Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: Refugees and people granted asylum will join thousands of others in Illinois who are expected to lose food assistance this spring as the Trump administration’s tax and spending bill goes into effect.
🗞️ Plus: Lawmakers try to stop hospital closures, City Hall staffing shakeups and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Cubs beat the Rays, 6-2; the White Sox lost to the Orioles, 5-3.
📧 Subscribe: Get this newsletter delivered to your inbox weekday mornings.
⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌤️
Mostly cloudy with a high near 70.
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Refugee families are latest group to face SNAP food benefits cutoff
By Elvia Malagón
Policy problem: Thousands of refugees, asylees and survivors of human trafficking are on the verge of losing food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax overhaul law, passed last year, limits which immigrants can access the SNAP food program, along with enacting expanded work requirements for others. The changes for immigrants went into effect in Illinois on April 1 and are part of broader restrictions on the refugee resettlement program
New rules: Under Trump’s policy, refugees can only receive SNAP benefits once they become legal permanent residents. But the federal government isn’t processing refugee applications for green cards. As many as 16,000 people could lose SNAP benefits because of the change, according to the state health department. Historically, refugees have been given a legal form of immigration with a pathway to citizenship.
KQ’s story: K.Q. and her husband and four children are refugees who fled the civil war in Syria before they were accepted into the U.S. refugee resettlement program. After nearly three years in Chicago, they expect to lose the monthly $635 they receive in SNAP to supplement her husband’s income. “We came here because they chose us to come,” she said. “Why now they [don’t] … help us to live here, because, here — it’s expensive.”
HOW TO HELP ✶
Household items: RefugeeOne, a Chicago resettlement nonprofit, is stocking up on toiletries, cleaning supplies and diapers to minimize expenses for families. The group has an Amazon wish list.
Grocery gift cards: Resettlement agencies are collecting grocery gift cards to provide immediate assistance to refugee families. Those cards can be mailed to RefugeeOne at 6008 N. California Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60659; or to World Relief Chicagoland at 191 S. Gary Ave., Suite 130, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.
Support local pantries: Groups are expecting more refugees to depend on local food pantries. For a list of pantries, head here.
HEALTH 🚑
Illinois regulators have little power to stop hospital closures — so lawmakers are stepping in
By Kristen Schorsch
Hospital closure laws: Democratic state Sen. Laura Fine and state Rep. Robyn Gabel, are proposing legislation to help Illinois better prepare for the sudden closure of safety net hospitals. The bills would require all hospitals to file plans with the state in case they close or scale back services, to make sure patients don’t fall through the cracks. For-profit hospitals owned by investors would have to give the state a deeper look into their finances, which now are largely shielded from the public.
Key context: When West Suburban Medical Center abruptly closed its doors temporarily last month, saying it had run out of cash to pay staff, there was little warning for thousands of patients and hundreds of employees. Illinois regulators tasked with overseeing hospitals had little power to stop it.
The stakes: Regulators might not be able to keep open some of the dozens of other safety net hospitals around the state that mostly treat low-income and immigrant communities, amid federal changes next year that could drastically reduce how much money medical centers get paid.
LOCAL NEWS DAY ✍️
Today is national Local News Day, which brings communities together around something we all rely on: Trusted, independent local news. We’re joining newsrooms across the country to remind readers and listeners why local news matters.
In this video, a few of our journalists talk about why they love Chicago. It’s a reminder that we do this work because this is our home, too.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- Teen fatally shot: The South Shore community is reeling after 16-year-old Kenyae Franklin was fatally shot Tuesday morning as he was trying to run inside his South Shore high school, which he considered “the safest place that he knew,” according to a CPS board member.
- Post office rename: Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García encouraged local high school students Wednesday to submit suggestions to rename the Pilsen Post Office, currently named after César Chavez. Recent sexual assault allegations against the late activist prompted the renaming effort.
- Ex-nonprofit leader sentenced: Barbara Harris, of South Holland, was sentenced to a year in federal prison for aiding in the embezzlement of about $1.9 million in government grants for after-school programs and poverty aid.
- Detention center bill: The Illinois House advanced a bill restricting immigrant detention centers in neighborhoods. The legislation, awaiting Senate action, would ban such centers from being built near community buildings.
- CPS presses Pritzker: After a lively debate, the Chicago Board of Education approved a resolution Wednesday calling on Gov. JB Pritzker to reject a federal program championed by the Trump administration that can help cover private school tuition or offset public school costs.
- City Hall hires: Mayor Brandon Johnson announced a big round of new hires Wednesday, including a replacement for Garien Gatewood, who was fired last month from his post as deputy mayor for community safety.
- Expo Chicago guide: More than 130 galleries from around the world will have displays Thursday through Sunday at Navy Pier. If you’re going, here are five noteworthy exhibits to see.
DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT 🌇
Civic leaders discuss how to make State Street ‘that great street’ again
By Abby Miller
State of State: City and business leaders gathered Tuesday at Macy’s for a sold-out summit on State Street. Panelists discussed multiple strategies for reinstating the street as a vibrant retail and entertainment corridor, and they said it is key to a thriving Downtown that attracts more visitors.
Key context: Like many retail corridors across Chicago, State Street has struggled following the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2020, more than 15 retailers vacated the corridor, according to Stone Real Estate principal John Vance. But the area is seeing signs of recovery, Vance said, with major retailers like Barnes & Noble and Gap announcing plans to open on the street this year.
The ideas: Among the solutions discussed Tuesday were leaning into the nearby universities, improving walkability and street safety, increasing density, and offering more unique experiences.
LET’S HEAR FROM YOU 🗣️
What would you pitch to city and business leaders to make State Street “that great street” again?
Reply to this email (please include your first and last name). We may run your answer in a future newsletter or story.
CURIOUS CITY 🤔
What are Chicago-area lighthouses used for?
By Katie Riordan
Lakeside history: In the Chicago area, lighthouses were operated by keepers for decades until automation took over. Now, preservationists are working to restore the most iconic one, the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse.
Key context: The Chicago Harbor Lighthouse is hidden in plain sight, resting in Lake Michigan about half a mile from the end of Navy Pier. It was originally built in 1893 against the backdrop of the World’s Columbian Exposition. In 1917, officials decided to move it to its current location.
State of disrepair: The U.S. Coast Guard operates the actual light as an active aid to navigation, but the station is rusted, crumbling and gutted. Advocates want to bring it back to life, but challenges remain, like raising the estimated $6 million necessary for the project.
Listen up: WBEZ’s Curious City show dove into the past, present and future of Chicago-area lighthouses. 🎧
TODAY ON WBEZ 91.5 FM 📻
In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons, 9 a.m.
- Life with HIV/AIDS: HIV research has advanced significantly, but women continue to be disproportionately affected by the virus. An online exhibition amplifies their journeys. Guests Jennifer Brier, a University of Illinois Chicago professor and founder of the exhibition, and Marta Santiago, an exhibition participant, join the show.
- Hip hop showcase: Rapper Doug E. Fresh stops by to discuss 1980s and 1990s hip hop and the retrospective he’ll perform April 18 at Auditorium Theatre.
Say More with Mary Dixon and Patrick Smith, 10 a.m.
- Local News Day: Jennifer Smith Richards of ProPublica explains the union fight happening in her nonprofit newsroom.
- College grads’ gripes: Noam Scheiber of the New York Times talks about his new book, in which he describes a revolt by the “college-educated working class.” We’ll learn more about what’s driving dissatisfaction among people with higher education degrees, as callers weigh in.
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏈⚾🏒
- Off-season analysis: To be the next Russell Wilson, or better, Caleb Williams must build on his 4th-quarter wizardry, writes Patrick Finley.
- Sox honor Pope Leo XIV: The White Sox will pay tribute to one of their most famous fans by offering pope-themed hats to fans Aug. 11.
- Hawks strategy: The Blackhawks have found power play that work — Connor Bedard quarterbacking five forwards.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 4A: Annual contemporary art fair held at Navy Pier
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Mystery-romance bookstore opens in North Center
By Mariah Rush
During COVID-19, Jeff Morse realized reading could be an excellent way to cope with the doom and gloom of the pandemic shutdown. He dove deep into the world of mystery, horror and thriller novels with the encouragement of his wife, Amanda Morse, an avid romance reader.
The couple’s combined book tastes have culminated in the opening of the new North Center bookstore, Partners in Crime. Fittingly, the romance-mystery bookstore at 4105 N. Lincoln Ave. opened to the public on Valentine’s Day, with a line out the door.
Amanda, 39, and Jeff, 35, moved to Chicago from Dallas the day much of the city shut down, in March 2020. They turned to reading during the pandemic amid remote work. But it wasn’t until Amanda was laid off from her job and faced an unfriendly market in 2024 that the couple decided it might be time to pivot to a longtime dream.
The two are the only employees working at the genre mashup bookstore, and Jeff still works full-time as a copywriter.
“We are the partners in crime,” Jeff laughed.
PICTURE CHICAGO 📸
The Jackson Park cherry blossom trees bloom Wednesday.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Thanks for reading the Sun-Times Morning Edition!
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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