Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: Rogers Park neighbors and loved ones are searching for answers after a family of four was killed in a townhome fire.
🗞️ Plus: The Illinois legislature’s House Speaker says he’ll step down after Democratic mutiny, what missing election results mean for school board race calls, and more news you need to know below.
📝 Keeping score: The Blackhawks were struck by the Lightning in a 4-1 loss.
🌤️ Today’s weather: Partly cloudy with a high near 51.
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⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Screams, then sorrow after family killed in blaze
Reporting by Mohammad Samra, Mary Norkol and Fran Spielman
North Side tragedy: A fire tore through a Rogers Park townhome early Thursday, killing a family of four, including a 13-year-old, and their dog, officials said.
The victims: The boy was identified as 8th-grader Valentino Vallejo in an email to families from his school. Three adults also died, Chicago police said. Angelita Sanchez organized a fundraiser page to help with funeral expenses. The victims were Sanchez’s mother, sister and two nephews.
Neighbors stunned: Loved ones and neighbors gathered at the scene Thursday as officials investigated, some shedding tears, processing the loss of a family they said was well-known and engaged in the community. “They were always celebrating life the most,” one neighbor told the Sun-Times.
Top firefighter pressed: Hours after the deadly fire, Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt attended a pre-scheduled budget hearing before City Council. She faced questions about the department’s equipment, training and paramedic shortages that have led to “downgrades” in the city’s emergency response capability.
STATE HOUSE ✶
Illinois House Speaker says he’ll step down in face of Dem mutiny
Reporting by Mitchell Armentrout
Giving up the gavel: Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch announced Thursday he won’t seek another term at the helm of his chamber next year, acknowledging his tenure was doomed after 26 Democratic state representatives signed a statement calling for a change in leadership.
Key context: The seismic statehouse shakeup comes in the wake of revelations over the summer that Welch was aware of sexual harassment allegations against disgraced ex-state Rep. Harry Benton, D-Plainfield, almost three years before additional complaints prompted Benton’s resignation.
ELECTIONS 🗳️
Missing results hold up School Board race calls
Reporting by Cam Rodriguez
Still counting: The Chicago Board of Elections is still counting votes, a delay that is leaving the fate of two school board races hanging in the balance. When asked about delays in counting ballots from Election Day, a board spokesperson said there are “ongoing transmissions to our central data intake and tabulating system.”
Uncalled: This snafu means the outcomes of races for school board districts 5b and 7a are, for now, still too close to call. Two districts — 3b, on the Near Northwest Side, and 6a, covering Downtown and the Near North Side — also haven’t been called, though all precincts have reported results.
Deadlines: Election officials have until Nov. 17 to finish counting mail-in ballots and provisional ballots. Final official results are due Nov. 24.
More on elections:
- Election officials say coding error affected few precincts, but high voter turnout also led to long lines
- Chicago voters overwhelmingly supported a vacancy tax to help fund Chicago Public Schools
- Flock, maker of controversial license plate readers, starts to give campaign cash to local politicians
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- Slain violence interrupter mourned: Friends, family, colleagues and community members gathered Thursday for a balloon release in memory of Andre Thomas, who dedicated his life to reducing gun violence.
- UI Health strike looms: Hundreds of University of Illinois Health’s advanced practice nurses, physician assistants and midwives voted to strike last week, saying they were denied raises given to other hospital workers.
- ‘Broadview 6′ fallout: U.S. District Judge April Perry has ordered U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros and three rank-and-file prosecutors to testify under oath on Nov. 16. One of those prosecutors, William Hogan, asked Perry on Thursday to delay the hearing, noting that his interests “may not be aligned” with the others.
- Loop revival project: Former Michigan legislator Donna Lasinski is taking the helm of a Loop revival project with some ambitious proposals, including concerts on Lower Wacker and architecturally significant public toilets.
- Proposed arts spending: Funding for the department that puts on Chicago’s large-scale cultural events would remain essentially flat under Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed 2027 budget.
- Soul Train Awards: Preceded by a Queen Latifah-headlined event on Wednesday, the award ceremony got underway Thursday night at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. It will be broadcast Nov. 27.
- Things to do Nov. 6-11: “Mexodus,” the Black Harvest Film Festival and the Chicago Humanities Fall Festival are among the highlights in the days ahead.
ON WBEZ 91.5 FM 📻
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Host Sasha-Ann Simons to sign off from WBEZ
Starting at 9 a.m. today, WBEZ’s Sasha-Ann Simons will anchor her final broadcast of “In the Loop,” which you can stream live online here or tune in to 91.5 FM.
Simons joined WBEZ in December 2020 to host the two-hour midday talk show “Reset.”
Over her nearly six years at WBEZ, she has been a trusted voice for Chicago-area audiences during major national, international and local news stories, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade, the 2023 mayoral election, the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Operation Midway Blitz and much more.
Simons became the host of WBEZ’s morning news and talk show “In the Loop” in September 2025 and is the only Chicago journalist with a regular sit-down with Mayor Brandon Johnson, the monthly series “Ask The Mayor.”
“Leading ‘Reset’ and now ‘In the Loop’ has been one of the great privileges of my career,” Simons said. “I am truly thankful for the Chicagoans who welcomed me into their lives and trusted me with their stories, questions and hopes for this city. I will always cherish the remarkable producers and engineers who brought their talent, heart and unwavering support to the work every day.”
Help us send her off: We want to know — is there an on-air moment with Sasha-Ann Simoms that still sticks with you? Reply to this email with your favorite moments and memories. Some of your messages may be read on-air and shared with her.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 8A: “Chicago __” (One Chicago series)
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏀🏈
- Welcome to the Bulls, rookie: Bulls forward Caleb Wilson said he couldn’t remember ever going through this much losing this early in a season. With good reason — he’s never played on a losing team.
- Bears vs. Buccaneers: The Sun-Times’ experts make their picks for “Sunday Night Football” against the Buccaneers at Soldier Field.
- WNBA analysis: Now that the Valkyries are champions, is Veronica Burton the point guard to beat?
- High school football: A look at five of the best second-round IHSA football playoff games this weekend.
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Chicago journalist emerges from obscurity in acclaimed documentary
Reporting by Erica Thompson
At the height of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s, the city bustled with activity.
There to capture it all was Gerri Major, a glamorous journalist and Chicago native whose columns covered the Black upper class until her death at 90 years old in 1984. Nicknamed the “Harlem hostess,” she wrote for several newspapers before becoming a senior editor at Ebony and the society editor at Jet magazine.
Major is a central figure in “Once Upon a Time in Harlem,” William and David Greaves’ critically acclaimed documentary playing in select Chicago theaters in November.
The film, featured in the Black Harvest Film Festival that’s running Friday through Nov. 15 at the School of the Gene Siskel Film Center, captures a party attended by Major, composer Eubie Blake, painter Aaron Douglas and more than 20 other Harlem Renaissance luminaries at Duke Ellington’s home in 1972.
Born Geraldyn Hodges in 1894, her exposure to Black socialites began in her childhood in the Douglas community area. She was given a debutante ball at 18 and earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at the University of Chicago.
Major’s body of work is a detailed chronicle of Black life, history and genealogy, but she has remained an obscure figure — until now.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
Yesterday, we asked you: After Tuesday’s nationwide wins, what is your message to Democrats as they prepare to take control of the House and Senate?
Here’s some of what you said, edited for length and clarity:
“Don’t f— it up. Take care of your constituents, work with your colleagues in Congress, be decent. The best reelection campaign is a good record.” — Phoebe M.
“Affordability and accountability. You don’t have to choose one over the other. Do both.” — Thomas Rodriguez
“Small standalone bills that 70% of the country wants. Oversight, keep the borders tight but get rid of ICE inside our country, stop the war, forget impeachment you don’t have the votes, [lower] drug prices and fix the insurance nightmare.” — Caryn Seidman
“Focus on governing. Put investigations on the back burner. Forget about impeachments. Pass dozens of single-topic clean bills that force Republicans to vote on each issue and then, if passed, force Trump to sign or veto. Implement the things that are needed to make the lives of ordinary Americans better. Deliver actual results.” — Usha Gupta
“People want results. Don’t think that Texas and Kansas suddenly became California. People didn’t become MAGA two years ago, and they’re not DSA now. The pendulum will keep swinging until someone gets it right.” — John Paul
PICTURE CHICAGO 📸
Thanks for reading the Sun-Times Morning Edition! Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.
Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Michael Lansu
Copy edited by: Satchel Price