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It’s a new week. Start your Monday with the latest headlines and local stories from WTTW News. |
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Volunteers walk children to school on Chicago’s Northwest Side. (Joanna Hernandez / WTTW News) |
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Since federal immigration agents began ramping up operations in Chicago communities, residents have come together to support their neighbors. In Albany Park, a group of mothers and educators recognized the need for assistance and initiated what they call the walking school bus.
“The moment that the raids started happening and people started getting pulled off the street, you could just see it,” volunteer Alyssa May said. “You could see less students, less families, less vendors. And it really did change. It just became a really quiet place.”
In response, parents, educators and neighbors decided to step up.
May runs one of the daily walking routes for an elementary school in Albany Park — stepping in to help parents who are afraid to leave their home to take their kids to school. May estimated that 80 to 100 kids get picked up each day.
Those interviewed asked WTTW News not to identify the school over concerns about ongoing immigration enforcement.
Teacher Dulce Jimenez said the walking school bus gives kids some sense of normalcy. She said students have gotten to know the volunteers and like walking to school with their friends — “kind of not even realizing the distraction that was created and what we’re trying to close off for them.”
It’s a growing movement among Chicago residents taking action to resist and protect their communities from what the Trump administration is calling “Operation Midway Blitz.”
“It is really very heartening to see just how much we will all show up to be a part of making sure that all of our kids are safe, that all of our people are safe,” said Maggie Cullerton Hooper, one of the volunteers who spearheaded the walking school bus.
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City Hall. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News) |
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Chicago must borrow $283.3 million to cover the soaring cost of lawsuits alleging Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct — including wrongful convictions and improper pursuits — as part of the city’s 2026 budget, Mayor Brandon Johnson said.
It will likely cost Chicago taxpayers approximately $52 million in interest to borrow that money and pay off during the next five years, according to estimates provided to the Chicago City Council by Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski.
Johnson told reporters the move was “prudent,” given the massive liability the city faces after decades of police scandals, misconduct and brutality.
Resolving the lawsuits will also allow the city to provide “restoration and restitution to families who have been harmed by police misconduct,” Johnson said.
City Council Reacts:
Several members of the City Council said they were shocked by the amount of money Johnson’s administration is proposing to borrow to resolve lawsuits alleging police misconduct.
“It’s additional money going just to debt service, that’s not going to paying down the pension debt, that’s not going to affordable housing or public safety initiatives, mental health initiatives,” Ald. Matt Martin (47th Ward) said. “That is not the sort of investment that I think Chicagoans want to see.”
Martin, who said the proposal was “not in the best interest of Chicagoans” was one of two members of the Progressive Caucus who voted against last year’s budget, giving Johnson only the slimmest of margins of victory.
Ald. Mike Rodriguez (22nd Ward) said the scale of the city’s police misconduct liability caught him off guard.
“It’s overwhelming,” Rodriguez said. “The fact is, this has been in the background for a number of years. But the chickens are coming home to roost now. The day of reckoning is absolutely here.”
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The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, 1820, by John Trumbull. (Courtesy of Architect of the Capitol) |
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“The American Revolution,” a new documentary from Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, tells the extraordinary story of the birth of the United States. But if you think it’s a story you’re familiar with, think again.
More than nine years in the making, the six-part,12-hour documentary series tells the tale of the country’s founding struggle from multiple viewpoints.
It begins with a reminder from longtime Burns collaborator and narrator Peter Coyote that long before 13 British colonies made themselves into the United States, the six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy had created a union of their own called the Haudenosaunee — a democracy that had flourished for centuries.
Burns and Botstein sat down with WTTW News to discuss their new film.
A quote:
“What we’re taught in grammar school was that the American Revolution was about taxes and representation, and that’s true, but it’s also about Native American land,” Burns said. “Benjamin Franklin had himself been inspired by the Haudenosaunee — this Iroquois Confederacy and their model that had worked for a long time as a model for the United States. … What the revolution is, is a world war, a civil war, and a war over essentially the prize of North America — and what is the prize? This land.” |
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Back in the Day: Nov. 17, 1985 - Bears Record 11th Consecutive Win |
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Forty years ago, the Chicago Bears were rolling throughout the National Football League. On Nov. 17, 1985, they extended their longest winning streak since 1942 by defeating the Dallas Cowboys 44-0 in a rout at Texas Stadium. The team’s league-leading defense managed to score two touchdowns on interception returns, Kevin Butler kicked three field goals, and the offense scored three rushing touchdowns from Calvin Thomas, Dennis Gentry and Steve Fuller. The Bears’ good fortune would continue the following week, when the defense kept the Atlanta Falcons scoreless in another massive 36-0 victory. |
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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 Finance
Today at 10 a.m., the City Council’s Committee on Finance will meet to discuss a variety of points surrounding Chicago’s proposed 2026 budget. Among the many items on the agenda are an “ordinance authorizing the levy of real estate taxes for the City of Chicago for Fiscal Year 2026” and an “ordinance authorizing the issuance of City general obligation bonds for capital projects in the city.” For more details, check the agenda here.
City Council’s Committee on Budget and Government Operations
At 2 p.m. today, the City Council’s Committee on Budget and Government Operations will meet to discuss seven items on its agenda, including adopting an annual Appropriation Ordinance and details related to the Motor Fuel Tax. For more information, check the agenda here.
City Club of Chicago
Join the City Club of Chicago on Wednesday at noon for a roundtable discussion titled “Nearing the Finish Line: Chicago's 2026 Budget.” Guests include Alds. Brian Hopkin (2nd Ward), Samantha Nugent (39th Ward), Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward) and Jason Ervin (28th Ward). Buy tickets here.
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What's your favorite Thanksgiving dessert? Tell us where you can get it in Chicago.
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. |
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5:30 PM | 10:00 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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