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| Good afternoon, Chicago. Cook County judges often grant prosecutors’ requests to hold defendants in jail while awaiting trial, according to a new report from a court advocacy group, even when defendants are given a low numerical score for risk of flight or committing new offenses. The report, released yesterday by the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, a group that advocates to reduce pretrial incarceration, is based on the observations of trained court watchers who monitored one month of detention hearings during a specific court call at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. 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  A view of the skyline along Interstate 290 as a thick haze from wildfires in Canada and Minnesota settles over Chicago the morning of July 16, 2026. (Peter Tsai/Chicago Tribune) Air quality hits hazardous levels in Chicago from wildfire smoke and could worsen tonightThick haze settled over northern Illinois today as dangerous levels of wildfire smoke from Canada and Minnesota rolled into the area, and it might get worse tonight, according to the National Weather Service.
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business  Evanston Alderman Bobby Burns, 5th, argued in favor of the proposal to build a five-story, 30-unit apartment
complex on Emerson Street, a project that has stalled in recent months following concerns from neighboring Ebenezer A.M.E. Church. (Shun Graves/for Pioneer Press) Evanston Council clears five-story apartment complex over landmark Black church’s objectionsExtended protest from a neighboring Black historic church and Evanston landmark was not enough to squelch a five-story, 30-unit apartment complex on Emerson Street from being approved, with conditions, in City Council.
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sports  Bulls forward Caleb Wilson is guarded by the Grizzlies’ Javon Small in the first half of an NBA Summer League game July 10, 2026, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images) 5 things we learned from Chicago Bulls’ 1st 3 summer league games, including Caleb Wilson’s desire to competeAfter a week in Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League, the young Chicago Bulls are drawing both excitement and concern.
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eat. watch. do.  Chicago Mayor Harold Washington at his inauguration at Navy Pier on April 29, 1983. (Val Mazzenga/Chicago Tribune) New play about Chicago Mayor Harold Washington is coming to Lookingglass TheatreTitled “Prince Hal,” a riff on a famous character in William Shakespeare’s “Henry IV,” the drama by J. Nicole Brooks will portray Harold Washington as a reluctant candidate for greatness who is buoyed by finding supporters among everyday Chicagoans in a West Loop tavern, a plot that suggests parallels with the Shakespeare history play.
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nation & world  President Donald Trump departs on Marine One after speaking at the United States
Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) President Donald Trump is expected to make election conspiracies a focus of his national addressThe president is set to address the nation tonight on topics he said will include elections and voting machines, suggesting he is likely to revisit some of the unproven claims he has previously made about Republican losses, particularly his own in 2020.
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