Good morning, Chicago.
The start of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy is here.
The torch relay is nearly complete and some of the top athletes are already making headlines. There are 16 sports in all, including some never seen before, and 116 gold medals are waiting to be awarded.
Milan’s San Siro stadium is the venue for today’s opening ceremony, which is usually the most viewed moment of the Games as millions around the world will watch on official broadcasters. Andrea Bocelli and Mariah Carey are among the performers. It begins at 8 p.m. local time (1 p.m. Central).
This will be the most spread-out Winter Games in history: The two primary competition sites are the city of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, the winter resort in the Dolomites that is more than 250 miles away by road. Athletes also will compete in three other mountain clusters besides Cortina, while the closing ceremony will be in Verona, 100 miles east of Milan.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including how a campaign contribution loss has made crypto an issue in Illinois’ comptroller race, Illinois warns illegal online casinos to shut down operations and meet the Mexican immigrant who made retirement banners for Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Derrick Rose.
Today’s eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History
Government lawyer yanked from immigration detail in Minnesota after telling judge ‘this job sucks’
A government lawyer who told a judge that her job “sucks” during a court hearing stemming from the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota has been removed from her Justice Department post, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Marimar Martínez plans to attend Trump’s State of the Union speech, lawyer says
Marimar Martínez, the Chicago woman shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in October, will attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech before Congress later this month, her attorney said in a court filing.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon visits Near West Side private school
Education Secretary Linda McMahon addressed students at a private Christian high school on the Near West Side, her latest stop on a national civics tour that some have criticized as bringing partisan politics into schools.
About 150 students at Chicago Hope Academy joined McMahon for the assembly, which was closed to the media. Half of the student body decided not to attend the optional event, according to Principal Ike Muzikowski.
How a campaign contribution loss in CHKN tokens has made crypto an issue in Illinois’ comptroller race
Months before Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim announced her bid for Illinois comptroller, she used about $8,300 in previously contributed campaign funds to invest in a cryptocurrency she founded called CHKN token — a digital asset inspired by her backyard flock of chickens.
By the end of 2025, the investment — totaling roughly 8.87 million tokens — had lost nearly all its value, dropping to just $34.59, according to filings with the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Man charged with murder in drowning death of Chicago charter boat captain at DuSable Harbor
Cook County prosecutors have charged a man with murder in the August drowning death of a beloved Chicago charter boat captain, alleging that the man trespassed onto the DuSable Harbor docks and then punched the captain, causing him to fall and slip into the water.
With Super Bowl approaching, Illinois warns illegal online casinos to shut down operations
In advance of Super Bowl Sunday, the Illinois Gaming Board issued more than 60 cease-and-desist letters to illegal online gambling companies, demanding that they immediately block Illinois residents from accessing their websites and stop offering them prizes.
Operators who fail to comply may be subject to civil or criminal penalties.
Artūras Karnišovas embraces change with Chicago Bulls after making 7 trades: ‘The play-in is not our goal’
Artūras Karnišovas is finally ready for the Chicago Bulls to take risks again.
The executive vice president of basketball operations made seven trades in six days this week, sending away eight players including longtime franchise staples Coby White, Nikola Vučević and Ayo Dosunmu. In exchange, the Bulls amassed a heap of second-round picks and a rag-tag group of mostly young players who might or might not return to the roster next season.
The result is a haphazard vision for a future that the Bulls still haven’t fully fleshed out.
Related:
- Column: Artūras Karnišovas finally gave the Chicago Bulls a complete makeover. But does he have a plan?
- Chicago Bulls made 7 deals and parted with 8 players: Recapping their NBA trade deadline moves
- NBA trade deadline wrap-up: 28 deals made in the last week — but Giannis Antetokounmpo stays in Milwaukee
Meet the Mexican immigrant who made retirement banners for Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Derrick Rose
When Maria Estela Parra saw herself on the Jumbotron at a Chicago Bulls game last month, hand-stitching Derrick Rose’s retirement banner, she pointed to the screen stunned and said, “That’s me.” Her granddaughter captured the Jan. 24 moment at the United Center on video and within hours, Parra — the 64-year-old Mexican seamstress responsible for many of Chicago’s most iconic sports banners — went viral.
Review: There’s an ‘Enormous Crocodile’ on the Studebaker stage, and kids can throw peanuts at him
As you enter the Studebaker Theater for “The Enormous Crocodile,” a visiting family show from the U.K.-based Roald Dahl Story Company, a foam monkey nut (aka a peanut) is helpfully provided. And, at the appropriate point in the show, you are encouraged to throw said goober at the performers. Well, more specifically, you can lob it at the titular croc to try and dissuade the overgrown reptile from following his usual habit of eating children.
To say this was a moment of catharsis at the Chicago opening is to understate. Like a giant beast, the kids in the crowd flung their missiles toward the stage and their predator, who clearly was knocked off his game by the intensity of the reaction. Your friendly critic, of course, demurred, although it took some self-control.
A Rogers Park house was an HGTV ‘Ugliest House in America’ finalist. But it’s always been anything but.
The house on Pratt Boulevard goes by many names.
Most neighbors call it Candyland. The Rogers Park kids who once flocked here every day after school for art classes thought of it as the clubhouse of the Battling Butterfly Brigade. Others walk past its pastel stripes and think of it as the Easter House. Once, after that paint began cracking and the old Victorian no longer seemed so eye-popping, a small girl and her grandmother approached owners Joe Bergantino and Ricky Gonzalez and asked, earnestly: “Is this the trash house?”
The reputation of their home had long ago preceded it.
Long before the producers of HGTV’s “Ugliest House in America” ever called.
