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Afternoon Briefing

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Good afternoon, Chicago.

In an opinion heavy on chicken puns, a district court judge ruled that the boneless wings at Buffalo Wild Wings could indeed be called wings. The order, in a lawsuit filed by a Chicago man in 2023, was dripping with skepticism at the claims that the chain was misleading consumers about its boneless wings.

Judge John J. Tharp Jr., of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, dismissed the claim by Aimen Halim, saying it “has no meat on its bones.”

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
Gov. JB Pritzker arrives for his annual State of the State and budget address on Feb. 18, 2026, at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

In State of the State address, Gov. JB Pritzker pitches affordability and Illinois resilience to Trump

With an eye toward this election year and possibly the next, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker used his State of the State and budget address to outline a message of resistance to President Donald Trump and the need to push affordability against the economic moves of his White House.

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business
Cars line up, April 29, 2024, at a recently-opened Dutch Bros Coffee in Upland, California. A drive-thru Dutch Bros Coffee may be coming to Oswego. (John Plessel/The Sun Newspaper, SCNG)

Oswego panel in favor of project featuring drive-thru Dutch Bros Coffee

The Oswego Planning and Zoning Commission recently recommended approval of a request to annex and rezone property for a proposed development near the intersection of Route 34 and Ogden Falls Boulevard that would include a Dutch Bros drive-thru coffee shop.

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sports
Bears passing game coordinator Press Taylor talks during a media availability event at Halas Hall on April 17, 2025, in Lake Forest. (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune)

Who is Press Taylor? Meet the Chicago Bears’ new offensive coordinator.

Press Taylor spent the 2025 season as the team’s passing game coordinator. He will assume the role left vacant after former offensive coordinator Declan Doyle left to take the same job with the Baltimore Ravens.

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eat. watch. do.
Hana Berger Moran shows LeRoy “Pete” Petersohn of Aurora some of the scars from her three weeks inside Mauthausen concentration camp when the two were reunited in 2005 during the 60th anniversary of the death camp’s liberation. Petersohn died in 2010. His story of being one of the first to liberate the concentration camp was told on Feb. 15, 2026, on the TV show “60 Minutes” on CBS. (Brian Petersohn)

Column: World War II death camp liberator from Aurora featured on ’60 Minutes’

LeRoy “Pete” Petersohn carried a lifetime of trauma from his experiences in World War II. As a medic in Gen. Patton’s Third Army, he saw horror on the battlefield and was himself injured in the Battle of the Bulge when his Jeep was hit by German artillery.

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nation & world
Gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin poses with a flag after the medal ceremony following the women’s slalom at Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre on Feb. 18, 2026, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty)

US skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin becomes 3-time Olympic champion with dominant slalom win

Mikaela Shiffrin put in two dominant runs in gorgeous conditions amid the jagged peaks of the Dolomites to win the women’s slalom by a massive 1.50 seconds, ending her eight-year medal drought at the Winter Games and showing why she is widely regarded as the greatest Alpine skier of all time.

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