Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: One year after President Donald Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz, we check in with Little Village, where some residents vow to stay, and others say they can’t afford to.
🗞️ Plus: A federal customs officer is convicted, two safety net hospitals are sold and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The White Sox beat the Tigers, 3-1; the Sky fell to the Mystics, 110-80.
🌥️ Today’s weather: Partly sunny with a high near 71.
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⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S TOP STORIES 🔎
Little Village: 1 year after Midway Blitz
Reporting by Alma Campos
Before the Blitz: Little Village faced displacement and gentrification pressures long before Operation Midway Blitz. The neighborhood’s proximity to downtown and rapidly gentrifying Pilsen has fueled concerns that development could push longtime residents and businesses out. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic brought another period of upheaval, forcing some businesses to close and leaving others struggling.
Midway mayhem: During the height of Operation Midway Blitz, federal immigration agents detained 3,841 people, according to our analysis of federal data. Little Village became one of the most visible targets. Federal agents made arrests in the neighborhood on the first full day of the blitz and returned repeatedly in the months that followed. Fear of immigration agents kept people home. Shops and restaurants emptied, battering Little Village’s commercial corridors.
After effects: Immigration enforcement is quieter and less visible now, but the Trump administration continues to arrest hundreds of people each month. In Little Village, many continue to stay home, and some business owners are spending money accumulated over generations to remain open. Some are questioning whether they can afford to stay.
In their words: We spoke with residents, business owners and a neighborhood realtor about how immigration enforcement is reshaping Little Village — straining businesses, prompting property offers and leading some residents to invest in Mexico as they reconsider their futures in Chicago.
CRIME 🚨
Customs officer guilty of using gun, badge to sexually assault women
Reporting by Jon Seidel
Jury decides: Prosecutors told jurors this week it didn’t matter if U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer Luis Uribe’s victims were sex workers. It’s possible for a sex worker to be raped, Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Rothblatt reminded the jury. “Sex workers,” he said, “can be credible.” The jury agreed Thursday, siding with four women over a federal law enforcement officer.
The verdict: The jury concluded that Uribe, 45, sexually assaulted the women in the suburbs in 2022, convicting him of a series of crimes that could put him in prison for the rest of his life. They also rejected Uribe’s claim that he’d been set up by a Chinese prostitution ring because he wouldn’t help them circumvent immigration law — an explanation Uribe delivered amid testimony in which he was accused of telling a “rape joke.” His sentencing is set for Jan. 21.
HEALTH 🩺
West Suburban, Weiss to be sold to Insight Health Systems
Reporting by Kaitlin Washburn and Kristen Schorsch
Safety net sale: West Suburban Medical Center and Weiss Memorial Hospital are expected to be sold to Insight Health Systems, ending a monthslong, bitter legal fight over the safety-net hospitals. The hospitals’ landlord, Rathnakar Reddy Patlola, made a late-night deal Wednesday to buy Resilience Healthcare CEO Manoj Prasad’s stake. Insight will then buy the hospitals from Patlola.
Details unclear: No specific dollar amounts for either sale were immediately made public. West Suburban Medical Center, in Oak Park, shut down in March — and Uptown’s Weiss Memorial Hospital closed in August 2025. It was also not clear how — or if — the deal would reopen either hospital.
HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT ✶
Neighbors air concerns about plan to swap Sox for Amtrak
Reporting by Mary Norkol and Tina Sfondeles
Residents’ wrath: Amtrak officials and developers faced off Thursday against hundreds of angry community members who oppose construction plans for a massive rail yard in Chinatown, Bridgeport and Armour Square beginning as early as the end of this year. Tensions rose as Amtrak leaders and developers claimed there were no significant impacts on the environment or quality of life for residents near the site.
Key context: The plan, headed by White Sox minority owner Justin Ishbia’s company, Canal Edge LLC, includes a proposal for the Sox to play at a mixed-use facility along the Chicago River in the South Loop and Amtrak’s maintenance facility to move to South Canal Street between West 33rd and 35th streets.
More pushback: On Wednesday, the owners of the Sox’ Rate Field, the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, said they don’t support the proposed plan and share residents’ concerns, but noted their lease with the Sox ends in 2029. “Our main priority is to keep the White Sox right here in our community. … But they do have a right to explore other options,” the chair of the board said.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- Should more schools close?: A moratorium on school closings will lift in January, just as the city’s first fully elected school board is sworn into office. School candidates weighed in on the issue during a WTTW forum this week.
- City staffer charged with abuse: Oswaldo Lorenzana de La Rosa, who works as a timekeeper for the Chicago Police Department, was ordered held in jail Thursday after he was charged with sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl he allegedly met on a dating app for teenagers.
- Lincoln-Way controversy: The school board on Thursday voted unanimously to allow the students involved in a racist harassment incident during a football game at Homewood-Flossmoor on Sept. 4 to withdraw voluntarily from Lincoln-Way East rather than be expelled.
- Renter protections showdown: After City Council’s Housing Committee narrowly approved Mayor Brandon Johnson’s tenants rights ordinance, the Zoning Committee approved a rival version favored by real estate interests.
- Case for meter compromise: A $75 million transfer fee and future profit-sharing agreement brokered by City Council leaders sweetens a proposed parking meter ownership transfer deal in a way that nobody thought was possible, Jason Lee, a top mayoral aide, told the Sun-Times.
- Cafe lights confusion: Sam Toia, head of the Illinois Restaurant Association, says the city’s uneven enforcement of rules banning strings of lights for outdoor dining areas is unfair to restaurant owners, who are already struggling.
- Remembering Judy Markey: A beloved co-host of WGN’s “Kathy and Judy Show,” Ms. Markey had a remarkable ability to connect with people, creating a kinship with legions of listeners. She died Friday at age 82.
- Things to do Sept. 18-23: Chicago Live Fest, Retro on Roscoe and World Dumpling Fest are among the highlights in the days ahead.
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏒🏈⚾🏀
- Training camp opens: The Blackhawks opened training camp Thursday with a full NHL lineup already built out.
- Fears laid Bear: Every fear about the Bears’ defense materialized in the season opener, leaving DC Dennis Allen to problem-solve.
- Bears v. Vikings predictions: The Sun-Times sports reporters share their picks for Sunday’s home opener.
- One time for Tim Anderson: After a difficult end to a career with highlight-reel highs and very public lows, the 33-year-old enjoyed rousing cheers from Rate Field fans after announcing his retirement last month.
- Rookie impresses: Pedro Ramirez will return to his bench job now that Dansby Swanson is coming back from injury, but the rookie keeps impressing a veteran Cubs team chasing a championship.
- Marsh madness: After a disappointing year, some hard conversations are coming for the Sky — like whether coach Tyler Marsh has earned a third season.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 1A: Three-day alt-music celebration that begins today in Douglass Park
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Sister duo Krewella embraces roots, old tech with new album and homecoming show
Reporting by Selena Fragassi
Without the Northbrook Public Library, Krewella may have never happened.
“It was an embassy of music for us and an incredible resource for records. We’d dive into the treasure chest of CDs and then rent them and upload them at home on iTunes,” recalls Jahan Yousaf. Along with younger sister Yasmine, the duo first plotted out the electronic dance music project in 2007 while still enrolled at Glenbrook North High School. “Another huge influence for us was pirating music with Napster or LimeWire,” Jahan added, laughing at the memories.
Old-school technology is a major theme on Krewella’s latest album “Peak,” which abounds with messages about our collective obsession with the proverbial hottest new things and trying to find euphoria in an ever-changing world.
Grappling with the life twists and thinking about “how things used to be” takes on extra meaning for the now Los Angeles-based sisters as they return home to play Sound-Bar on Saturday.
“There was a party every single night when we [lived in Chicago],” Yasmine said. “Chicago is so deeply embedded in dance music, and I feel like it’s always going to be.”
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
With the Bears’ home opener set for Sunday, we want to know: What’s your tip for a sports fan tailgating outside one of Chicago’s stadiums for the first time?
Reply to this question via email (please include your first and last name). We may run your answer in a future newsletter or story.
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Michael Lansu