
Afternoon Briefing: Aldermen confirm mayor's ally to the City Council
Good afternoon, Chicago.
Nine Chicago Housing Authority senior leaders received more than $787,000 collectively in separation agreement payouts over the last five years, including two who had received written warnings from Tracey Scott, the agency's former CEO.
A Tribune analysis of CHA records shows that each of the nine received at least two months of compensation at the salary level they had on their last day of work. Six of the agreements were signed between August 2024 and early March 2025.
Here's what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.
Aldermen confirm Mayor Brandon Johnson's ally to the City Council
In a 32-11 vote, City Council members voted to approve Cook County Commissioner Anthony Quezada as alderman of the 35th Ward after his predecessor, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, resigned last month to lead the Chicago Park District. Read more here.
Backyard chickens might not crack high egg prices, but Chicago-area owners say they're worth it
Though experienced chicken owners caution that the cost of raising chickens might cancel out any egg savings at the supermarket, they encourage the public to give the hobby a try. Read more here.
DePaul mens' basketball coach Chris Holtmann sells Ohio home for $3.5M
$2.5M Lakeview home listed by former Cubs player Kyle Hendricks goes under contract
Roommates in Rockford, these Chicago Blackhawks prospects shared everything — including each other's burdens
Rockford IceHogs forwards Gavin Hayes and Samuel Savoie have to work together on the ice, but the roommates also had to reach an off-ice accord on a very important subject: food. Read more here.
More top sports stories:
3 takeaways as the Chicago Bulls creep closer to 8th place in the Eastern Conference with a win
Column: IHSA addresses issues with multiplier waiver and success factor. The solutions appear to be a win-win.
M'daKhan, a Middle Eastern restaurant in Bridgeview, specializes in great halal smoked and grilled meats, inspired by lifetimes of backyard barbecues in Little Palestine. Read more here.
More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories:
U.S. stocks are falling in a manic Monday after President Donald Trump doubled down on his tariffs, despite seeing how much Wall Street wants him to do the opposite.
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Newsweek
18 minutes ago
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Three Realistic Trade Targets for Chicago Cubs to Strike Before Window Closes
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Chicago Cubs fans have the feeling that this season may turn into the 2016 season all over again. Chicago sits in first place in the NL Central, off to its best start since 2016, when the Cubs eventually won the World Series. Despite the outstanding start, Chicago still has a few holes in its roster that will need to be addressed at the trade deadline. Team president Jed Hoyer has hinted that the Cubs will be focused on pitching help at the trade deadline. If that is indeed the route Chicago's front office takes, here are three potential trade deadline targets. NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 7: Aroldis Chapman #44 of the Boston Red Sox pitches during the ninth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on June 7, 2025 in New York City.... NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 7: Aroldis Chapman #44 of the Boston Red Sox pitches during the ninth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on June 7, 2025 in New York City. The Red Sox won 10-7 MoreAroldis Chapman, Boston Red Sox Chapman was a member of the Cubs' 2016 World Series team and his addition to the backend of the bullpen would be more than welcome. At 37 years old, Chapman's 99.1 mph average fastball velocity ranks in the 98th percentile, making him still one of the game's best late-inning relievers. His 11 saves and 37 strikeouts across 27 1/3 innings pitched is eye-opening and he would give the Cubs a much-needed high velocity left-handed pitcher in the bullpen. Chris Sale, Atlanta Braves Sale is not a name that would've been thought of at the beginning of the season, but he has now become an intriguing option due to the struggles from the Atlanta Braves. After a shaky start to the season, Sale has bounced back and has a 2.79 ERA with 107 strikeouts across 80 2/3 innings pitched. According to Baseball Savant, Sale ranks in the 94th percentile in chase rate at 34.5% and the 92nd percentile in strikeout rate at 31.7%. Chicago's pitching staff has the seventh-fewest number of strikeouts, so the punchout ability and stuff that Sale has would be an excellent addition. Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins Prior to the season, Alcantara was expected to be one of the most highly coveted trade targets, but a horrendous first half of the season may have changed that. He is 2-7 with a 7.89 ERA and just 44 strikeouts in 57 innings pitched. What many hoped to be a promising return from injury has very quickly gone sideways. A change of scenery could make all the difference in the world for Alcantara and going from an uncompetitive Marlins team to a World Series contending Cubs team could get him back on track and looking like the pitcher he was two seasons ago when he was awarded the NL Cy Young. More MLB: Preseason Projected World Series Contender in Serious Jeopardy of Missing Postseason


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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Loss of over-the-air TV leaves some Chicago sports fans frustrated with new CHSN-Comcast deal
CHICAGO — When the Chicago Sports Network went live Oct. 1, it didn't have a deal to be carried by Comcast, the market's largest pay-TV provider. But it touted an old school solution — broadcasting the network over-the-air — as a way to reach new fans in Chicago. The great free-TV regional sports network experiment lasted eight months, a sudden demise that may be creating some static among Chicago viewers that bought into the antenna solution. Advertisement The nascent sports network finally joined the Comcast lineup Friday, but on the higher-priced Ultimate tier, which costs an additional $20 per month, on top of the $20.25 regional sports network fee charged to Chicago-area subscribers each month. In the wake of the deal, CHSN abruptly pulled the plug Monday on local TV affiliates in Chicago, Rockford, Peoria, and Fort Wayne and South Bend, Ind. 'We are excited by our recent announcement bringing CHSN to Comcast viewers across the Chicagoland area, and we have heard a great deal of enthusiastic support from those viewers,' a CHSN spokesperson said in an email. 'While we appreciate the frustration felt by OTA users in the impacted markets, we continue to make OTA available in certain areas outside of Chicagoland.' That leaves an untold number of fans who may have purchased an indoor antenna, a new receiver or even clambered up onto a roof to hook up an outdoor antenna, with a bunch of wires and a blank TV screen where the White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks once beamed into their homes. Advertisement Tom Hedstrom from Skokie, who said he's been a White Sox fan since 1952, is one of them. 'The worst thing about this deal was CHSN agreeing to pull the plug on OTA,' Hedstrom said in an email Monday. A Comcast subscriber whose older TV was not equipped to receive the digital over-the-air broadcasts, Hedstrom bought a new receiver — at CHSN's advice — to go with his antenna, and was able to view the network within weeks of its October launch. But Hedstrom will now need to upgrade his Comcast subscription to continue watching CHSN. 'As a result, it will cost me an additional $30 per month because I will need to change my TV service from 'Popular' to 'Ultimate' and pay the full RSN fee plus some additional tax,' Hedstrom said. 'Will I do it? Yes, but I'm unhappy about it.' Advertisement Getting on Comcast, and potentially reaching its one million Chicago-area subscribers, was nonetheless crucial for CHSN. A joint venture between the Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks and Nashville, Tennessee-based Standard Media, CHSN went live Oct.1 on pay-TV platforms DirecTV and Astound, and over the air in Chicago and several other markets. It added streaming service FuboTV and its own direct-to-consumer app, but was unable to strike a deal with Comcast, the market's largest pay-TV provider. In Chicago, CHSN leased two digital subchannels of WJYS-Ch. 62, a full-powered UHF TV station licensed to Hammond, to broadcast the sports network in high-definition to anyone that could capture the signal with a TV antenna. About 15% of the 3.46 million homes in the Chicago market watch TV using an antenna, according to Nielsen. Beyond reception limitations, some viewers with older TVs needed to buy new receivers to get the picture, a problem CHSN addressed on its website. Advertisement Prior to launching the network, Jason Coyle, president of Chicago Sports Network, told the Chicago Tribune the over-the-air platform was an integral part of the strategy to 'reimagine' regional sports networks amid cord-cutting and declining pay-TV subscribers. But the over-the-air offering proved to be a stumbling block in negotiations with Comcast, which balked at paying carriage fees to CHSN for programming some viewers could get for free. Comcast also pushed for moving CHSN to its more expensive Ultimate tier, something it has done with other regional sports networks across the U.S. in recent months. The Marquee Sports Network, the pay-TV home of the Cubs, remains on the lower-priced basic tier, at least for now. CHSN went live Friday on Comcast Channel 200, where its predecessor NBC Sports Chicago, resided until last fall. For Comcast customers on the lower-priced basic plan, Channel 200 bears a message that CHSN requires a subscription upgrade to watch. Advertisement Comcast declined to say how many Chicago-area customers currently subscribe to the Ultimate plan. 'We don't provide the percentage of customers on Ultimate but can confirm that many sports fans already subscribe to the Ultimate TV level of service because of its comprehensive sports channel lineup,' a Comcast spokesperson said in an email Monday. Going live on Comcast Friday may have already given CHSN a boost in ratings. Sources said Friday's primetime audience for the Sox-Royals game was up 66% over the previous week's Sox-Orioles broadcast, which was prior to Comcast joining the pay-TV lineup. Marc Ganis, a Chicago-based sports marketing consultant, said it was nonetheless unlikely that many subscribers will upgrade to the Ultimate plan amid another losing White Sox campaign, with the team sporting the worst record in the American League through 66 games. Advertisement He said subscription upgrades will likely pick up when the teams do better. 'It will be one of those rare examples when the customers will speak very loudly with their purchases deciding when and whether they choose to pay up or not for the sports package upgrade,' Ganis said. Cheered by many, the new carriage deal has nonetheless frustrated some Chicago sports fans, especially those who took the antenna plunge, and now are being asked to pay up to see CHSN on Comcast. Erin Blasko, a longtime Sox fan living in South Bend, watched CHSN over-the-air on the digital subchannel of local affiliate WHME-TV. Advertisement 'I'm disappointed to learn CHSN is ending its OTA broadcasts,' Blasko said in an email. 'The Sox and other MLB teams should be expanding — not shrinking — opportunities for fans to watch games at all price levels.' While Comcast is available on the Ultimate tier in South Bend, Blasko, who hasn't subscribed to the cable provider 'in more than 15 years,' plans to sign up for the $19.99 per month CHSN streaming app to keep watching the Sox this season. Keith Williams, a Comcast Ultimate subscriber who lives in north suburban Lake Forest, bought a $70 amplified indoor antenna in September as a backup for when his cable service goes out. It ended up in the starting lineup, delivering CHSN amid the protracted Comcast blackout through the entire Bulls and Blackhawks seasons, and a chunk of the current White Sox season. While CHSN is now live on his cable plan, Williams said the cost to watch the regional sports network has risen enough for him to consider other pay-TV options. Advertisement 'Sad though that Comcast forced them to take OTA service away from people … and especially away from people who will find $500 per year to be a substantial or overwhelming burden on their family budgets,' Williams said in an email. Meanwhile, David Perlman, a Comcast Ultimate subscriber in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, was never able to get the CHSN over-the-air broadcasts. He tried an old roof antenna, bought a new antenna and eventually gave up as both the Bulls and Hawks seasons slipped away. On Friday, CHSN magically appeared in his Comcast channel lineup. But Perlman said he doesn't plan to tune in until the Bulls and Hawks return to action. 'Being a lifelong Cubs fan, I have no particular use now for their station until the fall, when next season begins for both teams,' Perlman said. ____