South Side Weekly

Sentido Builds Space for Latino Joy and Survival The pop-up series partnered with Little Village’s Carnitas Uruapan for its fourteenth event

End your week on a high note by reading about Sentidos, a roving pop-up event that hosts local musicians and DJs in Latino-owned businesses as an act of joyful, community-building defiance.

Until December 31, you can double your impact with #Newsmatch, which will match any donation up to $15,000. Every donation, big or tiny (and especially recurring donations) help us do this work.

This project was co-produced with @blockclubchi.bsky.social, @invisible.institute, @thetriibe.com, Cicero Independiente, and the Investigative Project on Race & Equity.

Feds Used Chemical Agents Dozens of Times in Chicago An investigation by reporters from six newsrooms found that agents used chemical irritants nearly 50 times during Operation Midway Blitz.

Several Chicago newsrooms spent two months collecting and analyzing evidence of ICE & Border Patrol's use of tear gas and pepper spray in Chicago.

They found that agents deployed chemical agents nearly 50 times. Most uses occurred after a judge ordered federal agents to restrict their use.

Screenshot of Rachel Maddow Show clip that shows headline and excerpt of a South Side Weekly article “911 Audio Shows South Shore Residents’ Panic During ICE Raid.” Excerpt: “Agents stormed 7500 S. South Shore Dr. in the early morning hours of September 30. Dozens of heavily armed FBI, ICE, and Border Patrol agents swarmed the block as others rappelled from a Black Hawk helicopter. Once inside, agents broke into apartments, threw concussion grenades, and zip-tied dozens of residents—including small children—before separating people by race.”

South Side Weekly’s reporting on the South Shore raid was featured on @maddow.bsky.social yesterday! (Story link in thread)

I’m grateful to share I received two awards from the Chicago Journalists Association this year: First Place in Immigration Coverage, & Second Place for the Dorothy Stork Award. Thank you to the Chicago Journalists Association and an amazing team @southsideweekly.bsky.social

Key Council Committee Rejects Mayor’s Budget On Monday, the Finance Committee voted the budget down by a margin of 25-10.

Mayor Johnson's proposed budget failed to advance from the Finance Committee on Monday by a vote of 25–10.

CJA Names 2025 Dorothy Storck Award Finalists and Ceremony Emcee - Chicago Journalists Association Alma Campos, Brandis Friedman and Shia Kapos have been named finalists for the Chicago Journalists Association’s Dorothy Storck Award.

And our immigration editor Alma Campos is also a finalist for the Dorothy Storck award, which will also be announced at tonight's event.

Please join us in congratulating these journalists, and all the great nominees!

chicagojournalists.net/2025/10/27/c...

Sunny skies bring big smiles to South Shore rodeo As young riders groomed their horses ahead of the Broken Arrow Riding Club’s annual Speed and Action Rodeo on a sunny Sunday morning earlier this month, hundreds of showgoers eagerly

Our sister publication Hyde Park Herald's photographer Marc Monaghan was also a finalist for photography of South Side cowboys.
www.hpherald.com/evening_dige...

ShotSpotter Routinely Missed Reported Shootings, City Data Shows In a recent 20-month period, more than 20% of shootings and reckless discharges in Chicago’s coverage area had no corresponding ShotSpotter alert.

Jim Daley and Max Blaisdell, together with Type Investigations' Ethan Corey, are also finalists for their data-heavy analysis of ShotSpotter, which showed that the gunshot detection company routinely missed reported shootings.

southsideweekly.com/shotspotter-...

No Due Process: Inside ICE’s Deceptive Arrests in Chicago On June 4, ICE agents arrested a community organizer and mother, Gladis Yolanda Chavez Pineda along with at least nine others in Chicago’s South Loop. A petition urging her release has drawn over 10,0...

Alma Campos, Jacqueline Serrato, and José Abonce are finalists in the Immigration category for stories about where people go when ICE arrests them and how Chicago communities mobilized this year to resist ICE.
southsideweekly.com/no-due-proce...

The Rink Celebrates 50 Years as ‘A Powerhouse in the Community’ Illinois’ only Black-owned roller rink preserves culture and celebrates community in Chatham.

Jasmine Barnes' story on how The Rink, the only remaining Black-owned roller rink in Illinois, has survived and evolved over 50 years is a finalist in the Business category.

southsideweekly.com/the-rink-cel...

Jobs. Block Clubs. Investment: How Chicagoans Are Interrupting Violence at its Roots The causes and solutions to gun violence are difficult to quantify—or control. One thing is clear: gun violence is highest in Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods. Organizers in the hardest-hit communities...

Jim Daley is a finalist in the Features category for his story on how Chicagoans are interrupting violence at its roots, part of a collaborative series with Illinois Answers Project that was itself nominated in the Innovative Storytelling section.

southsideweekly.com/jobs-block-c...

CJA Reveals Finalists for 2025 Sarah Brown Boyden Awards - Chicago Journalists Association CJA announces finalists for its 2025 Sarah Brown Boyden Awards, honoring the best journalism in Illinois and northern Indiana.

We're looking forward to tonight's CJA awards dinner, and we're thrilled that several South Side Weekly writers and editors are finalists in Chicago Journalism Association's Sarah Boyden Awards! Check out our finalists' stories below.

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#OtD 11 Nov 1887 4 of the Haymarket martyrs were executed in Chicago. They were anarchist labour organisers framed for a bombing because of their role in the fight for the 8-hour day. Learn more in this history of May Day, which commemorates them: shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/the...

Johnson’s Budget Fix Faces Stiff Headwinds The mayor wants a corporate head tax to help fill a budget gap—but lacks support for it.

Between 2010–2013, Chicago's job growth rate was 66% above the national rate—despite having had a head tax.

“This employment data does not support the claim that the head tax was a ‘job killer,’” wrote Julie Dworkin, a member of the mayor's budget working group.

🖋️@leighgiangreco.bsky.social

Lawsuit over Conditions at Broadview ICE Facility in Federal Court Federal authorities moved two plaintiffs in the suit out of state; a judge has ordered they be returned Monday.

"You have no rights in here."

Read the harrowing testimony given by people held at ICE's Broadview detention center. ✍️ @djbyrnes1.bsky.social

Cook County Board Reapproves Contract with ICE-Linked Data Firm as Raids Sweep Chicago Four years after first being warned that a contract risked exposing immigrant data to ICE, Cook County approved another renewal—this time with advocates commissioners voicing frustration that stronger...

I’ve been tracking this contract since 2023, and last week, Cook County quietly renewed it. As ICE raids continue across Chicago, the board approved another $1M deal with a data broker tied to ICE. My latest for @southsideweekly.bsky.social

Cook County Board Reapproves Contract with ICE-Linked Data Firm as Raids Sweep Chicago Four years after first being warned that a contract risked exposing immigrant data to ICE, Cook County approved another renewal—this time with advocates commissioners voicing frustration that stronger...

Last week, the Cook County Board re-upped a controversial contract with a crime-data broker that could expose immigrants' personal data to ICE. Advocates say the County could protect crime victims and immigrants alike by finding a new vendor. ✍️ @almacampos.bsky.social

Join the Invisible Institute and South Side Weekly on November 2 for an arts showcase honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Margaret T.G. Burroughs, featuring a special performance of “Tuesday” by Mud Theatre. Register here: invisible.institute/events

South Side as Inspiration: Alma Campos In this narrative odyssey, Senior Editor Alma Campos paints vivid imagery of the green and rust of the South Side from Calumet Park to McKinley Park.

For 2024's Best of the South Side, Alma wrote about how the vivid, larger-than-life landmarks, murals, and natural spaces that populate the South Side inspire her.

Congrats to all three finalists and thanks to the CJA!
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Cook County Sheriff ‘Data Loophole’ Lets ICE Access Immigrant Info A clause in the county’s contract lets an information system designed for crime victims funnel sensitive data to ICE-contracted LexisNexis.

In August, Alma investigated a loophole in Cook County's crime victim data portal that allows federal immigration agents to access immigrants' personal information. 4/5

Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.

Earlier this month, Alma edited a report by Weekly and Invisible Institute reporters on a shocking late-night raid by ICE agents of a South Shore apartment building. 3/5

A Tragic Homecoming After nearly two decades in Chicago, Silverio Villegas González returned to Michoacán in a coffin. His death at the hands of federal agents left two families divided by borders, shattered with grief, ...

Last week, Alma interviewed family of Silverio González Villegas, who ICE agents shot and killed in Franklin Park last month, and traced the journey he took to his final resting place in Michoacán. 2/5

Photos of the three Dorothy Storck award finalists. The finalists are pictured inside blue circular frames on a cheerful yellow background. From left to right: Alma Campos, South Side Weekly; Brandis Friedman, WTTW; Shia Kapos, Politico.

Congratulations to our immigration project editor @almacampos.bsky.social on being named a finalist for the CJA's prestigious Dorothy Storck award! Here's a thread of some of Alma's recent work. 🧵1/5

Ten minutes later, that person called back, frantic for an update. “I was calling because my significant other had called me and dropped the phone,” they said. “He just said, ‘What am I being detained for?’ Then the call dropped.”

A Tragic Homecoming — Cicero Independiente After nearly two decades in Chicago, Silverio Villegas González returned to Michoacán in a coffin. His death at the hands of federal agents left two families divided by borders, shattered with grief, ...

Thanks to our friends at Cicero Independiente for republishing @almacampos.bsky.social's moving reporting on the last journey home for Silverio Villegas González, who ICE agents killed near Chicago in September.

Migrant Shelter Residents Were Disproportionately Arrested for Domestic Violence Despite having fewer reported incidents than the city average, migrant shelters saw more domestic violence arrests during the two years they operated.

Residents of Chicago's now-closed migrant shelters were arrested more often when police were called for domestic violence, despite having fewer incidents per capita than the citywide average. Overcrowding and other conditions in the shelters may have contributed to such altercations.

🖋️ Wendy Wei

Hundreds of Thousands March Against Trump Spurred by ICE agents’ recent brutality in Chicagoland, more than 200,000 flooded the Loop Saturday to protest.

An estimated 250,000 people gathered in the Loop on Saturday to protest President Trump's dictatorial aspirations and ICE agents' ongoing campaign of brutality.