Your Daily Guide

A Waze For Gunfire?

SplitSec is an app that can potentially use Chicagoans’ phones to detect nearby gunfire, as opposed to the fixed sensors on poles utilized by the controversial ShotSpotter program. SplitSec’s founder compared it to the traffic app Waze, but for gunfire awareness. It’s currently being tested in two wards. [Block Club]

• Remember? Replacing ShotSpotter has been a debacle. [City Cast Chicago 🎧]

Funeral Home Under Investigation. Also, the Fire on Fire

The owners of multiple South Side and south suburban funeral homes are under a microscope after state officials discovered they had been mismanaging human remains. We break down the details on today’s podcast. Plus: the recently shuttered charter network trying to sell a publicly funded building, and the Chicago Fire on fire. [City Cast Chicago 🎧]

ICE Agent Pleads Guilty

An ICE agent, Adam Saracco, pleaded guilty to attacking an activist last December and was sentenced to a year of court supervision. He’s believed to be the first and only ICE agent charged in Cook County over conduct during “Operation Midway Blitz.” [Tribune 🔒]

Time to Buy those Glue Sticks!

Illinois' Back-to-School Tax Holiday, which temporarily reduces the state sales tax rate from 6.25% to 1.25% on qualifying items, expires Monday. So get out there this weekend and do some shopping! City and county taxes are still in full effect. [Illinois.gov]

• Did you know? The average family spends almost $1,000 per kid on back-to-school shopping. [PwC]

Chicago Not Quite Prepared For Disaster

A recent analysis ranks Cook County behind only Los Angeles County in our natural disaster risk level and lack of preparedness. Consider this your warning as we head into a weekend with severe storms (and hail and winds) once again in the forecast. [Axios]

• Get prepped: Our tornado tips and resources. [City Cast Chicago 💻]

This Week’s Must-Read: Life After ICE Detention

The arrest of a tamale vendor in Back of the Yards last fall drew attention to the vulnerability local street vendors face. Now, after six months of detention, Laura Murillo is back in Chicago, rebuilding and re-examining her life. In this intimate profile, Murillo tells the story of her arrest and detention and how it changed her life. [Sun-Times]