Good morning, Chicago.
About a year ago, Waukegan National Airport General Manager Skip Goss thought a public hearing on a proposed new, 7,000-foot runway was going to occur. Before that, he anticipated holding it in June of 2023. He is still waiting.
The Waukegan National Airport’s project to build a new runway in the northern part of the city remains as unresolved this December as it did last December because it cannot move forward until the FAA issues the draft environmental assessment and a public hearing occurs.
“There is just unbelievable red tape,” Goss said. “We ask (the FAA) to tell us what they want. They move at their own pace, which is as slow as molasses in January.”
And here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.
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Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 33 including children, Palestinian medics say
Israeli strikes pounded the Gaza Strip overnight and into Wednesday, with one attack ripping through a home where displaced people were sheltering in the isolated north. The strikes killed at least 33 people including children, Palestinian health officials said.
Violence also flared in outside Jerusalem, where an Israeli bus came under fire from a suspected Palestinian attacker late Wednesday, wounding three people including a 10-year-old boy, according to the military and hospital officials. The attack took place on a highway near major Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and the army was looking for the shooter in the area around Bethlehem.
President Joe Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency
Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. It’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.
Gov. JB Pritzker promises to protect immigrants, but says those convicted of violent crimes need to go
Two days after President-elect Donald Trump’s “border czar” said the threatened mass deportations of undocumented immigrants would begin in Chicago, Gov. JB Pritzker again gave assurances that Illinois would protect all immigrants while also repeatedly saying he shared a desire to deport undocumented people convicted of violent crimes.
“Let me be clear up front: Violent criminals who are undocumented and convicted of violent crime should be deported. I do not want them in my state. I do not think they should be in the United States,” Pritzker said Wednesday at an unrelated event in Chicago.
Mayor Brandon Johnson narrowly avoids showdown over North Side development plan
Mayor Brandon Johnson and his allies fended off a challenge yesterday from a City Council opponent over the fate of a controversial megadevelopment project near the stalled Lincoln Yards site, following a heated debate two days before he hopes to pass his 2025 budget.
Ultimately, local Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, backed down from his plan to call on the full council to shoot down Sterling Bay’s proposed Lincoln Park residential high-rise development at 1840 N. Marcey St.
Monarch butterflies a big step closer to protection under Endangered Species Act
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday that it is proposing the monarch butterfly for threatened species status under the Endangered Species Act, a big step forward in a process set in motion in 2014 with a petition from conservationists.
Retired Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan finalizes $9.5M sale of Highland Park home
After more than 12 and a half years, long-retired Chicago Bulls basketball star and NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan finally sold his massive mansion on 8.4 acres in Highland Park for $9.5 million — well below his longstanding $14.855 million asking price.
Roki Sasaki sweepstakes are underway, and the Chicago Cubs are prepared to make their pitch to the Japanese phenom
The sweepstakes to land Japanese hard-throwing right-hander Roki Sasaki are underway.
The posting process for Sasaki to make the move to Major League Baseball began Tuesday, and his agent, Joel Wolfe, estimated that three or four teams already had submitted initial presentations to pitch their organization to the phenom. Among them? The Chicago Cubs.
Column: Chicago White Sox GM Chris Getz’s future rides on the Garrett Crochet trade
Dealing an ace to the Boston Red Sox to fast-forward the rebuild, only eight years after trying the exact same plan, makes comparisons easier for Chicago White Sox fans, writes Paul Sullivan.
On paper, it looks like White Sox general manager Chris Getz got a decent haul on Wednesday for Garrett Crochet, whose limited workload as a starter in 2024 didn’t prevent the Red Sox from including their last two first-round draft picks, catcher Kyle Teel and outfielder Braden Montgomery, in the four-player package.
Top 10 live music shows in Chicago in 2024: The concerts that stood out, and why
No Taylor Swift? No Boss? No Beyoncé? No problem. The year produced a bumper crop of options that saw a handful of artists continue to push boundaries on production and a swath of legacy acts — Billy Joel, the Eagles, Rolling Stones, Heart, Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra included — revisit the past and pass through for possibly the final time.
Did every date justify the costs of admission? Heck, no. But a fair number hit the right notes. Particularly, to music critic Bob Gendron, these performances.
Top 10 dance in Chicago of 2024: There’s room for big, boisterous productions
With the Joffrey Ballet and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago having their best year in recent memory, several midsize companies are meeting the moment, taking risks and betting on themselves by indulging in larger-than-ever venues and productions. It may seem like the pandemic is in the rearview, but many arts organizations are still scrambling to keep their heads above water. At the risk of making a trite “from adversity comes strength” metaphor, Chicago dance delivered, seeming to possess a renewed commitment to audiences by delivering on some of their best performances this decade.
Dance critic Lauren Warnecke lists the greatest among them, in chronological order.
‘No Good Deed’ review: Los Angeles real estate is murder. Literally.
Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano play empty nesters looking to downsize in the Netflix comedy “No Good Deed,” writes Tribune TV and film critic Nina Metz. But selling their 1920s Spanish-style house in Los Angeles turns out to be more complicated than anticipated, thanks to their secrets and lies. Three couples are vying for the place and they all have problems of their own in this series from creator Liz Feldman, who previously made “Dead to Me” for Netflix.
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