MINNEAPOLIS — The convenience store cashier who sold cigarettes to George Floyd and was handed a counterfeit $20 bill in return took the stand Wednesday at Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial as prosecutors laid out the sequence of events that led to Floyd’s ill-fated arrest outside.

Prosecutors also played store security video showing Floyd in Cup Foods for about 10 minutes last May.

Christopher Martin, 19, said he immediately believed the $20 that Floyd gave him was fake, but took it even though store policy was that the amount would be taken out of his paycheck.

Martin said he initially planned to just put the bill on his “tab” but then second-guessed himself and told a manager, who sent Martin outside to ask Floyd to return to the store.

The Black man was later arrested outside, where Chauvin pinned his knee on Floyd’s neck for what prosecutors said was 9 minutes, 29 seconds, as a handcuffed Floyd lay face-down on the pavement. Floyd, 46, was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Martin said that inside the store, he asked Floyd if he played baseball, and Floyd said he played football, but it took Floyd some time to respond, so “it would appear that he was high.”

The defense has argued that Chauvin did what his training told him to do and that Floyd’s death was not caused by the officer’s knee on his neck, as prosecutors contend, but by a combination of illegal drug use, heart disease, high blood pressure and the adrenaline flowing through his body.

Earlier, a Minneapolis firefighter who wept Tuesday as she recalled being prevented from using her EMT training to help Floyd returned to the stand briefly Wednesday.

Genevieve Hansen, one of several bystanders seen and heard shouting at Chauvin as he pinned Floyd down, described her desperation Tuesday as she recounted how she was unable to come to Floyd’s aid or tell police what to do, such as administering chest compressions.

“There was a man being killed,” said Hansen, who testified in her dress uniform and detailed her emergency medical technician training. “I would have been able to provide medical attention to the best of my abilities. And this human was denied that right.”

Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter. The most serious charge against him carries up to 40 years in prison.

Floyd’s death, along with the harrowing bystander video of him pleading that he couldn’t breathe as onlookers yelled at Chauvin to get off, triggered sometimes violent protests around the world and a reckoning over racism and police brutality across the U.S.

Several onlookers testified Tuesday about their increasing frustration, anger and despair as they begged Chauvin to take his knee off Floyd’s neck. Witnesses and video depicted police keeping back some of those on the sidewalk who tried to intervene.

Chauvin appeared unmoved by their pleas, according to the bystanders, including the teenager who shot the video that set off nationwide protests.

“He didn’t care. It seemed as if he didn’t care what we were saying,” said 18-year-old Darnella Frazier, one of several witnesses who testified through tears. She said he gave the bystanders a “cold” and “heartless” look.

Chauvin continued to kneel on Floyd while fellow Officer Tou Thao held back about 15 onlookers, even when Hansen identified herself as a firefighter and pleaded repeatedly to check Floyd’s pulse, according to witnesses and bystander video.

“They definitely put their hands on the Mace, and we all pulled back,” Frazier told the jury.

The testimony from the prosecution witnesses was apparently aimed at showing that Chauvin had multiple opportunities to think about what he was doing and change course.

But Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson also sought to bring out evidence that the onlookers were agitated, in an apparent attempt to show that the police were distracted by what they perceived as a growing and increasingly hostile crowd.

Witnesses testified that no bystanders interfered with police.

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Latest

City opening mass vaccination sites at Wrigley conference center, Chicago State

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Chicago will open two new mass vaccination sites on Monday — one at Chicago State University, the other at a conference center adjacent to Wrigley Field.

The decision to open two more mass vaccination sites in addition to the one already operating in a United Center parking lot comes just one day after the city expanded vaccine eligibility to include all essential workers and adults with underlying medical conditions, excluding smokers.

The Wrigley Field site will be at the American Airlines Conference Center at Gallagher Way, the open-air plaza adjacent to the stadium. The Cubs play their home opener on Thursday.

It will be operated by Advocate Aurora Health and have the capacity to administer roughly 2,000 daily doses of the coronavirus vaccine, by appointment only. Appointments will be posted on zocdoc.com/vaccine later this week with additional appointments added each day.

Chicagoans also will be able to book appointments by phone; details on that process will be announced in the coming days. There will be no on-site registration.

Read the full story from Fran Spielman here.

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News

9:50 a.m. Reopening retreat: State’s move into less restrictive ‘bridge phase’ pushed back as cases rise, hospital beds fill

Reopening plans are being pushed back in Illinois as COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations rise yet again statewide, public health officials announced Tuesday.

With 70% of seniors vaccinated with at least one dose, the state had been on pace to see some business restrictions lifted this week under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s “bridge phase” before a full reopening by May.

Not so anymore, as coronavirus cases mount and more people head to hospitals with the deadly respiratory disease. The governor’s intermediate reopening plan also required hospitalizations to “hold steady or decline over a 28-day monitoring period.”

That count has risen almost daily since hitting a one-year low of 1,082 beds occupied by COVID-19 patients March 12. A total of 1,396 beds were taken up Monday night — the most since late February.

“As long as new hospital admissions continue to increase, the state will not advance to the Bridge Phase and on to Phase 5 of the Restore Illinois Plan,” officials from the Illinois Department of Public Health said in a statement. “The number of cases of COVID-19 has seen an increasing trend as well. Health officials continue to urge all residents to continue to mask up, socially distance, and avoid crowds to reduce transmission and bring the metrics back in line to transition to the Bridge Phase.”

Read the full story from Mitchell Armentrout here.

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New Cases & Vaccination Numbers

• The state reported 2,404 new cases were diagnosed among 51,579 tests, raising the state’s average testing positivity rate over the past week to 3.4%.
• About 473 residents are testing positive each day, up 34% compared to a week ago, according to the city’s Department of Public Health.
• The state reported 17 more deaths, including that of a McHenry County man in his 30s.
• The state also reported 86,812 vaccine doses were administered Monday. About 105,040 shots are going into arms every day.

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Analysis & Commentary

9:52 a.m. I didn’t expect ‘doom’ to be so exhausting

“Impending doom.”

I read the words aloud to my wife.

“Now there’s a phrase that you just don’t see very much,” I continued. “I wonder if other things ‘impend.’ Or is it just doom?”

She started to read something on her phone. The winds buffeted the old house, which groaned like a clipper ship rounding the Horn Monday night, as we fished the internet for news which, despite an upswing in positive developments — vaccines rolling out more and more, weather improving, that ship stuck in the Suez Canal finally freed — suddenly seems grim.

“The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned of ‘impending doom’ from a potential fourth surge of the pandemic,” I read. “CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, appeared to fight back tears as she pleaded with Americans to ‘hold on a little while longer’ and continue following public health advice, like wearing masks and social distancing, to curb the virus’s spread.”

When government officials start to cry, that’s usually bad, right? Despite everything that’s gone on for the past … ah … year plus, the people in charge do not generally weep.

Read the full column from Neil Steinberg here.

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A man previously accused of setting a Chicago police SUV on fire downtown amid the rioting last May has been charged in federal court.

Jacob Fagundo, 23, of Chicago is accused in a one-page charging document of obstructing law enforcement amid civil disorder May 30. The bare-bones document, filed Tuesday, offers no additional detail.

The document used to charge Fagundo is known as an information, which is typically a sign a defendant intends to plead guilty. An attorney for Fagundo could not immediately be reached.

Cook County prosecutors last year accused Fagundo of setting the police SUV on fire May 30 on Lower Michigan Avenue. They said he turned himself in after police released surveillance images from the incident and Fagundo was recognized.

Fagundo’s lawyer said at the time that Fagundo had gone downtown to protest the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd and to stand in solidarity with others protesting police brutality.

“I’m convinced that even if [Fagundo] did do these offenses … he set out on that day with a pure heart and the most honorable of intentions,” attorney Robert Kerr said then.

Video surveillance cameras recorded several people breaking windows of the police SUV while it was parked about 7 p.m., prosecutors said at the time.

A man alleged to be Fagundo — wearing paint-splattered clothes and a dark hooded sweatshirt — could be seen taking an item out of his backpack and throwing it into the battered SUV, setting it aflame, prosecutors said. They added that several police officers had personal items inside the vehicle.

Surveillance cameras tracked the person as he walked away from the scene and removed his hood. The cameras also captured his unique arm tattoos, prosecutors said.

Another man, 31-year-old Timothy O’Donnell of Pilsen, has also been charged in federal court with torching a CPD SUV the same day while wearing a Joker mask.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported last week that, while some federal cases stemming from last year’s riots are already leading to guilty pleas and sentencings, investigations into the rioting continue.

Federal prosecutors in early March also leveled a rarely filed charge against James Massey of Chicago, accusing him of using a facility of interstate commerce to incite a riot during a second round of unrest in August. And in February, they charged three people with setting fire to a CTA van May 30.

Contributing: Matthew Hendrickson

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INDIANAPOLIS — The Big Ten spent most of this season talking about being the nation’s best basketball conference.

It pointed to a league-record nine teams ranked one week in December and how its teams comprised nearly half of the top 10 many more weeks. It sent a conference-record nine teams into NCAA Tournament play, which was being contested entirely in Big Ten country.

Turns out, it was a big flop.

The conference that ruled the regular season was shut out of the Final Four, with the final blow coming Tuesday night when Michigan lost 51-49 to No. 11 seed UCLA in the South Region championship. The Wolverines (23-5) lost twice in three weeks at Lucas Oil Stadium and now head home without the Big Ten Tournament crown or the date in Saturday’s national semifinals they wanted.

“Very disappointing for our guys.” Michigan coach Juwan Howard said. “It came down to one possession, that’s how it goes sometimes. The game of basketball sometimes comes down to one or two possessions that can really help or hurt you and we came up short.”

Howard has been here before.

Twice as a player he helped lead the Wolverines to national championship games, falling short in both.

A year ago, the Wolverines appeared poised to make a strong postseason run when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down both the conference and NCAA tournaments.

This time, Michigan and Illinois earned No. 1 seeds and appeared to have the makeup to stick around until the final weekend. Instead, eighth-seeded Loyola upset the Fighting Illini in the second round, and Michigan went down on a night it struggled offensively.

“When you don’t make shots, it makes things a little more difficult,” senior guard Eli Brooks said after scoring eight points on 3-of-8 shooting.

The Wolverines had plenty of chances to stay alive.

Franz Wagner missed a 3-pointer with 11.1 seconds to go, and Brooks couldn’t score on the put-back. Mike Smith missed an open 3 and then, after the refs put 0.5 seconds back on the clock, Wagner missed an open 3 to seal the league’s fate.

Michigan played better than most.

Some may argue the continual Top 25 matchups or challenging late-season schedules wore down the league’s top teams. Others may contend the extra week inside the Indianapolis bubble for the Big Ten tourney was to blame.

None of it really matters, though.

The Big Ten finished 8-9 in the NCAA Tournament, with only Michigan reaching the Sweet 16. Second-seeded Ohio State and fourth-seeded Purdue didn’t even make it out of the first round, and the Bruins managed to play their way from the First Four to the Final Four by eliminating both Michigan State and the Wolverines.

It’s enough to make all that regular-season talk ring hollow.

“Right now this game is still very fresh,” Howard said. “It’s going to be tough to sleep tonight.”

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MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis firefighter who wept as she recalled being prevented from using her EMT training to help George Floyd will be back on the stand Wednesday in the trial of the fired police officer charged in Floyd’s death.

Genevieve Hansen, one of several bystanders seen and heard shouting at Derek Chauvin as he pinned Floyd facedown outside a convenience store last May, described her desperation Tuesday as she recounted how she was unable to come to Floyd’s aid or tell police what to do, such as administering chest compressions.

“There was a man being killed,” said Hansen, who testified in her dress uniform and detailed her emergency medical technician training. “I would have been able to provide medical attention to the best of my abilities. And this human was denied that right.”

Hansen was among several onlookers to testify Tuesday to what they saw of Floyd’s May 25 death. They described their increasing frustration, anger and despair as they begged Chauvin to take his knee off Floyd’s neck.

Witness after witness described how Chauvin was unmoved by their pleas, including the teenager who shot the harrowing video of the arrest that set off nationwide protests. She said the officer gave the people watching from the sidewalk a “cold” and “heartless” stare.

“He didn’t care. It seemed as if he didn’t care what we were saying,” said 18-year-old Darnella Frazier, one of several witnesses who testified through tears.

Chauvin continued to kneel on Floyd while fellow Officer Tou Thao held back about 15 onlookers, even when Hansen identified herself as a firefighter and pleaded repeatedly to check Floyd’s pulse, according to witnesses and bystander video.

“They definitely put their hands on the Mace, and we all pulled back,” Frazier told the jury.

Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter, accused of killing Floyd by pinning the 46-year-old handcuffed Black man to the pavement for what prosecutors said was 9 minutes, 29 seconds. Floyd was arrested after being accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill at the convenience store.

Floyd’s death, along with the bystander video of him pleading that he couldn’t breathe, triggered sometimes violent protests around the world and a reckoning over racism and police brutality across the U.S.

The most serious charge against Chauvin carries up to 40 years in prison.

The defense has argued that Chauvin did what his training told him to do and that Floyd’s death was not caused by the officer but by a combination of illegal drug use, heart disease, high blood pressure and the adrenaline flowing through his body.

On Tuesday, the prosecution asked multiple witnesses to describe their horror at what they saw, buttressing the testimony with multiple videos, some of which had never been seen before. Many described feeling helpless and guilty as Floyd gasped for air, pleaded for his life and finally fell limp and silent, his eyes rolling back in his head.

The testimony was apparently aimed at showing that Chauvin had multiple opportunities to think about what he was doing and change course.

But Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson sought to portray the onlookers as angry and agitated, in an apparent attempt to show that they posed a potential threat to police that might have distracted them during their encounter with Floyd.

Hansen testified that the onlookers were getting more upset and that the paramedics did a “load and go”– placing Floyd on a stretcher and quickly getting him away from bystanders so he could be treated elsewhere.

Earlier Tuesday, Donald Williams, one of the onlookers, testified that he called 911 after paramedics took Floyd away, “because I believed I witnessed a murder.” In a recording of the emergency call, Williams can be overheard yelling at the officers: “Y’all is murderers, bro!”

During cross-examination, Nelson pointed out that Williams seemed to grow increasingly angry at the police, calling Chauvin “tough guy,” “bum” and other names, then calling Chauvin expletives, which the defense lawyer repeated in court.

Williams, a professional mixed martial arts fighter, initially admitted he was getting angrier, but then backtracked and said he was controlled and professional, and was pleading for Floyd’s life but wasn’t being heard.

Williams said he was stepping on and off the curb, and at one point, Thao put his hand on Williams’ chest. Williams admitted that he told Thao he would beat the officers if Thao touched him again.

But witnesses also testified that no bystanders interfered with police.

When Frazier was asked by a prosecutor whether she saw violence anywhere on the scene, she replied: “Yes, from the cops. From Chauvin, and from officer Thao.”

Also Tuesday, prosecutors played cellphone video recorded by another bystander, 18-year-old Alyssa Funari, that showed onlookers shouting and screaming at Chauvin after Floyd stopped moving. The footage also showed Hansen, the Minneapolis firefighter, calmly walk up to Thao and offer to help. He ordered her to get back on the sidewalk.

“I felt like there wasn’t really anything I could do as a bystander,” a tearful Funari said, adding that she felt she was failing Floyd. “Technically I could’ve did something, but I couldn’t really do anything physically … because the highest power was there at the time,” she said, referring to the police.

Frazier testified that she looks at her father and other Black men in her life and thinks of “how that could have been one of them.”

“It’s been nights I stayed up, apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more, and not physically interacting and not saving his life,” she said, adding of Chauvin: “But it’s like, it’s not what I should’ve done, it’s what he should’ve done.”

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MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ statewide mask mandate Wednesday, stripping the governor of one of his last remaining tools to curb large-scale spread of COVID-19 as the state stands on the precipice of another surge in infections.

The conservative-leaning court ruled 4-3 that Evers violated state law by unilaterally issuing multiple emergency orders to extend the mandate for months. The court found Evers needed legislative approval to issue more orders after the initial 60-day mandate he issued in August expired.

“The question in this case is not whether the governor acted wisely; it is whether he acted lawfully. We conclude he did not,” Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote for the majority.

The decision marks another legal defeat for Evers. The Supreme Court in May struck down his stay-at-home order, finding that his health secretary lacked the authority to issue such an order. A state appeals court blocked Evers’ attempts to limit capacity in bars, restaurants and other indoor places in October.

Wednesday’s decision comes as COVID-19 cases have been rising in the state. The seven-day average has jumped from fewer than 400 cases in mid-March to 501 on Tuesday. State Department of Health Services Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said the state is seeing “warning signs” that another surge in infections is about to begin.

Local mask mandates remain in place. Milwaukee and Dane County, home to the state capital of Madison, both have issued such mandates. But invalidating the statewide order leaves Evers with few options to control spread on a broad scale.

Evers spokeswoman Britt Cudaback didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, a member of the court’s three-justice minority, lamented in a dissent that the ruling hampers the ability of governors in Wisconsin to protect lives.

“This is no run-of-the-mill case,” she wrote. “We are in the midst of a worldwide pandemic that so far has claimed the lives of over a half million people in this country. And with the stakes so high, the majority not only arrives at erroneous conclusions, but it also obscures the consequence of its decision. Unfortunately, the ultimate consequence of the majority’s decision is that it places yet another roadblock to an effective governmental response to COVID-19.”

Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, who defended the mask order, issued a statement urging people to continue to wear masks.

Republican lawmakers applauded the ruling. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said in a statement that Evers abused his power and the court’s decision affirms the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches.

“The governor’s repeated abuse of emergency powers and pervasive violation of state statute created a state of chaos and had to be stopped,” LeMahieu said.

Evers had argued that he can issue multiple health emergencies because of the changing nature of the pandemic. The mask order first took effect in August and Evers extended it four times since then, most recently on Feb. 4 immediately after Republican legislators repealed it.

Nearly 60 organizations opposed repeal of the mask mandate, including groups representing hospitals, doctors, nurses, EMTs, school administrators, businesses, children, unions, Milwaukee schools, American Indian tribes, pharmacists, firefighters, local health departments, senior citizens, churches and dentists.

Hagedorn joined with the liberal justices in supporting Evers stay-at-home order in May, when conservatives held a 5-2 majority. His stance then gave Democrats hope that he would cast the deciding vote to uphold the mask mandate. But during oral arguments in the mask case on Nov. 16, Hagedorn questioned Evers’ authority to renew health emergencies beyond the 60-day limit. He said it was an “extraordinary grant of short-term power to the governor” and that “it seems like the Legislature wanted to allow for only a very short period of time.”

The case challenging the mask mandate was brought by Jere Fabick, a major Republican donor in Wisconsin who has given more than $350,000 to Republican or conservative candidates in Wisconsin between 1994 and the middle of 2020, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

In 2016, Fabick gave $20,000 to conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley. Fabick is a board member and policy advisor for The Heartland Institute, a free-market think tank, and also the president of a multi-state Caterpillar equipment and engine dealer.

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Associated Press writer Scott Bauer contributed to this report.

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Most days you’ll find Angel Chavez crafting perfect renditions of French classics like crème brûlée at Bistro Campagne, where he’s the head pastry chef. But two days a week, he’s running Au Levain, a one-man Lincoln Square bakery that brings unexpected influences to classic pastries.

Consider his breakfast challah, a thick roll of challah, that staple of Jewish holiday dinners, topped with a baked egg, bacon, and Gruyère ($7). His kouign-amann ($5) wouldn’t be out of place on a cheese plate — it’s decked out with Brie and housemade apple butter. Chavez serves his Basque goat’s milk cheesecake ($28) with a changing selection of sauces, like cardamom and cinnamon cajeta. He’s even making some of the city’s best chocolate chip cookies: Jammed with chocolate, they come in packs of 16 ($18) — you can get them frozen ($15 for 15), if you prefer, to pop in the oven anytime you want.

Chavez’s baked goods are a far cry from the conchas he snacked on in his great-grandfather’s bakery in Mexico City, but his inspiration still comes from those memories. “I remember the smell of sugar and caramel,” he says. “That’s what I think about when I’m creating my own recipes.” Order at aulevainchicago.com for pickup Sundays and Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Bistro Campagne (4518 N. Lincoln Ave.).

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A Grayslake police officer shot and seriously wounded a man who threatened to kill himself and then pointed a gun that was later determined to be a replica.

Officers were called at 11:50 p.m. Tuesday for a man threatening suicide at a home in the 1600 block of Fairport Drive, according to a statement from Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli.

Police found a 28-year-old man from unincorporated Round Lake who was staying at an extended relative’s home on Fairport Drive, Covelli said. The man’s mother, who wasn’t there, had called police.

As two officers came up to speak with the man, he allegedly came outside with a pistol, Covelli said. The man pointed the pistol at the officers, and one of the officers discharged his firearm at the man, striking him, Covelli said.

Officers treated the man until paramedics arrived. He remained hospitalized in serious but stable condition.

Police later determined the object pointed at Grayslake officers was a replica semi-automatic pistol with a black and silver finish, Covelli said. There were no markings on the firearm to indicate it was a replica.

The results of the Lake County Major Crime Task Force’s investigation will be turned over to the Lake County state’s attorney’s office, Covelli said.

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Well, well, well, Sox fans. The moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived: MLB Opening Day. On April 1, the White Sox 2021 season starts in Los Angeles against the Angels. We don’t mean to sound like pre-World Series era Cubs fans, but this is the year! Or at least, it’s the beginning of years of postseason success for this franchise. The organization put the pieces in place this offseason. And after a lackluster spring, we’re ready for some meaningful baseball. We’ve got you Southsiders covered with some key players for and this season plays out with Opening Day around the corner.

Our MVP Bet

Give us a T, dot the I, curly M and Anderson. MVP! 

We’re betting hard that Tim Anderson earns MVP honors for the Sox in 2021. At 27 years old, Tim is a clubhouse leader and the reigning MLB/AL batting title holder shows no signs of slowing down. He certainly hasn’t kept quiet about how good he thinks the Sox are. In a radio interview, Tim is quoted saying, “F*** it, we’re the best team in the American League,” and the rest of the baseball world heard him loud and clear. If he’s right, he’ll certainly have to lead the charge in our race to the top of the MLB standings.

Sox 2021 Pick-to-Click

No powerhouse of a batting order gets by in this league if the defense isn’t there to back them up. And at the heart of every MLB defense is a strong pitching rotation. Openers, relievers, closers, you name it, the White Sox have it. Which is why our Pick-to-Click is right-handed youngster, Dylan Cease.

Since his first outing in 2019, Cease has been hyped up as a premium pitching talent. However, like high expectations usually go, he’s had difficulties living up to them. Yasmani Grandal certainly thinks highly of him as he’s gone as far to say he sees Cease as a Cy Young caliber player. We aren’t counting that out, but we also don’t think he needs to get there yet. The White Sox have a stellar rotation, and if Cease finds his groove it could spell disasters for others come playoffs.

Predicting the Season

The number crunchers and AI over at FiveThirtyEight don’t seem as hyped for the White Sox 2021 season with their predictions for the MLB this year. But lucky for us, we get to make our own prediction here. We’re basing this year’s predictions solely off of the pace they set for the 60 games played in 2020. This would put them finishing at 93-67, hopefully 1st in the AL Central, and locked-and-loaded for fall. Our reasoning for maintaining the pace is that the offseason signings made us better, but Eloy Jimenez is out for the next 5-6 months, and that sets us back considerably. So, we have them at the same pace with the high hopes of a trophy-raising outcome in the postseason.

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Not only is being outside still the safest way to be together, but it’s also much more comfortable as temperatures begin to rise in Chicago. While April is always a bit of a wild card where weather is concerned, with more sunshine and warmer breezes, Chicagoans are ready to get outdoors and have some fun. Here are six things to do outside in Chicago this April to gear up for the springtime bloom!

You can get out and about this spring while supporting the Northcenter Chamber of Commerce and Common Pantry! Walk, run, or bike safely and at your own pace, and don’t forget to bring the provided map and interactive bingo card to get the full experience.

While many of the zoo’s buildings are still closed for safety reasons, you can enjoy all of the wildlife living outdoors at LPZ! There are always new fluffy and feathered friends to meet, and it’s a perfect opportunity to get outside in Chicago’s rising temperatures this month.

Starting in April, the world’s “largest permanent digital art projection” will feature Astrographics— a four-part artistic piece produced by Adler Planetarium which “will explore ways in which humans conceptualize and visualize their universe.” If you’ve been staring at the same four walls for most of the winter, this is a great way to get out and…reconceptualize your universe.

Even if you live in Chicago, it can be fun to be a tourist in your own city for a day. Learn more about the spookier side of Chicago’s history with the Gangsters and Ghosts Tour— a socially-distanced, limited-capacity walking tour running four times daily and hitting spots like Palmer House and the Congress Hotel.

Seeing live music in person continues to be difficult to do safely, but Montrose Saloon provides a space for musicians and listeners alike to make it work. Almost every night, there’s an outdoor show (weather permitting) featuring a local artist, and with no cover charge— so don’t forget to hit that tip jar!

Locals and tourists alike agree that the architecture cruise tour in Chicago is a great way to experience the city. During the Chicago Architecture Foundation Center’s 90-minute River Cruise, you’ll learn the background of over 50 buildings along the Chicago River, all while enjoying the spring sunshine (hopefully!).

Image by Day_Photo from Pixabay 

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