Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, live in concert – Chicago Tribune

Good morning, Chicago.

When traditional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation fail, lung cancer can be a death sentence for many patients.

That, however, may be changing, with Northwestern Medicine leading the way.

Northwestern plans to begin regularly performing double lung transplants on patients with terminal lung cancer, after successfully transplanting lungs into two patients who would have otherwise died of the disease, the health system announced today.

Read the full story from the Tribune’s Lisa Schencker.

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An ordinance that would prevent social service organizations from cracking down on unionization in order to get city contracts cleared a key hurdle, delivering Chicago labor groups a major victory despite attempts from a coalition of major nonprofits to kill it.

The once-dormant proposal has been in the works for three years and found new life in an election year that would strengthen the labor rights of those who work for organizations that serve the city within the public health and family and support sectors.

The Lake County Board formally endorsed a proposal to transform 1,100 acres of land — originally set aside for a now abandoned highway expansion project — into a “greenway” that would connect trails, forest preserve land and open green space in the central part of the county.

Though the vote is mostly symbolic, its passage signals to state legislators and Gov. J.B. Pritzker that there is intragovernmental support for the greenway idea.

Beer was flowing, the band was playing, people danced and in the audience sat a former governor of Illinois at a table with his wife, ready to rock ‘n’ roll on a recent night at Martyrs’.

Blagojevich always has, no matter the venue or the medium, been drawn to the stage, the limelight, in the process becoming among the most popular and polarizing characters this state has ever known, writes Rick Kogan.

The money didn’t stop flowing Tuesday, but the action was much more subdued than the day before, when the NFL’s negotiating window opened — all leading to the start of free agency at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

The Chicago Bears were one of the more active teams Monday, agreeing to terms with four players just three days after general manager Ryan Poles traded the No. 1 draft pick to the Carolina Panthers for a package that includes wide receiver D.J. Moore.

For a writer’s first solo trip, a visit to Dublin and the nearby village Howth offers a freeing experience in solitude.

“I was traveling to lose myself outside of my routine, to shake myself out of the lingering cabin fever of the last few years,” writes Joseph Hernandez.