Good morning, Chicago.
By yesterday afternoon, the day before the first public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson, long rows of barricades stretched throughout the parkway in the middle of Drexel Boulevard, where thousands are expected to gather today and tomorrow to honor one of America’s most enduring civil rights leaders.
More than a week of services and funerals in memory of Jackson will begin this morning at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the civil rights organization he founded on the South Side in 1971. The visitation will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 10 p.m. today and tomorrow at the coalition’s headquarters at 930 E. 50th Street.
Today is the beginning of a three-city, nine-day memorial tour, of sorts, that will also end in Chicago. After he lies in repose at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, Jackson, who died earlier this month at age 84, will lie in state on Monday at the South Carolina state capitol in Columbia. He was born about 100 miles away, in Greenville, S.C., in 1941.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Andrew Carter.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including legislation proposed to slash $40M in ‘hidden expenses’ from Illinois utility bills, Hilary Knight says President Trump’s joke ‘distasteful’ and wants the focus on the US women’s Olympic success and what to do in Chicago this weekend.
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A document that was included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, photographed Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, shows a photo of Epstein on a inmate report from the Federal Bureau of Prisons . (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
Justice Department says it’s reviewing whether any Epstein-related records were mistakenly withheld
The Justice Department said that it was looking into whether it had improperly withheld documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files after several news organizations reported that some records involving uncorroborated accusations made by a woman against President Donald Trump were not among those released to the public.
The announcement followed news reports saying that a massive tranche of records released by the Justice Department did not include several summaries of interviews that the FBI conducted with an unidentified woman who came forward after Epstein’s 2019 arrest and claimed to have been sexually assaulted by both Trump and Epstein when she was a minor in the 1980s.
A ComEd smart meter is installed on a home in North Riverside in 2013. (Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune)
Proposed legislation would slash $40M in ‘hidden expenses’ from Illinois utility bills
With utility rates rising across Illinois, consumer groups are backing proposed legislation to wring $40 million per year in hidden expenses out of customer bills.
Republican gubernatorial candidates Ted Dabrowski, from left, James Mendrick and Rick Heidner debate at WFLD-Ch. 32 in Chicago on Feb. 24, 2026. Previous GOP gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey, who is running again, wasn’t present. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
As primary looms, Illinois Republican governor candidates say they oppose abortion-is-murder bill
Opposing abortion has been an Illinois Republican litmus test for decades, but even the party’s four candidates seeking the GOP nomination for governor are walking away from recently filed legislation that would criminalize the procedure as murder and make women who undergo an abortion and those who assist her eligible for the death penalty.
Darren Bailey, Ted Dabrowski, Rick Heidner and James Mendrick have all positioned themselves as pro-life and criticized Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker’s efforts to make Illinois a haven for women seeking abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, leaving the legality of the procedure up to individual states.
Former Oswego High School students, from left, Natalie Grimm, Anne Marie Fish, Jillian Lake and Kala Sundstrom listen as their attorney Cass Casper speaks during a news conference on Feb. 25, 2026. The four former students are suing Oswego Community Unit School District 308 for allegedly showing a “reckless disregard for student safety” and for failing to properly investigate grooming and sexual misconduct they say they experienced at the hands of Sean Staffeldt, a former teacher and coach for football, wrestling and track. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
‘Terrifying and tortuous’: Former Oswego High School students sue district for allegedly failing to stop sexual harassment by teacher
When Jillian Lake was a student at Oswego High School she followed a routine. She woke up in the morning, got dressed and drove through the community she’d grown up in.
But inside she was consumed by fear. She worried she would be ostracized if anyone found out she’d reported harassment to the school district that she said she faced from a popular teacher. So she forced herself to put on a brave face when she walked into the building.
Night falls on Loretto Hospital in the 5500 block of West Flournoy Street on Jan. 12, 2022, in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. A delivery driver was found lying on the ground outside Loretto on Feb. 23, 2026, after a doctor had ordered Uber Eats to the hospital, according to a police report obtained by the Tribune. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
‘Just trying to provide for his family’: Judge orders woman detained in slaying of Uber Eats driver
Early Monday morning, a doctor at Loretto Hospital ordered food delivery through Uber Eats, prosecutors said, then went outside to investigate when he didn’t receive the meal despite the app showing that the driver arrived to the correct location.
The doctor found Daniel Figueroa on the ground in a pool of blood, his face matching the photograph of the delivery driver included in the app, prosecutors told a judge yesterday.
Kendall Coyne, left, and Hilary Knight celebrate after the United States won the Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, in Milan. (Hassan Ammar/AP)
Hilary Knight says President Trump’s joke ‘distasteful’ and wants the focus on the US women’s Olympic success
Hilary Knight doesn’t want to let what she called a “distasteful joke” from President Donald Trump about the gold-medal-winning U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team get in the way of a historic performance by American women across all sports at the Milan Cortina Games.
Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds celebrates with defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. after Edmunds batted a fourth-down pass by Giants quarterback Russell Wilson late in the fourth quarter Nov. 9, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Tremaine Edmunds has permission to seek a trade. What it means for the Chicago Bears’ salary cap and needs.
The Chicago Bears will have needs — not wants — at all three levels of their defense.
It has been obvious for some time the team has heavy lifting to do in the secondary with every safety on the 2025 roster coming out of contract. And the Bears have openly discussed needing to add to the defensive line.
Linebacker is a bona fide need, too, as the team made it clear it will be moving on from Tremaine Edmunds, who led the defense in tackles last season despite missing four games with a minor groin injury.
NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) moon rocket with the Orion spacecraft slowly rolls back towards the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
NASA moves its Artemis II moon rocket off the launch pad for more repairs
The slow-motion trek at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center was expected to take all day. The 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System rocket had spent a month at the pad ready for potential liftoff, but encountered a series of problems serious enough to require a return to the Vehicle Assembly Building, about 4 miles away.
Phil Collins performs at Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City on March 9, 2018, left, Lauryn Hill performs during the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup in Washington on Dec. 5, 2025, center, and Shakira performs during the Global Citizen Festival in New York on Sept. 27, 2025. (AP Photo)
Phil Collins, Lauryn Hill, INXS, Iron Maiden, Luther Vandross and Shakira get Rock Hall nominations
The hall revealed the list of 17 performer nominees yesterday, a list that also includes Melissa Etheridge, Jeff Buckley, Pink, New Edition, Sade and the Wu-Tang Clan.
Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune
Maria Bamford performs at the Den Theatre on March 14, 2019, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
What to do in Chicago: Maria Bamford, Trinity Irish Dance and a return of the monster trucks
Here are our picks for events in and around Chicago this weekend.
