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When the Mexican national soccer team, otherwise known as El Tri, visits Soldier Field, it’s cause for celebration on the lakefront. Fans tailgate and play loud music in the parking lots, and the matches are full of color and passion. Unfortunately, something unsavory frequently accompanies the festivities. During the 2019 Gold Cup final against the United States and a 2022 friendly with Ecuador, El Tri fans chanted a homophobic slur at the opposing goalkeeper. Two years ago, the Ecuador match was paused in the 81st minute as part of FIFA’s three-step system aimed at eliminating discriminatory incidents by fans, specifically...

In Chicago, the birthplace of the skyscraper, the total downtown office vacancy rate has jumped to 25.1%, a new record high, according to data from real estate firm CBRE. The rate has climbed steadily since the end of 2018, when it stood at 13.4%. “We just don’t have the same number of people working in the Loop as before,” said Dan McMillen, a real estate professor at the University of Illinois Chicago. Now, the city says it is investing in its real estate. Just like a mortgage, interest rates on billion-dollar loans used to build skyscrapers are rising. Those high...

After months of blown deadlines and broken promises to renovate and reopen six low-cost grocery stores in underserved communities, the operator of Save A Lot stores in Chicago promised a top city official in January that his company will do better. “We took your comments about a ‘hard reset’ to heart,” Yellow Banana Chief Executive Joe Canfield wrote to Ciere Boatright, Chicago’s top planning and development official, in a January 31 email. Five months later, Yellow Banana continues to fall short of its own goals. The company was given 24 months under a contract with the city that approved $13.5...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- It's been a violent holiday weekend so far in Chicago. At least 41 people have been shot, nine fatally, since Friday evening. One of those shootings left a 5-year-old girl dead. Despite the still high shooting numbers, calls to stop the gun violence in the city seemed to have an impact. This holiday weekend's violence numbers, so far, are lower than last year's, when 53 people were shot, 11 fatally. The long weekend is putting Mayor Brandon Johnson's summer safety plan to the test. He spoke during a community walk over the weekend, criticizing previous administrations for...

Once again, our Illinois politicians believe they have the magic that will cure the crime that riddles our city of Chicago. I recently learned that our state’s Democratic lawmakers plan to introduce House Bill 4409 to amend the Illinois Crime Reduction Act of 2009 in order to rename "offenders" as "justice-impacted individuals." That is right — with the magic of rewording, we will no longer have "offenders" or "criminals." Instead, we will have "justice-impacted individuals" and the implication could not be clearer: rather than being seen as criminals who victimized society they will be seen as victims of the system....

The CTA has committed to providing as many as 250 buses for use during the Democratic National Convention this summer, even though the agency has faced staff shortages that led to service cuts in recent years. The head of the union that represents bus drivers says he anticipates having enough staffing for both the DNC and regular scheduled bus service. But designating buses for the convention has some advocates concerned. “Pulling CTA operators from their regular routes to a specified task that doesn’t serve all of Chicago is of tremendous concern,” said Kyle Lucas, with the transportation advocacy group Better...

Seattle-bound United Airlines flight taking off from Chicago O'Hare aborted takeoff after engine caught fire.. ... The FAA said it has halted arrivals into the airport. ... the plane was towed to the gate, passengers deplaned normally and no injuries were reported. "We are working to make alternative travel arrangements for customers, ... The ordeal came as the John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York issued a ground stop by Air Traffic Control System Command Center.

Updated: Sunday, May 26, 2024 12:08PM CHICAGO (WLS) -- At least 25 people have been shot, five fatally, in Memorial Day weekend gun violence across Chicago, police said. A 5-year-old girl was shot to death on Sunday on the city's West Side, police said. The shooting happened around 3:32 a.m.. A group was standing outside when shots were fired. The girl was inside a parked vehicle when she was shot in the abdomen and taken to the hospital, where she later died. Last year in Chicago, there were 53 people shot and 11 killed over Memorial Day weekend.

Unique among great American cities, corruption is baked into the foundational lore of Chicago. It's a truth that every generation gets to rediscover at intervals spaced far enough apart as to make this revelation more demoralizing than it should be. It's true today, and it was true in a 1938 film set in 1871, about the most important historical event in the city's history that didn't involve a councilman, mayor or governor going to jail. "From the moment of its incorporation as a city in 1837," wrote Ovid Demaris in his 1969 book Captive City: The Startling Truth about Chicago...

Saturday, May 25, 2024 11:24AM CHICAGO (WLS) -- At least 10 people have been shot, two fatally, in Memorial Day weekend gun violence across Chicago, police said. Last weekend, at least 45 people were shot, one fatally, in gun violence across Chicago, police said. Last year in Chicago, there were 53 people shot and 11 killed over Memorial Day weekend.

... The holiday has historically marked a spike of street violence in the city, lasting throughout the summer. Though Chicago violence has decreased in recent years, dozens were shot over the last Memorial Day weekend. “I will not rest and my administration will not rest until we tackle this problem and stop the violence,” Johnson said at a news conference inside the Chicago Cultural Center. Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said the department will put additional officers on the street by canceling certain days off and adding overtime hours, but he said that the effort would be “strategic” and “deliberate.” The...

Two Chechen men who spoke broken English were found near the soldier's home. The family alleges the suspected intruder, 35-year-old Ramzan Daraev of Chicago was taking photos of their children. When confronted near a power line in a wooded part of the property, an altercation ensued and Daraev was shot several times at close range. -snip Sheriff Ronnie Fields said in a statement: "The caller indicated that an individual was observed taking photographs on the property and had become aggressive towards a resident outside their home…. The deceased was found approximately 250 yards from the roadway, along a powerline on...

Alderman Rossana Rodriguez has in the past sparked controversy for her remarks about IsraelJewish groups are calling out a Chicago alderman who on her personal Facebook page asked for suggestions for an “anti zionist” pediatrician. Alderman Rossana Rodriguez appears to have posted the inquiry earlier this week. On Wednesday, the Chicago Jewish Alliance, formed this year to combat antisemitism, wrote on Instagram that her post is discriminatory. “Imagine if she requested no recommendations for black or Muslim doctors—outrageous, right?” read the group’s post. “We demand Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez’s immediate resignation.” Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web,...

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher predicted that this year’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago will be a repeat of the chaotic 1968 Democratic National Convention, which was also held in Chicago, because there will be large numbers of protesters whose “new cause” is “Hamas, to be on their side.” Maher said, “I was twelve years old, when they had it in 1968 in Chicago. It was like my baptism into politics, like, wow, this is kind of interesting shit going on on TV, and I know this is politics — but because there [were] hippies...

On Friday, left-wing talk show host Bill Maher predicted that this year’s Democratic National Convention (DNC) would witness a repeat of the infamous riots that plagued the 1968 gathering. Breitbart reports that Maher, on his HBO show “Real Time,” compared the anti-Vietnam protests of the 1960s to the ongoing anti-Israel protests on college campuses across the country today. The upcoming 2024 DNC will be held in Chicago, the same city that hosted the 1968 DNC. Maher reflected on his memories of the 1968 DNC and the violent protests that overshadowed the convention’s nomination of then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey, saying that...

Extremists plotting to wreak havoc at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) include a Missouri man charged with spying for Russia, sparking fears the Kremlin could seek to unleash chaos at the conference. Police are already braced for massive protests at the August convention, with agitators threatening a throwback to 1968 when the event turned into a bloodbath. In recent weeks, clashes at university campuses over the Israel-Hamas conflict have raised concerns that the far left is ramping up plans for a major show of force. But DailyMail.com can now reveal that those plotting to bring chaos to the streets of...

Former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke, once a powerful Democrat, was found guilty of 13 out of 14 corruption charges, including racketeering, bribery, and extortion. The case highlighted high-level corruption in Chicago’s city government, involving political favors for money. The trial also implicated other officials and revealed widespread corruption in Illinois, leading to numerous convictions. “This case was about bribery and extortion occurring at the highest level of Chicago city government,” U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual said. “Burke has his hand out for money. He tied the giving of official action by him to the giving of money to him.” “Alderman Burke...

A mother, who was the victim of a home invasion, is outraged after a 911 dispatcher told her she should call a local lawmaker to request more police funding. Michelle, who has chosen to remain anonymous, called 911 six times after two men broke into her Chicago home. When they picked up, they told her if she wanted help from the police, she should call her alderman and demand more funding for the Chicago police department. 'A gentleman got on and said sorry to say we have no units to send you…then there was an awkward pause,' she told NBC...

A socialist Chicago councilwoman once called the US a 'garbage society' as she claimed policing in the country is based on racism. Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez is known for expressing her controversial views on social media, including her support for defunding the police and teaching critical race theory in public schools. In a now-deleted post covered by Fox News, Rodriguez said: 'Our BIPOC youth are on the streets because they are not gonna settle for this garbage society we have. 'They know we are better off investing in the things that protect us… not police.' Rodriguez often speaks against police on...

A report from the Centers for Disease Control has linked 84 percent of Chicago’s recent cases of measles back to the wave of illegal aliens from Venezuela. The report found that 84 percent of the identified cases were found in illegal aliens from Venezuela who were unvaccinated and can be traced to a single migrant boy who arrived in Chicago with the communicable disease, according to the Daily Mail. Fifty-seven cases were found in the same migrant shelter in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, the CDC added. But Venezuela was not the only traced source of cases. The organization also noted that...