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What a week. It’s finally Friday. Take a minute to catch up with these stories from WTTW News. |
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Senior U.S. Border Patrol official Greg Bovino speaks to Associated Press reporters during an interview Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, in Rosemont, Ill. (AP Photo / Erin Hooley) |
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Finding that federal immigration enforcement agents repeatedly used force that “shocks the conscience” and then lied about their actions, U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis issued a sweeping injunction Thursday designed to permanently rein in agents’ use of tear gas, pepper balls and other crowd control measures.
Ellis ruled that there was ample evidence that federal agents had violated Chicagoans’ First Amendment rights to free speech and free assembly to protest what the Trump administration calls “Operation Midway Blitz” while also impermissibly preventing the free exercise of religion by targeting members of the clergy with force.
More context:
Speaking from the bench from her courtroom at the Dirksen Federal Building in downtown Chicago for nearly 90 minutes, Ellis painstakingly detailed instances across the Chicago area in which border patrol agents used force against residents in apparent violation of her temporary restraining order.
Despite that violence, Ellis said Chicagoans “have shown up for each other” and she watched hours of videos showing them exercising their Constitutional rights by “standing watch to protect the most vulnerable among us.”
“The government would have people believe, instead, that the Chicagoland area is in a vice hold of violence, ransacked by rioters and attacked by agitators,” Ellis said. “That simply is untrue. And the government’s own evidence in this case belies that assertion.”
Ellis repeatedly said that federal agents, including Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino, lied about the threat posed by protesters and their conduct on the streets of Chicago. Federal agents “indiscriminately” fired tear gas at Chicagoans, tackled them, beat them, struck them with pepper balls and pointed weapons at them.
“I find the government’s evidence to be simply not credible,” Ellis said.
To begin her order, Ellis read Carl Sandberg’s famed poem, “Chicago,” in full. That poem dubbed Chicago the “City of Big Shoulders.”
To conclude her order, Ellis quoted John Adams, who wrote to his wife Abigail in 1775 that “liberty once lost is lost forever.”
Ellis is now the second federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois to find that federal agents have presented unreliable testimony about their actions and the actions of Chicagoans in response to President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort. |
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(bloodua / iStock) |
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Illinois lawmakers last week signed off on a sweeping $1.5 billion transit funding package that reshapes how the CTA, Metra and Pace are run and funded.
The plan also creates what’s called the Northern Illinois Transit Authority to oversee the transit agencies, which critics say have long failed to coordinate their service and meet rider needs.
The new board has five directors appointed by the governor, five by Chicago’s mayor, five by the Cook County Board president, and five by the collar county board executives.
“When we made these appointments, when we decided what this was going to look like in terms of the need for board representation, we wanted to make sure that we were creating those appointments based on offices, not on people,” said state Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado (D-Chicago).
More context:
The measure also fills looming budget gaps by redirecting $860 million in motor fuel sales tax revenue to transit, using $200 million in interest from the state’s Road Fund, and raising nearly $480 million through RTA sales tax increase of .25 percentage points in the Chicago area.
Lawmakers said the overhaul is needed to keep trains and buses running as federal COVID-19 aid dries up and ridership remains at pre-pandemic levels.
State Sen. Don DeWitte (R-St. Charles), the Republican spokesperson for the Transportation Committee, thinks the package “will be sufficient in resolving issues that have been in place for quite some time that have caused a lot of grief and aggravation for legislators in Springfield, as well as the transit riders here across the Chicago metropolitan area.”
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A United Airlines flight arrives at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh) |
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O’Hare and Midway are among 40 of the busiest airports in the U.S. where flights will be cut starting Friday due to the government shutdown.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday it would reduce air traffic by 10% across “high-volume” markets to maintain travel safety as air traffic controllers go unpaid and exhibit signs of strain during the shutdown. Air traffic controllers are working without pay during the government shutdown and have been increasingly calling off work.
What United is saying:
United Airlines, headquartered in Chicago, said it would focus the cuts on smaller regional routes that use smaller planes.
“United’s long-haul international flying and our hub-to-hub flying will not be impacted by this schedule reduction direction from the FAA,” United CEO Scott Kirby said in a statement Wednesday. “Instead, we will focus our schedule reductions on regional flying and domestic mainline flights that do not travel between our hubs.”
United Vice President of Airport Operations in Chicago Omar Idris said the FAA has asked all carriers to begin a process of reducing their flight schedule, starting with cutting 4% of flights and working up to 10% by the end of next week on Friday.
United has canceled 23 roundtrips at O’Hare for Friday, potentially impacting an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 travelers, according to Idris. Notifications to travelers have started to be sent out, Idris said, noting that some impacted travelers might be able to move to a later or earlier flight.
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Back in the Day: Nov. 7, 2006 - 'UFO' Spotted at O’Hare
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If you've flown out of Chicago enough times, chances are you've seen some odd things at O'Hare. From fellow travelers publicly upset about a delayed or missed flight, unexpected service animals, or witnessing someone indulging in an early morning massive Presidente Margarita from Chili's Too, you never know what you're going to run into. On this day 19 years ago, airport workers, from air traffic controllers, pilots, mechanics, to baggage personnel, saw a flying saucer hovering above Concourse C in Terminal 1. On New Year's Day 2007, Chicago Tribune reporter Jon Hilkevitch broke news of the possible UFO sighting. "A flying saucer-like object hovered low over O’Hare International Airport for several minutes before bolting through thick clouds with such intense energy that it left an eerie hole in overcast skies, said some United Airlines employees who observed the phenomenon," Hilkevitch wrote. He later quoted an air traffic controller, who joked, “To fly 7 million light-years to O’Hare and then have to turn around and go home because your gate was occupied is simply unacceptable.” As WTTW's "Chicago Mysteries" points out, "the FAA speculated it might have been a 'hole punch cloud,' also called a fallstreak hole, which is a strange formation created when something like an aircraft passes through the supercooled water droplets in the cloud." That said, neither United Airlines nor the FAA conducted an investigation. Watch a WTTW “Chicago Mysteries” segment on the unexplained and unsolved sighting here. |
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The 2025 Holiday Festival Guide
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Christmas Around the World and Holidays of Light at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. (Griffin Museum of Science and Industry Chicago / Heidi Peters) |
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Every Friday, WTTW News highlights the must-attend fairs, festivals, markets and neighborhood gatherings this holiday season.
Through Dec. 23: Chicago Fair Trade Pop-Up Shop | Lincoln Park
Head to 2717 N Clark Street for Chicago Fair Trade’s 12th Annual Holiday Pop-Up Shop. Support dozens of local businesses with ethically sourced, eco-friendly products and trinkets to fill up your holiday shopping list.
Opens Nov. 8-Jan. 5: Christmas Around the World and Holidays of Light | Griffin Museum of Science and Industry
Stroll through the Museum of Science and Industry with their longrunning and always excellent Christmas exhibit, featuring over 50 trees and displays.
Through Jan. 4: Million Dollar Quartet Christmas | Marriott Theatre (Lincolnshire)
Did you grow up listening to the holiday tunes from Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley? If so, check out this musical running through the holiday season. Tickets can be purchased here.
Nov. 6: Thanksgiving Leftovers | The Second City
While you might not associate sketch comedy with Thanksgiving the way you would stuffing, turkey and tense political arguments with your relatives, this Second City production promises to add some cheer and laughs to your month. Tickets for multiple shows this month can be found here.
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What’s your favorite cocktail bar 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. Here's what you had to say:
“My favorite cocktail bar is: The Victor Bar (4011 N Damen). Great cocktails, rotating seasonals [and they] can make anything you like. (I like to give the bartender a taste profile or some ingredients and let them surprise me). Very dark. Low background music makes it extremely easy to carry on a conversation. Very small (not good for groups larger than four).” — Bob S.
“There are a lot of greats and classics, but favorite all-rounder is currently Cara Cara Club in Logan Sq.” — @rudyfaust.bsky.social
“Gman Tavern makes a fantastic CC and Diet.” — @laundry3000.bsky.social
"Queen Mary" — @roseycatt
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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