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☆ Here Come a Trillion Cicadas. The Midwest is Abuzz.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Julie Bosman | Jamie Kelter Davis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

As the third graders of Cumberland Elementary in the Chicago suburbs colored, clipped and glued paper to make cicadas with filmy wings, they confided their fears about what is about to happen in Illinois. “Some people think cicadas can suck your brains out,” said Willa, a red-haired 8-year-old in a Star Wars T-shirt. “They’re going to be so loud,” Christopher, 9, said as he colored his cicada intently. “I hate noise.”“It’s kind of scary,” Madison, 8, said while picking through markers scattered on a green table. “What if they do something to me?”

Persons: ”, Willa, “ They’re, Christopher Organizations: Cumberland Elementary Locations: Cumberland, Chicago, Illinois, ” Madison

☆ O.J. Simpson Trial Served as a Landmark Moment for Domestic Violence Awareness
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Shaila Dewan | Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In December 1994, investigators from the Los Angeles County prosecutor’s office drilled open a safe deposit box that had belonged to Nicole Brown Simpson. In it, they found Polaroids of her with a battered face and letters from O.J. Simpson apologizing for abusing her. “The message in the box was clear,” wrote Marcia Clark, the lead prosecutor in the bombshell trial of Mr. Simpson for Ms. Brown Simpson’s murder, in a book about the case. “It was kind of like America was learning about domestic violence all at once,” said Stephanie Love-Patterson, a consultant for Connections for Abused Women and Their Children, an organization in Chicago that provides support for victims of domestic violence.

Persons: Nicole Brown Simpson, Simpson, ”, Marcia Clark, Brown, ‘, Stephanie Love, Patterson Organizations: Los Locations: Los Angeles County, O.J, America, Chicago

☆ Fierce Races Loom With Wisconsin’s New Political Maps
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-06 | by ( Julie Bosman | Jamie Kelter Davis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

From a north central county known for ginseng farming and downhill skiing, he has served on the local school board, the Marathon County Board and the village board of trustees in Weston, population 15,000. In February, new legislative maps in Wisconsin were signed into law after more than a decade of partisan wrangling and legal battles. The new maps undid the gerrymander that had helped Republicans keep control of both state legislative chambers since 2012. The 85th Assembly District in Marathon County, where Mr. Xiong lives, is no longer a Republican-leaning seat: It is a tossup. “This idea came to reality when the maps changed,” Mr. Xiong said in an interview last month.

Persons: Yee Leng Xiong, Xiong, ” Mr, Patrick Snyder Organizations: Marathon County Board, Democrat, Legislature, Republican, District, State Assembly Locations: Wisconsin, Marathon, Weston, Marathon County

☆ Four Years On, Covid Has Reshaped Life for Many Americans
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Jessie Thompson, a 36-year-old mother of two in Chicago, is reminded of the Covid-19 pandemic every day. Sometimes it happens when she picks up her children from day care and then lets them romp around at a neighborhood park on the way home. Other times, it’s when she gets out the shower at 7 a.m. after a weekday workout. “I always think: In my past life, I’d have to be on the train in 15 minutes,” said Ms. Thompson, a manager at United Airlines. A hybrid work schedule has replaced her daily commute to the company headquarters in downtown Chicago, giving Ms. Thompson more time with her children and a deeper connection to her neighbors.

Persons: Jessie Thompson, ”, Thompson Organizations: United Airlines Locations: Chicago

☆ In Chicago, It’s Summer in February
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

February is usually frigid perfection for the ice rink at Millennium Park in downtown Chicago, a favorite winter stop for tourists and local families that stands in the shadow of the reflective sculpture known as the Bean. Under an intense sun and 70-degree air temperatures, water slowly trickled out of the empty rink, flooding the surrounding concrete. Winter in Chicago — or the lack of it — reached an unnerving peak on Tuesday, when meteorologists predicted that the city could break a 48-year-old high-temperature record. Around the city, it looked like summer: Apartment windows were pushed open to catch the warm breeze. Restaurants set up tables and chairs on sidewalks for al fresco lunch service, a rare sight in a Chicago February.

Persons: Bean, — Locations: Chicago

Two teenagers were charged with resisting arrest and “gun-related” offenses in connection with a shooting that left one person dead and nearly two dozen others injured during a Super Bowl victory celebration in Kansas City, Mo., the authorities said on Friday. Additional charges are expected to be filed, according to a spokeswoman for the Office of the Juvenile Officer in Jackson County, Mo. The teenagers, who have not been publicly identified, remained in custody on Friday. The authorities have said that the shooting stemmed from a dispute among several people, and erupted on Wednesday afternoon outside the city’s Union Station, where thousands of Kansas City football fans were gathered for a rally. Twenty-two people were injured, and at least half of them were younger than 16, officials have said.

Organizations: Kansas City Locations: Kansas City, Mo, Jackson County, city’s

☆ Kansas City Grappled With Shootings Long Before the Super Bowl
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Kevin Draper | Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Across the country, Americans were shocked and horrified by the images on Wednesday from Kansas City, Mo., after shots were fired into a crowd of jubilant parade-goers celebrating the city’s Super Bowl win. To people intimately aware of the entrenched violence in Kansas City, the shooting was painfully familiar. There were 182 people killed in Kansas City last year, according to police data, surpassing a previous high in 2020. With a population of just over 500,000, Kansas City has one of the highest murder rates in the nation. Rosilyn Temple, who founded the Kansas City chapter of Mothers in Charge after her son, Antonio, was killed in 2011, was at the scene of two separate shootings on Tuesday, the night before the Super Bowl celebration.

Persons: Antonio Organizations: Kansas, Bowl, Kansas City Locations: Kansas City, Mo, Rosilyn, Kansas

☆ Police Announce an Arrest in the Theft of a Jackie Robinson Statue
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Julie Bosman | More About Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A 45-year-old Kansas man has been charged in the theft of a life-size bronze statue of the baseball legend Jackie Robinson from a park in Wichita, Kan. The police in Wichita said on Tuesday that the motive for the crime was probably to sell the statue for scrap metal. The man, Ricky Alderete, was charged on Monday with felony theft, aggravated criminal damage to property and making false information, the police said. “The investigation has not revealed any evidence indicating this was a hate-motivated crime,” Lieutenant Moses said. “Instead, we believe this theft was motivated by the financial gain of scrapping common metal.”

Persons: Jackie Robinson, Ricky Alderete, Aaron Moses of, Moses Organizations: Wichita Police Department Locations: Kansas, Wichita, Kan

Bill Murphy, an 80-year-old retired veterinarian in suburban Phoenix, sometimes blanks on names he could once summon with ease, so he has empathy for 81-year-old President Biden. But he winced when he watched Mr. Biden defend his mental sharpness at a news conference, only to mix up the presidents of Egypt and Mexico. Mr. Murphy, a Republican, believes Mr. Biden is not up to another term. “I look at him as a peer,” said Ms. Meyer, who plans to vote for Mr. Biden. The special counsel report cleared him of criminal charges in his handling of classified documents but described him as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

Persons: Bill Murphy, Biden, Murphy, Mr, Mary Meyer, forgetful, ”, Meyer, “ Organizations: Republican Locations: Phoenix, Egypt, Mexico

☆ Taylor Swift Gives Kansas City Its Own Love Story
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Prayer candles adorned with the faces of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift gaze out from shop windows. Kansas City, Mo., has lost its mind, and happily so. Swift, who since last summer has been dating Mr. Kelce, the Chiefs’ star tight end, and occupying a regular place at football games, restaurants in Kansas City and Mr. Kelce’s $6 million mansion in the suburbs. Most important in the minds of Kansas City residents is a Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Could Kansas City, a place that is often left out of the national conversation, see its fortunes and economy buoyed because of Ms.

Persons: Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift, Swift, Kelce, Kelce’s Organizations: Kansas, Chiefs, Super, San Francisco 49ers Locations: Kansas City, Mo, Kansas

☆ As Buses of Migrants Arrive in Chicago Suburbs, Residents Debate the Role of Their Towns
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

These days, it has also become a welcome center of sorts for migrants. Volunteers are working there daily, accepting donations of socks, puffy North Face jackets, snow pants and bars of soap. For more than a month, city officials said, buses from Texas have avoided Chicago entirely, dropping hundreds of migrants in suburbs that have been given no warning that they are en route. In December, Chicago enacted penalties for bus operators who drop off passengers outside of designated times and locations or without a permit. The dynamic has played out elsewhere as well, sending some migrants to New Jersey suburbs of New York City.

Organizations: Metra Locations: Wilmette, Chicago, Wilmette —, Texas, New Jersey, New York City

Justice O’Connor set the tone in her chambers by hiring a large number of female clerks, setting herself apart from the other justices. And while she was demanding — accepting no excuses for mistakes, a lesson she drew from growing up on a ranch in the West — she also took an interest in her clerks and their personal lives. “She would give them career advice, she would give them jobs,” said the historian Evan Thomas, who interviewed 94 former O’Connor clerks for his biography of the justice, “First.”“She told them to get out and get exercise, always take care of your family, give good dinner parties, never be too busy to take care of people,” he said. “You had to have a life.”For the women who clerked under Justice O’Connor, there was a keen awareness of both the barriers she had broken and her desire to be viewed outside of that history. Some recounted her wish to have her headstone reflect only that she had been a good judge, her relief when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg became a second woman to sit on the court and her insistence that her gender did not shape her decisions.

Persons: O’Connor, ”, Evan Thomas, “, Justice O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Cristina Rodríguez Organizations: Yale Law School

☆ Father Whose Son Is Accused of Parade Shooting Pleads Guilty to Misdemeanors
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Julie Bosman | More About Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Robert Crimo Jr., the father of the man accused of killing seven people at a Fourth of July parade in suburban Chicago, pleaded guilty on Monday to seven counts of misdemeanor reckless conduct for helping his son obtain a license to own firearms before the shootings. The guilty pleas were announced in a courtroom in Lake County, Ill., just before the elder Mr. Crimo’s trial was expected to begin. Eric F. Rinehart, the top prosecutor in Lake County, said the deal had been reached after last-minute discussions on Sunday. Under the terms of the agreement, Mr. Crimo will serve 60 days in jail, two years probation and 100 hours of public service, prosecutors said. Mr. Crimo declined to comment immediately after leaving the courtroom.

Persons: Robert Crimo Jr, Crimo’s, Eric F, Rinehart, Crimo Locations: Chicago, Lake County, Ill

Mr. Biden has made repeated gestures of support to Muslims and Arab Americans: In an Oval Office address on Oct. 20, he denounced Islamophobia and the death of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old who was fatally stabbed in Illinois in what authorities have called a hate crime. “In 2020, the Muslim community was instrumental in turning out the vote for Joe Biden,” said Ms. Al-Hanooti, the Michigan executive director of Emgage, a national organization that seeks to strengthen the political power of Muslim Americans. Muslim voters turned out in significant numbers — 145,000 voted in the presidential election, according to Emgage. An exit poll commissioned by the Council on American-Islamic Relations found that roughly 69 percent of Muslims nationwide voted for Biden. Ms. Al-Hanooti said Muslims turned out in large numbers for Mr. Biden mainly because they were motivated to help defeat President Trump.

Persons: Mr, Biden, Wadea, ”, Ammar Moussa, Biden “, Biden’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, ” Nada, “, Joe Biden, ” Mr, Hanooti, Trump Organizations: Biden, Arab, Palestinian, Council, Islamic Relations Locations: Michigan, Wayne County, Hamtramck, Dearborn, Arab, Illinois, Israel, Palestinian American

☆ 36 Hours in Chicago
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Julie Bosman | Julie Bosman Reports Chicago For The New York Times. | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

7:30 p.m. Find your seats at a Chicago theater institutionRegional theaters across the country are still suffering from smaller crowds and fewer paying subscribers, and the storied Steppenwolf in the Lincoln Park neighborhood is no exception, laying off 12 percent of its staff this year in the face of declining revenues. But Chicago’s love for theater runs deep, and Steppenwolf, which has been around since 1974, is still producing exceptional plays. (One of its shows, “ Sanctuary City, ” which runs through Nov. 18, is particularly well timed as Chicago struggles with an influx of migrants.) In 2021, the theater completed an expansion of its campus: The revamped Steppenwolf now includes the Ensemble Theater, a 400-seat, in-the-round space. You don’t have to look far for a nightcap after the show — two different bars in the theater’s building are open late.

Organizations: Steppenwolf Locations: Chicago, Lincoln, ”

☆ Not Over Yet: Late-Summer Covid Wave Brings Warning of More to Come
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Julie Bosman | More About Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Retail stores may have signs in the windows requesting that patrons wear masks, but no one inside is wearing them. Years-old stickers asking customers to stand six feet apart in line are faded, worn and ignored. The occasional storefronts in major cities advertise free Covid-19 testing, though the spaces inside are empty. And the virus is still disrupting work, school and politics: A Covid outbreak tied to a City Council meeting in Nashville this month left more than a dozen people infected, including council members, city employees and at least one reporter. “I haven’t really had to think about the phrase ‘superspreader event’ in a long time.”

Persons: “, we’ve, ”, Michael T, Freddie O’Connell, hasn’t, ” Mr, O’Connell Organizations: Infectious Disease, University of Minnesota Locations: Nashville

Two Michigan Republicans charged with purporting to be electors for President Donald J. Trump in 2020 appeared before a state judge on Friday, adding to a flurry of court action this week tied to efforts to overturn the last presidential election. Earlier in the week, a grand jury in another part of Michigan indicted prominent Republicans on charges connected to improper access to voting machines. Judge Kristen D. Simmons of the State District Court in Lansing agreed to give defense lawyers until October to review “voluminous” discovery materials in the felony case. From her small wood-paneled courtroom in Lansing City Hall, across the street from the State Capitol, Judge Simmons spoke over a video conference link with Ms. Maddock, Ms. Henry and their lawyers. She agreed to allow each defendant, who could face lengthy prison sentences if convicted, to take a trip out of state before trial.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, — Meshawn Maddock, Ann Henry, Kristen D, Simmons, Judge Simmons, Maddock, Henry Organizations: Michigan Republicans, Trump, Michigan Republican Party, Detroit —, Court, Lansing City Hall, State Capitol Locations: Mari, Detroit, Washington, Michigan, Lansing

☆ Blistering Heat Spreads to U.S. Midwest as Wildfire Smoke Lingers
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Julie Bosman | More About Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The heat wave that has scorched much of the American South and Southwest is now spreading throughout the Midwest, bringing temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, dangerous conditions for millions of people and pleas from state and local officials to avoid the outdoors. The extreme heat and humidity will spread misery across the region, particularly on Wednesday, meteorologists said, while warning that the intense heat and humidity could linger for days. In cities like St. Louis, Wichita, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo., temperatures could be 10 to 20 degrees above normal, and heat index readings, which consider both temperature and humidity, will reach into the 100s. The blistering weather arrived just as another health menace swept in: Canadian wildfire smoke that has once again settled over parts of the Midwest. In Chicago on Tuesday, the Air Quality Index reached 187 — a level considered unhealthy for sensitive groups — leaving the skies over Lake Michigan hazy and prompting some people to return to wearing masks as they walked dogs and ran errands.

Organizations: . Locations: American, Southwest, St, Louis, Wichita, Kan, Kansas City, Mo, Chicago, Michigan

☆ A Year After July 4 Parade Shooting, Some Americans Rethink Big Gatherings
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Luca and Lennyn Fantasia, ages 7 and 5, were bouncing around the Park Ridge, Ill., Memorial Day parade in May in giddy holiday mode. They wore red, white and blue outfits, admired the marching band and darted in the street to scoop up hard candy. Their parents, Megan and John, were quietly discussing whether it was safe to even be there. “The kids love this kind of stuff,” she said. But is it really worth it?”Americans will gather in packed, public celebrations around the country on Tuesday, in both big cities and small towns, marking the Fourth of July with festivals, Main Street parades and fireworks shows.

Persons: Luca, Lennyn, Megan, John, “, ” Locations: Ill

☆ Smoky Skies Menace U.S. Cities, Driving Residents Indoors
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Great Lakes region was enveloped in smoke and haze from Canadian wildfires for a second day on Wednesday, prompting millions of Americans to stay indoors in the heart of summer to avoid the unhealthy air. In Chicago, the city’s famous skyline was shrouded in whitish, smoky clouds as President Biden, visiting for the day, delivered a speech downtown on his economic policies. Pools and summer camps in Madison, Wis., were closed down, forcing parents to scramble to find child care. Cleveland residents who ventured outside could taste the smoke in the air, the worst conditions that many had seen since the first wave from Canadian wildfires descended into the northern United States this month. “I’m going to be out here 10 or eight hours today, so that’s a long day to be breathing in this kind of air.”

Persons: Biden, ”, Vincent Radzilowski, “ I’m Locations: Chicago, Madison, Wis, Cleveland, United States

How has the smoke affected air quality in the American Midwest? Image Chicago on Tuesday, where the Air Quality Index reached “very unhealthy” levels. Canada wildfires Burned Hotspots Source: Canadian Wildland Fire Information SystemHow far has Canadian wildfire smoke spread? In Canada, Environment Canada warned Tuesday that air quality would deteriorate overnight in Toronto, Canada’s largest city and financial capital. Poor air quality has also buffeted Montreal, where the sun has appeared in recent days as a lurid red dot.

Persons: Kamil Krzaczynski, Judson Jones Organizations: NASA, Agence France, Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, Environment Locations: Canada, Quebec, American, Europe, Coast, United States, New York City, Washington, Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Swiss, Green Bay, Wis, Grand Rapids, Mich, East, ., Portugal, Spain, France, Toronto, Canada’s, Montreal, Mont Tremblant, Ontario, New York

☆ Wildfire Smoke Is Back, This Time in the Midwest
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Weeks after dangerous air choked the Northeast, residents of several major cities in the Midwest — including Chicago, Detroit and Indianapolis — were urged to stay indoors today as smoke again blanketed large parts of the country. The air across much of the region experienced a sharp increase in potentially harmful pollutants, with the air quality indexes reaching well into the “very unhealthy” category. In Cincinnati, officials told residents to limit their time outside; in Cleveland, public pools were closed; and in Chicago, the skyline disappeared into the smog. The smoke is the result of one of Canada’s worst wildfire seasons in decades. “We are only in June and it is not even peak wildfire season yet, so we can expect to see a lot more smoke affecting our lives in the United States throughout the summer,” my colleague Julie Bosman, who reported today from Chicago, told me.

Persons: Indianapolis —, Julie Bosman, ” Organizations: Indianapolis Locations: Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati, Cleveland, United States

☆ Smoky Air From Canadian Wildfires Blankets Midwestern Skies
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Chicago and much of the Upper Midwest were blanketed with a smoky haze from Canadian wildfires on Tuesday, leaving many residents of the nation’s third-largest city startled by the sudden decline in air quality and donning masks when they ventured outside. Chicagoans were largely spared severe effects from wildfires earlier this month, when dangerous smoke affected the Northeast and pockets of the Midwest for days on end. But they had no reprieve on Tuesday, when the authorities classified the air as unhealthy in the city and in other parts of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Minnesota. In Chicago, the Air Quality Index reached 209 by noon, the worst reading of any major city in the world for the day, according to IQAir, a Swiss air-quality technology company. Any reading above 100 on the index is a warning to people with respiratory conditions to take precautions.

Locations: Midwest, Chicagoans, Illinois , Wisconsin , Indiana , Michigan, Minnesota, Chicago, Swiss, Green Bay, Wis, Grand Rapids, Mich

☆ Missouri Governor Says Execution Will Proceed After Jurors Waver on Death Sentence
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In a clemency petition sent to Mr. Parson last month, several jurors who had voted to sentence Mr. Tisius to death said they now believe life imprisonment was appropriate. Mr. Tisius’s lawyers had also argued that another juror from the sentencing trial was unable to read, a requirement under Missouri law for jury service. Mr. Tisius’s legal appeals have been exhausted. That left the possibility that Mr. Parson would step in and halt the execution. A former sheriff, Mr. Parson was seen as unlikely to commute the sentence.

Persons: Mike Parson, Michael Tisius, Mr, Parson, Tisius, “, ” Mr, Catholic Church — Organizations: Republican, U.S, Supreme, American Bar Association, Missouri State Public Defenders, European Union, Catholic Church Locations: Missouri, Randolph County, The State

☆ The Jurors Sentenced a Missouri Man to Death. Now Some Are Not So Sure.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Julie Bosman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Another juror, when contacted recently by legal representatives for Mr. Tisius, told them that he could not read in English, a requirement in Missouri courts for jury service. Mike Parson of Missouri, jurors recounted in statements obtained from Mr. Tisius’ defense team why they have changed their thinking since the sentencing 13 years ago. They were still convinced of his guilt, the jurors said, and believed he should never be released from prison. “I believe that people can change and should get second chances,” one juror said in an affidavit. “At this time, based on what I have learned since the trial, I would not object if Mr. Tisius’ sentence were reduced to life without parole,” another juror said.

Persons: Tisius, Mike Parson of, “, ” Organizations: Mr, Gov Locations: Missouri, Mike Parson of Missouri

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