The City of Chicago is asking Black residents to help shape the city's long-promised reparations plan, just as Evanston's program comes under attack.

Why it matters: The new Repair Chicago campaign includes public forums and a survey to "explore the impacts of systemic discrimination," per Mayor Brandon Johnson's office.

State of play: Alders and other advocates have called for an official reparations program in Chicago for years, but those calls gained momentum in 2020 after the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

• City Council and then Mayor Lori Lightfoot created a subcommittee on the issue, but that made little progress.

The latest: As Chicago takes steps to solidify its reparations plan, a class-action lawsuit is moving ahead against Evanston, which in 2019 became the first municipality in the country to create a reparations program.

• A judge this week dismissed Evanston's request to throw out the lawsuit in which plaintiffs claim the race-based eligibility requirement to receive compensation through reparations violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.

Zoom out: The mayor's reparations plan comes after the release of the state's African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission (ADCRC) report last month, outlining how inequality for Black residents has permeated into housing, education, criminal justice, politics and the economy.

Key findings: Anti-Black racism and white supremacy in Illinois mirrored what was happening in southern states during the late 19th to early 20th centuries, a point the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. made in 1966 when he said he'd "never seen anything so hostile and hateful" as the violence he experienced in Chicago.

• The median household income for Black households in Illinois is $40,000 less than that of white Illinoisans.

What's next: The survey is open to the public until May 31, and the city is hosting a Repair Chicago town hall on April 9 at Malcolm X College and another on April 22 at Kennedy King College.

Go deeper

Illinois advocates are challenging President Trump's latest effort to change voting laws, which would create voter lists that the Postal Service would use to identify who gets a mail-in ballot.

Why it matters: The U.S. Constitution places the job of election administration in the hands of the states and Congress.

• Opponents of Trump's order characterize it as an attempt to interfere with November's midterm elections, where polls show the GOP facing tough odds.

What they're saying: "In Illinois, our secure elections safeguard every citizen's right to vote. We will not hesitate to fight the president's blatantly unconstitutional order," Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul tells Axios.

• "Based on little more than conspiracy theories, the President claims that voting by mail — a process he and his family regularly employ — is flawed and should be regulated by the White House," Illinois ACLU spokesperson Ed Yohnka tells Axios.

The other side: Trump on Tuesday night told reporters in the Oval Office that his proposal is "foolproof," per NPR.

Zoom out: The president is also promoting passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would mandate, among other things, registrants to bring copies of their passport or birth certificate to an election office.

Reality check: More than 21 million voting-age Americans lack the documents needed to register to vote under the SAVE Act, such as a birth certificate or passport, according to an estimate from the Brennan Center for Justice, a liberal public policy nonprofit.

By the numbers: The average American lives about 20 minutes by car from their nearest election office, per an Axios analysis. Those are county or municipal offices that manage voter registration and voting.

States that drive the farthest to vote

☔️ Due to today's bad weather, the White Sox home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays has been postponed. They'll play tomorrow at 1:10pm. (MLB)

👮 A Chicago police staffing study commissioned by City Council recommends hiring hundreds of new officers while shifting hundreds more from desk jobs to street patrols. (Sun-Times)

😷 Health officials are warning of a possible measles exposure in Terminal 5 at O'Hare last week. The same person also visited stores in Niles and a clinic in Mt. Prospect. (Block Club)

👋 Hey, it's Carrie!

I love wine, but as my friend and Twin Cities colleague Torey says, "It doesn't always love me back."

The big picture: Instead, I've been ordering cocktails when I go out, and a tasty, balanced, strong drink isn't always easy to find.

State of play: The new Kitty's Cosmopolitan Club in River North delivers.

The vibe: What I imagine Maxim's or Mister Kelly's looked, felt and smelled like in their heyday — very dimly lit, with green velvet booths, accented by beautiful floral arrangements and servers in bow ties delivering warm towels to the table.

The sips: An amuse-bouche offering of a jasmine-infused sake and a Verjus Blanc (non-alcoholic juice from white grapes) with raspberry and jasmine tea.

• Those petite drinks were followed by the Alaska ($21), made with coconut-washed Delord Blanche Armagnac, Yellow Chartreuse and orange bitters, and the Dirty Martini and a Half ($28), made with Menaud vodka, extra-dry vermouth, olive brine, bay leaf and blue cheese olives.
• The menu includes low- and no-alcohol offerings, which I appreciate when I'm enjoying the company but don't want a fully loaded second (or third) drink.

If you go: Kitty's Cosmopolitan Club is at 51 W. Hubbard, in the basement of Crying Tiger, and is open Wednesday-Sunday from 5pm-midnight.

Share this story

It's not just D.C., cherry blossoms are starting to pop in Jackson Park, too.

Yes, but: "Cold, wet weather can slow down or halt cherry blossom blooming — it's a protective response. The buds need a stretch of warmer weather for blooming to occur," Griffin Museum of Science and Industry head scientist Patricia Ward tells Axios.