How Ald. Raymond Lopez Became Conservative Media's Favorite Chicago Democrat As Southwest Side neighbors were targeted or hid in their homes, Lopez repeatedly defended Trump's immigration roundups on conservative and right-wing media.

As Operation Midway Blitz targeted Southwest side residents, Ald. Raymond Lopez made at least 10 appearances on right-wing media, ripping immigration “sanctuary” laws & repeating false claims that roundups were targeting criminals.

blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/14/h...

✍️ @mannyramos.bsky.social

How Ald. Raymond Lopez Became Conservative Media's Favorite Chicago Democrat As Southwest Side neighbors were targeted or hid in their homes, Lopez repeatedly defended Trump's immigration roundups on conservative and right-wing media.

As Southwest Side neighbors were targeted or hid in their homes, Ald. Raymond Lopez repeatedly defended Trump’s immigration roundups on conservative media. We looked at Lopez’s rise and how he became a favorite in the right-wing media ecosystem. blockclubchicago.org/2026/04/14/h...

Illinois Regulators Say Prediction Markets Are Illegal Gambling, But Bettors — and the Trump Family — Love Them Prediction markets rake in millions from wagers on sports but pay nothing in state betting taxes and ignore other state regulations.

illinoisanswers.org/2026/03/13/p... My latest about the Polymarket CEO giving a UChicago freshman $20k to start a campus prediction market club, Coinbase suing Illinois while donating $20k to House and Senate Dems, and the prediction markets running wild in defiance of state gambling regulators

I wrote about an increase in domestic homicides in Chicago for @blockclubchi.bsky.social earlier this year.

Today the Mayor’s Office, CPD and community orgs are all meeting to discuss how to combat the surge.

Finalists for the Chicago Headline Club’s first A-Mark Prize for Investigative Editing and Reporting, Watchdog Award - Chicago Headline Club Winners will be announced on Saturday, March 21 at FOIA Fest The Chicago Headline Club is thrilled to announce the finalists for its inaugural A-Mark Prize for Investigative Editing and Reporting and ...

Incredibly proud of the entire @blockclubchi.bsky.social team — we're nominated twice for the A-Mark Prize for Investigative Reporting for "Chicago Under Siege" + our Midway Blitz coverage + @mannyramos.bsky.social's troubling investigation "Death Hospital."

headlineclub.org/2026/02/04/f...

Protesters Keep Getting Arrested At Broadview By State Police Despite Promise To Protect Free Speech About 80 protesters have been arrested at the ICE facility since barricades went up. Protesters and legal observers say the arrests run counter to the state’s stated goals of ensuring public safety an...

Officials have revealed little about what led to the arrests. State Police haven’t fulfilled records requests for incident reports. Court records don’t include many details & few of the protesters arrested have appeared in court.

@blockclubchi.bsky.social

blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/12/p...

“This is my ward! This is my ward!” Rodriguez (22nd) chirps back as Sigcho-Lopez (25th) grills Gov., saying, “the State Police are arresting protesters.”

“They’re protecting our protesters,” Gov. JB Pritzker responds.

Two Illinois moms among millions facing SNAP cutoff as pantries say: ‘We cannot meet this need’ Nearly 2 million people in Illinois may lose food assistance starting Saturday because of the government shutdown. The state and food pantries say they can’t match the $350 million that SNAP provides ...

Two Illinois moms among millions facing SNAP cutoff as pantries say: ‘We cannot meet this need.' From @elviamalagon.bsky.social and Casey He.
chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...

Broadview ICE Protesters, Including Congressional Candidate, Facing Federal Conspiracy Charges Kat Abughazaleh, the Democratic congressional candidate, called the charges "yet another attempt by the Trump administration to criminalize protest and punish those who dare to speak up.”

Broadview ICE Protesters, Including Congressional Candidate, Facing Federal Conspiracy Charges blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/29/b...

Judge Blasts Border Patrol Boss Greg Bovino For Violating Excessive Force Order “Kids dressed in Halloween costumes walking to a parade do not pose an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer,” U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis told Bovino during a court hearing T...

Judge Blasts Border Patrol Boss Greg Bovino For Violating Excessive Force Order by @minabloom.bsky.social blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/28/j...

Congressional Democrats Come To Chicago To Hear About Immigration Enforcement Blitz Some local elected officials abruptly left the proceedings because masked federal immigration agents were again detaining people across the city.

The Trump administration’s ongoing immigration enforcement surge brought Congressional Democrats to Chicago on Friday, then forced an abrupt exit by some local officials from a public hearing on the topic. blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/24/c... via @blockclubchi.bsky.social

Chicago-Area Companies Raked In Millions From Feds As Operation Midway Blitz Intensified One Chicago-based company was awarded more than $7 million to relocate ICE employees while a suburban weapons manufacturer was paid nearly $1.5 million in two weeks to supply pepper balls and air-powe...

The Chicago area companies making money directly off the federal immigration "blitz" in many city neighborhoods and suburbs blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/23/c...

Thank you, Lynda!

Big props to Block Club and the reporter @mannyramos.bsky.social. This was such an important contribution for us to understand what is happening in our city rn.

Chicago-Area Companies Raked In Millions From Feds As Operation Midway Blitz Intensified One Chicago-based company was awarded more than $7 million to relocate ICE employees while a suburban weapons manufacturer was paid nearly $1.5 million in two weeks to supply pepper balls and air-powe...

Great reporting from @mannyramos.bsky.social: "One Chicago-based company was awarded more than $7 million to relocate ICE employees while a suburban weapons manufacturer was paid nearly $1.5 million in two weeks to supply pepper balls and air-powered guns."

blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/23/c...

Great reporting here by Manny on the many companies that benefitted from the ICE surge in Chicago.

Chicago-Area Companies Raked In Millions From Feds As Operation Midway Blitz Intensified One Chicago-based company was awarded more than $7 million to relocate ICE employees while a suburban weapons manufacturer was paid nearly $1.5 million in two weeks to supply pepper balls and air-powe...

Chicago-Area Companies Raked In Millions From Feds As Operation Midway Blitz Intensified

Among the awards: A suburban weapons manufacturer was paid nearly $1.5M in 2 weeks for pepper balls + air-powered guns

@blockclubchi.bsky.social @mannyramos.bsky.social

blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/23/c...

Chicago-Area Companies Raked In Millions From Feds As Operation Midway Blitz Intensified One Chicago-based company was awarded more than $7 million to relocate ICE employees while a suburban weapons manufacturer was paid nearly $1.5 million in two weeks to supply pepper balls and air-powe...

Federal agencies paid $1.5 million to a local nonlethal weapons manufacturer in Chicago for air-powered guns and pepper balls. It also paid $7.3 million to a downtown real estate company to relocate ICE agents leading up to Operation Midway Blitz. blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/23/c...

Emergency alert: Belmont Cragin stay home October 3, 2025 Icirr eyes on ice update: since approximately 11am today the rapid response network verified the presence of federal agents in Belmont Cragin, zip code 60639 at Walmart on diversey and kilPatrick, Cicero and north, Home Depot at Cicero and armitage We recommend community members to stay home, multiple arrests have been made. Ice is still in the area. To report any possible ice activity, or if you know someone who has been detained please call the family support hotline at 1-855-435-7693

ICE all across the northwest side of Chicago with hotspots in Hermosa and Belmont Cragin. There is a recent development in Logan square as well around Central Park and armitage where videos and eyewitnesses are sharing tear gas thrown at protesters trying to intervene.

Illinois health officials recommend COVID-19 vaccine for all adults, contradicting feds The new guidance follows an executive order signed by Gov. JB Pritzker earlier this month aimed at expanding access for COVID-19 shots and other vaccines across the state.

Illinois takes a jab at CDC chicago.suntimes.com/health/2025/...

Sorry, Trump: Chicago Is Not The 'Murder Capital Of The World' — Not Even Close, Data Shows Chicago has been a political punching bag for decades, and while there is crime here, statements about it being a "hellhole" are just plain false. “There are just a lot of cities that have higher homi...

Chicago isn’t a “hellhole.” And funds Trump might use to deploy National Guard troops here would be better spent investing in long-term social-safety-net programs already helping reduce the city’s violent crime, experts say. blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/05/s... via @blockclubchi.bsky.social

A DOJ lawyer accused Harvard of ‘indifference to antisemitism.’ As a Harvard undergrad he wrote a paper from Hitler’s perspective. - The Boston Globe Michael Velchik once also told a peer that "Mein Kampf" was among his favorite recent reads.

New story w/ @hilaryburns.bsky.social:
A DOJ lawyer accused Harvard of ‘indifference to antisemitism.’ As a Harvard undergrad he wrote a paper from Hitler’s perspective.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/02/m...

Thanks for reading and sharing!

Some Call It 'Death Hospital': Inside The Northwest Side Medical Center Plagued By Problems Patients and staff have reported filthy rooms, broken supplies and a flooded ER at Community First in Portage Park despite the tens of millions in taxpayer grants sent to the for-profit safety-net hos...

Some Call It The ‘Death Hospital’: Inside The Northwest Side Medical Center Plagued By Problems. Outstanding work from @mannyramos.bsky.social and @blockclubchi.bsky.social blockclubchicago.org/2025/08/27/s...

Some Call It 'Death Hospital': Inside The Northwest Side Medical Center Plagued By Problems Patients and staff have reported filthy rooms, broken supplies and a flooded ER at Community First in Portage Park despite the tens of millions in taxpayer grants sent to the for-profit safety-net hos...

This investigation required digging through thousands of pages of public records and interviewing dozens of people. It examined our health care system through this one hospital but it isn't the only one operating like this. I hope you give it a read.

blockclubchicago.org/2025/08/27/s...

Staff and patient's greatest fear happened in 2022. When a 27-year-old woman who fainted came to the hospital by an ambulance struggling to breathe. She was never medically assessed and died while in the ER's waiting area.

Then there was the patient experience. One patient said her mother's tracheostomy was clogged and struggling to breathe. She sat waiting for hours before her daughter demanded immediate help. Then, nurses tried plugging the suction machine in the wall but there was no power.

Nurse said they sometimes have to feed patients themselves since the cafeteria sometimes runs out of food. Another ER Tech said one day they only had eggs to feed patients. He quit shortly after that.

Staff shared stories that they believe are placing patient in danger. This includes an ER tech who was asked to do medication pushes and on one occasion doing a jugular IV on a patient. These things go beyond what they were license to do.

We examined years of Medicare Cost reports to try and understand the health of the hospital. And what experts told us is the hospital appears to be in a "financial death spiral"

These records painted a picture of declining patient volumes and decreasing revenue.