Here's an image city leaders probably don't want to gain traction: Chicago, a hub for the cartel's drug trade in North America. But that's the picture being painted at El Chapo's ongoing federal drug conspiracy trial in New York. Are the Trump administration's bump stock ban and that bipartisan prison sentencing reform measure he favors an indicator of a new Congress or just a momentary holiday blip? And Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has dropped her challenge against state Comptroller Susana Mendoza's nominating petitions, clearing the way for Mendoza to get on the Feb. 26 mayoral ballot. |
 For years, city activists would show up at mayoral press conferences to share what were widely viewed as conspiracy theories. One went this way: Law enforcement either doesn't know or doesn't care about middle-of-the-night shipments of illicit drugs being ferried into the city via train and other modes of transportation. They suggested part of the pipeline ran through the 11th Ward — a knock at then-Mayor Richard M. Daley and his family's geographical center of power in the city. That's never been proven, but testimony this week offered by lieutenants of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman — on trial in a drug conspiracy case playing out in New York — suggests the troublemakers may have been on to something. Not the 11th Ward part. But as the Tribune's Jeff Coen reports: In untold hundreds of truck and train shipments, tons of cocaine rolled into Chicago hidden among loads of vegetables, shrimp and even live sheep. The city acted as the American distribution center of the vast network of the Sinaloa cartel, a hub run by Chicago twin brothers who worked for "El Chapo." One of the twins, who by now have turned on their boss, began testifying against him this week. Read more here. |   |
 Chicago police normally alert Metra when commuter trains need to be stopped for any officer-involved activity, but the agency received no such notification Monday evening before two Chicago police officers were killed by a South Shore line train as they were searching for a gunman, officials said. In police work, things can unfold lightning fast and there isn't always time for law enforcement to notify rail companies. The Chicago Police Department has no policy specifically governing foot pursuits by officers and no official rules about when an officer should or should not chase a suspect onto active train tracks, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. A proposed court order that would govern a sweeping overhaul of the troubled department's practices calls on the agency to track foot pursuits and give officers further training on the chases that might make them safer. Guglielmi praised the officers for putting "the safety of that community above their own" as they pursued a shooting suspect. Read the latest on the case here, and details about the officers' upcoming funerals here. | |
 From the Tribune's Angie Leventis Lourgos: lllinois has declined in population for the fifth year in a row, losing an estimated 45,116 residents in 2018, according to the latest census data released Wednesday. Read more here. That was a greater loss than the previous year, when a decrease of 33,700 residents cost Illinois its spot as the fifth-largest state in the nation. In March, the Tribune's Elvia Malagon noted the political implications of the population drop, including losing a congressional seat. Read more here. | |
 Many Chicago-area federal workers could find themselves furloughed or working unpaid if Congress and President Donald Trump are unable to compromise before midnight Friday and avert a partial government shutdown, the Tribune's Mike Riopell and Morgan Greene are reporting. Read here. Lawmakers, however, appeared headed toward agreement on legislation that would keep government running through Feb. 8 and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell seemed to approve. Get caught up here. Speaking of brinkmanship, the Federal Reserve Bank hiked interest rates, despite President Trump's call for the central bank to stand pat on borrowing costs. Read more here. | |
 The theme on Capitol Hill Tuesday was criminal justice. The Trump administration announced a new federal regulation banning bump stocks, the firearm attachments that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire fast like machine guns and were used during the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Read more here. The move puts him at odds with the National Rifle Association, which spent millions, as The New York Times reported, on ads knocking Hillary Clinton and boosting Trump in the runup to the 2016 election. Later Tuesday night, the Senate — in a rare bipartisan act — approved a prison reform bill that would give judges more discretion when sentencing some drug offenders and boosting prisoner rehabilitation efforts, according to The Associated Press. It also would reduce the life sentences for some drug offenders with three convictions, or "three strikes," to 25 years, according to the AP. The changes would only apply to federal prisoners. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., lead the charge on the prison reform measure, offering in a prepared statement: "It was supported by an amazing coalition of unlikely partners — progressive Democrats and conservative Republicans, law enforcement groups and civil rights groups, business leaders and faith-based organizations. By passing this legislation, we will now begin to relieve our overcrowded prisons, redirect funding to our most pressing crime prevention efforts, make our communities safer, and ensure the integrity of our justice system." Read more here. The measure is expected to clear the House and then head to Trump for his consideration. Taking the temperature via Twitter, it looks like Trump has his pen poised. "America is the greatest Country in the world and my job is to fight for ALL citizens, even those who have made mistakes. Congratulations to the Senate on the bi-partisan passing of a historic Criminal Justice Reform Bill...." the president's Twitter account offered Tuesday night. And in a second tweet: "....This will keep our communities safer, and provide hope and a second chance, to those who earn it. In addition to everything else, billions of dollars will be saved. I look forward to signing this into law!" | |
 It's no secret that the Ricketts family publicly toyed with the idea of pulling up stakes and moving the team to the suburbs after long and contentious negotiations over taxpayer subsidies for renovating Wrigley Field. The Tribune and other outlets reported about it in 2013 — the Rosemont Cubs! But in newly published emails dating back to that time, Todd Ricketts, at one time the president's pick to serve as deputy commerce secretary, pressed the idea internally with the family. Read Paul Sullivan's Tribune column here. Dennis Culloton, Ricketts family spokesman, says the "stolen" emails show the negotiations became "heated" but "we saved Wrigley Field and in the process put more than 1,000 union men and women to work … and the neighborhood his better." Asked what the relationship is like between the Ricketts family and Mayor Rahm Emanuel today, Culloton said: "It was a difficult process, but it worked out." Mayoral spokeswoman Shannon Breymaier said almost the same thing in an emailed statement. "The Mayor told the Ricketts family the same thing he told the owners of the Hawks and the Bulls — you own it, you pay for it. Negotiations can sometimes be heated, but the end result here was good for both the city and the Cubs." | |
 Preckwinkle drops challenge against Mendoza: Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will drop her challenge to state Comptroller Susana Mendoza's mayoral petitions, clearing the way for Mendoza to appear as a candidate on the February ballot, the Tribune's John Byrne reports. The petition fight between two women who are considered mayoral front-runners has been a central focus of the past few weeks of the race. Read here. More money: Bill Daley topped the $3 million mark in fundraising and extended his financial advantage in the Chicago mayoral race, thanks to a round of checks that included support from a member of the Kennedy clan, the Tribune's Bill Ruthhart reported. Read here. And Willie Wilson, another of the 21 candidates in the race, just gave himself another $150,000. State AG: Clergy sex abuse worse than reported: A scathing report from Attorney General Lisa Madigan finds the number of Catholic clergy accused of sexual abuse in Illinois is much higher than previously acknowledged, with 690 clergy accused, although Catholic officials have publicly identified only 185 clergy with credible allegations against them. Read more here. D.C. attorney general sues Facebook: The lawsuit marks the first major effort by regulators in the United States to penalize the tech giant for its entanglement with Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy. Facebook allowed the firm to gain access to the names, "likes" and other personal data about tens of millions of the social site's users without their permission, authorities say. Breaking down healthcare twist: Here's what that ACA court ruling out of Texas means right now. | |
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