@SZReports
@szreports.bsky.social
*Investigative journalist at Chicago Sun-Times
*Expert in consumer issues
*Previously with ABC News Investigative Unit
*Medill School of Journalism
*Expert in consumer issues
*Previously with ABC News Investigative Unit
*Medill School of Journalism
Pinned
@SZReports
@szreports.bsky.social
· Jul 18
Supermarket super-pain: Trump's campaign promise to cut food prices falls short
The Sun-Times has been tracking prices for 35 grocery items across four stores, since December. We found most stayed the same or increased, with our shopping cart's total price rising by up to $11.
chicago.suntimes.com
I’ve been busy since December tracking a basket full of 35 grocery items each month at four Chicago stores since Donald Trump’s reelection.
He said he won on immigration and groceries.
But the cost of my basket keeps going up. (1/3)
chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...
He said he won on immigration and groceries.
But the cost of my basket keeps going up. (1/3)
chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...
Reposted by @SZReports
Ukraine facing widespread power cuts after generating capacity reduced to ‘zero’ by Russian attacks
Ukraine facing widespread power cuts after generating capacity reduced to ‘zero’ by Russian attacks
Power to be cut for as much as 16 hours a day across most of Ukraine while repairs are carried out
Power will be cut for between eight and 16 hours across most regions of Ukraine on Sunday, state transmission system operator Ukrenergo has said, after Russian attacks targeting energy infrastructure reduced the country’s generating capacity to “zero”.
Moscow, which has escalated attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure in recent months, launched hundreds of drones at energy facilities across the country from Friday into Saturday. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Ukraine facing widespread power cuts after generating capacity reduced to ‘zero’ by Russian attacks
“… neither the novel nor the 1920s ended well.”
Trump Is Pushing Us Toward a Crash. It Could Be 1929 All Over Again. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/o...
Trump Is Pushing Us Toward a Crash. It Could Be 1929 All Over Again. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/o...
Opinion | Trump Is Pushing Us Toward a Crash. It Could Be 1929 All Over Again.
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:26 AM
“… neither the novel nor the 1920s ended well.”
Trump Is Pushing Us Toward a Crash. It Could Be 1929 All Over Again. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/o...
Trump Is Pushing Us Toward a Crash. It Could Be 1929 All Over Again. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/o...
Lots going on in Chicago, but our monthly grocery price checks continue!
Here’s what’s happening in November with groceries as the holidays approach and the fed govt resists paying SNAP benefits:
chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...
Here’s what’s happening in November with groceries as the holidays approach and the fed govt resists paying SNAP benefits:
chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...
Rising grocery prices dampen holiday cheer, how some Chicagoans are coping
The Sun-Times has been checking the prices of 35 common grocery items at four Chicago stores the past year, and most items have not become cheaper.
chicago.suntimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Lots going on in Chicago, but our monthly grocery price checks continue!
Here’s what’s happening in November with groceries as the holidays approach and the fed govt resists paying SNAP benefits:
chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...
Here’s what’s happening in November with groceries as the holidays approach and the fed govt resists paying SNAP benefits:
chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...
ICYMI — and if the ruling by Judge Ellis in Chicago has you yearning for poetry — here is the story by @jonseidel.bsky.social and here is Carl Sandburg’s poem, “Chicago”:
Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
(1/8)
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
(1/8)
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Judge blasts Trump’s Chicago border ‘Blitz,’ extends curbs on use of force that ‘shocks the conscience’
Judge Sara Ellis said Trump's Justice Department lacks credibility, partly because of a lie told by U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino.
chicago.suntimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:13 PM
ICYMI — and if the ruling by Judge Ellis in Chicago has you yearning for poetry — here is the story by @jonseidel.bsky.social and here is Carl Sandburg’s poem, “Chicago”:
Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
(1/8)
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
(1/8)
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Reposted by @SZReports
This goes so far beyond creepy.
“‘Rest easy, king,’ read the final message sent to his phone. ‘You did good.’”
“‘Rest easy, king,’ read the final message sent to his phone. ‘You did good.’”
ChatGPT encouraged college graduate to commit suicide, family claims in lawsuit against OpenAI | CNN
A 23-year-old man killed himself in Texas after ChatGPT ‘goaded’ him to commit suicide, his family says in a lawsuit.
www.cnn.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:16 AM
This goes so far beyond creepy.
“‘Rest easy, king,’ read the final message sent to his phone. ‘You did good.’”
“‘Rest easy, king,’ read the final message sent to his phone. ‘You did good.’”
Great story by @chicago.suntimes.com colleague Nader Issa analyzing DHS/ICE propaganda and explaining why it resonates.
Your tax dollars at work, filming flash bangs and zip ties (while avoiding footage of children crying or a daycare teacher being manhandled).
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Your tax dollars at work, filming flash bangs and zip ties (while avoiding footage of children crying or a daycare teacher being manhandled).
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Watch how government propaganda techniques portray Chicago as a city at war with the feds
The government’s social media storytelling doesn’t always match what’s happening across the city and suburbs. The diverging sources of information are creating “parallel universes," professor Nick Cul...
chicago.suntimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Great story by @chicago.suntimes.com colleague Nader Issa analyzing DHS/ICE propaganda and explaining why it resonates.
Your tax dollars at work, filming flash bangs and zip ties (while avoiding footage of children crying or a daycare teacher being manhandled).
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Your tax dollars at work, filming flash bangs and zip ties (while avoiding footage of children crying or a daycare teacher being manhandled).
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Their city … ?
Lawyers play a video that was played for Bovino. In it, he tells agents "everybody fucking gets it if they touch you."
"This is OUR fucking city," Bovino tells them.
"This is OUR fucking city," Bovino tells them.
November 6, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Their city … ?
This is my neighborhood and the day care center is on one of my walking routes. This morning I spoke with a grandmother of a 4-year-old girl who goes to that day care center. She’s appalled that federal agents in tactical gear grabbed a teacher and apparently went into rooms, traumatizing children.
Tyler and I are out here at the rally where the crowd has about doubled since this first post. Easily 400+ people.
Group is chanting “no hate, no fear, everyone is welcome here.”
Group is chanting “no hate, no fear, everyone is welcome here.”
Here at Northcenter Town Square where 100-200 community members including families and young children are rallying after a teacher was taken by federal law enforcement from a local daycare this morning.
November 6, 2025 at 3:22 AM
This is my neighborhood and the day care center is on one of my walking routes. This morning I spoke with a grandmother of a 4-year-old girl who goes to that day care center. She’s appalled that federal agents in tactical gear grabbed a teacher and apparently went into rooms, traumatizing children.
Reposted by @SZReports
Tyler and I are out here at the rally where the crowd has about doubled since this first post. Easily 400+ people.
Group is chanting “no hate, no fear, everyone is welcome here.”
Group is chanting “no hate, no fear, everyone is welcome here.”
Here at Northcenter Town Square where 100-200 community members including families and young children are rallying after a teacher was taken by federal law enforcement from a local daycare this morning.
November 6, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Tyler and I are out here at the rally where the crowd has about doubled since this first post. Easily 400+ people.
Group is chanting “no hate, no fear, everyone is welcome here.”
Group is chanting “no hate, no fear, everyone is welcome here.”
Reposted by @SZReports
Munchak says she left the scene but was followed and blocked in by agents in SUVs. She says they "rushed my car … and then an agent was in front of my car aiming a gun at my head."
November 5, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Munchak says she left the scene but was followed and blocked in by agents in SUVs. She says they "rushed my car … and then an agent was in front of my car aiming a gun at my head."
This happened right across from Lane Tech High School.
Trying to imagine the scene inside the daycare with the little kids’ teacher being manhandled out the door….
Trying to imagine the scene inside the daycare with the little kids’ teacher being manhandled out the door….
A daycare teacher was detained by federal immigration officers Wednesday morning on the Northwest Side, a video shows.
Daycare teacher taken into ICE custody on Northwest Side, video shows
Video purportedly showed two agents pulling the woman out of Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Early Learning Center at 2550 W. Addison St. around 7 a.m.
trib.al
November 5, 2025 at 5:35 PM
This happened right across from Lane Tech High School.
Trying to imagine the scene inside the daycare with the little kids’ teacher being manhandled out the door….
Trying to imagine the scene inside the daycare with the little kids’ teacher being manhandled out the door….
Reposted by @SZReports
NEW: Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer who served three terms in the U.S. House, will become Virginia's next governor, The Associated Press reports.
Spanberger will be the state's first female governor. https://to.pbs.org/4hCyiWm
Spanberger will be the state's first female governor. https://to.pbs.org/4hCyiWm
November 5, 2025 at 1:03 AM
NEW: Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer who served three terms in the U.S. House, will become Virginia's next governor, The Associated Press reports.
Spanberger will be the state's first female governor. https://to.pbs.org/4hCyiWm
Spanberger will be the state's first female governor. https://to.pbs.org/4hCyiWm
“Rockwell’s son and other descendants wrote that … the artist would be “devastated” to see his work “marshalled for the cause of persecution toward immigrant communities and people of color.”
Norman Rockwell’s Family Condemns Homeland Security’s Use of His Work www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/a...
Norman Rockwell’s Family Condemns Homeland Security’s Use of His Work www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/a...
Norman Rockwell’s Family Condemns Homeland Security’s Use of His Work
www.nytimes.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:32 PM
“Rockwell’s son and other descendants wrote that … the artist would be “devastated” to see his work “marshalled for the cause of persecution toward immigrant communities and people of color.”
Norman Rockwell’s Family Condemns Homeland Security’s Use of His Work www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/a...
Norman Rockwell’s Family Condemns Homeland Security’s Use of His Work www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/a...
Reposted by @SZReports
U.S. Robert Gettleman is now giving his thoughts. He says, "I think the evidence has been pretty strong that this facility is no longer just a temporary holding facility. …
"It has really become a prison."
"It has really become a prison."
DOJ's Jana Brady steps up next but says she'll largely "rest on our brief that we filed."
She wants any TRO to not "interfere with the executive branch."
She wants any TRO to not "interfere with the executive branch."
November 4, 2025 at 10:01 PM
U.S. Robert Gettleman is now giving his thoughts. He says, "I think the evidence has been pretty strong that this facility is no longer just a temporary holding facility. …
"It has really become a prison."
"It has really become a prison."
Reposted by @SZReports
Overnight court filings seem to be giving us a peek at what U.S. Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino said in his deposition so far (it apparently continues today):
November 4, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Overnight court filings seem to be giving us a peek at what U.S. Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino said in his deposition so far (it apparently continues today):
Sign of the times in Chicago:
A poster on the front door of my church this morning in Ravenswood.
A poster on the front door of my church this morning in Ravenswood.
November 2, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Sign of the times in Chicago:
A poster on the front door of my church this morning in Ravenswood.
A poster on the front door of my church this morning in Ravenswood.
How would you feel if federal immigration agents, with no warrant, jumped a fence onto your property and started chasing the men working on your windows?
A Lakeview man describes what happened at his home.
(No paywall at Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Public Media)
chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...
A Lakeview man describes what happened at his home.
(No paywall at Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Public Media)
chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...
Lake View man wants the Chicago police to investigate feds who entered his property during raid
The homeowner said the raid, which resulted in the arrest of a construction worker, has left him shaken.
chicago.suntimes.com
November 2, 2025 at 6:47 PM
How would you feel if federal immigration agents, with no warrant, jumped a fence onto your property and started chasing the men working on your windows?
A Lakeview man describes what happened at his home.
(No paywall at Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Public Media)
chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...
A Lakeview man describes what happened at his home.
(No paywall at Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Public Media)
chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...
Reposted by @SZReports
Many talented #Ukrainian actors, artists, comedians, sportspeople, and others left their professional careers to take up arms and defend their country from Russian occupiers.
Russia's war against Ukraine has taken the lives of at least 240 Ukrainian culture makers. This is a great loss.
Russia's war against Ukraine has taken the lives of at least 240 Ukrainian culture makers. This is a great loss.
November 1, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Many talented #Ukrainian actors, artists, comedians, sportspeople, and others left their professional careers to take up arms and defend their country from Russian occupiers.
Russia's war against Ukraine has taken the lives of at least 240 Ukrainian culture makers. This is a great loss.
Russia's war against Ukraine has taken the lives of at least 240 Ukrainian culture makers. This is a great loss.
Is it gonna get done the same way he promised a high-speed electric transit tunnel to blast passengers to O’Hare so they wouldn’t have to ride the CTA Blue Line?
Elon Musk says he's going to demo a flying car by the end of the year.
Elon Musk Tells Joe Rogan That He Will Demo a Flying Car by End of Year
gizmodo.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Is it gonna get done the same way he promised a high-speed electric transit tunnel to blast passengers to O’Hare so they wouldn’t have to ride the CTA Blue Line?
Reposted by @SZReports
Alvin Holsey, who ran bombings as SouthCom head, resigned with no explanation. Rep Adam Smith says Pentagon denied request for testimony and Rs aren't pushing for it.
"We need to hear: Did he quit because he believed he was being given illegal orders?”
New details:
newrepublic.com/article/2025...
"We need to hear: Did he quit because he believed he was being given illegal orders?”
New details:
newrepublic.com/article/2025...
October 31, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Alvin Holsey, who ran bombings as SouthCom head, resigned with no explanation. Rep Adam Smith says Pentagon denied request for testimony and Rs aren't pushing for it.
"We need to hear: Did he quit because he believed he was being given illegal orders?”
New details:
newrepublic.com/article/2025...
"We need to hear: Did he quit because he believed he was being given illegal orders?”
New details:
newrepublic.com/article/2025...
Reposted by @SZReports
This is really appalling: Rep Adam Smith tells me that in a briefing, Pentagon officials said they reserve the right to kill people who are "affiliated" with their list of "narco-terror groups."
But under questioning, they wouldn't define what "affiliated" means!
newrepublic.com/article/2025...
But under questioning, they wouldn't define what "affiliated" means!
newrepublic.com/article/2025...
October 31, 2025 at 6:14 PM
This is really appalling: Rep Adam Smith tells me that in a briefing, Pentagon officials said they reserve the right to kill people who are "affiliated" with their list of "narco-terror groups."
But under questioning, they wouldn't define what "affiliated" means!
newrepublic.com/article/2025...
But under questioning, they wouldn't define what "affiliated" means!
newrepublic.com/article/2025...
Reposted by @SZReports
Several have survived bombings and have been repatriated, rather than held as enemy combatants. Does this mean the admin lacks sufficient evidence to hold the people it is summarily executing?
This also came up in private briefing. The unnerving details are here:
newrepublic.com/article/2025...
This also came up in private briefing. The unnerving details are here:
newrepublic.com/article/2025...
October 31, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Several have survived bombings and have been repatriated, rather than held as enemy combatants. Does this mean the admin lacks sufficient evidence to hold the people it is summarily executing?
This also came up in private briefing. The unnerving details are here:
newrepublic.com/article/2025...
This also came up in private briefing. The unnerving details are here:
newrepublic.com/article/2025...
Chicago Sun-Times demands DHS immediately remove its images from their posts.
“These usages are blatant infringements of [Chicago Sun-Times Media’s] intellectual property rights.”
#journalism
“These usages are blatant infringements of [Chicago Sun-Times Media’s] intellectual property rights.”
#journalism
The letter said @chicago.suntimes.com would file suit for intellectual property right infringement if the three pics used in social posts over the last week aren’t immediately removed from government accounts.
A Sun-Times legal rep said DHS could be liable for damages of up to $150k per violation.
A Sun-Times legal rep said DHS could be liable for damages of up to $150k per violation.
Chicago Sun-Times demands DHS remove social posts using its photos without permission
A letter sent to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Thursday says the government used three Sun-Times photos without permission to promote its immigration enforcement campaign. The ...
chicago.suntimes.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Chicago Sun-Times demands DHS immediately remove its images from their posts.
“These usages are blatant infringements of [Chicago Sun-Times Media’s] intellectual property rights.”
#journalism
“These usages are blatant infringements of [Chicago Sun-Times Media’s] intellectual property rights.”
#journalism
Plus it’s scary-looking
Why would someone pay $20k for a robot controlled by a human in a remote location to do things more slowly and clumsily when the median wage for a maid or housekeeper is $33k per year, which is typically spread across 10-20 households?
October 30, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Plus it’s scary-looking
Reposted by @SZReports
“.. A top US military official has ordered the national guards of all 50 US states .. to form ‘quick reaction forces’ trained in ‘riot control’, including use of batons, body shields, Tasers and pepper spray, according to an internal Pentagon directive ..”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
October 29, 2025 at 6:37 PM
“.. A top US military official has ordered the national guards of all 50 US states .. to form ‘quick reaction forces’ trained in ‘riot control’, including use of batons, body shields, Tasers and pepper spray, according to an internal Pentagon directive ..”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...