* Thoughts?…

* Here’s your morning roundup…

* Daily Herald | Does bail reform lead to more crime? What 2 Loyola University professors found : “The increase in pretrial release had a minimal effect on the overall rates of crime in the community, and in some communities, during these periods of reform, crime was actually going down,” Olson told us this week.

* Politico | Where the Uihleins sent their cash after the insurrection : A nonprofit led by GOP megadonor Richard Uihlein contributed millions of dollars in 2021 to conservative groups who played roles in promoting falsehoods of widespread voter fraud following the 2020 election or are linked to efforts to challenge the election results, including more than $2 million within a week of the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

* Vanity Fair | Can Illinois’s assault weapons ban survive scores of rogue sheriffs? : It’s unclear how much of an impact the sheriffs’ outrageous defiance could have on the law, as they share enforcement responsibilities with state and municipal police. But gun control proponents are concerned that it could undermine the gun-safety measure, erode public trust in the rule of law more broadly, and leave more Illinoisans vulnerable to gun violence.

* Crain’s | This tax idea deserves to go right back into the dustbin of history : It took nearly four decades for Chicago business leaders to squelch the head tax, the job-killing per-employee levy rolled out by Mayor Richard J. Daley in 1974. Now, one of the contenders with a reasonably good shot at making it to the mayoral runoff this spring wants to put this bad idea—and several others—back on the table

* Tribune | Gov. J.B. Pritzker has vowed to bring preschool to every Illinois child. That’s easier said than done : Pritzker’s office did not provide an estimated cost of expanding access to prekindergarten statewide, saying his budget proposal has yet to be finalized. Block grant dollars, which a spokesperson said would eventually fund the initiative, already fall short of demand, with 16 eligible full-day preschool programs denied grants due to a lack of funding in the current fiscal year, an Illinois State Board of Education report shows.

* Crain’s | Lightfoot strikes franchise deal with ComEd and wants a fast City Council vote : The pact, which needs City Council approval and is set to be introduced at Wednesday’s meeting, features $100 million in shareholder cash from ComEd. Most of that will go to launch a nonprofit dedicated to promoting clean-energy projects in the city, according to sources who were briefed.

* The Triibe | Voting by mail is becoming increasingly popular in Chicago : “The feedback that we’ve gotten indicates that people prefer voting by mail because there’s a paper ballot, they’ve got all the time to research the candidates and offices, and there’s a tracking process that comes with it,” Chicago Board of Elections (CBOE) Director of Public Information Max Bever told The TRiiBE. “And even if their vote-by-mail ballots are rejected for some reason, they can still vote in person.”

* Crain’s | This tax idea deserves to go right back into the dustbin of history : It took nearly four decades for Chicago business leaders to squelch the head tax, the job-killing per-employee levy rolled out by Mayor Richard J. Daley in 1974. Now, one of the contenders with a reasonably good shot at making it to the mayoral runoff this spring wants to put this bad idea—and several others—back on the table.

* Joe Cahill | Unequal utility rates won’t stop increases : Under the proposals from Peoples and Nicor, lower-income customers would pay less for heating and cooking gas, and higher-income customers would pay commensurately more.

* Sun-Times | Lightfoot urges General Assembly to do its share to bail out city pension funds : After paying down $1.3 billion in pension debt over four years, Lightfoot’s $16.4 billion 2023 budget went further, prepaying $242 million in future pension debt. But the General Assembly should take it from here, the mayor said.

* Crain’s | The $55 million purchase of one of Chicago’s best-known marijuana shops is called off : Miami-based Ayr Wellness said Jan. 27 it’s not going to complete the $55 million acquisition of D33, a popular independent marijuana retailer. The deal was announced in November 2021, about a year after Ayr went public. The company’s stock peaked at $36.54 in February 2021 but now trades at $1.29 per share. That spelled disaster for a deal that was to be paid mostly in stock. Cannabis stocks have been struggling for more than a year but suffered further declines after the SAFE Banking Act failed to pass Congress.

* Arne Duncan | Can Chicago see fewer than 400 homicides? Here are 4 things the next mayor must make happen : As voters weigh their options, Chicago CRED can share insights from an analysis conducted using a review of data and research, interviews with local leaders from the South and West sides, meetings with participants and an examination of best practices in New York and Los Angeles. Both cities have achieved dramatic drops in gun violence over the last 25 years, while Chicago has remained stubbornly high. Based on the analysis, to bring the annual number of homicides below 400, which has not occurred since 1965, four things must happen

* Sun-Times | Paul Vallas gets money in mayor’s race from ex-CPS board member who left after scandal : The former CPS CEO has taken $7,500 from Deborah Quazzo plus $10,000 from her husband. Vallas had given back $500 Quazzo gave him during his 2019 run for mayor.

* Sun-Times | Pritzker announces $13 million expansion of pre-apprenticeship program designed to promote diversity, inclusion: “We’re ensuring that Illinoisans across the state have access to the resources and wraparound support that sets them up for success,” Pritzker said in marking the second year expansion at St. Augustine College in Uptown. St. Augustine’s Aurora and Grayslake locations received $1 million in funding for the program.

* Sun-Times | Chicago cop avoided being fired after arrest in drunken Milwaukee bar fight. He was later hired by a suburban police department: Robert Pet pointed a bullet magazine against a man’s chest and was quickly pummeled by a group of people, one of whom wrestled his gun away, according to a newly released report by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

* Chalkbeat | Where do the candidates for Chicago mayor stand on education? : All nine candidates come to the race with varying experience in education. To better understand how each one would tackle the challenges facing Chicago Public Schools, Chalkbeat asked each candidate the same ten questions — some of which came directly from our readers.

* News-Gazette | Pritzker’s windmill flip will be a flop in much of Illinois : With his re-election safely behind him, Pritzker is now ready to give the go-ahead to legislation — H.B. 4412 — passed in the recent lame-duck session of the outgoing legislature that bars counties from banning the projects.

* Sun-Times | Utility shutoffs for nonpayment soar across Illinois and the Chicago area : Three organizations issue findings that say Illinois has the most disconnections among states that disclose that information. ComEd is part of the report’s ‘Hall of Shame.’

* Ap | Republicans confront bitter divide; no clear path forward : Frustrated Republicans from state capitals to Capitol Hill to the luxury Southern California hotel where RNC members gathered this week are at odds over how to reverse six years of election disappointments. And while there are many strong feelings, there is no consensus even among the fighting factions about the people, policies or political tactics they should embrace.

* SJ-R | At 50, UIS Public Affairs Reporting program still producing statehouse journalists : Today, 50 years since that class graduated, PAR remains a signature program at the University of Illinois Springfield. The 10-month program begins with a semester of classwork followed by an internship where students cover the Illinois legislature and other aspects of state government for a professional news outlet.

* Sun-Times | Clusters of pandemic relief loans went to the same Chicago addresses, including homeless shelters, Sun-Times finds : One Paycheck Protection Program loan recipient who used a Salvation Army address said he was a farmer. A dozen others said they operated barber shops or beauty salons. Most got loans of about $20,000, the maximum based on a yearly income of at least $100,000.

* Crain’s | This bakery in Wheeling will also get you baked : The store, called Okay Cannabis, will essentially have a West Town Bakery Cafe & Lounge operating alongside the marijuana shop. The shop will serve Dark Matter coffee, pastries, sandwiches and cocktails, and it will have an outdoor patio that seats more than 100 people. Instead of staging customers in a waiting area like most dispensaries do, the idea is to let them hang out at the cafe, said Scott Weiner, co-owner of Fifty/50 Restaurant Group.

* Tribune | James Beard Awards 2023: 11 Chicago chefs, restaurants on semifinalist list : Smyth, Obelix and Khmai Cambodian Fine Dining are among 11 Chicagoland restaurants named as semifinalists for the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards, in an announcement released Wednesday morning.

* After controversy, mayor says standards coming for Des Plaines Theatre bookings: The city’s legal team is drafting a proposal to be shared with Onesti Entertainment Corp., the company that operates the venue, and the city council, Mayor Andrew Goczkowski said Friday. He hopes a plan will be ready for review in February or March.

* Tribune | Disaster workers in deadly Kenwood high-rise fire accused of stealing $19,000 from tenant: The resident, however, had a surveillance camera inside her co-op apartment at 4850 S. Lake Park Ave. that alerted her to movement inside her home, authorities said during a bail hearing broadcast on YouTube.

* Looking back at Candace Parker’s 2 seasons with the Chicago Sky, including the team’s 1st WNBA title and all those records: After two years playing for her hometown team, Candace Parker on Saturday announced her departure from the Chicago Sky to sign with the Las Vegas Aces for the 2023 WNBA season.