Mitchell Armentrout

5 days ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Mitchell Armentrout

Is Pope Leo XIV the world’s most famous White Sox fan? Probably. (Step aside, Barack.)Just don’t call the new pontiff — aka Sox fan Rob from Dolton — the first pope ever to have stepped foot in Rate Field. “I am the current Pierogi Pope,” said Patrick Ramirez, making his way into the ballpark on Friday evening as the team entered its papal era. “I’ve come to bless the Sox. We’ve got to get a win.”That’s right.

1 week ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Mitchell Armentrout

Chicago politics aren’t dominated by Irish Catholic officials like they used to be, but local leaders of all faiths hailed the selection of the South Side’s own Robert Prevost as the next pope. “Everything dope, including the Pope, comes from Chicago!” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a post on the social media platform X.

1 week ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Mitchell Armentrout

A Chicago contractor who made $14.3 million in an embezzlement scheme that tanked a politically connected Bridgeport bank was sentenced Thursday to five and a half years in prison. Boguslaw Kasprowicz could have faced twice as much time for his role in the Washington Federal Bank for Savings fraud, but he “provided substantial assistance” to federal prosecutors by testifying against major players in the case — including his brother-in-law.

1 week ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Mitchell Armentrout

A record-breaking $309 million rate hike sought by Nicor would fuel “exorbitant shareholder profits” and “wasteful spending on executive bonuses” at the suburban natural gas utility, according to consumer advocates. That’s why state regulators should cut the increase roughly in half, experts from the Citizens Utility Board, Illinois Public Interest Research Group and Environmental Defense Fund argued Wednesday.

1 week ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Mitchell Armentrout |Robert Herguth

A contractor hires a waste hauler withdecades-old allegations of mob connections to work at the Bally’s Chicago casino construction site — and the Illinois Gaming Board apparently has no idea until asked about it by the Chicago Sun-Times. Why is that, since the gaming board is the government agency tasked with regulating the casino industry across the state and ensuring the integrity of legal gambling here?