Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Monday, March 13, 2017.
- Rahm has been traveling out of town more often since Trump’s election
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been taking more trips outside of Chicago since President Donald Trump was elected in November, making ten out-of-town trips in ten weeks, according to the Sun-Times. He’s also been attempting a comeback as a “national political operator” by “attending conferences, making deals, raising campaign money and dispensing advice,” the newspaper reported. The travel to Mexico City, New York City, Washington, D.C., and other places has been paid for by campaign funds, taxpayer money, and private cash, according to City Hall. Emanuel also stepped up his fund-raising in the second half of 2016, amassing $1.4 million as compared to the $500,000 he raised in the second half of 2015. [Sun-Times]
- Immigration officials are now detaining deportees in Kankakee County
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Chicago have been holding deportees at the Kankakee County Detention Center before they are sent to Mexico. Until March 3 immigrants being deported to Mexico were held in suburban Broadview, which is closer to Chicago than the facility in Kankakee County. The change will “make better use of ICE resources,” an ICE spokeswoman told WBEZ. Immigration activists are upset about the agency’s lack of transparency regarding the move, and about the fact that it will now be more difficult for many families to visit their relatives before deportation. [Associated Press via U.S. News & World Report] [WBEZ]
- Trump administration asks U.S. Attorney Zach Fardon to resign
Attorney general Jeff Sessions has asked for the resignations of Zach Fardon, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and 45 other U.S. attorneys appointed by President Barack Obama. Fardon has served as Chicago’s top federal prosecutor since 2013 and will perhaps best be remembered for charging former U.S. House speaker Dennis Hastert. His top assistant, Joel Levin, is expected to serve in the interim until President Trump’s administration picks a successor and the Senate approves him or her. [Crain’s Chicago Business]
- Fraternal Order of Police chief Dean Angelo forced into runoff election
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 president Dean Angelo was forced into a runoff election with Chicago Police Department patrol officer Kevin Graham after failing to get a majority of votes in his race for reelection. Angelo faced five opponents, including former union president Mike Shields. [Sun-Times]
- Chance the Rapper cookies, with proceeds benefitting his nonprofit, are selling out
Alliance Bakery has been baking Chance the Rapper cookies, and $1 of the proceeds from each cookie goes to his arts, education, and civic engagement nonprofit, SocialWorks. Customers can’t get enough of the cookies, and the first batch sold out in hours, according to DNAinfo Chicago. “It’s taken off,” Alliance’s owner and pastry chef Peter Rios told DNAinfo Chicago. “We are excited about the cause and want to help. We are coming up with a few other cookie designs and have amazing decorators on hand to help. This is an all-hands-on-deck job.”[DNAinfo Chicago]
- Hamilton parody Spamilton opens in Chicago
Tickets to Hamilton are hard to come by, but there’s always Spamilton, which opened at the Royal George Sunday. The parodic revue by Gerard Alessandrini (Forbidden Broadway), a hit in New York, runs here through May 28. [Playbill]
Gerard Alessandrini