Good morning, Chicago. Tornado season arrived like clockwork this year, with high winds blowing through the south and southwest suburbs March 19, tearing the roof off a building, picking up a metal shed and throwing trees to the ground. But if the screaming sirens and looming threats to life and pro perty are familiar, this year is different, experts say, with fewer National Weather Service employees on the job because of layoffs by President Donald Trump and less data about weather approaching from the Great Plains states. National Weather Service weather balloon releases — tracking temperature, pressure and wind speed — have been temporarily suspended in Omaha, Nebraska, and Rapid City, South Dakota, because of staff shortages and reduced at six other sites in the Midwest and Great Plains, according to agency memos. That loss has created “a gaping hole” in our balloon data in Illinois, according to Victor Gensini, an associate professor in the department of Earth, atmosphere and environment at Northern Illinois University. Read the full story from the Tribune’s Nara Schoenberg. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including President Donald Trump saying he’s considering ways to serve a third term, Rockford residents reflect on the violent attack on their community last year and an inside look at how incarcerated Muslims in Illinois observe Ramadan. Today’s eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History Elon Musk presents a check for $1 million dollars during a town hall Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps) Elon Musk hands out $1 million payments after Wisconsin Supreme Court declines request to stop him Elon Musk gave out $1 million checks on Sunday to two Wisconsin voters, declaring them spokespeople for his political group, ahead of a Wisconsin Supreme Court election that the tech billionaire cast as critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda and “the future of civilization.” Related:  Is Elon Musk skirting election law in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race? President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, March 28, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) Trump says he’s considering ways to serve a third term as president President Donald Trump said yesterday “I’m not joking” about trying to serve a third term, the clearest indication he is considering ways to breach a constitutional barrier against continuing to lead the country after his second term ends at the beginning of 2029. “There are methods which you could do it,” Trump said in a telephone interview with NBC News from Mar-a-Lago, his private club. Related:  Federal judge blocks President Trump from dismantling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Greenland prime minister says US will not get Greenland Andrew Boutros. (Andrew Collings/Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP) Andrew Boutros officially announced as interim U.S. attorney in Chicago Veteran Chicago lawyer and former federal prosecutor Andrew Boutros was officially appointed Friday to serve as interim U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Tabatha Banta reflects on her daughter, Jenna Newcomb, who was killed a year ago last week in a mass stabbing attack in Rockford, March 26, 2025. “I feel like I’m losing her all over again,” Banta said of the one-year mark. “But this time, I know it’s coming.” (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) ‘I just try to imagine why this happened’: Neighbors, victims live with aftershocks of Rockford rampage Tabatha Banta thought the first few weeks after her daughter died would be the most difficult. But she spent the last few weeks dreading the arrival of March 27. “I feel like I’m losing her all over again,” she said. “But this time, I know it’s coming.” Investigator Frank Anson places an electronic monitoring device on a detainee before they’re released inside the electronic monitoring discharge facility in the basement of Division V at the Cook County Jail in Chicago on April 12, 2018. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) Contentious overhaul of electronic-monitoring program in Cook County arriving after brewing for years After months of planning and discussion, the Cook County sheriff’s office starting tomorrow will no longer accept new electronic monitoring participants, marking the beginning of a shift in one way pretrial justice is handled in Cook County. Muslim inmates Ronald Franklin, Robert McCullough and Chaka Richblood, with the Quran, study in the chapel at Danville Correctional Center on March 24, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune) ‘We’re not seen’: Illinois’ incarcerated Muslim community observes Ramadan Robert McCullough said his Ramadan routine involved waking up around 3 a.m. to eat, drink and read the Quran. He would then go back to sleep for a few hours before waking up to pray fajr, the first of the five daily prayers in Islam. He is just one of hundreds of Muslims within the Illinois Department of Corrections who are practicing their religion while serving time. At the Danville Correctional Center, there are around 160 practicing Muslims. Related:  ‘Eid of sadness’: Palestinians in Gaza mark Muslim holiday with dwindling food and no end to war People with signs stand outside a Tesla dealership at 901 N. Rush St. in Chicago to protest Tesla Chief Dxecutive Elon Musk’s involvement in federal government affairs during a demonstration called, “Tesla Takedown” on Saturday, March 29, 2025. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) Hundreds gather at Gold Coast Tesla dealership as part of national protests against DOGE Roughly 200 people packed the corners of Delaware and Rush streets outside the Tesla dealership in the Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon, taking part in nationwide protests against billionaire Elon Musk and his role in the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. People cheer during a rally led by the advocacy group Trans Up Front Illinois in support of transgender people at Federal Plaza on March 30, 2025. Sunday’s protest took place one day before Trans Day of Visibility. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) Nearly 1,000 people pour into Federal Plaza to show support for transgender people amid attacks Christy Cox, 58, says she has been fighting for the rights of transgender people like herself for decades. “I’m here to really show that queer elders do exist, so that 8-year-old kid over there can see that you can grow up and be a 58-year-old trans person,” Cox said. The Naperville resident, who joined close to 1,000 people yesterday at a transgender rights protest in Federal Plaza, held a sign that read “survive out of spite.” Josue Sandoval, a senior at Brooks High School, practices pitching at Mann Park in Chicago on March 28, 2025. Sandoval will throw out the first pitch at a White Sox game on March 31, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune) CPS senior and aspiring author to throw first pitch at White Sox game One of Josue Sandoval’s earliest memories is sitting in a brown hospital room at 3 years old, scarfing down what he remembers being “the best pancakes” of his life, with his father by his side as he prepared for eye surgery. Born with a congenital birth defect, Sandoval, 18, has been visually impaired his entire life. Nick Maton #0 of the Chicago White Sox celebrates a home run in the first inning of a game against the Los Angeles Angels at Rate Field on March 30, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Matt Dirksen/Getty Images) Takeaways as the Chicago White Sox get soaked in Sunday’s loss, drop opening series to the Los Angeles Angels The Chicago White Sox had a lead or were tied entering the eighth inning in each of the three games of the season-opening series against the Los Angeles Angels. But they have a 1-2 record to show for it after falling 3-2 in yesterday’s rubber match in front of 19,591 at Rate Field. Chicago Cubs’ Kyle Tucker hits a three run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the eighth inning during a baseball game, Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Chicago Cubs squander a lead and split the series with Arizona — but Craig Counsell still trusts the bullpen It wouldn’t be a trip to Chase Field without a frustrating loss for the Chicago Cubs. They were on the verge of taking three of four games against the Arizona Diamondbacks when an eighth-inning meltdown by the bullpen thwarted those efforts in a 10-6 loss yesterday. Longtime Chicago broadcast journalist Walter Jacobson, who on March 27 signed off from delivering his weekly “Perspective” commentaries on WGN-AM, has his three-bedroom co-op in this Gold Coast building on the market for $1.075 million, and he has struck a deal to sell it. (Cook County Assessor) Longtime Chicago journalist Walter Jacobson lists Gold Coast co-op unit for nearly $1.1M, and finds a buyer Longtime Chicago broadcast journalist Walter Jacobson, who on Friday signed off from delivering his weekly “Perspective” commentaries on WGN-AM, has his three-bedroom, 2,800-square-foot co-op unit on the Gold Coast on the market for $1.075 million, and he has struck a deal to sell it. The cast of “Sunny Afternoon” in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier. (Carol Rosegg) Review: ‘Sunny Afternoon’ at Chicago Shakespeare chases the soul of Ray Davies and The Kinks Like most new musicals, especially ambitious U.S. imports from London (no tariffs, please), “Sunny Afternoon” has a ways to go in finding out what it wants to be. It hasn’t decided what scale works. Kraftwerk performs the song “The Man-Machine” at the Auditorium Theatre on March 29, 2025, in Chicago. (Vincent D. Johnson/for the Chicago Tribune) Review: Kraftwerk creates visions of a very ’80s future at the Auditorium Theatre The sound of the present and multiple futures resonated as a spectacular series of pulse waves transmitted by Kraftwerk Saturday at a near-capacity Auditorium Theatre. Though a majority of the songs they played were created more than four decades ago, the electronic maestros’ precision-mannered performance, thematic statements and winking humor ensured none of the material lost any of its cutting edge. Being Kraftwerk, the two-hour concert featured abundant visuals and illumination that ensured each tune was accompanied by its own custom, unique treatment. The German band also benefited from the venue’s excellent acoustics. Clear and dynamic, the main frequency ranges blossomed with a fidelity not possible at the group’s two most recent local gigs at the Riviera Theatre (2014) and Aragon (2022). ...read more read less