Community Corner
🌱 Proposed LaSalle St. Revitalization + West Loop Kidnapping Attempt
The quickest way to get caught up on the most important things happening today in Chicago.
Good morning! Nicole Cvetnic here with a fresh copy of the Chicago Daily. Keep reading to find out the most important things happening in the city, including updates on:
- 🚧 Proposal for LaSalle Street revitalization
- 🚨 Police search for attempted West Loop kidnapper
- 🚈 CTA ridership continues to climb
First, the weather:
Partly sunny and breezy. High: 58 Low: 48.
Top 5 stories in Chicago:
1) Man shot by Chicago police infiltrated SWAT training. A man climbed five stories of a fire escape to infiltrate a Chicago police facility yesterday while officers were undergoing a SWAT training exercise and grabbed at least two guns before he was shot and wounded by police. Police Superintendent David Brown said the suspect was taken to the hospital with injuries not considered to be life-threatening. One officer was taken to the hospital with a sprained ankle. Brown said the suspect was seen on video leaving the facility and then returning to infiltrate it. He asked where to go to retrieve personal property at the facility on in Homan Square on Chicago's West Side. He had no other information about the man, other than to say he was a resident of Waukegan, a suburb about 42 miles north of Chicago.
2) CTA ridership continues to climb as more customers return to school, office. CTA ridership is now at its highest level since the start of the pandemic. A big bounceback in downtown ridership is leading the way, with a 21% increase over last year. Systemwide, average weekday ridership on the CTA has risen above 900,000 for the first time since February 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic prompted stay-at-home orders, forcing many people to work from home, and schools to switch to remote learning. The CTA said ridership for the week of Sept. 12 was up 10% from one year ago, with a total of more than 5.5 million rides. Bus and rail ridership for that week were up 8% and 13% respectively, compared to the same week last year. Ridership has grown steadily since January 2022, when the system was averaging 540,000 rides on weekdays, according to the CTA.
3) Chicago top doctor waiting to get new COVID booster shot, says not everyone should. With COVID cases anticipated to rise again as fall gets underway, health officials widely encourage those eligible to get the recently-updated "bivalent" booster shot as soon as possible. Containing half the original vaccine recipe and half protection against the newest omicron versions, the boosters are said to offer better protection than those previously administered. As the winter months inch closer, Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, has advised residents to not wait when it comes to getting vaccinated and boosted. Anyone who has received a primary COVID vaccine is eligible two months from their last dose of either the original vaccines or the previous booster shots. Currently, there are no restrictions for getting the booster around a recent COVID infection.
4) Revitalizing LaSalle Street: Lightfoot offers up TIF money to convert vacant offices into housing. The city is trying to revitalize Chicago's iconic LaSalle Street corridor by offering up incentives to convert vacant office buildings into apartments and condos. The program, announced yesterday, aims to add more than 1,000 new residential units to the immediate area by offering developers tax-increment financing (TIF) dollars and other incentives to repurpose historic buildings along LaSalle Street, with 300 of the units being affordable, officials announced. Properties located on LaSalle from Wacker Drive south to Jackson Boulevard would be eligible to apply for TIF money, which would help cover some of the costs of conversion. About 19 buildings located inside the project's boundaries qualify for priority consideration, according to a city map of the corridor. Historic buildings would also be eligible for additional city, state and federal subsidies for redevelopment,.
5) Police search for attempted kidnapper in West Loop; 2nd attempt in past month. Police are searching for a man who attempted to kidnap a woman in Chicago's West Loop. This is the second attempted kidnapping that has happened on the same block in a little over a month. Police said the latest attempt happened Sunday morning in broad daylight. According to police, a 45-year-old woman was walking southbound on the 200 block of South Sangamon Street around 8:45 a.m. Sunday, when a suspect approached her, grabbed both of her arms and attempted to pull her inside of a maroon Dodge Plymouth minivan. Officials said the woman screamed and was able to fight off the suspect. At the same time, a passenger in a Lyft vehicle confronted the suspect. Police said the suspect returned to the minivan and fled the scene. Authorities have since recovered the minivan.
Today in Chicago:
- Tuesday Morning Farmers Market at Lincoln Square (7:00 AM)
- Jack's Pumpkin Patch Pop-up at (4:00 PM)
- "Encanto" Crafts at Mount Greenwood Branch Library (6:00 PM)
- Yoga For Adults at Douglass Branch Library (6:00 PM)
- 8th Annual Bourbon Fest at Untitled Supper Club (6:00 PM)
- Wu Tsang Artist Talk at The Art Institute of Chicago (6:00 PM)
- Chicago Cubs vs. Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field (6:40 PM)
- Robin Williams and Chicago Virtual Walking Tour (7:00 PM)
- An Evening with Tom Jones at The Chicago Theatre (7:30 PM)
- "The Notebook" at The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare (7:30 PM)
- Ata Kak, Lady Midnight at Empty Bottle (7:30 PM)
- Film screening: "Pretty Woman" at The Emily Hotel (7:30 PM)
- Peach Pit at The Riviera Theatre (8:00 PM)
- Illiterate Light, Deau Eyes at Schubas (8:00 PM)
- Devon Walker at The Hideout (9:30 PM)
Social chatter:
- 'Stranger Things' home: Social Media Can't Get Enough of Plainfield Home's 'Stranger Things' Halloween Display (NBC Chicago)
- Blackhawks Pale Ale: "Cheers to being neighbors since '95 🍻 Blackhawks Pale Ale is available in Chicagoland now!" (Chicago Blackhawks via Facebook)
- Doggy transformation: "Zoey's transformation update is brought to you by her incredibly loving foster family- and now adoptive family! If you haven't met Zoey yet, her before photo (last pic) says it all. This absolute sweetheart was dangerously emaciated and couldn't eat due to impacted food in her gut." (PAWS Chicago via Facebook)
- 'A League of Their Own' at Wrigley: "Celebrate the 30th anniversary of the baseball classic "A League of Their Own" at Wrigley Field Thursday, Sept. 29! Cubs.com/Tickets Arrive early for a chance to receive a souvenir pin. Enjoy a postgame film screening and Q&A with cast members at Gallagher Way Chicago." (Chicago Cubs via Facebook)
- Hamburger Hop happenings: "The annual Hamburger Hop returned as part of Chicago Gourmet with Mayor Lori Lightfoot attending" (Eater Chicago via Facebook)
- 'Horny' farmers market: "Neighbors insist your soulmate could be among the nearly 7,000 weekly wanderers at the farmers market — and a singles event is in the works." (Block Club Chicago via Facebook)
- Wagyu beef at Home Depot?: "This is one fancy tube steak" (Eater Chicago)
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You're officially in the loop for today! See you tomorrow for your next 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 often find me reading to my two-year-old daughter, watching a tv series with my husband or cuddling with our special needs dog.
Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Chicago Daily? Contact me at chicago_il@patch.com
