* ICYMI: Chicago signs land use contract to house migrants on vacant lot in Brighton Park. NBC Chicago broke the story…

- Chicago will pay $91,400 a month for use of the land.
-The city signed the lease before the environmental assessment was completed. Ald. Julia Ramirez said it was done without her knowledge.
-The contract states that the lot comes “as-is” and makes no guarantees about its conditions or “compliance with laws and regulations, including… those relating to health, safety and the environment.”

* Related stories…

∙ Sun-Times: City signs lease for site of potential Brighton Park migrant tent camp — leaving local alderperson ‘frustrated and disappointed’
∙ Sun-Times: In Washington, Mayor Brandon Johnson pushes for more federal help to deal with migrant crisis
∙ ABC Chicago: Chicago signs lease for Brighton Park migrant tent camp, Mayor Johnson’s office confirms

* Isabel’s top picks…

* Tribune | Calumet City officials ticket Daily Southtown reporter for ‘hampering’ city employees with questions: The Southtown, which is owned by the Chicago Tribune’s parent company, published a story online Oct. 19 and in print Oct. 20 in which Sanders reported that consultants had informed Calumet City officials that their stormwater facilities were in poor condition before September’s historic rains caused flooding. Calumet City is about 23 miles south of Chicago and home to 36,000 residents, most of them Black. A day after the story was published, Sanders continued to report on the issue, drawing complaints from city officials, including Mayor Thaddeus Jones.

* Crain’s | Chaos at City Council as Ald. Lopez attempts to take over meeting after lights turned off: The meeting will be remembered as one of the City Council’s most chaotic since the infamous Council Wars of the 1980s. It doubled as a message that a growing number of City Council members are frustrated over the city’s handling of providing shelter for the 20,000 asylum seekers who’ve arrived in Chicago since last August.

* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…

* Sun-Times | ‘Facts and common sense’: Chicago’s corruption jurors reflect on past trials as Ed Burke’s case nears: The Chicago Sun-Times contacted members of the three panels who have served so far to ask how they look back on their service. Among the 36 jurors were a veterinarian, a birdwatcher, teachers, a nurse, a security consultant, a literacy coach and a TV meteorologist.

* Tribune | Ex-Ald. Ed Burke used campaign funds to pay six-figure ‘consulting’ fees to his co-defendant: State law allows campaign funds to pay for legal costs, but a campaign finance expert told the Tribune it was unusual to see an arrangement in which funds are sent to another co-defendant, classified as “consulting” and then used for legal fees.

* Shaw Local | Gun rights advocates question proposed Illinois gun registration rules: About 50 people turned out for a public hearing Thursday in Springfield to comment on proposed rules to implement the registration portion of the law. One of those was state Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville, an outspoken opponent of gun ban, who asked what the state intends to do with people who refuse to register their weapons.

* Center Square | Illinois legislators address impacts of artificial intelligence on society: State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, said lawmakers should not take the same approach with AI as they did with social media. “Lawmakers decided to take a largely hands-off approach to regulation,” Gong-Gershowitz said. “We’ve seen the tangled web of societal ills that approach [that] was caused due to a lack of regulatory action.”

* Tribune | Riverdale Mayor Lawrence Jackson charged with lying about secret funding for his trucking firm from clout-heavy waste company: The indictment filed late Wednesday in U.S. District Court on Thursday charged Jackson, 49, with perjury and obstruction of justice. An arraignment was scheduled for Tuesday at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.

* Fox Chicago | Ring video shows suburban police forcefully enter wrong home in Joliet: complaint: Attorneys for the Carrasco family say two years ago Thursday, they were sound asleep when they were the wrongful targets of the traumatic police raid which was supposed to happen at the residence next door.

* Sun-Times | National Association of Realtors CEO Bob Goldberg resigns, replaced by former Sun-Times CEO Nykia Wright: Critics have been pushing for his departure for weeks after The New York Times investigated allegations that former president Kenny Parcell, who resigned from his post in August, sexually harassed current or former employees and members of the Chicago-based organization. The NAR is also facing a series of court challenges that could upend how agents receive commissions on the sale of a home.

* Crain’s | President and CEO of the Joyce Foundation will step down: Ellen Alberding, president and CEO of the Joyce Foundation, announced today she will be stepping down in 2024 after 22 years of helming the organization. The foundation said it will begin its next CEO search in January, with Alberding, 66, continuing to lead the organization until a successor is named.

* Illinois Times | City’s employee residency requirement could be suspended: Supporters of the measure say suspending enforcement of the requirement is needed – at least for a year – to fill job vacancies amid a dearth of qualified candidates and a lack of available housing in Springfield. Moratorium supporters say hiring challenges have been seen across the country because of employment trends related to the COVID-19 pandemic, retirements by members of the baby boom generation and high home mortgage interest rates.

* Sun-Times | Ex-Chicago top cop Fred Waller staying on at CPD as a ‘deputy director’ — with combined annual pay and pension reaching $333,323: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration is keeping a self-described “old school” former cop within arm’s reach of new Police Supt. Larry Snelling, who is in charge of forging a slew of long-delayed reforms.

* Chicago Business Journal | Bally’s on track to open permanent casino in Chicago by September 2026: The clock has started for Bally’s Corp. to open its permanent casino in Chicago by late 2026, and casino leadership seems confident the project will deliver on time as the company continues to build momentum in the Windy City.

* Tribune | Illinois man serving life for drug conviction under ‘three-strikes’ law is granted clemency, arrives in Chicago: He was one of three people in Illinois still serving life sentences for drug offenses due to the so-called “three-strikes” law, which allows prosecutors to seek a life sentence when someone is convicted of their third serious felony, according to data from the Illinois Department of Corrections and Lightfoot’s attorney. Pritzker granted clemency to all three prisoners who were released this week, turning a page in the history of mass incarceration in Illinois.

* WBEZ | Six plays written by teens take a hard look at gun violence a year before the elections: “Regardless of an audience member’s age … I think we can consider what it has been like for these young people to grow up in a post-Columbine world,” said Neena Arndt, one of the directors for the Goodman readings. “Their whole life, they’ve had drills in school and it’s been a part of daily life … in a way that it wasn’t for previous generations.”

* WaPo | In pain? Listening to your favorite music can provide relief, study says: After Michelle Yang pulled on a pair of headphones to listen to one of her favorite songs — Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” — she felt a flash of pain on her left forearm. Yang was participating in a study by researchers at a Montreal university to determine how listening to one’s favorite music alters perception of pain. After participants selected their top songs, researchers placed a thermal simulator on their forearms, which created a sensation similar to touching a hot cup of coffee.

* AP | Vaping by high school students dropped this year, says US report: In a survey, 10% of high school students said they had used electronic cigarettes in the previous month, down from 14% last year. Use of any tobacco product — including cigarettes and cigars — also fell among high schoolers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

* Reader | When Sly Stone fronted a Chicagoland bar band: Jack Sweeney was on tour with Sly Stone, and business was slow. His Chicago-based seven-piece, One Eyed Jacks, had accepted a job as the erratic pop star’s backing band in late 1982. Long past his Woodstock-era prime, Stone had all but abandoned live performance seven years earlier. He was now attempting a comeback via small club shows, playing a series of one-night stands.