Laura Washington – Page 11

Bartender Kyle Chaney makes a basil spritzer mocktail at AceBounce in Chicago on Jan. 3, 2017.

Laura Washington: Reap the benefits of going dry during January (or any time of year)

January 29, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

"Dry January" will soon be a misty memory. As it fades away, is it making a difference? I can't speak personally to that since I abstained. Not because I didn't...

A rat-shaped impression in a sidewalk along Roscoe Street on the North Side of Chicago, on Jan. 11, 2024, is attracting offerings such as coins and a toy rat. It became a viral sensation after an artist posted about it on social media.

Laura Washington: Is the ‘rat hole’ Chicago’s new brand?

January 19, 2024 at 4:13 p.m.

From the city that works to the city of rats? That's where Chicago is headed. "The 'Chicago Rat Hole' Is The City's Hottest New Tourist Attraction," Block Club Chicago declares...

A vendor outside The Machine Shed restaurant following an event with Donald Trump Jr. on Jan. 11, 2024, in Urbandale, Iowa. The younger Trump was stumping for his father, former President Donald Trump.

Laura Washington: If Donald Trump wins Iowa, it will be hard to ignore what that foretells

January 15, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

It's Iowa time. Today brings the long-awaited, every-four-years moment in U.S. presidential politics: the Iowa caucuses. Democratic politicians and pundits will be hyperventilating, hoping to detect some sign of Donald...

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, left, greets then-Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson at the governor's Chicago office April 7, 2023.

Laura Washington: Is Mayor Brandon Johnson measuring up? Here’s my assessment for the new year.

January 8, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Sometimes, turning a corner can be a good thing. Mayor Brandon Johnson moves into a new year with a host of old problems, unsolved and festering alongside a mountain of...

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally on Dec. 17, 2023, in Reno, Nevada.

Laura Washington: Getting a grip as 2024 promises more hurly-burly in Chicago and across the nation

January 1, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

So, what has been priced into 2024? How about tumult and trepidation? The world is buffeted by two major wars, with no end in sight. New hot spots loom. There's...

People on Michigan Avenue in the Streeterville neighborhood on Black Friday, the kickoff to the holiday shopping season Nov. 24, 2023.

Laura Washington: No snow? And why am I getting fewer cards? The Grinch is meddling with my joy.

December 25, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

The Grinch is stealing my Christmas. I can be a "Debbie Downer" at times (or so my husband says). But as we celebrate the season, I posit that much has...

Laura Washington: When the jury decides the fate of ex-Ald. Ed Burke, let’s hope his buddies are listening

December 18, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

This week a federal jury will begin deliberations to decide the fate of the man who was once Chicago's most powerful alderman. Its decision could be a lesson for other...

A vinyl balloon painted with a satellite image of the Earth by artist Seung-taek Lee is displayed at Art Basel, Dec. 6, 2023, in Miami Beach, Florida.

Laura Washington: Art Basel, ‘the Super Bowl of art fairs,’ is selling Black artists short

December 11, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

Razzle-dazzle, Basel. I was back once again for Art Basel, the 21-year-old phenom of an art fair that takes over Miami and Miami Beach every December. Art Basel is the...

Special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox talks to the news media outside the U.S. District Court in Washington after ousted White House counsel John W. Dean III pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct the Watergate investigation on Oct. 19, 1973. President Richard Nixon fired Cox the next day.

Laura Washington: The system worked during Watergate. This time around, I am not so sure.

December 4, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

The summer of 1973 was my baptism into national politics, as my teenage self was riveted by the legendary saga of Watergate. I watched the months of Justice Department investigations,...

Cold weather arrives in Chicago as Venezuelan migrants Leonardo Covieles, wife Marielis Rivas and their son, Lerondro, 1, take shelter inside their tent pitched outside the 1st District police station Oct. 31, 2023.

Laura Washington: The arrival of winter weather has migrants rethinking the ‘sanctuary’ of our city

November 20, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

Baby, it's getting cold outside. The calendar may say it's still fall in Chicago, but really, winter is already here. The massive number of migrants bused to our city, mostly...

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