Daywatch: Chicago Fire's $650M plans for a new stadium
Good morning, Chicago.
After nearly a decade of big swings and misses, including a recent failed bid to build a new White Sox ballpark, The 78 and developer Related Midwest may have finally found an anchor tenant to kick-start the proposed mixed-use megadevelopment in the South Loop.
The Chicago Fire announced plans today for a privately financed $650 million soccer stadium at the mostly vacant 62-acre site along the Chicago River at Roosevelt Road, giving the team a 'world-class home,' and potentially turning the former rail yard into a bustling South Side Wrigleyville.
'It's transformative for the club, and I think for the city as well,' said Fire owner Joe Mansueto, 68, the founder and executive chairman of Chicago-based investment research firm Morningstar, who bought the team in 2019.
Read the full story from the Tribune's Robert Channick.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including:
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More than 25,000 residents in three provinces have been evacuated as dozens of wildfires remained active and diminished air quality in parts of Canada and the U.S., according to officials.
Smoke was worsening air quality and reducing visibility in Canada and into some U.S. states along the border.
Facing a federal probe into alleged hiring preferences for Black job candidates, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson attempted to deftly highlight that it was the president's hiring practices that were the problem, not his.
'My administration reflects the country, the city,' Johnson said as he called on the Department of Justice to turn its sights essentially on itself and investigate President Donald Trump's hiring. 'His administration reflects the country club.'
While Johnson's gambit to get the DOJ to investigate Trump's hiring has no chance of succeeding, the first-term mayor's comments underscore how the president's picks for top leadership positions have skewed more heavily toward men and white people than any president in recent memory.
The U.S. Supreme Court said yesterday it would decide whether Republicans can challenge Illinois' law that allows mail-in election ballots to be counted 14 days after Election Day, following lower federal courts' previous dismissals of the GOP effort.
The lawsuit, led by downstate Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, comes as the GOP and President Donald Trump have pushed for the recognition of a singular Election Day ballot count — most recently in a presidential executive order issued in March — despite state laws allowing ballots to be counted after Election Day as long as they are postmarked or voter-signed and certified on or before the election date.
For months, Chicagoland's transit agencies have sounded an alarm: If lawmakers don't plug a looming $771 million budget gap, they warned, residents will experience drastic service cuts on the CTA, Metra and Pace next year.
Over the weekend, Illinois lawmakers adjourned their spring legislative session without passing legislation that would avert the fiscal cliff.
A state probe into a potential conflict of interest and spending issues at the nonprofit supporting Cook County's hospital system has closed after no violations were found, though internal strife that launched that investigation has led to roughly half the board's members leaving over the past year.
The Chicago Cubs woke up yesterday tied with the New York Mets for the best record in the National League, writes Paul Sullivan.
They begin a nine-game road trip today in Washington before two extremely difficult challenges against the Detroit Tigers, who have MLB's best record, and the Philadelphia Phillies. Here are four takeaways from their 5-1 homestand.
KFire in Logan Square has now hit its five-year mark and is one of the many pandemic-born restaurants in Chicago being honored by Grubhub's Established 2020 program for reaching the milestone.
A chatty animated amphibian starring in videos for Bad Bunny's recent album has launched the Puerto Rican crested toad — an endangered species native to the island — into newfound fame, following years of quiet, collaborative conservation efforts involving Chicago's Brookfield Zoo.
Chicago artist Dmitry Samarov has illustrated a new edition of Herman Melville's novel, now in the public domain. It begins with a striking image of a whale on the cover in black and white, writes Rick Kogan.
This is the final week to nominate organizations for recognition as a Top Workplace in Chicagoland.
For the 16th year, the Chicago Tribune will honor outstanding workplace culture in the region. Any organization with 75 or more employees in the region is eligible to compete for a Top Workplaces award.
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