The return to work plan for Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant

Good morning, Chicago.

The tentative agreement between Ford and the United Auto Workers will move nearly 20,000 workers off the picket line and onto the assembly line in the coming days.

But it may take a while before all 4,613 autoworkers at Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant on the city’s Southeast Side are back on the job.

“This is going to be a gradual process, it’s not going to happen overnight,” Ford spokesperson Dan Barbossa told the Tribune’s Robert Channick.

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Most of the retail space in the surrounding Gold Coast neighborhood, especially along Oak Street between Rush and Michigan Avenue, is now occupied, with several retailers such as Bottega Veneta Chicago and Burdeen’s Jewelry recently signing new leases, said John Vance, principal at Stone Real Estate Corp.

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Theater students at Hampshire High School will take the stage in the spring to perform “The Prom,” a musical featuring gay teens, after district administrators in the northwest Chicago suburb reversed their earlier decision to postpone the performance due to “safety concerns.”

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The Illinois Gaming Board has granted Bally’s Chicago a four-year-ownership license and a 12-month extension to operate its temporary casino at Medinah Temple.

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The approvals Thursday give Bally’s Chicago, which opened the temporary casino last month, until September 2026 to build out its permanent facility at the site of the Chicago Tribune’s printing plant.

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Looking for some spooky events for the kiddos? Well, we’ve got you covered, with 180 kid-friendly Halloween-themed activities going on across the city through Oct. 31.