Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Tuesday crashed into a car, wrestled a man to the ground and shocked him with a Taser — a rush-hour chase with shades of last fall’s Operation Midway Blitz chaos.
🗞️ Plus: Top mayoral aides are tied to a hiring and contracting scandal, the private equity vs. independently owned bagel battle and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The Cubs lost to the Athletics, 2-1; the White Sox fell to the Twins, 6-4; the Sky were bested by the Mystics, 90-72.
📧 Subscribe: Get this newsletter delivered to your inbox weekday mornings.
⏱️: An 8-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌤️
Mostly sunny with a high near 83.
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Top mayoral aides had ties to tech consultant at center of hiring, contracting scandal
By Tim Novak and Robert Herguth
Scandal connection: Mayor Brandon Johnson has dismissed a hiring and contracting scandal that was the subject of an investigation by City Hall’s inspector general, saying it involved former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s “previous mayoral administration.” But two high level aides to Johnson had ties to EKI-Digital, the consulting company central to the scandal.
John Roberson: One aide, John Roberson, was involved in the decision to pay EKI $600,000 in taxpayer money despite red flags about some of its municipal work. Roberson was Johnson’s chief operating officer from about the time Johnson took office in May 2023 until July 2025, when he left to work for the Obama Foundation. Roberson was “managing principal” for EKI in 2014 and 2015, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Michael Belsky: Johnson’s current City Hall comptroller, Michael Belsky, worked for EKI when its deal was forged with Lightfoot top aide Paul W. Goodrich, and Goodrich’s son landed a paid internship with EKI. Belsky was still working for the company, though apparently on his way out, when EKI was trying to collect nearly $10 million in what city officials say are questionable invoices submitted by the firm.
More on City Hall:
- Johnson’s new human relations chair, Kenneth Gunn, hopes to build bridges to the Jewish community. Gunn replaces Nancy Andrade, who resigned in March to protest what critics say was the administration’s attempt to whitewash a report meant to focus solely on antisemitism.
- NASCAR is nearing a deal with the city to bring the Chicago Street Race back to Grant Park in 2027, according to media reports.
- Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza announced Wednesday she’ll be running for mayor of Chicago in next year’s election.
IMMIGRATION ✶
- Shades of Midway Blitz: ICE agents chased and detained a man Tuesday morning in Albany Park, crashing into a woman’s car and threatening residents who gathered at a chaotic scene. The arrest comes amid a continued federal effort to carry out arrests in the Chicago area.
- WGN staffer sues after arrest: Debbie Brockman, a WGN staffer and U.S. citizen, has filed a $10 million claim against the federal government after she was forcefully detained and released without charges in October.
- Calls to boot Boutros: Chicago U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros released an unorthodox five-page report Tuesday confirming he had contact with federal grand jurors last fall who then indicted the “Broadview Six” the same day. The report came hours after Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth called for his resignation.
STADIUM SAGA 🏟️
Mayor says his Springfield wins put Chicago ‘in the mix’ for Bears stadium
By Mariah Woelfel, Mitchell Armentrout and Michael Puente
Mayor’s POV: The way Mayor Johnson sees it, Springfield’s stalled drive for Bears stadium legislation and lingering questions about the potential playing field in Hammond, Indiana, leave Chicago as the team’s best play for a new dome.
Meanwhile, in Indiana: Johnson wasn’t the only official heartened by Springfield’s inaction. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said Tuesday he expected it to result in a team announcement “in less than a month” that they’ll break ground in Hammond, where Hoosier lawmakers have authorized a slew of new taxes to help fund the stadium.
WATCH: STADIUM SAGA RECAP ▶️
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- Small school’s growing community: A growing number of Chicago-area Muslim families are enrolling their children in MAS Quran Blossoms, a small school in Bridgeview, because of its rigorous, play-based curriculum taught entirely in Arabic.
- Push for new leadership: Demands to remove César Chavez’s name from a local elementary school is sparking a reckoning over the leadership of the immigrant rights movement, with young activists pushing to focus on collective action over a single dominant male leader.
- Community rallies behind clerk: With Chicago Public Schools’ plans to eliminate the school clerk position, Byrne Elementary employee Judy Mahoney stands to lose her job. Students, staff, local representatives and union reps rallied Tuesday to demand she stay employed.
- Cellphone ban explained: Springfield lawmakers passed legislation that would largely restrict cellphones in Illinois schools, starting in the 2027-2028 school year. Here’s how it will work.
- Novelist reflects on career: Evanston novelist Daniel Kraus, winner of the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his book “Angel Down,” spoke with the Sun-Times about his many ideas and why his biggest fear is dying before he can write them all down.
DINING SCENE 🍽️
Viral PopUp Bagels, indie bakers spark Chicago bagel boom — and rivalry
By Maggie Hennessy
Trendy bagel: This spring, the viral PopUp Bagels debuted with a line stretching several blocks down Lincoln Avenue for the private equity-backed East Coast goods. Wait times held steady at two-plus hours nearly all day. Banking on its product quality and relative novelty, the company is eyeing more than a dozen locations in and around Chicago.
PE vs. indie: PopUp’s popularity reflects a larger national trend of private equity firms betting big on bagels. The wave of big money-backed newcomers follows a recent, citywide boom of independently owned bagel shops. With Big Bagel eyeing expansions and indie shops fighting to hold their own, is the city big enough for all of them?
ON WBEZ 91.5 FM 📻
In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons, 9 a.m.
- New taxes: Noah Henderson of Loyola University and Justin Marlowe of the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy explain what new Illinois taxes on crypto, fantasy sports and social media could mean for you.
- Pharmacies plan: Ald. William Hall (6th) talks about an ordinance he introduced to support a co-op of independent pharmacies across the city and help stabilize the costs of medicines and operations.
Say More with Mary Dixon and Patrick Smith, 10 a.m.
- Collective action: Nick Mayer of Health Alliance for Chicago Comedians and LaCreshia Birts of VOLTS Chicago discuss how they use the power of communities to address issues in healthcare and in food and housing security. Callers weigh in.
FROM THE PRESS BOX ⚾🏀
- ALS advocate: Cubs broadcaster Jon “Boog” Sciambi says he has been an advocate for people with ALS ever since a childhood friend was stricken with the disease.
- White Sox energy: When Sean Burke said, “Thank God I get to play for the Chicago White Sox,” he expressed a sentiment resonating throughout the clubhouse.
- Sky updates: The timeline for All-Defensive wing DiJonai Carrington’s return to the court remains a mystery.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 7A: Vine that covers Wrigley Field’s outfield walls
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Chef Zubair Mohajir is having fun going into business with friends
By Ximena N. Beltran Quan Kiu
Getting laid off tends to be a stressful experience for the majority of people. However, for chef Zubair Mohajir — a multiple James Beard Award nominee, “Chopped” winner and “Top Chef” contender — it became the day his life began.
“I was so freaking happy,” said Mohajir, 41, of his banking stint that ended in 2008. “But then I had to figure out what I do for work.”
Today, Mohajir is the chef and owner of the Michelin Guide-recognized Coach House, Lilac Tiger, Mirra and Sarima Cafe. He is opening three new concepts this year to add to his growing empire.
Mariela in the Loop, “a coastal restaurant based in nostalgia,” opened last month. Muhājir — “the translation of it in Urdu, in Arabic, means ‘migrant” — in Lincoln Park is an extension of the Coach House that will debut in the summer. And Bobo, “a really vibrant bar where people feel like they’re stepping through a wildly disorienting ‘Doctor Strange’-like portal into the Manila night,” will be tucked away behind Muhājir.
The hospitality concepts Mohajir owns with several different partners do not operate under a parent company. That might change one day, but for now, Mohajir says he’s just having fun going into business with friends.
“I really love opening restaurants,” Mohajir said. “The best calls I like to make are to friends saying, ‘Hey, quit your job, move back. Let’s open a restaurant.’ You attack the world differently when you’re walking in step with somebody.”
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
Where can you find the best bagels in Chicago? What makes them the best?
Respond 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 a song you feel perfectly captures the Chicago Blues sound?
Here’s some of what you said…
“‘Messin’ with the Kid’ by Buddy Guy and Junior Wells always just said ‘Chicago blues’ to me.” — Brad Wilson
“’55th Street Boogie’ by Hound Dog Taylor. It captures the energy of the city — nobody is crying in their beer in this song.” — Jeff Varda
“‘Blue and Lonesome’ by Little Walter, because it is electric blues with a solid bond to the roots due to the harmonica sound. The lyrics express the sense of loneliness in a big city after the Great Migration from the South. Even the life and death of Little Walter is the personification of the blues.” — Giovanni Taverna
“‘Sweet Home Chicago’ by Robert Johnson. It’s the unofficial soundtrack of the city. Everyone knows it, everyone sings along, and it captures the pride, energy and soul of Chicago. Pair it with a Chicago-style hot dog and you’ve got the full Chicago experience.” — Courtney Cager
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: Eydie Cubarrubia
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