The Rundown: Chicago’s water debt

Illustration showing bills floating in water
Illustration by Mary Hall/WBEZ, Getty Images
Illustration showing bills floating in water
Illustration by Mary Hall/WBEZ, Getty Images

The Rundown: Chicago’s water debt

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Good afternoon! It’s Monday, and possibly Chicago’s warmest day for the rest of the year. Woo hoo. Here’s what you need to know today.

(By the way, if you’d like this emailed to your inbox, you can sign up here.)

1. Chicago used the water supply as a revenue stream, then punished those who couldn’t afford the cost

Tens of thousands of Chicago homeowners — most in Black-majority areas — are collectively $421 million in debt for water, a resource they can’t live without, reports WBEZ’s María Inés Zamudio.

In 2011, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel turned the city’s water and sewer bills into a revenue stream as he sought to correct Chicago’s enormous financial problems. Within four years, the city’s water rates nearly doubled. Now, more than 60% of the debt is concentrated in the city’s majority Black ZIP codes.

“When your water rates are unaffordable, and you’re not accounting for low-income customers, there’s going to be a disproportionate impact on Black residents and other residents of color,” said Coty Montag, senior counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. [WBEZ]

2. What Biden’s infrastructure bill means for Illinois

The state is in line to receive $17 billion from the long-stalled $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that passed the House late Friday with bipartisan support, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

For Illinois, the money will go toward things like expanding broadband internet access across the state, improving water quality by removing lead pipes and repairing “2,374 bridges and over 6,218 miles of highway in poor condition,” according to a White House analysis. [Sun-Times]

Passage of the infrastructure bill could give Biden momentum to tackle the next big piece of his agenda — a sweeping package that includes an expansion of the social safety net, billions of dollars for tackling climate change and overhauling the tax system. [NPR]

3. The fight against climate change could be jeopardized by inaccurate data

Many countries are underreporting their greenhouse gas emissions in reports to the United Nations, and that flawed data is being used to craft plans for tackling the climate crisis, reports The Washington Post.

“Scientific research indicates that countries are undercounting methane of all kinds: in the oil and gas sector, where it leaks from pipelines and other sources; in agriculture, where it wafts upward from the burps and waste of cows and other ruminant animals; and in human waste, where landfills are a major source,” the newspaper reports.

World leaders are currently gathering in Glasgow for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP26, and the Post investigation raises significant questions over whether an adequate plan for cutting emissions can be created when officials are not fully acknowledging the true extent of the problem. [WaPo]

4. Astroworld victims include two college students from Illinois

At least eight people were killed and dozens more injured after a crowd suddenly surged at the Astroworld music festival in Houston on Friday. The concert is now considered to be one of the deadliest in U.S. history.

The Associated Press reports two college students with ties to Illinois were among those killed — University of Dayton student Franco Patino and Southern Illinois University Carbondale student Jacob Jurinek. [AP]

A large crowd began pushing toward the stage during a performance by rapper Travis Scott. Videos of the chaos show cries for help were drowned out by loud music. [Washington Post]

Authorities are putting together a timeline of events as they investigate what went wrong at Astroworld. But The New York Times reports that Houston city officials and concert organizers knew the crowd could be difficult to control. [NYT]

5. A look at the five bids to build a casino in Chicago

The Chicago Tribune put together a handy guide on the five bids vying to bring a long-sought casino to Chicago.

One bid seeks to place a casino across the street from Soldier Field. And two other proposals are eying space near McCormick Place, with one seeking to transform the Lakeside Center, the giant convention space near the lake, into a casino.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot must now select a finalist from the five bids. After that happens, the City Council must sign off on the plan before it then heads to the Illinois Gaming Board. Lightfoot has said she hopes to get the board’s final approval early next year. [Tribune]

Here’s what else is happening

  • A man shot by Kyle Rittenhouse said he thought he was going to die when he tried stopping the teenager from fleeing after Rittenhouse killed two people. [AP]
  • Ten people were killed and 42 others wounded in shootings in Chicago over the weekend. [Sun-Times]
  • A strict vaccine mandate is now in place for many businesses in Los Angeles. [AP]
  • Marvel’s Eternals made $71 million in ticket sales, the fourth highest opening during the pandemic but one of the lowest for the MCU franchise. [CNBC]

Oh, and one more thing …

Big Bird tweeted he got vaccinated against COVID-19 over the weekend, as shots become available for Americans between the ages of 5 and 11. (The beloved Muppet is eternally 6 years old.)

“My wing is feeling a little sore, but it’ll give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy,” he wrote.

But conservatives are outraged. Sen. Ted Cruz called Big Bird’s tweet “government propaganda,” and Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe accused the Muppet of “brainwashing children.”

As NPR reports: “Many observers noted the irony of the pile-on, given that Big Bird is both a fictional character and one known for spreading messages of kindness and curiosity. Plus, they pointed out, this isn’t the first time he’s gotten vaccinated.” [NPR]

Tell me something good …

The holidays are quickly approaching, and I’m buying presents earlier this year. So I’d like to know: What are your favorite places to shop locally?

Because I’m a bad boy nerd, some of my favs are the board game store Dice Dojo and Chicago Comics, the best place in the city to buy comic books.

Where do you like to shop? Feel free to email me at therundown@wbez.org or tweet me at @whuntah, and your responses might be shared here this week.

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