With Christmas less than three weeks away, there’s a good chance you’re rewatching some holiday classics as you trim your tree or wrap gifts. As you do, you may notice a trend: many of the greats are set in Chicago.
There are a few that probably come to mind pretty quickly. The city, as you likely know, can look quite dazzling around the holidays, especially if there’s a gentle snow falling.
So as you settle in for a long winter’s rewatch of those Christmas classics, here are 7 that were set in Chicago. While the opening scene of the movie is most definitely not set in Illinois, the Griswold family is said to live in the Chicago area. The 1989 film did not, however, take over an entire Chicago suburb for filming. Instead, the Griswold house was located on a Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California. Other scenes — those set at Walmart, the sledding hill, the Christmas tree lot, and even the Griswolds’ attack — were primarily shot in and around Breckenridge, Colorado. Regardless, you’ll still see some shots from Chicago, like the Marshall Field & Co. Department Store on N. State Street and the John Hancock Center on Michigan Avenue. Unlike “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” all of “Home Alone” was filmed in Illinois, according to IMDb. The most notable location may be the McCallister home, where a young Kevin McCallister (played by Macaulay Culkin) fends off Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) after accidentally being left at home alone ahead of Christmas. You can find it at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka (it was even available to rent through Airbnb in 2021).
Chicago has put bus companies bringing migrants to the city on notice that if they don’t comply with the rules for where and when to drop off new arrivals, the penalty will be more than just a fine. Mayor Brandon Johnson is proposing impounding buses that break the rules.
So-called rogue buses trying to avoid fines have instead detoured to the Cicero Metra station where on two occasions, on November 29 and in mid-November, they have tried to just dump the migrants and leave. “It’s an unfortunate game they are playing cat and mouse with human lives and children lives,” said Eddie Fuentes, director of community care for New Life Centers.
Fuentes, who oversees the landing zone operations, was called in both incidents and rushed to Cicero to help. Cicero police responded and confronted the driver with a warning.
“If they decided to drop the new arrivals at that site, it was gonna be a $30,000 ticket and they’ll tow their bus. So they got everybody back on the bus, Cicero PD escorted the bus to the dedicated landing zone here in Chicago,” Fuentes said.
Chicago has already fined several buses $5,000 for violating migrant drop off regulations, but the city is now taking steps to get a lot tougher.
“The ordinance we’re considering today would allow those buses if they’re not in compliance, to be impounded by the city,” said 1st Ward Alderman Daniel La Spata, who is also the chair of the Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Commiteee. The ordinance passed out of committee Friday without any dissent. La Spata said it’s a tough penalty, but necessary.
“But when folks have proven themselves to just be so flagrant in their disregard. I think that’s where impoundment is a reasonable tool of enforcement,” he said. “The underlying goal is not punishment for bus companies, but care for migrants.”
“It’s really to be able to receive the new arrivals with compassion, Fuentes said.
Next week the full city council is expected to vote on the bus impo
Two suspects were injured in a crash involving five parked cars on the South Side Thursday night, Illinois State Police said.
At about 11:28 p.m., state troopers spotted a car driving recklessly west on 71st Street at Union Avenue, police said. Troopers said they tried to stop the vehicle, but it fled at a high rate of speed and crashed into five parked cars at 71st Street and Francisco Avenue, police said.
At first state police said there was a chase, but they later said no state police units were in the vicinity of the vehicle.
Two suspects were injured and transported to Advocate Christ Hospital with serious injuries, police said. Police initially said one person was killed. No troopers were injured. Meanwhile authorities said they recovered a gun from the suspect’s car. Police also said the car was not stolen.
Na see….the Joke was on her trying diss him!!!😭😭😭😭
The Illinois Policy Institute reports that Stacy Davis Gates owes more than $5,500, but makes more than $289,000. The progressive president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) owes thousands in unpaid utility bills despite making an eye-popping salary, the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) has found.
According to the non-profit group, Stacy Davis Gates owes the city of Chicago $5,579 in unpaid water, sewer and trash bills as of Nov. 7, 2023, despite bringing home “at least” $289,000 a year.
Documents uncovered by the group show Davis Gates started a payment plan for the amount in July 2023, but quickly defaulted. It’s unclear where she currently stands on the payments. “This latest revelation adds to the mounting evidence of her hypocrisy. She spurns responsibility and accountability both in her role as CTU president and in her daily life, while pushing for ‘wealthy’ taxpayers to pay their ‘fair share,’” the IPI report said.
The report added that Davis Gates’ bills were just a small part of the whopping $6.4 billion owed in unpaid fees, fines and other debts still owed to the city since the year 1990. “Davis Gates would pay four times more in Indiana property taxes if she didn’t take the homestead deduction,” the IPI, which also investigated the matter, reported at the time.
In September, Davis Gates defended sending her son to a private school despite being an outspoken critic of them.
A woman was shot to death near a motel on the Southwest Side Thursday night, Chicago police said.
Officers responded to the 7700-block of South Cicero Avenue at about 11:45 p.m. and found a woman, approximately 30-35 years old, with gunshot wounds to the neck and back, police said. A witness told police that the victim was in a verbal altercation with a male suspect who took out a handgun and shot her before fleeing.
The woman was transported to Advocate Christ Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said. Her identity has not been released.
Damn y’all…it was a police officer that killed that lady by the house of blues‼️🙏🏽🥺
A Chicago police officer has been relieved of her police powers after a deadly accident in River North.
The crash occurred around 12:30 a.m. Thursday in the 300 block of North State Street. Police said the 40-year-old officer was off-duty and driving a white SUV, when she lost control of her vehicle and jumped the curb — striking a 56-year-old woman who was on the sidewalk.
The victim sustained trauma to the body and was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The medical examiner has identified the woman as Maria Schwab. According to an employee at a nearby hotel in the city and several Facebook posts, WGN News has learned that there was a Chicago Police Department holiday party at the House of Blues Wednesday night.
It is unclear at this time if the officer attended that party. The officer was issued several citations, including failure to reduce speed, failure to stay in lanes, negligent driving and driving while using her cell phone.
According to police, the officer was also relieved of her police powers.
– A cab driver is hurt after he was attacked and stabbed by a passenger near the Magnificent Mile Friday morning.
The driver, a 41-year-old man, was providing a ride to an unidentified woman when she became angry and started to physically attack him, police said.
While attempting to push the woman away, she pulled out a sharp object and stabbed the driver in the head before leaving the scene on foot. The victim suffered a cut to the head and was taken to Northwestern Hospital in good condition.
The woman was last seen heading northbound on Michigan Avenue.
No arrests were made.
Area 3 detectives are investigating.
Cause #keyshiakaoir gone Turn Up‼️😂😩😭
A Chicago man has pleaded guilty to shooting two federal agents and an ATF officer on the city’s South Side in 2021.
In the morning hours of July 7, 2021, two agents from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and a task force officer were conducting a covert investigation and driving in an unmarked vehicle when Eugene McLaurin pulled alongside them and fired several shots. The incident took place at the on-ramp to I-57 from Ashland Avenue.
McLaurin had been following the unmarked vehicle thinking the officers were opposing gang members, authorities said. The two agents and the officer were seriously wounded in the shooting.
In an attempt to hide his involvement in the crime, McLaurin ditched the handgun in a sewer drain and hid the key to his vehicle in the basement of his home.
McLaurin pleaded guilty to three counts of assaulting a federal officer and two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence. He faces life in prison.
He’ll be sentenced on March 13, 2024.
Talm bout “Is that what was smelling up the whole house” 🙄
The FBI is searching for three federal fugitives with strong ties to the Chicago area and who were last seen in Kansas City.
Zamewick D. “Buck” McCray, Devion M. “Rooster” Miles and Jermon D. “Crowe” McCary were indicted several months ago in a nearly $8 million conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and meth. The FBI said all three should be considered armed and dangerous. If you encounter any of these men, do not confront them. Instead call 911 or other law enforcement immediately.
If you have any information about their whereabouts, contact Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers at 816-474-TIPS or report a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
A West Humboldt Park mother of two was killed in a crash on the Dan Ryan Expressway, leaving a hole in her family’s lives.
Stephanie N. Johnson had been involved in a minor traffic crash on the expressway shortly after 2:30 a.m. Tuesday in the southbound lanes at 18th Street. The 30-year-old had gotten out of her car after the crash when she was struck by a third vehicle that was not involved in that initial crash. Johnson said she had spoken with Stephanie less than three hours before she was killed.
“I didn’t want to believe it,” she said. “It just took my breath. I couldn’t breathe.”
Johnson had to spend the morning identifying her daughter’s body.
She was kinda scared fr too😭😭😂😂😂
A mass shooting Wednesday at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has ended with multiple victims and the shooter dead, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
The shooting was reported around noon at the campus a few miles from the Las Vegas Strip., adding that there appeared to be multiple victims.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, in a statement posted to the social media platform X, did not elaborate on the circumstances of the incident, or the number or condition of the victims. It urged residents to avoid the area.
Police said the incident occurred around Beam Hall, a campus building that houses the business school and other facilities. The university posted a message urging students to evacuate from the area.
“We are responding to preliminary reports of an #ActiveShooter on the campus of UNLV near BEAM Hall. There appears to be multiple victims at this time,” police said on X, before saying a suspect was “deceased.”
Wow….actually Documented facts‼️👀
This is interesting‼️👂🏽🦻🏽 #Cancer
This an easy Reward‼️😩😭😂 what kinda sketch is this??
A man was injured in a road rage shooting on Chicago’s South Side on Wednesday morning, police said.
Police said the shooting happened near a gas station at West 79th Street and South Western Avenue. That’s on the border of the Gresham and Wrightwood neighborhoods. A 37-year-old man was outside when someone got out of a vehicle and approached him just before 9 a.m., police said. After an argument, the offender opened fire on the man, striking him throughout his body.
Police said the victim took himself to Christ Hospital, where he is in stable condition. No one is in custody and Area One detectives are investigating. Police did not immediately provide further information about the shooting.
In a letter sent to Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday, Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), and Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st) demanded the resignations of Garien Gatewood, Beatriz Ponce de Leon, Lori Lypson, Alyxandra Goodwin, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Maura McCauley and Matthew Richards.
The letter comes a day after the governor’s office announced the state would not proceed with the migrant base camp at the 38th Street and California Avenue site. The decision was made after review by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA).
The site could have housed up to 2,000 migrants. The migrant camp was going to be funded by the state, but run by the city. What we have seen in Brighton Park, however, does not show members of your administration as being either serious, deliberative or collaborative in addressing this issue. Taxpayer funds are now wasted after a failed attempt to build on highly cancerous soil, without permits, without true community engagement, without a plan that is respectful to those whom so many performatively articulate sanctuary for in our city.
Therefore, we demand the resignation of all involved in this process, including:
Garien Gatewood
Beatriz Ponce de Leon
Lori Lypson
Alyxandra Goodwin
Cristina Pacione-Zayas
Maura McCauley
Matthew Richards
Chicago taxpayers cannot afford the mistakes being made by these members of your team failing to meet this moment. We look forward to your swift response on this request.
A house fire has left two Chicago police officers and one other person seriously injured on the city’s West Side. One person is missing, according to authorities.
The blaze started around 1:15 a.m. Wednesday on the 1200 block of South Kedvale in North Lawndale. Officials said police were in the area and responded to the scene before the fire department arrived. According to authorities, two responding officers were on the porch of the home when it collapsed. They were transported to an area hospital in serious-but-stable condition.
A 75-year-old woman was critically injured and transported to Mount Sinai Hospital. Family has confirmed the woman’s son is unaccounted for.
The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
This is a developing story. Check back for details.
Damn…she survived the crash but got hit by another car‼️🙏🏽🥺
The two robbers got away with about $10,000
in cash just before closing time Sunday at 933
N. State St. Two masked men tied up Walgreens employes during an armed robbery in the Gold Coast neighborhood late Sunday, before running out a suitcase containing about $10,000 in stolen loot.
No one was injured in the attack, which began about 9:40 p.m., when one robber confronted a worker in the back of the store at 933 N. State St., placed the butt of a black gun against his spine and told him to
“open the door,” according to a police report.
Once in the back office, the employee and another staffer who was counting money were held at gunpoint and ordered to lie face-down on the floor. The robbers put packing tape over the employees’ mouths.
Now I understand why you need spotters at the gym…Geeeshhhh I hope he’s alright‼️🙏🏽
Na they friends‼️😂👏🏽 #chriseanrock #jaidynalexis #Blueface
And yes that is JAIDYN‼️🙄 #blueface #jaidynalexis #chriseanrock
According to CPD, the incident took place at approximately 4:33 a.m. in the 700 block of North Michigan Avenue, when a group of people drove a Nissan sedan crashed into the store. The suspects were not able to make entry into the store, and nothing was taken, police said.
