1 Spirit away
Deerfield-based Beam Inc. is being bought by Japanese drinks maker Suntory Holdings for $13.6 billion in cash. Combining Beam’s brands — Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark — with Suntory’s Yamazaki whiskey and Kim K.’s favorite bright-green Midori liqueur is expected to yield annual sales of more than $4.3 billion. [Sun-Times]
2 Tina and Amy, Amy and Bono
Our complete coverage of the Golden Globes, including insights from Zwecker and Roeper. [Sun-Times]
3 Wannabe guv’s gift
After pulling strings to get his daughter into Payton College Prep, Bruce Rauner gave the school $250,000. Bad move, yes, but also kind of unremarkable for someone who made $53 million last year. [Sun-Times]
4 Schedule shake-up at Fire 911
To cut down on $9.2 million in overtime, the city has changed Fire 911 dispatchers from rotating to fixed shifts. The union opposes the new schedules, saying it’s not safe for the same call takers to always work the most stressful shifts. [Sun-Times]
5 Numbers don’t add up at CPS
A new report by CPS Inspector General Jim Sullivan calls out fake attendance figures and grades as administrators struggle to hit certain performance marks. [Tribune]
6 Man dies trying to retrieve phone
A man died and a woman is missing after falling into the Chicago River in Streeterville overnight. Another man is hospitalized in connection with the incident, in which the three were trying to retrieve a cellphone that fell into the water. [Sun-Times]
7 Threadless cuts
Veteran Internet T-shirt phenom Threadless laid off a quarter of its staff and closed its Lakeview store as part of a plan to realign its strategy. “We have made the decision to let go of a few product lines that no longer align with our future growth plans and the markets we want to expand into,” CEO Jake Nickell said in an email Sunday. [Crain’s]
8 #cute
Local Eclectic doesn’t use Instagram just to show off its pretty things — the accessories boutique is thinking bigger picture. [Grid]
