Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: A federal appeals court unanimously upheld the block on President Donald Trump’s efforts to deploy the National Guard in Illinois.
🗞️ Plus: ICE arrests a suburban cop, Mayor Brandon Johnson pitches a tax on social media companies and more news you need to know.
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⏱️: A 9-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌤️
Partly sunny with a high near 75.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES
Chicago federal appeals court upholds block on National Guard deployment
Reporting by Jon Seidel
Guard blocked: Declaring that “political opposition is not rebellion,” the federal appeals court in Chicago refused Thursday to undo a lower court’s ruling that prevents President Donald Trump from deploying National Guard troops within Illinois.
The ruling: A unanimous three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found no clear error in U.S. District Judge April Perry’s Oct. 9 ruling, and it found “the facts do not justify the president’s actions in Illinois” under the law Trump has cited for deployment.
Rhetorical answer: The panel also used the Trump administration’s own rhetoric against it, given that the law allows the president to federalize National Guard troops if he is “unable … to execute the laws of the United States.” The panel wrote: “The administration has been proclaiming the success of its current efforts to enforce immigration laws in the Chicago area … The administration accordingly is also unlikely to succeed on this argument.”
Bottom line: The deployment of National Guard troops remains blocked in Illinois. But the new decision might be enough to prompt the U.S. Supreme Court to step in.
Differing narratives: The Sun-Times has reviewed the records placed in front of Perry by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, City Hall and the Trump administration. They offer a behind-the-scenes snapshot from law enforcement and government officials, and show a divide in the mission, scope and purpose of ICE enforcement in the Chicago area.
Elsewhere in the courthouse: A week ago, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis forbade agents from using gas and other “riot control” weapons without warning in Chicago as they carried out Trump’s deportation blitz. On the bench Thursday, Ellis told one of Trump’s lawyers, bluntly, “I’m not blind.” She cited reports in the Sun-Times and other media that have given her “serious concerns” about whether the administration has followed her order.
More headlines:
- Preckwinkle issues executive order to create ‘ICE-free zones’ in Cook County
- More than a dozen Swap-O-Rama vendors are detained in immigration raid, alderperson says
- ICE arrests Hanover Park officer who allegedly overstayed visa but village says cop had valid work permit
- Federal agent took car from Brighton Park shooting ‘back to Maine,’ defense attorney tells judge
- Retired military leaders condemn Trump effort to deploy National Guard in Chicago
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Mayor Johnson’s $16.6B budget would tax social media companies, revive corporate head tax
Reporting by Fran Spielman
Budget pitch: Mayor Brandon Johnson delivered on his promise Thursday to “challenge the ultra-rich” and make corporations pay their fair share, proposing a $16.6 billion budget for 2026 that includes $586.6 million in progressive tax and fee revenues and a record $1 billion tax increment financing surplus to rescue the city and Chicago Public Schools.
Tax-heavy: The tax-heavy budget, which aims to erase a $1.15 billion shortfall, would hit Chicago businesses hard. It includes a revived and dramatically expanded employee head tax, a second consecutive increase in the tax on cloud computing, a first-of-its-kind social media tax, and a broadening of the city’s amusement tax to include online sports betting.
First responders’ backpay: In addition to hearing Johnson’s budget pitch, City Council in a nearly unanimous vote ratified a six-year contract for firefighters and paramedics. Johnson’s administration will borrow $166 million and repay that money over three years to bankroll four years in retroactive pay for 4,800 firefighters and paramedics.
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Anti-violence groups face new scrutiny after deadly robbery involving peacekeeper
Reporting by Anna Savchenko
Photo op: Last month, Kellen McMiller took part in a roundtable discussion with Gov. JB Pritzker at an event for anti-violence workers, posing for a photo with the governor in a peacekeeper vest. The photo would later appear in a press release touting how violence prevention programs are helping drive down violent crime in Chicago. Six days later, McMiller was allegedly involved in a smash-and-grab downtown that killed a man on his way to work.
Complicated spotlight: The incident has cast a harsh spotlight on the field of violence intervention. Critics have questioned why McMiller, who had four warrants out for his arrest at the time of the robbery, was recruited as a peacekeeper in the first place. Proponents of violence intervention say it’s complicated, pointing to data showing significant declines in shooting injuries and deaths in communities where peacekeepers work
Key quote: Pritzker took down the photo of him and McMiller but defended the role felons play in violence prevention. “We want people who’ve fallen into that lifestyle to work now to deter people from entering a life of crime,” he said.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED
- Sister Jean memorialized: Hundreds came together Thursday at Loyola University’s Madonna Della Strada Chapel for the funeral of Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, who was remembered as “the heart of Loyola.”
- CHA contractor criticized: A contractor with family ties to the Chicago Housing Authority’s board tried to overbill the agency repeatedly for more than $175,000 total, according to a new report from the CHA’s inspector general. After being confronted, the contractor turned hostile toward staff at the housing authority, the I.G. said.
- CHA sues HUD: The Chicago Housing Authority this week sued the Trump administration over new requirements targeting “diversity” that could threaten up to 13% of the agency’s annual budget, according to the housing agency.
- Cupich gets Vatican post: Pope Leo XIV appointed Cardinal Blase Cupich to the pontifical commission for the Vatican City State, reiterating his support for Cupich, who caused an uproar by proposing to bestow an award to prominent abortion rights supporter U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin.
- ‘No Kings’ protest: Organizers said a Saturday protest against the Trump administration is expected to draw tens of thousands Downtown, while similar events are planned across the region and nationwide.
- Governor’s gambling wins: Billionaire Gov. JB Pritzker’s tax returns revealed $1.4 million in gambling wins last year. His game of choice? Blackjack in Las Vegas. He told reporters Thursday he’ll donate the money to charity.
- Election Day update: U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi continues to outraise his two Democratic Senate primary opponents in the race to replace Dick Durbin, while two of the 17 candidates vying for Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s open seat each have more than $1 million in cash on hand.
- Chicago Film Festival: The 61st Chicago International Film Festival runs through Oct. 26, screening more than 100 films at multiple theaters. Here’s our list of 10 must-see movies to catch.
WATCH: INSIDE BUILDING FEDS TARGETED ▶️
WBEZ’s Mariah Woelfel takes you inside the South Shore apartment complex raided by federal agents last month, where conditions have been squalid. Residents blame the owner and property manager and say the city did little to help. Full video here and full report here. | Video: WBEZ/Sun-Times
MUST-READ COMMENTARY 🗣️
Do ‘No Kings’ protesters hate America — or love it?
By Neil Steinberg
Republican leaders are calling it a “hate America rally.” But “No Kings” organizers insist they are only supporting basic American freedom.
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Uncertain future for modernist Streeterville building with Victorian roots
By Lee Bey
The Chicago Plan Commission will vote on a proposal that calls for wrecking the five-story building and replacing it with a 34-foot-tall, two-story, glass-fronted retail structure.
WEEKEND PLANS 🎉
🏠 Open House Chicago
Saturday and Sunday
📍Locations citywide
The Chicago Architecture Center’s annual event returns, touting new additions like the National Public Housing Museum and Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio studio.
Admission: Free
👻 BooPalooza
10 a.m. Saturday
📍Wicker Park, 1425 N. Damen Ave.
This family-friendly event features live music, programming for children, an all-ages costume parade — and BakPalooza, for pups and their people.
Admission: Free
🎃 Arts in the Dark
6-8 p.m. Saturday
📍State Street from Randolph to Van Buren
The 11th annual parade highlights cultural organizations, youth programs and visual artists.
Admission: Free
📖 Book swap
1:30-2:30 p.m., Sunday
📍Chicago Public Library, Chinatown branch, 2100 S. Wentworth Ave.
Bring a book from your personal library to swap with others, write a few lines about your pick — then find your next read from your neighbor’s collection.
Admission: Free
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏀🏒🏈
- Simeon penalized after Hong Kong trip: The Wolverines’ trip — financed by alum and NBA star Derrick Rose — caused the IHSA to suspend coach Tim Flowers for six games as part of the program’s punishment.
- Hawks talk: The Blackhawks’ team communication is calmer and quieter this season, but they don’t see that as a problem.
- Starting line: The Bulls finished their preseason with a win , and now the starting questions begin.
- Under the radar: Nobody has been talking about Bears CB Tyrique Stevenson this week — he says that’s “perfect.”
- WNBA All-Star announcement: If the 2026 season proceeds as planned, the All-Star game will take place at the United Center on July 25.
GAMES AND CROSSWORDS 🧩
BRIGHT ONE ✨
The Riverwalk has fishers hooked
By Mary Norkol and Janani Jana
Under a bright October sky on a recent weekday morning, AC Avila squatted down and packed a homemade mix of bait onto a fishing rig, flung the nearly invisible line into the water and waited.
Behind the fishing line floating in the water was not a serene lake or a pond surrounded by miles of nature as one might expect. Instead, he was casting near the Dearborn Street bridge from Chicago’s Riverwalk, with the city’s iconic “corn cob” buildings in his peripheral vision as he waited for the rod to bend, signaling a bite.
After about 10 minutes with two rods in the Chicago River — once considered a dirty waterway with abysmal biodiversity — one of the rods lurched downward. Avila rushed to grab it, circling the handle and wrestling the strong fish on the other end of his line.
“I would say that’s maybe 15 pounds,” Avila said, as commuters and tourists alike gawked.
Avila is one of several avid fishermen who have made the Chicago River the setting of some of their most impressive catches in recent years.
Mostly targeting common carp, fishing on the river has become more popular as efforts to clean the river and improve its health and biodiversity have paid off.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
What Chicago restaurant, bar or other business feels like home to you? Tell us why.
Email us (please include your first and last name). We may run your answers in Monday’s morning edition newsletter.
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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