Daywatch: Is the green dye in the Chicago River safe for fish?
Good morning, Chicago.
Every year as part of the city's St. Patrick's Day celebrations, thousands of onlookers clad in green cheer on a boat crew sprinkling orange powder into the Chicago River to turn it a festive shade.
But with the federal government considering sweeping rollbacks to environmental protections, tomorrow many may wonder: How will the bright green water affect the underwater denizens?
The Tribune's Adriana Pérez spoke with experts who conducted an extensive study about their findings.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including where to watch the river turn green in person or from the comfort of your couch this weekend, where to get the best corned beef and a toast to Harry Caray.
Columbia University says it expelled some students who seized building last year
Columbia University says it has expelled or suspended some students who took over a campus building during pro-Palestinian protests last spring, and had temporarily revoked the diplomas of some students who have since graduated.
Pritzker and Illinois educators condemn Trump's cuts at Department of Education
Gov. JB Pritzker warned at an Illinois Education Association convention yesterday that cuts to federal education funding could 'damage the future of the people of Illinois,' shortly after the state sued to stop President Donald Trump's moves to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.
'This experience is very traumatizing': Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot testifies about death threat she received in 2022
Growing occasionally emotional, former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot testified during a bench trial that she was disturbed and traumatized by a profane and racist death threat sent to her in 2022 through a city feedback email system.
Lightfoot, who served as Chicago's mayor from 2019 to 2023, took the stand at the Leighton Criminal Court Building to testify against William Kohles, a Michigan man who is charged with two felony counts of threatening a public official.
CPD launches internal investigation after cop's gun found in courthouse bathroom
The Chicago Police Department yesterday opened an internal investigation after an officer's gun was found unattended in a bathroom of the Leighton Criminal Court Building. The Cook County sheriff's office, which provides courthouse security, was notified and determined that the gun belonged to a CPD officer, according to sheriff's office spokesperson Matt Walberg.
CPS school board members push for outside experts in budget showdown
Several school board members requested yesterday that outside experts opine on Chicago Public Schools' budget woes.
CPS finalized its $9.9 billion budget for the 2025-26 school year in July without accounting for the pension payment or a new teachers contract. Now, just $139 million is available from the money CPS received from Chicago's tax increment financing districts, funds around that are allocated by aldermen for special projects.
Chris Collins says Northwestern won't accept any postseason bids after Wildcats bow out of Big Ten Tournament
Northwestern's coaches and players met before the Big Ten Tournament and came to a decision. Unless the Wildcats could make a run in Indianapolis and secure a berth in the NCAA Tournament, they would not accept any other bids to postseason tournaments.
That meant that as the 13th-seeded Wildcats left the floor after a 70-63, second-round loss to No. 5 seed Wisconsin yesterday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, players such as starting center Matthew Nicholson and guard Ty Berry were doing so for the final time.
Drew Dalman is at the center of a revamped Chicago Bears offensive line
The Bears spent the past week revamping the interior of their offensive line. They traded for a four-time Super Bowl champion in Joe Thuney and a former Pro Bowler in Jonah Jackson to play the two guard spots. Then they signed Drew Dalman, who was widely considered the top center on the free-agent market.
General manager Ryan Poles and coach Ben Johnson addressed a major problem area in a big way. Now all they have to do is make it work.
Chicago Bulls' championship banners damaged during concert — and won't return to United Center rafters this season
The banners commemorating the Chicago Bulls' six NBA championships will not be displayed at the United Center for the remainder of the season.
The banners were removed when United Center staff discovered 'minor damage' to the banners after a Saturday concert, according to a source. The concert — which featured Three Days Grace, Sevendust and local headliner Disturbed — included pyrotechnics and other on-stage theatrics, which were located directly underneath the banners.
Photos: 2025 Citywide Spelling Bee Championship
Chicago Public School students in grades first through eighth competed in the 2025 Citywide Spelling Bee Championship at Marie Curie Metropolitan High School yesterday. This year's winner, 13-year-old Beatriz Whitford-Rodriguez, of Skinner North Classical School, will go to the 100th Scripps' National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
'On Becoming a Guinea Fowl' review: A family funeral digs up a history of hidden trauma
Delicate but fierce, 'On Becoming a Guinea Fowl' is the second feature from the Zambian-born, Welsh-raised writer-director Rungano Nyoni. As both participant and observer, like its protagonist, the film contends with many shades of anguish, in a story about an extended Zambian family mourning the death of a man known to all as Uncle Fred, writes Tribune film critic Michael Phillips.
What to do in Chicago for St. Patrick's Day weekend, plus a Dr. Phil parody and Mary J. Blige
There's plenty of St. Patrick's Day fun to be had this weekend across Chicago, from the parades and river dyeing to Shamrock'n, where you can indulge in a drink or two and some Irish pub fare while your kids are occupied with crafts, balloon artists and face-painting.
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Boston Globe
8 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
UK and others sanction two far-right Israeli Cabinet ministers for ‘inciting extremist violence'
They could now face asset freezes and travel bans. In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the five countries said Ben-Gvir and Smotrich 'have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights. Extremist rhetoric advocating the forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous.' UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the two men 'have been inciting violence against Palestinian people for months and months and months' and 'encouraging egregious abuses of human rights.' Advertisement 'These measures are directed at individuals who directly contribute to extremist settler violence,' said Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand. 'The measures are not directed against the state of Israel itself.' Smotrich wrote on social media that he learned of the sanctions while he was inaugurating a new West Bank settlement. 'We are determined to continue building,' he said. Advertisement Ben-Gvir, also writing on social media, said 'we overcame Pharoah, we'll overcome Starmer's Wall,' referring to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Israel's government condemned the announcement, which came as traditional allies of Israel escalate denouncements of Israel's actions in Gaza, from the high civilian death toll to a months-long blockade that led to famine warnings. Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the sanctions decision 'outrageous.' He said he had discussed it with Netanyahu and they would meet next week to discuss Israel's response. He said that the move threatened to harden Hamas' stance in ongoing negotiations to end the war in Gaza and to cut short Israel's operation in Gaza before it achieves its goals. Benny Gantz, a centrist Israeli lawmaker and political rival to Netanyahu, wrote he 'vehemently' disagreed with Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, but said the move was 'profound moral mistake and sends a dangerous message to terrorists around the world.' Netanyahu is the target of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court last year over alleged war crimes in Gaza, part of a global wave of outrage at Israel's conduct during its 20-month war against Hamas. Netanyahu has denied the allegations and accused the court of being biased against Israel. The Biden administration took the rare step of sanctioning radical Israeli settlers implicated in violence in the occupied West Bank — sanctions that were lifted by President Trump. Eitay Mack, an Israeli human rights lawyer who spent years campaigning for the sanctions on Smotrich and Ben-Gvir — along with violent West Bank settlers — described Tuesday's move as 'historic.' 'It means the wall of immunity that Israeli politicians had has been broken,' he said. 'It's unbelievable that it took so long for Western governments to sanction Israeli politicians, and the fact that it's being done while Trump is president is quite amazing.' Advertisement Mack added: 'It is a message to Netanyahu himself that he could be next.' Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for a future state. Successive Israeli governments have promoted settlement growth and construction stretching back decades. It has exploded under Netanyahu's far-right coalition, which has settlers in key Cabinet posts. There are now well over 100 settlements across the West Bank that house more than 500,000 settlers. The settlers have Israeli citizenship, while the territory's 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority administering population centers. Most of the international community considers the settlements illegal, and Palestinians see them as the greatest obstacle to an eventual two-state solution, which is still seen internationally as the only way to resolve the conflict.
Fox News
27 minutes ago
- Fox News
STEVE HILTON: How one-party Democratic rule led to riots, burning American flags and attacks on police in LA
Everything we have seen over the past few days in Los Angeles was avoidable. The chaos, the crime, rocks thrown at police officers, cars set on fire, freeways blocked, small businesses looted, vile graffiti and vandalism everywhere, the despicable sight of law enforcement violently attacked for doing their jobs…all under the revolting shadow of American flags burning while Mexican and Palestinian flags fly high. All of it was avoidable, and if I were governor right now it would have been avoided. Here's why. First, because we would never have ended up in this ridiculous and counterproductive confrontational posture with ICE over federal immigration enforcement. As my good friend, border czar Tom Homan, patiently explains, time after time, it is the lack of cooperation with ICE that provokes the kind of enforcement actions that are most likely to lead to fear and anxiety in immigrant communities. If state and local law enforcement worked with ICE instead of against it, everyone could focus on removing violent criminals with deportation notices. These criminals have had the "due process" the left keeps demanding. It could all be handled calmly and reasonably within the law enforcement community. That's what happens in other states. But not in California, where leftist activist groups pull the strings of the people who are supposed to be in charge. So every so-called 'leader' in California, from Gov. Gavin Newsom to L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, to the Police Chief and Sheriff, rushed at the first opportunity to distance themselves from federal law enforcement instead of working in partnership with it. One by one, the pathetic, pandering statements popped up on social media, revealing the real priority: appeasing activists, not protecting the public. When it became clear that ideological agitators -- some of them, outrageously, funded by California taxpayers -- were hell-bent on causing trouble, I would have clamped down on it immediately. Once you let a situation like this get out of control, it feeds on itself. It was this, not President Donald Trump's intervention, as Newsom dishonestly claims, that led to the escalation, and the shameful scenes that have disfigured America's second-largest city these last few days. But these riots reveal the deeper, darker malaise caused by fifteen years of one-party rule by Democrats: the upside-down morality where those who do the wrong thing are rewarded while people who do the right thing are punished. Just the other weekend in L.A., we saw scenes very similar to these riots, just on a smaller scale. After an illegal rooftop party got out of control, hundreds of thugs marauded around a neighborhood, vandalizing local businesses, setting cars on fire, including a police car. What did the police do? Nothing. They just stood back and let it happen. Not a single arrest was made. No wonder this past weekend's rioters acted so brazenly, assuming there would be no repercussions for their criminal behavior. They're right! In California, it seems, only law-abiding people are chased and harassed by the government. All this nonsense will end when I am elected in 2026. The riots in Los Angeles reveal the deeper, darker malaise caused by fifteen years of one-party rule by Democrats: the upside-down morality where those who do the wrong thing are rewarded while people who do the right thing are punished. Even if I can't overturn it, I will use the discretion contained within California's 'sanctuary' law to work with federal authorities to enforce the law. When states like California refuse to cooperate, it makes everyone less safe, especially the working-class and immigrant communities who are most often the victims of violent crime. I will support our law enforcement officers and make it absolutely clear that anyone who attacks a police officer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I simply will not tolerate the crime, the chaos, or the breakdown in basic law and order that has become the norm in California today. Rioters will be prosecuted, to deliver the accountability society expects, and the deterrence that we need. This is about more than just immigration policy. It's about the rule of law. It's about whether we are going to be a state that protects our communities or a state that descends further into chaos and anarchy. On my watch, California will be a place of law and order. We will choose safety and sanity. We will back the people who wear the uniform and risk their lives every day to keep our streets safe. Enough of the lies. Enough of the excuses. Enough of the riots. If I were governor, this would not be happening. And if the people of California give me that honor and responsibility, I will make sure it never happens again. Republican Steve Hilton is a candidate for governor of California. He previously served as senior policy and strategy advisor to former U.K. prime minister David Cameron. He is a former host of "The Next Revolution" on Fox News.
Time Magazine
33 minutes ago
- Time Magazine
Why the U.K. and Allies Sanctioned Israeli Ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich—and What Comes Next
The U.K. and several allies have imposed sanctions on Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, accusing the two far-right politicians of inciting violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway joined the U.K. in imposing a travel ban on Ben-Gvir—Israel's national security minister and a West Bank settler—and Finance Minister Smotrich. The five governments also froze any assets either may have in their countries. 'Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights. These actions are not acceptable,' said British Foreign Secretary David Lammy. 'This is why we have taken action now – to hold those responsible to account.' The British government reaffirmed its support for a two-state solution and described the ongoing violence against Palestinians in the West Bank as 'completely unacceptable.' The sanctions come as the U.K. and other European nations increase pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to lift the blockade on aid into Gaza, where humanitarian experts warn that famine is imminent. "Britain has already tried once to prevent us from settling the cradle of our homeland, and we cannot do it again,' responded Smotrich, referring to a 1939 British document limiting Jewish migration. 'We are determined God willing to continue building," Smotrich added, speaking at the inauguration of a new settlement in the Hebron Hills. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the sanctions as 'outrageous,' adding that the government would convene a special meeting to determine its response to what he called an 'unacceptable decision.' Here's what to know about the sanctions. What the sanctions mean for Ben-Gvir and Smotrich The British Foreign Office said the sanctions imposed on Ben-Gvir and Smotrich were effective immediately due to their 'repeated incitement of violence against Palestinian civilians.' The Israeli cabinet ministers are now subject to a U.K. travel ban, will have any assets in the country frozen, and are barred from directing, managing or promoting a British company. The Foreign Office called on the Israeli government to crack down on settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, and emphasized that 'measures today cannot be seen in isolation from events in Gaza, where Israel must uphold international humanitarian law.' In May, the British government announced it was suspending negotiations with Israel on a prospective trade agreement. What led to the sanctions? On May 19, Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron in signing a joint statement condemning both Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the expansion of settlements in the West Bank. An estimated 529,455 Jewish settlers currently live in settlements in the West Bank, excluding those living in East Jerusalem. The United Nations considers these settlements illegal under international law. Violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has escalated since the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel, during which militants killed approximately 1,200 people and took around 250 others hostage. Between Jan. 1, 2024, and April 30, 2025, at least 616 Palestinians, including 115 children, had been killed by settlers or the Israeli military according to the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). In the same period, OCHA recorded 1,936 incidents of violence toward Palestinians, with 41,272 being displaced in the West Bank. Who are Ben-Gvir and Smotrich? Cabinet members Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich lead far-right parties that had been regarded as outside the mainstream of Israeli politics until Benjamin Netanyahu invited them into a ruling coalition —which they now hold the power to disband. Smotrich's Religious Zionism party holds 14 seats in the 120-seat Knesset while Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party holds six. The two ministers are known for their far-right political views and strong support for Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank. Smotrich, born in the occupied Golan Heights in 1980, has repeatedly called for Israeli settlers to return to Gaza. On May 30, Smotrich announced plans to establish 22 new settlements in the West Bank—a move widely regarded as illegal under international law. He called the expansion a 'historic decision,' saying, 'We have succeeded in creating a profound strategic change, returning the State of Israel to a path of construction, Zionism, and vision.' Self-described as a 'fascist homophobe,' Smotrich has previously advocated for government reprisal attacks on Palestinians and supported segregated maternity wards for Jewish and Arab mothers. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's national security minister, has a long history of far-right activism. A former disciple of the extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane, Ben-Gvir was known in his youth for his affiliation with Kach, a Jewish supremacist group outlawed in both Israel and the United States as a terrorist organization. By his early 30s, he had been convicted of incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organization. Though he has since rebranded himself as a mainstream political figure, Ben-Gvir continues to advocate for hardline policies against Palestinians and is a vocal proponent of expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
