Local search for Chicagoans

3+ min ago (208+ words) The State/Lake "L" station in the Loop will close starting Jan. 5, the Chicago Department of Transportation said Thursday. The 120-year-old CTA station, one of the system"s most heavily-used, will be demolished and reconstructed as part of a massive rebuild the city says will "improve safety, accessibility, and comfort for all riders." The new station is not expected to open until 2029. Throughout construction, the city said, Brown, Green, Orange, Pink and Purple Line Express trains won"t stop at State/Lake. Riders can use nearby stations at Washington/Wabash and Clark/Lake, the city said, as well as the Lake Red Line subway station, which will remain open. The rebuild will also impact Loop drivers. Starting Dec. 8, eastbound Lake St. between State St. and Wabash Ave. will suffer intermittent closures during off-peak hours, CDOT said. Starting Jan. 5, Lake St....

19+ min ago (496+ words) In light of Oak Lawn's settlement of a lawsuit alleging police in 2022 struck a 17-year-old more than 10 times in the face and head as he was lying face down in the street during his arrest, Arab American activists say they will continue to demand accountability at public meetings. "Remember when you all stood here and told us how we were liars and how we were wrong?" said Arab American Action Network lead organizer Muhammad Sankari, who led a protest of the Oak Lawn Police and Fire Commission meeting on Tuesday. "At the end of the day, the village just paid $825,000 of taxpayer money " because your officers beat a minor almost to death." O'Donnell was indicted in February 2023 and pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated battery and official misconduct during the arrest. The charges were dropped in December 2024, after Eileen…...

28+ min ago (629+ words) Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson (1) celebrates with teammates after Kevin Byard III's interception in the third quarter Nov. 28, 2025, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) During the nine weeks Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson stayed off the field after reinjuring his groin in September and having core muscle surgery, he stayed mostly at home, away from Halas Hall. "It was better for me that way, to be away from the game that way," he said. "It can mess you up a little bit when you are in it and not in it." It was a coping mechanism "to protect myself mentally." Johnson needed more than physical rehabilitation to return to the game he has played since he was 7 years old when the Bears activated him for their Black Friday game against the Philadelphia Eagles. When he went…...

30+ min ago (196+ words) A Hobart woman got 30 years Thursday in a plea deal for her daughter's neglect death. Tiffany Jenkins, 34, pleaded guilty in September to neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a Level 1 felony. Judge Salvador Vasquez rejected her first plea agreement in May for 20 years saying it was too lenient. When Jenkins wept during that hearing, Vasquez said she failed the child. "She should be crying," he said. Police responded at 6:30 p.m. June 4, 2023, to the 600 block of Harvest Court in Crown Point for an unresponsive 2-year-old child. A toxicology report found Avia Jenkins had fentanyl in her system. An autopsy noted she had congested lungs with "foamy fluid" in her nose and mouth. Paramedics tried to give the child naloxone to counteract the drugs. Officers found the girl lying in a hallway. She didn't have a pulse and was "cold" to the…...

38+ min ago (887+ words) Hobart residents Jennifer Williams and Sheri Valentine didn't let the bitterly cold temperatures on Wednesday night deter them from protesting outside Hobart City Hall. Both held no data centers signs and walked outside, on the sidewalk next to" Main Street, while folks in passing cars honked in approval. The no data centers group, of which both women belong, now has a known target for which to vent their opposition " Amazon. Amazon's proposed plans for part of its $15 billion in data centers to be built on 500 acres at 61st Avenue and Colorado Street were confirmed by Hobart Mayor Josh Huddlestun shortly before Thanksgiving. Williams, who said she'd rather have a strip club built at the site than an Amazon data center, called it a bad choice. "It's just bad all the way around. It's the worst time in history to fight something…...

43+ min ago (777+ words) NEW ORLEANS " Trump administration officials overseeing the immigration crackdown launched this week in New Orleans are aiming to make 5,000 arrests with a focus on violent offenders, a target that some city leaders say is not realistic. It's an ambitious goal that would surpass the number of arrests during a two-month enforcement blitz this fall around Chicago, a region with a much bigger immigrant population than New Orleans. In Los Angeles " the first major battleground in President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration plan " roughly 5,000 people were arrested over the summer in an area where 10 million LA county residents are foreign-born. "There is no rational basis that a sweep of New Orleans, or the surrounding parishes, would ever yield anywhere near 5,000 criminals, let alone ones that are considered "violent' by any definition," New Orleans City Council President J.P. Morrell said Thursday. Census Bureau figures…...

46+ min ago (986+ words) A proposed 900-unit residential development has gotten the next green light from the Campton Hills Village Board, after the village's trustees unanimously approved preliminary plans for the project at a meeting on Tuesday. The ordinance unanimously approved by the board Tuesday, which grants the project a preliminary Planned Unit Development, or PUD, zoning designation, essentially gives the developer " Geneva-based Shodeen Group " the ability to move forward with things like engineering review and negotiating infrastructure improvements, according to village attorney Carmen Forte. The proposed development, called LaFox of Campton Hills, is set to be built on 962 acres generally bounded by Route 38 to the north, Keslinger Road to the south, Harley Road to the west and Brundige Road to the east. The area was previously unincorporated, but in September was annexed into Campton Hills in anticipation of the development. The area has…...

48+ min ago (336+ words) Su muerte fue anunciada el jueves por la ciudad de Muka'ov, al este de Praga, donde viv'a, y fue confirmada por su familia a la agencia de noticias local CTK. Dijeron que muri" el mi'rcoles, pero no dieron m's detalles. Los trajes de Pi't'k aparecieron en las pel'culas del director Franti'ek Vl'il desde finales de la d'cada de 1950, incluyendo "Marketa Lazarov" y "El Valle de las Abejas", pero su trabajo m's famoso aparece en las pel'culas del fallecido director de origen checo Milos Forman. Los dos se hicieron amigos durante su servicio militar obligatorio en la Checoslovaquia comunista. Forman termin" asent'ndose en Estados Unidos tras la invasi"n sovi'tica de Checoslovaquia en 1968, y aunque Pi't'k permaneci" en Checoslovaquia, ambos cooperaron en pel'culas. Pi't'k gan" un Oscar por el mejor dise'o de vestuario en "Amadeus", que gan" varios premio de la…...

50+ min ago (895+ words) The Will County Board voted Thursday to use just over $2.77 million from its cash reserves to balance its budget for its 2026 fiscal year that started Monday. The board voted 20-0 Thursday to reconcile its budget during a nearly two-hour special meeting after an unbalanced budget was approved two weeks ago. While all board members present agreed to use cash reserves to close the gap, some members said they did so reluctantly because there was no other choice. Last month, the board's Republican Caucus along with Democrat Destinee Ortiz, of Romeoville, approved no tax levy increase in a 12-10 vote. However, the budget on the agenda included a 1.75% levy. The two conflicting votes created the shortfall of nearly $2.8 million. According to the county's supervisor of assessment's office, the owner of a home valued at about $250,000 would have paid an extra $7 to the county…...

51+ min ago (411+ words) The Depot Visitors Center in downtown East Dundee is now an official year-round drop-off location for the D300 Food Pantry. Pantry officials say the most-needed items are cans of tuna, chicken, ravioli and beans; boxes of pasta, dried beans and macaroni and cheese; oatmeal, pancake mix and condiments; shampoo, soap and toilet paper; tea bags and coffee, according to a social media post. The Depot is located at 319 N. River St., East Dundee. Hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday to Sunday. Because The Depot is staffed by volunteers, call 847-426-2255 to make sure it is open, officials said. The 22nd annual Shop With a Cop Dundee Township is seeking monetary donations by Saturday, Dec. 13, to provide gifts this season for children in need. Fox Valley Baptist Church Pastor Phil Zilinski said Dec. 13 is the morning police officers from various local police departments will take…...