Good morning, Chicago.
Joe Engelman and his six high-school friends grew up together. They now live all over Illinois, from Wheeling to Streamwood; one even spent some time in Mesa, Arizona. But they still frequent Jimmy D’s District in Arlington Heights for Chicago Bears games. The restaurant has a premium view of the former Arlington International Racecourse: one of the Bears’ proposed stadium locations and the group’s old “stomping grounds.”
“If they come to Arlington Heights, I’d be a happy person, especially because they destroyed my track,” said Engelman, 56, sitting at the head of the group’s table.
Just over the Illinois border, a growing audience of Bears fans shuffled into Pudlo’s Tap in Hammond yesterday ahead of the start of the season opener against the Minnesota Vikings. A mile away from another proposed stadium site at Wolf Lake Terminals, Pudlo’s hosts complimentary potlucks for Bears game watches.
Sporting a newly purchased “Hammond Bears” T-Shirt, Sarah Dafnis, 42, the owner of Pudlo’s, felt particularly passionate that the stadium would boost Hammond’s economy.
“It’s not just gonna be football. If they’re doing a closed dome stadium, there’s gonna be something every night of the week,” Dafnis said.
Illinois and Indiana have been in competition over the Bears since 2023 when the team bought a site in Arlington Heights, hoping to build an enclosed stadium with a massive entertainment and residential development. Since then, the Bears have advanced plans in Indiana.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Finnegan Belleau and Jane Miller.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: what Gov. JB Pritzker said about remarks by streamer Hasan Piker, 10 things to know about TV host and evangelist Fulton Sheen on his path to sainthood and what we know about Bears quarterback Caleb Williams’ injury.
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| Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in HistoryIllinois Supreme Court to hear case that will determine future of Chicago police misconduct process
After three years of negotiations, lawsuits and appeals, the Illinois Supreme Court this week will hear arguments from attorneys for the city of Chicago and the Fraternal Order of Police in a case that will determine the future of serious misconduct cases involving Chicago Police Department officers and the public’s right of access.
The crux of the dispute is whether officers accused of severe wrongdoing may have their disciplinary cases heard and decided by a third-party arbitrator — as is the case for other municipal employees represented by labor unions — instead of the Chicago Police Board, which has been the city’s practice since 1961.
Gov. JB Pritzker doesn’t condemn remarks by streamer Hasan Piker while ex-Mayor Rahm Emanuel blasts them
Gov. JB Pritzker and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel — two Illinois Democrats viewed as possible presidential contenders in 2028 — have offered sharply different reactions to controversial comments made in recent days by Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer with a large following popular among some in the party’s far left.
For those detained during Operation Midway Blitz, release doesn’t mean freedom
Nearly 3,800 immigrants were arrested and detained during Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area, according to a Tribune analysis of ICE data provided by the research group Deportation Data Project. Among those, more than 1,000 ultimately won their release.
They soon learned that didn’t necessarily mean freedom.
For immigrants without legal status, release is often framed as a victory. In reality, it is usually temporary, conditional and far from secure. Years can pass before an initial court date. A final resolution can take much longer.
- Read the series: Operation Midway Blitz, one year later
Chicago weather: Heavy Sunday morning rain cancels river swim
A perennially wet and at times stormy weekend fueled flooding concerns across the region and sparked the cancellation of one of Chicago’s newest and most unique fundraisers.
As of 1 p.m., many areas across Chicago had seen two to three inches of rain fall in the past 48 hours, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters yesterday morning issued a hazardous weather outlook that noted thunderstorms and an elevated flooding risk and a swim risk for Lake Michigan beaches.
Cook County awards $191 million in loans to bridge property tax payout gap
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s office awarded stopgap loans to 32 villages, library and school districts worth $191 million, an effort to dull the impact of this fall’s property tax delay that nonetheless left many suburban agencies already in dire financial straits with less money than they asked for to help make ends meet.
Several officials praised Preckwinkle’s efforts, and the payouts also left $109 million in the loan pot, according to data received through a Tribune open records request.
First Illinois native to be beatified: 10 things to know about famed TV host, evangelist Fulton Sheen on his path to sainthood
The priest rose from humble beginnings on a central Illinois farm to commanding the airwaves of national radio broadcasts and primetime television shows that enthralled millions — including one little boy in the same state who would become pope.
Catholic Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s Emmy Award-winning 1950s program “Life Is Worth Living” offered a unique blend of scripture, catechism and humor on a secular network, drawing spectators of all faiths and backgrounds.
Heavy lifting: This boulder aficionado helped unearth a 50-ton rock at O’Hare
Ron Pitelka was 23 when he took his first boulder home from work.Pitelka was on a construction site in Chicago’s southwest suburbs when workers dug up an egg-shaped limestone rock about 5 feet wide. He’d just gotten his first dump truck, which he used to cart the 10,000-pound boulder away.
Over the past two decades, the 45-year-old Local 150 excavator operator says he has amassed a collection of several hundred rocks.
With or without Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears have a long way to go. Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on Week 2.
The Bears got humbled in a 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, who got after quarterback Caleb Williams from the start until he was forced from the game with a hamstring injury with seven minutes remaining.
Backup Tyson Bagent didn’t quite have the same magic Williams had in game-defining moments a year ago. 10 thoughts after the Bears fell to 1-1 with plenty of questions to answer.
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- What we know about Caleb Williams’ hamstring injury before the Bears QB’s MRI today
- After rally attempt falls short, Bears backup QB Tyson Bagent ‘ready to roll’ in Caleb Williams’ stead
After head coach’s ousting, Providence Catholic tried to contain the chaos. Friday night, it reached the field.
Sure, it was a shock when Providence Catholic High School administrators asked head football coach Tyler Plantz to resign just one day after the Celtics’ homecoming victory. Then came the media firestorm and an assistant coach who broke ranks to condemn the ousting.
Still, fans hoped the controversy might stop short of the team’s undefeated record. That was, until Friday night, when the team proved they weren’t entirely insulated from upheaval surrounding it.
‘Big dumb lines’ everywhere: TikTok account chronicles the daily queue at Michelin-starred Kasama
From the roof of her apartment building, Sophie Frere watches a mania unfold daily.Some say it’s a kind of mass hypnosis. Others say it’s a rare example of justified hype.
Two months ago, she moved to Chicago and found herself living at the edge of Wicker Park, across the street from the uber-popular Filipino restaurant Kasama. She noticed the line out front and asked a neighbor what exactly she was looking at. A line, yes. But every day? For hours? A line that runs down Augusta Boulevard and curls around the next block?