Good morning, Chicago.
Authorities don’t know why Mehdi Medellel shot and killed two people in a JJ Fish & Chicken on Monday night. It’s not even clear if the fast-food worker should have had a gun at work at all.
The double homicide at the Ashburn restaurant was the latest in a string of recent violent workplace attacks that occurred in the Chicago area earlier this week involving employees carrying weapons on the job.
Just hours after a Bears victory at Soldier Field on Sunday, a man employed by a company offering food and beverage services at the football stadium slashed his co-worker with a knife following a verbal altercation. Earlier that day in the south suburb of Calumet City, a Walgreens employee with a concealed carry license fatally shot a suspected shoplifter who had pulled a gun on the store workers.
Experts on occupational safety say that these recent incidents bring to light the importance of employers taking proactive steps to plan for and prevent workplace violence.
And here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.
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Florida residents clean up and figure out what’s next after Hurricane Milton
At least eight people were dead, but many expressed relief that Milton wasn’t worse. The hurricane spared densely populated Tampa a direct hit, and the lethal storm surge that scientists feared never materialized.
Who are the new Board of Education members and what will their appointments mean for CPS parents and children?
A lot is at stake in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s announcement of six proposed appointees to the Chicago Board of Education, namely: Will the new proposed board members vote to remove CPS CEO Pedro Martinez and sign off on the mayor’s request to take out a loan?
Metra proposes $1.1 billion budget for 2025, as fewer riders return than expected
Metra is proposing a $1.1 billion operating budget for 2025 that will continue to rely on federal COVID-19 relief money as riders — and the revenue they generate — have returned slower than the commuter rail agency expected.
‘She was 7 years old’: Two men stand trial in 2020 Fourth of July shooting death of Natalia Wallace
On the Fourth of July in 2020, as his children played outside at a party, Nathan Wallace tried to get his daughter Natalie to come with him when he left to run an errand.
The 7-year-old girl, though, wanted to stay outside with her cousins on the clear, bright holiday evening, her father said.
Four years later, speaking from a witness stand at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Nathan Wallace choked up as he described the last time he saw his daughter alive.
Chicago man charged with assaulting two officers during protests of Netanyahu address to Congress
An Illinois man was arrested Thursday on charges that he attacked two police officers during protests in Washington, D.C., against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress in July.
What we heard from Chicago Bears Chairman George McCaskey, including confidence in Kevin Warren and Caleb Williams’ ‘irrepressible spirit’
As the Chicago Bears practiced Thursday on a football field surrounded by the rolling hills of the English countryside, Chairman George McCaskey called the team’s accommodations an hour north of London “very impressive.”
McCaskey spoke with reporters at Hanbury Manor during the team’s first full practice before Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Bears held walk-throughs Wednesday and will practice as normal Friday.
Patrick Williams is well positioned as a versatile defensive anchor for a shaky Chicago Bulls starting lineup
Two years after fielding one of the best defensive units in the league, the Bulls are likely on track to start one of the most porous defenses in the NBA.
The solution for this problem might not exist. But if it does, it rests on the shoulders of a player still trying to spark his breakout season in Chicago: fifth-year forward Patrick Williams.
‘Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story’ review: A moving story of an actor’s heroism, onscreen and off
What forever-Superman Christopher Reeve did with his post-injury years was remarkable and, yes, inspirational. Metaphorically he rose to an extraordinarily tough occasion, advocating on behalf of disability research funding on a broad scale, and achieving a degree of movement recovery few thought was possible. All this is well-covered in the slick but genuinely moving new documentary “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” writes Tribune film critic Michael Phillips.
Graham Nash performs at the 2016 NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. He has upcoming concerts at the Cahn Auditorium in Evanston. (Jesse Grant/Getty)
Graham Nash reflects on his career ahead of shows at Evanston’s Cahn Auditorium
Two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Graham Nash says — even at 82 — he’s “pretty good in the memory department.” Still, he’d be forgiven if his recall faltered based on the sheer volume of momentous occasions he’s witnessed and created.
Calling in from Boston before he and his current band perform at Evanston’s Cahn Auditorium on Oct. 15 and 16, Nash is eager to share an unbelievable nugget about the before times — before infighting tore CSNY apart, before the back and forth reconciliations that marked each subsequent decade, before Crosby torched these relationships with public criticism of Young’s marriage to actress Daryl Hannah and before Crosby’s death in 2023.
Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Short N’ Sweet Cafe’ to open in Chicago this weekend
The pop-up coffee shop, inspired by Carpenter’s hit album, will be located at Happy Monday Coffee in the Loop, 30 E. Adams St. On the menu are drinks inspired by her songs — the “Dumb & Poetic” latte and the “Common Sense” cold brew, for example. Baked goods and, of course, new merchandise will also be on sale.
What to do in Chicago: Sabrina Carpenter, the Chicago Marathon and a different kind of haunted house
Also on our list: Hillary Rodham Clinton speaking on her latest book, accountant-turned-house DJ and producer John Summit in town and “Misery” at the American Blues Theater.
