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Afternoon Briefing

Wednesday, April 8, 2026

Good afternoon, Chicago.

Mayor Brandon Johnson wants to put city government veteran William Cheaks on the frontline of the struggle to move drivers, public transit riders and cyclists through Chicago’s streets as the new head of the city’s Department of Transportation.

Cheaks plans to focus on spending equity across neighborhoods and ramping up communication with the public as projects such as bridge renovations move forward, he told the Tribune.

Here’s what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.

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news
Clint and Georgia Litle stand outside their former residence Trump Tower on March 30, 2026, in Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Trump Tower couple alleges their intimate exchange was recorded in federal lawsuit: ‘I felt very violated’

Georgia Litle and her husband, Clint Litle, huddled in the bathroom of their lavish condo at Trump Tower and turned on the shower. They hoped the running water would drown out their “highly personal and sexual” conversation last May after a neighbor complained about the noise. But what happened next crossed the line, the couple alleged.

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business
Orland Park Mayor Jim Dodge speaks during a village board meeting on March 16, 2026. (Olivia Stevens/Daily Southtown)

Orland Park considers TIF for southeast corner of 159th Street and LaGrange Road; buys former Riviera Country Club

Less than three months after approving an Amazon retail center on the southwest corner of 159th Street and LaGrange Road, the Orland Park Village Board said it is considering creating a tax increment financing district to spur development of the busy intersection’s southeast corner.

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sports
Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper celebrates a win against the Sky as time expires Aug. 28, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

3 priorities for the Chicago Sky in WNBA free agency after trading Angel Reese

Sky fans still might be reeling from Monday’s blockbuster trade of All-Star forward Angel Reese. But the wheel keeps turning in the WNBA.

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eat. watch. do.
Rachel Cole, curator at the Northwestern University Transportation Library, with a whimsical cover from a 1982 Department of Agriculture report at the Northwestern University Library in Evanston, March 19, 2026. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Rachel Cole, curator at the Northwestern University Transportation Library, with a whimsical cover from a 1982 Department of Agriculture report at the Northwestern University Library in Evanston, March 19, 2026. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Flashback to a time when government reports were works of art

Government reports tend to make for less-than-scintillating reading. That’s the nature of the beast. Data can be dry. But for the better part of the 20th century, the covers of these reports were works of art.

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nation & world
Pro-government demonstrators chant slogans as they hold Iranian flags and a poster of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in a gathering after announcement of a two-week ceasefire in the war with the United States and Israel, at the Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, Square, in Tehran, Iran, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Here’s where things stand after a tentative, 2-week Iran ceasefire took effect

Reaching a permanent deal will be key to ending a war that’s shaken the Middle East and global energy markets. But there are vast differences between U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran’s surviving leaders, and America’s ally Israel has its own interests.

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