Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: After Monday’s deadline to file nominating petitions, we look at the crowded field for Chicago’s mayoral race — a herd that could be thinned by the cutthroat challenge process.
🗞️ Plus: More accusations of police misuse of license plate readers, weighing the need for permanent festival grounds and more.
📝 Keeping score: The Bulls lost to the Celtics, 134-99.
⛅ Today’s weather: Mostly cloudy with a high near 70.
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Now on to the news you need to know below.👇
⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
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Last mayoral candidates file signatures for 2027 ballot
Reporting by Fran Spielman and David Struett
Fourteen for now: Thirteen candidates will vie for the right to deny Brandon Johnson a second term and become Chicago’s 58th mayor, but only if they can survive cutthroat petition challenges that could narrow the field considerably by February.
Final filers: Joining the mayoral field on the final day of filing: retiring Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, cardiologist and political newcomer Lisa Nee, Cook County Board of Review Commissioner George Cardenas and Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas. Also joining the mayoral field on the final day of filing were attorney William Quinlan, businessman Joe Holberg, conservative Danielle Carter-Walters and former real estate developer Zoe Ma.
First filers: Five candidates filed their nominating petitions on the first day of filing: Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias; lobbyist John Kelly; former Chicago Housing Authority Chair Matthew Brewer; U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley and millionaire businessman and perennial political candidate Willie Wilson.
Petition pitfalls: Campaign managers and veteran political operatives said they expect the crowded mayoral field to shrink substantially as candidates closely scrutinize each other’s nominating petitions to make certain they have the required 12,500 valid signatures to remain on the ballot. No one will be immune from those challenges, no matter how it looks or who it might knock off the ballot.
MORE IN POLITICS ✶
- Suspicious letters: Matthew Unglesbee, of Quincy, is accused of mailing letters containing white powder to four members of Congress from Illinois, including a senator and three House members, according to an FBI affidavit.
- Mayor on defense: Top mayoral aides on Monday began defending Mayor Johnson’s $17.6 billion budget and acknowledged they have no backup plan if, as expected, the failed corporate head tax is shot down again.
- Voter guide: We’re a week away from the 2026 Midterm Elections. Use our free voter guide to preview key races and build your ballot.
PUBLIC SAFETY 🚨
Police investigate potential misuse of license plate reader systems
Reporting by Violet Miller
Investigating its own: The Chicago Police Department is conducting an audit to determine whether cops abused their access to other law enforcement agencies’ license plate reader systems. The department said it has immediately reduced access to outside license plate reader systems to only those whose “position and job duties” require access.
Key context: This month, a former Joliet police lieutenant was hit with felony charges for alleged misuse of Flock technology. It’s the third known case this year of a Will County law enforcement officer being accused of misusing the database that tracks millions of drivers’ real-time locations. Officers from Itasca, West Chicago, Prairie Grove and Kenosha County, Wisconsin, also face felony charges after allegations of misuse.
MUSIC 🎵
Fans rally for music scene mainstay after cancer diagnosis
Reporting by Mark Guarino
Surprise diagnosis: Last month, Dean Schlabowske, of Chicago’s Waco Brothers, received a surprising medical diagnosis: Acute Myeloid Leukemia, an aggressive cancer of the blood and bone marrow. Suddenly, his life turned upside down. For a musician whose income is built through touring and side jobs, both of which were no longer possible, the shift left him facing a dire outcome: “Put everything on credit cards and go bankrupt,” he said.
Fans step up: A friend of Schlabowske’s launched a GoFundMe to see if their peers could help. Within a week, donors, many fans, met the limit of $65,000, and it is now nearing $90,000. The show of support is the culmination of Schlabowske’s nearly 40 years of building an audience by returning to towns, sharing meals and drinks after shows and connecting with people through a shared love of music.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- FBI agent fatally shoots man: Chicago police responded to the scene in Pilsen, where they found the agent with his gun drawn and a 27-year-old on the sidewalk, according to a report obtained by the Sun-Times.
- Amtrak environmental review: Amtrak’s new maintenance facility in Bridgeport will undergo a federal environmental review after community pushback over the project initially being allowed to move forward without one.
- Who can fire top prosecutors?: A West Coast federal appeals panel is considering who can fire top federal prosecutors named by judges. While the panel’s ruling won’t be binding in Illinois, the quest has new relevance here, given Chicago U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros was installed by judges and he remains at the center of the “Broadview Six” scandal.
- Illinois sues Dollar General: Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined a coalition of states and the Federal Trade Commission in the suit, accusing the discount chain of charging more at the checkout counter than prices advertised.
- Six Flags seatbelts: Six Flags Great America’s Raging Bull roller coaster in Gurnee will have seat belts for riders following a fatal incident involving a similar ride in Georgia.
- Film fest recap: Now that the Chicago International Film Festival has wrapped, critic Reginald Ponder shares his top picks, including “The 14th” and “Elsinore.”
ELECTIONS ☑️
Voters to consider permanent festival site for city
Reporting by Courtney Kueppers
On your ballot: A measure on this November’s ballot asks Chicago voters if they’d like the city to establish a designated, permanent spot for large-scale festivals and events — one of several non-binding questions this election cycle.
Key context: The measure, introduced by 11th Ward Ald. Nicole Lee, follows pushback from some Chicagoans who oppose privately run festivals in the city’s public spaces, such as Lollapalooza in Grant Park and Riot Fest in Douglass Park.
LET’S HEAR FROM YOU 🗣️
Does Chicago need a permanent festival site? Tell us why or why not.
Reply to this email (please include your first and last name). We may run your answer in a future newsletter or story.
WATCH: SCHOOL BOARD EXPLAINED ▶️
ON WBEZ 91.5 FM 📻
In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons, 9 a.m.
- Check your judges: Judges are powerful officials whose choices on the bench touch many aspects of life, from traffic tickets to divorces, lawsuits, evictions, and criminal cases. In The Loop digs into Injustice Watch’s guide to Cook County’s judicial retention elections.
- Data centers: A look at what Illinois midterm election candidates are saying about data centers.
- Mag Mile revival?: The Sun-Times’ Mariah Rush stops by to discuss a flurry of new store openings and plans for the mile-long stretch of Michigan Avenue.
Say More with Mary Dixon and Patrick Smith, 10 a.m.
- How to prepare for death: A local death doula — and callers — weigh in on how to better prepare for our final hours.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 7A: Temple (church considered the greatest public building of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Chicago years)
FROM THE PRESS BOX ⚾🏈🏒🏀
- John Schriffen out: Schriffen’s three-year contract expired after the season, and the Sox won’t pick up the option year.
- Share your Cubs memories: Nov. 2 marks the 10-year anniversary of the night the Cubs ended their 108-year championship drought. Tell us what you remember about that magical World Series run.
- League analysis: All four NFC North teams are playoff-caliber — and have fatal flaws, writes Patrick Finley.
- Hawks gut check: How seriously should we take the Blackhawks’ bad beginning? Ben Pope considers how it started and where it’s going.
- Buzelis finding his way: This season so far has been forgettable for Matas Buzelis. If the Bulls want to get it right, they need to make sure he’s on a similar development track as rookie Caleb Wilson, writes Joe Cowley.
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Humboldt penguin joins colony at Brookfield Zoo
Reporting by Cindy Hernandez
A “fearless” young Humboldt penguin has officially entered the habitat.
Robin, a female juvenile penguin, is the only Humboldt penguin to hatch at Brookfield Zoo this year. She hatched July 7 to first-time parents Sofi and Klaus.
“She’s a tenacious little girl,” said Amanda Mansfield, senior animal care specialist at the zoo.
Robin was moved as an egg and placed with foster parents Cara and Popero, penguins at the zoo who have successfully raised chicks in the past, Mansfield said. Robin spent her first three weeks under their care before zoo experts stepped in to help raise her.
Penguin chicks are born covered in down feathers that make swimming difficult for the first few months. But Robin showed an interest in getting into the water at a very young age.
During a recent visit, she still sported a few down feathers as she swam through the Humboldt penguin habitat.
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Editor: Michael Lansu
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