Hey there! It’s Wednesday, and while it’s a bit chilly today, tomorrow could see a high in the lower 80s. Here’s what else you need to know.

1. “It’s like my soul left my body,” says the mother of a 16-year-old boy who was fatally shot at Millennium Park

Chanell Holliday has barely slept since her 16-year-old son, Seandell, was shot to death in Millennium Park on Saturday, ripping her world apart and sending the city of Chicago into a tailspin, reports WBEZ’s Susie An.

One of the only things she thought might help was to visit her son’s friends at his school mentoring program.

“I’m like, ‘Is it okay if I come up to the school and you know, hug the kids?’ ” Holliday said she asked her son’s mentor. “Because this is hard. This is so hard for me.”

Holliday this week sat with nine of her son’s classmates, sharing memories of a teen they described as quiet and caring. He was funny and had a passion for music. Everyone chuckled when they talked about how competitive he got playing basketball and how no food was safe when he was around. [WBEZ]

2. Lightfoot’s plan for a 10 p.m. curfew for teens hits an 11th hour setback

Mayor Lori Lightfoot will ask the City Council to approve a new curfew for minors, a move suggesting the mayor’s original plan of simply signing an executive order would not survive a potential legal challenge.

Lightfoot this week said she will unilaterally lower the citywide curfew for teens to 10 p.m. following the deadly shooting of 16-year-old Seandell Holliday at Millennium Park on Saturday.

Critics, like the ACLU of Illinois, accused the mayor of overstepping her authority by changing city laws without approval from the City Council.

“My initial read is that it has a number of serious flaws,” ACLU attorney Alexandra Block said of the executive order. “Primarily, it doesn’t indicate any legal authority that the mayor has to amend the city code relating to curfews. That gives us significant concerns that she’s acting outside of her authority.”

Lightfoot’s office did not respond to requests for comment. [WBEZ]

3. Lightfoot pushes the City Council to begin voting on casino plans this week

A City Council committee is slated to meet Friday morning and consider a $1.7 billion bid to bring a casino to Chiago’s River West neighborhood.

But the head of the committee signaled this might not be a done deal and may need more time, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. The committee meeting comes about two weeks after Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced she’s moving forward with a bid with Bally’s Corporation.

“I’m going to get the temperature of my committee. I’m not saying we’re ready to vote. … Honestly, I don’t know. A lot of questions are still to be answered,” said Ald. Tom Tunney, chairman of the casino committee.

He also added, “There’s gonna be a lot of convincing to do with our committee members. … I’m gonna work hard trying to make sure that people feel comfortable if they’re in support of it and those that are not feel [heard].”

Committee members are considering two things on Friday. One is giving the green light for a casino in River West. The other is a “host agreement” with Bally’s that includes a $40 million upfront payment and a deal with labor unions.

In a city like Chicago, I don’t need to tell you how much political power unions are packing, especially when all 50 council members are up for election next year.

If the committee approves the plan, it will then go up for a final vote before the full council, which typically meets once a month but has Monday and Wednesday booked next week, according to the city clerk. After getting the council’s approval, the plan would then head to the Illinois Gaming Board. [Chicago Sun-Times]

4. Illinois bans unregistered ‘ghost guns’

Gov. JB Pritzker today signed into law a bill banning the sale and ownership of unregistered “ghost guns,” which don’t have serial numbers, are untraceable and can be assembled from parts ordered online or made by a 3D printer.

Lawmakers and law enforcement officials say these weapons are becoming more common because they are cheaper and more accessible to people who can’t legally buy guns.

As WTTW reports: “The Chicago Police Department said its officers this year have recovered 254 ghost guns through May 12. The CPD on Wednesday could not provide comparison data for the same time period last year, but said officers recovered a total of 458 ghost guns throughout all of 2021.” [WTTW]

There was some political drama at Pritzker’s bill signing today. Mayor Lori Lightfoot made a publicly unannounced appearance at the event, which was also attended by one of her opponents in next year’s election — state Rep. Kam Buckner.

5. Chicago will stop automatically enrolling students at predominantly Black and Latino high schools into military classes

Hundreds of Chicago Public Schools students were forced to participate in what is supposed to be a “voluntary” military-run training program, according to a new report released this week by the district’s watchdog.

The practice of automatically enrolling students in JROTC, or the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, has drawn scrutiny for steering teens from under-resourced schools toward military careers and away from other educational or job opportunities.

This week’s report found four high schools enrolled 100% of freshmen in Army JROTC programs in each of the past two years, starting with the 2019-20 school year. Another four high schools enrolled more than 90% of freshmen over the same span.

CPS did not dispute the report’s findings and said it would enact a number of changes to stop the practice, such as requiring written parental consent for JROTC participants. [Chalkbeat]

Here’s what else is happening

• Billionaire Kenneth Griffin’s financial empire expanded its holdings in gun and ammunition stocks this spring, newly-filed records show. [WBEZ]
• A group of Chicago-area moms are collecting baby formula for families struggling amid a national shortage. [Block Club Chicago]
• In a historic agreement, U.S. men’s and women’s soccer teams will be paid equally. [NPR]
• A Rick and Morty anime series is in the works. [Deadline]

Oh, and one more thing …

In what sounds like the setup for a horror movie, scientists in China discovered a humongous 630-feet-deep sinkhole with an ancient forest hidden inside.

That’s large enough to “just swallow St. Louis’s Gateway Arch,” reports Live Science. “A team of speleologists and spelunkers rappelled into the sinkhole on Friday (May 6), discovering that there are three cave entrances in the chasm, as well as ancient trees 131 feet (40 m) tall, stretching their branches toward the sunlight that filters through the sinkhole entrance.”

Chen Lixin, who led the expedition, told the Xinhua news agency that the sinkhole may hold many scientific possibilities.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to know that there are species found in these caves that have never been reported or described by science until now,” Lixin said. [Live Science]

Tell me something good …

This great weather has me itching to read outside. So, what’s a good book to read over the summer?

Klay writes:

“I’ll recommend The King of Confidence by Miles Harvey. It’s the story of James Strang, one-time king of Beaver Island in Lake Michigan. A great, true story really well told!”

Susan Gottlieb writes:

“Three Girls from Bronzeville by Dawn Turner is fantastic and should be on everyone’s reading list!”

And Louise Ryssmann writes:

“Anxious People by Fredrik Backman.”

What’s a good book to read this summer? Hit me up and your response might be shared in the newsletter this week.