Chicago news roundup: Ethics board wants Lightfoot campaign investigated, state bill seeks temp worker protections and more

Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a five-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will be cloudy with a high near 34 degrees. Expect similar weather tonight with a low near 31 degrees. Tomorrow will see snow — with 2 to 4 inches possible — and a high near 34.

Top story

Board of Ethics wants Lightfoot campaign investigated over recruiting student volunteers from CPS, City Colleges

The Chicago Board of Ethics yesterday asked inspectors general for the city and Chicago Public Schools to investigate Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s re-election campaign to determine if the campaign violated the city’s ethics ordinance by recruiting student volunteers at CPS and City Colleges in exchange for class credit.

The vote came after a closed-door executive session. As always, neither the board’s agenda nor the summary of cases identified the subject of the investigation.

But the request for a full-blown investigation by Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg and her CPS counterpart, Will Fletcher, makes clear the subject is the mayor’s reelection campaign, Lightfoot for Chicago. The city’s ethics ordinance prohibits elected officials from using city time, resources and information to mix politics with official business.

“Investigations conducted by the Office of Inspector General are confidential. There are only very limited circumstances under which the municipal code permits us to make any public statement about our investigative work. That said, in my view, the abuse of an official position for political gain has no place in Chicago. Not anymore,” Witzburg told the Sun-Times.

Ethics Board Chairman William Conlon said the board has advised candidates for city offices and “all of those affiliated with the candidate in any way — to immediately and thoroughly scrub their email lists and remove any governmental email addresses.”

“The board also advises candidates and those associated with those candidates that emails and other forms of solicitation may be considered coercive if directed to city employees and those employed by sister city agencies,” Conlon said.

Last week, Lightfoot stood before a phalanx of television cameras to offer a rare public apology. She didn’t have much choice.

The email sent by deputy campaign manager Megan Crane to Chicago Public School teachers offered their students class credit if they agreed to volunteer for the mayor’s re-election campaign. Now, it threatens to further undermine the reformer image that catapulted Lightfoot into office. The solicitation was “clearly a mistake” by a single campaign staffer, Lightfoot said, and won’t happen again.

The mayor claims she knew nothing about the student recruitment effort until her campaign was questioned by WTTW Channel 11, which broke the story, and she immediately admonished her deputy campaign manager for crossing an ethical line. Lightfoot did not explain why her campaign initially defended the email recruitment — or why her campaign solicited CPS teachers after a similar solicitation to City Colleges teachers months earlier had been shot down by City Colleges administrators.

Fran Spielman has more on the controversy here.

More news you need

1. The federal judge in Chicago who presided over last summer’s trial of R. Kelly and two of the singer’s former employees shot down a request yesterday from one of the workers to have the government pay $850,000 in attorneys’ fees. The trial ended with a conviction for Kelly but an acquittal for former assistant Milton “June” Brown and former business manager Derrel McDavid, who made the request.
2. A recently introduced state bill will seek more protection and equity for temporary workers. The Temp Worker and Fairness Safety Act could make it easier for temporary workers to get hired permanently, while cracking down on coercive labor practices, supporters say. Our Ilana Arougheti has more on the potential legislation here.
3. A federal judge sentenced a former longtime Cook County Board of Review worker to three months behind bars for helping lower property taxes in exchange for $43,000 in cash bribes. Danilo Barjaktarevic admitted last year that he offered to have property assessments lowered in exchange for bribes at a rate of $2,000 for every commercial property and $1,000 for every residential property.
4. Clothing retailer Old Navy said yesterday that it is closing its State Street location by the end of the business day today. It has operated at the prime corner location, a former Borders bookstore, since November 2012. 
5. A collection of historic letters that’s soon to go up for auction includes some that offer interesting glimpses into life in Chicago almost 200 years ago. Our Stefano Esposito has the full story on the remarkable cache here. 

A bright one

How one year-round cyclist’s connection with other riders propels him further this winter.

WBEZ photographer Lou Foglia is three years a city cyclist with no intentions to retire his 1970s Schwinn road bike anytime soon. It’s convenient, affordable and, as a photojournalist — possible, Foglia explains in a recent photo essay. Come winter, cycling can become a test of endurance amid Chicago’s most difficult riding conditions.

Foglia says he’s often wondered what motivates the riders he encounters in the cold. So, along a 60-mile route across the city undertaken in stops and starts in December and January, he stopped to speak with a broad group of winter cyclists determined to see the season through. Couriers, commuters and enthusiasts shared their limits, their strategies and the vital gear that helps get them where they want to go.

Mile No. 4: In Mile No. 4 of his ride, Foglia met 32-year-old courier Robert Bigelow-Rubin just before the evening shift change at Cut Cats Courier Service on Lincoln Avenue as he was gearing up for a six-hour shift making deliveries across Lake View. Bigelow-Rubin moved to Chicago to be a courier in 2013 — that was the winter a polar vortex dropped temperatures well below zero. He said he’s made deliveries in every season, developing a system for layering. Wool knee socks and base layers are Bigelow-Rubin’s secret to beating the cold. Unlike cotton, the material breathes — keeping him dry and warm during deliveries.

Mile No. 19: Mile No. 19, inside the storefront of Uptown Bikes, Foglia met 59-year-old Randy Fleer. The Edgewater resident laid a backpack filled with piano equipment near the front counter and waited to pick up his winter-outfitted Trek 820. Fleer works in piano services — tuning, repairing and commuting by bike most days to jobs across the city. On Sundays, he plays organ at his church. Handlebar-mounted mittens keep his hands warm. Mechanic Leah Plummer wheeled out Fleer’s bicycle and showed off the repairs. He had opted for the bike shop’s winter special: trued tires, a new drive train, brake pads, cables. Fleer pulled out his phone and showed Foglia a map of his recent 11-mile ride to Winnetka. It’s not hard to understand the need for his bike’s winter overhaul. He’s a high-mileage commuter who puts serious wear on his equipment year-round.

Mile No. 27: Across town, at West Town Bikes, a social meetup for women, trans and nonbinary cyclists was about to start. Foglia stepped inside the backroom of the bike shop and met Kingston Smartt-Nalli, 29, who was preparing for the evening ride. Smartt-Nalli helps lead the monthly meetup on its route through Humboldt Park. Riders tune up their bicycles in the shop and chat at stops along the way. One by one, riders trickled in. Smartt-Nalli welcomed a new member who looked unsure of whether the event was still happening. Outside, Smartt-Nalli showed Foglia the e-bike he’d built from scratch. He added 4.8-inch-wide tires and a motor to help him power through snow. Smartt-Nalli said his mental and physical health motivate him to ride year-round. The monthly meetups at West Town Bikes help.

“The folks that I’ve met here, I can always reach out to when I’m struggling,” he said. “We nourish each other.”

You can experience the rest of Foglia’s journey here.

From the press box

• Eloy Jimenez, designated hitter? It sounds like the White Sox slugger is still resistant to being a full-time DH, Daryl Van Schouwen writes.
• One year after posting the NFL’s worst record, the Bears will charge the same for season tickets in 2023 as they did in 2022. One problem, though: it will be for one fewer regular season game — and one more preseason contest — than last year.

Your daily question☕

What’s the best way to make the most of winter in Chicago?

Send us an email at newsletters@suntimes.com and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday we asked you: Have the last few years changed how you feel about large public gatherings?

Here’s what some of you said...

“I’m very aware of my surroundings when I go to synagogue. I know where the exits are and am trained in what I need to do to get to them safely.” — Jennifer Brower

“Nah I’ve had a distaste for the general public long before COVID.” — Matthew Thomas

“Mostly I think about mass shootings during large public gatherings. It’s good to be alive.” — Mike Dwyer

“No. You can’t live in fear forever.” — Patrick Creeden

“You get the feeling you’re going to be in a target shoot.” — Scotty Rebec

“Nope. Didn’t like them before the outbreak and don’t care for them now. A large group of people is the beginning of trouble.” — Paul Fedrick

“Honestly, I’m not attending as many large events as I used to and when I do go I am masked and don’t enjoy it as much as I did before because of anxiety over getting sick. Considering moving. Events were one of my main reasons for living in the city.” — Edward Witt

Thanks for reading the Chicago Sun-Times Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.