* Daily Herald | Secretary of state’s office makes changes amid complaints about appointment system: Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias is opening two walk-in centers for senior drivers today, among other upgrades to meet demand following a major transition to an appointment system for tests and licenses. The walk-in centers at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview and the Evanston Civic Center will operate from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday. Giannoulias also has added more appointment slots and calibrated a help line to connect people 70 and older to operators.

* Capitol News Illinois | As Illinois Supreme Court Weighs Another Biometric Privacy Lawsuit, Lawmakers Consider Child Data Framework: The Illinois Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a pair of class action suits brought by two suburban nurses, Lucille Mosby and Yana Mazya, who allege their employers violated the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act, a landmark 2008 law that gives Illinois residents the ability to sue companies that misuse biometric data, such as fingerprints or facial scans.

* Shaw Local | St. Margaret’s CEO blames $7.3 million bank maneuver for hospital closure: court records: St. Margaret’s Health issued statements to an Illinois review board that an unnamed lender had thwarted its efforts to keep the hospital open after the Spring Valley hospital closed in June. That lender was Spring Valley City Bank, according to Sept. 5 federal court filings. In a recent pleading filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, St. Margaret’s President and CEO Tim Muntz said on June 5 the bank “swept nearly $7.3 million” in funds despite a “forbearance agreement” entered about six weeks earlier.

* ISBA | Quick Takes on Illinois Supreme Court Opinions Issued Thursday, September 21, 2023: In MB Financial Bank, N.A. v. Brophy, the Illinois Supreme Court overruled the appellate court’s judgment holding that the City of Joliet owed more than $6 million in back property taxes to the former owner of a property subjected to condemnation proceedings. The unanimous opinion authored by Justice Cunningham, concluded that the plaintiff was not entitled to repayment of property taxes that were paid between the date the condemnation complaint was filed and the date the city took possession of the property because the property owner enjoyed the continued use of the property during that time. In reaching this conclusion, the Illinois Supreme Court overruled long-standing caselaw that the appellate court had relied on to reach a contrary result.

* WTTW | Chicago-Based Research Initiative Wants to Provide Data and Insight Around a Growing Latino Population: The goal is to become a data hub for community groups, policy-makers and others. “We can produce the kind of research that can be used to help identify the needs of not only a growing population, but a diverse population,” said Teresa Córdova, director of the Great Cities Institute with the University of Illinois at Chicago.

* Michael Frerichs | Supporting women in their careers sometimes comes with a big move: Sometimes in marriage, moving comes with the territory. The parent of one spouse gets sick, a job opportunity arises, a fresh start beckons. This summer, I uprooted my life for the woman I love — and it was the right move. […] My work as state treasurer matters to me, to Erica and to others. But if my wife continues to be successful at Kellogg, she could help the company grow, invest and hire more in Illinois. So, too, with all women who contribute to our companies, schools, governments and nonprofits. If my wife and women like her reach their fullest potential, we all do better because of it. Maybe this is doubly important to me because I have a daughter Ella, 14, and I want her to know that her work matters as much as any man’s.

* KHQA | Illinois expands cancer care: Groundbreaking Proton Beam therapy now more accessible: 3 years ago, State Representative Norine Hammond got a call from a constituent who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The patient’s doctor recommended Proton Beam therapy, but because some insurance companies couldn’t cover the cost, the family had to pay tens of thousands of dollars. According to Representative Hammond, House Bill 2799 requires that a health insurance policy provide coverage for medically necessary proton beam therapy for the treatment of cancer. The bill further provides that the policy shall not apply a higher standard of clinical evidence for the coverage of proton beam therapy than for any other form of radiation therapy treatment.

* WTTW | Chicago Food Pantries Report Stark Increase in Food Insecurity Amid Inflation, Decreased Federal Assistance: Nourishing Hope, formerly known as Lakeview Pantry, says they’re seeing about 76% more families with children coming to their pantry compared to last year. “Our organization provides an equivalent of four million meals a year … I will say for certain that our federal investments have deeply impacted families across the board. When you take away those investments, it really devastates our community,” said Keenya Lambert, chief development officer with Nourishing Hope.

* Lake County News-Sun | American Rescue Plan funds used to stock Lake County food bank shelves; ‘We were really struggling to meet the food needs’: “With inflation, rising food prices and the decrease in government benefits, we were really struggling to meet the food needs without these ARPA funds,” Hebein said. “It has made a huge difference, at a time when we’ve seen record high numbers of neighbors coming to our food pantries and soup kitchens.” The nonprofit distributes food to 200 food pantries and programs in Lake and McHenry counties, as well as serving food banks and kitchens in 13 other Illinois counties.

* NYT | How a Little-Known Group Helped Resurgent Democrats Wield Power: An increasingly prominent player in this liberal push is a little-known group called the States Project, which was founded in 2017 and made a financial splash in state legislative elections last year, pouring $60 million into races in five competitive states: Arizona, Michigan, Maine, Nevada and Pennsylvania. […] The States Project has had a central role. The group, founded six years ago by Adam Pritzker, a businessman and major Democratic donor, and Daniel Squadron, a former New York legislator, has sought to focus its ample resources and attention exclusively on state legislators, trying to fill the void on the left.

* WSPY | DeKalb County Board to reexamine nursing home sale: Last December the County Board approved a plan for Evanston-based Illuminate HC to buy the DeKalb County Rehab and Nursing Center for $8.3 million. In the summer of 2022, a bid by Skokie-based Saba Healthcare was rejected by the board. In April of this year, the county board found out Illuminate HC intended to work with Saba Healthcare once the nursing home sale was finalized. The move sparked anger from the public due to Saba’s average rating of 1.3 stars. Last week Avi Zuckerman, one of the main principals of “DeKalb Health Care Holdings” which is the entity in contract to buy the nursing home, addressed the DeKalb County Board.

* WMBD | City of Peoria and Peoria County using IHDA funds for 2024 demolitions: The city was awarded $712,000 and will demolish approximately 50 homes in the Southside and East Bluff areas. “Anyone who lives in these neighborhoods, lives next to one of these houses can see that it’s an attracted nuisance,” said Joe Dulin, City of Peoria’s Community Development Director. “It attracts crime. It can be a target for arson. So, the more money we have to be able to invest to take these properties down, the better it is for the neighborhood.”

* WBEZ | The Damen Silos — now at the center of demolition drama — have a colorful history: Michael Tadin Jr., co-owner of MAT Asphalt, bought the 23-acre property from the state of Illinois last year, saying he plans to tear down the massive structure. Environmentalists and local Southwest Side residents are concerned about the demolition — and how the property might be used in the future — while the Preservation Chicago group wants the city to consider making the old grain elevator into a landmark.

* Capitol News Illinois | State’s high court opens new interactive learning center: Now open, the learning center is on the second floor of the building, down the hall from the room where the court sits, in space that was once used by the Fourth District Court of Appeals. It was completed at a cost of about $130,000. “We’re very excited about it,” Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis said in an interview. “It tells the story about the Illinois court system from 1818 to today.”