Good morning, Chicago.
How we get around Chicago and the suburbs has changed sharply during the pandemic, and that has meant a new reality for CTA, Metra and Pace, as well as the riders still taking public transit. Getting riders back at prepandemic levels will likely be tied to a return to the office, transportation experts say. But with the omicron variant of COVID-19 surging and employers weighing nontraditional workweeks, whether and how commuters return to their offices has been thrown into question.
Without those riders, CTA, Metra and Pace will have to rethink what their services look like. Here’s what that could mean for public transit in 2022 and beyond.
— Sarah Freishtat
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Chicago Public Schools said it has extended the deadline to Thursday for parents to return the district’s at-home COVID-19 test kits after photos circulated online Tuesday of drop-off boxes overflowing with packages. CPS also urged families to pursue testing on their own this week amid a city surge in COVID-19 cases.
Two charged in shootout at Oakbrook Center mall in ‘unconscionable degree of violence’
While at least 15,000 people shopped at Oakbrook Center mall two days before Christmas, three men got into an argument near the Auntie Anne’s pretzel shop and two of them fired a dozen shots, injuring four bystanders and sending shoppers fleeing, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Tyran Williams, 32, and Steve L. Lane, 29, both of Chicago, have been charged with multiple felonies in the Dec. 23 shootout at the west suburban mall. A judge set a $1 million bail for both men during a court appearance.
After a frenzied 2021 housing market, the coming year could bring a small measure of relief for prospective homebuyers. But the market won’t go cold, real estate industry professionals predict.
Rather, changes in home price growth, the supply of homes for sale and upticks in rock-bottom interest rates are more likely to stabilize the market after an unpredictable 2021, they said. That likely won’t mean an end to competition or high prices — and it doesn’t bode well for first-time homebuyers — but the market could ease up compared with 2021.
New York Giants coach Joe Judge announced Wednesday morning Mike Glennon and Jake Fromm will both play Sunday against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.
The Bears are still working through their depth chart with Justin Fields (ankle) and Andy Dalton (groin) returning to practice as the team sorts through its situation at the position.
Critic Michael Phillips writes: “Taken from Elena Ferrante’s 2006 novel, first published in Italian, “The Lost Daughter” is a triumph of adaptation for writer and first-time feature director Maggie Gyllenhaal. Her film, relocating the novel’s southern Italian setting to a Greek island, spins a subtle web of intrigue.”
