Good afternoon, Chicago. ✶
If you’ve spent any time outside this week, then I don’t have to tell you how cold it is.
But in case you’re wondering, it’s cold enough that some steel CTA tracks have cracked — and that’s where the “protectors of the railroad” come in.
In today’s newsletter, we’re shining a light on these unsung figures and learning more about how they keep the trains — and our city — running.
Plus, we’ve got reporting on closing arguments in the trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, a snowplow named “Snower Wacker” and more community news you need to know below.
⏱️: A 7-minute read
— Matt Moore, newsletter reporter
TODAY’S TOP STORY
What happens when it’s so cold that CTA rails crack
Reporting by Mohammad Samra
Call the ‘protectors’: How cold does it get in Chicago? So brutally cold that the Chicago Transit Authority’s steel rails can crack. That’s when the “protectors of the railroad” are called. “Our job is just to keep the train running,” said Bill Costagliola, general manager of track and structure maintenance at CTA.
How it works: For minor cracks, crews can put on a pair of joint bars — a 36-inch piece that connects the tracks — as a temporary fix. But for bigger cracks, like one found Jan. 14 on the Red Line near the Cermak-Chinatown stop, the section of the cracked rail needs to be cut out and a new section installed.
Ready to act: As wind chills as low as 28 below zero hit the city in recent days, about 200 CTA maintenance workers were available during business hours, and 40 workers have been on watch on the overnight shift to repair any issues on the 265 miles of track they oversee.
‘They’re out there’: “They protect the railroads,” said Lenny Romano, vice president of infrastructure maintenance. “Without them, [trains] wouldn’t be able to run. They’re working late at night [or] in the wee hours of the morning. You don’t see them, but they’re out there.”
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
- Madigan trial nears end: Prosecutors kicked off closing arguments Wednesday in the trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, the final opportunity for attorneys to make their case to jurors who will soon begin considering the historic case against the Southwest Side Democrat.
- Planned Parenthood clinics close: Planned Parenthood of Illinois is closing four clinics, cutting staff and beefing up its telehealth care as the organization continues to deal with financial issues.
- Biden cuts former gang chief’s sentence: In one of his last official acts, former President Joe Biden commuted the life sentence of Gangster Disciples co-chairman Gregory Shell, one of almost 2,500 “nonviolent” drug offenders to whom he granted clemency.
- Pritzker blasts Musk salute: In a Sun-Times interview Monday, Gov. JB Pritzker criticized Elon Musk’s straight-arm salute, predicting antisemitism will rise under President Donald Trump’s administration.
- Immigration enforcement probe: The Justice Department is directing its federal prosecutors to investigate any state or local officials who stand in the way of beefed-up enforcement of immigration laws under the Trump administration, the Associated Press reports.
- Pipeline program pushback: A coalition of consumer watchdog and environmental groups launched a $1 million television ad campaign Wednesday urging state regulators to slash spending by Peoples Gas on its long-delayed, over-budget plan to replace hundreds of miles of aging pipes that deliver natural gas to homes across the city.
- Sun-Times owner seeks buyouts: The nonprofit owner of the Sun-Times is calling for staff reductions that will fall heavily on the publication’s newsroom employees.
RICH HEIN 1955–2025
Rich Hein, a Sun-Times photo editor whose theatrical work was art, dies at 70
By Neil Steinberg
Rich Hein looked through the lens of his camera into the hearts of people. He shot the city for nearly half a century, taking thousands of images that captured the human condition, first for suburban newspapers, then for 40 years on staff at the Chicago Sun-Times, rising to become its photo editor.
“Rich was a tough but fair boss,” said Alex Wroblewski, pausing from shooting the inauguration of President Donald Trump in Washington Monday for Agence France-Presse. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without him. He opened the door for me. A sweet and gracious man.”
Mr. Hein, 70, died Sunday in Naperville. He felt chest pains, drove himself to Edward Hospital, waved off a wheelchair, and walked into the ER, where he collapsed and could not be revived.
“He was an all-around photographer; he could do anything,” remembered John H. White, who won a Pulitzer Prize at the Sun-Times. “He could do any kind of news. I always called him ‘the professor’ because he was a teacher; he’d explain things. He took the time to teach me many things. He was a great photographer, a great educator.”
In addition to his Sun-Times work, Mr. Hein was a fixture on the Chicago theater scene, shooting publicity stills for stage productions.
“His photos for the theater community were artworks themselves; they were gorgeous,” said Bill Ruminski, news editor at the Sun-Times.
BRIGHT ONE ✨
City announces winning names in third annual snowplow contest
Reporting by Sun-Times Wire
Scoop, There It Is! The nod to the 1993 hit and jock jam staple “(Whoomp!) There It Is” is among the six winning names in Chicago’s third annual snowplow-naming contest.
The other winning names, announced by the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation, include Bozo the Plown, Lollaplowlooza, My Kind of Plow, Snower Wacker and Bean There, Plowed That.
Thousands of residents selected the six out of 50 finalists posted on Jan. 10, according to the Department of Streets and Sanitation. Chicagoans had until midnight Tuesday to weigh in on their favorite.
Last year’s winning names were “Skilling It,” “CTRL-SALT-DELETE,” “Casimir Plowaski,” “Ernie Snowbanks,” “Mies van der Snow” and “Bad, Bad Leroy Plow.”
The winning snowplow names will be emblazoned on signs that will be installed on snowplows in each of the city’s six snow districts.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
Finish this sentence: It’s so cold in Chicago, _____.
Email us (please include your first and last name). To see the answers to this question, check our Morning Edition newsletter. Not subscribed to Morning Edition? Sign up here so you won’t miss a thing!
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Written by: Matt Moore
Editor: Esther Bergdahl
Copy editor: Angie Myers