Good afternoon, Chicago.
For three decades, David Johnson has guided nature lovers in early spring to northern Illinois lakes to hear the eerie yodeling of hundreds of common loons. Within the next 30 years, however, there may be few if any migrating loons in Illinois, according to Walter Piper, researcher and professor of biology at Chapman University in Orange, California.
Loons, which winter along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and migrate through the Midwest to nest farther north, are not successfully raising as many chicks as they have in the past, said Piper, who has studied the birds in Wisconsin for years.
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Horses run in the third race of the day on April 6, 2024, at Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)
Harness horsemen call for end to Hawthorne’s veto power over new track and casino
Illinois enacted a sweeping law in 2019 to allow casinos at horse racing tracks, known as racinos. Nearly five years later, Hawthorne Race Course, a main beneficiary of the legislation, still hasn’t opened a racino. In the meantime, the industry is dying for lack of money. Read more here.
More top news stories:
O.J. Simpson, the fallen football hero acquitted of murder in the ‘trial of the century,’ dies at 76
Man wounded in shooting overnight at CTA Red Line station
People stand in the lobby for Amazon offices in New York on Feb. 14, 2019. A federal jury found that Amazon Web Services must pay $525 million to Chicago-based tech company Kove for infringing upon three of the company’s patents. (Mark Lennihan/AP)
Amazon hit with $525 million jury verdict in patent case brought by Chicago tech firm
The jury found Amazon Web Services had infringed upon Chicago-based tech company Kove’s patents, though it did not do so willfully. Read more here.
More top business stories:
Freight railroads ask courts to throw out new rule requiring two-person crews on trains
Terry Savage: Credit card ‘bewares’
An aerial photo looking east at the former Arlington International Racecourse on March 12, 2024, in Arlington Heights. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Bears — amid lakefront infatuation — appeal property taxes on Arlington Heights site
The Chicago Bears have filed a property tax appeal for the former Arlington International Racecourse, seeking a refund of $7.2 million from local taxing bodies, an attorney for local schools said Wednesday. The team filed the request with the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board, or PTAB, for the site where the Bears had proposed building a $2 billion enclosed stadium. The Cook County Board of Review set its valuation of the property at $125 million. Read more here.
More top sports stories:
For Chicago Cubs pitcher Javier Assad, a trip to San Diego is a family affair for the Mexico native
Northwestern football will play most home games on the lakefront next season while new stadium is built
Six Flags Great America unveils newest ride
Sky Striker is new for 2024 and opens later in the spring. Picture a 17-story-tall tower with a giant disc at the bottom, with riders strapped along the outside of the disc. Then picture that disc swinging on a pendulum back and forth, going higher and higher, eventually reaching a max speed of 175 miles per hour and flinging riders up to 172 feet in the air. Read more here.
More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories:
Mister Cee, a famed hip-hop DJ and key figure behind Notorious B.I.G.’s debut album, dies at 57
Review: ‘Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead’ is a surprisingly fun remake
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on proposed spending on child care and other investments in the “care economy” during a rally at Union Station, Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The Biden administration will require thousands more gun dealers to run background checks on buyers
Thousands more firearms dealers across the United States will have to run background checks on buyers when selling at gun shows or other places outside brick-and-mortar stores, according to a Biden administration rule that will soon go into effect. Read more here.
More top stories from around the world:
Federal appeals court hearing arguments on nation’s first ban on gender-affirming care for minors
Instagram begins blurring nudity in messages to protect teens and fight sexual extortion
