*** UPDATE 1 (by Rich) *** Hmm…

And here’s update 2…

Update 3…

Today, the 82nd District Representative District Committee selected Nicole La Ha as the new State Representative to fill the vacancy of Lemont Mayor John Egofske.

“I am honored to serve as the State Representative for the 82nd District,” La Ha said. “My experiences in public service and advocacy have prepared me for this role, and I am eager to work collaboratively to address the diverse needs of our community. Together, we can create positive change and build a more inclusive and vibrant future for the 82nd District.”

Nicole’s time in public service began in 2020 when she was elected to the Village of Homer Glen Board of Trustees. During her tenure, she demonstrated a strong commitment to lower property taxes and financial responsibility. Nicole is also Mrs. America 2022 and has a history of impactful advocacy for community accessibility and inclusive parks for children with disabilities. As one of the founders of the Ability Awareness Committee in Homer Glen, Nicole showcases her dedication to promoting inclusivity and education within the community.

Nicole’s personal experiences as the mother of a differently abled child have fueled her commitment to inspire a more inclusive world. She has actively participated in leadership roles supporting initiatives such as inclusive shopping carts and education programs for individuals with disabilities.

“Nicole La Ha brings an exciting blend of passion, dedication, and leadership to the 82nd District,” said House Minority Leader Tony McCombie. “Her commitment to children, public safety, and advocacy for inclusivity is inspiring and she will be a great addition to the House Republican Caucus. Nicole is a problem solver and will work toward solutions that will bring positive change and economic growth to the 82nd District.”

Nicole resides in Homer Glen with her husband, Dr. Christopher Zwiercan, and their two children, Cristiano and Ashlynn.

Update 4…

Brandun Schweizer on Thursday was selected by the 104th Representative District Committee to fill the vacancy of retiring state Rep. Michael Marron, R-Fithian, in the Illinois House of Representatives.

“I am honored to be the new representative for the 104th District and serve the residents of Champaign and Vermilion counties,” said Schweizer. “Serving our community as state representative will allow me to prioritize real relief for taxpayers, entice businesses to build and grow here, and work to rebuild trust in government.”

[ *** End Of Updates *** ]

* WTTW…

Texas emergency management officials chartered a private plane and flew 150 migrants to Chicago Tuesday evening, the first time a private plane has been used by the state to bring migrants to the city from Texas. […]

After the plane landed without warning to Chicago officials, airport officials called the Chicago Police Department, according to a report shared with WTTW News. The flight originated in El Paso, Texas, and records link the plane’s tail number to the Texas Division of Emergency Management, according to the police log of the incident.

Two people, identified as “handlers” in the police log, fled the plane and “jumped into an Uber” before they could be questioned by officers, according to police.

* Crain’s…

With the city’s finances strained and a controversial tool meant to spur economic development set to shrink over the next decade, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration is looking at borrowing more than $1 billion to fund affordable housing and development projects.

The move would be a remarkable shift in how the city pays for and subsidizes development projects. The bond issuance would begin the process of Chicago weaning itself off the special tax districts created in the last three decades to incentivize development.

With dozens of tax-increment financing, or TIF, districts expiring over the next decade — potentially returning hundreds of millions annually to the city’s tax base — city officials have been pitching the City Council on a plan to divert a chunk of that anticipated revenue to pay for the new debt created by the borrowing plan.

* Daily Herald…

McHenry County’s electoral board ruled Tuesday that Bob Nowak can stay on the March primary ballot, overruling his opponent’s objection to his candidacy.

Nowak, of Algonquin, is running for McHenry County Board in the District 3 Republican primary against incumbent Eric Hendricks of Lake in the Hills. Nowak previously held the seat but lost to Hendricks in 2022.

Hendricks filed an objection to Nowak’s candidacy last week, claiming Nowak ran as a “Republian,” omitting the “c” in Republican and putting a zip code in an incorrect field.

In Tuesday’s hearing, Hendricks cited case law to support his argument that Nowak should be booted from the ballot.

“It probably should have been rejected from the offset,” Hendricks said.

* As subscribers know, Coburn withdrew a week ago. SJ-R…

Kelvin Coburn, a Republican candidate running in Illinois House District 95, is ending his campaign after not receiving sufficient signatures.

Kelvin Coburn has ended his campaign for Illinois House District 95.
Required to collect between 500 and 1,500 signatures, Coburn received 561 per records shared by the Illinois State Board of Elections but several filing errors reduced that number below the minimum. Coburn, a Department of Transportation employee from Chatham, was challenging incumbent state Rep. Mike Coffey, R-Springfield, in the Republican primary.

Objectors to his nomination papers included Patty Meyer and Collins Pieper, both Republican precinct committeepersons also seeking reelection. Their objections filed with ISBE and going public Tuesday, centered on the papers including non-genuine signatures and signatures from outside the district.

Coburn said Wednesday that some of his signatures did come from the Illinois House District 108, which includes portions of Chatham.

* Release the bloopers!…

The people demand to know how many takes it took to get through this section. https://t.co/SFZ9EhVX5b pic.twitter.com/jEnNMyqXNA

— John Amdor (@JohnAmdor) December 20, 2023

* More…

* Block Club | Bond Reform Has Reduced Jail Population, But State Data On Pretrial Detention Is 18 Months Late: The data will reveal how bond abolition affects pretrial detention, but most courts have never tracked this information. State officials are also struggling to streamline a system dominated by paper records. … Circuit courts use at least 17 different case management technologies that need to feed into the new state system, and most counties have never analyzed pretrial outcomes, Smith said. The vast majority of Illinois courts still use paper-based records, which is a serious hurdle to streamlining the data into a single system, Smith said. That makes it especially difficult to plug each county into a statewide system, she said.

* WTTW | ‘It’s a Human Dignity Issue’: Data Reveals Racial, Economic Disparities in Access to Quality Nursing Home Care Across Chicago: An analysis by WTTW News and the Hyde Park Herald/South Side Weekly found that the disparity between access to quality nursing home care for Black and White Chicagoans is stark: Three of the city’s five-star homes, as rated by Medicare, house majority White residents and are concentrated on the city’s North Side. There is another five-star home on the North Side that did not submit demographic data for 2021 to the Illinois Health Facilities & Services Review Board (HFSRB), the agency that collects this information.

* ABC Chicago | UIC under federal investigation for discrimination by Education Department : The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was added to the list of schools a few weeks ago. Other newly added schools include Springfield, IL Public Schools District 186, MNIT, UC Davis and Drexel University.

* Capitol News Illinois | High court says unless pavement markings or signs are present, cyclists are merely ‘permitted’ users: That distinction means the city of Chicago is not liable for damages sustained by a bicyclist who was injured after he hit a pothole on a city street that had no such signage.

* Patch | Rosemont Medical Co. Accused Of Filing False Claims Settles For $14.7M: BioTelemetry Inc., headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and its subsidiary, LifeWatch Services Inc., based in Rosemont, will pay more than $14.7 million after being accused of violating the False Claims Act, authorities said. “Diagnostic companies, like other providers, are expected to bill federal healthcare programs only for medically necessary services,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton, head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division, said in a news release. “We will hold accountable those who misuse taxpayer-funded programs for their own enrichment.”

* AP | Some state abortion bans stir confusion, and it’s uncertain if lawmakers will clarify them: [A] provision included in a law enacted by Congress in 1986 and signed by Republican President Ronald Reagan said abortion must be available when a pregnant woman’s life is at risk during a medical emergency. But a lack of clarity over how to apply that rule and other exceptions in state laws has escalated the trauma and heartache some women experience while facing serious medical issues but unable to access abortion in their home states.

* Billboard | Mitski, Father John Misty & More Artists’ Online Shops Affected After Merch Company SCP Shuts Down: SCP Merchandising, an Illinois-based merch company used by artists including Mitski, Father John Misty and Carly Rae Jepsen, has shut down, according to a member of SCP leadership still on-site after the company laid off its staff over the weekend. Based on accounts from multiple former SCP employees on LinkedIn, the company’s employees were abruptly laid off on Sunday evening (Dec. 17).

* ABC Chicago | Xfinity hack could impact 36 million customers: Xfinity concluded on Dec. 6 that usernames and passwords for some customers were stolen along with names, contact information, last four digits of social security numbers, dates of birth and/or secret questions. The company says it is still taking a complete stock of what was stolen.

* Reuters | Tesla blamed drivers for failures of parts it long knew were defective: Wheels falling off cars at speed. Suspensions collapsing on brand-new vehicles. Axles breaking under acceleration. Tens of thousands of customers told Tesla about a host of part failures on low-mileage cars. The automaker sought to blame drivers for vehicle ‘abuse,’ but Tesla documents show it had tracked the chronic ‘flaws’ and ‘failures’ for years.

* NYT | How College Football Is Clobbering Housing Markets Across the Country: “College athletics, in particular college football, have become so enormous in this country, particularly in the Southeast, that it has caused this phenomenon of short-term rentals,” said Adrien Bouchet, director of the DeVos Sport Business Management Program at the University of Central Florida. “On one hand it creates value, but on the other hand, it definitely hurts people that have lived in and around the university for a long time.”

* Good Morning America | Chicago Christmas market shoppers find unclaimed money: ABC News’ DeMarco Morgan heads to the city’s Christkindle Market with members from the Illinois State Treasurer’s office to help holiday shoppers see if they have any unclaimed money.

* Sun-Times | Chicago may get a ‘moist’ Christmas, but snow unlikely: forecast calls for rain, temps in the 50s: The forecast is likely to be “mild and moist,” according to Todd Kluber, a meteorologist with the NWS. The good news is weather probably won’t cause travel woes for those staying in the Midwest. “Temperatures are fortunately gonna be well above freezing through Christmas,” Kluber said. “Freezing precipitation is not an issue for us for that holiday period and around that holiday travel time.”

* Dave Joachim | Great Outdoor Recipes For Christmas, Hanukkah And New Years: Nibble and nosh your way to New Year’s Eve with appetizers like homemade Boursin cheese spread. When it’s chilly, sip on hot Southern Comfort cider. And when it snows, make maple taffy on snow! The holidays are the best time to invite friends and family over for a get-together and celebrate the many blessings that you have.