Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, once one of the most powerful politicians in the state, surrendered Monday to a minimum-security federal prison camp in West Virginia.
🗞️ Plus: A Skokie synagogue celebrates the ceasefire deal in Gaza, the fall veto session begins in Springfield and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Bears beat the Commanders, 25-24; the Blackhawks bested the Mammoth, 3-1.
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⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌤️
Partly sunny with a high near 68.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is in prison
By Jon Seidel
In West Virginia: Michael J. Madigan, the longtime former head of Illinois’ Democratic Party, is in prison. The 83-year-old surrendered Monday to a minimum-security federal prison camp in Morgantown, West Virginia — 500 miles away from Chicago and a 1.5-hour drive south of Pittsburgh — according to a source. Prison camps are known to have little to no fencing and inmates have access to a prison commissary.
The sentence: U.S. District Judge John Blakey handed Madigan a 7.5-year prison sentence in June, four months after a jury convicted him of bribery conspiracy, wire fraud and other crimes. Madigan testified in his own defense at trial, and Blakey found that he lied to the jury.
Key context: Madigan’s surrender caps a massive corruption investigation that began in 2014. But it wasn’t until Jan. 29, 2019, that the Sun-Times revealed the FBI had secretly recorded Madigan inside his private law office. About 20 people have since been charged. Madigan is the 11th to report to prison. Three others are due behind bars in the coming weeks.
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With hostages released, Israeli supporters celebrate and remember ‘a hard two years’
By Mary Norkol, Kaitlin Washburn and Somer Van Benton
Community commemorates: Community members gathered outside a suburban Skokie synagogue Monday to celebrate the 20 Israeli hostages being released by Hamas as the first step in a delicate U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal. Children cut 20 ribbons off a tree while 28 more ribbons remained, representing hostages killed in Hamas captivity.
Prisoners freed: Israel also released about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and promised a rush of food and aid into Gaza, where humanitarian groups have sounded the alarm over mass starvation as Israel’s blockade squeezed the area’s food and resources.
Holding out hope: In the aftermath of the ceasefire, demonstrators at pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli gatherings are holding out hope the peace deal will stick and that violence will cease. “I had a hard time believing it. It had been a hard two years; so many times we got our hopes up,” Rabbi Ari Hart said.
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Broadview mayor shrinks protest zones at ICE facility
By Violet Miller
New order: Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson has signed a new executive order shrinking the designated “free speech zones” for demonstrations outside the west suburb’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.
Key context: It’s the latest executive order Thompson has signed to contain ongoing protests outside the facility, despite criticism from protesters and activists. Last week, she signed an order designating a curfew for demonstrations from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Cook County and state law enforcement set up designated protest areas at the facility earlier this month.
More headlines:
- Amid national glare, Broadview mayor keeps focus on her residents
- Panic attacks and anxiety plague a young immigrant mother navigating around ICE arrests
- What to know about immigration enforcement in Chicago
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- Family mourns after fire: Ildefonso Escamilla, 35, and his two sons, 8-year-old Sebastian and 7-year-old Danny, were killed in a fire last Thursday at their West Ridge apartment. Escamilla’s surviving family — including his wife, 17-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son — were injured after jumping from a third-story window when the fire erupted.
- Honoring Sister Jean: A funeral for Loyola University’s beloved Sister Jean Dolores Bertha Schmidt, who died Oct. 9 at age 106, will be held Thursday, preceded by a visitation Wednesday, on the school’s Rogers Park campus.
- Demolition dispute: Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez says he’ll attempt to block a demolition permit for the idled Fisk coal-fired power plant in Pilsen until more details are released about potential environmental impacts and the building owner reveals a long-term plan.
- Transit fare bump?: If approved by the CTA board, fares will increase 25 cents for using a train or bus starting Feb. 1, according to CTA’s 2026 budget recommendations. A bus ride would cost $2.50.
- 3.5 stars for ‘Oak’: This Southern Gothic ghost story revolves around a creek monster that has been snatching kids for generations, weaving themes of trauma and race, writes WBEZ’s Mike Davis.
FALL VETO SESSION ☑️
Lawmakers head to Springfield mulling transit reform, ICE response
By Mitchell Armentrout and Fran Spielman
Back in session: State lawmakers head to Springfield on Tuesday with a full agenda for their fall veto session as Illinois residents deal with rising energy bills, a looming mass transit crisis and an influx of federal immigration agents.
Bad news, Bears: That might not leave much legislative bandwidth for Mayor Brandon Johnson to get any help plugging a $1.15 billion city budget hole — or for the Bears to find enough blockers in their rush for a new stadium in Arlington Heights.
Big issues: Lawmakers are scheduled for session through Thursday before returning to close out the legislative calendar Oct. 28-30. Take a look at the big issues facing the Illinois General Assembly here or via the button below. 👇
MUST-READ COMMENTARY 🗣️
Why is the Second Amendment second-guessed for Black and Brown people?
By Alden Loury
As it was in the past with the right to vote and the right to own property, support for your right to bear arms can shift depending on who you are.
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State deficit projections look dim
By Rich Miller
The problem? Corporate tax cuts passed by Congress in July “may offset much of the anticipated corporate tax revenue growth” from state-level reforms.
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Tony Fitzpatrick was a Chicago treasure
By Neil Steinberg
A conversation with the beloved Chicago artist, writer and actor, who died Saturday.
PICTURE CHICAGO 📸
People ride the Ancona Jewelers float Monday during the Columbus Day Parade on State Street in the Loop.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏈🏀⚾
- Feeling Moody: Castoff Bears kicker Jake Moody’s 38-yard game-winner ended a “pretty cool series of events” Monday, as he put it.
- Dosunmu dominates: It’s only the preseason, but Ayo Dosunmu is healthy and putting on a show for the Bulls, and he’ll be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
- White Sox roster moves: Outfielder Will Robertson was claimed off waivers by the Pirates — and four Sox players were outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte.
GAMES AND CROSSWORDS 🧩
This week’s Chicago-style crossword theme is: Fall fest!
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
At 57, Chicago native Kurt Elling is taking on a new challenge: A starring role on Broadway
Reporting by Mike Davis
The life of an artist can take many twists and turns. For Kurt Elling, a native Chicagoan who has made it to the mountaintop in the world of jazz with two Grammy wins, that path leads to Broadway.
The 57-year-old jazz singer has joined the Broadway cast of the Tony-award-winning musical “Hadestown” as Hermes, the messenger of the gods who serves as the show’s narrator and emcee.
“It’s an enormous creative challenge,” Elling said less than a week into his stint at the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York City. “I haven’t memorized stage blocking since I was in high school. So it’s not just a Broadway debut, it’s a theater debut since high school.”
Elling, who is known for his rich and distinctive baritone vocals, attended St. Paul Lutheran School in Rockford, where he sang in the choir and played a few instruments.
Later, as a graduate student at the University of Chicago Divinity School, he sang in jazz clubs on the weekends, straddling the fence between pursuing a career in religious academia or going all in with jazz. He left school before graduating, a choice that ultimately set him on his award-winning path.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
What is Chicago’s most pedestrian-friendly neighborhood? Why do you think so — and what can make more neighborhoods the same?
Email us (please include your first and last name). We may run your answers in Wednesday’s Morning Edition newsletter.
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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