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Afternoon Briefing

Friday, November 21, 2025

Good afternoon, Chicago.

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office is expanding citywide a program that allows Chicago police officers to directly file charges in some low-level felony gun cases, following a review of pilots in two police districts.

The program, which means prosecutors in the office’s Felony Review Unit will not first assess charges in some cases, has been controversial among some advocacy groups and community members, who objected to the pilot programs starting out in majority-Black neighborhoods and argued that an initial review was an important oversight measure.

Here’s what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.

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news
Chicago police officers move a crowd back as a SUV is towed away and a Border Patrol Special Response Team arrives, Nov. 8, 2025, at West 23rd Street and South Sawyer Avenue in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Federal gun charges unsealed against man arrested after shots allegedly fired at immigration agents in Little Village

Federal gun charges have been unsealed against a man who allegedly aimed a gun at a woman in a Little Village restaurant parking lot the same day federal immigration agents said that someone shot at them as they ran enforcement raids near the restaurant and surrounding neighborhood.

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business
The Marklund Hyde Center on April 18, 2024, in Geneva. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Nonprofit files complaint against Illinois, says state should not have blocked disability housing in Elgin

A nonprofit provider for people with severe developmental disabilities is going to court against the state, arguing Gov. JB Pritzker’s Department of Human Services improperly denied it permission to build a cluster of new homes in Elgin.

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sports
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) celebrates as he walks off the field after beating the New York Giants 24-20 at Soldier Field on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

5 things to watch in the Chicago Bears-Pittsburgh Steelers game — plus our Week 12 predictions

This could be the last hurrah for Aaron Rodgers, who is on a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The four-time MVP quarterback turns 42 years old on Dec. 2.

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eat. watch. do.
People walk past the Sweet Castle at Christkindlmarket in Chicago’s Daley Plaza on Nov. 15, 2019. (Camille Fine/Chicago Tribune)

Christkindlmarket 2025: Heart-shaped mugs, cultural tours — and partying with Krampus

For those who have been good this year, a heart-shaped gingerbread cookies — or Lebkuchenherz, in German — awaits at the Sweet Castle.

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nation & world
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., arrives on stage at the inaugural Make America Healthy Again summit at the Waldorf Astoria, Nov. 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

MAHA idealism meets political reality as RFK Jr. attempts to wrangle a growing movement

Several of the environmental advocates and vaccine skeptics who helped propel Kennedy into politics have become impatient with what they view as inadequate action on their priorities.

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