Today we bring you your senator's reaction to the biggest political story this week and an update on Stateville Correctional Center's closing.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth appears on “Chicago Tonight” via Zoom on March 25, 2025. (WTTW News)
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth on Tuesday slammed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Senate Democrats for voting with Republicans to keep the government open earlier this month. “I was furious with Leader Schumer, and I told him we needed to go and fight,” Duckworth said during an interview with WTTW News. “I could not disagree with Leader Schumer more. We should have stood up to the Republicans. It was a minority of Democrats who voted for it. I am appalled that we basically gave Donald Trump permission to basically continue to raid government.” Duckworth said President Donald Trump was looking to cut benefits for veterans, seniors and people with disabilities “so that he can fund tax cuts for billionaires.”
The other big story: Duckworth also addressed the revelation that details of an imminent attack on Yemen were accidentally shared with a journalist from The Atlantic magazine over the commercial encrypted messaging app Signal. “Every single official on that Signal chain needs to hand over their electronic devices so that it can be investigated,” said Duckworth. “Frankly, this is an egregious breach of national security that put our servicemen and women’s lives on the line in danger.”
Duckworth previously called Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unqualified to lead and said he should either step down or be fired. The apparently lax treatment of national security secrets is also likely to have allies questioning just how much intelligence they should share with the U.S., said Duckworth.
“I can tell you right now that they are reconsidering whether or not they will share future intelligence with us, which then puts the lives of men and women in uniform for our great nation in danger in the future because we will not have the full intelligence picture,” she said.
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Stateville Correctional Center is pictured in a file photo. (Andrew Campbell / Capitol News Illinois)
The last men incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center have been transferred out of the facility, bringing the 100-year-old prison to a close, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections. Some background: Gov. J.B. Pritzker last year announced plans to close and rebuild Stateville after a report found the aging prison is “not suitable for any 21st century correctional center.” Most men were transferred out of the facility in September after civil rights firm Loevy and Loevy filed a successful motion as part of an ongoing class action lawsuit. A small group was left behind in Stateville’s medical unit because it did “not exhibit the risks of falling concrete that exists in the general housing units.” But in letters to WTTW News, the men left behind described “third-world conditions”: segregation with no access to recreational activities, the law library, educational programs or time in the chapel.
Equip for Equality sues: Disability rights group Equip for Equality last month filed a lawsuit against Latoya Hughes, IDOC’s acting director, alleging she violated the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act by holding the men inside in “unduly restrictive and isolating conditions compared to prisoners without disabilities, because of their disabilities.”
Equip for Equality this month filed a motion to immediately transfer the remaining men out of Stateville.
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Chicago police failed to document 210,622 traffic stops in 2024, even as officials work to craft new rules that would limit the ability of officers to make certain kinds of stops. CPD officials reported officers made 295,846 traffic stops to the Illinois Department of Transportation, which is required by state law to track all stops made by police officers throughout the state. The underreporting means Chicago police officers actually made 506,468 traffic stops in 2024. That represents just a 5.7% drop from the number of traffic stops made by CPD in 2023 and reported to state officials. In a statement to WTTW News, a CPD spokesperson blamed data collection errors and lax supervision for the unreported stops but declined to respond to detailed questions.
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Fifteen years ago on this date, federal prosecutors charged a Chicago cab driver with “attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.” Raja Lahrasib Khan was a naturalized American citizen of Pakistani origin who was caught speaking to an undercover agent about his connection to Ilyas Kashmiri, a Pakistani nationalist and alleged Al Qaeda affiliate who had been charged in a federal indictment in Chicago with planning a terrorist attack in Denmark. According to the
charges, Khan accepted $1,000 from the undercover agent to send to Kashmiri. In 2012, Khan was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, while in 2011 Kashmiri was killed in a drone strike.
Local Live Music Recommendations for Mar. 26-Apr. 1
Each Wednesday, WTTW News producer Josh Terry presents must-see live music shows from indie rock to jazz, country, hip-hop and more.Friday, March 28: Sarah Shook & the Disarmers at FitzGerald’s. Tickets.The long-running Americana band goes on one final tour to say farewell to their fans. Saturday, March 29: Kraftwerk at Auditorium Theatre. Tickets.The iconic German band returns to Chicago. Jules Reidy, Kari Watson at Constellation. Tickets.This Australian-born artist is a tasteful and unique guitar player. Monday, March 31: Deftones, the Mars Volta at United Center. Tickets.An influential and innovative alternative metal band keeps finding new audiences. Tuesday, April 1: Sleeper’s Bell, Shady Cove, Morgan Powers at Hideout. Tickets.Several local bands play at the city’s coziest venue.
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A new book explores the life and legacy of former Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis.
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
