Illinois
Barbara Flynn Currie, ‘trailblazer who opened doors for generations of women’ dies
After a vote in the Illinois House on a key part of then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s pension relief plan in 2016, Barbara Flynn Currie did something not often seen in these times of divided, dysfunctional government. She crossed the aisle and shook hands with the three Republican lawmakers who broke ranks with the GOP and voted to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a measure deferring police and fire pension payments.
That was Currie, 85, who died Thursday. She not only represented her Hyde Park district in Springfield for 40 years — 20 as majority leader and the first woman to hold that role in the Illinois General Assembly — she was a tireless promoter of active, engaged, effective government.
“Last night we lost a giant,” House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, posted on his Facebook page Friday. “Barbara Flynn Currie was more than a leader — she was a trailblazer who opened doors for generations of women in the Illinois House, many of whom continue her legacy today. … She set the standard for what it means to serve with purpose. Her impact will be felt for generations.”
Her district encompassed Hyde Park, Woodlawn, South Shore and Kenwood, and she was a vigorous proponent of liberal causes, such as prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace, reforming school funding and offering all-day kindergarten. She spearheaded a compromise on welfare reform and helped extend state contracts to minority- and female-owned businesses.
In 2009, she chaired the special 21-member bipartisan committee that recommended the impeachment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
”We stand here today because of the perfidy of one man: Rod Blagojevich,” said Currie. “To overturn the results of an election is not something that should be undertaken lightly.”
Every member of the Illinois House and Senate, save one, voted to impeach.
With women making up a record 32% of state legislatures across the country, it might be difficult to remember the male world that Currie entered. When she was elected in 1978, fewer than 11% of Springfield lawmakers were women. When she announced her retirement in 2017, that figure was more than a third, and in 2025 the Illinois Legislature was 42% female.
Then-House Speaker Michael Madigan’s decision to name her as majority leader in 1997 was unexpected: Downstate Democrats felt they had a hereditary right to the position, didn’t like the powerful post to pass to a Chicagoan, a woman, and perhaps worst of all, a liberal. Women across the spectrum saw it as a milestone.
”Republican women gave me flowers,” Currie later recalled. “Secretaries and staff in the Capitol were thrilled. One of my girlfriends nearly ran her car off the road. The depth of excitement was really quite thrilling.”
Still, some of Currie’s supporters looked askance at her playing ball with Madigan.
”To them, Currie was a sellout for taking the appointment from the hated machine politician Madigan,” Rich Miller of Capitol Fax wrote. “It never occurred to most of them that Currie’s new position would give their viewpoints an important new seat at the grown-ups table.”
Then-state Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie at the annual Hyde Park Fourth of July parade in 2014.
Among the causes she promoted were gun control and abolishing the death penalty.
Barbara Flynn was born in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, the daughter of Francis and Elsie Flynn. When she was 7, her family moved to the South Side, where she attended St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic School and the University of Chicago Lab High School. Her mother was a schoolteacher, and her father taught social work at the University of Chicago, where she studied before dropping out to marry David Park Currie in 1960. Eventually she returned and received her bachelor’s degree in 1968 and master’s degree in 1973, both in political science.
She worked as vice president for the Chicago League of Women Voters from 1965 to 1969. Later, she taught government at DePaul University and was an assistant study director at the National Opinion Research Center.
Currie was elected to the Illinois General Assembly’s 24th District in 1978; her district changed to the 26th District in 1983 and the 25th in 1993.
“Barbara Currie has tackled many, many complex issues with a keen intellect, fairness and balance,” Madigan said when she announced her retirement in 2017, opting to not seek reelection in 2018.
Her husband, a revered legal scholar and teacher, died in 2007.
Survivors include two children, Stephen and Margaret, and four grandchildren.
Illinois
Thousands of birds could migrate over the Chicago area this week, and here’s how to protect them
Thousands upon thousands of birds are expected to cross over Illinois as part of their spring migrations in coming days.
Thursday night saw the highest migration totals of the season so far, but researchers at Cornell believe that Sunday and Monday nights could see even more avian traffic in the skies over the Chicago area, with hundreds of thousands of birds expected to traverse the area.
According to estimates from Birdcast, Sunday night and into Monday morning there could be “medium” activity for migrating birds, with thousands of birds per kilometer flying over the area.
Even more birds are expected to take flight Monday night and into Tuesday morning thanks to favorable weather conditions, with a “high” number of birds expected to take to the skies over the Chicago area.
According to estimates, up to 383 million birds could be in flight over the central United States during the peak of the migration overnight.
On Thursday night the Chicago area experienced its busiest night of the spring migration season so far, with more than 367,000 birds having been estimated to have passed over Cook County alone.
In all, more than 23,000,000 birds are believed to have crossed the state of Illinois so far during the spring migration.
Among the primary birds expected to be flying through the area are American Redstarts, Magnolia Warblers, Baltimore Orioles and Indigo Buntings, according to researchers at the CornellLab.
As millions of birds continue visiting the Chicago area, here are some steps that residents can take to keep them safe.
When do birds typically migrate?
Peak migration for birds over the state of Illinois occurs in mid-to-late May, with hundreds of different species heading north for the summer breeding season.
Those migration flights for songbirds and other species typically take place in the overnight hours. According to experts, birds typically take flight 30-to-45 minutes after sunset, with the greatest number of birds in flight typically seen approximately two-to-three hours later.
When should residents turn lights off?
One of the best ways to help protect birds is to turn off lights during peak migration times.
According to Birdcast, the best time to turn off or dim exterior lights and interior lights is between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., when most birds are active.
Bright lights can disorient and attract birds, making them vulnerable to collisions and to predators on the ground, according to the website.
Hundreds of millions of birds are killed each year in collisions with buildings, and residents and businesses are being asked to do their part to keep the creatures safe.
In addition to turning off unneeded exterior lights, residents and businesses are also asked to dim or turn off lights in lobbies, and to draw blinds to help keep light from escaping through windows.
Finally, exterior lights should be aimed downward and be well-shielded so that birds aren’t attracted to them.
Are there other steps?
Another key step in protecting birds is to bring pet cats inside during overnight hours.
According to the American Bird Conservancy, cats kill an estimated 2.4 billion birds in the United States every year, and during migration season those impacts can be even more devastating, as exhausted birds typically seek refuge in plants and trees to rest on their journeys, making them vulnerable to attack.
Since cats like to hunt at night, active migrating birds can be a target, leading to experts asking residents to keep animals inside when possible.
Police are investigating after a motorcyclist was killed in a crash in suburban Oswego on Saturday afternoon.
Officers responded to the 4000 block of Route 34 near Wolf Road for the crash around 1:42 p.m. The motorcyclist was unconscious and was receiving CPR when officers arrived.
They took over medical care until paramedics arrived and took the victim, identified as a 20-year-old man, to a local hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
The victim’s identity is being withheld pending an autopsy scheduled for Monday, police said.
Initial reports say the victim was traveling eastbound on Route 34 when he hit an enclosed trailer being towed by a van. According to the police, the van was also traveling eastbound and was attempting to make a right turn into a driveway when the crash occurred.
The driver and passenger in the van were not hurt, police said.
Route 34 was closed between Wolf Road and Boulder Hill Pass for four hours for crash reconstruction.
The crash remains under investigation pending completion of the traffic crash reconstruction report.
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