Daywatch: $4.2 million in unpaid wages
Good morning, Chicago. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.
Good morning, Chicago.
More than 5,500 Illinois workers owed back pay totaling more than $4.2 million can claim their unpaid wages online, the U.S. Department of Labor said yesterday.
The funds are the result of investigations by the department’s wage and hour division, which recovers back pay for workers when they are underpaid in violation of laws, including minimum wage and overtime laws.
“Among the division’s top priorities is putting wages recovered by its investigations swiftly into the hands of people who earned them,” the department said in a news release.
Illinois workers can find out if they are owed back pay by searching for an employer or former employer’s name on the department’s “Workers Owed Wages” or WOW search tool online, which is available in English and Spanish.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Talia Soglin.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.
Subscribe to more newsletters | Puzzles & Games | Today’s eNewspaper edition
From wealth and success to murder suspect, the life of Luigi Mangione took a hard turn
Luigi Nicholas Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of a healthcare executive in New York City, apparently was living a charmed life: the grandson of a wealthy real estate developer, valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school and with degrees from one of the nation’s top private universities.
Now, investigators in New York and Pennsylvania are working to piece together why Mangione may have diverged from this path to gun down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in an attack on a Manhattan street.
After much revision, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget plan ekes through Finance Committee
The key planks of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget proposal barely made it through two City Council committees Tuesday, setting up a tight finish for his administration as it tries to pass the $17.3 billion 2025 spending plan.
Training for newly-elected Board of Education members postponed without explanation
Some newly elected school board members told the Tribune that next week’s training sessions — scheduled to prepare them to join the Chicago Board of Education — were abruptly postponed without explanation.
Another strain of mpox has arrived in the US. How is Chicago preparing?
Funding and resources for fighting mpox — which causes a blister-like rash and, in the worst cases, death — have declined in the U.S. But in Chicago, efforts to vaccinate vulnerable populations and educate them about mpox have remained in place.
Walgreens considering selling company to private equity firm
Walgreens Boots Alliance is considering selling the company to a private equity firm – a move that would take the publicly traded company private, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Deerfield-based Walgreens has been in discussions with Sycamore Partners over a deal that could be completed early next year, the Journal wrote, citing unnamed “people familiar with the matter.”
Trump lawyers and aide hit with 10 additional felony charges in Wisconsin over 2020 fake electors
Wisconsin prosecutors filed 10 additional felony charges yesterday against two attorneys and an aide to President-elect Donald Trump who advised Trump in 2020 as part of a plan to submit paperwork falsely claiming that the Republican had won the battleground state that year.
See the 10 finalists for Illinois’ new state flag
The Illinois Flag Commission released the top 10 finalists for the new state flag design contest on Tuesday. Here’s the meaning behind each.
Chicago White Sox get pick No. 10, Cubs at No. 17 as the order is set for the 2025 MLB draft
The Washington Nationals will have the No. 1 pick in the amateur draft next summer after winning the lottery in a drawing of ping-pong balls at the MLB winter meetings.
The Chicago White Sox will have the No. 10 pick, and the Cubs will pick at No. 17.
- Seiya Suzuki would consider waiving his no-trade clause if the Cubs want to move the outfielder
- New Trier alum Walker McKinven ready to tackle White Sox bench coach role: ‘I kind of like doing hard things’
Column: Notes from a dizzying sports week including Dick Allen’s Hall of Fame journey, Alabama’s CFP grievance and Melody Rogers on Abe Gibron
It doesn’t get much better than mid-December, when the MLB winter meetings, college football and basketball, and the NFL, NBA and NHL are all in motion at the same time, competing for precious space in sports fans’ heads, writes Paul Sullivan.
Top 10 Chicago theater of 2024: ‘Streetcar,’ storefront bravery and a big comeback for Steppenwolf
Two grand pianos enhanced “Into the Woods.” Writers Theatre surrounded its audience with harmonies. Director John Tiffany came to town to make sure his touring “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” was stellar. Michael Shannon returned to the Chicago stage. The Royal Shakespeare Company enchanted on their Chicago return. Laurie Metcalf came back. Prestidigitation thrived all over town. Paramount Theatre built an entire Sun Studios replica for its immersive “Million Dollar Quartet.” And Steppenwolf Theatre returned to form; four of our Top 10 shows of the year were staged within its walls.
Here’s our annual celebration of the best Chicago shows of the year, in order, with an additional 10 that almost made our list.
2024’s best of the best of the best in classical, jazz and more
Hannah Edgar may not have had the words for why they treasured a concert so much — though they try to wrangle as many as possible in overnight reviews. Edgar may not remember every turn of musical phrase, or every number on the setlist. But they do remember how they made them feel: weightless, soothed, exhilarated, connected, whole. Here are a few of those shows.
Chicago filmmaker McKenzie Chinn made a beautiful short film. How could it get to be an Oscar contender?
Being a filmmaker means knowing, and ignoring, your odds of success wherever you are on whatever you’re doing, writes Tribune film critic Michael Phillips. Chicago filmmaker McKenzie Chinn knows this. She knows about the knowing, and the ignoring. And the doing-it-anyway, regardless of the odds.
What's Your Reaction?
