* Here you go…

* Illinois Times | “Pervasive” deficiencies at Illinois State Police: The latest biennial audit report released by Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino found that the Illinois State Police did not properly manage equipment inventory, could not reconcile their accounting records, and may have lost confidential information contained on missing computers. The audit concluded that misstatements in ISP’s accounts were “both material and pervasive.”

* Chicago Tribune | Illinois Democrats denounce as ‘deceitful’ a pipeline used in last year’s elections to right-wing local news sites: The Washington Post reported Thursday that Brian Timpone, an ally and business partner of right-wing radio talk show host Dan Proft, used a password-protected portal that allowed Republicans to pitch stories, provide questions for interviews, place campaign announcements and run “verbatim” op-eds on websites and mailings that are published by the Local Government Information Services organization.

* Sun-Times | Illinois Gaming Board slammed video gambling company for alleged ties to bookmaker, but it’s still reaping millions: Marcus Fruchter, the gaming board’s administrator, says the “law requires” his agency to “adhere to a specific administrative hearing process when it comes to disciplinary actions” and that it “will continue to follow the law while upholding the integrity of gaming operations and maintaining public confidence in Illinois.”

* ABC Chicago | Chicago mayoral candidate Paul Vallas’ campaign workers say they haven’t been paid: The workers said the former candidate’s campaign hired them to knock on doors and get out the vote, but three weeks after Election Day they say they’re still owed hundreds of dollars.

* Sun-Times | Search for Chicago’s top cop complicated by lobbying campaigns for candidates. ‘It’s not a popularity contest.’: The first-of-its-kind search by the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability has so far centered on three public meetings that have elicited seemingly coordinated efforts to raise the profile of certain police supervisors, including at least two who are also being pushed in online campaigns. Anthony Driver Jr., the commission’s interim president, said those efforts are complicating the search, which relies on getting independent input from residents.

* ABC Chicago | City Council committee to discuss migrant influx Friday as some sleep in Chicago police stations: A Council committee hearing on budget and immigrant and refugee rights is planned for Friday. The group is set to break down the status and costs associated with asylum-seekers coming to Chicago.

* WTTW | Former Chicago Police Chief of Detectives, Fired Reform Boss Join Johnson’s Transition Team: Two members of the Chicago Police Department who left during Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration have joined Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson’s transition team to advise him on issues of public safety.

* Sun-Times | Brandon Johnson not ready to clean house at City Hall, adviser says: Don’t expect “wholesale, universal changes” in city departments, said Jason Lee, a senior adviser to Johnson’s mayoral campaign and transition team, citing a need for “at least some initial continuity so that we can make sure that government maintains its core functions.”

* WBEZ | Chicago families plead for a second chance for their closing school: Hope Institute Learning Academy opened in 2009, promising to create a unique community where students with autism and other disabilities would be catered to in an environment with students without special needs. It is run by Hope Institute, a nonprofit headquartered in Springfield, which provides programs for developmentally disabled people, including a residential academy and a vocational school. Hope Institute has a contract with Chicago Public Schools to run the West Loop school.

* Daily Herald | Elgin’s first Pride Parade and Festival hopes to make everyone feel ’safe and welcome in our space’: “There are younger LGBTQ folks in their late teens or 20s, or even in their 30s, around here who’ve never known other queer people. They’ve never had that community,” Bates said. “People were really finding their place and finding their community. It was a really beautiful thing to see.”

* Tribune | Mom of Olympian Cathy Boswell gets hearing implant just in time for daughter’s induction into Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame: Cathy Boswell, a former basketball star at Illinois State University and an Olympic gold medalist, is due to be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Saturday. Clarice wanted to hear her daughter’s acceptance speech. “That was my prayer, that my hearing would be restored,” she said, “that I could hear her receive her Hall of Fame recognition. It’s very important because it’s been a long journey. And one that’s very deserving.”

* NYT | New York’s Transit Agency Quits Sharing Updates on Twitter: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it would no longer provide service information on Twitter because the “reliability of the platform can no longer be guaranteed.”

* WGN | Cow located in Niles after ‘senior prank’; students cited: Authorities in Niles located a cow after it was on the loose for several hours due to a “senior prank” and the students involved have been cited. Just before 3 a.m. Thursday, police responded to the 8300 block of Ballard on the report of suspicious people in the area.