Good morning, Chicago. Heading into his second term, President Donald Trump promised to immediately target the immigration system with sweeping enforcement pushes and a hardline approach to granting asylum in the U.S. He’s pursued that pledge with headline-grabbing efforts like Operation Midway Bl itz, but also structural changes. One result: Chicago’s immigration court has lost nearly half the judges who worked there roughly a year ago. Of the 21 judges who worked at the city’s immigration court in January 2025, nine judges have resigned, taken buyouts or been terminated, a Tribune review found. Currently, the court has 14 permanent and two temporary judges to handle more backlogged cases than the court has seen at nearly any time in its history. They’re doing so in an environment where the gears are tightening for immigrants fighting their cases in court and there’s mounting disagreement over basic tenets of the legal process like whether immigrants in custody are eligible for money bond — all shot through with politics and supercharged through sprawling, splashy enforcement operations. The Tribune interviewed eight of the nine who left the bench, mirroring a larger exodus of immigration judges around the country. Read the full story from the Tribune’s Caroline Kubzansky. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: where things stand after the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, how Renee Good’s lawyer learned civil rights law litigating against Chicago police and what questions are facing the Bears with the No. 25 pick in the NFL draft. Today’s eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles Games | Today in History Iraqi Shiites hold pictures of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Tehran, during a symbolic funeral, in Najaf, Iraq, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil) War widens to include Iranian-backed militias as Israeli and American planes pound Iran Iran and Iranian-backed militias fired missiles at Israel and Arab states, apparently hitting the U.S. Embassy compound in Kuwait, while Israel and the United States pounded targets in Iran as the war expanded today with statements of defiance and increasing casualties. The U.S. military said Kuwait had “mistakenly shot down” three American F-15E Strike Eagles during a combat mission while attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones were underway. Where things stand after the US and Israeli strikes on Iran People gather in downtown Chicago on Jan. 17, 2026, to protest the Iran government's killing of protesters and general crackdown. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) Air strikes, death of Ayatollah Khamenei, celebrated by many in Chicago Iranian community Many in Chicago’s Iranian community are in high spirits after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was reported dead following a major attack Saturday by the United States and Israel. Leading Illinois Democrats denounce President Donald Trump’s military strikes in Iran Democratic candidate for the Illinois' 2nd Congressional District, Jesse Jackson Jr., speaks to the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, Feb. 5, 2026. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune) Jesse Jackson Jr. seeks redemption with Congress comeback following conviction: ‘I own my behavior’ The day Jesse Jackson Jr. was sworn into Congress in 1995, he asked a reporter to sum up where politicians go wrong. The answer, he recently recalled: “hubris.” More than a decade after finishing his 17-month stint in federal prison for a campaign finance scandal that drew national headlines, Jackson — with more greyed hair and now sporting thick glasses — says he has learned his lesson and wants that old seat back. Alejandro Barranco, left, a Marine veteran and son of Narciso Barranco, speaks as Antonio Romanucci, center, an attorney for Renee Good's family, listens at a hearing before the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington. The committee held a hearing on "Holding ICE Accountable for Brutality and Killing." (Alex Wong/Getty) Renee Good’s lawyer is fighting ICE. He learned civil rights law litigating against Chicago police. There is a statuette of a cheetah in Antonio Romanucci’s law office in a skyscraper overlooking the Chicago River. It sits next to a magazine cover of Romanucci, Chicago Lawyer’s “2021 Person of the Year.” The cheetah is sleek and black. And, as the 65-year-old attorney explains, it represents a story he often recites to juries in civil rights cases after police car chases turn deadly. Carly Schroeder stands outside the Schahfer Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant, and next to the site of a planned data center near her family farm, Feb. 9, 2026, in Wheatfield, Indiana. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) As Indiana extends coal and builds data centers, Illinois may be on the hook for neighbor’s AI boom Surrounded by farmland and wetlands, three generations of the Hunter family have grown crops and raised cattle, chickens and horses in this quiet corner of northwest Indiana. When the Hunters first started farming the 20-acre plot “this was their dream property,” said granddaughter Carly Schroeder. But in recent decades, those fields have sat in the shadow of a massive coal-fired power plant less than a mile away. Over the years, heavy metals have leached into the farm’s soil and groundwater, Schroeder said. State Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Mishawaka, walks to his desk at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis shortly before the Senate passed a bill Feb. 26, 2026, that outlines a financial structure for a Chicago Bears stadium in Hammond. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) Some Indiana taxpayers not as thrilled by Chicago Bears stadium plan as lawmakers In the rush by the Indiana legislature to bring the Bears to the state, lawmakers gushed over the proposal. One sponsor said they’d be “honored” to welcome the Bears owners. Another called the legislation “a major historical event.” One group was conspicuously absent from comments at the capital in Indianapolis: taxpayers who opposed the plan. Landmarks: Potential Chicago Bears stadium near Wolf Lake just the latest story for a place that’s always changing What to know about the Chicago Bears’ possible move from Soldier Field Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles (right) speaks as head coach Ben Johnson (left) listens in before introducing new players Drew Dalman and Dayo Odeyingbo at Halas Hall in Lake Forest on Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune). Trade up, trade down or stand pat? 3 questions facing the Chicago Bears with the No. 25 pick in the NFL draft. It was a busy 2025 season for the Bears, one that lasted two weeks longer than usual. That, of course, was a good thing. The Bears won their first playoff game in 15 years and played into the divisional round. After a long season, general manager Ryan Poles moved meetings with his college scouts later than usual in order to give everybody a chance to take a breath and refocus. Players Jonah Campbell, left front, and Tommy Chyna, center front, take direction from cheer coach Tonya Radcliffe as they learn a dance routine during the first practice for the new Chicago Snowballs baseball team at The Dome at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont on Feb. 17, 2026. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) Snowballs and strikes: New Chicago baseball team ready to hit the diamond Like any professional baseball team as the winter months start to thaw, the Snowballs have spent the past couple of weeks in spring training. Hours of batting practice, conditioning, jazz squares. A shimmy here, a swing there. The familiar buzz of a whole new season, new routines ahead — that first, first pitch under the floodlights a mere couple of months away. Showtime, Chicago. The Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell, or W.I.T.C.H., chants "justice is dead" outside the Federal Building on Sept. 24, 1969, to protest the conspiracy trial for the Chicago Eight, later the Chicago Seven after Bobby Seale's mistrial. (Michael Budrys/Chicago Tribune) Season of the W.I.T.C.H.: FBI unamused as female activists in pointy hats cast witty spells at ‘hexes’ Clad in tattered midnight rags, faces painted pale as a marble grave, the coven rushed forward arm in arm, their malevolent shrieks ringing through the Merchandise Mart. At a central spot, the crones halted, pulled out their cauldron and began the dark ritual. This dramatic gathering was the work of the Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell, or W.I.T.C.H., who staged a satirical series of protests around Chicago in 1969 and 1970 that baffled both the media and the authorities of the time. Chicago chef Jonathan Sawyer is on Season 7 of "Tournament of Champions." (Food Network) Chicago chefs Jonathon Sawyer and Joe Sasto to compete on Guy Fieri’s ‘Tournament of Champions’ Two Chicago-based chefs stepped back into the arena for Season 7 of Guy Fieri’s hit series “Tournament of Champions,” which premiered March 1. ...read more read less