* Daily Southtown | Emails show Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones prevents public employees from communicating with aldermen: First Ward Ald. Michael Navarrete sent an email Sept. 12 to set up a time to meet with Calumet City’s economic development director Donald Alesky and Valencia Williams, who works for the small business resources and assistance office. Navarrete proposed a monthly meeting with them so both parties can be better aligned on development proposals and zoning issues. […] Despite not being included in the original emails, Jones interjected and responded to Navarrete Sept. 21. “In the future, please do not send these communications to my employees,” Jones wrote in reference to the Navarrete’s messages to Alesky and Lanzito. “Further, I have instructed Don Alesky and Attorney Dominick not to meet with you and to forward all of your communications to my office for review and responses.”

* Block Club | Brighton Park Tent Encampment Construction On Hold For At Least A Week: An environmental report found the site “safe for temporary residential” after remediation, but state officials must still sign off. Neighbors are suing to try to block the shelter, and a judge ordered city officials to notify neighbors of activity at the site.

* Daily Herald | Republican files to take on Schneider, while Casten faces a new challenger: Oakbrook Terrace resident Mahnoor Ahmad submitted paperwork to run as a Democrat for the 6th District seat now held by Democrat Sean Casten of Downers Grove. Additionally, Lake Forest resident Jim Carris filed to run as a Republican for the 10th Congressional seat now held by Democrat Brad Schneider of Highland Park.

* Tribune | Executive testifies about holding up hiring ex-Ald. Ed Burke’s law firm for Burger King tax appeals: “More or less it seemed…like we weren’t getting the type of service I was getting with (their current firm), which was speed accuracy and organization,” Wachaa testified. Wachaa also testified about getting a quick education in old school, Chicago-style bureaucracy when a colleague who ran their 150 Chicago-area Burger Kings emailed about a meeting he’d had with Burke.

* Daily Herald | McHenry doesn’t want gambling parlors, but defining what those are is no sure bet: The problem, City Administrator Derik Morefield said, is defining what a gambling cafe is. “This is a whole topic we wrangled over in 2016 or 2017,” Morefield said, as McHenry tried to define what a gambling parlor looks like or develop guidelines for the city to follow. “We couldn’t come up with anything to define it,” Morefield said.

* Washington Examiner | Ronny Jackson endorses Mike Bost for reelection amid primary challenge from the right: “Ronny Jackson is a true patriot who has served his country in the Trump White House, in Congress, and in the U.S. Navy,” Bost said. “Ronny and I have become great friends because we’re fighting for the same things: President Trump’s America First agenda and draining the D.C. Swamp. I am honored to have his endorsement and value his friendship.” Bost has also been endorsed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH).

* Sun-Times | New discount rate system a ‘game changer’ for Chicagoans struggling with heating bills, advocates say: The new system was approved as part of the decision that also saw regulators cut a rate hike requested by Peoples Gas from $402 million down to about $301 million. That’s still a record-high increase — which will tack on $6 to the average monthly household bill, as estimated by consumer watchdogs — but the revamped discount rates will deliver much more help to the people who need it most, advocates say.

* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson’s mental health plan in Chicago starts small but carries big political implications: The mayor’s answer in his first budget was far from a full response. While he cautioned supporters that reopening the clinics would take time, his budget called for restoring only two clinics and placing them in yet-to-be-determined locations. Still, by including $5.2 million to expand mental health services and $15.9 million to double staffing for the city’s team of behavioral health professionals who respond to mental health and substance abuse crises, Johnson is trying to show he isn’t dropping the ball on the issue while preaching patience and signaling a more robust response is yet to come.

* River Bender | Sierra Club Illinois’ Three Rivers Project And The Village Of Godfrey To Host Invasive Species Management Training And Work Day: “We hope other municipalities across the Riverbend will join us and Sierra Club Illinois for this free invasive species management training and work day,” said Chris Logan, Director of Parks and Recreation for the Village of Godfrey. “Removing invasive species from our local parks and trails is not only critical to our work to protect and conserve local natural resources and spaces, but also to ensuring the citizens of Godfrey and beyond can enjoy our parks for generations to come.”

* The Telegraph | Randy Presswood files lawsuit against Madison County Board and sanitary district: Randy Presswood, who has been rejected as an appointee to the Metro East Sanitary District Board, has filed a lawsuit against two Madison County Board members, the MESD and MESD officials. […] Presswood claims Oney and Fancher gave confidential personnel information about Presswood, who worked for MESD for 37 years before retiring as a supervisor, to Madison and Babcock, who then used the information outside of official board or committee meetings to convince others to vote against Presswood’s appointment.

* The Daily Illini | Q&A with new UI trustee Jesse Ruiz: Jesse Ruiz graduated from the University in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He was appointed to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees by Gov. JB Pritzker on Oct. 27. […] From 2019-21, he worked as the deputy governor of education at the Office of the Governor in Illinois. Ruiz currently works as a general counsel at the Vistria Group, a private equity firm focused on social good. Ruiz’s appointment as a member of the Illinois Board of Trustees will last until 2029.

* Sun-Times | Bears coach Matt Eberflus doesn’t answer whether he believes he’s ‘safe’ for 2024: Eberflus was asked if, based on his relationship with general manager Ryan Poles, he believes he is “safe” for next season and responded by saying, “What you can focus on is leadership. The first rule of leadership is leading yourself… That’s really what you focus on: put your best foot forward every day.”

* Sun-Times | Brendan Savage, whose mom sued to get him back on basketball team, plays for Hinsdale South: Brendan Savage, the Hinsdale South senior whose mother sued to get him back on the basketball team, played in his first game of the season Friday at Downers Grove South. Savage received the full high school basketball experience. Mustangs fans booed him when he first checked in with three minutes left in the first quarter. He was the first player off the bench for the Hornets.

* WCIA | Secretary of State looking for 2023 John Lewis Youth Leadership award nominations: The award honors young people whose civic contributions have created a lasting impact in their community. Officials say any member of the public can nominate a young Illinoisan making a difference in their community. The National Association of Secretaries of State established the award after the landmark civil rights leader died in 2020.

* WSIL | SIU Carbondale offers rooms for Eclipse visitors in April: Community bathrooms and private showers will be available. All persons staying on campus will receive commemorative SIU eclipse glasses. The package costs $750 before tax. A pass for parking will add $25 to that total. The Dining Hall will be open with meals costing around $12.50 a person.

* Sun-Times | Amusing doc ‘A Disturbance in the Force’ shows some love for awful ‘Star Wars Holiday Special’: Over the course of the next two hours, “The Star Wars Holiday Special” served up one of the looniest, most disjointed, garish, ill-conceived and at times indecipherably bizarre and undeniably dreadful television programming in the history of the medium. Airing once and then disappearing into the mist of mythology, lore and geekdom, this gargantuan misstep early on in the “Star Wars” canon was so unspeakably awful that George Lucas reportedly once proclaimed, “If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that show and smash it.”

* Daily Herald | A 50-foot tree and hundreds of ornaments: How Union Station is transformed for the holidays: “It’s hard to see up there,” explained Delgado, who gives directions to workers in mechanical lifts high above passing Metra commuters and Amtrak customers. “We believe this is the tallest indoor tree in Chicago,” said Marc Magliari, spokesman for Amtrak, which owns Union Station.

* ABC Chicago | Holiday shopping options made in Illinois: If you consider shopping local this December, you could help to sustain a small business in Illinois. Daniel Thomas, deputy director at the Illinois Office of Tourism, shared some “Made in Illinois” options that can all be shipped.