Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: The Bears’ exit from Chicago is closer to reality after Illinois lawmakers passed a bill helping the team’s Arlington Heights bid Wednesday.
🗞️ Plus: Lunchroom workers’ protest plans, a banner year for Chicago rats and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Cubs bested the Phillies, 7-2; the White Sox lost to the Diamondbacks, 11-7.
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⏱️: A 7-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌤️
Mostly sunny with a high near 80.
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Bears’ exit from Chicago is closer to reality as House passes bill helping Arlington Heights bid
By Tina Sfondeles, Mawa Iqbal and Matt Trunfio
Arlington Heights Bears?: In an attempt to keep the Chicago Bears from leaving for Indiana, Illinois lawmakers advanced a measure Wednesday that would give the team property tax certainty while also providing some property tax relief for homeowners.
The measure: The House voted 78-32 to OK the megaproject proposal, which still needs approval from the Illinois Senate. It would incentivize the Bears to build a domed stadium in Arlington Heights by negotiating payments in lieu of property taxes based on assessments. It also directs those funds toward property tax relief for homeowners — near the megaproject and throughout Illinois.
Key context: The bill represents the first major legislative step toward ensuring the Bears stay in Illinois, after a monthslong tug of war between Illinois and the Hoosier state. The thorny details of infrastructure funding for Arlington Heights must still be dealt with before lawmakers’ spring session adjourns next month.
THE WATCHDOGS 👀
Before regulators closed bank, millions in loans to rabbi and developer went uncollected
By Tim Novak and Robert Herguth
Abrupt closure: Financial regulators won’t say what led them to take control of a North Side bank in January except that it involved “unsafe and unsound conditions and an impaired capital position.” But public records show that prior to the abrupt shutdown and sale of Metropolitan Capital Bank & Trust, the institution tried to claw back two troubled loans totaling roughly $8.5 million.
Lien times: One loan involved Rabbi Zvi Feiner of West Rogers Park, who’s now facing criminal charges. Another is tied to developer Solomon Barket wanting to build a hotel on the site of the former O’Brien’s restaurant in Old Town.
EDUCATION 🍎
Lunchroom workers plan to block traffic as contract talks with CPS stall
By Sarah Karp and Emmanuel Camarillo
Union action: Lunchroom workers represented by the union Unite Here Local 1 have been working to negotiate a contract with Chicago Public Schools for more than 11 months. To “sound the alarm” on what they see as unfair and unequal wages, they plan to protest Thursday. Several workers say they’ll sit and block traffic downtown as an act of civil disobedience.
At issue: The two biggest sticking points, according to Unite Here, are wages and staffing levels. Lunchroom workers including cooks, porters who clean kitchens and attendants who serve food are among the lowest-paid full-time workers in the school district. Their average salaries range from about $23,400 to $37,400, according to a recent CPS employee roster.
Zooming in: Kimberly Penson, 61, is the sole cook at Greene Elementary School in Bridgeport. She has worked for CPS for 21 years and makes an annual salary of about $34,000. Penson says she feels deeply disrespected by the district’s leadership.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- Chicago air quality among worst: More than 2 million kids in Illinois are breathing unhealthy levels of air pollution, according to new report by the American Lung Association, placing the Chicago-Naperville metro area as the 15th most polluted in the nation for ozone pollution.
- Wrongful death suit: The family of Roberto Calvario Jr., a 20-year-old fatally shot by Chicago police last December, filed a lawsuit against the city and two police officers alleging Calvario “did not do anything threatening” when officers approached his car.
- Families sue after children’s deaths: Nearly a year after four children and a teenage camp counselor were killed in a crash in downstate Chatham, their families are suing the driver and the day camp the kids attended.
- Marimar Martinez testifies: Martinez, who was shot by a Border Patrol agent in October, testified Wednesday before the Homeland Security Committee in Washington, warning federal lawmakers that if immigration agents aren’t held accountable, “more people are going to get hurt.”
- ‘Broadview Six’ update: Federal prosecutors say the four remaining members of the group, accused of a conspiracy to impede a federal agent in the heat of Operation Midway Blitz, should be barred from making arguments about free speech rights at trial next month — though the feds plan to use protest chants as evidence.
- Doctor faces charges: Sameer Suhail, a doctor who owned multiple medical supply companies, has returned to Chicago from Dubai to face criminal charges for his role in a fraud scheme at Loretto Hospital that also led to charges against former hospital executives.
- West Suburban saga: New Jersey-based Ramco Healthcare Holdings, owner of the property on which West Suburban Medical Center sits, filed a lawsuit Wednesday to wrestle control of the hospital from its business partner.
ON WBEZ 91.5 FM 📻
In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons, 9 a.m.
- ‘Fibroid Slayer’: Brionna Johnson was told to terminate her pregnancy to remove a life-threatening fibroid. Then she met the “Fibroid Slayer.” She fought to save her pregnancy and, with the help of Dr. Pierre Johnson, she had a 27-pound fibroid removed from her uterus. Doctor and patient discuss.
- ‘Mango Street’ ballet: Guests Julianna Rubio Slager, Lauren Rios and Darissy Matias of Ballet 5:8 talk about a new ballet bringing Sandra Cisneros’ Chicago novel “The House on Mango Street” to the stage.
Say More with Mary Dixon and Patrick Smith, 10 a.m.
- National Library Week: Chicago Public Library Commissioner Chris Brown shares what he loves about libraries and how the city is trying to get more young people to use them. Callers weigh in with improvements they’d like to see.
FROM THE PRESS BOX ⚾🐀🏈🏀
- Wrigley Field rat: The rat that jumped off a bag of balls in the eighth inning and skittered across the ballpark Tuesday became a hit online and the talk of the town. Cubs brass are less than thrilled.
- Bears NFL draft primer: Here’s everything you need to know about the NFL draft, which starts Thursday, and the Bears’ role in it.
- Will this time be different?: The Sky are pushing for a fresh start — general manager Jeff Pagliocca says he sees real potential in this moment. Should fans buy in?
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
Have you encountered an animal at a Chicago sports stadium? Tell us your story.
Reply to this email (please include your first and last name). We may run your answer in a future newsletter or story.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 1D: Spent the day at Concrete Beach, say
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Indie rockers Ratboys evolve from ‘country mouse’ to ‘city rat’ on latest album
By Selena Fragassi
In other rat-related coverage, one of the most solid bands in the city’s indie music scene, Ratboys, are in the midst of a banner run.
The quartet’s sixth record, “Singin’ to an Empty Chair,” released Feb. 6, comprises 11 tracks drenched in twangy folk, pop-rock and distortion, and all beating with Midwestern heart.
It’s a similar vibe to 2023’s “The Window,” which helped put the band on the map and led to their first headlining tour across the country; a Lollapalooza debut a couple years later, not long after singer/guitarist Julia Steiner worked on the festival’s artist transport team; and an appearance on “CBS Saturday Sessions.”
Ten years after forming at the University of Notre Dame, the band is going strong, having just wrapped a national tour and gearing up to play in Europe starting next month.
But Chicago is still home for Steiner, bassist Sean Neumann and drummer Marcus Nuccio.
“In Chicago, we all lift each other up. It feels very inclusive … and it’s been that way for a long time,” Nuccio said of the city’s music scene.
Thanks for reading the Sun-Times Morning Edition!
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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