21+ hour, 14+ min ago (865+ words) As Gary Ellis lay dying in August 2023, no one at the facility caring for him called his son. Instead, staffers called Ellis" court-appointed state guardian, who had recently taken charge of all decisions related to the 69-year-old man"s care. Not until it was too late did Gary Brown learn his father had been at death"s door, Brown told the Tribune. "When I went there the nurse was like, "We"ve been trying to call someone all night but nobody answered the phone," Brown said. "All I got was "I"m sorry." "I"m sorry" didn"t do nothing to help me or my dad." The scenario was exactly what Brown feared when he learned, to his surprise, that Northwestern Memorial Hospital had moved to appoint a guardian for his father. The family said Northwestern had been treating the…...

17+ hour, 48+ min ago (935+ words) After reading the opening line of the editorial about how the Parker resort project is "heaven-sent" for Galena, Illinois, I questioned everything " including the credibility of the Tribune Editorial Board ("Deluxe, "Sonoma-style" resort is back on track for Galena, surviving a NIMBY court battle," Nov. 17). Whose opinion is this? Who is telling me that the town I grew up in needs another resort? Hundreds, yes, hundreds, of locals have spoken out against it. That is significant in a town with a population of around 3,000. Putting a vineyard so close to a waterway would impact all the wildlife that call this precious Driftless Area home. You know what would truly be heaven-sent for someone like me who has watched the landscape slowly be encroached upon my entire life? I would like to see the town of Galena recognize that there are…...

14+ hour, 33+ min ago (158+ words) Police investigate the scene where two women were fatally shot and another critically wounded in an alley near the 7700 block of South Oglesby Avenue in Chicago on Jan. 28, 2025. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune) The homicide figures do not include killings that occurred in self-defense or in other circumstances not measured in Chicago police statistics. Homicide data from the Illinois State Police, which patrols the city's expressways, also is not included here. After a two-year spike during the pandemic and national outrage over police accountability, Chicago began to see a decline in homicides in 2022. Homicide and nonfatal shooting totals fell again in 2023, but the city was roiled by robbery and carjacking crews responsible for an overall uptick in violence. Then 2024 was the third consecutive year of decreasing homicides in Chicago. Data, which is updated on this page weekly, is through Nov. 22, 2025. Sources:…...

19+ hour, 3+ min ago (186+ words) A pedestrian walks through heavy snow in Chicago's Loop during the morning rush on Nov. 10, 2025. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) In Chicago, snow seasons are tracked from July through the following June. The area normally can expect 38.4 inches, according to the National Weather Service. During the 2024-25 season, the area accumulated just 17.6 inches. The most snow Chicago has ever received in one season was 89.7 inches during 1978-79. The least " 9.8 inches " occurred in 1920-21. Here's a look back at how our current snowfall compares with previous seasons. Chicago weather: What's normal for fall's first freeze and first snow? And when does it happen? Chicago's 10 largest snowfalls since 1886 " and how the Tribune covered them Chicago's winter parking ban goes into effect Dec 1. Here's what to know " snow or no snow. Thanksgiving weather in Chicago: The most extreme conditions since 1872 Chicago's Christmas weather: The warmest and coldest…...

17+ hour, 48+ min ago (337+ words) Chicago stands at a crossroads. The city is facing a $1.19 billion deficit that is largely structural and is being led by a mayor who is only proposing more tax increases and more debt. Federal pandemic money, unwisely used to fund operations, is gone, and as long as Donald Trump is president, it's going to stay that way. A recently released EY report " commissioned by the city for $3.2 million " identifies between $530 million and $1.3 billion in potential efficiencies that could reduce the need for new revenue. The mayor's budget includes only a tiny portion of these ideas " about $75 million, according to the Civic Federation. Before we ask Chicago taxpayers for one more dollar, we must show that we've done everything possible to deliver essential services efficiently and effectively. It's not too late to adopt the remaining EY reforms or pursue other cost-saving…...

13+ hour, 59+ min ago (421+ words) The federal government awarded the CTA $121.1 million to buy hybrid buses last week " while keeping nearly $2 billion in federal funding for the agency's planned Red Line Extension frozen. The CTA's grant is the largest awarded this year under the Federal Transit Administration's Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities and Low or No Emission Grant programs. It will allow the CTA to buy up to 150 fully-accessible hybrid buses, the agency said. "This solution represents the best path forward today to meet our core mission of providing safe, reliable and efficient transit services while also reducing our impact on the environment," the CTA said in a statement. The agency's chief financial officer, Tom McKone, said during a budget presentation at the Regional Transportation Authority last week that the buses would be replacing vehicles that are nearing 20 years on the streets. The CTA…...

17+ hour, 43+ min ago (968+ words) Calumet City aldermen are raising concerns about Mayor Thaddeus Jones" municipal credit card after receiving a statement that shows the mayor, who was reelected in April, spent more than $44,000 in one month. The spending, much of which took place during the Congressional Black Caucus" 54th annual legislative conference in Washington, led the City Council to lower Jones" credit card limit from $50,000 to $5,000 and consider asking the mayor, who is also a state representative, to reimburse the city for an undetermined portion of the costs. Second Ward Ald. Monet Wilson said she raised concerns about Jones" spending after receiving a list of bills for approval Oct. 23, which included unauthorized charges to a Hooters restaurant in Lansing, steakhouses in Chicago and Washington and private tours of Washington. In response, Jones wrote that her email was "full of lies and misinformation." "I expect you…...

10+ hour, 18+ min ago (1014+ words) Almost two months after the militarized raid that roused them from their sleep and made international headlines, those who remain living " or trying to live " at 7500 South Shore Drive gathered Monday morning in the cold outside their deteriorating apartment building in a show of solidarity. Amid five floors of mostly empty units " some still boarded up from the nighttime immigration raid Sept. 30 " the 36 people who still live there have united to form the 7500 South Shore Tenants Union. The move to unionize comes after a Cook County judge earlier this month appointed a third-party receiver to manage the property and ordered the building to be vacated. Gant is among those in recent weeks who have helped residents unionize in the aftermath of a late-night raid that was among the most infamous moments in President Donald Trump's Operation Midway Blitz " the monthslong…...

9+ hour, 17+ min ago (887+ words) People partaking of Big Ed's BBQ's annual free Thanksgiving dinner have a choice this year. They can get in the drive-through lane, as most of them have over the past 15 years, or they can come inside and be served the same meal at a long table with other community members. Since Ed Nero moved his restaurant from its original spot on Lakehurst Road to a former banquet hall a few hundred yards south, he has more than five times the space. Now he wants to give people a chance to sit at a table and be served a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. Serving 150 people at a time, Nero said the sit-down meal provides something more than eating the food. Some may come with their families, and others may come by themselves. At this time of year, particularly now,…...

6+ hour, 34+ min ago (795+ words) A Will County judge ruled Monday that two New Lenox business owners are not guilty of fraud charges filed by the Will County state's attorney's office in 2023, bringing part of a more than two-year battle to a close. Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak acquitted'Jeffery Regnier, owner of Kee Firearms and Training, and Greta Keranen, of Kee Construction, of forgery, and Keranen of loan and wire fraud connected to the purchase of two vehicles. The defendants moved directly to closing arguments without calling any witnesses of their own. But the New Lenox couple still face another round of charges, including money laundering and filing a fraudulent Illinois sales and use tax return, first filed in 2023. These charges are scheduled for trial on March 2, with a pretrial hearing on Feb. 2. Prosecutors claimed that Regnier initiated a false claim that Kee Construction earned…...