There’s a Bears-themed bake-off at WBEZ/Sun-Times today and my entry is Caleb Williams cookie hands. Bear down!

Was Chicago's head tax a job killer?

Our analysis, reviewed by four economic and labor experts, found a lack of evidence that Chicago’s previous head tax, or its repeal, is to blame for job loss or growth in Chicago.

w/ @mariahwoelfel.bsky.social
www.wbez.org/city-hall/20...

Chicago's head tax was long called a job killer, but is there evidence to back that up? A WBEZ analysis of employment data finds a lack of evidence that Chicago’s previous head tax, or its repeal, is to blame for job trends in Chicago, and sheds light on who the mayor’s new proposal coul...

Chicago's former head tax was long called a job killer, but is there reliable evidence to back that up?

Our analysis shows a lack of public proof on the decades-old claim, and sheds light on what companies could be affected by the new head tax pitch.
chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...

Mayor Johnson talks budget, Trump administration, reelection intentions and TikTok in WBEZ interview Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is laser-focused on passing his 16-point, $6 billion budget, propped up by a slew of new taxes, by the end of the year.

I spoke to Mayor Brandon Johnson about his $16.6b budget, Chicago's lawsuit against the Trump Admin and...TikTok as the mayor pursues a tax on social media. Come for the policy questions and stay to find out Johnson's favorite corner of TikTok.
www.wbez.org/wbez-news/20...

Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’ During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...

this is such a good story with more insight into how premeditated the South Shore raid was.

h/t Sun-Times and BEZ

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Thank you for sharing!

Crucially, this story came out of reporting a larger piece, which uses interviews, firsthand observations, court documents, emails to detail the building’s squalid conditions, that the city knew about, long before the raid & the migrants who were targeted

t.co/PviuRznhpr

Story link:

t.co/dFP5AgfL1i

Remnants of the raid and interviews with people like this man reveal some hints about what feds may have known about residents beforehand, including a mysterious map (recreated example below) we found in the building, & an apparent sticker system to mark doors.

During the Sept. 30 military-style raid on a South Shore building, a man heard a knock at his door. It wasn’t an ICE agent, but a mom and girl pleading for help. He let them in and hide under his bed. 🧵

Amid national glare, Broadview mayor keeps focus on her 8,000 residents: ‘I can’t be afraid’ Immigration agents have aggressively responded to protests outside what was once a sleepy ICE facility in the western suburb. Mayor Katrina Thompson says she’s not backing down.

Great profile by @mariahwoelfel.bsky.social of a mayor trying to deal with having a notorious ICE facility — and protests — in her normally low-key suburb of Chicago www.wbez.org/immigration/...

Chicago-area doctors are returning from Gaza with horror stories, and demands for elected officials A group of doctors who worked in Gaza are urging members of Congress to sign onto a bill that would limit weapons sales to Israel. They say they can feel the tide turning.

He's one of a handful of local doctors, w/ Jewish Voice for Peace, calling on lawmakers to block bomb sales to Israel and speak out against famine in Gaza and settler violence in the West Bank.

Read the story, but most importantly, press play👂
www.wbez.org/politics/202...

Chicago-area doctors are returning from Gaza with horror stories, and demands for elected officials A group of doctors who worked in Gaza are urging members of Congress to sign onto a bill that would limit weapons sales to Israel. They say they can feel the tide turning.

Chicago doctor Thaer Ahmad will never forget one of the 1st times he declared a patient dead in Gaza’s Nasser Hospital, after a father carried in his three lifeless daughters.

Those girls weigh heavy on Ahmad's mind as he demands action from Illinois politicians.
www.wbez.org/politics/202...