January 22, 2026 Edition

AN 22-- JAN 28, 2026 . Volume No. 26

LT. JULIANA STRATTON A Deliberate Case for the Senate

E-NOTES Publisher Cheryl Mainor Norman

Editor-In-Chief

Kai El Zabar

Chief Content Officer Managing Editor

Laura Miller

Editorial Assistant Creative Direction Art Director Sales Manager Copy Editor Staff Writers

Columnists

Travel Joyously Kai El Zabar - Editor-In-Chief

Malachi Webster CNW Studio, LLC L.D. Hunter Michael Toliver Max Blaisdell Malachi Webster.

Candi McCrary Mila Marshall. PhD. Neffer Kerr Cabryl Breotti C.L. Blackburn Malachi Webster Ryan Willis Dr. Sanja Rickette Stinson David Seaton

Intern & Illustrator

Elijah Lee

Cover Photography

Juliana for Illinois Chicago News Weekly, LLC 700 N Sacramento Blvd Suite 320 Chicago, IL 60612 (312) 877-5151 Volume 3 No. 21 October 15, 2025 Chicago News Weekly is Published on Thursday www.cnwmedia.com advertising@cnwmedia.com editorial@cnwmedia.com

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Transform your traveling experience—once considered arduous—into a joyful one When we think about the journeys we plan to take, we often focus on the physical aspects: the length of time it will take to travel from our starting point to our eventual destination. Even when we are excited about a trip, the minutiae required to plan it can creep in. We think about the vehicle, the comfort—or lack thereof— and the availability of restrooms along the way.

Naturally, we consider accommodations. Is it a high-end or a middling facility? What will the mattress be like? What about food and other services? These questions can be as exhausting as they are exhilarating.

The thrill of entering a new environment may be undercut by our sensitivity to change, unfamiliar surroundings, and forced shifts in our usual habits. Air, road, and sea travel can be extremely taxing— especially for those who find it difficult to feel comfortable or sleep soundly in a strange bed. How will they fare? With experience comes a knack for travel: you learn what works for you. The goal is to create a process that supports you, no matter the journey you embark upon.

Be open-minded about the many ways to remove stress from both short trips and lengthy sojourns.

Much of the anxiety we feel before traveling stems from the care we take to feel comfortable in our day-to-day lives— comfort rooted in routine. The truth is, it’s more than the bed, the color of the walls, or having your favorite book nearby.

Adapting your personal routines and comfort points to align with your travel schedule can ease the unease of being away from home. When you ground yourself by honoring your daily sacred rituals, you no longer feel out of your element.

I find it comforting to travel with a few reassuring items from home to help me stay balanced. Each individual is different: you may bring a Bible, photographs of loved ones, a book of poetry, a favorite tea or snack, an iPad loaded with favorite games, soft slippers, a silk pillowcase, or even your own pillow. These items can soothe the rigors of travel by plane, car, train, or ship while en route. Mystics suggest holding a crystal, gemstone, talisman, cross, or medicine bag during particularly stressful moments to remain relaxed and alert. Objects imbued with healing or calming energy can help you decompress once you reach your destination.

As you unpack your travel comforts, consider lighting a stick of sweet-smelling incense or basking in the glow of a meditation candle. This sense of familiarity can align your energy and gently ground you in what feels serene and familiar—whereveryou are.

Throughout your journey, remember to indulge in activities that center you and sustain your emotional equilibrium. Maintaining rituals such as going to bed and waking at the same time each day helps ensure you remain strong and healthy. I also recommend carving out quiet moments for yourself to stay connected in unfamiliar settings. These small but meaningful steps can preserve your tranquility and keep your focus on well-being—transforming travel into a truly joyful experience.

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JAN 22-- JAN 28, 2026

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NATIONAL NEWS AG Ellison Says Feds Persecuting Minnesota for Its Politics Minnesota Sues DHS Over ICE Surge, Citing Constitutional Violations

CLINT COMBS - NNPA NEWSWIRE/MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN-RECORDER

The state of Minnesota, along with the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, filed federal lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security, alleging that a large-scale deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents violated the U.S. Constitution and the states’ rights.

Minnesota, Minneapolis, and St. Paul have filed federal lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security, arguing that a large-scale ICE deployment violated constitutional limits and endangered residents, schools, and local services.

He and mayors petition court to restrain ICE surge. The state of Minnesota, along with the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, filed federal lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security, alleging that a large-scale deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents violated the U.S. Constitution and the states’ rights.

Attorney General Keith Ellison asked a federal judge to block the federal government from deploying thousands of immigration agents into Minnesota, arguing the action overstepped federal authority.

“We allege that the surge has had a reckless impact on our schools and on our local law enforcement,” Ellison said. “It is a violation of the Tenth Amendment and the sovereign powers granted to states under the Constitution.”

The lawsuit follows reports that ICE agents detained a special education assistant at Roosevelt High School and used chemical irritants against teachers and students, hours after ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Nicole Good near Portland Avenue and 34th Street in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the surge, which began in December, is expected to cost the city millions of dollars in police overtime.

“We have normal core functions that we are tasked with daily,” Frey said. “We respond to 911 calls, work to prevent murders and carjackings, and continue community policing efforts that have driven crime rates down.”

Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Minneapolis police established a dedicated dispatch operation to handle 911 calls related to encounters with federal agents.

“We had a dramatic increase in calls related to this activity,” O’Hara said. “There is a designated supervisor on duty 24/7 to field those calls and prioritize response as policies continue to evolve.”

Frey said residents reported incidents of agents in unmarked uniforms and cars detaining American citizens. On Jan. 8, U.S. Border Patrol agents detained two workers at a Target store in Richfield, including 17-year-old Jonathan Aguilar Garcia, who was later released at a Walmart parking lot after agents confirmed he was a U.S. citizen.

“Some of you saw the videos from Target and Roosevelt High School,” Ellison said. “I have received countless calls from people saying they are afraid to go to work, and they’re citizens, not immigrants.”

Retailers including Target, Home Depot, and Walmart have faced criticism for allowing ICE to use parking lots as staging areas. Separately, security staff at Hennepin County Medical Center reportedly asked federal agents to leave a stabilization room after an injured person was brought in during an arrest. The agents allegedly refused.

State and local officials argue the incidents reflect what they describe as an ICE “invasion” of Minneapolis and other cities under a pretext of fraud enforcement.

Ellison said the state is challenging what he described as “excessive and lethal force” by federal agents, including warrantless arrests and targeting of courts, houses of worship, and schools.

PBS Frontline reporter AC Thompson told Ellison that his reporting crew was pepper-sprayed by federal agents while covering enforcement activity. “Is this litigation aimed at restraining the use of crowd-control and less-lethal weapons?” Thompson asked. “Our crew was pepper-sprayed today by federal agents. Are you taking action on that?”

David Super, a Georgetown University law professor, said Minnesota’s lawsuit is distinct from similar challenges in other states because the civil rights claims are being brought by the state itself.

“To prevail, Minnesota must persuade a court that the federal government is acting outside the powers granted by the Constitution and depriving the state of its sovereignty,” Super said. “While DHS has primary authority over immigration, these actions appear to extend against Minnesotans who are neither immigrants nor directly involved with immigration enforcement.”

Super said the court could issue emergency relief, such as a temporary restraining order, though such orders are limited in duration and subject to appeal

by DHS. He also noted the case could reach the U.S. Supreme Court, where a conservative majority has previously ruled in favor of the Trump administration in immigration-related cases.

“Surrounding Ms. Good’s car, ordering her out, and shooting her for noncompliance goes far beyond federal authority to control immigration,” Super said.

“A court could determine that such interactions with citizens are a core power of the state under the Tenth Amendment.”Clint Combs welcomes reader responses at combs0284@gmail.com

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CITY NEWS Side Hustle City: As Wages Stagnate, Chicago’s Gig Workers Push Springfield for a Real Say MALACHI WEBSTER - STAFF WRITER In a Chicago economy where rent climbs, groceries spike, and the city’s own budget pushes new fees onto residents, the side hustles that once looked like extra cash now function more like lifelines. The question in early 2026 is no longer whether Chicagoans are working second jobs—it’s whether they’ll finally get a voice in how that work is governed.

The model draws directly from a framework first adopted in Massachusetts, where voters approved a similar system allowing contractors to negotiate wages and working conditions, and from a California arrangement negotiated last year. Advocates with the Illinois Drivers Alliance describe it as a workaround to federal labor law, which currently bars independent contractors from forming traditional unions.

Advocacy groups and driver coalitions estimate that roughly 100,000 rideshare drivers are on the road for Uber and Lyft across Illinois, with Chicago as the hub. Many treat the apps as a side hustle layered on top of low‑wage full‑time work; others are “full‑time” in everything but name, logging hundreds of trips a month without benefits or basic protections.

The model draws directly from a framework first adopted in Massachusetts, where voters approved a similar system allowing contractors to negotiate wages and working conditions, and from a California arrangement negotiated last year. Advocates with the Illinois Drivers Alliance describe it as a workaround to federal labor law, which currently bars independent contractors from forming traditional unions.

Local reporting has found that many app‑based drivers in Chicago are effectively earning below the city’s minimum wage once gas, insurance, maintenance, and platform fees are factored in.

That wage floor is supposed to be at least in the mid‑teens per hour in the city, higher for some large employers. But the gig model shifts risk and cost onto workers while shielding companies from traditional employer obligations.

The federal court ruling against Google for violating Section 2 of the Sherman Act acknowledged the monopoly problem. But a monopoly that controls information access while degrading that access for financial gain represents something more dangerous than a business problem—it's a public health and equity issue.

Now, a new legislative push is trying to change at least one piece of that equation. State Sen. Ram Villivalam and Rep. Yolonda Morris, both Democrats from Chicago, are preparing to introduce a bill that would give app‑based rideshare drivers a path to unionize and bargain collectively— without changing their legal status as independent contractors.

Under the proposal, any labor organization that can show support from 10 percent of drivers would gain access to driver contact information; reaching 30 percent support would make that organization the bargaining representative for all rideshare drivers in the state. The law would cover drivers for transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft but exclude delivery‑only platforms such as Instacart and DoorDash.

For workers, the stakes are concrete. Listening sessions with Chicago gig workers have surfaced the same themes over and over: lack of transparency in pay formulas, sudden “unfair” deactivations that cut off income overnight, and long unpaid hours spent repositioning around the city to chase demand. A majority of surveyed app‑based drivers say they believe they should be classified as employees, with access to benefits and clearer protections, but many also say that if contractor status continues, they at least want bargaining rights and due process.

The proposed bill tries to address some of those concerns. It would bar companies from retaliating against drivers who organize, impose a small surcharge on rideshare fares to fund enforcement and bargaining costs, and create a formal channel for negotiating pay standards and working conditions.

“They are providing an essential service, getting people to school, their doctor, and their job,” Villivalam said recently, arguing that the workers who keep the city moving deserve more than unilateral terms dictated by an app.

At the same time, new national data underscores just how unstable the side‑hustle economy has become. A recent analysis by a major credit bureau found that nearly one in three Millennial and Gen Z gig workers have rented out or sold their platform accounts to other people just to cover their own bills—a practice that violates company rules and raises serious safety concerns. Fewer than half of surveyed gig workers said they believe platforms are doing enough to verify identities on those accounts.

That desperation sits atop a broader boom. National stats show rapid growth in side hustles ranging from pet sitting to online tutoring to selling digital products, with Chicago emerging as a hotspot for remote freelance work and tutoring gigs layered on top of day jobs. The hustle is no longer a quirky lifestyle choice—it’s how many residents reconcile stagnant wages with one of the highest combined sales tax rates in the country.

The fight now moves to Springfield. Drivers rallied in the Loop this week before heading south to the Capitol, framing the bill as a first step toward a more honest social contract in the gig economy. They are not asking lawmakers to abolish side hustles; they are asking the state to acknowledge that in 2026, a “side” hustle is often the only thing keeping the rest of life from collapsing.

A City That Can’t Count: Inside Chicago’s $26.5 Million Overtime Meltdown MALACHI WEBSTER - STAFF WRITER Chicago is tearing up its couch cushions for spare change while admitting it quietly handed out $26.5 million in overtime pay to workers who may never have been entitled to a dime of it. The city’s own watchdog now says more than 1,000 employees across 24 departments collected overtime between 2020 and 2024 despite being “potentially ineligible,” a bureaucratic failure that landed in the middle of a billion‑dollar budget hole.

The Office of Inspector General found that 1,072 workers received overtime they likely weren’t supposed to get, including staff at the Board of Elections, the Office of the City Clerk, and even the City Council itself. Eighteen employees alone took in between $250,000 and $700,000 apiece in overtime during that five‑year window, accounting for nearly a quarter of all questionable payouts.

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg called the problem exactly what it is: financial malpractice.

“The City’s finances are, needless to say, in an extremely precarious place, and we can ill‑afford mistakes which run well into the eight figures,” she said in a statement. In a separate interview, she described the overpayments as less an organized scam than “a series of spreadsheet mistakes” that add up to tens of millions of dollars the city simply cannot afford to lose.

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The breakdown is damning. Employees who received the overtime worked in 24 city departments plus three key offices—Board of Elections, Clerk, and Council—suggesting this wasn’t a one‑off glitch but a systemic failure of payroll controls. Many of those workers were in management roles, without collective bargaining agreements, meaning they should have been exempt from overtime under both federal law and city policy.

The timing is even worse. Witzburg’s office explicitly briefed the Department of Human Resources and the Department of Finance on the findings “in the hopes that they might inform the City’s 2026 budget process.” That budget is trying to close a gap north of $1 billion, and yet the city is now acknowledging it misdirected $26.5 million at the same time residents are paying more for shopping bags, Uber rides, and almost everything else under the latest revenue package.

City Hall’s response amounts to: we’ll do better.

DHR and Finance “largely concurred” with the findings and promised tougher controls, better training, and more oversight, according to the watchdog. But there is no realistic mechanism to claw back most of the money; legally, once wages are paid, recouping them from employees who relied on the income is an uphill battle at best.

Meanwhile, the big‑picture overtime problem hasn’t improved.

Chicago spent roughly $510.9 million on overtime in 2024 alone, with the Chicago Police Department responsible for a huge share of that total despite being budgeted for far less. A separate analysis found more than 290 city workers earned over $100,000 in overtime on top of their base salaries, most of them in Chicago Police Department. Over six years, the city’s overall overtime bill has spiked by nearly 60 percent, adding about $189 million in extra cost.

This is not a new warning. For years, the inspector general’s office has flagged overtime waste— especially in police ranks—as a driver of burnout, mismanagement, and fiscal bloat. A 2017 CPD‑specific audit documented officers “gaming” the system through practices like lingering on the clock or attaching themselves to cases primarily for court‑time pay. The new citywide report shows many of those cultural habits never met real resistance at the systems level.

In a city that’s raising fees and taxes under the banner of shared sacrifice, the overtime scandal crystallizes a quieter reality: the government doesn’t reliably know where its money is going. Witzburg put the stakes plainly. This isn’t just about spreadsheets; it’s about trust. “This represents careless financial oversight, amounting to tens of millions of dollars, which the city cannot afford,” she said. For Chicago taxpayers, the question now is whether that carelessness stops here—or whether the next “mistake” is already baked into the next budget line.

COVER STORY

JULIANA STRATTON A Deliberate Case for the U.S. Senate LAURA MILLER - MANAGING EDITOR JAN 22-- JAN 28, 2026

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COVER STORY

When Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton talks That team was built on defensive. All publicly about health care, she does not begin with available polls conducted to date show policy. She begins with care.

Krishnamoorthi with a double-digit lead.

A decade ago, Stratton was raising four daughters while caring for her mother, Velma, a public school teacher and adult literacy instructor who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The days were relentless — school schedules layered onto medical appointments, the quiet emotional labor of watching someone you love slip away while still needing everything from you. One evening, as the television played in the background, a news segment aired about Illinois lawmakers moving to strip health care benefits from seniors.

In a primary shaped by fundraising totals, momentum narratives, and compressed attention spans, Stratton is not asking voters to be impressed. She is asking them to look closely A politics learned before office

Stratton grew up on the South Side of Chicago, raised by parents who treated service as a daily obligation rather than a career aspiration. Her mother taught in public schools and community colleges. Her father was a community physician and a Navy veteran. Together, they modeled an “I yelled at the television,” Stratton recalled. “I ethic that would later define Stratton’s honestly said, somebody should run against my understanding of leadership. state representative.”

“Service is the rent you pay for living on this earth,” she said.

At the time, she did not imagine that person would be her. But the anger lingered. So did the She still lives on the South Side. She still frames clarity. leadership as something practiced in relationship with others, not imposed from above.

“I knew how hard it was to care for my mother,” she said. “And I knew there were so many “There is no Juliana Stratton agenda,” she said. “It’s people like her who didn’t have the resources the people’s agenda. Government should be a we had.” partner to the people, not a roadblock.”

That moment did not simply spark a campaign. It clarified a responsibility.

Before entering electoral politics, Stratton worked as a restorative justice practitioner and ran a Today, Stratton is the first Black lieutenant mediation and alternative dispute resolution firm. governor in Illinois history and a Democratic She taught negotiation skills across the country, candidate for the U.S. Senate. She is running in learning early that outcomes depend less on a March 17 Democratic primary against two authority than on trust — and that power without sitting members of Congress — U.S. Reps. Raja accountability rarely produces justice.

Krishnamoorthi (D-8th) and Robin Kelly (D2nd) — in a race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. “You cannot come to a negotiating table with Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). someone who is operating in bad faith,” she said.

“They’re not trying to do the right thing.” That skepticism of power without accountability would The contest is sharply defined by disparities in follow her into public life. The race that made her resources and early polling. According to the visible most recent Federal Election Commission reports available, filed through Sept. 30, 2025, Stratton’s entry into electoral politics was neither Krishnamoorthi reported $24.9 million in total accidental nor symbolic. In 2016, she challenged receipts, $6.8 million in disbursements, and Ken Dunkin in the Democratic primary for Illinois’ $18.1 million cash on hand.

5th House District at a moment of deep intra-party tension. Dunkin had drawn sharp criticism from Kelly reported $2.7 million in receipts, $754,261 in fellow Democrats for withholding support from spending, and nearly $2 million remaining. legislation that would have reversed cuts to social Stratton reported $2.1 million raised, $1.17 million service programs under Republican Gov. Bruce spent, and just under $920,000 cash on hand.

Rauner.

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The race became a referendum — not simply on one lawmaker, but on what Democratic accountability was supposed to look like when core social services were under threat.

Stratton secured the endorsement of then-President Barack Obama and drew strong backing from labor unions, particularly those representing child care and home care workers. Her campaign centered social services, labor protections, and the belief that Democratic leadership should not equivocate when vulnerable communities are at risk.

She won decisively, capturing 68% of the vote in one of the most expensive Illinois House races of the cycle, with roughly $6 million spent between the candidates. The victory established her not as a protest candidate, but as a disciplined political operator willing to take risks — and capable of winning.

Like many Illinois Democrats of her generation, Stratton benefited from established party infrastructure early in her career — but her rise did not follow the traditional leadership pipeline, and she did not assume party or legislative control roles.

From the legislature to the executive branch Stratton entered the Illinois House with urgency and little patience for symbolic wins. By August 2017, she had led 25 bills, with nine advancing to Gov. Rauner’s desk, and served on multiple committees.

She sponsored legislation ending preschool expulsions, which disproportionately affected Black and Brown children and often set them on a path toward long-term academic and behavioral consequences. She helped dismantle school-based booking stations — rooms inside schools used to process student arrests — making Illinois one of the first states to outlaw the practice entirely.

She did not frame the work as radical. She framed it as overdue.

When she became lieutenant governor in 2019, Stratton was clear about what she would not accept: a role defined by ceremony rather than consequence.

“I told the governor I didn’t want to do this if the job was just, ‘I don’t feel like going — send Juliana,’” she said. “I wanted to bring my full, authentic self to the table and be a true partner in governance.”

COVER STORY According to public records, Stratton has since spearheaded the Justice, Equity, and Opportunity Initiative and chairs the Illinois Council on Women and Girls, the Governor’s Rural Affairs Council, the Military and Economic Development Council, and the Illinois River Coordinating Council.

The shift from legislator to executive forced a recalibration. Advocacy became implementation.

Ideas became systems. Progress slowed — but impact widened.

Learning the state What Stratton gained in the lieutenant governor’s office was not simply a larger platform, but a wider map — and a different relationship to authority.

Her portfolio required her to move far beyond the familiar geography of Chicago politics, into rural counties and small towns where state officials often appear only during moments of crisis or election cycles. As chair of the Governor’s Rural Affairs Council, she convened local leaders around hospital closures, food insecurity, and workforce shortages — problems that rarely register as national headlines but define daily life for thousands of Illinois residents.

“You can’t govern people you don’t show up for,” Stratton said. “And you can’t show up once and think that’s enough.”

Some meetings were tense. In communities wary of Democratic leadership, residents questioned whether state attention would last beyond the visit.

Others arrived carrying years of frustration, skeptical that government could offer anything beyond sympathy. Stratton’s approach was consistent: listen first, resist defensiveness, and return with followthrough — even when answers were incomplete.

She was often the only Black woman in the room.

Sometimes the only woman at all. She did not foreground that fact, but she did not ignore it either.

Her strategy was not to win the room quickly, but to stay long enough to be trusted.

Colleagues describe her governing style as methodical rather than performative — someone who prepares extensively, asks detailed questions, and resists speaking before she understands the full context of an issue. When disagreements arise, she presses for clarity instead of consensus, believing unresolved tension is preferable to superficial agreement.

Governing through lived experience Health care remains the throughline of Stratton’s public work — not as abstraction, but as lived reality.

“When people don’t have access to health care, it’s not just about a doctor or a diagnosis,” she said. “It’s about being able to go to work. It’s about caring for your family. It’s about education and generational wealth.”

In the interview, Stratton returned repeatedly to health care, accountability, and lived experience — issues that have shaped both her record and her decision to run.

She spoke about rural hospitals on the brink of closure, families choosing between rent and treatment, and life expectancy gaps between ZIP codes that can stretch two decades within the same metropolitan area.

“We don’t have a health care system,” she said. “We have a sick-care system.”

Asked directly about solutions, she did not hedge.

“There’s the bill for Medicare for All,” Stratton said. “I would support that bill.”

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At the same time, she is candid about the complexity of reform. Affordability, access, provider sustainability, and industry incentives are deeply misaligned.

she often notes that the first time she ever walked into the Illinois State Capitol was after she had been elected.

“We can’t keep pretending this system works,” she said. “It doesn’t work for families, it doesn’t work for providers, and it doesn’t work for outcomes.”

“How can I be it if I can’t see it?” That question led to Girls Lead, a program Stratton launched to expose young girls to women leaders across state government — showing them, early, that power is neither distant nor forbidden

Wages, work, and dignity

What leadership costs

Stratton speaks less about abstract growth than about what families can realistically sustain.

“People need access to health care,” she said, “and they need a livable wage — not minimum, a livable wage.”

Public life has taught Stratton how to be visible. It has not insulated her from what visibility takes.

At home, she is intentional about stillness — about cooking, music, dancing in the kitchen, and quiet moments that restore rather than perform.

Without it, she argues, families are locked into impossible choices — between food and medicine, rent and education. Economic policy, in her view, must be evaluated by lived consequence, not ideological neatness.

“I have to create space to breathe,” she said.

“Otherwise the work can take everything.”

There are moments of doubt. Moments when expectation feels heavy.

A deliberate race, by choice Stratton enters the Senate race without many of the structural advantages that define early frontrunners. She has rejected corporate PAC money and is building her campaign largely through grassroots support.

“This is a harder campaign to build, yes,” she said.

“But what it does not make more challenging is the ability to look voters in the eye and say, ‘I am here to fight for you.’”

She is running a deliberate race, prioritizing governing experience and policy depth over spectacle.

“People are tired of talking points,” she said. “They want to know not just what you want to do, but what you’ve done.”

“But I don’t let it paralyze me,” she said.

The long view Stratton speaks openly about the urgency of the political moment, but she resists panic as strategy.

“I’m hopeful,” she said. “Not because things are easy — but because history shows us that change comes from people who refuse to give up.”

Asked how she wants to be remembered, she does not list titles.

“Public service is not a monologue,” she said. “It’s a dialogue.” In a race often measured by speed and scale, Juliana Stratton is asking voters to consider a different standard — whether care, accountability, and lived experience are still recognized as qualifications for power.

It is not the fastest argument in the field. It is, unmistakably, a

Representation as responsibility When Stratton became Illinois’ first Black lieutenant governor, she did not experience the moment as personal triumph. “You don’t do this to make history,” she said. “But you can’t dismiss the importance of making history.”

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The Throw, the Prayer, the Pick

SPORTS

What Caleb Williams’ Wildest Play Really Exposed About the Bears MALACHI WEBSTER - STAFF WRITER

It will go down, fairly, as one of the most ridiculous throws in NFL playoff history.

Fourth‑and‑4, down seven, less than two minutes left in the NFC Divisional Round.

Caleb Williams took the snap at the Rams’ 14‑yard line, spun away from immediate pressure, and kept running—first sideways, then backwards, then almost out of the television frame.

Somehow, impossibly, it landed exactly where it needed to. Tight end Cole Kmet drifted to the back of the end zone, tracked the ball, and secured the catch for a 14‑yard touchdown that tied the game at 17‑17 and forced overtime. From the press box to social media, the reaction was instant. One national outlet called it “Caleb Williams’ latest wild touchdown pass,” a play that left fans “speechless” even in a loss. Video cut‑ups labeled it “the greatest NFL playoff throw ever,” replaying the scramble from every imaginable angle.

Context matters. Williams had already thrown two interceptions earlier in the game, including a second‑half pick that handed the Rams prime field position at midfield. The Bears had squandered a first‑and‑goal from the 5 with conservative play‑calling, settling for a turnover on downs that forced their defense to get one last stop just to keep the season alive. When Chicago got the ball back at midfield with 1:50 to play and one timeout, the rookie again dragged the offense down the field, converting under pressure until the entire season boiled down to that 4th‑and‑4.

On that single snap, Chicago saw everything it signed up for. The creativity off‑script. The refusal to quit on a play. The almost reckless belief that, with enough time and space, Williams could bend reality—and coverage shells—to his will. For a franchise that has cycled through quarterbacks defined by caution, inconsistency or outright fear, the swagger was intoxicating.

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But overtime delivered a harsher lesson.

After the defense forced the Rams to punt on the opening series of OT, Williams again moved the ball, scrambling for key yardage and inching Chicago into potential field‑goal range. Then came the play that will haunt the offseason.

On a critical down near the edge of Cairo Santos’ comfort zone, Williams targeted DJ Moore on a deep concept. Rams safety Kam Curl broke on the ball, undercut the route and came up with a diving interception that flipped the field and effectively ended Chicago’s season.

Matthew Stafford marched the Rams into range and Harrison Mevis drilled the walk‑off, 20–17, to push L.A. to the NFC Championship Game.

Afterward, Williams admitted that the turnover was on him, explaining that he expected Moore to flatten the route while the receiver took it higher, creating the window Curl exploited. “That one’s on me,” Williams told reporters after the game conceding it was a “big flub” in communication at the worst possible moment. If the end‑of‑regulation throw to Kmet looked like a prayer answered, the overtime pick looked like a message missed.

For Chicago, the stakes of that contrast are enormous. Williams’ second season gave the Bears everything they claimed to want: an NFC North title, their first playoff victory in 15 years, and a national identity built on late‑game chaos that somehow, week after week, ended with the ball in the right hands.

The Rams game proved that identity cuts both ways. Living on miracle plays means living with the possibility that, one snap later, the same instincts will turn an overtime opportunity into an offseason autopsy.

The viral highlight will live forever. So will the box score.

One desperate, eyes‑half‑closed heave that pulled Chicago into overtime—and one misread that slammed the door shut. Between those two throws is the gap the Bears now have to close.

New Podcast on The CNW Network!

We’re starting off the new year with a BOOM! Check out the inaugural episode of Chicago State of Mind with our first guest Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton. We explore the roots of her personhood to understand her latest quest in politics. Available on all podcast platforms.

EMPOWERMENT With Gratitude and Praise for 2026 Gwendolyn Carole Tipton

NNPANewswire - The Cincinnati Herald

Here in 2026, we must not forget His benefits from 2025.

We have already received and continue to receive Spiritual Blessings. Apostle Paul declares that God has blessed believers with “every spiritual blessing.” They encompass gifts of redemption, including forgiveness, grace, and the promise of eternal life. These blessings are not based on human merit but are freely given by God’s grace.

The timeless nature of these spiritual blessings goes beyond our everyday needs, offering comfort and purpose in a world often filled with chaos and uncertainty.

Understanding our identity in Christ can bring hope and transformation, allowing us to shape our perspective and actions.

We should pray for a deeper understanding and appreciation of these spiritual blessings, that we may walk in the fullness of God’s grace and purpose.

Look back on 2025. Remember His forgiveness when we did not follow Him, the grace that carried us through, and the ultimate promise of eternal life.

The book of Ephesians invites believers to reflect on their new creation in Christ and the immense blessings they have received. They are chosen, redeemed, and sealed by the Holy Spirit. These verses encourage believers to live in gratitude and glorify God for His grace and purpose in our lives.

Prayer: With Gratitude and Praise for 2026, we come before You, Lord, praying that we may continue receiving Your spiritual blessings, Your forgiveness, Your choosing us, and bringing us to this place in our lives. Lord, in this new year, we are asking You to direct our paths. We will not lean on our own understanding but look toward you for direction. We commit ourselves to do more, be more, and act more like Christ. Please show us the way.

Amen.

JAN 22-- JAN 28, 2026

9

SPECIAL FEATURE

SOUTH SIDE SMOKE, REAL RELATIONSHIP RYAN WILLIS - CONTRIBUTING WRITER

10 JAN 22-- JAN 28, 2026

SPECIAL FEATURE

Inside Sanders BBQ Supply Co.’s Rise in Beverly

On a cold January afternoon in Beverly, the line at Sanders BBQ Supply Co. tells you what you need to know before you even taste a bite: this isn’t just a neighborhood spot anymore—it’s a destination.

For James Sanders, that journey started long before the media buzz and the growing talk of expansion. “I just had a dream of coming out of the hood, as everyone pretty much does,” he told me.

Sanders was born and raised in East St. Louis, Illinois, a place he describes plainly: a small town known for being the birthplace of Miles Davis, violence and great athletes. “I always had a dream of achieving more… doing more and doing better.”

Barbecue wasn’t a trendy pivot for him —it was home.

He remembers the open pit in his childhood backyard, built when his family bought their house. His father cooked regularly, and people naturally gathered around the fire. “Everyone gravitated to this open pit,” Sanders said.

“It was family… camaraderie… unity with barbecue. That excitement.”

Even after college at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where he says he was constantly cooking for fraternity brothers, Sanders’ path initially leaned into fine dining. But about a decade ago, his passion shifted. He grew tired of what he calls the “celebrity chef” wave and returned to what felt authentic—smoke, fire, and honest food. He began cooking on a small Weber grill in his backyard, feeding friends who became his toughest critics.

That backyard discipline eventually became the foundation for what Sanders now calls craft barbecue—not in a pretentious way, but in a “watch it happen” way. “When I say craft, I’m talking about seeing a person cutting brisket in front of you,” he explained.

“We got wood. Live fire. All our sides are made from scratch.”

This wasn’t meant as a knock on legacy South Side institutions—Sanders is clear about his respect for businesses that have survived for decades.

But he believed there was room for something Chicago didn’t have enough of: a barbecue experience rooted in technique, transparency, and detail.

And for Sanders, the “experience” is the point.

When I asked what brings people from all over the city, he didn’t start with seasoning or sauce. He started with hospitality. “The experience and the customer service first,” he said.

“Everyone walks in, greet them with a smile… happy to see them.” Then comes the part that feels rare in a city where most people order and wait: sampling.

“You get the sample of the barbecue… everything you want to try.” While customers wait, they talk to each other, swap opinions, and become part of the moment. The line becomes community.

Staying rooted on the South Side wasn’t negotiable. “It had to be on the South Side,” he told me. He watched the Beverly location from a distance, suspecting it wouldn’t survive the postpandemic business climate. When the space began closing, Sanders moved with urgency—and preparation. A chance conversation with a fellow business owner led him to the landlord’s number. The landlord asked for a business plan. Sanders sent it the same night.

The next morning, he got the call: the space was his. No credit check, no extended back-and-forth. Just readiness meeting opportunity.

Even with national recognition and a second location planned in Hyde Park, Sanders doesn’t talk like someone who believes he’s “made it.”

He repeats a phrase that feels central to his mindset: improvement is daily. “I still don’t think I got everything right,” he said. “Every day is a good day for improvement… we’re still tweaking the recipe.”

“I just kept showing up. Everything else followed.”

That humility doesn’t mean he lacks confidence—especially when it comes to what barbecue means in the Black community. “We don’t play about our barbecue,” he said, laughing.

That humility doesn’t mean he lacks confidence—especially when it comes to what barbecue means in the Black community. “We don’t play about our barbecue,” he said, laughing. “We take barbecue personal… like we take our soul food.” He also pushes back against the idea that barbecue is one universal flavor.

It’s regional—St. Louis, Kansas City, Texas, Carolina—and Sanders makes sauces in-house so customers can explore that range without losing the familiar comfort they grew up with.

But the story of Sanders BBQ is bigger than brisket.

Sanders and his business partner—an Englewood-raised dentist—see community investment as part of the job. He spoke about creating moments for kids who show promise, including inviting a young aspiring chef into the restaurant’s world. “Some people may have a skill that college can’t teach,” he said. For Sanders, the goal is to “grab those people… show them the way,” not just serve them food.

Near the end of our conversation, I asked him to finish a sentence: “Sanders BBQ is more than food. It’s…”

He didn’t hesitate. “Relationship.”

And that might be the secret ingredient that keeps pulling Chicago back to Beverly—again and again.

When I asked what success looks like beyond revenue, he didn’t pretend money doesn’t matter. “If we’re not making it out of the black—we close down,” he said. But success, to him, is counting wins: a kid finding direction, a team member leveling up, and yes— unexpected recognition that still feels surreal for someone who started low to the ground on a backyard grill.

JAN 22-- JAN 28, 2026

11

Greenland, Trump, and the Misuse of “Imperialism” as Political Theater The outrage surrounding Donald Trump’s expressed interest in acquiring Greenland has always been curious—not because skepticism is unwarranted, but because the loudest criticisms so often rest on intellectually unserious foundations. Much of the backlash, particularly from the progressive left, frames the idea as an expression of white supremacy, imperialism, and colonial entitlement. These accusations are rhetorically potent, but analytically hollow. They substitute moral signaling for historical understanding and emotional reflex for geopolitical literacy.

There are legitimate grounds on which to criticize Trump’s proposal. A unilateral attempt by any U.S. president to purchase Greenland would raise serious questions about diplomatic norms, alliance cohesion, and the stability of the post–World War II international order. NATO is not merely a military alliance; it is a trust-based system dependent on predictability and restraint among its members. Disrupting that equilibrium for the sake of transactional deal-making would be reckless. These are sober, defensible critiques.

What is not defensible is the reflexive invocation of “imperialism” and “colonialism” as if they are self-evident disqualifiers—particularly when applied selectively and ahistorically.

Greenland is not an independent nation being targeted for conquest. It is, by every legal and political definition, a colony of Denmark—albeit one that has gradually achieved significant autonomy over the last several decades.

Denmark’s presence in Greenland dates back to Norse settlements in the 10th century and was formalized as colonial rule in the 18th century.

While Greenland has made meaningful strides toward self-governance since the mid-20th century, including control over many domestic affairs, it remains part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Foreign policy, defense, and monetary authority still reside in Copenhagen.

12 JAN 22-- JAN 28, 2026

To denounce Trump’s interest in Greenland as colonialist while remaining conspicuously silent about Denmark’s ongoing sovereignty over the island is not principled opposition—it is ideological hypocrisy.

If the moral objection is truly about colonial domination, then that critique must be applied consistently. Yet the same voices decrying American “imperial ambition” rarely call for Denmark to relinquish control or demand immediate Greenlandic independence. Nor do they object to the longstanding U.S. military presence on the island, including Pituffik Space Base (formerly Thule Air Base), which has been operational for decades with Danish consent. The United States already exercises strategic influence over Greenland because its location is indispensable to Arctic security, missile defense, and emerging great-power competition.

This selective outrage reveals the underlying animus is not colonialism—it is Trump. “Trump Derangement Syndrome” may be an overused phrase, but it remains an accurate descriptor of a political pathology in which opposition becomes so reflexive that it abandons coherence. Under this mindset, the same action is moral or immoral depending solely on who proposes it. When strategic interests are advanced quietly through bureaucratic consensus, they are deemed prudent statecraft. When articulated bluntly by Trump, they are recast as moral abominations.

It is also worth noting that acquiring territory through negotiation and compensation—however improbable or ill-advised—is not historically equivalent to imperial conquest.

The United States has a long record of territorial expansion through purchase rather than war, including the Louisiana Purchase and the acquisition of Alaska. One may argue that such transactions are outdated or inappropriate in the modern era, but conflating them with racialized imperial domination is intellectually lazy.

COMMENTARY David Seaton, Columnist, Host of The David Seaton Show on WVON1690/YouTube

None of this is to suggest that Greenland should be “sold” or that its people’s aspirations should be subordinated to greatpower interests. On the contrary, any serious discussion about Greenland’s future must center on Greenlanders themselves. Self-determination is not a slogan; it is a principle. But invoking that principle selectively—only when it can be weaponized against a political adversary— undermines its credibility.

The more serious conversation we should be having is about how Arctic geopolitics, climate change, resource competition, and security imperatives are reshaping global power dynamics. Russia and China understand this well. Pretending that interest in Greenland emerged from Trump’s ego rather than structural realities is a convenient fiction.

Criticize Trump if you must—but do so honestly. Ground the argument in alliance stability, diplomatic norms, and international law. Abandon the theatrics. When “imperialism” becomes a rhetorical bludgeon rather than an analytical tool, it ceases to illuminate and instead obscures the very realities we claim to care about.

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ARTS & CULTURE Who knew that the weather could be so intimately connected to culture?

KAI EL’ ZABAR - EDITOR-IN-CHIEF This morning, after deciding to brave the cold, I thought back to last year, when a proposed Chicago ordinance to ban new real fur sales was brought to the floor. The ban—requiring retailers to switch to synthetic materials— advanced in the City Council’s License Committee in early March 2025, in the spring no less, but ultimately failed to pass the full City Council in a March 12, 2025 vote. Opponents cited economic harm to businesses, including Black-owned furriers, as well as concerns about the lack of humane production methods for alternative materials.

The measure aimed to curb animal cruelty, but arguments about business impact and industry evolution ultimately led to its defeat. And here is the point of this article: as I prepared for the day, I found myself thinking, Man, am I happy that I have a fur coat. I love goose down, faux fur, and other manmade products that promise warmth; however, the truth is that nothing keeps you warm like a fur coat. Fact..

So I laughed and thought, Wow—we in Chicago really dodged a bullet. The reality of that proposed ordinance would have had a serious impact on our comfort level today and in the days to come, especially as we face Arctic vortex conditions.

It’s worth noting that humankind has always had a relationship with nature— the responsibility lies in respecting the natural order. While we have gone overboard in many ways, early humans understood interdependence, much like the animal kingdom’s understanding of the kill. Animals hunted when hungry; killing for thrill was not the norm. That is why, historically, lions, elephants, and hyenas could be seen walking together in the Serengeti.

They did not attack unless hunger or territorial threat demanded it.

The notion that modern humans have moved beyond the essential need for fur as protection from the cold holds true—until you find yourself exposed to extreme conditions for extended periods. What becomes clear is that survival today is possible largely because we no longer endure hours in the cold as early humans did. We have heated homes, cars, and offices.

Though I am glad that fur coats remain available for sale, I revisited the arguments furriers made in their defense, which were primarily economic.

They noted that the ban would devastate long-standing businesses, with one furrier stating it would take years to dismantle a 30-year operation.

The sale of fur has undeniably become more about vanity than necessity. Yet the saving grace is that fur design is intricately woven into the fashion world.

We cannot deny that. The craftsmanship of fur garments is, undeniably, a form of art. Fur has become a symbol of beauty, success, and prestige.

Perhaps moving forward, we might reduce the annual production of fur items as a way to honor and respect the animals sacrificed for art and vanity rather than survival.

Finally, it occurred to me how easy it was for Chicago aldermen to consider this ordinance acceptable in March. Had it come up for review during a moment like now, far more citizens would likely have been up in arms.

So, people—be grateful for the blessing. We dodged a bullet.

And I am eternally grateful to meet this weather wrapped in fur.

Generated Photos Produced by CNW Studios

The business impact—raised by some members of the Black Caucus— centered on the fact that the ban would disproportionately harm Blackowned businesses. I see this as a missed opportunity where art, culture, and commerce might have come together to create mutual respect for animal life, human need, and economic survival.

JAN 22-- JAN 28, 2026

14

a.I The Answer Is..

We’ve noticed the repeated use of three words—memorandum, abrogate, and transcend— appearing across many pages of media, and I began to wonder how they are all related. What I discovered is that, although they originate in different spheres of life (business, law, and philosophy), they share a common thread in how we establish, dissolve, and move beyond boundaries. Please indulge us…

1.Memorandum Definition: A written message, record, or note used to communicate information within an organization or to document the terms of an agreement.

Context: In business, it is often shortened to memo. In legal contexts, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) serves as a formal—though often nonbinding—record of a proposed agreement.

Key Idea: Documentation and preservation of intent.

2. Abrogate

Key Idea: Surpassing boundaries or limitations.

Definition: To repeal, cancel, or do away with a law, right, or The Interconnection: The formal agreement. It can also Lifecycle of an Idea mean to evade or abandon a While these words may seem responsibility or duty. distinct, they can be understood as stages in the Context: This is a high-level, evolution of an agreement, a formal term. A government law, or even a personal belief might abrogate a treaty, or a system. company might abrogate its Establishment contractual obligations.

Memorandum You document a set of rules, a Key Idea: The formal promise, or a shared nullification of a rule or understanding. It provides the established order. anchor for the current reality.

3. Transcend Definition: To rise above or go beyond the limits of something; to triumph over negative or restrictive aspects.

Context: This word is often used in philosophical or spiritual settings (e.g., “transcending one’s ego”) or more generally to describe exceeding expectations (e.g., “her performance transcended all expectations”).

Dissolution — Abrogate You formally end that reality.

The rules established in the memorandum are rendered void, often because they no longer serve their purpose or have been violated.

Evolution — Transcend You move into a state where the previous rules or documents are no longer necessary. You haven’t merely “canceled” the old way—you have grown beyond the need for it entirely.

A Practical Example: International Relations Two nations sign a memorandum to cooperate on trade.

Years later, due to conflict, one nation decides to abrogate the treaty, nullifying the previous agreement.

Eventually, the two cultures may transcend their historical animosity, forming a deeper, more organic bond that no longer relies on strict legal documents to maintain peace.

In professional settings, these words often describe the process of organizational change. Here is how they might appear together in a business context: “The leadership team recently circulated a memorandum to all departments, signaling its intent to abrogate restrictive legacy policies that had stifled innovation for years.

By dismantling these outdated rules, the board hoped the company would finally transcend its reputation as a traditional manufacturer and emerge as a cutting-edge leader in the digital space.”

How These Words Function in This Context Memorandum: The formal tool used to communicate change.

Abrogate: The active step of canceling ineffective or outdated rules.

Transcend: The ultimate goal— rising above the organization’s previous limitations.

You are now properly prepared to engage in a deeper dialogue about these words and their interconnection as we navigate the many issues that surface daily in our news feeds.

JAN 22-- JAN 28, 2026

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The Stay The Stay Ready Ready Playbook Playbook is is BACK BACK If you haven't subscribed to the Stay Ready Playbook, now's the time! Our next 6-week series begins Tuesday and is essential for staying updated on trends and tips to remain recession-proof, healthy, and prepared for the next level.

16 JAN 22-- JAN 28, 2026

ENTERTAINMENT Hollywood’s Perception of Black Imagination LAURA MILLER - MANAGING EDITOR

Sinners did not dismantle that hierarchy.

It navigated it. The film embeds Black cultural experience inside a form Hollywood already understands, without pausing to translate itself for an imagined outside viewer. Its Blackness is not ornamental or explanatory; it is structural.

That combination—formal legibility paired with cultural specificity—is what makes the film readable to institutions that often mistake familiarity for universality.

Film Prestige, Television Precarity The industry’s willingness to reward Black filmmaking at its most polished contrasts sharply with how Black television is treated. Prestige films are allowed to accumulate cultural capital over time—through festivals, awards cycles, and extended critical engagement. Black-led television, by contrast, is rarely granted comparable patience.

This is not a judgment on individual series. It is an observation about time.

Recognition Is About Comfort, Not Black shows are frequently evaluated Discovery on accelerated timelines, with limited marketing support and little tolerance The film’s sweep—from our ownNAACP for gradual audience growth. They are Image Awards to the Academy Awards—has expected to succeed immediately, been framed as validation. But validation often without the half-seasons, implies a test being passed, a standard finally recalibrations, or slow-burn audience met. Awards recognition, however, is less a development that have sustained many measure of artistic merit than of institutional now-canonical shows. comfort.

Hollywood did not suddenly discover Black creativity. It recognized a film whose formal elements—genre conventions, scale, pacing, and star power—aligned with its existing evaluative tools. Sinners was not exceptional because it exceeded expectations; it was legible because it fit within them while refusing to narrow its cultural frame.

That legibility should not be confused with liberation.

As of January 23, Sinners has amassed one of the most formidable awards-season runs in recent memory: 16 Academy Award nominations, a leading 18 NAACP Image Award nominations, and 7 Golden Globe nominations, with 2 Golden Globe wins already secured. The scale of recognition is historic by any metric, placing the film firmly at the center of Hollywood’s cultural conversation.

But numbers alone don’t explain what Sinners represents. What this moment ultimately reveals is not the arrival of Black imagination into the mainstream, but the limits of Hollywood’s imagination about Black creativity—specifically, what the industry is willing to finance, circulate, and reward at scale.

That distinction matters. Black filmmakers have long demonstrated range, formal sophistication, and genre fluency. The unresolved question has never been whether Black creators can do the work, but whether the industry believes that work can exist without caveats—without being explained, softened, or framed as niche.

Genre as Industrial Language Sinners is a genre film, and that fact is central to its reception. In Hollywood, genre functions less as an artistic category than as an industrial language. It signals market behavior, audience expectation, and financial risk. Horror and thriller films arrive with built-in frameworks that reassure studios, marketers, and awards bodies alike.

Black filmmakers have always worked within these modes, but Black genre films have historically been treated as anomalies—culturally specific rather than formally universal. Outside of rare cases such as Jordan Peele, Black-led genre projects are often underfunded, under-marketed, or redirected toward social realism, as if Black imagination were best confined to a narrow emotional register.

Institutional Trust and Creative Latitude This alignment is inseparable from the film’s makers. Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan occupy a rare position in contemporary Hollywood: Black creators who have accumulated institutional trust without relinquishing authorship. Since Fruitvale Station, their work has demonstrated an ability to move between intimate realism and large-scale production while maintaining thematic coherence and audience engagement.

Their involvement reframes the project’s risk profile. Sinners was not a speculative gamble on Black talent; it was an investment in proven collaborators operating within a recognizable cinematic grammar. Blackness here is not pitched as novelty or exception but as a given—embedded within a form Hollywood already knows how to circulate.

The implication is structural. The industry’s openness to Black creativity expands primarily when that creativity is mediated by familiarity, precedent, and scale. The constraint is not imagination; it is confidence.

Projects such as Black Cake and Unprisoned exist within this compressed evaluative framework.

Regardless of genre or tone, Black television is rarely afforded the luxury of time—to grow, recalibrate, or benefit from delayed word-of-mouth. The issue is not that Black shows fail. It is that they are rarely allowed to mature.

What Sinners Actually Tells Us Sinners does not redefine what Black creators are capable of; it exposes how narrowly Hollywood still defines what Black creativity is allowed to look like at scale. The film shows that when Black creators work within forms the industry already values—genre, institutional trust, and recognizable structure—their work becomes legible enough to be rewarded. That legibility, however, is not freedom. It is negotiation.

Regardless of the billing of the star or director, the deeper issue remains structural. While Sinners’ nominations are worth celebrating, real progress would mean giving Black creators the time, space, and patience to build sustained bodies of work—not just singular, awards-friendly moments.

The measure of change is not one season of recognition, but whether Black creatives are afforded multiple chances, long-term development, and creative longevity. Until that continuity is normalized, Black success will continue to register as exception rather than expectation.

JAN 22-- JAN 28, 2026

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FOOD & WINE

Aunt Jai’s Gumbo MARE EVANS - STAFF WRITER

The Mardi Gras season is upon us, so get ready now. In 2026, Mardi Gras culminates on Tuesday, February 17—Fat Tuesday— marking the end of the Carnival season that begins on January 6 (Twelfth Night). From parades and balls to King Cakes and streetcorner revelry, celebrations take over New Orleans and extend to cities like Galveston and Lafayette, with peak festivities during the final weekend and on Fat Tuesday itself.

INGREDIENTS ROUX - ⅔ cup vegetable oil or shortening - ⅔ cup flour GUMBO

- 1 pound okra (small, whole) - 1 cup chopped onion Looking for a great gumbo recipe, I landed - ¾ cup chopped celery on “Aunt Jai’s Gumbo,” shared with the world - 2 cloves garlic, minced in Alison Saar’s book Recipes for Trouble. It’s - ½ cup chopped green pepper all about conjurin’ in the kitchen—cooking by - ½ cup chopped green onions feel rather than strict measurement. If you’ve - ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley ever cooked with your great-grandmother or - 1 bay leaf grandmother, you know the rhythm: the - ¾ teaspoon dried thyme leaves syncopation of ingredients matters.

- ½ teaspoon dried marjoram Improvisation isn’t just allowed—it’s - ½ teaspoon dried basil encouraged.

- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper - 2 cups chopped tomatoes Gumbo is an opportunity to stew, so it’s game - 1 quart vegetable stock on. Start with an okra base, which gives you - 1 pound andouille sausage, sliced room to improvise and add whatever - ½ pound ham ingredients you like. Using small okra pods— - 2 pounds chicken (dark meat cooked whole if you wish—can help avoid preferred) the slimy texture some cooks try (and often - Shrimp, crab, or crawdads (as many fail) to prevent. Other considerations include as desired, in any combination you chicken, ham, andouille, shrimp, crab, or like) crawdads.

- Salt and pepper, to taste If you’re cooking for vegetarians or vegans, simply leave the base as is.

18 JAN 22-- JAN 28, 2026

Hot sauce of choice (obligatory) Steamed rice, for serving

PREPARATION Roux 1.Heat the oil or shortening in a large pot.

2.Slowly add the flour, stirring constantly.

3.Go round and round ’til it’s caramel brown.

4.Keep a watchful eye—don’t let it burn, or you’ll have to take another turn (burnt won’t do).

Gumbo 1.To the roux, add okra, onion, celery, garlic, and green pepper. Cook until the okra is crisp but tender.

2.Herbs and spices go right on in. Then tomatoes and broth—get it simmerin’.

3.Pile in the sausage, ham, and chicken meat. Cook on low heat for one hour.

4.Add the seafood; in five minutes proclaim— Laissez les bon temps rouler!

5.Seize the moment to season, for not to do so would be committing treason.

6.Spoon over rice—or eat straight from the pot.

FASHION Fashion Icon Valentino Dies and 1990 Shoes Styles are Reborn C.L. BLACKBURN CONTRIBUTING WRITER The year 2026 kicked off the fashion world with a farewell to Valentino who passed at 93 years of age. Known as the designer to the stars, he held nothing back. His creations were certainly beautiful, and at times breathtaking.

Like Armani I am certain that they were glad to go when the time came because the fashion has become so crass leaving nothing to the imagination. Valentino was magical in making every woman he designed for look unique and her essence expressed through the magic of his designs. The designs were always feminine, soft, beautiful, exquisite and sexy on the women without exposing their nakedness. He will be missed.

On the runway we witnessed a comeback of six styles of shoe that apparently compliments the new shoe designs of 2026 are borrowing from the 90’s proving that there’s nothing new under the sun. Here we identified six styles that have made a comeback Thanks to Matthieu Blazy the two-tone heeled shoes are back. The 1992, Chanel immortalized what became the iconic shoe that opened the show wearing an elegant black-and-white pair, which continue to this day to be worn on and off the runways. Just sport them with current looks for classic triangle toe silhouettes, and style them faithfully with skirt suits, tailored pants, and dresses, or modernize them with some straight-leg jeans.

The Mary Jane shoe can get a bad rep— sometimes, they can come across quite schoolgirlish. But some folks like that. Got to style them right, to their endlessly feminine and chic points. . Just take the sharp-toed and wedge styles of Prada and style fit in on the streets of Milano and Roma.

Nostalgia shoe designs are in adding a more modern edge. Last season, Gucci reinvented its iconic red Ancora loafers from the ’90s— This time around, the platform is raising another few inches to become more outre and extreme. Perfect for giving a glamorous twist to mini-dresses, micro-shorts, flared pants, and teeny-tiny skirts. This is an option that stands out for how versatile and timeless a design it is.

The infallible square toe heels is a sophisticated style with a masculine touch.

Square toe heels can’t be missed on this list.

Miu Miu, Prada, and Alexander McQueen have all produced their own versions. Kendall Jenner, Rosalia, and Daisy Edgar-Jones can often be found in a square-toed set, usually styled with elegant, tailored pants and blue jeans.

19 JAN 22-- JAN 28, 2026

They’re back because it is impossible to talk about the footwear that reigned in the ’90s without mentioning transparent heels. They remained a force until the mid 2000’s. Today, brands like Vetements and Maison Margiela put this sexy, sensual shoe back on the radar.

The mule is one pair of heels that screams in the ’90s. The minimalist sandal has some serious star power, worn by top models from Kate Moss to Cindy Crawford.

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