Pope Leo to vote in Illinois' midterms
Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: Wastewater dumped into the Chicago River is threatening human health and wildlife.
🗞️ Plus: Pope Leo XIV will vote by mail in Illinois midterms, our favorite front-yard Halloween display and more news you need to know below.
📝 Keeping score: The Blackhawks fell to the Red Wings, 4-1.
🌤️ Today's weather: Partly sunny with a high near 61 and a chance of scattered showers.
🕰️ Heads up: Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, so set your clock back an hour before you go to bed.
⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Billions of gallons of raw sewage are pouring into the Chicago River after storms
Reporting by Brett Chase
Smell test: After heavy rain, Chicagoans near Bubbly Creek have come to expect putrid smells from the small body of water that marks the South Fork of the Chicago River and divides Bridgeport and McKinley Park. The odor is from raw sewage in the creek. Layers of feces, condoms, tampons and other items flushed down toilets float past and get stuck in the low-lying trees along the shoreline.
Why is this happening?: In Chicago, stormwater and wastewater go into one big sewer. That water should run through a sewage pumping station and be moved to a treatment facility. But sometimes the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago dumps untreated sewage directly into the river to prevent flooding of homes.
The scale: This year, the sewage pumping station on Racine Avenue near Bridgeport has dumped more than 10 billion gallons of sewage into the river. The North Branch pumping station, on the border of Albany Park and Lincoln Square, has spewed nearly two billion gallons of untreated sewage into the North Branch of the Chicago River this year.
At issue: Climate change is contributing to intensifying weather patterns that bring storms that drop rain faster and harder than ever before. The intense rain overwhelms our sewers, streets and homes. Chicago's sewer system can handle just two inches of rain before flooding is likely. All of that sewage flowing into Bubbly Creek and the North Branch of the river threatens wildlife and poses health risks for people with weak immune systems.
LET’S DISCUSS 🌧️
We're hosting a community dinner and discussion about why flooding is getting worse in Chicago on Thursday, Nov. 12 at the Garfield Park Field House.
Have you experienced flooding? Do you have questions about how the city is addressing this issue — and how to protect your health and home? We'll have experts discuss on a panel moderated by Sun-Times reporter Brett Chase.
Learn more and reserve a spot for this free event here or via the button below.
THE WATCHDOGS 👀
Judge says she was a victim of convicted extortionist who posed as Pablo Escobar’s son
Reporting by Tim Novak, Frank Main and Jon Seidel
Influential connections: Jeanne Wrenn, a Cook County judge who presides over domestic violence cases, says she was a victim of a convicted felon who posed as the son of the Colombian drug lord. Wrenn is among at least three influential women with whom Jawad Fakroune had relationships as he moved through Chicago social circles, befriending power brokers and celebrities, according to court records and interviews.
Key context: Fakroune, 46, was sentenced this year on extortion charges in federal court in Chicago and now awaits sentencing in a separate tax fraud case.
'I'm a victim': Wrenn, whose late uncle also was a judge and whose sister was a chief of staff to former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, hasn't been named in the court proceedings related to Fakroune. But she acknowledges she once had a relationship with Fakroune, telling the Sun-Times in a brief interview in her courtroom, "I'm a victim." Her lawyer wouldn't describe the nature of the relationship.
ELECTIONS ☑️
Pope Leo to vote by mail in Illinois’ midterm election
Reporting by Tina Sfondeles
Vote from the Vatican: He may be the leader of the Catholic Church, but Chicago native Pope Leo XIV is still a registered voter in Illinois and requested a mail ballot for the midterm elections.
Pope's request: "Robert Francis Prevost is on the list of individuals who requested a vote by mail ballot for the upcoming election," Kim Fladhammer, Will County clerk’s office chief of staff, told the Sun-Times. The pope, who is registered to a New Lenox address, made the request Oct. 3.
On his ballot: The pope will weigh in on the U.S. Senate race to replace Sen. Dick Durbin and Gov. JB Pritzker’s reelection bid, as well as Will County judicial and county races, among other races. You can see what's on your ballot via our free voter guide.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- ‘Inhumane’ lockup: Civil rights organizations filed a class-action lawsuit challenging the "inhumane and unconstitutionally punitive" treatment of detainees at Miami Correctional Facility in Bunker Hill, Indiana, where many Chicago-area immigrants end up after their arrest.
- After the charges: Aurora Mayor John Laesch is calling for the resignation of Annette Johnson, an East Aurora School District 131 board member indicted this week, accused of orchestrating a lucrative kickback scheme.
- Environmental review request: Ald. Nicole Lee (11th) demanded a full environmental review of Amtrak's proposed maintenance facility in Bridgeport, claiming the assessment promised this week by the Federal Railroad Administration appears to be confined to a dozen local viaducts.
- School board money tracker: More than $8 million has been raised directly so far by all candidates for Chicago's elected school board. We're tracking the money here.
- Vic Mensa review: The Chicago rapper on Wednesday gave new life to his 13-year-old debut mixtape "Innanetape," reclaiming its power as a complex genre-leaping tour de force, writes Selena Fragassi.
- Día de Muertos: Sunday and Monday mark Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Here's how — and where — you can take in the commemorations in the city this weekend.
ON WBEZ 91.5 FM 📻
In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons, 9 a.m.
- Weekly news recap: The Sun-Times' Mitchell Armentrout, City Cast Chicago's Jacoby Cochran and Illinois Answers Project's Alex Nitkin break down the week's top stories.
Say More with Mary Dixon and Patrick Smith, 10 a.m.
- Ghost stories: What's scarier — ghost stories or real life? What does your spookiest story say about you? Callers weigh in.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today's clue: 7A: Mints similar to the Frango
FROM THE PRESS BOX 🏈🏀🎤
- Blockbuster trade: Bears GM Ryan Poles made his big swing Thursday, giving up the biggest package in NFL history for a defensive tackle to land the Titans' Jeffery Simmons.
- Where was Adam Silver?: Silver says the WNBA hugely benefits from the NBA's oversight. The logistical debacle of Game 6 was a perfect chance to prove it, writes Alissa Hirsh.
- Good things to come: The Bulls' Caleb Wilson and Matas Buzelis are continuing to stack performances and evolve.
- The Score settles?: David Haugh and Jarrett Payton are showing inexperience in their new roles, writes Jeff Agrest.
- High school football: These are the top matchups from the first round of playoffs.
SPOOKY ONE 👻
Couple pays homage to Johnnie’s Beef for Halloween
Reporting by Stefano Esposito
When Susie Jendro and Mike Colesworthy moved into their Galewood Georgian in the summer of 2017, they were given some neighborly advice: Start getting ready for Halloween now.
The couple did not shrink from the challenge. "We called his bluff," Jendro told the Sun-Times this week.
It's that kind of fearless enthusiasm that has the couple taking home first prize in the Sun-Times/WBEZ pop-up contest for Chicago’s best Halloween house display.
The couple created a replica of Johnnie's Beef in Elmwood Park in their front yard, complete with a smoke-belching chimney, skeletons as employees and guests, even a skeleton bird waiting to pounce on an Italian beef — the bread crafted from segments of a pool noodle.
Word of the display got back to the owners of Johnnie's, who have donated food for the couple's upcoming Halloween party, Jendro said.
Sun-Times reporter Stefano Esposito, clad in a medieval herald costume and armed with a trumpet, went to the couple's home to announce their contest win — and presented them with a custom Sun-Times front page showcasing their elaborate display.
MORE ON HALLOWEEN 🎃
- More Halloween displays: From movie scenes restaged to inventive animatronics, including a dragon that breathes fire, our readers sent us their Halloween displays — and you can check them out here.
- Your ghost stories: We also asked readers to tell us about a ghost story or urban legend they grew up hearing, including Resurrection Mary and the James Addams Hull-House lore.
- Tales from the Curious Crypt: Other Chicagoans took the stage last week for a live podcast taping of WBEZ's "Curious City," where they told their eerie, personal paranormal experiences. Give it a listen here. 🎧
- Lesser-known haunts: There's no shortage of places in Chicago with haunted histories — and we've compiled a list of five spots plagued with tales you might not have heard before, including a bathroom at Lincoln Park Zoo.
- Party playlist: Our sister music station Vocalo put together a Spotify playlist to get you in the Halloween party mood, which you can stream nice and loud here. 🔈
- Halloween hotline: Tune in tonight at 8 p.m. on WBEZ 91.5 FM and Vocalo 91.1 FM for Vocalo's live hotline call-in show, which will feature more staff Halloween picks. 📱
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
Today's question is inspired by a Say More discussion ahead of Election Day: What do you think needs to happen to improve public education in Chicago?
Reply to this question via email (please include your first and last name). We may run your answer in a future newsletter or story.
Yesterday, we asked you: What's your defining memory of Halloween as a kid growing up in the Chicago area?
Here's some of what you said, edited for length and clarity:
"Wearing a heavy winter coat over my kiddy costume." — Sue Fitzsimmons
"I got the part of dancing to 'Monster Mash' in our school assembly. My mother made me a giant tomato costume. I can still hear the laughs." — Dean R. Martin
"Throwing eggs at passing cars on Granville near Ravenswood. 🤫" — Scott Chasen
"Trick or treating right after school, going home for dinner and then back out trick or treating till at least 9 p.m. There were no set hours for trick or treating. Oh and carrying a pillowcase for the candy! We also lived near bars and we trick or treated at all of them — full size bags of potato chips and packages of gum from there!" — Lee Ann Millbratz
"Halloween parties in school and trick-or-treating until late at night. Pillowcase full of candy, coins, raisins. Dumping it all out and sorting it on the family room carpet." — K. Christopher
Thanks for reading the Sun-Times Morning Edition! Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.
Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Michael Lansu
Copy edited by: Satchel Price
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