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Soren Spicknall

@sorenspicknall.bsky.social

5.8K followers 1.3K following 19K posts

Chicago. Interested in how places are shaped. Friend to alley cats. I don't speak on behalf of my affiliations. he/him "We know this world is good enough because it has to be."

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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · Nov 16

Turning all my new cat friend posts into a thread that I can update as I add new cat friends

Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · Jul 27

new friend alert

A photo of a cat lying down calmly on the sidewalk just outside the door to a store

A photo of the same cat, a shorthair tortie with a fluffy tail, walking up to the camera lens

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Reposted by Soren Spicknall

Amanda Katz @katzish.bsky.social · 5h

Horrific reporting from the AP on the Myanmar families watching their kids starve to death from Trump and Musk’s aid cuts apnews.com/article/myan...

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

apnews.com

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Reposted by Soren Spicknall

John Carpenter’s ‘Halloran’ @profhalloran.bsky.social · 1h

This is a good time to remind everyone that the National Immigrant Justice Center is a phenomenal organization to support. From litigation to trainings, they have been a consistent voice in support of immigrant rights—especially in the Chicago area; but also nationally.

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Reposted by Soren Spicknall

Joy Davenport @joydavenport.bsky.social · Jul 22

Chicago's alleyways are so good

photo of a neighborhood alleyway in Chicago in late afternoon

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Reposted by Soren Spicknall

dmercer.bsky.social @dmercer.bsky.social · 3h

Going Alpine in Berwyn, Illinois

Small one-story house with a partial mansard roof maybe. Attached to the front of the roof are two half-timbered gables, wood painted brown, wall painted white. There is a little wooden chalet-like roof over the front door at the left. The rest of the facade is covered in really bad faux stone in shades of tan, grey, yellow, and, peach. There is a double window at the right shaded by a metal awning. Two manicured shrubs are protected by the world's smallest picket fence,

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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 11h

They clearly have an excellent comms team - I wish the same could be said of many of the departments and agencies whose work I root for

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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 12h

I'm often jealous of the clarity and quality of IDOT's highway construction updates, wish we saw more of that in street design update communications and transit construction communications locally

A screenshot of a Facebook post from Illinois Department of Transportation reading:

Hey, Chicago! The outbound Kennedy local lanes north of North Avenue are now open, and by 10 a.m. Sunday, the entire outbound Kennedy local lanes will be fully back in action. 👏

Outbound Kennedy ramp updates:
👉Damen Avenue ramp reopened this morning, Oct. 3
👉Augusta Blvd/Milwaukee Ave ramp reopens Oct. 4
👉Wilson Ave exit closes Monday night, Oct. 6 (2 weeks) for repairs
👉Division Street ramp reopens mid-October

Express lanes remain open outbound while final work continues through late October. Get the details: http://prez.ly/rywd

A slick graphic accompanying the post shows which sections of the Kennedy expressway are currently clear and done with construction, which are still under construction, and when each section is expected to finish up.

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Reposted by Soren Spicknall

Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 17h

Those 34 years would have been 26 years if the Cook County Conviction Integrity Unit had cleared Francisco Benitez instead of denying him in 2015. He's one of at least 21 people the group rejected who were later exonerated. You can read about it in my @injusticewatch.org series Denying Innocence.

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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 12h

Complaining to the grocery store clerk that these tomatoes are paywalled

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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 12h

Complaining to the mechanic that an oil change is paywalled

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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 12h

BCC is out with some initial coverage of the decision now:

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Reposted by Soren Spicknall

every usps @everylot-usps.bsky.social · 13h

VPO MOUNT HOLLY: 5005 COPLE HWY, MOUNT HOLLY VA 22524-2001

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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 13h

There's unfortunately some legal trickiness around what constitutes "effectuating a stop", so many local operations have relied on not *technically* pulling people over, but aggressively coercing them to stop their vehicle and then detaining them while stopped. This complicates the path to a remedy.

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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 15h

Here's the decision summary - because ICE was found to be in significant noncompliance with the settlement for a set period of time, the settlement is being extended for an equal amount of time. It's now set to terminate in February of next year, with a pathway to relief for those harmed before.

A Summary of Rulings section from a court document begins with a paragraph that reads:

After considering the parties' submissions and their presentations at the June 27, 2025 oral argument, the Court finds as follows. First, the Court finds that plaintiffs have shown by a preponderance of the evidence that ICE arrested twenty-two out of the twenty-six claimant class members without a warrant in violation of the Agreement and the requirements of 8 U.S.C. §1357(a)(2). The Court orders ICE to provide relief to those individuals under the terms of the Agreement and to pay the attorney's fees that plaintiffs incurred in bringing their motion to enforce. Second, the Court, in its discretion, finds that plaintiffs have met their burden under Rule 60(b)(5) of showing that a modification of the Agreement is warranted because ICE has failed to substantially comply with its terms. The Court, however, finds that plaintiffs' proposed modifications to the Agreement are not suitably tailored to address ICE's non-compliance. Instead, the Court will extend the Agreement until February 2, 2026, which corresponds to the number of days between the date that ICE unequivocally ceased its compliance with the Agreement (June 11, 2025) and the date of this Memorandum Opinion and Order to provide plaintiffs with the full three-year term of the Agreement for which they bargained. The Court will also adjust the reporting requirements imposed on ICE to better ensure that plaintiffs can track ICE's compliance with the Agreement.

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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 16h

NIJC's Nava overview webpage hasn't been updated yet to reflect this news, but the info within is otherwise still accurate.

The court's decision today will lead directly to the release of multiple detained class members, and bolster the effectiveness of documentation work done by rapid responders.

Final Settlement Regarding ICE Warrantless Arrests and Vehicle Stops: Overview of Settlement Requirements and Remedies - National Immigrant Justice Center

2022 Settlement Limiting ICE’S Authority to Make Warrantless Arrests in Place Until May 2025: Class Members in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Kentucky, and Missouri may be eligible for release ...

immigrantjustice.org

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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 16h

For those unaware, the Nava settlement sets requirements for warrantless ICE arrests and traffic stops) nationwide and, crucially, provides a path to immediate release for anyone detained under circumstances that violate the settlement in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Kentucky, and Missouri.

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Reposted by Soren Spicknall

Lake Superior! Live! @lake-superior.live · 16h

Current* conditions near Houghton, MI:

View looking west from Michigan Technical University of Portage Canal Bridge. // Image captured at: 2025-10-07 23:33:26 UTC (about 15 min. prior to this post) // Current Temp in Houghton: 49.91 F | 9.95 C // Precip: clear sky // Wind: WNW at 1.990 mph | 3.20 kph // Humidity: 60%

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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 16h

The Nava settlement has been extended ❤️

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Reposted by Soren Spicknall

WBEZ @wbez.org · 19h

Clinée Hedspeth, Chicago’s cultural commissioner and an ardent ally of Mayor Brandon Johnson, has resigned from her post at the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. trib.al/H76PYtX

Chicago cultural commissioner Clinée Hedspeth resigns City Hall post

An ally of Mayor Brandon Johnson, Hedspeth’s 18-month tenure was marked by internal turmoil, with high staff turnover and bullying accusations.

trib.al

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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 23h

mature camry no. 259

A photo of a black early 2000s Toyota Camry LE sedan getting rained on, water slowly washing a thin layer of dirt off the sides of the car. The Camry has comteporary-looking nine spoke aftermarket hubcaps.

Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 1d

mature camry no. 258

A photo of a gray early to mid 2000s Toyota Camry sedan in a high spec, with eight spoke alloy wheels and a little silver chrome trim strip along its side. The car is street parked on the side of a city street on a sunny fall day.

Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 1d

I found a little half-size beer, unopened, on the street next to my car last week and refrigerated it for awhile before giving it to my sister's husband (with full disclosure of its origins). And then the next morning, that little canned margarita showed up in the same place, uncrushed in the road.

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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 1d

A photo of a curvy wrought iron fence attached to one edge of a tall brick apartment building and surrounded by leafy plants

A photo of a tree growing tall behind some brick buildings, partially obscured by a thick layer of untended plants in the foreground

A photo of an opened half-size margarita in a can, sitting fully intact on the surface of a city street

A photo of framed art deco artworks sitting on the floor of a gallery beneath a white wall that's filled with arrangements of hanging gear from a previous installation.

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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 1d

Recently

A photo of the view from inside a storefront doorway, with the back of a "smile, you're on camera" sign in the foreground and a bus stop in the distance

A photo of an overgrown vegetable garden in front of the bay windows of an early 1900s brick apartment building

A photo of a two story wooden Italianate house with highly intact original details, like round widow and door tops. Its front yard is covered in a bed of prairie plants rather than grass.

A photo of a two story brick and wood coach house along an alley, accessed from the alley via a light gray painted wooden staircase that passes a little pop-out window bay on its way to a dark gray door above the garage level.

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Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 1d

Me with the Cook County Recorder of Deeds search tool

Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 1d

I'm a guilty car person, though, so I only post about my cars every once in awhile