Ambulance Jacked / Konkol / Don't Feed Birds / Chicagoans Dying Faster

Did you see the glossy profile of Chicago Teachers Union vice president Stacy Davis Gates?

In "Stacy Davis Gates Won't Back Down," Chicago Magazine tagged the union leader as the "heir apparent" to take over as union boss, with quality portraits by Chicago narrative-photograph maker, Saverio Truglia.

Some people didn't agree with the assessment. I have some thoughts, too.

KONKOL COLUMN: Did Magazine Get Used By Davis Gates To Influence CTU Election?

Take A Hike, Buddy. High: 51 Low: 38.

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• A Chicago Fire Department Ambulance got jacked. The man who stole it was arrested after leading police on a 2-hour expressway chase that ended with his arrest downstate. ABC7 helicopters caught the action from the air. Sportswriter Nick Schultz shared this photo of the chase on I-55 near Dwight. (Patch)

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• Empty your bird feeders, Chicago. Experts say folks should remove feeders for a month (and give them a good wash) due to an avian flu that's going around. So far, the bird flu has killed 23-million birds nationwide. (Patch)
• Applications are now open for Chicago's guaranteed income pilot program. Chicagoans who qualify can receive $500-a-month for a year. Sign up before it's too late. (WGN9)
• How do Chicago's family restaurants stay in business? Parental wisdom, Sandra Guy reports. “Most of our employees have been with us longer than my sons have been alive,” Steve Geffen said. (WBEZ)
• Are Chicagoans dying faster? Since the pandemic, the average lifespan in the city has dropped by nearly two years. The statistics are more dire for Black and Latino residents, city officials said. The coronavirus crisis and shootings aren't up. But it's the uptick in heart disease, cancer and diabetes; infant mortality; HIV, flu and opioid overdoses that are shortening the average Chicago lifespan. (WTTW)

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• Scenes from the jacked Chicago ambulance high-speed chase.
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Eat a taco.

— Mark Konkol

About me: Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, wrote and produced the Peabody Award-winning series "Time: The Kalief Browder Story." He was a producer, writer and narrator for the "Chicagoland" docuseries on CNN and a consulting producer on the Showtime documentary "16 Shots."