Send us an email here.

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Written by: Matt Moore
Editor: Esther Bergdahl
Copy editor: Angie Myers