Daywatch: Chicago’s new school board

Good morning, Chicago.

It's time to welcome the new Chicago Board of Education.

After news broke Friday that all seven members of the school board plan to resign , Mayor Brandon Johnson's office said the new members will be announced at an event this morning. The extraordinary shake-up cleared the mayor to reappoint the entire school board.

Chicago Board of Education President Jianan Shi declined to comment on his resignation Friday while embattled CEO Pedro Martinez issued a statement that did not address his fate as CEO but thanked the seven outgoing board members for their service.

"I know that families and staff may have concerns about what this means for the future of our District," the schools chief wrote. "Please know that regardless of the makeup of the Board of Education, my team and I remain focused on the work: robust teaching and learning, building on the great momentum we've seen in students' academic gains, and continuing to realize our vision of a District where every student has a rigorous, high-quality, and joyful learning experience."

Read the full story from the Tribune's Alice Yin .

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Parents look for answers at candidate forum after shock school board resignations

Less than 24 hours after the news broke that the entire Chicago Board of Education planned to resign, more than 40 family members of Chicago Public Schools students filed into Lane Tech College Prep's auditorium to hear some candidates pitch why they should serve on the city's partially-elected school board in January.

"It feels really icky; it feels like a move in a political game," said Stacie Phillippi of the mass resignations.

Oct. 7 attacks, one year later: Locals mourn slain hostages, victims of Israel-Hamas war — and fear escalation in the Middle East

On the one-year anniversary of the start of the Israel-Hamas war approaches, the pain of the conflict thousands of miles across the globe has touched the Chicago area in so many ways.

As Madigan corruption trial kicks off, focus will be on those three taboo words: quid pro quo

A recording between Chicago Ald. Daniel Solis and then-House Speaker Michael Madigan cuts to the heart of one of the key issues in Madigan's highly anticipated racketeering trial, which gets underway this week at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse: Did Madigan know ahead of time that private benefits for himself or his friends were being exchanged for official acts?

Mayor Johnson's budget timeline delay spells difficult months ahead for Chicago's financial conundrum

Mayor Brandon Johnson is pushing back the start of the annual city budget process, leaving himself and aldermen in a tight spot: They need to quickly overcome the acrimony among elected officials at City Hall to find a way to close a daunting 2025 deficit that has been barreling down on Chicago for years.

On Northwest Side, dispute and confusion over how to address encampment near Gompers Park

The encampment is the latest flashpoint in a sometimes-heated debate over how Chicago should approach its rising homeless population.

North Mayfair and North Park residents clashed over how to address the Gompers Park encampment and the people living there. Many who packed a community meeting last week were concerned about cleanliness and drug use and erratic behavior by encampment residents as well as their living conditions, particularly with another Chicago winter approaching. Other residents also support offering park dwellers permanent housing but argue that they should have more agency in that process.

Lawyers for Gangster Disciples founder Larry Hoover want judge to step down after 'intimidating' comments

Lawyers representing Gangster Disciples founder Larry Hoover filed a motion Friday asking the judge overseeing Hoover's request for release from a life sentence to recuse himself due to his "vaguely intimidating" and "entirely inappropriate" comments at a hearing last week.

The request focuses on U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey's unusual line of questioning of defense counsel about "other murders" Hoover may have committed, as well as an off-beat moment where the judge cut off an argument by lead attorney Jennifer Bonjean, saying it sounded like she was "rapping."

This year's NASCAR Chicago Street Race drew more visitors, filled more hotel rooms and generated $128 million in economic impact

The second NASCAR Chicago Street Race, held July Fourth weekend, generated $128 million in total economic impact, a 17% increase over the inaugural event, according to a study commissioned by Choose Chicago, the city's tourism arm.

Pushing forward: Now that girls flag football is an IHSA sport, the work shifts to creating college programs for female athletes

The landscape of girls flag football in Illinois continues shifting as the foundation being built at the high school level now grows toward higher education.

What started with 22 teams in Chicago Public Schools in 2021 spread like wildfire to become an Illinois High School Association-sanctioned sport in February. Couple that with men's and women's flag football being played at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and it appears the world is waking up to the possibilities of flag football for all.

Caleb Williams navigated the wind — and Chicago Bears won their 8th straight at home. Brad Biggs' 10 thoughts on Week 5.

The Chicago Bears walloped the Carolina Panthers 36-10 on Sunday, moving to 3-2. It's the first time at this point in the season they have been above .500 since they had the same record after five games in 2021.

Here are 10 thoughts on the Week 5 victory at Soldier Field.

Review: Maxwells Trading, intimately American- and Asian-influenced food in Chicago

Maxwells Trading, the restaurant in Chicago by three-time James Beard-nominated chef and partner Erling Wu-Bower, makes deeply delicious, Asian-influenced, intimately American food that challenges culinary and cultural identity, writes Louisa Kung Liu Chu .

Bright berries could signal an invasive plant

On a walk in the woods or in a decorative autumn-themed wreath, you may spot a bunch of bright orange berries popping out of yellow seed capsules.

"If you do, that's bad news," said Sharon Yiesla, plant knowledge specialist in the Plant Clinic at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle.

Biblioracle: Is the publishing industry in a slump?

In talking to some folks who work up and down the industry — publishers, agents, writers and booksellers — there's a sense that some energy has been lacking, and when asked, they had a hard time identifying a book or author that had recently lit the readership on fire.

Stateville's storied past recalled as state readies to demolish, rebuild century-old prison

Shortly before Stateville Correctional Center opened in 1925, officials laid out their ambitious goals for the prison: "Warden John J. Whitman in his dedication address declared the function of the model prison would be the reformation of men who had run afoul of the law not merely a place of punishment," the Tribune reported on Dec. 7, 1924.

A magnet for controversy from the start, the aging and decrepit prison near Joliet is set to be demolished by the state of Illinois, which plans to rebuild a new facility on the site using more modern concepts of prison architecture.