Good morning, Chicago.
For Yaryna Levchuk, working is etched into who she is.
When war broke out in her native Ukraine four and a half years ago, the longtime pharmacist volunteered to sort medical aid alongside her regular shift. When she and her family were ultimately forced to flee their home for the United States, a move that landed them in the Chicago area, Levchuk started working as soon as she was allowed.
And since her arrival, she says she’s tried — with painstaking care — to never miss an immigration deadline. She’s wanted to protect her ability to work, something that’s not just vital to supporting her family but an expectation of herself that she pursues with pride.
Lately, though, changing policies and delayed processing have hamstrung her ability to work. Soon, her husband could face the same issue, leaving the family to grapple with an undeniable uncertainty: Can they stay?
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Tess Kenny.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: how women are defying the Catholic hierarchy to become priests, why peak fall foliage in Chicago is delayed, and 10 thoughts on the Bears’ Week 6 win.
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| Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in HistoryChicago mayor poll: Brandon Johnson’s approval at 22% and early excitement for Alexi Giannoulias
As candidates line up today and begin filing petitions to appear on Chicago’s Feb. 23 municipal ballot, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s bid for a second term faces strong headwinds, with Chicagoans at large disapproving of his job performance and likely voters showing little enthusiasm for him seeking reelection, a new poll found.
Illinois Democrats wrestle with how hard to fight Trump if they retake Congress
Illinois Democrats may be savoring the possibility their party could retake the U.S. House, and possibly the Senate, after next month’s elections, but the state’s likely incoming and returning lawmakers are split on how aggressively to use that power against Republican President Donald Trump.
Aurora’s Hindu community still in ‘shock’ after alleged plot to attack temple
Piyali Majumder, a leader of an Aurora Hindu community group and temple, said she felt “shaken” when she heard Wednesday of an alleged plan to attack a nearby Aurora temple.
“I was shocked. I was disheartened,” she said. “I was scared both for my safety and my family’s safety because my daughter goes with me to the temple all the time.”
‘What the church needs to be’: Women defy the Catholic hierarchy to become priests
Despite excommunication and other threats, an estimated 300 women have answered the call to become Catholic priests.
These women — cradle Catholics and converts, former nuns, teachers, hospice chaplains, counselors, spouses, mothers, grandmothers — say their defiance is the fulfillment of a vocation, no different than the call answered by their male counterparts. Most have advanced degrees in theology or divinity that prepared them, they say, to serve.
In Paris, Illinois, Trump’s ICE raids came home ‘when it happened to Jose’
Downstate Paris, Illinois, a town that voted overwhelmingly for President Donald Trump, is contending with the absence of one of their own. The man’s arrest has inspired hard conversations throughout the community, at the ball field, the diner, and even within his family as Paris confronts the pain brought to town by a president they support.
Strong El Niño delays peak fall foliage in Chicago, brings forecast for warmer winter
In the coming months, Chicago and much of the world are likely to continue to experience above-average temperatures due to El Niño, a naturally occurring weather phenomenon, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.Mike Ditka lookalike contest at Near North Side tavern marks late coach’s birthday
John Stefanik was hoping he wouldn’t have to do a speech in character. The 73-year-old Clarendon Hills resident had been cosplaying as former Chicago Bears player and coach Mike Ditka since the ’80s, but said he wasn’t comfortable acting like the coach outside of a conversational setting.
Talking before the crowd assembled at Pippin’s Tavern would probably feel like an awkward stand-up routine, he said.
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Caleb Williams’ return energizes the Chicago Bears: Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on the Week 6 win
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams completed 30 of 36 passes (83.3%) for 305 yards and one touchdown. It’s the highest completion percentage of his career and the second time he topped 300 yards under coach Ben Johnson.
To really explain it, though, you have to dig deeper than the box score and consider what was going on around Williams. 10 thoughts on the Week 6 win, starting with Williams’ transcendent day.
- In return from injury, Caleb Williams has Bears offense in ‘flow-state mode’ in win in Atlanta
- Jahdae Walker’s ejection mars otherwise big day for Bears special teams — but penalties pile up again
The first performance by a Beatle in America was in Illinois: Benton keeps its historical footnote alive
In late summer 1963, John Lennon flew to France for vacation. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr headed to Greece for a few weeks. And George Harrison traveled to rural Illinois.
So George became the first Beatle in America.
Doubling down: 100 years ago, Wacker Drive cleared riverside clutter to create an iconic Chicago roadway
As Chicago Mayor William Emmett Dever cut the ribbon and officially opened Wacker Drive on Oct. 20, 1926, he called it “the greatest improvement of its kind in the world’s history.”
The double-deck road, which initially ran for eight blocks along the Chicago River’s south bank, obliterated a tangle of buildings and produce stalls in favor of a broad Beaux Arts thoroughfare that connected with the two-level Michigan Avenue Bridge completed six years earlier.