Justin Doggett, owner of cold brew company Kyoto Black, fills a pouch with coffee. Doggett is one of dozens of local vendors affected by the closings of Foxtrot and Dom’s stores in late April. Esther Yoon-Ji Kang/WBEZ Justin Doggett owns and single-handedly runs Kyoto Black, a cold brew coffee company. He has spent the last nine years carefully building up his Edgewater-based business. But in an instant in late April, he checked his Instagram feed and found everything had changed. He learned Outfox Hospitality, the parent company of upscale grocers Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market ..read more

Gov. J.B. Prizker speaks during a news conference on Monday marking the official start of construction of the Thompson Center in the Loop. Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times Construction on the James R. Thompson Center is in full swing after the building's developers on Monday officially kicked off the redevelopment project, saying that it will have an “unbelievable impact" on the Loop and strengthen Chicago’s reputation as a technology hub. Once complete, the building at 100 W. Randolph St. will become Google's Chicago headquarters and house 2,000 employees. The project is expected to be ..read more

Advocates rallied outside of Chicago City Hall in October 2023 calling for the Illinois Commerce Commission to cut proposed rate hikes from the state’s four largest gas utilities. Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco / WBEZ Illinois ratepayers could see their gas bills soar over the next decade unless officials hit the brakes on spending from the state’s major gas utilities. A new report from the Building Decarbonization Coalition and Groundworks Data investigated what could happen if Peoples Gas, Nicor Gas, North Ameren Gas and North Shore continue to double down on a natural gas infrastructure sys ..read more

Boys play with yo-yos at a Chicago schoolyard in 1967. Bob Kotalik/Sun-Times files My wife sleeps late while I wake early. "I'm going to walk the dog," I explained a few weeks back, after she stirred while I was putting on my shoes. "Do you have a yo-yo?" she asked, sleepily. Opinion bug Opinion "No," I said, puzzled, slow on the uptake, figuring she was coming out of a dream. "Why do you ask?" "'Walk the dog,'" she explained. Ah. A yo-yo trick. My next thought — I kid you not — was: I should get a yo-yo and learn tricks to entertain our future grandchildren. Then I wondered: Are there ..read more

Don Sharko. Provided Don Sharko pretended not to notice when his 7-year-old son hid in the back seat of his Chrysler as he slid into the driver's seat and pulled away from his South Shore home to head to work at his little restaurant down the street from the U.S. Steel South Works plant. It was a Saturday habit for the boy, also named Don, who hardly ever got to see his dad because he took just two days off a year — Christmas and Thanksgiving. When they got to the restaurant, he helped his dad pound out hamburger patties and fill little plastic bags with crackers to go with orders of chi ..read more

In River North, diners eat outside on a sidewalk patio for the restaurant The Smith on Clark Street. Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times Outdoor dining season officially kicked off Wednesday and this year could be a boon for restaurant owners thanks to a roster of big events this summer like NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race, Lollapalooza and the Democratic National Convention. The city’s outdoor dining program runs annually from May 1 to Oct. 31, offering restaurants and bars the opportunity to receive permits for setting up tables and chairs on the sidewalk or close a block for dining in the st ..read more

Kilwins owner Jackie Jackson behind the counter of her Andersonville store. Jackson received the Illinois Small Business Person of the Year award from the U.S. Small Business Administration Great Lakes region. Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Kilwins franchise owner Jacqueline "Jackie" Jackson stood in her Andersonville store near glass cases full of decadent truffles, caramel apples and nut caramel turtles like the ones her late mother loved. After several rough starts before owning a string of Kilwins chocolate shops, Jackson's perseverance was recognized Thursday at an awards ceremony with f ..read more

Barbara Glusak, a former executive at Bridgeport’s Washington Federal Bank for Savings, leaving the Dirksen Federal Courthouse on April 25. Glusak is set to testify Wednesday at the sentencing of two key figures in the embezzlement investigation that grew out of the bank’s forced shutdown: Janice Weston and George Kozdemba. Jim Vondruska / Sun-Times As chief financial officer of a tiny bank in Bridgeport with ties to the Daley family, Barbara Glusak knew something was very wrong in the spring of 2011. There was a “significant balance’’ on a loan owed by Robert Kowalski a close friend of ..read more

A new marina on the north side of Navy Pier is set to start construction later this year. Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times A marina at Navy Pier is expected to open in 2025 after running aground against objections from former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration. Mayor Brandon Johnson has reversed Lightfoot’s course and agreed to allow the 150-vessel marina to open on the pier’s north side. It’s a private investment led by real estate executive Randy Podolsky, an avid sailor and a volunteer with the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. Called Navy Pier Marina, it will cater to boaters who moor ..read more

Construction crews work outside of the former Thompson Center as Google’s plans to convert the former state government building into its Chicago headquarters progresses. Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times Demolition of the exterior and atrium of the Thompson Center have begun as Google’s plans to convert the former state government building into its Chicago headquarters progresses. Crews used excavators to tear off lower exterior portions of the building at 100 W. Randolph St. on Thursday, marking an unofficial start to Google’s $280 million renovations of the 17-story building. Permits i ..read more