Welcome to the Reader’s morning briefing for Friday, September 15, 2017. Have a great weekend!
- Garry McCarthy for Mayor files paperwork for exploratory committee
Over the summer buttons reading “GMFM”—Garry McCarthy for mayor—began circulating. Now the former Chicago Police Department superintendent Garry McCarthy has an exploratory committee for a 2019 mayoral run. Paperwork for the committee, which plans “to explore the prospect of the candidacy of Garry McCarthy for Mayor of Chicago,” has been filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections, according to the Tribune. The domain garryformayor.com has also been registered, but so far no one’s taking responsibility for either. McCarthy, who was fired by Mayor Rahm Emanuel at the height of the Laquan McDonald dashcam video controversy, previously told the Tribune that a run for mayor was “probably unlikely.” Emanuel hasn’t officially decided whether he’ll run in 2019 either, but he’s been actively fund-raising for a third campaign. [Tribune]
- Hispanics now the second-largest racial/ethnic group in Chicago
According to data released by the U.S. Census Thursday, Hispanics, with a 2016 population of 803,477, or 29 percent of the city’s total, are now the second-largest racial/ethnic group in Chicago, behind whites at 882,354, or 31.6 of the population. The city’s black population has fallen down by 25,000 since 2000 and now stands 793,853, or 29.3 percent. [DNAinfo Chicago]
- JPMorgan Chase plans $40 million investment in the south and west sides
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is investing $40 million to help small businesses, develop real estate, and create job training programs on the south and west sides. The “philanthropic investment” will be similar to the bank’s “Invested in Detroit” program, under which it plans to invest $150 million in the Motor City over five years. [Fortune]
- Hastert denies lawsuit allegations that he sodomized a fourth-grade student in the 1970s
Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert has admitted in court to sexually abusing multiple teenage boys while a wrestling coach at Yorkville High School in the 70s, but he “adamantly denies” sodomizing a fourth-grade student in a bathroom, as is alleged in an ongoing lawsuit. The Sun-Times reports that Hastert attorney John Ellis filed a legal memo this week asking for the suit to be tossed on the grounds that the plaintiff, known only as Richard Doe, made his claim decades after the deadline required by Illinois law. “Allowing this case to proceed would require the court to ignore over one hundred years of Illinois Supreme Court precedent,” Ellis wrote. [Sun-Times]
- Judge asks Sandi and Jesse Jackson Jr. to justify subpoenaing Tamron Hall, Garry McCarthy, others in divorce case
Craig Iscoe, the judge in the divorce of former alderman Sandi Jackson and former congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., has asked the couple to explain the long list of people subpoenaed in their case. Jesse seeks to depose former Chicago Police Department superintendent Garry McCarthy and two others, while Sandi is asking for depositions from 12 people including Jesse Jackson Sr. and former Today Show host Tamron Hall. “Each party must provide the court with a short but detailed statement of the relevance of each witness and why each needs to be deposed,” Iscoe ruled. [Tribune]
- Organizers cancel Common’s Aahh! Fest for this year
Rapper Common’s Aahh! Fest has been canceled by the event’s organizers just days before the scheduled date of September 23, DNAinfo Chicago reports. The fest, which launched in 2014, also went on hiatus before returning last year. Despite the cancellations, organizers promise that the event will return on September 15, 2018, offering an experience “that goes far beyond an outdoor music event.” [DNAinfo Chicago]