Happy Friday. Before you jump into the weekend, take a minute to catch up on the latest local headlines from WTTW News.
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Delivery vans bearing the logo sit during a protest staged as part of a countrywide National Day of Action Tuesday, July 28, 2026, outside the main United States Postal Service headquarters in northeast Denver. (AP Photo / David Zalubowski)
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Illinois and two dozen other Democratic-led states have filed suit against the U.S. Postal Service, challenging a Trump administration order that seeks to limit mail-in voting ahead of this fall’s midterm elections.
Trump’s executive order, signed in March, calls on his administration to create lists of eligible voters and orders the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to people on those lists. New requirements released Friday would forbid the Postal Service from sending mail ballots from any state that does not comply with Trump’s order.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Wednesday announced the lawsuit, arguing President Donald Trump’s executive order is unconstitutional and risks disenfranchising voters by preventing states from effectively administering their vote-by-mail programs.
The lawsuit comes on the same day a federal judge in Boston agreed to lift an order prohibiting the U.S. Postal Service from carrying out Trump’s order for November’s elections. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani wrote that she was “compelled” to do so after the Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled that a similar injunction she granted in a separate case was premature.
Talwani nevertheless said the executive order could unleash “chaos” and referred to it as “likely unconstitutional.”
More context:
“Now, the United States Postal Service has actually implemented its regulations,” said Steven Schwinn, a law professor at the University of Illinois Chicago.
At the end of last week, USPS issued its regulations on what ballots should look like, and informed states of the requirement to send an eligible voter list.
Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon said voters should still expect the available voting options, but election officials are preparing for a variety of contingencies.
And as the legal back-and-forth plays out, Gordon said it’s slowly feeding into confusion and rumors that could impact overall trust in elections.
“The biggest threat to our democracy is misinformation and disinformation,” Gordon said. “There’s a lot of confusion now. … Voting by mail is safe, it’s secure, it’s fair.”
Limited early voting begins in suburban Cook County at six sites on Oct. 7; expanded suburban early voting begins Oct. 19. Click here for a map of suburban Cook County
early voting sites. Click here for more information on voting by mail in suburban Cook County.
Early voting in Chicago begins Sept. 24 at two sites and expands to all 50 wards on Oct. 19. Click here for more information on voting by mail in Chicago.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
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The Pullman Innovations plant in South Deering is pictured in a file photo. (WTTW News)
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For years, Southeast Side residents have complained of foul odors plaguing their neighborhood. The smell is allegedly coming from Pullman Innovations, a vegetable oil plant in South Deering.
Neighbors said the smell resembles everything from sewage to rotting meat to corpses.
Earlier this month, Chicago’s Department of Environment filed a joint lawsuit with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office against the plant after hundreds of 311 calls and letters to city officials from residents.
In a statement to WTTW News, Angela Tovar, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Environment, said, “Pullman Innovations has subjected nearby residents to years of noxious odors, and this joint lawsuit filed by the City of Chicago and the Illinois Attorney General makes clear: regulated businesses that compromise the public health and environment of our residents will be held accountable. Communities on Chicago’s Southeast Side deserve the same clean air and quality of life as anywhere else in the city, and this administration will not accept anything less.”
Some backstory:
City officials said the lawsuit came at the recommendation of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, which issued a violation notice to the facility in May 2025.
The odors raise concerns about air pollution and other health risks.
“You get bronchitis or respiratory issues, and (the facility) just increases chances of cancer, which is not normal for any community,” said Oscar Sanchez, co-executive director of the Southeast Environmental Task Force. “And children should not be going through that, alongside the elderly.”
Southeast Side residents are pursuing justice through a class action lawsuit, which was filed early last year on behalf of the more than 2,400 households located near the plant.
The Southeast Side is no stranger to air pollution. The community’s residents are often disproportionately impacted by environmental concerns like air quality because of the numerous industrial plants in the area.
“Breathing fresh air is something that we know we have an issue with on the Southeast Side,” Ald. Peter Chico (10th Ward) said. “We cannot go outside... So we are going to march on full force as this case progresses to see how the community can be helped forward.”
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Vietnamese Association of Illinois Lunar New Year celebration in 2024. This weekend, the organization is celebrating its 50th anniversary with an event featuring musical group Saigon Jazz Revival and Vietnamese singer Carol Kim. (Courtesy of Vietnamese Association of Illinois)
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Vân Huynh first got involved with the Vietnamese Association of Illinois as a volunteer more than 10 years ago, teaching English and translating newspaper articles people would bring in.
Huynh, who now serves as the association’s executive director, said she got to practice her Vietnamese and fulfill a yearning she had to feel connected to the Vietnamese community.
The Vietnamese Association of Illinois has served as an anchor for the Vietnamese community in the Chicago area for the last 50 years. The organization will hold a 50th anniversary concert celebration on Saturday featuring New Orleans-based musical group Saigon Jazz Revival and Vietnamese singer Carol Kim, who has been called Vietnam’s “Queen of Soul.” The event is already sold out.
The association was founded in 1976 by the first wave of refugees from Vietnam, a year after the fall of Saigon that effectively ended the Vietnam War.
“A year after the first wave of Vietnamese refugees resettled in Chicago, almost immediately, people got together and were like, ‘We need to help folks who are going to come after us,’” Huynh said. “They created an organization with this vision that refugee support was going to be led by refugees.”
It’s the same spirit of mutual aid that has continued to guide the organization’s work, even as the number of Vietnamese and Southeast Asian serving organizations has dwindled over the last half century, according to Huynh.
Today, the organization operates on a $10 million budget and provides programming such as an after-school program for K-8 students, an adult education program for those learning English or taking their U.S. citizenship test, a homecare program for seniors, immigration services, cultural events, community organizing and mutual aid.
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More From WTTW News:
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Back in the Day: August 28, 1903 - Frederick Law Olmsted, Landscape Architect Behind Riverside, Jackson Park and the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, Dies at 81
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Often cited as “the father of landscape architecture,” Frederick Law Olmsted was a journalist, abolitionist, social reformer and architect behind dozens of iconic vistas across the country. In New York, he designed Prospect Park and co-designed Central Park. His work also heavily impacted the Chicago area. He was behind Jackson Park and created the “White City” for the 1893 World’s Fair Exposition. As WBEZ points out, he also designed suburban Riverside, “imagined as an
idealized landscape of people living surrounded by nature, the Midway, the boulevard system, Fuller Park, Sherman Park, Washington Park and the University of Chicago campus.” On this day 123 years ago, he died at age 81 in Massachusetts.
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What Chicago food item would you willingly wait in line for? Tell us 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:
“Hot Doug's! It was the best and most unique sausages in the city with the tastiest fries ever!” — Sara S.G.
“Berghoff's root beer. I mean, their restaurant has lots of delicious food, but the root beer is the best I've ever tasted. My folks took me there when I was a kid and I was really struck by it. Went back a couple times recently - still amazing.” — Cara D.H.
“Elske’s sunflower seed parfait. It has been my favorite dessert since tasting it for the first time almost 9 years ago!” — Alexandra N.
“My fav cheeseburger as a kid from a now closed spot named Hellas Gyros. Used to be under the Bryn Mawr redline stop. Grungy diner, pictures of Chicago legends on the walls, smell of stale cigarettes. Big char-broiled cheeseburger with fresh veg, fries and a pop will set me right.” — @Bung3r__
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