Good morning, Chicago.
Chicago homeowners are being walloped with a record property tax hike, with some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods absorbing the steepest increases even as downtown office owners see their bills fall, according to new data from the Cook County treasurer’s office.
An analysis from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ office found the median property tax bill for a Chicago homeowner jumped 16.7% since last year, the largest percentage increase in at least 30 years. The surge follows similar spikes in Cook County’s north and south suburbs over the last two years and complicates the job of the Chicago City Council as it considers tax hikes to help close a historic budget gap.
The long-awaited second installment of Cook County property tax bills was mailed to property owners on Friday and is due Dec. 15. Across the county, residential and commercial property owners are being billed a total of $19.2 billion, a nearly 5% increase from last year. But the burden is falling unequally.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s A.D. Quig and Illinois Answers Project’s Alex Nitkin.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: why your Thanksgiving turkey could cost more this year, 10 thoughts on the Bears’ win over the Vikings and how one musician is mashing up Beethoven and Beyoncé.
Today’s eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History
United Airlines aircraft move from the gate at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Nov. 13, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
FAA lifts order slashing flights, allowing commercial airlines to resume their regular schedules
The Federal Aviation Administration said yesterday it is lifting all restrictions on commercial flights that were imposed at 40 major airports during the country’s longest government shutdown.
Gov. JB Pritzker talks about recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics and their effect on immigrant families at the Illinois Capitol during the legislative session on Oct. 30, 2025, in Springfield. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Gov. JB Pritzker’s Accountability Commission still ramping up as federal immigration surge starts to subside
More than three weeks after Gov. JB Pritzker drew national attention for creating the Illinois Accountability Commission through an executive order, there is no apparent way for members of the public who have experienced or witnessed excessive force or other misconduct by federal immigration agents to report those allegations directly to the commission.
Latino US citizens racially profiled by federal immigration agents in Chicago: ‘I felt like a piece of trash’
Only 2.6% on list of 614 ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ arrestees had criminal histories, DOJ records show
Bronze turkey hens roam in a fenced grassy area after being fed on Nov. 14, 2025, at All Grass Farms in Dundee. Cliff McConville said his flock has not been affected by bird flu. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Bird flu cases are on the rise again, including 2 million turkeys. Will that affect your Thanksgiving dinner?
Larger turkey-producing states have been hit hard in the past couple of months. Nearly 2 million turkeys have been affected by bird flu across the country since August, accounting for roughly 24% of all new cases in commercial and backyard flocks, even though turkeys only account for approximately 2% of the U.S. poultry inventory.
According to experts, the disease — combined with a drop of almost 10% in turkey meat production from last year, rising labor costs and lower overall consumer demand throughout the year — is triggering higher prices for wholesale and fresh turkeys just ahead of the holiday season.
Ross and Paula Fortini, of Libertyville, on Nov. 6, 2025. They have insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchange. If enhanced subsidies aren’t extended after the end of this year, their monthly insurance premiums will more than triple. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Illinois consumers face high health insurance prices, with Obamacare subsidies still in limbo after shutdown
Selling a car. Moving homes. Cutting back on grocery spending.
They’re among the options Ross and Paula Fortini are considering if they have to pay for health insurance next year without subsidies from the federal government. The Libertyville couple’s health insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchange is set to more than triple — to more than $2,200 a month — if enhanced subsidies aren’t extended beyond the end of this year.
Bau Graves, then the executive director of the Old Town School of Folk Music, holds one of John Lennon’s guitars, a Martin D-28, on Oct. 4, 2013. (Alex Garcia/Chicago Tribune)
James ‘Bau’ Graves, former executive director of the Old Town School of Folk Music, dies at 73
James “Bau” Graves was the executive director of Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music for more than 11 years, steering the venerable institution in the North Side’s Lincoln Square neighborhood through a major expansion.
Graves, 73, died of heart failure on Sept. 26 at his home in Harpswell, Maine, said his wife, Phyllis O’Neill.
Valparaiso University’s first Lutheran president, William H.T. Dau, is joined by faculty members in this 1926 portrait. (Valparaiso University Archives & Special Collections/provided)
Valparaiso University marks 100 years of Lutheran control
One hundred years ago, the Lutheran University Association purchased a struggling Valparaiso University and made it what it is today.
Keith Kinzleo of Joliet stands with a sign of Ben Johnson and celebrates a Bears touchdown in the first half against the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on Nov. 16, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Ben Johnson’s Chicago Bears keep flipping the script in crucial moments: Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on Week 11
Pretty soon, even a creative screenwriter would run out of new and inventive ways for the Bears to win in dramatic fashion.
In stopping, at least for one game, a long trend of losing to NFC North foes, the Bears continued a run of pulling out victories in the final moments. Cairo Santos’ 48-yard field-goal attempt sailed through the uprights with no time remaining, lifting the Bears to a 19-17 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
Week 11 recap: Bears beat Vikings 19-17 on Cairo Santos’ 48-yard FG as time expires
After Bears special teams had its miscues, returner Devin Duvernay found ‘a moment to make a play’
Audrey Billings, Brandon Dahlquist, Michael Mahler and Dara Cameron in “It’s a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago!” by American Blues Theater in 2023. (Michael Brosilow)
Top 10 holiday shows in Chicago for 2025: Are you Scrooge, George Bailey or Jinkx this year?
Since it snowed, and froze, long before Thanksgiving this year, you won’t need any help to put yourself in the mood for holiday attractions. Here is our annual guide to the theater of the festive season.
Composer, conductor and producer Steve Hackman is presenting “Beethoven X Beyoncé” with the Chicago Philharmonic and guest musicians at the Harris Theater. (James Mountford)
Mashing up classical and pop with ‘Beethoven X Beyoncé’ at Harris Theater
Composer, conductor and producer Steve Hackman is breaking down barriers between the classical and pop music worlds, one orchestral reimagination at a time.
And for the first time, the Chicago-area native will return to his home city to lead the performance of his latest cross-genre work, “Beethoven X Beyoncé.” The 75-minute piece, performed by the Chicago Philharmonic and guest musicians, is a two-act fusion of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 with 15 Beyoncé songs.
Thanksgiving at Di Pescara. (Anjali Pinto)
Thanksgiving 2025: 70 Chicago restaurants offering dine in or take out holiday meals
Preparing Thanksgiving dinner can be an enormous hassle, involving spending all day in the kitchen keeping track of different cooking times for sides and the turkey to ensure that everything is warm and ready to go on the table. You can remove much of the stress and get to just enjoy your feast by picking up a ready-made meal from a Chicago restaurant or even a version where most of the work is done for you and you just have to roast the bird, filling the kitchen with delicious smells.
Thanksgiving 2025: 36 Chicago restaurants and bakeries offering pies and dessert
