* ICYMI: Trump administration posts notice that no federal food aid will go out Nov. 1. AP…

- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has posted a notice on its website saying federal food aid will not go out Nov. 1, raising the stakes for families nationwide as the government shutdown drags on.
- Democratic lawmakers have written to Agriculture Secretary Rollins requesting to use contingency funds to cover the bulk of next month’s benefits. But a USDA memo that surfaced Friday says “contingency funds are not legally available to cover regular benefits.”
- The USDA memo also says states would not be reimbursed for temporarily picking up the cost.

* Related stories…

• Shaw Local: Trump administration posts notice that no federal food aid will go out Nov. 1
• The Hill: SNAP could run out Nov. 1: What about WIC?
• NYT: Food Banks Brace for Overwhelming Demand as SNAP Cutoff Looms

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Sponsored by Ameren Illinois

The summer of 2025 has been a tough one for residents and businesses in the Ameren Illinois service territory. Supply constraints, extreme hot and humid conditions, and increased energy usage have led to a significant spike in electricity prices and higher-than-normal monthly bills for residential, commercial and industrial energy users. We appreciate and thank legislators, regulators and stakeholders who are working hard to address the energy challenge in Illinois. Energy policy is complex, and we’re encouraged that there are some creative ideas being proposed and a willingness to work together to find answers.   

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If you know of someone who is struggling to pay their energy bill, please encourage them to visit www.AmerenIllinois.com/PathToSavings for information on available financial assistance and energy saving programs. 

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*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino ordered to testify in federal court: WTTW News acquired a redacted version of the list from Bryant’s office, which is titled “Active Warrants,” but it is unclear what type of warrants are being referenced. However, the spreadsheet does include a column titled “issuing agency” — all of which are either Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE) or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

* WTVO | Illinois community colleges defy national trend with 4 years of enrollment growth: A new report highlights that community colleges across Illinois have seen significant increases in student numbers, contrasting with the nationwide decline. Matt Berry from the Illinois Community College Board attributes this growth to a focus on career training and technical education.

* Capitol News Illinois | Natural gas rate increases likely for Ameren, Nicor customers next year: The gas cases have attracted significant attention from consumer advocacy groups, who say the requests go too far and represent a trend of increasingly frequent rate hikes. “This is part of a troubling trend being repeated, where large rate hikes are becoming the norm, and consumers simply cannot keep paying the price,” Jeff Scott, AARP’s senior associate state director, said in a statement.

*** Statewide ***

* WMBD | Why so many municipalities are keeping their grocery tax: The President of the Taxpayers Federation of Illinois, Maurice Scholten said municipalities without a grocery tax could lose a lot of revenue. “For a lot of municipalities, they just decided it’s easier to impose the grocery tax themselves and keep that revenue flow constant,” he said. According to an IML press release, 656 municipalities have decided to keep their grocery tax. […] When asked if the grocery tax is regressive, Scholten said the answer is complicated. “The really low end of the spectrum, at lower income. They receive SNAP benefits, so they are able to buy at least some amount of groceries without having to pay any sales tax,” he said.

* Center Square | Illinois child welfare agency to update number of missing children: Public records from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, obtained by Bailey Templeton, show in 2023, 16 children did not return to either previous placement or a new one. That number jumped 935% to 166 missing children in 2024. An agency spokesperson told The Center Square the numbers are “not completely accurate.” Updated numbers were not immediately available through public records requests.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Center Square | Primary election filing to begin Monday for Illinois Dem, GOP candidates: Illinois State Board of Elections Public Information Officer Matt Dietrich said candidates running for federal or state legislative seats, statewide offices or judicial posts have one week to turn in their signatures. “They all file with us starting Oct. 27, so they’ll be at our building from Oct. 27 through Nov. 3, filing their nominating petitions with us,” Dietrich told The Center Square.

* Sun-Times | Pritzker: ‘Illinois will never back down’ on protecting reproductive health care: After taking a victory lap around the measures he’s signed into law that expand reproductive health care access, Pritzker painted a need for abortion-rights leaders and elected officials to stand firm against President Donald Trump’s funding cuts to medical care and other economic policies with trickle down effects on families. “Donald Trump and his allies have declared war on women’s rights, and make no mistake, they’re coming for Illinois,” Pritzker said during a luncheon hosted by the abortion-rights advocacy organization Personal PAC at a ballroom inside the Hilton Chicago in the Loop. “Their attacks on abortion are part of a broader campaign to control health care, to limit freedom and roll back progress for working families. … And Republicans are attacking all of that. Let me be clear, Illinois will never back down.”

* WTTW | Illinois Lawmaker Wants to Help Federal Immigration Officials ID Undocumented People in State Custody: WTTW News acquired a redacted version of the list from Bryant’s office, which is titled “Active Warrants,” but it is unclear what type of warrants are being referenced. However, the spreadsheet does include a column titled “issuing agency” — all of which are either Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE) or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). That could refer to an administrative warrant, meaning it was documentation that ICE already had access to. Those warrants are usually signed by an immigration officer, directing someone to make an arrest — but not a search.

* Center Square | Critics warn Illinois’ ‘megaproject’ tax breaks shift costs to taxpayers: House Bill 4058, which mirrors similar proposals in the Senate, has drawn sharp criticism from taxpayer advocates, like Brian Costin, deputy state director at Americans for Prosperity Illinois. Costin said the measure opens the door for politically connected developers to benefit at public expense. “This is Gov. [J.B.] Pritzker’s property tax hike,” said Costin. “He is trying to raise property taxes on the regular folks of Illinois to reward millionaires and billionaires.”

*** Chicago ***

* Block Club | Federal Agents Use Tear Gas, Disrupt Northwest Side Halloween Parade: The first of those detained on Kildare Avenue was 35-year-old father and construction worker Luis Villegas, who was working on a personal project when agents chased him down and arrested him, his family told ABC-7. The two others arrested were a woman on a bike and a 70-year-old man preparing for a marathon, according to neighbors. […] During the Old Irving Park encounter, a 67-year-old woman was “knocked to the ground” by masked agents, an ICE rapid responder told Block Club. The clash occurred just before the Old Irving Park Association Halloween Parade was set to march down the street, disrupting the event, neighbors said in a local rapid response chat.

* CBS Chicago | Neighbors react after federal agents deployed tear gas in Old Irving Park: “I could see two fully uniformed agents in military fatigues literally tackling a guy right here in my front lawn,” Kolp said. He said that about ten minutes later, tear gas was deployed at the opposite end of the block. “I certainly didn’t hear any agents yelling that they were about to use it,” he said. As Kolp knows, they were supposed to. He’s a former prosecutor and represented Chicago police officers in civil rights cases.

* Tribune | Chicago police find themselves in difficult spots as wave of federal immigration enforcement continues: As of Friday, agents had deployed tear gas in a total of six neighborhoods, most recently in Little Village and Lakeview . A total of 40 officers have been exposed to the gas.

* Tribune | Gov. JB Pritzker throws cold water on remote learning for CPS students in response to ICE raids: Mayor Brandon Johnson urged Gov. JB Pritzker Friday to weigh allowing Chicago public school students to learn from home because ICE agents are arresting parents and students on their way to and from schools. Pritzker later took a dim view of the idea, saying kids belong in classrooms and pointing to ways schools and residents have already taken steps to protect students and their parents from federal immigration raids.

* WTTW | The 125-Year-Old Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Reversed the Chicago River, Now It Needs to Shed That Image: “When I talk to the mayors up and down that corridor, they said, ‘It’s really hard to get developers to come in and make their development anywhere near the ‘sanitary canal,’” U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (D-11th) said at a celebration held Friday to mark the canal’s historic anniversary. It’s the word “sanitary” that’s the sticking point, and all of the outdated assumptions associated with it, Foster said. So a push is underway to rename the canal to perhaps something less, frankly, sewage-adjacent. The movement has the backing of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Friends of the Chicago River, the Chicago Park District, Cook County government and municipalities located along the channel.

* Chicago Crusader | Chicago Icon Emil Jones, Jr. Celebrates 90 Years of Leadership, Legacy, and Service: Beyond legislation, Jones delivered tangible investments in communities, championing projects that strengthened Chicago’s cultural and educational landscape. His advocacy helped secure funding for the Convocation Center, library, and residence hall at Chicago State University; the Media Center at City Colleges of Chicago; the DuSable Museum expansion; the Harris Theatre in Millennium Park; Muntu Dance Theatre; the Bronzeville Children’s Museum; and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Community Center.

* Sun-Times | Inspired by a student protest, Chicago History Museum debuts exhibition about Latino history: “Growing up, it’s like you go to museums and you see all these different histories, but a big part of the country is Latinx people,” said Villegas, 24, of Pilsen. “Why isn’t there something that talks about us? Why isn’t there something that really explains the creation of the country? It was created by all types of people, and I felt like other people were getting credit.” Villegas and his high school peers sprang into action, staging a social media protest, meeting with museum leaders and demanding they create an exhibition about Latinos’ contributions. Six years later, their dreams have been realized with “Aquí en Chicago,” which opened Saturday and runs through Nov. 8, 2026.

* Daily Herald | City offers maps, guides to prepare neurodivergent travelers for sensory overload at airports: “There’s a lot of talking, announcements, crowds,” Chicago Department of Aviation ADA Coordinator Xochitl Rodriguez explained. “There’s a lot of processes — the security screening, getting your ticket, getting to the gate.” That’s why the CDA now is offering new tools at O’Hare and Midway International Airport to make the trip more comfortable and predictable for neurodivergent flyers.

* Block Club | West Side Pastor Named To Time Magazine’s List Of 100 Rising Stars: Marshall Hatch Jr., pastor at New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church at 4031 W. Washington Blvd. in West Garfield Park, was named to Time Magazine’s Time100 Next list, a list of up-and-coming innovators, artists, leaders and advocates. Hatch is featured among names such as WNBA star Paige Bueckers, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and new CBS News boss Bari Weiss. He made the list for his advocacy work as the executive director of the church’s social justice ministry, the MAAFA Redemption Project. Hatch will attend the Time100 Next ceremony Thursday in New York City.

* Tribune | Chicago Bulls players and coaches left reeling by NBA gambling scandal: ‘It’s disrespectful to the game’: Bulls coach Billy Donovan said he was shocked by the arrests, citing a “really, really good relationship” with Billups during his playing and coaching careers. “You just get surprised by those things,” Donovan told reporters after practice Friday. “I’m sure we don’t have all the details. There’s probably more to come out. But it’s just sad that they’re dealing with that personally as human beings and the league’s dealing with it as well.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* ABC Chicago | US citizens detained by feds speak out after protesters confront agents at Aurora school, hospital: There was a tense confrontation outside an Aurora elementary school Saturday morning as activists confronted federal agents after they took two people into custody, and U.S. citizens also ended up being detained. No students or parents were at Allen Elementary School at the time, but community members spotted a car they believed belonged to federal agents.

* Tribune | Aurora protesters recount detention by federal agents: ‘I’m beat up’: Federal immigration agents detained two Aurora protesters who confronted them outside an elementary school Saturday, sparking allegations of unnecessary force. Aurora Mayor John Laesch condemned the detentions as part of an “unprecedented period of American history where people’s constitutional rights are being violated” as President Donald Trump’s administration continues its deportation arrest onslaught across the Chicago area. Laesch recalled swearing an oath to defend the country’s supreme law.

* NBC Chicago | Video shows federal agent break car window to detain woman outside grocery store: A federal agent smashed the driver seat window of a vehicle in a parking lot of a grocery store in a Chicago suburb Sunday morning to detain a woman, video posted to social media showed. Around 8:50 a.m., an employee of the La Huerta in Addison at 396 West Lake Street started a livestream on Facebook and showed a group of masked federal agents surrounding a vehicle in the store’s parking lot.

* Daily Herald | Aurora adopted a data center moratorium. Will other cities follow suit?: Such concerns led Aurora’s city council to enact a temporary zoning moratorium on data centers as well as warehouses. Mayor John Laesch made clear officials are not against data centers as a whole. “It’s just trying to give us time to make sure that we have the proper guardrails in place,” he said. In neighboring Naperville, at least one city council member said he’s exploring the idea of a similar pause.

*** Downstate ***

* WICS | Massey family breaks silence, shares pain on day five of Sean Grayson’s trial: Sonya’s mom and children left the courtroom before the video played, and Sonya’s cousin, Sontae Massey, said it’s because they’re tired of seeing it. “The reverberations are going throughout the entire family,” Sontae said. “I have brothers that are watching live feeds of the trial that are crying in real time halfway across the nation. It’s tough but we just got to get to the finish line.”

* IPM Newsroom | Inside the courtroom: Jury could decide the fate of Sean Grayson in his murder trial this week: estimony resumes Monday in the murder trial of Sean Grayson. He is the former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed Sonya Massey, inside her home in July 6, 2024 after she called police about a prowler. Illinois Public Media News and Public Affairs Director Reginald Hardwick spoke with Dean Olsen, the senior staff writer for Illinois Times. He’s been in the Peoria County courtroom since the trial started. Olsen talked about some of the witnesses who have testified so far.

* WGLT | Bloomington’s police advisory board admits change may be needed: A citizens’ board with some oversight of the Bloomington Police Department is struggling to perform its primary function, leading board members and others to question their role. Constituents have 30 days to appeal the resolution of police complaints with the City of Bloomington’s Public Safety and Community Relations Board [PSCRB]—a resource available to those dissatisfied with the results of police’s internal review of complaints. A Bloomington man whose family met that deadline has since waited months for a resolution. At October’s PSCRB meeting, Percy Buckley of Bloomington said he’s anxious to have a complaint reviewed regarding an alleged battery earlier this year.

* WGLT | Sexual assault charges dropped against former director of ISU’s School of Teaching and Learning: “We do not believe we can prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt based on additional information obtained during the ongoing investigation,” said McLean County State’s Attorney Erika Reynolds. Bates’ attorney, Donna Rotunno, said dropping charges was the “right decision” but that “I don’t think the case should have ever been charged in the first place.” Rotunno said Bates spent a lot of time, effort and money mounting his defense, including the hiring of experts.

* WCIA | NANO Nuclear, U of I one step closer to operating reactor on campus: NANO Nuclear Energy started drilling at the site of a future microreactor Friday, marking the start of a research partnership between the company and the University of Illinois. The event was not a groundbreaking, but instead the first step of data collection so the company can file for a construction permit in accordance with nuclear regulations.

* WCIA | Westfield crash kills Coles Co. board member, wife: A member of the Coles County Board has been identified as one of the victims of Friday night’s head-on crash in Clark County. Darrell Cox, board chairman, said Mike Clayton was the district two representative. He was serving his second term, Cox said. The other crash victim was identified as Gail Clayton of Charleston.

* WICS | Rep. Mike Coffey spotlights business insights on Mike on Main Street tour in 95th District: State Representative Mike Coffey is actively engaging with businesses in the 95th District through his “Mike on Main Street” tours. This week, Coffey met with leaders from Express Employment Professionals to gain insights into their operations and the impact of Illinois policies on their business.

*** National ***

* WIRED | Inside the Trump Administration’s Bluesky Invasion: But what they attempted to position as bridge-building quickly looked something more like trench warfare. Instead of conscientious outreach across the aisle, the Trump administration’s Bluesky launch mixed trolling and partisan messaging, creating instant backlash. […] “We are new here,” the Department of the Interior said in one of its first posts on Friday. “Anyone want to talk about how climate change isn’t the biggest threat to our country and that it’s actually losing the AI arms race to China?”

* Press release | Tennessee Attorney General Challenges Birthright Citizenship in the United States Supreme Court: Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, joined by attorneys general from Iowa and 23 other states, filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court today, urging the Court to clarify that the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause does not provide automatic citizenship to everyone born in the United States. The States argue that lower courts have misinterpreted the Citizenship Clause to require automatic citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil, regardless of their parents’ residency and immigration status.

* Alan Greenblatt | My Bosses Were Afraid of Crossing Trump. So, I Quit: Until Oct. 10, I was the editor of Governing, a magazine and website covering state and local governments. But after facing increasing internal censorship pressures — largely to avoid critical coverage of President Donald Trump — I refused to go along, and I resigned. My decision was a long time coming. Earlier this year, the chief content officer for our parent company, e.Republic, stated in a meeting that we should not run articles that could draw the attention of the Trump White House and have them try to shut us down.

* Gray News | Hormel recalls nearly 4.9 million pounds of frozen chicken: Hormel Foods is recalling nearly 4.9 million pounds of frozen boneless chicken products, according to the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. Customers reported finding metal in the chicken breast and thigh products. Hormel said that the metal came from a conveyor belt used in production. The recalled chicken items were distributed to HRI Commercial Food Service, a restaurant supply company, at locations nationwide from Feb. 10 through Sept. 19.

* Vox | Why every website you used to love is getting worse: That was policy-driven. For decades, antitrust enforcers embraced the Chicago School idea that monopolies are efficient and should be punished only if prices go up for consumers — not when a company buys its most dangerous rival. Facebook’s purchase of Instagram is the classic example. Mark Zuckerberg literally wrote that people were leaving Facebook for Instagram and that buying Instagram would keep them as Facebook users even if they never touched Facebook again. That’s an antitrust admission in plain English. And yet the Obama administration waved it through, just as the Bush and Trump administrations green-lit their own waves of consolidation.