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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Monday, Oct 20, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Tribune…
For working families across our state, delivery is a lifeline, NOT a luxury. From groceries and meals to essential household items, people from all walks of life depend on delivery services to make ends meet, save time, and stay safe. A new delivery tax would hit seniors, individuals with disabilities, and working parents juggling multiple responsibilities. It’s a burden Illinois families simply cannot bear. Learn more today about how a delivery tax could impact your household. * GovAct and Governors Safeguarding Democracy….
Click here for the full amicus brief. * WCIA | SNAP benefits will soon be tied to error rates. These states are in the biggest trouble: If a state is unable to get its error rate below the 6% threshold in time, it will need to cover between 5% and 15% of the cost of SNAP benefits. Those with higher error rates generally must pay more, but states with especially high mistake rates will have as late as 2030 to comply. As a result of the cost shift, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that some states will end up reducing or eliminating SNAP benefits for about 300,000 people. Subsidies through child nutrition programs could also decrease for about 96,000 children. * Politico | Why did State Farm hike rates in a state with no huge disasters?: Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said the “unfair” price hike was based on projected catastrophe losses that were “entirely inconsistent” with the state Department of Insurance projections. He accused State Farm of using Illinois ratepayers to make up losses from disasters in other states and called for lawmakers to add “commonsense consumer protection” to its insurance rules. * Politico | What Trump Is Really Up to in Chicago, According to JB Pritzker: Pritzker may not have wanted a battle with the White House, but Trump’s decision to send National Guard troops over the governor’s objections to buttress an increasingly controversial ICE enforcement operation is certainly raising Pritzker’s profile. That’s particularly true as Democrats are desperate to find a path back to relevance after being shut out of power in Washington. In the interview, Pritzker said Democrats should be able to fight for lower health care premiums in a shutdown battle while also protecting American democracy from a Trumpian power grab. * Crain’s | Former longtime Illinois GOP leader asking near $7M for lakefront New Buffalo home: Lee Daniels, a former DuPage County Republican legislator whose three-decade career in Springfield included one term as speaker of the house and nine as minority leader, is asking nearly $7 million for his home in New Buffalo, Michigan. * Sun-Times | Chicago sues, challenging Trump’s anti-diversity requirements in federal anti-terrorism grants: The target of the new lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Chicago is Trump’s decision to condition U.S. Department of Homeland Security grants on a city’s opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring and contracting. The Trump administration’s conditions to tens of millions of dollars in federal funding would require Chicago and other cities to certify in advance that they do not have “programs that advance or promote DEI, DEIA, or discriminatory equity ideology.” * Chalkbeat Chicago | Chicago schools considering $60 million, four-year contract to track technology: The move comes after late 2022 reporting by Chalkbeat and WBEZ and an early 2024 report by the district’s inspector general that showed school and district officials were losing track of thousands of computers and other devices after a pandemic-era technology spending spree. That report highlighted what the watchdog deemed unacceptable numbers of lost devices and lack of accountability in safeguarding them. * Sun-Times | Some Mexican immigrants are making plans to leave Chicago before ICE deports them: But the decision to go back to Mexico after years — or in some cases, decades — in the United States isn’t as simple as packing up a suitcase and buying a plane ticket. It’s why Castro has been hosting free online workshops to help people understand and navigate the practical steps and emotional aspects of starting over. * South Side Weekly | A Tragic Homecoming For Man Killed By ICE Agents In Franklin Park: The Mexican Consulate in Chicago paid for the flight. The state covered the transport from Guadalajara. The municipality paid for the burial. Cabrera said Villegas González’ return to Michoacán was one among many. Each year, hundreds of bodies are flown back to Michoacán from U.S. cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston. In 2025, at least 28 remains of Michoacanos who died in the United States have been repatriated to the state. Some cases draw public attention, he said, but many others remain private at the families’ request. * Block Club | Border Patrol Arrests 11 Rideshare Drivers At O’Hare Parking Lot: Border Patrol agents made 11 arrests of undocumented immigrants at O’Hare parking lots Saturday, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary of public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said. The arrests were made in a lot designated for drivers using rideshare platforms like Uber and Lyft, according to CBS Chicago. Homeland Security did not provide names of those arrested, but said those detained are from countries including Colombia, Mexico, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Russia and Ukraine, the spokesperson said. Those arrested had criminal histories including domestic battery and driving while intoxicated, according to McLaughlin. * Crain’s | Salt Shed owners eye adjacent property for big expansion: The vision: Build an open-air venue that could accommodate not only larger concerts than the Salt Shed can handle with its roughly 5,500-person limit for outdoor shows, but potentially serve as a destination for neighborhood street festivals and annual music festivals that increasingly run into issues with logistics and costs. * Chicago Reader | Night time is prime time for releases at the Cook County jail: However, the sheriff’s office provided no hard data establishing a causal link between the Pretrial Fairness Act and the increasing trends of late releases. The office did provide two graphs claiming to “illustrate the increase in time that is largely attributable to PFA-related delays,” but those graphs only demonstrated the increasing trend of late-night releases itself, not how the PFA was causing them. Additionally, as Walberg noted, the PFA took effect in September 2023. The largest jump in releases between 11 PM and 3 AM occurred between 2021 and 2022. The number and share of daytime and early evening releases also fell from 2021 to 2022. * Sun-Times | Illinois one step closer to keeping invasive carp out of Great Lakes: The fight to keep the carp under control and out of the Great Lakes may be getting easier. Last week, Illinois announced it had acquired land needed to move forward with a $1.15 billion barricade aimed at keeping the voracious Asian carp from entering the channel that connects the Mississippi River Basin with the Great Lakes. The barricade, called the Brandon Road Interbasin Project, is an underwater defense system long hailed as the solution to the carp problem. * Sun-Times | Lyons mayor hit with federal tax lien of more than $150,000: Lyons Mayor Chris Getty was investigated but not charged in a federal corruption investigation that swept through Chicago and numerous suburbs in recent years. Now he faces new trouble: a federal lien demanding he cough up more than $150,000 in unpaid income taxes. Getty says the tax demand from the Internal Revenue Service has nothing to do with the criminal probe — which he insists is over as it pertains to him, with no wrongdoing found — but rather his divorce case. “The divorce triggered the tax liability,” Getty said. “I had to sell an asset,” which he declined to identify but said it “created a tax burden on myself.” * WGN | Metra Electric service to be impacted on 3 weekends due to work associated with South Shore Line expansion: Metra Electric service will be impacted on three weekends in late October and early November due to construction work associated with the South Shore Line’s expansion plans, Metra said in a news release Monday. The project is part of a $650 million expansion of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District’s South Shore service and is necessary to expand capacity north of 18th street to accommodate additional South Shore trains, according to the release. * Lake County News-Sun | Almost 15K attend Lake County ‘No Kings’ rallies: ‘Many see our Constitution at risk’: The Crosses and Bush were among more than 14,500 people at “No Kings” rallies demonstrating for their concept of American principles at events Saturday in Gurnee, Highland Park and Buffalo Grove, criticizing what many consider the growing authoritarianism of President Donald Trump and his administration. Demonstrators lined three blocks of Grand Avenue on both sides of the street, as well as the parkway separating the roadway from the sidewalk. They also stood holding their signs along a block on both sides of Hunt Club Road. * Tribune | ‘No Kings’ in La Grange protest draws thousands: ‘It’s a great turnout’: Earlier this year, Trump signed three executive orders seeking to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the public and private sectors. DEI helps minorities, she said. Branch said the rally “brings back memories from the 1960s.” “I lived in the South, in Mississippi, during most of the ‘60s, so I’m very familiar with what we have to fight for,” she said, recalling the Civil Rights movement. “It was hard work,” she said. “That’s why we are here today. We’re not going to sleep on this.” * WAND | Trial Blog | Court proceedings begin in Day 1 of Sean Grayson Murder Trial: Of the 12 jurors in the second section, two were chosen to stay as the jury. The two jurors from the first round that were held, were also officially added to the jury. This brings the jury total up to eight. Seven of the jurors from the second round were dismissed. Three jurors from the second section will remain potential jurors, although they were not selected in this round. * Capitol City Now | “There’s nothing political about a veterans’ home”: State Rep. Kyle Moore (R-Quincy), the city’s mayor during the crisis, said, “We were concerned that there were politicians on both sides of the aisle who called for permanently closing this Quincy veterans’ home,” in place since 1886 “This has been the biggest and most important building project in our Rebuild Illinois capital construction program, said the governor, adding, “There’s nothing political about a veterans’ home.” * SJ-R | Manufacturing company shutting down Illinois facility, laying off 70 workers: Hassell said production will be transitioned to other U.S.-based facilities as part of a broader strategy to streamline operations. Employees at the Princeton facility will have the opportunity to apply for open positions at Ingersoll-Rand’s Alsip, Illinois, facility or its customer center in Elmhurst, Illinois. * WCIA | Carle trick-or-treat event reunites nurses with former patients: All the kids in costumes were former patients in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and the event gives nurses a chance to see how far the kids have come since they left the hospital as babies. […] It was the second year Carle has hosted the event since it returned after the COVID-19 pandemic and they hope to continue the tradition. * Popular Information | ICE boosts weapons spending 700%: New spending in the small arms category from January 20, 2025, the day Trump was inaugurated, through October 18, totaled $71,515,762. Most of the spending was on guns and armor, but there have also been significant purchases of chemical weapons and “guided missile warheads and explosive components.” On September 29, 2025, ICE made a $9,098,590 purchase from Geissele Automatics, which sells semi-automatic and automatic rifles. The total spending by ICE in the small arms category between January 20 and October 18, 2024, was $9,715,843. * IPM Newsroom | Drought is shrinking Mississippi River levels — again. That’s a big problem for farmers: The Mississippi River is again facing low water levels — pushing up barge rate and making it more expensive for farmers to export crops and import fertilizer. Stretched out over 2,000 miles, the Mississippi is essential for farmers to sell their crops. Nearly half of all U.S. corn, soybeans and wheat exports travel down the waterway to the Gulf of Mexico. Decreased rainfall starting late this summer shrunk the Ohio River, the main water source of the Mississippi. Before that, Mike Steenhoek, director of Iowa-based Soy Transportation Coalition, was hoping the river could avoid a fourth consecutive year of low water levels. * Chalkbeat | A new study confirms a hunch: School cell phone bans can boost test scores: In the second year of the ban, average test scores on the higher-stakes spring test went up by 1.1 percentiles more in the schools where students previously used their phones a lot, compared with low-activity schools. The results were more significant for middle and high school students, and boys seemed to benefit more than girls. But the gains came with tradeoffs. Suspensions went up in the first year of the ban, the study found, especially for Black boys. And white students saw greater test score growth than Black students. * WIRED | What the Huge AWS Outage Reveals About the Internet: The outages stemmed from Amazon’s DynamoDB database application programming interfaces in US-EAST-1, and AWS said in status updates that the problem was specifically related to DNS resolution issues. The “domain name system” is a foundational internet service that essentially acts as an automatic phonebook lookup to translate web URLs like www.wired.com into numeric server IP addresses so web browsers show users the right content. DNS resolution issues occur when DNS servers aren’t accurately connecting these dots and, to keep with the phonebook analogy, are providing the wrong numbers for a given name, or vice versa.
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Today’s quotable
Monday, Oct 20, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Click here for video. Saturday…
* Transcript…
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All heck breaks loose on Illinois’ far right after ‘leaked’ document ignites firestorm
Monday, Oct 20, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The document in question (which I’ve seen, but you’ll have to find yourself) is a much more explicit version of what the Chicago Tribune wrote about three years ago…
* DeVore himself weighed in today…
From comments…  Heh.
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Keep ROFR And Anti-Competitive Language Out Of The Energy Bill
Monday, Oct 20, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Voters and the Governor already rejected lawmakers’ push for anti-competitive “Right of First Refusal” (ROFR) bills that handed transmission contracts to incumbent utilities. Now, the same principles that would raise costs on ratepayers are back. They are trying to rebrand ROFR and pretend it’s about protecting Illinois. As energy legislation is finalized in Springfield this month, let’s keep ROFR and anti-competitive language out of bill. Let’s remember Illinois voters:
• 76% say anti-competition laws only strengthen utilities, not citizens. • 75% say ending competition drives up prices and kills savings. The message is clear: voters want more competition, not less. Voters’ concerns about higher energy prices are only on the rise. Since this poll, they’ve endured a sizzling summer with skyrocketing prices, and a new report says the cost of heating a home this winter is expected to jump nearly 8%. Voters have made their voice clear: Say no to energy inflation. Don’t hand more power and control to ComEd and Ameren. Say no to ending cost-cutting competition. And say yes to policies that provide lower cost to consumers.
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Roundup: Trump administration asks US Supreme Court to allow National Guard deployment in Illinois
Monday, Oct 20, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * The Sun-Times…
Click here to read Sauer’s emergency appeal. * Capitol News Illinois’ Hannah Meisel…
* The Tribune…
* The Hill…
* More…
* NYT | Trump Asks Supreme Court to Allow National Guard Deployment in Chicago Area: A protest does not “become a rebellion merely because of sporadic and isolated incidents of unlawful activity or even violence committed by rogue participants in the protest,” the appeals court said. In addition, the judges pointed to the use of National Guard members from Texas as “an incursion on Illinois’s sovereignty.” * Politico | Supreme Court gets first chance to weigh Trump’s bid to deploy National Guard: But courts have not ruled uniformly against Trump’s use of the National Guard. In June, the administration won orders from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals allowing deployments in Los Angeles to continue. The Oregon judge’s ruling is also currently on appeal at the 9th Circuit. When a panel of that court heard arguments last week, a majority of the judges seemed inclined to allow the troops to be put on the street. * AP | Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow deployment of National Guard in Chicago area: Eleven people were arrested at a Friday protest outside a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement facility in the west Chicago suburb of Broadview. Law enforcement had urged demonstrators to stay in designated “protest zones.” In recent weeks, the Broadview ICE facility has been the site of tense protests, where federal agents have previously used tear gas and other chemical agents on protesters and journalists.
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When RETAIL Succeeds, Illinois Succeeds
Monday, Oct 20, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] The Macomb square is home to Bird’s Nest Knit & More where owner Jackie Sullivan creates a welcoming hub of knitting and crafting supplies allowing hobby enthusiasts to share ideas and projects. Jackie stresses that lawmakers should know small retail is not trying to dodge laws but seek to provide needed products and comfortable spaces in communities. Findings of a recent economic study are clear: the retail sector is a cornerstone of the state’s economy and crucial to our everyday lives. Retail in Illinois directly contributes more than $112 billion in economic investment annually – more than 10 percent of the state’s total Gross Domestic Product.
Policies that support small businesses help communities thrive as retailers like Jackie are better equipped to meet local needs. We Are Retail and IRMA are showcasing the retailers who make Illinois work.
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Immigrant rights coalition pushing for more protections against ICE, including in hospitals
Monday, Oct 20, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
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OBBBA Medicaid Cuts Will Hurt Patients And Hospitals: Vote YES On HB 2371 SA 2 To Prevent More Harm
Monday, Oct 20, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] While many Illinoisians struggle to make ends meet, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) signed into law this summer will worsen their lives through punishing reductions to the Medicaid program through work requirements and cost-sharing requirements for Medicaid customers, and other cuts impacting hospitals. OBBBA represents the largest reduction in Medicaid spending—$1 trillion over 10 years—in the program’s 60-year history. It’s estimated as many as 500,000 Illinoisans will lose healthcare coverage and Illinois will lose nearly $51 billion in federal Medicaid funding over 10 years. This law reverses over a decade in coverage gains for patients across the country and in Illinois. Our state’s most vulnerable residents cannot afford to lose access to needed healthcare services and affordable prescription drugs. Unfortunately, it’s already happening due to restrictions pharmaceutical companies have imposed on hospitals that are part of the federal 340B drug discount program because they serve many low-income and uninsured patients. Faced with rising expenses, hospitals are struggling too. Over half of Illinois’ hospitals have operated on slim to negative margins over the past decade. Big Pharma’s 340B restrictions have slashed the savings from discounted drugs that over 100 Illinois hospitals rely on to reduce drug costs for patients and expand healthcare services, as intended when 340B began in 1992. Vote YES on House Bill 2371 SA 2 to protect 340B at no cost to the state and to prevent further harm to Illinois healthcare. Learn more.
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, Oct 20, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: CTU’s Stacy Davis Gates elected to lead Illinois teachers union. WBEZ…
- More than 100,000 teachers, college faculty and public employees from across the state are represented by the union. - As has been the practice in the past, Davis Gates will continue leading her own local, the Chicago Teachers Union. - Even as she has faced criticism for divisive rhetoric, she said the CTU has experience bringing together people who work in vastly different schools and uniting them around common purposes. She insists she can bring that energy to the state. * Related stories… Sponsored by Ameren Illinois
* Governor Pritzker will attend a ribbon cutting at the Illinois Veterans’ Home in Quincy at 11:30 am, give remarks on Rebuild Illinois in Fairmont City at 2 pm and join the 3:30 pm grand opening of the Downstate Illinois Laborers’ District Council Building in Collinsville. Click here to watch. * Sun-Times | Trump administration threatens SNAP benefits amid government shutdown, risking 1.9 million Illinois residents: For Illinois, that would mean a loss of $350 million the state administers to recipients. “If SNAP funds are not delivered by the federal government, the State of Illinois does not have the budgetary ability to backfill these critical resources,” the state agency said in a statement. * Capitol News Illinois | Trump asks U.S. Supreme Court to allow National Guard deployment in Illinois: In a 43-page filing, the administration argued the judicial branch has no right to “second guess” a president’s judgment on national security matters or resulting military actions. “A federal district court lacks not only the authority but also the competence to wrest control of the military chain of command from the Commander in Chief,” U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer wrote. President Donald Trump’s Oct. 4 order to federalize, or take control of, 300 members of the Illinois National Guard, along with the deployment of 200 Texas guardsmen and another 16 troops from California, has been blocked since last week. U.S. District Judge April Perry issued a temporary restraining order on Oct. 9 forbidding the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard, ruling there was “no credible evidence that there is a danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois.” * Daily Herald | Amid pushback, fiscal crunch, Metra reverses course on using operating funds for capital projects: The commuter railroad had sought to shift $60 million from operating revenues to the capital side to secure matching federal grants and finance loans for urgent projects in its 2026 budget proposal. But with a looming fiscal crisis next year, the RTA objected. The timing also was fraught with the General Assembly in the midst of a veto session that could result in a financial bailout for Metra, Pace and the CTA. “We told the RTA and the legislative leadership that we will work with the Metra board to remove the transfer of $60 million from operating to capital,” Metra spokesperson Michael Gillis said Friday. * Tribune | ‘Devil’s ideology’: President Donald Trump’s darkening rhetoric escalates attacks and often targets Illinois: Rather than just suggesting Democrats and other opponents are incompetent, Trump and his supporters have increasingly cast their critics, including other elected officials, as illegitimate and even dangerous. Just in the past few weeks, they’ve described Democratic senators who continue to reject a Republican budget deal as negotiating like “terrorists” and said those attending Saturday’s nationwide anti-Trump “No Kings” rallies “hate America.” The president himself went so far as to say last week that Democrats follow “the devil’s ideology.” * WBEZ | Fewer international students are studying at some Illinois universities: Data from at least three schools — DePaul, the University of Illinois Chicago and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — show declines in international enrollment among graduate students. The resulting drops in tuition revenue are squeezing universities’ finances, and faculty say fewer international students on campus will hurt teaching and research. * Press Release | Illinois sets new record for youth deer season harvest: Illinois youth deer hunters set a new record for the season, harvesting a preliminary total of 4,714 deer Oct. 11-13. Top harvest counties include Randolph, 259; Pike, 164; Adams, 155; Jefferson, 155; and Marion, 135. Comparatively, youth hunters took 4,097 deer during the season in 2024. * WGIL | ‘Just the tip of the iceberg’: Hill Correctional Center violence fuels demand for IDOC reform: Local lawmakers, a state senate candidate, and a lodge representing correctional officers are raising concerns about a string of violent incidents at Hill Correctional Center in Galesburg and other Illinois prisons. They’re pressing for major changes in the Illinois Department of Corrections leadership to keep staff and incarcerated people safe. The situation drew widespread attention on Oct. 9 when Patrick Harlan, the “Illinois First” candidate for the 36th State Senate District, posted on Facebook about three serious incidents at Hill. Those incidents include a stabbing on Oct. 5, a hostage situation on Oct. 7, and an escape attempt the next day. * Tribune | Digging in on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget plan, which counts on short-term fixes to plug hole: Johnson wants to close a significant part of city’s $1.19 billion 2026 deficit with “revenue enhancements.” The largest is a 3 percentage point increase to the city’s existing tax on cloud-based computer services. Though the mayor framed the tax as one on big tech, the tax isn’t due by the companies themselves. “It’ll get passed along to every small business that uses cloud computing, that uses offsite data servers, all the streaming stuff,” said Justin Marlowe, director of the Center for Municipal Finance at the University of Chicago. “I think a lot of this framing will be cut through pretty quickly.” * Media Ite | ‘Unquestioned Power’: Trump Warns ‘Fake’ Dems He’ll Use Insurrection Act to Counter ICE Resistance: The president told Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo, during an interview on Sunday Morning Futures, that he would prefer not to use the act. But if politicians like Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) keep verbally and legally battling him on his mission to reduce crime and illegal immigration, he will have no choice. “Don’t forget, I can use the Insurrection Act. Fifty percent of the presidents almost have used that. And that’s unquestioned power,” Trump said. “I choose not to, I’d rather do this. But I’m met constantly by fake politicians — politicians who think, it’s not like part of the radical-left movement to have safety. These cities have to be safe.” * Sun-Times | From California to Chicago, a Border Patrol boss sparks accusations of race-based arrests: Michelle García, deputy legal director for the ACLU of Illinois, said the Border Patrol’s approach hasn’t changed since the April 29 court order in California — despite the agency’s commitment to training its agents. “It’s all the same people,” Garcia said. “They’re using the same tactics because it’s intended to scare people. It’s intended to terrorize people.” * WBEZ | To stand up to ICE agents, some Chicagoans are arming themselves with whistles: Though the whistles are just a small piece of plastic, community organizers like Teresa Magaña say they are “making a huge difference.” “In these videos, you are now seeing [ICE agents] driving away, or they don’t hang out long,” Magaña said. “And as soon as the cameras come up, the aggressiveness eases.” * Tribune | ‘Feeling the pain’: Chicago’s federal court employees to go without pay amid ongoing government shutdown: U.S. District Chief Judge Virginia Kendall told the Tribune on Friday that the announcement was “out of the blue,” but the exact date the funding would run out was unclear. “I think we have funding to make it to the end of the year as far as paying jurors,” Kendall said. Still, the ongoing shutdown, which began Oct. 1 and currently has no end in sight, prompted Kendall to announce Friday the U.S. District Courts in Chicago are now entering “Phase 2” of its shutdown operations, stopping salary payments to courthouse employees and reducing operations at the clerk’s office to only “excepted activities” such as constitutional functions. * Tribune | They were already living in one of Chicago’s worst apartment buildings. Then came the ICE raid: What the federal agents found, though, was a building as vulnerable as any in the city. A building that “is basically 7-Eleven,” said one resident, Darren Hightower, because “you can come any time you want,” in and out of unlocked entrances. Living in the building is “like being held hostage,” Hightower said. “You want to go, but you can’t go.” “It’s disgusting day after day and it seems to only get worse day after day. This is before and after the migrants, since everybody wants to blame the migrants,” he said. * WGN | Vendors seek support after ICE activity at Swap-O-Rama sparks boycott: On top of already low sales, which many vendors attribute to the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Chicago, they are now facing a growing boycott from people who believe Swap-O-Rama could have done more to stop federal agents from entering the property. […] “Don’t punish the vendors for something that’s not their fault. Instead, call for action from the management of Swap-O-Rama,” vendor Maritza Jaimes said. * The Guardian | How Chicago succeeded in reducing drug overdose deaths: Among US counties containing the nation’s 10 largest cities, Cook county, Illinois – where Chicago is located – has seen the largest reduction in overdose deaths since the national peak of the crisis in 2023, by 37%, according to an exclusive Guardian analysis. Chicago has one of the most robust drug supply surveillance and overdose prevention response systems in the nation. Jenny Hua, medical director for the Chicago department of public health, hesitated to take full credit for the progress, explaining that many factors influencing overdose deaths are beyond any one health department’s control. It’s also easier to have a coordinated response in a big city, where people and resources are concentrated. Changes to the drug supply are also affecting regions differently. * Crain’s | Bank OZK confirms JDL’s deal for Lincoln Yards parcel has closed: Chicago’s JDL Development is poised to take over the northern portion of the site after purchasing it for about $84 million from Bank OZK, which confirmed the sale in a regulatory filing today. The lender had initially issued a $128 million mortgage on the parcel in 2019 but took it over in March of this year after a series of delays and financing struggles upended the plans of Sterling Bay, the previous developer. * Block Club | Tony Fitzpatrick’s Art Is All Over Chicago. Here’s Where To Find It: Located on the exterior of the theater’s Arts and Education Center, this multi-panel piece titled “Night and Day in the Garden of All Other Ecstasies” is a tribute to Steppenwolf’s artistic director Martha Lavey, who died in 2017. Not only was Lavey a close friend of Fitzpatrick, but he had appeared in five works at the theater, said Steppenwolf Executive Director Brooke Flanagan. * Crain’s | See inside the $50 million magic venue coming to downtown Chicago: The McCormick Mansion just west of Chicago’s Magnificent Mile is being redeveloped into The Hand & The Eye in a $50 million project announced earlier this year that will turn the 1880s-era building into an array of luxe performance spaces, dining rooms, parlors and secret passageways. […] The redevelopment will preserve certain historic features of the mansion, such as its ornate carved plaster staircase and thick masonry walls that outline the original structure. The original lamps on the mansion’s facade are also being restored. * Tribune | Upset neighbors interrupt federal immigration manhunt in Mount Prospect: Two of Fisher’s three children, ages 17 and 20, were home alone when the agents were in their backyard, she said. She and her husband had come home from playing wallyball, a combination of racquetball and volleyball, when they saw the agents emerging from their yard, which is under construction. One of the agents told them that they were pursuing an individual who went into their backyard and left a jacket on their fence, Fisher said. But she said she knew the article of clothing had been there for several days. At that point, she said, she lost patience with the agents and repeatedly asked them to leave. * Sun-Times | 15 protesters arrested at Broadview ICE facility: Eleven of those arrested have been charged with misdemeanor resisting and were all detained by Illinois State Police, according to a statement by the Cook County sheriff’s office. Three others were also arrested by ISP and are charged with disobeying a police officer, while the other person was arrested by Broadview police and charged with disorderly conduct. * Daily Herald | Border Patrol agents step up enforcement efforts in Lake County with raids at car washes, nurseries: Adrian Martinez, sales manager at Elite Growers in Ingleside, said agents arrived unannounced at the commercial nursery at around 8:30 a.m. “They pulled in and one guy immediately jumped out of a vehicle and ran toward an employee, and the SUV pulled up next to a customer who was here and they immediately started questioning him,” Martinez said. * Daily Southtown | Will County prohibits use of its property for immigration enforcement staging: Under the executive order, county-owned properties under the control of the executive’s office will be prohibited from serving as staging areas for federal immigration operations such as assembling, mobilizing or deploying vehicles. This includes buildings, parking lots, vacant lots or garages under the executive’s office, the order said. Some of the county buildings under this order include the county office building in Joliet, the health department, animal protection services, the Sunny Hill Nursing Home and the Children’s Advocacy Center, among others, said Mike Theodore, spokesman for the executive’s office. The executive order does not apply to the Will County Courthouse, which is under the jurisdiction of Chief Judge Daniel Kennedy, he said. The order also does not apply to buildings the county leases. * Sun-Times | As northwest suburban strip club prepares for new liquor license push, questions swirl around video gambling: The owner of the Blackjacks gentlemen’s club near Elgin says she has no plans for video gambling devices should the establishment first secure a coveted license to sell alcohol. But critics don’t buy it, and records show the machines have proven lucrative for other local strip clubs. * Sun-Times | Archdiocese removes Waukegan priest, launches sexual misconduct investigation: The Rev. Xamie Reyes of Little Flower Parish in Waukegan is stepping away from the parish as the archdiocese, the arm of the Catholic Church for Cook and Lake counties, investigates the allegations, church officials said. Cardinal Blase Cupich, leader of the archdiocese, has appointed the Rev. Ismael Garcia, the parish’s current associate pastor, as the administrator of the parish. * Daily Southtown | Will County OKs $10 million levy for mental health grants: The $10 million allocation is a $2 million increase over last year, but it is $2 million less than the proposed $12 million that was initially requested. Teena Mackey, executive director of the Community Mental Health Board, said the board provided grants to help fund 42 programs for the 2025 to 2026 cycle, which began in April. * Daily Southtown | Mayor declares Harvey financially distressed, says city government shutdown imminent: The Illinois Financially Distressed City Law gives the state broad authority to intervene in a city’s financial affairs in order to “provide a secure financial basis for the continued operation of a financially distressed city.” The law has been invoked once before, when East St. Louis was given the designation in 1990. Harvey’s finances have been turbulent for years, and most of the meeting was taken up by a 90-minute presentation by Clark that laid the blame squarely at the feet of the previous mayor, Eric Kellogg, who led the city from 2003 to 2019. Kellogg’s administration was marked by multiple high-profile scandals, including the disappearance of millions in bond money intended for hotel construction, the diversion of water bills owed to the city of Chicago, and a yearslong strip club extortion scheme. * Daily Herald | ‘Best thing in the world’: Hundreds receive free care at Heal Elgin clinic: The clinic, held Saturday and Sunday, was operated by the Heal Elgin Project, Mission Minded Worldwide and Better Vision, Better Hope, in partnership with Judson and the City of Elgin. The first-come, first-serve event offered free medical, dental and vision care, as well as health assessments and recommendations of lifestyle choices. Hundreds of patients passed through the doors over the weekend. They received vision tests, dental X-rays, fillings and extractions, courtesy of volunteer professionals. * Daily Southtown | Banging Gavels Brews in Tinley Park lauded by state for restoring its 160-year-old home: Banging Gavel Brews, 17400 S. Oak Park Ave., was recently awarded the 2025 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Adaptive Reuse. It was one of nine recipients in the state, and the only one in the south suburbs to earn the recognition. Richert said he honestly wasn’t familiar with the honor, but as he researched more about how rare it is to win the award, especially in this area, he said he got emotional. “It’s mind boggling,” he said. “I’m very proud of this place, and I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished as a team here. It was a lot of sacrifice by a lot of people that supported us and really believed in what our vision was for this building.” * WCIA | Trial for former deputy charged with killing Sonya Massey begins Monday: Grayson has been in jail since, despite multiple hearings hoping to get him out before trial because of his health. He is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. The first-degree murder charge can carry a sentence of 20 years to life in prison. The aggravated battery charge could carry a sentence anywhere between six to 30 years, while the official misconduct charge could earn him between two to five years in prison. * Illinois Times | Sean Grayson trial to begin Oct. 20: Grayson’s attorneys wouldn’t say whether he plans to testify in his defense during the trial. If Grayson does testify, he would have to submit to cross-examination by prosecutors. After an Oct. 2 pretrial hearing on the case, community activist and Massey family friend Teresa Haley, 60, told the news media that Massey supporters and the family hope jurors use their own experiences to weigh the bodycam video. “You can watch the video,” Haley said. “A blind person can see that she didn’t throw the pot.” * WICS | Peoria County sheriff speaks out on safety plans for Sean Grayson’s trial: Peoria County Sheriff, Chris Watkins, said Peoria law enforcement has over planned for this trial. He said safety planning started back in April, when the news broke of the venue change. Sheriff Watkins said it’s always best to scale up on safety plans than to start with small plans and scramble to make adjustments. He said there will be numerous streets blocked off, including a staging area for law enforcement officers. * WGLT | After getting millions in tax breaks, Rivian now won’t say how many people work in Normal: Until recently, media outlets like WGLT could ask for and receive the number of employees working at Rivian’s Normal plant. The public watched as the number soared – from 350 people in 2020 to around 8,000 just three years later. The hiring was so fast it strained Bloomington-Normal’s housing market. Now, WGLT doesn’t know how many people work at Rivian. Neither does Normal’s mayor or others. In a recent email, a Rivian spokesperson said they would no longer provide a headcount for Normal. They also said the 8,000 figure previously given was no longer accurate. * Illinois | First data center in Sangamon County: CyrusOne, which operates more than 55 data centers across the United States, Europe and Japan – including two in the Chicago area – filed the request in recent days for a conditional permitted use in an agricultural zone at the northwest corner of Thayer and Clark roads in Talkington Township, 14 miles southwest of Springfield. Six 250,000-square-foot, one-story buildings would be constructed as part of the project. The total indoor space would be the size of 26 football fields, and the project’s footprint would be more than three times the size of Springfield’s Scheels Sports Complex at Legacy Pointe. * Illinois Times | Springfield’s Amazon hub opens: Same-day and next-day deliveries of pet food, diapers, makeup, hair gel, breakfast cereals and other common household items will be available in the Springfield area by late-October or early November with the recent opening of Amazon’s new distribution hub, a company official says. The 71,000-square-foot warehouse, so far employing 75 part-time, entry-level workers and about 25 full-time managers, began shipping packages Oct. 9 from its site at North Dirksen Parkway and Bissell Road on Springfield’s northeast side. * WGLT | ISU trustees call for campus flexibility as new budget model approaches: Less than a month ago, ISU President Aondover Tarhule highlighted continuing financial challenges the institution faces during his State of the University address. He did that again Friday at a board of trustees meeting. Trustees chair Kathryn Bohn also emphasized the new budgeting process ISU is implementing will not make challenges vanish and does nothing to create new revenue. “We understand some choices will be difficult and that compromises will be necessary, but we strongly encourage the administration and all campus constituents to remain resolutely focused on the university’s long-term fiscal resilience,” said Bohn. * AP | President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown weighs heavy on the US labor market: In a July report, researchers Wendy Edelberg and Tara Watson of the centrist Brookings Institution and Stan Veuger of the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute calculated that the loss of foreign workers will mean that monthly U.S. job growth “could be near zero or negative in the next few years.’’ * AP | State emergency officials say new rules and delays for FEMA grants put disaster response at risk: In another move that has caused uncertainty, FEMA in September drastically cut some states’ allocations from another source of funding. The $1 billion Homeland Security Grant Program is supposed to be based on assessed risks, and states pass most of the money to police and fire departments. New York received $100 million less than it expected, a 79% reduction, while Illinois saw a 69% reduction. Both states are politically controlled by Democrats. Meanwhile, some territories received unexpected windfalls, including the U.S. Virgin Islands, which got more than twice its expected allocation. * The Guardian | US tells airlines to disregard ‘X’ sex markers on passports and input ‘M’ or ‘F’: US Customs and Border Protection implemented a rule this week that will require airlines to disregard “X” sex markers on passports and input an “M” or “F” marker instead, sending those people with an “X” marker into panic. […] Passports with “X” markers should still be considered valid travel documents; the US district court of Massachusetts issued an order in June ensuring that they would remain valid after the Trump administration attempted to ban them under executive order 14168, titled Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. While the courts have continued to prevent the Trump administration from outright banning a third gender marker, this week’s rule can still serve to make the lives of trans and non-binary people more difficult, Izenson says. * NYT | Wealthy Americans Are Spending. People With Less Are Struggling: “This isn’t just an inequality story — it’s a macroeconomic story,” said Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive policy group. “As the wealthy continue to consume, that’s masking more and more insecurity and instability in the economy under the hood. The split is evident across industries. Well-to-do fliers are snapping up pricey seats in first and business class, as airlines struggle to fill the cheaper seats at the back of the plane. Credit card companies are competing to offer ever-more-expensive cards to high earners who are happy to pay the annual fees in return for exclusive perks — while lower-income households are struggling to make minimum payments on their debts.
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Good morning!
Monday, Oct 20, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * My friend Darren Tanner and I saw AC/DC open for Aerosmith in 1978 at the Salt Palace. Nobody knew who they were, but they blew the headliners off the stage. I became a big fan, and when Bon Scott died in 1980, some friends of mine and I attempted to lower the American flag in front of our school. That wasn’t viewed with approval at Vogelweh American High School in West Germany, so we were thwarted. We were all skeptical after Bon was replaced, but when “Back in Black” was released, it rocked our young world. I still remember the first time hearing the opening track and it still gives me chills… You’re only young, but you’re gonna die How was your weekend?
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition
Monday, Oct 20, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Monday, Oct 20, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Selected press releases (Live updates)
Monday, Oct 20, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Live coverage
Monday, Oct 20, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Click here and/or here to follow breaking news on the website formally known as Twitter. We’re experimenting this week with a new app which feeds Bluesky posts. Still tweaking it…
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