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Afternoon Briefing

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Good afternoon, Chicago.

The Chicago Transit Authority will add three more bus routes to its “frequent” network and will expand the hours of operation or frequency of service on a batch of other routes starting Sunday, the transit agency announced today.

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
An emergency warning siren in Naperville in 2022. (Suzanne Baker/Naperville Sun)
An emergency warning siren in Naperville in 2022. (Suzanne Baker/Naperville Sun)

Tornado sirens accidentally set off overnight in DuPage County

Residents in DuPage County were awakened by tornado sirens early this morning that were activated accidentally, officials said.

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business
Fans check out a pace car on display at the NASCAR Chicago Street Race in Grant Park on July 6, 2025. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Fans check out a pace car on display at the NASCAR Chicago Street Race in Grant Park on July 6, 2025. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

NASCAR won’t race on the streets of Chicago next summer, but Joliet is back on the schedule

The streets of Grant Park will not echo with the sounds of 200 mph race cars in 2027.

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sports
Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong celebrates after hitting a walk-off, two-run homer in the 10th inning for a 7-5 win against the White Sox on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, at Wrigley Field. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong celebrates after hitting a walk-off, two-run homer in the 10th inning for a 7-5 win against the White Sox on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, at Wrigley Field. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

City Series: Pete Crow-Armstrong walks off a historic night as the Cubs beat the White Sox 7-5 in 10 innings

Pete Crow-Armstrong became the first MLB player with a leadoff home run on the first pitch his team saw and a walk-off home run on the last pitch his team saw in a game since the Kansas City A’s Vic Power on May 7, 1957, according to OptaSTATS.

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eat. watch. do.
Photographer Mati Maldre stands outside his home in Chicago’s Beverly Hills neighborhood on July 29, 2026. His new book, “The Architecture of Chicago’s Beverly Hills/Morgan Park,” was photographed on film with his Deardorff view camera. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Photographer Mati Maldre stands outside his home in Chicago’s Beverly Hills neighborhood on July 29, 2026. His new book, “The Architecture of Chicago’s Beverly Hills/Morgan Park,” was photographed on film with his Deardorff view camera. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

On Chicago’s Southwest Side, the Beverly Hills and Morgan Park areas get their close-up

“At the edge of a city made monotonous by the unyielding street grid of right angles and the seemingly endless repetition of two-flats and bungalows, the twin communities of Beverly Hills and Morgan Park offer the wearied urbanite a visual respite.” That’s how photographer Mati Maldre describes the Southwest Side neighborhood in his book “The Architecture of Chicago’s Beverly Hills/Morgan Park,” which features 256 duotoned photographs of the area’s notable homes, arranged by historical district.

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nation & world
Lindsay Clancy listens to her mother Paula Musgrove on the witness stand during her murder trial in Plymouth Superior Court, in Plymouth, Mass., Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger)
Lindsay Clancy listens to her mother Paula Musgrove on the witness stand during her murder trial in Plymouth Superior Court, in Plymouth, Mass., Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger)

Lindsay Clancy was ‘begging for help’ before killing her children, former mother-in-law testifies

Lindsay Clancy was “begging for help” in the months leading up to killing her three children and attempting to end her own life, Clancy’s former mother-in-law testified for the defense Tuesday in the fourth week of her murder trial.

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