GOP fight over who becomes next speaker – Chicago Tribune newstrendslive

Good morning, Chicago.

As many Americans returned to work following the holiday break, U.S. Rep. Sean Casten is in Washington waiting to see how Republicans will settle their fight over the House speakership.

It’s a strange moment for Casten. Starting his third term representing Illinois’ 6th District in the west and southwest suburbs, he’s perhaps more politically secure than ever.

The 54.4% of the vote he received in winning the November general election over Republican Keith Pekau is the most he’s gotten in his three general election races, with newly designed boundaries that could set him up for electoral success over the next decade.

But this will be Casten’s first term in Congress with the GOP holding the House majority. That means Democratic goals — and the environmental bills Casten in particular has tried to advance while Democrat Nancy Pelosi was speaker — will be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.

Casten is in for a new reality in the minority.

Read the full story from the Tribune’s John Byrne.

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When Allstate sold its sprawling Northbrook campus in October, long an iconic corporate landmark bordering the Tri-State Tollway, the insurance giant didn’t set off for a trendy West Loop address, the Sun Belt or more exotic destination. Instead, Allstate packed up its cubicles, stowed its massive signs and moved into an anonymous office building it still owned across the street, downsizing its global headquarters — at least temporarily — to a modest, unmarked space on the first and second floors.

“I think the concept of a headquarters is changing,” Allstate CEO Tom Wilson told the Tribune.

At Gale Community Academy in Rogers Park, a small closet in a classroom holds significant meaning. When students need a pair of leggings or a tube of toothpaste, the “care closet” is a safe space to fulfill those needs.

“We’ve had students use the care closet unofficially every day,” said Sheila Williams, resource coordinator at Gale Community Academy.

Heist stories have such a satisfying structure, writes Nina Metz. It’s not just getting one over on the man, but the lead up to it as well: Putting a team together, planning the heist (the target always has it coming!), doing the heist and improvising through unexpected problems. And then that pleasurable sensation at the end: They got away with it.

So what happens if you take that structure and jumble it up so that the typical order of things doesn’t matter? That’s the experimental premise behind “Kaleidoscope,” starring Giancarlo Esposito as a master thief who rounds up a crew to abscond with $7 billion in bearer bonds.

The Chicago Bulls received a hollow vindication Tuesday when the NBA’s Last Two Minute report confirmed two missed calls in the final 13 seconds of regulation in Monday’s overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen traveled with 12.1 seconds remaining and guard Donovan Mitchell committed a lane violation with 4.6 seconds left on his way to a putback that tied the game and forced overtime. Neither violation was called.

Ambitious remounts and big, milestone concerts are on tap this winter for Chicago dance, with a handful of touring groups rarely seen within city limits.

Here are the most anticipated dance events taking place early in 2023.