🫨 Happy Monday! On this day in 1968, Illinois experienced its largest recorded earthquake, measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale.

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny with a high of 61.

🎂 Happy birthday to our members Ira Bodenstein and Susan Blumberg!

Today’s newsletter is 1,077 words — a 4-minute read.

O'Hare Airport just had its busiest summer ever. But for passengers spending what feels like an eternity taxiing to the runway, it might have felt like the longest, too.

Why it matters: Chicago officials are celebrating record traffic at O'Hare, but the airport's notoriously long taxi times raise questions about whether all that activity is coming at the expense of passengers.

By the numbers: More than 25 million passengers traveled through O'Hare from June through August, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.

• The airport recorded 245,719 takeoffs and landings during the summer, up 6% from the same period last year.

Yes, but: O'Hare also has the nation's longest aircraft taxi times, according to a July WGN Investigates report analyzing federal aviation data.

• Departing flights spent an average of more than 28 minutes taxiing from the gate to takeoff, while arriving flights spent more than 18 minutes getting to the gate.

What they're saying: "This is not a metric in which it is good to have the highest number among major airports," DePaul University transportation expert Joe Schwieterman tells Axios.

• He says O'Hare's size, construction and flight growth have combined to increase taxi times.

The big picture: Airlines like United and American have been adding flights, while the FAA has imposed limits on daily operations amid congestion concerns.

Meanwhile: Travelers are sharing their taxiing horror stories on social media, where viral posts about lengthy waits are piling up.

The other side: Despite the recent report and passenger frustrations, United Airlines says O'Hare's average taxi-in times are the lowest since March.

Reality check: The Chicago Department of Aviation says major runway and taxiway construction that has significantly affected taxi times is complete. That could give passengers some relief.

🚕 Your turn: Ever spent so long taxiing at O'Hare you thought you were driving to your destination? Reply with your best taxiing tales, and we may share them in a future newsletter.

Go deeper

The Bears defense came to the rescue in a dramatic 27-24 walk-off win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Soldier Field last night.

The latest: Caleb Williams and the offense uncharacteristically turned the ball over five times, including four interceptions thrown by the star quarterback.

Yes, but: It was Jeffery Simmons and the new-look defense that kept the Bucs from taking advantage. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson's fourth-quarter pick-six helped bail out the struggling offense and keep the Bears ahead.

• Cairo Santos came through again this season, this time kicking the game-winning 38-yard field goal as time expired.

The other side: The Bears blew a 14-point lead and lost wide receiver Luther Burden and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson to injuries.

The bottom line: The Bears improved to 7-2.

Next up: A chance to get healthy during the bye week.

📬 Hit us up: What's your caption for the photo above?

The Chicago food scene is cooking up fresh developments in food as medicine, a new Chinese eatery and some changes at LeTour and Sifr.

• Let's dig in.

Herbal medicine

Award-winning Edgewater Thai restaurant Herb is launching new dishes designed to heal and delight.

• Chef Patty Neumson tells Axios that recent health challenges inspired her to infuse fresh menu items with healing ingredients from traditional food cultures.

Eat up: I recently sampled a velvety winter squash and chicken curry, zingy ginger pork, refreshing pomelo salad and pleasingly (for me) bitter cassia leaf curry that can be served with tofu or beef.

• All intense but delicious.

Fresh Chinese spots

Last month saw the opening of perhaps the city's biggest Hong Kong-style dim sum and seafood spot with Marina Bay in Chinatown's 88 Market Place.

• The enormous main dining room offers dim sum until 3pm, when it becomes a Hong Kong-style seafood restaurant and banquet facility.

New turns

Amy Morton's Evanston brasserie LeTour has switched to an American classic menu that resurrects favorites from her erstwhile Found Kitchen, including the lamb meatballs with pistachio chimichurri and the kale salad with nuts, seeds and cranberry vinaigrette.

• New items include fried oyster tacos, tempura asparagus with black garlic aioli, trout chilaquiles, fried buttermilk chicken salad and charred cabbage with miso lime vinaigrette.

The new Gibsons Tavern is set to open on Nov. 17 at 925 W. Fulton Market St. in "a 14,000 square feet turn-of-the-century-inspired space with cathedral-vaulted ceilings and timeless charm," representatives say.

More new spots

🍺 Hemp businesses are suing to stop state restrictions on beverages with hemp-derived THC from taking effect this week. (Crains)

🗳️ In casting the majority of its votes for Gov. JB Pritzker last week, McHenry County favored a democratic governor for the first time since 1852. (NBC 5)

📻 WBEZ is temporarily replacing outgoing "In the Loop" host Sasha-Ann Simons with three rotating hosts. (Axios)

Every day, we work to bring you the local stories, insights and updates that help you stay connected to your community.

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👋 Hey, it's Justin.

Last week, I dressed as Pee-wee Herman for Halloween, complete with his iconic red bicycle from "Pee-wee's Big Adventure."

State of play: I decided to give the bike away (I don't have room for it!) and got an overwhelming response from readers.

• More than 75 names went into my virtual hat, and the lucky winner was Amy F. from the northern suburbs!
• Amy picked up her new ride yesterday and surprised her husband, Steve, a really big fan of "Pee-wee's Playhouse."

The bottom line: Thanks to everyone who entered, and thanks for being a member!

Edited by Larry W. Graham.

🌆 Monica is still limping around after climbing 103 floors of the Willis Tower on Sunday as part of SkyRise Chicago to benefit the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab. Ouch.

🥖 Carrie is back from a great vacation in London and Paris. She was fascinated by how many people were talking about the midterms over there!

🏈 Justin is old enough to remember when the Bears would lose games like that. It feels good to win ugly again.

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