Working Lunch newsletter
Child care providers and parents worry about federal freeze of $1B for Illinois. ‘It really helps these parents.’ • Why Hawthorne racetrack was temporarily shut down over the weekend: ‘This is another embarrassing failure’
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Working Lunch

Thursday, January 8, 2026

New T.J. Maxx coming to refurbished Lincoln Park tower

T.J. Maxx signed a lease for 26,000 square feet on a prominent retail corridor in Lincoln Park, and will open a street-level store by the third quarter of 2026.

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Child care providers and parents worry about federal freeze of $1B for Illinois. ‘It really helps these parents.’

Child care professionals, parents, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and other local leaders expressed horror Wednesday after the federal government announced that it would freeze about $10 billion in funding for child care and family assistance programs in Illinois, California, Colorado, Minnesota and New York.

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Why Hawthorne racetrack was temporarily shut down over the weekend: ‘This is another embarrassing failure’

Hawthorne Race Course has been beset by financial troubles, including liens seeking to recover unpaid debts, and its inability to open a proposed new casino.

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Pulitzer-winning Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to shut down in May

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper will shut down later this year, with a final edition slated for May 3.

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Chicago Tribune, other papers, seek sanctions over allegations Open AI deleted key evidence

Lawyers representing an array of news organizations suing OpenAI for allegedly stealing and distorting their reporters’ work have asked a Manhattan judge to sanction ChatGPT’s parent company, alleging the tech behemoth deleted millions of conversations they were required to hand over as evidence of copyright infringement.

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Kane County mulling regulations on short-term home rentals in unincorporated areas

The regulations would require licenses for the rentals and enable the county to levy fees for violations of the county code.

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River North 4-bedroom home with private outdoor terrace: $1.6M

This three-story penthouse home has four bedrooms, four full bathrooms, one half bath, a private four-car attached garage and nearly 1,800 square feet of exclusive outdoor space.

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Hobart Mayor calls Amazon deal ‘record breaking,’ but skeptics remain

Hobart Mayor Josh Huddlestun called the $47 million upfront cash the city is poised to receive from Amazon, if plans go forward to build a data center at 61st and Colorado, “record breaking.”

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