Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: The family of Lacramioara Beldie — fatally stabbed in November 2024 by her estranged husband, Constantin Beldie, who was on GPS monitoring and was ordered to stay away — has sued Cook County and the tracking device operator.
🗞️ Plus: Promoted cops’ alleged histories of sexual misconduct, a hemp ban advances and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Bulls lost to the Nets, 113-103, dropping their fifth game in a row.
⏱️: A 9-minute read
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TODAY’S WEATHER ☀️
Sunny with a high near 17 and wind chill values as low as -9.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES 🗞️
Family of woman killed by husband on GPS monitoring sues Cook County, device operator
By Sophie Sherry and Kade Heather
Family sues: A year after Lacramioara Beldie was killed by her estranged husband, who’d been ordered to stay away, her family has sued Cook County and the company that operated his tracking device.
What’s alleged: In the months leading up to her death, Beldie received more than 20 calls and over 90 messages alerting her that Constantin Beldie had violated his GPS monitoring, according to the lawsuit. The court allegedly did nothing about these violations. On Nov. 19, 2024, the tracking company did not issue any alert when Lacramioara Beldie’s husband showed up outside a home and stabbed her to death before killing himself, the suit claims.
Key quote: “The question is — was it the Court system, the monitoring people, or the technology that failed to protect our mom? Our goal is to make sure victims are protected and this does not happen to anyone else,” Lacramioara Beldie’s family said in a statement.
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Chicago police promoted 2 cops after investigators found they engaged in sexual misconduct
By María Inés Zamudio, Isabelle Senechal and Dana Brozost-Kelleher
Cop promotions: Two Chicago police officers recently got promoted even though investigators had found they’d engaged in sexual misconduct.
Key point: For decades, the Chicago Police Department has been repeatedly called on to address this blind spot but has not, an Invisible Institute and ProPublica investigation published by the Sun-Times has found.
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Panic attacks, anxiety are high among Latinos as capacity to help is limited
By Elvia Malagón
Mental health toll: Providers offering services in Spanish and to Latinos in the Chicago area say they’re seeing people experiencing panic attacks, trouble sleeping and an increase in depressive symptoms — as a result of President Donald Trump’s intense immigration enforcement campaign.
Care costs: The increase in need comes as some therapists have long wait lists and now face precarious funding, with changes coming to Medicaid and uncertainty surrounding federal funding that affects nonprofits.
Community work: Wellness practitioners are doing what they can to reach as many people as possible, including group therapy; community workshops; group meditations; somatic therapy, which focuses on how emotions appear within the body; and yoga.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED ✶
- Hemp ban advances: A key City Council panel advanced a proposal to ban intoxicating hemp products in Chicago long before a federal ban takes effect late next year. Mayor Brandon Johnson and members of the billion-dollar hemp industry are fighting the effort.
- Officer returns to duty: After being detained in October by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, Montenegro-born Hanover Park police officer Radule Bojovic has returned to active duty, authorities said.
- Ex-cop settles: The Village of Orland Park settled a lawsuit with former police officer William Sanchez for $524,000 over accusations he was fired after filing a racial discrimination complaint.
- Ordinance on hold: First Ward Ald. Daniel La Spata proposed a measure that would allow citizens to report parking violations by commercial and passenger vehicles, but business concerns have stalled his efforts.
- REAL help?: Illinois and Cook County officials are beefing up government services to help more residents obtain REAL IDs and to avoid a $45 penalty that will be instituted next year for air travelers without the updated identification.
- MSI workers ratify contract: Workers at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry voted to approve their first union contract, which comes with a pay raise that averages 8%.
- New park: The Illinois Medical District is getting its first park in 80 years. Officials and architects said it would act as a place of activity and rest, and would also be the site of a memorial dedicated to COVID-19 victims and workers.
CHICAGO HISTORY ⏳
Killings of Black Panthers are memorialized with plaque in Chicago 56 years later
By Violet Miller
Chicagoan’s POV: On the morning of Dec. 4, 1969, Nwhai Nefahito was in the Near West Side house where local and federal police stormed in and assassinated Black Panther leaders Mark Clark and Fred Hampton. Nefahito was shot twice as an officer fired an automatic rifle through the wall of 2337 W. Monroe St. into the bedroom where she had been sleeping. She saw Clark, 22, get fatally shot.
Wednesday vigil: Nefahito on Wednesday night joined others who had survived the raid, as well as other former Black Panthers, as they dedicated a plaque at the site 56 years after the assassination.
Key context: It’s the latest of 12 plaques to be placed around Chicago, plus a 13th plaque in Peoria, as part of the Black Panther Heritage Trail that denotes historic sites in Illinois. The commemorations were first revealed in October 2024 after a fight over how the organization’s legacy would be preserved. One commemorating the since-demolished Illinois Black Panther Party headquarters was installed on the Near West Side in July.
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏈🏀🏒
- High school football: Mount Carmel won their 17th state title, pulling off the four-peat after beating Oswego to win 8A. Meanwhile, Brother Rice’s dominant defensive line shut out St. Rita, winning them Class 7A — their first title in 44 years.
- Essengue out: Rookie Noa Essengue needs season-ending shoulder surgery, the Bulls announced.
- Hawks’ headliner: It’s clear now — Connor Bedard will be a championship-caliber centerpiece for the Blackhawks, writes Ben Pope.
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Need a laugh? Chicago theaters are going all in on comedies this holiday season
By Mike Davis
Several productions are lined up this season to give Chicagoans a much-needed laugh to ring in the holidays and end the year. Here are a few of our picks:
“The Real Housewives of the North Pole”
Hell in a Handbag Productions’ world premiere play just opened at The Clutch in North Center. This parody stars the queens of the winter wonderland, Ruth Claus, Mrs. Samantha Frosty, Suzy Snowflake, Mrs. Gladys Dasher and Clarice, the long-suffering wife of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
“Who’s Holiday”
Theater Wit in Lake View is staging its fifth year of “Who’s Holiday.” Veronica Garza portrays the adult version of Cindy Lou Who in a one-person, 80-minute sprint, with Garza telling jokes, singing songs, throwing a party and inviting a few lucky audience members to become part of the show. Garza describes the production as a Christmas tale with a twist.
“Rudolph Runs Wild”
This Second City improv production gives kids a space to laugh at the holidays and at their favorite adults. It’s an offshoot of a former show called “No Grownups Allowed,” said Jen Ellison, the company’s artistic director. “The goal was for us to create a show that could be enjoyed by adults, but really was for the kids,” she said. “No grownup is allowed to offer a suggestion [and if they do] they get called out … the kids go bananas.”
WATCH: MUST-SEE HOLIDAY COMEDIES ▶️
WBEZ’s Mike Davis shares his top three holiday comedies to see this season. | Mike Davis/WBEZ
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
Which holiday season tradition usually has been on your must-do list — and for how many years? 🎁
Email us here (please include your first and last name). We may include your answer in Friday’s Morning Edition newsletter.
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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