Good morning, Chicago.
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches its third full week, public pressure is mounting for American companies that have not already done so to cut ties from the country.
North suburban-based Abbott Laboratories announced this week it had suspended “nonessential business activity” in Russia, the Tribune’s Taglia Soglin reports, while global law firm Baker McKenzie said Tuesday it will cut ties with its lawyers there. The news follows a slew of announcements in recent days from Chicago-based corporations from McDonald’s to Kraft Heinz that are pulling back operations in Russia or suspending trade with the country while offering humanitarian support to the people of Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy summoned the memory of Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks as he appealed to the U.S. Congress to do more to help his country’s fight against Russia. And Ukrainian authorities struggled to determine the fate of hundreds of civilians who had been sheltering in a theater smashed by a Russian airstrike in the besieged city of Mariupol.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.
Just less than a week into his 150-day sentence, Jussie Smollett walked out of Cook County Jail on Wednesday evening in silence, guarded tightly by supporters who escorted the actor wordlessly into a waiting SUV.
His attorneys, however, had much to say: They were “very elated” that an Illinois appeals court had ordered Smollett released pending his appeal, they were eager to try to overturn his conviction, and adamant that sensational media attention and political machinations thwarted Smollett’s chance at a fair trial.
The three-judge panel was split 2-1, with Justices Thomas Hoffman and Joy Cunningham agreeing to grant the motion. The only explanation offered in the order was that Smollett has never been convicted of a violent offense and would have completed his sentence of incarceration well before his appeal is decided.
Nine years and a long series of legal twists after Sanchez Mixon was killed on a CTA Green Line platform, the man convicted of murder in his fatal beating was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Anthony Jackson’s sentence concludes — for now — his case’s extraordinary tenure in Cook County court. The Jackson matter has been through two trials, a slew of explicit and conspiracy-laden court filings by his attorney brother, and an unsuccessful bid for relief at the U.S. Supreme Court.
News that the Ricketts family aims to add Chelsea F.C. to their sporting portfolio brought an instant reaction from the storied English soccer club’s local fan group: No, thanks.
Some wondered if the Ricketts, who recently presided over a fire sale of the Cubs’ top talent, would have the stomach for the massive spending the club has been known for under Roman Abramovich.
“The first time in a transfer window that they don’t spend the money on a player that all the fans want, they’ll turn,” said Cory Woodhall, a Chelsea fan who lives in Chicago.
It was supposed to last two weeks. But rather than anything so temporary, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s unprecedented statewide shutdown of Illinois bars and restaurants issued two years ago Wednesday — March 16, 2020 — ushered in a pandemic reality that walloped the hospitality industry with a torrent of unprecedented challenges.
To commemorate the moment, we gathered four bar and restaurant owners and operators to look back — and ahead.
When the Tribune’s Christopher Borrelli left Amazon Books on Southport Avenue for the last time, he stood on the sidewalk, took notes, and a woman in a Lululemon zip-up asked him what he was writing.
She cackled. “No! Boo-hoo! Jeff Bezos! So sorry! Maybe reopen in space!”
OK, no one will mourn this death, Borrelli writes, but a few words must be said.
Daywatch: Jussie Smollett released from jail pending appeal | Local companies cut ties in Russia | Chicago restaurants reflect on COVID shutdown anniversary - Chicago Tribune
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