Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: How Chicagoans stepped in to make sure kids got to school amid the federal immigration blitz.
🗞️ Plus: Northwestern’s deal with Trump, Christkindlmarket’s crowd limit is raised and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Bulls fell to the Magic, 125-120.
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⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌥️
Partly sunny with a high near 24.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES
As immigration agents swept Chicago, communities stepped in to get kids to school safely
By Sarah Karp and Amy Qin
Roll call: As immigration enforcement intensified after Operation Midway Blitz launched in Chicago on Sept. 8 — three weeks into the school year — community members worried parents would be too scared to take their children to and from school and that kids’ education would suffer.
The efforts: Some volunteers transported children in vans called “magic school buses” or accompanied them as a group in “walking school buses.” Others wore yellow vests and whistles outside schools, monitoring kids and scanning for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Teachers stood watch during drop off and dismissal, connected families with organizations offering food or legal help, and devised ways for students to do school work from home.
The impact: A WBEZ analysis found student attendance briefly plummeted following intense moments of enforcement, but that overall rates are comparable to last year. Some of those interviewed credited efforts that supported parents and children.
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Illinois prisoner’s artwork reaches Pope Leo XIV
By Mawa Iqbal
Art exchange: When Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and his wife, MK, visited Pope Leo XIV in Rome in mid-November, the state’s first couple brought along a piece of art made by Yesenia Diaz, who’s incarcerated in the Logan Correctional Center. The Pilsen native, convicted of murder, decided to enter her artwork in a contest that MK Pritzker organized for people housed in Illinois prisons.
Key context: Since his election last spring, the pope has prioritized the rights of prisoners. A snippet of video from the Pritzkers’ papal visit shows the first lady explaining how Diaz’s drawing represents the woman’s life behind bars.
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What Northwestern accepted from the Trump administration to get back $790M in research funds
By Kaitlin Washburn
The agreement: When Northwestern University announced its deal with the Trump administration last week to restore $790 million in federal research grants in exchange for a $75 million payout and a list of conditions, Interim President Henry Bienen insisted the school had “several hard red lines we refused to cross,” asserting it still has full control of hiring and admission.
Realigned values: But in signing the agreement — which resolves several federal investigations into allegations of antisemitism on campus, the use of race in admissions policies and compliance with anti-discrimination laws — the university realigned several policies to formally conform with the administration’s interpretation of civil rights laws.
Professors react: Professors interviewed by the Sun-Times disagreed that Northwestern remains autonomous. They decried the deal as a violation of academic freedom and free speech.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED ✶
- ‘El Chapo’ son strikes deal: Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, pleaded guilty Monday to U.S. drug trafficking charges, as part of a deal that could ultimately save him from a lifetime behind bars.
- USPS worker strangled: Carolyn Jones, 41, died last week of strangulation at her home. Charges were pending against her estranged husband, relatives and police told the Sun-Times.
- Ex-counselor accused: Edmund Rivers, a former mental health counselor, has been accused of sexually abusing five boys, ages 7 to 14, when he worked at Hartgrove Behavioral Health Hospital between 1996 and 2004, Cook County prosecutors said.
- Pollution settlement: Monsanto, once the largest maker of a now-banned class of chemicals, agreed to pay the state at least $120 million under a settlement announced by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
- REAL costs: U.S. travelers without a REAL ID will be charged a $45 fee beginning in February, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
POLITICS ✶
- Crowd limit raised: City officials raised the capacity limit at Daley Plaza’s Christkindlmarket by 1,000 people after organizers, vendors and patrons complained about a last-minute crowd restriction on the beloved market.
- New chief judge: Cook County Chief Judge Charles Beach took the oath of office Monday, marking the county’s first new chief judge in more than two decades.
- Budget alternatives: City Council moderates and conservatives are intensifying efforts to craft an alternate spending plan that does not include a corporate head tax. That plan could entail a higher trash collection fee and a new package delivery fee.
- TIF troubles?: Chicago’s taxpayer watchdog group says the surplus process revised by Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration last year has allowed the creation of TIF districts to “act as a sort of stealth property tax” that bankrolls operating costs at the expense of economically challenged areas TIF districts were created to revitalize.
CHICAGO STORIES ✶
Tattoo artist gives new life to post-mastectomy scars
By Stefano Esposito
The people’s artist: Some people come to David Allen’s Ravenswood studio when they are defeated, their bodies, in the words of one of Allen’s clients, resembling “a nuclear wasteland.” Many are Allen’s mastectomy tattoo clients, seeking healing beyond what a surgeon’s scalpel and sutures can do.
In bloom: Before the ink begins to flow, Allen will spend a lot of time listening, trying to understand his client’s needs. Then he will often tattoo dark, ropy scar tissue with roses, peonies or gladioli in perpetual bloom. “It’s floral because it’s very organic,” he said. “And sometimes people need revisions — they have to have surgery again … I can fix a leaf or a stem or a petal pretty easily.”
In demand: Allen’s artistry is in demand globally. He has, he said, hundreds of people on his waiting list. He recently returned from a trip to Italy to tattoo a mastectomy client.
Key quote: “You share stories. You hear the weight of what they went through,” he said. “Sometimes they’re in a good spot. Sometimes, maybe they [recently] went to therapy, and they’ve worked through mortality issues.”
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏈🏒⚾🏀
- ‘Feed a city’: Chicagoans will get free hot dogs Tuesday at the Wiener’s Circle, thanks to Bears coach Ben Johnson’s decision to go shirtless after Friday’s game.
- Hawks sales on track: A crowded Thanksgiving week boosted the Blackhawks’ attendance average, and the team is confident sales won’t dip to October levels moving forward.
- Marquee cuts: The Cubs’ Marquee Sports Network has eliminated its GM position and significantly reduced its digital content team.
- Boys basketball: Here are our picks for the 15 must-see high school basketball games this season.
GAMES AND CROSSWORDS 🧩
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Your holiday theater guide, from classics to boozy shows
By Mike Davis
The Chicago area’s holiday theater menu is big and eclectic.
From the North Side to the South Side and the suburbs, companies are summoning classic Scrooges, remixing chestnuts and bringing forth fresh stories to get you in the mood for celebration, gift-giving and time with loved ones.
We’ve curated a list of nearly 30 holiday-themed shows, from multiple productions of classics such as “A Christmas Carol” to festive comedies at Second City and the Annoyance Theatre.
This year also brings the premiere of a farcical rip of the Real Housewives franchise with “The Real Housewives of the North Pole,” along with a few other fun, risque options for adults with “Naughty Noel” and the return of “The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show.”
Some shows are open now while others will open as the season progresses.
DAILY QUESTION ☕️
How do you deal with hat hair in the winter? ❄️
Email us with your answer (please include your first and last name). We may run your answers in Wednesday’s Morning Edition.
PICTURE CHICAGO 📸
Snow outside Soldier Field on Sunday. Chicago saw its snowiest November day ever recorded on Saturday, after almost 9 inches of snow fell over two days.
Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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