Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: A federal judge last week ordered top U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino to appear in her downtown courtroom 10 a.m. Tuesday. If he shows, how will he explain using tear gas against protesters?
🗞️ Plus: The congressional remap push comes to Illinois, the Edgewater Beach Apartments building gets a much-needed paint job and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Bulls beat the Hawks, 128-123.
🔴 Live coverage: After you’re caught up, head over to our homepage, where you can follow live coverage of Bovino’s expected appearance in federal court.
📧 Subscribe: Get this newsletter delivered to your inbox weekday mornings.
⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌤️
Partly sunny with a chance of showers and a high near 57.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES
Border Patrol’s Gregory Bovino expected in federal court today in tear gas case
By Jon Seidel
Day in court: U.S. Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino has been ordered to appear before a federal judge 10 a.m. Tuesday at Dirksen Federal Courthouse.
Key context: U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis is presiding over a lawsuit brought by media organizations over the treatment of protesters during the federal deportation campaign.
The order: Ellis on Friday ordered Bovino to appear in her courtroom. The order came one day after attorneys accused him of tossing tear gas into a crowd in the Little Village neighborhood without justification. The lawyers say that action violated an order Ellis handed down earlier this month.
Follow along: Sun-Times and WBEZ reporters are providing live coverage of today’s hearing that you can find on our homepage.
More headlines:
- Lawyer sues Broadview mayor, police over designated protest hours outside ICE facility
- Clergy say religious rights are under attack inside and outside Broadview ICE facility
- Cicero, Berwyn students demand more school district support as immigration enforcement escalates
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U.S. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries brings redistricting push to Illinois
By Mitchell Armentrout and Tina Sfondeles
Power play: U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries visited Chicago on Monday in his effort to squeeze another Democratic district out of Illinois’ heavily gerrymandered congressional map, seeking the support of Black Illinois legislators who say they want to match President Donald Trump’s GOP redistricting campaign — but refuse to dilute Black representation.
Map redraw: The powerful New York Democrat met with several Black legislators in a River North office before heading down to Springfield, where state lawmakers who would have to approve a remap are scheduled to wrap up their legislative calendar this week.
Primary goal: Candidates began filing petitions to appear on Illinois’ March 17, 2026, primary ballot Monday, but supporters say there’s time to figure out the logistics of the controversial plan to carve out a 15th blue district on the map that already splits 14-3 for Democrats.
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Fewer international students are studying at some Illinois universities
By Lisa Kurian Philip
Notable drop: Fewer international students are headed to universities in Illinois and across the country this fall, early data shows, amid efforts by the Trump administration to cut down on the number of foreign students studying on American campuses.
Who’s impacted: Data from at least three schools — DePaul University, the University of Illinois Chicago and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — show declines in international enrollment among graduate students.
Bottom line: The resulting drops in tuition revenue are squeezing universities’ finances, and faculty say fewer international students on campus will hurt teaching and research.
WATCH: BOVINO EXPECTED IN COURT ▶️
MORE NEWS YOU NEED
- Lunchroom workers rally: More than 100 Chicago Public Schools lunchroom workers picketed outside the district’s Downtown headquarters Monday, demanding a new contract, higher wages and fully staffed kitchens.
- Teaching assistant charged with felony: Mycale R. Ford remains behind bars after he was accused of grooming a 13-year-old student at Gresham Elementary School.
- Ex-cop takes stand: Former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson, charged with murdering Sonya Massey while she was unarmed at home, testified Monday, claiming self-defense.
- Husband charged with wife’s murder: A year after Caitlin Tracey was found dead after falling more than 20 stories from her husband’s South Loop high-rise, he was charged with first-degree murder in her death, Cook County court records show.
- Budget pitch criticism: In an analysis released last week, taxpayer watchdog group Civic Federation said Mayor Brandon Johnson is using “bad practices of the past” to avoid tough budget choices in his $16.6 billion 2026 proposal.
- 4 stars for ‘House of the Exquisite Corpse’: This year’s production, themed “Blood and Puppets,” showcases a jaw-dropping assemblage of puppet-led vignettes that spin real-world terrors into elaborate metaphors and eyeball-popping gore, writes Catey Sullivan in a review for the Sun-Times.
CHICAGO STORIES 🗞️
Edgewater landmark will look even prettier in pink thanks to new paint job
By Lee Bey
Bright spot: For the first time in 25 years, the Edgewater Beach Apartments is getting put back in the pink as crews of painters refresh the 20-story Spanish Revival landmark’s legendary color. Workers have been repainting the southeast wing of the 97-year-old co-op, 5555 N. Sheridan Road, since April and will tackle the other three wings between spring and fall 2026.
The view: For now, the building presents an interesting visual contrast, with the color-faded wings juxtaposed against the one with a fresh coat of “sunset pink,” the color originally selected by Marshall & Fox, the firm that designed the building. “It makes the old coating look almost brown,” said Joseph D. Ferrario of the Edgewater Beach Apartments Corp. “It’s just so dazzling.”
Memory lane: A city landmark that’s also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Edgewater Beach Apartments and its distinctive color and Maltese Cross-like floor plan have been a presence on the north lakefront since 1928.
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏒🏀🏈
- Hawks’ to-do list: The Blackhawks’ struggling power play needs to get coordinated with zone entries, writes Ben Pope.
- White’s ‘tricky’ injury: Coby White strained his right calf in late August and the Bulls had hoped to have him back for the start of the regular season. Coach Billy Donovan called the injury “tricky.”
- QB concerns: Caleb Williams hasn’t played well in the Bears’ last four games, all against struggling defenses, and hasn’t established enough of a track record to brush it aside as a slump, writes Jason Lieser.
GAMES AND CROSSWORDS 🧩
This week’s Chicago-style crossword theme is: Halloween 🎃
Here’s your clue:
9A: ___-or-Treat (Trick-or-Treat alternative)
SPOOKY ONE 👻
Skeleton DJ is the star of homeowner’s Halloween decorations
By Stefano Esposito
Wander into Graham Mabon’s Old Irving Park neighborhood this time of year and you’ll find plenty of plastic skeletons big and small.
A 5-foot-tall skeleton leans, grinning, from Mabon’s second-floor balcony — fingers working twin turntables, headphones clapped over its skull and a disco ball glittering above.
Mabon is among several homeowners in the Chicago area who aren’t satisfied with simply slinging a fake web and plastic spiders across the front yard or spending a small fortune buying ready-made jump scare creations. They share the need to create something that wouldn’t look out of place in a professional haunted house or on a downtown stage.
When the sun goes down, Mabon’s house is transformed into a Halloween-themed faux nightclub, complete with booming music, lights and even a velvet rope. The skeletal hands on the turntables actually move, creating the illusion that his “DJ” is actually on the 1s and 2s.
Mabon and his wife plan to wear “security” T-shirts to escort the VIP kiddos along a red carpet to the candy stash on Halloween.
Read more on his setup — plus some spooky displays elsewhere — here or via the button below. 👇
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
Have you decorated your home for Halloween this year? Show us! Send a photo of your home Halloween setup.
Email us (please include your first and last name and neighborhood and we may run your photo in a spooky gallery in a forthcoming newsletter.
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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