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It’s Monday. Get a jump on the first full week of 2026 by reading these stories from WTTW News. |
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(WTTW News) |
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Since the launch of “Operation Midway Blitz,” the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has reported that more than 3,000 people in the Chicago area were detained by federal immigration agents. The Trump administration has said its mission is to target criminals.
Alexandra Gonzalez said it’s been more than a month since federal immigration agents took her stepfather while he was working as a landscaper in Evanston.
Her family's experience:
“They’ve been targeting a lot in Evanston for a while,” Gonzalez said. “They realized that a lot of landscapers go there.”
Her stepbrother, Adrian Mora Hinojosa, said he was working in a different area in Evanston when he got a call that his father was taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Video footage shows an ICE officer pursuing Adrian Leon Gonzalez before he threw himself to the ground and surrendered.
“I felt so many emotions all at once,” Mora Hinojosa said. “I was on the floor, you know, obviously crying. It was a very hard moment; I couldn’t believe it.”
As immigration enforcement operations intensified across the area, Alexandra Gonzalez and Mora Hinojosa said their father kept working because the family depended on him. Now the stepsiblings are fighting to bring him home. He’s been detained in Michigan.
“Compared to Broadview, it’s way better,” Mora Hinojosa said. He added that his father said “he would sleep on the bare floor (at Broadview) just with all the detainees around him.”
The family said Adrian Leon Gonzalez came to the U.S. from Mexico more than 25 years ago and built his life here, raising his children in the U.S.
“He loves his daughters, and I can say that with a passion, and his son,” Alexandra Gonzalez said. “He’s always been there for them no matter what. For me, he’s been the role model I didn’t have.”
Their case is just one of hundreds still unresolved. |
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Sponsor Message |
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Steppenwolf Theatre’s 50th Anniversary Season continues with Conor McPherson's wicked take on Strindberg's THE DANCE OF DEATH, a masterclass in marital warfare, where a twisted love triangle waltzes off the edge of a cliff, plunging us all into the deep. Begins Jan 29th. And don't miss Steppenwolf's smash hit AMADEUS, extended again by popular demand, which must close January 25. In its four-star review, The Daily Herald called it "absolutely magnificent." Tickets at www.steppenwolf.org. |
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(WTTW News) |
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Chicago police officers used force against members of the public 1,645 times in during the first six months of 2025, an increase of nearly 10% as compared with the first half of 2024, according to Chicago Police Department data published Tuesday.
In addition, CPD officers pointed their guns at individuals 2,229 times between Jan. 1, 2025, and June 30, an increase of approximately 9% as compared with the same period during the previous year, according to CPD’s mid-year report documenting officers’ use of force.
The report acknowledges that the number of times officers used force against members of the public “continues to trend upward.”
Representatives of CPD did not respond to a request for comment from WTTW News about why CPD officers are using force more often against members of the public.
More context:
The mid-year report on officers’ use of force is required by the terms of the consent decree, the federal court order designed to compel CPD to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers.
Chicago’s homicide rate dropped by approximately 29% in during the first half of 2025, as compared with 2024, and the city’s overall violent crime rate decreased by more than 21%, according to CPD data.
Chicago Police Department officers shot 13 people, killing seven, during the first half of 2025, more than the number of people officers shot and killed in all of 2024, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.
CPD is not scheduled to publish its report on officers’ use of force in all of 2025 until June 2026. In all of 2025, officers shot 22 people, killing nine, according to WTTW News' analysis of data released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
CPD officers pointed a gun at a person, on average, more than 12 times every day between Jan. 1, 2025, and June 30, according to the mid-year report on officers’ use of force. In more than 69% of those incidents, the person that an officer pointed their weapon at did not have a gun.
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Colorized transmission electron micrograph of influenza A/H3N2 virus particles, isolated from a patient sample and then propagated in cell culture. (Courtesy of NIAID) |
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The Chicago area saw notable increases in flu activity heading into and during the holiday season, according to recent respiratory illness data from local public health departments.
Flu activity in suburban Cook County jumped from “low” to “high” during the week ending in Dec. 20, according to the county’s public health department. Chicago’s public health department reported “high” levels of emergency department visits and hospitalizations for flu.
The overall respiratory illness activity level in Chicago increased from “low” to “moderate,” according to a Chicago Department of Public Health respiratory illness surveillance summary on Dec. 26. RSV and COVID-19 activity have also continued to increase, with emergency department visits for both illnesses increasing most rapidly among children younger than 5.
Emergency department visits and hospitalizations from influenza increased from “moderate” to “high” in Chicago across all age categories, but also most notably among children. Similar flu trends are being seen in suburban Cook County.
“We need to prepare for a possible severe flu season and for increased risk of COVID hospitalizations as compared to last year,” Dr. Kiran Joshi, chief operating officer of the Cook County Department of Public Health, said during a Dec. 17 news conference. “The most effective way to protect yourself from severe illness is very simple: Get both your flu and COVID vaccinations.”
Joshi also reported seeing a rise in norovirus, a stomach bug that can cause vomiting and diarrhea.
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More From WTTW News:
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Back in the Day: Jan. 5, 2001 - Gov. Ryan Signs Bill Authorizing Funds for Soldier Field Renovation |
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On this day 25 years ago, Gov. George Ryan signed a bill authorizing public funds to help finance the then-$587 million remodel of Soldier Field. The bill signed by Ryan authorized the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority to issue $387 million in bonds to pay for the project with the remaining $200 million split evenly by the Bears and the National Football League. “For years we’ve seen stadium proposals fall by the wayside, but Mayor Daley and the Bears came up with a plan that worked,” Ryan said at a news conference that morning at Soldier Field. At the time, the project was scheduled to be completed by the Chicago Bears’ 2003 season and it opened on time in September of that year, following construction during the 2002 season that forced the team to play games at the University of Illinois. The renovations were controversial: The changes caused Soldier Field to be delisted as a National Historic Landmark in 2006 and as the team searches for a new home, taxpayers are still on the hook for $356 million in debt for the renovations.
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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 Council's Committee on Public Safety
The City Council's Committee on Public Safety will hold a meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, at 10 a.m. Written public comment will be accepted until 5 p.m. today and can be sent to committeeonpublicsafety@cityofchicago.org. For more details, click here.
City Club of Chicago
On Thursday at noon, the City Club of Chicago will host a one-on-one interview with University of Illinois Chancellor Charles Lee Isbell Jr. Tickets and further details can be found here.
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What are you most looking forward to in Chicago in 2026?
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. |
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5:30 PM | 10:30 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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