[Note from Rich Miller: I had a haircut appointment and a dental appointment and one stop at Walgreens scheduled this morning, but that turned into a four-hour adventure. Long story. Nothing bad happened and I did get to eat a nice lunch with one of my best friends. Isabel ably took charge of the blog since I left this morning, so please give her a big hand. Thanks.]

* Illinois Answers | Illinois DCFS chief to resign from the embattled child welfare agency: The head of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is resigning as leader of the long-embattled child welfare agency, a week after a state audit outlined major failures by the department in recent years. Marc D. Smith made the announcement Wednesday in a virtual all-staff town hall. He said his last day will be Dec. 31.

* Capitol News Illinois | DCFS director to step down at end of the year after agency hit with another scathing audit: Smith announced his voluntary resignation Wednesday via a livestreamed video to agency staff, noting that his decision came after discussions with family and colleagues within the child welfare system. “Sometimes the media sometimes politicians, sometimes critics take an opportunity of tragedy to move an agenda,” Smith said during the call. “But we understand that we are here for the day-to-day. We are here, at all times, for all of our kids and we will serve them and care for them with compassion, seriousness, and honor.”

* Tribune | Marc Smith, head of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s embattled child welfare agency, announces resignation: Marc Smith was appointed to director of the state’s Department of Children and Family Services by Gov. J.B. Pritzker shortly after the governor took office in 2019. The announcement of Smith’s impending departure comes a little more than a week after the state’s auditor general issued a scathing report on the agency that among other things cited significant delays in reporting abuse and neglect to local prosecutors, other state agencies and to officials at children’s schools.

* Sun-Times | Embattled DCFS director Marc Smith announces resignation: In another instance, the agency neglected to notify directors of state agencies in a timely fashion about cases in which children were alleged to have been abused while receiving care in a hospital. In all those cases, the reporting time ranged from 34 days to 885 days from the time the investigation was opened, the report found. The report also noted the department didn’t take immediate action to take care of the children in those cases.

* AP | Director of troubled Illinois child-services agency to resign after 5 years: Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s named Smith DCFS director in April 2019. Smith steered the agency during a tumultuous period in which a judge held him in contempt of court repeatedly for failing to adequately house children who had been placed in the department’s custody. Smith’s departure was one of three announced by Pritzker on Wednesday. He said Theresa Eagleson, director of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services will be replaced by Lizzy Whitehorn, currently an aide to Pritzker for health services.

* Center Square | Legislators hope resignation of child welfare director brings fix to agency: Senate President Don Harmon’s office told The Center Square of Smith’s departure, “President Harmon thanks him for his service and wishes him well.” Republicans see Smith’s planned departure as an opportunity to address a range of issues with the agency.

* WGN | Capitol rioter from Illinois who attacked Reuters cameraman, police officer gets more than 4 years in prison: Shane Jason Woods, 45, was the first person charged with assaulting a member of the news media during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Woods, of Auburn, Illinois, took a running start and tackled the Reuters cameraman “like an NFL linebacker hunting a quarterback after an interception,” federal prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

* NBC Chicago | NBC 5 Investigates uncovers record number of requests to challenge books in Chicago-area schools, libraries: Over the past decade, NBC 5 Investigates found a total of 464 separate challenges to books or other materials in schools and public libraries in the Chicago area. Most of those challenges – more than 300 – have come in the last three years.

* Marijuana Moment | Illinois Sold More Recreational Marijuana Products In September Than During Any Other Month Since Legalization: Illinois marijuana retailers sold nearly 3.7 million adult-use cannabis products in September, according to newly posted state sales data. That’s more products than during any other month since recreational sales launched in January 2020.

* Block Club | While The CTA Flounders, Its Leader Keeps Getting Pay Hikes: Most other big city transit agencies have formal accountability measures in place. Out of the seven largest transit agencies in the country, only New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the CTA let their top leaders work without written contracts or formal reviews of their performance. Yet Carter has received at least two salary raises yearly since 2018. In the eight years he’s led the CTA, his salary has climbed more than 60%, jumping from $230,000 to $376,065 as of July, according to CTA records.

* Block Quote | ‘Little Free Libraries’ On City Property May Soon Require Permits: Introduced this summer by Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), the ordinance would require a public way use permit to build a free library on city-owned property. Little Free Libraries are often placed on cit Additionally, only “organizations, not-for-profit entities and licensed businesses” would be eligible to receive the necessary permit to build a bookcase on city land under the legislation.

* Daily Herald | Why Maine Township District 207 is getting a $44,904 payout from Big Tobacco firm: The plaintiffs alleged Altria helped fuel a national health crisis by targeting teen customers. Student use of e-cigarettes by students caused District 207 to spend money “in the form of staff time, disciplinary proceedings and other costs,” district documents claim.

* Chalkbeat | When will Chicago’s new map for the elected school board be ready? Still no answer.: For the past year, some advocates have called on state lawmakers to draw a map reflective of the city’s public school student enrollment, not the city’s overall population. The city is 33% white, 29% Black, and about 29% Latino, according to U.S. Census Bureau data from 2022. Chicago Public Schools’ student population, meanwhile, is 46.9% Latino and 35% Black, while white students make up 11.1%, according to enrollment numbers from last month.

* SJ-R | A $10,000 donation helps to fund safety improvements for District 186 school buses: Those new arms are manufactured by BusGates, a Springfield-based firm led by Sherman Mayor Trevor Clatfelter. Springfield will be the first school district south of Interstate 80 to get the new arms, which he Clatfelter says will reduce the risk of children being hurt by drivers attempting to get around school buses.

* AP | Thousands of US health care workers go on strike in multiple states over wages and staff shortages: Kaiser Permanente is one of the country’s larger insurers and health care system operators, serving nearly 13 million people. The nonprofit company, based in Oakland, California, said its 39 hospitals, including emergency rooms, will remain open during the picketing, though appointments and non-urgent procedures could be delayed.

* SJ-R | ‘I knew I wasn’t done:’ Yazell back as director of planning and economic development: “I knew I wasn’t done,” she said, recalling the conversation last week. “I didn’t necessarily know it was done with this, but I knew I wasn’t done with working, for sure. With the new administration, I knew there was a difference in approach. I knew there was a difference in philosophies, and it was an environment that I felt I could be very comfortable working in.”

* Crain’s | Crain’s 40 Under 40 event returns with Rahm Emanuel as speaker: Emanuel’s presence at the event is something of a homecoming for the former Chicago mayor. In 1990, before ever running for political office, he was named as a Crain’s 40 Under 40. “In politics, campaign contributions talk and underfinanced candidates walk,” his honoree profile read. “That fact puts Rahm Emanuel in great demand.”

* AP | Suspect charged in rapper Tupac Shakur’s fatal shooting makes first court appearance in Las Vegas: “Law enforcement hasn’t cared for a long time,” Mopreme Shakur, Tupac Shakur’s stepbrother, told The Associated Press over Zoom from his home in Los Angeles. “Young Black men often deal with delayed justice because we’re often viewed as the criminals. So justice has been delayed for quite some time — in spite of all the eyes, all the attention, despite the celebrity of my brother.”

* Daily Herald | Gambling and groceries: Caputo’s adding terminals to Mount Prospect market: Angelo Caputo’s Fresh Markets, 215 E. Prospect Ave., recently received a video gambling license. It submitted a petition to Mayor Paul Hoefert in June, and the village waived its requirement that liquor licensees operate for at least 12 months before being approved for video gambling.

* NYT | Inside the Menendez Indictment: A Mercedes and a Secretive Fatal Crash: A 2018 fatal car crash in Bogota, N.J., drew no media attention and resulted in no charges. The driver was the soon-to-be wife of Senator Robert Menendez.

* Block Club | Lionel Messi In Chicago: With Star Questionable To Play, Chicago Fire Offers Ticket Credits To Sold-Out Crowd: “While we don’t yet know the official status of Lionel Messi’s availability for our match tomorrow, as there’s never a guarantee that an athlete will play on any given night due to several factors, we understand that many of our fans may be disappointed if they don’t get the chance to see him play,” Fire management wrote in a statement.

* WSIL | 17th Street Barbecue closes their doors in Marion after 19 years: “We’ll continue to service Marion and the entire Southern Illinois region with our catering, concession, and food truck operations,” said Mills. “Our landmark Murphysboro restaurant, in operation for 100 years, attracts people not only from the Southern Illinois region, but from all over the world. We’ll be here to satisfy those barbecue cravings.”