Daywatch: Who are the volunteers offering help at O’Hare?
Good morning, Chicago.
The holidays are stressful, but it could be worse.
You could work in an airport. In one of the busiest airports in the world. For free. You could work in an airport for free and sit for five hours a day wearing a blue vest and invite strangers — bring me your tired, your hungry, your flight-delayed, your missed connections, your abusive, your entitled, your perpetually turned-around, your extremely frustrated, your actual refugees seeking asylum — to complain to you, to ask countless questions, to ensure their trajectory. For no money. You could do this because you are a good person who wishes to experience the satisfaction of being helpful in an unhelpful environment.
You could work at an information desk at O’Hare International Airport.
More than 2 million passengers pass through O’Hare Thanksgiving week alone, a confusing place even if you visit regularly. Not McCormick Place confusing. (Nowhere else in Chicago is that confusing.) Finding help is not quite finding-an-employee-at-Home-Depot difficult. But it often seems easier to find a Nuts on Clark at O’Hare than a person with answers.
This is where the saints of the information desk come in.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Christopher Borrelli.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.
Subscribe to more newsletters | Puzzles & Games | Today’s eNewspaper edition
Israel and Hamas agree on truce to free hostages in swap, raising hopes of halting war in Gaza
Israel and Hamas agreed to a four-day cease-fire in the war in Gaza — a breakthrough that will facilitate the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas as well as Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, and bring a large influx of aid to the besieged territory, officials said Wednesday.
Testimony in ex-Ald. Ed Burke corruption trial moves to alleged Burger King scheme
The owner of a Burger King in then-Ald. Edward Burke’s Southwest Side ward told a federal jury yesterday he agreed to hire the powerful Democrat’s property tax law firm to get the alderman to lift roadblocks to remodeling his restaurant and also sent a political donation to support Burke’s candidate for mayor.
The long-awaited testimony of Shoukat Dhahani, CEO of the Texas-based company that owns about 150 Burger Kings in the Chicago area, struck at the heart of the corruption allegations against Burke, who is accused of using his official position to extract private legal business from developers.
Democratic PAC shifts cash out of its account as it gets hit with one of the biggest state election board fines ever
A political committee that helped expand the Democratic majority on the Illinois Supreme Court and was backed by Illinois Senate President Don Harmon emptied its bank account just weeks after being notified it faced one of the largest state election fines ever for failing to timely disclose millions of dollars it spent until after last November’s election.
On Tuesday, the State Board of Elections issued a final order assessing $99,500 in fines against the All for Justice political action committee. The action followed a Tribune story earlier this year detailing the PAC’s reporting deficiencies as it spent more than $7.3 million on independent expenditures supporting Democratic Justices Elizabeth Rochford and Mary Kay O’Brien, both of whom won their campaigns and increased the court’s Democratic majority to 5-2 from a previous 4-3 advantage.
Berlin Nightclub closes after 40 years amidst union boycott
Famed Northalsted nightclub Berlin has closed a month into a boycott called for by newly-unionized bar staff who said the club has stalled contract negotiations.
Ascension St. Joseph hospital nurses begin strike
Nurses at Ascension St. Joseph Joliet hospital began a strike Tuesday as part of a call for higher wages and increased staffing levels. The strike, which involves 517 nurses who are organized through the Illinois Nurses Association, is the second one at St. Joseph since August.
Calumet Fisheries owner committed to reopening after fire
Co-owner Mark Kotlick said Tuesday he plans to make repairs and reopen the restaurant. The fire occurred while employees were inside and appeared to start because of electrical issues, he said. “We haven’t been in business for 95 years to let this shut us down.”
White Sox add another infielder with local ties
The Chicago White Sox continued their work to fill infield holes by signing veteran Paul DeJong to a one-year deal, a source confirmed to the Tribune. DeJong went to Antioch High School and Illinois State.
Kevin Korchinski joins the Blackhawks’ 1st power-play unit
The Chicago Blackhawks power play may or may not be getting better, but it is getting younger.
The Hawks promoted rookie defenseman Kevin Korchinski to the first unit and shifted veteran Seth Jones to the second group.
Column: 1986′s Chicago-shot ‘Running Scared’ is a time capsule of the Thompson Center
“Helmut Jahn’s State of Illinois Center is the most cerebral, the most abstract, yet easily the most spectacular building ever constructed in the Loop,” Tribune architecture critic Paul Gapp wrote when it opened in 1985.
A year later, it would be featured prominently in “Running Scared,” the 1986 buddy cop action comedy starring Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines. The movie’s climax takes place in the atrium, and it is a cinematic love letter to the building’s soaring rotunda with its pale blue and salmon colored interiors that Gapp called “no less than breathtaking.” Even the spiraling mosaic tile floor is memorable, writes critic Nina Metz.
Holiday lights around Chicago: Top 10 displays for 2023, from Navy Pier to Morton Arboretum
It’s that time of the year again to bundle up, grab a cup of hot cocoa and take a stroll after dark to see some sparkling holiday light displays. Here is our list of light shows in and around Chicago and beyond, with some indoor displays if you want to avoid the cold.
