Good afternoon, Chicago. ✶
Experts say this Thanksgiving season is expected to draw a record number of travelers.
That’s thousands and thousands of people doing the Turkey Day trot via planes, trains and automobiles for some homemade pumpkin pie.
Below, we’re looking at the rush sweeping through Union Station, where Amtrak ridership has reached pre-pandemic levels. 👇
Plus, we’ve got the community news you need to know this afternoon.
🦃 Heads up: Rather than your usual Morning Edition on Thursday and Friday, look for Special Edition newsletters in your inbox. Then it’s back to our regularly scheduled programming on Monday.
⏱️: A 7-minute read
— Matt Moore, newsletter reporter (@MattKenMoore)
TODAY’S TOP STORY
Amtrak holiday ridership back above pre-pandemic levels as grant to improve Union Station appears on track
Reporting by David Struett
Amtrak travel is back: Travelers are hitting the rails again in record numbers this Thanksgiving season, as Amtrak reports ridership is up 15% over pre-pandemic levels. So many riders are traveling by train that the railroad has added extra cars and scheduled extra trains, Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner said yesterday from Union Station’s cavernous Great Hall.
Hopes for funding: Amtrak is looking to acquire funding for major projects. President Joe Biden could soon sign a bill to deliver funding for the Chicago Hub Improvement Project, which includes a major overhaul of Amtrak’s Union Station.
Where the money would go: The project, which promises faster travel between Midwest cities, aims to secure an $872.8 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Federal/State Partnership Program, made possible by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The project would improve access of Amtrak trains to Union Station, and would convert unused platform space formerly used by the U.S. Postal Service for passenger use.
New routes incoming: Amtrak is also close to adding a train to its Empire Builder route between Chicago and the Twin Cities in Minneapolis, Gardner said. The project is in the final design phase, and construction could begin as early as next year, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
- Chicago groups react to Israel-Hamas truce: A four-day truce between Israel and Hamas was welcomed in the Chicago area by groups spanning the political spectrum today. Some called it “good news” that the warring parties agreed to release 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners. Others were grateful that more humanitarian aid would be allowed into Gaza.
- James Philip remembered: Former Illinois State Senate President James “Pate” Philip, a powerful Illinois Republican known for his bipartisanship and brash remarks, died Tuesday at his home in Wood Dale. He was 93.
- Big balloons back at Thanksgiving Parade: For the first time in five years, giant balloons are returning to Chicago’s 89th Thanksgiving Parade tomorrow, including Teddy the Turkey, Rudolph the Reindeer and Peppa Pig. The parade steps off downtown at 8 a.m.
- All-Public League football team announced: The Sun-Times All-Public League football team was selected by a committee of Public League coaches and administrators.
- 3.5 stars for ‘Emmet Otter’: The Studebaker Theatre’s production of “Jim Henson’s Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas” will have you deep in your feelings when you’re not chortling at the ridiculous creativity of it all, writes Catey Sullivan in a review for the Sun-Times.
- Brookfield Zoo’s new bears: Two orphaned Alaskan coastal brown bears have found a new home at Brookfield Zoo. The 10-month-old cubs are the first brown bears to be added to the zoo’s care in more than two decades, zoo officials said.
MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR 👋
Askhat Kobekpaev, tattoo artist
Reporting by Mary Norkol
Without Tinder, maybe Askhat Kobekpaev still would be working office jobs in Kazakhstan. Instead, he’s a tattoo artist in Chicago whose clientele has included singer Sam Smith.
Kobekpaev downloaded the dating app while living in his native Kazakhstan in 2016. Kate Herrington, then a student at the University of Missouri studying abroad, was his first match. She’d soon become his wife and the woman who inspired him to pursue a career in tattooing.
They got married just four months after meeting in March 2017. Herrington extended her stay in Kazakhstan through the rest of her senior year, then found a job after graduating. Throughout their time in Kazakhstan, Kobekpaev worked various jobs but craved a larger art scene than the city of Almaty offered. He and Herrington had discussed his artistic abilities, and she suggested he give tattooing a shot.
Herrington worked to support them financially while he perfected his craft. She also let him use her as a practice canvas in the early days. She got his first three tattoos.
In 2021, they moved to Herrington’s hometown in Missouri, and Kobekpaev began tattooing at a shop nearby. After a trip to Chicago in 2021, they moved to Noble Square, and Kobekpaev got a job at Metamorph Tattoo Studios in Wicker Park. Then, he went to Lucky Kat Tat in West Town, where he now works.
In August, in a sign of how far Kobekpaev has come as an artist, he got a direct message on Instagram from singer Sam Smith, asking for a tattoo while on tour in Chicago. The singer now has a tattoo of an angel holding a Big Mac and a McDonald’s cup thanks to Kobekpaev.
“I started crying because this was just something unbelievable for me,” Kobekpaev says. He looks back on his life in Kazakhstan and is filled with gratitude
“What was the chances for us to meet?” he says to Herrington. “I never would have been a tattoo artist. I would have ended up in a factory. I’m just really grateful.”
BRIGHT ONE ✨
Chance the Rapper rings in the holidays at Museum of Science and Industry tree lighting
Reporting by Selena Fragassi
Last weekend’s busy list of events to kick off the holiday season included the ceremonial lighting of the Grand Tree at the Museum of Science and Industry on Saturday morning, opening the institution’s long-running “Christmas Around the World” and “Holidays of Light” exhibits.
This year’s special guest to flip the switch was Chicago’s own Chance the Rapper, who was joined by the world-famous Santa Larry to greet families that filled the Hyde Park museum’s rotunda.
“I’ve been coming here since I was a shorty,” the Grammy Award-winning rapper remarked before leading the excited crowd in a countdown to illuminate the majestic four-story spruce at the center of it all.
Before departing, Chance posed for photos with some families who were also waiting to get a snap with the other man of the hour, Santa Larry. Born Larry Jefferson, the recent inductee into the International Santa Claus Hall of Fame hails “from the North Pole by way of Dallas” and is notable for being the first Black Santa hired by the Mall of America in 2016. Santa Larry was a role the retired veteran first took on in 1999 while he was still enlisted in the U.S. Army, hoping to bring joy to those in homeless and women and family shelters.
“I never realized the impact I was having, but I have children all the time running up and saying, ‘Mom, Santa Claus looks like me!’” the self-proclaimed “Santa Claus for All” told the Sun-Times.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
What are you thankful for this year?
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