City Cast Chicago
🚨 Bovino’s back. With back-up.
December 16, 2025 · — Emmi Mack
Hey, um … Do you like us? 👉 👈
If so, vote for City Cast Chicago in the Reader’s Best of Chicago 2025! This newsletter and our podcast are both nominated in the City Life category, which is such an honor.
Vote early, vote often, as the Chicagoans say. Just kidding, you can only vote once so make it count!
What's CITY Talking About
Bovino is Back with Enforcements
After leaving to oversee immigration operations in other states, Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino is back in Chicago. He arrived with about 200 Border Patrol agents. Tuesday, they arrested at least one person at a Walmart in Cicero. [Block Club]
- Related: Bovino is a showman. [WBEZ]
Alders Want to Balance Budget with Taxes, Rideshare Surcharges, and ... Ads?
The group of alders attempting to pass their own 2026 budget revealed a new plan for revenue. It includes increased liquor taxes and plastic bag fees; an expansion of the rideshare surcharge zone; legalized video gambling; and revenue from selling ad space on bridge houses, light poles, and city vehicles. [Tribune 🔒]
Beat Kitchen Owner Sues City Over Racial Bias
The Beat Kitchen lost its Riverwalk lease in May. Now, the owner is suing the city, alleging race-based discrimination during the renewal process. He says the city gave the coveted space to Haire’s Gulf Shrimp in order to prop up Black-owned businesses against federal and state law. [Sun-Times]
Hot Tips for Cold Chicago Winter
The solstice may be this weekend, but it’s been winter in Chicago for weeks now. Still, there’s plenty of cold ahead. Today’s podcast revisits essential winter rules with WBEZ’s Susie An. [City Cast Chicago 🎧]
Sponsored Content
The Joffrey’s Nutcracker is A Spellbinding Adventure
Join Marie and her Nutcracker prince in The Joffrey Ballet’s fantastical adventure in Tony Award®-winning Christopher Wheeldon's kaleidoscopic reimagining of The Nutcracker, set amidst the spectacle of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Set to Tchaikovsky's classic score, this annual holiday tradition celebrates the magic of the season and the rich cultural heritage of Chicago.
What To Do
Wednesday, Dec. 17
- ⭐️ A Season of Stars | The Auditorium | Loop
- 🍪 Cookies with Santa | Calumet Park | East Side
- 🖼️ RE:ALIZE Becoming Infinite | Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education | Bridgeport
- 🏀 Bulls vs. Cavaliers | United Center | Near West Side
- 🎶 RIFF: Chicago's Music Improv Party | The Newport Theater | Northalsted
- 🍪 Gingerbread House Making | Midwest Coast Brewing | Near West Side
- ⁉️ "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" Trivia Night | Easy Street | Portage Park
This isn’t directly Chicago-related, but I just love this video of Rob Reiner and (my idol) Nora Ephron discussing the process of writing “When Harry Met Sally.”
As New Year's Eve approaches, I’ll be thinking of that romantic final scene and how the happy ending was (in part) a tribute to Rob’s wife, Michelle Reiner. RIP.
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