half the midwest woke up smelling chemicals. the rats are on birth control. a coffee shop boycott backfired beautifully.

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half the midwest smelled like bleach at 5 AM and nobody can explain it. a mysterious burning-chemical smell blanketed the chicago metro overnight saturday into sunday, stretching from central illinois through indiana to the wisconsin border. the algonquin-lake in the hills fire protection district fielded stacks of 911 calls and said the source appeared to be “quite south” of the suburbs. the r/chicagosuburbs subreddit went feral. one user in villa park said it smelled like straight bleach. someone in elgin googled “chemical attack” before finding no news. the thread racked up 465+ upvotes and nearly 200 comments of people just collectively losing it while fire officials shrugged. as of this morning, no agency has identified the source. classic chicagoland: smell something weird, check reddit, confirm it’s not just you, go back to bed. and yes, even ABC7 had nothing useful

lincoln park is putting its rats on birth control. ald. timmy knudsen pitched a “rat contraceptive pilot project” to city council: peanut-butter-scented, non-toxic birth control pellets across eight monitored blocks in the 43rd ward. the $40,000 program is privately funded and came about after rat poison was linked to killing great horned owls. chicago has been named america’s rattiest city for 10 consecutive years. the response so far: birth control. for the rats. this is not satire, it’s policy now

a garfield ridge coffee shop got boycotted. it backfired. a cup of joe coffeehouse at 6806 w. archer ave. publicly criticized immigration enforcement and immediately drew boycott threats. on saturday, the backlash spectacularly reversed: residents from across the city flooded archer avenue, forming a line down the block to buy coffee in solidarity. gage park cyclists rode 45 minutes to get there, then waited four-plus hours for their orders. four hours. for coffee. on archer. in february. yes, you can read about it and cry-laugh here

arnie morton’s daughter opened a steakhouse in highland park with a hidden speakeasy. amy morton opened the barn steakhouse’s second location on feb 4 in downtown highland park’s former little szechwan space. the city lured her with a $750,000 grant. steaks run $48 to $72. there’s complimentary valet. and behind an unmarked door: a speakeasy called “1898.” highland park is doing fine. yes, this is what north shore money looks like now

naperville board member revolts over school calendar. district 203 board member holly blastic is publicly refusing to support the proposed 2027-28 school calendar, which starts august 12 and ends may 22. her argument: the early start kills august vacations and the may end creates a childcare dead zone before summer camps begin. the board votes feb 17. parents, prepare your opinions. local journalism still exists, see for yourself

west suburban medical center owes illinois $71 million and isn’t paying. oak park’s embattled hospital owes the state $71M and has not been making payments. days earlier, it was reported to have no working phone service. the phones. at the hospital. and yes, the local paper is as incredulous as you are

your cook county property tax bill is running a month late. the first-installment deadline has been pushed from march 1 to april 1 after the county’s computer system modernization went sideways. bills will be mailed in early march. interest accrues at 0.75%/month after april 1. plan your cash flow now, not march 28. this is your polite warning, please don’t ignore it

eat: casa yari (humboldt park, 2743 w division) reopened feb 7 in a larger space in the heart of paseo boricua. chef yari vargas’s puerto rican-caribbean menu now includes dishes inspired by her late uncle. the dining room has a handmade flamboyan tree built from real wood found at humboldt park. this is the kind of restaurant link you click and then immediately make a reservation

do: chicago theatre week runs through feb 15. $15 and $30 tickets to shows across the city, from the RSC’s hamnet at chicago shakespeare to mozart at lyric opera to storefront productions you’ve never heard of but should. you have no excuse, the ticket price is insulting

avoid: the downtown bridge situation. four chicago river bridges are simultaneously closed for repairs: state street, lake street, chicago-halsted, and cortland. plus the state/lake CTA station is shut down until 2029. the state street bridge was supposed to reopen in november, then january, now maybe late february.

and hey — if you’d like to put your business in front of the readers of this very email, reply with a little about what you do. small, weird, or local: we like all three.

the lion king KIDS at a nature center in highland park. the highland park players are putting on a 30-minute version of the lion king designed for ages 3-7, performed at the heller nature center (2821 ridge road). shows saturday feb 14 at 10 AM, 11:30 AM, and 1 PM, and sunday feb 15 at 10 AM and 11:30 AM. $15 a ticket. kids performing for kids, in a nature center, on valentine’s day weekend. that’s about as good as it gets. tickets are here, don’t pretend you’re too cool

chicken vesuvio: the chicago dinner party power move. it’s crispy bone-in chicken roasted with potato wedges, garlic, white wine, peas, and enough olive oil to make your ancestors proud. invented (or perfected) in chicago’s italian restaurants, vesuvio is loud, comforting, and weirdly hard to mess up. it’s also just flashy enough to pass as “chef energy” when all you did was follow instructions. this recipe walks you through it like you’re a grown-up

for our instagram debut, we did a photo deep dive on the 1893 chicago world’s fair — the one so convincing people mortgaged their homes to see it. fake city, real commitment. swipe through history.

“lawn and order.” jason narducy — bassist for superchunk and bob mould’s band — played 53 pandemic lawn concerts across evanston, wilmette, and chicago in the summer of 2020, organized through space (the evanston venue). he dueted “house of the rising sun” with a 70-year-old who hadn’t touched a guitar in 48 years. he got completely ignored at a lakefront mansion until he switched to piano-bar sing-alongs. his last show was november 7, 2020 — the day biden’s win was announced. it’s warm, funny, and deeply suburban. and somehow this made me feel things

the smell is gone. the rats are celibate. the bridges are broken. the coffee line was worth it.

tips, sightings, unexplained chemical odors?

reply with your neighborhood and one thing that made you pause, squint, or text someone “???”

talk thursday.

-sam