How are local businesses reacting to recent ICE presence in Evanston? Who put themselves on the ballot for the Illinois District 9 spring primary? How do Northwestern employees feel about a change in health care administrators? The Daily answers these questions and recaps other top stories from the last week.
ELIZA MARTIN: On today’s episode: Evanston businesses react to ICE, the Illinois District 9 Primary ballot and a healthcare switch for Northwestern employees.
From the Daily Northwestern, I’m Eliza Martin.
ISADORA URIO FERNANDES: And I’m Isadora Urio Fernandes.
ELIZA MARTIN: This is The Weekly: your breakdown of the top headlines from this past week.
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ISADORA URIO FERNANDES: Our guest today is Yong-Yu, a web developer at The Daily Northwestern. Today, she is going to talk about how Evanston businesses are finding ways to protect their employees and support the community as ICE enforcement increases in the area.
Yong-Yu, thank you for joining us. First of all, can you walk us through what you found while covering how Evanston businesses are responding to the increased ICE enforcement?
YONG-YU HUANG: Yeah, for sure. So, Evanston and business owners are definitely feeling the stress of increased ICE activity in the area. I talked to some business owners, and they’re telling me about how they’re trying to support their employees by putting up signs in their businesses, pairing people up to make sure that no one is coming into work or leaving work alone. These are some of the strategies that I’ve heard that businesses are employing during this time.
ISADORA URIO FERNANDES: And can you talk a little bit about how was the process of getting information? Did you encounter any resistance in getting this information?
YONG-YU HUANG: Definitely, there was a little bit of difficulty getting sources just for the story, just because it’s a stressful time. It’s a scary time. Some people were not comfortable talking on the record. And so, definitely some reluctance in speaking with the press. It did help that we were able to offer some sources anonymity.
Sometimes people just wouldn’t tell me, like, where they got the signs from or who they have been talking to or who they were hearing stories of anxiety and fear from, just to protect not only their own businesses, but also other businesses that they knew, and the employees of those other businesses.
ISADORA URIO FERNANDES: Thank you so much for joining us, Yong-Yu. It’s been great hearing from your insights on how Evanston and business owners are stepping up and supporting their community.
ELIZA MARTIN: Next up, a look at who’s on the ballot next spring for the Illinois District 9 Congressional primary.
With me is Marisa Guerra Echeverria, who is The Daily Northwestern’s Diversity and Inclusion Chair.
So, can you tell us a little bit about the story you published this week?
MARISA GUERRA ECHEVERRIA: Yeah, for sure. So essentially, Jan Schakowsky, who’s our current and longtime U.S. Rep in Congress here in the 9th District, had previously announced that she would be retiring in 2026 in time for the midterms, and as a result, a whole slate of candidates have thrown their hats into the ring.
We’ve had several prominent people really stick out. There’s progressive content creator Kat Abughazaleh, who announced first, but there’s also Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and our state senator Laura Fine, among other elected officials, activists and just community members that have really placed their bids.
And this past week from October 27 to November 3, we saw filing period for candidates to file the required amount of signatures needed from in-district voters to get a spot on the official primary ballot for their respective party. And so essentially, we saw 17 Democrats file their petitions to be in the race, as well as 4 Republicans, but it’s easily one of the largest primaries we’re seeing at the congressional level in the state of Illinois right now. And just is nearing, the amount of competition for the Senate seat, which is statewide, so it’s kind of pretty insane. It’s been a crazy week.
ELIZA MARTIN: So what’s the significance of having such a big primary pool?
MARISA GUERRA ECHEVERRIA: Just think of this: Jan Schakowsky started representing the ninth district around like 30 years ago, and she’s just been this huge force in representing this very solidly blue, very progressive area. And the fact that she’s retiring means that the seat is up for grabs; anybody can really throw their hats in the ring and see if they can last as long as Schakowsky, because this is a pretty safe seat. So it’s like whoever does wins the Democratic primary and then maybe win the congressional race, will largely have a chance of staying there for a really long time. So that’s why everyone’s kind of like shooting their shot.
ELIZA MARTIN: With so many candidates all fighting for one position, and you wrote about this in your article, even the smallest details on the order of names on the ballot could mean something. How might voters expect to see these candidates trying to make themselves stand out in the coming months, leading up to the spring primary?
MARISA GUERRA ECHEVERRIA: So the ballot placement lottery is a whole kind of thing. So a bunch of candidates had filed their ballots, their petitioning signatures at 8 a.m. on the first day of ballot petitioning, which was October 27, I believe. And all of these people essentially are put in a lottery to see who’s decided to be first on the ballot. It’s important because a lot of people usually only remember the first and last names for the ballot. So all the candidates that file simultaneously that first hour on the first day, and those that filed simultaneously at the last hour, at the last day, will be put in lotteries to see who will get the final spot on the ballot, or the first spot on the ballot. So that’s how that goes.
But you’ll definitely see a lot of campaigning. You’ll see political signs on people’s yards. You’re going to see a lot of tweets, lots of interviews. The ones that have been doing more of a press circuit and visiting different places have been Abughazaleh, Biss, the state senators that are running, Fine and Mike Simmons, as well as just elected officials, but as well as activists with grassroots support. You’re just going to see a lot of people kind of announcing themselves for this race at once, which is, I mean, it’s exciting. It’s hectic, but exciting.
ELIZA MARTIN: And you’ll probably see it covered more by The Daily throughout the year.
MARISA GUERRA ECHEVERRIA: Oh, for sure.
ELIZA MARTIN: All right. Thank you so much for speaking to me.
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ELIZA MARTIN: Here are the other top headlines from the week:
Community gathers in Norris University Center for blood drive
Illinois lawmakers pass $1.5 billion funding package to dodge public transit from cuts
Men’s Basketball: Visualizing Chris Collins’ dynamic rotations in season-opening win over Mercyhurst
Evanston’s Perspective Group and Photography Gallery powerfully exhibits flowers of Eden
As temperatures teeter towards winter, students share tips to stay fashionable in cold weather
ELIZA MARTIN: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Eliza Martin.
Thank you for listening to another episode of The Weekly. This episode was reported by Eliza Martin, Isadora Urio Fernandes, Yong-Yu Huang, Marisa Guerra Echeverria and Finian Hazen.
The Audio Editor is Finian Hazen. The Multimedia Managing Editors are Sydney Gaw, Christina Lin and Sarah Serota. The Editor in Chief is Emily Lichty.
Our theme music is “Night Owl” by Broke For Free, used under a Creative Commons Attribution License and provided by the Free Music Archive.
