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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2026

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Investment to boost nuclear capacity

Constellation to spend \$4.3B in Illinois, other states, then sell additional power to Google

By John Lippert and Finnegan Belleau FOR THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Constellation Energy, the largest U.S. nuclear provider, agreed Tuesday to invest \$4.3 billion to increase output at 11 nuclear plants in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and then sell this additional power to Google over a 20-year period.

About half of Constellation's investment, or \$2 billion, will be spent at the Byron, Braidwood, LaSalle and Quad Cities plants In Illinois, according to Paul Adams, a Constellation spokesman.

Tuesday's agreement comes as Google and other artificial intelligence companies are building data centers at record rates, and as rising electricity rates driven by this construction boom are helping spark a growing political backlash.

Google will fully pay for the additions in northern Illinois, a Constellation spokesperson wrote in an email to the Tribune.

“No costs from the deal will go to Illinois customers, and in fact, the additional supply resulting from Google’s investment will exert downward pressure on energy rates for Illinois residents,” the spokesperson wrote.

On Sept. 24, consultants for the Illinois Power Agency and other state regulators said the installed capacity of the state's electricity grid will need to double by 2045 to 120 gigawatts, mainly to support data center growth.

Tuesday's agreement will boost output at the 11 Constellation nuclear plants by 890 megawatts, or about the size of a typical nuclear reactor in the U.S.

The announcement represents "responsible growth," Pat Devaney, secretary treasurer of Illinois AFL-CIO, said in a statement to the Tribune. The federation represents almost 900,000 workers in Illinois, according to its website.

"Our members are ready to bring roughly 450 megawatts of new clean power online — the equivalent of two small modular reactors

— at no cost to Illinois ratepayers," Devaney said in the statement. "It is proof positive that Illinois can invest in clean energy and create good-paying union jobs without passing on the costs."

Specifically, the additional

See NUCLEAR on Page A5

THEIR KIND OF TOWN

Sabrina, from left, Michelle and Rebecca, of New York City, take a selfie as they stand on the DuSable Bridge over the Chicago River in the Loop on Tuesday. On Tuesday, Conde Nast Traveler magazine named Chicago Best Big City in the U.S. for the 10th year in a row. Business

EILEEN T. MESLAR/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Border scene reminder of Israel attack

View of devastated

Gaza puts Oct. 7 into

perspective for many

By Cara Anna

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SDEROT, Israel — One by one, Israelis peered through the tourist-style binoculars at the shattered Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, a distance of several football fields away, where buildings tilted in the rubble like broken teeth. The only noticeable movement was dust kicked up by Israel's military.

The Israelis squinted for a few moments and gestured others over. The lookout is a rare place where they can confront the Palestinian territory firsthand, and some celebrate its devastation.

An Israeli documentary released this year included one onlooker exclaiming, “Wow, destroyed beautifully.” The Associated Press heard similar sentiments there.

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and abducted 251 others, leading to a devastating war and, eventually, a fragile ceasefire.

Three years on, a visit to the communities attacked that day made clear: It's too soon for many residents to see the Palestinians as anything other than a threat.

The highway running parallel to Gaza, where militants gunned down people trying to flee, is dotted with

See ISRAEL on Page A2

Izidora Angel, a literary translator, in her home on Sept. 21. Angel recently translated the novel "She Who Remains" from Bulgarian into English, which was a finalist for an international award. EILEEN T. MESLAR/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

The art of translation

Chicago's book translators ‘inhabit’ languages in their work

By Rebecca Johnson

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

For Izidora Angel, translating books from her native Bulgarian to English is akin to an actor reading a script.

She'll start by writing five or 10 pages in order to understand the author's voice — the cadence, the emotional beats. Then she's able to fully inhabit it.

"You have to find all the nooks and crannies of it ...

otherwise it's like hitting the (wrong) note on the piano," the 45-year-old Near West Side resident said. "It doesn't sound right and everyone can hear it."

Still, Angel felt an unusually intense connection with "She Who Remains." The novel, by Bulgarian author Rene Karabash, follows a young woman cloistered in a rural Albanian village who escapes an arranged marriage by becoming a "sworn virgin."

The book — and by extension

Angel — has been celebrated across the world this year as a finalist for the International Booker Prize, an influential literary award for translated fiction. It's even been recommended by Malala Yousafzai and Dua Lipa. In Chicago, she shares her talents with the Third Coast Translators Collective.

Around 30 people translating from over a dozen languages,

See TRANSLATE on Page A6

ELECTION 2026

8TH DISTRICT

Bean seeks comeback vs. GOP newcomer

Ex-congresswoman vies for seat against Davis, who is running for first time

By Robert McCoppin

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Crossword .... B13

Editorials .... A7

Horoscope .... B12

Former U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean, a centrist Democrat whose 2004 upset helped begin the northwest suburbs' shift to the left, is seeking a comeback in Illinois' 8th Congressional District against Republican Jennifer Davis, a tech entrepreneur running for office for the first time.

The two are vying in the Nov. 3 general election to succeed Demo-

WEATHER FORECAST cratic U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who gave up the seat as part of his unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate this year. He has endorsed Bean.

Almanac....A11

Arts & Living....B8

Comics....B12-B13

Bean

TODAY H:72 WED. THU. H:77 L:58 L:54 L:50

A former three-term congresswoman, Bean said she is returning to politics to restore democracy, healthcare and the economy. Davis said she is running to cut red tape, help small businesses and support

Davis

The largely middle-class district, drawn by Democrats in the last redistricting, roughly follows the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway from Des Plaines to the farmland beyond Elgin, then runs south along the Fox River to St. Charles and Geneva. The Cook Political Report rates the district solidly Democratic, noting it voted about 5 percentage points more Democratic than the nation as a whole in the last two presidential elections. Krishnafamilies with what she describes as commonsense solutions. Christopher Krumpac, an independent with a background in information technology, is running as a write-in candidate. A self-described moderate progressive, he supports “Medicare for All” and a ban on campaign donations from corporations and political action committees.

See ELECTION on Page A11

INSIDE

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Sox soaking it all in ahead of Game 3

Time is running out, but you can still enter the Tribune's 40th annual Holiday Cookie Contest. Recipe submissions close at 11:59 p.m. Oct. 9. Food & Health

White Sox see a sunny forecast after years of gloom and doom. Plus, Sean Newcomb will start Game 3 in front of home crowd. Sports

FULL WEATHER REPORT PAGE A10

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Obituaries ..... A11

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179th year No. 280 © Chicago Tribune

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Tribune books

"He Had It Coming: Four Murderous Women and the Reporter Who Immortalized Their Stories" "Chicago The Musical" played on Broadway for more than 9,600 performances since it premiered on Nov. 14, 1996, yet not many people know the characters of Roxie Hart, Velma Kelly and others are inspired by real women. Their stories were captured by Tribune reporters. This book includes original newspaper clippings, Watkins' stories and a new analysis.

"Dinner at Home" Cooking at home doesn't have to be difficult, but it should always be delicious. JeanMarie Brownson, culinary director for Rick Bayless' Frontera Foods, helped readers put inventive, yet simple, dishes on the table through her Dinner at Home column for the Tribune. Her book includes everything you need to create spectacular food any day of the week.

"Capone: A Photographic Portrait of America's Most Notorious Gangster." Using many never-before-published photographs and newspaper clippings from the Tribune's archives, this coffee-table book chronicles the rise and fall of Al Capone.

"Gangsters & Grifters: Classic Crime Photos From the Chicago Tribune." This collection of photographs taken in the early 1900s through the 1950s features infamous criminals, small-time bandits, smirking crooks, pickpockets, hoodlums and wiseguys at crime scenes.

"Ask Amy: Advice for Better Living" For more than a decade, Amy Dickinson was the Tribune's signature general advice columnist, helping readers with questions both personal and pressing. This book, which collects columns from 2011 to 2013, is a testament to her empathetic counsel and practical common-sense tips.

“Culture Worrier: Reflections on Race, Politics and Social Change.” Clarence Page’s newest book commemorates the 30th anniversary of his column’s first appearance in the Tribune. It is the first such collection of the Pulitzer Prize winner’s columns, covering topics such as politics, social issues, pop culture, race, family, new media and prominent figures, as well as his personal life.

"10 Things You Might Not Know About Nearly Everything." You may never need to know the human body contains a half-pound of salt, but that's just one of the obscure facts you'll find about sports, history, religion, politics, arts and culture, food and leisure, and science and technology in this collection of columns from Mark Jacob and Stephan Benzkofer.

“Life Skills: How To Do Almost Anything” How do you give a good wedding toast? How do you fix a clogged drain? How do you bowl without hurting anyone? Questions like these make up this engaging do-it-yourself guide.

All Chicago Tribune print books are available online at chicago tribune.com/printbooks

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Plastic surgeon with 8 patient deaths faces another license suspension

Dr. Ayoub Sayeg arrives at a court hearing at the Daley Center in the Loop on Aug. 19, 2025. EILEEN T. MESLAR/TRIBUNE

By Christy Gutowski and Gregory Royal Pratt

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

A plastic surgeon whose Illinois license was suspended following a Tribune investigation that found eight patient deaths connected to his Chicago clinic is now temporarily barred from practicing medicine in his home state of Michigan.

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs recently suspended Dr. Ayoub Sayeg's medical license, meaning he cannot practice in the state until the matter is resolved through an administrative hearing process.

The order of summary suspension, dated Sept. 25, said the Michigan department found that “the public health, safety, or welfare requires emergency action.” It is based, in part, on complaints from a Michigan woman and her mother who allege Sayeg botched their 2024 cosmetic surgeries.

"As part of its investigation, the department retained an expert who reviewed this matter and opined that (Sayeg's) conduct was a violation of general duty and below the minimal standard of care," the Michigan administrative complaint states.

Dari Brown, of White Lake, Michigan, told the Tribune she and her mother endured costly surgeries with other physicians to try to correct Sayeg's work. Sayeg had performed a breast augmentation procedure on Brown and a facelift and neck lift on her mother.

“I’m just happy,” Brown said of the Michigan suspension. “Hopefully no one else has to go through what I went through.”

Specifically, the Michigan administrative complaint alleges, Sayeg's surgeries left Brown with improperly sized and positioned breast implants, and her mother's ear and earlobe position represented “a significant deviation from accepted standards of practice.” Brown's mother also experienced eyelid drooping. Sayeg failed to maintain “complete, accurate, and timely documentation” in both cases, according to Michigan officials.

The Michigan suspension also notes that Sayeg's medical license in Virginia was suspended based on Illinois' ongoing disciplinary proceedings and that he failed to notify Michigan officials within 30 days as required.

Attorney Michael Goldberg, who represents Sayeg in the Illinois proceedings, said the plastic surgeon is not practicing medicine while his licenses are suspended. Sayeg, 58, is fighting the disciplinary action in Illinois. A hearing is scheduled for late next week.

Sayeg, who lives in Michigan and became licensed there in late 2001, runs a clinic called Your New Looks in the upscale suburban community of West Bloomfield. In 2013 he expanded to Illinois, where he opened 63 Laser & Skin Clinic near Midway International Airport, and then traveled between both states offering tummy tucks, liposuction, breast augmentations, facelifts and other popular plastic surgery procedures.

In July, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation temporarily suspended his medical license. The state inspected Sayeg's Chicago clinic and alleged, in part, that he had failed to meet requirements for delivering anesthesia-related services in a practice setting.

The inspection came less than two weeks after the Tribune reported the state had not disciplined Sayeg despite multiple patient deaths in Illinois. The patients — all women of color and mothers — died in a seven-year span shortly after their surgeries at his clinic, located at 3918 W. 63rd St. in a predominantly Latino neighborhood.

Six died from complications of plastic surgery, according to medical examiner and coroner records, and the other two overdosed on pain medication at home. Each surgery involved a tummy tuck and at least one other procedure, typically liposuction. The Tribune investigation also noted six people — including Brown — had filed complaints since 2004 against the surgeon in Michigan. None involved a death.

Illinois officials have acknowledged flaws in their investigation, which began after the state received a complaint in October 2020 regarding the death of Idalia Corcoles, a 39-year-old Chicago mother of four who died the previous year, shortly after her surgery. Her family sued Sayeg and his anesthesiologist in 2021, and jurors delivered a \$56 million verdict in late 2024 following a trial.

As the state licensing investigation was pending, three more of Sayeg's patients died of complications from surgery. It wasn't until Sept. 5, 2025, nearly five years after the state began investigating Sayeg in Corcoles' death, that the department filed its own complaint alleging the doctor's conduct violated the Illinois Medical Practice Act, state records show.

The department amended its complaint this year to include allegations involving another patient, Crystal Walker Keating, 47. She died in November 2018, the same day Sayeg performed her tummy tuck, liposuction, flankplasty and fat grafting of the buttocks, also known as a Brazilian butt lift.

Her estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit, and a trial ended in 2024 with a hung jury. After that, attorneys agreed to almost \$1.1 million in settlements with the various parties, including the hospital and medical staff who treated Walker Keating. Sayeg and his business entities were responsible for \$470,000 of the total, court records show.

Illinois officials have pledged to pursue the maximum penalty against Sayeg to bar him permanently from practicing in the state. They also said they will perform an internal review of how the department handled the case and will pursue changes to state laws in the next legislative session to help accelerate the disciplinary process in similar cases.

People visit a memorial made of burned and damaged vehicles Sept. 30 near Netivot, Israel. ODED BALILTY/AP

from Page A1

memorials. Victims' smashed and bullet-pocked cars are assembled elsewhere, rusting and piled a half-dozen high. Portraits of young female military spotters, whose warnings about a potential attack were disregarded, mark their deaths that day.

One resident, Deganit Bar Hay, said she still can't barbecue because the smell of burnt flesh — “the smell of hell” — is a trigger.

Globally, there is shock and condemnation over how Israel has conducted the war, and how Gaza remains in ruins and cut off from the world a year since the ceasefire. Over 74,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, and the vast majority of its 2 million residents live in rat-infested tent camps or among the debris.

But empathy for them is still unthinkable for many in Israel, with memories raw. Israeli media report little on the Palestinians of Gaza, and Israelis rarely if ever hear their voices unless they seek them out.

A new Israeli documentary, "NAZA," in which military insiders describe what they said was the systemic killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, has sparked outrage at the filmmakers, not the government. Everywhere in Israel — at train stations, beaches, the Gaza viewpoint — are dozens of stickers in memory of the hundreds of soldiers killed on Oct. 7 and in the ensuing war.

"We are post-traumatic, all of us," said Ziporah Livneh, outside a cafe catering to tour groups and soldiers a short drive from Gaza. Much of her family died in the Holocaust, and she came to Israel at the age of 2.

Now, she said, the answer for Gaza is to keep believing in people's humanity but respond strongly to acts of evil. A society and a country can't be built on revenge, but for the world to think “we can be Mother Teresa, it is a hypocrisy.”

Many Israelis are still turned inward. They say their story isn't being heard or understood. They assert that Palestinians in Gaza receive more attention, even as Israel's government still prevents journalists from entering the territory except under rare, highly managed visits — and very few Palestinians can leave.

From the day the war began, Israeli news and hearts were focused on the dead and the hostages taken into Gaza, a land that despite being an hour's drive from Tel Aviv has long felt remote. Cross-border contact had been severely limited since Hamas seized power in 2007. Then, on Oct. 7, militants ripped the fence apart.

This is the first anniversary since the attack that all remaining hostages are out of Gaza, alive or dead.

There is rebuilding in the Israeli communities where militants went home to home, burning and shooting. There is also the insistence on keeping Oct. 7 memories alive, with hope that the outside world will come to understand how Israel's sense of security was smashed.

This year, for the first time since the attack, there is also an election, a momentous and angry one.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is deeply divisive. Many Israelis accuse him of failing to prevent the Oct. 7 attack and not securing the hostages' release sooner, before many of them were killed. He is also accused of corruption and threatening democratic institutions.

But there has been little criticism of how his government has treated the Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel's military now controls over 60% of the territory, squeezing them into an ever-smaller space.

Next to a bullet-pocked rocket shelter outside Sderot, a man held a banner calling for an official inquiry into the security failures surrounding the attack. Netanyahu has long resisted one.

Amit Gurfinkel said he spent Oct. 7 in a safe room with his daughter in the nearby community of Netivot, holding a knife and expecting the worst.

Gurfinkel is a minority in a population that has long supported Netanyahu.

Security is paramount, especially in Sderot, where residents have just 10 seconds to seek shelter when rockets are fired from Gaza. But Gurfinkel sees Israel's reputation as crucial too. He shook his head over passing drivers who shouted their support for Netanyahu, whose government is isolated over the destruction in Gaza and who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court.

“This is pathological. I don’t know,” Gurfinkel said. “Sociologists and psychologists will have answers in the years to come.”

Dems accuse Bailey of violating campaign disclosure law

Republican nominee for governor Darren Bailey gives a thumbs-up as he leaves a press conference near McCormick Place on Sept. 4. ARTHUR MAIORELLA/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Say he failed to reveal who provides rent-free apartment

By Dan Petrella

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

The Illinois Democratic Party has accused Darren Bailey, the Republican nominee for governor, of violating state campaign disclosure law by failing to publicly reveal who is providing him with a rent-free downtown Chicago apartment, where he has been staying since the spring.

Bailey on the campaign trail has told downstate supporters that he and his wife have been staying in Chicago since the day after the March 17 primary thanks to “a doctor that’s been gracious enough to donate his apartment for us to stay in the Grant Park area,” according to the complaint, which Ben Hardin, executive director of the state Democratic Party, filed Monday with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

By failing to report the arrangement, the complaint alleges, Bailey has violated the requirement that candidates report “anything of value, knowingly received in connection with the nomination for election, election, or retention of any candidate or person to or in public office.” That includes in-kind contributions such as donated services or property.

“Mr. Bailey’s own remarks demonstrate that he ‘knowingly received’ the apartment ‘in connection with’ his campaign for the Governorship,” says the complaint, which links to videos of Bailey’s comments. “The record leaves no doubt. Mr. Bailey moved into the apartment the day after he won the Republican primary, described it as a headquarters for his Chicago-area campaign operation, and uses it as a base for meeting voters. He even bragged that building staff has asked for campaign ‘cards and materials.’”

Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the area is \$2,965 a month, according to the complaint, first reported by WGN-TV. That is well over the \$1,000 threshold at which contributions must be reported to election officials within five business days, or within two business days in the 30 days before an election.

Bailey's campaign hasn't disclosed any such in-kind donation, either on the stand-alone reports required for large contributions or on its quarterly reports for the first half of the year, the complaint alleges. Quarterly reports covering July through September are due next week.

"This is unethical and illegal — and Illinoisans deserve answers," state Rep. Lisa Hernandez, chair of the state

Democratic Party, said in a statement Tuesday announcing the complaint. “The Democratic Party of Illinois is asking the Illinois State Board of Elections to immediately investigate these violations and demanding that Darren Bailey reveal who is funding his Chicago stopover.”

Bailey's campaign said Tuesday it had not yet received an official copy of the complaint.

“Democrats and their allies have tried the campaign-finance complaint routine before,” the campaign said in a statement. “This is par for the course. They’ll do anything to make this race about something other than (Gov. JB Pritzker's) record."

Because the election is so close, the Illinois State Board of Elections must hold a hearing on the complaint before Election Day on Nov. 3, board spokesman Matt Dietrich wrote in an email. A final decision could come at a special meeting if there isn't time to hold a closed-door hearing and complete other preliminary steps before the board's next scheduled meeting Oct. 20, Dietrich wrote.

If the board finds Bailey violated the law, his campaign could face escalating civil fines for each violation.

Bailey, a former state lawmaker from southern Illinois making his second run against Pritzker, has said part of his strategy is to do a better job appealing to voters in the suburbs and in Chicago, which he called a “hellhole” during the 2022 campaign.

In April, Bailey told the Tribune he was renting a South Loop apartment as part of an effort “to simply earn the trust and, ultimately, the vote of the people there.”

Bailey's campaign did not respond to follow-up questions about whether the Baileys were paying rent for the apartment or who owned it.

This isn't the first time this year that Bailey has faced questions about his adherence to state campaign finance laws.

In May, Bailey's campaign acknowledged to the Tribune that it had held a May 22 fundraiser in Joliet, in apparent violation of a law barring candidates for state office from holding fundraising events on days the legislature is in session. The admission came a day after the Tribune reported that a Republican group in northwest suburban Barrington Township had called off a Bailey fundraiser scheduled for another session day.

Bailey hasn't faced any official repercussions for the Joliet fundraiser because the law, which he voted for as a state senator in 2021, doesn't specify who is ultimately responsible for enforcing it.

Just days before the 2022 election, the Democratic Party of Illinois filed a complaint against Bailey's campaign and an allied political action committee, People Who Play by the Rules PAC, headed by right-wing radio host Dan Proft. The complaint alleged Bailey, then a frequent guest on the Naples, Florida, resident's Chicago-based radio show, had engaged in prohibited coordination with an independent PAC.

A year and a half later, the elections board dismissed the complaint, finding that state law doesn't clearly define what qualifies as prohibited coordination between a candidate's campaign and a so-called independent expenditure committee.

East Dundee village president censured for partisan politics, ‘inappropriate’ comments

By Gloria Casas

FOR THE NAPERVILLE SUN

East Dundee Village President Dan Pearson was formally censured by the Village Board Monday for inviting two Republicans, one of whom was gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey, to give political speeches during the village's Oktoberfest.

The censure was unanimous and also cited other actions and comments Pearson has made, including his endorsement of a candidate's social media page comment stating the “language in America is English” and “inappropriate and distasteful comments” made mostly toward women during the Oktoberfest stein-holding contest.

“Whether or not you agree with this motion, I would just encourage you to read the entirety of (the resolution),” Trustee Scott Kunze said. “It’s not simply about the actions of inviting political candidates on stage. There is a list of things that have been done that have cost this village a lot of money in legal fees.”

A censure has no legal penalties and doesn't remove an official from office. It's a formal statement of disapproval against an official for inappropriate or unethical behavior.

The Kane County state's attorney's office had confirmed last week it received a complaint about Pearson's Oktoberfest actions, charging he violated state elections laws prohibiting the use of public funds to promote political candidates or parties.

The censure resolution stems from Pearson's decision to allow Bailey and Jennifer Davis, who is running for the 8th Congressional District seat, to take the stage at Oktoberfest on Sept. 26. During his comments, Bailey urged voters to support him in his Nov. 3 election bid against Gov. JB Pritzker.

Pearson also referred to another candidate running for Kane County Board District

21 during his comments at the event.

There were other candidates and elected officials at the fest, but only some of them were invited to the stage, "creating the appearance of preferential treatment of particular candidates," according to the censure resolution.

Pearson was not in attendance at the Monday night meeting due to a prescheduled, out-of-town vacation. He issued an apology at a special joint meeting of the Village Board and other committees and commissions on Sept. 28.

Trustees denounced his use of a village-funded event as a platform for political candidates regardless of party affiliation, the resolution said.

Pearson's behavior created a “huge negative impact on our community,” Trustee Matt Oclon said.

"I do feel we need to hold ourselves to a level of professionalism that we chose to do when we ran for these positions. I am for the censure,"

Oclon said.

Residents who spoke at Monday's meeting thanked the board for taking a stance against Pearson's action but said they didn't think it went far enough.

Longtime resident Karla Burke said she strongly supported a censure, saying it was needed to demonstrate that ethical standards apply to everyone no matter their position or politics, and urged Pearson to resign.

“East Dundee deserves better,” Burke said.

Allison Moe, who has lived in the village for eight years, voiced her concern about Pearson's support for English as the language of America and questioned whether someone who believes that is representing "all of us," she said.

"I do believe he should resign," Moe said. "I don't think he will. I hope he does grow from this and learn from this."

As for Pearson's apology, the censure resolution states that he did not “adequately take ownership" for what happened at Oktoberfest.

The “expectations for future conduct” states Pearson should refrain from using village-funded events, resources or authority and visibility of his office to promote or provide “preferential access to any political candidate or campaign” and to communicate “in a manner consistent with the dignity of the office and the village’s commitment to serving all residents in an impartial manner.”

Pearson should coordinate in advance with the village administrator and appropriate village staff, including the village attorney, “regarding planned public remarks at village-funded events” and “acknowledge the impact of the conduct described in this resolution and demonstrate a commitment to corrective action.”

What happened at Oktoberfest, Trustee Andy Sauder said, generated the most email he has received during his time on the board. It's become a divisive issue, but local government is not about red versus blue, he said.

“We really need to correct this and not have either party bring polarizing politics into the local scene,” he said.

East Dundee has taken steps to put a system in place, which includes training for village staff, to prevent such partisan actions from occurring again, Sauder said.

Other trustees charged that Pearson's actions took away from Oktoberfest's success.

"The village has become known for our community events and the actions around that day have really overshadowed and taken a bit of the shine off the hard work of our police department, public works, staff and volunteers, who put their hearts and souls into putting some great events on," Trustee Kathleen Mahony said.

Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The (Elgin) Courier-News.

REAL ESTATE AUCTION • OCTOBER 20, 2026 OWN A PIECE OF HISTORY FORMER ORPHANAGE CONVERTED TO A SINGLE- FAMILY HOME 5747 S. PEEK HOME RD., POLO, IL

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Just a few years old, this 2-bedroom, 2.5-bath home, with room for 4 more bedrooms, was designed by award-winning architect Booth Hansen. Striking lakefront views, modern design, tranquil setting surrounded by nature and the resort's 6 world-class golf courses. Lot 3 (5.2 acres) is one of only four sites on a beautiful winding lake nestled within a 200-acre conservation easement. Ability to use year-round or include in the rental program to achieve substantial income. Excellent concierge and property management services provided

Previously Valued in Excess of \$3,300,000 To Be Sold Subject to a Minimum Bid of \$2,100,000\*

Open houses from 2 to 4 pm Sept. 10 and Noon to 2 pm Sept. 13th, and by appointment. Broker Co-Op Invited. IN CONJUNCTION WITH RICK LEVIN, LICENSED WISCONSIN AUCTIONEER #2582-52 IN CONJUNCTION WITH MASSART AUCTIONEERS, INC RWA#3 \*SUBJECT TO A 5% BUYERS PREMIUM

REAL ESTATE AUCTION • DECEMBER 9, 2026

50% SELLER FINANCING WITH 15-YEAR TERM AT 4% INTEREST\*

110 E. DELAWARE PLACE, UNIT 101 • GROUND-FLOOR

COMMERCIAL CONDO IN CHICAGO'S GOLD COAST

A currently vacant 3,385 sq. ft. retail space immediately adjacent to the Four Seasons Hotel and just steps from luxury retailers like Chanel, Hermès, Prada, Tom Ford, Cartier, Balenciaga, Aritzia, Bloomingdale's, and more. Existing high-end custom buildout, 16' ceiling heights, and 55 feet of frontage. Zoned DX-12 for a variety of uses.

Replacement Value Well in Excess of \$5,000,000

To be Sold Subject to a Minimum Bid of \$2,950,000

On-site inspections by appointment. 3% Broker Co-Op Invited.

\*To a qualified Purchaser.

Rick Levin & Associates, Inc.

(APPROX. ONE HOUR WEST OF CHICAGO'S WESTERN SUBURBS)

Built in 1930 and partially rehabbed, with plenty of opportunity for a purchaser to add their personalized finishes, this approx. 10,000 sq. ft., 17 bedroom mansion sits on 10 acres with an additional 10 acres available. With original millwork, two fireplaces, hay barn, mini barn with paddock, grain barn, 5-car detached and 2-car attached garage, all in an idyllic country setting

Previously Valued in Excess of \$2,250,000

Suggested Opening Bid \$975,000

Open houses noon to 2 pm Tuesday, Sept. 29, Saturday, Oct. 10, Sunday, Oct. 18, and by appointment In conjunction with Michael LaFido of LUXE Group LPT Realty

REAL ESTATE AUCTION • NOVEMBER 20, 2026

RIVER NORTH GROUND FLOOR COMMERCIAL SPACE

711 W. GRAND • CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Currently vacant, 4,320 rsf ground-floor space with large windows, -70' frontage, 14 ft. ceilings, and a curb cut with a grade-level roll-up door is ideal for retail, fitness, professional services, a consulate, and more. Near the East Bank Club, the soon-to-be-opened Bally's Casino, popular restaurants, 1/2 block from Starbucks and the Grand/Division Blue Line Station, and the vibrant West Loop, including Google's Midwest operations.

Replacement Value in Excess of \$2,500,000

Suggested Opening Bid \$1,475,000

On-site inspections 10 AM to Noon, October 14, 21, 28 and by appointment. Broker Owned.

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT

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WISCONSIN CORPORATE AUCTION LICENSE #406-053

REAL ESTATE AUCTION • NOVEMBER 17, 2026 GREEN LAKE, WI • 11 PROPERTIES – BUY 1, 2, 3, OR ALL!

W1970 S. LAWSON DRIVE, GREEN LAKE

This highly renovated 17 room motel operates as the Green Lake Inn includes a separate storage garage and shed, 2 new pickleball courts, grill/picnic area and firepits. Previously Valued Up to \$2,900,000 • Suggested Opening Bid \$1,150,000

410 TRILLIUM CIRCLE, GREEN LAKE

15,000 SF one-story spa/salon with several upgrades. Currently open as Elan Brio Spa.

#33 on the Spas of America top 100 list.

Previously Valued Up to \$2,850,000 • Suggested Opening Bid \$1,725,000

486 HILL STREET, GREEN LAKE

35,000 SF 3-story concrete building (former jail) which includes parking lot across the street. Currently has a lease for the 3rd floor and features offices, a commercial prep area/kitchen and bar. Replacement Value Over \$7,500,000 • Suggested Opening Bid \$1,250,000

512 GOLD STREET, GREEN LAKE

Home of the famous Goose Blind restaurant/bar. Has undergone significant renovations and upgrades and includes an adjacent parking lot.

Previously Valued Over \$3,200,000 • Suggested Opening Bid \$1,350,000

773 S. LAWSON DRIVE GREEN LAKE

Various on-site inspection dates on each property and by appointment.

IN CONJUNCTION WITH RICK LEVIN, LICENSED WISCONSIN AUCTIONEER #2582-52

IN CONJUNCTION WITH MASSART AUCTIONEERS, INC RWA#3 \*SUBJECT TO A 7.5% BUYERS PREMIUM

REAL ESTATE AUCTION • NOVEMBER 10, 2026

CLASSIC 2,240 SQ. FT. COUNTRY HOME WITH LARGE 1870s TWO-LEVEL RED BARN • 16648 U.S. HWY 52, MT. CARROLL, IL Three bedrooms, wide-plank pine floors, two parlors, 700 sq. ft. screened porch. Two fireplaces, modern systems, hog barn, pole barn, three-car garage, over 300 trees and shrubs on 4.8 acres. A great primary or second home near Chicagoland!

Previously Valued Well-Over \$750,000

Suggested Opening Bid \$285,000

Open houses 3:15 to 4:30 pm on October 18, noon to 2 pm on October 22, and November 1, and by appointment.

IN CONJUNCTION WITH SULLIVAN REALTY

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Woman slams watchdog's handling of Dominguez investigation

Chicago Board of Education president candidate Hilario Dominguez speaks about why he is running and refutes any wrongdoing on Tuesday at a press conference outside Maggiano's Little Italy in River North. EILEEN T. MESLAR/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

By Alice Yin and Kate Armanini

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

The woman at the center of the Chicago Public Schools inspector general's reopened investigation into Hilario Dominguez, a candidate for Chicago Board of Education president, sent a letter Monday denouncing the top watchdog's handling of the sexual harassment case.

In a copy of the email obtained by the Tribune, the woman accused the Office of Inspector General of sitting on the probe — which she said she did not know existed

— for five years before closing it ahead of the upcoming election without interviewing her.

“I experienced sexual grooming behavior by a former CPS employee and supervisor, Hilario Dominguez, in 2017 at The Resurrection Project,” the woman, now 26, wrote in the letter to CPS Inspector General Philip Wagenknecht’s office. “I am writing to share my anger, frustration and disappointment, but most importantly, the deep sense of injustice I faced as a result of your poor conduct in relation to this investigation."

It's unclear what action could result from the woman's statement. While the inspector general ultimately answers to the Chicago Board of Education, there is no formal structure for investigating the district's top watchdog.

Dominguez, most recently deputy political director for the Chicago Teachers Union, has denied the allegations of misconduct.

The Tribune reported late Friday that Wagenknecht's office has reopened the investigation about the allegations against Dominguez from his time at The Resurrection Project. Wagenknecht declined to comment Monday, while Dominguez did not respond to inquiries.

The woman wrote that Wagenknecht's office told her investigators tried to call her

parents in 2022 and had sent a direct message to an Instagram account they believed belonged to her, but she alleged she had no knowledge of those attempts. Wagen-knecht has been inspector general since January 2025, when he was appointed to the post by Mayor Brandon Johnson.

The woman said she did not initiate the OIG probe, and Wagenknecht has not commented on who did. But the case's timeline is at the heart of the woman's protest over the watchdog's approach to the investigation.

actionable."

Mah told the Tribune on Monday “at the time I asked (Resurrection Project CEO Raul Raymundo) about the allegations, a complaint had been lodged but then withdrawn, so there was nothing to investigate.” She previously told the Tribune she consulted Raymundo “as to the conclusions from TRP’s investigation and was satisfied with their finding that no misconduct had occurred.”

“Given what was reported, I don’t doubt there may have been feelings of discomfort; what was described sounds like horseplay, and that does not automatically equate to predatory behavior,” she wrote.

Raymundo has not responded to multiple requests for comment, and in response to Mah's statements, The Resurrection Project spokesperson Sylvia Ortiz-Cooper on Monday declined comment.

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The woman had said in an interview with the Tribune that Dominguez made her uncomfortable when she participated in a summer program at the Pilsen-based nonprofit when she was 17. She alleges he asked about what men she was into and picked her up to twirl around when they were alone.

"My breasts, my legs, everything was pressed against his body," the woman, whom the Tribune is not naming because she was a minor at the time of the incident, said. "My feet were off the ground. I was completely not in control at that point."

In an earlier response to the Tribune's questions on the allegations, Dominguez's attorney, former Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, provided a screenshot of correspondence from Wagenknecht's office verifying the probe was closed in June.

On Sunday, after the Tribune reported on the reopened investigation, CTU's legal team issued an email to all its members accusing the Inspector General's Office of violating its policy by speaking publicly on an open case.

On Tuesday evening, Dominguez held a last-minute news conference outside a City Club of Chicago forum downtown for school board president candidates.

"My career has been defined by being a teacher, a mentor, a youth advocate, and at no point have I done anything inappropriate or whatever the Tribune is describing that I did," he said, before walking off without taking reporters' questions.

Dominguez said he has sat down with the OIG and again claimed The Resurrection Project investigated the allegations and deemed them unfounded.

"The fact that a case involving me was opened in 2021, remained open for five years, and I was never properly informed is absolutely unacceptable," she wrote in her Monday letter.

She alleged that she did not know the inspector general was investigating Dominguez's conduct toward her until her parents received a letter from the office last month informing them it determined "no actionable finding of sexual misconduct." She then reached out to the watchdog's office and spoke with the Sexual Allegations Unit's assistant deputy director Christina Guarisco on Sept. 18.

The woman wrote that Guarisco “told me that she was familiar with the case and that the OIG had been receiving calls about it because of the upcoming election.” It was not clear who made those calls, and Dominguez did not respond to questions Monday on whether he reached out to the office in the past.

The Monday letter and the OIG's case number indicate the watchdog received the complaint in 2021. That was the year a local Pilsen community leader flagged Dominguez's principal about The Resurrection Project allegations after he had started working as a special education teacher at Peter Cooper Dual Language Academy.

For that, the resident received a cease-and-de-sist letter from Dominguez's lawyer Michael B. Cohen, according to a copy of the correspondence obtained by the Tribune.

Cohen's letter claimed Chinatown state Rep. Theresa Mah and the nonprofit both would "establish your defamation of his character is

Johnson, himself a former CTU organizer, praised Dominguez in a public forum this August before offering this during a Saturday appearance with him, according to Politico Illinois: “I trust that the process will play out. ... It’s important that we have someone who understands the needs of students and families and educators, and he clearly is someone who possesses that understanding.”

Dominguez, on the other hand, posted a video response on Saturday saying, “I look forward to clearing my name for the fourth time.” Other than the reopened inspector general case, it is unclear what inquiries Dominguez is citing when he says “each investigation has found the same exact thing: Unfounded and unsubstantiated.”

The woman, in her Monday letter to the inspector general, said she was calling for larger systemic changes in how CPS handles cases like hers.

“I know what happened to me, and I know that I can advocate for myself now. But I cannot stop thinking about the young women and students who may not know how to do that,” she wrote. “Young people deserve a process that makes every reasonable effort to find them, hear them, and treat their experiences with the seriousness they deserve.”

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A team works on the uprate project to install higher-efficiency turbines while Unit 2 is temporarily shut down for refueling on April 21 at the Braidwood Generating Station nuclear power plant. BRIAN CASSELLA/CHICAGO TRIBUNES

---

"Our agreement with Constellation to fund nuclear reactor uprates will strengthen the PJM grid, which serves 67 million people, all while protecting energy affordability and supporting local union jobs."

NUCLEAR

from Page A1

energy will be distributed through PJM Interconnection, a regional electricity grid that serves 13 states, including northern Illinois, plus the District of Columbia.

"Our agreement with Constellation to fund nuclear reactor uprates will strengthen the PJM grid, which serves 67 million people, all while protecting energy affordability and supporting local union jobs," said Amanda Peterson Corio, global head of energy and power at Google, in the statement.

The office of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker did not respond to a request for comment.

Last year, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced a 20-year stipend for a Constellation Energy nuclear plant in Clinton, a rural community 25 miles south of Bloomington. He's helping to plan a second and perhaps even a third reactor for the site and may help foot the bill.

Google and Constellation also have agreed on a strategic framework to evaluate opportunities to develop new clean generation and related services across the United States to support Google's growth.

In a separate agreement,

AMANDA PETERSON CORIO,

global head of energy and

power at Google

Constellation has agreed to supply Google with 2,700 megawatts of power over a 15-year period through the PJM system.

While it's good to see investment in more energy sources, Jennifer Walling, CEO of the Illinois Environmental Council, said she's concerned about Google supporting nuclear and methane instead of renewable sources like wind and solar.

The tech company last year announced it had agreed to purchase the majority of power expected to be produced at a natural gas plant being built at an ADM site in Decatur, according to the city's website.

The Illinois Environmental Council is in general opposed to nuclear power, although Walling said it has supported packages that have included both when the renewable investments outweigh the nuclear investments.

“I think that nuclear power is carbon free, but we don’t consider it clean, because of the radioactive waste that will last for thousands of years and how you mine that, and the water usage,” she said.

Her organization backs the POWER Act, introduced in February by state Sen. Ram Villivalam and state Rep. Robyn Gabel. The legislation, supported by Pritzker, would incentivize data centers to draw from local renewable energy sources and batteries while adding transparency requirements.

Decision-makers are seeing more pressure around data centers than any other issue Walling said she has worked on.

"There are communities saying ‘yes,’ there are communities saying ‘no,’ but I don’t know that I can predict what they’re going to do based on what I know about any community," Walling said.

John Lippert is a freelancer.

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South Side Science Fest showcases the wow in the field

By Darcel Rockett

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Children stare at the Booster K1 robot at the annual University of Chicago South Side Science Festival in Hyde Park on Saturday. ARTHUR MAIORELLA/CHICAGO TRIBUNE PHOTOS

A child uses a stethoscope on a medical mannequin at the annual University of Chicago South Side Science Festival in Hyde Park on Saturday.

Robots demonstrating dance moves made popular by the late entertainer Michael Jackson, mini-cata-pults sending plastic gourds soaring toward a cauldron, paper airplane competitions and ice cream frozen by liquid nitrogen were among the demonstrations on offer at the fifth annual University of Chicago South Side Science Festival.

Quiance Bibbs was there with his 7-year-old son, Carter, a dinosaur enthusiast, and daughter Riley, 8, who loves to do experiments. The family trekked from Park Forest to partake in the fun for the first time. The dancing robot was their favorite.

On their second visit to the fest was the Roach family — Herb and Tonika with their 5-month-old daughter, Haley, and second grader son Haydn. The family, who'd ventured from Richton Park to the Hyde Park area, had just walked through an inflatable colon, complete with polyps and perforation, where children played peek-a-boo.

After stopping by the medical tent with a mannequin that helps train medical staff to give fluids, listen to heartbeats, and perform eye dilation, the Roach family headed back to the patient simulator. Haydn is already considering a career as a physician, according to his mother. "We're here for the hands-on exploration and exposure for him," Tonika Roach, who is a nurse, said.

Nearly 4,600 visitors attended the free daylong event, which offered more than 1,300 hands-on science demonstrations and experiments, organizers said. Molly Tully, a University of Chicago doctoral student in cell and molecular biology, has co-led the festival's 1,000 volunteers, made up of graduate students and the general public, for the last two years. The fest has grown exponentially since its debut in 2022.

The all-day, all-ages event, known as S3F, highlighted the importance of STEM education, careers in science and understanding how science affects daily life.

After seeing the impact of Europe's spring festival "Long Night of Sciences," where universities and research institutions in Germany open their doors to the public to learn what academics and researchers are working on, three U. of C. professors, Sarah

King, Hannes Bernien and Maanasa Raghavan, wanted to do something similar. During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, the trio came together with a mission to engage more with the local community and get them excited about science and science literacy.

The festival debuted in 2022 to connect South Side community members with science education resources.

"The vision for S3F was to bring people in," said Aaron Esser-Kahn, professor of molecular engineering at the U. of C. Pritzker School. He noted that U. of C. President Paul Alivisatos said he wanted to make the university “outward facing.”

"I think S3F is the living representation of that, Esser-Kahn said. "It is as much as possible bringing people from the community, from the entirety of the South Side and all of Chicago to experience what the campus looks like, and to get a taste of what inquiry-based learning looks like."

The prime demographic for the science fest falls within the 5- to 15-year-old range, and since the beginning, the institution has tried to make the experience as rich as possible for children, bringing in elements of science that are more design- and competition-oriented.

Moving robots and blending smoothies by pedaling a stationary bike have a wide appeal. Over the years, organizers kept the fan-favorite liquid-nitrogen ice cream and added interactive activities that test hypotheses or ask "How do I build this?"

On Saturday, Lincoln Square resident Gloria Mlope filmed her fifth grade daughter Makela on the stationary bike. "It was worth the trip," Gloria Mlope said.

The experience lets researchers and scientists practice their science communication skills, which are increasingly important for making science more accessible to the general public, Tully said, adding that community service is integral to really understanding where you live. Seeing the joy the kids in the community experience is her favorite part of the festival and why she volunteers every year.

Annika Sharma, a U. of C.

doctoral student in neurobiology and this year's lead festival planner, has been involved in the event since it began. Her lab runs a demo at the festival that lets youth look at soil bugs under a microscope, known as larval locomotion land.

“That’s a particularly exciting activity for younger kids,” she said. “For a lot of them, it’s their first time looking under a microscope at everyday material. You see larval flies, silverfish, a bunch of other bugs, and we try to help them identify them.”

Now more than ever, Sharma said, it's important the community sees science not as something that only happens at elite institutions behind keycard-locked doors, but as something that makes a difference in their lives.

The beauty of these environments is that “we bring people into the fold,” Chuka Onuh said while helping children listen to the heartbeat of the patient simulator.

“We are not an ivory tower; we’re a front porch, and we allow people to come in and see what we do,” the third-year medical student at U. of C.’s Pritzker School of Medicine said. In this way, young "We are not an ivory tower; we're a front porch, and we allow people to come in and see what we do."

CHUKA ONUH, third-year medical student at U. of C.'s Pritzker School of Medicine

minds can follow their curiosity into careers in the sciences and see people in roles and labs on campus who look like them.

A fan of the inventor of modern air conditioning, Willis Carrier, Esser-Kahn, the molecular engineering professor, has long been passionate about people taking their ideas and changing how we live as a society.

"These are the types of people we don't think about shaping our built world, but very much do," he said. "I've always thought that if you can bring new ideas and figure out how to have them help people, that can be a great way to spend your life. We're trying to share some of that with people and spark that curiosity and excitement in them as young students."

TRANSLATE

from Page A1

including Arabic, Ukrainian and German, make up the group. Their fluency may not always match. But they still manage to pore over words and themes together, a practice they say is complex and deeply human, especially given the rise of artificial intelligence technology.

"As a translator you're not building the replica of the same ship," said Maja Teref, who translates from Serbian alongside her husband. "On the contrary, you're building a counterpart. You're building a ship but the material that the ship is built out of is going to be different."

"A replica would be Google Translate — word for word, and that wouldn't make any sense," she added. "That's just gibberish."

'INHABIT BOTH OF THESE LANGUAGES'

Much of Angel's work is informed by her journey to the U.S. from Bulgaria. She wants her mother tongue to have a place in this country.

“I have to make people care about this tiny little place in the world,” she said.

Angel's childhood in Sofia, the capital city, coincided with the end of communism, which she said made it difficult to leave the country without connections. That changed after her father, who held an “American dream” since he was a boy, started businesses. He then sent her, her mom and sister to west suburban Lombard when she was 12.

The move wasn't always easy on Angel, who said she probably experienced the most culture shock in moving to a suburb after living in a major city; but her mother had the foresight to sign her up for English lessons beforehand, which helped.

"You're there (in Bulgaria) on Wednesday and on Thursday you're not there, and you resurfaced in America," Angel said. "You don't know anybody. There's no family other than your immediate family."

Angel attended university in the U.K. and briefly moved back to Bulgaria in her 20s where she worked for a magazine before returning to Chicago. It was after watching a Bulgarian translator speak at the Seminary Co-op Bookstore in Hyde Park that she realized translation was her calling.

“I inhabit both of these languages in really profound ways, and they inhabit me in turn,” she said. “I can do something quite interesting on the page because of that.”

Like Angel, English was Maja Teref's second language, so she's been translating since elementary school. The 55-year-old Rogers Park resident recalled translating a book about Iron Maiden for herself in seventh grade because she was such a big fan of the band. She later worked for Radio Yugoslavia as an English translator before coming to Chicago for grad school.

For Steven Teref, 56, he became fully invested in the language and culture after meeting his wife. They first crossed paths in 1995 at the Neo nightclub. Now they translate Serbian poetry and books together.

"The couple that translates together stays together," he joked.

'LOST IN TRANSLATION'

According to Angel, the phrase “lost in translation” exists for a reason. Bulgarian uses the Cyrillic alphabet while English uses the Latin one. Meaning in Bulgarian is often expressed through different verb tenses, whereas English deploys its more robust vocabulary.

Izidora Angel uses her Bulgarian to English dictionary as she translates and transcribes interviews for her memoir at her home on Sept. 21. EILEEN T. MESLAR/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

That's where the artistic element comes in, including in "She Who Remains," Angel said. The novel's main character becomes a sworn virgin, meaning she takes a vow of chastity and lives socially as a man. Her name changes from Bekija to Matija.

English isn't as gendered as Bulgarian, which Angel said allowed her to better convey the ambiguity in Bekija's identity.

“It actually allowed for a really beautiful in-betweenness, so that we’re not gendering the main character,” Angel said.

The text was alive on the page, Angel said, which made translating it a relay race of sorts with the author.

“I was running in step with (the author). I was admiring the writing, but I felt like I could handle it,” Angel said. “It didn’t overpower me.”

In one section, Bekija remembers the wedding dress her grandmother gifted her before she died; Angel said she went over it again and again to get right. She had to carefully place phrases like “she said” so English readers could understand who was talking while maintaining the melody and rhythm of the original text.

The Terefs ran into a similar issue when translating “Children” by Milena Marković, a novel about a woman’s relationship with her disabled son that comes out in October. They decided to use past tense when the main character spoke and switch to present tense for other characters to make it clear.

At the same time, the couple said they want to preserve Serbian culture in their work. They'll keep a word like "pljeskavica" — a Serbian meat patty — because it's different from a hamburger, they said for example. It can take anywhere from a year to five years to finish a book.

For Angel, there was about a five month period where she “blacked out” and intensely focused on translating “She Who Remains.” It was published earlier this year, but Angel said she primarily worked on it the prior two years.

She watched as the book's popularity grew on social media, but when it made the longlist for the International Booker Prize, she broke down in tears. Her husband and three children were home when she got the call, and they all hugged to celebrate.

"It was being legitimized at the highest possible level after so many years of just feeling like I was doing a fool's errand," Angel said. She's also translated two other novels and is writing a memoir.

Even though it didn't ultimately win the prize, the publicity brought an influx of sales. She also hopes the success brings more awareness to translated books in the U.S., where the amount published is quite small.

It's important for everyone to "widen their frame of reference," she said.

"It's like if you go to a Mexican restaurant in Chicago, it's not eating Mexican food in Mexico, but it's close," Angel said. "Just because something was rendered into English, you still can taste and smell and feel the source."

Ali Kinsella, who translates from Ukrainian, said the country's literature can show Americans how to identify and resist fascism. Russia invaded Ukraine more than four years ago, unleashing Europe's largest conflict since World War II.

The 40-year-old Uptown resident picked up the language while working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine.

“Ukrainians know what it’s like to live under fascism, under totalitarianism, and they’ve been writing about it for decades and decades,” Kinsella said. “And I think that they have a lot to teach the world about what it means to ... survive individually and collectively as a culture.”

CHICAGO'S

CHICAGO'S TRANSLATORS COLLABORATE

Bringing the literature of the world to English speakers is the goal of Chicago's Third Coast Translators Collective, which Angel helped start a decade ago. They were even the first readers of “She Who Remains.”

In workshops, they parse through the poems and novels group members are working on. Their discussions typically revolve around what is “best” — the best word, phrase, idiom or sentence structure to communicate the author’s meaning, Angel said.

"The thing about translation is that you're never in charge of the plot or the pacing," Angel said. "But within linguistic parameters, the question is, are you bringing this over in the best possible way."

Jamie Rising, 34, said the group's advice has been incredibly valuable. Others may not know Portuguese – the language Rising translates from. But they're still attentive to tone and flow and can critique the English version.

Kinsella recently presented a historical fiction book to the group where the main character speaks to her mother with formal pronouns, which in Ukrainian indicates respect, not distance. Kinsella was struggling to demonstrate in English that such formality is actually a sign of intimacy.

"It was very helpful to have other people listen to it or read it and tell me where they thought I was succeeding and where I wasn't," she said.

For Kinsella, it's the kind of nuance AI can't yet replicate.

nuance AI can't yet replicate. "AI poems are very flat," Kinsella said. "There's no beating heart inside of them."

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EDITORIALS

Endorsements in 4 statewide offices

Croke for comptroller, Raoul for attorney general, Frerichs for treasurer, and Giannoulias for secretary of state, assuming he sticks around for the job

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul speaks during a press conference addressing his office's efforts to combat unlawful actions by the Trump administration on Jan. 20. EILEEN T. MESLAR/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announces his campaign to be the next mayor of Chicago on Aug. 2 in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 134 hall. ARTHUR MAIORELLA/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Comptroller Democratic nominee Margaret Croke speaks with supporters during the Illinois Democratic County Chairs' Association brunch at the Bank of Springfield Center on Aug. 19 in Springfield.

ARMANDO L. SANCHEZ/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

State Treasurer Michael Frerichs speaks during the Illinois Democratic County Chairs' Association brunch at the Bank of Springfield Center on Aug. 19 in Springfield. ARMANDO L. SANCHEZ/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Today, the Tribune Editorial Board endorses candidates in four statewide Illinois offices: attorney general, comptroller, secretary of state and treasurer.

Kwame Raoul, 62, has held the post of attorney general for the state of Illinois since 2019.

Raoul faces a Republican challenger in Bob Fioretti, 73, a former 2nd Ward alderman and longtime Democrat who switched allegiances in 2022. In a conversation with us, Fioretti stressed the independence of the office. “Let’s not forget, the attorney general is not the governor’s attorney,” he said, arguing that the attorney general’s client ultimately is “the people of the state of Illinois.” A very good point.

Having lost the 2024 race to become Cook County state's attorney, Fioretti hopes to do better campaigning for this state post.

That's unlikely. In our view, Raoul has been stellar during a challenging period for this office. He has proved to be tough on fraud enforcement, antitrust and transparency. And he's pursued numerous public corruption cases, most recently filing charges against a group of current and former Ford Heights officials and employees who allegedly used public funds for private travel. That's all important work.

We're very familiar with Fioretti, given his numerous recent campaigns for Cook County board president and Chicago mayor, among others. He certainly has extensive experience as a litigator and a long track record of serving the public. Today, he's become something of a perennial candidate.

Raoul has built the office of attorney general into a significant counterweight to the federal government. His office says it filed 63 lawsuits against Trump administration actions between January 2025 and April 2026 alone, protecting an estimated \$8.6 billion in Illinois funding; subsequent cases have continued in 2026. This partisan positioning is not exclusive to Democrats; the flip side of the Raoul attorney general coin, you could argue, is Texas' Ken Paxton, who has bragged about filing over 100 lawsuits against Joe Biden's administration.

And there's a good argument that Raoul had no choice but to direct much of his focus toward Washington, D.C. Still, in an ideal world, a state attorney general not only serves as a check on federal overreach, but also as a watchdog laser-focused on his or her state. We'd like to see Raoul do more of that.

Before he was reelected in 2022, Raoul vowed to take a stronger position on public corruption. In the wake of a new round of scandals, including the federal indictment of state Rep. Carol Ammons on allegations that include misusing state grant and campaign funds, it's undeniable that Illinois' notorious ethics issues are far from a thing of the past. While we acknowledge the statutory constraints that limit his office, and don't expect one man to clean up Illinois corruption overnight, we again encourage Raoul to zero in on this close-to-home problem.

In our 2022 endorsement of Raoul, we said that he was clearly the best qualified candidate. That remains true today.

Comptroller Susana Mendoza announced in July 2025 that she would not be seeking reelection for her current post, a classy move that has garnered her well-deserved praise – including from

this board — in an election season in which others have decided to hedge their bets and run for multiple offices.

Running to replace her are Democratic state Rep. Margaret Croke of Chicago, 34, Republican Bryan Drew, 51, of Benton and Green Party write-in candidate Anna Schiefelbein. The last Republican to hold this office was Leslie Munger, a Bruce Rauner appointee. Mendoza beat Munger in a special election in 2016.

Drew is an attorney and a small business owner, as well as a trustee of the Rend Lake Community College Board. He ran for a Circuit Court judgeship in the 2024 Republican primary and finished second. He's positioned himself (and the role of the office for which he is running) as a watchdog, and it's true that the comptroller does have a full view of the state's fiscal situation. Croke has raised significant funds — about \$2.6 million — while Drew's much more modest fundraising has not made it easy for him to compete with his Democratic opponent. Schiefelbein, who has run unsuccessfully for other offices, including Illinois House, has not mounted much of a campaign.

Croke, whom we endorsed in the Democratic primary, is a moderate Democrat. Her primary race was notable in large part because it pitted Gov. JB Pritzker, who backed Croke, against the Chicago Teachers Union's muscle, which was deployed in favor of state Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago. While Villa would have turned the job of comptroller into an activist position, Croke instead advocated for sound administration and transparency in the state's finances, which struck a chord with us. Her tenure in the General Assembly also indicated to us she could be trusted to be independent, as evidenced when she fought to protect selective enrollment schools in 2024 from threats emanating from Chicago's Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Drew questions Croke's independence, given her reliance on the finances and political clout of her former boss, Pritzker. That's a fair critique — we certainly said as much of Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton in her Pritzker-bankrolled bid for U.S. Senate — except that the comptroller is responsible primarily for managing the state's checkbook. There's a certain amount of politics that goes into any state office, and Munger certainly made headlines during the budget impasse under Rauner by pushing to stop elected officials' pay until the passage of a balanced budget. Outliers aside, though, the function of this office is about as straightforward a job as they come in Illinois government. Or at least it should be.

Drew has also argued on the campaign trail that Croke won't hold politicians accountable because she wants to keep climbing the political ladder. It's more than fair to point out that the comptroller is often seen as a political steppingstone. (Just look at Mendoza.) But it's not the comptroller's job to hold politicians accountable beyond her fiscal management duties. Most importantly, Croke has proved competent in every role she's tackled, and we believe she would provide a steady hand as comptroller.

Secretary of State is tricky because the incumbent, Alexi Giannoulias, 50, is not only seeking reelection for his current post, but also running for mayor of Chicago. He is widely considered the frontrunner for that new gig, not least by virtue of how much money he has raised. But there are of course other strong candidates at this juncture, including an incumbent likely to muster more support than some people think.

Still, in one sense, you could view a ballot cast for Giannoulias as a vote for whoever Pritzker nominates as the secretary of state replacement. That's putting a lot of faith in the governor, a political animal if ever there was one.

On the other hand, Giannoulias has proved an exceptionally competent successor to longtime Secretary of State Jesse White. Just ask anyone who has interacted with his office.

Giannoulias pursued digitization and automation of services that made the cumbersome experience of navigating the DMV less onerous, enabling folks to do routine tasks entirely online. He also launched permanent self-service emissions testing kiosks at the Chicago South DMV location. Excellent. More of all of this, please.

He triaged Illinois' bungled Real ID rollout by opening a downtown Real ID Supercenter without asking for additional taxpayer funding to do so. Most recently, we applauded Giannoulias' initiative on e-bikes and e-scooters, which have become a pernicious problem in the city and suburbs alike, and have unfortunately led to serious traffic incidents, some fatal.

Running to unseat Giannoulias is Republican Diane Harris, 70, a small business owner and former teacher, and an active member of the Republican Party, serving as a precinct committee head and vice chair of the Joliet Township Republicans. In the primary, we endorsed Harris as the most viable candidate on the Republican side.

Giannoulias has over \$20 million in his war chest and the full backing of the governor. But we care most about his track record as secretary of state, and we judge his work in that office as excellent. Harris has not put together a serious enough campaign to present a credible challenge, even for Republican voters, to our minds. We have serious misgivings about Giannoulias' dual campaigns and potential departure from the role, but he is clearly the best choice.

The offices of Illinois state treasurer and Illinois state comptroller should be combined, not just to save money but to avoid needless duplication; most Illinoisans would not be able to articulate the difference between the two.

Actually, the comptroller balances the state's funds while the treasurer invests taxpayer money. Consolidating these functions under one department would not exactly be a radical move. Mike Frerichs, 53, who has served as Illinois treasurer since 2015, actually backed that combo when he was a state senator.

Now? Well, reason to wonder if he was serious.

In addition to his fiduciary responsibilities, Frerichs has a penchant for waxing about policy in press releases. About six years ago, when Pritzker was attempting to push through a statewide progressive income tax, it was Frerichs who poured cold water on the governor's signature tax policy by suggesting that it would open the door to a retirement tax, the lack of which is one of Illinois' biggest tax advantages for retirees. We thank him for letting this slip, but generally would prefer that he sticks to administrative responsibilities.

In this role, he has proved a capable hand at netting returns for taxpayers.

In fiscal year 2026, the state realized \$1.45 billion in returns on its portfolio under Frerichs' watch. During his tenure, Frerichs' office reports that it has earned more than \$5.6 billion for state taxpayers since he first assumed office in 2015.

Frerichs is running against Republican Max Solomon, 54, a suburban attorney who qualified for the ballot after running as a write-in candidate in the GOP primary. He has run unsuccessfully for multiple offices in recent years, including governor and Illinois Senate. We appreciate that Solomon's platform includes good fiscal stewardship, transparency and improving efficiency, good starting points for anyone who would manage such a massive portfolio. Also running as a write-in candidate is Timothea Papas. Neither of Frerichs' opponents has mounted much of a campaign.

We endorsed Frerichs in 2022, and while we aren't enamored of his habit of championing Democrats' tax policy platform from his pulpit, he is again the better candidate.

ON THIS DAY 26 YEARS AGO THE DEBATE OVER TELEVISED DEBATES

While the winner of the first televised debate between Al Gore and George W. Bush is a matter of dispute, a clear loser was NBC, which decided to stick with baseball instead. ...

NBC received so much criticism that it decided to send both signals to its stations and let them take the heat locally for whatever decision they made. Most decided to carry the game. Their reward was a mere 4.8 million viewers in the Nielsen ratings...

More viewers (6.3 million) saw the debate over NBC's affiliates, either live or by delayed broadcast, than watched its baseball game.

All told, the debate drew a commanding 46.6 million viewers, a blockbuster in TV terms. ... If the electorate is infected with apathy in this campaign season, you couldn't tell it by the ratings for this first presidential debate.

That should allay the fears and outrage of those who complained that NBC was somehow shirking its civic duty and betraying the public trust by sticking with its contract to broadcast the playoffs.

Some were ready to threaten NBC's license for failing to uphold the 40-year tradition of live coverage on the three biggest networks. That's nonsense. No citizen is going to be compelled to perform the civic duty of watching a presi-

dential debate by reducing the number of alternatives to watching it.

The ratings reveal a much better incentive to perform a public service: Public demand for it.

... Viewers are better off with more choices, which is what just the video marketplace has brought.

This year's first debate was available to viewers over more broadcast and cable channels ... The result of fewer government rules has been more choices, including more choices of news and public affairs programs. That's nothing but healthy.

Tribune editorial board, Oct. 7, 2000

OPINION

Brutal school board elections are the name of the Chicago game

Chicago school board president candidates Jessica Biggs, from left, Hilario Dominguez and Victor Henderson participate in a forum at the Copernicus Center in Chicago on Sept. 29. CHRIS SWEDA/TRIBUNE

Early voting is underway, and many are hyper-focused on the national midterms, when voters will select congressional representatives that may dramatically change the balance of power in Washington, D.C.

Don't look to the East, Chicago voters. Democrats will win big in your deep-blue city. The name of the Chicago game is the school board elections.

Chicago mayors have appointed and ruled the Chicago Public Schools board for decades. Now, for the first time, city voters will choose all 21 members of the board, and its president.

This is a consequential contest. Voters will select one candidate from their school board subdistricts. Forty-six board candidates are vying for 21 seats; some will win two-year terms, others, four years. The board president runs citywide.

That next president will hold sway over setting the agenda for a body that approves the CPS budget, sets district-wide policies and priorities and hires and evaluates the system's CEO.

Yet, I detect little enthusiasm or even awareness about these races. I ask voters about the school board elections. Most shrug. They are focused on the midterms, they say. Or, they reply, I don't have children in the public schools. Why should I care?

This school board will decide how much taxes we all will pay, how much public debt we all will be burdened with and whether our city's future leaders can achieve.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for those who pay for and use the schools to have a voice.

The board presidency is the marquee race, and it's brutally competitive. It kicked off almost a year ago with five contestants. Jennifer Custer, a current elected board member, dropped out in August. Sendhil Revuluri, a previous board vice-president, left the race last week.

The three still standing include a current board member and former school principal, Jessica Biggs; Hilario Dominguez, a former special education teacher and former Chicago Teachers Union deputy political director; and Victor Henderson, a criminal defense attorney and certified public accountant.

They agree on many issues. A notable exception is that Dominguez, who unlike the others, will not consider the prospect of closing or consolidating schools.

All have been dogged by controversy.

Biggs, who was elected to the board in 2024, served as principal at Burke Elementary School in Washington Park on the city's South Side. She was fired in 2018, accused of record-keeping and paperwork violations, and placed on the school district's do-not-hire list.

She says it was punishment for speaking out on CPS failure to address dirty and under-resourced schools. Biggs appealed the ruling several times, and, in 2025, CPS reversed the decision and removed her from the list.

Campaign ads have attacked Dominguez, pointing to public records that show \$35,000 in unpaid property taxes that are tied to a building his family owns. "I am on a payment plan," he recently told WGN-TV.

Last week, the CPS inspector general reopened an investigation into allegations that Dominguez had “inappropriate interactions with a CPS student in 2017 while working at the Resurrection Project,” the Tribune reported. Dominguez has denied the claim, but pledges to cooperate in the investigation.

Henderson is contending with the fallout from a 15-year-old child custody case, in which his ex-wife alleged their son was abused and beaten by Henderson. He denies that, arguing that he was exercising loving but necessary discipline.

As the charges and counter-charges fly, what truly defines these contests is money.

Revuluri suspended his campaign “in part because he is unable to compete with the money pouring in from labor unions and other special interest groups,” the Tribune reported.

In a statement, he pointed to “the gusher of special-interest cash has crowded out the voices of real Chicagoans.”

"Gusher," is putting it mildly.

Campaign fundraising in the school board races stood at \$1.8 million from last October to June 30 of this year, according to an analysis by WBEZ and Chalkbeat, a news site that covers public education. Most of that total — \$1.2 million — went to board president candidates.

Millions more are expected to pour in from the CTU, which is backing Dominguez and other CTU allies, and the Common Ground Collective, a business-oriented fund which supports Biggs and others. The Illinois Network of Charter Schools and The Urban Center are also spending big in the school board races.

The charter network's war chest “is by far the largest among political action committees with a stake in the election at more than \$4 million,” according to the WBEZ/Chalkbeat analysis.

Special interests want to buy and own these candidates. Do not let them.

Before you vote, check out the first-rate and extensive coverage produced by the Tribune Editorial Board and opinion pages.

Chicago, this election matters.

Laura Washington is a political commentator and longtime Chicago journalist. Her columns appear in the Tribune each Wednesday. Write to her at LauraLauraWashington@gmail.com.

Three years after Oct. 7, remember how this war began

By Elad Strohmayer

SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE

SCOTT STANTIS/FOR THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Three years ago today, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, murdering approximately 1,200 people and abducting 251 others. They burned families alive, slaughtered civilians, hunted young people at a music festival, raped women, and took children, parents and grandparents hostage.

For us Israelis, it is still Oct. 7, 2023.

That morning should have changed what the world understood about Hamas and its murderous ideology of Islamist extremism. Instead, we have spent three years being asked to justify our refusal to let our families be massacred again.

This was planned. Had Hamas not launched its attack, the war that followed would not have happened. The terrorists came equipped to kill, kidnap and film their atrocities. And yet, almost immediately, people found ways to excuse them.

Immediately afterward, demonstrators gathered outside the Israeli Consulate in Chicago. Organizers expressed support for the “resistance.” Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza had not begun. Families in Israel still did not know whether their missing children were dead, hiding or being held hostage.

Within a week of the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, many demonstrators began painting Israel, the victim of these attacks, as a villain responsible for committing among the worst acts known to humanity.

Today, the accusation of “genocide” has become the centerpiece of the effort to reverse accountability.

The claim that Israel is committing “genocide” is a modern-day blood libel that fuels antisemitism. For centuries, Jews were falsely accused of murdering children and using their blood to make matzah. Today, the Jewish state is accused of deliberately starving and exterminating a people.

The accusation against Israel of “genocide” distorts its definition, which requires an intent to destroy a people, in whole or in part. Israel’s purpose was clear: to recover its hostages and to dismantle Hamas.

Consider what Israel was fighting. Hamas built a network of tunnels beneath neighborhoods. Hamas situated weapons and military operations in schools and hospitals, among people seeking an education, medical care or refuge.

Israel warned civilians to leave areas of fighting, facilitated humanitarian assistance, and took measures to reduce civilian casualties. Those efforts did not prevent every tragedy, but they need to be considered in an honest assessment of Israel's intentions.

Rejecting the "genocide" accusa-

That morning should have changed what the world understood about Hamas and its murderous ideology of Islamist extremism. Instead, we have spent three years being asked to justify our refusal to let our families be massacred again.

tion does not require indifference to Palestinian suffering. Families have lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods. Their grief is real. That is precisely why Hamas' responsibility must remain at the core of the conversation.

Accountability requires facts. It cannot begin with an automatic verdict against Israel and an automatic excuse for Hamas.

Yet that is how much of the campaign against Israel operates. Figures issued by Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry are presented as unquestioned facts. Its total death toll, which does not distinguish civilians from combatants, is used to support claims of wholesale civilian extermination. Israel's evidence is dismissed as

merely "Israel's claim."

When Israel is accused of deliberately targeting journalists, the accusation spreads immediately. When Israel publishes records linking individuals working as journalists to Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, campaigners dismiss the evidence.

That is how propaganda works: accept whatever supports the accusation, reject whatever challenges it, and repeat until the accusation becomes familiar enough to sound true.

Today, demonstrators are expected outside the Israeli Consulate in Chicago. Their protests have often included flags of Hamas and Hezbollah, both designated terrorist organizations by the United States. This display reveals that this campaign is not about concern for Palestinians but rather hatred of the world's only Jewish state.

While we remember our murdered loved ones, others are exploiting the anniversary of their murder to baselessly accuse us of the same grand crime Hamas sought to carry out on that day.

Alongside this campaign, we have heard calls to “Globalize the Intifada.” Israelis remember the intifada through buses exploding and suicide bombers enter-

ing cafes and restaurants. To us, globalizing it means targeting Israelis and Jews worldwide.

That violence is already evident. Two Israeli Embassy employees were murdered outside a Jewish Museum in Washington and a man from Chicago has been charged. People calling for the hostages' release were attacked with fire in Boulder, Colorado. An armed attacker rammed his truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, while children were inside. A FlyDubai pilot sought to commit an act of terror against nearly 180 Israelis by hijacking a plane heading to Tel Aviv. The list goes on.

Faced with this violence, we should expect public officials to confront the hatred behind it. Instead, some repeat the false accusation of genocide, giving it the legitimacy of public office. By doing so, they help feed the hatred that makes calls to “Globalize the Intifada” seem acceptable.

Especially in this charged political season, our communities are already polarized. Leaders who deepen that division and dismiss the fear their words create are failing the people they represent.

We should expect better.

But against this effort to rewrite Oct. 7, there are people determined to keep its victims' stories alive.

British runner Yoel Levy plans to run the Chicago Marathon, dressed as Batman, in memory of Ariel and Kfir Bibas. Ariel loved Batman. He was 4 when he was taken hostage by Hamas. Kfir was 9 months old. Hamas murdered them and their mother in captivity. Their father, Yarden, survived 484 days as a hostage and returned home without them.

When you see Batman running through Chicago, remember the Bibas family. Their story is part of the truth that disappears when Oct. 7 is reduced to ignorant slogans.

As we look ahead, we must focus on how to bring a hopeful future to our region.

Lasting reconstruction requires the demilitarization and deradicalization of Gaza. Gaza must have a Hamas-free future.

That is the future Israel wants: security for our families and the possibility of a better life for our neighbors.

We cannot undo Oct. 7 or the suffering that followed. But we must not let its perpetrators or their political accomplices erase their own culpability, excuse the massacre and rewrite history.

Elad Strohmayer is the consul general of Israel to the Midwest, based in Chicago.

Republicans are fanning baseless fears about American Muslims

Far-right activist Jake Lang stands on the back of a truck displaying anti-Muslim messages during a demonstration outside the annual Palestine Fest at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview on Sunday. ARMANDO L. SANCHEZ/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Steve Chapman

Over the course of American history, one immigrant group after another has arrived and integrated into society, and Muslims are among the latest. Like many of those who came before, they've learned that assimilation is no protection against animus.

In the wake of 9/11, Muslims found themselves the object of suspicion, anger and law enforcement scrutiny. But they managed to endure that ordeal and not only survive but flourish, in places as different as New York City, Detroit and Dallas-Ft. Worth.

Today, Muslims are indistinguishable from the general population when it comes to graduating from college, working full time and enlisting in the military. Last year, a Muslim was elected mayor of New York – which, by the way, has more Jewish residents than any city outside of Israel. Some 250 Muslims hold elected office across 26 states.

You might expect that as the memory of the al-Qaida attacks and the global war on terror has subsided, Islamophobia would also fade. No such luck.

Muslims are more likely than any other group to report encountering religious discrimination. Survey data indicates that anti-Muslim sentiment has risen substantially since 2018. And when prejudice proliferates, some politicians see opportunity.

The Republican Party has not always been a haven for religious bigots. George W. Bush got 78% of the Muslim vote in 2000. As president, after 9/11, he visited an Islamic center, met with Muslims at the White House and said Islam is “a faith based upon love, not hate.”

As the party's 2008 presidential nominee, John McCain rebuked a voter who told him that Barack Obama was “an Arab.” In 2015, House Speaker Paul Ryan denounced candidate Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the country.

But Ryan's version of conservatism has turned out to be as obsolete as Blockbuster Video. In his first term, Trump implemented a version of his Muslim ban, which the Supreme Court obediently upheld. In his second term, he has virtually stamped out immigration from predominantly Muslim nations.

Trump has a long record of inciting fear and hatred of Islam, and plenty of Republican politicians have joined in. “Muslims don’t belong in American society” declared Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee. “Deport them ALL,” posted Rep. Randy Fine of Florida.

In this year's campaign, Islamophobia is not a rare phenomenon. It's become an essential part of the Republican brand.

Blood-curdling claims about Islam are a common theme in campaign ads. The Guardian reports that it's part of what "researchers who track anti-Muslim sentiment describe as the most concentrated wave of Islamophobic rhetoric in U.S. electoral politics since the 9/11 attacks."

When Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, North Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace said on social media, “Every single Muslim holding public office in America is a trojan horse, and a threat to both national security and our republic.”

Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville reposted a tweet featuring a photo of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani alongside a shot of the burning Twin Towers with the message: "The enemy is inside the gates." Rather than condemn such bigotry, House Speaker Mike Johnson invoked the specter of "Sharia law."

Johnson was copying a favorite tactic of Republicans in Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill banning “Sharia compounds.” That was his absurd response to a planned Muslim residential development north of Dallas — which would be open to non-Muslims

and would abide by fair housing laws.

Attorney General Ken Paxton, the party nominee in this year's U.S. Senate race, said, "There will be no 'Sharia city' in Texas under my watch," which is like saying he won't allow vampire colonies.

There is no evidence that anyone is trying to build a Taliban outpost in Texas or anywhere else, and no reason to imagine that anyone could. But there are insular communities of people following other faiths — including towns overwhelmingly dominated by Hasidic Jews in New York state and by so-called fundamentalist Mormons in Utah and Arizona — that go largely unnoticed.

Islamophobes claim that one American city has already fallen under repressive sharia law — Dearborn, Michigan, which has a majority Arab population and a Muslim mayor.

It's true that the city is home to numerous mosques, and some residents complain about loudspeakers issuing calls to prayer. But Dearborn also has dozens of churches, as well as Catholic and Protestant schools, liquor stores, taverns and — what's this? — strip clubs. Iran's ayatollahs would not be impressed.

The menace being decried in campaigns this year is a phantom conjured up by politicians who trust that baseless fear is more powerful than informed tolerance.

American Muslims have shown that they can live respectfully and agreeably among people different from themselves. If only Republican politicians could do the same.

Steve Chapman was a member of the Tribune Editorial Board from 1981 to 2021. His columns, exclusive to the Tribune, appear the first week of every month. He can be reached at stephenjchapman@icloud.com.

Voice of the People

Keep Divvy's success rolling

Divvy, Chicago's bike and scooter share system, logged back-to-back million-ride months in July and August, on top of a record 6.8 million rides in 2025.

A Divvy bike station in the parking lot at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago on Aug. 31. TERRENCE ANTONIO JAMES/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Since 2013, Divvy has become an integral part of Chicago's transportation landscape, providing residents with affordable and accessible alternatives to driving. Millions of residents and visitors have chosen a healthier and more sustainable option for trips around town thanks to Divvy's bikes and scooters.

Perhaps most importantly, Divvy eases Chicago's dependence on cars for everyday trips. That means fewer clogged roadways and less climate pollution. Even if you don't use Divvy, you benefit from it.

As the City Council considers a new contract with Divvy's operator, Lyft, it's critical that we move forward so that both residents and visitors can continue to reap the rewards of having a world-class bike-sharing program in our city. This ongoing partnership will help ensure a high level of service, which includes accessible stations, a fleet of bikes and scooters that are well maintained, and affordable rates for riders.

As a city-owned system, Divvy is two-wheeled public transit, of which we should all be proud. This is not the typical approach taken by other cities. This structure has enabled the city to shape how and where Divvy will be deployed, ensure equitable and affordable access, and provide clear lines of accountability.

We have the framework for Divvy to continue to thrive, while also providing the system's owners – Chicago's residents – with ample opportunity to push for bigger and better things in years to come.

— Jim Merrell, managing director of advocacy, Active Transportation Alliance, Chicago

Reduce single-use plastics

Michael Hawthorne's Sept. 27 article on plastic pollution in the Great Lakes ("The overwhelming problem of plastic") highlights the ingenuity and determination of people working to confront this crisis. If there is one lesson that rises above the rest, it's that we cannot solve this problem without reducing single-use plastic at the source.

One of the clearest places to start is phasing out expanded polystyrene, or plastic foam. This problematic plastic is used for takeout containers and coffee cups. It breaks up easily; frequently ends up in lakes, rivers and oceans; and is virtually unrecyclable.

Illinois lawmakers are already considering one practical solution: a statewide ban on polystyrene foam food containers. Congress should follow suit.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin deserves credit for working to protect the Great Lakes by co-sponsoring the Farewell to Foam Act and leading the Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act, two bills that would help reduce plastic pollution before it reaches our waterways.

As Hawthorne's reporting makes clear, the best way to tackle plastic pollution is to stop producing so much of it in the first place. — Christy Leavitt, senior campaign director, Oceana

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Bad sound system at stadium

Good for Brittany Williams for speaking out about Northwestern

University neglecting the band on opening night on Friday (“Let the Northwestern band play the pregame show,” Oct. 6). I would have liked to see the band as well.

Unfortunately, as wonderful as the experience was attending the opening of that brand-new stadium, the sound system was awful. I have faith it will be corrected. I could not understand the stadium announcer or even hear the band clearly. Very echo-y and almost muffled.

Other than that, what a fabulous evening and a win. An amazing venue.

Go Cats!

Kathleen Janessa, Skokie

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Don't sacrifice NU traditions

Thank you to Brittany Williams for the op-ed about the North-western University marching band's absence from the on-field pregame festivities. I guess, given the time restrictions the network placed on the pregame activities, it might be understood. However, maybe start those activities 30 minutes earlier to allow for this tradition to continue.

The bigger question remains: Why has the new stadium management turned a deaf ear to the alumni, fans and supporters who value all of the package of entertainment and not just the football game? My fear is that the big-money expenditure has to be paid for somehow, and maybe it's to the exclusion of all we have held dear in our NU traditions, including our band!

Just look at the commercialization within the New Ryan Field, and you'll find an answer.

— Michael Denesha, Wilmette

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Bravo to architecture critic

Thanks to columnist Edward Keegan for calling for an end to the walling off of Dearborn Park (“It’s time to tear down Dearborn Park’s walls,” Oct. 4). Weaving communities back together by reconnecting streets promotes walking and access to shops and amenities.

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, "Mayor Johnson, tear down that wall!"

— Doug Farr, Farr Associates, Chicago

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Columnist's dreamy views

Edward Keegan's column promoting the tearing down of the walls of Dearborn Park in order to "integrate" the area into the fabric of the city would be right on if the city was safe.

Keegan should not impose his dreamy views on residents who prefer safety over appearances.

— Lawrence Ashe, Chicago

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Not really 'going rogue'

As we hear more and more stories about artificial intelligence agents hacking into more companies as well as government databases in the U.S. and Australia, I think we need to stop referring to this behavior as “going rogue.” It seems to absolve the makers of responsibility for putting into the stream of commerce a product that has repeatedly done this very same thing.

If AI keeps doing this and its makers don't stop it, it is not "going rogue." It's behaving exactly as its creators have come to expect it to.

— Linda Falcao, Baltimore

Late archbishop's message

Last month, the Catholic Church beatified Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. For those unaware, beatification is the next step in the process of sainthood that gives Sheen the title “blessed” and allows for limited veneration. Many Catholics view Sheen as a hero and have been waiting for this day for a long time.

Sheen was known for preaching on the radio before transitioning to television. He reached millions across the country and converted people to the faith. Watch any clip or full episode on social media, and you'll see that his messages still resonate today. He discussed addiction, suffering, the evils of communism and the meaning of life. He has generational appeal as well: My grandfather told me that his grandparents loved watching him, and a written collection of his shows that I read changed my life.

His message that life is worth living is extremely timely. We could use that message in our life, no matter our age.

— Brett Heinisch, Columbus, Indiana

Conundrum for the pope

Perhaps a Jesuit, or even a Talmudic scholar, could answer this: Who does the pope from the South Side root for if, in the World Series, the White Sox play the Padres?

— Jim Vespe, Mamaroneck, New York

Note to readers

With Halloween coming, we'd like you to share your most memorable experience related to the holiday, either as a child or as an adult. A costume that you've never forgotten? A trip to a haunted house that scared you silly? Neighbors who went above and beyond to make things fun for the kids? Send a letter, of no more than 400 words, by Friday, Oct. 23 to letters@chicagotribune.com. Be sure to include your full name and your city/town.

For online-exclusive letters, go to www.chicagotribune.com/letters. Email your letter submissions, 400 words or less, to letters@chicago tribune.com. Include your full name, address and phone number.

CHICAGO ACCUWEATHER

Golfing Index

AccuWeather

TEAM

Meteorologists Larry Mowry, Cheryl Scott, Jaisol Martinez, Tracy Butler and Greg Dutra

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AccuWeather

Outlook: Sun through high clouds; pleasant in the western suburbs. Clear to partly cloudy tonight.

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Chicago forecast

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Wednesday Conditions

8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m. 8 p.m.

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Wednesday Activities

AccuWeather.com UV Index™ | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 57° | 66° | 74° | 78° | 76° | 71° | 71° | 8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m. 8 p.m. | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 |

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Tuesday temperatures

Fishing Index | 1 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 4 | Local temperatures

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Chicago almanac

The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection. 0-2 Low, 3-5 Moderate, 6-7 High, 8-10 Very High, 11+ Extreme. The patented AccuWeather.com RealFeel Temperature is an exclusive index of effective temperature based on eight weather factors. Golf and Fishing Indexes: 0-2: Poor; 3-4: Fair; 5-6: Good; 7-8: Very Good; 9-10: Excellent. | Average | Record | Tuesday high: 74° | 67° | 94° (1963) | Tuesday low: 50° | 49° | 28° (1952) | Tuesday Precipitation

\*24-hour period ending 4 p.m. Tuesday | 2026 | 2025 | Normal | Tuesday* | 0.00" | 0.40" | 0.11" | Month to date | 1.41" | 0.40" | 0.67" | Year to date | 36.08" | 23.31" | 30.57" | through 6 p.m. Tuesday | Average | Location | High | Low | High | Low | Aurora | $73^{\circ}$ | $42^{\circ}$ | $68^{\circ}$ | $44^{\circ}$ | Gary | $75^{\circ}$ | $50^{\circ}$ | $68^{\circ}$ | $49^{\circ}$ | Kankakee | $74^{\circ}$ | $44^{\circ}$ | $70^{\circ}$ | $46^{\circ}$ | Lansing | $73^{\circ}$ | $46^{\circ}$ | $68^{\circ}$ | $47^{\circ}$ | Midway | $74^{\circ}$ | $51^{\circ}$ | $68^{\circ}$ | $50^{\circ}$ | Romeoville | $75^{\circ}$ | $46^{\circ}$ | $69^{\circ}$ | $47^{\circ}$ | Valparaiso | $73^{\circ}$ | $41^{\circ}$ | $70^{\circ}$ | $47^{\circ}$ | Waukegan | $72^{\circ}$ | $47^{\circ}$ | $65^{\circ}$ | $46^{\circ}$ | Source: Loyola Medicine via NAB

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Air Quality Index

Tuesday's reading

Pollen as of 9/30 | Moderate | Wednesday's forecast | Good | Primary pollutant | Particulates | Source: AirNow.gov | Trees | Grass | Weeds | Mold | Absent | Absent | Low | High | ---

Cosmos

Sun and moon | Monday | Day | | | | Night 54° | Pleasant with some sunshine | Winds: NE 6-12 mph POP: 10% | Wed. | Thu. | Sunrise | 6:54 a.m. | 6:55 a.m. | Sunset | 6:22 p.m. | 6:21 p.m. | Moonrise | 3:30 a.m. | 4:41 a.m. | Moonset | 4:54 p.m. | 5:16 p.m. | Wednesday | | | | Night52° | Warm with sun throughhigh clouds | Winds: W 6-12 mphPOP: 0% | New | First | Full | Last | | | | | Oct 10 | Oct 18 | Oct 25 | Nov 1 | Wednesday's Planet Watch | Rise | Set | Mercury | 9:08 a.m. | 7:09 p.m. | Venus | 9:16 a.m. | 6:39 p.m. | Mars | 12:59 a.m. | 3:38 p.m. | Jupiter | 2:19 a.m. | 4:19 p.m. | Saturn | 6:22 p.m. | 6:41 a.m. | Shown is Wednesday's weather. Temperatures are Wednesday's highs and Wednesday night's lows with high and low RealFeel Temperatures shown below.

Best viewing times today: Venus: not visible Mars: 6:25 a.m. Jupiter: 6:25 a.m. Saturn: 6:50 p.m. Mercury: 6:50 p.m.

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National cities | Thursday | Day | | | | | Partly sunny | Winds: NW 7-14 mphPOP: 0% | Friday | Day | | | | Night59° | Nice with clouds and sun | Winds: S 6-12 mphPOP: 5% | Sunday | | Day | | Night 59° | Mostly cloudy and warm | Winds: SSE 7-14 mph POP: 25% | Saturday | | | | | Sunshine and pleasantly warm | Winds: S 8-16 mph | POP: 10% |

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AccuWeather

Visit AccuWeather.com

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Lake Michigan

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Wednesday

Wind from the west-southwest at 6-12 knots becoming north-northeast. Seas 1-3 feet. Visibility clear. Water temperature: 59.

Shown are areas of precipitation and high temperatures for the day. | 8 a.m. | 10 a.m. | Noon | 2 p.m. | 4 p.m. | 6 p.m. | 8 p.m. | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 6 | ---

Thursday

Boating Index: 0-2: Poor; 3-4: Fair; 5-6: Good; 7-8: Very Good; 9-10: Excellent.

Wind from the north at 7-14 knots. Seas 1-3 feet. Visibility generally unrestricted. Water temperature: 64.

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National forecast

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Weather history

On Oct. 7, 1902, a waterspout was spotted off Cape May, N.J. When the first chilly air masses of fall cross warm bodies of water, waterspouts form. Although related to tornadoes, they are generally weaker.

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Weather Trivia™

Q: What machine is sometimes used to disperse fog at airports?

A helicopter

:

Do you have a weather question for the ABC 7 team? Submit them at abc7chicago.com/weather or send them to:

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World cities | Wed. | Thu. | City | Hi/Lo/W | Hi/Lo/W | Fairbanks | 39/25/c | 40/24/pc | Fargo | 70/40/s | 68/44/pc | Flagstaff | 73/40/s | 72/40/s | Fort Myers | 86/76/t | 87/74/t | Fort Smith | 88/59/pc | 90/63/s | Fresno | 100/67/s | 99/66/s | Grand Junction | 83/56/s | 83/56/s | Great Falls | 71/43/pc | 77/53/pc | Harrisburg | 72/52/s | 76/47/s | Hartford | 67/54/s | 74/46/s | Helena, MT | 75/43/s | 76/48/s | Honolulu | 86/75/pc | 84/75/sh | Houston | 92/70/s | 91/67/pc | Int'l Falls | 63/37/s | 59/37/s | Jackson, MS | 90/61/s | 89/61/pc | Jacksonville | 81/71/t | 81/71/t | Juneau | 53/43/r | 50/35/c | Kansas City | 84/56/s | 79/59/s | Las Vegas | 97/75/s | 98/73/s | Lexington | 81/56/s | 82/48/s | Lincoln | 81/50/s | 73/58/t | Little Rock | 88/60/s | 90/62/s | Los Angeles | 97/72/s | 94/69/s | Louisville | 83/60/s | 83/53/s | Macon | 84/55/pc | 84/59/pc | Memphis | 87/62/s | 90/63/s | Miami | 88/77/t | 90/78/t | Minneapolis | 73/48/s | 67/50/pc | Mobile | 84/66/c | 84/65/pc | Montgomery | 87/57/s | 87/58/pc | Nashville | 86/58/s | 88/55/s | New Orleans | 85/74/t | 86/74/pc | New York City | 67/56/s | 75/57/s | Norfolk | 73/56/s | 81/64/s | Oklahoma City | 90/60/s | 88/60/s | Omaha | 80/51/s | 75/58/pc | Orlando | 81/74/t | 82/73/t | Ask ABC 7 Weather Team

190 N. State Street

Chicago, IL 60601 | Wed. | Thu. | City | Hi/Lo/W | Hi/Lo/W | Abilene | 90/60/s | 90/58/s | Albany, NY | 67/53/s | 69/46/pc | Albuquerque | 82/56/pc | 80/56/s | Amarillo | 84/57/pc | 81/54/pc | Anchorage | 49/37/c | 50/38/pc | Asheville | 78/51/s | 80/53/s | Aspen | 73/40/pc | 72/39/c | Atlanta | 81/59/s | 84/64/pc | Atlantic City | 67/59/s | 76/56/s | Austin | 90/64/s | 89/66/t | Baltimore | 73/53/s | 81/50/s | Billings | 73/46/s | 79/51/pc | Birmingham | 86/55/s | 89/61/pc | Bismarck | 71/38/pc | 70/42/pc | Boise | 86/54/s | 85/56/s | Boston | 67/56/s | 74/53/s | Brownsville | 87/76/t | 90/73/t | Buffalo | 67/53/pc | 65/47/s | Burlington, VT | 63/54/sh | 66/48/sh | Charleston, SC | 81/64/c | 81/66/pc | Charleston, WV | 77/55/s | 76/46/s | Charlotte | 79/54/s | 84/60/s | Chattanooga | 84/56/s | 90/60/s | Cheyenne | 77/49/s | 80/49/s | Cincinnati | 80/55/s | 79/48/s | Cleveland | 74/54/s | 67/47/s | Colorado Spgs | 81/51/s | 79/52/s | Columbia, MO | 86/55/s | 82/55/s | Columbia, SC | 82/53/pc | 84/58/s | Columbus, OH | 77/53/s | 74/45/s | Concord | 66/48/s | 72/43/sh | Corpus Christi | 92/73/t | 91/70/t | Dallas | 87/65/s | 88/66/pc | Daytona Beach | 81/74/t | 82/75/t | Denver | 82/55/s | 84/53/s | Duluth | 65/42/s | 60/42/s | El Paso | 86/64/s | 85/61/pc | Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice. POP: Probability of Precipitation. | Wed. | Thu. | City | Hi/Lo/W | Hi/Lo/W | Palm Beach | 86/76/t | 88/76/t | Palm Springs | 106/83/s | 106/82/s | Philadelphia | 71/56/s | 80/56/s | Phoenix | 100/80/s | 102/80/s | Pittsburgh | 71/55/s | 71/47/pc | Portland, ME | 61/51/s | 70/46/sh | Portland, OR | 78/51/s | 81/54/s | Providence | 66/55/s | 72/51/s | Raleigh | 78/54/s | 84/61/s | Rapid City | 78/45/s | 77/46/pc | Reno | 88/51/s | 90/53/s | Richmond | 75/55/s | 85/55/s | Rochester | 69/53/pc | 67/45/s | Sacramento | 100/58/s | 99/58/s | St. Louis | 87/58/s | 81/58/s | Salem, OR | 79/48/s | 82/49/s | Salt Lake City | 82/58/s | 84/59/s | San Antonio | 89/67/s | 87/68/t | San Diego | 87/70/s | 83/70/pc | San Francisco | 79/57/s | 75/58/pc | San Juan | 91/78/sh | 90/79/pc | Santa Fe | 78/46/pc | 75/46/s | Savannah | 81/64/c | 82/67/pc | Seattle | 67/49/s | 71/52/pc | Shreveport | 91/63/s | 95/62/pc | Sioux Falls | 75/44/s | 68/53/pc | Spokane | 75/47/pc | 75/49/pc | Syracuse | 69/54/pc | 68/48/pc | Tallahassee | 83/69/t | 84/68/pc | Tampa | 83/75/t | 81/74/t | Topeka | 85/54/s | 80/55/s | Tucson | 95/70/s | 96/75/s | Tulsa | 89/59/s | 88/59/s | Washington, DC | 73/56/s | 83/55/s | Wichita | 89/57/s | 87/57/s | Wilkes-Barre | 68/51/s | 74/43/s | Yuma | 105/76/s | 108/78/s | ---

Regional cities | Wed. | Thu. | City | Hi/Lo/W | Hi/Lo/W | Illinois | Carbondale | 86/54/s | 83/48/s | Champaign | 84/51/s | 74/47/s | Decatur | 84/52/s | 76/47/s | Moline | 79/48/pc | 71/48/pc | Peoria | 81/51/s | 71/52/pc | Quincy | 83/53/s | 74/54/s | Rockford | 77/47/pc | 67/43/pc | Springfield | 85/50/s | 75/50/s | Sterling | 79/47/pc | 71/46/pc | Indiana | Bloomington | 80/50/s | 77/43/s | Evansville | 84/56/s | 84/49/s | Fort Wayne | 76/48/s | 71/40/pc | Indianapolis | 81/53/s | 76/48/s | Lafayette | 81/49/s | 74/45/s | South Bend | 74/51/s | 66/43/s | Wisconsin | Green Bay | 73/43/pc | 65/40/s | Kenosha | 75/48/pc | 67/45/pc | La Crosse | 75/48/pc | 67/47/pc | Madison | 74/45/pc | 65/43/pc | Milwaukee | 73/49/pc | 67/45/pc | Wausau | 71/42/pc | 63/40/pc | Michigan | Detroit | 74/50/pc | 69/43/s | Grand Rapids | 71/49/s | 65/44/s | Marquette | 63/42/pc | 55/40/sh | Sault Ste. Marie | 63/48/sh | 57/46/sh | Traverse City | 70/50/pc | 61/43/s | Iowa | Ames | 78/45/s | 70/52/pc | Cedar Rapids | 76/48/s | 69/51/pc | Des Moines | 78/51/s | 70/55/pc | Dubuque | 75/49/pc | 66/47/pc | Wed. | Thu. | City | Hi/Lo/W | Hi/Lo/W | Acapulco | 87/75/r | 84/75/r | Algiers | 87/67/t | 83/65/sh | Amsterdam | 69/53/c | 60/51/r | Ankara | 69/42/s | 71/43/s | Athens | 78/56/s | 77/61/s | Auckland | 65/53/s | 68/52/pc | Baghdad | 94/80/c | 95/80/pc | Bangkok | 91/78/r | 94/79/r | Barbados | 88/80/r | 87/79/t | Barcelona | 79/62/pc | 73/56/sh | Beijing | 81/47/s | 81/50/pc | Beirut | 82/70/s | 84/73/s | Berlin | 72/52/pc | 65/47/c | Bermuda | 80/76/r | 83/77/sh | Bogota | 67/50/r | 67/52/r | Brussels | 73/53/sh | 58/47/sh | Bucharest | 77/49/pc | 78/50/pc | Budapest | 78/47/pc | 78/54/t | Buenos Aires | 66/61/sh | 66/56/r | Cairo | 85/67/pc | 86/68/pc | Cancun | 90/76/r | 88/78/r | Caracas | 93/79/r | 92/77/r | Casablanca | 80/62/pc | 79/60/sh | Copenhagen | 60/55/sh | 60/48/r | Dublin | 55/41/s | 58/52/r | Edmonton | 61/40/pc | 55/43/r | Frankfurt | 74/56/s | 61/41/r | Geneva | 64/56/sh | 58/43/sh | Guadalajara | 79/62/t | 79/61/t | Havana | 89/73/r | 89/73/r | Helsinki | 57/36/s | 55/52/r | Hong Kong | 86/77/pc | 87/78/c | Istanbul | 73/56/c | 69/60/pc | Jerusalem | 76/61/s | 79/62/s | Johannesburg | 78/53/pc | 78/57/pc | Kabul | 79/57/pc | 79/55/pc | Kingston | 92/80/t | 91/80/c | Wed. | Thu. | City | Hi/Lo/W | Hi/Lo/W | Kyiv | 70/53/s | 74/53/pc | Lima | 79/72/pc | 79/72/pc | Lisbon | 75/61/t | 81/61/s | London | 59/45/sh | 60/50/s | Madrid | 72/54/sh | 71/43/s | Manila | 92/79/t | 91/79/t | Mexico City | 73/55/sh | 72/57/r | Monterrey | 84/65/sh | 82/64/sh | Montreal | 61/53/sh | 62/45/sh | Moscow | 60/41/s | 58/46/pc | Munich | 75/53/s | 62/43/sh | Nairobi | 79/63/t | 81/62/t | Nassau | 90/77/t | 88/78/t | New Delhi | 97/75/pc | 95/75/s | Oslo | 58/41/pc | 48/38/r | Ottawa | 60/48/sh | 63/41/sh | Panama City | 89/75/t | 89/76/t | Paris | 69/50/sh | 60/44/r | Prague | 68/47/pc | 67/43/sh | Rio de Janeiro | 78/72/c | 80/72/s | Riyadh | 105/79/pc | 105/79/pc | Rome | 78/67/pc | 77/64/sh | Santiago | 67/48/r | 66/48/r | Seoul | 75/47/s | 77/50/s | Singapore | 93/79/t | 93/80/t | Sofia | 76/39/c | 78/49/s | Stockholm | 56/40/pc | 55/41/r | Sydney | 65/54/pc | 67/53/pc | Taipei | 80/71/pc | 84/72/pc | Tehran | 86/70/pc | 85/68/pc | Tokyo | 75/63/c | 76/62/s | Toronto | 69/50/pc | 65/45/s | Trinidad | 89/78/t | 88/78/t | Vancouver | 60/49/pc | 62/53/pc | Vienna | 77/53/s | 76/53/pc | Warsaw | 70/48/pc | 75/49/pc | Winnipeg | 63/40/s | 63/44/pc | Forecasts and graphics, except for the WLS-TV/ABC7 Chicago content, provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2026

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ELECTION

from Page A1

Melissa Bean, 8th Congressional District Democratic nominee, campaigns and buys nuts from Myles Bohn, owner of Nuts To Go Chicago, at the Geneva French Market in Geneva on Sunday. EILEEN T. MESLAR/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Republican 8th Congressional District nominee Jennifer Davis speaks to the media after an Illinois GOP unity breakfast in Naperville on March 18. E. JASON WAMBSGANS/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

moorthi won reelection in 2024 with 57% of the vote.

It wasn't always so Democratic, though previous boundaries for the 8th District were more centered around Cook County's northwest suburbs, as well as parts of Lake and McHenry counties. During that time, Republican Phil Crane held the seat for 35 years until Bean beat him on her second try in 2004, an early sign of the Democratic shift that has since turned much of the Chicago suburbs blue.

Since reentering politics, Bean has also ramped up her fundraising operation. While she loaned nearly \$300,000 to her campaign fund, Bean has raised \$1.7 million since July 2025, much of it spent to win the Democratic primary, federal campaign finance records show. Davis has raised \$476,000 during the same time frame, though she is trying to remain competitive by loaning \$1 million to her campaign, according to the campaign finance records. The campaign's final-day fundraising won't be reported until after the election.

Both nominees emerged from crowded March primaries. Bean, attacked from the left in a race she said got personal at times, outspent all but one of her seven opponents and won with about 22,000 votes, or 32%. Davis beat three opponents with 14,600 votes, or 51%.

Bean also got help from a controversial outside source. A super political action committee calling itself Elect Chicago Women spent \$4.5 million supporting her primary run. The group was tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, which works to strengthen U.S.-Israel ties. AIPAC's spending in several races angered progressive candidates competing in the Democratic primary, an anger amplified because the source of the group's money to Bean and other congressional candidates wasn't disclosed until after the primary.

Progressive support has never been central to Bean's success. The 64-year-old, who still lives in the unincorporated Palatine home where she and her husband raised two daughters, served in Congress from 2005 to 2011 and was a member of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition. She points to her votes to help pass the Affordable Care Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, which restricted banks' high-risk investments after the housing crisis, and equal pay protection.

After narrowly losing to Republican Joe Walsh in the 2010 tea party wave, Bean, formerly a tech consultant, became president of the Executives' Club of Chicago and later head of Midwest operations for JPMorgan Chase and CEO of Mesirow Wealth Advisors.

But she said she wanted to make a return to politics now because, in large part, she thinks President Donald Trump is trampling rights such as freedom of the press and encroaching on powers the Constitution reserves for Congress, including spending tariffs and declaring war.

"I'm hearing a lot of ... concerns from families," Bean said, "some about the lack of checks and balances, the lack of Constitutional adherence, but also ... how young people are feeling very hopeless, and not feeling like the American dream is as available for them as it has been for previous generations. That's very sad, but very fixable."

Her “Young American Empowerment Plan” calls for providing help for housing, healthcare, energy and education costs. It includes restoring funding to the U.S. Department of Education, making higher education more affordable and investing in clean energy.

She also wants to shore up Social Security's finances, and she opposes the Trump administration's mass deportations and supports immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship.

Raised in rural Wisconsin and now living in Huntley, Davis was 17 when she and her husband started Davisware software, which helps service companies run their business. The couple sold the venture in 2025. A mother of 10, including three adopted children, Davis, 55, has never held elected office but emphasized her experience helping small businesses.

“We have taken from our parents and stolen from our kids with an insurmountable amount of debt,” she said. “If we want to solve problems, we have to do things differently. So this to me is a bonus lap to ... make a difference in our country.”

Though she's the Republican standard-bearer in the race, Davis described herself as "a political outsider" when asked whether she aligns with Trump, who is deeply unpopular in Illinois.

“I don’t have to be aligned to anyone in the party ... I’m certainly not going to agree with the president 100% of the time,” she said.

She has voiced opposition to using the Justice Department to go after political enemies and gerrymandering electoral districts, two stances Trump has embraced. While she said Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson should have accepted federal help last year during the federal immigration raids known as Operation Midway Blitz, Davis said instances of chaotic operations and shootings were “failures.”

“Any use of force should be reviewed and those responsible should be held accountable,” she said.

On immigration, Davis said illegal immigration costs taxpayers billions of dollars, and she supports deporting people who have committed crimes. But she supports a path to citizenship for people brought to the U.S. illegally as children who are working, staying out of trouble and paying taxes.

"I agree with the president on closing the border," she said. "(But) we have to have a pathway to success (for immigrants)."

On affordability, Davis called for cutting federal spending and lowering taxes. And on Trump's tariffs, Davis said she supported them against China – and more generally, if used strategically.

“Tariffs should be leverage,” she said, “not a permanent tax on Illinois families.”

Davis said her tech expertise could help oversee artificial intelligence and educate consumers on its benefits. She called data centers an extension of AI and said they have cut their water use through recycling.

“We need data centers,” she said. “There’s so much bad information out there about data centers … they don’t really use water now.”

Data centers could generate thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in new investment and property taxes, according to a new study by labor-affiliated Illinois think tanks. But the centers have been criticized for heavy water usage, with the Alliance for the Great Lakes warning in a report that the recent surge of centers could cause water shortages in the region.

“Government has to provide guardrails to make sure that we are doing things in our country’s best interest, and not stifling free enterprise,” she said. “AI leaders … don’t require government help.”

Bean also emphasized AI's potential to drive economic growth and called for clear rules to protect rights and safety without hampering innovation.

The two differ sharply on abortion. Davis supports the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and returned abortion regulation to the states. Bean calls reproductive freedom “non-negotiable” and wants to write Roe’s protections into federal law.

In 1984 the San Diego Padres won the National League pennant by defeating the Cubs 6-3 in game five of the league playoffs. (The loss denied the Cubs their first chance at World Series play since 1945.)

In 2003 California voters recalled Gov. Gray Davis and elected Arnold Schwarzenegger their new governor.

In 1982 the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Cats” opened on Broadway. (The show closed Sept. 10, 2000, after a record 7,485 performances.)

chicagotribune.com/deathnotice

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Chicago Tribune Death Notices

Chicago Tribune extends our condolences to the families and loved ones of those who have passed.

In 2023, Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage. Israel's retaliatory offensive and the ensuing Israel-Hamas war killed tens of thousands in Gaza until major combat subsided with an October 2025 ceasefire agreement.

In 1849 author Edgar Allan Poe died in Baltimore; he was 40.

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Arena, David T.

Death Notices

a legacy of laughter, adventure, and deeply cherished memories. David was born March 5, 1968 in New Jersey.

In 1998 Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was beaten and left tied to a wooden fencepost outside of Laramie, Wyo.; he died five days later. (Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney are serving life sentences for Shepard's murder.)

In 2001 the United States and Britain launched mili-

David Thomas Arena Esq., 58, passed away, surrounded by his loving wife and son, on October 2, 2026. David is a man whose larger-than-life personality could fill any room and warm any heart. Known for his infectious smile and enthusiasm and unshakeable love for his family, David lived life at full throttle, leaving behind

Together they had one son, Nathan Daniel, and were proud to raise him with the morals and values infused in their own upbringings. Nothing in his life compared to the joy of being a dad. David was a fiercely supportive and deeply engaged father, constantly laughing and bringing warmth to every moment. Among his favorite traditions was his weekly father-son night out with Nathan at Buffalo Wild Wings, a special time they both cherished.

David met his wife, Bridget, when they were young adults in 1988. Together, they turned life into an endless adventure. Whether traveling to new places, tackling life's challenges hand-in-hand, or finding joy in the quiet everyday moments at home. David and Bridget were inseparable. For 38 incredible years together, they built a life centered on home, family and travel. Their marriage was defined by countless adventures, from exploring the world together to attending Chicago street festivals, hosting backyard BBQs, or simply making a meal together at home. David approached everything with enthusiasm, leaving behind a legacy of love that will never fade.

David attended Loyola University Chicago where he received a bachelor's degree in political science in 1993. He was a member of the Phi Sigma Alpha National Honor Society and recipient of the Presidential Scholarship

tary strikes in Afghanistan. Also in 2001 Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants wrapped up his record-breaking season with his 73rd homer.

Immediately upon graduation, David moved to Cleveland to attend Cleveland Marshall College of Law where he received his J.D. with honors in 1996. During his time in law school, David took first place in the Cleveland Marshall College of Law Moot Court Competition, where he received the Dean's Moot Court Award for Outstanding Advocate and the Hugo Black Award for Outstanding Oralist. David participated in the 1995 ABA National Moot Court Competition, where his team was awarded Best Ohio School and Best Respondents' Brief. In addition, David received the Cleveland Marshall Law Alumni Scholarship Award consecutively in 1995 and 1996.

To David, a stranger was just a lifelong friend he hadn't met yet. He greeted new faces with genuine curiosity and open arms, expanding his circle wherever life took him. Remarkably, the deep bonds he forged during those joyful youth years remained unbroken; he stayed fiercely loyal to his school friends, laughing and sharing life with them until his very last days.

To say David was an avid Chicago Bears fan would be an understatement; Sundays in the fall were a sacred ritual of shouting at the TV while wearing his lucky jersey. When he wasn't cheering on his beloved Bears, he was answering the call of the great outdoors. He was a true nature lover who found peace and excitement in equal measure—whether he was quietly casting a line while fishing at dawn, carving down snowy mountains on his skis, or exploring the depths of the ocean as an enthusiastic scuba diver.

David is survived by his devoted wife, Bridget Arena (née Morlock) and his son, Nathan; his mother Antonetta Arena, father and stepmother, J. Paul and Dorothy Arena, brothers Paul (Gigi) Arena, John (Jill) Arena, Marc (Christy) Arena, Tom (Jessie) Arena, sister Sandi (Mike) Fisher and stepsister Michele (Aaron) Hayes.

He's also survived by twenty-three loving nieces and nephews and their children: Erica Arena (Luca Grey), Jonathan (Jamie) Arena (Wyatt), Joseph Arena, Jennifer Arena, Ella (Jacob) Woods (Laney Mae), Sophia Arena, Liam Arena, Gavin Arena, Gabriel Arena, Jaques Mitchell (William), James (Candace) Mitchell (Mason), Jordan Mitchell, Daniel Morlock, Danielle (Kyle) Cabrera (Aiden and Autumn), Spencer Troline, Calista Morlock, Payton Morlock, Sophia Pielet, Gianna Pielet, Anastasia Abbasi, Simone Abbasi, Elise Abbasi, and Jaqueline Abbasi.

He is predeceased by his grandparents, Giovanni and Mary Arena, Godfather and Uncle Salvatore Arena, and his brothers-in-law; Daniel J. Morlock and David C. Morlock.

In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress convened in New York to draw up colonial grievances against England.

David was a familiar and welcome face throughout Park Ridge. He took great pride in civic leadership, actively serving as a Board Member for the Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce and contributing to local traditions on the Park Ridge Farmers Market Committee. Driven by a profound sense of service to others, he also trained and volunteered with the Park Ridge Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Known for being always willing to help if needed, David was well known, well liked, and always ready to lend a helping hand to neighbors and strangers alike. David lived life with an open heart and an infectious energy. He was known as the spark in every room. He had a rare gift for turning ordinary moments into wild, legendary adventures, bringing people together through his fun and famously crazy antics. David believed that family and friends are what matter most in life and he looked for every opportunity to bring people closer. He possessed a rare warmth that naturally turned good friends into family. David leaves behind a vast network of devoted family and friends who will carry his adventurous torch forward.

Memorial Gathering, Sunday, October 11, 2026 from 4 to 8 p.m. at Nelson Funeral Home, 820 Talcott Rd., Park Ridge, IL 60068. Family and friends to meet, Monday, October 12, 2026 at St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Church 320 S. Washington Ave., Park Ridge, IL 60068 for the Funeral Mass that will begin at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, a donation in David's name to the American Heart Association would be appreciated. For information, 847-823-5122 or www.nelsonfunerals.com

Death Notices

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Gavin, June M

Skarbek, Edward J.

ON OCT. 7 ...

may be made to the Davis Phinney Foundation or the Center for Action and Contemplation.

Terry Lee

Chicago,

September

memorial

held.

Marzullo, Thomas Oliver

Thomas Oliver Marzullo, 87, was born on August 18, 1939, in Evergreen Park, IL, and passed away on September 26, 2026. He resided in Fort Myers, Florida. A U.S. Army veteran, Thomas served his country with quiet steadiness and a sense of duty that earned the lasting respect of those who knew him. Throughout his life, he was beloved—held close not only for what he did, but for the simple, enduring presence he brought to the people around him. Thomas was the son of Frank and Katherine Marzullo. He was married to his loving wife, Judith, for 41 years. He was preceded in death by his brothers, Arnold and Ralph. He is survived by his sister-in-law, Laura Cunningham, and his nephews, Arnold Jr. (Tammy), Steve, and Mark (Donna), along with many nieces and nephews.

June M. Gavin, 84, of Chicago, passed away peacefully on October 2, 2026. Beloved wife of Raymond; loving mother of Susan, Maureen, Michelle and Megan (Jeff Kelley). A visitation will be held on October 10 at 9:30 am, followed by a mass at 10:30 am at St. Catherine Laboure in Glenview, IL. In lieu of flowers, donations

Father of Lara Skarbek, Sabrina Skarbek, and Grace Skarbek. Brother of the late John (Bernice) Skarbek, Theodore (Phyllis) Skarbek, and Mary Jane (Donald) Hastings. Also survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Visitation Thursday, October 8, 2026 from 4 - 8 PM at Humes Funeral Home, 320 W. Lake Street, Addison (2 Mi. W. of Rt. 83, 2 Mi. E. of Rt. 53). Chapel prayers on Friday, October 9, 2026, at 9:30 AM from Humes Funeral Home to St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church, 1233 W. Holtz Avenue, Addison, for Mass at 10:00 AM. Interment to follow at St. Adalbert Cemetery, Niles.

HUMES since 1958

Edward J. Skarbek, 92, of Addison passed away October 1, 2026. He was a veteran of the Korean War and a 66 year member of IBEW Local 134. Loving husband of the late Mary Anne Skarbek. Dear father of Lynn (the late John) Connelly, Matthew (Mari- lyn) Skarbek, and Andrew Skarbek. Cherished grandfather of Lara Skarbek,

Chicago Daily Tribune

Fleming, Terry Lee

Michael "Mike" Robert Zanillo of Kildeer, Illinois, passed away at home late Saturday afternoon, October 3rd, 2026, at age 72. The windows were open to the perfect autumn weather, and immediate family surrounded him.

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Zanillo, Michael

In 1991 University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill publicly accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of making sexually inappropriate comments in her presence when she worked for him, and urged the U.S. Senate to investigate her claims. (Thomas denied Hill's allegations.)

surnounded him.

Mike was born on July 3rd,

1954, in Chicago, Illinois,

to his mother, Helen, and father, Louis. Part of a second-generation Polish-Italian family, he was the youngest brother to Kathy (Stas) Stock, Louis Zanillo, and Robert (Vicky) Zanillo, all of whom he cared about greatly. He spent most of his upbringing in the city, graduating from Weber High School in 1972 and the University of Chicago in 1976 with a bachelor's degree in economics, while making lifelong friendships he deeply cherished.

He began a significant career in information technology at U.S. Steel before moving on to a long tenure at Motorola, where he met his wife of 35 years, Jeanne Ingram, and became a devoted husband. Soon after, Mike became the best dad to Megan (Garrett) Anderson and Jon Zanillo. Later in his career, Mike held notable titles at Rexnord and WMS Gaming before finishing at McDonald's as Senior Director of Global Financial Systems. Throughout this time, Mike became a beloved mentor and colleague to many.

Fleming of Illinois died 10, 2026. A service was

In 2016, Mike proudly retired and swiftly took to a lifelong passion, protecting the environment, by volunteering his time with the Citizens' Climate Lobby. In addition to hosting several local presentations and making lobbying trips to Washington, D.C., Mike eagerly traded his well-loved travel trailer and traditional car for an electric vehicle and successfully campaigned for a town-wide petition to allow solar panels.

For 72 years, Mike loved listening to NPR, visiting local diners and dives, camping, golfing, cross-country skiing, traveling, tinkering with house projects, and playing with his "granddog," Roo. He had the driest sense of humor, always offering playful banter or a sarcastic joke. However, what many will remember most about Mike is how he cared for those near and far. Whether researching, assisting, caring, or advocating, Mike always showed up to help others navigate life's hurdles.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions be made to either the Northwestern Memorial Foundation (Malnati Brain Tumor Institute) at nm.org/mikezanillo or the National Park Foundation at tinyurl.com/mrz-np-2026.

Visitation will be Wednesday, October 7th, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Davenport Funeral Home in Lake Zurich. The funeral mass will be held at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church on Thursday, October 8th, at 11 a.m., followed by interment at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Cemetery.

For ten months, Mike took on glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, with courage and a desire to go "swinging for the fences" when it came to treatment. Losing such an intelligent man to this disease has been devastating to all who love him. He was a remarkable person who deserved so much more time.

Davenport

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Living Service for the First Time of New Jersey

Birmingham, Capital Lake, Lake Texas

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Every life story deserves to be told.

Share your loved one's story at placeanad.chicagotribune.com

Chicago Tribune

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Announcements

Former R&G Services Employees Please contact Derek Warnke if you worked at R&G Services located near Chicago, IL between 1971-1975. 314-437-0767

Passed CISSP Exam Thank you St. Joseph of Cupertino for your intercession in helping pass the CISSP exam.

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Assumed Name

Notice is hereby given, Pursuant to "An Act in relation To the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in The State" as amended, that a Certification was filed by the Undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. File No. M26002019 on the Date: 09/15/2026

Date: 09/15/2020

Under the Assumed Name of: Luxe Soles with the business located at:

15600 Calypso Ln Orland Park, IL 60462

The true name and residence Address of the owner is: Lisa Lopez Delgadillo 15600 Calypso Ln Orland Park, IL 60462

Notice is hereby given, Pursuant to "An Act in relation To the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in The State" as amended, that a Certification was filed by the Undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. File No. M26002030 on the Date: 09/18/2026 Under the Assumed Name of: MARKETPLACE DEALS with the business located at: 852 E Sayles Dr, Palatine IL 60074 The true name and residence Address of the owner is: Adin John Rehberger 852 E Sayles Dr, Palatine

Notice is hereby given, Pursuant to "An Act in relation To the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in The State" as amended, that a Certification was filed by the Undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County.

File No. M26002041 on the

Date: 09/24/2026

Under the Assumed Name of: VALDEZ TAX AND INSURANCE

with the business located at:

2405 S Laramie Ave

Cicero, IL 60804

The true name and residence address of the owner: SALVAD'S CORREA

2402 S 50TH AVE

Cicero, IL 60804

Notice is hereby given, Pursuant to "An Act in relation To the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business is The Unscheided, that a Certification was filed by the Undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. File No. M26002070 on the Date: 10/05/2026 Under the Assumed Name of: Daisy and Olive Music Company with the business located at: 4544 N Mobile Ave, Chicago, IL 60630 The true name and residence Address of the owner is: Alexandra Sulack 4544 N Mobile Ave, Chicago, IL 60630 Oct 7, 14 & 21, 2026 158717

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Legal Notice

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Board of Commissioners of Cook County Finance Committee

EXECUTIVE BUDGET RECOMMENDATION for Fiscal Year 2027

ANNOUNCEMENT OF PUBLIC INSPECTION

LOCATIONS FOR FY 2027 BUDGET

On October 8, 2026, the online version of the Executive Budget Recommendation will be available at https://www.cookcountyil.gov/Budget. There will be no budget books available for in person inspection.

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ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SCHEDULE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS FOR FY 2027 BUDGET

The Finance Committee of the Board of Commissioners of Cook County has scheduled the meetings listed below for the purpose of conducting public hearings on the Executive Budget Recommendation.

Thursday, October 15, 2026, 12:00 P.M.

Thursday, October 15, 2026, 5:00 P.M.

Members of the public have three options to address the committee:

1. Attend in-person in either the morning or evening session. Cook County Building, Board Room, 118 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois

2. Attend as a virtual speaker in either the morning or evening session. This can be via webcam or over the phone; or

3. Submit written comments ONLY which would be posted as part of the electronic record.

Go to https://bit.ly/ccbudget27 to participate.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SCHEDULE OF DEPARTMENTAL REVIEW FOR FY 2027 BUDGET

The Finance Committee of the Board of Commissioners of Cook County has scheduled the following meetings for the purpose of conducting departmental reviews on the proposed Executive Budget Recommendation. Changes and updates to this schedule will be posted on https://www.cookcountyil.gov/Budget

Date

Date Tuesday, October 27, 2026 Time 9:30 A.M. (all day)

Time

Wednesday, October 28, 2026 11:00 A.M. (all day)

Thursday, October 29, 2026 9:30 A.M. (all day)

Friday, October 30, 2026 9:30 A.M. (all day)

If additional time is required beyond the scheduled reserve days, a supplemental schedule will be distributed.

Lynne M. Turner

Secretary to the Board

10/5, 10/6, 10/7, & 10/8/26 154321

CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY

Advertisement for Bids

Advertisement for Bids

Sealed bids will be received for the following by Chicago Transit Authority through Electronic Submission to the Bid Office's E-Procurement Platform no later than 2:00 P.M. on Wednesday, October 28, 2026 to the link below:

https://transitchicago.bonfirehub.com/portal/?tab=openOpportunities

Req No: B25OP04122,

Invitation for Bids (IFB) (NON-NEGOTIABLE) to Furnish and Deliver Tactile Floor Tiles for a period of 36 months with two, one-year options.

PROPOSAL GUARANTEE: NONE

Questions regarding this Bid must be submitted via Bonfire no later than 4:30 p.m. (CST) Friday, October 16, 2026. Questions will not be accepted after this date and time.

For additional information, please contact Chris Lahciev, Procurement Administrator, Clarkiev@transitchicago.com

Any contract resulting from this advertisement will be awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.

Chicago Transit Authority hereby notifies all bidders that it will affirmatively ensure that in regard to any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise will be afforded full opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, or national origin in consideration for an award.

PLEASE NOTE: The right is reserved to accept any bid or any part or parts thereof or to reject any and all bids.

CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY

By: Ellen G. McCormack

Vice President

Purchasing & Supply Chain

October 7, 2026

10/7/2026 157154

FIND YOUR

NEXT HOME

Search Chicago Tribune classifieds to find your next home. In print or at classifieds.chicagotribune.com

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Legal Notice

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LEGAL NOTICE COOK COUNTY REAL PROPERTY ASSESSMENTS FOR 2026 TOWNSHIP OF NORTHFIELD

This publication constitutes official notice of the changes in assessment to all owners of real property in Northfield Township. The 2026 assessment changes as published are determined by the Assessor of Cook County.

A full list of changes is available online at http://www.cookcountyassessor.com/ certified and will be published in The Glenview Announcements and Northbrook Star on October 15, 2026. It is the duty of the Assessor to appraise all taxable real property in Cook County at its fair cash value as of January 1, 2026. Fair cash value is described as what the property would bring at a voluntary sale in the normal course of business or trade. The Assessor is required by law to assess said property in a fair and just manner. The Assessor does not determine property taxes. Property taxes are determined by the spending needs and requests of municipalities, school boards, park districts and other local government agencies which provide public services to property owners. The Assessor's sole responsibility is to estimate the value of real estate property. In Cook County, real property is classified according to its use. The classification system is used to determine the percentage of the fair cash value at which the real property is assessed for purposes of taxation. Accordingly, real property is assessed at only a fraction of its fair cash value, depending on its use and classification.

If you have any questions regarding the assessment of real property you should visit the Office of the Assessor of Cook County, 118 N. Clark Street, Room 301, Chicago, Illinois 60602, or call (312) 443-7550.

EBITZ KAEGL

ASSESSOR OF COOK COUNTY

10/7/26 157814

Forest Preserve District Board of Commissioners Finance Committee

EXECUTIVE BUDGET RECOMMENDATION FOR FISCAL YEAR 2027

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ANNOUNCEMENT OF PUBLIC INSPECTION FOR FY2027 BUDGET

On October 7, 2026, the proposed 2027 Executive Budget Recommendation, prepared in tentative form, will be available for public inspection online at https://fpdcc.com/2027budget/.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SCHEDULE OF PUBLIC HEARING FOR FY 2027 BUDGET

The Finance Committee of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County Board of Commissioners has scheduled the meeting listed below for the purpose of conducting a public hearing and review of the Executive Budget Recommendation.

o Thursday, October 15, 2026 10:00am

118 N. Clark St., 5th Floor, Chicago, IL

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SCHEDULE OF DEPARTMENTAL REVIEW FOR FY 2027 BUDGET

The Finance Committee of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County Board of Commissioners has scheduled the following meeting for the purpose of conducting departmental reviews on the proposed Executive Budget Recommendation.

o Wednesday, October 28, 2026 9:30am

118 N. Clark St., 5th Floor, Chicago, IL

The Public Hearing and Departmental Review will be able to be viewed in person at 118 N. Clark St., 5th Floor, County Board Room, Chicago, IL or virtually at https://www.cookcountyil.gov/service/watch-live-board-proceedings. The public may testify in person or virtually at the Public Hearing on October 15, 2026. Persons wishing to testify should go to https://bit.ly/fpdccbudget27 to register as a public speaker. Each speaker will be limited to 3 minutes. Written public comment will be accepted at 3% https://bit.ly/fpdccb-budget27 or can be emailed to cookcounty board@cookcountyil.gov.

If additional time is required beyond the scheduled day, a supplemental schedule will be distributed. Changes and updates to this schedule will be posted on https://fpdcc.com/2027budget/.

Lynne M. Turner

Secretary to the Board

Chairman: Anaya

Members: Committee of the Whole

October 7, 2026 - 154455

LEGAL ADVERTISEMENT

October 7, 2026

DEPARTMENT OF PROCUREMENT SERVICES

The Bidder must complete and submit an Electronic Bid prior to the bid due date. An electronic bid must be submitted through the City of Chicago's website at www.cityofc.chicago.org/eprocurement, on or before the due date and time stated below. The City's system will not accept electronic bids after the due date and time. Bidders must register for a log-in account to submit an electronic bid. Please allow up to three business days for creation of your log-in account. Paper bids will not be accepted. All Bids will be opened and publicly read aloud for the following:

DESCRIPTION: AUBURN GRESHAM

CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENTS Section 1: 79th Street, Sangamon Street to Fielding Avenue and Halsted Street, 78th Street to 80th Street (SBI-1)

DEPARTMENT: Chicago Department of Transportation

TYPE: Construction

ELECTRONIC BID DOCUMENTS CAN BE DOWNLOADED AND RESPONDED TO FROM THIS URL ADDRESS: www.cityofchicago.org/eprocurement

SPECIFICATION NO: 1269498A

RFQ NO: 77412

BID OPENING DATE: October 20, 2026

TIME: 11:00 a.m., Central Time

CONTACT: Sadi Sandoval,

Senior Procurement Specialist.

Email: sadi.sandoval@cityofchicago.org

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Bid Bond:

Bids requiring a bid deposit must be accompanied by a Bid Bond, provided by a surety company authorized to do business in the United States, and made payable to the City of Chicago. A scanned copy of the bid bond must be attached to the online bid submission, with the original bond to be received by DPS within 3 business days of the bid opening. This is required of all bidders, not just the apparent low bidder.

Any late Bids received after announced date and time, for the opening of Bids, will not be accepted.

10/7/2026 158267

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LEGAL NOTICE CITY OF NAPERVILLE BIDS AND REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) AVAILABLE ONLINE

All City of Naperville formal bids, RFP's and competitive solicitations are posted at OpenGov.com, the City's electronic bidding platform and procurement software provider. A link to the City's OpenGov solicitation page is accessible by visiting the Procurement page of the City's website at:

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www.naperville.il.us/government/city-finances/purchasing-and-bids.

All prospective bidders, their authorized agents, and interested parties are invited to view upcoming opportunities and download available documents. General procurement questions may be sent by email to: lanev@naperville.il.us

10/7, 10/14, 10/21, 10/28/2026 139867

LEGAL NOTICE

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

NORTH MAINE FIRE

PROTECTION DISTRICT

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a public hearing will be held on the Budget and Appropriations Ordinance for the fiscal period January 1, 2027, to December 31, 2027, of the North Maine Fire Protection District, Cook County, Illinois at 7:00 p.m. November 11, 2026, at a regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the North Maine Fire Protection District, 9301 N. Potter Road, Des Plaines, Illinois.

NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that a tentative form of said Budget and Appropriations Ordinance will be on file and available for public inspections at the North Maine Fire Protection District, 9301 N. Potter Road, Des Plaines, Illinois during regular business hours.

10/7/26 158633

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Legal Notice LEGAL NOTICE

Toni Preckwinkle, President of the Board of Commissioners of Cook County, has directed me to call a Special Meeting of the Board of Commissioners of Cook County on Thursday, October 8, 2026, at the hour of 10:00 a.m. the Special Meeting will be an in-person meeting for the County Board and will be able to be viewed by the public at cookcounty.gov/service/watch-live-board-proceedings.

At said meeting the following items will be considered.

\- Item 26-2321, President's recommended Cook County Budget Resolution and Annual Appropriation Bill for Fiscal Year 2027

Instructions for how to attend this meeting and participate in public comment will be provided on the Cook County webpage at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/665LKZ. The proceedings will be able to be viewed at cookcountyil.gov/service/watch-live-board-proceedings on Thursday, October 8, 2026, starting at 10:00 a.m. Written public comment or live (virtual) testimony on any of the items listed on the Agenda will be accepted at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/665LKZ. Written testimony will also be accepted at cookcounty.board@cookcountyil.gov.Written comments prior to the start of the Special Board meeting will be posted at https://cookcounty.legistar.com/ Calendar.aspx and may be read aloud or summarized at the meeting. Three minutes per comment will be allowed.

On or around 8:45 a.m. Central Time on the morning of the meeting, a Microsoft Teams link and phone number to join the meeting will be sent to all live (virtual) speakers. You may not log into the meeting until the schedule meeting time. You may not forward the link to anyone. To reduce the chance of meeting disruption, MEETING PARTICIPANTS WHO FORWARD LINKS WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE MEETING, AS WILL THOSE WHO RECEIVED THE FORWARDED LINK. Speaking order is to be determined by the Chair. You would give your attention (3) to make your statement. Once your statement is completed, you will be removed from the meeting. Once removed, you will still be able to follow the proceedings for that day at: https://www.cookcountyil.gov/service/watch-live-board-proceedings

Copies of the Agenda for the October 8, 2026, Special Board Meeting of the Cook County Board of Commissioners and items to be considered at this meeting will be made available electronically on the Cook County website at https://cook-county.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

Very truly yours,

MONICA GORDON, Cook County Clerk and Clerk of the Board of the Commissioners of Cook County, Illinois

10/5, 10/6, 10/7, & 10/8/26 153761

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago will be accepting applications for the following classification(s):

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Treatment Plant Operator III (Promotional)

Application Filing Period: September 25, 2026 through October 9, 2026. Examination Date: October 22, 23, 2026. Location: MARD Main Office Building Annex, 11 East Erie Street, Chicago, IL. Scope of Examination: Knowledge of Treatment Plant Operator III practices. Nature of Position and Duties: Under general supervision, has responsibility for the control of the routine wastewater treatment process and the coordination of sewage pumping and disposal operations associated with this process at a wastewater treatment plant. Salary: \$106,637.96 per year

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Associate Structural Engineer (Original & Promotional)

Application Filing Period: September 25, 2026 through October 9, 2026. Examination Date: October 24, 2026. Location: To Be Announced. Scope of Examination: Knowledge of Associate Structural Engineer practices. Nature of Position and Duties: Under general supervision, performs ordinary structural engineering work in connection with the design of steel, wood and reinforced concrete structures. May supervise subordinate engineers and sub-professional personnel. Salary: \$96,088.20 per year

Salary: \$96,088.20 per year

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Accounting Manager (Original & Promotional)

Application Filing Period: September 25, 2026 through October 9, 2026. Examination Date: November 4, 2026. Location: MWRQ Main Office Building Annex 11 East Street, Chicago IL. Scope of Examination: Knowledge of Accounting Manager practices. Nature of Position and Duties: Under general supervision, directs and coordinates professional and administrative staff in the performance of a variety of accounting and/or treasury activities which may include fund accounting, managerial accounting, auditing, report preparation, contract management, budget preparation, general ledger maintenance, payroll functions, accounts receivable functions, accounts payable functions, cash management and forecasting, bond sale execution and reporting requirements, interpretation and implementation of policies and legal requirements, and information systems management. Salary: \$133,602.82 per year

Applications can be submitted online only at www.districtjobs.org.

Additional information may be found at www.districtjobs.org or call 312-751-5100.

Mailed, Emailed, Hand delivered or Faxed Applications Will Not Be Accepted. Resumes Will Not Be Accepted In Place of Application Forms. An Equal Opportunity Employer - M/F/D 9/25-10/9/2026 146037

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INVITATION TO BID TO

THE METROPOLITAN WATER RECLAMATION DISTRICT OF GREATER CHICAGO

FOR

PUBLIC TENDER OF BIDS FOR A 14-YEAR LEASE ON ±9 ACRES OF DISTRICT REAL ESTATE LOCATED AT 6400 CANAL BANK ROAD, FOREST VIEW, ILLINOIS, KNOWN AS MAIN CHANNEL PARCEL 37.07 (RE-BID)

LEASE NUMBER: 26-363-12

PROPOSALS ARE DUE: October 13, 2026

Sealed proposals, endorsed as above, will be submitted back to the District via an electronic upload to the Euna Portal only, from the date of the Invitation to Bid, up to 11:00 A.M. (Central Standard Time), on the bid opening date, and will be opened publicly by the Director of Procurement and Materials Management or designee at 11:00 AM on October 13, 2026. The public cannot attend but can view the bid opening at https://mwrd.org/bid-opening.

No bids will be accepted after 11:00 AM on the above scheduled bid opening date. All bids faxed, mailed, emailed, or hand-delivered will not be considered and will be returned to the Bidder. There is no bid depository safe available for mailing or hand delivering bids. The District will only accept bids electronically uploaded to the Euna Portal (please see instructions on how to upload the bid response on pages Euna-1 and Euna-2). Please see specific instructions on how to upload your bid to the Euna Portal in the bid document entitled "Submission via the Euna Portal." Bids will be deemed non-responsive if not submitted using the Euna-project specific URL link, provided by the District with the bidding documents.

The land to be leased is $\pm 9$ acres of District real estate located at 6400 Canal Bank Road, Forest View, Illinois; Main Channel Parcel 37.07. The site is improved with a 1-story industrial building built in the late-1960's thru early 1980's, a 2- office building built in 1992, and approximately 250,000 sf of paved yard and driveway area (concrete and gravel). A 300' section of the canal frontage has been used as a barge dock in the past, but there are no dock improvements currently in place.

As of the invitation date, the site is zoned “General Manufacturing- M-2” by the Village of Forest View. The tenant will be responsible for securing all necessary permits and approvals, including any required under the District’s Watershed Management Ordinance (“WMO”).

The District's Board of Commissioners has established the fair market value of the property at \$3,080,000.00 and the minimum initial annual rental bid at \$308,000.00. A form lease to be used in this transaction is attached hereto. The District reserves the right to make any changes or modifications to the lease as it deems necessary prior to award of any lease.

The lease shall be awarded to the highest responsible bidder in accordance with bid procedures set forth by state law 70 ILCS 2605/8c et seq., and subject to the acceptance and approval of the bid by the Board of Commissioners of the District. The highest bidder will be required to provide financial statements and/or other information to establish its financial responsibility.

Copies of the bid documents are only available online from the District's website at www.mwrd.org (DOING BUSINESS → PROCUREMENT & MATERIALS MANAGEMENT → CONTRACT ANNOUNCEMENTS). No fee is required for the bid documents. Any questions regarding the downloading of bid documents should be directed to contractdesk.org or call (312) 751-6643.

Further, the District assumes no liability or responsibility for the failure or inability of any Proposer to successfully download any and all contract documents, including, but not limited to, specifications, proposal forms and/or plans, as a result of any type of technological computer and/or software system failure or breakdown that restricts, prohibits or prevents successful downloading of any and all District contract documents by the Proposer, whether caused by the District or other parties, directly or indirectly.

Proposers are to include with their proposal signed copies of any addenda, or acknowledge receipt of any addenda, if the District issued any addenda to this contract. Failure to do so may be cause for the rejection of any bid. Bidding documents are available only online, and any addenda issued for this contract will be available online at the District's website, www.mwrd.org (Doing Business→Procurement and Materials Management→Contract Announcements). Addenda will also be emailed/faxed to each person

receiving a set of such contract documents and to such other prospective Proposers as shall have requested that they be furnished with a copy of the addenda.

If any potential Proposer contemplating to submit a proposal is in doubt as to the true meaning of any part of the specifications or other contract documents, such inquiry should be submitted online at the District's website, www.mwrd.org. The path is as follows: Doing Business→Procurement and Materials Management→Contract Announcements. The District will provide an online response to such inquiries, as the District deems appropriate. Strings of appropriate questions and answers regarding the bidding documents will be available online on the District's website until the bid opening date of the bidding documents. No questions will be accepted by telephone, fax, email, mail, or any other such form of delivery.

Each proposal must be accompanied by a bid deposit to be paid to the District via ACH (Automated Clearing House) transfer in an amount equal to fifty percent (50%) of the initial annual rental based on bidder's Proposal. Payment of such bid deposit by check of any kind will not be accepted, and all bid deposits must be received no later than the bid opening time. Any proposal submitted without a timely submitted bid deposit will not be considered and will not be read after it is publicly opened.

To submit a bid deposit, visit the District's website at www.mwrd.org. The path is as follows: DOING BUSINESS → PROCUREMENT & MATERIALS MANAGEMENT → CONTRACT ANNOUNCEMENTS. At the Contract Number for this Lease, click the "Submit Bid Deposit" link then fill in all required fields and carefully review your information on the subsequent pages (SUBMIT BID DEPOSIT → PAYMENT → CONFIRMATION → RECEIPT). You will not be allowed to continue to each next page unless all required fields are properly filled in. Upon completion of the process, an email will be sent to your attention acknowledging that payment of your bid deposit has been initiated and that payment, once approved, will be applied to your account. If you do not receive a confirmation email, please check your spam and junk email folders. Ensure the MWRD emails are not filtered as spam. Any questions concerning making such deposits should be directed to the District's Clerk/ Director of Finance Jacqueline Torres at 312-751-6500 or by email to torresj@mwrd.org, or Financial Analyst Jack Lesnicki at 312-751-6522 or by email to lesnickij@mwrd.org.

The required bid deposit will be forfeited in the event the successful bidder fails to execute a lease agreement within 13 days of its tender. All other deposits will be returned to the respective depositors. The form of the lease currently used for this transaction is available for inspection at the District office identified below.

The successful bidder, if other than the initial applicant, will pay to the District the cost for obtaining the applicant's two (2) appraisal reports, the cost of which will be documented upon execution of the lease. In order for the initial applicant to be reimbursed for its costs in obtaining 2 appraisal reports, said initial applicant must submit a qualifying bid in this matter. In addition, if not already submitted, the successful bidder will obtain at its cost a plat of survey and legal description of the subject premises and submit same to the District within 21 days of the award.

The District reserves the right to reject any or all proposals.

The District offers all prospective tenants that are awarded leases through competitive bidding the opportunity to participate in the District's Green Infrastructure Program. Participation is voluntary for all private non-governmental entities. Under the program, private entities can receive a credit equal to \$0.50 on the \$1.00, up to 10% of the annual rent owed to the District, capped at the first 10 years of the lease, for expenditures related to pre-approved green infrastructure. If interested, see the Green Infrastructure Program Information Sheet included with this Bid Package.

If any potential Proposer contemplating to submit a proposal is in doubt as to the true meaning of any part of the specifications or other contract documents, such inquiry should be submitted online at the District's website, www.mwrd.org. The path is as follows: Doing Business→Procurement and Materials Management→Contract Announcements. The District will provide an online response to such inquiries, as the District deems appropriate. Strings of appropriate questions and answers regarding the bidding documents will be available online on the District's website until the bid opening date of the bidding documents.

No questions will be accepted by telephone, fax, email, mail, or any other such form of delivery.

The District will only respond to questions received online ONE WEEK prior to the date set to receive proposals. The District will not respond to questions received after this date. The District does not guarantee the timeliness of responses provided online, nor does the District guarantee that such responses will be provided in adequate time to affect the submission of bids. The District shall provide responses online ONLY if the responses do not interpret or otherwise change the bidding documents.

The District's responses online are NOT official responses and, therefore, are not binding to the bidding documents. Any official interpretation or change to the bidding documents will be made only by addenda duly issued to all plan holders on record by the Director of Procurement and Materials Management.

The contact person for the request for proposal is Senior Attorney Margaret Zilligen. Mrs. Zilligen will provide online responses to online inquiries.

The District reserves the right to accept any Proposal or any part thereof or to reject any and all Proposals.

METROPOLITAN WATER RECLAMATION DISTRICT OF GREATER CHICAGO

By: Darlene A. LoCascio

Director of Procurement & Materials Management

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BEST DEALS for items under \$100 for Fall Prime Day

By Jennifer Blair

BESTREVIEWS

Like all of Amazon's sales events, Prime Big Deal Days is a bargain hunter's dream. With deep discounts on everything from TVs to coffee machines, you can save big on household essentials, holiday gifts and more. That makes it the perfect time to pull the trigger on pricey items you've had your eye on for a while.

But there's no need to feel left out if your budget is a little tighter than you'd like. It's not just big-ticket products on sale for the event. Here, we've gathered our favorite October Prime Day deals under \$100 to help your budget stretch a little further.

Amazon Echo Dot Kids: This kid-friendly smart speaker can keep your little ones entertained without a screen. It includes plenty of privacy controls to give parents peace of mind, including a mic-off button. It also lets you remotely monitor what your children are listening to and provides access to thousands of audiobooks, ad-free podcasts and music specifically for kids. You'll also love the Sleep Studio feature with calming songs and sounds if your children have trouble falling asleep.

Black + Decker 12-Cup Thermal Programmable Coffee Maker: If you want your coffee to stay warm through all your busiest mornings, you'll love this programmable coffee maker. It features a double-walled, four-layer carafe that can keep coffee hot for up to two hours without a warming plate. It also has a 24-hour auto-brew setting that automatically stops heating after brewing and displays the time and freshness. Its Vortex technology evenly saturates the

coffee grounds, too, ensuring optimal extraction and rich flavor in every cup.

Shark Steam Pocket Mop: Keep your hard floors clean and sanitized with this easy-to-use steam mop. It removes up to 99.9% of the most common bacteria with water alone and

takes just 30 seconds to heat up for steam production. It's lightweight and easy to maneuver, with a long power cord that gives you a wide cleaning radius. Its dual-sided, microfiber pads are machine-washable, too, so you can easily clean and reuse them.

Crock-Pot Cook & Carry Programmable Slow Cooker: This user-friendly slow cooker makes it super easy to enjoy your favorite soups, stews and casseroles. It has a 6-quart capacity that can serve seven-plus people and a locking lid that makes it easy to take on

the go without spills. Its stone-ware insert is oven-safe up to 400 degrees and even microwave-safe, making it highly versatile.

Dreo 539 Air Purifier: This air

purifier helps clean your home's air, refreshing it every 12.4 minutes in areas up to 245 square feet. It has a large air intake area and a 360-degree spiral airflow

design that makes it highly efficient, plus a three-in-one filter that can capture fine particles, including pollen, dust and smoke. It also monitors your home's air in real time and uses color-coded lights to keep you updated.

wave-safe and dishwasher-safe.

Rubbermaid Brilliance Glass Food-Storage Containers: These food storage containers are made of heat-resistant borosilicate glass, so you don't have to worry about chemicals leaching into your food or the containers absorbing stains and odors. They come with clear lids that lock in place to prevent leaks and spills. They're also oven-safe up to 450 degrees, micro-

ing Earbuds: These noise-canceling earbuds give you total control over the noise you hear. Active noise-canceling mode blocks distractions and ambient noise when you need to concentrate, while the ambient-aware setting lets outside noise in when you need to stay aware of your surroundings. They provide up to 48 hours of battery life and even feature fast charging that gives you an extra four hours of listening time with just 15 minutes of charging.

UGG Whitecap Throw Blanket: Stay cozy this fall and winter

under this plush fleece blanket. It measures 50 by 70 inches, so it's a perfect throw for your sofa or bed. Made of soft polyester, it's hypoallergenic and comes in four colors, including blue and pink. It's also machine-washable and -dryable, so it's easy to keep clean.

Ninja Professional Blender: This powerful 1,200-watt blender can pulverize even the toughest ingredients, so it's perfect for whipping up smoothies, frozen drinks and more. It comes with a 72-ounce pitcher, allowing you to blend large batches for entertaining. It also offers three speeds and a pulse setting, giving you total control over your blending.

THERUN Walking Pad: Stay active even when it's cold out with this portable walking pad. It features a 40-inch belt, so even taller users have plenty of walking space. It can support up to 300 pounds and reach speeds of 3.8 miles per hour for walking and jogging. It also has built-in front wheels for easy movement and a compact design that makes it perfect for use at a standing desk.

MORE DEALS UNDER \$100

■ Scotts Turf Builder

WinterGuard Fall Lawn Food

■ Amazon Echo Dot

■ Chefman TurboFry 7-in-1 Air

Fryer

\- Ring Battery Doorbell 2K

• Braun MultiQuick 5 Hand Blender

BestReviews is reader-supported and may earn an affiliate commission. Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.

Check out the top deals on these big-ticket items

By Jennifer Blair

BESTREVIEWS

Prime Big Deal Days brings fabulous savings across nearly every product category Amazon sells. Whether you want to stock up on sunscreen and toilet paper, find cool toys to get a head start on holiday shopping or update your fall wardrobe with stylish new sweaters, plenty of can't-miss deals are available.

But the sale's deepest discounts are usually on pricier items that don't normally go on sale. From HD smart TVs to pro-grade espresso machines, you can save big on splurge-worthy items that might not otherwise fit your budget. Not sure where to start your shopping? Check out our favorite deals on big-ticket items from premium brands, like Samsung and Breville, that are live right now.

1. Samsung 55-inch Class The Frame 4K OLED Smart TV: Designed to look like framed artwork, this smart TV won't ruin the look of your living room decor. When you're not watching your favorite TV shows and movies, you can display artwork from Samsung's Art Store or display your own family photos. It also provides smooth visuals and blazing speeds for your favorite video games.

2. Breville Barista Pro Espresso Machine: You don't have to hit Starbucks every morning for a fancy coffee drink when you own this barista-quality espresso machine. It keeps the pressure low during pre-infusion, then gradually increases it to evenly draw out the richest, most balanced flavors for your espresso, latte or cappuccino. It also boasts a built-in burr grinder and a powerful steam wand to create microfoam.

3. Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller Robot Vacuum and Mop: With 30,000 Pa of suction, this premium robot vacuum-and-mop combo is one of the most powerful you can find. It pulls embedded dirt and hair from carpeting, and its detangling brush head prevents clogs. It also continuously sprays the roller mop head with water, so you know it's always using clean water to mop your floors. The all-in-one dock handles all the maintenance by auto-emptying, cleaning and drying the mop head and refilling the tank with water, too.

4. Casper Sleep Element King Mattress: Upgrade your sleep experience with this Flex Foam mattress. It offers medium firmness that suits all sleeping positions, plus advanced motion isolation, making it perfect for couples. Hot sleepers will also love its open-cell foam, which allows air to flow through for cooler nights.

5. ECOVACS Goat O1000 RTK Robot Lawn Mower: If you want to hand off the lawn-mowing chores, this easy-to-use robot mower can get the job done. Setup takes about five minutes, and it automatically maps your lawn for efficient mowing across areas up to 10,890 square feet. It also uses AIVI 3D obstacle avoidance, so you don't have to worry about it banging into trees, plants, toys or lawn furniture.

6. Baby Jogger City Mini GT2 All-Terrain Double Stroller: Make life easier and more comfortable for you and your little ones with this premium double stroller. It features durable rubber wheels, all-wheel suspension and a hand-operated parking brake that makes it easy to stroll over any terrain. It also has a large UV 50+ canopy for sun protection, fully reclining seats and air ventilation panels to keep your kids comfy. It's easy to store, too, with a user-friendly one-step compact folding design.

7. Shark PowerDetect

Transformer Upright

Vacuum: This upright vacuum is as versatile as it is powerful. It transforms into three machines: an upright for deep cleaning, a stick vacuum for light messes and a handheld for hard-to-reach areas. It also features a two-brushroll system and four detection technologies that react in real time to floor type, dirt level, cleaning direction and proximity to edges and corners to ensure the most thorough cleaning.

8. Amazon Kindle Scribe Colorsoft: This combo e-reader and digital

notebook has an 11-inch display with high-contrast, paper-like color that

makes reading comfortable and prevents flashes when writing and doodling. It's highly responsive, so writing on the screen feels like taking notes on paper. The included pen never needs charging and has a built-in eraser for correcting mistakes.

9. Nebula X14K Laser Projector: Turn your living room or backyard into your own personal movie theater with this laser projector. It offers edge-to-edge 4K sharpness on a 300-inch screen, so every detail is clear and accurate. It also has an auto-alignment feature that scans the projection surface and auto-adjusts for the best size, position and clarity with just one click.

10. Peloton Stationary Cross-Training Bike: Never miss a workout with this premium cross-training bike in your home. It has a 23.8-inch full HD swivel screen that lets you stream workout classes and videos, plus an auto-resistance feature that makes automatic adjustments based on instructor cues. With an adjustable seat and handlebars and a weight capacity of around 300 pounds, it's comfortable for a wide range of users.

MORE DEALS ON BIG-TICKET ITEMS

■ Sony Bravia Theater Trio Three-Unit Home-Theater Audio System Soundbar

■ Anker SOLIX S2000 Portable Power Station

■ Dynamic Saunas Barcelona Infrared Sauna

■ HP 15.6-inch FHD Touchscreen Laptop

■ De'Longhi Dinamica Plus Fully Automatic Espresso Machine

PAGE 1 | SECTION B | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2026 | CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM

Homeowners insurance on rise

years in Illinois, the company said.

State Farm hiking Illinois rates by 8% this fall

By Robert Channick

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

It may not cause the sticker shock of last year's whopping increase, but State Farm is set to raise homeowners insurance rates in Illinois by another nearly $8\%$ this fall, according to a recent filing with the state.

The increase went into effect for new policies on October 1, while current customers will see the higher rates beginning in December. Bloomington-based State Farm has about 1.49 million homeowners policy holders in Illinois, according to the filing.

State Farm said the rate increase is once again driven by catastrophic losses related to extreme weather events in Illinois.

“Across Illinois, more customers are experiencing firsthand the effects of severe weather trends that are more frequent and severe — and related repair costs continue to increase,” a State Farm spokesperson said in a statement. “To remain financially prepared to pay claims as risks and costs change, State Farm is making rate adjustments.”

The 8% increase will add about \$10 per month to the average Illinois homeowners insurance bill, the company told the Tribune Monday. State Farm has paid out \$1.22 in claims and expenses for every \$1 in premiums collected the past three

Last year, State Farm hit Illinois homeowners with a 27.2% rate increase — one of the largest in the state's history — and also implemented a minimum 1% deductible on all wind and hail losses, raising the out-of-pocket costs for homeowners filing a related damage claim.

The move created a firestorm in Illinois, with everyone from consumer groups to Gov. JB Pritzker challenging the hefty rate increase.

In August, Pritzker signed legislation empowering the Illinois Department of Insurance to review and challenge homeowners rate increases it determines are “excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory.” The legislation also requires insurance companies to gives customers 60 days notice in advance of renewal premium increases above 10%.

Similar legislation was enacted to prohibit excessive auto insurance rate increases, with both new laws set to take effect July 1, 2027.

Meanwhile homeowners across the country continue to pay increased insurance premiums to keep a covered roof over their heads

U.S. home insurance rates rose 46.8% from 2020 to 2025, according to LendingTree's latest "State of Home Insurance" report. Colorado had the biggest increase in premiums, more than doubling, while Illinois ranked 7th with a 68% increase over that period, according to the study.

increase in home insurance rates last year at 14.1%, the study found.

The average annual cost of home insurance across the U.S. is \$2,395. Illinois ranked 17th among the states, with an average annual home insurance cost of \$2,731 in 2025, according to the study.

Oklahoma, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas and Texas are the most expensive states to insure a home, due to greater damage from tornadoes, hail, wildfires and severe storms, according to the study.

While State Farm has been increasing rates in Illinois, the study found it offers the least expensive average home insurance rates nationwide among the major companies surveyed.

Illinois had the fourth highest rchannick@chicagotribune.com

The Chicago skyline backdrops the Chicago Jazz Festival at Millennium Park's Pritzker Pavilion on Sept. 4. CHRIS SWEDA/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Conde Nast Traveler names Chicago 'Best Big City' for 10th year in a row

By Robert Channick

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

The Chicago Bulls have two three-peats and now their home city has notched a ten-peat.

On Tuesday, Conde Nast Traveler named Chicago the best big city in the U.S. for the 10th year in a row. Chicago has remained atop the magazine's annual readers survey since 2017, an unprecedented run anointing the second city as the domestic destination of choice among the traveling cognoscenti.

"These are people that know travel. They've been all around the world," said Kristen Reynolds, Choose Chicago's president and CEO. "That's why it means so much to us when ... people in the know still rank Chicago at the top."

Conde Nast Traveler received nearly 800,000 votes for this year's Readers' Choice Awards, which cover everything from hotels and cruise lines to spas and airports. The best cities award has separate categories for small and big destinations, and Chicago has had a lock on the latter for a decade.

The annual survey praised the city's “impressive architecture, first-rate museums, brilliant chefs, and massive brewing scene."

Ranking behind Chicago on the 2026 best big cities list were San Francisco, Boston, New York and the Windy City's neighbor to the north, Milwaukee, which was hailed as a “hotbed of locavore cuisine.”

Not surprisingly, Chicago civic leaders are taking a victory lap on the news, with plans to celebrate the 10th consecutive win by proclaiming Saturday, Oct. 10, "Best Big City Day."

The festivities will include a set Saturday by house music pioneer DJ Lori Branch from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. aboard a docked boat on the Chicago River near City Winery. Goose Island will also roll out a limited edition “Perfect 10” beer at its local brewpubs in honor of the city’s award.

Adding some ice to the drinks, the Blackhawks will feature a “Best Big City” activation during their home game Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes at the United Center.

"For 10 consecutive years, travelers have recognized what Chicagoans already know: there is no place quite like our city," Mayor Brandon

Johnson said in a news release. "This remarkable milestone is a testament to everything Chicago has to offer and one our entire city can celebrate with pride."

Despite a sharp decline in international travel to the U.S., Chicago saw an increase in tourism last year, with 56.8 million visitors spending a record \$21.5 billion in the Windy City, according to data from Choose Chicago, the city's tourism arm.

The city welcomed nearly 1.5 million more visitors than in 2024 as it continues to climb back toward pre-pandemic levels, with domestic tourism up across the board.

While the Chicago Street Race packed up for San Diego this year and will not return next summer, preliminary tourism numbers are looking strong for 2026, bolstered by other tentpole events and the opening of new attractions such as the Obama Presidential Center, Reynolds said.

Winning the Conde Nast Traveler award for the 10th year in a row will help Chicago build on that momentum in attracting visitors, Reynolds said.

It may also help counteract rchannick@chicagotribune.com some of the less-inviting messages about the city floating around the ether, including a social media campaign in September 2025 by President Donald Trump depicting Chicago as a war zone.

Trump's "Chipocalypse Now" post, which showed helicopters flying past the city's skyline ablaze, was a prelude to Operation Midway Blitz, a 64-day immigration enforcement surge that disrupted the Chicago area last fall.

Neither presented a “wish you were here” postcard from the city. But the annual Conde Nast Traveler survey tells a different story, one Choose Chicago plans to enthusiastically leverage in its marketing efforts, starting with Saturday’s celebration.

"We don't always have the easiest narrative with Chicago. There's a lot of forces that are sometimes out of our control that work against us with our image and our profile," Reynolds said. "This is proof that Chicago belongs at the top, and that's why I think this year more than ever we're really excited about it."

Leaders discuss hospital's future

No one offers specific path forward for the closed West Suburban

By Lisa Schencker

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Illinois lawmakers and a deputy governor gathered with community members Monday evening to discuss the future of the now-shuttered West Suburban Medical Center – though no one offered a specific path forward and the state leaders didn't directly speak about the hospital's new potential owner during the meeting.

The community meeting came just weeks after the owners of West Suburban Medical Center reached a settlement agreement that's expected to result in a sale of the hospital and its sister facility, Weiss Memorial Hospital, to Insight Health Systems. The hospitals' two owners had been fighting one another in court for months, after one of them closed West Suburban in March, saying that problems with the hospital's billing system had left it short on cash. Weiss closed in August 2025.

Neither of the lawmakers in attendance — Illinois Senate President Don Harmon and House Assistant Majority Leader Camille Y. Lilly — discussed Insight specifically during the meeting, though Harmon expressed broad concerns about the hospital's future, telling the crowd, "We should not view opening a bad hospital as progress."

After the meeting, Harmon told the Tribune he has “great reservations about Insight based on their track record both in Illinois and other states.”

Lilly told the Tribune after the meeting, “From what I heard today, I don’t believe the community has confidence in Insight and I’m behind the community.”

Insight Chicago owns Insight Hospital and Medical Center in Bronzeville, formerly called Mercy Hospital, which it bought for \$1 in 2021 when Mercy was on the brink of closure. Though it has kept that hospital open, Insight owes the state \$48 million in loans, according to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. It also closed a hospital it owned in Ohio in late 2025, according to the Ohio

See HOSPITAL on Page B3

IKEA to close its Bolingbrook store for new, smaller location in Naperville

maintaining strong accessibility for existing Bolingbrook customers."

By Carolyn Stein

NAPERVILLE SUN

IKEA is closing its Bolingbrook store and building a new, smaller version in Naperville's Block 59 development.

“This relocation reflects how our customers are living, working and shopping across the broader Bolingbrook-Naperville corridor,” said Sam Gravina, Chicago metro market manager for IKEA. “By moving the shopping experience to Naperville, we are positioning IKEA closer to growing population centers while

The 317,000-square-foot, two-story Bolingbrook store will remain open until late 2027, which is also when the Naperville store is expected to open. It will be just eight miles away from the Bolingbrook location on Boughton Road, just off Interstate 355.

Naperville's new IKEA store will be a small format store, a departure from the huge locations that have been the trademark for the Swedish furniture retail giant.

Gravina declined to share specifics on where exactly the new store will be located off Route 59, what it will offer or how large it will be other than to say it will be a “smaller format to more effectively meet the needs and shopping desires of the market” while still providing the “inspiration and functionality” of an IKEA experience with which customers are familiar.

“It will make the most of every square foot, offering a curated shopping experience with “local living” solutions tailored to reflect the

See IKEA on Page B3

The 310,000-square-foot IKEA store in Bolingbrook, seen here on Tuesday, will be closing in 2027 to make way for a new location in Naperville as part of the Block 59 development in Naperville, located off Route 59. BRIAN HILL/DAILY HERALD

Skydance emerging from Paramount, Warner Bros.

Ellison to oversee new media

behemoth as merger closes

By Benjamin Mullin

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Paramount closed its deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday, putting tech scion David Ellison in control of a vast media empire that oversees many of Hollywood's most valuable properties.

The deal immediately catapults the combined company, now called Skydance, to the front rank of competitors with streaming titans like Netflix and YouTube, just behind giants like Disney and Amazon.

“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry,” Ellison said in a statement Tuesday.

The new company is a hard-fought prize.

Ellison, 43, wrested Warner Bros. Discovery from a rival bidder, Netflix, after a monthslong tug-of-war that prompted him to make nine offers for the company. It was created over the objections of a coalition of state attorneys general who sued to block the deal on antitrust grounds.

That lawsuit was ultimately settled after the attorneys general extracted a series of concessions, including the establishment of an editorial independence board to safeguard the integrity of CNN and a promise from Ellison to spend an additional \$1.5 billion on movies over the next five years. Hollywood insiders said the deal would sharply consolidate corporate power, leading to job losses and further stagnation.

The new company is making its debut in an industry navigating profound change. Cable television, one of the biggest cash cows in media, is still profitable but in terminal decline. Streaming still hasn't replaced those profits. Trust in the news business is in the basement. And tech companies like Amazon and Apple are muscling in on movies, TV shows and sports rights, driving up content costs.

Ellison and his team must convince Wall Street that the new company can manage those challenges while it pays down \$82 billion in debt, a staggering sum for a traditional media company.

Further complicating the situation is Ellison's relationship with President Donald Trump, which has unsettled some employees at CNN. This spring, Ellison held a dinner “honoring the Trump White House” and later joined Trump at an Ultimate Fighting Championship bout at the White House. (Paramount holds media rights for the UFC.)

Another of Ellison's biggest challenges will be winning over Hollywood's creative class in an era of shrinking box office receipts, artificial intelligence and algorithmic personalization. He has pledged to invest in content, promising to release at least a combined 30 theatrical films annually. After two years, that number would rise to 32 films. He has also promised to overhaul the company's technological capabilities.

But he must do all of that while delivering \$6 billion this year in cost-cutting over the next three years — a target he will likely hit, in part, by eliminating thousands of jobs.

Some of those cuts are likely to come from combining parts of the company that have overlapping functions. CNN and CBS News are possible targets, as are some administrators at Paramount and Warner Bros.

Brian Busse displays a 6-carat diamond — found in an Arkansas field — on Aug. 9 in Buena Vista, Colorado. JACK PEARADIN

Shine on, amazing diamond

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Arkansas gem hunter digs up rock he claims collectors estimate could be worth \$1M

By Laura Turbay

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Jack Pearadin is the first to admit that his diamond-hunting hobby hasn't paid off, despite sifting rocks for more than a dozen years.

But earlier this year, the Navy reservist and his friend shoveled a 6-carat diamond from a field in Arkansas where he's found over 300 gems so far. And this one is like nothing he has dug up before — Pearadin claims collectors have told him it could be worth \$1 million.

At least one experienced appraiser told The Associated Press that a diamond of such size and quality could be worth a fourth of that — still an impressive find.

“Oh my God! Oh my God!” Pearadin said as he livestreamed the discovery on TikTok. "Holy crap, we got a big one!" he yelled after rinsing gravel from a bucket and then flipping the pile onto a table to expose the shiny facets of a 6.03-carat diamond.

Roughly the size of a fingernail, it's the largest diamond found this year at Crater of Diamonds State Park. More than 37,000 diamonds have been discovered since the former open-pit diamond mine became part of a state park in 1972.

The park charges a \$15 entry fee to fill a 5-gallon bucket with rocks, and people can keep any gemstones they find. Most are small and worth maybe a few hundred dollars.

The largest diamond ever unearthed in the United States, a 40.23-carat stone called the Uncle Sam, was found at the park in 1924.

Most of the 400 to 800 diamonds found at the park annually weigh one-quarter of a carat, park interpreter Sarah Bivens said.

But there have been some bigger ones, said park assistant superintendent Waymon Cox: In 2020 a 9-carat diamond was found by an Arkansas bank manager, and in 2024 a French man unearthed a 7-carat diamond.

Diamonds are crystallized under tremendous pressure and heat deep inside the Earth and then thrust to the surface through volcanic activity before they're scattered by water or wind. These natural diamonds are often cloudy and oddly shaped, and lose about $25\%$ of their weight as they're cut and polished into what a jeweler would sell, according to Nathan Renfro, senior manager at the Gemological Institute of America.

Renfro said the U.S. has only two known primary deposits of diamonds — places where columns of once-molten volcanic rock have reached the surface — Crater of Diamonds and Colorado's Kelsey Lake, where the land was reclaimed after a commercial mining operation went out of business years ago.

Suit targets Starbucks over ‘sugar-free’ protein drinks

By Dee-Ann Durbin

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Starbucks is facing a consumer lawsuit over claims that the protein drinks labeled “sugar-free” on its cafe menus may actually contain more sugar than a Reese’s peanut butter cup.

The federal lawsuit filed late Friday in Seattle alleges that eight protein beverages that Starbucks sells in the U.S. contain varying amounts of sugar even though the company lists them as sugarless.

On Monday, the menu on Starbucks' U.S. website listed a 16-ounce Sugar-Free Caramel Protein Matcha with 16 grams of sugar and a 20-ounce version of the same drink with 21 grams of sugar. By comparison, one

Reese's cup has 11 grams of sugar.

Hagens Berman, a law firm that specializes in class-action cases, filed the suit on behalf of three individual consumers who bought Starbucks' sugar-free protein drinks in California, New York and Washington.

“Consumers avoid sugar for various reasons, whether that be general health, diabetes and blood glucose levels or other factors, and for many, a staunch mislabeling like this is significant,” the law firm said.

The plaintiffs contend that Starbucks' naming and marketing of sugar-free products is “false, deceptive and unlawful” and that the company violated federal labeling regulations.

Seattle-based Starbucks said the sugar in its protein drinks comes from the proteinboosted milk it uses. The company said it doesn't add sugar to the drinks and it uses sugar-free syrup for flavoring.

On Starbucks' website Monday, the drinks were marketed as "sugar-free," but the company also clearly stated the amount of sugar in each beverage and that they were made without added sugar.

"We believe these claims have no merit," a Starbucks spokesperson said Monday. "Starbucks has consistently and clearly provided information about its protein beverages, sugar-free options, customization choices and nutritional content across product announcements, menus, marketing materials, Starbucks.com and the Starbucks app, and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves in this matter."

Trade deficit hits highest mark since tariffs began

By Ana Swanson

THE NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit rose sharply in August to hit a 17-month high, driven by an increase in imports of petroleum, gold and chips used for artificial intelligence.

The trade deficit — a measure of the difference between what the country imports and what it exports — grew 13.7% from the previous month to \$105.6 billion, the largest monthly total since before President Donald Trump imposed his global tariffs in April 2025.

Imports grew 4.3% from the previous month, to a record \$420.8 billion. U.S. exports grew 1.4% compared with July, hitting \$315.2 billion. Because growth in imports outpaced that of exports, the trade deficit widened.

The Trump administration has tried to reduce the trade deficit, which the president views as a sign of America's weak manufacturing sector, by imposing hefty tariffs on everything from toys and steel to drones and auto parts.

But in recent months, the metric has trended stubbornly upward, in part because of the AI boom. Companies are importing far more expensive computer chips, most of which are made in Asia, to construct new data centers.

Many economists also have questioned whether tariffs are a good tool for reducing the trade deficit. They argue that the metric is often driven by other macroeconomic forces, like economic growth or government debt.

The monthly trade deficit has moved erratically during the second Trump administration, spiking and plummeting as new tariffs have been introduced, removed and replaced. After Trump was elected, importers raced to bring in more inventory ahead of tariffs, causing the trade deficit to spike to historic levels in the first few months of Trump's term.

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Business briefs

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SPAIN OKS HOUSING MEASURES AFTER VIOLENCE IN BARCELONA

MADRID — Spain's government on Tuesday approved urgent measures to tackle the housing crisis, after an outbreak of violence the night before in Barcelona saw tens of thousands of people taking to the streets demanding a quick resolution.

The angry protests followed nation-wide demonstrations over the weekend. All were triggered by the eviction of María del Carmen Abascal, 87, from her Madrid home last month.

The 21 approved measures were similar to those Parliament rejected last week.

The measures include facilitating renting or buying a new home, extending eviction protections for vulnerable residents, imposing a new tax on seasonal rentals, prohibiting speculative real estate purchases and granting tax breaks to property owners and tenants who pay on time. — Associated Press

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AI INDUSTRY INSIDERS VOICING CONCERNS TO COUNCIL IN NYC

NEW YORK — Artificial intelligence insiders warned New York City's leaders about the dangers of the emerging technology on Monday, calling for greater oversight as local governments move to respond to mounting concerns that the systems could endanger humanity.

At a hearing of the New York City Council, recently departed employees of Anthropic, OpenAI and Google DeepMind described a reckless culture at the firms, saying the biggest tech companies are racing to create technology they do not understand how to control.

"The companies run on a startup mindset: move fast, break things, fix them later. That works for a photo-sharing app. It does not work for building the most powerful technology ever built," said Jacob Coxon, a former engineer at Anthropic. — Associated Press

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SKOREA INVESTIGATES POSSIBLE USE OF AI IN HACKING OF BANKS

South Korean officials are investigating whether artificial intelligence agents were involved in recent hacking incidents against banks in the country.

President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday that “signs have emerged” that AI models had been used in some of the cyberattacks, “causing considerable public concern and anxiety.”

He told his Cabinet to confirm what had happened “swiftly and clearly,” and to deploy personnel and resources to minimize the damage. No details were provided about who was behind the hacks.

Shinhan Bank said last week that credit information for about 25,000 people had been leaked. Separately, Hana Bank said the information of 89 customers was leaked, while KB Kookmin Bank said 99 customers and 20 current or former employees were affected. — The New York Times | HIGH | DOW | 51,672.25 | DOW Trans. | 19,889.89 | DOW Util. | 1,048.00 | NYSE Comp. | 23,988.90 | NASDAQ | 27,722.75 | S&P 500 | 7,844.52 | S&P 400 | 3,715.21 | DOW Total | 77,317.47 | Russell 2000 | 2,864.43 | HOSPITAL

from Page B1

Department of Health.

A spokesperson for Insight said in a statement Monday night after the meeting that “the community is understandably concerned about supporting another operator.” He said Insight’s immediate job “is to assess and investigate the current situation at both facilities (physical plant, finances, medical records, staffing, etc) and after a 90-day due diligence period make a recommendation on the feasibility of a path forward for each hospital.”

He said Insight has made "no predictions on what that due diligence might determine and if the hospitals would be viable to reopen, especially with a lack of state financial support, as well as the downward pressures facing safety net and community hospitals with the impending federal actions."

The spokesperson acknowledged that Insight has financial challenges as do “all safety net hospitals in the state of Illinois.” He said Insight has added new lines of service and specialty practices at its Bronzeville hospital since taking it over five years ago.

No one from Insight spoke during the meeting Monday evening. When asked if Insight leaders were invited to the event, Harmon said, "It's a community meeting.

A parking lot in Chicago's Austin neighborhood across from a mostly vacant West Suburban Medical Center on June 1 in Oak Park. BRIAN CASSELLA/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Everybody was invited."

A number of representatives of other Chicago health systems were at the event but did not speak during the meeting.

Deputy Gov. Grace Hou did speak at the meeting Monday evening, an appearance that came after months of the governor's office keeping its distance from the saga over West Suburban.

Hou told the crowd she was “so grateful I’ve been invited into this community to listen” and did not express an opinion about Insight potentially owning the hospital.

The Chicago Medical Society and West Suburban doctors had together asked the governor's office in April to intervene, requesting that Gov. JB Pritzker use his executive authority to reopen the hospital, direct emergency funding to the hospital to stabilize operations and appoint an interim management team.

At the time, a spokesperson for the governor's office said in a statement, "It is outside of the Governor's authority to intervene in the matters of a private business, including those of a privately-owned medical facility."

Though state leaders didn't talk about Insight specifically during the meeting, Harmon did express frustration that the fight over the hospital has been largely between private entities.

"The state can support it, the state can hold it accountable, but we can't walk in and take the keys," Harmon said of West Suburban.

Later in the meeting, in response to a speaker who criticized the state's actions leading up to the hospital's closure, Harmon said: "The state of Illinois has some culpability here. We oversaw this hospital ... Nobody wanted to walk in and close the hospital, so maybe we hoped against hope for too long."

A recent Tribune investigation revealed state officials missed red flags as they approved the hospitals' sale to the previous owner and failed to follow rules as they gave money to the hospitals. The company behind West Suburban and Weiss Memorial Hospital received more than \$24 million in state grants while accumulating debts of roughly \$100 million in state loans and unpaid taxes, the Tribune found.

“They haven’t paid us back, and they haven’t paid their taxes,” Harmon said of Resilience Healthcare, which was the owner that shuttered West Suburban in Oak Park and Weiss in Uptown. “It’s still closed, and we need answers on where that money went and whether we’re going to see any of it back.”

Harmon and Lilly had been scheduled to speak at a previous town hall meeting in August but pulled out shortly before that event, which was held at Malcolm X College on the city's West Side. At the time, Harmon and Lilly said in a statement, “Organizers planned the event outside the community and, without informing us, added executives from Insight Hospital to the program.”

The organizers of that previous town hall — community and faith leaders — then propped up posters onstage featuring photos of the two lawmakers with signs saying "NO-SHOW" across their chests.

Some community members and former employees, however, also said Monday evening they had questions about Insight as the hospital's new owner. Former West Suburban employee Sylvia Williams, who oversaw nurses in two departments, said she wasn't sure if Insight would be financially able to resurrect and run West Suburban.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, community member James Hammonds expressed frustration that the state didn't keep a closer eye on West Suburban and Weiss in recent years, and he said the state should require the next owner to more thoroughly show how they intend to run the hospital.

"The state of Illinois is partially at fault," Hammonds said to cheers from the crowd. "They let them do whatever they wanted to do."

Community member Clabe Johnson also said the hospital's next owner should be held accountable.

“We need a watchdog for these safety net hospitals,” Johnson told the lawmakers and the crowd.

Any ownership change of the hospitals would have to be approved by the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board.

IKEA

from Page B1

surrounding communities' unique needs, lifestyles and spaces," Gravina said.

The idea is for the new store to complement the flagship, 450,000-square-foot operation in Schaumburg, about 30 minutes away from the Naperville location.

And though the new store will be smaller than both the Bolingbrook and Schaumburg locations, it will include a Swedish Deli and Swedish Food Market and sell the chain's iconic meatballs.

“Across the country, we are opening these new format stores in areas and shopping centers where we know our customers already are, providing them with additional access points in major markets," Gravina said.

That includes a small store in Gurnee, which is slated to be about 66,000 square feet. The village offered \$2 million in incentives to land the retail giant and is expected to generate \$2.9 million in sales tax over six years, ensuring the village comes out about \$900,000 ahead on the deal.

Outside of Illinois, IKEA has already opened multiple small-format stores this year, including locatons in Culver City, California, and Phoenix, Arizona. But not all have been successful. Last month the company announced it would be closing a small-format store in San Marcos, Texas, on Nov. 1 after only a year in operation.

Earlier this week, news reports said three “plan and order with pickup” IKEA stores in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., were slated to close.

The company's presence in Naperville is likely to bolster the city's home goods and furniture sales, an area that Mayor Scott Wehrli said at a June city council meeting was lagging compared to other sectors in Naperville's economy.

"It's not because we don't have customers in our town. I think it's clearly because our customers are shopping in other cities that have these types of stores," he said at the

time.

Naperville had \$257 million in furniture and electronic sales last year, an increase of about 30.3% over 2024, placing it behind Glenview at \$695 million and Schaumburg with \$286 million, according to a report from Chicago-based consultant firm Melaniphy & Associates.

By comparison, Naperville – which is also considered the Chicago metropolitan area's suburban retail mecca – was leading in multiple sales categories last year, including grocery, restaurant and bar, home improvement, automobile dealer and gasoline purchases.

At that June council meeting, Brixmor Property Group asked the Naperville City Council for an additional \$1.85 million tax incentive to lure a home goods/furniture retailer to its Block 59 Business District, which was approved.

It is an extension of the business district created in 2023 to spur redevelopment of the Brixmor-owned properties: Westridge Court shopping center and the Block 59 restaurant/entertainment complex at Aurora Avenue and Route 59.

A special 1% tax is assessed on sales from the businesses located within the district and reimbursed to Brixmor to help cover the cost of infrastructure required by the new development.

Rich Dippolito, vice president of re/development for Brixmor, declined to name the home goods retailer at that meeting, but said the new tenant would “generate a lot of interest.”

The Naperville Sun was unable to confirm by deadline whether the new IKEA store is the home goods retail tenant connected to that \$1.85 million tax incentive.

Last month, Dippolito said that businesses were being shifted around the Westridge Court portion of the business district to make room for the home goods retailer. Businesses that were being moved included Discovery Clothing Co. and Going, Going, Gone!

cstein@chicagotribune.com

Market Roundup

DOW 51,521.28

253.38 0.49%

NASDAQ 27,599.79

122.48 0.45%

StocksRecap | NYSE | NASD | Vol. (in mil.) | 4400 | 3807 | Pvs. Volume | 5335 | 3521 | Advanced | 1572 | 1403 | Declined | 1041 | 1890 | New Highs | 52 | 122 | New Lows | 79 | 244 | LOCAL STOCKS

S&P 500 7,818.93

44.98 0.58%

EURO 1.1260

0.0040 0.36%

CRUDE OIL 89.44

0.01 0.01%

GOLD 4,159.20

30.80 0.75%

Commodities

Orange Juice rose 6.67% to \$1.44, leading gains. Cotton increased 2.63% to \$77.13.

Platinum fell 0.83% to \$1692.70, marking the largest decline.

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Foreign Exchange

Norwegian Krone declined most at -0.70%, while British Pound led gains with 0.38%. Mexican Peso fell -0.58%, and Euro rose 0.36%.

Interestrates

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 5.28%. Yields affect interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans. | PRIME RATE | FED FUNDS | YEST | 7.00 | 3.88 | 6 MO AGO | 6.75 | 3.63 | 1 YR AGO | 6.75 | 3.63 |

6-MO T-BILLS 4.3

-0.01 -0.23%

30-YR T-BONDS 5.65

-0.01 -0.21% | FUELS | CLOSE | PVS. | CHG | %YTD | Crude Oil (bbl) | 89.44 | 89.43 | +0.01 | +55.8 | Heating Oil (gal) | 4.55 | 4.50 | +0.04 | +116.8 | Natural Gas (mm btu) | 3.11 | 3.07 | +0.05 | -15.5 | Unleaded Gas (gal) | 3.27 | 3.25 | +0.03 | +90.9 | METALS | CLOSE | PVS. | CHG | %YTD | Aluminum (ton) | 3,238.00 | 3,238.50 | -0.50 | +11.4 | Copper (lb) | 6.59 | 6.59 | +0.01 | +17.1 | Gold (oz) | 4,159.20 | 4,128.40 | +30.80 | -3.8 | Platinum (oz) | 1,692.70 | 1,706.90 | -14.20 | -16.8 | Silver (oz) | 61.17 | 60.87 | +0.30 | -12.8 | AGRICULTURE | CLOSE | PVS. | CHG | %YTD | Lumber (1,000 bd ft) | 525.00 | 523.50 | +1.50 | -17.6 | Cattle (lb) | 2.21 | 2.17 | +0.04 | -4.5 | Coffee (lb) | 2.93 | 2.89 | +0.04 | -13.1 | Corn (bu) | 5.08 | 4.97 | +0.11 | +15.4 | Cotton (lb) | 77.13 | 75.15 | +1.98 | +20.0 | Orange Juice (lb) | 1.44 | 1.35 | +0.09 | -26.6 | Soybeans (bu) | 13.03 | 12.81 | +0.22 | +26.4 | Wheat (bu) | 7.04 | 6.92 | +0.12 | +38.9 | MAJORS | CLOSE | CHG | %CHG | 6MO AGO | 1YR AGO | British Pound (GBP/USD) | 1.3269 | +.0050 | +.38% | 1.3238 | 1.3480 | Canadian Dollar | 1.4206 | -.0042 | -.30% | 1.3903 | 1.3941 | Euro (EUR/USD) | 1.1260 | +.0040 | +.36% | 1.1543 | 1.1706 | Japanese Yen | 158.147 | +.2820 | +.18% | 159.66 | 150.27 | Mexican Peso | 17.9577 | -.1041 | -.58% | 17.753 | 18.326 | EUROPE/AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST | Israeli Shekel | 3.0437 | -.0093 | -.30% | 3.1439 | 3.2739 | Norwegian Krone | 9.4975 | -.0671 | -.70% | 9.7088 | 9.9170 | South African Rand | 16.5137 | +.0269 | +.16% | 16.737 | 17.150 | Swedish Krona | 9.9760 | -.0467 | -.47% | 9.0190 | 9.3759 | Swiss Franc | .8313 | +.0006 | +.07% | .7972 | .7945 | ASIA/PACIFIC | Australian Dollar | 1.4320 | -.0017 | -.12% | 1.4451 | 1.5117 | Chinese Yuan | 6.7045 | +.0000 | +.00% | 6.8824 | 7.1190 | Hong Kong Dollar | 7.8476 | +.0011 | +.01% | 7.8373 | 7.7826 | Indian Rupee | 96.3794 | +.1114 | +.12% | 92.963 | 88.720 | Singapore Dollar | 1.2770 | -.0014 | -.11% | 1.2843 | 1.2912 | South Korean Won | 1336.80 | -2.950 | -.22% | 1507.7 | 1409.3 | Taiwan Dollar | 31.7809 | +.0659 | +.21% | 31.904 | 30.481 | TREASURIES | LAST | PVS | NET CHG | WK | MO | QTR | 1YR AGO | 3-month T-bill | 4.14 | 4.15 | -0.01 | ▼ | ▲ | ▲ | 3.68 | 6-month T-bill | 4.30 | 4.31 | -0.01 | ▼ | ▲ | ▲ | 3.70 | 1-year T-bill | 4.46 | 4.47 | -0.01 | ▼ | ▲ | ▲ | 3.68 | 2-year T-note | 4.79 | 4.82 | -0.02 | ▼ | ▲ | ▲ | 3.78 | 5-year T-note | 5.03 | 5.06 | -0.03 | ▼ | ▲ | ▲ | 3.91 | 10-year T-note | 5.28 | 5.31 | -0.03 | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | 4.28 | 30-year T-bond | 5.65 | 5.67 | -0.01 | ▲ | ▲ | ▲ | 4.89 | CONSUMER RATES | NAT'L AVG | WK AGO | 6MO AGO | 1YR AGO | 72 month new car loan | 5.74 ▼ | 6.01 | 6.17 | 6.37 | Money Market Account | 0.45 ▲ | 0.44 | 0.42 | 0.43 | 1 year cd | 2.07 ▲ | 2.05 | 1.88 | 1.97 | $30K Home equity loan | 7.31 ▲ | 6.76 | 7.06 | 8.20 | 30 year fixed mortgage | 7.36 ▲ | 7.18 | 6.47 | 6.41 | 15 year fixed mortgage | 6.75 ▲ | 6.59 | 5.85 | 5.72 | NAME | CLOSE | YTD | CHG | %CHG | CHG | LO | HI | DIV | ANI Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 71.52 | -1.06 | -1.5% | -7.42 | 69.58 | 97.00 | ... | AbbVie Inc. | 266.69 | +.93 | +0.4% | +38.20 | 190.75 | 269.39 | 6.92 | Abbott Laboratories | 98.16 | -1.94 | -1.9% | -27.13 | 81.97 | 135.12 | 2.52 | Acco Brands Corp. | 4.37 | +.03 | +0.7% | +.64 | 2.81 | 4.56 | 0.30 | Allstate Corp., The | 224.27 | -0.44 | -0.2% | +16.12 | 188.08 | 277.22 | 4.32 | AptarGroup Inc. | 120.25 | -0.36 | -0.3% | -1.71 | 103.23 | 146.91 | 1.92 | Archer Daniels Midland Cc | 82.21 | -0.26 | -0.3% | +24.72 | 55.58 | 88.75 | 2.08 | Baxter International Inc. | 24.36 | +.14 | +0.6% | +5.25 | 15.73 | 30.00 | 0.04 | Boeing Co. | 189.82 | -2.90 | -1.5% | -27.30 | 176.77 | 254.35 | 8.22 | Brunswick Corp. | 64.98 | +.15 | +0.2% | -9.26 | 58.56 | 90.25 | 1.76 | CDW | 135.67 | +1.75 | +1.3% | -0.53 | 97.12 | 161.10 | 2.52 | CF Industries Holdings Inc | 116.02 | .00 | 0.0% | +38.68 | 75.42 | 141.96 | 2.40 | CME Group Inc. | 270.18 | +.15 | +0.1% | -2.90 | 218.31 | 329.16 | 5.20 | CNA Financial Corp. | 46.21 | .00 | 0.0% | -1.53 | 41.53 | 55.71 | 1.92 | Century Aluminum | 37.18 | +.24 | +0.6% | -2.00 | 25.40 | 70.43 | ... | Chicago Rivet & Machine ( | 11.06 | +.55 | +5.2% | -2.85 | 8.50 | 15.00 | 0.12 | ConAgra Brands Inc. | 13.45 | +.26 | +2.0% | -3.86 | 12.53 | 20.32 | 0.70 | Deere & Co. | 682.79 | +.59 | +0.1% | +217.22 | 433.48 | 721.22 | 6.48 | Distribution Solutions Grp | 35.05 | +.03 | +0.1% | +7.66 | 19.02 | 35.10 | 0.48 | Dover Corp. | 191.88 | +.58 | +0.3% | -3.36 | 158.97 | 237.54 | 2.10 | Enova International Inc. | 182.88 | +4.88 | +2.7% | +25.68 | 103.02 | 267.45 | ... | Equity Lifestyle Propert. In | 58.74 | +.25 | +0.4% | -1.87 | 57.46 | 69.00 | 2.17 | Exelon Corp. | 41.68 | +.86 | +2.1% | -1.91 | 39.73 | 50.65 | 1.68 | Federal Signal Corp. | 118.14 | +1.71 | +1.5% | +9.55 | 101.18 | 134.51 | 0.60 | First Indust.Realty Trust In | 59.26 | +.04 | +0.1% | +1.99 | 50.24 | 69.88 | 2.00 | First Mid Bancshares Inc. | 49.51 | -0.16 | -0.3% | +10.51 | 34.16 | 53.36 | 1.04 | Fortune Brands Innovator | 39.35 | +.69 | +1.8% | -10.67 | 32.34 | 64.84 | 1.04 | FreightCar America Inc. | 6.60 | -0.16 | -2.4% | -4.47 | 6.35 | 14.90 | 0.36 | Fuel Technologies Inc. | 1.67 | +.02 | +1.2% | +.11 | 1.17 | 3.45 | ... | GATX Corp. | 170.88 | -1.39 | -0.8% | +1.28 | 150.42 | 205.56 | 2.64 | Gallagher & Co., Arthur J. | 229.85 | +2.61 | +1.1% | -28.94 | 190.75 | 313.09 | 2.80 | Grainger Inc., W.W. | 1275.56 | -11.28 | -0.9% | +266.51 | 906.52 | 1419.91 | 9.96 | Groupon Inc. | 18.84 | -0.87 | -4.4% | +1.23 | 9.17 | 29.90 | ... | Hub Group Inc. | 28.16 | -0.58 | -2.0% | -14.45 | 27.90 | 53.26 | 0.50 | Huron Consulting Group Ir | 157.26 | -2.84 | -1.8% | -15.65 | 84.88 | 186.78 | ... | Hyatt Hotels Corp. | 159.12 | +2.35 | +1.5% | -1.20 | 134.18 | 206.86 | 0.60 | IDEX Corp. | 236.28 | +.99 | +0.4% | +58.34 | 159.27 | 243.80 | 2.92 | Illinois Tool Works Inc. | 267.14 | +2.95 | +1.1% | +20.84 | 238.82 | 303.16 | 6.88 | Ingredion Inc. | 96.75 | -0.10 | -0.1% | -13.51 | 93.97 | 123.49 | 3.32 | JBT Marel Corp. | 108.69 | -1.07 | -1.0% | -41.98 | 104.45 | 170.19 | 0.40 | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 331.28 | -1.10 | -0.3% | +9.06 | 279.10 | 366.50 | 6.60 | John B. Sanfilippo & Son I | 67.76 | -0.27 | -0.4% | -2.84 | 59.07 | 92.08 | 0.95 | Jones Lang Lasalle Inc. | 303.62 | +1.21 | +0.4% | -32.85 | 259.83 | 393.84 | 0.43 | Kemper Corp. | 26.07 | +.26 | +1.0% | -14.47 | 22.69 | 50.52 | 1.28 | Knowles Corp. | 39.19 | -0.21 | -0.5% | +17.76 | 20.57 | 42.93 | ... | Kraft Heinz | 22.03 | +.19 | +0.9% | -2.22 | 21.04 | 28.09 | 1.60 | LKQ Corp. | 22.39 | -0.01 | -0.0% | -7.81 | 21.17 | 37.13 | 1.20 | Lifeway Foods Inc. | 20.46 | -0.54 | -2.6% | -3.77 | 17.31 | 32.71 | 0.08 | Littelfuse Inc. | 454.28 | +2.86 | +0.6% | +201.36 | 233.36 | 500.57 | 3.20 | MYR Group Inc. (Del.) | 324.51 | +21.86 | +7.2% | +106.01 | 190.14 | 503.56 | ... | McDonald's Corp. | 232.45 | -0.59 | -0.3% | -73.18 | 229.20 | 341.75 | 7.72 | Methode Electronics Inc. | 15.10 | -0.30 | -1.9% | +8.46 | 4.88 | 20.38 | 0.20 | Middleby Corp | 105.92 | +.81 | +0.8% | -13.68 | 89.15 | 148.20 | ... | Mondelez International Inc | 59.62 | +1.13 | +1.9% | +5.79 | 51.20 | 66.65 | 2.08 | Morningstar Inc. | 195.69 | +6.53 | +3.5% | -21.62 | 141.49 | 228.95 | 2.00 | Motorola Solutions Inc. | 456.28 | +.91 | +0.2% | +72.96 | 359.36 | 494.85 | 4.84 | NISOURCE Inc. | 40.67 | +1.12 | +2.8% | -1.09 | 38.42 | 49.21 | 1.20 | Northern Trust Corp. | 169.46 | -1.21 | -0.7% | +32.87 | 121.12 | 193.89 | 3.52 | Oil-Dri Corp. of America | 88.13 | +.24 | +0.3% | +39.19 | 45.61 | 107.00 | 0.90 | Old Republic Intl Corp. | 38.01 | +.22 | +0.6% | -7.63 | 36.65 | 46.76 | 1.26 | Old Second Bancorp Inc. | 25.05 | +.18 | +0.7% | +5.55 | 16.65 | 26.06 | 0.28 | OneSpan Inc. | 18.38 | -0.04 | -0.2% | +5.54 | 10.07 | 18.82 | 0.52 | Packaging Corp. of Americ | 229.74 | +.43 | +0.2% | +23.51 | 191.50 | 259.98 | 6.00 | Paylocity Holding Corp. | 146.16 | -1.23 | -0.8% | -6.34 | 93.27 | 160.73 | ... | Portillo's Inc. | 3.78 | +.23 | +6.5% | -0.76 | 3.29 | 6.69 | ... | Richardson Electronics Ltd | 19.05 | +.27 | +1.4% | +8.17 | 9.37 | 23.15 | 0.24 | Ryan Specialty Holdings Ir | 38.30 | +.32 | +0.8% | -13.33 | 29.28 | 59.18 | 0.52 | Stepan Co. | 62.39 | -0.35 | -0.6% | +15.03 | 41.82 | 68.00 | 1.58 | Suncoke Energy Inc. | 10.04 | +.10 | +1.0% | +2.84 | 5.52 | 10.68 | 0.48 | Telephone & Data Systems | 35.15 | +.04 | +0.1% | -5.85 | 31.51 | 49.12 | 0.16 | Titan International Inc. | 7.03 | +.05 | +0.7% | -0.80 | 6.37 | 11.70 | 0.02 | Tootsie Roll Industries Inc. | 37.36 | -0.25 | -0.7% | +.73 | 34.44 | 45.06 | 0.36 | TransUnion | 63.42 | -0.40 | -0.6% | -22.33 | 60.96 | 89.12 | 0.50 | US Foods Holding Corp. | 96.53 | +1.90 | +2.0% | +21.21 | 69.88 | 111.42 | ... | Ulta Beauty Inc. | 547.29 | +4.57 | +0.8% | -57.72 | 443.60 | 714.97 | ... | United Airlines | 111.87 | +1.87 | +1.7% | +.05 | 84.64 | 138.77 | ... | Ventas Inc. | 81.86 | +.50 | +0.6% | +4.48 | 66.92 | 101.60 | 2.08 | Wintrust Financial Corp. | 144.94 | -0.26 | -0.2% | +5.12 | 119.61 | 167.22 | 2.20 | Yunhong Green CTI Ltd. | 2.80 | +.10 | +3.7% | -0.83 | 2.38 | 10.29 | ... | Zebra Technologies Corp. | 385.78 | +10.12 | +2.7% | +142.96 | 199.05 | 390.80 | ... | # Nation & World

School protests turn violent in France

Students chant slogans during a protest Tuesday in Paris. Police tactics are angering parents as well. TERESA SUAREZ/AP

Police make arrests, fire tear gas as teens' actions strike chord

By Nicolas Garriga and Oleg Cetinic

ASSOCIATED PRESS

PARIS — Police fired tear gas to control crowds in Paris and elsewhere in France on Tuesday as more than 250,000 people rallied nationwide to support school students demanding more education funding, according to government figures. The protests increased pressure on the administration of outgoing President Emmanuel Macron.

As students blocked high schools, large crowds waving flags and placards gathered in Marseille, Strasbourg and other cities.

The demonstrations showed how protests that began at a high school in the Paris region in mid-September have grown into a nationwide movement – the latest of many that have marked Macron's nearly decade-long tenure.

“We need to listen to them,” said Léa Monimart, an adult demonstrator in the northern city of Lille. “They are 17 years old; they are not completely clueless, and they know what they are talking about. It’s important to show that there are adults who support them.”

The Interior Ministry estimated that 266,000 people took part in demonstrations across the country on Tuesday, including 56,000 in Paris, where small groups of protesters clashed with riot officers at a city square at the end of a largely peaceful march.

Nearly 500 people were detained Tuesday, the ministry said. The widespread use of arrests, tear gas and riot-control weapons against teenagers is fueling defiance and angering some parents and teachers.

Some student groups called for new protests Thursday.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the police response had been proportionate in “almost all cases” and that the protests had at times turned into riots, requiring intervention by police.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the government and school leaders must listen to students' concerns and find solutions.

Questioned in parliament Tuesday about the protest movement, Lecornu denounced “ultra violence” threatening schools. Responding to criticism of police tactics, he pledged that any “accidents” would be investigated and described allegations that the police are racist as a “lie.”

More than two weeks of class boycotts and school blockades — and policing that has led to more than 6,100 arrests, mostly of minors — have become a flashpoint in the early days of the presidential election campaign.

“Riot police, batons, rubber bullets, tear gas,” said Aurélien Le Coq, a lawmaker with the far-left France Unbowed party. Its presidential candidate is backing the protests. The violence is "absolutely unbearable."

Nuñez defended police tactics despite a growing number of severe injuries blamed on officers' riot-control weapons.

In the latest case, a 15-year-old boy lost a hand Monday in an incident involving a police stun grenade. He said 715 officers had been injured.

The teenage protesters have struck a chord amid widespread discontent in France.

Frustrations extend beyond immediate difficulties, such as fuel prices that have soared because of the Iran war, to broader concerns about constraints on public spending, rising poverty and wealth inequality under

Macron, who can't run for a third consecutive term.

Against that backdrop, students' complaints that education funding shortfalls are endangering their futures have found a sympathetic audience.

“You say ‘young people are the future,’ so listen to them,” read a placard attached to a metal barrier outside a Paris school.

At the Hélène Boucher lycée, or high school, in Paris' 20th district, protesters tipped over trash cans and bicycles onto their sides to create a makeshift barricade.

Like hundreds of others around the country, the school was closed.

Authorities began shut-

ting schools last week to take some steam out of the demonstrations after widespread damage to schools and mounting injuries among staff, students and police.

Classes were totally or partially suspended Tues-day at 891 schools, according to the Education Ministry.

Facing accusations that it was ignoring protesters, the ministry launched an online portal inviting high school students to anonymously describe the difficulties they are facing at school and spell out the changes they want to see.

At Hélène Boucher, parents and other adults positioned themselves Tuesday between protesters and police keeping watch.

“They are our children. Teachers, parents, federations, we all share the same goal: the protection of children’s rights, and it is a legitimate right to demonstrate and to make demands,” said Emilia Sichili Suriam, who is a member of an association of parents.

Demonstrators have voiced a range of grievances, often centering on a lack of resources and opportunities for students in disadvantaged schools, despite the promise of France's national motto: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity."

Students have drawn attention to rundown classrooms that lack basics such as desks and chairs, become sweltering in summer without air conditioning and, in some cases, are infested with rats.

Other complaints include staff shortages and exhausting workloads.

French high school students' compulsory classroom hours are among the highest in Europe.

Army finds shock gloves create intense pain, fear

Critics say ICE knew about study but still bought 6,000 pairs

By Ryan J. Foley

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The shock gloves that immigration agents could soon use to control detainees and protesters worked so powerfully during a military exercise that participants felt intense pain, stopped fighting immediately and feared additional exposures, according to a previously unreleased Army study.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement leaders were aware of the findings before signing a \$16.7 million contract to purchase 6,000 pairs of shock gloves in August, according to records obtained by the watchdog group American Oversight and shared with The Associated Press.

The shocks had a profound impact on Army employees who played the role of combative prisoners during the exercise, which took place at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas in October 2024. The participants stopped resisting seconds after officers applied shocks by touching gloves to their skin, and were left with “fatigue, soreness and excessive apprehensiveness to being shocked again,” the study found.

"After experiencing the effects of the GLOVE, ... participants stated just seeing the GLOVE was enough to make them want to comply," the authors wrote.

ICE has called the gloves “distraction and de-escalation devices” that will be safer than other non-lethal options to subdue targets for arrest and deportation and protesters who create civil disturbances. The agency has argued the rapid compliance they cause will keep officers safer and prevent incidents from requiring potentially lethal force.

But critics have warned the gloves will give ICE another weapon to intimidate and brutalize people even as the agency is under fire for excessive force that has left a trail of deaths and injuries across the country. The gloves, they note, are easy to discharge, do not leave a mark and have not been extensively used in settings outside of jails. The manufacturer warns they should not be used on kids, pregnant women or disabled people.

Justin Hall, a jailer, displays an electric shock glove Aug. 13 that is used at his facility in Bardstown, Ky. ICE signed a contract to buy 6,000 pairs of shock gloves. DYLAN LOVAN/AP

"The military assessment in ICE's own files shows that these gloves can cause ‘intense pain’ and force compliance. It does not establish that they are safe," said Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight.

ICE released the study and other documents to American Oversight as part of the group's Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the agency seeking records related to its use of force.

The military prison study assessed whether the gloves could be used effectively to forcibly remove combative prisoners from their cells, to respond to disturbances in common areas and to transport uncooperative inmates. Role-playing employees conducted several scenarios with and without the gloves to test their impact, including violent encounters in which inmates were to fight as hard as they could.

The study found the devices “increased the efficiency” of teams carrying out forced cell extractions and responding to disturbances by reducing the length of physical encounters, keeping guards from becoming exhausted and preventing injuries. They did not “significantly change” the time it took to control inmates during escorts but required less effort.

“GLOVE provides a boost in confidence to smaller or less trained members,” the study found. “Inmate compliance was immediate” compared to other methods, it added.

The electric jolt does not cause the body to freeze like a Taser shock does, but instead “works by overloading the peripheral nerve endings” of the skin to cause pain, the study said. Participants who were wet or had oil on their skin described even more powerful shocks, with one reporting discomfort for 30 minutes afterward.

ICE's contract requires the manufacturer, Compliant Technologies LLC, to deliver the gloves within six months. Its owner, Jeff Niklaus, said he was unavailable for an interview, citing a busy workload.

White House border czar Tom Homan has said it could “be awhile” before the gloves are in the field because ICE is still ironing out training and policy issues. A statement Tuesday by ICE did not address questions about the study and the status of the rollout, but said “officers are highly trained in de-escalation tactics.”

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., said ICE has not responded to an Aug. 27 letter in which she and 15 Democratic Senate colleagues called for ICE to drop its plan to buy the gloves or explain how they would be managed to avoid abuse.

“Without ICE’s responses to legitimate questions ... the American public is being left in the dark about how these electric shock gloves are being deployed and what, if any, training the agents who use them have received,” she said.

UK police arrest 7th man linked to security incident at US-run air base

By Jill Lawless

Iran during this year's war.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON — British police on Tuesday arrested a 22-year-old man in London on suspicion of a terror offense over a security incident at a U.S.-run military air base in England that authorities have linked to Iran.

The arrest is the seventh in connection with a suspected plot against RAF Fairford, located 100 miles west of London, which has been used by American planes to strike

Counter Terrorism Policing said a British national was detained Tuesday in the Westminster area of central London on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.

Police have released few details of their investigation into an incident that sparked speculation and concern — and was followed days later by the removal of U.S. bombers from the base.

Five British men in their 20s were detained near the perimeter of the base in the early hours of Sept. 27, and a 25-year-old British-Iranian man was arrested in London on Thursday. All six have been released on bail under investigation.

Police later said they had found a quantity of an accelerant — gasoline — in three vans linked to the five suspects, but no explosives.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the United Kingdom saw “strong indications” that Iran played a part in the incident, without saying why or what the nature of the suspected plot was.

Iran has denied involvement.

Later Tuesday, a U.S. official said the air base faced Iranian-related threats and the Trump administration believed the intention was to kill as many American troops and destroy as many U.S. planes as possible.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, could not speak to the nature of the potential attack.

The U.K.-owned base has been used by American B-1 and B-52 bombers during the ongoing Iran war. The British government allowed the U.S. military to use RAF Fairfield for what it called defensive strikes on Iranian missiles and their launch sites following Iranian attacks on U.K. interests and Britain's allies in the Gulf.

The United States moved its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford on Sunday, and the

Pentagon said all American bombers at the facility had been redeployed to their home bases in the U.S.

It's unclear whether the move is connected to the arrests. President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that he didn't want to tempt “the enemy” by having the bombers there.

"We had a threat, and if we're going to be threatened, we would just move them, and that sort of alleviates that," he told reporters in Washington.

Layoffs hit days before Trump rally

Brad Cloud and Marianne Donnelly embrace Sept. 30 after the Navistar layoffs in Springfield, Ohio. CAROLYN KASTER/AP

Disgruntled voters

in Ohio turn to Dems

as situations worsen

By Josh Boak

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Sipping tea from beer mugs with his co-workers, Kyle Bos listed the ways his life is changing.

Bos has two daughters, with a third due in January. At the grocery store, five items cost as much as a full cart once did. And on Sept. 30, Bos and nearly 1,400 other people were laid off from their jobs at what had been the Navistar truck factory in southwestern Ohio.

The layoffs — three days before President Donald Trump's rally at a nearby high school — were large enough to basically erase an entire year of job growth in the greater Dayton, Ohio, area. And they are one reason why Bos, 30, plans to spend the final weeks before the November election canvassing votes for Democrats.

Asked how many times he had voted for Trump, Bos held up three tattooed fingers. Voting records show he voted twice, though Bos insists he voted for Trump in 2024, 2020 and 2016.

But he said he's done with the president.

“Something has to change politically in this country,” said Bos, a member of the United Auto Workers who identifies as a centrist. “Seems like it just kept getting worse and worse and worse.”

This year's election is a test for the working-class coalition that lifted Trump into the White House and gave majorities to Republicans in the House and Senate. The outcome will be decided in places like Dayton, which once sprouted factories because it led America in patents per capita. The Wright brothers' airplane, the cash register, the stepladder and the electric car starter were all invented in this city of 137,000.

Trump's blunt talk and status as a celebrity businessman initially helped him around Dayton, where voters sensed that politics as usual had failed them. Republicans secured wins in the larger metro area, but this year, the party is vulnerable with voters who are disgruntled about inflation, the Iran war and a president who seems unsympathetic to their struggles.

An Ohio race could help determine control of the Senate.

Republican Sen. Jon Husted is facing a challenge from former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is trying to harness that disenchantment in a comeback bid two years after losing his seat.

Trump's visit to the Dayton area was part of what he says will be a marathon of rallies to try to convince the public that the economy is better than they think.

"The fake news media, they refuse to talk about our record-setting numbers. So tonight, if you don't mind, I'm going to do it myself," he said at the rally Saturday.

Americans increasingly blame Trump for the high cost of living with just 17% approving of his handling of the issue. Trump has largely sneered at concerns about affordability, but he has promised to give people \$5,000 checks if Republicans win the House and Senate next month – something Bos said he found offensive.

“It feels like a bribe, a slap in the face, and, like, that we’re all ignorant,” Bos said.

The Dayton area has shed about half of its 90,000 factory jobs since 1990, according to U.S. data, after the North American Free Trade Agreement shifted many jobs to Mexico where auto parts could be made cheaper. That trend accelerated after China joined the World Trade Organization.

As steady paychecks vanished, drug addiction and crime increased. Things seemed to hit bottom after the 2008 financial crisis, prompting Phil Plummer — who was then Montgomery County sheriff — to enter politics.

"My jail was 40% drug addicts, 50% mental health patients, 10% criminals," said Plummer, who has been a Republican state representative since 2019. "We got it upside down — that's what drove me to the statehouse."

Plummer, the Montgomery County Republican chairman, is now on the ballot for the Ohio state Senate and stressed that Trump has been what keeps the GOP's coalition of businesses and working-class families together.

In recent years, the local economy has improved as the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base expanded, now directly employing 38,000 people. The base's innovations have attracted new aerospace companies to the area, including Joby Aviation, the Sierra Nevada Corporation and Electra.

The White House pointed to the \$850 million investment by aircraft maker Electra — along with announcements in Ohio from Honda, Stellantis and others — as evidence Trump's policies were creating jobs.

The White House said Trump's tax cuts and trade deals have helped Ohio.

On Friday, pharmaceutical giant Bayer announced it would spend \$2.2 billion on a new drug plant near Columbus. But the experiences at what had been the Navistar plant show that policies meant to help the working class were not enough.

His tariffs failed to boost demand and the plant's former owner, International Motors, chose to offload the facility.

And Trump's major legislative achievement — the One Big Beautiful Bill — contributed little to people's take-home pay, even as it temporarily stripped taxes from tips and overtime.

"We weren't getting a lot of overtime because of the economy,” said Marianne Donnelly, who drove a forklift at the factory. “There just wasn’t any to be had, very little to be had.”

Laid-off workers like Donnelly say they expect to be rehired in six to 12 months by Roshel, a Canadian manufacturer of armored vehicles that is buying the plant. Roshel said in a statement that it's “working with everyone involved not only to protect the current workforce, but to more than double it over the coming years through a phased process.”

On the Monday before the layoffs, Morgan Hughes and JoJo Burkhard were knocking on doors in Kettering, a Dayton suburb named after the inventor of the electric car starter. They wanted union members and retirees to vote for Democrats.

The Navistar job had helped Hughes, 35, buy a house at age 21 and work alongside her father.

When her hours were first cut, Hughes moonlighted for DoorDash and got a real estate license.

Hughes said that what union members and retirees want is to be heard after feeling ignored by politicians.

Burkhard said inflation and the economy have made it easier to swing voters to their side.

“It isn’t a hard pitch at all,” she said. “And even if they don’t want to stay Democratic long-term, they’ll at least give the candidates a chance this election, which could be a turning point for us.”

After a morning of talking to voters, the pair settled down at a Chinese restaurant for some potstickers, and the weight of the week hit them.

Burkhard cracked open a fortune cookie and tears began to well up.

The layoffs meant no work for her, her boyfriend and her mother — and the words in small print almost seemed prophetic.

Her fortune read: "You'll find your inner strength to overcome challenges."

President Donald Trump speaks at a Republican campaign rally Monday in Pinnacle Bank Expo Center in Grand Island, Nebraska. DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Anger rises after president suggests Iran could ‘take out’ LA, San Diego

By Laura Chung

THE NEW YORK TIMES

California leaders condemned President Donald Trump after he appeared to suggest that Iran could “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego if it develops a nuclear weapon.

Speaking at a Republican political rally Monday in Nebraska, the president sought to justify the Iran war as necessary for “keeping the world safe.” He then suggested there could be strikes on the United States, including the Democratic-led Californian cities.

"They could take out a city," he said. "Let them take — Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego."

His comments were met with anger from officials in California, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called the president “deranged and dangerous.”

"After sending the National Guard and Marines to occupy California, Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego," Newsom posted on social media.

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria wrote on social media that his city was not “collateral damage” and not “expendable.”

In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass said the president's comments were "dangerous" and could "potentially compromise" the city's safety.

"The role of a president is to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives," she said in a social media statement.

On Tuesday, the White House said the president was not insinuating that he wanted Iran to attack U.S. cities but instead wants to prevent Tehran from having that capability.

Trump's comments also drew in politicians in California campaigning for Congress in a competitive district.

Jim Desmond, a Republican member of San Diego County's board of supervisors endorsed by Trump in his campaign to represent California's 48th Congressional District, said he "vehemently" disagreed with the president. "No American city is expendable, and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage," he wrote in a social post.

In his speech Monday, Trump also suggested the war with Iran was “going to end very soon" but did not provide any information as to how.

Among his key justifications for launching the war in Iran this year was to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

Meanwhile, Trump reversed course Monday and announced that his super political action committee would now pay for the television ads promoting him that have been airing nationwide at taxpayer expense.

In a post on his social media platform, Trump wrote, “I have decided to do the Patriotic Ads, among others, and pay for them myself, and with money I raised for MAGA, Inc.”

Democrats — and some Republicans — have criticized the ads as a possible violation of federal laws for using taxpayer funds for “publicity or propaganda purposes.”

More than \$10 million in taxpayer-funded ads have run since September, according to AdImpact, an ad-tracking service.

A campaign watchdog, the Campaign Legal Center, accused Trump of violating federal election laws by directing his super PAC in a complaint to the Federal Election Commission.

Wisconsin scientist's icy neutrino hunt earns Nobel Prize in physics

Francis Halzen, 82, speaks Tuesday from Italy in a call with reporters and staffers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON

By Adithi Ramakrishnan, Stefanie Dazio and Kostya Manenkov

ASSOCIATED PRESS

STOCKHOLM – Belgian-born scientist Francis Halzen won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for his efforts to demystify a rare group of neutrinos, tiny cosmic particles that researchers believe offer clues to how the universe evolved.

"It was a great surprise, and I obviously didn't expect it," Halzen said, speaking to the Nobel Physics Committee by phone from Italy, in a call broadcast at the news conference to announce the winner.

Halzen, a physicist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the work was a massive collaborative effort. He was working on a research proposal when the Nobel committee called before lunchtime.

“I hope that this prize will help getting it approved,” he said to chuckles from the audience.

Neutrinos are tiny cosmic particles with no electric charge and extraordinarily small mass, making them difficult to detect. Yet they are everywhere: They spew from stars like the sun, and trillions zip through our bodies every second.

Scientists cannot glimpse the mysterious ghost particles zooming around on their own, so they measure what happens when the particles collide with other bits of matter. Neutrinos bump into other particles only rarely, so scientists build large detectors to improve their odds of catching collisions.

Halzen had the idea to turn Antarctic ice into such a detector. The Nobel committee said his work was instrumental to the construction of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica, which glimpsed the first high-energy neutrinos that came from faraway galaxies.

"This experiment in the Antarctic is a revolutionary way of understanding the universe that we didn't have before," said Michael Moloney, chief executive officer for the American Institute of Physics.

When a neutrino interacts with ice in the detector, it produces a flash of light that's picked up by sensors. The transparent ice makes it easier for scientists to pick up on faint signals from the particles, and the sensors are buried about 8,200 feet deep to protect against interference from cosmic rays and radiation.

"People always thought this was a cute idea, right, but it would never work," Halzen said at a news conference hosted by his university, which also operates the observatory. "The greatest surprise is that we did make it work."

The 82-year-old scientist helped pull back the curtain on an elusive crew of neutrinos that scientists say carry clues about the development of other galaxies and the universe as a whole.

"It's all part of working out the story of where we are in the universe, what's our place in the universe, how did our galaxy form?" said Jonathan Bagger, CEO of the American Physical Society.

Supported by the National Science Foundation, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory involves more than 400 scientists in 14 countries.

"IceCube is like no other telescope in the world," the university's interim chancellor, Eric M. Wilcots, said in a news release. "And there is no other scientist quite like Francis Halzen, whose idea to create a neutrino detector under almost a mile of ice has led to a remarkable multinational and multi-institutional scientific collaboration and a fundamental shift in how we think about the universe."

In a post on social media, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said Halzen is the 11th Belgian to win a Nobel Prize. De Wever called the award “impressive recognition for a lifetime dedicated to shedding light on the great mysteries of the cosmos through its smallest components.”

Ellen Moons, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, announced the award Tuesday in Stockholm. She is the first woman to head the prestigious academy and present the award.

The prize money this year is about \$1.2 million.

Last year, three scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics for research on the strange behavior of subatomic particles called quantum tunneling that enabled the ultrasensitive measurements achieved by MRI machines and laid the groundwork for better cellphones and faster computers.

Unusual court issues stand out in case

Signage is seen for an entrance to the legal complex at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. MARISA SCHWARTZ TAYLOR/THE NEW YORK TIMES 2023

Guantánamo Bay

prisoner accused in

USS Cole bombing

By Carol Rosenberg

THE NEW YORK TIMES

GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — The U.S. war court at Guantánamo Bay is a court like no other, and the one case that is headed to trial this year illustrates just how unusual it is.

For starters, many witnesses in the case — the bombing of the USS Cole — are likely to testify by video.

Legal experts say U.S. death penalty trials require in-person testimony. But the court can compel only government employees to travel to the U.S. Navy base in Cuba for the trial of a Saudi prisoner who is accused in the bombing that killed 17 sailors on Oct. 12, 2000.

The defendant, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, is charged with orchestrating the attack. Even if he is found not guilty, the court cannot set him free.

Nashiri can be held indefinitely as a wartime detainee in the U.S. conflict with al-Qaida, and a national security review panel with no connection to the court has the authority to decide which Guantánamo detainees are too dangerous to let go or which can be sent to the custody of another country.

The U.S. military officers chosen for the jury should be informed about that unusual aspect of Guantánamo detention, the defense lawyers wrote in a filing last week. "It runs contrary to how any American would understand any criminal proceeding to occur," they said.

The Cole bombing and its aftermath are seen as precursors to the 9/11 attacks and its long-delayed trial. Al-Qa-ida is blamed in both acts of terrorism, and men accused in the two cases are being prosecuted for war crimes. Both cases involve defendants who were tortured while in CIA custody.

But the Cole trial is going first, as the first capital trial in the military commissions that were set up after 9/11. Suicide bombers attacked the Cole while it was on a refueling stop in the port of Aden, Yemen, on Oct. 12, 2000. Jury selection is scheduled to start Oct. 19.

Prosecutors propose that witnesses testifying remotely would appear on a larger-than-life-size screen and answer questions posed by lawyers in the courtroom. The court recently took testimony by video in the pretrial hearings from the South of France, the United Arab Emirates and McLean, Virginia. There were mixed results, including an inaudible witness, wobbly images and an interruption triggered by a missile alert in the war against Iran.

Clayton Trivett, the lead prosecutor, said many of the 130 trial witnesses were retired from the military or have left government jobs. Both roles would have required that they travel to Guantánamo Bay. Also, some sailors who survived the suicide bombing are still suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and fear that coming to the base would further worsen their trauma, he said.

The remote witnesses will be able to testify via video link at sites that include a suite at a Defense Department building near the Pentagon, secure conferencing facilities on U.S. bases and government offices across the country.

Witnesses who refuse to go to those sites could be picked up by U.S. Marshals. For witnesses who are willing to testify but cannot travel, prosecutors plan to send a staff member with a laptop to their home so they can testify by a secured link.

Death penalty experts said they could not think of a previous example of a capital trial that depended on remote testimony. They criticized the proposal as at odds with a defendant's constitutional right to confront a witness testifying against him.

Jessica Manuele, a defense lawyer for Nashiri, asked the judge to move the trial to a courtroom in the United States, where civilian and government witnesses could be subpoenaed.

In court last month, the judge, Col. Matthew S. Fitzgerald, reminded Manuele that wartime prisoners brought to Guantánamo after the 9/11 attacks cannot legally be transferred to U.S. soil.

Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said that holding remote capital trials was discussed during the coronavirus pandemic. But defense lawyers on those cases opposed going forward, and those trials were postponed until trial participants could assemble in court.

“In capital cases especially, it is critical for jurors to be able to assess demeanor and credibility of witnesses using a variety of factors that won’t come through on a Zoom link,” Maher said in an interview.

Prosecutors also want three men who have been convicted of terrorism crimes in federal court to testify in the Cole case. But Trivett said the naval commander of the base might not allow them on the base for security reasons, which would also require them to testify remotely.

Whether Nashiri is fit to stand trial also recently emerged as a key issue, and one that could delay the trial start date.

It was disclosed last month that the judge ordered a mental health evaluation of Nashiri, called a sanity board, with a deadline of Oct. 16. If the Army psychiatrist who is conducting the evaluation takes the full allotted time, he will be providing his confidential findings to the judge at the same time the Pentagon begins mobilizing up to 360 military officers from bases in the United States and overseas for the jury pool at Guantánamo.

In 2013, a court-ordered military board diagnosed Nashiri with PTSD and depression. The board also called him an antisocial narcissist, but it declared him fit for trial.

In August, Nashiri's lawyers got permission to have a civilian psychiatrist meet Nashiri. That doctor, Terry Kupers, said the prisoner had a traumatic brain injury and neurocognitive disorder that made him unfit to stand trial.

The judge said Nashiri was fit but ordered the sanity board evaluation “in an abundance of caution.”

Schools sing blues over instrument prices

An orchestra class practices Sept. 24 at a high school in Elkview, West Virginia. MADDIE MCGARVEY/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Trump tariffs strain budgets for districts, families of students

By Sydney Ember

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Jeff Lipscomb, a high school orchestra director in Kanawha County, West Virginia, has been doing a lot of math.

For example, he has 12 cellists but only 10 cellos. If the school district gives him a total budget of \$500 to \$600 for the year, but one new cello costs more than \$1,000, what should Lipscomb do? What if he needs some new violins and violas too?

"I've actually had to buy instruments out of my own pocket," Lipscomb said from his classroom at South Charleston High School on the first Monday of the school year. "I just kind of have to."

Like many music teachers, Lipscomb has become attuned to tight budgets. Lately, though, the cost of instruments has ballooned beyond his ability to make do.

Pandemic-era supply chain snarls lifted prices for goods across the board. President Donald Trump's global tariffs further swelled the cost of foreign-made instruments. Then in August, the Trump administration proposed additional 25% tariffs on trumpets, tubas and other brass instruments, citing “national security threats” under a provision it has used to impose duties on foreign metals.

The consequences have reverberated across the country. Higher instrument prices are a particular threat to lower-income districts where enrollment and budgets are shrinking.

An elementary school music teacher in Beaverton, Oregon, has considered 3D printing ukuleles because she cannot afford them. In Passaic, New Jersey, an arts administrator is doubling down on encouraging students to clean and care for their instruments so they last longer. The superintendent of a small district in Washington County, Pennsylvania, has taken to scouring eBay and Facebook Marketplace for used instruments.

Proponents of musical education say the tariffs are endangering school music programs and threatening to push the extracurricular activity out of reach for many families.

John Mlynczak, the CEO of the National Association of Music Merchants, a trade group, warned that higher instrument prices could lead to “empty music classrooms.”

"The camaraderie that happens in a community when everyone goes and supports the Friday night football game?" he said. "Imagine that without a marching band."

Some instruments, such as higher-end Fender and Gibson guitars, are made in the United States. But most elementary, middle and high schools rely on less expensive beginner instruments that are largely made in China. Many school districts own or rent instruments they lend to students at no or little cost.

As Trump escalated his trade war with China last year, music teachers grew wary.

Schools were already dealing with a confluence of challenges, including the end of federal pandemic aid, budget cuts and declining enrollment. Inflation was driving up costs.

"It's kind of like a perfect storm of all these different things happening at once that can cause a bigger mess," said Annamarie Bollino, a seasoned public school arts administrator who sits on the executive board of the National Association for Music Education, an advocacy group.

She said she expected that the proposed tariffs on brass instruments would further push up prices.

The effective tariff rate on instruments in June was about 13%, said Cullen Hendrix, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. That was down from a peak of nearly 24% in September 2025 but more than twice as high as before Trump's second term.

Band and orchestral instruments have been hit the hardest, he said.

In the second quarter of this year, imports of instruments were down nearly 20% from the same period in 2024. Imports of orchestral string instruments, including violins, violas and cellos, dropped 50%. Brass instruments fell 43%.

"It's hitting the horns, it's hitting the strings, it's hitting the percussion," Hendrix said. "All of those things combined are kind of sapping the available pool of tools that we can provide these children to begin their journey."

Carolynn Langston has been teaching music at low-income elementary schools in Oregon for two decades. Her room this year, at a school in Beaverton, has a colorful rug surrounded by a rainbow of paw prints to indicate where her students should stand. In one corner are patterned drums and other percussion instruments. She described her musical philosophy as “sing, dance, play.”

Schools like hers will feel the higher instrument prices most.

“I don’t even have a budget,” Langston said. “Zero money.”

When she wants to buy instruments — or a carpet, for that matter — she applies for grants, including from a local educational foundation. Sometimes she requests money from people directly. She considered using a 3D printer to make plastic ukuleles. At least they would be more durable.

In May 2025, Langston asked the local foundation for \$700 to replace a large bar on one of her xylophones. “It’s one note you can play — it’s very loud and very low,” she said.

By the time she went to buy the part that fall, the cost had jumped to \$750. The foundation agreed to pay the extra, but the increase stung.

"Instruments are more expensive, which then squeezes even tighter on somebody like me," she said.

For 15 years, Lipscomb has taught orchestra classes in Kanawha County's high schools, including Capital High School, his alma mater. The only full-time orchestra director in the district, he spends a lot of time driving from one school to the other.

His music program is small, typically around 60 students. When he has a particularly strong class, he teaches it a challenging repertoire. Otherwise, he focuses on scales and technique.

The district provides instruments for some students who cannot afford to buy or rent them, but Lipscomb's \$500 to \$600 annual budget is not enough. He spent all of the money he was allocated last year and this year on two cellos.

One student, a freshman viola player, told him shortly after the school year began that she had to drop his class because her family could not afford to rent her instrument.

Lipscomb worries that rising instrument prices mean the students who stay will be stuck playing old instruments.

He knows that when children play on instruments that sound bad, they do not blame the instruments. They blame themselves.

But the district is in a budget crunch, in part because it is losing students. He wishes he had thought to buy more instruments earlier in his career, before prices rose so much.

"It's tough for me to say, but you got to work with what you've got," Lipscomb said. "Unfortunately a lot of these old instruments, it's what I got."

JIM BAKKER 1940-2026

Televangelist titan lost empire in sex scandal, financial crimes

Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker speak to their TV audience. He died Monday at 86. LOU KRASKY/AP1986

By Jim Salter and Hallie Golden ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jim Bakker, who built a huge TV following and evangelical empire with his first wife, Tammy Faye, which later collapsed in a sex scandal and financial crimes, has died. He was 86.

Bakker died Monday, his second wife, Lori Bakker, said in a statement. The cause of death was not provided.

"He was a pioneer of Christian television, but to me, he was my husband, my best friend, and the man I was honored to walk beside through so many seasons of life and ministry," she said.

The pair lived near Branson, an entertainment destination in Missouri, where they had filmed their TV show “The Jim Bakker Show” since its launch in 2003. Bakker suffered a stroke in 2020.

But it was the “The PTL Club,” which at its peak in the mid-1980s drew 13 million nightly TV viewers, that made Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker cultural icons — so much so that they were often skewered in the 1980s and 1990s by late-night comedians and parodied on “Saturday Night Live.”

The couple also built Heritage USA, a Christian theme park and hotel in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

A movie about their lives, "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," was released in 2021.

Bakker rose to prominence alongside other televangelist titans of the 1980s. His death and that of Jimmy Swaggart last year mark the end of an era. Their legacy lives on in prosperity gospel preachers that still fill the airwaves.

Bakker was born Jan. 2, 1940, in Muskegon, Michigan, the youngest of four children of Raleigh Bakker, a machinist in a piston-ring factory, and Furnia, a housewife. He attended North Central Bible College in

Minneapolis, where he met Tammy Faye. They married in 1961 and dropped out of college to start their own traveling ministry. He preached and she sang and played the accordion in churches and tent revivals across the country.

They caught the attention of televangelist Pat Robertson, and in 1965 launched a children's show on Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network. By 1966, Bakker was hosting "The 700 Club," a Christian talk show.

Bakker left CBN in 1972 and two years later formed the PTL Satellite Network. "The PTL Club" — PTL stands for "Praise the Lord" — became its signature show.

In its heyday in the 1980s, "The PTL Club" attracted millions of viewers and brought in millions of dollars annually.

The show featured chats with guests and Christian entertainers. Bakker offered upbeat sermons and Tammy Faye — charismatic and always wearing her trademark heavy mascara — sang. Most episodes were taped at their sprawling complex just south of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Their standing began to crumble in March 1987, when Bakker admitted to a sexual encounter with church clerk Jessica Hahn, who alleged that Bakker sexually assaulted her; Bakker maintained that the encounter was consensual.

Bakker was forced to resign from his empire, turning over operations to pastor and broadcaster Jerry Falwell.

Tammy Faye stuck by Bakker, often seen with mascara-stained tears running down her face.

Bakker was indicted in 1988 for mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy after an investigation of PTL's finances. He was convicted the following year and sentenced to 45 years in federal prison. The sentence was later reduced to eight years.

Their marriage fell apart and Tammy Faye Bakker divorced the still-incarcerated Bakker in 1992, just short of their 31st anniversary. She later married Roe Messner, a building contractor whose projects included the Heritage USA theme park. Messner was convicted of bankruptcy fraud in 1995 and spent about two years in prison.

She died of colon cancer in 2007.

Jim Bakker was released on parole in 1994 and remarried in 1998. They launched “The Jim Bakker Show” on the PTL Satellite Network five years later.

Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker had two children. He and Lori Bakker adopted five children in 2002.

NEWS BRIEFING

Hospitalized prisoner speaking after botched execution, lawyer says

FROM NEWS SERVICES

Christa Pike, a Tennessee inmate who survived the state's attempt to execute her, is awake and speaking as she receives treatment at a hospital, her attorneys said Tuesday.

Pike's attorneys said her prognosis is still “unclear” and said she faces “a long recovery.”

“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking and continues to receive critical medical care,” attorneys for Pike said in a statement. “Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented.”

Her attorneys said they are grateful for the first responders and the medical team at the hospital “who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her.”

The statement was the first indication that Pike has improved after an ambulance carried her away Sept. 30 from a Nashville prison.

Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital as they attempted to put her to death for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. The lethal injection drug didn't kill her, but her lawyers said her arms were left burned and blistered. As recently as Sunday, her attorneys said Pike had remained unconscious and on a ventilator since the failed execution attempt.

Dr. Joel Zivot, a professor of anesthesiology and surgery in Atlanta who consulted as an expert for Pike's legal team, said the development "bodes well for a good recovery."

But, he added, it could be weeks or months before anyone knows what her recovery might look like, and whether her competency could be restored to a level that might enable the state to try again to execute her.

Pike's attorneys are set to go to court Wednesday as they seek to learn more about what happened in the failed lethal injection.

Chancery Court Judge I'Ashea Myles scheduled a Wednesday morning status conference in the case.

Pike's attorneys said in their Tuesday statement that they continue to ask Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to commute Pike's sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“Christa is a survivor and will take recovery one day at a time,” her attorneys said.

Drone strikes off Bulgaria: Bulgaria's prime minister said two commercial vessels on the Black Sea were struck by drones Tuesday in the first attack on shipping in the NATO member's exclusive economic zone in the sea.

Bulgarian authorities said the origin of the drones was under investigation, but Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia for the drone strikes.

Bulgarian Prime Minister

Rumen Radev condemned

the attack.

Sea and aerial drones attacked the ships at around 3 a.m., about 80 miles off Bulgaria's coast, he said.

The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan suffered critical structural damage and sank at the scene. There was no immediate word on the crew's fate, he said. The second vessel, the Palau-flagged Able, caught fire after the attack. A Bulgarian ferry evacuated all 18 crew members. Two sailors suffered severe injuries and were flown to a hospital in the port city of Varna, Radev said. Zelenskyy said Ukraine's military did not conduct any operations near where the vessels were struck and pointed the finger at Moscow's forces.

Trump Jr. wedding: The Russian oligarch who helped bankroll Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding celebration says the president's eldest son has paid back the money.

"Yes, he did," Umar Kremlev told an International

Boxing Association news conference Tuesday in Istanbul. "He did repay the money I spent on the present."

Still, he said he felt the repayment was unnecessary.

ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative website, reported last month that Kremlev, who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, “footed the bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars of wedding expenses” when Trump Jr. married socialite Bettina Anderson in the Bahamas in May. That included paying to rent one of two private islands where the three-day party was held.

ABC license review: A lawyer for ABC on Tuesday asked a federal judge to prevent the Trump administration from conducting an unusual, early review of its broadcast licenses, likening it to a looming execution by guillotine that was already chilling the network's editorial decisions just weeks before the U.S. midterm elections.

U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan did not rule on ABC's request for a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Federal Communications Commission from conducting its early review, which it said was unconstitutional, a violation of free speech and a retaliation for content President Donald Trump dislikes.

A government attorney argued that the court doesn't have jurisdiction over ABC's case because it belongs in a different venue. The government also challenged the network's First Amendment arguments, and said ABC had failed to show it suffered irreparable harm.

A ruling was not expected until at least mid-October.

ABC and its parent company, Disney, sued the FCC and FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr in August, several months after the commission ordered eight ABC-owned stations to submit renewal applications for their broadcast licenses years ahead of schedule.

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PAGE 8 | SECTION B | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2026 | CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM

Ariana Burks, from left, Jacqueline Guillén and Carmen Berkeley in “Dead Girl’s Quinceañera” at the Goodman Theatre. JUSTIN BARBIN PHOTOS

REVIEW 'DEAD GIRL'S QUINCEAÑERA' ★★★

An apparent abduction turns into a teenage caper

Guillén, from left, Burks and Berkeley in "Dead Girl's Quinceañera."

By Chris Jones

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Phanésia Pharel's "Dead Girl's Quinceañera," now playing at the Goodman Theatre in the smaller

Owen space, attempts to turn the apparent abduction of a Miami teenager into a comedy thriller, which should be enough to signal that this is not a play that lacks guts.

Indeed, for much of the 90 minutes we are watching a lively trio of Miami teens conducting a true-crime investigation into the disappearance of their friend, Maria, last seen at her quinceañera, we're told, but unresponsive to any messages from her friends since. The style, as one of them notes, is "Nancy Drew on steroids," and we watch as the girls, charming and likable as they act out elements of the typical high-school power structure, try to figure out the clues to where their friend has gone. On designer Sara Brown's witty set, they have Post-it notes and lists of suspects, and the whole thing has a teen true-detective vibe even as it preaches a gospel of empowerment and explores the challenges of Latina girlhood in South Florida.

But that is by no means the whole story. As the detectives near the truth, things take a much darker turn. How you feel about this play, which had its world premiere this past summer by the Barrington Stage Company in Massachusetts,

IF YOU GO

When: Through Nov. 1

Where: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.

Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Tickets: \$34-79 at 312-443-3800 and goodmantheatre.org

probably will turn on whether you think issues like trafficking and abuse can be mined for comedy. After the Goodman, the play heads next to Hartford Stage in Connecticut, with all three theaters co-producing director Melia Bensussen's production.

I struggled with that question, at least in this specific context, and I can only be honest. But I suspect others will embrace what Pharel is attempting here, which seems to be to protest what too often happens to girls by imagining girls sufficiently empowered to join hands and take down their oppressors. (The piece has some echoes of “John Proctor is the Villain.”) The show has countless references to identity issues and other current progressive concerns; there is even a sound clip relating to the current Cornell University allegations, which must have been added in the last two or three days.

Of course, we're watching adult actors. Wisely, to my mind, Bensussen's cast (Carmen Berkeley, Ariana Burks, Andrea Ferro and Jacqueline Guillén) mostly does not attempt overt teen impersonations. Still, there is something of a disconnect here between these young teen characters and adult

preoccupations.

There is a political argument for that, of course, since teens are too often at the mercy of adults. But in the theater, watching these fictional kids played by adults, there remains a gulf between what and how they are speaking and how they would be speaking at their stated ages. These girls feel, at the end of the day, in service of an adult point of view. Maybe you will find that legitimate, maybe even vitally important.

But it's there.

In the end, I think the piece probably needs to be performed by actual teens to really work.

All that said, Pharel is an early-career talent with formidable linguistic chops and there are a couple of gorgeous and beautifully performed monologues here where the characters really do come into their own and feel fully realized. Overall, this is a very lively and swiftly paced production from four skilled and committed performers.

I just hope Pharel, a true poet with a wicked sense of humor, will strike out from the nonprofit-MFA mainstream, not worry so much in the future about hitting every perceived righteous button, and let her deeply spirited and richly individualized characters tell her where they themselves want to go, rather than feel like an authorial mouthpiece. A model there would be fellow Goodman playwright Jocelyn Bioh, whose “School Girls: Or, The African Mean Girls Play,” now on Broadway, shows us a group of teenaged girls who have minds of their own.

cjones5@chicagotribune.com

Actor John C. Reilly is returning to Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theater for a second engagement of his show, "Mister Romantic." BOBBI RICH

CHICAGO THEATER REPORT

John C. Reilly is back in Chicago

Chris Jones

John C. Reilly is returning to Steppenwolf Theatre. The Hollywood actor with many Chicago ties is coming back with his show, "Mister Romantic," now slated to run Dec. 10-13 in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theater. It's another example of Steppenwolf's rise as a player in presenting the arts, as well as producing.

You can book tickets begin-

ning at noon Thursday.

If you saw the national tour of “Dirty Dancing” last month in Chicago, you were seeing a pre-Broadway tryout that did not know it was one. On Tuesday, it was announced that Baby is going back to Broadway, beginning in February. I’m pleased about that; I argued in my review that the show had been upgraded enough to support that kind of transfer from Chicago.

GOODMAN CAMPAIGN

At an event Tues-

day, Goodman Theatre announced its “The Goodman, For Good” campaign —a \$30 million effort “to secure Chicago’s flagship not-for-profit theater for future generations.”

These things are always a tad theatrical. \$27 million has already been raised quietly, almost all from individuals and families. Remarkably, many supporters gave more than \$1 million each — the list includes Susan and James Annable; Joan and Robert Clifford; Patricia Cox; Julie M. Danis and Paul F. Donahue; Shawn M. Donnelley and Christopher M. Kelly;

the Davee Foundation;

Elissa Efroymson, Adnaan

Hamid and the Efroym-

son Family Fund; Elaine R.

Leavenworth; Goodman

Theatre Women's Board;

Alice and John Sabl; and

Kimbra and Mark Walter.

But there is \$3 million to go!

'CAROL' IN AURORA

The Goodman, though, is going to have some major competition in the Dickensian Christmas game for the first time in a while as the Paramount Theatre in Aurora readies its own

See JONES on Page B10

S. Epatha Merkerson stars in "Chicago Med." CHRISTOPHER SMITH/INVISION 2024

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CELEBRITIES

Merkerson likes heart of character

FROM NEWS SERVICES

“Chicago Med” is back ministering to the ill Wednesday on NBC.

Familiar faces returning include S. Epatha Merkerson as the chief of medical services, Sharon Goodwin. Merkerson is used to playing a leader of men and women as she did for 395 episodes on “Law & Order” as the tough Lt. Van Buren.

“She’s the administrator of the hospital, so she’s a woman that has to deal with issues of the hospital,” says Merkerson.

“She’s not unlike Van Buren in the sense that she’s a person of authority. But the things I like about Sharon Goodwin (in ‘Chicago Med’) is her heart and how she deals with all the people she has to deal with, especially with her relationship with Dr. Charles (played by Oliver Platt). He’s extraordinarily funny and witty.

"I like the exploration of people, and I think you find that in acting and in theater and film. It is a discovery of the human condition and how you fit in that. And you can express that and show that. It's a perfect profession for me because I do like watching people and delving into character and seeing another side of life. I think that's the reason I

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went toward the arts and specifically theater."

Winfrey picks 'Hungered' for book club: A debut novel about a 12-year-old girl's struggles to find herself amid poverty and family strife is Oprah Winfrey's new book club pick.

On Tuesday, Winfrey announced that she had chosen Amanda Rizkalla's "Hungered," which came out in May. Winfrey said in a statement that Rizkalla, 28, had written a "riveting novel" about "families who live outside the margins, living unhoused" and "their hopes, dreams and the perseverance it takes to face another day."

Like so many authors before her, Rizkalla learned she had been selected after receiving a surprise call from Winfrey herself.

“I was so stunned I could hardly believe it was real, and there are still moments where it all feels like one big daydream,” Rizkalla said in a statement.

Winfrey's conversation with Rizkalla can be seen on Winfrey's YouTube channel.

Actor Kelker-Kelly dies: Prolific soap opera actor Robert Kelker-Kelly has died. He was 62.

Police in Missouri said in their report that the

daytime star died Saturday in his St. Peters home around 8:15 p.m. First responders were told that Kelker-Kelly was unconscious and not breathing as they rushed to the scene.

“Mr. Kelly had reportedly complained of chest pain shortly before becoming unresponsive, and the circumstances appeared consistent with a medical event,” police said.

The Wichita native played Bo Brady on nearly 600 episodes of “Days of Our Lives” between 1992 and 1996, according to IMDb. He also appeared on NBC’s “Another World” more than 430 times as characters Sam Fowler, Bobby Reno and Shane Roberts from 1987 to 1998.

“General Hospital” viewers knew Kelker-Kelly as the villainous Stavros Cassadine. He played that character from 2001 to 2014.

Oct. 7 birthdays: TV host Joy Behar is 84. Musician John Mellencamp is 75. Drummer Tico Torres is 73. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma is 71. Singer Michael W. Smith is 69. Actor Paula Newsome is 65. Singer Toni Braxton is 59. Singer Thom Yorke is 58. Singer Nathaniel Rateliff is 48. Actors Aaron and Shawn Ashmore are 47. Actor Holland Roden is 40.

Sibling values family, struggles to accept brother's contact boundary

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R. Eric Thomas ASKING ERIC

Dear Eric: My brother and his wife recently cut off contact with my family, listing grievances related to what I consider to be unrealistic expectations or perceived injustices (like how quickly someone responds to their message on a group chat versus someone else's message). They stated they were establishing boundaries for their own well-being.

I value family highly and don't think you can just decide that family isn't family.

When this brother was younger and going through some personal struggles, I said as much to him, letting him know he couldn't just push me away, I'd always be there for him.

My inclination is to respond to their message by reaching out more often and making sure they feel loved and cared for, but am I disrespecting their “boundaries” by doing that? Am I really supposed to accept that they can just opt out of family?

Unbounded

Dear Unbounded: It will be helpful to think about what you consider to be being there for your brother and ask yourself if the way you express love and support is the way he receives love and support.

Neither of you is doing anything wrong, per se, but you clearly have different expectations and communication styles.

Reaching out more often when you've been explicitly asked not to, won't come across as supportive in this context. It will come across as dismissive at best.

Instead, consider writing your brother a letter acknowledging that you have heard his request and, though it makes you sad, that you'll respect it. Then you can put forward something that you need, whether it's a quarterly check-in, or something lower contact that still keeps you connected in some way.

This may take time to build. He may need more space at first. That's OK. He's clearly working through some hard things emotionally and trying to do what's best for him. If you reaching out more doesn't feel like love to him, it's only going to make things harder.

You don't have to lose your brother, but it will help your relationship to try to love him in the way he's asking to be loved, even if that means loving from afar.

Dear Eric: My friend is nearly never available when I need him, despite asking for and accepting my help whenever he needs me.

We both have very small farms. I have hay-making equipment.

In the past, I have helped him with his hay, and he helps me with mine. The unbalance there is that it requires \$80,000 worth of my equipment, and my upkeep and setup of the equipment.

He knew I was making hay this weekend because we had spoken through text several times in the previous four days.

When I needed his help, he didn't answer texts. He always has good excuses for not getting together or helping.

The thing is at the time I make the request there are crickets from him. It isn't until the next day, or days later I get a response about what wonderful, fun, or important thing he was involved in.

I found someone else I had to pay to help with the hay. The next day I got a text that he had spent the day with visiting relatives. These guests were visiting for his son's wedding and had been there for two weeks, and my wife and I consider these relatives friends as well.

He will be calling me to ask for help with his hay soon. I have decided that I will not help him in the future.

Should I wait until then to tell him how hurt I am by this action? Or because he doesn't seem to care, just let it go?

Not Really a Friend

Dear Friend: The phrase "make hay" also means to make use of a situation in order to gain an advantage, and it certainly seems your friend is conversant in both definitions. Were this a one-time or an occasional thing, it might be easy to just chalk it up to misaligning schedules. But you've noticed a pattern.

It's possible that he doesn't see the pattern, so for the sake of clarity it's a good idea to talk to him about the imbalance you're feeling. Before you do, decide if you just want him to be aware of what you've noticed, or if you want him to change his ways.

If it's the latter, you might talk it out a bit and explain that while help with tasks isn't a requirement of the friendship, his lack of availability and his willingness to ask you for your help is sending a message to you.

It may not be a message he's intending, and you may find, through conversation, that you can work out a better way to show up for each other.

Send questions to eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.

Copyright 2026.

Distributed by Tribune

Content Agency

Happy to be part of ‘Owen cinematic universe’

Actor Owen Thiele, seen Sept. 11 in New York, stars in the FX sitcom “Adults.” AYESHA KAZIM/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Thiele ubiquitous

across TV aiming

to capture Gen Z

By Callie Holtermann

THE NEW YORK TIMES

To call Owen Thiele an extrovert is a bit of an understatement — like saying that Versailles has mirrors, or that Lake Superior is a puddle.

When Thiele's flight from Los Angeles to New York had to make an emergency landing recently, he did not sulk. He befriended nine strangers in his temporary home — the Albuquerque airport — and took a group trip to play arcade games at a nearby Dave & Buster's.

"I did make lifelong friends," Thiele, 29, said recently, lounging on a zebra-print armchair at the Hotel Chelsea in Manhattan in New York. Although he was in town to attend his first New York Fashion Week, he had just made a reservation with his airport buddies to get dinner the following night.

The saga could easily have been a plotline for Anton, Thiele's character on the hangout sitcom "Adults," which recently wrapped its second season on FX. Anton is one of five housemates muddling through young adulthood in Queens, New York; he is the social butterfly of the bunch, with a corporate job and a phone full of contacts like "Scarf Guy, Kind Eyes" and "Michelle Elevator."

Thiele finished his cappuccino and emerged onto West 23rd Street, where a couple who recognized him from TV promptly handed him their 5-week-old baby. He invited the infant along to his next stop, a party for a new fragrance, but she was already booked. "If you ever need a babysitter, I would love to do it," Thiele said, climbing into a black Suburban. "DM me!"

Thiele has had a breakout year thanks to his ubiquity in the slate of TV shows seeking to capture Generation Z. He's also in "Overcompensating," about a closeted college freshman (he plays George, a confidant with an impressive collection of halter tops), and makes an appearance in the Lena Dunham show "Too Much." When Vulture published a chart last year rounding up the new batch of young-person comedies, one of the categories was "Is Owen Thiele in it?"

But his richest role might be Anton, who zigzags between moments of bluster and guardedness, especially when it comes to a budding romance with his housemate, Paul Baker. Thiele's offscreen ability to bond with a slab of cement helps the show's central friend group feel cohesive; his physical comedy allows it to pull off several of its riskiest sequences, like an almost-threesome that is interrupted by an opossum with bedroom eyes.

Thiele said that when he read the script for “Adults,” he appreciated that Anton had much more to offer than comic asides. “There’s this gay character who has dimension and who has depth, and who has a storyline that isn’t just saying something sassy,” Thiele said. “To be able to have an arc is so rare.”

Thiele grew up in Los Angeles and was adopted at birth by music producer Bob Thiele Jr. and Amy Kanter, daughter of Hollywood agent Jay Kanter. (Kanter's clients included Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe, and Thiele's paternal grandfather was a top jazz producer.)

He was a theater kid, attending the Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences in Santa Monica alongside actors Molly Gordon and Maude Apatow. Singer Phoebe Bridgers opened for his high school band.

People sometimes call Thiele a “nepo baby” — a title he thinks is totally fair. “I’m a nepo grandchild, I’m a nepo friend, I have definitely benefited from nepotism — and also the doors that I’ve walked through have opened because of the people I’ve known in high school, even if it

wasn't directly related to my family," he said.

His childhood was extremely happy, he said, but also unconventional. He is working on a semi-autobiographical series called “Off Color” about being a queer Black kid in a white Jewish family. “People would ask whose son I was — like if I was the help’s son, things like that,” he said. “It’s like, no, don’t assume anything.” He was so used to going to his mother’s hair salon in Beverly Hills that when his father brought him to a Black barber, he asked for a blowout.

Thiele went to college for two weeks at NYU, but dropped out and began working on a web series with his childhood friend

Cazzie David. He booked small roles in comedies including “I Think You Should Leave” and “Hacks,” and in 2024 began hosting “In Your Dreams,” a podcast in which he chats with a cross section of young Hollywood.

Rebecca Shaw and Ben Kronengold, the creators of "Adults," said in an interview that they had been impressed by Thiele's turn as a haughty costume designer in the 2023 mockumentary "Theater Camp." ("It says here you're allergic to polyester," he tells a camper. "Why?")

"He just stole every scene he was in," Shaw, 30, said.

When he auditioned for “Adults” in early 2024, they were struck by the warmth and intelligence he brought to Anton, a character they had worried might seem hard-edged. But he was also laugh-out-loud funny.

"He's able to riff with such precision, and to us that means riffing lines that feel like a writer had a month to come up with it," Kronengold, 29, said. "It is the Owen cinematic universe, and we're just happy to be a part of it."

Back in New York, Thiele swiped on deodorant that had been handed to him by Jared Ellner, his boyfriend of more than a decade and a celebrity stylist. The pair hopped out of their SUV in front of People's, an exclusive cocktail club in Greenwich Village.

He made his way through the crowd to congratulate Veronica Leoni, the creative director of Calvin Klein, on her show earlier that day. After a lychee-martini Jell-O shot, he was whispering in a corner with Rosalía.

He had been nervous during the car ride, but now he was in his element.

"I do make friends everywhere I go, because I love to listen to people," Thiele said. "As much as I like talking, I like listening even more – which is crazy, because I like talking so much."

REVIEW 'WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME' ★★★

Staged in an American Legion post, a play that feels timely

By Emily McClanathan

FOR THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Anne Trodden is one of four women playing the role of Heidi in “What the Constitution Means to Me” by Ways and Means Theatre. DANIEL HOWIE

I don't recall ever setting foot in an American Legion Hall before attending Ways and Means Theatre's site-specific production of Heidi Schreck's "What the Constitution Means to Me." A Tony Award nominee and Pulitzer Prize finalist, the 2017 play draws on Schreck's adolescent experiences of touring the country to earn scholarship money at speech and debate contests sponsored by local chapters of the veterans' support and advocacy organization. Ways and Means, a newly formed ensemble, goes the extra mile for authenticity by staging the show at American Legion Tattler Post 973 in the North Center neighborhood.

In contrast to Broadway Playhouse's sleek interior and Timeline Theatre's detailed dramaturgical exhibits (the play has previously appeared at both theaters), this venue evokes a deeply familiar yet strangely distant slice of Americana. On opening night, the scent of popcorn wafted through the cozy bar area, where a few early customers watched the kickoff of an NFL game. Military recruitment posters, photos of service members and historic memorabilia adorn wood-paneled walls, above which the four pillars of the American Legion are prominently painted: Veterans Affairs, National Security, Americanism and Children & Youth.

During and after the performance, I kept mulling over that third pillar, Americanism, a word that's been interpreted and co-opted in such disparate ways that it's hard to find any sense of shared meaning these days. In this way, it resembles the U.S. Constitution itself, which Schreck characterizes as a living document that has enabled revolutionary progress while also having unjust limitations

baked in from its inception. With the rollback of long-held constitutional rights in recent years, while others seem increasingly tenuous, what does this 239-year-old document mean to each of us? If you've never had to ask yourself that question, lucky you.

Schreck's first-person play (in which she originally starred as herself) never comes off as dry or esoteric, though its format is modeled after a parliamentary debate. Part raw memoir, part passionate polemic, the monologue-driven show delves into the playwright's personal and family stories, as well as U.S. history related to women's rights

— to the ballot box, reproductive care and protection from violence.

Schreck introduces us to her great-great-grandmother, Theresa, who arrived in what's now Washington state as a mail-order bride and died of "melancholia" at age 36. We also meet her grandmother, Betty, who raised six children under the shadow of an abusive husband, and her mother and aunt, who testified against their stepfather in court as teenagers. Brave women, all.

In Ways and Means' production, directed by Kaeli Meno, four women play the role of Heidi at different performances: Anne Trodden, Amanda Roeder, Samantha Garcia and Salome Mergia. Founding artistic director Douglas Atkins explains in a program note that this casting approach aims to reflect Chicago's diversity and to highlight how Schreck's experiences, though autobiographical, transcend

"racial, economic and systemic boundaries."

You'll only see one version of Heidi unless you attend the show multiple times. On opening night, Trodden performed the role with warmth, humor and apt notes of rage. While the character of Heidi has most of the dialogue, it's not a solo show. Michael Lomenick appears in the dual roles of two real men from Schreck's life: a WWII veteran who accompanied her and her mom to many of the debates, and Schreck's actor friend who joined her in the original cast to play this elderly legionnaire. This layering of character upon character feels a bit convoluted sometimes, but it's best just to roll with it.

Maddie Rose Curtin completes the cast in the role of an 18-year-old student debater. In the final act, she and Heidi face off in a live debate — with audience participation encouraged — over the question of whether the existing U.S. Constitution should be abolished. The play's unconventional structure can be difficult to pull off smoothly, and Meno's cast experienced a few hiccups natural to the first outing in front of an audience, but this didn't detract from the show's overall message.

“What the Constitution Means to Me” tends to land differently depending on current events, but the play likely will always have something to say about the state of our union. On this viewing, my first since Timeline’s 2023 production, Heidi’s discussion of birthright citizenship and due process — rights that are protected by the Four-

IF YOU GO

When: Through Oct. 25

Where: Ways and Means Theatre at American Legion Tattler Post 973, 4355 N. Western Ave.

Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Tickets: \$42.25 at wam-theatre.com

teenth Amendment — felt more fraught than before. Also, the ongoing outcry over Cornell University's handling of sexual assault allegations was front of mind during Heidi's recitation of sobering statistics about violence against women.

If another theater company puts on this show in 2029, I can't predict what the hot-button issues will be then, but I'm confident that it'll be worth revisiting the question at its heart.

Arlington Heights music venue Hey Nonny is for sale

By Nina Metz

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

The owners of Hey Nonny have announced that they are selling both the music venue and the real estate it occupies in downtown Arlington Heights.

After eight years at the helm, Chip Brooks and Chris Dungan are looking to find a new owner “who shares their passion for live music and wants to carry the venue's legacy into its next chapter," according to Friday's announcement.

The venue is not closing in the meantime and has dates booked through the spring of next year.

Named after an Old English musical verse that indicates letting go of worries, Hey Nonny has a bistro room and an intimate “listening room” featuring jazz, rock, reggae, folk, country and classical performers.

The news follows previous ownership changes at local music venues including The Hideout in Chicago, a beloved location which has survived efforts to gentrify the surrounding neighborhood, changed hands in March from Tim and Katie Tuten to Teri O'Brien, "a former Hideout employee who splits her

time between Chicago and Nashville, where she launched a music career, performing as Americana artist Bronte Falls," as reported by the Tribune.

And in 2020, founders Bill and Kate FitzGerald, founders of the popular Berwyn-based venue FitzGerald's, sold the business to Will Duncan and his wife Jessica King, who have continued its operations.

Chip Brooks, co-owner of Hey Nonny, in the music venue and restaurant in downtown Arlington Heights in 2023. TRENT SPRAGUE/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Annalese Starzec and Blake Zelesnikar in "Dirty Dancing: The Musical," in Chicago at the Nederlander Theatre. MATTHEW MURPHY

JONES

from Page B8

in-house adaptation (by Trent Stork) of “A Christmas Carol.” I’m told the level of spectacle will be fully up to lofty Paramount standards, that there will be a full orchestra and lots of music and singing, and that it will, god bless us everyone, snow.

Interestingly, I also get the vibe this is a one-off rather than a new annual tradition, although I imagine that could change. Typically, the Paramount has booked in big holiday titles like “Frozen,” although those rights are, of course, expensive. This year’s seasonal attraction runs Nov. 11 to Jan. 3, 2027 (opening night is Nov. 20), under Stork’s direction. The cast of principal characters includes Michael Moreland Milligan as Scrooge, Scott Westerman as Jacob Marley, Shawn Pfautsch as Bob Cratchit, Aja Alcazar as Mrs. Cratchit, Isabel Arianna Romero-Rodriguez as Ghost of Christmas Past, Jared David Michael Grant as Ghost of Christmas Present, Ben Dow as Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, Schyler Vargas as Fred, Russell Konstans as Mr. Fezziwig, Michelle Duffy as

Mrs. Fezziwig, Will Lidke as Young Scrooge, Angel Alzeidan as Belle, Teddy Gales as Dick Wilkins and Morgan Michelle Barber as Martha Cratchit.

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NEXT THEATER SEASONS

Two new seasons have been announced. The Drury Lane Theatre has an unusual calendar and starts its new seasons in the spring. In April, it will stage the Chicago regional premiere of “Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of The Temptations,” followed in the early summer by the revue "Some Enchanted Evening — The Songs of Rodgers & Hammerstein," and, in August, the oft-produced "Clue." The holiday attraction will be the even-after produced "Irving Berlin's White Christmas," and, most appealingly, a new production of "West Side Story" follows at the start of 2027. Directors have not yet been announced.

Also, Hell in a Handbag Productions, a rather different entity, has announced its 25th anniversary season, beginning in December and staged at Theatre Wit and The Clutch, both in

Lakeview. The shows are the world premiere of “It’s a Horrible Life — A Golden Girls Lost Episodes Parody,” penned, of course, by artistic director David Cerda. In 2027, Handbag fans get a “Caged Dames” encore, and the Chicago premiere of “Khan!!! The Musical!,” billed as a “Parody Trek-Tacular,” with book, music and lyrics by Brent Black and co-conception by Alina Roth.

Writers Theatre has announced the return of its savvy Childcare Matinee Series for the 2026-27 season, kicking off with the

Oct. 18 matinee of “Sisters” by Matthew Libby. The idea is that parents and caregivers go to the show while their little darlings enjoy “an on-site, arts-integrated theater class” at minimal cost.

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INSIDE THE UPTOWN

Finally, you can actually get inside the Uptown Theatre as part of the Chicago Open House program on Oct 17-18. There have been some private events in this grand and glorious space since the Uptown closed to the public in 1981, including the kickoff of Mike Quigley's campaign for mayor of Chicago, and some of us have got to visit a few times over the years. But in terms of the general public, this will be the first access to this still-to-be-restored gem in 45 years.

I've written many times about the need to restore the Uptown, including reporting during the Rahm Emanuel administration that it was going to happen for sure. That fell apart, of course. But the fact remains that future generations would never forgive us for its loss. We evangelizers on that score always do better with people who actually have been inside. So, here's your chance. No photos, though; I am assuming

they want to move as many people as possible through as quickly as possible. But what a chance.

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CHRIS JONES RECOMMENDS

"Theater of the Mind" in an open run by the Goodman at the Reid Murdoch Building; "Pandemonium, Please Hold" in an open run on the Second City Main-stage; "Vape! The Grease Parody" through Jan. 3 at Apollo Theater; "Sunday in the Park with George" by Kokandy Productions through Nov. 29 at Chopin Theatre; "Come From Away" through Oct. 25 at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire; "The Attic" through Oct. 11 at the Goodman Theatre; "Jekyll & Hyde" through Nov. 8 at the Broadway Playhouse; "Play On!" through Oct. 18 in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier; "Kowalski" through Oct. 25 at Lookingglass Theatre in the Water Tower Water Works; "The Front Page" through Oct. 25 at Northlight Theatre in Evanston; "Topdog/Underdog" through Nov. 1 at Steppenwolf Theatre.

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

cjones5@chicagotribune.com

What to watch WEDNESDAY

October 7, 2026

All times Central. Start times can vary based on cable/satellite provider. Confirm times on your on-screen guide.

Scrubs

ABC, 7 p.m.

While J.D.'s (Zach Braff) relationship is flourishing, Elliot (Sarah Chalke) is reintroduced to an old flame in the new episode "My Ex's Ex."

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Chicago Med

Gaffney Medical Center without director Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson)? Unthinkable! But it's possible when Season 12's action begins. A few months have passed since board member Miranda Lewis (Orlagh Cassidy) came for Goodwin after she allegedly leaked a doctor's personal psychiatric files. Can the good director save her job? It will be a journey. The premiere also brings Hannah (Jessy Schram) back to the ED to decide if she's ready to return to work after maternity leave. She and Dr. Dean Archer (Steven Weber) have a child together, and he's confessed his love.

NBC

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CATCH A CLASSIC Directed by Joe Dante TCM, beginning at 7 p.m.

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99 to Beat

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Abbott Elementary

FOX, 8 p.m.

ABC, 7:30 p.m. ■ Season Premimere

Another school year begins on the sixth season of the Emmy-winning comedy as the teachers head into their annual Development Day, riding the high of having their school spared closure in Season 5's finale. While second grade teacher Janine (played by creator Quinta Brunson) does something “outrageous” for her classroom, her educator beau Gregory (Tyler James Williams) prepares for his first day as the official assistant principal. But this time around, he'll be tackling the leadership role alongside outlandish principal Ava Coleman (Janelle James).

In the new episode “Families on the Edge,” 69 contestants remain to compete in five seemingly simple and hilarious games.

Tonight, TCM celebrates director Joe Dante, whose inventive blend of horror, science fiction, nostalgia and satire made him one of the distinctive filmmakers of his generation. The evening begins with the warm and witty Matinee (1993), starring John Goodman as a charismatic 1960s exploitation filmmaker staging a sensational movie premiere against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The journey continues into the cul-de-sacs of middle America with the delightfully paranoid 1989 dark comedy The 'Burbs (pictured), featuring Tom

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Hanks as an anxious homeowner whose quiet neighborhood vacation spirals out of control alongside neighbors played by Carrie Fisher and Bruce Dern. The retrospective closes with the atmospheric werewolf classic The Howling (1981), starring Dee Wallace and Patrick Macnee, which redefined the modern monster movie with its groundbreaking transformation effects.

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Chicago Fire NBC, 8 p.m. ■ Season Premimere

Sound the alarms! Last we saw Firehouse 51, most were trapped in a burning building – or on a ladder outside – as a wave of fire consumed them. The premiere plays with time, beginning where it left off and jumping three months ahead to reveal who made it out alive. Early on, Season 15 welcomes new probies and says goodbye to two major players. Dermot Mulroney wraps up his role as ex-battalion chief Dom Pascal in the opener, and original cast member Joe Miñoso (firefighter Joe Cruz) leaves after a handful of episodes in what Greensmith calls a “beautiful” story.

NOVA

PBS, 8 p.m.

Once purely a realm of scientific wonder, space is now a critical battleground, as global military powers race to weaponize it. Satellites, vital to our daily lives and economies, are vulnerable to attack both from adversaries and the debris that's filling increasingly crowded orbits. The new episode "Space Wars" explores the technology and strategy of a rapidly developing arms race and reveals how experts are wrestling with the implications of this looming conflict.

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Chicago P.D.

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NBC, 9 p.m. ■ Season Premimere

Officer Eva Imani (Arienne Mandi) was dealt a crushing blow last season when she reunited with her sister, Shari (Selin Cuhadaroglu), who'd been taken as a young girl by a sex trafficker. It left Sgt. Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) with a tough decision: Does he turn Shari in for a murder she committed? Season 14's premiere, set three months later, reveals whether he does and explores new territory for the sisters.

---

MOVIES YOU'LL LOVE

'Burlesque'

STEPHEN VAUGHAN

Jumanji (1995, Family) Robin Williams, Jonathan Hyde SYFY, 5 p.m.

Kentucky Roses (2026, Romance)

Annie Fitzpatrick, Matthew W. Allen

Hallmark, 5 p.m.

Monsters, Inc. (2001, Children)

John Goodman, Billy Crystal

Freeform, 5:25 p.m.

Ant-Man (2015, Action) Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas Starz, 6 p.m.

Judge Dredd (1995, Action) Sylvester Stallone, Armand Assante BBC America, 6:30 p.m.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021, Comedy) Carrie Coon, Finn Wolf-hard FX, 7 p.m.

Evil Dead Burn (2026, Horror)

Souheila Yacoub, Tandi Wright

HBO, 8 p.m.

The Mummy (1999, Adventure)

Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz Paramount, 8 p.m.

Burlesque (2010, Drama) Cher, Christina Aguilera E!, 8:30 p.m.

Road House (1989, Action) Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch BBC America, 8:30 p.m.

The Killer With No Name (2024, Suspense) Kabby Borders, Brianna Butler LMN, 9 p.m.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024, Comedy) Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon FX, 9:35 p.m.

Seed of Chucky (2004, Horror)

Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif AMC,

10 p.m.

From the editors of TV Weekly and tvinsider.com

StayTuned | 500+MOVIES What2Watch All Month Long!

IN EVERY ISSUE!

\$3.99/Month

CALL: 888-899-9992

Mention code: tune!

Acting duo dodges stereotypes, adds layers to ‘NCIS’ franchise

Scott Caan, left, and LL Cool J star in "NCIS: New York," the latest addition to the "NCIS" franchise. CBS

By Luaine Lee

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

The long arm of naval law is stretching into the Big Apple as the new “NCIS: New York” is now airing Tuesdays to CBS and streaming the next day on Paramount+. The omnipresent “NCIS” has already spread its tentacles to Los Angeles, New Orleans, Hawaii, Sydney, its origins and onto characters Tony and Ziva.

This one finds actor and rapper LL Cool J reprising his character, Special Agent Sam Hanna, whom he played on “NCIS: Los Angeles” for 14 seasons.

New to the job in New York, he's partnered with another CBS hero, Scott Caan, former star of the "Hawaii Five-0," remake, which rode the waves for the network for 10 seasons.

When Agent Hanna arrives at the precinct, he's an outlier, a stranger among the old guard. "Any time you add a new member, the chemistry is different," says LL Cool J.

“And that chemistry can go left to right. And in this case, thankfully, it went the right way. And it just kind of makes the energy overall a lot more fun. But in the story of the world, of our franchise, of this new ‘NCIS: New York,’ this team has been working together prior to my arrival, and they have been having ongoing cases and an ongoing life.”

“So, they’re introducing Sam to this preexisting team, and then we are off to the races.”

Off to the races, yes, but not in the way most TV shows leave the starting line. The newbie is usually met with adversity by the old timers. Not with this one, insists Caan.

"I feel like there's a cliche way to approach these sort of 'buddy' setups," he says. "And I feel like we went with the opposite. I feel like we went the route of immediately getting a kick out of each other because that's kind of what exists in real life. And I always think that that's the best thing to draw from when creating shows like this — relationships that are hopefully going to last over five, 10, 15 years. Who knows if we could be so lucky? ...

"The approach is that we're just enjoying each other a lot. And I think that that's our approach to it. And that's what makes it fun and different. And something new for me."

LL Cool J adds, “I think every relationship is different. ... We all have friends, we have different relationships. And you get with different people, different things happen. It’s like chemistry. It’s like colors on an easel.

“So me-plus-Scott is going to give you a different energy. ... I think you know when you see it, you’ll feel what it is. I agree with Scott, we don’t want to do the stereotypical thing,” he continues.

“That’s the one thing about the show that I think is going to hopefully be pleasantly surprising for people is that we are maintaining a lot of the energy from the original ‘NCIS’ and from the franchise, but we are adding new layers to it, new layers of character development, new layers of how we approach characters, how we approach story," he says.

“And I think our relationship to interaction will also reflect that approach; that new approach.”

Though he grew up in New York, LL Cool J says he's discovering things he never knew about the city.

"I'm seeing parts of New York I never saw, and I was born and raised here. ... New York is a main character (in the show). So doing it in New York, it really feels different. I'm not going to say 'better,' but I'll say it's definitely more gritty.

"It's definitely a whole new iteration of the franchise. And I think it's a great contribution to the universe. New York is a character. It gives you so many different people from all over the world, so many different types of energies," he says.

"You're very close to the street when you film in New York. It's not like LA. LA is a little more used to filming and seeing people film. Here in New York, we're like right next to the guy next door. So it's a whole different energy, And I think it's a lot of fun."

Crossword

---

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71

By Stella Zawistowski. © 2026 Tribune Content Agency, LLC. All rights reserved.

ACROSS

1 Copenhagen native

5 Moan and \_\_\_\_

10 Angel's instrument

14 Pitching stats: Abbr.

15 "Backward" prefix

16 Double Stuf cookie

17 Time for playoffs

19 Look before you \_\_\_\_

20 Airport screening group: Abbr.

21 Animation collectible

22 Thingamajigs

24 Cyclist's protective headgear

26 Bird of basketball

27 Mystery

31 "Survivor" group

35 Temperature scale

39 Half a dozen

40 Double-reed instrument

41 Letter after beta

42 \_\_\_\_ vera

43 The whole amount

44 Furtive quality

46 Slightest

49 Blood vessel

50 Purring animal

52 Flew high

56 Argued with

60 Holiday \_\_\_\_

61 "What I think is...": Abbr.

62 Cameo's shape

63 Immune from criticism

66 Become weary

67 Dog's reward

68 "Uh-huh": 2 wds.

69 Iditarod vehicle

70 Pebble or rock

71 Owner's document

DOWN

1 Pool measurement

2 Stood up

3 Post- \_ drip

4 "The most" suffix

5 Words of salutation

6 Not fake

7 Tie-resolving periods: Abbr.

8 J.Lo's ex, for short

9 Taboo actions

10 Container

11 Locale

12 Enjoy a book

13 Bursts

18 Part of a movie

23 Not at home

25 \_\_ mortals

28 Neighbor of Togo

29 Maker of online content

30 Shoot for: 2 wds.

32 Archipelago part

33 Playbill blurbs

34 Former partners

35 Baby horse

36 Up to the job

37 Spanish "hello"

38 Pays attention: 2 wds.

42 Actress Taylor-Joy

10/7/26

Solutions

45 Laundry

appliances

47 Climbed up

48 Inked "piece," for

short

51 Exams

53 Run under water

54 TV host

55 Was excessively

loving

56 Connect the \_\_

57 Worse than bad

58 Unclothed

59 Pub projectile

60 Tehran's country

64 Business leader:

Abbr.

65 Help

20217 BABY GUEE BROS LLC DIST BY ANDEZIE MAJEL KANDICATION

---

Horoscopes

If October 7 is your birthday: October could be the break you needed between a challenging first three quarters of 2026 and a more benevolent fourth quarter. One birthday gift could be wisdom from on high that changes how you see yourself and the world.

Aries (March 21-April 19): Friday's stars sink into quicksand, get things done today or tomorrow for better odds of better outcomes. Be open to relationship insights.

Taurus (April 20-May 20): Trust that what you know about making things happen is correct, but if you catch something that could make a difference, add it or subtract it to continually uplevel your game.

Gemini (May 21-June 20): Your artistry in a variety of areas could be dramatic now — hold onto what you're learning like a trail of breadcrumbs for revisiting the magic.

Cancer (June 21-July 22): Speaking up about something could bring change or shift it within yourself even if listeners aren't actively listening or are actively dismissing the situation.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22): Lay out all your data, the truth could be obvious once everything is added to the equation. Work on an aligned financial path and build from there.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Identify and align with your future and not with your fears. Sometimes you have to do it scared, and those are the most powerful times of all for building ongoing confidence in yourself.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): A few days of introspection could unearth clarity in your path forward, it can also bring up fears ready to be learned from and released.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): If you need constant out-of-body distractions, you're among the majority, but if you handle enough of your self-work, you become one of the self-mastery minority.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Stay on your career path even if worries crop up, these could only be temporary and primarily driven by today's stars.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You can learn from your fears, you can heal your fears, but they don't lead anywhere constructive if you hold them and uphold them and let them lead you.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Solid insights can be drawn from your exposure to others whether in-person, or virtual. This said, be sure you want any new intel influencing your thinking and choices before you take it on.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): A relationship could do an intra-day segue from aligned to anxiety-producing over just a few hours. Don't decide anything based on either set of feelings unless long-term patterns are super-clear.

---

- Magi Helena, Tribune Content Agency

The Argyle Sweater By Scott Hilburn

Bliss By Harry Bliss

---

Bridge

East-West vulnerable, West deals

Grand Avenue By Mike Thompson

©2026 Dist. by Andrews McMeel Syndication www.gocomics.com

Modern players holding the South hand would not be in a rush to bid four hearts after partner's raise. They would make sure partner had four-card heart support before committing to play in hearts. Five diamonds would be a

The bidding: | West | North | East | South | Pass | 1♣ | Pass | 1♥ | 1♠ | 2♥ | Pass | 4♥ | Opening lead: Ace of ♠

strong alternative contract. Old-time players were accustomed to playing in 4-3 fits and an auction like this one would have been routine. West started with the ace and king of spades. South

ruffed the second round as East followed with the two and the four, indicating he started with three cards in the suit. As East only had one more spade, West had to have at least one more spade honor. West passed as dealer, so South reasoned that East must have the king of clubs.

South cashed the king of hearts, led a heart to dummy's ace, and ruffed another spade. He crossed back to dummy with the king of diamonds and cashed the queen of hearts. When East proved to have four hearts, South began to cash his diamonds. East could ruff the third or fourth diamond, but he would have to lead away from his king of clubs. If East never ruffed, a club to the ace would give South 10 tricks. Just like the old days!

— Bob Jones

Tribune Content Agency

Baby Blues By Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

Zits By Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

zitscomica.com

ZITS Partnership. Dist by King Features

Mr. Boffo By Joe Martin

Frazz By Jef Mallett

©2026 Jet Malett/Distributed by Andrews McVeel Syndication

Classic Peanuts By Charles Schulz

©1979 Reanuts Worldwide LLC, Dist. by Andrews McMoel

Pickles By Brian Crane

Dick Tracy By Charles Ettinger and Mike Curtis

©2026 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All rights reserved 10/07

Animal Crackers By Mike Osbun

Prickly City By Marshall Ramsey

2026 MARSHALL RAMSEY DISTR. BY ANDREWS MCMEEL FOR UFS

10/7 PRICKLYCITY@GMAIL.COM

Get the free JUST JUMBLE app · Follow us on Facebook

dustincomics.com

For Better or for Worse By Lynn Johnston

Dist. By Andrews McMeal Syndication

Blondie By Dean Young and John Marshall

10-07 www.fborfw.com

© 2026 by King Features Syndicate, Inc. World Rights reserved

Hägar the Horrible By Chris Browne

©2026 by King Features Syndicate, Inc. World rights reserved.

Mutts By Patrick McDonnell

WuMo By Mikael Wulff and Anders Morgenthaler

mutts.com

Sherman's Lagoon By Jim Toomey

Brewster Rockit: Space Guy! By Tim Rickard

©2026 Tribune Content Agency, LLC. All rights reserved 10/07

Broom-Hilda By Russell Myers

www.gocomics.com/brewsterrockit brewrockit@yahoo.com

10-7 ©2026 Steve Kelley & Jeff Parker, Dist. by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

www.Blondie.com

© 2026 Lynn Johnston Productions Inc.

Unscramble the four Jumbles, one letter per square, to form four words. Then arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by this cartoon.

---

Sudoku 1234

10/7 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 8 | A | 6 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box in bold borders contains every digit 1 to 9.

---

◀ Tuesday's solutions

By The Mepham Group © 2026. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. All rights reserved.

---

Jumble

---

Answer here

---

The image contains two abstract geometric patterns: one is a sequence of eight circles arranged in a 2x2 grid, and the other is a 2x2 grid of nine circles arranged in a 3x3 grid. There is no text or mathematical content to process.

---

Tuesday's answers

Jumbles: SIGHT ALOHA FALCON FURROW

Answer: When the politicians went for a balloon ride, the balloon was — FULL OF HOT AIR

By David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek. © 2026 Tribune Content Agency, LLC. All rights reserved. PlayJumble.com

---

Crossword

10/7

---

Across

1 Bank (on)

6 Many an A-lister

11 Swing's path

14 Cartoon canine who speaks with an "R" consonant mutation

15 Level

16 "Argo" org.

17 Ruin the Olympic Games?

19 Every last bit

20 Tammy Duckworth's title, briefly

21 Merry-go-round music

22 Bas—

24 Like many dirt roads

26 Home of Hawaii's Merrie Monarch Festival

27 Destroy casual chitchat?

32 Tennis great Andre

35 Georgia airport code

36 "If you ask me ..."

Tuesday's solution

By Robin Stears. Edited by Patti Varol. © 2026 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

37 Massage

38 Super vision?

39 Polite title

40 A in geometry

42 French wine classification

43 Annette of "Virgin River"

46 Wreak havoc on origami supplies?

49 Forever and ever

50 Repeat for emphasis

54 "Who \_!"

57 Burlesque bit

58 Light touch

59 Sometimes called, for short

60 Lay waste to a dairy product?

63 Virginia Woolf's " \_ Dalloway"

64 " \_ mañana"

65 A-list

66 Light touch

67 Elizabeth who plays the Scarlet Witch

68 Trig ratios

---

Down

1 Common voice for an opera villain

2 Colorado town near Snowmass

3 Curling piece

4 “\_tu”: Verdi aria

5 Brunei money

6 Orchard fruit

7 Congeal

8 Viscous goo

9 Having one's day in court?

10 Deal in, as vintage clothing

11 Breakfast bowl berry

12 Annoy but good

13 Baby camel

18 Africa-to-Asia land bridge

23 Trickster in Norse mythology

25 Jr. officers

26 URL starter

28 Invites to one's apartment, say

29 Childish comeback

30 Get just right

31 Giant oceanic surface current

32 Part of UAE

33 Hindu mentor

34 Lie for, say

38 Goes astray

41 Las Vegas WNBA team

42 Primary

43 \_ nerve

44 Shows signs of growth?

45 Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby

47 Top dog

48 Three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Troy

51 Saved on supper, perhaps

52 Sample size?

53 Stage combat props

54 Not quite dry

55 Sticky pod

56 From Perth to Sydney

57 Make full

61 Curvy letter

62 Yale grad

---

Trivia Bits

The rock band R.E.M. formed when three of its members were students at which institution?

A) Bard College

B) Oberlin College

C) Texas A&M

D) University of

Georgia

Tuesday's

answer: The

most recent time

a country hosted

and won the FIFA

World Cup was

France in 1998.

© 2026 Leslie Elman.

Dist. by Creators.com

---

Jumble Crossword

BONUS

ACROSS

DOWN

CLUE | 1. Seen by the eye | SIVLUA | 5. Sea | HNRTO | 6. Sibling's daughter | NCEIE | 7. Harsh | RSVEEE | 1. Property defacer | DLVAAN | 2. Odd | NTAEGSR | 3. Attain | HCEVIAE | 4. Move back | EECERD | How to play - Complete the crossword puzzle by looking at the clues and unscrambling the answers. When the puzzle is complete, unscramble the circled letters to solve

10-7-26 CLUE: General Electric facilities discharged PCBs into the for decades before the practice was banned.

©2026 Tribune Content Agency, LLC & Hoyt Designs. All Rights Reserved.

ANSWERKS: 1A-visual 5A-North 6A-Niece 7A-Severe 1D-Vandal 2D-Strange 3D-Achieve 4D-Racede B-Hudson River

By David L. Hoyt.

---

SUDOKU

---

BOGGLE | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 6 | © 2022 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.

---

Level 1 2 3 4

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit from 1 to 9. For strategies on solving Sudoku, visit sudoku.org.uk. | 5 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 12/21/22

INSTRUCTIONS: Find as many words as you can by linking letters up, down, side-to-side and diagonally, writing words on a blank sheet of paper. You may only use each letter box once within a single word. Play with a friend and compare word finds, crossing out common words.

TIM LEAD IRON GOLD SILVER | BOGGLE2POINT SCALE | YOUR BOGGLE2RATING | 3 letters = 1 point | 151+ = Champ | 4 letters = 2 points | 101-150 = Expert | 5 letters = 3 points | 61 - 100 = Pro | 6 letters = 4 points | 31 - 60 = Gamer | 7 letters = 6 points | 21 - 30 = Rookie | 8 letters = 10 points | 11 - 20 = Amateur | 9+ letters = 15 points | 0 - 10 = Try again | BOGGLE is a trademark of Hasbro, Inc. 5-30-25

© 2025 Hasbro, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved

www.bogglebrainbusters.com

Boggle BrainBusters Bonus

We put special brain-busting words into the grid of letters. Can you find them?

Find AT LEAST FIVE METALS in the grid of letters.

---

WordWheel

Insert the missing letter to complete an eight-letter word reading clockwise or counterclockwise.

LECTURES

---

WORD SEARCH

---

Wordsearch: lfs and buts

1374

Can you find all the words hidden in the grid? Read backwards or forwards, up or down, or diagonally. The words will always be in a straight line. Cross them off the list as you find them. | M | F | L | I | B | E | M | E | K | Y | D | B | K | C | C | R | Q | O | R | A | R | L | D | U | N | S | F | H | C | H | I | Y | L | E | U | V | E | S | K | Y | B | A | T | I | Y | I | S | F | F | G | O | K | A | E | B | C | B | E | T | U | T | T | F | T | I | C | N | B | W | B | L | R | U | J | J | U | S | S | T | I | O | C | R | I | H | X | F | U | I | I | T | K | B | S | U | H | C | L | A | N | T | A | E | Y | O | S | F | F | T | U | Q | J | D | E | I | P | E | F | U | T | F | J | R | T | I | Y | I | N | L | T | P | R | O | F | I | R | U | I | Z | F | T | E | E | J | N | I | J | S | H | D | Y | G | T | B | L | R | I | I | I | D | R | K | G | F | J | K | A | F | D | T | I | P | E | L | T | S | F | C | N | I | T | I | O | E | I | Q | U | R | M | T | U | F | Q | R | Y | C | E | T | P | E | F | R | L | B | T | A | T | S | I | M | P | L | I | F | Y | B | S | D | A | H | E | S | W | U | D | W | A | S | T | F | K | A | R | R | T | L | P | D | I | U | B | P | S | X | W | F | I | Q | S | Q | K | T | C | Z | D | D | X | O | P | V | N | M | I | R | D | T | M | F | E | Z | D | I | F | F | I | C | U | L | T | R | R | M | A | G | N | I | F | Y | C | S | I | G | N | I | F | Y | D | E | H | O | R | R | I | F | I | C | C | O | N | T | R | I | B | U | T | O | R | B | U | T | C | H | E | R | AMPLIFY

BUSTED

BUTANE

BUTCHER

BUTLER

BUTTER

BUTTON

CLARIFY

CONTRIBUTOR

DEBUT

DIFFICULT

DISTRIBUTE

DRIFT

FORTIFY

GIFTING

HORRIFIC

JUSTIFY

MAGNIFY

MAKESHIFT

PACIFIC

QUALIFIER

REBUTTING

SIGNIFY

SIMPLIFY

SPECIFIC

SWIFT

TERRIFIC

TRAFFIC

UNIFIED

VERIFY

---

TV CROSSWORD

---

by Jacqueline E. Mathews

Created by Jacqueline E. Mathews

5/1/22

ACROSS

1 “\_\_\_\_: Hawai'i”

5 Blocker or Aykroyd

8 Dog food brand

9 Waitress at Mel's Diner

12 Follow as a result of

13 Highest-grossing film of all time

14 Family of baseball's Mel

15 Role on "Blue Bloods"

16 Ending for Paul or Max

18 Org. for Ducks & Devils

19 Escaped

20 Recipe verb

21 Dutch cheese

23 Grey of "SEAL Team"

24 Role on "Bonanza"

25 Singer Tennille

26 Not at all tactful

28 Sitcom about a deacon

29 Actor Nicolas

30 All \_\_\_\_: listening

32 Whitney & McKinley: abbr.

35 "Isn't that obvious?"

36 Youngest girl on "7 Little Johnstons"

©2022 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

All Rights Reserved.

5/1/22

37 "Law & Order: SVU" actor

38 Actor Keanu

40 "12 \_\_ Men"; Henry Fonda movie

41 Fall flower

42 Part of a wineglass

43 "Boys Don't \_\_"; Hilary Swank film

44 Garden tools

---

DOWN

1 Current season for "The Blacklist"

2 Keisha \_ of "FBI: Most Wanted"

3 Late radio & TV host Don \_

4 90 degrees from ENE

5 Eigenberg of "Chicago Fire"

6 Ladd or Thicke

7 Word attached to wit or pick

10 "Home Economics" actress

11 Bert's buddy

12 Very long time

13 "Car 54, Where \_ You?"

15 Shade trees

17 Slip up

19 "The \_ and the Furious"; Vin

Diesel film

20 "Auld Lang \_ "

22 "She \_ Him Wrong"; Mae West

movie

23 Hanks & Cruise

25 Scarlett's plantation

26 A-E connection

27 "Little House on the Prairie" role

30 \_ board; nail file

31 Mornings, for short

33 " \_ of Endearment"; MacLaine/

Winger film

34 Pig's home

36 "Unhappily \_ After"

37 "Star Trek \_ Darkness"; 2013

movie

39 And so forth: abbr.

40 Bit of soot

JUMBLE

ARROW WORDS

---

THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME By David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek

Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.

Answer here:

Jumbles: GARANT OFFER HIDDEN ABSURD Answer: The invention of rotary ceiling fans in the mid-180s bagon with a - ROUGH PRACT.

Fill in the grid using the clues provided in the direction of the arrows. When complete, unscramble the letters in the circles to reveal a mystery word. | Greek salad cheese | Lauder of cosmetics | Rocky pinnacle | Yogurt flavor | Good earth | Criticized sharply | Heavy shoe | Coffee flavor | Slow-paced | Similarity comparison | Old light source | Musical composition | Made waves | Scary shout | Air: Southwest subsidiary | Science officer on TV | Paper size | Snooze Biology grouping | Tagged player Shopping frenzy | 'Love neighbor' | Floored it | Indian butter | Not in favor of | Teri Hatcher or Halle Berry | Baby deliverers, for short | Put on | Incl. shipping | Female sib | Belief system | Leg bone | Harbor marker | Most uncanny | Nine-digit ID | Garden area | Interstate hauler | ©2024 Knight Features. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.

6/16/24

KIDNEWS FUN & GAMES

PUZZLE TIME Spot 5 differences

WHITE SOX ALDS

White Sox players Brenton Doyle, Munetaka Murakami, Sam Antonacci and Miguel Vargas talk during a workout at Rate Field on Tuesday. ARMANDO L. SANCHEZ/CHICAGO TRIBUNE PHOTOS

Soaking it all in

---

Sunny forecast for Sox after years of gloom and doom

---

Paul Sullivan IN THE WAKE OF THE NEWS

Wednesday afternoon's forecast at Rate Field is sunny with a high probability of lunacy.

The White Sox are back on the South Side for the first time since the end of the regular season, hoping to clinch a postseason series at home for the first time since beating the Cubs in the 1906 World Series.

The Sodfather was busy grooming the field Tuesday afternoon, and the MLB postseason logo was painted near the dugouts. Some

players worked out in their “Celibate for Sean” T-shirts for Sean Burke, while others threw around footballs, kicked soccer balls or just shagged batting practice flies in the sunshine.

It was a wonderful afternoon, and even outfielder Tommy Pham was in a good mood, or at least a better mood than he was on Monday night when he berated a Sun-Times reporter after manager Will Venable's news conference and insisted the reporter would be "blackballed" in the Sox clubhouse.

But more on that later.

The Sox are a tight-knit bunch and, as Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said last week, more like a college team than a professional baseball

See SULLIVAN on Page C2

Tommy Pham stands in the dugout during a workout at Rate Field on Tuesday.

AL DIVISION SERIES

truTV and HBO Max truTV and HBO Max

Game 1: White Sox 3, Guardians 0

Game 2: White Sox 4, Guardians 3

Game 3: 3 p.m. Wed. at Rate Field

\*Game 4: Thursday at Rate Field

\*Game 5: Saturday in Cleveland

\*if necessary

Newcomb will start in front of home crowd in ALDS Game 3

By LaMond Pope

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami has fed off the energy of the home crowds at Rate Field.

"The crowds have been $100\%$ really awesome throughout the year," Murakami said through an interpreter on Tuesday. "It gets really loud. I'm initially happy the crowds are there and are supporting the team all the way."

The Sox are anticipating amped up fans on Wednesday for Game 3 of the American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians. It will be the team's first home game this postseason.

“Maybe the most simple way to put what is special about our club is the enthusiasm on the field,”

manager Will Venable said. "That enthusiasm comes from players that are excited and play hard, and that enthusiasm comes from and is fueled by our fans as well.

"They've been there every step of the way as far as the growth of this club, the belief of this club."

Reliever Grant Taylor said: “I’m pretty excited for (Wednesday) and what the crowds are going to bring us. It’s about time we gave them some postseason baseball.”

The Sox come home with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five division series.

“Once we got through (Monday's) game, my mind went straight to what kind of an environment are we going to have in Chicago, knowing the importance of this game, what it represents,

See SOX on Page C3

BLACKHAWKS

Kane returns to UC as a Hawk — 19 years after his 1st home game

By Kalen Lumpkins

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

On Oct. 6, 2007, Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane and fellow rookie Jonathan Toews arrived at the United Center for their first home game under a cloud of expectations and anticipation.

They weren't just highly drafted hopefuls — Kane the No. 1 pick that year, Toews the No. 3 selection in 2006. They needed to be the team's future.

After the Hawks erased a 3-1 third-period deficit to force overtime and eventually a shootout against the Red Wings, future Hall of Famer Pavel Datsyuk missed Detroit's first attempt.

Next up, Kane.

UP NEXT

Blackhawks at Islanders

6:30 p.m. Thu., CHSN

One second he was on the bench chomping his white mouthguard, the next he was called upon by coach Denis Savard to open the shootout for the Hawks. He began skating toward goaltender Dominik Hašek, the former Sabre and childhood hero of the Buffalo, N.Y. native.

Kane went to the net, chose the right side and lifted a backhand shot into the back of the net. It ended up the only successful attempt of the shootout for a 4-3 Hawks victory.

Nineteen years later to the day, Kane will play his first game at the

United Center for the Hawks since they traded him at the 2023 deadline. A sellout crowd will be on hand Tuesday night for the home opener against the St. Louis Blues.

Kane's memory was a tad fuzzy about his original home debut. It's no surprise that the 37-year-old might get his 509 career goals and 892 assists mixed up with each other.

"I don't even remember the first time (at the United Center), to be honest with you, it was so long ago," Kane said with a chuckle Monday. "I wasn't playing one of the preseason games and there was like 2,000 people in the crowd, and I just sat in the crowd with my suit and no one came up to me or anything.

See HAWKS on Page C2

Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane warms up for the home opener against the Blues at the United Center on Tuesday in Chicago.

CHRIS SWEDA/CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Coming up | Team | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | | BEARS | @GB | noon | Fox-32 | WHITE SOX | CLE | 3 p.m. | TBS | CLE (if nec.) | TBD | TBS | @CLE (if nec.) | TBD | TBS | BULLS | PHX (exh.) | 7 p.m. | CHSN | MEM (exh.) | 7 p.m. | CHSN | @DEN (exh.)8 p.m. | CHSN, ESPN | BLACKHAWKS | @NYI | 6:30 p.m. | CHSN | CAR | 6 p.m. | CHSN | FIRE | NYC | 1:30 p.m. | Apple TV | STARS | Next game | Oct. 18 vs. SEA |

Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane is introduced before the home opener against the Blues at the United Center on Tuesday. CHRIS SWEDA/CHICAGO TRIBUNE PHOTOS

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HAWKS

from Page C1

"There wasn't too much attention or spotlight on the Blackhawks back then. A little bit different now."

Banners featuring Blackhawks players Connor Bedard and Patrick Kane hang above fans as they enter the United Center on Tuesday.

To say the fans were excited is an understatement. Thousands of No. 88 jerseys — home, road, St. Patrick's Day, Team USA and more — were scattered throughout the United Center seats on Tuesday.

Fans David and Eileen Glynn, both in Kane sweaters, recalled the moment they learned about Kane's return.

"I immediately went online and got tickets before they skyrocketed," Eileen Glynn said. "I grabbed two, second row off the glass, for like \$300.

“By the time (David) got home and it hit the news, widespread, he came in like, ‘Can you even imagine United Center that night? Good tickets are going to be, you know, 15-hundred, two grand.’ I said, ‘What would you say to \$300?’ (and) he said, ‘No way!’ (so) we both were kind of jumping up and down, so excited.”

Kane's last home game in the Hawks lineup came on Feb. 21, 2023, and he made his first return to the United Center on Feb. 25, 2024, with the Red Wings. He received a two-minute, camera-shaking standing ovation — and then scored the game-winning goal in overtime.

Toews — who got three minutes of applause and took four laps during his return last season with the Winnipeg Jets — and Niklas Hjalmarsson were among those watching the morning skate Tuesday at the Blackhawks Ice Center.

"It's amazing to be back in

Chicago and being a Blackhawk," Kane said. "Who knows what it's going to feel like, all the emotions and all that stuff. Definitely looking forward to it."

The three-time Stanley Cup champion and former MVP returned to the Hawks this summer, signing a two-year, \$16 million free-agent contract. Kane played for the Red Wings the last three seasons after the Hawks originally traded him to the New York Rangers.

Kane and general manager Kyle Davidson previously had been mum about a potential reunion. Still, the Hawks made sure no one else wore No. 88 — it was the first thing they told winger Andrew Mangiapane, who had been No. 88 with the Edmonton Oilers, when he was traded to the Hawks in March.

Eventually No. 88 will likely hang in the United Center rafters. But maybe there was a slight hunch that Kane would wear the jersey again.

He made it clear his return was about winning, not nostalgia.

"It's not like I'm just coming back home to ride off into the sunset," Kane said at his introductory news conference. "I want to be a big player here and help the team win."

It hasn't gotten off the best start.

While Kane scored in his first game back, the Hawks were outscored 15-5 on an 0-3 opening trip. Connor Bedard's absence hasn't helped, but the young team looked lost at times during the three road losses.

Getting back to the United Center should help. The Hawks will play eight of their next nine games there. Toews, Hjalmarsson and others won't be on the ice — but Kane will.

And for one night at least, that's more than enough for the Hawks faithful.

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