Darren Bailey wins primary in a stunning rebuke to the Illinois GOP establishment – Chicago Tribune

By On Jun 29, 2022

Good morning, Chicago.

In a stunning rebuke to the state’s GOP establishment, conservative Downstate lawmaker Darren Bailey easily won the Republican nomination for governor Tuesday following a late endorsement by former President Donald Trump and millions of dollars in backing from his fall opponent, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who views Bailey as an easy challenge.

Former Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias succeeded in the first step of his political comeback attempt, defeating three rivals in the Democratic primary for secretary of state and setting up a Nov. 8 general election matchup with Republican state Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington.

An incumbent vs. incumbent congressional primary in the Chicago suburbs saw Rep. Sean Casten declared the winner over his Democratic counterpart, Rep. Marie Newman. A similar intraparty battle downstate, in which former President Donald Trump played a central role, saw Rep. Rodney Davis concede to far right Republican Rep. Mary Miller.

A trio of Cook County incumbents swept Democratic primary races, including first-term assessor Fritz Kaegi, who survived a heated and expensive battle against an upstart challenger. Democratic voters also gave resounding wins to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Sheriff Tom Dart.

Visit our live election results page for the latest updates.

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Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, is sworn in to testify as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues to reveal its findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, June 28, 2022. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Donald Trump rebuffed his own security’s warnings about armed protesters in the Jan. 6 rally crowd and made desperate attempts to join his supporters as they marched to the Capitol, according to dramatic new testimony before the House committee investigating the 2021 insurrection.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a little-known former White House aide, described an angry, defiant president who was trying that day to let armed protesters avoid security screenings at a rally that morning to protest his 2020 election defeat.

Musician R. Kelly emerges from his Chicago studio, Feb. 22, 2019. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)

It has been 20 years since R. Kelly first faced criminal charges related to alleged sexual misdeeds, but in a federal courtroom in New York today, the Chicago-born R&B star will be in uncharted territory. For the first time in his life, Kelly, 55, is facing a sentencing judge.

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The long-awaited hearing in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn comes nine months after Kelly was convicted by a jury of racketeering conspiracy and eight other counts alleging he used his organization to lure and trap girls, boys and young women to satisfy his predatory desires. The hearing is expected to last most of the day and include emotional testimony from some of Kelly’s victims, as well as disturbing new details about Kelly’s own troubled upbringing in Chicago.

Chase Tower on July 6, 2021. JPMorgan Chase occupies much of the 1.9 million-square-foot tower. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to undo Roe v. Wade and end federal protections for abortion has propelled companies into the issue of reproductive freedom, with some employers around the country saying they will cover expenses when workers travel to get an abortion.

But for workers in the roughly half of the states that are expected to curtail or ban abortion, two law professors said plans to cover travel costs to undergo the procedure could face headwinds.

General manager Oscar Diaz pours drinks for server Chloe Climenhaga inside the empty dining room as customers eat outside, Dec. 2, 2020 at Bien Trucha restaurant in Geneva, Illinois. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

It was a late night in mid-June when Julio Cano, the chief business officer for the Bien Trucha Group, got an email he thought was from Facebook. “It said our Facebook business page was going to be disabled,” Cano said. “I was tired and I just opened it. That’s how they got us.” The account was hacked.

More than two weeks later, Cano is still desperately trying to regain control of his company’s Facebook accounts. “It’s been a total nightmare,” Cano said Monday. “It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

Michigan is the top-producing state in the U.S. of cultivated blueberries. (Michigan Economic Development Corporation)

Blueberries are indeed the little, round, cute, colorful crop that defines midsummer along the gentle dunes and broad beaches of the eastern coast of Lake Michigan. Blueberries love light, sandy soil, which makes the beaches and bluffs of southwestern Michigan the perfect setting for growing the 110 million pounds of berries the state produced in 2020.

Blueberry season typically blooms around July 4 and continues through the end of August, with different varieties rolling into Michigan farm stands along Interstate Highway 196, which hugs the lake from Indiana to Grand Haven.

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