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It's a new week, Chicago. Start it off strong with these stories from WTTW News.
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security logo pictured in a file photo. (memoriesarecaptured / iStock)
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A new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, detention center is in the works in Indiana, dubbed the “Speedway Slammer.” Similar in size to Florida’s so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” facility, the Indiana center will triple the amount of beds ICE has in the Chicago region. The announcement comes on the heels of orders from President Donald Trump’s administration to ramp up immigration efforts in Democratic-led cities. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has set a national quota of 3,000 arrests per day. The Miami Correctional Facility in Miami County, Indiana, is allowing the federal government to detain immigrants. It’s located about 130 miles
southeast of Chicago’s border with Indiana.
What Indiana lawmakers say:
“I have been in contact with our law enforcement officers and sheriffs’ offices throughout the session, and I have been vocal about our ability to carry out the required duties, given that we are facing severe law enforcement shortages in our state,” Indiana state Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn said. “Our governor has been asking us to do more with less, but somehow we are fitting the bill for this federal endeavor.”
Garcia Wilburn, a Democrat whose district represents parts of Indianapolis, said that while her area is not the location of the new center, her county does take part in an existing federal program that incentivizes sheriffs to collaborate directly with the federal government when immigration is a concern.
In Illinois, state and local law enforcement are generally prohibited from assisting ICE with civil immigration enforcement.
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Sponsor Message
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Evanston Folk Festival returns for its second year on the spectacular lakefront at Dawes Park on Chicago’s North Shore. Join us September 6 + 7, 2025, as more than 30 world-class artists take the stage with Lake Michigan as a beautiful backdrop. Listen and learn at in-person interviews and panels with authors and luminaries presented by Chicago Public Media. And keep the music going after the sun sets with intimate evening performances at Cahn Auditorium.
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Learn about sponsorship opportunities.
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Chicago's new hybrid Board of Education meets for the first time at the Chicago Public Schools Loop headquarters on Jan. 15, 2025. (WTTW News)
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More than half of Chicago’s 21-member Board of Education signed on to a letter calling for “critical” changes to Chicago Public Schools’ latest budget proposal in the form of a loan and the district picking up a $175 million municipal pension payment.
The letter — sent to interim CPS CEO Macquline King — came after several board members voiced concerns about the district’s proposed spending plan, one CPS officials have pledged would keep any cuts out of the classroom.
According to CPS, a high-interest loan would send the district into a “downward spiral” of credit downgrades, higher interest rates and steeper cuts to staff, programs and services. But 11 of the 21 board members are calling for that to be included as an option in the district’s proposed spending plan.
“While we cannot yet confirm the exact interest rate, the loan should be included as an option to be utilized only in the event it is necessary to avoid further cuts to the classroom,” the board members wrote in the letter.
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A view of the 63rd Street dunes. (Courtesy Chicago Park District)
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For the first leg of their inaugural migratory journey, Chicago's surviving piping plover chicks, El and Bean, didn't travel far south. The two settled in at 63rd Street Beach, adjacent to Jackson Park, where the dunes must have looked familiar.
“It's a really exciting opportunity for people who live nearby to know that there's a healthy habitat the birds are interested in,” said Evelyn Alvarez, conservation action coordinator at Shedd Aquarium.
Since 2012, Shedd has, in partnership with the Chicago Park District, taken the lead on stewardship efforts at 63rd Street, which encompasses both a traditional swimming beach and extensive natural areas bookending the more manicured sand. Like Montrose Beach to the north, 63rd Street sees heavy recreational use while also managing to support diverse wildlife, including a colony of cliff swallows that nests under the beach house.
“At certain times of the year, there's babies that have their heads popping out of those nests," Alvarez said. "It's a really cool connection. We love having people understand why it's so important that we're picking up litter from these sites, because of these species that call it home.”
On the third Saturday of the month, from April through October, Shedd hosts volunteer stewardship events at the beach and dunes. Click here to find out how you can help.
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Jim Lovell, American hero, naval aviator and test pilot-turned astronaut and commander of the Apollo 13 mission, was a Lake Forest resident who died last week at 97. He was a guest on “Chicago Tonight” many times. Here he is in 1995, right after the “Apollo 13” movie came out, with an introduction
from Phil Ponce.
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Back in the Day: August 18, 1925 - Uptown Theatre Opens
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(WTTW News)
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One of Chicago’s most ornate and historically beloved theaters opened on this date 100 years ago. The Uptown Theatre was one of the many iconic collaborations between design duo Rapp & Rapp and the Balaban and Katz Theater Corporation like the Chicago Theatre, Riviera Theatre, and the James M. Nederlander (Oriental) Theatre to name three. As WTTW contributor Robert Loerzel points out in the Chicago Tribune, Balaban and Katz ran an ad that claimed, “It is one of the great art buildings of the world.
You have never seen such dignified luxury, such exquisite elegance as lives in its towering pillars, its mountainous ceilings, glowing colors, stately promenades, lounges, cosmetic rooms and smoking rooms.” The 4,320-seat space at 4816 N. Broadway was a mecca for movies, vaudeville acts and in the 70s as a music venue hosting concerts by bands like the Grateful Dead. The building fell into disrepair and its final live music show was held in 1981. While it’s changed owners several times and plans to renovate the building have stalled, it’s remained vacant and dilapidated since. Loerzel co-wrote the new book “The Uptown: Chicago’s Endangered Movie Palace" with writer James A. Pierce that's out today.
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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.
City Club of Chicago
On Wednesday at noon, join City Club of Chicago for “A Watershed Moment: Shedd Aquarium Celebrates Momentum for its Strategic Plan and for Chicago.” Dr. Bridget Coughlin, president and CEO of Shedd Aquarium, will be interviewed to discuss “a summer of exceptional, global visibility for Chicago in the realms of sustainability, tourism, conservation and innovation.” Tickets and details can be found here.
Becoming Thurgood: America’s Social Architect – A WTTW Preview and Community Conversation
On Thursday, at 6 p.m. at the DuSable Black History Museum and Learning Center, join WTTW and The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center for a preview of and discussion about “Becoming Thurgood: America’s Social Architect.” This new film is directed and produced by Alexis Aggrey and Emmy-winning documentarian and Firelight Films co-founder Stanley Nelson serves as executive producer. The documentary profiles the iconic Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, and premieres on all WTTW platforms beginning Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 9 p.m. RSVP here.
News Night
Catch some of Chicago’s finest reporters talk about their work, the issues facing the city and more in an informal roundtable discussion and event. Speakers include ProPublica’s Melissa Sanchez, Hyde Park Herald’s Marc Monaghan and Chicago Sun-Times’ Violet Miller. It’s free and happens at 7 p.m. Thursday at 1048 W. 37th Street.
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Where's your favorite place to watch a movie in Chicago? Tell us why.
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published.
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Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source, which is used to probe everything from the structure of the COVID-19 virus to battery chemistry, gets an $815 million upgrade. We show you how it works.
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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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