* ICYMI: Mayor Johnson is exploring backup plans for his migrant tent cities idea. Summary of a Tribune story…

- Winter is fast approaching with no start date on tent encampments.

- Pritzker told reporters Thursday that more state funding is unlikely.

- Johnson’s administration has been meeting with individual state legislators to ask for additional support.

* Related stories…

∙ Sun-Times: City seeks donations — and ideas — to provide for migrants as temperatures drop
∙ Politico: U.S. will resume deportation flights to Venezuela
∙ NYT: As Winter Looms, Venezuelan Migrant Surge Overwhelms Chicago
∙ Block Club: Mayor Plans To Visit Southern US Border ‘Soon’ To Assess Migrant Crisis

* Isabel’s top picks…

* Time | State Legislative Staffers Across the U.S. Push to Unionize: “We’re not going to negotiate for anything crazy. We’re not going to ask for million-dollar salaries,” says Kelly Kupris, a policy analyst focused on K-12 education and a member of ILSA’s organizing committee. “We just want to be treated what we’re worth, listened to, and know that we have a safe workplace that is able to put food on the table at the end of the day.”

* Tribune | Almost 1,000 migrating birds die Thursday in Chicago after crashing into McCormick Place Lakeside Center, a 40-year record: “It was just discouraging as can be,” said [David Willard, a retired bird division collections manager at the Field Museum]. “You’re looking at a rose-breasted grosbeak that, if it hadn’t hit a Chicago window, would have made it to the Andes of Peru.” Willard blamed the worst day in 40 years of bird monitoring on an array of factors, including weather patterns, badly timed rain and lit windows at Lakeside Center.

* Tribune | ‘He was Chicago’s son’: Dick Butkus, the Hall of Fame Bears linebacker known for his toughness, dies at 80: “After football, it was difficult for me to find what I liked second-best,” Butkus once told the Tribune. “Football was always my first love. That certainly didn’t mean I couldn’t find something else. And the proof of the pudding is where I have ended up today. “I guess I could have been one of those guys who didn’t prepare to quit. But things happened and through hard work I found out that, hey, there are other things besides football

* Last year I met Jessica Handy from STAND for Children Illinois at a reception and we talked a bit about her love of creating crossword puzzles. Jessica told me yesterday that STAND now includes original, Illinois-themed crossword puzzles in its legislative newsletter. Click here to check them out!

…Added by Rich… Save the date!…

Illinois Third House Annual Holiday Party

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

11:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Palmer House Hilton

17 E. Monroe, Chicago, IL

* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…

* Tribune | lllinois presidential primary process starts Saturday with petitions for candidates and delegates: While Illinois in recent general presidential elections has been flyover country due to its solid status as a blue state, the preparations necessary ahead of the March 19 primary still provide an organizational test for campaigns. The nitty-gritty details of the presidential primary process start Saturday, when candidates’ campaigns can begin seeking signatures from voters to place both the presidential hopefuls and candidates for national nominating delegates on the ballot.

* WJBC | McLean County Zoning tables CO2 sequestration drilling impacting Mahomet Aquifer: “Drilling a well that goes through the aquifer is not a good idea. Beyond that, they want to store liquid CO2 beneath the aquifer. And we know that leaks happen, especially over time,” said Julie Prandi. Danielle Anderson, Public Relations Manager for Navigation CO2, the company pushing for the drilling said the well would protect the groundwater.

* WTTW | CPS Suspended 2 Security Guards Last Month. Both Were Previously Fired Police Officers and Named on Chicago’s Do-Not-Hire List: One man, who has been working as a security guard at Lane Technical High School since 2021, was terminated in 2019 by the Chicago Police Department following allegations of sexual misconduct involving a minor, records show. He was suspended on Sept. 11. The other is a Kenwood Academy security guard who the police department ousted in 2012 because of a string of domestic violence incidents, according to CPD disciplinary files. He was also suspended on Sept. 11.

* Crain’s | Johnson to join UAW picket line on Saturday: Johnson will join Fain and other union leaders, including Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson and Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, according to a UAW press release. Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter confirmed to Crain’s he’ll also be in attendance.

* Crain’s | Why Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg are spending $250M on science in Chicago: Chan praised “the tenacity, the grit, not incidentally the enthusiasm of the city’s leadership” today when she visited the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub’s home being built out at Fulton Labs. It was her first visit to Chicago since the biohub’s announcement in March. She also noted that Gov. J.B. Pritzker “showed up at the applicant interview day as the top cheerleader of the team presenting their case for a biohub” a year ago. He also offered $25 million in state support.

* Sun-Times | Secret recordings cite ties between Berrios relative, Chicago mobster: ‘Jimmy and Frank were good friends’: “Jimmy and Frank were good friends,” Joseph Weiss said in that recorded conversation, according to federal prosecutors. “And some Russians were muscling Jimmy, but Frank was on the run. Frank was in hiding, and Jimmy called Frank and said, ‘Hey,’ ’cause they were partners. And Jimmy says, ‘Hey, man, these guys just busted up my f—ing store. Scared the f— out of the girls, this and that, you know, I need your help, where the f— are you?’ ”

* WAND | Cresco Labs settles with employees for back wages: As part of the job, Emperor was required to pick up personal protective gear at the company storage shed and walk to a changing room to put it on — before clocking in. “It was another coworker of mine, who changed behind me, and he brought to my attention that ‘you know we should be getting paid for this time’,” Emperor said. He was let go in 2022 and realized those 15 minutes here and there added up, and he was owed thousands of dollars in back wages.

* SJ-R | Bringing home the bacon: What do top 10 paid Springfield, county officials make?: The only official to make more than $250,000 is Doug Brown of City Water, Light and Power. His 2022 base pay was $253,844 according to public records. Brown serves as Chief Utility Engineer, where he is tasked with oversight of the Electric, Water and Finance divisions and Regulatory Affairs. He has worked for the utility since 1994, previously serving as the Major Projects Development Director.

* WCIA | U of I Extension urges caution as risk of farm fires rises for harvest season: Equipment fires, especially combine-related fires, are one of the most common and costly types of farm fire incidents. Trent Ford, state climatologist with the Illinois State Water Survey at the U of I, said this season’s increased risk is due to severe drought conditions in parts of the Midwest. A lack of precipitation, low soil moisture and dry vegetation paired with hot running farm equipment could increase chances of a fire.

* WBEZ | Chicago Public Library unveils public art piece taking on banned books: The newly-installed permanent Altar for the Unbanned by Theaster Gates sits in the middle of the third floor of the Harold Washington Library main branch. It features spiral shelves of books that have been banned in different periods of American history — titles like Antelope Woman by Louise Eldirch and The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood are part of the current piece. Atop the stacks of books sits a bright, neon sign that reads “Unbanned” in all capital letters.

* AP | Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, a rising political star, crosses partisan school choice divide: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — a first-term Democrat seen by his party as a rising star nationally — forcefully put his weight behind a Republican-backed proposal to send $100 million to families for private school tuition and school supplies.

* Sun-Times | Joyce Chapman, Far South Side community activist, a Lori Lightfoot Chicago Board of Ed appointee, dead at 67: Ms. Chapman’s appointment last year to the Chicago Board of Education was a momentous day for her, having spent years coming before the board to push for better education policies. “To sit on the other side of the podium, she knew she had a chance to make a difference, and she was proud to be there,” Amina Brooks said. […] Ms. Chapman left the board this year after Mayor Brandon Johnson was elected.

* Sun-Times | Dick Butkus a Bears legend for all generations: Butkus was a Chicagoan who played football like all of us wanted to — with grit, ferocity, anger and relentless aggressiveness. Through all those losing seasons, he played the game as if he felt our pain.