Immigration battle, Kirk assassination among top stories of 2025
When conservative activist and suburban native Charlie Kirk was assassinated in September, the reaction here was swift — and strong.
Thousands publicly mourned the man. Others, including some elected officials, mocked Kirk and his death.
While the shocking crime occurred in Utah, there’s no question it was one of the biggest suburban stories of 2025.
The Operation Midway Blitz immigration enforcement operation, the selection of a new pope with Chicago-area roots and a break in a decades-old disappearance were among the other stories that captivated Daily Herald readers this year.
Immigration enforcement
President Donald Trump’s administration might have been referring to Chicago when it announced the Operation Midway Blitz immigration crackdown, but the operation affected the suburbs plenty.
Since September, federal agents have been sweeping through communities and arresting immigrants they encounter, often seemingly at random — like when a pair of landscapers were arrested while working in a Des Plaines neighborhood last month.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem even took part in a raid on an Elgin home. Also in Elgin, federal agents used tear gas and pepper spray to attack Elgin residents protesting their presence at an apartment complex this month.
Wheeling, Arlington Heights, Elgin and other communities have responded by prohibiting federal immigration enforcement agents from using municipal property for their operations.
‘Da Pope’
The ascension of a priest with deep Chicago roots to the papacy shocked, thrilled and even amused Catholics and non-Catholics alike throughout the suburbs this year.
The first U.S.-born pope, Robert Prevost — who took the title Pope Leo XIV after his election in May — was raised in suburban Dolton. And being baseball season, the top question on most everyone’s mind was whether he roots for the Cubs or White Sox.
It turns out the pontiff is a fan of the Pale Hose and even attended Game 1 of the 2005 Word Series, which the White Sox won.
Baseball allegiance aside, suburban Catholics were optimistic about Pope Leo and the work the former missionary in Peru has ahead of him.
“I think he’s a pope who remembers the disenfranchised and the poor,” Arlington Heights resident Beth Samikkannu told the Daily Herald in May. “Those people are going to have a voice through him.”
Charlie Kirk’s murder
Political activist, media personality and author Charlie Kirk was a polarizing figure in life, and that continued after he was felled by an assassin on Sept. 10 during an appearance at Utah Valley University.
The Turning Point USA founder and Wheeling High School alumni was the subject of memorial gatherings throughout the suburbs in the days after his death, including in Arlington Heights, Northbrook and Antioch.
But not everyone sought to honor Kirk. Algonquin-based Community Unit District 300 school board member Nancy Zettler faced a community backlash for a Sept. 10 Facebook post in which she called Kirk’s murder an example of karma. After public protests, Zettler was removed as the panel’s president.
Elgin cold case solved
The Elgin Police Department’s new Cold Case Unit solved the 1983 disappearance of local resident Karen Schepers.
The big break came in March when specialist divers working with police found a license plate belonging to Schepers’ 1980 Toyota Celica in the Fox River. A team then located and recovered the car, taking care to keep it — and its contents — intact. Next, the Kane County coroner’s office verified skeletal remains in the auto belonged to Schepers.
In the months that followed, the car and the remains were exhaustively examined by experts. While police don’t know why Schepers’ car wound up in the river, they found no signs of foul play. Investigators officially closed the case in June.
“We feel like it could be some sort of accident,” police Sgt. Matt Vartanian told the Daily Herald.
Schepers’ remains were turned over to her family for a private burial.
Guilty plea in Highland Park massacre
Minutes before his trial was to begin in March, the Highwood man accused of killing seven people and wounding 48 others at Highland Park’s 2022 Independence Day parade pleaded guilty.
The next month, Robert E. Crimo III received seven natural life sentences for the murders of Katherine Goldstein, Stephen Straus, Jacquelyn “Jacki” Sundheim, Kevin McCarthy, Irina McCarthy; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza and Eduardo Uvaldo.
Judge Victoria Rossetti also gave the defendant 48 50-year sentences — one for each count of attempted murder linked to the others injured in the mass shooting.
The shooter was a no-show in court for the sentencing. He’s offered no motive.
Restaurants shutter
The Buffalo Restaurant & Ice Cream Parlor, a family-style restaurant in Buffalo Grove, shut down in 2025 after 35 years.
The Buffalo actually launched on Chicago’s Northwest side in the early 1900s. It remained there until its move to the northeast corner of Lake-Cook and Arlington Heights roads.
The COVID-19 pandemic hurt business, owner Anthony Donato said. Some older customers never returned, even as the pandemic faded.
Other suburban restaurants that shuttered in 2025 included the Bahama Breeze Island Grille in Schaumburg, Pinstripes in South Barrington, District Brew Yards in Wheeling, an Uncle Julio’s in Vernon Hills and Legit Dogs & Ice in South Elgin, the latter of which called it quits just months after opening.
Dealership vandalized
Political statements and profanities were spray-painted on the facade of a Tesla dealership at 915 E. Dundee Road in Buffalo Grove in March.
The messages were aimed at President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who at the time was a senior adviser to Trump and head of the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency. One message supported transgender rights.
Within days, 26-year-old Erin L. White of Buffalo Grove was charged with felony criminal damage to property and misdemeanor criminal trespass. White pleaded guilty in August to the felony and was sentenced to two years of probation and 30 hours of community service, and ordered to pay Tesla more than $8,900 in restitution, authorities said. The second charge was dropped.
Texas Dems on the lam
The fight over mid-decade redistricting in Texas spread to the Chicago suburbs when about 30 Democratic lawmakers from the Lone Star State fled here in early August.
The legislators went on the lam to delay a vote on a controversial plan backed by President Donald Trump designed to give Republicans more seats in Congress. They holed up in the West suburbs while regularly meeting with reporters. They also had to deal with occasional bomb threats at their hotels.
The lawmakers returned home after about two weeks, and within days the proposal cleared the Texas legislature and was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott. A legal fight is ongoing.
Teachers accused
Downers Grove South High School special education teacher and athletic coach Christina Formella was arrested in March after being accused of having a sexual encounter with a teen in 2023.
Formella, of Downers Grove, initially was charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual assault. Dozens of additional charges — including indecent solicitation of a child and grooming — were added in May.
The case hasn’t yet been resolved.
Elsewhere, two male Hoffman Estates High School teachers were fired by the Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 board in November over allegations of inappropriate behavior involving female students. Police are investigating.
Also in District 211, now-former Palatine High School teacher’s aide Bradley Robertson was arrested in August after authorities said he shared child sexual abuse material online. Robertson, of Palatine, was charged with eight counts of reproduction of child pornography with a victim under 13 and possession of child pornography.
Schakowsky, Durbin won’t run
Announcements from Illinois’ senior U.S. senator and one of the state’s longest-serving congressional representatives set off political shock waves that ran through the suburbs this year.
In late April, Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Springfield announced he wouldn’t seek reelection in 2026. Then in early May, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston said she wouldn’t run again for her 9th District seat, either.
Political hopefuls from both major parties, including several from the suburbs, quickly showed interest in succeeding Durbin and Schakowsky.
The best-known Senate candidates include two suburbanites: Democratic U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg and Robin Kelly of Lynwood. By running for the Senate, they leave their congressional posts up for grabs in 2026.
Eight suburban Democrats are among the candidates running for Schakowsky’s seat in Congress, including Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and state Sen. Laura Fine of Glenview. Two of the four Republican candidates are from the suburbs, too: John Elleson of Arlington Heights and Rocio Cleveland of Island Lake.