Good afternoon! It’s Wednesday, and while I won’t get to see my mom in person this Mother’s Day, I’m saving these brunch recipes for another year. Here’s what you need to know today.
1. Kilbourn Park is doubling down on native plants for this year’s Mother’s Day sale
Now in its 30th year, the event draws more than a thousand local gardeners to snatch up plants for just $4 each, my colleague Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco reports.
For decades, Chicagoans flocked to pick up tomatoes, cucumbers and some annuals — the standard starter kit for backyard gardeners. But this year, the park responded to a relatively new demand: Nearly 1 in 5 plants for sale are native plant species that have adapted to local climate and wildlife and are generally low maintenance.
Local plant sales have incorporated native species at a pace surprising even veteran horticulturalists who remember when they couldn’t give these plants away. That relatively new mainstream demand has been driven in part by concerns about dramatic declines in insect species — the caterpillars of the monarch butterfly, for example, depend on native milkweed as a food source. And backyard gardeners face climate change-powered extreme heat, drought and flooding.
“Native plants have been adapting to change for thousands of years,” said Tiffany Jones, who leads habitat education throughout the Great Lakes region for the National Wildlife Federation. “They need less water, less maintenance, and they’re incredibly resilient — not to mention they help flood prevention with their deep root systems and provide habitat for all kinds of crucial species and pollinators. They’re practical and beautiful.” [WBEZ/Grist]
2. Illinois State Police is investigating the fatal ICE shooting of Silverio Villegas González
As my colleague Sophie Sherry reports for the Chicago Sun-Times, this is the most high-profile independent inquiry into Operation Midway Blitz, during which federal agents also shot Marimar Martinez in Brighton Park and routinely used pummeling force and chemical irritants.
Villegas González, a father and cook from Mexico, was fatally shot “at close range” on Sept. 12, 2025, according to an autopsy report. The feds say he allegedly attempted to flee the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who tried to stop his car.
The investigation launched amid a legal push to install a special prosecutor in the Cook County state’s attorney’s office to target the federal agents who carried out the campaign.
Yesterday, that office said prosecutors were contacted by state police and will play a “supportive role” in the investigation, following its guidance for handling cases involving federal agents.
Last week, a state commission released a damning report detailing the actions of federal agents during President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign in the Chicago area last year. The report urged Illinois law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute alleged crimes stemming from Midway Blitz. [Chicago Sun-Times]
3. The Chicago Park District installed automated parking gates at 10 beaches
Though paying at the lots isn’t new, the park district said recent changes “simply modernize how payment is managed and enforced” and the new gates will help with park security.
Visitors will be allowed 15 free minutes that can be used for pickup, drop-off or unloading supplies. After that, a parking fee will apply.
Rates haven’t increased with the upgrades, vary slightly by location and start around $4.07 for up to one hour, maxing out at $24 for vehicles parked longer than nine hours. The park district said it expects to generate $9.4 million in revenue that will “directly support parks and park programming citywide.”
You can see the list of beaches affected in the link. [Chicago Sun-Times]
4. Sheila E., Arrested Development and local band La Rosa Noir are among the highlights of this year’s Millennium Park Summer Music Series
Local and international musicians will take the stage at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion on Monday and Thursday nights from June 15 to Aug. 6, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events announced today.
The musical lineups for each night include strong local ties, including Stanford-educated Puerto Rican rapper Linda Sol opening for Arrested Development on June 15 and Chicago-made alternative band La Rosa Noir opening for the legendary and eccentric Colombian psychedelic rock duo Aterciopelados on July 27. DJs from Ed Marszewski’s Bridgeport-based Lumpen Radio will kick off the night.
You can see more highlights in the link. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Also announced today, Millennium Park’s Summer Film series will honor late director Rob Reiner with a double feature. Other screenings include the Oscar-winning “Sinners” and the movie version of the Lin-Manuel Miranda-fronted “Hamilton.” [WBEZ]
5. What did America sound like in 1776? A local ensemble went sleuthing for the answer
Trumpets with a Civil War–era vintage. A piano dating to George Washington’s second term. A parlor tune by a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
No, these relics aren’t behind glass at the Smithsonian, WBEZ arts contributor Hannah Edgar writes. From tomorrow through Sunday, all will feature prominently in up-close-and-personal concerts by the Newberry Consort, a local period music ensemble, across multiple Chicago venues.
Like so many of the group’s projects, “Revolution!” — a collection of tunes written or circulated in the U.S. between 1776 and 1865, the close of the Civil War — came about not just through practice but fastidious musical sleuthing. More than a dozen contributors are credited in the concert program as researchers, arrangers and language coaches.
Music from African American, Sephardic Jewish, Mohican and Choctaw traditions appear across the program, as do abolition songs, musical parodies, military band tunes and light music. [WBEZ]
Here’s what else is happening
The hantavirus on a cruise ship off the Atlantic coast of Africa was confirmed as a rare type that can spread human-to-human. [NPR]CNN founder and cable TV news pioneer Ted Turner died at 87. [CNN]Obama Presidential Center tickets went on sale today. (I’m excited to take my mom when she visits this summer.) Former President Barack Obama said he hopes the museum will put his accomplishments in context. [CNN]The final season of FX’s Chicago-set “The Bear” will premiere June 25. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Oh, and one more thing …
Ever notice a branded stamp in the sidewalk? Some signify Depression-era infrastructure projects by the Works Progress Administration, WBEZ’s Erin Allen reports for “Curious City.”
The work relief program, created in 1935 as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, included projects in writing, painting, academic research and domestic work. But the vast majority was so-called “shovel-ready” work, such as paving roads, developing city parks and installing sidewalks.
If you see WPA sidewalk stamps today, a bridge or overpass likely protected it from the elements or it’s on a less trodden path, because the city doesn’t preserve sidewalk stamps. The history they symbolize is lost with each new sidewalk installed in their place.
But a history of burden and resilience behind the concrete remains intact. After years of unemployment, WPA workers could earn wages. And as the New Deal era ushered in unprecedented protections for union organizing, workers could fight for fair conditions and dignity while building the city. [WBEZ]
Tell me something good …
A lot of changes are coming to Chicago-area malls, from Lincolnwood Town Center’s imminent closure to Water Tower Place’s upcoming revamp. So I’m wondering, what are your favorite mall memories?
Joe writes:
“My mall growing up was River Oaks Center, a magnet for the south suburbs, in Calumet City. Even though CC was not a high income suburb, the mall had some high end stores: including Marshall Field’s and E.C. Minas, a tony local department store. It was built as an open air mall and was comparable to Oakbrook Center. However, since Sears and Minas closed, Marshall Field’s turned into Macy’s and it became an indoor mall, it is sadly a shell of what it was.”
Christina writes:
“One of my mall memories is going to the old Hillside Shopping Center and picking up a copy of the WLS Silver Dollar Survey in the record store. And checking out the bin of oldies.”
Beth writes:
“I remember going to The Plaza in Evergreen Park (Southside of Chicago) to see Santa or the Easter Bunny and there was a big decorated area in the middle of the mall that seemed huge to me. It was in between Mrs. Field’s Cookies and The Gap. If you were lucky and the line was long enough, your mom might buy you some cookies from Mrs. Field’s.”
Feel free to email me, and your response may be included in the newsletter this week.
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