"Prevost – who was also the Augustinians’ worldwide leader for 12 years beginning in 2001 – left the principal, an Augustinian priest named Richard McGrath, in his post, a decision he has not explained, as the Chicago Sun-Times has previously reported."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/09/clergy-molestation-survivors-pope-leo-xiv

"In 2017, as word spread of the claims against him, McGrath abruptly retired in December of that year, then reportedly moving to a friary in Hyde Park. Months later, he was AWOL from that facility—"unlawfully absent" from the Augustinian Order. A source in 2018 told Patch that McGrath had left the order after conflict surrounding the scandal, because he had felt bullied and unsupported by the order.

At the time of reporting on the settlement in 2023, the Order was said to have been nearing expulsion of McGrath.

The statement issued by Rev. Pizzo and provided to Patch on May 6 clarifies that McGrath had still been a part of the order until late last year."

https://patch.com/illinois/newlenox/providence-ex-president-dismissed-order-whereabouts-unknown

The upside to being in the 6th year of a global airborne pandemic is that I'm nearly always dressed right for when The Dust Bowl tries to make a comeback.

https://www.weather.gov/lot/2025_05_16_DustStorm

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

The National Weather Service published a report on the severe dust storm.

"According to the American Meteorological Society’s Glossary of Meteorology, blowing dust/dirt
events with minimum visibilities of 0.63 miles or less are indicated as a 'dust storm,' with minimum visibilities below 0.31 miles indicated as 'severe dust storm.' Severe dust storms associated with a wall of dust and a rapid onset of reduced visibilities and gusty winds are
sometimes caused by thunderstorm outflows or frontal passages, such as what was observed on 16 May (Figure 1). In these situations, the dust storm is often referred to as a 'haboob,' based upon the Arabic word for 'to blow.' Severe dust storms or haboobs are uncommon in the Midwest, and much more frequently observed in the Desert Southwest and Great Plains of the United States or in arid regions of the Middle East, Sahara Desert, or Central Australia
(American Meteorological Society, 2025)."

PDF is here.

https://www.weather.gov/media/lot/events/2025/05_16/2025_05_16_Dust_Storm.pdf

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

Other facts about the haboob.

Visibility was down to 0.25 miles southeast of Bloomington in McLean County, around a stretch of Interstate 57 in Will County, in the southern suburbs up through Chicago in Cook County, and around South Bend, Indiana.

Chicago had visibility of less than a mile for 72 minutes.

A severe dust storm from the Dust Bowl affected Galena and suspended rides at the 1933 World's Fair reported in the Chicago Tribune, cited as the earliest similar report with a minimum visibility of 0.5 miles at Midway International Airport (then Chicago Municipal Airport).

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

Trust the newsreaders on #ABC7Chicago to downplay health threats to tens of millions of people. One of their 4 o'clock meteorologists took pains to point out that the Canadian wildfire smoke in the area is no longer the "unhealthy for sensitive groups" category, but for all and that visibility is down to 5 miles due to it. One of the 6 o'clock anchors said, "Maybe you've got a little thing in your throat."

Entire states have declared for the past two days the air is unhealthy to breathe without treatment, but no, maybe it's just you. What gets me is that Ravi Baichwal is a Canadian-American.

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

Once again The Dust Bowl is brought up in local meteorology, because it's the 30th anniversary of the 1995 heat wave.

"In 2025, as part of its Hazard Simplification Project, the National Weather Service updated the names of its highest-level heat products in an effort to better communicate the danger posed by extreme heat. Excessive Heat Watches were renamed to Extreme Heat Watches, while Excessive Heat Warnings were renamed to Extreme Heat Warnings."

The National Weather Service is now more EXTREeeeeME than it was in the '90s.

https://www.weather.gov/lot/1995_HeatWave

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

The 2-day long Extreme Heat Warning finally broke. There could be reports on how warnings such as these by the National Weather Service try to save lives and the dire consequences of firing meteorologists to appease sociopaths, or maybe how to make cooling centers safe during the still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic... Nah, #WGN decides they've got time to fit in telling you about a squirrel that fought a rattlesnake, as if you're a 17th century British colonist and this is going to be in the next sermon.

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

The National Weather Service has documented the storms on the 24th and 25th. Flash flooding on the 25th resulted in waist-high water on residential streets in some places, and even 6-12 inches of standing water on Interstate 55.

https://www.weather.gov/lot/2025_07_24-25SevereFlood

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

It's not enough for corporate news to have complete silence about the dangers of indoor air quality, now we get reporters sent out into AQI category Unhealthy air and visible smoke at ground level without PPE.

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

We just had 3.1 inches/80 mm of rain within 2 hours or so.

mm is millivanillimeters, right?

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

The governor's press conference today defying military occupation plans is available for download on the Illinois Department of Central Management Services.

https://cms.illinois.gov/agency/media/video/videos.html

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

It's the 35th anniversary of the Plainfield Tornado, the only F5 tornado in August in the country since 1950 and studied by the Fujita scale's creator Tetsuya Ted Fujita. Before Fujita was at the University of Chicago he was an associate professor at the then-named Meiji Senmon Gakkō in the city of Kokura. Kokura was the primary target of Fat Man, but for 3 steel workers making a smoke screen and clouds preventing the ordered bomb drop by sight.

https://www.weather.gov/lot/Plainfield_Tornado_Anniversary

https://thebulletin.org/2022/08/harrowing-story-of-the-nagasaki-bombing-mission/#post-heading

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyushu_Institute_of_Technology

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"On Saturday the head of the Illinois State Police received a phone call from CBP's chief patrol agent Gregory Bovino indicating that ICE would be deploying to Chicago. ...in the absence of significant federal coordination we've gathered information from unauthorized patriotic officials inside the government and from well-sourced reporters...
...
First, Donald Trump is positioning armed federal agents and staging military vehicles on federal property such as the Great Lakes Naval Base.
...
We believe that staging that has already begun started yesterday and continues into today.

Second, unidentifiable agents in unmarked vehicles with masks are planning to raid Latino communities...
...
Third... we have reason to believe the Trump administration has already begun staging the Texas national guard for deployment in Illinois.
...
Lastly, after about 30 days or so we believe they will pick up all those resources and send them to the next city in a blue state." - Gov. Pritzker

https://cms.illinois.gov/agency/media/video/videos.html

Five helicopters flying over the southern suburbs. Only one transponder.

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

It's not so much that the nuts are coming out of the woodwork since the death of a conspiracy theorist as they were already being deputized as part of propaganda efforts.

"Bergquam, a correspondent for the right-wing news channel Real America’s Voice, has more than 177,000 followers on Instagram. He is currently embedded with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers as they make arrests in Chicago as part of President Trump’s 'Operation Midway Blitz.'”

https://chicago.suntimes.com/illinois-governor/2025/09/12/right-wing-activist-ben-bergquam-jb-pritzker-home-chicago-charlie-kirk-assassination

According to Wikipedia article on the conspiracy theorist (pre-murder) the dead man was the sort of person Twitter would ban before that site died when a sociopath bought it. The article has had ~1500 edits in the two days since, and it's wiser not to link to the current page when it changes so rapidly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charlie_Kirk&oldid=1309579478#Political_positions_and_activities

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"This morning, September 19, 2025, federal agents unleashed severe violence on people protesting at the Broadview detention facility, and engaged in actions endangering people on the scene." - National Lawyers Guild, Chicago chapter

https://nlgchicago.org/2025/09/19/nlg-chicago-statement-regarding-agents-response-to-protest-in-broadview/

"The organization said its legal observers witnessed agents using pepper balls and apparent tear gas 'on all protesters and individuals gathered.' The National Lawyers Guild frequently monitors demonstrations to document police use of force and arrests.” - Nader Issa, Chicago Sun-Times

https://chicago.suntimes.com/live/ice-agent-broadview-facility-protest-today

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

You can now swim in the Chicago River... sort of.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/21/chicago-river-swim

"Swimming in the Chicago River is prohibited at any other time of the year."

https://www.chicagoriverswim.org/Race/ChicagoRiverSwim/Page/SwimCourse

There was daily private water quality testing of the main channel over the prior 4 days, with less frequent tests before those.

https://www.chicagoriverswim.org/Race/ChicagoRiverSwim/Page/WaterQualityPlan

Also, there were fundraising requirements for competitors.

https://www.chicagoriverswim.org/Race/ChicagoRiverSwim/Page/FAQs

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

TV coverage of yesterday's press conference called over the memo about 100 troops to protect ICE property got cut off after 30 minutes, before Eréndira Rendón (Vice President of Immigrant Justice from the Resurrection Project) got to speak. Parentheses are mine.

"DHS has admitted to members of the press that they are making enforcement decision based on racial profiling... if you look like me you are in danger. On Sunday in Back of the Yards (a neighborhood now officially known as New City) ICE officers violently arrested 3 US citizens on baseless charges simply for exercising their constitutional right to free speech.
...
Right now in Broadview there are 200 people in a place that is not a detention center. They are being held in inhumane conditions. There are no beds. There are no showers. There is limited food; they order children's meals from Subway to eat. We are not allowed to speak to any of our clients that are held in that facility."

https://www.trpimmigrantjustice.org/trpij

https://cms.illinois.gov/agency/media/video/videos.html

"'I had him in class,' Rupp, now 84, told the Chicago Sun-Times, referring to Prevost’s time at St. Augustine high school seminary near Holland, Michigan, in or around 1973. 'He was a teenager.'

'I only taught him for a few months. ... I think I was teaching Latin at that time. ... He struck me' as 'just a delightful, wonderful young man,' Rupp said.

...

It’s unclear whether Rupp was engaged in sexual misconduct at the time and whether and when Prevost knew of any accusations. Neither the pope nor his press office responded to questions. Rupp denied molesting anyone and said he was wrongfully accused. The Augustinians refuse to confirm whether Rupp was one of Prevost’s instructors."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/10/01/pope-leo-robert-prevost-saint-augustine-seminary-holland-michigan-nelson-daniel-rupp-accused-abuse

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"...a masked federal agent dropped canisters of chemical irritants into the street outside Rico Fresh Market...

In a video taken by a witness and shared with the Sun-Times, cars could be seen blocking the white, unmarked SUV before a masked agent rolled down his window and dropped the canisters. Smoke begins spreading around the vehicle and passersby began to scream.

Someone on the sidewalk then volleyed at least one of the canisters back at the vehicle before it sped off.

David Beale, 39, was on his way to the gym shortly after noon when he noticed a Blackhawk helicopter and Department of Homeland Security vehicle in the area.

Beale told a WBEZ reporter that the federal agents have been targeting the grocery store since the beginning of Operation Midway Blitz, President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign in the Chicago area.

At least 10 cars, 10 people and six bikes lined up to stop the vehicle from moving down the street, Beale said."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10/03/federal-agent-chemical-irritants-rico-fresh-logan-square

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"The video appears to contradict the government’s allegation that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning on Kedzie Avenue near 39th Street, her attorney, Christopher Parente, said at a detention hearing at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.
...
Parente said Martinez has 'seven holes' in her from the shooting and that agents were in such a hurry to take her into custody at the hospital that they had to return later when Martinez began bleeding from her wounds.
...
An FBI statement says that about 10 vehicles were involved in the chase that Martinez and Ruiz were allegedly part of in the 3900 block of South Kedzie. The statement also describes the 'ramming' of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle repeatedly in the 3700 block of Kedzie, allegedly by the driver of a black Chevy Tahoe with Illinois license plate EM 62829. That driver is still at large, the FBI said."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10/06/marimar-martinez-anthony-ian-santos-ruiz-border-patrol-shooting-brighton-park

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

Not only does this story confirm that Illinois State Police are guarding the Broadview ICE processing site (it is not a detention center), but it also says that new barricades have been erected around the temporary fence which ICE was ordered to remove by a U.S. District Judge on Thursday. Per the headline, they may be violating an Illinois law, the Access to Religious Ministry Act, though that mentions the sheriff sets access times. I haven't seen the Cook County Sheriff, Tom Dart, mentioned.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/11/broadview-detention-immigration-enforcement-ice-religious-leaders-communion-fence-protests

The Chicago marathon still happened.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/12/chicago-marathon-ice

https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-marathon/2025/10/12/jacob-kiplimo-wins-2025-chicago-marathon-conner-mantz-breaks-american-record

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"A temporary restraining order issued by a federal judge last week requires agents to issue two warnings before using riot control weapons such as tear gas, chemical sprays, plastic bullets and flash bangs. The order also bars firing at protesters, reporters and clergy members and limits using force such as tackling — unless the person represents an immediate threat.

But witnesses said they heard no warnings, and none can be heard on videos of the incident showing the scene leading up to the gas being thrown in the middle of a residential street."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/12/ice-chicago-albany-park-tear-gas

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"Last week, Greer was one of four cemetery workers, all U.S. citizens, arrested during a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation that crossed over onto the private Christian cemetery property. They were ultimately released without charges, but that was after they were hit with pepper balls and pepper spray unleashed by agents and then detained for hours, Greer recalled.
...
Darren Eichler, one of the other cemetery workers in attendance Monday, declined further comment after the news conference. But in a text message to the Tribune, Eichler described the encounter through a poem.

'Amidst a trembling exchange of power, one where my hands could not rise in defense, and the law, in theory, should have risen for me, a burning rain began to fall,' he wrote. 'Oil-born, it clung to my skin, slick and stinging, baptizing me in disbelief.

'Then came the chorus — a hail of peppered fire, each shot a punctuation of pain, each breath thick with the taste of vinegar and fear.'”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/13/ice-forest-park-cemetery-workers/

"H flu, also called haemophilus influenzae, is uncommon — each year about 200 cases are recorded in Illinois and roughly 150 are documented in Indiana, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite the name, H flu is a bacteria, not a virus like the flu. It can lead to pneumonia and meningitis.
...
In 2024, the vaccination rate for kids in Lake County, Indiana, where Liam was from, was 80%, according to data from the Indiana Department of Public Health.

The vaccination rate for H flu at Chicago Public Schools slightly dropped during and after the pandemic — which disrupted vaccinations for several diseases — but remains high for the current school year at 93%. Herd immunity for H flu is reached at a 90% vaccination rate.

Herd immunity helps protect children who can’t get vaccines for medical reasons or don’t make as many anti-bodies to fight an illness despite having the vaccine, public health experts say."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/health/2025/10/14/h-flu-vaccine-bacteria-infection-indiana-comer-chicago

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"Federal agents chased a car through a residential neighborhood on the Southeast Side of Chicago Tuesday, and then intentionally crashed into the car in a risky maneuver restricted by some police departments nationwide.
...
After the crash, dozens of people gathered at the crash scene in protest, leading to a chaotic confrontation with federal officers.
...
The feds then used tear gas and other chemical irritants on the crowd.
...
Destiny Salazar, 20, said she saw someone in the crowd throw an object at agents...

When she looked back, she saw her 15-year-old cousin and 19-year-old boyfriend 'slammed to the ground' and handcuffed by masked federal agents.
...
The boy, who is Hispanic and African American, was held in a garage for five hours 'without informing his family, stating any charges, or allowing him to call an attorney,' the statement said. He is a U.S. citizen, as is his entire immediate family, the release said."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/14/crash-involving-immigration-agents-in-east-side-leads-to-tear-gas-detentions

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"DHS Secretary Kristi Noem visited Broadview’s ICE facility on Oct. 3 — two days before the ICE official wrote his email praising the Illinois State Police.

Her motorcade had two options when it came time to leave. It could take Beach Street, where no protesters waited for her. Or it could take Harvard Street, which was full of them. Noem chose Harvard Street.

That’s according to another declaration submitted to Perry by Illinois State Police Maj. Donald Orseno.
...
'Once the roadway was clear, the secretary’s motorcade advanced through the area,' Orseno wrote. 'No pepper balls, gas or other chemical or irritant agents were deployed.
…
Broadview Police Chief Thomas Mills cited Noem’s visit to the facility in his own declaration to Perry. Mills told the judge that Noem made law enforcement’s job 'harder' that day.

'Her presence and actions seemed to be intended to provoke the crowd,' Mills wrote. 'I did not see any legitimate law enforcement purpose for what she was doing.'"

https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/10/17/ice-operation-midway-blitz-donald-trump-chicago-national-guard-lawsuit-use-of-force

"A federal judge has modified a temporary restraining order, now requiring body cameras on ICE agents carrying out immigration enforcement.

The original ruling was issued last week by U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis and prohibited using force, riot control weapons or threats against journalists and protesters. The ruling also required federal agents to issue warnings before deploying riot control weapons.

The modified ruling says federal agents 'currently equipped and trained with body-worn cameras' shall activate them when participating in enforcement activity.
...
During the same hearing, Ellis requested that Russell Hott, who was director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Chicago field office, appear in her courtroom Monday to explain what is happening regarding reports of improper enforcement.

However, Ellis confirmed Friday that Hott would no longer be leading the Chicago field office, and someone else would appear in court on Monday."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/17/judge-modifies-ruling-to-include-body-cameras-for-ice-agents

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

So, if this tax passed not only would I not want to run a Mastodon instance (with open membership) in Chicago, but the mouthpiece for privately-held X and international-undersea-cable-building-Facebook would be trying to claim they're the press to get out of it?

"The mayor last week proposed taxing social media companies to help close a $1.15 billion shortfall, dinging at a rate of 50 cents per user after the first 100,000 users, similar to tax structures that have been floated — but not approved — in Minnesota and Washington state.
...
Bos said the mayor’s proposal is 'also unlawful,' citing a 1983 U.S. Supreme Court decision that blocked a Minnesota state tax on newspapers for paper and ink purchases beyond a $100,000 yearly threshold. Former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote for the court that the tax 'singled out the press for special treatment' without justification."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2025/10/21/brandon-johnson-social-media-tax-chicago-budget

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"Led by U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino, the feds rolled into the Southwest Side neighborhood that’s the heart of Chicago’s Mexican community in a caravan of SUVs, prompting residents to post photos and videos on social media and blow whistles outside to warn neighbors of the presence.
..
Baltazar Enriquez, president of the Little Village Community Council, said federal immigration agents seemed to have arrived in the neighborhood with 'no plan,' trying to enter the discount mall before turning around when they realized it was closed. That’s when they were confronted by residents who quickly mobilized, he said.
..
When he arrived, Enriquez tried and failed to de-escalate tensions between federal agents and protesters, he said. Enriquez said Bovino was the first person to launch a tear-gas canister.
'I told him not to throw it because all he was going to do was rile people up, but he just smirked at me and threw it anyway,' Enriquez said."
https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/23/feds-make-arrests-deploy-tear-gas-during-face-off-with-protesters-near-little-village-discount-mall

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

Gov. Pritzker is forming an Illinois Accountability Commission to document the abuses of federal power. Report in due in January. No subpoena power.

"We intend to create a detailed record of the truth. And once this all ends, people of good faith will review what this commission has gathered and demand accountability..." - Pritzker

"We're tasked with creating a clear record of what happened during Operation Midway Blitz as well as other activities that... have been occurring throughout our state. We'll examine not just the actions taken but their impact on the people and communities of Illinois. As you've heard our goal is not political its constitutional. It's about protecting the basic rights of every person in our state and reminding everyone that due process, dignity, and equal protection are non-negotiable values." - Patricia Brown Holmes, vice-chair

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/23/illinois-accountability-commission-immigration-raids/

https://gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com/gov-pritzker-signs-executive-order-to-establish-the-illinois-accountability-commission

https://cms.illinois.gov/agency/media/video/videos.html

https://ilac.illinois.gov/

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

People are calling for remote learning to keep children and their parents safe from immigration raids at schools. This should already have been a continuing option to keep them safe from COVID-19, but it was not. Mayor Johnson was a Chicago Teachers Union member before being elected. Gov. Pritzker prioritizes education outcomes over safety.

"In Wicker Park, Ald. Daniel La Spata cycled around Rudy Lozano Elementary School, searching for vehicles with license plates tied to immigration agents.

La Spata pointed out a corner where he said agents grabbed a person Friday morning. He rolled to a stop near a group of about two dozen volunteers who showed up to watch out for agents and show support during Lozano student pick-up.

'There’s a number of schools in the ward where we’ve seen attendance drop-offs because families feel scared to show up,' he said. 'You should never have to feel like that.'”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/24/johnson-pritzker-remote-learning-ice-arrests/

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"'These weren’t activists, these weren’t paid protesters, these were literally my neighbors coming out of their homes at 10 o’clock in the morning because they saw lawless agents acting in violent ways,' Kolp said. 'There are only so many ways we can hold these folks accountable. If the courts can’t do it, Congress can’t do it, then it’s up to the community to do it.'"

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/26/northwest-side-ice-arrests-tear-gas

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"His death was declared a homicide. But the Chicago Police Department made no arrest despite investigating twice, once in the days after his death and again in the face of the Sun-Times investigation, instead blaming Koschman for his own death.

Nearly a decade after her son died and years after the second Mayor Daley left office, Vanecko pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, apologizing in court to Nanci Koschman. Vanecko got 60 days in jail.
...
'They sure worked hard not to let the truth come out. They made a mockery of David’s accident. They put words in his mouth. They changed words. They lost files. They destroyed files. They took home files. They changed files. Is that our legal system?'

Nanci Koschman died Monday. She was 77 and had suffered from a variety of ailments, according to her family. Services are pending.

'She never got back to normal,' said her sister Susan Schulist Pazderski, her only sibling."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/koschman/2025/10/29/nanci-koschman-david-mayor-daley-richard-rj-vanecko-chicago-police-department

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

#Clearview
#MobileFortify

"The contract began Sept. 5, days before ICE launched its aggressive immigration enforcement operation in the Chicago area known as 'Midway Blitz.' As agents fan out across the city and suburbs, there’s no federal law governing the use of facial recognition technology and apparently little to no restrictions.
...
The Cook County legal settlement barring most businesses, entities and state law enforcement agencies from using Clearview stemmed from a lawsuit filed in May 2020 by the ACLU of Illinois and other advocacy organizations.
...
In September, nine Democrat senators wrote to acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to question him about an app known as Mobile Fortify, which they said 'reportedly allows agents to point a smartphone at an individual’s face or fingerprints and identify the individual based on a biometric match against several federal databases.'

Videos of masked agents scanning people with cellphones have begun cropping up on social media."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/10/31/ice-trump-facial-recognition-clearview-police-oversight

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has overseen the removal of almost two tons of oil-based asphalt that the agency says spilled from Petroleum Fuel and Terminal Co., a Forest View business operating along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

While the company has been ordered by the EPA to modify its safety practices to avoid future spills into the water, the agency hasn’t issued any penalty or even a notice of violation almost nine months after the problem was detected.
...
There were no warnings after the spill about the risk of consuming contaminated fish from state government health officials.

Illinois public health officials already warn about the dangers of eating fish largely because of a long-banned class of chemicals known as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, that are tied to cancer and other health threats. State officials also warn about mercury and a class of chemicals known as PFAS in the canal and the Chicago River."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/environment/2025/10/31/environmental-oily-asphalt-spill-epa-chicago-sanitary-ship-canal-mwrd

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"Burr Oak was established by executives of Supreme Life Insurance, a Black-owned company at 35th Street and South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Bronzeville. The insurance company was established in 1921 because white-owned insurers wouldn’t issue policies to Black people. Burr Oak was created because Chicago area cemeteries practiced the same exclusion.
...
In 2009, a Cook County sheriff’s investigation found that cemetery employees were reselling graves by illegally digging up old remains to make room for new ones and burying caskets on top of existing graves.

The employees were convicted, and the cemetery manager got a 12-year prison sentence.

The cemetery is now under new ownership. And the Friends of Burr Oak was formed to help improve the site and act as a liaison between the cemetery’s operators and the families of those buried there."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/black-history/2025/11/01/burr-oak-cemetery-national-register-historic-places-emmett-till-king-von-dinah-washington

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"The Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership organized the Mass — which fell on All Saints Day... — with hopes to gain entry to the ICE facility to offer detainees communion. Organizers said they followed Department of Homeland Security protocol and formally requested access more than one week ahead of the Mass and emailed and hand-delivered a second letter on Thursday. The request was denied, according to a statement from the village of Broadview. No reason was given.
...
Joined by hundreds of people, the group previously attempted to provide communion to those inside the detention center on Oct. 11 and were denied. DHS eventually cited the need for a one-week notice.

Persch... started visiting the ICE facility in Broadview with the late Sister Pat Murphy in 2006 to pray for the immigrants inside, their families and the ICE officers. Their visits inside the building later became a weekly practice..."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/11/01/religious-leaders-request-to-give-communion-to-detainees-at-broadview-facility-is-denied-again

#JTOChicagolandAndCOVID19

"At the intersection of Grand Avenue and Emerson Street, near where the shooting took place, the small crowd set out to pay homage to Villegas González for Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday to remember loved ones who have died.
...
U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials have said an agent shot and killed Villegas González, 38, on Sept. 12 after he attempted to flee arrest during a traffic stop, dragging and allegedly seriously injuring the agent with his vehicle. Democratic lawmakers have called for investigations into the shooting, including after body cam footage released by local police showed the agent describing his injuries as 'nothing major.'

The state of Idaho, meanwhile, took custody of Villegas González’s two children, an absence his family in Mexico said they feel immensely."

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/01/franklin-park-day-of-dead-celebration/

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"The Sun-Times and WBEZ have documented how the federal immigration processing center, which is meant to hold people for a few hours at a time, is instead keeping them for multiple days.

Government lawyers have recently acknowledged in court that Broadview is 'not equipped to be an overnight facility.' The new lawsuit, brought by the MacArthur Justice Center and the Roger Baldwin Foundation of ACLU, alleges the feds 'are now warehousing people at Broadview for days on end.'

They claim 'the temperatures are extreme and uncomfortable. Most nights are freezing cold, yet only some receive a thin foil blanket, sweater, or sweatpants to try to retain warmth.'

'The physical conditions are filthy,' lawyers wrote in the lawsuit, “with poor sanitation, clogged toilets, and blood, human fluids, and insects in the sinks and the floor.”
...
Meanwhile, people being detained there are prevented from speaking with their lawyers, according to the lawsuit.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/11/04/claims-of-unsanitary-black-hole-conditions-at-broadviews-ice-facility-to-be-heard-by-federal-judge

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