After recent deaths, Chicagoans want safer roads for pedestrians – Chicago Tribune

Good morning, Chicago.

As the Chicago area transitioned from cleaning up hundreds of downed trees from Monday night’s supercell storm to scorching temperatures on Tuesday, 125,000 northern Illinois residents were without power. Most of it was restored by midday as temperatures reached 100 degrees at Midway.

An excessive heat warning will be in effect until 8 p.m. Wednesday.

And activist Ja’Mal Green announced Tuesday he will run to unseat Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. In an interview, Green said his range of life experiences makes him a strong candidate for mayor of the nation’s third-largest city.

“On every side, I feel that I understand the issues more than a lot of the other candidates, and we need a mayor to do that so we can change the tide on what’s going on in our city,” Green told the Tribune.

Here’s who’s in and who’s out of the mayor’s race.

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Commonwealth Edison electricity customers would get more than $38 million in refunds tied to the federal bribery scandal that led to former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s indictment, under a proposal being considered by state regulators.

While it would be about $17 million higher than the refund ComEd proposed in December, a utility watchdog estimated a typical residential customer would save “less than $5″ in the form of a credit on bills.

Shortly before he was killed by a car while crossing the street, Peter Paquette attended a rally to educate people about the importance of voting early. Paquette’s death was at least the third in recent weeks in Chicago in which a vehicle struck and killed someone, including two young children killed a week apart.

The fatalities unleashed anger among community members who on Sunday rallied on Leland Avenue for road improvements that would keep cyclists and pedestrians safer and shone a spotlight on city streets that are by and large not designed with foot and bike traffic in mind.

Less than six weeks after defense contractor and airplane-maker Boeing announced it would move its global headquarters out of downtown Chicago, leaders of another major corporation are set to leave the region.

Longtime Illinois company Caterpillar Inc. will move its headquarters from Deerfield to an existing office in Irving, Texas, outside Dallas. The move means the majority of the roughly 230 employees based at the mining and construction equipment-maker’s Deerfield office are expected to relocate to Texas over time.

The Chicago Bears kicked off their mandatory minicamp Tuesday at Halas Hall — the final piece to the first offseason for a new regime — and it was another bumpy performance for the offense with cornerback Jaylon Johnson and rookie safety Jaquan Brisker coming away with interceptions.

Here are four things we heard and saw.

Backyard string lights have become a popular sight in Park Ridge and elsewhere. The inexpensive, all-weather fixtures feature LED bulbs, making them energy efficient. They’re easy to install and can transform a deck or patio into a welcoming party space once the sun sets. It’s no surprise they exploded in popularity during the pandemic, when an outdoor meeting area became more important than ever.

What is surprising is that they’re technically a violation of Park Ridge’s rules on lighting.