Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: Women have been victims of unprovoked attacks by men with severe mental illnesses — a failure of the health systems and social safety net in Chicago.
🗞️ Plus: The Trump administration threatens SNAP benefits as the government shutdown continues, our coverage of Saturday’s massive “No Kings” protests and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Bears beat the Saints, 26-14; the Blackhawks bested the Ducks, 2-1.
📧 Subscribe: Get this newsletter delivered to your inbox weekday mornings.
⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER ☀️
Sunny with a high near 65.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES
‘The punchers’ keep attacking women in Chicago, failed to be helped by mental health system
By Frank Main and Stephanie Zimmermann
The suspects: They’ve become known in Chicago as the “punchers.” Social media recently spotlighted two men accused of unprovoked attacks on women. The men have been in and out of mental treatment and jail for crimes that repeatedly included punching women in the head.
Systemic issues: The attacks are the latest in a series of encounters that have raised concerns about how the criminal legal system addresses the mental health of violent repeat offenders. Most people with severe mental illness are more likely to become a victim of violence. But for the small group of mentally ill repeat offenders and their victims, the social safety net is full of holes, experts say.
Key context: These kinds of cases were the subject of the Sun-Times’ “Failure to Treat, Failure to Protect” series earlier this year, examining how men with violent backgrounds and histories of serious mental illness or delusional behavior repeatedly cycled through jails and hospitals — sometimes for decades.
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Trump administration threatens SNAP amid government shutdown, risks 1.9M Illinois residents
By Elvia Malagón
‘Catastrophic’ move: In a move that advocates call potentially “catastrophic,” President Donald Trump’s administration plans to withhold food stamp funding if the federal government shutdown is not resolved by the end of October, leaving 1.9 million people across Illinois in peril.
SNAP decision: The Illinois Department of Human Services announced Thursday it received notice from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that it would not fund November benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program across the country starting Nov. 1 unless there’s a resolution to the shutdown.
Bottom line: For Illinois, that would mean a loss of $350 million that the state administers to recipients.
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Casey Szaflarski, once portrayed as mob’s video gambling kingpin, is arrested in burglary
By Robert Herguth, Tim Novak and Frank Main
Northwest burglary: The sprawling far northwest suburban home of a Chicago area restaurateur whose establishments are pulling in millions of dollars through video gambling was burglarized. One of the three men arrested is a South Side resident once described as the Chicago mob’s video poker kingpin.
The charges: Casey Szaflarski was indicted May 28 on felony charges related to the burglary of the residence in unincorporated West Dundee in March, according to court records. His next court date is scheduled for December.
The trend: With the proliferation of video gambling, and the infusion of cash, a number of gaming sites including casinos have been hit by crooks in the region.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED
- Teachers union leadership: Chicago Teachers Union head Stacy Davis Gates on Saturday was elected president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, where she’ll represent more than 100,000 teachers, college faculty and public employees from across the state.
- Addressing ‘language deserts’: Six elementary schools are getting new Spanish language programs as Chicago Public Schools seeks to broaden access to multilingual programs and graduate more bilingual students.
- Remembering Michael Quinlan: Mr. Quinlan, the former head of McDonald’s whose mailroom-to-boardroom success story laid the foundation for him to donate millions to his alma maters — Loyola University Chicago and Fenwick High School — died Sept. 22 at age 80.
- Solar program suit: The attorneys general of more than a dozen states, including Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, last week sued the Trump administration over the termination of $7 billion in funding intended for affordable solar energy projects across the U.S.
- DuSable Park gets first approvals: The long awaited plan for the 3.4-acre peninsula — bound by the Chicago River, Ogden Slip and Lake Michigan — is a step closer to fruition.
- Composting program expands: Chicagoans can now leave their food scraps at 13 public library branches, bringing the city’s list of drop-off sites to 33 citywide.
CHICAGO PROTESTS ✶
Reign check: Throngs descend on Loop as part of ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump policies
By Mohammad Samra, Casey He, Erica Thompson, Cindy Hernandez, Anna Savchenko, Chip Mitchell, Somer Van Benton, Lynn Sweet, Mitchell Armentrout and Robert Herguth
Mass movement: More than a month after President Donald Trump sent federal agents to the Chicago region as part of a mass deportation effort targeting immigrants, tens of thousands who oppose that and other White House polices turned out in force Saturday to show what they think, marching downtown as part of a nationwide action dubbed “No Kings.”
Rally and march: The hourslong, peaceful march was preceded by a massive rally at Grant Park, where Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker spoke.
‘Who cares?’: Asked for comment about the mass showing of discontent, Trump’s spokeswoman had a short response: “Who cares?” Protesters in the Chicago area made clear they care, with demonstrations stretching into neighborhoods like Little Village and scattered across the suburbs including DuPage County, Orland Park, Park Ridge and Highland Park.
More headlines:
- Trump asks Supreme Court to step in so he can deploy National Guard to Illinois
- Judge modifies ruling to include body cameras for federal agents
- Sun-Times photojournalist talks about his viral images of federal agents tear-gassing protesters
WATCH: ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS ▶️
WBEZ and Sun-Times reporters take you to the streets of Saturday’s “No Kings” protest in the Chicago area. | WBEZ/Sun-Times
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏈🏀
- Bears’ ugly win: The team won the “Monsters” way, with defense and a running game, as QB Caleb Williams offered little help, writes Steve Greenberg.
- NBA preview: Bulls VP Arturas Karnisovas keeps things honest as the league offers him a chance to play catch-up.
- Money matters: We know WNBA players want more money. What do the owners want?
- High school football: Bradley-Bourbonnais, Hersey and St. Francis join and Loyola falls out in Michael O’Brien’s Super 25 high school football rankings for Week 9.
GAMES AND CROSSWORDS 🧩
This week’s Chicago-style crossword theme is: Concert venues!
Here’s your clue:
15A: Concert venue that occupies the former Morton factory
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Sudan Archives’ new album pulses with Midwest sounds
By Justin Curto
Dance music is in Sudan Archives’ blood.
The singer and violinist’s father is from Chicago, the birthplace of house music in the early 1980s. Meanwhile, her mother is from Detroit, where techno music developed around the same time. She grew up between the two cities, in Cincinnati, making regular trips to visit family in both.
But Sudan, whose real name is Brittney Parks, didn’t initially set out to pay tribute to her heritage when she made her new album, “The BPM,” released Friday. She just wanted to make songs that were fast. The Midwestern musical history came out naturally.
“I know what techno and house is, but I’m not ever, like, referencing anything,” Parks says during a video interview from her sunny home in Los Angeles. “I’m literally opening the computer and I’m putting that BPM [beats per minute] on 120 and I’m creating drums and I’m creating violins.”
Parks’ music gained recognition for bridging folk and classical violin with contemporary R&B and pop. Her stage name is partially a tribute to the Sudanese fiddle music that inspired her as a Black violinist.
“The BPM” is her third album, and she’ll take it on the road this winter, stopping by Thalia Hall on Feb. 5. Afterward, Parks is unsure if she’ll continue to make dance music, preferring to stay unpredictable.
What she will take from this era is the assurance of pulling off such a major pivot. The mark of a great house singer, after all, is confidence.
“Like, I’m 31 now,” Parks says. “This is the album that, I’m in my 30s. I know what I want and I know how to work it.”
DAILY QUESTION ☕️
Where in Chicago do you feel most connected to your neighbors or other Chicagoans? Tell us why.
Email us (please include your first and last name). We may run your answers in Tuesday’s morning edition newsletter.
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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