Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), the ordinance’s chief sponsor, brought the measure to the floor for a vote. It failed to pass with 30 aldermen voting against it.

The ordinance was first introduced in October 2023 but stalled in committee. Lopez says he and Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) used a parliamentary procedure to keep the legislation from dying in committee. The latest version addressed the constitutional questions raised by the Department of Law, questions regarding excessive fines by creating an “either/or” scenario for fines or community service, a graduated increase in penalty based on repeat offenses in a twelve month time span, and the defining of street take overs, open air gathers, curfew violations, and crimes by adults that contribute to the delinquency of minors.

In 2021, Navy Pier announced it would replace its free indoor botanical garden, which housed more than 80 full-sized palm trees, with a ticketed immersive experience from entertainment company Illuminarium to help offset the financial losses it endured during the pandemic.

As soon as they found out, Chicagoans weren’t happy: More than 15,000 people signed a petition to block the move. But despite the community’s efforts, Illuminarium’s 10-year lease agreement was inked in late 2021.

Some might call it karma for trying to replace a free green space with a paid digital experience, but Illuminarium proved to be an instant flop. Navy Pier’s owners filed a lawsuit against the entertainment company, claiming they’d pulled a “bait and switch.” They promised a $30 million, state-of-the-art experience that engaged all five senses, but instead produced a lackluster “run-of-the-mill virtual reality exhibit” due to their own financial decline.

Since then, the space has been vacant and remained closed—until now. A temporary roller skating rink has taken over the stunning Crystal Gardens.

The six-story tall atrium, illuminated by the Centennial Wheel, offers sweeping views during the day and dazzles at night. It’s a huge space (one acre, to be exact), and Navy Pier and partner Bucket Listers did an excellent job at transforming it into a sprawling funhouse.

A massive roller rink and a disco ball above it anchor the atrium. There’s also an arcade area with nearly a dozen machines, a photo booth, lockers and plenty of benches for onlookers to kick back. On select nights, guests 21 and up can join the adults-only Summer Skate After Dark experience.

Tickets ($20.38 for adults, $17.75 for kids) include skate rental. You can also bring your own skates, but ticket prices remain the same.

The pop-up opens June 18 and runs through Labor Day. And though the fate of the Crystal Gardens post-Summer Skate remains unknown, it’s a welcome addition to Navy Pier.

The grand opening, which will host “global leaders, artists, changemakers, and citizens,” will feature musical performances and appearances by Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera and John Legend, among others.

Every living president will be in attendance except one: President Trump. During a press preview in early June, longtime Obama White House aide and current CEO of the Obama Foundation Valerie Jarrett said Trump is welcome to visit the museum and they’d love to give him a tour. She said he simply was not invited to the dedication.

“I can tell you that this is a celebration for those who helped get President Obama where he is. And this is a gift to them,” Jarrett said. “And so the people who will be here are the people who’ve been helpful along the way.”

The center itself is a more-than-19-acre space on the south side of Chicago that describes itself as a campus and features a towering museum that curators envision influencing change and offering hope. It presents a close look at what life was like in the Obama White House.

The campus also houses a branch of the Chicago Public Library, as well as an NBA regulation-size basketball court and a Women’s Garden, created in tribute to female leaders in Chicago. It also has an auditorium, a media suite that visitors can use, a Wetland Walk and a fruit and vegetable garden and a playground.

The center’s messaging centered around hope and change is represented in its days-long opening weekend, which starts with star studded performances on Thursday and is followed on Friday by the museum’s opening to the public.

It is not, though, a presidential library and it will not house the former president’s presidential documents. Those documents are in the largely digital Barack Obama Presidential Library run by the National Archives. The center does have some records and artifacts on display in its museum on loan.

The iconic all-pink truck that serves up treats and limited-edition Hello Kitty merchandise will visit Oakbrook Center Mall Saturday, June 27 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to a release. Saturday, July 11, the truck will visit Westfield Old Orchard Mall in Skokie.

The stops are part of the truck’s 2026 U.S. tour. They are the tour’s only two stops in the Chicago area, with the truck also stopping in Bellevue, Washington; Broomfield, Colorado and Indianapolis, Indiana.

The truck, known for its cutesy merchandise and sweet cafe offerings, will serve giant cookies, cookie macaroon sets and Madeleines. It will also offer customer favorite merch including keychains, thermal bottles, blankets and plush toys. New items include Hello Kitty Cafe zip sweatshirts and T-shirts, and Hello Kitty Cafe mugs.

The truck tour comes as a brick-and-mortar Hello Kitty Cafe prepares to open on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago.

Full details on the visit to each mall can be found below. According to organizers, the Hello Kitty Cafe Truck accepts only debit and credit card payments — no cash.

OAK BROOK

•       Location: Oakbrook Center (between Macy’s & Seasons 52)
•       Date: Saturday, June 27th, 2026
•       Time: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
•       Address: 100 Oakbrook Center, Oakbrook IL, 60523

SKOKIE

•       Location: Westfield Old Orchard (between Vuori and Nespresso)
•       Date: Saturday, July 11th, 2026
•       Time: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
•       Address: 4905 Old Orchard Center, Skokie, IL 60077

Ald. Ray Lopez wants to rename Northerly Island to Pope Leo XIV Northerly Island.

He plans to introduce legislation on it to the Chicago City Council on Wednesday.

Pope Leo is a Dolton native and the first American to lead the Catholic Church.

The event will allow residents to walk the grounds to see the new construction including the beverage pavilion, skydeck, restrooms, south gate entrance and will call. Following the ribbon cutting, guests will also be able to visit the back stage area and enter inside the new artist building.

The River Edge Park Expansion Project began in 2018.

Blues on the Fox returns this Saturday, June 20, and marks the annual kick off to River Edge Park’s Summer Concert Season.

Splitter succeeds Billy Donovan as the Bulls’ head coach after stepping into the head coach job in Portland last season and excelling. Splitter, 41, guided the Trail Blazers to a 42-40 record and a postseason berth as the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference amid adversity stemming from Chauncey Billups’ federal charges.

Splitter became the first Trail Blazers head coach to have a winning record in his first season with the team since Maurice Cheeks in 2001-02 and the first to win a playoff game in his debut season in Portland since Mike Dunleavy in 1997-98.

Splitter led the Trail Blazers to a top-10 defense in their final 51 regular-season games, with a 30-21 record during that span. Portland also led the NBA in second-chance points per game under Splitter last season.

Sources said top Bulls officials, including executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham and his front office staff, met with four finalists for the head coaching job last week in Chicago: Splitter, Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, Atlanta Hawks assistant Ryan Schmidt and current Bulls assistant Wes Unseld Jr.

The Bulls conducted a search that spanned a double-digit number of candidates before narrowing the process. They landed on Splitter due to his ability to lead the team’s player development, organizational alignment on the franchise’s direction and vision, and his leadership and knowledge base as a coach who has risen through the ranks since 2018 and played in the NBA for seven years with one championship with the San Antonio Spurs.

Splitter played overseas before the Spurs chose him with the No. 28 pick in the 2007 NBA draft. He played in San Antonio, Atlanta and Philadelphia across his NBA career. After retiring, Splitter joined the Brooklyn Nets as a scout and player development staff member in 2018. He spent the 2023-24 season as an assistant for the Houston Rockets under Ime Udoka, and then he took a job as head coach of Paris Basketball for the 2024-25 EuroLeague campaign before returning to the NBA as Billups’ lead assistant in Portland.

The Trail Blazers will now have to hire a new coach after Splitter, one of their finalists, takes the Chicago job. Nori and Boston Celtics assistant Tyler Lashbrook are the two candidates remaining to be the new Portland coach, and both are expected to meet with team ownership in the near future, sources told ESPN.

According to organizers, the annual event, which had been held for the last three years in New Orleans, will move to the Windy City next year, bringing together some of the top Pokémon players in the world to compete for more than $500,000 in prizes.

In addition to the cash prizes, players who finish in the top spots in each of the different types of Pokémon games qualify for the world championships, which are held later in the year.

According to organizers, players compete in three different types of games, including the Pokémon trading card game, the Pokémon Champions video game and in Pokémon GO, a mobile game that is marking a decade of encouraging players to visit different parts of their communities in pursuit of the game’s titular characters.

For fans and competitors, the event typically features a Pokémon pop-up shop, unique photo opportunities with characters from the video games and more, according to a press release.

Chicago recently hosted Pokémon GO Fest around Grant Park in early June, drawing thousands of players to the city. Players were offered opportunities to catch exclusive Pokémon, compete in different events and to explore parts of the city.

More information can be found on the Pokémon tournament website.

Several people remain without power and storms on Saturday night into Sunday morning only added to the grief. Those storms hit the south and southwest suburbs particularly hard, knocking down trees and knocking out power.

Further information by the NWS could be released Monday.

Joabe Barbosa took the past two years to run each block in Chicago, completing over 5,000 miles on his journey.

“I just woke up one day and I thought I’m just going to run the whole city,” Barbosa said.

His final run went along Oak Street and Michigan Avenue before heading to Buckingham Fountain. The runner was far from alone on Sunday; he was joined by hundreds who have followed his journey.

“There’s just been an overwhelming level of support throughout the neighborhoods,” he shared.

Documenting his journey on social media, Barbosa said people would warn him about certain Chicago neighborhoods they said were too dangerous to run – but he wanted to share a difference perspective.

“As I kept going, I kept running, I saw how nice people were, so I started the message of positivity, trying to show how every single neighborhood in Chicago deserves respect, deserves love,” he said.

With every mile, Barbosa traced a different map of Chicago – not defined by blocks, but by the people who call them home. While his mission is complete, Barbosa said he wants to continue showcasing different neighborhoods in the city on social media, sharing them with the world.

This isn’t Barbosa’s first major feat.

He set a new Guinness World Record in 2025 for running to every single CTA station in under nine hours, something he documented on social media.

The graduate student’s time in the United States was uncertain earlier this year; it appeared his quest would end in June when his Visa expired. Barbosa said he was able to extend his visa to complete an additional practicum training with his school.