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Enter the week with these stories from WTTW News.
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Inspector General Deborah Witzburg appears on "Chicago Tonight" on May 30, 2023. (WTTW News) |
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As the Chicago City Council prepared to vote on whether to expand the powers of Chicago’s Inspector General, Deborah Witzburg was clear: not only did she want to serve a second term as the city’s watchdog, she believed she had earned another four years in office.
“Chicago’s ethics rules have been categorically and dramatically underenforced for decades," Witzburg told WTTW News on July 9. “We have accomplished a great deal. There is a great deal more work to be done.”
But just eight days later, Witzburg announced she had changed her mind: she would not ask Mayor Brandon Johnson to reappoint her to serve a second, and final term, as inspector general.
“I have done what I came here to do,” Witzburg told WTTW News on Friday, during an interview after she announced her change of heart in an email celebrating the City Council’s 49-1 vote to amend the city’s ethics law in order to stop the city’s top lawyer from intervening in ongoing probes that risk “embarrassment or political consequences.”
More context:
The fact that the City Council overwhelmingly voted to pass the measure that Witzburg crafted with Ald. Matt Martin, the chair of the Ethics and Government Oversight Committee, made her reconsider her decision to seek another term, Witzburg said.
That vote showed alderpeople to be “principled leaders” willing to strengthen independent oversight of their own actions, Witzburg said.
“This seems like a good place to be, a good moment in time,” Witzburg said. “When I leave in April, I will have left this place better than I found it.”
Witzburg said she had no conversations with the mayor or his staff about whether he planned to reappoint her before she decided not to seek a second term. |
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Three former immigration court judges join "Chicago Tonight" on July 17, 2025. (WTTW News) |
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This month, 17 immigration court judges across the country have been abruptly fired by President Donald Trump’s administration, including in Chicago.
According to the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, the union that represents them, some 50 immigration court judges had already been terminated in the past six months before the latest round of firings. The union said the firings are “without cause” and “against the public interest.”
Jennifer Peyton was the assistant chief immigration judge for Chicago’s immigration court until she was fired by email earlier this month over the Fourth of July weekend while vacationing with her family.
Immigration courts had already seen a “dramatic drop-off” in people attending hearings compared to the last months of the Biden administration as many migrants became wary of being detained as the Trump administration ramped up deportation efforts, Peyton said. She noted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents had conducted arrests on the floor where Chicago’s immigration courts are housed.
Carla Espinoza was fired as an immigration court judge without notice last Friday.
“I was on the bench when I found out,” said Espinoza. “I was in the course of rendering an oral decision in a case, so I was doing my job until the very last moment, and so of course it was shocking to find out in that way, particularly when I was doing a job that I understood to be efficient and fair.”
Espinoza was what is called a term appointment. Barring poor performance or other issues, most term appointment immigration judges are made permanent after two years.
Espinoza emphasized that her performance was widely praised. The fact that there was no stated reason for her termination “made it even more difficult,” said Espinoza |
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Mary Richardson-Lowry appears on "Chicago Tonight" on July 17, 2025. (WTTW News) |
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The Chicago City Council is moving forward with tightening ethics rules to keep the city’s top lawyer from intervening in investigations on elected officials — a move that some say is long overdue.
After the convictions of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and former Ald. Ed Burke, Chicago politics are falling under renewed scrutiny by those pushing for reform.
The ethics measure was first proposed after Inspector General Deborah Witzburg wrote a 17-page letter in February to Ald. Matt Martin (47th Ward), chair of the Ethics and Government Oversight Committee, urging the City Council toward substantial ethics reform. Witzburg blasted the city’s law department for intervening in probes because of concerns about embarrassment or political consequences for city leaders.
Mary Richardson-Lowry, corporation counsel for the city of Chicago and leader of the city’s Law Department, joined WTTW News’ “Chicago Tonight” to talk about ethics reform, the cost of police misconduct settlements and how her office has had to shift priorities to address Trump’s focus on Chicago by responding to many court filings related to federal legal battles on issues such as the city’s policies protecting immigrants. |
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Back in the Day: July 21, 1899 - Ernest Hemingway Born in Oak Park
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Ernest Hemingway was the hard-living, globetrotting and Nobel Prize-winning author behind classics like "The Sun Also Rises," "A Farewell to Arms," "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "The Old Man and the Sea." Before he had spent time in Paris, Spain during the Spanish Civil War, Key West, Cuba and Idaho, Hemingway was born on this day 126 years ago in Oak Park. His father was a doctor, and his mother was a musician and teacher. He grew up at 339 Oak Park Ave., in Oak Park, which is now the Ernest Hemingway Birthplace Museum. He left Oak Park at 18, became an ambulance driver abroad in World War I and rarely returned to his hometown.
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This Week’s Civic Events and Meetings |
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Every Monday, WTTW News highlights the best ways to get involved with local government.
Civic Federation
Tuesday evening, join the Civic Federation and Kids First Chicago for a special info session called "What’s Really Going On with the CPS Budget?" The event page calls it "a timely conversation that will break down what’s driving the district’s financial challenges, what’s at stake for schools, and how Chicagoans can make their voices heard." This is a virtual event. RSVP and details can be found here.
City Club of Chicago
On Wednesday at noon, join City Club of Chicago for a special presentation with Dr. Mike Adkesson, President and CEO of the Brookfield Zoo Chicago called "Brookfield Zoo Chicago: A New Era for Wildlife and Conservation." Details and tickets can be found here.
City Council's Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights
On Thursday at 10 a.m., there will be a subject matter hearing "on the City and Committee's recent efforts to support immigrant and refugee communities in Chicago, as well on federal immigration activity trends in Chicago." Details and agenda are here.
Chicago Public Schools' Board of Education
On Thursday at 10:30 a.m., a regular meeting of CPS' Board of Education is scheduled. The board will discuss the budget and other pressing matters. Details, agenda and how to contribute a public comment can be found here. |
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What’s your favorite bookstore in the Chicago area? Tell us where and why.
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. |
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5:30 PM | 10:00 PM |
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Want more WTTW News content? Follow WTTW on Instagram to check in with us daily, go behind-the-scenes, and more. |
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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