Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Wednesday, March 15, 2017.
- City ethics board warns aldermen not to accept free tickets to Sox home opener
The Chicago Board of Ethics is warning aldermen and other city officials against accepting free tickets from the White Sox for their home opener against the Detroit Tigers and a cocktail reception April 3. “Because the value of this package is worth more than $50 to any single recipient and does not fall into any of the exceptions provide in the law [such as personal appearance in connection with one’s official city responsibilities], it is prohibited under the gift restrictions,” the chairman of the ethics board, William Conlon, wrote in a memo. “We have already advised the White Sox organization that the offer is prohibited and are by this memorandum, advising you as well. . . . We advise those of you who may have already accepted to immediately return the tickets and decline the team’s offer,” Conlon wrote. [Sun-Times]
- ACLU criticizes former U.S. attorney Fardon for advocating stop-and-frisk
The American Civil Liberties Union is criticizing former U.S. attorney Zachary Fardon for a “blindsided attack” on the ACLU’s agreement with the Chicago Police Department to stop controversial stop-and-frisk policies. In an open letter that Fardon wrote shortly before leaving office, he blamed Chicago’s recent violence surge on the agreement, arguing that police officers were no longer proactive because the agreement was “telling cops if you go talk to those kids on the corner, you’re going to have to take 40 minutes to fill out a form, and you’re going to have to give them a receipt with your badge number on it.” Many cops “no longer wanted to wear the risk of stopping suspects,” Fardon wrote. Fardon doesn’t realize “the real impact and harm of these stops,” the ACLU of Illinois’s police practices director Karen Sheley said. “These stops were often invasive—with officers reaching inside someone’s clothing—and intrusive, happening repeatedly to the same person,” she said. “The lack of oversight of the stops reflect the same systemic deficiencies identified in the Department of Justice report on the CPD issued early this year.” [Tribune]
- Safety’s a concern after a string of sexual assaults in Lakeview and Lincoln Park
Residents in Lincoln Park and Lakeview are being vigilant after three rapes by an armed stranger were committed in the north-side neighborhoods between Tuesday, February 28, and Sunday, March 12, according to DNAinfo Chicago. Sexual assault by an armed stranger is rare, but police still aren’t sure whether the rapes are linked, though they say the recent attack in Lincoln Park is most likely not connected to the Lakeview rapes. If the two Lakeview attacks are related, “we have a guy who is a predator, and he was going to look for any opportunity. The offender was looking for a victim, and he found her,” police commander Marc Buslik said. Chicago police haven’t arrested anyone in connection with the attacks, but they reportedly have a few leads. [DNAinfo Chicago]
- More Chicago residents are applying for gun permits
There was a 63 percent increase in demand for gun permits from Chicagoans in 2016 compared to 2015. About 212,000 people now have gun licenses in the city, and the numbers have been on the rise since 2015, according to DNAinfo Chicago. “People are worried about crime in Chicago,” said Joel Ostrander, who owns the gun-training company SafeShot Ltd. “These are well-educated, professional people looking for a way to protect their homes and families.” [DNAinfo Chicago]
- Man barred from University of Chicago campus after being caught putting up racist posters
A man has been barred from the University of Chicago campus after university police caught him putting up anti-Semitic and racist posters last week, according to authorities. The man allegedly hung posters around the school’s Hyde Park campus that said “Black Lives Don’t Matter” in addition to others with anti-Semitic epithets. He was initially released with a warning against trespassing, but the university says it is working with the state’s attorney office to determine what charges can be brought. [DNAinfo Chicago]
- Tickets for Lollapalooza 2017 tickets go on sale next week
Four-day and single-day Lollapalooza passes will go on sale March 21 at 10 AM, before the official lineup is expected to be released. A four-day pass will set you back $335 and a single-day ticket will cost $120. [Time Out Chicago]