City's low crime trend is at risk, groups say
Good morning, Chicago. ✶
???? Below: Mayor Brandon Johnson credited community groups in South Shore for their part in a 53.9% decrease in homicides last year compared to 2024. But one group’s leader told the mayor Tuesday: "We need proper funding … [to] keep the work going."
????️ Plus: The Bears survey season-ticket holders about an Indiana move, why an Edgewater group is suing the city and more news you need to know.
???? Keeping score: The Bulls lost to the Rockets, 119-113.
⏱️: A 7-minute read
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TODAY’S WEATHER ????️
Scattered snow showers and a high near 31.
TODAY’S TOP STORY ????
As mayor touts lower crime, community groups say lack of funding jeopardizes the trend
By Sophie Sherry and Mary Norkol
Johnson's jaunt: Mayor Brandon Johnson took a stroll through South Shore on Tuesday that was meant to highlight the neighborhood’s dramatic drop in homicides, part of an encouraging citywide trend that saw killings fall to the lowest level in decades. But Johnson’s jaunt ultimately brought attention to the area’s long-standing troubles and what’s needed to address them.
Funding focus: When Johnson sat down with social service workers and other neighborhood leaders, their message was clear: We need more funding, and we need it fast. "We’re hurting over here, Mr. Mayor," said LaVonte Stewart, executive director of the sports and mentorship program Lost Boyz Inc.
Trump threatens cuts: Also on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said he would halt funding for Chicago and other sanctuary cities by the end of the month. Johnson called the threat "blatantly unconstitutional and immoral."
EDUCATION ????
Illinois joins suit after feds threaten billions in funding over Trump order targeting trans people
By Violet Miller
Discrimination suit: Illinois has joined 11 other states in suing the Trump administration over its attempt to make conditional billions of dollars of federal funding on discrimination against trans people in accordance with previous executive orders.
Key context: The federal government says institutions are out of compliance with Title IX for not falling in line with Trump’s executive orders attempting to coerce states into excluding transgender people from sports, removing their ability to correct their documents and infringing other rights awarded to cisgender people.
Potential impacts: The funds being halted would impact any institution that receives funding under Title IX, such as schools, colleges, universities, 4-H programs, nongovernmental organization programs, sports programs and other education-related awards to detention facilities.
NATION AND WORLD ✶
Iranians in Chicago area voice opposition to U.S. military intervention amid brutal crackdown
By Michael Puente
Familial fears: Nassim Abdi has been trying to get information about her parents and loved ones in Iran. It’s been difficult because Iran has cut off text and internet services in recent days as it cracks down on demonstrators angry over the theocracy’s faltering economy. She's concerned about the number of Iranians reportedly killed during demonstrations. Activists have put the death toll at 2,571, but she believes the number is far higher.
Key quote: "My parents live there. All my extended family are still there. We are constantly checking the news right now," Abdi, of Munster, Indiana, told WBEZ.
Trump considers involvement: President Donald Trump is weighing whether the U.S. should take action, including military, against the current regime. Chicago area Iranians who’ve been cut off from communication with relatives there say use of force would harm, not help, a volatile situation.
MORE NEWS YOU NEED ????️
- Remembering Linda Brown: Brown, 53, was reported missing Jan. 3 when family couldn’t reach her. On Monday, her body was pulled from Lake Michigan. "She was just an incredible, amazing human," one family member told the Sun-Times.
- Little Village shooting: A 31-year-old man was shot Tuesday while driving, losing control of his vehicle and crashing into a parked car near Little Village Elementary as the assailant fled. The school went into lockdown, unnerving parents and teachers.
- Teen charged in deadly crash: Erick Garcia-Ambriz, 19, is facing homicide charges after he was accused of killing two people in a Bronzeville crash while driving under the influence in 2024, police said.
- Man charged in wife’s murder: Caitlin Tracey’s husband, Adam Beckerink, briefly appeared in court Monday morning, facing murder charges in her death, but his detention hearing was rescheduled for Friday.
- Amazon overtime dispute: The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a dispute over the breadth of the state’s minimum wage law and whether companies have to pay employees for pre- and post-shift work-related activities.
- Lawsuit deadline over odors: Unless they choose to opt out by Friday, Far Southeast Side residents near Pullman Innovations will be part of a class action against the oil processing plant over nauseating smells.
- Broadway battle?: A group of Edgewater residents and business owners is suing the city of Chicago over zoning changes meant to promote increased density along a nearly 2-mile stretch of Broadway.
LEAD ALERT????
States say they need more help replacing lead pipes but Congress may cut funding instead
By Keerti Gopal
Cutting the line?: The U.S. Senate is taking up a spending package passed by the House of Representatives that would cut $125 million in funding promised this year to replace toxic lead pipes. The slashed $125 million would be repurposed for wildland fire management.
The pushback: Safe drinking water advocates and some lawmakers have called for the funds to be restored, calling them critical for health and safety.
Key context: Because lead pipes are a public health hazard, the EPA has mandated that all states replace them within a decade, with some extensions for states with many pipes, like Illinois. Cuts to funding will likely impact cities with high numbers of pipes, like Chicago, most severely, one expert said.
DA BEARS ????
Amid playoff push, Bears survey season-ticket holders on potential NW Indiana stadium
By Mitchell Armentrout
Playing the field?: The Bears sent a survey to season-ticket holders Monday asking how they would feel about a new stadium across the border in Indiana — and what they would be willing to pay for seats at a new dome "approximately 20 miles from Chicago."
Key context: The Bears conducted a similar survey last year about a potential stadium in Arlington Heights, which the team has coveted since its $197 million deal to buy the shuttered Arlington International Racecourse in 2021. The team has committed to paying $2 billion to cover the full cost of a new stadium, but it will need taxpayer dollars for infrastructure upgrades — and it wants state lawmakers to allow it to negotiate its property tax payments with local governments.
Governor's game: Gov. JB Pritzker and state legislative leaders have signaled a willingness to chip in on infrastructure, but they’ve urged the team to identify a mechanism to pay off more than half a billion dollars still owed on Soldier Field’s 2003 renovation as a condition to getting any help.
More Bears headlines:
- Ticket demand is high for Rams-Bears, but cold weather could bring down prices
- Next up for the Bears? A Rams team that’s good at everything
- Bears’ playoff win was unforgettable — now they need to forget it
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD ????
Today's clue: 1D: Gwendolyn Brooks and Carl Sandburg, for two
BRIGHT ONE ????
Julian Davis Reid lifts his voice through his piano
By Morgan Ciocca | Vocalo and Nudia Hernandez
When he first sat down behind a set of keys, Julian Davis Reid quickly learned the piano was his voice.
The Chicago-based pianist and theologian first found himself in a music class at age 2. He released his fourth album, "Vocation," in 2025, with plans to bring his tour home to Constellation on Wednesday.
Reid grew up on the city’s Southwest Side, attending Whitney Young High School and the Merit School of Music. He later studied philosophy and music theory at Yale University, and went on to study theology and the arts at Emory University.
But Reid notes he discovered his artistic voice through his involvement in Chicago improvisational trio the JuJu Exchange — which he co-founded nearly a decade ago with his brother Nova Zaii and friend Nico Segal. The trio, which has been playing music together for 20 years, released a third album, "BEHOLD," in September.
"That’s deeper than chords and plugging in a cable here — that’s also all this history," Reid said.
"Vocation" also holds memories. He includes songs dedicated to his wife, Carmen, as well as his parents and daughter, and even includes voice recordings of his mother.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
Yesterday, we asked you: What’s something superstitious you do for every Bears game?
Here’s some of what you said…
"All of my wife’s family, including kids, sit in the exact same spot they were sitting after a Bears win. My brother-in-law also kneels and says a prayer before the game starts." — Alfredo Arroyo
"I talk to my late husband's urn and tell him he knows what to do: Give us a W." — Sandy Szczygiel Zahorik
"I wear the same shirt, unwashed, until they lose, then I wash it for the next game and if they win I don't wash it." — Lynn Gryzlak
"My mother, who is the biggest Bears fan I know, has a list of family members and friends [who] she calls individually after every touchdown. Both people yell into the phone, then hangup. She has been doing this for years and for every game, regardless of the score or the team's record. The list has gotten longer, and the shouts have gotten louder with each win." — Connor O'Donnell
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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