*WBEZ…

Chicago Public Schools dove headlong out of the tech dark ages without strong tracking systems and has failed to upgrade them in recent years. Now, CPS’ inspector general says as many as 77,000 devices — worth more than $23 million — were marked as lost or stolen in just one year.

Some of those devices didn’t actually disappear but were simply sitting on shelves or in desk drawers unaccounted for, CPS IG William Fletcher said in his 2023 annual report, blaming the district’s flawed inventory system that he said needs “serious overhaul.” And CPS rarely used a tracking system to find its computers despite spending $3 million on it.

This echoes findings by WBEZ and Chalkbeat Chicago in December 2022 that the school district lacked a reliable way to track devices.

In a school district as large as CPS some attrition is expected, but Fletcher said 11% of devices were marked as lost or stolen during the 2021-2022 school year. An expert cited by the inspector general called that an “alarming” amount. In the 2020-21 school year, 8% of the district’s technology assets were listed as lost, up from 3% in 2018-19, the Sun-Times reported. Those assets also included things like air purifiers and projectors.

* WBEZ and the Investigative Project on Race and Equality explored racial profiling by police in the US and France. They’re holding a virtual conference on Jan 10th. Click here to sign up, it’s free…

An analysis of 42.5 million traffic-stop records by the Investigative Project on Race and Equity and WBEZ Chicago found that, in recent years, the share of Black drivers involved in Illinois traffic stops has reached the highest level on record.

French journalist and activist Rokhaya Diallo wrote a piece in The Washington Post about the brutal death of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, a French-born youth of Algerian and Moroccan descent. He was shot last summer by a police officer at a traffic stop in a suburb of Paris, triggering a tidal wave of protests that in some cases turned violent. France has been facing police brutality against minorities for decades, a problem that has worsened with time.

Between Two Worlds will highlight how these issues coalesce and what they mean for people across the world as issues of equity and race continue to be front and center in the public discourse.

* Cool, but Oscar Mayer can’t spring more than $35,600? NBC…

Oscar Mayer announced on Monday it’s taking applications for the next class of “hotdoggers,” a yearlong opportunity to drive across the country in the iconic 27-foot-long Wienermobile as the brand’s spokesperson.

The meat and cold cuts company, a subsidiary of food giant Kraft Heinz, says in the job listing that the lucky wieners will get paid $35,600.

The average hotdogger travels 20,000 miles and visits at least 40 cities to host popup events, appear on local media and create content for TikTok and Instagram.

* Here’s the rest…

* Block Club | Bally’s Casino Made $3.1 Million For Chicago Last Year — Almost $10 Million Short Of City’s Goal: Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration projected the city would earn $12.8 million in gaming tax revenue from Bally’s in 2023, with the casino slated to open in June. But after opening weeks later than scheduled, the casino earned $3.1 million for the city last year despite increasing Chicago’s share every month, according to recently released figures.

* WCIA | New Illinois law allows 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote: But that’s not the only thing teens can do when they go to get their license. Now, 16-year-olds in Illinois can prepare to exercise their civic duty and pre-register to vote because of a new state law that went into effect Jan. 1.

* Robin Steans | How do we address the educator shortage in Illinois? We have powerful tools to do so.: First, some good news. The mass exodus of teachers from the profession that many predicted has not come to pass. Instead, our state has significantly increased its educator workforce since 2018, adding more than 5,800 teaching positions, a much greater rate than other states. That said, Illinois posts a 2.6% teacher vacancy rate. Worse, this overall average hides disparities by region — urban and rural areas are more likely to face vacancies; by position type — vacancy rates in special education and bilingual stand at 5% and 3.9%, respectively; and most tragically, by student population — with Black and Latino students and students from low-income households dramatically more likely to be in districts with vacancy rates more than twice the state average.

* WTTW | $23 Million in Missing Devices, Criminal Charges and Sexual Abuse Investigations Detailed in CPS Watchdog’s Annual Report: “During this period, the (Office of Inspector General) received over 2,000 complaints of misconduct, waste, fraud, financial mismanagement, and adult-on-student sexual misconduct,” Fletcher’s office said in a statement. “The allegations ranged from relatively minor violations of Chicago Public Schools policies to criminal acts.” Those cases included an assistant principal who was charged after allegedly stealing close to $275,000, numerous employees accused of fraudulently obtaining Paycheck Protection Program loans, eight cases of substantiated adult-on-student sexual assault, as well as the missing tech equipment.

* Daily Herald | ‘A new rebirth’: Bloomingdale moves to complete acquisition of Stratford Square Mall: Trustees on Monday unanimously approved a resolution to settle the lawsuit against mall owner Namdar Realty Group. The village will pay $8.75 million. It expects to close the deal next week.

* Daily Herald | ‘One of the most important infrastructure projects in the country’: What’s next with I-490, Route 390: In the coming months, the tollway plans “to start the next phase, which is moving east, building bridges over the (Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific) railroads and York Road,” he said.

* WAND | University of Illinois files notice of removal in response to Shannon Jr.’s restraining order: According to the Champaign County Clerk, the University of Illinois filed a notice of removal to have the case heard in the U.S. District Court and not in the Champaign County Court, on Tuesday. The University’s response comes after Terrence Shannon Jr. filed a temporary restraining order on Monday. A hearing date has yet to be scheduled on the petition for the temporary restraining order.

* AP | Terrence Shannon Jr., the suspended Illinois basketball star, files a restraining order seeking reinstatement: Illinois suspended Shannon on Dec. 28 after authorities in Kansas charged him with rape. The school suspended Shannon from “all team activities, effective immediately,” a day after the Douglas County District Attorney issued a warrant for his arrest. Sutter said at the time Shannon is innocent.

* Penn Carey Law | Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Field Drug Tests and Wrongful Convictions: This report provides the first-ever comprehensive analysis of presumptive drug field test usage across law enforcement agencies in the United States. Inexpensive and fast, these tests have become a tool of choice for law enforcement agencies. Unfortunately, they are notoriously imprecise and are known to produce “false positives,” leading to frequent wrongful arrests and wrongful convictions.

* WBEZ | A Chicago-area family lied to get their children into a top CPS school, inspector general finds: From May 2014 until August 2020, the family violated CPS’s student residency requirements by enrolling their kids at Decatur Classical Elementary in West Rogers Park, investigators found. The school sits a few blocks from neighboring suburb Lincolnwood, where the family lived. The parents owned several residential properties in Chicago through their real estate company and used those city addresses in CPS enrollment materials to lie about where they lived, the IG’s office said.

* BND | These metro-east school districts are getting electric buses through EPA grants: Cahokia Unit School District 187 and Granite City Community Unit School District 9 will each get 10 buses and East St. Louis School District 189 will get 25. The districts are among 38 others in Illinois to get buses through the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program. Funding for the program is provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that was passed in 2021 and authorized $5 billion over five years for clean school buses.

* Rockford Register Star | Rosecrance’s Griffin Williamson campus in Rockford will shift to serve more adults: Rosecrance’s Griffin Williamson Campus, which has served more than 15,000 teens in the past 20 years, will soon start serving more adults. Rosecrance President and CEO David Gomel said the demand for residential services among youth has decreased while the need for youth outpatient services has increased in recent years.

* South Side Weekly | The Healthcare System Failed Me After Getting Shot: More than two years later, I’m still healing from my injuries. I’ll never be the same. My journey to recovery, which started with so many mishaps in the hospital, has been long and excruciating. It has shown me the heavy burden society places on survivors of gun violence to heal themselves. In a city with thousands of gun violence victims, and over 7,000 hospital beds, I felt failed by the healthcare system. It’s hard to believe that the standard of care is so low for survivors.

* The New Yorker | Did an Abortion Ban Cost a Young Texas Woman Her Life?: The hospital’s labor-and-delivery unit closed years ago, and there is no ob-gyn on site. The women in Yeni’s family, like most women in Luling, were used to travelling to Kyle, thirty miles northwest, or to Austin, for routine care. But sometimes a pregnancy-related crisis is too urgent to allow for travel time, and the Luling emergency room—with four beds and one doctor—is the only place to go.

* NYT | New York Begins Evicting Migrant Families Who Hit a Shelter Time Limit: The first wave of evictions coincided with an unexpected and significant hurdle. City officials announced that they would temporarily evacuate 1,900 migrants currently housed in a tented shelter site in southeast Brooklyn because of a rainstorm headed for the city on Tuesday night.

* WGN | First Lady Jill Biden, Halle Berry to visit University of Illinois Chicago: According to the White House, the First Lady is scheduled to visit the University of Illinois Chicago alongside actress and women’s health advocate, Halle Berry. The White House said during her visit, the First Lady will highlight the importance of advancing research on menopause and women’s health, as part of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research.

* WTHI | Illinois state legislator collecting valentines for seniors: People can now make cards for the Valentines for Seniors program. Bryant is asking students, scout groups, churches, and other groups to create homemade cards that will be delivered to nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, and other long-term care facilities throughout the 58th Senate District.

* WaPo | Violent political threats surge as 2024 begins, haunting American democracy: Bomb threats last week caused evacuations at state capitol buildings across the country. Federal authorities arrested and charged a man with threatening to kill a congressman and his children, while other members of Congress dealt with swatting incidents. The Maine secretary of state and the Colorado Supreme Court, both of which recently deemed Donald Trump ineligible to run for the presidency because he engaged in an insurrection, received a surge of threats after being castigated by Trump in speeches and social media posts.

* BND | ‘Mystery’ dog illness reported in Illinois, but is your pet at risk? What to know: Canine medical experts are researching the “mysterious” disease, but much remains unknown at this time. While a “mystery” canine respiratory illness has been at least anecdotally reported in Illinois, a new, specific canine respiratory virus has yet to be identified in the state or anywhere in the U.S.

* The Messenger | Elon Musk’s X Suspends Prominent Journalists and Influencers: The accounts of several prominent journalists and progressive-leaning influencers were suspended by Elon Musk’s X platform on Tuesday for apparently violating X’s rules. The accounts appeared to be being reinstated hours later, as of 12:15 p.m. Eastern.

* LA Times | Researchers discover thousands of nanoplastic bits in bottles of drinking water: Using sophisticated imaging technology, scientists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty laboratory examined water samples from three popular brands (they won’t say which ones) and found hundreds of thousands of bits of plastic per liter of water. Ninety percent of those plastics were small enough to qualify as nanoplastics: microscopic flecks so small that they can be absorbed into human cells and tissue, as well as cross the blood-brain barrier.

* NYT | NASA Delays Artemis Astronaut Moon Missions: Officials at the space agency announced on Tuesday that Artemis II, the first American mission to send astronauts close to the moon in more than 50 years, will not take place late this year, as had been scheduled. They set a September 2025 date for the mission, which will take astronauts around the moon without landing there.

* Sun-Times | Ed Smith, former downstate Illinois union leader, had ‘clear mission in life’ to help workers: Ed Smith was well known and universally respected. His southern Illinois drawl gave him local cred, and his family history in the labor movement was legendary. I’m not sure Ed ever gave a “civil rights” speech in his life. But when it came to helping workers get fair treatment, Ed didn’t care about the color of your skin. The barbecue made that clear. Seated at the tables and rising to greet this candidate from Chicago were dozens of workers, Black and white, who were all friends of Ed Smith.

* WSIL | Ed Smith, former leader of Laborers’ International Union, passes away: Local residents have a lot to thank Smith for, as well. He helped aid the Therapy Center in Carterville and the Shawnee College Foundation in Ullin. He also gave sums to the Connell F. Smith Homer Brown Scholarship Fund in Marion. Many lives were affected by Smith’s work for laborers. Ullico hopes his work lives on through his positive impact on society and believes his passion for the job will inspire others.