* Mayor Brandon Johnson will also be attending the governor’s press conference on President Trump’s planned military deployments. Paris Schutz…

Governor Pritzker set to give press conference responding to Trump National Guard threat … I'm thinking there's a reason for this location … pic.twitter.com/uFUkKuxYZD

— Paris Schutz (@paschutz) August 25, 2025

*** Chicago ***

* WTTW | Federal Judge Blocks Trump From Yanking Funding From Chicago Over Immigrant Protections: A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from yanking funding from Chicago and 33 other cities and counties because they have laws designed to protect undocumented immigrants by prohibiting state and local law enforcement officials from helping federal agents. U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued an injunction late Friday that will prevent the Trump administration from blocking funding for some of the nation’s largest cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, Boston and Baltimore.

* Tribune | After 40 years of covering the city’s West Side, Voice Newspapers faces uncertain future in wake of editor’s death: The publication, today known as the Voice Newspapers, faces an uncertain future after Cummings — who was its acting editor — died in an apartment fire in Austin, which also killed three others, nearly two months ago. In his absence, Jones, likewise still at the top of the Voice masthead as publisher and photography director, has been confronted with how to carry the publication forward. It has not only lost its linchpin, but is also tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Jones, who now lives in Virginia but sat down for an interview with the Tribune about 3 miles west of the Voice Newspapers’ office at 5236 W. North Ave., said he hopes to eventually pass the venture onto successors in the community who will provide the same entrenched coverage he and Cummings brought to the West Side for decades. To do so, though, Jones first needs to ensure the publication is fiscally sound, he said. If he can’t, he’ll have to say goodbye to more than his friend.

* Chicago Mag | Polish Party: Artur Wnorowski and Gosia Pieniazek put the fun into their home country’s cuisine with three new restaurants: It wasn’t right away, though, that they fully embraced their heritage cuisine. They had met at a Polish hip-hop festival (yes, that’s a thing) in Chicago in 2007. Two years later, they opened Lokal, where they served European comfort food. “We weren’t presenting it as Polish,” Wnorowski recalls. “Maybe we weren’t ready, maybe Chicago wasn’t ready.” Still, a Polish-influenced pierogi Benedict was a hit on the brunch menu.

* Block Club | Polar Express Train Rides At Union Station Have Been Canceled Again This Holiday Season: The rides, which would have been based out of Union Station, 225 S. Canal St., were called off for the 2025 winter season due to extensive city street construction above the station, according to the organizers’ Facebook post. “We understand this event is an important experience for families and hope to return in the future,” organizers said in the post. The Polar Express rides are themed around the book and movie of the same name, and allow families to enjoy a decked-out train ride experience — often in pajamas — where they can meet Santa Claus and leave with a bell.

* Tribune | Can Chicago White Sox avoid a 3rd straight 100-loss season? They’ll need to go over .500 the rest of the way: The Sox lost three of their next four before beating the Minnesota Twins 7-3 on Saturday night at Rate Field to improve to 46-83. They need to go 17-16 the rest of the way to avoid a third consecutive 100-loss season. The Sox entered 2023 with just four 100-loss seasons in franchise history (102 in 1932, 101 in 1948, 106 in 1970 and 100 in 2018). They lost 101 games that season and followed it up by completely falling off the cliff, setting the modern major-league record with 121 defeats. They’re on pace for 104 losses this season. To finish with fewer than 100, they’ll need a roll similar to the stretch immediately after the All-Star break when they won 10 of 14.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | District 116 to explain impact of $11 million budgeting error: District officials have emphasized no money is missing but the oversight by a former employee has created ripple effects they are scrambling to address. Doing that involves cutting expenses for the current and next school year. That will include reducing eight administrative positions in 2026-27 and not filling some vacancies, limiting overtime and reducing discretionary budgets by 10% this year.

* Daily Southtown | Racist graffiti found at Flossmoor Metra station and park: Police responded about 5:30 a.m., to a report of graffiti painted on a wall near the pedestrian entrance of the Flossmoor Metra station. Two hours later, they were called to Leavitt Park, where similarly “racial and discriminatory” graffiti was found on a sculpture, according to a Flossmoor police news release. Flossmoor police said in both instances the graffiti was covered by public works staff Friday. Police say they are investigating the graffiti in an attempt to identify those responsible.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora police make nearly 500 DUI arrests in 2024, highest in the state besides Chicago and state police, AAIM reports: The department made 473 drunken driving arrests in 2024, an almost 30% increase from the previous year, according to AAIM’s figures. AAIM is a Schaumburg-based citizen activist group founded in 1982 by victims of drunk driving, according to a news release from the group. It has been conducting a statewide survey of Illinois police departments annually since 1990 to analyze the number of DUI arrests police make each year. The survey is funded by a grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora Mayor John Laesch looks back on his first 100 days in office: During Aurora Mayor John Laesch’s inauguration speech on May 13, he said not to “look for me to impress anyone in my first 100 days.” Now looking back on those 100 days, Laesch agrees with his past self-assessment. He told The Beacon-News in an interview on Tuesday, two days before his official 100th day in office, that he hasn’t done any “media events or anything like that” to create an “aura of change,” and that he didn’t expect to rush anything through in his early days.

* Naperville Sun | West Nile virus detected in Naperville, city urges caution: The two traps that tested positive were on Oleson Drive and Jackson Avenue, according to a news release from the city. In response to the positive samples, city crews have sprayed immediate areas, checked for breeding sites and retreated area catch basins, the release said. The city will take further precautions by spraying the area around Jackson Avenue on Aug. 29 in advance of the start of Last Fling, Naperville’s annual Labor Day Weekend festival.

*** Downstate ***

* WGLT | Unit 5 and District 87 start school year with new high school phone policies: “Responsible use” was the emphasis when the Unit 5 superintendent sent an email message Monday, explaining the updated policy to families of students. The policy approved in July restricts personal device use in classrooms to only allow it if a teacher gives permission and it is being used for educational purposes. Phones are allowed outside the classroom, meaning students can use them before and after school, during lunch and between passing periods.

* WCIA | Next step for major Central Illinois health network seeking change: After announcing several changes, the next step for OSF took place in a public hearing on Thursday. The changes they’re pushing for, in addition to consolidating their hospitals under one name with two campuses, are closing several of their units like the pediatrics unit, open heart surgery, the ICU, comprehensive physical rehab and the catheterization unit in Urbana.

* WSIL | Take on Giant City’s rugged Red Cedar Trail and stone fort history walk: The Red Cedar Trail Challenge invites hikers to tackle the rugged 12-mile trail throughout the month. Participants can take selfies with ten strategically placed password signs along the trail and present them at the Visitor Center to earn a Red Cedar patch. The trail, which takes at least seven hours to hike in full, can be completed in sections. Trail maps are available at the trailhead and the Visitor Center.

*** National ***

* CNN | FEMA workers warn agency at risk of Hurricane Katrina-type failures: More than 180 current and former Federal Emergency Management Agency employees – most signing anonymously – sent a sharply worded letter to Congress on Monday, warning that the Trump administration’s sweeping overhaul is gutting the disaster relief agency’s authority and capabilities, undoing two decades of progress since the failures of Hurricane Katrina. Titled “Katrina Declaration,” the letter accuses President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees FEMA, of eroding the agency’s response capabilities and appointing unqualified leadership. The group calls for FEMA to be shielded from political interference and for its workforce to be protected from politically motivated firings.

* WaPo | Harvard’s research is shrinking amid the Trump administration’s freeze: A lab at Harvard Medical School recently discovered something that could change the way cancer, neurodevelopmental disorders and other diseases are understood, treated and prevented. But the federal grants that funded that work were abruptly terminated this spring, as the Trump administration froze more than $2 billion in research funding to Harvard in its fight to force the university to yield to its demands for change.