Good morning, Chicago.
Six shooting deaths on the South and West sides, a fatal stabbing in Little Village and a vehicular homicide in Chicago Lawn.
About a week into the new year, violence in Chicago ticked up slightly, and Mayor Brandon Johnson and Police Department leaders already face headwinds in their efforts to keep the city’s annual homicide total under 500 with the historically violent summer months still to come.
Chicago saw eight homicides in the first six days of 2025, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Another 28 people suffered nonfatal gunshot wounds, and three of them were initially listed in critical condition.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Sam Charles.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.
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Jimmy Carter’s casket arrives at the US Capitol, where he will lie in state
Nearly 44 years after Jimmy Carter left the nation’s capital in humbling defeat, the 39th president returned to Washington for three days of state funeral rites starting yesterday.
Carter’s remains, which had been lying in repose at the Carter Presidential Center since Saturday, left the Atlanta campus yesterday morning, accompanied by his children and extended family. Special Air Mission 39 departed Dobbins Air Reserve Base north of Atlanta and arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. A motorcade carried the casket into Washington for a final journey to the Capitol, where members of Congress will pay their respects.
Trump says he will change the name of the Gulf of Mexico
President-elect Donald Trump said yesterday that he would move to try to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” a name he said has a “beautiful ring to it.”
It’s his latest suggestion to redraw the map of the Western Hemisphere. Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada as the “51st State,” demanded that Denmark consider ceding Greenland, and called for Panama to return the Panama Canal.
Here’s a look at his comment and what goes into a name.
Nicor Gas seeks record $309 million delivery rate hike
As President-elect Donald Trump extolled the virtues of natural gas during a post-certification speech yesterday, details emerged about a proposed $309 million Nicor Gas rate increase that seeks to raise delivery charges for Chicago-area customers by more than 20% next year.
Filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission, it is the fifth rate hike requested by Nicor since 2018. Regulators have 11 months to review the new proposal, which, if approved, would be the largest gas rate increase in Illinois history.
After hemp bill defeat, Gov. Pritzker rips Mayor Johnson for poor Springfield relationships
Fresh off a rare defeat in Springfield, Gov. JB Pritzker yesterday delivered some of his sharpest words yet against Mayor Brandon Johnson.
‘Did you ever trade your public office for private gain?’: Ex-Speaker Madigan takes stand in own defense at landmark corruption trial
For decades, Michael Madigan reigned over the Capitol in relative secrecy. He derived significant power from that mystique, often remaining so silent behind closed doors that he earned a nickname: “The Sphinx.”
But at Madigan’s federal corruption trial Tuesday, the Sphinx started talking.
Illinois moves to high levels of respiratory illnesses amid uptick across the country
Illinois is now experiencing high levels of respiratory illness, up from moderate levels the previous week, the state health department reported yesterday.
The net has been cast wide. The Chicago Bears’ search for a new coach has few limits.
For those seeking promising news about the Bears’ work-in-progress coaching search, the word out of Detroit is that Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson will get permission to partake in preliminary interviews this week, free to step away from his playoff preparation to engage in conversation with suitors.
The Bears should have their Zoom link ready.
- Chicago Bears coaching search: Who we know are candidates for the job
- GM Ryan Poles offers his assessment of 2024 — while his bosses bet he’ll learn from his mistakes
Northern Illinois will join the Mountain West as a football-only member in 2026 after board approves $2 million fee
Northern Illinois football coach Thomas Hammock can’t forget the date — Sept. 7 — that the Huskies stunned College Football Playoff semifinalist Notre Dame in its home opener.
But Tuesday was an even better day for the university’s football program, Hammock said at a news conference after the school’s board of trustees unanimously approved a $2 million fee for the Huskies to compete in the Mountain West Conference beginning in the 2026 season.
A journey into 5,000 years of history at Canyon de Chelly national monument in northeast Arizona
Canyon de Chelly, a national monument since 1931, sprawls fingerlike across roughly 84,000 acres of northeastern Arizona, near the town of Chinle, about a 3 1/2-hour drive from either Albuquerque, New Mexico, or Sedona, Arizona. It lies entirely within the Navajo Nation and is jointly managed by the National Park Service and the tribal government.
The 26-mile series of canyons, whose human presence dates back at least 5,000 years, is believed to be one of the longest continuously inhabited areas on the Colorado Plateau.
The hunt for the bean pie street sellers of legend, and how this dessert is a symbol of liberation for many Black Muslims
In Black communities around America, the bean pie is a symbol of the varied Muslim communities that emerged from the Nation of Islam’s nearly 100-year history in the United States. For many, the dessert stands for Black pride and healthy eating. Much of its fame comes from charismatic street vendors such as James 40X, who spread the teachings of the late Minister Elijah Muhammad on city corners and at markets and fairs; those teachings include that the navy bean is a kind of superfood.
Top 10 theater for winter 2025: Helen Hunt, old-school Steppenwolf and the return of the Lookingglass Theatre
Winter has arrived right alongside 2025 and at least you can count on Chicago’s busy new theater season to keep you out of the cold.
Here’s a look at 10 of the most interesting productions opening between now and the end of March.
