City Cast Chicago

🚏 Why thousands of students are stranded

February 8, 2024

Good morning, Chi! It’s City Cast editor Adrian González in for Sidney Madden today. I’ve got potentially good news if you recently bought a lottery ticket: A $500,000 winning scratch-off ticket was sold at Rico Fresh Market in Logan Square.

What's CITY Talking About?

Lurie Outage Continues

Lurie Children’s Hospital entered its second week of a system outage caused by a cyber attack. The FBI is assisting in an investigation. The hospital has set up a dedicated call center for patients and staff while they work to fix the outage. [WGN]

Chicago Schools Scramble Amid Bus Driver Shortage

Thousands of elementary school students have been left without bus transportation due to a nationwide shortage of bus drivers. Families protested the loss of service at the Daley Center earlier this week, demanding solutions from the school district. CPS is offering CTA Ventra cards to parents and guardians as an alternative. [WGN]

🚏 CPS’ bus shortage has been going on for years. [City Cast Chicago 🎧]

Downtown Traffic Crackdown Stuck in Park

Chicago’s much-anticipated plan to use surveillance cameras to crack down on motorists obstructing downtown streets is still delayed, with not a single ticket issued yet. The “Smart Streets'' and “Smart Loading Zone” initiatives, approved by City Council last year, are meant to keep pedestrians and cyclists safe, but have yet to be implemented due to coordination challenges. Technology testing is expected to begin by summer. [Sun Times]

🚲 How to Keep Chicago Cyclists Safe [City Cast Chicago 🎧]

The Best Chicago Ads

Sure, the Super Bowl is technically about football, but some of us also tune in for the commercials. We called up Axios’ Justin Kaufmann to reminisce about classic Chicago ads. [City Cast Chicago 🎧]

What To Do

Thursday, Feb. 8

Chicago Theatre Week starts 🎭 Citywide | Varies | Varies
Project Onward Valentine’s Portrait Slam 💗 West Loop | 5–8 p.m. | $40+
Love Bug Dance 🐛 Naperville | 5:30–8 p.m. | $22

Friday, Feb. 9

People smile during a hot cocoa crawl in Andersonville — Go on a hot cocoa crawl and participate in a puzzle exchange as part of Andersonville’s Fika Fest weekend. (Courtesy of Andersonville Chamber of Commerce)

Girls Day of P.L.A.Y 🤸 Citywide | Varies | Free
Fika Fest starts ☕ Andersonville | Varies | Varies
Puppy Speed Dating 🐶 North Center | 4–6:30 p.m. | Varies
Valentine’s Party: Cards & Collages 💌 Kenwood | 7:30–9:30 p.m. | Free
Folk Fest starts 🪕 Hyde Park | 8 p.m. | $5+

Saturday, Feb. 10

A worker at the Chicago Auto Show at the McCormick Place — The Chicago Auto Show returns to the McCormick Place this weekend. (Jacek Boczarski / Anadolu Agency / Getty)

Cooking With Cupid 🏹 West Elston | 10 a.m. to Noon | Free
Valentine Make ‘n Take ❤️ Auburn Gresham | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Pay what you can
Orchid Show opens 🌸 Glencoe | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | $10
Auto Show opens 🚗 Near South Side | 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. | $17
Handmade Market 🛍️ Ukrainian Village | Noon to 4 p.m. | Varies
Paczki Fest 🇵🇱 McKinley Park | Noon to Midnight | Varies
Art Sale for Palestine 🇵🇸 Heart of Chicago | 6 p.m. | Varies
Bronzeville NOLA 🎺 Bronzeville | 7 p.m. | $100+
Criminal Live 🎧 Lakeview East | 7 p.m. | $35+
Winter Ensemble Concert ❄️ South Shore | 7 p.m. | $10
“Dirty Dancing” Class 💃 Wicker Park | 8 p.m. | $110

More DC Events

Today on City Cast

Screenshot from YouTube. A person in an eagle costume speaks to a woman about insurance. — Who remembers the “Eagleman” insurance commercial from the 1990s? (Sibe74 on YouTube)

When Chicago Commercials Ruled the Ad World

Super Bowl Sunday is only partly about football: A lot of us are watching it just for the commercials. That’s why we’re revisiting classic Chicago ads with Axios’ Justin Kaufmann.

🎧 Listen

If you can’t get enough of Usher at the Super Bowl halftime show this weekend, he’ll be in Chicago later this year. Tickets go on sale Monday morning, so set your alarms.