Good morning, Chicago.
An Illinois teenager’s chest surgery was canceled last week after President Donald Trump issued an executive order seeking to end gender-affirming care for minors, his mother said in a court document filed yesterday.
Trump’s executive order issued last week told federal agencies to ensure that institutions, such as hospitals, that receive federal research grants stop offering gender-affirming care to people under the age of 19. That order also instructed the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to take action, potentially related to Medicaid and other programs, to end gender-affirming care for people younger than 19.
The executive order has ignited confusion among hospitals and other providers of gender-affirming care across the country, with some hospitals and clinics canceling such care. Yesterday, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the attorneys general of 14 other states said they will protect gender-affirming care. They said that federal dollars remain available to institutions that provide gender-affirming care despite the executive order, and that Illinois and the other states will take legal action if that funding is halted.
But the Illinois mother said her son has already been caught up in fallout from the order.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Lisa Schencker.
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Mayor Brandon Johnson accepts GOP congressman’s invitation to testify on sanctuary city protections
Mayor Brandon Johnson will testify before Congress in a Republican-led hearing on sanctuary cities, his office confirmed.
Last month, Oversight Committee Chair U.S. Rep James Comer, R-Ky., opened an investigation into Chicago and three other cities with Democratic mayors, requesting they all appear to answer questions on what he described as “their misguided and obstructionist policies” blocking local police from immigration enforcement.
Chicago Teachers Union rejects fact-finding report, says they’ll go back to the negotiating table
Despite being “surprised” by the “best fact-finding report” to date, the Chicago Teachers Union rejected a neutral fact-finder’s recommendations for a new, four-year contract Wednesday.
Instead, the union said it would return to the bargaining table with plans to reach an agreement with Chicago Public Schools because the recommendations only addressed two of the 15 issues the union raised in an 86-page brief submitted last month to fact-finder Martin Malin, an employment law expert.
Measure to help relatives foster kids in state care signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill aimed at making it easier for relatives of children in the state care to get licensed as foster parents and receive financial assistance, creating a law advocates say could help thousands of families and children in Illinois.
“Wherever possible, a family member who already knows and loves a child can provide stability and familiarity, and most often leads to the least amount of disruption and trauma for a child,” Pritzker said at the signing ceremony in the Illinois State Capitol, flanked by lawmakers and other backers of the bill.
Jury concludes sixth day of deliberations in Madigan corruption trial without verdict
Jurors in the trial of Michael Madigan left the courthouse Wednesday, their sixth day of deliberations, without having reached a verdict – and without having sent any notes or asked any questions.
The complete radio silence was somewhat unusual: Jurors have sent at least one communication every day since they began their discussions the afternoon of Jan. 29.
COPA releases video of Chicago police fatally shooting man with knife in Little Village last month
A 911 call for a domestic dispute ended last month with Chicago police officers shooting and killing 58-year-old Timothy Glaze as he walked toward them carrying a knife in a Little Village apartment building, newly-released body camera footage shows.
Police release video of Marcus Jordan’s expletive-laden rant during Florida arrest on drug charge
“I’m Marcus Jordan, I’m Michael Jordan’s son. I’m not doing anything wrong,” he’s heard saying on the video. “I’m just trying to get home and I made a wrong turn.”
Column: New faces arrive, but the Chicago Bulls’ latest rebuild has a familiar look to it
Billy Donovan’s first real glimpse into the next chapter of his basketball life came Tuesday night at the United Center, writes Paul Sullivan.
With 2½ minutes left in the first half of a win over the Miami Heat, Lonzo Ball stole a pass and streaked downcourt for a running, uncontested dunk. But Ball inexplicably missed, then hung on the rim for a moment as the Heat began a fast break and Donovan shouted to get back on defense.
Watch the Super Bowl ads: Celebrities, sloths, silliness — and a few surprises
Eugene Levy’s trademark eyebrows fly off for Little Caesars. A tongue dances to Shania Twain to promote Nestle’s Coffee Mate Cold Foam. And Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal reunite at Katz’s Deli in an ad for Hellmann’s.
A frenzied mix of silliness and celebrities is hitting the airwaves and the internet, and that means one thing: it is Super Bowl ad time again.
‘Clean Slate’ review: An estranged daughter reunites with her father and comedy ensues
Families are complicated, which gives TV writers plenty of fodder to draw from, writes Tribune TV and film critic Nina Metz. But what if the results are neither high stakes nor funny, so much as warm and pleasant? Well, you take what you can get these days, when the definition of “comedy” has become so expansive as to also mean “light drama,” including Amazon’s “Clean Slate” starring Laverne Cox and George Wallace.
Philosophy professor Agnes Callard believes in the power of a full-blown argument
Socrates, of all the philosophers in the history of mankind, was probably the biggest pain in the ass. He believed argument itself was the core to understanding anyone, including himself. He didn’t want to convince you. He didn’t want you to agree to disagree with him. He didn’t want you to agree at all — for therein held one’s freedom. On his deathbed, with a solid conviction about what to expect from the afterlife, he urged friends to argue against the existence of an afterlife.
For a brief time, though, Agnes Callard gave him a run for his money. Somewhat intentionally.
