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The City Council voted Wednesday to outlaw a broad array of hemp-derived products months before a federal ban is set to take effect, kneecapping a lucrative industry that has buoyed many Chicago businesses — but sometimes put unregulated intoxicants within reach of minors.An exception allowing for hemp beverages, hemp-infused pet products and other CBD offerings led to an 32-16 vote that left the question of whether Mayor Brandon Johnson would veto the ban championed by 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn of the Southwest Side.Quinn is a savvy political operator who learned his vote-counting skills while serving as chief lieutenant for now convicted and imprisoned former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago.Quinn acknowledged Wednesday that “it might be tough to get to 34” votes needed to override a veto if Johnson decides to take that political risk so soon after the budget rebellion.But Quinn said he’s not sure it will come to that.“He’ll have a choice. Does he want to protect kids, which is my intention, or does he want to do something else: regulate and tax?” Quinn told the Chicago Sun-Times before the vote.Johnson’s administration opposed the measure because of the small-business boon from the 2018 loophole in federal law that allowed delta-8 THC and other hemp derivatives to proliferate without the restrictions placed on Illinois’ heavily regulated cannabis industry.That loophole is set to close later this year, prompting Quinn’s push to close it down in the city even sooner. The ban on the sale of hemp products to minors would take effect in 10 days, but other provisions would be pushed back until April 1.After the meeting, Johnson said he had “some real serious concerns about this ordinance” and hadn’t decided on a potential veto.“It's paramount for the good of our city [not only] to regulate, have the ability to actually test, to actually regulate what was passed, and to keep people safe, but ultimately, to make sure that we're not driving small businesses out of it,” Johnson said.Quinn tweaked the full-on ban that passed a key committee vote last month to allow for hemp beverages to be produced and sold by licensed vendors, after pushback from the Illinois Restaurant Association and other industry leaders. Hemp-infused beverages have soared in popularity and kept many bars and restaurants afloat as consumer trends have shifted away from alcohol since the COVID-19 pandemic.Creams and ointments also will be exempt from the citywide ban, and hemp products will be allowed for animals.Retailers licensed to sell cannabis products will be allowed to sell hemp-infused beverages, powders and crystalline additives to customers over 21, provided they include “no more than 10 milligrams.” Hemp-infused beverages and additives can also be sold at bars, restaurants with incidental liquor licenses and packaged goods stores.To appease the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, Quinn also added a “rebuttable presumption” for products that “brand themselves as intoxicated hemp-driven products, beverages and additives.” Hemp beverages like these displayed last month at Revolution Brewing in Avondale are allowed under Ald. Marty Quinn’s proposed ban.Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times file Quinn said he listened to all of the concerns raised when his “blanket ban” was approved by committee, then talked to every one of his 49 colleagues.“I said, 'Help me understand where you’re at here. How can we get to a compromise? I’m very proud of working with all 50 alders — at least making a real effort to communicate. Something that hasn’t taken place in this term with our current mayor,” Quinn said.Ald. Maria Hadden (49th) voted against the measure, in part, she said, because “We're not quite there on hitting some of the protection goals that I know my colleagues had in wanting to keep certain products out of the hands of bad actors.“We've also got a small-business industry that has really done that thing that a lot of us…

This season was a huge step forward for the Bears.Also, this will never again be considered good enough.Of all the ways coach Ben Johnson changed Halas Hall, raising the Bears’ standard for success has been the most impactful. While the team made a big jump from 5-12 last season to 11-6, an NFC North title and a spot in the divisional round of the playoffs, Johnson took the job a year ago eying much more than that.Normally, that type of season would warrant a parade for the Bears, and while Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles did take a well-earned victory lap at their season-ending news conference Wednesday, the emphasis was on what they’ll do next.“We have to dig a little bit deeper,” Johnson said. “We have to work a little bit harder. We have to give a little bit more if we want to take this thing over the top.“It's no different than if you're trying to lose weight. If you're trying to lose 50 pounds, the first 30 is the easiest. The last 20, that's the hard part. So we did a nice job this year, but it's not enough. We have to do more.”That’s the way serious teams are run. They don’t settle for merely making the playoffs. In fact, they fire coaches and general managers if they make it only this far too many times in a row. The real work just started.A crucial part of that is setting aside how great this turnaround felt and making a clear-eyed assessment of the roster.Their defense played its best game Sunday in the loss to the Rams, but ranked 29th in the regular season. The offense had four games, including Sunday, in which it failed to score 20 points. Four players started at left tackle. The Bears dropped the fifth-most passes (29) during the regular season.The Bears had a lower point differential (plus-26) than multiple teams that missed the playoffs. They went 2-4 in the North and narrowly avoided going 0-6. They rallied from a deficit in the final two minutes to win seven times, which showed grit, but also that they weren’t miles ahead of some unimpressive opponents that pushed them to the brink.They were good, Poles reiterated his goal has always been to build “a championship-caliber team,” not a one-year, feel-good story.“I am proud of the progress that we've made, [but] we can't be complacent,” he said. “We have to keep pushing forward. [Johnson and I] both come from organizations that have stacked success back-to-back years, and we know the challenge.“We're all excited for that challenge: building this team back up, making the tweaks, continuing to tighten the screws on the process and the people that we need to ... exceed [this season] and win championships around here.”He added that while he liked the resolve his players showed, “I’d rather not be the Cardiac Bears.”He and Johnson want dominance. That’s what the Chiefs, Eagles, Rams and Buccaneers showed in their recent championship seasons. They didn’t sneak. They bulldozed.That’s the standard for the Bears going forward, especially now that Poles is going into Year 5 of rebuilding from the rubble predecessor Ryan Pace left him.Poles thinks about Pace more than he lets on, and in a 2024 Sun-Times interview he described the Bears’ approach before his arrival as choosing to “kick the can down the road and build off of a house of cards.” Pace thought the Bears — albeit without a quarterback — were on the cusp of a championship chase and went all-in in a way that eventually scrambled their salary cap and decimated their draft capital. And cost him his job.That type of outcome was in his mind Wednesday when he was asked how to upgrade the Bears from good to great.“You see it across the league all the time: You panic and you do crazy things that everybody else wants you to do and it leads to some situations that you can't get out of,” Poles said. “We want to stay flexible. We want to stay open-minded. We want to stay committed to building this team the right way, because that's the best way to sustain success.”That signals he’s less likely to take a big swing, on…

The alternative city budget muscled through the City Council over Mayor Brandon Johnson’s objections required the city to make the full $260 million advance pension payment to stave off another costly reduction in Chicago’s bond rating.Late last week, the Johnson administration ignored that mandate and made a half-payment of $130 million and promised to pay the other half later this year.Now, the renegade group of 32 alderpersons who rejected Johnson’s corporate head tax and seized control of a budget process are demanding to know why.At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, they introduced a resolution that would summon Budget Director Annette Guzman, departing Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski and Comptroller Michael Belsky before the Finance Committee to explain why Johnson is defying their budget mandate.“It’s really about trying to keep our credit rating intact because without doing this, we are in danger of having another credit downgrade because we’re not doing the full payment,” said Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), the former Finance Committee chair who led the budget rebellion.“He’s disregarding the intent and the vote of the Council. And that’s frustrating because it also shows the rating agencies" that the contentious budget battle continues.Far Northwest Side Ald. Samantha Nugent (39th) said the full pension payment was a pivotal part of the alternative budget approved by a 30-vote majority.“That vote wasn’t symbolic. It was a mandate… The administration has a responsibility to execute it fully and faithfully. Partial compliance is not compliance,” Nugent said in a statement.It's unclear what would happen if Johnson and his team refuse to make the full pension payment, even after the hearings are held."That's a great question," Nugent said. "I'd like to see how the committee goes first... If they refuse to, then we'll have to assess our options at that point, and potentially introduce legislation to force [their] hand."The mayor’s office said the decision to “structure the 2026 advance pension payments in two installments” was made because of cash flow concerns tied to delayed property tax payments from Cook County.The city is also "expending large outflows” during the first quarter “due to statutorily required pension payments," the statement said.“To ensure that the City has sufficient cash flow to meet its obligations, the City will structure the 2026 advance pension payments in two installments, the first installment paid on January 16th, 2026, and the second installment later this year,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.“The uncertainty around the implementation of new revenues passed in the FY2026 budget, including the speculative debt sale, poses additional challenges to the City's finances. "Leaders of the opposition group of conservative and moderate alderpersons don’t buy the mayor’s cash flow argument.They called it a “direct conflict” with Guzman’s late December claim that the newly approved 2026 budget “included a $15 million surplus.”Ald. Nicole Lee (11th) said the advance pension payment initiated by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot and continued in Johnson’s first two city budgets is “critical to stabilizing our pension systems and protecting Chicago from future downgrades.”“If there is a real cash flow issue, the public deserves a full and transparent explanation — not fear-based messaging and after-the-fact budget changes,” Lee said. “The Council passed a responsible budget to protect Chicago’s financial future. Walking away from that decision sends exactly the wrong message.”It’s not the first time that Johnson has ignored the guardrails of the budget passed by the City Council over his objections.Earlier this month, the mayor said he was already preparing City Hall for a potentially painful round of midyear layoffs amid fears that the newly revised revenue plan included shaky and unrealistic estimates that would set Chicago up for a midyear budget shortfall.He once again took aim at the plan to…

Police apparently fired shots at an alleged bank robber during an attempted heist witnessed by a customer Wednesday morning in south suburban Blue Island. About 9:45 a.m., a person tried robbing an armored truck parked outside the U.S. Bank at 11960 S. Western Ave., a city official of Blue Island said.Police taped off access to the bank and placed evidence markers next to spent shell casings. The glass door to the bank was shattered. A gun was seen lying on a sidewalk outside the bank.The FBI also responded to the scene and is investigating, according to a spokesperson for the agency, who did not share anything else.It's unclear if anyone was shot or injured. The Blue Island Fire Department couldn't be reached for more information. A witness told the Sun-Times he was inside the bank when he heard a security guard shout at them to drop to the ground.“I dropped to the floor and heard the security guard tell someone to lock the door, but I didn’t see what was happening,” he said.Shortly after dropping to the ground, the witness said he heard gunshots and glass shatter.“I’m okay,” the witness said. “I just want to know what happened.”Contributing: Anthony Vazquez A gun lies on the ground as Blue Island Police investigate the scene of a shooting at US Bank at 11960 S Western Ave in Blue Island, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times A shattered door entrance of a US Bank as Blue Island Police investigate the scene of a shooting at US Bank at 11960 S Western Ave in Blue Island, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Federal agents in St Paul forced their way into a man's home without a warrant, detaining him in subfreezing temperatures in an apparent case of mistaken identity. The post US citizen detained in underwear by immigration agents in Minnesota appeared first on Resonate.