Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: After weeks of threats from President Donald Trump, Texas National Guard members arrived early Tuesday at a southwest suburban military training site.
🗞️ Plus: Federal workers feel the shutdown’s effects, victims of corrupt ex-cop Ronald Watts talk their historic settlement with the city and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Blackhawks lost their season opener to the Panthers, 3-2.
☎️ Ask the mayor: Mayor Brandon Johnson will stop by WBEZ’s “In the Loop” with Sasha Ann Simons at 9 a.m. today to answer listeners’ questions. You can call 866-915-WBEZ (866-915-9239).
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⏱️: A 9-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌤️
Mostly sunny with a high near 62.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES
Texas National Guard members arrive at Chicago-area military training facility
By Mitchell Armentrout, Tina Sfondeles, Cindy Hernandez, Fran Spielman and Mawa Iqbal
Boots on the ground: After weeks of threats from President Donald Trump to deploy military troops into Illinois over the objections of Gov. JB Pritzker and other Democratic leaders, Texas National Guard members arrived Tuesday at the U.S. Army Reserve Training Center in southwest suburban Elwood.
An ‘invasion’: Texas Guard members were using the federal facility because Pritzker has not allowed them to use state facilities, the governor said, adding he has not received communications from the Trump administration about deployment. “Remember, they’re arriving, thinking that they’re going to have to spend weeks here,” said Pritzker, who has called the deployment an “invasion.”
Key context: Troops showed up a day after a federal judge rejected a request from Pritzker and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to immediately bar the deployment. A hearing on the temporary restraining order that Illinois leaders seek is scheduled for Thursday.
More headlines:
- Pentagon chief Hegseth is more interested in pushups than talking with Illinois leaders, Pritzker says
- What to know about immigration operations and National Guard deployments to Chicago
- National Guard members, employees run the gamut politically, based on review of campaign donations
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Federal workers in Chicago are ‘emotionally exhausted’ from government shutdown
By Kade Heather and Mary Norkol
Workers react: Michael Pasqua, a life scientist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is still working despite the federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1 after lawmakers failed to pass a funding bill. He’s unsure what his paycheck, or job, will look like as the shutdown continues. Other federal workers say they fear furloughs or layoffs. The shutdown has exacerbated the eroding functions at some agencies as a result of Trump’s effort to downsize the federal government, some workers said.
Airport impact: Planes flying into O’Hare Airport saw average delays of 40 minutes Tuesday as the airport grapples with the federal government shutdown. Airports are often affected by government shutdowns as federal employees are furloughed or working without pay.
No back pay?: The Trump administration said there would be no guaranteed back pay for federal workers during the government shutdown, according to a White House memo, reversing what has been a long-standing policy.
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Victims of corrupt cop say $90M settlement helps restore some of what was taken from them
By Mariah Woelfel
Details emerge: Last month, the city of Chicago reached a first of its kind, $90 million settlement to close 176 lawsuits tied to corrupt former police sergeant Ronald Watts. New details are emerging about the people central to the suits, two decades after they were wrongfully convicted because of Watts.
Meet the plaintiffs: Deon Willis and Eson Claybron are among the 184 plaintiffs who have collectively spent more than 180 years in custody. All of their convictions have been vacated, and many of them have been granted certificates of innocence.
Their experiences: Claybron and Willis, who sat down for interviews with WBEZ when the settlement was approved, grew up in the Ida B. Wells Homes on the South Side. Living in that public housing complex, they knew to look both ways before leaving home — to check for Watts or his team.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED
- Mayor’s budget quandary: Facing a financial crisis likely to define the success of his first term and reelection chances, Mayor Brandon Johnson next week will unveil a 2026 city budget. His aim: Erase Chicago’s $1.15 billion shortfall after two straight years of deficit spending.
- Clinée Hedspeth resigns: Chicago’s cultural commissioner and ally of Mayor Johnson resigned from her post at the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Hedspeth’s 18-month tenure was marked by high staff turnover and bullying accusations.
- Firefighter contract: A City Council committee approved a new six-year contract, meaning $185 million in retroactive wages could soon be in the mail to 4,800 firefighters and paramedics whose pay has been frozen for more than four years.
- Jackson to make it official: Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. will officially launch his campaign for the 2nd Congressional District on Wednesday to honor his father’s 84th birthday.
- Gas hike criticisms: Staffers for state utility regulators recommended this week that suburban natural gas company Nicor’s record-breaking $314 million rate hike request should be slashed by nearly $110 million.
- Nobel Prize winner: Fred Ramsdell, an immunologist born in Elmhurst, is among the trio of researchers awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for their research on how the human immune system determines its targets.
- 3 stars for ‘Veal’: Red Orchid Theatre takes a big swing in this absurdist dark comedy, centering a hellbent queen who exacts revenge on some middle school mean girls, writes Mike Davis.
CHICAGO STORIES 🗞️
Día de Muertos exhibit features ofrenda built by 9-year-old to honor dad
Reporting by Ambar Colón
Loss and expression: When 9-year-old Daniel Saint Márquez thinks of his dad, he pictures the lowriding community that embraced the late Alberto Márquez. The boy helped build a silver memorial trike for his father at last year’s Slow & Low Chicago Lowrider Festival. A staffer from the National Museum of Mexican Art spotted it and called the family with an invitation to build an ofrenda in the 2025 edition of the annual Día de Muertos exhibition.
Annual exhibit: Now in its 39th year, the exhibition features artwork centered on Day of the Dead themes of mortality, grief and loss, but also on the celebration of life. The museum always dedicates the showcase to the deceased, and this year’s collection is dedicated to the people of Texas and New Mexico who lost their lives in deadly floods over the summer.
‘Continue the legacy’: Daniel lives in the south suburb of Frankfort with his mother, Sonia Márquez, who grew up in Pilsen. Daniel’s father, Alberto, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 20, died in March 2024 at 47. Members of the family’s lowriding community helped Daniel “continue the legacy” and construct the memorial trike — and serve as uncles for the boy.
Support for Daniel: “That’s helped him a lot, because at least he still has male, loving figures [who] support him,” Sonia Márquez said. “If he needs something, they’ll come and help us do whatever we need to do.”
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏒⚾🏀
- Hawks season opener: The Blackhawks encountered more valleys than peaks in their season-opening loss to Panthers, writes Ben Pope.
- Game 3: The Brewers are brimming with confidence heading into Game 3 of the National League Division Series.
- Okoro’s OK: Isaac Okoro is not getting caught up in NBA storylines during his debut with the Bulls.
GAMES AND CROSSWORDS 🧩
This week’s Chicago-style crossword theme is: The Chicago Marathon!
Here’s your clue:
29A: Like a highly skilled distance runner
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Childhood friends reunite as Bears teammates
By Jason Lieser
Every morning when Bears wide receiver DJ Moore and running back D’Andre Swift see each other at Halas Hall, the Bears’ training center in Lake Forest, they instantly get a read on each other’s mood without saying hardly anything.
They grew up together in the Mount Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia and know each other well enough to have an entire conversation through facial expressions.
Not only have Moore and Swift gotten to play together for the Bears, but they also brought in wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus this season. Zaccheaus grew up just across the Delaware River in New Jersey and ran track against Moore — “DJ was slow as hell,” he said — and played with Swift at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School. All three were on the same seven-on-seven team.
More than a decade later, they’re living any kid’s dream: Playing in the NFL with their best friends. The trio talked recently with the Sun-Times about the origins of their bond and how stunning it is that they reconnected through the Bears.
“Sometimes it’s surreal,” Moore said. “When Dre got here, I was out-of-this-world happy and I’m still, like — every day when I see him come in the building, we just light up. And with O.Z. coming in this year, oh yeah, it’s a party now.”
Swift said: “Everybody doesn’t get that opportunity … It’s a blessing.”
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
How do you feel about the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago area? Please explain.
Email us (please include your first and last name). We may include your answer in Thursday’s Morning Edition newsletter.
Yesterday we asked you: Where is the best place in the city to cheer on Chicago Marathon runners?
“My experience running the marathon, I would say the 2-mile mark. You can hear the crowd about quarter of a mile away, like you’re at a ball game. You’re downtown, getting ready to turn the corner — it’s wild!”— Kenneth Leggin
“From a previous runner’s perspective, having more people cheer between miles 20-25 would be a huge help. Those are the hardest miles … during this stretch.”— Veronika Michel Salinas
“We love being around mile 2.5 to see the runners off. This location is an easy couple [of] blocks’ walk down to mile 13 … Great spot for easy in and out on the trains, too.”— Sabrina Ehmke
“‘The wall’ when [racers’] bodies are hurting, depleted and mentally drained is mile 17-20 for most runners.”— Kavin Haywood
“Loomis [Street} between Taylor [Street] and 18th Street. Quiet and the runners need your support.”— Diana Mulka
“Runners really need people at the 21 mile mark. Nobody is there cheering on the runners. Nobody.”— Kenneth Leggin
Thanks for reading the Sun-Times Morning Edition!
Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.
Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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