Good morning, Chicago.
A few 12 months in the past, Waukegan Nationwide Airport Normal Supervisor Skip Goss thought a public listening to on a proposed new, 7,000-foot runway was going to happen. Earlier than that, he anticipated holding it in June of 2023. He’s nonetheless ready.
The Waukegan Nationwide Airport’s undertaking to construct a brand new runway within the northern a part of town stays as unresolved this December because it did final December as a result of it can’t transfer ahead till the FAA points the draft environmental evaluation and a public listening to happens.
“There’s simply unbelievable crimson tape,” Goss mentioned. “We ask (the FAA) to inform us what they need. They transfer at their very own tempo, which is as sluggish as molasses in January.”
And listed below are the highest tales you’ll want to know to start out your day.
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Israeli strikes on Gaza kill a minimum of 33 together with youngsters, Palestinian medics say
Israeli strikes pounded the Gaza Strip in a single day and into Wednesday, with one assault ripping by means of a house the place displaced individuals had been sheltering within the remoted north. The strikes killed a minimum of 33 individuals together with youngsters, Palestinian well being officers mentioned.
Violence additionally flared in exterior Jerusalem, the place an Israeli bus got here underneath hearth from a suspected Palestinian attacker late Wednesday, wounding three individuals together with a 10-year-old boy, based on the army and hospital officers. The assault came about on a freeway close to main Israeli settlements within the occupied West Financial institution, and the military was on the lookout for the shooter within the space round Bethlehem.

President Joe Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 individuals in largest single-day act of clemency
Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 individuals who had been launched from jail and positioned on dwelling confinement through the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Individuals convicted of nonviolent crimes. It’s the biggest single-day act of clemency in trendy historical past.

Gov. JB Pritzker guarantees to guard immigrants, however says these convicted of violent crimes must go
Two days after President-elect Donald Trump’s “border czar” mentioned the threatened mass deportations of undocumented immigrants would start in Chicago, Gov. JB Pritzker once more gave assurances that Illinois would shield all immigrants whereas additionally repeatedly saying he shared a want to deport undocumented individuals convicted of violent crimes.
“Let me be clear up entrance: Violent criminals who’re undocumented and convicted of violent crime must be deported. I don’t need them in my state. I don’t suppose they need to be in the US,” Pritzker mentioned Wednesday at an unrelated occasion in Chicago.

Mayor Brandon Johnson narrowly avoids showdown over North Facet growth plan
Mayor Brandon Johnson and his allies fended off a problem yesterday from a Metropolis Council opponent over the destiny of a controversial megadevelopment undertaking close to the stalled Lincoln Yards website, following a heated debate two days earlier than he hopes to go his 2025 finances.
Finally, native Ald. Scott Waguespack, thirty second, backed down from his plan to name on the total council to shoot down Sterling Bay’s proposed Lincoln Park residential high-rise growth at 1840 N. Marcey St.

Monarch butterflies a giant step nearer to safety underneath Endangered Species Act
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service introduced Tuesday that it’s proposing the monarch butterfly for threatened species standing underneath the Endangered Species Act, a giant step ahead in a course of set in movement in 2014 with a petition from conservationists.

Retired Chicago Bulls participant Michael Jordan finalizes $9.5M sale of Highland Park dwelling
After greater than 12 and a half years, long-retired Chicago Bulls basketball star and NBA Corridor of Famer Michael Jordan lastly bought his huge mansion on 8.4 acres in Highland Park for $9.5 million — effectively under his longstanding $14.855 million asking value.

Roki Sasaki sweepstakes are underway, and the Chicago Cubs are ready to make their pitch to the Japanese phenom
The sweepstakes to land Japanese hard-throwing right-hander Roki Sasaki are underway.
The posting course of for Sasaki to make the transfer to Main League Baseball started Tuesday, and his agent, Joel Wolfe, estimated that three or 4 groups already had submitted preliminary shows to pitch their group to the phenom. Amongst them? The Chicago Cubs.

Column: Chicago White Sox GM Chris Getz’s future rides on the Garrett Crochet commerce
Dealing an ace to the Boston Purple Sox to fast-forward the rebuild, solely eight years after attempting the very same plan, makes comparisons simpler for Chicago White Sox followers, writes Paul Sullivan.
On paper, it appears like White Sox normal supervisor Chris Getz obtained an honest haul on Wednesday for Garrett Crochet, whose restricted workload as a starter in 2024 didn’t forestall the Purple Sox from together with their final two first-round draft picks, catcher Kyle Teel and outfielder Braden Montgomery, within the four-player package deal.

High 10 stay music reveals in Chicago in 2024: The concert events that stood out, and why
No Taylor Swift? No Boss? No Beyoncé? No drawback. The 12 months produced a bumper crop of choices that noticed a handful of artists proceed to push boundaries on manufacturing and a swath of legacy acts — Billy Joel, the Eagles, Rolling Stones, Coronary heart, Jeff Lynne’s Electrical Mild Orchestra included — revisit the previous and go by means of for probably the ultimate time.
Did each date justify the prices of admission? Heck, no. However a good quantity hit the fitting notes. Significantly, to music critic Bob Gendron, these performances.

High 10 dance in Chicago of 2024: There’s room for large, boisterous productions
With the Joffrey Ballet and Hubbard Avenue Dance Chicago having their greatest 12 months in latest reminiscence, a number of midsize corporations are assembly the second, taking dangers and betting on themselves by indulging in larger-than-ever venues and productions. It might look like the pandemic is within the rearview, however many arts organizations are nonetheless scrambling to maintain their heads above water. On the danger of creating a trite “from adversity comes energy” metaphor, Chicago dance delivered, seeming to own a renewed dedication to audiences by delivering on a few of their greatest performances this decade.
Dance critic Lauren Warnecke lists the best amongst them, in chronological order.

‘No Good Deed’ assessment: Los Angeles actual property is homicide. Actually.
Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano play empty nesters seeking to downsize within the Netflix comedy “No Good Deed,” writes Tribune TV and movie critic Nina Metz. However promoting their Twenties Spanish-style home in Los Angeles seems to be extra sophisticated than anticipated, because of their secrets and techniques and lies. Three {couples} are vying for the place they usually all have issues of their very own on this sequence from creator Liz Feldman, who beforehand made “Useless to Me” for Netflix.
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