The NHL trade deadline is Friday afternoon, and scuttlebutt around the league has centered on Rantanen and whether the Canes will re-sign him, trade him, or keep him and try to agree on a new contract.

Hampton is among the top of the group at running back, with a potential second round grade on him. Rushing for 1,660 yards and 15 touchdowns, while adding 373 receiving yards and two touchdowns this year with the Tar Heels, Hampton revealed he has met with the Bears multiple times while in Indianapolis.

In a Lake County courtroom, 23-year-old Robert E. Crimo III reversed his previous not-guilty plea in the Highland Park shooting.

Talks between NFL Films and North Carolina coach Bill Belichick failed to produce an agreement for the Tar Heels to appear this off-season on "Hard Knocks," a spokesman for NFL Media told UPI on Tuesday.

In a salary cap era, these things happen, of course. The Chiefs are swapping their All-Pro guard to the Chicago Bears, in exchange for just a 2026 fourth-round pick.

In North Carolina, the U.S. Forest Service said fire ... We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.

The Fresh Market opened a store in Northbrook this week, its seventh store in the Greater Chicago area and 168th location in the United States. The company also opened two stores locally — in Chicago's Lincoln Park and Naperville — in November.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency Sunday as wildfires in the Carolinas and Georgia scorched thousands of acres and forced people to flee their homes, NBC News reported.