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Good morning, Chicago. Here are some of the top stories you need to know to start your day.
What’s next for Rod Blagojevich? Can he practice law? Run for office? Become a poet?
Rod Blagojevich and his family have spent the past eight years fighting for his freedom. Now that President Donald Trump has granted their wish by commuting Blagojevich’s sentence and sending him back to Chicago about four years early, the 63-year-old disgraced ex-governor’s future is here. So, what now?
Calling himself a ‘freed political prisoner,’ Rod Blagojevich thanks Trump and remains unbowed
Editorial: The flamboyant return of Rod Blagojevich. Did you expect anything different?
John Kass: The Shawshank Rod Blagojevich Redemption Tour begins
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker presented two possibilities in his annual budget address Wednesday: his preferred option, which links a funding increase for public schools and a pension payment boost to voters approving his graduated-rate income tax plan; and a Plan B that limits new spending.
Pritzker would eliminate $1.4 billion in spending — the projected amount of revenue his income tax plan would raise in the next budget year — from his $42 billion proposal if voters in November reject one of his top campaign priorities.
Read Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s state budget address
Eddie Johnson was unceremoniously fired in December before his planned retirement from his post as Chicago’s top cop, but he still stands to bring in a hefty pension, records show.
Johnson was fired by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who said her then-police superintendent had lied to her after a late weeknight out last fall when he was found asleep in his city-issued SUV near his South Side home. But even though the dismissal meant he was not allowed to leave on his own schedule, Johnson’s pension will entitle him to a six-figure income each year for the rest of his life, city records show.
Indiana Beach amusement park closing after nearly a century: ‘It was magical’
After nearly a century of luring Chicagoans to ride roller coasters amid the cornfields of rural Monticello, Indiana, old-school amusement park Indiana Beach is closing. The California company that bought the amusement park back in 2015 announced Wednesday that it was ending operations at four properties nationwide.
Indiana Beach’s pitch to Chicagoans in countless TV commercials featured a crow squawking that “there’s more than corn in Indiana,” a call heeded by generations of family fun-seekers.
A growing trend of micro apartments has arrived in a luxe Chicago high-rise: robot furniture
The mere words intrigue on their own: robot furniture. But the realities of having a console that can transform a studio’s daytime living space into a cozy bedroom with the push of a button extend beyond the kitsch — and could provide a key answer to the growing trend of micro apartments. That’s the hope of Ori Inc., which is rolling out its largest project to date here in Chicago, with its Studio Suites placed in a River West high-rise.
