Good afternoon, Chicago.
The Chicago Bears embarked on a new era today with the purchase of a site in Arlington Heights where the team hopes to build a new enclosed stadium with a massive entertainment and residential development.
Despite the sale, the organization maintains the stadium and development are still big “ifs,” dependent on the team getting certainty on property tax limits and public subsidies to help build infrastructure for the project. But the team issued an open letter calling the purchase “an important next step” to see if the plan is feasible.
But with less than two weeks to go before Chicago’s election, Mayor Lori Lightfoot isn’t laughing at the Bears anymore. Her first reaction to the team’s interest in Arlington Heights was to mock the NFL franchise and encourage its leaders to “focus on putting a winning team on the field, beating the Packers finally and being relevant past October.”
Here’s what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/breaking and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.
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