Bernstein: The Horror, The Horror
We may never recover from this. It has happened.
Watch CBS News
We may never recover from this. It has happened.
When Theo Epstein was introduced as the man in charge of Cubs baseball, he made clear his common-sense philosophy behind player contracts.
Matt Forte is a very good NFL running back. He has multiple strengths, minimal weaknesses, practices hard and stays healthy. And it's great to see the Bears again not need him to do much, in another convincing win.
Ask most coaches how they view their life's work, and you'll get an answer like this: "I consider myself a teacher, first and foremost."
I want to care only that the Bears dismantled and humiliated Detroit, ran their record to 6-3, and established themselves as something more than a fringe postseason contender. But I have been seeing football more through a cloud of anger, revulsion and sadness.
They hurt to read, I won't lie to you. You cannot un-know them or un-see them. You will stop multiple times in the 23 pages of the grand jury report, needing to avert your eyes or shudder.
Yes, he's maddening. And he looks like that guy in college who you always wanted to punch in the mouth, just because. But Jay Cutler has also proven himself as the best QB in Bears history.
Here's a guy who was offered a contract worth $6 million per year, with $13-14 million guaranteed, turned it down, and is now -– amazingly -- the peoples' proletariat. Amid international protests over the disparity between haves and have-nots, his quest for more is a cause célèbre.
When it comes to the cult of Tim Tebow, I guess I'm just going to be Left Behind.
Theo Epstein and his lieutenants don't look like baseball executives – more like luxury-box fans at a Dave Matthews concert – but their presence is about to bring an ironic turn to the north side.
Though a loss to the Bucs would have fluttered the dovecoats, the message sent from London was plain as a pikestaff: keep your wig on, and your chin up. 24-18.
Lovie Smith does appear to have his own supply of paper towels, though, that he's been able to pull out of the supply closet, to unroll as needed to mop up the pessimism (and who would engage in that, dare I ask?) and keep his team from slipping into the abyss.
Thanks to a once-thought-impossible confluence of circumstances -- Boston's historic collapse, an opening at Clark and Addison, and one man's desire to leave the nurturing nest of his home city and spread his wings -- Theo Epstein is reportedly ready to be the Cubs' top baseball executive for five years and many millions.
Bad drafts, bad signings, desperate trades and hamstrung, stubborn coaches have the Bears staring at a dark road.
Kenny Williams lost his poker bet, after he pushed Jerry Reinsdorf's chips to the middle of the table and birthed a regrettable marketing slogan.
Dear David Stern, Billy Hunter, various grim-faced lawyers, union representatives, hired-gun economists, and rank-and-file ballers: don't take this season from Derrick Rose.
This one was a must-must, a necessary condition for continuing one's emotional investment in a severely flawed Bears team, even if one may know better.
It's not a biographer's job to make you feel good. Apparently, author Jeff Pearlman has succeeded in angering a sizable number of naïve Chicagoans and Bears fans, based on early response to his new book.
The reasons for the Bears' inefficiencies are many, and shared. But, really. Somebody get open.
Pardon me while I laugh. I'm sorry. It's a reflexive reaction I have when too many people around me are making their serious faces and speaking in grim tones. I'll understand when you kick me out of class.
I was steeling myself for an afternoon of mawkish sentimentality, with Fox Sports presenting a football game through the prism of death – cameras tracking Brian Urlacher all afternoon, announcers consumed with his feelings after he buried his mother just the day before. Thanks to the tone set by Urlacher himself and reflected by Lovie Smith, however, it turned out I was wrong.
The NFL has turned us all into crackheads. We have to have it, and can't live without it. When we get it, we binge on it until it's gone, and then we start looking for it again.
The Island of Cautious Pessimism is a comfortable place to be. You've been here before, too, at one time or another. I've seen you. I remember faces of like-minded Bears fans who wait with me for the inevitable.
As we focus once again on the sheer joy of watching huge men clobber each other until their brains leak out, I'm picturing the next four months for the Bears, and here's what's in store.
The reports of paranormal activity in the Cubs' offices began last month. The sightings were frequent, and the stories shared similar, telltale characteristics.
Indiana legislators plan to fulfill their promise to investigate NIPSCO's response to the derecho back on Aug. 11.
A bicyclist was hit and critically injured by a car on Chicago's South Side on Monday night.
A new blockade on Wabash and heavy rust stains on Hubbard below are the only signs of the staircase that once stood there.
Stepping in for Caleb Williams, Keenum was 24 for 34 for 247 yards.
The self-sanitizing pod is equipped with a power-washing system that cleans and disinfects the toilet and the floor for a few minutes after each use.
A group of 26 members of the Chicago City Council, the same group that torpedoed Mayor Brandon Johnson's 2026 budget, sent the mayor a letter with their demands for the next fiscal year.
In the race for the seat currently held by retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, Democratic Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton is facing off against former Illinois Republican Party chairman Don Tracy and independent candidate Whitfield Harrington.
Gov. JB Pritzker is seeking to become the first Democrat ever elected to a third term in Illinois, and is facing a rematch with Republican Darren Bailey. There's also an independent candidate on the ballot, Collin Corbett.
President Trump on Monday announced that the company Mesabi Metallics will build a $15 billion steel plant in Iowa over the coming years.
Sheri Mecklenburg resigned from the Department of Justice this week, penning a scathing letter in which she said U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros "personally directed" the Broadview 6 prosecution that she says ended her career.
Scammers are now impersonating the patient portal MyChart, using realistic-looking emails, texts, and websites to try to steal personal information and, in some cases, get malware on your computer.
Fuel prices continue to climb across the country, and that has U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) pointing the finger at President Trump.
Nicor customers will get a break on their bills this fall after Illinois Attorney General Kwame Roul reached an agreement with the utility to cut $140 million from its requested rate hike.
Drivers in Chicago and beyond were paying the highest gas prices ever recorded for the Labor Day holiday as millions of Americans were making their way home on Monday.
Around 115 million domestic and international tourists visited Illinois last year, pushing visitor spending past $50 billion for the first time and generating more than $88 billion in total economic impact.
Sixteen of the state's cases this year trace to an outbreak among people who were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination history. Health officials say the overall risk is very low but want residents to confirm they're protected.
The Chicago Department of Public Health on Wednesday launched its first "street psychiatry" teams, in an effort to provide mental health services to some of the city's most vulnerable people.
A new Illinois law lets terminally ill patients request a lethal prescription to end their lives, making the state the 13th in the U.S. — and the first in the Midwest — to permit it.
Nearly half of Americans with medical debt owe at least $2,000, forcing them to make tough choices, new research shows.
A judge on Tuesday was expected to place two shuttered Chicago-area safety-net hospitals into receivership.
McDonald's said Wednesday it will spend $8.5 billion over the next decade to modernize its restaurants globally.
The future of Rate Field was back in the spotlight on Wednesday.
Plans for a new Chicago White Sox stadium in the South Loop have residents near the existing ballpark in Bridgeport concerned, not just because the team might be leaving, but also what might be coming nearby.
A new report from the University of Illinois Chicago said federal immigration enforcement led to $1.26 billion in unspent money at retail establishments and restaurants in Cook County.
Around 115 million domestic and international tourists visited Illinois last year, pushing visitor spending past $50 billion for the first time and generating more than $88 billion in total economic impact.
Survivor, Koko Taylor, The Plain White T's and REO Speedwagon's Kevin Cronin were among those honored Sunday night at the Harris Theater. The ceremony is the hall's largest fundraiser.
Madonna won Artist of the Year while Taylor Swift became the most awarded artist in Video Music Awards history.
Challenging documentaries and award-winning features are among the offerings of New York City's leading cinema event, starring such luminaries as Pedro Pascal, Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore and Godzilla.
Taylor Swift announced her new single "Patient Zero" earlier this week, saying she has been "impatiently waiting" to announce that it will be out on Friday.
A Tennessee judge granted Dolly Parton's estate a temporary restraining order Wednesday against the late singer's nephew Bryan Seaver and his private security company.
Indiana legislators plan to fulfill their promise to investigate NIPSCO's response to the August 11th derecho.
Meteorologist Laura Bannon has the extended forecast.
Ford City Mall Ownership confirmed the suspension pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation by the Chicago Police Department.
Sukkos is one of the most joyous holidays on the Jewish calendar, dating back thousands of years.
A resident in Surf City, New Jersey, captured what appears to be a shark swimming in floodwaters on Sunday. A powerful nor'easter hit the area, bringing severe flooding.
Stepping in for Caleb Williams, Keenum was 24 for 34 for 247 yards.
Oak Park village officials confirmed that Fenwick High School is being evacuated because of a fire at their parking garage.
The self-sanitizing pod is equipped with a power-washing system that cleans and disinfects the toilet and the floor for a few minutes after each use.
A body was found on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on Monday morning, authorities said.
Indiana legislators plan to fulfill their promise to investigate NIPSCO's response to the derecho back on Aug. 11.
A woman is dead after a wrong-way driver caused a three-car crash on DuSable Lake Shore Drive on Chicago's South Side late Sunday night.
In 2024, an off-duty Chicago police officer shot and killed a dog that was being held by its owner. COPA and CPD Supt. Larry Snelling agreed the officer should be fired. But more than two years later, that hasn't happened.
Surging gas and diesel prices are putting the pinch on farmers with harvest season underway, and could drive grocery prices even further up.
Another business owned by a couple under investigation for mishandling bodies at funeral homes and crematories on the South Side and in the south suburbs was raided by law enforcement Thursday.
Crown Point native Chris Payne was arrested for the 2018 sexual assault of a woman, which he has adamantly claimed from the beginning that he had nothing to do with.
Stepping in for Caleb Williams, Keenum was 24 for 34 for 247 yards.
The Bears will look to rally from last week's ugly loss to the Vikings when they host the Eagles on Monday night at Soldier Field.
Benjamin Satterley, an English-born wrestler known for high-flying moves that delighted fans worldwide, was known as "Pac."
The Chicago Cubs beat the Boston Red Sox 6-2 on Sunday in a regular-season finale that was relocated to Tropicana Field.
President Trump's presence in the Chicagoland area brought crowds of supporters and protesters.
Chicago police put out an alert about dozens of car burglaries, including some in which the suspects pulled guns when confronted by the owners, on the Near South Side and South Commons neighborhoods in September.
The investigation into an alleged rape at Cornell University in 2024 will be reopened, authorities said Monday.
The man charged in the shooting of an 18-month-old girl inside an apartment on Chicago's Southwest Side was ordered held until trial on Monday.
A Chicago violence interrupter is remembered for the difference he tried to make in his South Shore neighborhood. Courtney Harris worked to keep young people away from violence, but died in a shooting over the weekend.
Three men were wounded in a shooting on Thursday night outside a liquor store in the South Chicago neighborhood.