Daywatch: Why Illinois' borders are unlikely to change

Chicago Tribune

a day ago

Good morning, Chicago.
The nearly three dozen Illinois counties where a majority of voters in recent years have expressed their desire to leave the Land of Lincoln won't be joining their neighbor to the east anytime soon — or probably ever — regardless of any recommendation from a bistate commission Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signed off on last month to study the issue.
While the measure creating the commission sailed through the Republican-dominated Indiana statehouse on its way to the GOP governor's desk, a companion proposal from one of Illinois' most conservative state lawmakers went nowhere in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly before it adjourned its spring session.
The disparate responses in Indianapolis and Springfield to the proposed creation of an Indiana-Illinois Boundary Adjustment Commission, described by supporters as a conversation starter but decried by critics as a pointless political stunt, are emblematic of the yawning political divide between the states despite their deep geographic and economic ties.
Read the full story from the Tribune's Dan Petrella.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: what to expect from the heat and humidity today, why the debate over what went wrong at Lincoln Yards continues and the best wine destinations in Evanston.
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The world grappled yesterday with the United States inserting itself into Israel's war by attacking Iranian nuclear sites, an operation that raised urgent questions about what remained of Tehran's nuclear program and how its weakened military might respond.
Experts warned that worldwide efforts to contain the spread of nuclear weapons by peaceful means would be at stake in the days ahead, while fears of a wider regional conflict loomed large. The price of oil rose as financial markets reacted.
The multiday stretch of oppressive heat and humid conditions will continue today, with at least one decades-old record broken over the weekend, experts said.
Chicago's low temperature Saturday night was a stifling 78 degrees, breaking the June 21 record for minimum temperature. The low was 4 degrees higher than the previous record set in 1923, according to the National Weather Service.
Illinois set the tax on vaping products at 15% of the wholesale price about six years ago. The first increase since then kicks in July 1, with the rate going up to 45%. Most tobacco products other than cigarettes, including cigars and chewing tobacco, will also be taxed at 45% of the wholesale price, up from a 36% levy that's been in place for more than a decade.
The war of words over what went wrong with developer Sterling Bay's grand vision for its Lincoln Yards development on the North Side continues, even while the city waits to see what will happen with the sprawling site.
As Gabriela crossed the stage at her kindergarten graduation in Chicago, she scanned the audience, desperately searching for a familiar face. But her mother was nowhere to be found.
Just a week earlier, on June 4, her mother, Wendy Sarai Pineda, 39, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside an office in downtown Chicago during what was supposed to be a routine check-in, while Gabriela was at school. The little girl doesn't understand why her mother vanished and had hoped her mother would be at her graduation, said Camerino Gomez, Pineda's fiance.
A new Chicago clinic is providing abortions to patients up to roughly 34 weeks into pregnancy — the only standalone clinic in the Midwest to offer often-controversial terminations in the third trimester and among only a handful that do so nationwide.
Jey McCreight underwent hormone replacement therapy and top surgery in their mid-30s to transition into a transmasculine person. They said the medical treatment helped them 'live life to the fullest.'
When the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors on Wednesday, McCreight said they were unsurprised, but sad and angry nonetheless. McCreight, 37, joined about 200 others who braved the Saturday afternoon heat to protest the court's decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti.
Closure is something we all crave, whether it's the perfect ending to a favorite TV series or a resolution of a real-life relationship.
The closure of the long-running Sammy Sosa saga felt like a little of both, part 'Breaking Bad' finale and part end of a nearly three-decade story Paul Sullivan has covered off and on at the Tribune. Now that Sosa is back at Wrigley Field, the story is complete.
The air downtown smells of grilled onions, wafting from the flat tops of three Route 66 restaurants that have helped give the small town of El Reno, Oklahoma, about 25 miles west of Oklahoma City, a distinct culinary identity.
The governor fired off a message to the White House, outraged that the president had deployed soldiers to an American city. 'I protest against this, and ask the immediate withdrawal of the Federal troops from active duty in this State,' he wrote.
It was July 1894. The governor was John Peter Altgeld of Illinois, and the president was Grover Cleveland. The two Democrats were arguing about Cleveland's decision to send the U.S. Army into Chicago during the Pullman strike.
George Karzas announced on Instagram Thursday that Gale Street Inn, a neighborhood staple in operation since 1963, was permanently closed, a troubling trend among local restaurants, industry professionals say. He cited staffing shortages as the primary reason for the abrupt closure.
'Hiring and retaining quality staff has proven too tough for too long,' he wrote. 'We are tired of sucking, we have standards you know. But overworking our existing crew is not the answer. There are simply too many of you and not enough of us.'
With so much attention paid to Chicago's vibrant wine scene, suburban Evanston may not come to mind as a destination for wine lovers.
After all, this lakeside community — home to Northwestern University — was the epicenter of the American temperance movement. Rooted firmly in its Methodist origins, Evanston remained a dry community from the 1850s until 1972, four decades past the repeal of Prohibition.