NEW YORK — The WNBA is set to begin its season on May 8, assuming the league and the players’ union can come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Teams will play 44 games over a five-month period with a 17-day break for the FIBA World Cup in early September. The league said last year that with the World Cup this season they would keep the schedule at 44 games despite adding two new teams in Portland and Toronto.

Chicago prepares for WNBA All-Star Weekend with a pitch to local investors and businesses: ‘Do a little more’

“As we prepare to tip off the WNBA’s historic 30th season, this schedule reflects both how far the league has come and the momentum that continues to drive us forward,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said.

“From welcoming two new organizations in Toronto and Portland, to honoring our history with marquee matchups that connect the league’s first game to today’s stars, the 2026 season will celebrate the WNBA’s past, present, and future. With a record number of games, growing global reach, and unprecedented momentum, this milestone season will help define the next chapter of the WNBA.”

By putting the schedule out now, teams can start selling ticket packages, book travel for away games — including charter flights — and secure arena dates.

“Releasing the 2026 schedule is a key step as we prepare for the WNBA’s 30th season and allows teams, partners, broadcasters, and fans to begin the essential planning for the year ahead,” a WNBA spokesperson said.

All but two teams have at least one back-to-back set of games. Overall, the average of games on consecutive nights is down from 2.4 per team in 2025 to 1.6 this year.

The WNBA hopes to expand the number of games teams play in future years, but that would come in a new CBA.

Training camp is slated to begin April 19, six days after the college draft. The league will have its sixth annual Commissioner’s Cup games in June with the championship game slated to take place on June 30. The All-Star Game is set for Chicago on July 25 with games to resume three days later.

The WNBA will go on break from Aug. 31-Sept. 16 for the World Cup, which will be played in Berlin this year. Teams will have a handful of games after that tournament finishes with the playoffs set to begin on Sept. 27.

All of this is still contingent on the league and union coming to an agreement on a new CBA. The last CBA was announced in the middle of January 2020, a month after it had been agreed to. It could easily take two months from when a new CBA is reached to get to the start of free agency.

The two sides agreed to a moratorium on free agency, which was supposed to begin earlier this month. The moratorium was needed after no new extension was reached on Jan. 9 to negotiate a new CBA. The WNBA and union are now in a “status quo” period where the old CBA is still in effect and the two parties are negotiating on good faith.

Besides free agency, the WNBA also still has to hold an expansion draft for Portland and Toronto.

Other highlights of the schedule include:

Chicago Sky will play two games at the United Center for the second straight season: one against A’ja Wilson’s Las Vegas Aces and Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever.
All 15 teams will play opening weekend, highlighted by a WNBA Finals rematch between Las Vegas and Phoenix as well as a matchup of the last two No. 1 picks with Paige Bueckers and Dallas visiting Indiana and Clark.
Los Angeles hosting New York on June 21 on the anniversary of the original matchup between the teams that was the first game in league history.
Toronto will play two games in Montreal and Vancouver.
Connecticut will have two games in Hartford and one game in Boston.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/wnba-season-schedule-cba/ 

US Slaps Down French Calls For NATO Drills In Greenland, Mocks Macron

Tyler Durden
Wed, 01/21/2026 – 15:00

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-slaps-down-macrons-calls-nato-drills-greenland-focus-french-people 

Good afternoon, Chicago.

O’Hare International Airport was the busiest U.S. airfield in 2025, overtaking Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport for the first time since 2019, according to a news release from the Chicago mayor’s office.

A plane took off or landed in Chicago every 30 seconds in 2025, including flights at both O’Hare and Midway International Airport, the mayor’s office said.

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.

Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History

Trenton Harrison, of Bourbonnais, holds the trophy and a matcha drink he won at the Caleb Williams look-alike contest at The Wiener’s Circle hot dog stand in Chicago on Jan. 20, 2026. Contestants were evaluated on how much they resemble the Chicago Bears quarterback. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Wieners Circle crowns a Caleb Williams look-alike as a fitting end to the Chicago Bears playoff run

The Wieners Circle was more of a cathartic, broken hearts club on Tuesday evening when it hosted a Caleb Williams look-alike contest as a love letter to the Chicago Bears quarterback, despite a gutting end to the season. Read more here.

More top news stories:

Chicago paid $26.5 million in OT to ineligible employees, report says
Restaurateur’s testimony details financial snarl, business failures in trial of alleged extortionist
Jurors see agents’ interview of Chicago man accused of putting bounty on Bovino’s head

Residents listen to members of the Naperville City Council discuss a proposed data center during a meeting on Jan. 20, 2026, at Naperville Municipal Building. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Naperville council votes down controversial data center proposal

Naperville City Council members, facing a packed house opposed to a data center being built on Naperville’s far northeast side, voted 6-1 last night to reject the project. Read more here.

More top business stories:

ComEd submits new $15.3B, four-year grid plan to the state to meet increased electric demand
For-profit Prime Healthcare to acquire nonprofit Franciscan Health Olympia Fields

White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. sits in the dugout before a game against the Phillies at Rate Field on July 30, 2025, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Column: The end of the Luis Robert Jr. era gives the Chicago White Sox a clean slate for 2026

It’s a win for the White Sox, who shed Luis Robert Jr.’s $20 million salary without having to eat any of it while hopefully opening a door for top prospect Braden Montgomery. Read more here.

More top sports stories:

3 takeaways from Chicago Bulls’ 138-110 win, including tying the franchise record for 3-pointers made
Chicago Bears sign 14 players to futures contracts for 2026

Photographer Vincent D. Johnson, shown in the original Mount Carmel High School gym on Jan. 14, 2026, has published a book on high school gyms across the state of Illinois. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Column: A photographer travels the Illinois high school basketball circuit

Vincent Johnson is 51 years old and still going to high school — or many high schools as he works as a successful freelance photographer, shooting for the Tribune and other publications the games that teenagers play. Read more here.

More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories:

Don’t fear the reaper. Unless you’re on this list.
Mariah Keller named executive director of Wrightwood 659

President Donald Trump speaks during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

President Donald Trump in Davos says NATO should allow the US to take Greenland, but he won’t use force

In an extraordinary speech at the World Economic Forum, the president said he was asking for territory that was “cold and poorly located.” He said the U.S. had effectively saved Europe during World War II and even declared of NATO: “It’s a very small ask compared to what we have given them for many, many decades.” Read more here.

More top stories from around the world:

Michele Tafoya goes from the NFL sidelines to a US Senate race in Minnesota
Combative Prince Harry disputes having ‘leaky’ social circle in Daily Mail trial

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/afternoon-briefing-ohare-was-busiest-us-airfield-in-2025-data-shows/ 

Luis Robert Jr. was the last man standing on the Chicago White Sox from the Blackout Game in the 2021 playoffs.

He batted behind Tim Anderson in a solid lineup that also included José Abreu, Yasmani Grandal, Eloy Jiménez, Yoán Moncada, Gavin Sheets, Leury García and César Hernández and that took the field behind starter Dylan Cease in Game 3 of an American League Division Series against the Houston Astros.

All of them are gone, and all that’s left is former manager Tony La Russa, still employed as a consultant to general manager Chris Getz thanks to his close friendship with Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.

Most of the players were traded, released or allowed to leave via free agency years ago. But Robert remained for one simple reason: His contract was too big to move without the Sox eating a good portion of it, and no team wanted to give up anything of value in return.

So Getz swallowed hard and kept Robert around, through multiple trade deadlines and offseasons, insisting that the organization still valued him. Robert seemed OK with that, repeatedly saying he wanted to remain on a Sox team going through a long, hard rebuild.

With SoxFest looming and spring training around the corner, it looked like another serving of the same, old narrative. Robert would be around until the July trade deadline, with the Sox hoping he would stay healthy and be productive enough to find a suitor.

But Getz ended that story once and for all late Tuesday, dealing Robert to the New York Mets for a middling prospect in Luisangel Acuña and a prayer in former 12th-round pick Truman Pauley.

It’s a win for the Sox, who shed Robert’s $20 million salary without having to eat any of it while hopefully opening a door for top prospect Braden Montgomery, who should get an opportunity to win an outfield spot in spring training or at least merit an early season call-up.

It’s also a win for Robert, who can play for a contending team again and perhaps thrive in the background in a clubhouse full of stars such as Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor and Bo Bichette. Robert never was an alpha on the South Side, even though he was treated like one, speaking to the media only occasionally.

But the biggest win is for Reinsdorf, whose opening-day roster projects to have a $49 million payroll, according to Cot’s Contracts — about $11 million less than the $60 million annual salary of Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Kyle Tucker. FanGraphs has the total Sox roster at $67 million, last in the majors and a startling $362 million below the Dodgers.

The two teams share a spring training facility in Glendale, Ariz., so the haves and have-nots will be together again in a few weeks for side-by-side comparisons.

While Tucker’s contract sent owners screaming once again for a salary cap — which Reinsdorf has been a proponent of since being an instrumental hawk in the owners ranks during the work stoppage of 1994 — the Sox’s minuscule payroll no doubt will send others screaming for a salary floor.

White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf attends a ceremony to unveil a bronze statue of former pitcher Mark Buehrle along the right-field concourse at Rate Field on July 11, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

A lockout after 2026 seems inevitable, with neither side willing to budge.

“The important distinction is that it would be a lockout, it wouldn’t be the players’ choice,” Chicago Cubs player rep Ian Happ said last week. “It would be ownership’s choice. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that because I think baseball has a ton of momentum.”

The Sox had a ton of momentum in ’94 when the players strike ended their shot at the World Series. By the time they returned in ’95, that momentum was gone, and eventually the team was disbanded for another rebuild.

Getz, naturally, said moving Robert gives the Sox a chance to spend.

“We’ve got some financial flexibility now to continue to bring in talent,” he said Wednesday in a video conference with reporters.

“Continue”? Other than Munetaka Murakami’s two-year, $34 million deal, the Sox have done nothing of significance on the free-agent market this offseason.

But let’s take Getz at his word and be optimistic about him bringing in more “talent.”

Framber Valdez? Eugenio Suárez?

Those are the top remaining free agents, but that would be a stretch. Think more along the lines of Tommy Pham, Manuel Margot or Rowdy Tellez, free agents desperate to get a major-league contract anywhere before spring training begins.

Or maybe Getz has an ace up his sleeve. Director of player personnel Gene Watson told fans at last year’s SoxFest this was “the best front office” in baseball. He was promptly booed. Will Watson try that again next week at the Ramova Theatre? We’ll see.

Wednesday marked the end of the Rick Hahn rebuild that looked so promising in 2021, only to crash and burn by the summer of ’22.

When Hahn signed Robert out of Cuba in May 2017, giving the 19-year-old a $26 million contract, it was lauded by many, including me, as one of the most important signings in Sox history.

“Don’t spend all your money in one place,” Reinsdorf told Robert on the field at Sox Park after the signing became official.

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The Sox coaxed Robert with a virtual-reality video that allowed him to don VR goggles and see himself in the clubhouse and on the field during live action and to hear public-address announcer Gene Honda announce his name. He would become the centerpiece of the rebuild that was already underway with Moncada, Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech and other top prospects coming up.

Less than three years later, without playing a major-league game, Robert signed a six-year, $50 million deal with a couple of options that increased its potential value to $88 million through 2027. Appropriately, he wore No. 88.

When Robert became an All-Star in 2023, no one could’ve guessed that the contract would be an albatross by ’24 or that the Sox would dump him for a midlevel prospect and a 12th-rounder.

Acuña might be an underrated gem — or just an average player. The Sox will be happy if he stays healthy and learns to hit at the major-league level.

Pauley is a throw-in whose Harvard education suggests he will be OK even if his baseball career doesn’t pan out. He probably doesn’t need Reinsdorf to tell him not to spend all his money in one place.

In the end, Getz made sure the Sox would begin the ’26 season with a clean slate. No more distractions of being asked how long Robert would remain in a Sox uniform.

“We can just go out there as a team and focus on getting better and winning baseball games,” he said.

Time for something completely different?

Sounds like a plan

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/chicago-white-sox-luis-robert-clean-slate/ 

Chicago aldermen approved a sweeping ban Wednesday outlawing unlicensed businesses in the city from selling all but a few hemp products.

The ordinance passed in a 32-to-16 vote, likely ending a long-running legislative feud supercharged by the burgeoning hemp businesses that want to keep operating and marijuana companies that believe cheaper, unregulated hemp undercuts their sales.

Proponents argued the often marijuana-like hemp products that can get users high are dangerous to children, while hemp’s defenders said the ban is an overly broad crackdown on small businesses.

“I think we found a path forward that ensures our kids are protected and safe, and that’s the bottom line,” chief sponsor Ald. Marty Quinn, 13th, said.

But it’s still not clear whether Mayor Brandon Johnson will veto the measure.

The mayor has not taken a clear stance on the ban, but has urged aldermen to instead pass narrower regulations as several City Council allies voted against the measure and delayed its passage. 34 votes in favor of the measure would be needed to override a mayoral veto.

Also looming over the debate is a so-far undefined national ban on hemp products, some of which were made legal through a federal loophole.

The ban includes several exceptions. It does not outlaw hemp topicals and animal products. It also allows for hemp beverages to continue to be sold by many Chicago taverns, restaurants and liquor stores.

Ald. Maria Hadden praised Quinn for trying to find middle ground on the measure, but argued the ordinance could harm lots of small businesses that make up a growing hemp industry.

“They have been clever, they have been creative, and we’ve had strong entrepreneurs build whole businesses around CBD and hemp products, especially a lot of minority-owned businesses that were shut out by the larger cannabis space,” she said.

Hadden, recently back from an extended medical leave, said CBD products that she has taken offer health benefits — not intoxication — but now could be banned.

“CBD and the broad spectrum products do have a lot of healing benefits for people. Whether it’s for anxiety, whether it’s for PTSD, whether it’s for inflammation, there are a lot of products,” she said.

Like Hadden, Ald. Daniel La Spata opposed the ordinance by noting the beverage exception allows for products generally viewed as intoxicating but safe to continue to be sold.

“It’s all being digested, but it’s legal if you drink it with a straw, and it’s illegal if you chew it with your mouth,” La Spata said. “I can’t square that.”

But supporters of the measure said it finally created much-needed regulations after years of inaction, even if the rules eventually change. The measure “gives us a clean slate,” Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, said.

“Is it perfect for keeping good actors whole? No. But does it address the large-scale bad actors that we see? Yes,” he said. “That’s the starting point we need.”

The ordinance immediately bans sales to Chicagoans under 21 years old. The broader ban goes into effect at the start of April.

Also Wednesday, Ald. Brian Hopkins opted not to hold a vote on his ordinance designed to crack down on large teen gatherings.

Hopkins had previously proposed an ordinance giving the city’s police superintendent the power to implement a teen curfew anywhere, anytime with a 12-hour notice. But on Wednesday, he brought forward a substitute ordinance just moments before it would have faced a final vote.

The downtown alderman told his colleagues his new proposal would allow police to order teens to disperse from unruly gatherings and allow teens to be apprehended, without charge, if they did not quickly leave after such an order.

As debate ensued, colleagues who have long backed Hopkins’ now yearslong push for broader powers to restrict teen gatherings blasted the last-second proposal as a bad replacement. Ald. Matt O’Shea warned the new measure could lead to lawsuits against the city and described it as toothless.

“If we’ve got a situation downtown like we did a few weeks ago where a child went to the morgue instead of going home, what does this do?” he said. “This is just something to placate.”

After O’Shea’s pushback, Hopkins said he would not move ahead with a vote.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/hemp-products-curtailed-in-chicago-city-council/ 

The Indiana Senate moved a bill that would shape how permits are issued to nuclear facilities to its third reading.

State. Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, authored Senate Bill 258, which would make changes to the state code about how the Indiana Department of Environmental Management issues permits to nuclear-powered generating facilities and fuel processing plants.

The changes include repealing a prohibition from constructing or operating a nuclear facility without an IDEM permit and repealing the authorization for the commissioner to conduct a public hearing on environmental effects. The bill would require the facility operator to file an environmental feasibility report to IDEM.

Senators had no discussion on Senate Bill 258 on Tuesday. No amendments were made to the bill.

Alex Goodnight, deputy legislative director for IDEM, previously said the bill makes common sense changes to Indiana Code and eliminates “outdated and unnecessary provisions,” according to Post-Tribune archives.

“These proposed changes reflect existing laws and establish appropriate division of responsibilities between the state and Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” Goodnight said. “The federal government maintains exclusive authority over radiological safety and the construction and operation of nuclear facilities under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.”

According to its website, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission was created in 1974 and ensures the safe use of radioactive materials for “beneficial civilian purposes” and protects people and the environment. The commission regulates commercial nuclear power plants and other uses of nuclear materials.

State laws conflict with and are preempted by the Atomic Energy Act, according to Post-Tribune archives.

Gov. Mike Braun has been dedicated to bringing nuclear power to the state. In November 2025, Braun announced that First American Nuclear would bring its headquarters, manufacturing facilities and an energy park to Indiana, according to Post-Tribune archives.

First American Nuclear is dedicated to building small modular reactors, or SMRs, which are advanced nuclear reactors that have about one-third the generating capacity of traditional nuclear reactors, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

A First American Nuclear spokesperson told the Post-Tribune in November that the company is looking for sites for its corporate headquarters, manufacturing facility and energy park, but none have been decided yet. Construction for the manufacturing and energy park sites is expected to start in 2028.

Some activists have expressed concerns with nuclear power, saying that it might not meet energy demands and might not be as clear as nuclear power companies say.

“Indiana has no experience whatsoever operating nuclear facilities,” Kerwin Olson, executive director of the Citizens Action Coalition, previously said. “We have great concerns about eviscerating the abilities of (IDEM).”

mwilkins@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/indiana-senate-passes-nuclear-permit-bill-to-third-reading/ 

Von Der Leyen Hand-Wrings About “Raw Power” Under Trump After Venezuela Silence

Tyler Durden
Wed, 01/21/2026 – 14:25

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/von-der-leyen-hand-wrings-about-raw-power-under-trump-after-venezuela-silence 

Beyond Borders Cafe in Flossmoor reopened Saturday after being closed for less than a week after a driver fleeing police crashed into the building.

Co-owner Christopher Zarozny, who owns the business with his wife Jennifer Zarozny, credited the fast recovery to the support of the community.

The day after the crash, Jan. 13, community members and other volunteers joined the staff and owners of the cafe in cleaning up the damaged space.

Zarozny feels an “overwhelming sense of gratitude,” he said.

“If it was up to my wife and I to clean up and restore the space, it would’ve probably taken us a good three weeks, maybe longer,” Zarozny said. “But because of the community’s response, people that we don’t even know showed up to help clean up the place the next day. So really, it took us a solid day to clean the inside of the cafe.”

The storefront is still not fully repaired, though the cafe is once more operating as normal. The crash shattered the storefront windows and damaged the front wall of the building, and fixing that will be up to the building owner and property manager, Zarozny said. Until then, the front window remains boarded up.

“We did everything we could on our own,” Zarozny said. “Now the aesthetics from the outside in need to be repaired by the property management people.”

Marion Bryer, one of three employees who’s worked at the cafe since it opened in August, said she felt sick to her stomach when she heard about the crash.

“It’s our little shop, our little family,” Bryer said. “I think some of us were almost in tears, cleaning.”

Bryer said the hood emblem from the crashed car was found all the way in the back of the cafe.

“People came in to help clean,” Bryer said. “It was like, ‘Who are you? I don’t know who you are, but here’s a brush, have at it.’”

Bryer was “ecstatic” to have the cafe open again, she said. The day after the cleanup, she came in on her own to set her workstation up just the way she liked it, she said.

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” Bryer said. “And the community’s been so supportive of us here.”

A lit-up open sign is displayed Tuesday in the front door of Beyond Borders Cafe, Flossmoor. (Evy Lewis/Daily Southtown)
Christopher Zarozny, left, one of the two owners of Beyond Borders Cafe, points out the gas meter that was hit in the crash, Flossmoor, Jan. 13, 2026. (Evy Lewis/Daily Southtown)

The village of Flossmoor’s statement on the crash said the driver was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Flossmoor police Chief Carl Estelle said charges in the case are pending, awaiting the outcome of an investigation by the Suburban Major Accident Reconstruction Team.

Estelle said the police are also awaiting a medical evaluation of the driver. The driver is not capable of answering questions, which complicates the process of the investigation, Estelle said.

Zarozny said he and his wife are not interested in pressing any charges against the driver or the owner of the vehicle. To him, he said, the consequences of their decisions are sufficient.

“I don’t believe that us putting any more on those two people is going to achieve anything,” Zarozny said.

elewis@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/beyond-borders-cafe-flossmoor-reopens/ 

Cody Bellinger became the last of the top free-agent hitters to reach a deal, agreeing Wednesday to stay with the New York Yankees for a $162.5 million, five-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement was subject to a successful physical.

Bellinger gets a $20 million signing bonus and a full no-trade provision. He has the right to opt out after the 2027 or 2028 seasons to become a free agent again, but if there is a work stoppage that leads to no games being played in 2027, the agreement specifies the opt outs will shift to after the 2027 and 2028 seasons.

A two-time All-Star acquired by the Yankees from the Chicago Cubs in December 2024, Bellinger hit .272 with 29 homers and 98 RBIs last year — including .302 with 18 homers and 55 RBIs at Yankee Stadium. A left-handed hitter, he played in 149 games in the outfield and seven at first base in his first season since 2022 without a stint on the injured list.

He is the son of former Yankee Clay Bellinger.

Cody and Clay Bellinger are in rare father-son company. Here’s how they’ve bonded through baseball.

Voted the 2017 National League Rookie of the Year and 2019 NL MVP, Bellinger has a .261 average with 225 homers and 695 RBIs in eight seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2018-22), Cubs (2023-24) and the Yankees.

He earned $57.5 million from the $80 million, three-year contract he reached with the Cubs before the 2024 season. Bellinger declined a $25 million option for 2026 in favor of a $5 million buyout.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/21/cody-bellinger-new-york-yankees-contract/