New era for Chicago Public Schools

Good morning, Chicago. ✶

🔎 Below: Confirmed almost unanimously, Chicago Public Schools’ new CEO Macquline King received a standing ovation Monday from the Board of Education. King promised to “build a bridge of excellence.”

🗞️ Plus: HIV and AIDS infections are up in Chicago after years of decline, Jackson Park’s Gold Lady is in line for a $1M makeover and more news you need to know.

📝 Keeping score: The Bulls lost to the Spurs, 129-114; the Cubs beat the Angels, 7-2; the White Sox bested the Marlins, 9-4.

📧 Subscribe: Get this newsletter delivered to your inbox weekday mornings.

⏱️: An 8-minute read

TODAY’S WEATHER 🌧️

Showers and thunderstorms likely with a high near 72.

TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎

HIV, AIDS infections up in Chicago after years of decline as cases rise among Latinos

By Elvia Malagón

Big increase: HIV infections are on the rise in Chicago after about two decades of decline, growing 29% between 2022 and 2024. AIDS cases are also up slightly. In 2024, there were 818 new HIV cases — and nearly half were among Latinos, the first time the racial and ethnic group accounted for most new diagnoses, AIDS Foundation Chicago CEO John Peller said.

How we got here: Chicago health officials say one early clue behind the increase among Latinos is a change in migration patterns, which possibly include people who hadn’t been tested or maintained care. Ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic also could have interrupted HIV care.

Key context: The change comes amid two contradictory trends. Testing and treatment for HIV have advanced so much that it allows people with the virus who are treated to live relatively normal lives and, critically, not transmit the virus to anyone else. But those advancements are at risk as funding for treatment and prevention is threatened.

READ MORE

EDUCATION 🍎

CPS Board approves contract for new CEO Macquline King

By Sarah Karp and Emmanuel Camarillo

New era: The Chicago Board of Education approved a contract for the school district’s new CEO Macquline King, a homegrown talent who has led the district on an interim basis for the last 10 months. King will have a three-year contract with a starting salary of $380,000.

Just 1 ‘no’: The vote represented a rare coming together of the partially elected, partially appointed school board. Only Jennifer Custer, who represents the Far Northwest Side, voted against King’s contract. After the nearly unanimous vote, King got a standing ovation.

READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT 🌱

Climate change is fueling surge in Illinois home insurance premiums

By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco and Jake Bittle

Rising costs: Illinois home insurance premiums are going up, and climate change-caused severe weather is partly to blame. Average U.S. home insurance rates climbed 12% last year and are projected to surge another 4% in 2026, according to new nationwide data from the insurance price tracker Insurify. Illinois is expected to top the national average with a 5% increase, leaving policyholders statewide paying an average $3,559 premium per year.

Climate change: There are a lot of factors behind rising insurance bills. Companies consider the value of a home, the cost of materials that would be needed to rebuild it, even the homeowner’s credit score. But according to Insurify’s Matt Brannon, one primary culprit is the rising toll of extreme weather as the planet warms.

READ MORE

MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️

• Dad fatally shot: An Englewood family is mourning the death of Antwan Washington, who was fatally shot in his home Saturday morning after suspects fired from outside.
• Feds defend ‘Broadview Six’ case: Federal prosecutors in a filing Monday defended the conspiracy case, insisting that any claim of selective or vindictive prosecution is “the product of fevered paranoia and delusional speculation.”
• Storm damage loans: Illinoisans in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties affected by severe storms and flooding last year can apply for low-interest federal loans for expenses not covered by insurance, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced.
• Bronzeville blood drive: The American Red Cross and Northwestern Medicine hosted the first community blood drive at the recently opened Northwestern Medicine Bronzeville Outpatient Center, highlighting a need for a more diverse blood donor base, organizers said.
• New community center: Developers broke ground Monday on Onward Neighborhood House, a Belmont Cragin community center offering residents access to health and human services.
• TSA workers paid: The Transportation Safety Administration said Monday that most of its officers received much of their back pay for working during the shutdown, easing airport bottlenecks nationwide.

ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN 📐

Jackson Park’s Gold Lady could look like a million bucks again, thanks to planned restoration

By Lee Bey

South Side shine: On just the right morning, when things are crisp and clear enough, the sun rises over the lake and lights up the gilded two-story Statue of the Republic in Jackson Park. And the Gold Lady — as she’s informally known — proudly faces that rising sun as she’s done since 1918, draped in a tunic, crowned with a laurel and with her arms aloft. She holds an eagle-topped globe in her right hand and a staff bearing the word “Liberty” in her left.

At issue: The spectacle, though impressive, has been losing its luster in recent years. The gold leaf is growing dull and some of it has flaked away enough to expose the bronze underneath. The work still shines, but not like it once did.

$1M makeover: The Chicago Park District plans to repair and regild the Gold Lady starting in May. The $1 million job includes removing the 24-foot statue’s worn and flaking gold leaf and applying a new layer of the microthin substance over the entire work.

READ MORE

FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏀⚾🏈

• Bulls waive Jaden Ivey: Ivey has gone on a series of rants about religion. On Monday, he called the LGBTQ+ community “unrighteous,” and that was the final straw.
• ABS challenges: The White Sox players call ‘em like they feel ‘em under MLB’s new Automated Ball/Strike System. Sox hitters challenged only two pitches in the first series of the season, but catcher Edgar Quero has shown a quicker trigger.
• Pro flag football: The league announced Monday that it will develop and launch leagues for men and women after touring a list of famous alumni as investors, including ex-quarterbacks Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Steve Young and Eli Manning.
• Ben Johnson mania?: The Bears coach is embracing his celebrity stature after a dazzling turnaround season.

LET’S HEAR FROM YOU 🗣️

Major League Baseball this year introduced the Automated Ball/Strike System, which measures whether a pitch crosses the strike zone. After seeing the challenge system in action, what are your thoughts?

Reply to this email (please include your first and last name). We may run your answer in a future newsletter or story.

CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭

PLAY NOW

BRIGHT ONE 🔆

Young South Side team dominates competitive cheerleading

By Elleiana Green

Naliyah Saintil, a 13-year-old from Greater Grand Crossing, dances and tumbles with the South Side cheer team Black Onyx Allstars, where her rapid rise — she recently was named a captain — has turned her father, John Barnes, from a longtime basketball coach into a “full-blown cheer dad … I’ve got about 45 shirts to prove it,” Barnes said, laughing.

Naliyah’s rise on the team reflects something bigger happening. Earlier this month, the South Side program won across all three of its team levels at Xtreme Spirit Kalahari National Competition in Wisconsin Dells. The wins secured each squad another bid to nationals in Orlando and cemented the Black Onyx Allstars’ reputation as one of the Midwest’s most dominant competitive cheer programs.

With 18 first-place finishes since the program began in 2024, and five of those awarded just this season, the team hopes to continue adding hardware at upcoming competitions in Grayslake, Illinois, and in Nashville, Tennessee.

Black Onyx, a nonprofit organization, was started by Imani Cobb and Endigo Allen, former elementary school cheer teammates at Betty Shabazz Academy in Greater Grand Crossing. In 2023, the school asked them to hold a cheer clinic for a few months, then put on an exhibition. But that turned into coaching a cheer team for a full season, and by 2024, the two had decided to go independent, starting their nonprofit to expand access to cheer in the Black community.

READ MORE

WATCH: MEET THE BLACK ONYX CHEER TEAM ▶️

YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️

Yesterday, we asked you: What do you think of freezing the minimum wage for tipped workers?

Here’s some of what you said, edited for length and clarity.

“Business owners need to pay their workers as little as possible in order to maximize their profits and stay competitive. That’s capitalism. I’m a worker, so I’m on the side of polices that raise wages for workers, necessarily at a cost to their bosses. This isn’t some complicated policy question … It’s a class struggle. And right now, a majority of City Council [members have] declared themselves to be on the side of the bosses against workers.” — Sean Duffy

“Enforce the current law rather than [penalize] restaurants. Abolishing the minimum tipped wage will absolutely force owners to reduce hours and jobs, and ultimately move to automated ordering. So much for helping the workers.” — Judy Magee

“The debate over a tipped minimum wage is exactly the distraction that rich, powerful elites want. Instead of recognizing that the economic system is unsustainable for most working-class people — restaurant owners, servers, back of the house etc. — people are being divided … Once enough people realize that our current economic model works best for those who are already financially well-off … we might be able to agree upon a system that actually benefits society as a whole.” — Jacob Caplan

“I know my bartender friend does not like this law because she’s worried she’ll make less tips. If I know wait staff is getting a higher amount of hourly money … the tipping percentage needs to go down. And the restaurants that currently tack on 20% need to lower it. Then it would be like Europe, where waiters actually get paid, and people don’t tip.” — Lisa Janoschka

PICTURE CHICAGO 📸

ONE MORE THING ♥️

From City Hall to neighborhood blocks, we tell the stories that need to be told — stories about the people, challenges and joys that define Chicago.

But our independence depends on readers like you.

The Sun-Times exists so Chicagoans have a trusted source of news about their city. And with your support, it always will.

We told you yesterday about our goal of hearing from 1,500 donors this month. We still need 522 people to step up. Make a gift of any amount today.

Thank you for your support!

SUPPORT THE SUN-TIMES HERE

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

Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia

The Chicago Sun-Times is a nonprofit supported by readers like you. Become a member to make stories like these free and available to everyone. Learn more at suntimes.com/member.