Daywatch: Revolutionary gene therapy may offer new life for patients battling chronic sickle cell disease
Good morning, Chicago.
Lyric Porter wanted her life back. Born with sickle cell disease, she had a fever at age 5 that scarred her lungs and required her to roll an oxygen tank to school. When she was growing up, clogged blood vessels racked her body with stabbing sensations and forced her to be hospitalized again and again.
When she learned of a new experimental treatment at the University of Chicago Medicine to alter her genes and possibly cure her, she decided to take it. The process itself was an ordeal, but more than a year later, at age 27, Porter is feeling better, has more energy and has stayed out of the hospital.
“I had to take the risk,” she said. “I wanted a better quality of life. And I lost so many friends who had sickle cell disease.”
Now, other patients may benefit from a similar new treatment.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Robert McCoppin.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.
Subscribe to more newsletters | Puzzles & Games | Today’s eNewspaper edition
Trump appeals Maine ruling barring him from ballot under Constitution’s insurrection clause
Former President Donald Trump appealed the Maine decision by Shenna Bellows, who became the first secretary of state in history to bar someone from running for the presidency under the rarely used Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. That provision prohibits those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office.
$842 million Powerball ticket sold in Michigan, 1st time jackpot won on New Year’s Day
Someone in Michigan won an $842.4 million Powerball jackpot on the first day of 2024, the first time it has been won on New Year’s Day since the game’s start in 1992.
The winning numbers drawn were: 12, 21, 42, 44, 49 and red Powerball: 1.
Gloria Scoby, former publisher at Crain’s, dies at 77
Gloria Scoby started out in ad sales at Crain’s Chicago Business when the periodical was launched in 1978 and went on to become publisher for multiple titles put out by the Chicago-based company.
A delayed bus leads to love for Cook County’s first married couple of 2024
When Alfonso Arroyo sat down at a bus stop in March 2018, he had no idea he was about to meet his future wife.
But the bus to Navy Pier was late. And Angelica Rodriguez looked so beautiful in her zebra-print dress and blue cardigan.
“You know how buses drag,” Arroyo said. “We sat with each other in the bus stop. ... We got drinks and then we hit it off from there.”
On Tuesday, they became the first married couple of 2024 in Cook County, winning the coveted first ceremony at the county clerk’s office.
A week after deadly Englewood house fire, 5-year-old girl remembered as social butterfly
Katherine Ivery was making a bottle for her infant son when she heard her 5-year-old daughter scream.
When she opened the door to her bedroom, the girl’s bed was “engulfed in flames.”
Bulls could get some injury relief soon
The Chicago Bulls enter the new year juggling injuries to three players who have started this season.
Gabe Perreault leads US into the World Juniors semifinals, while tournament favorite Canada gets knocked out
Gabe Perreault scored twice and five other players had a goal as the U.S. routed Latvia 7-2 Tuesday to advance to the semifinals of the IIHF World Junior Championship.
2024 winter movie preview: Our Top-10 includes the ‘Mean Girls’ musical, a new ‘Dune’ and a Bob Marley biopic
Based on a time-tested combination of hope, guesswork and trailers, it’s time to roll the dice and hope for a few surprises — if not in originality, then in execution, and in the spirit of teaching old brand names a few new tricks, writes critic Michael Phillips.
2024 winter TV preview: 15 shows to watch with a new season of ‘True Detective’ and the Nicole Kidman drama ‘Expats’
With the Hollywood strikes resolved, 2024 promises a return to normal, or whatever “normal” looks like in an increasingly unstable TV landscape, writes critic Nina Metz. Here’s a look at what is on tap in the coming weeks.
Daisies serves up Chicago-style croissant, nicknamed the ‘glamour weenie,’ in collaboration with The Wieners Circle
For pastry chef Leigh Omilinsky, her most recent creation has a personality. It’s particular, stubborn and judgmental. In other words, it’s quintessential Chicago.
Daisies, a Midwestern pasta restaurant in Logan Square, debuted its newest pastry — the Chicago-style croissant. The dish, which features a charred Vienna beef hot dog wrapped in a croissant, is a collaboration with The Wieners Circle.
