Daywatch: Former aide to Michael Madigan back in court
Good morning, Chicago.
An FBI wiretap played at Tim Mapes’ perjury trial last year captured the longtime aide to House Speaker Michael Madigan asking a colleague if he was going to put on his “big boy pants” before carrying out a politically thorny Madigan order.
Today, it will be Mapes’ turn to put on the big boy pants.
Mapes, who served for years as Madigan’s abrasive and sharp-tongued chief of staff, executive director of the Madigan-run Democratic Party of Illinois, and clerk of the House, is scheduled to be sentenced for lying to a federal grand jury investigating his former boss.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Jason Meisner.
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A migrant family in peril: He’s paralyzed. She just had a C-section and is caring for her husband and children. And their immigration papers just got tossed.
Genesis Chacon was pregnant when she essentially carried her husband and toddler across countries to get to Chicago.
Her healthy, able-bodied husband became paralyzed from the chest down due to a rare condition he developed while on their journey to the United States last summer. Now, the 22-year-old mother from Venezuela tends to his every need — even as she recovers from a C-section she had four weeks ago to deliver their daughter.
Mayor Johnson hasn’t acted on Lightfoot order aimed at aldermanic ward power
On her last weekday in office, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot delivered a parting shot to Chicago’s City Council: a barrage of 11 executive orders, one of which took aim at the longtime City Council tradition of aldermen having nearly complete control over development in their wards, which she saw as a root of corruption.
Nine months into his term, however, Mayor Brandon Johnson and his aldermanic allies have not implemented the changes Lightfoot ordered.
Democrats flexed muscles in passing out pork in Springfield
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his fellow Illinois Democrats approved more than $150 million in the current state budget for local projects hand-picked by their party, a power play over Republicans that is unusual in scope and secrecy even in the history of Springfield’s chronic partisan gamesmanship.
In a state known for negotiating local pork-barrel project funds in at least somewhat of a bipartisan fashion, the maneuver illustrated how Democrats enjoying extraordinary House and Senate majorities flexed their dominance and left minority party Republican legislators wanting.
The ‘underbird’ no longer: Chicago pigeon owners, enthusiasts say it’s time to see the city dwellers as a ‘symbol of beauty’
When Susan Jicha greets guests at her Uptown home, her pets like to make introductions. Her dog, Rosie, shakes her tail at the door, and her bird, Kahlo, wobbles from underneath the television stand to perch on her hand.
Kahlo is happy and independent, the 68-year-old retired teacher said. Her assertion that he’s the most photographed bird on the North Side rings true as he stretches his neck as if he were posing. By all accounts, he’s “living the good life.”
The remarkable Pollards, the first Black family to settle in Rogers Park
As his son saw it, the challenges Fritz Pollard and his siblings faced as the first Black family in West Rogers Park were a major reason for their success in life.
“Growing up in an all-white neighborhood made you an overachiever,” Fritz Pollard Jr., who lived in his family’s house at 1928 W. Lunt Ave., on Chicago’s Far North Side, is quoted as saying in the book “Fritz Pollard: Pioneer in Racial Advancement” by John M. Carroll.
The family’s notable history led the current owners of the home on Lunt Avenue to try to get an adjoining park renamed for the Pollards.
Chicago Marathon winner and world record-holder Kelvin Kiptum, 24, has died in a car crash in Kenya
Marathon world record-holder Kelvin Kiptum, who was set to be a superstar of long-distance running, was killed along with his coach in a car crash in Kenya late Sunday.
Column: With NIL, Caitlin Clark could be ushering in new era of WNBA player endorsement
A particular part of the discourse is the oft-repeated idea that she will take “a pay cut” to play in the WNBA.
That incorrect understanding likely comes from the new name, image and likeness deals in college athletics being thought of as a salary that somehow goes away when a player leaves school.
To gain a better understanding, the Tribune’s Shakeia Taylor spoke to an expert.
Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers in overtime to win Super Bowl LVIII, 25-22
The Chiefs captured their third Super Bowl title in five years and firmly established themselves as a dynasty.
Usher rocks 2024 Super Bowl halftime show with help from Alicia Keys, Lil Jon, Ludacris
Usher emerged at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium for the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show seated on a throne, joined by a marching band and a trove of Vegas performers — but stayed its center.
It was an immediate confirmation of his position as the ideal halftime performer: one with timeless, well-known hits, masterful choreography, and a devoted audience. He started with “Caught Up,” moving into “U Don’t Have to Call,” Superstar,” and “Love in the Club.”
Beyoncé announces ‘Renaissance Part II’ in Super Bowl ad
In the elaborate, self-referencing ad, we see Beyonce scrolling through songs on an iphone, then at a lemonade stand (referencing her 2016 classic album of the same name), following with a series of plays on her name: “Barbey,” referencing Barbie, “BOTUS,” saying she’ll be the first female president, then the first woman to launch the first rocket for the first woman in space.
Finally, she says, “OK, they ready — drop the new music. I told y’all the ‘Renaissance’ is not over,” she concludes.