* Rep. Adam Niemerg was kicked off the ballot…

Niemerg is a two-term incumbent and member of the far-right @ILFreedomCaucus. He was the only candidate who filed in the 102nd HD. If the ruling isn't reversed in court, he could run as a write-in or be nominated after the primary by the district's county GOP party chairs.

— Brenden Moore (@brendenmoore13) January 11, 2024

* Press release…

CHICAGO—Today, Governor JB Pritzker announced that Illinois secured 14.9M in competitive federal grant funding from the US Department of Transportation’s FY22-FY23 Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program. The Illinois Finance Authority (IFA), in its role as the Illinois Climate Bank, was chosen to receive the $14.9M to support the expansion of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in Illinois.

“As Illinois moves toward a clean energy future, it is imperative that no communities are left behind,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “This investment from our partners at the federal level will ensure Illinois has the resources to make electric vehicles accessible to all our residents. With the incredible work from the Illinois Finance Authority, regional partners, and local leadership, I have no doubt the Community Charging Program will make a positive impact statewide.”

The proposed project, “The State of Illinois Community Charging Program,” aims to advance community-based transportation efforts across Illinois and prioritize equity in the clean energy movement. The statewide initiative is a joint effort between the Illinois Climate Bank as well as local and regional partners, serving 273 project sites (144 of which are located in or in close proximity to disadvantaged communities). The funds will support construction of 845 Level 2 EV Charging stations, and 36 DC Fast Charge stations.

Of the total $18.7M project investment:

- 43% will be allocated for disadvantaged community projects.
- 63% will be designated to dense urban communities with a high percentage of multi-family housing, as well as rural communities and small towns.

* Tribune…

Illinois set another record for recreational cannabis sales in 2023, with more than $1.6 billion in sales — but sales to out-of-state residents showed a significant drop.

Sales to Illinois residents increased by 14%, but sales to out-of-state visitors fell by 14%, reflecting increased competition from Michigan and newly legalized marijuana in Missouri and Minnesota.

Out-of-state customers accounted for one quarter of revenue, but with Wisconsin lawmakers considering legalizing medical marijuana, those sales are likely to decrease further in the future.

* Press release…

Governor JB Pritzker visited the Southern Illinois Healthcare (SIH) Cancer Institute today to announce a $10M grant to Southern Illinois Healthcare for their recent expansion of the SIH Cancer Institute in Carterville. The grant is made possible through the bipartisan Rebuild Illinois plan to improve infrastructure statewide.

“As Governor, there is nothing more important than the health and safety of Illinoisans — no matter their zip code or income status,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “I couldn’t be prouder to announce that we have awarded the SIH Cancer Institute $10 million in Rebuild Illinois grant funding to help cover the cost of this recent project. After years of planning, design, and construction, each and every one of those patients, and many more, will have access to the modernized healing spaces and the quality, holistic care they deserve.”

The 10M general investment, will be utilized for upgrades to facility furniture, medical equipment, and the buildout of the Cancer Institute in Carterville. The Carterville plan, completed in December of 2022, included an approximate 20,000 square foot expansion and the modernization of both clinical and non-clinical areas.

The State is also awarding two additional capital grants to SIH. The first, totaling $150,000, will support the expansion of the SIH Cancer Institute Café, which serves 300 cancer patients with nutrient-appropriate meals daily as well as caregivers and employees.

The second, also totaling $150,000, will be dedicated to costs for the design, oversight, and implementation of kitchen renovations. The expanded kitchen space will provide space for high nutrient-value meal preparation workshops and demonstrations, led by the SIH oncology dietitian.

* Sun-Times…

The Bears own the 326-acre former Arlington International Racecourse property but continue to flirt with the city of Chicago and other suburbs about building a new stadium. When president/CEO Kevin Warren was asked Wednesday whether the Arlington Heights property remained his priority, he said instead that “the priority is to make sure we build a world class stadium for our fans.”

The Bears are still talking to Arlington Heights officials to try to drive down their property tax assessment there. They’ve discussed staying on the lakefront, including building on a parking lot south of Soldier Field, with city officials.

“What intrigues me about downtown is I strongly believe Chicago is the finest city in all of the world,” Warren said. “Very rarely do you get the opportunity to have such a beautiful downtown with a vibrant business community, with an absolutely beautiful lake and the energy that goes along [with it].”

The Bears could decide on their next stadium site in the next few months. Warren said it would likely take three years to build the stadium from the moment construction begins.

* On this day…

#OTD in 2003: 2 days prior to leaving office, Illinois Gov. George Ryan commutes the sentences of every inmate on Illinois' Death Row to life in prison without parole, citing a system that is “haunted by the demon of error.”https://t.co/VlhVa8VtKc pic.twitter.com/ItMsfz0qBJ

— Kori Rumore Finley (@rumormill) January 11, 2024

* Here’s the rest…

* Crain’s | Choose Chicago CEO stepping down: Choose Chicago CEO Lynn Osmond is stepping down as head of the city’s tourism arm, the organization confirmed in a statement. Osmond, a former Chicago Architecture Center president and CEO who has led Choose since May 2022, will leave the tourism group effective Jan. 31 “to focus her time and energies on a family health matter,” the statement said.

* Block Club | The CHA Owns More Than 130 Acres Of Vacant Land And Buildings — Enough To Fill 25 City Blocks: All that vacant property could fill 25 city blocks — and the total amount at all CHA sites is likely far higher. The land was supposed to be used for new homes. Instead, it highlights decades of development delays under four mayors and eight CHA CEOs, with crippling consequences for some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

* Tribune | Commuter advocates: The CTA vows to double rail operator trainees this year. Its data shows that’s impossible: However, the CTA’s own data reveals that the agency cannot meet this goal due to its current training requirements, recruitment and retention levels. We used the Freedom of Information Act to request the number of flaggers the CTA has employed since November 2021 — plus how many flaggers were terminated, promoted, transitioned or transferred to other roles each month since then.

* WCIA | Republican Representative Adam Niemerg kicked off March primary ballot: “The objective intent of the law is to make sure that, you know, you’ve got a process, that people are qualified for the ballot. There’s no fraud involved. And, more generally, if they’re serious candidates,” UIS Professor Emeritus Kent Redfield said. “I mean, if all you had to do was say, I want to run in your names on the primary ballot, you obviously would have way too many people.”

* SJ-R | Still on the ballot: ISBOE denies objection to Illinois 95th House District candidate: The decision allows Village of Chatham Trustee Kristen Chiaro to continue her campaign for Illinois House District 95, a district spanning portions of Sangamon, Macon, and Christian counties. She is the sole Democrat in the race and will face incumbent state Rep. Mike Coffey, R-Springfield, in November.

* Tribune | Businesses that opened during COVID eligible for state grants: ‘Small businesses across the state are the heart of our economy’: Businesses and nonprofits that launched in 2020 or 2021, and are still open today, are eligible for up to $30,000 from the state’s Back to Business NewBiz grant program. The program is aimed at assisting businesses that were not operational prior to the pandemic, and were ineligible for other federal or state pandemic relief programs.

* WRSP | New law protects workers from abusive anti-labor tactics: Scherer sponsored House Bill 3396, which set forth penalties for those who interfere with labor demonstrations. The new law went into effect on Jan.1 and introduced a $500 penalty for those who obstruct the public way or disrupt any picket or demonstration.

* Madison-St. Clair Record | Madison, St. Clair Counties adjusting well to SAFE-T Act mandates, but see increased demand on public defenders: In particular, the Pretrial Fairness Act portion of the SAFE-T Act - which eliminated cash bonds - carried a heavy burden on “all of the stakeholders in our criminal justice system,” said St. Clair County Chief Judge Andrew Gleeson. “We have made continuous adjustments in response to the new Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA),” Gleeson told the Record. “As a result of extensive planning, commitment from all the stakeholders, and a willingness to adjust to needs and ever-changing interpretation of the law, we have managed to carry out the law’s requirements.”

* Center Square | State Rep. Halbrook visits southern U.S. border amid migrant crisis: State Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville, visited the border last week to see firsthand and explained what he saw. “It was an eye-opening experience, to say the least,” Halbrook said. “I would advise everybody who is involved with policymaking to take a trip down there to see what the real story is because you get the truth when you are down there on the ground.”

* Press release | Rep. Mary Gill Seeks to Preserve LSCs Right to Decide on Police Protection: State Rep. Mary Gill, D-Chicago, is introducing legislation to ensure that Chicago Local School Councils (LSC) maintain the authority to decide if Chicago Police officers are assigned to their schools. Gill’s proposed change to state law would preempt the Chicago Board of Education’s reported plan to strip LSC members of that decision-making power, which would effectively end the practice of having resource officers in any Chicago Public School.

* Illinois Answers | Repeat Violators Leave Families Out in the Cold: Buildings department inspectors flagged over 700 cases where one or more tenants were living without heat or hot water at 456 buildings across the city from November of last year through this May, according to city records, when the city heat-requirement ordinances are in effect. All of those inspections were prompted by complaints made through 311 or directly to the buildings department.

* Daily Herald | Should Fox River dams be removed? Groups to hold meetings: Based on the findings of a recent study, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is recommending the removal of all nine Fox River dams in Kane County, from Carpentersville to Montgomery, to restore the river’s natural wildlife habitat and improve water quality.

* Daily Southtown | Parents spar over bulletin board with Pride symbols in Manhattan District 114 in Will County: Gabriella Barraco, who has children in the district, quoted parts of a speech by Theodore Roosevelt to soldiers ahead of battle before asking why the transgender flag is still on the bulletin board if sex education isn’t taught in the schools. “I bet that most of our children or us didn’t know what the transgender heart looked like before tonight,” Barraco said. “Yet its symbolism is being stamped visually into the subconscious from the very hallway.”

* Sun-Times | UIC campus cop with extremist ties is banned from testifying in Cook County court cases: The officer continued to work for the state university despite acknowledging he signed up years ago with the anti-government Oath Keepers, which played a key role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol in 2021.

* Block Club | City Installed 50+ Miles Of Bike-Friendly Stretches In 2023 — And Has More Planned For 2024: The Chicago Department of Transportation released its Chicago Cycling Strategy in March, laying out plans to hit the 150-mile goal “in the next couple of years.” City-designated bikeways include protected bike lanes, neighborhood greenways and other routes with painted bike markings.

* Sun-Times | Breaking down Illinois’ top high school basketball teams from outside the Chicago area: There is a lot of tunnel vision for Chicago area high school basketball fans when it comes to top teams outside the city and suburbs. Without a big-named star –– i.e. EJ Liddell and Belleville West, Shaun Livingston and Peoria, Darius Miles and East St. Louis –– top teams around the state don’t typically garner the attention they deserve from the Chicago area.

* Sun-Times | Chicago winter storm set to dump 6 or more inches of heavy snow: Weather forecasts as of Thursday morning say the storm will arrive early Friday with a mix of rain and snow. The precipitation will turn to all snow by 3 p.m. and could be heavy at times, complicating afternoon commutes for those trying to get home for the weekend.

* Sun-Times | Going down the ‘Rat Hole?’ Viral phenom is actually decades-old squirrel imprint beloved by the block, neighbors say: “This is just like such a little lovely piece of joy,” said Winslow Dumaine, an artist whose social media post about the imprint has gained over 4 million views. “You can show this to someone who doesn’t speak a word of English, you can show this to someone 500 years ago, and they would know exactly what happened,” he added. “It’s just a universally lovely, funny thing.”