Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Monday, October 8, 2016.
- Weather: A beautiful, relatively warm Monday
Monday will be beautiful, with a high of 70 and a low of 58. It will be partly sunny and partly cloudy. [AccuWeather]
- Negotiations between CTU and CPS will continue Monday
The Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools will negotiate till midnight Monday to try to avoid a strike, a member of the union’s bargaining team told the Sun-Times. But teachers are preparing to start walking the picket lines early Tuesday in case negotiations fall apart. “Unless you hear otherwise, the strike begins Tuesday, Oct. 11,” CTU has told its members. The Sun-Times has summarized what Chicagoans need to know about a possible walkout. [Sun-Times]
- Obama slams “insecure” Trump at Duckworth fund-raiser, Kirk calls Trump “a malignant clown”
President Barack Obama called GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump “insecure” at a Chicago fund-raiser for Democratic Senate candidate and current U.S. rep Tammy Duckworth Sunday. Duckworth’s rival, incumbent Senator Mark Kirk, also slammed Trump, calling him “a malignant clown” in response to the infamous leaked audio of him bragging about sexually assaulting women. Kirk also asked the Republican party to start the process to drop Trump from the ticket and to find an “emergency replacement.” [NPR] [Politico]
- Investigating the Chicago police’s controversial “code of silence”
Journalist and Invisible Institute founder Jamie Kalven has done groundbreaking work on police brutality, including the Laquan McDonald case, for years. His latest investigation focuses on the Chicago Police Department’s “code of silence.” The four-part investigation offers a fascinating and rare glimpse into the inner workings of the police. [The Intercept]
- State torture commission will investigate claims that do not involve Jon Burge
The Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission is now able to investigate claims of coerced confessions through torture beyond allegations made against former Chicago police commander Jon Burge and his underlings. Under a new law, the commission can look into “claims by anyone who was convicted in Cook County based on a confession coerced through torture,” according to the Tribune. [Tribune]
- UIC student mistaken for creepy clown says campus cops could’ve killed him
The creepy clown phenomenon has taken a strange turn at University of Illinois at Chicago. Student Oscar Chavez says that UIC police mistook him for a creepy clown after reports of a clown on campus trickled in, and that they pointed guns at him even though he wasn’t dressed as a clown. “No matter how much I complied, the reality is as a minority in America, my life is completely in their hands,” Chavez, who was dressed in a costume based on a painting for art class, told DNAinfo Chicago. [DNAinfo Chicago]