🏛️ The one with all the City Council meetings
By Sidney Madden |Â @sidney_madden_
🏛️ City Council Meetings
It’s not just you: There are a lot of City Council meetings this week. After a meeting Monday, we have two more today. Why? There are a lot of issues on the table — from casinos to curfews to crime.
Today, 10 a.m.
Bally’s casino in River West is up for a full council vote after passing a special committee 27–3 earlier this week.
Some alders are questioning what the rush is after only a handful of council meetings, but Mayor Lori Lightfoot is behind the expedited timeline, WBEZ reported. Her staffers have told alders that casino revenue is needed to avoid more property tax hikes.
The citywide teen curfew is also expected to get an up-or-down vote today after Northwest Side Alds. Nicholas Sposato and Emma Mitts of the 38th and 37th Wards, who favor the updated ordinance, delayed the vote Monday.
City Council and the American Civil Liberties Union previously challenged Lightfoot’s executive order to change the curfew to 10 p.m. from 11 p.m., according to CBS Chicago.
The vote also comes days after teens staged a die-in outside City Hall to protest the city’s efforts to limit their access downtown, Block Club reported.
Today, 3 p.m.
Summertime crime prevention is the subject of a special meeting called by mayoral challenger Ald. Ray Lopez of the 15th Ward, who collected signatures from 29 fellow alders.
Alders are calling upon police, Park District, and CPS leaders to address crime in the wake of the city’s new downtown rules and ahead of the historically violent Memorial Day weekend, WTTW reported.
In Other City Council NewsÂ
Ald. Michael Scott of the 24th Ward is stepping down to join Cinespace Studios. Lightfoot will need to appoint his replacement in the next 60 days, her second aldermanic appointment this year.
City Council finally decided on a new ward map last week. Learn about it with our friends from The Daily Line at the Hideout at 6 p.m.
🕶️ Secret Service
Abraham Bolden at the Federal Building in Chicago July 7, 1964, where he was tried for allegedly attempting to sell government reports. (George Quinn / Tribune / Getty) 
Bolden at his Chicago home hours after President Joe Biden announced his pardon April 26. (Terrence Antonio James / Tribune / Getty)
Abraham Bolden became the first Black Secret Service agent to serve on a presidential detail in 1961.
But when he left Chicago and moved to D.C., he said it was like going from “heaven to hell,” facing racism from colleagues and hearing other agents say they wouldn’t protect President John F. Kennedy if there was an assassination attempt because of his integration work. Bolden spoke up, but ended up setting off a 50-year fight for justice.
🎧 From his Auburn Gresham home, the 87-year-old tells us what happened and how he got clemency from President Joe Biden last month.
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đź“° Newsfeed
Families sue Rogers Park senior living facility. Three women were found dead at the James Sneider Apartments less than two weeks ago after a heat wave. The wrongful death suit alleges past complaints about heat at the building. [WGN]
Abortion pills to be sent via mail. Planned Parenthood of Illinois said it will send Mifepristone to eligible residents with an in-state address. [Sun-Times]
In animal news…Monty the Piping Plover’s memorial is at Montrose Beach today at 6 p.m. after the bird mysteriously died earlier this month. Chance the Snapper, the gator found in the Humboldt Park lagoon in 2019, is now one of the biggest gators at a Sunshine State zoo. [BlockClub]
🔎 Hidden Etymologies
If there’s one thing we like to do here at City Cast, it’s nerd out over some Chicago history together.
And this map of neighborhood etymologies by Harvard linguistics student Adam Aleksic is cool AF! (Shoutout to historian Shermann “Dilla” Thomas for recirculating it on Twitter this week.)
Wonder how neighborhoods got their names? Aleksic categorized Chicago neighborhood names from those that come from another language, is a historical reference, or named after a person or place.
🏠Kenwood was named after a Scottish estate.
🌺 Hermosa translates to beautiful in Spanish.Â
🌊 Sauganash is named after a Potawatomi chief.
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