Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: The Sun-Times went to Washington to see firsthand what President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard looks like.
🗞️ Plus: Your FAQs about the guard answered, Northwestern University’s president resigns, a “Midwest Farmer’s Daughter” comes home and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The White Sox beat the Twins, 11-8.
📧 Subscribe: Get this newsletter delivered to your inbox weekday mornings.
⏱️: A 9-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌤️
Mostly sunny and breezy with a high near 64.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES
Former Chicagoans in Washington call National Guard deployment ‘unprecedented and scary’
By Tina Sfondeles, Araceli Gómez-Aldana, Kade Heather, Frank Main, Kaitlin Washburn and Courtney Kueppers
District dispatch: Sun-Times reporter Tina Sfondeles went to Washington as President Donald Trump’s threat of deploying the National Guard in Chicago lingers. In the capital, guardsmen have accompanied U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, laid down mulch and picked up trash. They’ve milled around metro stations, residential parks and federal buildings, guns in tow.
FAQs: We asked our readers and listeners for their questions about Trump’s threats to send the guard to Chicago. Among them: How is this legal? Where will the guard be posted? What can local leaders do? Find the answers to your questions here.
Sanctuary laws explained: For Chicago’s immigrant communities, we’ve broken down how Chicago’s laws support you and what to expect if you encounter law enforcement.
‘Don’t take the bait’: Latino leaders on Thursday urged Chicago area residents to peacefully gather “en masse” for upcoming Mexican Independence Day celebrations, calling Trump’s potential federal activity plans a ploy to agitate the community.
Ex-general’s view: Putting National Guard troops in Chicago to fight crime could stain the military’s image, former Illinois Adjutant General Richard J. Hayes Jr. told the Sun-Times.
El Grito postponed: Organizers postponed the two-day Mexican Independence Day festival, set for Sept. 13-14 in Grant Park, citing possible ICE activity. Some of this weekend’s big downtown events including Taste of Chicago, Printers Row Lit Festival and Sundays on State are still on, officials said.
WATCH: YOUR FAQS ANSWERED ▶️
@chicago.suntimes How can federalized National Guard troops, enter the state legally? We are answering your questions about the National Guard and immigration agents possibly being deployed to the streets of Chicago. #news #chicago #nationalguard #immigration #ICE
GAMES AND CROSSWORDS 🧩
This week’s Chicago-style crossword theme is: Labor Day.
Here’s your clue:
36A: “The ___ makes us strong” (labor movement slogan)
MORE NEWS YOU NEED
- NU president exits: Northwestern University President Michael Schill announced Thursday he is resigning from the school after a tenure marked by attacks from GOP officials, widespread student protests and mass layoffs spurred by Trump administration funding cuts.
- Teen charged in shooting: A 14-year-old boy, allegedly upset because he lost a fistfight, was ordered to be detained in connection with the mass shooting that injured four teenagers in July on the city’s West Side.
- 4 sought in man’s death: Detectives were looking for four people who may have been involved in the drowning of beloved boat captain Nabil Abzal, whose death was ruled a homicide.
- Violence intervention work: LaToya Baines works as a case manager at the Alliance of Local Service Organizations, one of several agencies in Chicago that hire people with criminal records to help drive down violent crime. She spoke with WBEZ about her dream job and making an impact.
- ‘Preparation for the Next Life’: In Oscar-nominated director Bing Liu’s first narrative film, an undocumented immigrant and an Army veteran fall in love. The Rockford-raised director told the Sun-Times the film, screening through Sept. 10, tackles the “spiritual and emotional cost” of those who toil at the fringes of society.
MUST-READ COMMENTARY 🗣️
Architect Dwight Perkins’ buildings teach valuable lessons on school design — more than a century later
By Lee Bey
Something to consider as a new academic year gets underway: Chicago Public Schools are among the city’s most architecturally distinctive buildings. And the best of these are the 40 designed by architect Dwight Perkins.
WEEKEND PLANS ✶
🌮 Taste of Chicago
11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Sunday
📍Grant Park, Buckingham Fountain, Jackson Boulevard and Columbus Drive
Sample the city’s foodie scene with dozens of food vendors and food trucks. Plus, performances from Lupe Fiasco, JoJo, Elvis Crespo, Terry Hunter, The O’My’s and others.
Admission: Free
🎸Edgewater Music Fest
5-10 p.m. Friday, noon-10 p.m., Saturday-Sunday
📍Broadway from Thorndale Avenue to Ardmore Avenue
This inaugural fest features more than 30 music acts on two stages, including Cloud Nothings, Ric Wilson and Speedy Ortiz.
Admission: $10 suggested donation
🇩🇪Chicago German-American Oktoberfest
5-10 p.m. Friday, noon-10 p.m. Saturday-Sunday
📍4521 Lincoln Ave.
Welcome the fall season with authentic German food, music and, of course, beer and wine. Don’t miss the parade on Lincoln Avenue at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Admission: Free
💃Mandala Makers Festival
6 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday
📍Athenaeum Center, 2936 N. Southport
This showcase of South Asian performing arts features classical, contemporary and Bollywood dance as well as classical, folk and contemporary music.
Admission: $40+
🎉79th Street Renaissance Festival
10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday
📍79th Street and Racine Avenue
Chaka Khan headlines this annual festival featuring music, food, carnival rides and more than 100 vendors.
Admission: Free
📖 Printers Row Lit Fest
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday
📍Dearborn Street from Ida B. Wells Drive to Polk Street
The Chicago tradition returns with another packed lineup of authors, presenters and programs along with booksellers, publishers and cultural performers.
Admission: Free
🎨Renegade Craft Fair
11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday
📍Division Street between Damen Avenue and Ashland Avenue
Shop from more than 400 artists at this late summer Wicker Park fair.
Admission: $5 suggested donation
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏈⚾🏀
- 40 years later: As the Bears gear up for their season opener Monday, Sun-Times sports columnist Steve Greenberg looks back on the legacy of the 1985 Super Bowl Bears.
- Bears looking forward: The Sun-Times’ sports reporters offer predictions for this squad’s 2025 record.
- More predictions: With 22 games left in the regular season, Sun-Times reporter Maddie Lee explores the Cubs’ playoff scenarios.
- Baldwinning?: How the White Sox’ Brooks Baldwin’s Triple-A stint turned around his season.
- Reese suspended: The Sky contested the call from Wednesday’s game, but the league confirmed Thursday that forward Angel Reese will receive a one-game suspension.
BRIGHT ONE ✨
Margo Price’s heart remains firmly planted in Illinois
Reporting by Tricia Despres
The eyes of Margo Price will be firmly fixed on the audience at the second annual Evanston Folk Festival this weekend, as the Illinois native expects to see some family and friends in the crowd as she headlines the last day of the two-day event.
“I have so many cousins and people [I know who] still live back home, and I’m always happy when I can get in touch with them. We’ll see who shows up,” Price said with a laugh in a recent interview with the Sun-Times. “You just never know.”
“You just never know” could also be the philosophy that has guided both the personal and professional journey of the girl from the tiny town of Aledo in western Illinois — from her college days at Northern Illinois University to her time in Nashville — all in the hopes of making her musical dreams come true.
But while it is in Nashville where Price has written her songs and won her awards, her heart remains firmly planted in the state she will always consider home.
“I love Illinois,” said Price, who hit it big in 2016 with her debut album, “Midwest Farmer’s Daughter.” She added, “The Midwest will always be my home … I feel like I meet Midwesterners all around the world and in every city and every state.”
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
On Thursday, we asked you: What’s your enduring memory of the 1985 Bears moment in Chicago sports history?
Here’s some of what you said…
“Was working in television sports in Louisiana and covered the Super Bowl. Biggest memory was after the game, waiting for the trophy presentation, they started playing the Super Bowl Shuffle on the Superdome scoreboard. I’d have to say half of the crowd starting singing and clapping; some were dancing in the aisles!”— Mark Liptak
“An incredibly jubilant parade! All my family was dressed up in Bears’ gear! We were all doing the Super Bowl shuffle.”— Sandy Ritt Anderson
“That I was 19 years old, stationed in Korea. The Super Bowl came on at 4am and I was up and was the only one in my unit watching.”— Kevin D. Williams
“Sitting in the north end zone stands, looking up behind me, and seeing the message “SUPER BOWL XX” lighting up the scoreboard at the end of the NFC title game. It was really happening!”— Omar Sofradzija
“Cold, real cold. I was headed to Rush Street to celebrate [but got] so cold, I turned around and went back home and watched the celebration on television.”— Percy Fair
“My cousins and I getting in our car and going to downtown. Then getting stuck in traffic for hours. And joining the festivities.”— Carmen Iri
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: Eydie Cubarrubia
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