Good morning, Chicago.

My daily dog walks have been colder and windier the past few days as Chicago finally settles into fall temperatures. And if weather predictions are correct, it won’t be warm again anytime soon. The Tribune Editorial Board writes in its first piece today about how a “warm blob” may impact our winter.

Also today, we have an emotional piece from Denise Lorence, the mother of Katie Abraham, who was killed in a drunk driving accident in Urbana earlier this year and has become the face of Operation Midway Blitz.

“The Department of Homeland Security said its immigration enforcement operation in Chicago is named in Katie’s honor. But Katie would not have wanted this,” Lorence writes. Read the rest of her powerful op-ed here.

In its second piece today, the editorial board turns its attention to Harvey, where the City Council has voted to declare the municipality “financially distressed.” Havey’s property taxes are the third-highest in the county, and it has seen a large drop in population over the past 20 years. The board says that more municipalities in the Southland will likely follow this path as long as property taxes remain high.

Speaking of taxes, advocate Liam Stanton has some suggestions for how to fix Chicago’s financial problems that don’t involve a corporate head tax. Two rabbis reflect on how Chicago should respond to the turmoil in the Middle East now that many of the hostages have been returned and there is a ceasefire in place.

Thanks for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow.

— Grace Miserocchi, opinion editor

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