Good afternoon, Chicago.
The budget counterproposal crafted by opponents of Mayor Brandon Johnson won a critical first vote before the full City Council today, setting the mayor up to soon concede their remarkable weekslong fight — or issue Chicago’s first mayoral veto of a budget in decades.
Aldermen voted 29-19 to approve the revenue piece of an alternative 2026 spending plan that does not include Johnson’s corporate head tax. That’s shy of the 34-vote threshold needed to override a potential mayoral veto, however, leaving the door open for the City Hall standoff to escalate further still.
Here’s what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.
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Chicago police and CTA officials investigate the scene after a man was critically injured setting himself on fire at the CTA Damen Blue Line station on Dec. 19, 2025. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Man sets himself on fire at Damen station on CTA Blue Line
A man set himself on fire this morning at a CTA Blue Line stop at Damen Avenue in the Wicker Park neighborhood, causing significant Blue Line delays, officials said. It was not immediately clear if the fire was accidental or not. Read more here.
More top news stories:
Trump administration threatens to withhold $50M from CTA, calling its plan to add police ‘materially deficient’
While Chicago Bears officials eye Indiana as possibility for stadium site, Halas Hall is staying in Lake Forest
People participate in a candlelight vigil outside Gov. JB Pritzker’s office in Chicago on Dec. 11, 2025, to urge Pritzker to veto legislation that legalizes physician-assisted suicide in Illinois. Pritzker signed the legislation. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Some Illinois hospital systems won’t participate in medical aid-in-dying, which is allowed under a new law
Though a new Illinois law allows doctors to help terminally ill people end their lives, several Illinois health systems with religious affiliations say they will not participate. Read more here.
More top business stories:
ICC lops $25 million off ComEd rate request, striking costs for botched computer system
November US homes sales rose from the previous month, but are down from 2024 as prices climb
Bears tight end Colston Loveland breaks free from Bengals defenders on his way to a game-winning touchdown reception in the final seconds of the fourth quarter at Paycor Stadium on Nov. 2, 2025, in Cincinnati. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Column: Chicago Bears put Colston Loveland on the fast track — and the rookie tight end ‘just keeps learning’
For a player the team has said has “uncommon” or “rare” intangibles since he was drafted with the No. 10 pick in April, rookie Colston Loveland has been pushing himself the entire way. Read more here.
More top sports stories:
5 things to watch in Saturday night’s Chicago Bears-Green Bay Packers game — plus our Week 16 predictions
Frank Nazar ends goal drought, but Chicago Blackhawks fall to Montreal Canadiens 4-1 for 6th loss in 7 games
Inocencio Carbajal, in hat, and son Marcos Carbajal, owners of Carnitas Uruapan, pose for a photo with chef Diana Dávila, owner of Mi Tocaya Antojería, along with other chefs and restaurateurs in front of Carnitas Uruapanon in Little Village on Dec. 17, 2025, during a luncheon announcing Todos Ponen, a citywide culinary fundraiser. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago chefs to unite for ‘Todos Ponen’ in January to raise money for immigrant families severely impacted by ICE
More than 40 Chicago chefs and restaurant owners gathered this week to launch a coordinated effort to raise money for 125 families severely affected by federal immigration enforcement since the start of Operation Midway Blitz in September. Read more here.
More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories:
Review: At the CSO, Mäkela and Lim make the 19th century new
Bowen Yang to exit SNL after Saturday’s episode
Sony buys a majority stake in the ‘Peanuts’ comic for $457 million from Canada’s WildBrain
A blue tarp hangs to shield workers from view as they add the name of President Donald Trump to the facade of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington on Dec. 19, 2025. (Eric Lee/The New York Times)
Kennedy Center starts work to add Donald Trump’s name to the building
The handpicked board voted to rename The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts to The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Trump, a Republican, is chairman of the board. Read more here.
More top stories from around the world:
Young conservative women find a home in Turning Point USA: ‘If Erika can do it, I can do it’
Advocates raise alarms after Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan found guilty of obstruction
