logo
Daywatch: Bam Bam, the stolen support dog, reunited with his owner

Daywatch: Bam Bam, the stolen support dog, reunited with his owner

Chicago Tribune13 hours ago
Good morning, Chicago.
Bam Bam is home.
The 14-year-old dachshund captured hearts and minds around the globe after he'd been reported stolen in June from Angel Santiago, his Logan Square owner. Santiago is legally blind because of glaucoma and relies on Bam Bam as an emotional support dog.
The pair were reunited Tuesday night, police said, after a man and woman dropped Bam Bam off at the CPD 16th District station. Officers said the dog appeared in good health. Detectives are still investigating the theft, and no one is in custody.
Santiago told us that he thanked God for being reunited with his beloved Bam Bam.
'I prayed every day and night,' he said.
Read the full story from the Tribune's William Tong.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including which suburb has put a moratorium on new business licenses, how Clarendon Hills is celebrating the village's Little League team and our picks for what to do this weekend.
Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History
Calling nearly $10 million in penalties that state election officials issued against Illinois Senate President Don Harmon for exceeding campaign contribution limits 'ridiculous and unconstitutional,' an attorney for the Oak Park Democrat argued yesterday the longtime legislator did not violate the political fundraising law he helped write.
Regional transportation officials may transfer $74 million from Metra and Pace to the CTA in an attempt to delay catastrophic cuts to Chicago's transit system.
Regional Transportation Authority board members will vote on the measure today, which the oversight body said would help delay catastrophic cuts to the CTA early next year while all three transit agencies hope lawmakers will come to their rescue with more state funding.
Oberweis Dairy is opening its first new ice cream store since it was bought out of bankruptcy last summer by a Winnetka-based private equity firm. The location? The North Shore hometown of its new owners, the Hoffmann Family of Companies.
Will County Board member Jacqueline Traynere, a Bolingbrook Democrat, allegedly accessed the email account of board member Judy Ogalla, a Monee Republican, last year without Ogalla's authorization, according to the charges.
The Tinley Park Village Board voted this week to put a six-month moratorium on certain business licenses and zoning permits in an effort to align development with an upcoming comprehensive development plan.
The Naperville City Council reversed course this week on how it would replace the lost income from the soon-to-be-defunct state grocery tax, abandoning plans to increase the city's home rule tax in favor of a local 1% grocery tax.
Ben Johnson isn't sure yet how long Bears starters will play in the preseason finale tomorrow in Kansas City, but it's unlikely to be for very long.
It will be interesting to see how many players at the top of the depth chart on defense are in action as injuries have started to pile up. Fortunately, most are not considered serious and many of the players could be back soon.
Clarendon Hills is hosting a parade and downtown celebration tomorrow to celebrate the village's Little League Baseball team, which recently made its first appearance in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Peter Orner keeps a small writing studio inside an old hotel on the Connecticut River, where Vermont meets New Hampshire. Across the river is Dartmouth College, where he teaches, and he's never been comfortable with its Ivy League comforts. His studio is a retreat. His window looks out on the red-bricked rear of a restaurant, where staff take smoke breaks.
He misses home, he misses Chicago.
Imagine a 1995 novel about a scrappy young lawyer whose clients are suing a health insurance company that refused to pay for a life-saving treatment, resulting in their son's death. Now imagine that novel is adapted into a TV series that decides to eliminate the health insurance angle altogether, writes Tribune TV and film critic Nina Metz.
Beautiful things will happen this weekend, as Benson Boone packs the United Center. Maybe even something mystical magical. Here are our picks for events in and around Chicago this weekend.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

California Gov. Newsom signs legislation calling for special election on redrawn congressional map
California Gov. Newsom signs legislation calling for special election on redrawn congressional map

Chicago Tribune

time23 minutes ago

  • Chicago Tribune

California Gov. Newsom signs legislation calling for special election on redrawn congressional map

SACRAMENTO, Calif — California voters will decide in November whether to approve a redrawn congressional map designed to help Democrats win five more U.S. House seats next year, after Texas Republicans advanced their own redrawn map to pad their House majority by the same number of seats at President Donald Trump's urging. California lawmakers voted mostly along party lines Thursday to approve legislation calling for the special election. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has led the campaign in favor of the map, then quickly signed it — the latest step in a tit-for-tat gerrymandering battle. 'We don't want this fight and we didn't choose this fight, but with our democracy on the line, we will not run away from this fight,' Democratic Assemblyman Marc Berman said. Republicans, who have filed a lawsuit and called for a federal investigation into the plan, promised to keep fighting it. California Assemblyman James Gallagher, the Republican minority leader, said Trump was 'wrong' to push for new Republican seats elsewhere, contending the president was just responding to Democratic gerrymandering in other states. But he warned that Newsom's approach, which the governor has dubbed 'fight fire with fire,' was dangerous. 'You move forward fighting fire with fire and what happens?' Gallagher asked. 'You burn it all down.' In Texas, the Republican-controlled state Senate was scheduled to vote on a map Thursday night. After that, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's signature will be all that is needed to make the map official. It's part of Trump's effort to stave off an expected loss of the GOP's majority in the U.S. House in the 2026 midterm elections. What states are doing in the battle over congressional maps as Texas pursues plan President Donald Trump soughtOn a national level, the partisan makeup of existing districts puts Democrats within three seats of a majority. The incumbent president's party usually loses congressional seats in the midterms. The president has pushed other Republican-controlled states including Indiana and Missouri to also revise their maps to add more winnable GOP seats. Ohio Republicans were also already scheduled to revise their maps to make them more partisan. The U.S. Supreme Court has said the Constitution does not outlaw partisan gerrymandering, only using race to redraw district lines. Texas Republicans embraced that when their House of Representatives passed its revision Wednesday. 'The underlying goal of this plan is straight forward: improve Republican political performance,' state Rep. Todd Hunter, the Republican who wrote the bill revising Texas' maps, said. On Thursday, California Democrats noted Hunter's comments and said they had to take extreme steps to counter the Republican move. 'What do we do, just sit back and do nothing? Or do we fight back?' Democratic state Sen. Lena Gonzalez said. 'This is how we fight back and protect our democracy.' Republicans and some Democrats championed the 2008 ballot measure that established California's nonpartisan redistricting commission, along with the 2010 one that extended its role to drawing congressional maps. Democrats have sought a national commission that would draw lines for all states but have been unable to pass legislation creating that system. Trump's midterm redistricting ploy has shifted Democrats. That was clear in California, where Newsom was one of the members of his party who backed the initial redistricting commission ballot measures, and where Assemblyman Joshua Lowenthal, whose father, Rep. Alan Lowenthal, was another Democratic champion of a nonpartisan commission, presided over the state Assembly's passage of the redistricting package. Newsom on Thursday contended his state was still setting a model. 'We'll be the first state in U.S. history, in the most democratic way, to submit to the people of our state the ability to determine their own maps,' Newsom said before signing the legislation. Former President Barack Obama, who's also backed a nationwide nonpartisan approach, has also backed Newsom's bid to redraw the California map, saying it was a necessary step to stave off the GOP's Texas move. 'I think that approach is a smart, measured approach,' Obama said Tuesday during a fundraiser for the Democratic Party's main redistricting arm, noting that California voters will still have the final say on the map. Bipartisan group led by ex-Obama officials 'rolling the dice' on new remapping plan for Illinois legislatureThe California map would last only through 2030, after which the state's commission would draw up a new map for the normal, once-a-decade redistricting to adjust district lines after the decennial U.S. Census. Democrats are also mulling reopening Maryland's and New York's maps for mid-decade redraws. However, more Democratic-run states have commission systems like California's or other redistricting limits than Republican ones do, leaving the GOP with a freer hand to swiftly redraw maps. New York, for example, can't draw new maps until 2028, and even then, only with voter approval. In Texas, outnumbered Democrats turned to unusual steps to try to delay passage, leaving the state to delay a vote by 15 days. Upon their return, they were assigned round-the-clock police monitoring. California Republicans didn't take such dramatic steps but complained bitterly about Democrats muscling the package through the Statehouse and harming what GOP State Sen. Tony Strickland called the state's 'gold-standard' nonpartisan approach. 'What you're striving for is predetermined elections,' Strickland said. 'You're taking the voice away from Californians.'

Newsom signs California redistricting measures in response to Texas bill
Newsom signs California redistricting measures in response to Texas bill

Axios

time23 minutes ago

  • Axios

Newsom signs California redistricting measures in response to Texas bill

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two redistricting bills into law on Thursday evening after a Democratic-controlled Legislature passed them earlier in the day. Why it matters: The legislation is in direct response to Texas' Republican-controlled House passing a new congressional map at the urging of President Trump, and the consequences of both could prove pivotal in the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election.

NYC mayoral hopefuls shrug off latest corruption allegations engulfing Adams team
NYC mayoral hopefuls shrug off latest corruption allegations engulfing Adams team

Politico

time24 minutes ago

  • Politico

NYC mayoral hopefuls shrug off latest corruption allegations engulfing Adams team

Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist state assemblymember, has argued he'd aggressively resist Trump's policies while Cuomo keeps the president close. Despite his inexperience and far-left policies, he looks poised to be the next mayor and took a cautious, low-profile approach to the latest corruption scandals buffeting City Hall. His statement about Lewis-Martin's indictment stuck to the affordability theme that propelled him to the Democratic nomination. 'While New Yorkers struggle to afford the most expensive city in America, Eric Adams and his administration are too busy tripping over corruption charges to come to their defense,' Mamdani said. 'Corruption isn't just about what a politician gains, it's about what the public loses.' Adams gave no indication Thursday that he plans to leave the race for mayor. Even if he does, Mamdani would remain the frontrunner albeit with Cuomo as steeper competition, said Democratic strategist Trip Yang, who is not working on any of the mayoral campaigns. 'If Adams drops out, polling has shown that most of the support goes to Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo goes from maybe a 20-point deficit to a 10-point deficit,' Yang said. 'If Adams drops out, it'll give Andrew Cuomo a lot more energy than Cuomo's new videos for sure.' Yang was referencing the social media videos the former governor has been posting that seek to emulate how Mamdani reached younger, more online voters in the primary. New York City Council Member Lincoln Restler, a longtime Adams adversary, told POLITICO, 'He appears so deluded and disconnected from the reality of the failures of his administration that I really do believe he's going to run through the tape and get 7 percent of the vote.' City Council Member Chi Ossé, a Mamdani supporter, said the Lewis-Martin indictment might not even hurt Adams that much in the race. 'He is polling under 10 percent as the currently elected mayor,' Ossé told POLITICO. 'Those who are with him are with him despite all of his corruption — and I'm sure they'll continue to be with him after this.' Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate for mayor who's polling ahead of Adams in Democrat-dominated New York City, knocked both the mayor and the former governor as elected officials shrouded by corruption. Top Cuomo adviser Joe Percoco was convicted on federal bribery charges but the U.S. Supreme Court tossed the case in 2023. The former governor himself faced calls to resign amid sexual harassment allegations four years ago and has more recently said he regrets stepping down. 'For him to start attacking Eric Adams as being in charge of a corrupt administration, well, if he's pointing one finger, two fingers are pointing back at him,' Sliwa said. But even Sliwa didn't want Adams to drop out, saying he trusts the voters of New York to make the right choice. Jeff Coltin contributed to this report.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store