* ICYMI: Chicago steps-up enforcement on “rogue” buses that drop off asylum seekers without notifying the city.Tribune…

- The city has filed 55 lawsuits since it implemented new rules about when and where buses can arrive in mid-November.
- 77 total buses are accused of violating the rules.
-The rules also require intercity buses to apply for approval from the city to drop off passengers.
- The mayor’s office is now seeking the ability to impound buses that don’t follow the rules and fine owners up to $3,000.

* Related stories…

∙ Crain’s: City moves to step up enforcement on bus companies bringing migrants
∙ ABC Chicago | ‘Rogue’ buses are trying to dump migrants in Cicero and leave to avoid Chicago fines

* Isabel’s top picks…

* Capitol News Illinois | Pritzker signs measure allowing new small-scale nuclear technology in Illinois: Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday signed into law a measure that will allow for the limited development of new nuclear power generation technology in the state. […] The measure, House Bill 2473, does not allow new large-scale power generation facilities like the six plants that are already operational in the state, but rather allows for new smaller-scale emergent technology.

* Crain’s | Arlington Heights school districts take step in property tax talks with Bears: A spokesman for Arlington Heights school districts 15, 211 and 214 today said in a statement they recently got a pair of appraisals pegging the 326-acre former racetrack property’s value at $160 million. It’s a starting point of sorts in an appeal process the Bears will likely go through after Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi said the property’s 2023 value was $192 million.

* Tribune | After controversy in Quincy, advocates question whether Illinois should require judges to undergo training on sexual assault cases: Adrian’s stated reasoning for the reversal raised eyebrows among survivor advocates, who also bristled at comments he made during the January 2022 sentencing hearing. After reversing his ruling, a transcript shows he blamed parents and adults for “having parties for teenagers, and they allow coeds and female people to swim in their underwear in their swimming pool. And, no, underwear is not the same as swimming suits.”

* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…

* WCIA | Illinois looking to expand food infrastructure with state grant: The state is funding nearly $2 million in projects to expand local food networks through a new grant approved by the Illinois legislature. Examples of projects under the grant include animal processing, trucking, food hubs and community kitchens. The Illinois Stewardship Alliance is working with the Illinois Department of Agriculture for the first year of the grant.

* Tribune | Calling FBI mole Danny Solis to testify could be risky, ‘blow back’ on ex-Ald. Ed Burke’s defense in corruption case, experts say: “It’s a bit of a chess game,” said Nancy DePodesta, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice. “The government made the first move and decided not to call Solis … If the defense doesn’t call Solis then they’re left with the tapes, (and) you don’t get to cross-examine the tapes.

* Sun-Times | Feds play recording of call with Gery Chico as they allege Ed Burke used threats over permits ‘to extort benefits’ from businesses: “They’re ok, ok?”Chico said.“They’re not perfect. They’re just pretty naive on this stuff, so we’ve had to drag their asses along the way, but we’ll have a nice event.” Burke replied, “Well, maybe if they don’t have any access to the property because the driveway isn’t legal, they might get the message.”

* Chalkbeat | Dual credit courses growing in Illinois, but students of color less likely to take them, report says: Due to recent changes in state law in 2021, Illinois high schools were encouraged to expand their dual credit courses. And the share of students who are taking these advanced classes has been on the rise over the past several years: Participation in dual credit courses grew from 10.2% of high school students in the 2017-18 school year to 14% for 2021-22, according to a recent report from the Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative.

* Daily Herald | Is Illinois’ mandatory road test for seniors fair? The 49 other states don’t do it: The law requires drivers aged 79 and 80 to take a road exam if their four-year license renewal is up. For drivers aged 81 to 86, it’s every two years, and for those 87 and older, it’s yearly. But according to a recent study, “statistics show that our senior drivers are among the safest drivers in the state,” Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said.

* Sun-Times | New state ID program for Cook County Jail detainees aims to ‘help people reintegrate’: Starting Monday, some detainees leaving jail custody on electronic monitoring will be handed a free state ID, a critical and often elusive stepping-stone that hasn’t been available to former inmates as they try to find housing, jobs and other foundations to rebuild their lives, officials and advocates say.

* Tribune | At Stateville maximum security prison, first group of prisoners earns college degrees from Northwestern: ‘A place of second chances’: Last month, 16 men became the first group to graduate from Northwestern’s Prison Education Program, an accomplishment they and their professors hope will lead to a second chance. Experts believe similar educational offerings could reduce recidivism rates and save taxpayers money statewide. “It all hasn’t hit me yet, still. I know it’s a great thing, it’s a great feeling,” one of the graduates, Taurean Decatur, told the Tribune recently at Stateville. “It’s one of the best feelings of my life, like I did it. I wish I could put it on a T-shirt.”

* WTTW | Chicago Officials Revise Rules Limiting Access to City Council Meetings After Warning: The new rules, issued Thursday, came several days after the president of the Better Government Association warned Mayor Brandon Johnson that the administration’s efforts to restrict access to meetings of the City Council were “inequitable and likely illegal.” […] “The new rules violate the spirit and likely the letter” of state law and should be reversed, according to a statement from the BGA.

* Tribune | Johnson administration begins filing lawsuits against operators of ‘rogue buses’ of migrants: The stepped-up enforcement is the Johnson administration’s latest effort to address the influx of new arrivals, which has become one of the mayor’s most vexing challenges. The care of more than 24,400 migrants who have arrived in Chicago since August 2022 has taken on heightened urgency as winter sets in, and tested the limits of how welcoming the city can be.

* WGN | Family, friends ‘outraged’ after mother shot dead during mental health call in Morris; body cam released: The mother who “lived for her kids” had been battling schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder for several years, according to family and friends. That morning while at her new apartment, 911 was called after Schwab informed a case manager in a phone call that she had a knife and was going to hurt herself. That information was relayed to the 911 center, according to the state’s attorney’s office.

* Sun-Times | Ex-Chicago cop gets probation for sexually abusing man shackled to hospital bed: Carlyle Calhoun was sentenced to three years of probation with 90 days of home confinement. Calhoun was told he would be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

* Sun-Times | City Council panel advances new 311 ‘hate incident’ reporting plan: The “Chi vs. Hate” ordinance aims to collect reports of disturbing acts that might fall short of a crime, but hint at more troubling actions to come, as hate crimes spike in Chicago and beyond.

* BND | Mother volunteering as treasurer admits to stealing from metro-east girls softball club: Heather Sullivan, 38, of Roodhouse, whose daughter played on one of the teams, pleaded guilty to one count of theft over $10,000 and under $100,000, a Class 2 felony, on Friday in Madison County Circuit Court. Associate Judge Ronald Slemer agreed to dismiss a second count of theft per Sullivan’s plea agreement with the state’s attorney’s office. She could be sentenced to probation or up to five years in prison.

* AP | The NRA has a surprising defender in its free speech case before the Supreme Court: the ACLU: “We don’t support the NRA’s mission or its viewpoints on gun rights, and we don’t agree with their goals, strategies, or tactics,” the ACLU in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter. “But we both know that government officials can’t punish organizations because they disapprove of their views.” The NRA, which reshared the ACLU’s statement on its social media account, wrote in a follow-up post that it was “proud” to stand with the ACLU and others who recognize that “regulatory authority cannot be used to silence political speech.”

* NYT | The Guns Were Said to Be Destroyed. Instead, They Were Reborn.: When Flint, Mich., announced in September that 68 assault weapons collected in a gun buyback would be incinerated, the city cited its policy of never reselling firearms.[…] But Flint’s guns were not going to be melted down. Instead, they made their way to a private company that has collected millions of dollars taking firearms from police agencies, destroying a single piece of each weapon stamped with the serial number and selling the rest as nearly complete gun kits. Buyers online can easily replace what’s missing and reconstitute the weapon.

* Daily Herald | Bolingbrook CosMc’s opens to long lines, hours of waiting: Maya Wysocki of Romeoville waited in line three hours Friday for a chance to sample CosMc’s, the new McDonald’s spinoff restaurant in Bolingbrook. But the wait for the restaurant, a pilot operation, was worth it to Wysocki, who said she really wanted to try a beverage with a vitamin C or pre-workout “boost.”

* SJ-R | Illinois State, Norfolk State erupts over alleged racial slurs: benches clear, fans ejected: According to Norfolk State coach Robert Jones, racial slurs were used and it is why the altercation with Ryan Pedon took place in front of the scorer’s table. The coach took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to explain in his own words what went down during the game. “I’m not letting anybody call my players a racial slur,” Jones said on Twitter. “Those are my kids and I will fight for them. We have come too far in society to be called the ‘N-word’ at a college basketball game.”

* Block Club | Olive Harvey College’s Electric Car Apprenticeship Aims To Help Workers In Emerging Green Economy: Apprentices for the Rivian Technical Trades program received a scholarship to cover the full cost of tuition, and they were paid $26 hourly as they did hands-on work learning the latest electric vehicle technologies at the Olive Harvey campus and Rivian’s centers in the West Loop and in downstate Normal.

* Les Winkeler | It has been a privilege and an honor: So, after 35 years, there are just 600 words remaining in a newspaper career. It is humbling to be one of those remaining to offer their final words. Thinking of the great journalists that have plied their trade at this newspaper over the years is sobering, selfless men and women worked tirelessly to tell the stories of triumph, the stories of tragedy and just the everyday stories of Southern Illinois residents.

* WCIA | ‘Such a force’: Remembering late Champaign state senator Scott Bennett a year after his death: Frerichs described Bennett as one of his closest friends. “We talked or texted most days, we frequently have lunches or dinners together,” the treasurer said. “And it seemed like there was a constant battle to make each other laugh. And Scott clearly won.”