Good morning, Chicago.
Tornado season arrived like clockwork this year, with high winds blowing through the south and southwest suburbs March 19, tearing the roof off a building, picking up a metal shed and throwing trees to the ground.
But if the screaming sirens and looming threats to life and property are familiar, this year is different, experts say, with fewer National Weather Service employees on the job because of layoffs by President Donald Trump and less data about weather approaching from the Great Plains states.
National Weather Service weather balloon releases — tracking temperature, pressure and wind speed — have been temporarily suspended in Omaha, Nebraska, and Rapid City, South Dakota, because of staff shortages and reduced at six other sites in the Midwest and Great Plains, according to agency memos.
That loss has created “a gaping hole” in our balloon data in Illinois, according to Victor Gensini, an associate professor in the department of Earth, atmosphere and environment at Northern Illinois University.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Nara Schoenberg.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including President Donald Trump saying he’s considering ways to serve a third term, Rockford residents reflect on the violent attack on their community last year and an inside look at how incarcerated Muslims in Illinois observe Ramadan.
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Elon Musk hands out $1 million payments after Wisconsin Supreme Court declines request to stop him
Elon Musk gave out $1 million checks on Sunday to two Wisconsin voters, declaring them spokespeople for his political group, ahead of a Wisconsin Supreme Court election that the tech billionaire cast as critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda and “the future of civilization.”
Related:
Trump says he’s considering ways to serve a third term as president
President Donald Trump said yesterday “I’m not joking” about trying to serve a third term, the clearest indication he is considering ways to breach a constitutional barrier against continuing to lead the country after his second term ends at the beginning of 2029.
“There are methods which you could do it,” Trump said in a telephone interview with NBC News from Mar-a-Lago, his private club.
Related:
- Federal judge blocks President Trump from dismantling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Greenland prime minister says US will not get Greenland
Andrew Boutros officially announced as interim U.S. attorney in Chicago
Veteran Chicago lawyer and former federal prosecutor Andrew Boutros was officially appointed Friday to serve as interim U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
‘I just try to imagine why this happened’: Neighbors, victims live with aftershocks of Rockford rampage
Tabatha Banta thought the first few weeks after her daughter died would be the most difficult. But she spent the last few weeks dreading the arrival of March 27.
“I feel like I’m losing her all over again,” she said. “But this time, I know it’s coming.”
Contentious overhaul of electronic-monitoring program in Cook County arriving after brewing for years
After months of planning and discussion, the Cook County sheriff’s office starting tomorrow will no longer accept new electronic monitoring participants, marking the beginning of a shift in one way pretrial justice is handled in Cook County.
‘We’re not seen’: Illinois’ incarcerated Muslim community observes Ramadan
Robert McCullough said his Ramadan routine involved waking up around 3 a.m. to eat, drink and read the Quran. He would then go back to sleep for a few hours before waking up to pray fajr, the first of the five daily prayers in Islam.
He is just one of hundreds of Muslims within the Illinois Department of Corrections who are practicing their religion while serving time. At the Danville Correctional Center, there are around 160 practicing Muslims.
Related:
Hundreds gather at Gold Coast Tesla dealership as part of national protests against DOGE
Roughly 200 people packed the corners of Delaware and Rush streets outside the Tesla dealership in the Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon, taking part in nationwide protests against billionaire Elon Musk and his role in the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Nearly 1,000 people pour into Federal Plaza to show support for transgender people amid attacks
Christy Cox, 58, says she has been fighting for the rights of transgender people like herself for decades.
“I’m here to really show that queer elders do exist, so that 8-year-old kid over there can see that you can grow up and be a 58-year-old trans person,” Cox said.
The Naperville resident, who joined close to 1,000 people yesterday at a transgender rights protest in Federal Plaza, held a sign that read “survive out of spite.”
CPS senior and aspiring author to throw first pitch at White Sox game
One of Josue Sandoval’s earliest memories is sitting in a brown hospital room at 3 years old, scarfing down what he remembers being “the best pancakes” of his life, with his father by his side as he prepared for eye surgery.
Born with a congenital birth defect, Sandoval, 18, has been visually impaired his entire life.
Takeaways as the Chicago White Sox get soaked in Sunday’s loss, drop opening series to the Los Angeles Angels
The Chicago White Sox had a lead or were tied entering the eighth inning in each of the three games of the season-opening series against the Los Angeles Angels.
But they have a 1-2 record to show for it after falling 3-2 in yesterday’s rubber match in front of 19,591 at Rate Field.
Chicago Cubs squander a lead and split the series with Arizona — but Craig Counsell still trusts the bullpen
It wouldn’t be a trip to Chase Field without a frustrating loss for the Chicago Cubs.
They were on the verge of taking three of four games against the Arizona Diamondbacks when an eighth-inning meltdown by the bullpen thwarted those efforts in a 10-6 loss yesterday.
Longtime Chicago journalist Walter Jacobson lists Gold Coast co-op unit for nearly $1.1M, and finds a buyer
Longtime Chicago broadcast journalist Walter Jacobson, who on Friday signed off from delivering his weekly “Perspective” commentaries on WGN-AM, has his three-bedroom, 2,800-square-foot co-op unit on the Gold Coast on the market for $1.075 million, and he has struck a deal to sell it.
Review: ‘Sunny Afternoon’ at Chicago Shakespeare chases the soul of Ray Davies and The Kinks
Like most new musicals, especially ambitious U.S. imports from London (no tariffs, please), “Sunny Afternoon” has a ways to go in finding out what it wants to be. It hasn’t decided what scale works.
Review: Kraftwerk creates visions of a very ’80s future at the Auditorium Theatre
The sound of the present and multiple futures resonated as a spectacular series of pulse waves transmitted by Kraftwerk Saturday at a near-capacity Auditorium Theatre. Though a majority of the songs they played were created more than four decades ago, the electronic maestros’ precision-mannered performance, thematic statements and winking humor ensured none of the material lost any of its cutting edge.
Being Kraftwerk, the two-hour concert featured abundant visuals and illumination that ensured each tune was accompanied by its own custom, unique treatment. The German band also benefited from the venue’s excellent acoustics. Clear and dynamic, the main frequency ranges blossomed with a fidelity not possible at the group’s two most recent local gigs at the Riviera Theatre (2014) and Aragon (2022).
