Afternoon Briefing: Wind chills plunge to dangerous lows in Chicago
Good afternoon, Chicago.
Less than three weeks after informing parents that general education students would not receive busing for the remainder of the academic year, Chicago Public Schools announced it would buy and operate up to 50 electric school buses over the next three years through a $20 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Environmentalists and school and city officials praised the EPA funding as a step in the right direction toward a greener school district, improved city air quality and a reduced carbon footprint.
But the news of clean energy buses comes in the middle of a tough school year for many parents who are exasperated by daily hourslong commutes to school because of a bus driver shortage that has kept their children without the free or easy district transportation they received in previous years.
Here's what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/breaking and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.
Subscribe to more newsletters | Puzzles & Games | Daily horoscope | Ask Amy
As wind chills plunge to dangerous lows of minus 27 degrees in Chicago, 2 men take their own plunge in Lake Michigan
Tuesday’s forecast is mostly sunny with a high near 4 degrees in Chicago, according to the National Weather Service. Two men didn’t let it stop them from taking an early-morning dip in Lake Michigan. Read more here.
More top news stories:
East Dundee’s Warmies — twice on Oprah’s favorites list — makes name for itself with microwavable toys, products
Warmies, a company with a best-selling line of microwavable toys, slippers and wellness products — twice named as one of Oprah’s Favorite Things — is based in East Dundee. Read more here.
More top business stories:
Mallory Swanson signs record contract to stay with Chicago Red Stars and become the NWSL’s highest-paid player
Mallory Swanson re-signed with the Chicago Red Stars on Tuesday to a record-length five-year deal that makes her the highest-paid player in the National Women’s Soccer League. Read more here.
More top sports stories:
‘Grandmothering While Black’ takes a deep dive into how parents’ parents are coping with raising the next generation
Sociologist LaShawnDa Pittman’s book explores the complex lives of Black grandmothers raising kids in skipped generation households. Read more here.
More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories:
Donald Trump scowls as jury is picked to decide how much he owes for denying sex assault
Trump shook his head in disgust as the judge in his New York defamation trial told prospective jurors that another jury had already decided the former president sexually abused columnist E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s. Read more here.
More top stories from around the world:
