| Good afternoon, Chicago. Nearly 30 volunteers packed their cars to the brim with boxes and bags to deliver essential items like food and clothing to more than 100 immigrant families in Chicago and Aurora on Saturday afternoon. The items were delivered to families as part of a broader initiative coined Operation Midway Bliss, started by William McNiff as a way of countering the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown named Operation Midway Blitz. “This is how I envision society to
be,” McNiff said at the volunteering site at the Right Bee Cider brewery in the city’s Hermosa neighborhood. “When there’s someone (who) needs a hand up, people are there.” 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 news Trabajadores filtran aceite de pachuli en una refinería el miércoles 26 de febrero de 2025, en Simboro, Célebes Occidental, Indonesia. (AP Foto/Dita Alangkara) On Friday
night, about 250 Afghans and others in the community gathered in Niles at a celebration of the Persian tradition of Yalda, a winter solstice festival that signifies rebirth. There they honored Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, who was killed, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, who was critically wounded in the Washington, D.C., attack. More top news stories: business A Union Pacific freight train crosses over I-290, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) To make money on its proposed cross-country railroad, Union Pacific plans to double the number of trains on a 2-mile stretch of track on Chicago’s West Side where workers still throw switches by hand and trains crawl across century-old bridges at less than 15 miles per hour. More top business stories: sports Minnesota Frost forward Kendall Coyne Schofield (26) tries to score on Ottawa Charge goaltender Gwyneth
Philips (33) in the second period during the PWHL Takeover Tour at Allstate Arena on Dec. 21, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune) The Professional Women’s Hockey League made its first stop in the Chicago area on Sunday as a part of the league’s Takeover Tour. It was the second of 11 cities to host the tour this season. More top sports stories: eat. watch. do. Shea Serrano on a basketball court that he frequented when he was younger in San Antonio, Texas, on May 3, 2023. (Carter Johnston/The New York Times) When he began working on his fifth book, “Expensive Basketball” — available now in hardcover through Grand Central Publishing — Shea Serrano knew he couldn’t avoid writing about Michael Jordan. More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories: nation & world President Donald Trump holds a cell phone with a call to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang
as he departs on Air Force One at Rocky Mount-Wilson Regional Airport, Dec. 19, 2025, in Elm City, N.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) The chiefs of mission in at least 29 countries were informed last week that their tenures would end in January, according to two State Department officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel moves. More top stories from around the world: |