The pandemic changed how, and where, the world works, but the empty office space left behind is a big drain on the owners of all that unused commercial real estate. But one entrepreneur is starting to plant the seeds of a partial solution to this lingering problem.
Star defensive lineman has one sack, six tackles D’Andre Swift rushes for three touchdowns Seattle have lost three of their last four games Caleb Williams threw a touchdown pass on the opening drive and Jeffery Simmons delivered just what Chicago needed on defense as the Bears beat the host Seattle Seahawks 34-17 on Monday night. Williams was extremely efficient for the Bears (6-2) against one of the NFL’s stingiest defenses, committing no turnovers, taking just one sack and throwing for 247 yards while completing 71% of his passes. Continue reading...
Douglas DePodesta says he was forced out of his job after U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros’s prosecutions of protesters known as the Broadview Six fell apart.
With affordability a major election issue, the incumbent is trying to ward off her democratic socialist challenger At the end of 2022, the four largest US cities – New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston – all had Black mayors. It was a historic alignment made possible by the aftereffects of the Black Lives Matter civil rights movement and the unprecedented wave of protests following the killing of George Floyd in 2020. Six years on, only one of those mayors remains: the embattled Karen Bass of Los Angeles , who is facing a strong challenge from a younger, even more progressive challenger. Bass’s opponent is Nithya Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, although the group is considering rescinding its endorsement over her refusal to explicitly embrace the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. Continue reading...
Alleged self-dealing by the president and his allies doesn’t look so good as corruption emerges as a key issue for midterm voters Government corruption a top issue for US midterm voters, exclusive poll finds Voters under 50 probably won’t remember the “ welfare queen ”. But she once embodied Republicans’ claim of the underlying reason for US societal decay: the poor are a bunch of fraudsters. Ronald Reagan introduced Linda Taylor to US voters at a rally during the Republican presidential primary season in 1976. A resident of Chicago’s South Side, Taylor had been arrested for welfare fraud. “She used 80 names, 30 addresses, five phone numbers to collect food stamps, social security, veteran’s benefits for four non-existing deceased veteran husbands,” Reagan said. “Her tax-free cash income alone has been running $150,000 a year.” The Qatari government gifted him a luxury jet , potentially violating the emoluments clause of the constitution. The UAE gained access to some tightly guarded, high-end American AI chips soon after an investment firm linked to its ruling family secretly bought a $500m stake in World Liberty Financial, the crypto company funded by the families of Trump and his chum Steve Witkoff. Rich people facing criminal charges have taken to donating to Trump’s political operations and then seeking pardons or clemency. Most recently, Wanda Vázquez Garced , the former governor of Puerto Rico, and the banker who paid her bribes, Julio Herrera Velutini, were pardoned after Velutini’s family gave a $50m deal to Alina Habba, Trump’s former personal lawyer, and donated $3.5m to Trump’s Maga Inc Super Pac. The first family is also making a killing from the government. The Pentagon lent more than $600m to Vulcan Elements, a rare earths startup, just three months after Donald Jr’s venture capital firm 1789 Capital bought a stake in the outfit. Powerus, a drone maker backed by Eric and Donald Jr is selling drone interceptors to Persian Gulf allies of the US that are
Pope Leo XIV voted in the 2026 Illinois midterm elections using a mail-in ballot, the Vatican confirmed Friday, becoming the first sitting pope known to vote in an American election. Why it matters: The pontiff, an American citizen, may be the first to vote in any secular democratic election. Joliet radio station WJOL first reported Oct. 23 that Leo had requested a mail-in ballot. What they're saying: The pope believes "in the right and the duty of citizens to participate in democratic processes," the Holy See Press Office said in a statement . The Vatican said Leo "has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen, whenever he was eligible to do so" and that "in keeping with this long-standing practice of civic participation, he has submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago." Pope Leo also voted whenever eligible during his years living in Peru, the Vatican's statement said. Zoom in: The pope's ballot includes Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker 's reelection bid, the race to succeed Sen. Dick Durbin and a House contest between Democratic Rep. Jonathan Jackson and Republican Christian Maxwell. Jackson, the son of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, won his district handily in 2024. The pontiff's ballot will have to travel from Vatican city to Joliet, Illinois. Worth noting : Leo has voted in both Democratic and Republican primaries in the last two decades. Leo requested Democratic primary ballots in 2008 and 2010 when he lived in heavily blue Cook County, per the AP. He then started voting in GOP primaries in subsequent elections when he moved to the more conservative Will County, where he is currently registered to vote. He's also voted as an undeclared voter off and on in recent elections, according to the Will County clerk's office. His party affiliation is currently undeclared. Zoom out: The pope, who has been recovering from lung cancer surgery , met with Chicago-area advocates Wednesday who are supporting immigrants at an ICE facility in Broadview , Illinois. He's also
A bipartisan deal to speed energy development is facing concerns it could favor natural gas over renewables because of President Trump's opposition to wind and solar. Why it matters: The worries from Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) could complicate efforts to pass the bill before year's end, highlighting divisions even among Democrats who have long supported permitting reform. Driving the news: Casten, a former energy executive and leading Democratic voice on permitting reform, said he isn't yet backing the bill and is negotiating changes with Senate Democrats to prevent it from disproportionately benefiting natural gas. "My test for the bill is: I talk to energy developers, and ask, 'What would you build in response to this bill?' And the answer I get overwhelmingly is a lot of gas," Casten told Axios on stage at a University of Chicago event Wednesday. "I think you have to look at the bill in the context of everything else that the Trump administration has done." The big picture: The AI boom is fueling demand for electricity, prompting a rush to build natural gas power plants alongside renewable energy projects. The permitting deal could help determine which technologies benefit most from that expansion. Catch up quick: The bill, sponsored by two Republicans and two Democrats who lead the Senate's energy and environment committees, would speed construction of power lines and other energy infrastructure. An initial procedural vote is scheduled for Nov. 9, shortly after the midterm elections, setting up a potential push to pass the legislation before the new Congress takes office. Threat level: The bill aims to prevent political favoritism in energy permitting, but Casten worries one provision could have the opposite effect. It would allow developers to challenge discriminatory permitting decisions in part by comparing them with decisions made over the previous five years. Casten argues that as Trump's second term becomes part of that historical benchmark, the administrat
