Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Monday, October 31, 2016. Happy Halloween!
- Weather: Partly sunny
It will be warm for Halloween, with a high of 61 and a low of 58. It should be partly sunny during the day. [AccuWeather]
- Mark Kirk loses endorsements from Human Rights Campaign, Americans for Responsible Solutions
Incumbent Republican senator Mark Kirk has lost endorsements from a gay-rights advocacy organization, the Human Rights Campaign, and an anti-gun-violence group, the Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC. Kirk has been under fire for questioning his opponent U.S. rep Tammy Duckworth’s heritage when she called herself a “daughter of the American Revolution.” “I had forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington,” he said during a debate Thursday evening. Duckworth, a Democrat, was born in Thailand to an American father and a mother of Chinese heritage, and is in fact a member of the DAR. [Tribune]
- Illegal bar shut down in Wrigleyville; three bars cited for overcrowding
World Series mania took over Wrigleyville all weekend, with thousands of people packing nearby bars and even paying a $250 cover to enter some. Authorities shut down an illegal bar in the basement of 3459 N. Clark and cited three bars for overcrowding: Murphy’s Bleachers, Rockwood Place, and Redmond’s Ale House. [DNAinfo Chicago]
- A “rare and serious type of engine failure” caused plane fire at O’Hare
American Airlines flight 383 from Chicago to Miami caught fire Friday at O’Hare International Airport because of a rare but very serious engine failure during takeoff, a federal official told the Associated Press. All of the passengers were evacuated, and 21 were injured. [Associated Press via Boston Globe]
- Reminder: Ballot selfies could land you behind bars in Illinois
Justin Timberlake’s voting-booth ballot selfie has been making headlines, but taking a selfie with a ballot is illegal in Illinois and 15 other states. Showing a marked ballot to another voter is considered a felony under Illinois law, and could result in one to three years in prison. [Vox]
- Experts pick the most haunted spots in Chicago
Bachelor’s Grove cemetery in Midlothian, the alley behind the Oriental Theatre, the Congress Plaza Hotel, and Lincoln Park Zoo are considered some of the most haunted locations in the Chicago area. In the spirit of Halloween, the Sun-Times asked some of the city’s top paranormal experts for their opinions on the most haunted locations in Chicago. “You don’t have to believe in ghosts,” Ursula Bielski, the founder of Chicago Hauntings Tours, told the Sun-Times. “But you cannot deny that Chicago is haunted by all of the tragic events that happened in the past.” [Sun-Times]