Good morning, Chicago.

The deadliest city in the U.S. for birds journeying each spring and autumn between northern locales and Florida, Mexico and Central America is Chicago.

But the city has put off implementing a 2020 ordinance that would have given greater weight to bird protection measures on the list of criteria it uses to evaluate proposed new buildings. Planning officials say new standards will be released in early 2023 but provided no details. Advocates worry the measures will be toothless.

Read the full story from the Tribune’s Brian J. Rogal.

Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.

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Internal divisions among Illinois Republicans were laid bare when a group of far-right downstate GOP lawmakers aligned with Darren Bailey’s failed gubernatorial bid chastised suburban Republicans for not doing enough for the party in a Dec. 14 op-ed in the Chicago Tribune.

Their interpretation also runs counter to data from a state GOP analysis of the November general election results. Without stating it directly, the analysis pointed to a lack of campaign cash and the quality and ideology of the party’s candidates — particularly for suburban voters — as key factors contributing to GOP defeats in statewide and regional races.

Gina Collier, along with her husband and mother-in-law, was eager to spend Christmas with her grandchildren in Florida. But their Dec. 23 flight to Tampa was canceled and, after hours of delays, another flight later that evening was also canceled.

Collier said she spent her Christmas weekend calling Southwest, but was unable to rebook. Then, they learned their luggage would be heading to Florida without them. “Yesterday, I was so angry, I couldn’t get out of bed,” she said. “I was just angry. We missed Christmas with our grandkids. We can’t get our luggage.”

What are you doing for New Year’s Eve, 2022 edition? Staying home and watching Hulu was so last year. And the year before that. And OK, maybe also patches of this year. But here we are, the Wednesday before the big night and you have no tickets to anything yet. That is where Save the Seats comes in.

Here is our annual feature with ticket reservations for Tribune readers. Almost two dozen performances, concerts and other events around town with tickets set aside just for you. Many are for shows that are otherwise sold out. And they’re yours for the buying if you’re one of the first to call or click.

Popularity across women’s sports has grown steadily over the past few years and there was pivotal movement in 2022. Several sports and leagues saw growth in viewership and ratings, sponsorship deals and prime-time coverage.

This past WNBA regular season was the most watched since 2006. And storylines were plentiful as the league contended with the detainment of Phoenix Mercury center and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner and the retirement of one of the league’s most popular players in Seattle Storm point guard Sue Bird.

“Compared to the outright chaos of the previous two years, 2022 felt bizarrely normal,” writes Nick Kindelsperger. “Instead of rickety outdoor patios with plastic partitions, diners mostly ate in dining rooms. I stopped reflexively pulling out my vaccine card when I walked up to the host stand. While many people still wear masks if they want to, busy restaurants mostly now contain a sea of unadorned faces.”

Here are the 12 dishes Kindelsperger is still thinking about as we close out 2022.