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FEMA denies Illinois’ request for major disaster declaration after August storms
Thursday, Oct 8, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Gov. JB Pritzker….
* Related…
* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois asks for FEMA help after August storms: If FEMA approves Pritzker’s request, the agency’s individual assistance program would be available to residents in counties impacted by the storms. The program provides grants for temporary housing or home repairs, loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other help for business owners. Local governments would also be able to use FEMA’s public assistance program to repair infrastructure and receive reimbursements for debris removal and emergency responses to the storms. […] The federal government denied Illinois’ most recent requests for FEMA assistance in 2025 after parts of Chicago and the suburbs were hit hard by storms and flooding. The agency determined that both of these events did not qualify for federal aid. * AP | Trump is taking longer to approve disaster aid and denying Democratic states more frequently: During his second term, Trump has denied a greater percentage of disaster requests than any president dating to 1989. Those denials have not been evenly distributed among states. Trump has approved 80% of the disaster requests from Republican governors but only about 60% from Democratic governors, according to the AP’s analysis of FEMA data. * (2025) Stateline | Trump denies disaster aid, tells states to do more: “The Federal Government focuses its support on truly catastrophic disasters—massive hurricanes, devastating earthquakes, or wide-scale attacks on the homeland,” Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the National Security Council, which advises the president on issues of national security, said in a statement to Stateline. Hughes said state and local governments “often remain an impediment to their own community’s resilience.” He called on states to take on a more extensive role.
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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Thursday, Oct 8, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Press release…
* Alton Telegraph | Darren Bailey shows up, supports striking Alton Public Works union workers: The GOP gubernatorial hopeful spent about 10 minutes speaking with Jay Steinhauer, business agent for Teamsters Local 525, which represents the public works employees, and other union officials while the rank-and-file members displayed picket signs and union flags at the entrance to Emma L. Kaus Lane off Fosterburg Road. “I understand they’re 1% away,” Bailey told The Telegraph, referring to the difference between the City of Alton and Local 525 on salary issues in the strike. “Serving on a school board for years, I negotiated with unions. We were always trying to be fair with what we had, with what the people needed.” * Tribune | Advocates: CPS can lead on universal mental health screening. Will it?: Illinois educators are less than a year away from undertaking one of the most consequential mental health initiatives in the world. This week, as we mark World Mental Health Day, Chicago should seize the opportunity to lead that effort. We know when mental health conditions begin: Nearly half of all cases appear before age 18, while a child is still sitting in one of our classrooms. Right now, we find these children late. Schools are where we could find them first. Signed into law on July 31, 2025, Illinois Senate Bill 1560 made the state the first in the nation to require universal mental health screenings, or UMHS, for students. Starting with the 2027-28 academic year, every public and charter school in Illinois must offer these screenings for all students in grades three through 12, for which the state will provide a free screening tool. * WTVO | Who can remove a fire district trustee? Cabello seeks change in Illinois law: State Rep. John Cabello has introduced legislation that would create a formal process for county boards to remove appointed fire protection district trustees for cause. Cabello (R-Machensey Park) filed House Bill 5816, which would establish procedures for county boards to remove members they appoint to fire protection district boards. The proposal is awaiting assignment to the Illinois House Police & Fire Committee when lawmakers return to Springfield on November 17. * Sun-Times | South Chicago Chapel director denies state charges after rotting bodies found at funeral home: The state accused the Evergreen Park couple of incompetent and untrustworthy funeral practices, unprofessional conduct and violating state regulations. On Monday, Johanna Morgan denied all of the allegations against her, except for acknowledging that she was the sole funeral director and embalmer at South Chicago Chapel. State regulators, attorneys for the state and for Johanna Morgan held settlement negotiations last month to permanently revoke her license over the grisly funeral home discovery. A formal hearing is scheduled for later this fall. * WTTW | Chicago Spent $224.4M on Police Overtime in 9 Months, 12% More Than Its Annual Overtime Budget: Watchdog: The latest tally means CPD has exceeded its annual overtime budget for the 10th straight year, despite repeated promises from Mayor Brandon Johnson to reign in police overtime spending, according to a database published by Inspector General David Glockner. CPD spent approximately $224,000 more on overtime during the first nine months of 2026 than it did during the same period in 2025, according to the inspector general’s data. * Block Club | Chicago’s 1st Battery-Powered Commuter Train Coming To Metra’s Rock Island Beverly Line: The electric train set, which includes four passenger cars and can sit about 208 people, will next be displayed from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, at the LaSalle Street Metra Station, 414 S. LaSalle St. * Axios | Lincoln Park billionaire accused of fueling rat infestation: “When we exhaust our aldermanic authority, which is typically through [Streets and San], we have to get creative, and that’s why we’re pushing the park district to file a lawsuit for damage to the park,” Knudsen tells Axios. * Sun-Times | Mary Todd Lincoln’s blood-soaked cape goes on view in new Chicago History Museum exhibit about presidential artifacts: In the late 1800s, Gunther bought 26 Lincoln relics from Elizabeth Keckly, a formerly enslaved woman who bought her freedom through her sewing skills and eventually worked as Mrs. Lincoln’s personal seamstress. In 1920, what was then known as the Chicago Historical Society purchased those items from Gunther’s estate, marking the beginning of the museum arm of the organization. * Naperville Sun | Pulte pulls plug on controversial Naperville Ridge housing project: The Naperville City Council was slated to vote on Naperville Ridge Tuesday night but Pulte Homes pulled the plug on the project several hours before the meeting’s start. “We value the longstanding partnership with the city of Naperville and are proud of what we have accomplished together,” Russ Whitaker, project attorney for Pulte, wrote in a letter to the city. “While we are disappointed that Naperville Ridge will not move forward as planned, we will continue to deliver much needed new home supply at current and future communities.” Whitaker declined to comment for this story. * Evanston Roundtable | Citizen Police Review Commission sends back investigation, requesting more specifics: The Citizens Police Review Commission (CPRC) met Wednesday for the first time since May at the Evanston Fire Department Headquarters, 909 Lake St. The commission is responsible for reviewing closed investigations of complaints against the Evanston Police Department and determining if the process was complete, thorough, objective and fair. The complaint, dated April 29, was investigated by a patrol commander, who reviewed body camera footage, police reports and interviewed the complainant and accused officers. On June 1, the commander found that the accused officer did not violate rules, the complaint was unfounded and that no further action was required. * Tribune | Former state Sen. Kirk Dillard sells Hinsdale home for $1.2M: “After 26 years and raising a family in the house, it was time to downsize now that our children have graduated college,” Dillard told Elite Street. “Hinsdale is my hometown, and we moved there when my father got a teaching position at Hinsdale Central High School. Fortunately, we are just moving across the railroad tracks…to a lovely town home, so we still live in Hinsdale.” * Illinois Times | Springfield awards next round of cannabis grants : Arriel Williams plans to open 7’s Groceries on Nov. 1 at the location formerly occupied by Save-A-Lot on Clear Lake Avenue, and he says a $100,000 business grant from the city of Springfield will be “extremely important” to his future success. “It’s helping me out a lot,” Williams, 50, a Springfield resident and native, said after the Springfield City Council voted Oct. 6 to approve the grant, along with seven others, all funded through local sales-tax dollars generated by the legal sale of adult-use cannabis. Williams said he will use the $100,000 grant to buy inventory for sale in the store. The money represents about 40% of startup costs for his business, he said. * BND | Cahokia teachers approve new contract to avert strike: The new contract spans four years, including the 2025-2026 school year during which Cahokia teachers worked without a contract. Ray Roskos at the Illinois Federation of Teachers, who has worked with the union on negotiations, said Thursday that the district agreed to a 5% increase in base salary for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 school years and a 5% salary increase across the union’s pay scale for the next two years. * CNBC | Inflation on many everyday items was entirely due to tariffs, NY Fed says: The cost of many everyday items would have declined last year and early this year without President Donald Trump’s tariffs, according to the New York Federal Reserve. The cost of 67 categories of goods was 2.9 percentage points higher as of February thanks to tariffs, according to a paper from a team of researchers at the central bank’s New York arm. * Reuters | US farm debt is at a record. Official data might be undercounting it: As farm bankruptcy filings have climbed, some banks have tightened credit, prompting growers to seek money elsewhere. Inflation-adjusted US farm debt has more than doubled since 2000, rising from about $300 billion to more than $605 billion this year, a record, according to the latest USDA estimates. But that figure may understate how much farmers owe, Reuters found. Farmers are increasingly borrowing from suppliers, farmer cooperatives, equipment manufacturers, financial technology firms and other nontraditional lenders that are more difficult for the government to comprehensively measure. * Tribune | Waymo begins fully autonomous testing in Detroit, other northern cities: Waymo operates in cities from San Francisco to Atlanta. Detroit, along with Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago and Montreal, is one of the first northern cities that Waymo is exploring as it seeks to expand its service to states with variable climates. * AP | MLB proposes shortening regular season from 162 games to 154 and expanding Division Series to best-of-7: Owners also proposed to allow higher-seeded teams in the first two rounds of the postseason to pick their opponents beginning next year and to make Monday a day off for most teams starting in 2029 except for those in one or two nationally broadcast games. Cutting regular-season games would reduce the opportunity for players to set season and career records.
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MLB playoff open thread
Thursday, Oct 8, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Go Sox…
This is an MLB open thread.
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Illinois, other states urge Supreme Court to take up prediction market regulation
Thursday, Oct 8, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Bloomberg…
* The Hill…
* Related…
* CNBC | NFL tells Supreme Court prediction markets are gambling and should be regulated by the states: The NFL says on the first Sunday of the season, football accounted for $1.8 billion in prediction markets trading, more than half the total volume. The NFL says it isn’t opposed to prediction markets. “In the end, we believe that given the current resource constraints of the CFTC, this is a job better left to the states,” the league told CNBC. The league is concerned about contracts that are vulnerable to manipulation, like field goals where a kicker could intentionally miss or a wide receiver intentionally fumbling a pass. The NFL is also concerned about bets tied to injuries, officiating and other information insiders could know in advance. The NFL wants a minimum age of 21 for bettors, as most states mandate for sports betting. On Kalshi, customers can be as young as 18. * NPR | As crypto and prediction markets expand, their regulator shrinks: Trump-era staff reductions have significantly hampered enforcement at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and its ability to regulate burgeoning new prediction and cryptocurrency markets, where hundreds of billions are traded each week. By the end of 2025, the CFTC had 21% fewer staff on its payroll when compared to the previous 10-year average, according to U.S. Office of Personnel Management data. Between January 2024 and January 2025 alone, staffing dropped 22%. And the number of CFTC enforcement actions dropped even further. The agency made nearly 80% fewer enforcement actions in 2025 when compared to the annual average for the previous decade, according to the agency’s annual reports. * Politico | Bipartisan coalition of states urge Supreme Court to let them regulate prediction markets: The legal clash, the amicus brief said, “has splintered the circuits and lower courts with no resolution on the horizon. Only this Court can provide the much needed answer. It should do so.”
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Thursday, Oct 8, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: ICC judges recommend slashing proposed $144 million Peoples Gas rate increase by more than half. Tribune…
- “This is a step in the right direction, but we urge the ICC to go even further than the proposed order, at a time when it has never been more crucial for regulators to combat unwarranted utility costs,” Eric DeBellis, general counsel for the Citizens Utility Board, said in a news release Wednesday. - Peoples Gas issued a statement Wednesday that the utility still is assessing the 390-page proposed order recommending reduction of the rate increase to $66 million. * At 9 am, Gov. JB Pritzker will deliver remarks at the 2026 Governors’ Summit the State of PJM Interconnection in Chicago. Video will be available after the event. * Block Club Chicago | White Sox Fans Down But Not Out As Team Drops 1st Home Game In Playoff Run To Guardians: The Sox fell to the Guardians 9-3 to narrow the South Side team’s American League Division Series lead to 2-1. They’ll have a second chance to advance at home Thursday. Unfortunately for the sold out crowd and those who tuned in from neighborhood bars, the chance would have to wait at least another day. “Tomorrow we’ll be a completely different team,” Danniele Farley said outside of Turtle’s Bar and Grill, 238 W. 33rd St. “The nerves will be out of our system.” * Oak Park Journal | O’Hare Flyer gets earful from Adduci and Welch: Ori Gottlieb, a village resident, asked Welch what, if anything, could be done legally to stop the project, and in the alternative, how opponents can make it more difficult to proceed. Welch did suggest there were steps he could take if needed, saying, “I can make it a little difficult.” Referring to the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois Commerce Commission, he said he could “let ‘em know that your budgets can be held up at budget time, if you do things to negatively impact the communities that I represent.” * Subscribers know more. Capitol News Illinois | Illinois Republicans seek attorney general’s help after Champaign County ballot errors: WCIA-TV in Champaign quoted Ammons as saying certain ballots were affected within those precincts: “On those 19 affected ballot types, what you would see, sometimes, is the 101st race that should have been the 103rd, or the 104th that should have been the 102nd.” He blamed the error on a vendor, though he said his office did not catch the mistake when they checked the ballots before distributing them. Ammons told WCIA the county could identify all mail ballots that contained errors and replace them, but some had already voted. * Tribune | Illinois governor’s race: Collin Corbett, an ex-GOP strategist, hopes to find votes from those in the middle: Despite his campaign slogan, “Hope for Illinois,” Corbett acknowledges he has little realistic hope of upsetting Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, a billionaire Hyatt Hotels heir who restocked his campaign fund with $65 million in August, or Republican nominee Darren Bailey, the conservative former lawmaker from southern Illinois who lost to Pritzker by almost 13 percentage points in 2022. Reaching the high single digits would be an improvement over recent independent and third-party candidates, Corbett said in a recent Tribune interview. But calling himself “an overachiever,” Corbett said he’s “shooting for 15%.” * Capitol News Illinois | Pritzker declares Illinois a diesel disaster area, but fuel retailers are wary: But Harris said retailers are looking for further clarification at both the federal and state levels. He said the federal order suspends the tax and leaves retailers responsible for remitting it in January, while at the state level it remains unclear whether criminal penalties for distributors who sell dyed diesel for on-road purposes will remain. * Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson doubles down on his tax-the-rich mantra as budget deadline nears: He said he will use his 2027 budget to level the playing field that has allowed corporations to make “more money … than they’ve ever made in the history of the world,” including the “free labor period of slavery,” while working people “are standing in lines for food.” “We’re losing our democracy. I talk about Justice [Louis] Brandeis [who said], ‘You can either have a democracy or wealth in the hands of a concentrated few, but you can’t have both,’ ” Johnson said. * CBS Chicago | Proposed $900 million Amtrak Bridgeport maintenance facility gets pushback from residents, alderpeople: Ald. Nicole Lee (11th Ward) introduced the resolution, signed by 36 alderpeople who expressed their opposition to the facility in its current form and location. “We know that we’ve got a big fight ahead of us. I think this is going to be fought on multiple levels. I’m working with the city and the corporation council’s office to establish whether or not we want to have the city pursue a challenge to the categorical exclusion,” she said. * Crain’s | City Council grills Ishbia team and Amtrak over Bridgeport plans: Amtrak has committed to working with the Department of Planning & Development as the project moves forward, but will not seek formal approval from the city. Canal Edge, an entity created by Isbhia, is investing more than $125 million toward the development of a purpose-built Amtrak maintenance facility. The funding will combine with the $696 million in federal transportation funding to build out the new Amtrak facility and improve Amtrak’s South Branch Bridge. Ishbia’s contribution will allow him to take control of the current 14th Street site. * Tribune | Block 37 changes hands, and its new owner promises a makeover: “State Street has caught some momentum, it’s like the Magnificent Mile was about two years ago,” Vance said, pointing to Barnes & Noble opening in August a multilevel bookstore at 150 N. State St. “And even though Edwards has been focused on suburban retail, they know and understand how to lease retail centers, and they also know the Chicago region, which is vital.” * Crain’s | Google to pull back the curtain on Thompson Center transformation: At an Oct. 14 Crain’s event, four Google executives will discuss the company’s plans for the Helmut Jahn-designed landmark, which local developers Michael Reschke and Quintin Primo have been revamping in preparation for Google’s move into the former state government building. * Sun-Times | City replaces homemade benches in Ukrainian Village with ADA-compliant seating: Last month, the Northwest Neighborhood Alliance installed two homemade benches — one at Damen Avenue and Thomas Street and another at Division Street and Oakley Boulevard — to provide a place for residents who rely on public transit to sit while waiting for their bus. The two benches, painted in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, caught the attention of city officials, who on Monday replaced them with ADA-compliant benches. “This was the best outcome that we could have hoped for,” said Sam Kovnar, 25, founder of the local group. * Tribune | Preckwinkle proposes stop-gap fixes, shrinking budget to address Cook County’s $550M shortfall: Preckwinkle’s administration plans to use a series of stopgap measures to help cover operations in lieu of new or increased taxes or layoffs in 2027 to bridge the shortfall left by a mix of federal healthcare cuts, rising employee pay and benefits costs and an expensive legal defeat preventing the county from using transportation “lockbox” dollars on its public safety offices. * Sun-Times | Former Joliet police officer charged over alleged Flock camera misuse: Harrison makes for at least the third known case of a law enforcement officer being accused of misusing the database that tracks millions of drivers’ real-time locations in Will County this year. Fellow Will County municipality Channahon said it was reviewing its use of Flock cameras after an investigation found that its officers may also made unauthorized searches. The accused officers were placed on leave as an investigation continues. * Daily Herald | Final labor and delivery shift at Mercy Medical Center in Aurora full of bittersweet emotions: The latest shake-up came last month when Prime announced it was closing down obstetrics as of Oct. 1, not only at Mercy but at St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet and Resurrection Medical Center on Chicago’s Northwest Side. […] It was news that again raised concerns of some legislators, including Democratic U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood of Naperville, about increased maternal healthcare disparities and longer travel times for patients. * Daily Herald | Bartlett trustees delay vote on banning kratom products: Nine speakers, most attending from out-of-state via Zoom, attested to the health benefits of naturally derived kratom, while blaming an influx of enhanced synthetic derivatives for the dangerous reputation it has acquired. Trustees could decide they have everything they need to make a decision at their next meeting on Oct. 20. Police Chief Ryan Conway proposed the ban on the advertisement and sale of kratom and related synthetic drugs as well as recreational-use nitrous oxide. * SJ-R | New harm reduction hub opens in downtown Springfield: Intricate Minds, a woman-owned community center providing access to free resources related to mental health, drug use and testing and hygiene, has expanded from their original home on the north side of town to the First Presbyterian Church at 321 S. Seventh St. * WCBU | East Peoria votes to get gambling out of hotel lobbies: Commissioner Mark Hill proposed the update to liquor control regulations in East Peoria, which unanimously passed without discussion during Tuesday’s city council meeting. “We think that in this case that it’s to the betterment of the city to not allow the gaming machines in the hotel, motel,” Hill said. The move comes months after the Illinois Gaming Board approved Boyd Gaming’s plans to redevelop the Par-A-Dice Casino at its existing East Peoria location after Peoria’s attempt to lure the gambling operation across the river. * WCIA | Danville Mass, Rural Transit unveil website with routes, ETA’s, more: The new website, City of Danville officials said, makes it easier to find and use transportation information. Riders can access real-time bus locations and estimated arrival times, review routes and schedules, and check fare information. The site also provides information about reduced or free fares available to eligible students, seniors, children and veterans. * WCIA | Champaign Central girls flag football wins first regional title: For the first time in school history, Central girls flag football has won a regional title. The Maroons (12-2) defeated Peoria Richwoods 46-12 in the regional final. Central, who is one of two number one seeds in the Belleville East Sectional, takes on two-seed Edwardsville in a sectional semifinal at Belleville East on Saturday, October 10 at 10 a.m
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Good morning!
Thursday, Oct 8, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Selected press releases (live updates)
Thursday, Oct 8, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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