Daywatch: Lightfoot rips Ivanka Trump on Chicago violence, South Bend at center of abortion debate and other things to know to start your day

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Good morning, Chicago. Here are some of the top stories you need to know to start your day.

Lightfoot rips Ivanka Trump's comments about Chicago's deadly weekend: 'I'm not going to be distracted by nonsense tweets...'

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blasted Ivanka Trump for what she called "nonsense tweets" about the city's gun violence.

In a series of Twitter comments, Ivanka Trump drew national attention to Chicago's endemic shooting problem by writing, "As we grieve over the evil mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, let us not overlook that Chicago experienced its deadliest weekend of the year. With 7 dead and 52 wounded near a playground in the Windy City -- and little national outrage or media coverage -- we mustn't become numb to the violence faced by inner city communities every day."

But Lightfoot took exception to the remarks, saying Trump got key facts wrong and implied that all the injuries happened in one incident. If Ivanka Trump cared, Lightfoot said, she should've reached out to city officials. Lightfoot, who harshly criticized President Trump earlier this week, said she doesn't know whether those remarks prompted Ivanka Trump's tweets.

Indicted state Sen. Tom Cullerton is out as Labor Committee chair -- but still remains a committee chairman with a $10,500 stipend

Days after federal authorities released an indictment of state Sen. Tom Cullerton for allegedly embezzling almost $275,000 in salary and benefits from the Teamsters union, the Villa Park Democrat is out as chairman of the Senate Labor Committee.

Cullerton is now chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee. Because he remains a committee chairman, Cullerton will continue earning a $10,500 stipend on top of his legislative salary of nearly $69,500. Cullerton also remains a member of the Labor Committee.

The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago released the Cullerton indictment Friday, three days after politically connected former Teamsters boss John Coli Sr. pleaded guilty to extortion charges and agreed to cooperate with authorities.

-- Federal prosecutors subpoenaed State Board of Elections for Ald. Carrie Austin's campaign committee information, records show

South Bend at center of abortion debate as unlicensed clinic supported by Mayor Pete Buttigieg is allowed to open via court injunction

In June, an abortion clinic opened in South Bend in a particularly curious state of limbo: A federal judge granted an injunction permitting the clinic to perform medication abortions even as the clinic remains unlicensed by the state of Indiana.

The clinic's tenuous survival has been championed by Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend and a Democratic presidential candidate. But opponents are mounting a challenge.

-- My illegal abortion: One Chicago woman recounts ending her pregnancy pre-Roe v. Wade as more states pass near-bans on the procedure

Westlake Hospital files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy

Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park has filed for bankruptcy, months after its new owners attempted to close the hospital only to be stopped by a court order. Westlake filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which usually leads to liquidation, in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on Tuesday.

The bankruptcy filing does not lessen Melrose Park's resolve to see the 230-bed hospital stay open, said a spokesman for the village. "Melrose Park will not go away quietly, and the village is considering any and all legal options to continue to force Pipeline to honor their original agreement and keep Westlake Hospital open," he said.

In a court filing, Westlake said it was 80 percent empty in July and lost as much as $2.7 million that month. Between February and April, about 45 employees resigned, forcing Westlake to rely on temporary staffing, according to a court filing.

-- Barneys New York is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and announced plans to close both its Chicago-area stores

-- Walgreens plans to close 200 U.S. stores, starting this fall

Another Chicago alligator? This one was taken from a home, along with guns and narcotics, police said.

For the third time this summer, Chicago Animal Care and Control has had to take possession of an alligator. First, there was Chance the Snapper, now living a life of luxury in Florida after days evading capture in the Humboldt Park Lagoon. Then a second gator was handed over after a man claimed to have caught it in the same lagoon, though police didn't buy his story.

On Monday night, Chicago police were searching a home in the Albany Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side when they said they confiscated guns, narcotics and a 3-foot alligator, which they handed off to animal control officials.

New Michelle Obama mural on West Side shows her in traditional Korean clothing

A new mural of Michelle Obama wearing a traditional Korean dress now adorns an exterior brick wall of a restaurant in the Fulton River District. In the portrait, Obama, who was born and raised on the South Side, is seen wearing a red hanbok, a Korean dress, with a full moon in the background.

Chris Chanyang Shim, the Los Angeles-based contemporary artist who painted the mural, said in a Facebook post that he tries not to paint famous people, but a lot of people recommended he paint Obama when he announced he would be doing art in Chicago.

The former first lady was portrayed as an Egyptian queen in another Chicago mural in the South Shore neighborhood.

Column: How the little lakefront buildings of 2 Chicago architects are leaving a lasting impression along Lake Michigan

Skyscrapers, museums, mansions -- those are architecture's glamour buildings.

Then there are little, work-a-day structures, like those that line the lakefront in and around Chicago. They house bathrooms, food concessions, lockers where sailors store gear, and rooms where lifeguards escape the sun's relentless glare. Not many chances for good design there, you might think.

But Chicago architects David Woodhouse and Andy Tinucci have taken these utilitarian buildings to a higher level, says Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin, leaving a lasting impression amid the vast horizontal sweep of Lake Michigan: of sun-bleached landscapes, breezy passageways, cooling shade and carefully framed vistas.

'I want to talk about it': College student from Riverside gets the same cutting-edge multiple sclerosis treatment as actress Selma Blair

Her head freshly shaved, her dark eyes sparkling, her red dress bright and stylish, 20-year-old college student Ivy Marcucci has come a long way since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Last week she was discharged from Northwestern Memorial Hospital after completing a hematopoietic stem cell transplant, the same procedure that actress Selma Blair, who also has multiple sclerosis, recently announced she had received. The treatment, which is not widely available, got a big boost in January when a study in the journal JAMA reported it outperformed conventional therapies, with 79 percent of patients experiencing no symptoms after five years.

Ivy is grateful, hopeful and determined to get the word out, particularly after having been denied coverage for the procedure from her insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois.

Tribune Voices

-- President Trump is scheduled to visit El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday in the wake of a shooting at a Walmart store that killed 22 people. Mary Schmich wrote a speech for him.

-- Biblioracle columnist John Warner reflects on Toni Morrison's passing as the nation grapples with a shooting in El Paso apparently motivated by white supremacy.

-- As Burger King rolls out the surprisingly tasty imitation Impossible Burger in all 7,200 stores nationwide, customers have an opportunity to make a pro-environment statement, writes Eric Zorn.

-- Colleen Kujawa says Lolla fence jumpers should take note: James "One-Eyed" Connelly was possibly the greatest gate-crasher of his time.

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