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| Good morning, Chicago. The Chicago Transit Authority will increase the number of police officers patrolling city’s public transit system Friday following a threat from President Donald Trump’s administration that the mass transit agency could lose federal funding if it did not take certain steps to address violent crime. Read the full story from the Tribune’s Talia Soglin. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including why Illinois has been sued over refusing to turn over sensitive state voter data, what Illinois lawmakers said about the Bears possibly moving to Indiana and why a British baker’s criticism of Mexican bread triggered outrage. Today’s eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History
 Law enforcement officers are seen outside a storage facility where a suspect in the shooting at Brown University was found dead, Dec. 18, 2025, in Salem, N.H. (AP Photo/Reba Saldanha) Man suspected in Brown University shooting and MIT professor’s killing is found dead, officials sayA frantic search for the suspect in last weekend’s mass shooting at Brown University ended at a New Hampshire storage facility where authorities discovered the man dead inside and then revealed he also was suspected of killing a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor.
 A voter receives a ballot on April 1, 2025, in the suburban Cook County Consolidated Election at Yates Elementary School in Matteson. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) President Donald Trump’s Justice Department sues Illinois over sensitive state voter dataPresident Donald Trump’s Department of Justice sued the executive director of the Illinois State Board of Elections, alleging the board’s refusal to release sensitive information on the state’s roughly 8.3 million registered voters violated federal civil rights law.
 Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, stands with alternative budget coalition members and speaks following a City Council meeting at City Hall on Dec. 18, 2025. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune) Mayor Brandon Johnson calls aldermen’s debt sale plan a ‘red line,’ yet mum on budget vetoMayor Brandon Johnson singled out a debt collection measure as his latest nonstarter in the budget proposal crafted by his aldermanic antagonists, who showed no signs of slowing their march toward an imminent final vote.
 During the first meeting of the Illinois Accountability Commission at Arturo Velasquez Institute at Richard J. Daley College on Dec. 18, 2025, Dalia
Radecki, of the Resurrection Project, reacts after watching a video of the aftermath of an incident where a family was sprayed by chemical agents in November. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune) State commission highlights ‘unjustified’ uses of tear gas, pepper spray by federal immigration agentsAfter Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and scores of his federal agents left Chicago last month, and immigration enforcement wound down, Matt DeMateo said daily life slowly but surely returned to normal.
 Lawrence Reed, 50, faces a federal charge after he allegedly poured gasoline on a 26-year-old woman riding a CTA Blue Line train and set her on fire, authorities said. (U.S. District Court) Man accused of lighting woman on fire on CTA train faces new charge in arson outside City HallA man accused of lighting a woman on fire on the CTA Blue Line last month has been indicted on additional federal charges alleging he lit a fire outside City Hall three days earlier.
 The-Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau addresses a crowd during a dedication event at the Orland Park police station Oct. 23, 2023. (John Smierciak/for the Daily Southtown) 2 claims dismissed in Orland Park lawsuit against former Mayor Keith PekauA Cook County judge granted former Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau a partial win in an ongoing lawsuit brought by the village against him. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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