Welcome to Chicago 312: 3 Headlines. 1 Big Question. 2 Red Flags. Every Wednesday. Subscribe here.

What To Know This Week — Whatever happens with the National Guard, ICE is already terrorizing the suburbs of Chicago, where there are fewer protections and supports. Plus, the right prepares to trans scapegoat even harder, and what Philly’s transit meltdown could tell us about the CTA’s future.

3 Headlines:

1. ICE Is Terrorizing Chicago and the Suburbs

Block Club: On Sept. 12, ICE officers shot and killed Silverio Villegas-González in Franklin Park after he dropped his kid off at school. Agents claim he dragged one with his car. There’s no bodycam footage — because earlier this year, the Biden administration quietly shelved ICE’s body-camera program. Though Johnson’s administration just formalized a Right to Protest EO that instructs agencies to facilitate demonstrations if/when the feds mount crackdowns, ICE operations and rhetoric is still escalating around the metro.

Pritzker and Trump continue to fight about the National Guard, and the strategy of ‘doing anything at all” to oppose the takeover seems to be working better than NOT doing that… But while Trump threatens hypothetical repression, federal agencies are already terrorizing families right now in our suburbs.

Why It Matters: ICE’s terror hits harder in the suburbs — places like Franklin Park, Cicero, Melrose Park — where communities are more isolated, protections are weaker, and legal support is thinner. Chicago has networks of accompaniment, legal observers, and rapid-response infrastructure. In the suburbs, families are often left alone against a federal machine that doesn’t want to be seen.

2. Chicago’s Budget Menu is Nickel-and-Diming the City

WTTW: The city’s Financial Futures task force dropped its menu of 23 possible revenue ideas. Only five — about 11% — would touch the wealthy. The rest lean on property taxes, garbage fees, and nickel-and-dime hikes that fall hardest on people with the least.

Why It Matters: Chicago has tried balancing the books on working people for decades, and it’s why our tax system is already among the most regressive in the country. The so-called “menu” lets big corporations off the hook while floating higher costs for groceries, deliveries, and basic services. One example: a proposed garbage collection fee increase, which would land on households already struggling with the cost of basics like groceries and utilities. Either the city raises money from corporations and the ultra-rich, or it keeps pretending that squeezing residents is the only way forward.

(BTW: I’ve supported the Institute for the Public Good some with media and they’ve been among the clearest voices pointing this out, but this take is mine.)

3. Philly’s Transit Meltdown Could Be Chicago’s Mirror

WBEZ: Chicago’s RTA warns of 40% service cuts in 2026 without state action. Title VI hearings are already underway. Philadelphia’s SEPTA cut service, raised fares, and begged Harrisburg for a $394 million bailout. In the meantime, schools are seeing absentee spikes, courts are swamped with lawsuits, and corporations are sponsoring trains to Eagles games.

Why It Matters: Philly shows what happens when lawmakers punt: riders are stranded, gimmicks replace governance, and inequality grows. Unless Springfield acts soon — and with real funding, not PR stunts — Chicago commuters will be living the same nightmare.

1 Big Question: “I Can't Tell You What's Coming”

No big question this week. Just read this piece by Margaret Killjoy:

2 Red Flags Stressing Me Out Today: 

1. Charlie Kirk and the Right Wing Scapegoat Machine

Vanity Fair: Charlie Kirk was assassinated last week with unclear motives attributed to the shooter, beyond an affinity (one that he shares with half the gen z internet, if my irritated 27 year old friends are telling me the truth) for this song.

They also wasted no time in weaponizing his killing, with the usual suspects like Nancy Mace going off fully unwell prior to any real evidence. Senators J.D. Vance and Stephen Miller are using the moment to brand left-leaning nonprofits as “terrorist networks.” It seems that the shooter’s trans girlfriend — not accused of any crime — has already become the scapegoat, with right-wing outlets manufacturing suspicion around her.

Kirk built his hot take media empire attacking trans people, immigrants, and public schools — but in death, the right wing machine is painting him as a unifier, a patriot, giving him weird for a Youtuber style honors like resting in state and flying flags at half mast.

Why It Matters: I honestly don’t want to give this particular piece of the spin cycle — already so saturated — any more space. But it’s worth reading in Vanity Fair, how Ta-Nehisi Coates dissected how American media excels at laundering cruelty into “complexity.”

2. Hollowing Out FEMA

Government Executive: The agency just lost its third top counsel in six months — every Midwestern climate disaster leans on FEMA’s legal/operational muscle. Right now, that capacity is dissolving.

Why It Matters: Illinois counts on a functioning FEMA, and we’re in an era of climate-amplified disasters. It’s not a great look. High turnover at the top means slower responses, more bottlenecks, and state government waiting on paperwork when floods and tornadoes hit. Plus… you know… what was the final straw for these officials? It’s hard to say, but it’s unlikely to be good.

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That’s it this week.

I tried to make these write ups shorter this week — spending less time on the headlines (which I think a lot of other places do better) means more time for video + analysis.

What do you want to see more of from Chicago 312?

LMK, but excuse any delay in response — I’m heading to rural Missouri to visit my mom today. See ya soon.

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