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Community Corner

🌱 CTA Violent Crime Rate Drops + How To Watch Chicago NYE Countdown

The quickest way to get caught up on the most important things happening today in Chicago.

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Good morning! In today's Chicago Daily:

  • 📈 The violent crime rate on CTA trains began to drop this year
  • ✉️ A stamp collection spanning more than 100 years of Chicago history will be auctioned off
  • 🏘️ West Humboldt Park is set to get 24 new homes—all built in a local warehouse

🌬️ The weather:

Becoming windier and milder. High: 43 Low: 39.

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📰 Top 5 stories in Chicago:

1) Violent crime rate began to drop on CTA trains in 2022, but still double pre-pandemic levels. The rate of violent crime on CTA trains began to drop this year for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, but remains near the highest levels seen in the past decade—and more than twice as high as the years before the pandemic. At the same time, the arrest rate for violent crimes on the "L" fell to its lowest level in at least a decade. (Chicago Tribune)

2) Another day of flight woes, unclaimed baggage at Midway Airport and beyond. After winter weather wreaked havoc on holiday travel plans across the U.S., Chicago airports continue to be hit hard by the chaos. Yesterday brought another round of flight cancellations at Midway and O'Hare, driven largely by Southwest Airlines. The U.S. Department of Transportation is looking into whether the cancellations were controllable—and went against Southwest's customer service plan. (CBS Chicago)

3) Stamp collection spanning more than 100 years of Chicago's history to be auctioned off. An extensive collection of letters, owned by lifelong Chicagoan Leonard Piszkiewicz, which span from the 1830s to 1950s, provides insight into Chicago's development from a small settlement of a few hundred people to the bustling city it is today. The collection will be auctioned off Feb. 9 at Collectors Club of Chicago. (Block Club Chicago)

4) Humboldt Park getting 24 new homes—all built in West Side warehouse. The builder, Inherent LC3, installed the first home in August and is weeks away from delivering the second and third. Each single-family home will be built in a factory in Austin and placed on a vacant lot surrounding Laura S. Ward Elementary School in West Humboldt Park. The developer was drawn to the area by the need to ease housing shortages. (Chicago Sun-Times)

5) How to watch NBC Chicago's live NYE show 'A Very Chicago New Year.' Want to count down to midnight in Chicago style? NBC Chicago will be ringing in the new year with an hour-long, star-studded special beginning at 11:08 p.m. on Dec. 31. The show will include musical performances by Smashing Pumpkins legend and Chicago native Billy Corgan, rock band Everclear and Chicago blues artist Wayne Baker Brooks. (NBC Chicago)

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📌 Today in Chicago:

  • Kwanzaa Celebration at DuSable Museum of African American History (12:00 PM)
  • Holiday Caroling at The Richard H. Driehaus Museum (12:00 PM)
  • "Call Jane" at Elmwood Park Public Library (1:30 PM)
  • Bald Sisters at Steppenwolf (2:00 PM)
  • New Year, New Vision Board at Portage-Cragin Branch Library (2:00 PM)
  • Harlem Globetrotters at Allstate Arena (2:00 PM)
  • Kwanzaa Craft at North Austin Branch Library (3:00 PM)
  • "As You Like It" by Chicago Youth Shakespeare at Epiphany Center for the Arts (5:00 PM)
  • Chicago Bulls vs. Milwaukee Bucks at United Center (7:00 PM)
  • Brewing Up Laughs Holiday Edition at Eris Brewery and Cider House (7:00 PM)
  • Donna Herula at Untitled (7:30 PM)
  • Alfonso Ponticelli at The Green Mill (8:00 PM)
  • A Charity Benefit Concert for Chicago Coalition For The Homeless at Golden Dagger (8:00 PM)
  • Abbey Road: All-Star Tribute to The Beatles at City Winery (8:00 PM)
  • Young Wolf and Friends at The Promontory (9:00 PM)
  • Soulphonetics at Punch House (9:00 PM)
  • Josh Gondelman at Zanies Comedy Club (10:00 PM)
  • Studs & Spikes at Berlin (10:00 PM)

📱 Social chatter:

  • 2023 Citizens Police Academy: "The Chicago Police Department is now taking applications for the spring 2023 Citizens Police Academy. Please review the brochure and if you are up for the adventure contact your District CAPS Office." (@ChicagoCAPS16 via Twitter)
  • All about street salt: "Feeling salty about the cold weather, or the salt tracks you've been dragging in on your shoes? Last winter, Chicago used at least 320,000 tons of salt to control ice on roads, parking lots, and sidewalks. Let's dive into the science behind it!" (Museum of Science and Industry via Instagram)
  • Wild Color exhibit: "CLOSING SOON: Less than two weeks left to see special exhibition Wild Color! 🌈 Escape the everyday and appreciate the wonder of the color spectrum by: 🔴 Immersing yourself in sensory rooms organized by color 🟠 Exploring the brightest and boldest hues from our collections 🟡 Snapping prismatic selfies 🟢 Decoding hidden messages that colors send 🔵 Marveling at mysteries hidden in plain sight 🟣 Awakening your senses Visit #WildColorField now through January 8, 2023." (Field Museum via Facebook)

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I'll be back tomorrow with a new update.

— Nicole Cvetnic

About me: I'm a Midwesterner and very happy to call Chicagoland home. I love the outdoors—especially hiking—performing arts, photography, good food, travel and gardening. You can find me reading to my toddler, watching tv with my husband or cuddling with our rescue dog.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Chicago Daily? Contact me at chicago_il@patch.com

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