Casey Toner
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ctoner.bsky.social
Casey Toner
@ctoner.bsky.social
News reporter, SAG-AFTRA steward, weary Chicagoan. Bird dogging and door stopping, @illinoisanswers. Tell the truth
Pinned
chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog... My latest about police gun buybacks, a Glock handgun that was stolen inside a Chicago police district, the mad scramble to find it, and the consequences being borne by a 16-year-old-boy the w/ @schuba.bsky.social @peternickeas.bsky.social
‘Where is the Glock?’ Gun turned over to Chicago police wound up in the hands of a teenager
The Chicago Police Department has used gun buybacks to get thousands of guns off the street, but at least two of them have resurfaced at crime scenes.
chicago.suntimes.com
Reposted by Casey Toner
Here's Chicago Police Dept. Supt. Larry Snelling two days after this shooting.

"If you box them in with vehicles, it is reasonable for them to believe they are being ambushed and that this could end in a deadly situation and it's reasonable for them to use force based on those conditions."
November 20, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Join me in suggesting @chipublib.bsky.social purchase the absurdist novels of Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder, beginning with "The Time Machine Did It." I haven't read them but would like to and they aren't in circulation

www.chipublib.org/suggest-a-pu...
Suggest a Purchase
Didn't find it at CPL? We welcome your purchase suggestions for already-released titles not owned by CPL. Looking for specialized,…
www.chipublib.org
November 20, 2025 at 6:00 PM
illinoisanswers.org/2025/11/18/n... Good scoop from @skpineda.bsky.social about the federal change in homeless funding that could put 8,500 formerly homeless people back on the streets
New Federal Rules Could Put Formerly Unhoused People Back Out on The Streets Across Illinois
The Trump administration is slashing funds to help pay for housing for people in need, including those with mental illness or disabilities.
illinoisanswers.org
November 18, 2025 at 7:30 PM
🎵 Spreading the gospel / All throughout the land / From Riverdale to Harvey / To the walls of the Vatican 🎵
Some inspiring words on cinema in the streaming era from the Pope.

Yes, THAT Pope.
November 15, 2025 at 6:28 PM
I'm 85-90 hours into "Hollow Knight: Silksong," well into Act III, and it's a stone cold masterpiece. Writing, voice acting, music, gameplay, art direction all top notch. It's thrilling, hilarious, moving, always surprising. One of the great gaming experiences of my lifetime.
November 14, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Casey Toner
Photos of the Feds with weapons out taken by @chicagotribune.com photographers yesterday @briancassella.bsky.social @mandophotos.bsky.social
November 9, 2025 at 4:41 PM
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/08/c... "Near 26th and Ogden a woman sat in the passenger seat of a car, bouncing an infant girl. The girl was silent, her eyes damp and bloodshot. Next to the car, a man screamed and stripped off his shirt. The man and the baby had both been hit by pepper spray."
DHS reports shots fired at immigration agents in Little Village as residents confront Bovino, Border Patrol
Community members once again confronted a convoy of Border Patrol agents led by Cmdr. Gregory Bovino as it moved through Chicago’s South Side neighborhoods.
www.chicagotribune.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Reposted by Casey Toner
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.

Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."

Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Reposted by Casey Toner
Questions remain why ICE targeted day care teacher who was detained in North Center facility. A very interesting nuanced story here
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/06/i...
Questions remain why ICE targeted day care teacher who was detained in North Center facility
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeted Diana Patricia Santillana Galeano, of Colombia
www.chicagotribune.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Casey Toner
My favorite Sandburg poem, which may be even more relevant in the context of immigration raids
November 6, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Bah GAWD that's US District Judge Sara Ellis' music!
Ellis starting the day off by reading out Carl Sandburg's poem "Chicago" in its entirety.
November 6, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Casey Toner
This is the teacher federal agents grabbed yesterday at Rayito De Sol daycare in front of children. Attorneys for Diana Santillana have filed a petition in federal court to have her freed from ICE custody.
November 6, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Reposted by Casey Toner
Here's a short video of an Edison Park man confronting border patrol. You can hear others in the background. #chicago
October 31, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Reposted by Casey Toner
RIP to Nanci Koschman, who lost her son at the hands of Mayor Richard Daley's nephew and then suffered through the city's bumbling effort to cover it up.
Nanci Koschman, long-grieving mother, dies 21 years after her son was killed by Mayor Daley's nephew
In the face of a Chicago police cover-up, she couldn't get answers until a Sun-Times investigation prompted the appointment of a special prosecutor and Richard J. "R.J." Vanecko's conviction.
chicago.suntimes.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Casey Toner
Ellis: "These kids, you can imagine, their sense of safety was shattered on Saturday. And it's gonna take a long time for that to come back, if ever."

She said it "should have been a really happy day."
October 28, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Casey Toner
Ellis on the use of tear gas Saturday: "That was the instance, as well, where children were present and they were dressed up in their Halloween costumes. … Those kids were tear gassed on their way to celebrate Halloween in their local school parking lot."
October 28, 2025 at 4:00 PM
illinoisanswers.org/2025/10/28/l... "In many instances, that money wasn’t being spent on transportation at all — $83 million of the roughly $193 million in transportation taxes collected last year by the collar counties was spent on cops and courts." 🤔
A Little-Known Legal Loophole Has Scrambled State Efforts to Save Transit Agencies From Financial Disaster
Suburban counties last year spent $83M in RTA sales taxes on jails and courts; they'll fight to keep the money as the state scrapes for cash.
illinoisanswers.org
October 28, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Reposted by Casey Toner
Amid a looming fiscal cliff for transit in Northern Illinois that could force deep CTA cuts, less attention is on suburban riders who depend on on-demand transit.

Read the story from @gracehauck.bsky.social and @alexnitkin.bsky.social here: illinoisanswers.org/2025/10/28/c...
These Counties Spend Transit Tax Money on Ride Services. They’re Lifelines for Thousands of Residents
Fledgling dial-a-ride networks are filling gaps in public transit in the collar counties, but they struggle to meet demand.
illinoisanswers.org
October 28, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Casey Toner
The latest on Chicago's "worst landowner" from Mina Bloom and @ctoner.bsky.social.

"Nobody wanted most of the properties... That leaves the city without the money it anticipated and homeowners still saddled with weed-strewn vacant lots."

blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/15/h...
Hundreds Of Lots Owned By 'City's Worst Landowner' Went Up For Sale. But Only A Fraction Have Sold
Parcels that belonged to Suzie B. Wilson and her sister accumulated $15 million in city fines for rat-related violations. Hundreds are still sitting empty without any promise of redevelopment.
blockclubchicago.org
October 15, 2025 at 1:20 PM
October 9, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Her team did "The Twitter Files" 👎. My team did "'Where is the Glock?' Gun Turned Over to Chicago Police Wound up in the Hands of a Teenager" 👍. Put me in charge of CBS News, I will do a good job
October 6, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Casey Toner
A mural that can be seen on the Kennedy has been blasted as "AI slop" by local artists and commuters. blockclubchi.co/428g9tg
September 22, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Casey Toner
Two absolute pros and outstanding people behind the mics for this new show on @wbez.org www.wbez.org/say-more-wit...
Say More with Mary Dixon & Patrick Smith
Hear what Chicago’s talking about — and chime in on topics that matter to you — from tariffs to construction, the Bears to “The Bear.” Weekday mornings at 10am
www.wbez.org
September 15, 2025 at 11:52 PM