Good morning, Chicago.
A family-owned Chicago candy manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, seeking to keep its Northwest Side factory churning out assorted fruit-flavored starlights, lemonade drops and buttery toffee.
Primrose Candy, which has been making such confections since 1928, needs to reorganize more than $12 million in debts and secure new financing to pay its 90 mostly contract employees and other business expenses, according to the bankruptcy petition.
The culprit? That piece of wrapped butterscotch candy that grandma pulls out of her purse has gotten a lot more expensive to make these days, according to David Welch, a Chicago attorney representing the company.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Robert Channick.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: what Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a DC speech yesterday, the latest on a Chicago Bears stadium bill in the Indiana Senate and our weekend events guide.
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Federal troop deployments to US cities like Chicago cost taxpayers $496M and counting
The Trump administration’s high-profile deployment of federal troops to six U.S. cities has cost taxpayers roughly $496 million through the end of December, and continued deployment could cost over $1 billion for the rest of the year, according to new data from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Attorneys for ‘Broadview Six’ protesters cite killings in Minneapolis in asking for evidence to be public
Defense attorneys in the politically charged “Broadview Six” case accusing a group of Democrats and other protesters of conspiring to impede immigration agents argued in a court hearing yesterday that recent events in Minneapolis have augmented the need to keep evidence in the case public.
Mayor Brandon Johnson tells DC crowd he will ‘set up a pathway’ to prosecute Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino
At a speech just blocks from the White House yesterday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said he would prepare the city for the future prosecution of Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino for creating “chaos” during the Trump administration’s surge of immigration agents in Chicago last year.
Fugitive ex-Loretto Hospital exec Anosh Ahmed arrested in Serbia on fraud charges
Fugitive former Loretto Hospital executive Anosh Ahmed, who fled to Dubai before his indictment on massive fraud charges, has been arrested in Serbia and is awaiting possible extradition to stand trial in Chicago, federal prosecutors disclosed in a court filing.
South Side residents protest rejection of Quantum Shore nonbinding referendum
Southside Together, a local activist group, proposed a nonbinding referendum asking whether Ald. Gregory Mitchell, Ald. Peter Chico, Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker should halt the multibillion-dollar Quantum Shore project on the former South Works site.
On Jan. 13, the Chicago Board of Elections rejected the petition, citing problems with the phrasing of the question.
Chicago Bears stadium bill passes Indiana Senate, but changes likely
The Indiana Senate approved a stadium authority bill that would help bring the Chicago Bears to Northwest Indiana.
Senate Bill 27, authored by State Senators Ryan Mishler, R-Mishawaka, and Chris Garten, R-Charlestown, would establish the Northwest Indiana stadium authority to “acquire, construct, equip, own, lease, and finance” a sports stadium.
Column: As outrage over Bill Belichick’s Hall of Fame snub continues, the plot thickens
Obviously, Bill Belichick’s record six Super Bowl titles as head coach, two more as an assistant and three Coach of the Year awards should’ve merited immediate entrance to the Hall, writes Paul Sullivan. But for reasons that can only be speculated upon, he’ll have to wait at least one more year.
Citizen pain: Northwestern’s Daisy Hernández and her new history of the (quickly) changing meaning of citizenship
It’s hard to say if Daisy Hernández has the best timing in the world or the worst.
She thought about the question one morning, in her office at Northwestern University, where she is an associate professor of creative writing. It was a few weeks before the publication of her fascinating, urgently-needed new book, “Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth,” which will be released Feb. 17. It’s partly a family memoir and partly a world history, an argument on the meaning of citizenship and a provocative case for why we don’t know what a citizen is anymore.
Review: Charli XCX brings a seriously bratty attitude to mockumentary film ‘The Moment’
Brat summer is dead. Long live brat summer, writes Katie Walsh. The lime-hued craze of summer 2024 that baffled and bewitched the culture becomes a channel for artistic introspection in the new Charli XCX vehicle “The Moment.” This concert mockumentary, directed by Aidan Zamiri, written by Zamiri and Bertie Brandes, is based on an original idea from pop superstar XCX, who stars as a version of herself, contemplating when and how she can and should let “brat” die, and if it’s even something that remains under her control.
What to do in Chicago: Atmosphere, Latin pop star Ricardo Arjona and the Chicago Boat Show
Here are our picks for events in and around Chicago this weekend, and the week ahead.