| Good afternoon, Chicago. At downtown sports apparel shop Chicago Sports & Novelty, manager Loretta Rizzo laid out a freshly stocked stack of Munetaka Murakami jerseys. “We’ve sold out of these three times,” she said, pointing to the pile of black and white fabric with the White Sox first baseman’s name spelled out in Japanese characters. Since the wild-card round started, Munetaka Murakami has had the fourth-bestselling jersey in all of baseball, and the top three selling jerseys for the White Sox, according to sports merchandise company Fanatics. But it’s not just Murakami gear that fans are snatching up. Sales of White Sox merchandise across the board are up two times last week compared with the previous week. 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. Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History news Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert leaves Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on April 27, 2016, after being sentenced to 15 months in prison for evading banking regulations as part of a hush money case. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune) Hastert, who was speaker from 1999 until 2007 and spent more than a year in prison later in life, died Saturday of natural causes at his home while receiving hospice care, according to Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Purcell. More top news stories: business Passengers enter the CTA 95th Street station on Dec. 15, 2025, beneath a sign for the planned Red Line Extension. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) The CTA sued the feds in March after President Donald Trump’s administration froze the CTA’s federal funding for the project last year, imperiling the future of the $5.75 billion endeavor to extend the Red Line to 130th Street on Chicago’s Far South Side. More top business stories: sports Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent directs the offense in the fourth quarter against the Jets on Oct. 4, 2026, at Soldier Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) Tyson Bagent will start at quarterback for the Bears in Week 5 against the Green Bay Packers, coach Ben Johnson announced today during his weekly radio spot on WMVP-AM 1000. More top sports stories: eat. watch. do. Lalah Hathaway’s latest album is “Made in Chicago,” released on Oct. 1, on what would have been her father Donny Hathaway’s birthday. (Lyndon French) Lalah Hathaway had a vision. Clad in a leather coat, the Los Angeles-based, Chicago-bred singer saw herself here, in her city and on the lakefront. That vision of herself back home was the genesis for her latest record, “Made in Chicago.” More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories: nation & world Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, speaks during a campaign rally at a coffee shop, Aug. 3, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) Former President Barack Obama will campaign alongside Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit later this month, lending his support to the progressive nominee after a bruising Democratic primary exposed divisions within the party. More top stories from around the world: | 
