Wrote about the complex process of building a 7-color print from metal type & ornament. www.starshaped.com/blog/2025/11...

“There were about seven other day laborers on the corner there that scattered, and [the agents] seemed to just grab the first person they could get their hands on,” a witness told @katieprout.bsky.social. Horrifying reporting on unhoused people disappearing: chicagoreader.com/news/reader-...

At least 26 unhoused Chicagoans have been kidnapped by federal agents since September, including a man I'm calling Theo, a quiet day laborer who lived near Gompers Park. Two other people were also recently taken from this community. chicagoreader.com/news/ice-bor...

A family friend was telling us about what her husband shared about his experience in Broadview before he was deported back to Mexico. She's been sharing to friends and family because she's just in disbelief & horror what her husband told her. She wasn't able to talk to him until he was in Mexico.

Denver Post confirms what we’ve been hearing: nearly all federal HSI agents with expertise on cultural property crimes have been reassigned to immigration duties in recent months. Major loss of law enforcement capabilities in the world’s largest art market. www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...

NEW: Billions of pounds of food are imported to the U.S. each year. The FDA inspects foreign producers to ensure what we're eating is safe from pathogens and dangerous manufacturing practices. But now, after Trump's drastic staff cuts, these inspections have plummeted to a historic low. 🧵/

NEW - The Trump admin has disbanded its federal cultural property investigations team and reassigned the agents to immigration enforcement, delivering a blow to one of the world’s leaders in heritage protection, according to multiple ppl familiar with the changes. www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...

Ellis is concluding, with John Adams words to his wife in 1775 about the need to fight for the nascent American democracy. "Liberty once lost is lost forever."

It’s been a pleasure working with Lex and everyone in the politics vertical at Teen Vogue. I’m heartbroken that my column, Disability Visibility, is gone. Teen Vogue was one of the few places that published disabled journalists regularly. I just spent the last 2 months working on my next column

Lawyers play a video that was played for Bovino. In it, he tells agents "everybody fucking gets it if they touch you." "This is OUR fucking city," Bovino tells them.

if there was a rich person with the will, you could build the most incredible news organization that has ever existed just from the wreckage of this year alone.

Some airlines are stepping in to help feed air traffic controllers and other unpaid federal aviation workers who missed their first full paycheck on Tuesday, Day 28 of the government shutdown.

Greg Bovino, the Border Patrol chief in charge of operations in Chicago, told a judge today the government needs more time to submit use-of-force reports to the court because of the "sheer volume" of reports

The judge is now walking Bovino through the TRO. Ellis: "Section 1A means, essentially, that you've got to leave journalists alone. If they're doing their job, they need to be left alone to do their job."

This morning’s Big Story newsletter from @propublica.org: 📌 Oklahoma’s shift toward conservatism and Christianity in public schools has come amid abysmal test scores and high dropout rates. www.propublica.org/article/trum... by @jsmithrichards.bsky.social

FULL STORY: A Border Patrol agent pointed a gun at state Rep. Hoan Huynh while he warned North Side residents that immigration agents were conducting enforcement operations, said Huynh, a Vietnam refugee who is running to represent Illinois' 9th District in Congress. @wttw.bsky.social

In 1861, abolitionists in Chicago claimed no “fugitive slave” had been arrested in Chicago in 8 years. But after Lincoln was inaugurated, the new U.S. Marshal for the territory started making arrests. The more progressive papers howled and a vigilance committee was formed: (1/)

“They don’t tell us a lot of things, man,” said an officer in a marked Chicago police SUV. “We’re just little pawns.”

People experiencing miscarriages in states with abortion bans told us they wished they had known what to expect and how to advocate for themselves. We created this guide for anyone who finds themselves in the same position 👇 (Published Dec. 2024)

Feds deploy tear gas in Albany Park as neighbors respond to them detaining people. One person was taken, though another was freed. “I was afraid to go over there. I got braver the more people came out. I know my neighbors have my back, and I have their back."

If anyone has additional information they want to share with me, anonymous or otherwise, my email is [email protected]. Signal katie.507!

At least 6 unhoused Chicagoans have been abducted by federal agents since September: 2 have been released, while the status of the remaining 4 is unknown. But the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness is investigating reports of an additional 19 people disappeared. chicagoreader.com/news/make-it...

New essay in the Atlantic today: How Native Nations Shaped the Revolution by Ned Blackhawk (with many lessons on how we ended up where we are as a nation, and a gift link) www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Crucial read

On Chicago’s NW side from 1854 to 1970 there was a “civil commitment and forced medical care” institution called Dunning Asylum, later the Chicago State Hospital. People realized during construction in the 1990s they were building on mass graves of poor and mentally ill people. There is precedent.

I just …

Pritzker is also furious: “Should National Governors Association leadership choose to remain silent, Illinois will have no choice but to withdraw from the organization.”

85% of the National Endowment for the Humanities' Council were abruptly fired this morning. Four members remain to weigh in on all grant recommendations. #NEH "I just fear that there will not be that kind of discourse anymore. There will be one perspective." - Karen A. Stout 🎁: wapo.st/3IRQBdg

NEW — An estimated 40 people were taken by federal agents in an overnight raid in South Shore, a predominantly-Black neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. A couple who live nearby said they were shocked to see the enormous militarized raid in their community. thetriibe.com/2025/09/feds...

In 1890, U.S. troops massacred over 250 women, men, and children at Wounded Knee. This week, the U.S. Secretary of Defense announced that the soldiers who carried out the massacre will keep their Medals of Honor, which many have said should be rescinded.

New: four million people could be forced to leave public housing and other federally assisted housing under new plans from the Trump administration, according to experts who reviewed drafts of two unpublished rules obtained by @propublica.org.

The rules from the Department of Housing and Urban Development would allow major changes to public housing and Section 8 vouchers: - full-time work requirements - 2-year time limits - stripping aid from whole families if one member is in the country illegally www.propublica.org/article/trum...

New: Kristi Noem fast-tracked millions in disaster aid to Naples, Florida tourist attraction after campaign donor intervened www.propublica.org/article/kris... w/ @josh-kaplan.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social

3 School Districts to Lose $65 Million Over Gender and D.E.I. Policies. The federal Education Department accused New York, Chicago and Fairfax, Va., of discrimination and said it would pull federal funds from their magnet schools. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/n...

NEW — Video footage posted to Facebook shows an arrest outside of the Cook County criminal courthouse in Chicago at 2650 S. California Ave. The video shows federal agents stuffing a person in a vehicle as their feet kick in distress. thetriibe.com/2025/09/prot...

📣 Our training on how journalists can use history research skills is tomorrow (Thursday 9/25) at 1 pm central time! We have 100+ RSVPs, which thrills me. Still time to register and submit questions.

Hell yes. And if you want to get @propublica.org’s next big story directly, subscribe to our Big Story newsletter: 💌 www.propublica.org/newsletters/...

-cutting 10s of millions of $s for more than 50 autism-related studies -rolling back protections from air pollution, which studies link to autism -reversing bans on chemicals, including TCE, also linked to autism -Ending her autism research & gov career 👇 www.propublica.org/article/rfk-...

Trump repeatedly expressed his concern about autism yesterday when he told pregnant women not to take Tylenol. The research on Tylenol is mixed, some studies show an association, some don't. It's worth noting how his administration has undermined autism science www.propublica.org/article/rfk-...

The Trump-Miller administration's single-minded focus on migration is starting to impact the availability of drugs in the US, according to this detail from a very good investigation @wsj.com published today. www.wsj.com/world/americ...

Man fatally shot by ICE in Franklin Park had just dropped off his child at school, Rep. Delia Ramirez says chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/09...

“ARC has previously told the government to not reveal to the public where this passenger data came from, which includes peoples’ names, full flight itineraries, and financial details.”

From "What if ICE comes to my workplace?" to "What parents should know about sending kids to school?" we've assembled a series of explainers to help you make sense of what’s happening in Chicago.

Archivists: what are some things you wish journalists better understood about archives and about your work? Putting together a training in a couple weeks.

Hello! I’m co-leading a free virtual training with Laura Kebede-Twumasi on September 25 for journalists and storytellers who want more insight into how to effectively use history in your work. Come? Let’s meet the moment together. RSVP: tinyurl.com/y4ztpmb7 In collab w/ @raceandequityproject.org ✨

Reminder: @propublica.org is still tracking how immigration agents use force when they make arrests. Do you have video or other documentation of forceful or violent arrests by immigration agents that we should review? Please reach out. email: [email protected] Signal: @nicolefoy.27

Sending troops to Chicago could cost $1.6 million per day, four times as much as housing the city's homeless — plus it's illegal, experts say.

The deployment, and threats of the National Guard, come as a @wbez.org analysis has found that a three-month summer span saw the fewest murders in 60 years in Chicago while overall violent crime remained near its lowest point in at least four decades — from @chipmitchell1.bsky.social