This year was unlike any other as an economic recession temporarily crippled auto sales. However, financing deals on new cars and a heightened demand for affordable used cars led to car purchases for many consumers.
What vehicles were the most popular among Chicago drivers? The new iSeeCars study looked at 12.9 million vehicle sales for 2020 to find out.
The ChicagoBlackhawks may have lost Kirby Dach for some time due to injury.
Kirby Dach was loaned to the Team Canada World Junior Classic team to play this year because of the fact that the NHL season hasn’t returned yet. They also knew that if the January 13th start date became a thing, he would be back in time to join the Chicago Blackhawks. The problem for him is that he might miss that now if he is seriously injured.
He hurt what looked like his wrist in the middle of the ice collision in a pre-tournament game against Russia. It didn’t look very good at first and the fact that x-rays were needed makes it even scarier. Cuts need to be submitted by Thursday so Team Canada has a big decision looming. He is currently their captain and one of the top players on the team.
To be honest with you, Team Canada is so stacked with or without Kirby Dach. Out of the 22 skaters on the squad, 20 of them have already been first-round picks in the NHL Draft. They are the heavy favorites and still will be even if they lose their captain. If anything, this would be a bigger loss for the Chicago Blackhawks than it would Team Canada.
There is still hope that he is okay but the initial signs aren’t good. He is expected to be Chicago’s second-line center this year and could see a significant increase in ice time. That would also mean time at even strength with Patrick Kane and some good power-play minutes. He was okay in his rookie year but the way he played in the return to play bubble was very encouraging.
It was Dach’s idea to play in the World Junior Classic. He approached his agent about it who talked to Stan Bowman and then they all came to the decision to have him go. If he doesn’t get hurt, it is a great decision to send him because it is a good tournament for development. He might dominate that more than the NHL but there is still value to playing with other skilled players.
If something is broken he will for sure miss the start of the upcoming season but anything can happen at this point. The Hawks already announced that they will be without Alexander Nylander for a while so losing Dach would hurt their forward core even more. Hopefully, it is something minor that won’t keep him out too long.
ChicagoBears fans should want to play a motivated Green Bay Packers team.
Heading into their Week 16 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears fans are crunching the numbers trying to figure out how the team can make the playoffs. Sitting at 7-7, and currently on the outside looking in, the team realistically needs to win its next two, which includes a Week 17 tilt against the Green Bay Packers.
However, even if the Bears finish 9-7, they are not guaranteed a playoff berth and will need some help from other teams. But first thing’s first — they need to get to 9-7 to have a legitimate shot. While there are no “gimmes” in the NFL, playing the Jaguars who were just gifted the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft by the New York Jets, is as close as it gets.
After that, the Bears will return home to take on the Packers in the season finale. At the moment, fans are already calculating the various scenarios trying to see if the Packers will have anything worth playing for in that game. By that time, they may have the No. 1 overall seed wrapped up and could rest the majority of their team.
While that would certainly provide the easiest path for the team to make the postseason, fans should want to play a Packers team that is motivated and playing for something.
First, if you want this team in the playoffs, guess what — they’re going to have to beat good teams like the Packers. It’s unavoidable. And over the last three games, as well as their upcoming game against the Jaguars, they will not have done that. So if you are worried about the Bears being able to beat a playoff team to get into the playoffs, it begs the question of what you think they’ll be able to do even if they get in.
Second, and more importantly, playing a motivated Packers team will help provide some answers as to whether this recent offensive renaissance is a mirage or legitimate. While some are ready to plan the ticker-tape parade celebrating this offensive resurgence, others are maintaining a more level-headed approach. While the offense has looked better and produced more, it has come at the hands of what will be three of the worst defenses in the league.
At the end of the season, the Bears will have another decision to make about Mitchell Trubisky. Do they try to bring him back on a one-year deal next year? Is his performance over these last few games enough to give them the confidence that he has truly turned the corner? If they are still having some doubts, tearing up the Packers in a meaningful game for both teams would go a long way in making that decision.
I just received an email from our lame-duck president. For a small donation, I can be among the first of his supporters to get the Trump calendar for next year. As a sweetener, he let me know that the beautiful photos were chosen by his wife Melanie.
Well, I think I’ll keep my money and make my own Trump family calendar. As a sweetener, these lovely photos were chosen by me:
My so called friends think it’s time to edit this section. After four years, they may be right, but don’t tell them that. I’ll deny it until they die!
I can’t believe I’ve been writing this blog for four years.
It started as a health/wellness thing and over the years has morphed to include so many things that I don’t know how to describe it anymore.
I really thought this was going to be the final year of the blog but then Donald Trump came along. It looks like we’re good for four more years..God help us all!
Oh yeah…the biographical stuff. I’m not 60 anymore. The rest you can read about in the blog.
As of this writing (Wednesday night), I have found just one beer place that has posted Christmas Day opening hours. There may be more, but in these strange times, I would not hold my breath. So take it easy, spend Christmas looking out our windows at the cold world outside, and look ahead to brighter days to come. There will only be a few New Year’s Eve parties, and I’m betting those may be iffy. But many restaurants and brewpubs will be having carryout dinner specials.
Fresh Beer Events, occasional bacon, but always spam free, opt out any time.
Meet The Blogger
Mark McDermott
Writer, trivia maven, fan of many things. I thought to learn all there is to know about beer as a way to stay interested in learning. It is my pleasure to bring Chicago’s craft beer scene to you.
Here’s the latest news on how COVID-19 is impacting Chicago and Illinois. Follow here for live updates.
Latest
Four parents sue Gov. Pritzker, IHSA over winter sports cancellation
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Four parents of Illinois high school athletes filed a lawsuit against Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois High School Association in La Salle County Court on Monday.
The suit claims that Pritzker’s cancellation of the winter high school sports season “is an unconstitutional violation of the Plaintiffs right to equal protection under the Constitution of the State of Illinois.” The suit seeks to bar Pritzker and the IHSA from enforcing the cancellation of the winter sports season.
“[Pritzker] is using this emergency statute to create these restrictions,” said Laura Grochocki, the attorney for the plaintiffs. “They are supposed to have a rational basis. We are asking why high school sports have the restrictions and why college sports and pro sports do not. Is there a rational basis for the restrictions on high schools? Or is there something else at work here, why they are allowed to play and high schools are not?”
3:05 p.m. State administers over 100K vaccines, logs another 135 COVID deaths
Illinois has administered nearly 101,000 vaccines, more than any other state in the country, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said during his daily coronavirus briefing Wednesday.
Meanwhile, state health officials reported another 135 deaths from the coronavirus as well as 6,762 new cases.
As of Tuesday night, there were 4,593 Illinois residents in the hospital with coronavirus. Of those patients, 953 were in intensive care units and 536 were on ventilators.
Although the vaccine distribution signals “the beginning of the end” of the pandemic, health officials continued cautioning residents to forego celebrating Christmas and other upcoming holidays with those who don’t live in the same home.
“Yes, there is a long road to go, but we are at the beginning of the end,” Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said. “… We can’t let people who made it this far not make it to the finish line … The best way to avoid another surge in hospitalizations, another surge in deaths, another surge in new infections, is to celebrate the holidays at home with the family that you currently live with.”
In spite of the warnings, the state is “likely to see some uptick” from the holiday and New Year’s celebrations, Pritzker said.
1:46 p.m. City shuts down River North parties for violating COVID-19 restrictions
City officials shut down two River North parties over the weekend for allegedly violating statewide indoor service restrictions, including one party that allegedly charged a $100 entrance fee.
The venues are among 370 businesses cited by the city for violating coronavirus restrictions since the pandemic began in March. The latest batch of cases comes about two months after the city’s ban on indoor dining and service in October.
Officers crashed the first illegal party shortly after midnight Sunday at 409 W. Huron St., and found about 66 people not wearing masks or social distancing, city officials said.
The fourth-floor venue was charging $100 at the door, serving alcohol and had a DJ, according to a statement from the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.
10:24 a.m. US to get additional 100M doses of Pfizer vaccine
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
WASHINGTON — Pfizer and BioNTech will supply the U.S. with an additional 100 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine under a new agreement.
The drugmakers said Wednesday that they expect to deliver all the doses by July 31 in the nearly $2 billion deal.
Pfizer already has a contract to supply the government with 100 million doses of its vaccine.
Under the $2 billion deal announced Wednesday, the companies will deliver at least 70 million of the additional doses by June 30, with the remaining 30 million doses to be delivered no later than July 31. The government also has the option to acquire up to an additional 400 million doses.
Pfizer’s vaccine was the first to gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration and initial shipments went to states last week. It has now been joined by a vaccine from Moderna, which was developed in closer cooperation with scientists from the National Institutes of Health.
Moderna’s vaccine comes under the umbrella of the government’s own effort, which is called Operation Warp Speed. That public-private endeavor was designed to have millions of vaccine doses ready and available to ship once a shot received FDA approval.
The deal with Pfizer moves the nation closer to the goal of vaccinating all Americans.
9:37 a.m. CPS expects $720M windfall if Trump signs COVID-19 relief bill
Chicago Public Schools officials are expecting to receive about $720 million if President Donald Trump signs the coronavirus relief package passed by Congress Monday, federal funding that would help fill holes for the financially strapped district and support the school system’s planned reopening in the new year.
But late Tuesday, Trump threatened to veto the package over what he called “ridiculously low” direct checks of $600 to most Americans, saying Congress should boost payments to $2,000. The surprise move by the president put the fate of the relief package in limbo.
CPS leaders would collectively breathe a sigh of relief if Trump signs off after the district’s budget for this fiscal year had assumed at least $343 million in federal funding, a risky calculation that could end with more than double the anticipated funds after a months-long stalemate in Congress.
“This crucial federal funding ensures our ability to support the critical resources needed to reopen classrooms, expand access to high-quality academic programming, employ record high numbers of nurses and social workers, invest in social and emotional supports, and provide additional resources to our highest-need schools,” CPS CEO Janice Jackson said in a statement earlier Tuesday.
“Black and Brown families in Chicago need the option to send their children to school this academic year, and this funding relief is essential to the safe and supportive learning environments needed to mitigate learning loss and prevent long-term harm.”
9:40 a.m. Americans are sick of arbitrary COVID-19 restrictions
“I’m not sure we know what we’re doing,” San Mateo County Health Officer Scott Morrow recently confessed, referring to the myriad puzzling restrictions state and local governments have imposed in the name of fighting COVID-19.
Morrow’s doubts are striking, because last spring he joined other San Francisco Bay Area officials in imposing the nation’s first lockdowns, which he still thinks were justified.
Morrow’s remarkable statement, which he posted on his department’s website earlier this month, shows that politicians and bureaucrats are still struggling to justify edicts that are often arbitrary and scientifically dubious. A year into the COVID-19 epidemic, many of them have yet to digest the dangers of carelessly exercising their public health powers.
Although research in other countries has shown that K–12 schools are not an important source of virus transmission, they remain closed in California and many other jurisdictions, largely because of resistance from teachers unions. “The adverse effects for some of our kids will likely last for generations,” Morrow warned.
Christmas Eve goes to 11 in Isaac Gómez’s workplace comedy; About Face celebrates Black queer lives, past and present.
If you’re not working retail this Christmas Eve, spare a thought for those who are—possibly by carving out time to listen to Isaac Gómez’s Wally World, a two-act audio play now available through Steppenwolf’s “Steppenwolf Now” digital season. And if you need a last-minute dose of resistance and joy to help you get over the last days of 2020, About Face Theatre’s digital celebration of Black queer lives, Kickback, has heart and fire to spare.…Read More
Chicago’s Favorite Food Critics and Bloggers
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