Viewer Feedback
Viewer Mail
We hear what you had to say about recent stories when we read some of our viewer mail.
Ask Geoffrey
Ask Geoffrey
Geoffrey Baer tells us about the man who amassed an impressive collection of artifacts, once housed in a private residence on Chicago's South Side, and where you can view it now, in tonight's Ask Geoffrey.
Arts & Entertainment
The Wilder Life
Writer and Chicagoan Wendy McClure traveled the country to rediscover her favorite childhood series in her new book, The WILDER LIFE: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie.
Cultural Connections
Cultural Connections: Evanston History Center
Amelia Earhart is just one of many famous names on a quilt with ties to Evanston history. Eddie Arruza tells us about the "curious patchwork" of artifacts currently on display at the Evanston History Center.
Arts & Entertainment
Scott Stantis: Political Cartoons
We talk to the Chicago Tribune's political cartoonist Scott Stantis about covering the Blagojevich trial, and he gives us tips on how to draw the new mayor.
Business
The Civic Federation's Financial Report
From slashing the City Council in half to cutting the Fire Department's budget, a new report outlines 40 tough-love measures to get the city's budget back in shape. Our panel discusses the cost-cutting ideas, and what it will take to implement them.
Politics
Jurors from Blagojevich Retrial Speak Out
On Chicago Tonight at 7:00 pm, the jury forewoman from the Blagojevich retrial, along with two other jurors, joins Elizabeth Brackett to discuss the deliberation process and how they arrived at their verdict. We also spoke with two additional jurors from the trial. We asked Maya Moody and Rosemary Bennett a series of questions by phone on Tuesday, one day after they handed down their verdict in the corruption retrial, finding former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich guilty on 17 of 20 counts. Read what they had to say in the Q&A below. 
Maya Moody: Juror 103
Age 41, Photographer, Chicago How would you describe your fellow jurors and the relationship you developed with them? “We got along really well, surprisingly well. Normally when you think about having 11 women together, you think there’s bound to be some problems. It happens every day in the workplace. Sometimes women don’t work well together. We all worked together really well.” Can you describe the deliberation process and how you arrived at the verdict? “It was mainly taking the evidence that was presented to us and applying the law that we were given. Doing that, you couldn’t help but come to the conclusion that we came to. It was very specific. A lot of counts were attempted counts. It wasn’t that he had to receive something in his hand at the end of the day. It was his attempt to receive something.” Did Blagojevich taking the stand help or hurt him? “I think it did a little of both. For the ones that we found him not guilty and we were deadlocked, I think it helped because there were no tape recordings for that. Based on his testimony, especially for counts 16 and 17, we could see how passionate he was about getting a capital bill passed as opposed to doing anything else. The state did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty on those counts because we did take his testimony into consideration. In some of them, it might have had the opposite effect. Maybe for the hospital bill. We could tell that he was vey passionate about health care. When it came to health care, he was the health care governor. So if you were that passionate, why let the pediatric increase sit on your desk? Why not push it through if you’re really passionate about getting things done for health care?" Did you have any doubts when finding Blagojevich guilty? “We’re human, he’s human. You have feelings. You don’t want to have that drastic of an effect on someone’s life. You’re really pulling for him but the evidence is pointing a different way.” What do you think an appropriate sentence would be for the former governor? “Its tough. I don’t think he should get 20, 25, or 30 years because they were all attempted charges. He never got anything for it. So I’ve been hearing somewhere around 10. If it’s 10 years, he might serve less time. If it’s a case where he is sentenced 10 years and only serves 7 or 8, I think that may be a little harsh, but that’s in the ballpark. I think 5 years is good. If it’s a long sentence, I think that’s not reasonable.” Do you feel like you got enough instructions on how to be a juror and the jury process? “Yes and no. I wished I had known to take better notes. At the end of the day, I thought we would get transcripts from testimony to read back through but that’s not the case. I wish I was better at my note-taking. But other jurors took really great notes so I guess it balanced out. I guess that’s why they put 12 jurors together! They take you and throw you in the room with all this evidence, and a bunch of books and binders and legal documents. It’s scary at first. We spent time going through and deciphering the instruction book, reading and re-reading and making sure we understood what was there.” Would you ever want to serve on a jury again? “I would hope that serving on this trial would excuse me from any other jury that I would be summoned for!” What is your assessment of the jury system? Does it work well? “I haven’t really thought about. I think it works well. Going into it, you are a little skeptical for sure, but as we got into deliberation and once we applied the evidence to the law, we didn’t have a choice but to come back with the outcome that we came back with.” Did Patti Blagojevich’s appearance in court impact the jury? “Blagojevich was very emotional when he talked about his wife. This is going to affect his entire family. Everybody really felt for him and for her, but we had to separate that. We couldn’t let that sway what we had to basically do. I felt for others who have been dragged down into everything with the former governor. I knew that I have to put all of that aside and basically focus on what’s before us. Law has to be applied to it.” 
Rosemary Bennett: Juror 124
Age 73, Retired food service worker, Aurora How would you describe your fellow jurors and the relationship you developed with them? “They were a wonderful group of people, and we got along really well and respected one another’s opinions, even if we didn’t agree with them. And it was just a very, very nice experience.” Can you describe the deliberation process and how you arrived at the verdict? “First, we went in, we read our jury instructions and then we listened to all the tapes in chronological order, and then we went back again, and read, as needed, we read the jury instructions again. And then when we were ready to deliberate, we started and did one main scheme at a time. All of the other counts were incorporated in Count 1. It was the great, big one so we left that one sitting there and went on to the others, and then we went back and checked on Count 1.” Did Blagojevich taking the stand help or hurt him? “I don’t think for us it made a whole lot of difference but I would probably say, if I had to choose one, that he probably hurt himself by taking the stand. Sometimes he tripped himself up. He’d say something, then the next day he would say something totally different about the same thing. So you say, which one do I believe? And he would contradict the wiretaps. So do you believe that Rod or this Rod?” Did you have any doubts when finding Blagojevich guilty? “No. I think we went over them, as the expression goes, with a fine-toothed comb. And I think we did the very best job possible with all of the counts. And I think we were all very satisfied when we got through it that we had done the best that we could do.” What do you think an appropriate sentence would be for the former governor? “I think that it needs to be long enough for him to realize that, as he said himself right off the bat, that nobody was beyond the law. Those were not his exact words but he said that, and I think that was our hope as a jury; that we would be able to impress that upon him: that he wasn’t beyond the law, nor was any other politician. It should send a message to him and other politicians that there is that sentence for what you do wrong eventually.” Do you feel like you got enough instructions on how to be a juror and the jury process? “Yes. I think at first we felt overwhelmed when we realized what a grave responsibility had been handed to us. You listen to different witnesses, you hear the counts and the wiretaps, and the judge explains things, and then you go back in that room and you realize that these 12 people basically have a man’s life in their hands. And it’s an awesome responsibility and a very grave responsibility, and I think that’s when it really hit me.” Would you ever want to serve on a jury again? “I would, I think. I’m 73, so I don’t know that I would want to serve, if it was five or six years down the road, I don’t know that I would be able to handle the strain of traveling to the city every day. But I would be very glad to serve on another jury.” What is your assessment of the jury system? Does it work well? “I do. I think that all of us felt very satisfied when we got through it because we felt that we did the very best job that we could do. I think all of us have faith in the jury system, even if some of them didn’t before. It’s very interesting to see how the court operates.” Did Patti Blagojevich’s appearance in court impact the jury? “As far as getting the case, it didn’t. But I was very impressed with the number of people around her who loved her and who surrounded her in court at that time. Just the fact that her aunt and her sister, and brother and close friends were there to support her. She’s going to have to count on those people now and so are the girls, and they have a good number of people who do care about them and I know they will help see them through this trial. I think that these trials are meant to better us. Whether we like them or not, all of us end up stronger when we go through trials because we all come out on the other side.”
Business
Mayor Emanuel & Walgreens Announce 600 New Jobs
On Wednesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that Walgreens’ new “Chicago Hometown Investment Initiative” will bring 600 new jobs to Chicago over the next two years. The initiative will also quadruple the number of Walgreens stores located in the city’s food deserts. This is the fifth major jobs announcement Mayor Emanuel has made during his term, for a total of 3,600 jobs. “This dual investment by Walgreens will have a profound effect on the city of Chicago,” said Mayor Emanuel. “The 600 new jobs will have a strong impact on our economy, and the nearly 40 new stores will allow many of our residents to get fresh, healthy food for their families. This is an example of a corporation that is committed to both the City of Chicago and its mission.”
Walgreens’ plan to expand its downtown office space for E-commerce, information technology, and related areas is expected to produce half of the jobs. The other 300 will result from a remodeling of many of Walgreens’ 142 Chicago drugstores as well as new store openings, including stores in Chicago’s food deserts known as Walgreens food oasis locations. These stores will increase from 11 to nearly 50. They differ from regular Walgreens locations by offering a broader selection of healthy foods in order to address the food desert issue facing many of Chicago’s communities. 
“Walgreens is proud of our historic roots in Chicago and pleased to take our presence in the city to a new level by bringing more jobs and contributing to the prosperity and quality of life here,” said Walgreens President and CEO Greg Wasson.“We already employ more than 4,500 people in the city, and the additional jobs we plan to bring here will position us to serve community needs in new and better ways.” Food deserts have been a priority for Mayor Emanuel during both his campaign and his term. Recently, he convened a summit of CEOS of various grocery chains, including Walgreens, to discuss the problem. The city has also released new maps which use the latest data to outline the food deserts in Chicago.
Education
Emerald Ash Borer
Invasive species threatens Illinois Ash Trees
In Chicago and northeastern Illinois, ash trees are everywhere. And wherever there are ash trees, there's a good chance there are emerald ash borers (EAB). Despite their green color, these beetles are not good for the environment. They are, in fact, responsible for the destruction of the ash trees that comprise an estimated 20 percent of Chicago’s street trees.
The EAB is native to Asia, but in June 2002, EABs were spotted in Michigan, their first appearance in the U.S. Six years later, an EAB infestation was confirmed at 29th and State Street in Chicago. Since then, the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDA) has issued an eight-mile quarantine around areas with known EABs.
Some scientists project that in about 10 years, the EAB will have destroyed all the ash trees in the area. However, officials remain optimistic.
“When you are dealing with an invasive species that establishes itself over such a broad area, it takes a team effort to address it effectively,” said Matt Smith, Chief Spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Streets & Sanitation, of which the Bureau of Forestry is a part. “We helped build such a team with our Federal and State allies when we dealt with the invasion of the Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB). In the end, we were able to eradicate the ALB. While we are still fighting EAB and watching for new invasive insects, we will continue to use the existing line of communications to coordinate efforts against future invaders.”
There are approximately 92,000 ash trees in Chicago’s public way, according to the Streets & Sanitation Department, as well as an estimated 400,000 on private property.
“The real impact is in our communities,” said Paul Deizman, Forest Management Programs Administrator of the Illinois Forestry Division. “There will be communities that lose 60 to 70 percent of their street trees. Those are the trees that are going to have an impact on our environment—urban storm runoff, overheating of cars, too much sun in everyone’s yard.”
There are three main approaches to the problem: chemical agents, bio-controls and tree replacement. Since 2009, the Streets & Sanitation Department has been applying the insecticide TREE-äge to ash trees. TREE-äge is 99 percent effective and it’s the best method for protecting individual trees. However, the treatment must be renewed every three years.
On a larger scale, the Streets & Sanitation Department has been working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, among others, on various bio-controls, or natural predators of the EAB. Specifically, they have been studying three wasp parasitoids: Spathius agrili, Tetrastichus planipennisi, and Oobius agrili. These bio-controls are not without their risks.
“Most of the time, when we tinker with nature it doesn’t go very well,” said Edith Makra, Community Trees Advocate at The Morton Arboretum. “The criticism is that if this natural predator is brought in, how do we know it won’t escape and kill a desired species?”
However, all three parasitoids appear to affect only the EAB. Officials began releasing them in small increments in 2009, and they are planning an ongoing release of approximately 7,500 more this summer. That might sound like a lot, but these tiny, non-stinging wasps range from the size of a small ant to ¼ the size of a poppy seed.
Long term, many ash trees need to be slowly phased out and replaced with a variety of trees in order to prevent a similar situation. “In the future, such trees could include different varieties of ash trees, or hybrids, that might prove resistant to the EAB,” said Smith. “Right now there is research underway at institutions like The Morton Arboretum to grow and test such different varieties.”
Symptoms of EAB infestation include crown dieback, in which branches at the top of the tree die, and vertically split barks. Another sign of infestation is the distinctive exit hole—“D” shaped with a 1/8 inch diameter—left by EABs as they exit the tree. These holes can occur anywhere on the trunk or upper branches.
To prevent the EAB from spreading further, it’s important not to transport firewood. Instead, burn it where it has been found.
“It’s good firewood, but the worst thing to do is to move it,” said Deizman. “We do not want to see the accordion expand and we don’t want to give it to any other state any faster than they are going to get it naturally.”
There are other uses for ash trees affected by the EAB. The Illinois Emerald Ash Borer Wood Utilization Team works to gather and use affected ash trees in wood products ranging from baseball bats to cabinetry.
“Ash is actually a very good wood,” said Makra. “It has a lot of properties like oak, and it’s very strong and shock absorbent.”
The EAB does not damage the wood of the tree it kills so the affected wood can be safely transformed into lumber. Although it’s impossible to reverse the damage, these products present a beautiful and practical way to reclaim the trees that the EAB has destroyed.
Politics
Bill Clinton in Chicago
Eleven years after leaving office and it’s still the economy for former president Bill Clinton. He’s in town with his Clinton Global Initiative for a summit on jobs and spurring growth in the U.S. economy. He also had kind words for the city’s current mayor – his former White House staffer: Rahm Emanuel. “I predict to you his tenure will be one of the most brilliant chapters in this city’s long and storied history,” said Clinton. Chicago is the ideal place for the conference, he says, and not just because of Emanuel. “It’s a model for what we can do all over America,” he said, focusing on the city’s commitment to building LEED-certified municipal buildings. Clinton spoke before a crowd of about 700 leaders from the business and non-profit world, all who were attending because they had committed to work toward the organization’s goals of improving the economy. Clinton expressed optimism about the direction of the country, despite a dour unemployment picture. One of the signs, he said, was that banks in America had $2 trillion in cash that was not committed to lending. If banks lent that all of that money, it would, he said, “end the American and global economic slowdown in about 15 minutes.” One important project to come out of Wednesday’s meeting focuses on the rebuilding of the nation’s infrastructure. The AFL-CIO and the American Federation of Teachers announced a plan to invest $10 billion in union employee pension funds to go toward rebuilding the nation’s roads, bridges, highways and retrofitting buildings. AFT President Randi Weingarten called them sound investments for workers with the added benefits of contributing to the public good. The Clinton Global Initiative event continues Thursday with scheduled speakers, including Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Trending
2026 Chicago Summer Festival Guide
Chicago US Attorney’s Office Reviewing Past Grand Jury Proceedings After Another Case Tied to ‘Broadview Six’ Prosecutor Falls Apart
Chicago’s Sidewalks Aren’t Accessible for People With Mobility Challenges, Lawsuit Argues. The City Wants the Case Dismissed
Cook County Announces $20M for Community Violence Intervention Services
Chicago Advocates Call for New Gun Violence Prevention Efforts After Mass Shooting, Trump Response
Sign up for the WTTW News newsletter