It’s Labor Day, Chicago. ✶
And that means it’s a chance to honor and reflect on the labor of workers nationwide and in our great city.
It also means summer 2026 is nearing its end — a summer defined by deadly heat and record-setting storms, a decades-low in murders, swarms of biting bugs, a new addition to the South Side and the excitement of seeing both the Cubs and the White Sox inspire playoff dreams.
But before the beaches and pools officially close, the street festivals wind down and the paleta cart rolls away, we’ve got a slate of news, good reads and guides to help you send off the season.
🔎 In today’s newsletter: What once-secret records tell us about several doomed Midway Blitz cases, the remarkable man behind former President Barack Obama’s tan suit and a pitch to move the White Sox by the river.
🗞️ Plus: A morning without cars on DuSable Lake Shore Drive, can’t-miss storefront theater shows and more news you need to know.
Whether you’re off work or clocking in soon, thanks for spending a little bit of your holiday with the Sun-Times. 👇
📧 Subscribe: Get our morning newsletter delivered to your inbox weekday mornings.
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌤️
Mostly sunny with a high near 80. 😎
LABOR DAY COMMEMORATIONS ✶
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Labor Day Parade, Eddie Fest highlights city’s worker-driven history
Reporting by Sun-Times staff
Workers’ parade: Chicagoans celebrated America’s labor movements Saturday at the Chicago Labor Day Parade. Organized and run by the Chicago Federation of Labor, the event has been held in the Pullman Historic District since 2023 to spotlight the community’s history and strong connection to labor.
Eddie Fest: The parade was followed by Eddie Fest, named after United Steelworkers activist Edward “Oilcan” Sadlowski — an oiler and machinist at U.S. Steel South Works in Chicago who, at 25, became president of United Steelworkers Local 65 in the 1960s. Held in Steelworkers Park, it featured live music, community crafts and more.
PURSUIT OF THE SUIT 🇺🇸
The remarkable story of the Holocaust survivor who made Obama’s tan suit
Reporting by Lynn Sweet
Suit story: The story behind former President Barack Obama’s missing tan suit starts with Maxmilian Grünfeld, who was 15 when he arrived at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp by cattle car with his mother, father, two sisters, brother and grandparents in 1944. He was the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust. He later came to the U.S, changed his name to Martin Greenfield, and became a famous tailor in Brooklyn, New York. He made Obama’s tan suit.
The pursuit: The Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet has been on the hunt for Obama’s tan suit. When he wore it to a press conference on Aug. 28, 2014, right-wing critics deemed it unpresidential. The overblown response to the suit worn by the nation’s first Black president sparked a political and cultural flashpoint. It is not at the museum in the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park — reporters were told Obama gave the suit away years ago, after cleaning out his closet.
Go deeper: In the latest installments in Lynn’s series, she shares the story of the remarkable life of the man who made the suit — and how, according to Greenfield’s sons, to identify the real tan suit if it ever resurfaces.
WATCH: MAN BEHIND THE TAN ▶️
STADIUM SAGA 🏟️
Future Sox owner announces proposal for riverside stadium
Reporting by Violet Miller and Tina Sfondeles
New Sox park?: Canal Edge LLC — a company owned by White Sox minority owner Justin Ishbia, who could take over the team as soon as 2034 — is proposing a mixed-use development called The Railyards that he said could be an option presented to the team as its lease at the publicly owned Rate Field ends. The proposal also includes a Northwestern Medicine “health care presence” and “transit-oriented residential, commercial, and retail development.”
Railyard rework: The stadium would sit along the Chicago River, stretching from Roosevelt Road to the north to 18th Street to the south, and bordered by the river on its east side and Canal Street to its west. Canal Edge has the land under contract and said the park would turn the Amtrak railyard into a year-round “riverfront venue” with its outfield opening pointed at the city’s skyline.
Plan pushback: Ald. Nicole Lee (11th), whose ward encompasses the current Sox stadium in Bridgeport, and Cook County Commissioner John Daley said in a joint statement that “any request for tax breaks and TIF dollars in support of this plan should be roundly rejected.” They said that 35-year-old Rate Field, built with $137 million in taxpayer dollars, has “plenty of life to give.”
LET’S HEAR FROM YOU 🗣️
What do you think of the future Sox owner’s proposal to build a new stadium by the river?
Reply to this question via email or tap the button below (please include your first and last name). We may run your answer in a future newsletter or story.
FEATURED READS ✶
- Once-secret records show grand jurors sought Bovino testimony, more evidence in doomed Midway Blitz cases
- After recent beluga deaths, Shedd Aquarium monitoring others for ‘clinical concerns’
- Have you been swarmed by biting flies? Why they’re ‘no joke’
- Lincoln’s blood-stained gloves from his assassination resurface in California museum
MUST-READ COMMENTARY 🗣️
- Neil Steinberg: Celebrate jobs — while we still have them — on Labor Day.
- Robert Forrant: Weariness and wariness likely to follow blue-collar union voters to the polls.
- Letters to the editor: Employee-owned businesses do a good job protecting and uplifting workers, writes Marquis Spivey in a letter to the editor.
FALL GUIDE 🍁
- Your guide to farmers markets
- 10 storefront theater shows to see
- Richard Roeper’s 12 most anticipated movies
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏈⚾🏀
- Chicago sports’ bright future: Last week’s image of the Bears’ Caleb Williams and the Bulls’ Matas Buzelis and Caleb Wilson cheering for the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong at Wrigley Field showed that the city’s sports stars have “started something pretty cool,” as Cubs manager Craig Counsell put it.
- Remembering Matt Suhey: A member of the 1985 championship team, Mr. Suhey played his entire 10-year career for the Bears and was one of their most reliable and beloved players of the 1980s. He died Sunday at 68.
- Craig Counsell or Pat Murphy?: Is there at least one place in Brewerland where fans still rate Counsell — Milwaukee’s all-time winningest manager — ahead of his popular successor? We went to Whitefish Bay for the answer.
- Sox’ strength: The White Sox are maximizing their strength, ranking fifth in the majors in percentage of runs via home run.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 7A: ___ Day (unofficial end of Summer)
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Thousands of cyclists take part in Bike the Drive
Reporting by Kaitlin Washburn
DuSable Lake Shore Drive was a little quieter and a whole lot more peaceful Sunday morning.
Thousands of cyclists took part in the 25th Bike the Drive, a once-a-year chance to (legally) bike down 30 miles of state highway and revel in the city’s lakefront. Some cyclists said the ride, absent the car noise and congestion, shows how Chicago’s streets could be designed safer for walkers and cyclists.
“It’s an opportunity to be able to enjoy the full view of Chicago uninterrupted, and it’s always a nice day,” said Lakisha Tanner, a returning participant who rides her bike regularly around Chicago.
The ride is a fundraiser for the Active Transportation Alliance, a non-profit advocating for better conditions for walking, biking and using public transit throughout the Chicago area. About 20,000 participants come out each year.
Riders had five hours to do the entire 30-mile loop or stick to one section. They could also enter and exit from one of five spots on the route, including the northernmost part at Bryn Mawr Avenue and the southernmost turnaround at 57th Street by the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. Riders celebrated with coffee, beer and pancakes at a festival in Grant Park.
Thanks for reading the Sun-Times! We’ll be back with a new Morning Edition newsletter tomorrow.
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: David Struett