Working Lunch newsletter
Set to open in the fall, Northwestern’s $862M Ryan Field touted as ‘best place to watch football in America’ • Sports betting lobby suing to block Chicago’s new online wagering tax set to go into effect Thursday
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Working Lunch

Wednesday, December 31, 2025

Retired Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin sells River North condo for $1.4M

Retired Chicago Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and his wife, Victoria, sold their three-bedroom, 2,333-square-foot condominium for $1.355 million — some $407,500 less than they paid for it 20 years earlier.

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Set to open in the fall, Northwestern’s $862M Ryan Field touted as ‘best place to watch football in America’

As Northwestern wraps up a second season of playing football at a small lakefront field shared with the lacrosse and soccer teams, workers are busy building out a new $862 million football stadium in Evanston.

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Sports betting lobby suing to block Chicago’s new online wagering tax set to go into effect Thursday

New tax on online bets in Chicago is projected to raise $26.2 million in 2026 and was included in the recently passed city budget.

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Owner of Winnetka’s ‘Home Alone’ house wants to return the driveway configuration to the way it was in the movie

The previous owner of the home removed its well-known horseshoe-style driveway.

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Seven new businesses, including Illinois’ first 99 Ranch Market, to open in Naperville shopping center

Naperville’s Riverbrook Shopping Center to be new home to a 99 Ranch Market, slew of other Asian businesses opening in 2026.

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Oysters, crab and lobster meat stolen in New England, some destined for Illinois Costco stores

On Dec. 12, lobster meat destined for Costco stores in Illinois and Minnesota was stolen by a fraudulent trucking company.

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Donald Trump made lots of tariff threats in 2025. Here’s some that never materialized.

Many materialized into a barrage of new import taxes that overturned decades of U.S. economic policy — but others have yet to be fulfilled as 2025 comes to a close.

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Faced with a housing crisis, this southern Minnesota city is saying yes to experimental builds

Over the past few months, the City Council in this town of about 14,000 has approved a flurry of housing projects

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