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Everything You Need to Know About Property Taxes Right Now

On today’s podcast, we’re talking all things property taxes. We discuss continued delays at the treasurer’s office and the growing tax burden on homeowners; the impact of 40 years of TIF districts; and massive tax breaks for Cook County data centers. [City Cast Chicago 🎧]

• Hmmm … Do TIFs actually combat blight? [WTTW]

Rage Bait: Is Pilsen Chicago’s Brooklyn?

New travel guide “Brooklyn Of” aims to find, well, the Brooklyn of every major city. (Aka the coolest neighborhood.) To no one’s surprise, longtime Pilsen residents are rolling their eyes, saying this kind of attention amplifies gentrification. But the guide’s creator says being “a little provocative” is kind of the point. [Block Club]

• We don’t gatekeep: Here’s an insider’s guide to Pilsen. [City Cast Chicago 🎧]

Kennedy-King Launching Midwifery Degree

The associate’s degree in professional midwifery comes through a partnership with the Black Midwifery Collective, a South Side nonprofit that aims to improve maternal outcomes for Black women. It’s important: In Illinois, Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related conditions than white women. [Tribune 🔒]

• Recently: A birthing center broke ground on the South Side. [City Cast Chicago 🎧]

Chicago Librarian Sues Over Cyclospora

Alonso Zaragoza was allegedly so sickened after eating shredded lettuce at Taco Bell that he went to the emergency room to receive intravenous fluids. Now, he’s suing Taylor Farms, which supplied the lettuce to Taco Bell, in what appears to be Illinois’ first federal lawsuit over the cyclospora outbreak. [Sun-Times]

This Week’s Must-Read: What Happened to Bynum Island?

A nine-acre island sits fenced off in the Washington Park lagoon. But decades ago, it housed a Space Age playground. Before that, it was a holding pen for sheep. Now, only birders and adventure-seekers find their way to this “lost world.” [WBEZ]

It was a lovely, warm, not-rainy week in the city. Hopefully you got out there. And hopefully you paid attention to the daily headlines … Test your Chicago news knowledge!

Today, we’re starting off with a special (tough) question — the answer was not covered in the newsletter, but die-hard Dolly Parton fans should know.

And now! Time for a Neighborhood Shoutout! These recommendations come from City Cast Chicago Neighbors, which is one of our many membership perks.

Today, Jordan M. is shouting out Southside Together, a South Shore tenants union: “See [the] Jackson Park Housing Ordinance and [the] current fight against the quantum facility (displacement, pollution, and surveillance).”