Good morning, Chicago.
Tracking that Amazon package? It may be delayed by a labor dispute.
As the holiday shipping rush hits the home stretch, hundreds of workers at an Amazon delivery station in Skokie have voted to authorize a strike in an effort to reach their first union labor contract with the online retailing giant.
The delivery drivers, who began organizing in June to join the Teamsters union, gave Amazon a Dec. 15 deadline to negotiate an agreement, seeking higher wages, benefits and improved workplace safety.
Amazon has refused to recognize the fledgling union affiliation at the Skokie delivery station, one of 10 facilities nationwide to join the Teamsters as part of a growing labor movement. The Skokie vote follows similar actions at two New York facilities, where workers authorized a strike Friday against Amazon.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Robert Channick.
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Aldermen finally pass Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2025 budget
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2025 budget plan made it through the City Council yesterday, a hard-fought victory for the mayor that spares City Hall an unprecedented government shutdown after one of Chicago’s most chaotic budget cycles in recent years.
Aldermen voted 27-23 to approve Johnson’s $17.1 billion spending plan for next year after his team proposed a fourth version that completely eliminated his property tax hike in the face of widespread aldermanic objections. The revenue package containing a mix of other tax and fee hikes also passed 27-23.
Mayor Brandon Johnson announces new Board of Ed appointees to be seated with elected members in January
Announcing a new round of appointments to the Chicago Board of Education Monday, Mayor Brandon Johnson named Sean Harden as the new president of the 21-member body to be seated in January. Three newcomers are among an additional nine appointees the mayor’s office announced Monday. The slate otherwise includes an assortment of sitting members and candidates who lost their bids for elected school board seats during the general election in November.
Columbia College Chicago to cut programs, lay off up to 25 faculty next fall amid budget troubles
Columbia College Chicago plans to cut 11 undergraduate and graduate programs and eliminate up to 25 faculty positions next academic year to “promote future growth centered around student success” amid ongoing budget trouble and declining enrollment, the school announced last night.
“We wanted to make sure that our curriculum reflects what industry needs are and what parents and students are asking for,” interim President Jerry Tarrer told the Tribune. “Those are the primary considerations … to ensure that for the short and long haul we are providing a curriculum that will help to deliver professional success for young creatives who choose Columbia.”
Teacher and student killed in shooting at a private Christian school in Wisconsin
A teenage student opened fire with a handgun Monday at a Christian school in Wisconsin, killing a teacher and another teenager during the final week before Christmas break. The shooter also died, police said. Wisconsin police identified the shooter as a 15-year-old female student.
TikTok asks the Supreme Court for an emergency order to block a US ban unless it’s sold
TikTok yesterday asked the Supreme Court to step in on an emergency basis to block the federal law that would ban the popular platform in the United States unless its China-based parent company agreed to sell it.
US to require passenger vehicles to sound alarms if rear passengers don’t fasten their seat belts
Starting in September of 2027, all new passenger vehicles in the U.S. will have to sound a warning if rear-seat passengers don’t buckle up. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that it finalized the rule, which also requires enhanced warnings when front seat belts aren’t fastened.
Winter storm
Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune Snowplow trucks work Oak Park Avenue in Berwyn as a winter storm hits the Chicago area with near-blizzard conditions on Jan. 12, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago taking submissions for snowplow naming contest
Chicago’s “name a snowplow” contest is back for its third year and open for 2025 submissions, the city announced yesterday.
Chicago Stars and Sky make the case for equality in a stadium public funding bill hearing
As the Stars navigate building a training center and venue, Chicago Stars President Karen Leetzow and other key figures within the Chicago women’s soccer and basketball scene finally had an opportunity to address equality in public funding to Illinois state representatives.
Leetzow was among members of the Stars and Chicago Sky organizations, the National Women’s Soccer League and organized labor representatives to give testimony yesterday to the Illinois House of Representatives Revenue & Finance Committee in favor of passing House Bill 5841.
Kiran Amegadjie’s mistakes were just the latest in a very long list of high-profile mishaps for the Bears
Bears general manager Ryan Poles said before this season that he felt good about his team’s offensive line depth. But rookie left tackle Kiran Amegadjie’s struggles raised the question of why the Bears needed to push a rookie into that starting role if he wasn’t ready.
Michigan library says Chicago man can keep overdue book — 50 years later
Fifty years later, a man who grew up in suburban Detroit tried to return a very overdue baseball book to his boyhood library.
The answer: You can keep it — and no fine.
Chuck Hildebrandt, 63, of Chicago said he visited the public library in Warren while in town for Thanksgiving, carrying a book titled “Baseball’s Zaniest Stars.” He had borrowed it in 1974 as a 13-year-old “baseball nut” but never returned it.
Popeye and Tintin enter the public domain in 2025 along with novels from William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway
This year’s crop of newly public artistic creations lacks the landmark vibes of last year’s entrance of Mickey Mouse into the public domain. But they include a deep well of canonical works whose 95-year copyright maximums will expire. And the Disney icon’s public domain presence expands.
Here’s a closer look at this year’s crop.
