Articles by James Okafor
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OPINIONVictor Wembanyama Scored 41 Points Against the Bulls in 8 Minutes and 31 Seconds of Double-Double Time, Which Is Not a Basketball Statistic
James Okafor attended Monday's game in San Antonio and has questions about what he witnessed that extend beyond the realm of sports journalism.
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SCIENCEIt Is 75 Degrees in Chicago and We Are Not Going to Talk About What Happens Next
A warm front arrived over the city Monday morning. James Okafor went outside and is still thinking about it.
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NEWSRetired Crossing Guard Still Shows Up to His Corner Every Morning, Nobody Has the Heart to Tell Him
Earl Washington, 74, has been directing pedestrian traffic at Addison and Damen for three months after his December retirement. The school says he's welcome to stay.
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OPINIONThe Cubs Lost 10-4, Then Won 10-4, and Nobody Is Talking About This
In the opening week at Wrigley Field, the universe folded neatly in half. James Okafor was there for both.
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LIFESTYLEWoman Finishes Entire 900-Page Novel Using Nothing but CTA Brown Line Delays
A Ravenswood commuter has completed 'The Overstory' in its entirety during delays, signal problems, and one memorable 40-minute standstill near Armitage.
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LIFESTYLEFirst Patio Season Sighting of 2026 Reported in Andersonville, Witnesses Describe Scene as 'Brave, if Medically Inadvisable'
A single customer was observed drinking coffee outdoors at a cafe on Clark Street in 48-degree weather, marking the unofficial start of Chicago's most psychologically complex dining season.
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SCIENCEAnnual Pothole Migration Arrives Two Weeks Early, CDOT Deploys 25 Crews to Manage What Scientists Are Calling 'an Inevitability'
March's freeze-thaw cycles have opened the streets of Chicago like perforated envelopes, and the city's 311 system has received more complaints about road surfaces than about any other topic for the first time since 2019.
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SCIENCEChicago Experiences All Four Seasons in Single Week, Residents Unmoved
A March that delivered sub-zero wind chills, 60 mph gusts, record-breaking rainfall, and 65-degree sunshine has prompted meteorologists to ask if anyone is even listening anymore.
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SCIENCECanada Geese Return to Lakefront Two Weeks Early, Immediately Establish Dominance Over Entire Path System
An estimated 4,000 Canada geese have descended on the lakefront trail ahead of schedule, forming blockades at key intersections and converting several stretches of the path into what wildlife officials are calling 'a no-go zone for bipeds.'
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SCIENCEFlock of Green Parakeets Spotted in the Loop Has Scientists Excited, Pigeons Concerned
A growing colony of monk parakeets has established itself near Millennium Park, raising questions about urban ecology and avian social hierarchies.
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SCIENCEChicagoans Hold Breath as Spring Equinox Approaches, Fully Aware March Has Lied Before
With the vernal equinox arriving Thursday, lakefront residents report cautious optimism tempered by the deep institutional memory of March blizzards, April ice storms, and that one year it snowed in May.
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SCIENCEChicago Streets Present Layered Archaeological Record of St. Patrick's Day and Election Day Occurring Simultaneously
City sanitation crews report that the morning-after debris field from March 17 — green confetti intermingled with campaign literature, shamrock beads tangled in yard signs — constitutes 'the most civically complex cleanup in recent memory.'
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SCIENCEChicago Drops 27 Degrees in Ten Days; Meteorologists Confirm This Is Just 'What March Does'
After a euphoric 54°F Saturday on March 7 sent residents into a frenzy of premature patio furniture deployment, today's high of 27°F has arrived like a correction in the emotional markets.
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NEWSIllinois Votes Tomorrow. The City Is Getting Quiet in a Way That Means Something.
On the eve of the March 17 primary, James Okafor walks the city and considers what it means to hold a vote in a place that holds so many things at once.
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SCIENCEMeteorologists Confirm March 16 Blizzard Is Winter's Way of Having the Last Word
A bomb cyclone drops up to four inches of snow on a city that had already emotionally committed to spring, raising familiar questions about hubris, seasonal denial, and the nature of hope in the Midwest.
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LIFESTYLEThe First Patio Chairs Have Appeared on Chicago Sidewalks, and They Are Not Ready
Across the city, restaurants have begun setting out outdoor furniture in defiance of the forecast, the wind, and the fundamental premise that 36 degrees is not patio weather — a gesture of optimism so irrational it borders on the sacred.
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SCIENCEChicago Survives Longest Freeze in 19 Years, Emerges Unsure of Itself
After weeks of temperatures at or below zero, Chicago residents report a creeping unfamiliarity with the concept of going outside without a specific reason.
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SCIENCEA Six-Inch Hailstone Fell on Kankakee and Scientists Are Asking What It Wants
A potentially record-breaking hailstone measured six inches in diameter during Tuesday's severe weather outbreak, prompting atmospheric scientists to wonder whether the atmosphere is trying to communicate something, and if so, what.
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LIFESTYLEThe Chicago Symphony Has Hired Its Youngest Music Director in 133 Years; The Cello Section Has Feelings About This
Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä, 30, will assume the role of Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director in September 2027, becoming the youngest person in the ensemble's history to hold the position, a distinction the cellos are processing at different speeds.
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SCIENCEPope Leo XIV's Childhood Church Makes Preservation Chicago's Endangered List; Vatican Described as 'Aware'
The South Side parish where the first American-born pope grew up has been flagged as one of Chicago's most architecturally at-risk buildings, a development that local preservationists say raises 'significant questions' about whether holiness is load-bearing.
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SCIENCELake Michigan Water Levels Drop Another 7 Inches as Lake Reportedly 'Going Through Something'
Hydrologists confirm that Lake Michigan's water levels have declined steadily since last year, falling 17 inches over two years. Researchers say the lake appears to be withdrawing emotionally as well as physically.
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SCIENCELake Michigan Offers to Share Water With Drought-Stricken Downstate, Demands Naming Rights in Return
As 80% of Illinois suffers through worsening drought conditions, the Great Lake has reportedly proposed a water-sharing agreement with terms that hydrologists are calling 'bold' and 'very lake-like.'
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SCIENCELake Michigan Petitions Federal Government for Reclassification as Ocean
Great Lake files 200-page brief arguing its 'emotional vastness and unpredictable fury' meet every reasonable definition of an ocean.
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LIFESTYLEChicago Meteorologists Confirm: This Was the Winter That Finally Broke the City's Spirit
National Weather Service issues first-ever 'Existential Despair Advisory' as residents report unprecedented levels of seasonal hopelessness.
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SCIENCEScientists Discover Chicago River Now Flows in Third, Previously Unknown Direction
Researchers at the University of Chicago have identified a baffling new flow pattern in the Chicago River that defies conventional hydrology and, frankly, physics.