* WICS…

Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) held a ribbon cutting at its new Carbondale Health Center on Monday. […]

The state-of-the-art health center has four education rooms, four procedure rooms, three exam/ ultrasound rooms, a kids playroom, a conference room, and administrative space. […]

PPIL’s new Carbondale Health Center offers comprehensive reproductive health care services such as cancer screenings, birth control, STI testing and treatment, gender-affirming health care, medication, and in-clinic abortion.

* ABC Chicago…

Harvey city officials said they have been talking with property managers about unfit living conditions and ongoing crime on South Halsted Street since October, but told ABC7 it was the owners who took it upon themselves, on Friday night, to board up the apartments there.

Some residents said they were still inside their homes. […]

“I opened the door, and here’s this big piece of plywood right there,” Williams said.

Williams is now able to walk through his opened front door after, he claims, crews boarded it shut with plywood while he was still inside. […]

In a statement, Harvey city leaders said, in part, “Contrary to recent claims, the city did not evict anyone from these properties but has communicated with the property owners regarding the unsafe conditions of the buildings and need to immediately rectify the dangerous living conditions.”

In fact, city leaders said, the owners made the call. Harvey alderpeople have been scrambling for a resolution.

* Here’s the rest…

* WAND | Decatur among communities getting funding for clean school buses: Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Monday to announce funding that will bring 60 clean school buses to communities throughout Central and Southern Illinois, including Decatur. The funding comes through the agency’s first Clean School Bus Program Grants Competition.

* Crain’s | States, including Illinois, begin tapping Medicaid dollars to combat gun violence: So far, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New York, and Oregon have passed laws approving the use of Medicaid money for gun violence prevention, said Kyle Fischer, policy and advocacy director for The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention, which has lobbied for the federal and state Medicaid policy changes allowing this spending. More states are expected to follow.

* Bloomberg | WBBM Newsradio, WXRT parent Audacy files for bankruptcy: Audacy Inc., the radio and podcast company that counts Chicago’s WBBM and WXRT among its stations, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas after reaching a pact with creditors that would hand them ownership in exchange for slashing $1.6 billion of debt.

* Crain’s | BOMA, biz groups ask judge to block real estate transfer tax referendum: The mayor won City Council approval in November to ask voters whether they support Johnson’s proposed changes to the city’s real estate transfer tax, which his administration estimates would generate $100 million for the city to fight homelessness through prevention, crisis response, and building and subsidizing permanent supportive housing.

* Block Club | Scam Claims You Can Buy Unclaimed Luggage From O’Hare For $9.95 — But It’s Not True: “Fact check: No, we do not sell unclaimed bags,” O’Hare posted on its Facebook page. “An Internet scam is making the rounds on social media, promoting an opportunity to buy unclaimed luggage at O’Hare. It’s not true, and you should always contact your air carrier with questions about misplaced luggage.”

* Daily Herald | Why Schaumburg started planning for new police station with a road trip: Schaumburg’s plan to soon replace its dated, 48-year-old police station took a major step last week as officials visited newer buildings in Mount Prospect, Aurora and Oswego to get a look at what’s needed for a mid-21st century department.

* AP | Consulting firm McKinsey agrees to $78 million settlement over claims it helped fuel the opioid crisis: The insurers argued that McKinsey worked with Purdue Pharma – the maker of OxyContin – to create and employ aggressive marketing and sales tactics to overcome doctors’ reservations about the highly addictive drugs. Insurers said that forced them to pay for prescription opioids rather than safer, non-addictive and lower-cost drugs, including over-the-counter pain medication. They also had to pay for the opioid addiction treatment that followed.

* Tribune | Lawsuit: Student alleges antisemitism, discrimination at School of the Art Institute: Master’s degree student Shiran Canel — an Israeli American Jew in her 30s who lives in the Chicago area — alleges the school discriminated against her during an admissions interview and then intentionally subjected her to a hostile environment following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. This included a professor modifying a course assignment “for the purpose of harassing” and intentionally targeting her, the complaint said.

* Crain’s | Q&A: Hispanic business owners see migrant influx as an opportunity for growth: As Venezuelan immigrants flood into the Chicago area, the focus has been on reactions from homeowners, neighborhood groups and local politicians, most of them troubled by the influx. But has anybody bothered to get a reaction from local Hispanic business owners, many of whom are ready to welcome the prospect of fresh Spanish-speaking labor into the workforce?

* Daily Herald | State legislation could help put the Great Lakes’ first offshore wind farm in Chicago: Eyes are on state legislation that would realize the Great Lakes’ first offshore wind farm — in Chicago. While the bill that would help make it happen passed the House last year and is under consideration in the Senate, the unprecedented energy development is shrouded in unknowns and likely several years from construction.

* Sun-Times | From new skyscrapers to Union Station redesign plans, 2024 will be a busy year for architecture: Construction fences will start rising soon at Clark and Randolph streets as Google preps for its anticipated $280 million renovation of the Thompson Center. But that’s not the only architecture news in town. Here are five projects — among many — worth keeping an eye on as the new year progresses.

* Crain’s | Missouri gubernatorial candidate selling Chicago condo he just bought: Mike Hamra is asking $3 million for the four-bedroom, roughly 3,500-square-foot condo at the St. Regis tower in Lakeshore East. It’s represented by Naomi Wilkinson of Magellan Realty. Hamra announced his gubernatorial run Oct. 26, just 19 days after he signed a contract to buy the St. Regis condo. He closed on the purchase Nov. 15, paying a little more than $2.81 million, according to the Cook County Clerk’s Office.

* WBEZ | Warmer winters mean less ice on Lake Michigan – hurting lake trout and whitefish: It may be early in the season, but historical data going back to the early 1970s show ice coverage is beginning to slowly disappear. Maximum coverage on the Great Lakes — Michigan, Huron, Superior, Erie and Ontario — has fluctuated from as high as 90% to as low as nearly 12% in 2002. And over those 50 years, researchers identified a 5% decrease in ice cover per decade.

* Sun-Times | First major storm of the season to bring ‘concrete snow’ to Chicago area: The Chicago area’s first major snowstorm of the season might dump up to 10 inches on the northern suburbs and up to 6 inches across the city. The National Weather Service issued a storm advisory beginning at 8 p.m. Monday through noon Tuesday. For some western and northern suburbs, that advisory is in effect until 6 p.m. Tuesday.

* NBC Chicago | Weather alerts, snow projections, timing: What to expect in Illinois storm: McHenry and DeKalb counties will be under a winter storm watch between Tuesday morning and Tuesday evening. In those areas, accumulations could be higher than 6 inches, with “heavy snow possible” and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Snowfall rates of up to 1 inch an hour are possible, the alert states.

* Sun-Times | Chicago snow forecast calls for 1 to 3 inches Monday night into Tuesday morning: Gino Izzi, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said the storm will come in as a “one-two punch,” with the first part affecting the city. He said a “good dumping” — or 1 to 3 inches — of snow is expected to start Monday night about 11 p.m. and continue through rush hour Tuesday morning, when it is expected to turn into rain.

* Tribune | 45 years ago, a woman found a human skull in her Batavia home. Now DNA, genetics technology and fundraising may help police solve the mystery: Now the police and the Kane County coroner’s office are reevaluating the case with the help of modern DNA testing and genetic technology. They’re hoping to raise $7,500 from donations to fund the investigation. “The fact that we have unidentified human remains in our community and that we have this opportunity where we could potentially identify this person and tell the story, I think it’s worth doing,” said Batavia Deputy Chief Eric Blowers.

* AP | A missing person with no memory: How investigators solved the cold case of Seven Doe: Now police specializing in missing people and cold cases have discovered Seven’s identity in one of the most unusual investigations the Cook County sheriff’s office has pursued and one that could change state law. Using post-mortem fingerprints, investigators identified Seven as 75-year-old Reba C. Bailey, an Illinois veteran missing since the 1970s.

* Sun-Times | Racing to save ancient history, University of Chicago scientists work to preserve carvings in Egypt: The researchers live together for months at a time in Luxor — at a place dubbed “Chicago House” — much as their predecessors did, working through wars, internal feuds, the occasional cholera outbreak. “There are quiet moments when you realize, I’m sitting here in a temple that’s over 3,000 years old, and I’m reading inscriptions that very few other people have ever read or can read,” says Egyptologist Brett McClain, who oversees the operation at Chicago House for the university’s Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures.

* WTTW | Look Who’s Here: Bald Eagle Watch is on in Illinois as Winter Population Swells: Some 3,000 of the once endangered birds hang out in the state during the winter, attracted to our not-quite-frozen waterways and the steady supply of fresh fish they provide. According to state wildlife officials, this is the largest population of wintering bald eagles in the continental U.S.

* Sun-Times | Bill Murray, Veeck family buy independent Joliet Slammers ballclub: Bill Murray is being sent to the minors — as a team owner. Longtime Cubs fan Murray is part of an ownership group with a familiar baseball family — Mike Veeck and Night Train Veeck — that has purchased a majority stake in the Joliet Slammers of the independent Frontier League. Former majority owner Nick Semaca, will stay on with the group as a shareholder.

* DNYUZ | Want to Understand 2024? Look at 1948.: If there’s a time that might make sense of today’s political moment, postwar America might just be it. Many analysts today have been perplexed by public dissatisfaction with the economy, as unemployment and gross domestic product have remained strong and as inflation has slowed significantly after a steep rise. To some, public opinion and economic reality are so discordant that it requires a noneconomic explanation, sometimes called “vibes,” like the effect of social media or a pandemic hangover on the national mood.