By Sidney Madden | @sidney_madden_

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🐻 BEARS

Bears coach Matt Nagy is likely out the door after Sunday’s loss against the Vikings, ending the season with a disappointing 6-11 record. 

Nagy’s firing would surprise no one, and would be welcome by much of the fanbase. But it’s long-time majority owner Virginia Halas McCaskey who ultimately has the final say. 

McCaskey inherited the team nearly 40 years ago after her dad and Bears founder George Halas died. He bought the team for $100 in 1920, and it’s been a family business ever since, according to the Chicago Tribune. 

McCaskey’s brother and sons have rotated in and out of front-office jobs, but it is the 99-year-old who has remained the face and fixture of the team.

As the longest-tenured NFL owner, McCaskey has witnessed eight of the Bears’ nine championships and the team’s only Super Bowl win in 1986, according to the team. 

While the public speculates about the fate of the team’s coaching and front-office staff, are we sure that ownership changes aren’t off the table? The Daily Herald reported that the McCaskeys were considering selling the team and cashing out last year. (The team is worth $4 billion today, Forbes estimated.) 

👉 Check out the Sun-Times’ list of head coach candidates. 

🎧 It’s not just in Chicago: The Denver Broncos fired Vic Fangio over the weekend. City Cast Denver dug into the Colorado team’s ownership drama.

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🗳️ MIDTERMS

Bobby Rush has represented Illinois’ 1st District for nearly 30 years. His path to Congress is more unconventional than many of his peers: He was co-founder of the Illinois Black Panther Party, an alderperson, and eventually, the only person to ever beat Barack Obama in an election. 

He’s been an advocate of racial justice in Congress, but hasn’t been without controversy. 

Now, younger candidates will have the chance to lead the district that stretches from Chicago’s South Side to rural areas like Frankfort and Mokena. 

🎧 Listen to Chicago Sun-Times’ and ABC7’s Laura Washington talk about Rush’s legacy, and what this year’s race could look like.

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📰 NEWSFEED

▪️ Over the weekend, the Chicago Teachers Union shared its latest safety proposal that would have remote learning begin Wednesday and in-person learning resume Jan. 18 [WBEZ]

▪️ A judge ordered the head of the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services be held in contempt for not appropriately placing two kids in homes. [Chicago Sun-Times]

▪️ Loved ones remember anti-violence activist LaNiyah Murphy, who was killed in West Pullman last week. [Block Club Chicago]

▪️ Share the cost of your sidewalk with the city. [City of Chicago]

▪️ A Chicago film critic is leading an effort to recast Black Panther’s T’Challa 🖤 Sign the petition. [change.org]

▪️ Is the leader of the satirical “Birds Aren’t Real” movement OK? His WGN appearance made, um, a splash. [Tim Hogan]

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🗓️ EVENTS

+ TODAY: Chicago Police human rights policy feedback deadline
Community groups can sign up for convos with CPD about the policy. 

+ WEDNESDAY: Zora Neale Hurston virtual panel with Da Book Joint
Join the Bronzeville bookstore to discuss the influential 20th-century writer.

+ THIS MONTH: Stan’s “Let it Dough” donut
Get the “Frozen”–themed donut while the show is in Chicago until Jan. 22.

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✨ YOUR HIDDEN GEMS

Reader Steve Reese put us onto the Extraordinarium in Logan Square, a gag gift shop that he said is filling the hole Lakeview’s Uncle Fun left behind.

“[The Extraordinarium] has old toys, gag toys, mini golf, a comedy night (when things aren’t crazy), and a podcast studio. Plus, it’s a couple blocks from the mayor’s house,” he said.

👉 Check out the novelty shop!

💌 C’mon, the City Cast team shared our hidden Chi gems, tell us yours!

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