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Nearly two decades after a $1.15 billion deal privatized Chicago's parking meters, a window has opened to seize the valuable asset back from private investors.Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration is at least exploring the idea. But the mere discussion of the multibillion-dollar acquisition raises more questions than it answers.Chief among them is whether a city already saddled with more debt per capita than any big city in the nation should borrow billions more to buy out the 57 years that remain on the parking meter deal that Chicagoans love to hate.“The original deal was a disaster for taxpayers, and we have to make sure that we don’t compound that disaster,” said Ald. Bill Conway (34th), vice-chair of the City Council’s Finance Committee.Conway, a former investment banker who still teaches finance at DePaul University, said the leveraged buyout would use meter revenue as collateral on the loan.Whether or not the “math works” would depend on the interest rate on the borrowing and the annual growth in parking meter revenue. That would come amid a fast-changing landscape for parking demand that factors in self-driving vehicles and robot deliveries and congestion fees that discourage people from driving Downtown.The meters generated roughly $160.9 million in 2024, audits show.“Do we think we could grow that over the next 57 years? If we were to think that we could grow that at, say, 3% a year, what kind of value does that have?" Conway asked. He also wondered whether the city could save money by no longer having to pay "true-up" costs which are due to the investors to keep them whole whenever meters are taken out of service.Based on “previous missteps,” Conway said he has “little trust” that the mayor’s office can “put together a good deal,” let alone “provide the collaboration necessary” to get an acquisition agreement through the City Council on the heels of the budget stalemate.“Look at how hard they tried to get together a city-run grocery store, and they couldn’t seem to pull it off," Conway said. "And now you’re talking about a multibillion-dollar deal." Related Parking meter deal keeps on giving — for private investors, not Chicago taxpayers $15.5M parking meter settlement called ‘first win in a series of losses’ for Chicago Chicago Parking Meters LLC accused of violating city’s minority participation requirements Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) cast one of only five “no” votes against the parking meter deal in 2008.Waguespack said he has known since last summer that Morgan Stanley, Allianz Capital Partners and the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Abu Dhabi were looking to unload Chicago parking meters and inviting potential bids.Waguespack said he has serious questions about the city's ability to enter the competition.“Do we have $2.5 billion or $3 billion that we could put together to purchase the meters? Yeah, we probably could, but think about the interest on that,” Waguespack said. "It would be astronomical.“And I’d be very concerned about the administration doing this, because you’re not gonna have [departing Chief Financial Officer] Jill Jaworski at the table. A lot of the people who have worked on this before are out the door. And there’s a lack of transparency in the way they’ve done everything from the budget to procurement.”Citing non-disclosure agreements, senior mayoral adviser Jason Lee was tight-lipped about the possibility of taking back the parking meters.Lee would only say that the mayor would speak with the City Council “at the right time.”“I don’t know if you have a choice as a mayor but to look at stuff that comes across the desk. It doesn’t mean you do anything. But, you’ve got to look at everything. You can’t just say, `I’m not gonna look,’ because you never know,” Lee told the Sun-Times.Chicago Parking Meters LLC refused to comment.Steve Koch served as deputy mayor under former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who managed to tweak the fine print in the parking meter deal by reducing the city’s liability and by…

After leading the NFL in interceptions, Bears safety Kevin Byard has a decision to make.His contract expires in March. The 10-year veteran said there’s a “mutual interest” between him and the Bears’ decision-makers to return on a free-agent deal. Remaining a Bear, he said, is his “first option.”Byard knows that things aren’t always that simple, though.“With the success that we all had this season as a team, I think a lot of guys on this team are going to be coveted around this league, honestly,” he said. “And I think the same way the organization is always going to do what's best for the team, I think I owe that to my family as well.”Byard has three children under age 6. They’ve spent the first half of the school year in Chicago and the second half back home in Nashville.Byard, who turns 33 in August, said he wants to go to a winning team. For the first time in a long time, that list includes the Bears..“I want to be able to play at a higher level and all that good stuff,” he said, “but what motivates me and what drives that is to want to win and try to be the best person, to be the best player, leader, teammate that I could possibly be for this organization — or any organization.”Byard’s fellow safety, Jaquan Brisker, will become a free agent in March, too. Asked whether he expected to return, Brisker said simply that “I don’t have an answer for you.” Other prominent Bears who will become unrestricted free agents include cornerback Nahshon Wright, returner Devin Duvernay, receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, safety Jonathan Owens, defensive tackle Andrew Billings and tackle Braxton Jones.Tight end Cole Kmet, running back D’Andre Swift and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds could be potential cap casualties, though the Bears could convert the salaries of DJ Moore, Joe Thuney and Grady Jarrett into bonuses to free up about $32 million in salary cap space.

When a game is lost and a season ends, disappointment eventually gives way to blame. And wide receiver DJ Moore was under scrutiny for his effort on the play that doomed the Bears in their 20-17 overtime loss Sunday to the Rams in the NFC playoffs.With the Bears just past midfield and needing only a field goal to win, quarterback Caleb Williams threw downfield for Moore toward the right sideline. The throw was well short of where Moore was headed, and Rams safety Kam Curl dived to intercept it. The Rams then drove for the winning field goal to book a spot in the NFC Championship Game.Perhaps a different player would have been given more of a benefit of the doubt. But for all the impact Moore has made with the Bears, he also has displayed a lot of bad body language. So when he gave even the appearance of taking his foot off the gas, he was a popular target.Whether he was offering a legitimate defense or covering for a teammate, Williams backed Moore on Monday as players cleaned out their lockers. He said the disconnect was simply ‘‘just a miscommunication’’ or misunderstanding between the two.Williams wanted Moore to ‘‘flatten’’ his route and run underneath Curl into the open space between him and fellow Rams safety Darious Williams. Moore, however, had open space leading to the end zone and continued on the original route.‘‘His route is to go deep and attack that angle, which he did,’’ Williams said. ‘‘[I] thought we were going to go under the safety at that point. It didn’t happen that way.’’On replay, Moore appeared to hesitate once he recognized Williams was throwing underneath, which is a more likely explanation than a veteran with a reputation as a hard worker loafing in a critical moment.Regardless, Williams said the lesson is that he and his receivers need to work harder at ‘‘being on the same page’’ in advance of such plays. Chemistry is crucial when adjusting on the fly.Coach Ben Johnson didn’t have a concrete diagnosis Sunday and won’t be available to reporters again until later this week. All he said after the game was, ‘‘I did see space,’’ without specifying whether he meant in front of Curl or behind him, and, ‘‘I did think as the play was going on, ‘Oh, crap, we’ve got something [good].’ But great play by [Curl].’’Moore was not available in the locker room after the game or during locker cleanout. Normally one of the most accessible players on the Bears, he also didn’t talk with reporters last week leading up to the game against the Rams.Health might have been a factor in the breakdown on that interception and in not being available to reporters Sunday or Monday. Moore had been working through a knee injury for weeks and was checked for a concussion Sunday after taking a hard hit to the head from Curl in the third quarter.Moore finished the game with five catches for 52 yards and a touchdown and made a great catch behind him on a pass to the end zone that had been deflected by Rams linebacker Omar Speights.Moore hasn’t missed a game in three seasons with the Bears and was their leading receiver in 2023 and 2024, earning him a contract extension that made him their highest-paid player this season. He caught 50 passes for 682 yards and six touchdowns and ran 15 times for 79 yards and a touchdown during the regular season, then added 12 catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns in the playoffs.

Lou Canellis likely hosted his last Bears postgame show for Fox 32 on Sunday night. The longtime sportscaster is nearing a deal with NBC 5 that could be announced this week, the Sun-Times has learned.Nothing is final, but Canellis is at the end of his contract with Fox 32, and there are strong indications in the industry that he will land at NBC 5. His departure would leave Cassie Carlson and Tina Nguyen as Fox 32’s on-air sports talent.NBC 5 hasn’t named a lead sports anchor since Leila Rahimi left the station in October 2024. She had held the job for almost 2½ years before her mysterious departure. Mike Berman, Jeff Blanzy and Kacy Standohar have shared sports-anchor duties.Canellis has been with Fox 32 since 2009. In addition to anchoring, he has hosted Bears pregame and postgame shows and programs such as “1st & North,” a roundtable discussion about the NFC North, and “Chicago Sports Tonight.” As the home of most Bears games, Fox 32 leans into its relationship with the team, and Canellis has served as the frontman.His move to NBC 5 would be curious because the station doesn’t have that relationship and its local sports programming is limited. It airs the weekly recap show “Sports Sunday,” carries the Chicago Marathon and covers local athletes competing in the Olympics.Canellis would rejoin former Fox 32 executive producer John Schippman, who’s returning to NBC 5 in the same position this week. Schippman was the vice president of sports content at NBC 5 and oversaw NBC Sports Chicago before it shut down in 2024.Canellis rose to stardom in the 1990s as the sideline reporter for Bulls broadcasts on SportsChannel, a predecessor to Chicago Sports Network. Before that, he was an executive producer at NBC 5.