Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: Backlash is building against President Donald Trump for bashing Pope Leo XIV and posting an AI image of himself as Jesus. “[Trump’s] waking up a sleeping giant,” one local Catholic leader told the Sun-Times.
🗞️ Plus: The state House speaker backs a tax on millionaires, Chicago Public Schools sees a boom in student biliteracy and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Blackhawks fell to the Sabres, 5-1; the Cubs lost to the Phillies, 13-7.
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⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER ☁️
Mostly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms and a high near 80.
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Pope Leo brushes off Trump attack as Chicago Catholic leaders react
By Tina Sfondeles
Prez vs. pontiff: Catholic leaders, along with Gov. JB Pritzker and his gubernatorial rival Darren Bailey, are defending Pope Leo XIV — as President Donald Trump faces backlash for calling the head of the Catholic church “terrible for foreign policy” and posting a since-deleted AI-generated image of the president as Jesus.
Key context: Leo last week spoke out after Trump threatened to wipe out “a whole civilization” in Iran, urging people to call for their political leaders to “work for peace and reject war always.” On Monday, he told the Associated Press: “I’m not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for.”
‘Sleeping giant’: “I think that he’s going to rally people of faith to say, ‘Thank God he’s standing up,’ and that we stand with him,” said the Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church. “I think Trump unconsciously is waking up a sleeping giant … I think [the Pope is] going to be a very strong voice, and he’s not going away. He’s not going anywhere.”
LET’S HEAR FROM YOU 🗣️
How do you feel about recent statements from President Trump and Pope Leo related to the Iran war? Please explain.
Reply to this email (please include your first and last name). We may run your answer in a future newsletter or story.
ENVIRONMENT 🌧️
After Illinois floods, mold sticks around and can make people sick
By Brett Chase
Worsening flooding: Residents in Chicago and across Illinois are confronting the effects of more intense flooding and more severe weather. Climate change is contributing to thunderstorms that hit harder and more frequently, like ones that caused flooding in 70,000 West Side and suburban basements in summer 2023.
Health threats: Those storms are also leaving behind serious health threats, including mold, which can make people sick. Tiny mold particles can enter the respiratory system, causing fatigue, rashes and other complications. People with compromised immune systems or respiratory illness, and the very old or young, can be affected more seriously.
One woman’s story: Dorothy Rosenthal couldn’t believe her eyes. Four feet of water overwhelmed her basement in West Garfield Park, destroying everything in a storage area, laundry room and office in July 2023. The storm “left mold, big black patches of mold,” she says. “Big bubbles, black bubbles on the wall.” It wasn’t just unsightly; the mold aggravated her asthma, a condition with which she’s been struggling for 20 years.
EDUCATION 🍎
Record number of CPS students earn biliteracy seals
By Emmanuel Camarillo
Dual linguists: Last year, more than 3,500 Chicago Public Schools students earned the seal of biliteracy, a state award that recognizes students who show they can read, write and speak at a high level in English and another language. In 2015, the first year that awards were presented to graduates, only 91 students received the recognition.
How we got here: Educators and experts say that growth is due to a combination of factors including increased awareness of the program, expanded language testing and a rising interest in multilingualism, which can make students more marketable when applying for colleges or jobs.
PUBLIC SAFETY ✶
- Woman killed on birthday: Kayla Winfrey was celebrating her 25th birthday at her home Saturday with friends and family in Auburn Gresham when she was shot multiple times after a fight broke out.
- Boy killed in fire: London Woodard’s family is mourning after the 10-year-old died in a fire that broke out in their Washington Heights home Monday. “He was always laughing and playing,” his uncle told the Sun-Times.
- Alleged coerced confession: Chicago taxpayers could be on the hook for a $9.5 million settlement tied to former Chicago police detective Richard Zuley’s alleged interrogation tactics — the second in two years involving his actions.
- Sheriff’s suit: A troubled Skokie woman with a history of lying to police allegedly engineered a “hoax” to make it appear as if she’d been detained by federal immigration agents for more than a day, a Wisconsin sheriff told reporters, announcing a $1 million defamation lawsuit against her.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- Carp conundrum: The Trump administration announced plans to put Michigan officials in charge of a $1.15 billion Chicago-area river barrier designed to keep invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes.
- Cab fare increase: A City Council committee backed an effort to raise taxicab fares by 20%, the first rate hike in a decade, in an attempt to save an ailing industry.
- USPS changes: The U.S. Postal Service said more mail may not be postmarked the day it’s dropped off, due to adjustments in transportation operations. That increases the chance of customers missing deadlines like mail-in voting.
- Obama Center buses: The Chicago Transit Authority is expanding its No. 10 bus route to service the Obama Presidential Center, set to open June 19.
- Plover returns: Pippin, a Great Lakes piping plover, has reportedly returned to the Chicago lakefront for his third year. Though he’s missing a foot and has a subtle limp, the Chicago Park District says he is in good health.
- Summer Smash lineup: Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, Skrillex, Chief Keef and Baby Keem are among the June 12-14 fest’s headliners at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. Also on the lineup are JT, St. Louis’ Sexyy Red and North West, the 12-year-old daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.
POLITICS ✶
State House speaker backs millionaires tax, but Democrats split over details
By Mawa Iqbal
How to tax the rich?: Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch is endorsing a proposed 3% tax on those making more than $1 million annually, but there is a split among House Democrats on how much of the potential $4.5 billion yearly windfall should fund property tax relief. On the table are two competing measures that would put the question of a so-called millionaires tax on the November ballot as an amendment to the Illinois constitution.
The options: One proposed amendment offered by state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, would allocate all of the funds toward property tax relief in the form of $1,500 rebates per property owner. A competing plan by state Rep. Natalie Manley, D-Joliet, would allocate half of the millionaires tax’s proceeds to public schools and the rest toward property tax relief.
Deadline nears: Neither bill has been put to a House vote as lawmakers barrel toward a May 3 deadline to get constitutional amendment proposals passed in order to be on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.
ON WBEZ 91.5 FM 📻
In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons, 9 a.m.
- AI and education: Alpha School, opening this fall in Chicago, says its AI-driven model can help students learn core academics in just two hours a day. Guests Brady Gunnink of Jones College Prep, Kristian Hammond of Northwestern University and Katie Page of District 214 in the northwest suburbs weigh the pros and cons.
- Exit interview: Sendy Soto, Chicago’s former Chief Homelessness Officer, looks back on her tenure. Jonah Anderson, Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services and the city’s new director of the Office of Homelessness, outlines his goals for the future.
Say More with Mary Dixon and Patrick Smith, 10 a.m.
- Community policing: Guest Michelle Garcia of the ACLU of Illinois joins the show to talk about a renewed call to change the Chicago Police Department’s culture to a more community-led mindset.
- Gillian Flynn: Ahead of a sold-out WBEZ event tonight, the bestselling author and showrunner shares her favorite mysteries and thrillers. Callers weigh in.
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏈🏀🏒
- Remembering Dave McGinnis: The longtime Bears assistant coach, whose botched head-coaching hire led matriarch Virginia McCaskey to replace her own son as team president, died Monday at age 74.
- Sky take Gabriela Jaquez: After assembling a playoff-caliber roster in free agency, the Sky added a do-everything wing from UCLA’s loaded championship roster.
- The price has jumped: Connor Bedard made a smart decision to wait until summer to negotiate his next Blackhawks contract, writes Ben Pope.
- Stay or walk?: It’s a numbers game for Bulls coach Billy Donovan and his decision, writes Joe Cowley.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 7A: Bird on the flag and seal of Illinois
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Sox rookie puts sportswriting career on hold before big-league debut
By Mitchell Armentrout
The Indianola Independent Advocate had the scoop on Duncan Davitt’s call-up to the White Sox.
One owner of the central Iowa newspaper got a tip straight from the source Wednesday, hardly believed it — and soon broke down in tears, the 26-year-old pitcher reported.
Of course, publisher Amy Duncan couldn’t be closer to the story. Davitt’s her son, and he’s a sports columnist for the family-owned newspaper.
“My mom cried. She thought I was joking at first, which, I don’t know what that’s about,” Davitt, the budding write-hander — er, right-hander — joked from the other side of the notebook Thursday in the visitors’ clubhouse at the Kansas City Royals’ stadium.
Royals games were a regular destination for Davitt while growing up some three hours away near Indianola, a city of about 16,000 in the Des Moines area. He covers prep sports there in the offseason.
But Davitt himself was the story Thursday, arriving in Kansas City, Missouri, as a big-leaguer awaiting his major-league debut, which he made toward the end of Friday’s game.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
Yesterday, we asked you: How has Chicago’s worsening flooding affected you?
Here’s some of what you said…
“Ruined my 92-year-old mother’s basement, and no relief or repair was available. We are still dealing with repairs.” — Audra M. Akins-Muhammad
“As a retired senior entering rain season, I begin … to budget and plan what last year’s damage needs to be repaired, which can also be preventative. I need to maintain my house ‘health’ as I have a multitude of health issues and [to] maintain the property value as I consider moving to a more ‘senior’ community.” — A.R.
PICTURE CHICAGO 📸
Contractor Reginald Akeem Barry Sr. on Monday explains the issue at Dorothy Rosenthal’s home in Garfield Park, which flooded with four feet of water in 2023 and developed mold within the walls.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Thanks for reading the Sun-Times Morning Edition!
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
Hat tip: Sun-Times’ Joel Carlson for today’s subject line, which you’ll find on the front page of today’s newspaper — on newsstands and online now.
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