By Don Babwin
CHICAGO (AP) --The force – of Chicago's City Council, at least – is with George Lucas, as aldermen voted Wednesday to allow the "Star Wars' filmmaker to build his $400 million museum along the shores of Lake Michigan.
With no discussion, the council cast the widely expected vote in favor of allowing Lucas to build his 300,000-square-foot Lucas Museum of Narrative Art just south of Soldier Field. The vote came on the same day the Chicago Bears and the museum organization announced an agreement on parking that will increase the number of parking spots and tailgating spots.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel strongly endorsed the project and Lucas' choice of Chicago instead of San Francisco as the site for his museum was considered a major coup for the mayor, who earlier this year scored another victory when President Barack Obama selected Chicago as the site of his presidential library.
But as with that library, not everybody favors handing over city parkland for Lucas to build his museum. A group is suing in federal court to block the project and the two sides are due back in court Nov. 10.
Some questions and answers about what has happened and what might happen now that the city council has approved the museum plan:
Why Chicago?
It seemed like San Francisco was a lock. After all, Lucas was born in California, Lucasfilm's visual effects division is based in the city and the headquarters of Lucasfilm and Skywalker Sound is across the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County. But Lucas' wife, Mellody Hobson, is from Chicago. And when the two got married, the city rolled out the red carpet by closing down Promontory Point along Lake Michigan so they could host a star-studded party to celebrate after their California wedding. Then there is Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The famously-pushy mayor really wanted the museum and while San Francisco was "doodling around," as Lucas once said, Emanuel was getting the city to offer up a slice a real estate along the lake near attractions such as the Field Museum of Natural History and the Shedd Aquarium.
What will it look like?
It is no surprise that a filmmaker who introduced the world to Han Solo's Millennium Falcon and a droid named R2-D2 plans to house his collection in a futuristic building. The undulating structure will have an observation deck that resembles a floating disc. But the revised renderings also reflect the battle with those opposed to building a private museum on the city's cherished lake front. About 100,000 square feet have been lopped off of the original planned 400,000-square-foot building, leaving more green space on the 17-acre site, which will include many trees, native plants and an outdoor plaza that leads up to the sloping face of the building.
What is going to be in the museum?
It may be officially called the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, but it will almost certainly be known as the Star Wars Museum. That means there will be plenty of artifacts and costumes from the "Star Wars" films, and Lucas has said there will be artifacts from the "Indiana Jones" movies and other films. But along with props and story boards, the museum will also include three auditoriums where visitors can watch films and attend lectures and workshops. Not only that, but the museum will showcase artwork Lucas has been collecting since college, including illustrations by Norman Rockwell and N.C. Wyeth.
When do Han Solo and Darth Vader move in?
Construction could begin as early as next spring and the museum cold be operating as soon as 2019, if things go according to plan. But there is still the lawsuit by Friends of the Parks. The nonprofit group contends that under a legal principle known as the public trust doctrine, the city has no authority to hand over the land where the museum is to be built. It says the doctrine requires the state to ensure open spaces are preserved and accessible to the public. After Wednesday's vote, though, Emanuel did not sound concerned about the lingering lawsuit. "We have taken our step forward and we're going to continue to do what we're going to do," he said.
South Korea fines Meta $15 million for illegally collecting information on Facebook users
South Korea's privacy watchdog on Tuesday fined social media company Meta 21.6 billion won ($15 million) for illegally collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users, including data about their political views and sexual orientation, and sharing it with thousands of advertisers.
It was the latest in a series of penalties against Meta by South Korean authorities in recent years as they increase their scrutiny of how the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, handles private information.
Following a four-year investigation, South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission concluded that Meta unlawfully collected sensitive information about around 980,000 Facebook users, including their religion, political views and whether they were in same-sex unions, from July 2018 to March 2022.
It said the company shared the data with around 4,000 advertisers.
South Korea's privacy law provides strict protection for information related to personal beliefs, political views and sexual behavior, and bars companies from processing or using such data without the specific consent of the person involved.
The commission said Meta amassed sensitive information by analyzing the pages the Facebook users liked or the advertisements they clicked on.
The company categorized ads to identify users interested in themes such as specific religions, same-sex and transgender issues, and issues related to North Korean escapees, said Lee Eun Jung, a director at the commission who led the investigation on Meta.
"While Meta collected this sensitive information and used it for individualized services, they made only vague mentions of this use in their data policy and did not obtain specific consent," Lee said.
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