Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: Federal agents on Tuesday rammed an SUV to end a high-speed pursuit down a residential street, then deployed tear-gas on a crowd of protesters that gathered.
🗞️ Plus: Air traffic controllers say the government shutdown is endangering flyers, Mayor Brandon Johnson goes head tax hunting and more news you need to know.
📧 Subscribe: Get this newsletter delivered to your inbox weekday mornings.
⏱️: A 9-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌧️
Cloudy with showers and a high near 62.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES
Feds ram SUV after chase down residential street, then tear-gas crowd
Reporting by Mary Norkol, Anthony Vazquez and Kade Heather
Feds crash out: Federal agents chased a car through a residential neighborhood Tuesday on the Southeast Side, then intentionally crashed into it in a risky maneuver restricted by some police departments. The crash caused two men to fall out of the car while it was moving. Agents pursued and arrested them. Two bystanders were also arrested.
Community unrest: The commotion attracted a crowd of onlookers and protesters, who converged near the scene of the crash at 105th Street and Avenue N. A large number of armed U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents responded to the crowd by hurling smoke grenades, shooting pepper balls and deploying at least three rounds of tear gas over the area, even with children and seniors present. At least four protesters were detained.
Key context: The situation is the latest in which federal agents have brought aggressive immigration enforcement techniques to a Chicago neighborhood and resorted to using tear gas and other munitions on nearby crowds.
More headlines:
- Federal immigration agents will continue to use Naval Station Great Lakes until at least December
- ICE facility fence in Broadview has been removed in compliance with federal judge’s order
- Cook County judge bars civil arrests at courthouses, citing chilling effect
- WGN employee is released without charges after being ‘violently detained’ by federal agents, her lawyer says
- Facebook suspends popular Chicago ICE-sightings group at Trump administration’s request
✶✶✶✶
Unpaid air traffic controllers say government shutdown endangers flyers
Reporting by David Struett
Work without pay: The U.S government shutdown has introduced risk and danger to the national airspace, according to air traffic controllers now working without being paid. Air traffic controllers are mandated to continue work.
Shutdown effects: The National Air Traffic Controllers Association publicly warned union members not to miss work. But the added stress brought on by the shutdown, and the loss of furloughed support staff that maintain critical systems, makes their job harder — and the skies less safe, the union said Tuesday as its members passed out brochures to travelers at O’Hare Airport.
Blame game: In related news, O’Hare and Midway international airports have joined a growing list of airports refusing to play a video from U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that accuses Democrats of causing the government shutdown and impacting flight operations.
✶✶✶✶
Mayor eyes head tax in ’26 budget but emboldened Council might have final say
Analysis by Fran Spielman
Fortified Council: A year ago, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $17.1 billion 2025 budget squeaked through the City Council after a protracted stalemate in which council members unanimously rejected his proposed $300 million property tax increase and refused to support a property tax hike of any size.
Chicago marathon?: On Thursday, the budget marathon starts again. Johnson will stand before an emboldened City Council to outline his plan to erase a $1.15 billion shortfall, after promising to deliver on his pledge to “challenge the ultra-rich” and corporations that benefited from President Donald Trump’s tax cuts to “pay their fair share in taxes.”
Head tax revival: Delivering on Johnson’s promise to challenge businesses to “put more skin in the game” will likely mean a revived, dramatically enhanced, rebranded version of the monthly $4 per-employee head tax despised by business leaders as a “job killer.”
MORE NEWS YOU NEED ✶
- Mom’s vaccine push: After the sudden death of her 8-year-old son from a rare infectious disease, a northwest Indiana mom is stressing the importance of vaccines. Although he was vaccinated, she believes his attending a school with unvaccinated children contributed to his death.
- City considers settlements: Chicago taxpayers will be asked to pay $15.5 million to compensate two families who lost relatives because of alleged mistakes made by first responders.
- Ex-AT&T president strikes deal: Paul La Schiazza, a former AT&T Illinois president who allegedly bribed ex-state House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, has agreed to pay a $200,000 fine and to admit to most federal accusations against him — and he could walk away without a conviction.
- Student absenteeism: Students in Illinois are missing more school than they were before the pandemic, and the number of days absent is impacting elementary school students’ learning more than it did before COVID-19, according to a new study.
- Suburban superintendent indicted: Evanston/Skokie School District 65 is dealing with the aftermath of the federal indictment of former superintendent Devon Horton, as its board contemplates closing schools to address a budget deficit.
- Broadway zoning debate: Despite vocal objections from audience members, a City Council committee Tuesday endorsed controversial zoning changes designed to promote development and greater density along Broadway near Uptown and Edgewater.
- Stellantis promises growth: The carmaker will invest $13 billion over the next four years to expand its manufacturing capacity in the U.S. including $613 million at its Belvidere plant, it said Tuesday.
CHICAGO ON FILM 🎥
Director examines Jackie Robinson West Little League controversy in new documentary
Reporting by Erica Thompson
Hometown heroes: If you were in Chicago in 2014, it was hard to ignore the buzz surrounding Jackie Robinson West, the first all-Black team to win the Little League U.S. Baseball Championship. Fans celebrated the victory on State Street with a massive watch party. Days later, the South Side team was honored with a parade and rally at Millennium Park. Then President Barack Obama invited the young athletes to the White House.
Hard reality: But if you check Little League records or search the World of Little League Museum, there’s no trace of Jackie Robinson West’s achievement. That’s because the team was stripped of its national title after it was accused of using ineligible players from outside residential boundaries.
New doc: Filmmaker Kevin Shaw revisits the saga in a highly anticipated documentary, “One Golden Summer,” which will open the Chicago International Film Festival in a sold-out screening Wednesday. The film examines the controversy through interviews with coaches, players, parents and reporters — and addresses complex issues of racial bias and ethics in youth sports.
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏈🏒🏀
- Coach-QB connex: Caleb Williams is still an unknown after 22 starts, but there are indicators he’s on his way up and that the Bears have found the coach-quarterback connection that’s eluded them for so long, writes Jason Lieser.
- Hawks feel positive: The Blackhawks are getting positive returns from forward Andre Burakovsky, their under-the-radar acquisition.
- After hype fades: With lower expectations, can Bulls forward Patrick Williams excel?
- Boys basketball: With practices starting in four weeks, here’s a look at five new coaching hires to keep an eye on this high school boys basketball season.
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Must-see sights of Open House Chicago
Column by Lee Bey
The Chicago Architecture Center’s free annual spectacle, Open House Chicago, returns this weekend, unlocking the doors to more than 200 sites that most of us might not otherwise see.
This year’s event has 30 new places to gawk at. Here are some must-see newcomers.
Hilliard Towers Apartments, Near South Side
Built in 1966, these circular apartment towers at 30 W. Cermak Road were originally public housing residences. Instead of warehousing people in stark high-rises typical of the era, Marina City architect Bertrand Goldberg designed humane buildings with nice views, green space and quality interiors.
Auditorium Building, Downtown
You’ve probably seen a performance or two in the beautiful Auditorium Theater at this Adler & Sullivan masterpiece that is also the home of Roosevelt University, at 430 S. Michigan Ave. But the show doesn’t stop there. The building’s lesser-seen Ganz Hall, a seventh-floor performance space that is one of the finest late-1890s interiors in the city, will be open to visitors.
Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation, Austin
Opened last summer, this project at 5500 W. Madison St. turned the former Emmet Elementary — one of the 50 public schools shut down in 2013 by then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel — into a well-designed workforce development center and community space.
____
WATCH: LEE BEY’S OPEN HOUSE CHECKLIST ▶️
GAMES AND CROSSWORDS 🧩
This week’s Chicago-style crossword theme is: Fall Fest!
Here’s your clue:
10A: Altar that is part of several Fall Fest Día de Los Muertos workshops
DAILY QUESTION ☕️
In yesterday’s newsletter, we asked you: What is Chicago’s most pedestrian-friendly neighborhood?
Here’s some of what you said:
“Lincoln Square … The stretch along Lincoln near Giddings Plaza has a bunch of small shops that are accessible from the brown line. Giddings Plaza is a great place to stop and eat or read a book. To make more areas pedestrian friendly we have to reduce the amount of through traffic and significantly decrease the speed of cars.” — Andrea Bryson
“Andersonville comes to mind. Lots of pedestrian crosswalks on Clark Street and the traffic flow seems pedestrian aware in that lovely little commercial area and all around.” — Shelly Harris
“Hyde Park, easy. They respect the actual crosswalk rules.”— Patrick McGowan
“Definitely Hyde Park. Great restaurants, a museum, great university, lakefront and plenty of businesses.”— Eddie Meek
“Anywhere between Milwaukee Ave and the lake, unless you’re right around the river or the Kennedy, is pretty walkable … The way to make more neighborhoods walkable is simple: Reduce the number of cars and increase the size of buildings.”— Collin Pearsall
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
The Chicago Sun-Times is a nonprofit supported by readers like you. Become a member to make stories like these free and available to everyone. Learn more at suntimes.com/member.