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Happy Friday. Jump into the weekend with these stories from WTTW News.
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(terimakasih0 / Pixabay)
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NetChoice, a trade association representing the tech industry, filed a lawsuit in Cook County on March 13 to block the Social Media Amusement Tax included in Chicago’s 2026 spending plan.
Crafted by Mayor Brandon Johnson, the measure forces social media companies to pay a tax of 50 cents per month for every active user after the first 100,000 users, under the city’s amusement tax authority, officials said.
NetChoice in a statement said the tax violates “free speech rights, unfairly discriminates against digital publications, violates federal law and harms Chicago residents and their businesses.”
A spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Law said officials remain “confident the Social Media Tax rests on strong legal footing and will address the matter in court.”
Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry told the Chicago City Council before the budget took effect that she was confident the tax would withstand the all-but-certain legal challenge.
Tech companies began paying the tax last month.
More context:
Patrick Hedger, NetChoice director of policy, said the group’s case is backed by the 1983 precedent Minneapolis Star Tribune v. Minnesota. In the case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Minnesota could not institute a tax on newspapers for ink and paper purchased over $100,000.
“Governments cannot target specific forms of media for special taxation,” Hedger said. “You have an arbitrary size threshold and a tax on a specific form of media. Patently unconstitutional.”
Hedger also said the mayor’s tax violates the Internet Tax Freedom Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law in 2016.
“(The ITFA says) you cannot discriminate against an online service simply because it is an online service,” Hedger said. “Any policy that you would apply to an online platform would also have to apply to its offline equivalent. That’s not the case with this tax.”
Ald. William Hall (6th Ward) supported Johnson’s budget proposal and the social media tax last fall. He said arguments against the tax largely fall flat because companies are already paying it.
“The companies have already been paying it,” Hall said. “My question is, if they are already in agreement with the fact that essentially this is an investment in mental health, then why is an outside group messing with inside business?”
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Sponsor Message
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Make your plans to celebrate this April with the Poetry Foundation, offering a full roster of FREE public programs, including:
- a poetry reading with Chicago’s own National Book Award winner Patricia Smith;
- a live performance by chamber music collective D+Composed;
- a library packed with more than 40,000 books of poetry for readers of all ages.
Visiting Hours: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 11 AM–5 PM; Thursday 11 AM–6 PM
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Protesters walk down Michigan Avenue during the "No Kings" march Oct. 18, 2025. (Bridgette Adu-Wadier / WTTW News)
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Residents across Chicago and Illinois are planning to join the third nationwide “No Kings” protest this weekend, which organizers believe could become one of the largest mass protests in U.S. history after a surge in participation from suburban and red state areas.
Saturday’s day of action is expected to include millions of protesters in more than 3,000 planned demonstrations across the U.S., including a handful of events in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.
What is the “No Kings” Protest?
The “No Kings” theme was orchestrated by the 50501 Movement, a national group advocating for democracy and against what they call the authoritarian actions of the Trump administration. The name 50501 stands for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement.
Why are people marching?
Organizers on Thursday outlined a litany of concerns that are drawing people to participate this weekend including the Trump administration’s deployment of aggressive immigration agents in cities across the country, the war with Iran, skyrocketing gasoline prices and inflation driving up the prices of groceries and other consumer goods.
The ACLU of Illinois, one group organizing Saturday’s event in Chicago, said people are mobilizing “to stand up for our democracy and against the Trump Administration’s abuse of power.”
Where are events scheduled around Chicago?
The largest local protest will be held at Butler Field inside Grant Park on Saturday afternoon. Organizers expect “tens of thousands” of participants. A rally there is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. followed by a march through the city.
Additional events are planned in the Lakeview and Edgewater neighborhoods.
Other suburban protests are planned across the area. A full map of No Kings events is available here.
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(WTTW News)
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A recent U.S. Supreme Court case that could restrict counting mail ballots after Election Day is raising alarms among voter access advocates in Illinois while being viewed as a step in the right direction among those who distrust how elections are run in the state.
Currently, in Illinois, ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and must arrive within two weeks of Election Day in order to be counted.
In the 2024 general election, 106,520 ballots arrived after Election Day and were counted, according to a Illinois State Board of Elections spokesperson. Those ballots amounted to less than 2% of the total 5,705,246 ballots cast in the election in Illinois.
A Supreme Court ruling that bars counting ballots arriving after Election Day could send election officials scrambling in more than a dozen states, including Illinois, to update rules before the midterm elections in November.
Two perspectives:
DuPage County GOP Chairman Kevin Coyne said many voters he comes across feel that mail ballots are not secure. Coyne said a decision to stop the counting of mail ballots after Election Day would be a “very positive step and long overdue.”
“It’s Election Day, not election month,” Coyne said. “The votes should come in on Election Day, and results should not be getting changed after everybody’s seen the results.”
League of Women Voters of Illinois President Becky Simon views limiting the count of mail ballots as voter suppression. Simon said allowing vote-by-mail ballots to be counted based on their postmark is consistent with other civic processes, such as filing taxes.
“Claims are being made to limit vote by mail to Election Day — that’s fixing a problem that does not exist,” Simon said. “Voters do not need more barriers to the ballot.”
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More From WTTW News:
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Back in the Day: March 27, 2021 - Loyola Exits March Madness Tournament After Oregon State Loss
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Loyola Chicago’s basketball team is the only men’s squad in Illinois to have won the NCAA Tournament (in 1963). Over the last 40+ years, they’ve seen some success in March Madness, including a Cinderella run to the Final Four in 2019. Five years ago, the Ramblers had turned another tournament berth into a third-straight “Sweet Sixteen” appearance. As an 8 seed, they had bested the No. 9 Georgia Tech and No. 1 seed Illinois to face No. 12 Oregon State in the third round of the competition. On this day a half-decade ago, a poor shooting performance led them to fall 65-58 to the lower-ranked team.
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Other News From Around Town
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Every Friday, WTTW News highlights interesting stories about Chicago from the local and national press.
Tenants at Chinatown’s Storied Richland Center Food Court Brace for Potential Rent Increases (Chicago Reader)
“For more than 15 years, the lower-level Richland Center food court on Wentworth Avenue near Archer Avenue in Chinatown has been a hub for regional Chinese cuisine and a launchpad for immigrants seeking to establish businesses. The renowned Qing Xiang Yuan Dumplings got its start from the basement, as did the dearly departed Lao Pi BBQ, a gifted kebab purveyor.
Though the walls have been plastered with menacing photos of alleged shoplifters, and the trash cans are often filled with tepid soup, fresher biang biang noodles are not to be found elsewhere in the city. It is difficult to think of anywhere else, for that matter, where one can get a haircut, a bouquet of crocheted plastic flowers, and an order of sauteed kidneys in one convenient location.
But now the future of the food court’s 18 small businesses may be in jeopardy.”
An AI School, With No Teachers, To Open in Chicago This Fall (Block Club Chicago)
“Bean bag chairs, soundproof booths and portable whiteboards make Alpha Schools look more like a tech startup than a school. But its biggest break from tradition is not the design: It’s an education model that uses artificial intelligence to teach core subjects while adults in the room serve as “guides,” not teachers.
Alpha Schools, opening this fall in the former GEMS Academy in Lakeshore East, says its AI-driven model can help students learn core academics in just two hours a day, freeing up time for workshops, unique projects and learning various life skills.
Using only software, no textbooks or homework, the classrooms are also purged of traditional teachers and replaced with “guides” who are instructed to motivate students as they complete their virtual lessons.”
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What’s your favorite museum in the Chicago area? 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:
“Fave large museum - Art Institute, for the phenomenal collection and special exhibits.
Fave smaller museum - National Museum of Mexican Art. I always learn something new about Mexican culture. Love Day of the Dead exhibit EVERY year. Cool gift shop.” — @aka60643.bsky.social
“My fav museum is the Art Institute. I have traveled through Europe visiting art museums and I find we have so many vivid examples from famous artists right here in Chicago. My favorites are the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.” — Mary
"My favorite museum is the Field Museum of Chicago. The historic items and details are fascinating. Their exhibits on many cultures around the world are intriguing. Plus they cover earth, seas, animals, humans and space.The location is ideal within the Museum Campus.”— Jan
“Science and industry! I feel some of my earliest learning started there. Also because I am fascinated with Chicago architecture history and just dream when I’m there!” — Gerri.
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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