* ICYMI: Officials investigating death of migrant child staying at Chicago shelter. Tribune…

- The parents of Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero are devastated, said Matt DeMateo, executive director and pastor at New Life Centers.
- Health care specialists have questioned both the conditions and coordination of care not only in the warehouse at 2241 S. Halsted St., but in the entire 27-shelter system.
- Jean Carlos had been sick for a couple of days prior to his death, his parents told police.

* Related stories…

∙ Sun-Times Editorial Board: City’s migrant shelter program needs overhaul after 5-year-old’s death
∙ CBS: More sick migrants, worries about conditions at Chicago shelter where a 5-year-old died

* Isabel’s top picks…

* Capitol News Illinois | Public health officials urge caution around respiratory illnesses: IDPH issued a health alert last week to hospitals, long-term care facilities and local health departments advising the use of masks and using screening techniques to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses, particularly in areas of the state with elevated levels of COVID-19 hospitalizations.

* Shaw Local | Why some congressional candidates could get kicked off the March primary ballot: Four congressional candidates running for seats serving the North, West and Northwest suburbs could be kept off the March 2024 primary ballot if formal complaints about their nominating petitions are upheld. A fifth candidate facing a petition objection said he’ll drop out rather than fight the challenge.

* WBEZ | A Cook County state’s attorney candidate once helped convict a boy whose murder confession was found to be coerced: In 1994, assistant state’s attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke helped win a guilty finding on a first-degree murder charge against the boy, known only as “A.M.” The interrogation took place without a parent or police youth officer present. It also took place without an attorney for A.M. and without video recording — steps now required by state law.

* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…

* Shaw Local | Weitzel to discuss pros and cons of the SAFE-T Act at January forum: “There is no argument about the act. The Illinois Supreme Court has upheld it, it is the law and we must deal with it. During the public forum, I plan to discuss the SAFE-T Act, how it came to be and its effects on police operations and overall public safety. I strongly advocate for having an independent auditor monitor the SAFE-T Act bond procedure in the court systems in Cook County and throughout the state.”

* Patch | 20 New Illinois Laws That Could Change Your Life In 2024: Employees of any local government entity, board of election commissioners or any private employer in Illinois with 51 or more employees will receive up to 10 days of paid leave in any 12-month period to serve as an organ donor. (HB 3516)

* Tribune | High schools in Blue Island, Crestwood embrace solar energy. Will it be as advertised?: Now, south suburban Chicago is reaping more benefits. The two schools in High School District 218 are in their first month of relying on solar energy following a monthslong installation process provided through the program. […] While yet to be seen, the transition to solar comes with the promise that such a move will reduce the schools’ energy bill by 90%.

* WTTW | Chicago’s Natural Gas Pipeline Project Halted Amid Push for Cleaner Energy Investments: “The ICC defied federal safety regulators, their own engineering study, and all common sense when they put a sudden, complete halt to construction work that everyone agrees is needed for the sake of safety and reliability in Chicago’s heating system,” says Marc Poulos, executive director of the nonprofit Indiana-Illinois-Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting.

* Sun-Times | Chicago police supervisor retires while facing demotion for failing to respond to fatal crash involving off-duty cop: Despite the serious — and potentially criminal — nature of the crash, Melean didn’t show up to assume control of the scene as required by a departmental order, according to law enforcement sources. That means he didn’t notify the Bureau of Internal Affairs, so no one from the department came to administer a Breathalyzer test to the other officer.

* WBEZ | Two former lifeguards sue the Chicago Park District, saying they suffered sexual abuse when they were minors: The cases filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Monday could add to the legal tab from the sexual misconduct scandal for the park district — which already has paid out nearly $2 million to three other female lifeguards who have sued or threatened to take the taxpayer-funded agency to court.

* Capitol News Illinois | Capitol News Illinois, ProPublica to continue award-winning reporting partnership: ProPublica announced the addition of five new partner newsrooms and local journalists to its Local Reporting Network, including another two-year partnership with Capitol News Illinois. Through the partnership, CNI reporter Molly Parker will serve as an LRN fellow, co-publishing investigations with the two news outlets.

* AP | Thousands of lights at Chicago Botanic Garden illuminate tunnels, lilies and art: More than 22 light installations by various local and international artists light a path through established gardens that snake around the Great Basin in the core of the garden’s 385 acres. Highlights of the experience include passing through the “Electric Ribbon Tunnel” created by Culture Creative; “Sea of Light,” created by UK artist Ithaca, which has 4,800 individually controlled balls of LED light; “Lilies,” by UK artist Jigantics, with 22 illuminated 5-foot (1.5-meter) lilies that float in and around the darkness of the Great Basin; and “Laser Lake,” projecting a rainbow of light dancing across the Great Basin.

* Tribune | Thursday is the shortest day of the year. Here’s what the winter solstice means for Chicago.: “The winter solstice has a pretty firm connection to astronomy,” said Hunter Miller, public observing educator at the Adler Planetarium. “There’s a whole lot of stuff going on out in space to explain what’s happening here on Earth.” The winter solstice is the moment the Northern Hemisphere is tilted farthest from the sun at about 23 degrees, Miller said. It’s easiest to understand, he said, if you imagine looking at Earth from far away and there’s a big stick that goes through the North and South poles.

* Sun-Times | Popular MeTV horror movie host Svengoolie brings on sidekicks (and possible successors): Rich Koz, who’s been keeping the grandly eccentric tradition of the horror movie host alive on the Chicago TV fixture “Svengoolie” for decades, needed a hand — preferably an undead one. Koz, who plays the wisecracking, endearingly cheesy horror host, was tasked with filling 30 extra minutes of airtime when executives at Weigel Broadcasting’s flagship station MeTV expanded his show from two to two and a half hours.

* AP | Minnesota panel chooses new state flag featuring North Star to replace old flag seen as racist: The star echoes Minnesota’s state motto of “Star of the North.” The commission’s chairman, Luis Fitch, said that to him, the light blue represents the Mississippi River, “the most important river in the United States,” pointing to the North Star. But he acknowledged it could mean other things to other people. Symmetry and simplicity won out over other versions, including ones that included a green stripe for the state’s agricultural heritage.

* AP | States are trashing troves of masks and pandemic gear as huge, costly stockpiles linger and expire: A New York state-run veterans’ home was so deluged by PPE deliveries in early 2021 that it stashed them under tarps in a parking lot. By the time a warehouse was arranged four months later, between $560,000 and $1.6 million of supplies were too damaged to use — and cost another $21,000 to incinerate, according to a state inspector general’s office report. Another $779,000 in expired items have been discarded.