Good morning, Chicago.
More than 1,000 Chicago Housing Authority residents who are behind on rent have not paid for an average of nearly two years.
CHA’s Office of the Inspector General report from the last quarter of 2024 found that as of March 1, 2024, CHA was owed more than $10.4 million dollars in rent by these 1,394 residents and was failing to enforce its lease agreements with them.
CHA is the third largest public housing authority in the country, serving more than 65,000 households, and it also is the largest single owner of rental housing in the city with more than 21,000 public housing units. The agency has a 2025 budget of $1.3 billion.
The OIG advisory comes as the agency is managing senior staff turnover, including in its general counsel position, and is searching for a permanent replacement for former CEO Tracey Scott.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Lizzie Kane.
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Delta jet flips upside down on a snowy Toronto runway and all 80 aboard survive
A Delta Air Lines jet flipped on its roof while landing Monday at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, but all 80 people on board survived and those hurt had relatively minor injuries, the airport’s chief executive said.
Snow was being blown by winds gusting to 40 mph when the flight from Minneapolis carrying 76 passengers and four crew attempted to land on a dry runway at around 2:15 p.m. Authorities said the cause of the crash remained under investigation.
Mexico awaits new response from Google on dispute over Gulf of Mexico name before filing lawsuit
Mexico said yesterday it’s awaiting a new response from Google to its request that the tech company fully restore the name Gulf of Mexico to its Google Maps service before filing a lawsuit.
Loop restaurants, caterers hope for boost from new return-to-office requirements
A number of high-profile employers in recent months have taken steps to significantly curb pandemic-era remote work. And the latest return-to-office mandates may help give a boost to businesses in Chicago, especially in the Loop.
The Indiana State capitol building in Indianapolis on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. (Michael Gard / Post-Tribune)
Indiana Senate passes Gov. Mike Braun’s property tax plan on third reading
Gov. Mike Braun’s property tax plan has now become an act after the Indiana Senate passed it in a 37-10 vote.
The bill changes the homestead standard deduction amount of 60% of the homestead’s assessed value if the value is more than $125,000 or $48,000 plus 60% of the remaining assessed value if the homestead has an assessed value of $125,000 or less.
- Illinois secession bill passes out of Indiana committee, but even supporters aren’t totally on board
- Indiana House legislation focused on nuclear energy moves to Senate
Couple loses home on wedding day in Cicero explosion; 1 dead and others displaced by the blast
Tom Davis and Eleni Vrettos were supposed to be celebrating on Saturday, but instead after their vows, the bride and groom found themselves racing to their Cicero home after learning it had exploded.
Dressed in her gown and heels, Vrettos trudged her way through the snow to find smoke streaming out of the place she called home for most of her life. Her beloved cats, who she called her children and named signature drinks after at the wedding, gone.
Tale of 5 smuggled spider monkeys shows the difficulties of combating illegal wildlife trade
Behind the scenes at the Brookfield Zoo, five spider monkeys are preparing to make their public debut this summer. Their journey began more than a year ago when they were confiscated from smugglers at the Mexican border after being snatched from the wild, their mothers killed in the process.
Notes from Chicago Cubs camp: Nico Hoerner hopes to play in Japan, while Dansby Swanson wants to play every day
While noting last week that the season-opening two-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 18-19 in Japan is important, Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell stressed that it’s only two games.
That suggests he won’t try to rush players back from any nagging injuries just to play in the series.
Luis Robert Jr. not focused on trade speculation as the Chicago White Sox hold 1st full-squad workout
Luis Robert Jr. had been mentioned in trade speculation throughout the offseason. But the center fielder was back at Chicago White Sox camp on Monday, participating in the team’s first full-squad workout of the spring.
Kay Smith, painter of American historic sites, dies at 101
Kay Smith illustrated cookbooks and children’s books before gaining a reputation for her watercolor paintings of historic landmarks that led to what she called her “American Legacy” collection.
Smith, who taught painting at the Old Town Triangle Association for two decades, was named Artist Laureate of Illinois in 1994. Her work was displayed in the state of Illinois’ executive mansion, the Three Arts Club of Chicago and the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Missouri.
Review: In ‘Project a Black Planet’ at the Art Institute, artists from all over expand on the idea of Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism is a theory that proclaims peoples of African descent, worldwide as a group with shared ancestry and experiences of oppression and calls on them to unite for a better future. It’s been around since about 1900.
“Project a Black Planet” at the Art Institute explores its cultural manifestations through more than 350 objects created by artists from Africa, North and South America and Europe, writes Lori Waxman.
Why is Helen Hunt at the Goodman Theatre? ‘Betrayal,’ she says, is more painful later in life
In 1978, Harold Pinter wrote a play about an affair that wrecks a marriage. The canonical work, “Betrayal,” is structured in reverse chronology. The first two scenes of the far-from-merry Pinter play take place after the affair has ended, in 1977. The final scene of the play ends even as the affair begins, in 1968. Pinter wrote Emma to be 29 when it began, Jerry and Robert, about 32.
Those are not the age ranges of the actors director Susan Booth has cast in her made-in-Chicago revival of the play, that opened last night at the Goodman Theatre. But the older actors were cast by Booth with intentionality. Robert Sean Leonard is 55. He plays Robert. Ian Barford is 58. He plays Jerry. Helen Hunt is 61. She plays Emma.