Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Wednesday, January 25, 2016.
- Rahm offers advice to Trump: Start working and stop obsessing over inauguration crowd size
Mayor Rahm Emanuel gave President Donald Trump some advice during his first week in office. Emanuel told Trump (via the media) to focus on the issues people are concerned about: jobs, education, healthcare, and security, and to avoid obsessing over the number of people who attended his inauguration. “You didn’t get elected to debate the crowd size at your inaugural,” the mayor told reporters. “You got elected to make sure that people have a job, that the economy continues to grow, people have security as it relates to their kids’ education. It wasn’t about your crowd size. It was about their lives and their jobs.” [Sun-Times]
- Man sentenced to nine months in prison for role in hacking nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, and other celebrities
Southwest-side resident Edward Majerczyk has been sentenced to nine months in prison for his role in the 2014 “Celebgate” nude-photo hacking scandal. Majerczyk allegedly used a phishing scam to “illegally gain access to more than 300 Apple iCloud and Gmail accounts from November 2013 to August 2014, including at least 30 belonging to celebrities in the Los Angeles area,” according to the Tribune. Nude photos of actress Jennifer Lawrence, model Kate Upton, and many other celebrities then surfaced online, even though he is not accused of posting any of the images he accessed. The 29-year-old didn’t only target celebrities, but also “people he came across in his life,” according to prosecutors.”The conduct is abhorrent,” U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras said during the sentencing hearing. “It’s a very, very trying time that we live in.” [Tribune]
- Film projects in Chicago jumped by one-quarter in 2016
Chicago’s filming boom didn’t slow down in 2016. Filming increased by 25 percent with about 430 projects and 2,339 days of production, according to the city. NBC’s Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, and the upcoming Chicago Justice accounted for more than 1,600 filming permits issued by the city. [DNAinfo Chicago]
- Women’s March on Chicago was one of the largest protests in city history
The Women’s March on Chicago was either the second- or third-largest protest in city history, according to DNAinfo Chicago. The rally drew an estimated 250,000 people, which is less than a May 1, 2006, march against anti-immigration laws, which drew about 400,000 people. Organizers of a similar rally in March 2006 say that around 250,000 people attended, but the Tribune estimated it was around 100,000 people. [DNAinfo Chicago]
- Chicagoans are increasingly choosing boutique fitness studios over traditional gyms
Chicagoans are increasingly choosing to exercise in niche group fitness classes and skipping the treadmills at the gym, according to the Tribune. People would rather do yoga, barre, rock climbing, cycling, and other activities instead. “People are tired of big-box gyms where they pay monthly dues and don’t use them,” Studio Lagree Chief Executive Pino Gagliardi told the Tribune. [Tribune]
- Chicago Blues Festival moving from Grant Park to Millennium Park
The 34th annual Chicago Blues Festival will be held in Millennium Park from June 9 to 11. Moving from the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park, headliners will perform in the Pritzker Pavilion. Gary Clark Jr., Billy Branch and the Sons of Blues, Che “Rhymefest” Smith, and William Bell are some of the artists playing the 2017 festival. [Time Out Chicago]