Downtown Chicago tries to attract shoppers with more security

1 big thing: Downtown wants you back 


Survey forecasts Chicago holiday shopping slump

2. 🛍 Holiday shopping forecast

Where to donate winter clothes in Chicago during the holiday season

3. It's Giving Tuesday

4. Tips and hot links

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Plan your future

Bears lock down Vikings in 12-10 victory

5. Bears finally beat rival Vikings 

Photo of a football player lifting another football player off the ground in celebration

6. 📺 Chicago's Elite 8 commercials 


🏁 Happy Tuesday! On this day in 1895, six "motocycles" left Jackson Park to race to Evanston and back. The race was won with a time of just over 10 hours and an average speed of 7.3 mph.

🥶 Today's weather: Brrrr. Mostly sunny with a high of 25°.

Today's newsletter is 925 words — a 3.5-minute read.

Edited by Alexa Mencia and copy edited by Rob Reinalda and Keely Bastow.

🙋‍♀️ Monica is excited about attending the Let's Talk Womxn Hangout on Thursday night at Vermilion, where Axios' Margaret Talev and Soul & Smoke's Heather Bublick, among others, will give inspiring soapbox talks. Check it out.

🥘 Justin is stretching his Thanksgiving leftovers. He plans to be eating green bean casserole until the weekend. Wish him luck!

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A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Chicago. Written by Monica Eng, Justin Kaufmann and Carrie Shepherd.

Axios Chicago

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Mystery dog illness puts Chicago pet owners on edge

1 big thing: Dog owners on edge about mystery illness

New Asian grocery store and food court officially opens in Chicago

2. 🛒 Grocery shopping, Gangnam style 

Chicago Blackhawks culture in question again after Corey Perry cut

3. Blackhawks culture in question again 

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4. Tips and hot links 

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New jobs to check out

Chicago Spotify Wrapped: Taylor Swift tops streaming charts

5. Chicago apparently loves Morgan Wallen 

6. 👑 Crown a Chicago commercial champ

🅿️ Welcome to Thursday, and happy overnight parking ban eve! Tonight 107 miles of streets will become tow zones from 3-7am, whether snow falls or not. 

Print this map and keep it in your car until April, when the ban lifts again.

🌥 Today's weather:  Partly sunny with a high of 50°.

🎂 Happy birthday to our Axios Chicago members Barbara Boissonnas, Andrew McCune and Thomas Dammrich!

Today's newsletter is 911 words — a 3.5-minute read.

📚 Monica is intrigued by the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame fundraiser at the Beat Kitchen.

📺 Justin is really digging John Hamm and Juno Temple in the new "Fargo" on FX. He loves all the subtle nods back to the original film. More, please.

1 big thing: Berlin shuts down after 40 years 

Keeping track of Chicago's labor union wars

2. Chicago union fights galore 

Illustration of pinback buttons with union slogans

3. Maps of the day: Your favorite sides

Stay booked and busy

Chicago bars with Thanksgiving drink specials

5. Thanksgiving drink specials

6. Where's Justin: Long Grove, Illinois 

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🍗 Happy Wednesday. What's that smell? Thanksgiving preparation, of course.

Today's weather:  Partly sunny with a high of 44°.

🥶 Situational awareness: Due to dropping temps, Chicago is opening six warming centers this week.

Programming note: An early happy Thanksgiving to all! We're off tomorrow and Friday for the holiday and won't be back in your inboxes until Monday.

💙 We're so thankful to all our members for supporting our newsroom. Join them today.

🎂 An early happy birthday to our Axios Chicago member Tony Fitzpatrick!

Today's newsletter is 914 words — a 3.5-minute read.

❤️ Carrie is thankful she joined Axios Chicago this year — to work (and laugh) alongside Monica, Justin, Alexa, Kristen and all her colleagues each day. And here's to another year of covering this incredible, beautiful, challenging and one-of-a-kind city. What a gift.

👖 Justin is thankful there is no dress code at Axios. He has 15 hoodies, and he plans to wear every single one of them this winter. He's also thankful for his family and friends, his co-workers and the readers of this newsletter. Oh yeah, also walking tacos and Nathan Fielder. Happy Thanksgiving!

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker makes $1 billion clean energy pitch to EPA

1 big thing: Pritzker's green pitch to EPA 

2. ❄️ Chart of the day: Our winter forecast 

3. Meet Chicago's DNC host committee

Illustration of the Democratic party donkey logo, with the American flag-themed design changing to a Chicago flag.

Stay booked and busy 

A new recipe for the Banchet Awards

5. New recipe for the Banchet Awards

6. 📺 Final Four commercial favorites

📦 Happy Wednesday! Today is National Package Protection Day. So set those booby traps and spend the whole day peeking out your window.

Today's weather: The cold will break today. Sunny with a high of 41°.

❗It's the last day to win tickets to our Axios Chicago Power Players reception on 12/6! We'll be celebrating our city's most influential and rising business leaders. Sign up as a member before the day ends to be considered. Rules apply.

🎂 Happy birthday to our Axios Chicago members Cass Heckman and Dwain Thomas!

Today's newsletter is 918 words — a 3.5-minute read.

🍷 📚Monica is excited about signing books with the likes of Sara Paretsky and other cool local authors Saturday as part of Words + Wine at 57th St Wines in Hyde Park.

🎟️ Justin is getting amped up for our big Power Players party next week. He even dry-cleaned his suit! Tickets still available.

Migrant resettlement progress report

1 big thing: Resettlement progress report

2. Funding fertility treatment

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3. Tips and hot links 

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4. 🏀 Go Illini/Cats

Vote for Chicago's best TV commercial of all time

5. Vote for Chicago's best TV ad 

💻 Happy Monday! Sure, today is Cyber Monday. But did you know that it is also National Craft Jerky Day?

Today's weather: Mostly sunny, high of 27°.

🎂 Happy birthday to our Axios Chicago member Peter Kowalczyk! And a belated happy birthday to member Rosalind Hurwitz.

🏆 You and a plus-one could attend our Axios Chicago Power Players reception on Dec. 6! Join us as a member by Wednesday for a chance to win a pair of tickets to this exciting event celebrating impactful Chicago leaders.

Existing members are automatically entered. Rules apply.

Today's newsletter is 897 words — a 3.5-minute read.

Edited by Alexa Mencia and Kristen Hinman and copy edited by Matt Piper and Keely Bastow.

🥣 Monica has a nice pot of turkey soup simmering on the stove. 

🗳 Justin is interested to see who files their petitions this week to run for state, local and congressional offices in 2024. 

FetchError

Jean Banchet Awards organizers served up fresh plans for the local culinary awards program Tuesday night.

Why it matters: Started in 2002, the Banchet Awards ceremony has, at times, lacked focus — feeling like part-medical fundraiser, part-awards show and part-loud gala.

What's happening: After a year's hiatus, organizers are relaunching the program with a narrowed mission of celebrating and supporting local culinary talent.

What's happening: No longer organized by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the awards are partnering with Chicago Chefs Cook to raise money for a leadership development program run by Hyde Park restaurant Virtue.

What they're saying:  "It was important to us that funds raised from the Banchet awards go back to the culinary arena and to chefs advancing our community in profound ways," Chicago Chefs Cook co-founder Sarah Stegner tells Axios.

The formal Banchet ceremony, followed by a culinary after-party, will take place Jan. 28 at Venue Six10.

Nominees include: Kyōten, Jeong, Galit and Daisies for Restaurant of the Year.

Indienne, Valhalla, Warlord and Obélix for Best New Restaurant.

Chefs Margaret Pak at Thattu; Trevor Fleming, Emily Kraszyk and John Lupton at Warlord; Christian Hunter at Atelier and Damarr Brown at Virtue are vying for Rising Chef of the Year.

Chefs Paul Fehribach at Big Jones; Genie Kwon and Tim Flores at Kasama; Stephen Gillanders at Valhalla and Paul Virant Vie are up for Chef of the Year.

Zoom in: "I'm struck by the breadth and depth of the names here. Definitely not a Usual Suspects list," says former Tribune dining critic Phil Vettel, who will also be honored in the January ceremony.

He tells Axios, "I'm just honored to be in the same ceremony with these chefs."

If you go: Tickets will go on sale for $150 through Tock soon. Check here. 

Organizers are relaunching the program with a narrowed new mission of celebrating and supporting local culinary talent.

The latest batch of Jean Banchet Awards nominees attended a Tuesday night kickoff party for the relaunched program. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios.

Restaurants

Jean Banchet Awards organizers served up fresh plans for the local culinary awards program Tuesday night.Why it matters: Started in 2002, the Banchet Awards ceremony has, at times, lacked focus — feeling like part-medical fundraiser, part-awards show and part-loud gala.

Food and Drink

Business leaders are touting improved downtown safety in an effort to bring people back to the area this holiday season.

Why it matters: Downtown is still hurting from high office vacancies driven by the pandemic, along with a lingering perception of danger after unrest in 2020.

By the numbers: Chicago's office vacancy rate hit a record 23.7% this fall, Crain's reported, as businesses continue to shed office space and transition employees to remote work.

Meanwhile, the Magnificent Mile district still packs a big economic punch. Last year it saw $3.8 billion in consumer spending, and it accounts for 17% of all Chicago jobs, according to the Magnificent Mile Association.

Yes, but: A new Harris Poll reported by Crain's found that only about 53% of Cook County respondents said they feel safe downtown.

What's happening: Robust downtown policing, better maintained surveillance cameras, more security guards, and a new type of non-shattering glass for storefronts have helped put the incidents of 2020 "in our rearview mirror," Kimberly Bares, CEO of the Magnificent Mile Association, told WBBM.

"For some folks, no amount of me or anyone else saying it will convince them. They just have to come down and see it with their own two eyes."

The big picture: Chicago saw the nation's second- and third-highest levels of organized retail theft in 2019 and 2020, but dropped last year to seventh — tied with Sacramento.

What they're saying: Bares credits state legislation and cooperation with retailers often used to resell the stolen goods, in addition to the arrests of Tacarre Harper's crew, linked to hundreds of thousands of dollars in thefts on the Gold Coast.

"They've been put away for 10-12 years, and when that crew was caught and stopped, we saw the number of those kinds of burglaries drop precipitously," Bares told WBBM.

Reality check: Last month the Louis Vuitton store on Michigan Avenue was robbed by a smash-and-grab crew.

And year-over-year stats on overall crime in the 18th District, which covers the Mag Mile remain, mixed.are touting improved downtown safety in an effort to bring people back to the area this holiday season.

Meanwhile, the Magnificent Mile district still packs a big economic punch. Last year it saw $3.8 billion in consumer spending, and it accounts for 17% of all Chicago jobs, according to the MMA.

And year-over-year stats on overall crime in the 18th District, which covers the Mag Mile, remain mixed.

A new poll found that only about 53% of Cook County respondents said they feel safe downtown.

Police cars with lights flashing have become a fixture on the Magnificent Mile, in part to remind visitors of the expanded police presence in the popular shopping area. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios

Police

Business leaders are touting improved downtown safety in an effort to bring people back to the area this holiday season.Why it matters: Downtown is still hurting from high office vacancies driven by the pandemic, along with a lingering perception of danger after unrest in 2020.

News

On Giving Tuesday, falling this year on Nov. 28, many Americans will donate money or clothes to those in need.

What's happening: Chicago nonprofits have already seen many charitable donations this year, particularly to groups collecting winter clothing for migrants.

Some local collection programs, including efforts at St. Mary of the Lake in Uptown and Our Lady of Lourdes on Ashland, have become so overwhelmed they've put a pause on donations.

Yes, but: Other organizations could still use more.

Cradles to Crayons executive director Dawn Melchiorre tells Axios they've delivered more than 20,000 donated coats across the area over the last three weeks, and aim to collect 50,000 total.

The group is especially in need of new and gently worn coats in baby sizes 0-3 as well as adult sizes small and medium.

For those looking to donate, the group has more than 100 drop-off sites.

What's more: Local real estate agent — and our former WBEZ colleague — Jesse Treviño is hosting his second annual coat drive on Dec. 9 with a goal of collecting 150 coats.

Some local collection programs have put a temporary pause on donations, but others are still in need.

Nonprofit

Illustration of a snow globe with the Chicago skyline inside it.

On Giving Tuesday, falling this year on Nov. 28, many Americans will donate money or clothes to those in need.What&#x27;s happening: Chicago nonprofits have already seen many charitable donations this year, particularly to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="groups collecting winter clothing" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2023/10/18/how-to-help-migrants-chicago-winter" data-vars-content-id="83268054-d369-4ab9-9669-c3cec2bcc58a" data-vars-headline="Where to donate winter clothes in Chicago during the holiday season" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2023/10/18/how-to-help-migrants-chicago-winter" target="_self">groups collecting winter clothing</a> for migrants.

Things to Do

While U.S. cities struggle to cope with an influx of migrants, some local programs are showing signs of progress in housing and helping the new arrivals.

Why it matters: These programs could significantly reduce the number of people in overcrowded shelters, police stations and mini tent cities.

The latest: As of Sunday, the city said it has been able to move migrants completely out of seven police districts.

What's happening: Chicago has helped find housing for nearly a third of the 25,635 migrants who have arrived here since August 2022.

The state recently kicked in an additional $65 million for a case management program to help with "housing assessments, reviewing the leases, signing them and then eventually moving," the mayor's deputy chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas says.

Not all new arrivals stay. The city has purchased 2,835 bus, train and plane tickets for migrants who wanted to settle somewhere else.

Zoom in: "Some of the folks that were in our police stations actually had no intention of staying in Chicago, but would get caught up in the system and not be able to get to their final destination," Pacione-Zayas said during a recent briefing.

So now officials work immediately with new arrivals and "get them quickly connected to Greyhound or to Amtrak or to a plane so that they can continue with their onward movement."

Pacione-Zayas said they hope to help 150 migrants a week with this kind of transportation.

Reality check: Officials recently put a 60-day limit on shelter stays and eliminated rental assistance for those who arrived after Nov. 16.

What they're saying: The expanded programs and extra money from the state for case management should continue to help more people find housing, Pacione-Zayas said.

"Our plan has [always] been about resettlement and putting folks on a path to self-sufficiency and independence."

Zoom out: Chicago is just one of several cities buying tickets for migrants to travel to cities where they say they have family, friends or sponsors.

The city has helped find housing for nearly a third of the new arrivals.

Yorbelis Molero, 16, says goodbye to a friend at a Chicago police station before she and her family leave by bus for Detroit in early November. Photo: Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune via Getty Images

While U.S. cities struggle to cope with an influx of <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="migrants" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/11/22/migrant-crisis-shelter-cities-capacity-full" data-vars-content-id="ca1b1294-9c48-4500-8bad-515433efb2f5" data-vars-headline="Migrant resettlement progress report" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/11/22/migrant-crisis-shelter-cities-capacity-full" target="_self">migrants</a>, some local programs are showing signs of progress in housing and helping the new arrivals.Why it matters: These programs could significantly reduce the number of people in overcrowded shelters, police stations and mini tent cities.

One of the city's most interesting new grocery stores is hosting a grand opening this weekend.

Why it matters: Gangnam Market — featuring standard groceries with Asian specialties and a six-restaurant food court — could turn River West into an unlikely Asian street food mecca.

Driving the news: The store, which has been operating low key for several months in the former Urban Market building on West Chicago Avenue, has finally finished and staffed its food court.

To celebrate, Gangnam will host a weekend-long party with free food samples, house-made juices, gourmet coffees, beer, wine and more.

Backstory: Kenny Yang, who owns Strings, Ken Kee and Gyuro Ramen, took over the 28,000-square-foot space 10 months ago.

Produce area of Gangnam Market. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios

Details: The food court features a full bar, bubble tea stand and cafe, along with six food stalls.

Dishes include fresh sushi, ramen, donburi bowls, Korean tacos and Hong Kong bakery, sandwich and breakfast specialties, including pineapple buns with truffle butter.

Turkey wonton ramen from Seven Faced Bird. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios

We tried: The rich, excellent turkey ramen with wonton ($14.95) from Seven Faced Bird and the juicy Hainanese chicken ($12.95) from the Workout Rice stall.

Monica loved the chicken and sauces, but the rice tasted warmed over.

Hainanese chicken. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios

If you go: The store is open 8am-9pm, and the food court is open 11am-9pm daily. Gangnam offers free 90-minute validated indoor parking in the second-level garage.

The food court features a full bar, bubble tea stand and cafe along with six food stalls.

The flash new food court at Gangnam Market in River West. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios 

Grocery

One of the city&#x27;s most interesting new grocery stores is hosting a grand opening this weekend.Why it matters: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Gangnam Market" data-vars-click-url="https://gangnammarketusa.com/" data-vars-content-id="d24732ea-8590-4bb5-b923-24201b720ede" data-vars-headline="New Asian grocery store and food court officially opens in Chicago" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://gangnammarketusa.com/" target="_blank">Gangnam Market</a> — featuring standard groceries with Asian specialties and a six-restaurant food court — could turn River West into an unlikely Asian street food mecca.

Monica Eng

Stories

New Asian grocery store and food court officially opens in Chicago

A new recipe for the Banchet Awards

Downtown Chicago tries to attract shoppers with more security

Where to donate winter clothes in Chicago during the holiday season

Migrant resettlement progress report

Newsletter editions

🐶 Mystery dog illness

❄️ Winter outlook

🚔 Downtown's safety pitch

✅ Migrant crisis progress

🪧 Labor strife