Good morning, Chicago.
The Senate is expected to try quickly passing a measure today that would fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, though it’s unclear how soon the House will follow to largely end the longest partial government shutdown in history.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced a plan yesterday to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security as part of a two-step process. The agreement puts the leaders on the same page for ending the impasse after they pursued separate plans that resulted in Congress leaving Washington last week without a fix.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: what President Trump of the Iran war in his prime-time speech, Chicago Bears brass looking for quick movement on a new stadium to open by 2030 and a review of ‘The Drama.’
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President Donald Trump speaks about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
President Trump says US forces will ‘finish the job’ soon in first prime-time speech since start of Iran war
President Donald Trump said U.S. forces will “finish the job” in Iran soon as “core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” offering a full-throated defense of the war last night in his first national address since the conflict began more than a month ago.
Related:
President Donald Trump’s motorcade arrives at the U.S. Supreme Court, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/Getty)
Supreme Court seems poised to reject President Trump’s birthright citizenship limits as he attends arguments
The Supreme Court seemed poised yesterday to reject President Donald Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship in a momentous case that was magnified by his unparalleled presence in the courtroom.
Eric Johnson, from Madison County, Illinois, died on August 5, 2016, after being exposed to a high concentration of carbon dioxide while transporting dry ice as part of his job. Johnson left behind a wife, Paula, and two disabled children who relied on him for daily support, along with three adult children. (Johnson family)
Chicago lawyers seek over $2 billion for family of man who died after transporting dry ice
Eric Johnson began his day of work transporting four coolers of strawberries from St. Charles, Missouri, to Fayetteville, Arkansas, in a small Honda hatchback.
He wouldn’t finish the drive.
The coolers — given to him by a subsidiary of well-known Illinois dairy company Prairie Farms Dairy Inc. — contained dry ice. Court documents claim that no one informed Johnson of the dangers of the substance, which is the solid form of carbon dioxide. He was found unconscious at the wheel an hour and a half after beginning his Aug. 5, 2016, drive and died in the hospital a few days later.
Joabe Barbosa shows off the Chicago flag he wears as he attempts to run every street in Chicago, while at Lake Shore Park on March 31, 2026. Barbosa recently found out he’ll have to return to Brazil in July due to his student visa status. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
A student set a goal to run every street in Chicago and inspired a city. Now he must leave the country.
Joabe Barbosa used to tell people his appetite for exploration drove his quest to become the first person to run every street in the city of Chicago.
Now, after learning his F-1 student visa status might force him to leave the place he has called home since 2022 and return to his native Brazil, he recognizes it has always been the sense of community compelling him to keep moving.
NASA’s Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Artemis II astronauts bound for moon after rocketing away on NASA’s first lunar voyage in decades
Four astronauts embarked on a high-stakes flight around the moon yesterday, humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than half a century and the thrilling leadoff in NASA’s push toward a landing in two years.
Carrying three Americans and one Canadian, the 32-story rocket rose from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center where tens of thousands gathered to witness the dawn of this new era. Crowds also jammed the surrounding roads and beaches, reminiscent of the Apollo moonshots in the 1960s and ’70s. It is NASA’s biggest step yet toward establishing a permanent lunar presence.
Chicago Bears leadership Brian McCaskey, from left, Kevin Warren, George McCaskey and Patrick McCaskey listen as head coach Ben Johnson speaks at Halas Hall on Jan. 21, 2026, in Lake Forest. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Bears brass looking for quick movement on a new stadium to open by 2030
Chicago Bears leaders said yesterday they want a quick resolution to their search for a new stadium, with a goal of opening a new enclosed stadium by 2030 — either in Arlington Heights or Indiana.
Team President and CEO Kevin Warren put a rough timeline on plans to build a new enclosed stadium, hoping to choose a site by this spring or summer, he told reporters at the NFL owners meeting in Phoenix yesterday.
Chad Baker-Mazara #4 of the USC Trojans drives to the basket against Brandon Lieb #12 of the Illinois State Redbirds in the second half of a men’s NCAA Hall of Fame Series basketball game at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood on Friday, November 14, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/ SCNG)
3 things to know about Illinois State ahead of today’s NIT semifinal against Auburn
At Illinois State, coach Ryan Pedon sent his team home for nearly a week after an early exit in the Missouri Valley Conference quarterfinals. With the MVC tournament taking place a week before Selection Sunday, it was a rare opportunity for the players to clear their heads.
UConn’s Jaylin Stewart (3) and Illinois’ Keaton Wagler reach for a rebound during the SentinelOne Showdown at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 28, 2025, in New York. (Ishika Samant/Getty)
Illinois was no match for UConn in November. Can a ‘different’ Illini team fare better in Final Four rematch?
When Illinois coach Brad Underwood looks back on his team’s game against Connecticut on Black Friday, he almost doesn’t recognize the Illini.
Robert Pattinson, top, and Zendaya in “The Drama.” (A24/TNS)
Review: In ‘The Drama,’ a shocking revelation causes the freak-out
In 2024, Tinashe sang “is somebody gonna match my freak?” in her hit song “Nasty,” and the lyric became an almost philosophical way of seeing the world. Is matching freaks our ultimate goal as human beings, and what would it look like to share our freakiest self with someone else? What is allowed under the freaky umbrella?
These are the sort of questions that animate Norwegian auteur Kristoffer Borgli’s latest cinematic think piece, “The Drama,” a film about a wedding that’s not really about a wedding, nor is it really about the confession that sends the wedding off the rails. Rather, it is about what kinds of secrets we can reveal to those closest to us and still be accepted and loved by them.
Svengoolie, aka Rich Koz, films his long-running classic horror movie show on Oct. 18, 2024. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
Today in Chicago History: ‘Svengoolie’ broadcast across the country for the first time
On this day in 2011: “Svengoolie” went national. The show was broadcast across the country on Weigel Broadcasting’s Me-TV network for the first time.
Lily Allen at The O2 Arena on May 17, 2024, in London. (Nicky J Sims/Getty)
What to do in Chicago: Concerts by TWICE, Lily Allen and Last Dinner Party
Here are our picks for events in and around Chicago this weekend.