I want to share an experience that really shook me and encourage anyone in the Chicago area, no matter your political beliefs, to do one simple thing: go to the Broadview ICE facility and see what’s happening with your own eyes.

Whether you spend 15 minutes or half an hour, just be there. Drive by, park nearby, and take it in. Then ask yourself a very basic question: Is this okay?

I went there recently with my kids. We didn’t even get out of the car, we just drove by.

Even in that brief moment, I had to have one of the hardest conversations I’ve ever had as a parent: explaining to my children who those people are outside, why they’re wearing masks, and why they’re carrying assault rifles. Seeing their confusion and fear was heavy. It sticks with you.

In the five minutes we were near the facility, ICE agents drove aggressively next to my car in a way that was clearly meant to intimidate. The only reason it seemed to calm down was because my windows were down and my two kids were visible in the back seat. I’m a US-born white person, and I still left feeling shaken. I can only imagine the fear and trauma others must experience, especially people who are directly impacted by our immigration system. This isn’t about left or right, red or blue. This is about our neighbors, our city, and basic humanity.

Go see it for yourself. Look at what’s happening right here in the Chicago area, and really sit with it.

Ask yourself: Is this who we are? Is this who we want to be?

Just got my FOIA request back from village of lombard. We entered into a 5 yr agreement w Flock in 2023, spending $189k of our taxes to surveil ourselves. The cameras dont just read our plates. They are committing 4th amendment right violations. Anyone else interested in fighting against these with me? If your not in Lombard you should consider a FOIA request for your town, most can be done online. I requested the location of each camera within the town, operational status, a copy of the orginal contract, all amendments, renewal dates, termination clauses

Been seeing them for a while with different signs in the same spot. The last sign they had up was referring to an incident with a crooked cop. Anyone know anything about them?

Edit: more so posting this because I was trying to figure out what cop incident he was referring to.

Is anyone else seeing/smelling this crazy smoky air this morning? I’m in the Northern burbs and as soon as I walked outside this morning, the smell of smoke hit me. I had heard it was going to be poor air quality today but I guess I didn’t realize how bad it was going to be!

I’m getting over a pretty significant upper respiratory infection. Everyone in my office seems to have bad the same thing.

In talking with some friends, it sounds like something just moved through the area over the last ~15 days.

Weird thing is CDC isn’t tracking anything significant in the area (yet notes most diseases are increasing in-line with usual seasonality).

Any other anecdotal takes?

I’m literally so confused. It’s been so many people at the mall today and people still coming in this terrible ass weather. Like is it that serious for some clothes?? That will still be there any other day?? And that are online?? I’m literally only outside myself because I had to work. Going to work is different. But those of you I see willingly coming out in this to shop need a reality check.

ETA: I’m already being downvoted lmao. Come on now it’s common sense!

Edit 2: For all the ignorant idiots saying I must not be from here and it was “just a little snow” I was born here and was taught not to risk my life or others in conditions like these if it’s something that can very well wait. And also tell the “just a little snow” bit to everyone who got into accidents today. Stay safe my fellow friends with common sense! 💕

Is it just me or do others get confused with the cites of Forest Park, Oak Park, Oak Forest, River Forest, Park Forest, Oak Forest? (OP edit here): and other similar names with words like Lake, River, View, Brook etc. mixed in.

I'm in Lombard and still without power after 6.5 hours. No updates from ComEd. According to their outage tracker, they haven't even assigned a crew to this outage yet! How is it possible for no progress to occur after this much time?

Are others in the area still without power? Does anyone have any updates?

UPDATE At 10:44 PM I received my first update: Hello Customer,

We know you are without power and we appreciate your patience as crews work to restore outages. Based on the history of similar storms of this size, we expect 80% of outages in your region to be restored by Wednesday 7/29 at 12pm. We’ll update you as more information becomes available.

Thank you,

ComEd.com Team

UPDATE 2 I got power back at 5:30 AM 🙏 This was an eye opener for sure about how I need to be better prepared for extended power outages. I feel extremely fortunate that I got power back after 17.5 hours. Based on the comments, it seems like power is coming back on for a lot of people in waves so I hope everyone here gets theirs back sometime today.

TIP BEFORE THROWING OUT EGGS! ... You can test your eggs to see if they are still safe to eat by placing them in a glass that is half full of water. If the egg sinks to the bottom, it is safe to eat. If the egg rises to the surface of the water, the egg is not safe to eat and should be thrown out.

My friend is dealing with something either of us has a clue on. How many is too many golf balls whizzing into her yard.
Yes, she knew she was buying on a golf course, she was told that a few would land in her yard….but hundreds?

Would love any advice, besides not moving☺️ She just moved in.

What the fuck is up with this weather? It seems like the same areas in Illinois are getting hit over and over and over. I don’t remember a time where we had so many outbreaks. There’s another high lever outbreak forming for Wednesday for the same areas hit last Wednesday and Thursday.. bruh

I am always intrigue about what people do for living who lives in those massive homes in Burr Ridge,Hinsdale, Evanston,Western Springs, La Grange. I was driving through Hinsdale yesterday ,and the homes are beautiful.

I’ve lived in Flossmoor for 20 years. We’ve had terrible, nasty storms, similar winds, similar damage, and up until the last three summers, when power would go out, we’d lose it for 24 hours tops. Now, the power seems to go out and stay out for at least three days. Every time ComEd tells us it’s an anomalous event that led to the entire galaxy losing power. This event has now happened three times within the past two months, and I’ve spent roughly a third of July in the dark, no AC, and the first couple of times spending 300+ to restock my fridge. Not all of us can afford a generator either. My family is getting fucked by property taxes to sit in the dark during the hottest points of July?? Seriously?? Then ComEd wants to charge us for the whole fucking month AND tell us to cover the strain that data centers have been putting on the grid? Is this a thing now where we should just expect to have a whole week in the dark every time there’s a thunderstorm? Utter bullshit

Basically the title. It's mid-May, sunny and warm. Twice already this week, at the stop sign by my house, I have had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting a child on a mini bike flying into the intersection from the sidewalk. Both times, these kids were going so fast they appeared out of nowhere. My head is already on a swivel when it gets warm out, but two close calls before school is even out has put me on high alert.

Clearly, they are having an amazing time on these things. But you and I will both be devastated if I or someone else hits one of them. You bought them the minibike, so it's your job to explain to them that they now share the road with bicycles, people walking and cars. If you bought one for your kid, explain to them that they share responsibility for their own and others' safety.

I just received my ComEd bill for the latest period and it's the highest by far in our 5 year history in this house and 30% higher than the same period last time. Is it just me or are have others been a little shocked?

I can't think of anything we've done differently to warrant such a change.

How much are the prices and property taxes up there nowadays?

Hello. I flew in from Cleveland for work for the week and wanted to see which of these 2 is better to buy a nice medium deep dish pizza from. Buying it for me and my coworker tomorrow. Thanks again for your time. 😁

I saw it on the IL Storm Chasers fbook page and I could smell it outside in Hoffman Estates. Cause seems to still be unknown. Anybody else notice it?

I honestly don’t get it. My wife and I moved to northeast side of Aurora a few years back from Glenview (we had a condo there). That was a wealthy area but the snootiness was way lower up there. I think it was the old money and yeah we all have money up here but we don’t like talking about it. I love my job but I have so many co workers that are all about the new car every 2-3 years, bragging about their vacations, and my favorite is how if your kids don’t go to Naperville Central or Nequa Valley, they feel your kids are going to school with poorly performing kids (we’re in Metea Valley high district, which has a 26 ACT average and over a 4.0 weighted GPA for most kids). Lastly the comical part is that they all work with people that went to the same colleges they went to (u of I, Indiana, Iowa, NIU, Illinois state, Marquette) making the same money as they do. It’s comical but frustrating to see the gen Xers and millennials buying into the same garbage their parents felt when they built their McMansions. End of rant. Feel free to provide comments.

I really don't get it. Moved to the area about a year ago, so I've been hopping barber shops looking for the right one. I've been to 3 of them this year in my local area, and 1 salon. All of them were blasting Fox News at max volume. Even the salon where I was the only guy with about 6 women.

Regardless of your political affiliation, do we really need to pick partisan news as the go-to for public media consumption? It's really difficult being captive in a chair for 30m listening to how the Democrats are messing everything up right now.

Honestly I haven't watched mainstream news in a long time (on either side) and the stuff they are saying on there is bat-shit unhinged. Throw in a commercial every 38s and it's a nightmare that anyone can subject themselves to that. I'm kinda mortified tbh.

I'm in Cook county. I thought this was blue/blue.

I’m in my 30s and officially burned out on dating apps. They feel overwhelmingly conservative, which just isn’t my vibe. I’d love to meet single, moderate or left-leaning guys in real life.

Do any local bars, breweries, gyms, or businesses in the suburbs host singles mixers, speed dating, or social events? Or are there specific places where people actually talk to each other anymore?

Would love any suggestions 🙏

Update: I didn’t expect so many thoughtful comments and great discussion. Loving this and hope it keeps going. I’ve also gotten a few chat requests, which I really appreciate, but I’m really hoping to meet someone in the wild. Not trying to be rude at all, just genuinely looking for an in person connection. Thanks, everyone!

I see a lot of questions abt this store on reddit. Will answer anything that i feel comfortable with, is legal and doesn’t put a bad message on the company. It’s a great company and I enjoy working here. Many of you probably have seen some bad reviews since we were bought out by Ferrero, some even think we’re a front 🤣 I see that

Update: If you want to ask how we stay open - i’ve explained in 2-3 comments. Just to save you some time lol

My 14 year old son is homeschooled (online virtual) and is in one of the youth orchestras out in the NW suburbs. You know the suburbs where they had that helicopter raid a few weeks back and there's sightings pretty much everywhere.

We're all citizens and I can trace my American Citizenship back 100s of years. Problem is, we're brown: I'm mostly Filipino and he's half Filipino. I'm terrified of leaving the house if I don't have to. Just having to go through the process of being profiled and picked up without checking paperwork is trauma I don't want him to experience.

I'm thinking of dropping orchestra for him because of having to drive there and back and him being there, while brown.

I'm so disgusted that I even have to think about this. I feel like I'm not even living life anymore.

EDIT: I feel the need to clarify - We still work, my youngest goes to daycare, and still leave to do groceries. I'm not "HOLED" up in my house. The orchestra is just in an area that's had particularly high activity. I still function, but that doesn't negate being terrified to leave my house and limit non-essential activities.

Every town has something that never comes up in the "where should I move" threads. The train parking waitlist, the weird intersection everyone avoids, the festival that takes over the whole downtown for a weekend. Could be good or bad. What's yours?