* Illinois motorists urged to prepare for winter

* 3 Illinois counties sue FEMA over flood mapping

* Midnight deadline for FEMA flood applications

* Ameren: The price you pay for electricity, gas is going up

* Bean concedes; Walsh wins seat by 291 votes

* Bean concedes; Walsh wins 8th District

* Rep. Bean concedes 8th Congressional District race

* Blagojevich retrial stalls (again) ethics committee inquiry into Jesse Jackson Jr.

* FDIC issues report on Broadway Bank closure

* Aldermen to vote on Mayor Daley’s 2011 budget

* City Council to vote on Daley’s last budget

* Cook County to pay $55 million to inmates at county jail

* Taxpayers on the hook for strip searches

* Daley names interim CPS chief

* Philanthropist chosen as interim chief of Chicago schools

* Daley names interim head for Chicago schools

* Sun-Times: Mazany a good pick for interim CPS chief

* Testy Stroger defends transition efforts

* Stroger ally says Preckwinkle should ’shut up’

* CTA board could lose pay: Daley names new school chief; Metra deal?

* Tribune: A dog with teeth

* Lengthy jail term sought for Jon Burge

* Feds want Burge to serve at least 24 years

* Rosenthal: WGN-AM changes weekend lineup

* Batavia mayor: city ‘on the upswing’

* A few bright spots dot Palatine’s bleak 2011 budget

* SD159 looking to trim $2.7 million budget deficit

* Naperville residents protest police layoffs

* Ottawa closing in on creating port district

* Tribune: U of Ay-Yi-Yi

* Peoria council endorses natural gas tax

* Woodford passes $6.6 million budget

* McLean Co. Board approves $76M budget

* Clinton mayor submits his resignation

* EIU president says layoffs, furloughs unlikely

* Sangamon County GOP holds off on on mayor pick

* More cuts in store for city, mayor says

* Four candidates seek three trustee seats in Chatham

* 6 sites bid to host FutureGen’s carbon storage

* Fairview council backs term limits; mayor plans veto