Your Daily Guide

Regulation For AI in Illinois

Gov. JB Pritzker said he will sign off on plans to build a regulatory framework for Illinois regarding artificial intelligence. The bill, which will make Illinois the first state to require independent safety audits for AI developers, passed the state House and Senate nearly unanimously. AI companies also backed the bill. [Tribune 🔒]

School Board Hopefuls File Election Petitions

This year, for the first time, Chicago will fully elect its school board. On today’s podcast, we talk about the 51 candidates who petitioned to get on the ballot. Plus, traffic court confusion is hurting immigrants, and Munetaka Murakami’s homers are fueling the White Sox. [City Cast Chicago 🎧]

Pope and Mayor Meetup

Mayor Brandon Johnson said he and Pope Leo XIV discussed “the brutal legacy of slavery,” City Council’s vote to cease fire in Gaza, war, and affordability. Johnson also invited the pope to give mass at Grant Park in 2027. [Sun-Times]

• Taking a stand: The pope issued a warning on AI. [City Cast Chicago 🎧]

Riot Fest Drops Lineup

The fest, which returns to Douglass Park Sept. 18-20, announced their lineup with performances from Tool, Twenty One Pilots, Pierce the Veil, Alanis Morissette, and more. Tickets are on sale now. [Riot Fest]

• Also: Lolla aftershows tix are live. [Do312]

Ten years ago, for my high school paper, I covered Northeastern Illinois University’s plans to seize a block of nearby Bryn Mawr through eminent domain. A decade on, nothing has replaced those former businesses and homes.

To commemorate the “Bummer on Bryn Mawr,” as one poster put it, neighbors recently held a somber tenth anniversary.

I attended — I’m a neighbor too. I grew up around the corner and vividly remember Hunan Wok and Ugly Hookah Cafe, the long-surviving travel agency and busy salon … now vacant storefronts.

What Happened?

NEIU revealed plans for mixed-use student dormitories on Bryn Mawr between Bernard and Kimball in 2014, amid declining enrollment. To build them, the public university would use eminent domain to take private property there. The news shocked neighbors, as NEIU was — and is — a primarily commuter school.

By late 2016, affected Bryn Mawr properties were either seized by or sold to the school. A decade on, NEIU faces a deficit, and enrollment remains down. Plans for the Bryn Mawr dorms were scrapped in 2021, and NEIU has struggled to unload the buildings.

Some businesses from those buildings pivoted successfully: Day and Night, a convenience store, and popular Bryn Mawr Breakfast Club relocated down the street. Only the 711 stayed, with the state as its landlord, thus prohibiting the sale of alcohol and slicing profits. The beloved Chinese restaurant, and more, was lost.

Taking a Sarcastic Stand

The Hollywood-North Park Community Association held a so-called Somber Tenth Birthday Party along the 12 empty storefronts Wednesday. Over 20 neighbors gathered with signs and balloons to call attention to what HNPCA chair Andrew Johnson called “blight in our neighborhood.”

Some attendees lovingly recalled takeout from Hunan Wok. But most didn't focus on what used to be on Bryn Mawr — they just want to see new life there.

As neighbor Ryan O'Connell pointed out, the area is landlocked by two cemeteries. “You just ride through, and it's like nothing, nothing, nothing … We're just missing something here.”

In the street, HNPCA members passed out flyers. “We’re celebrating eminent domain!” one explained sarcastically. Drivers honked in approval.

Looming above her was an NEIU billboard that declared: “Our mission is you.” One attendee scoffed at that: “Your mission is YOU,” her sign read.

NEIU recently said it will launch “a campus master planning process” this year that includes the Bryn Mawr stretch.

“ I hope they've got the tools to do right … This should be a win-win situation,” Johnson said.

Challenges like these aren’t confined to Bryn Mawr. In Rogers Park, Loyola University is facing pressure over leaving acquired lots vacant. And on the Near West Side, UIC is forcing out historic Jim’s Original decades after taking over the surrounding neighborhood.

But in quiet North Park, residents are done staying mum.