* ICYMI: Chicago releases emails detailing unsanitary conditions at Pilsen migrant shelter, officials were aware of issues. WTTW…

-The shelter was put under scrutiny in December after 5-year-old Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero fell ill and later died at a hospital.
-Nearly two months before Martinez Rivero’s death, Ald. Nicole Lee sent an email to Johnson and top administration officials warning of the alleged conditions at the shelter.
-Despite the stated efforts in late October, complaints about unsanitary and overcrowded conditions from migrants and the volunteers serving them have persisted to the present day.

* Related stories…

∙ WTTW: Volunteers, Faith Leaders Working to Help Unhoused Chicagoans Amid Freezing Temperatures
∙ Block Club: City Again Delays Deadline For Migrants To Leave Shelters As Volunteers Blast Plan
∙ Tribune: CTU president, advocates plead for federal funding to strengthen bilingual education for migrant students

* Isabel’s top picks…

* Sun-Times | White Sox in ‘serious’ talks to build new stadium in South Loop’s ‘The 78’: The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which owns and financed Guaranteed Rate Field, has not yet been involved in the discussions, according to the authority’s CEO Frank Bilecki. At some point, the stadium authority would need to get involved in determining the future of Guaranteed Rate Field and possibly in building a new ballpark, if it is publicly funded.

* ABC Chicago | IL Supreme Court appoints 7 unopposed Cook County judges ahead of primary election amid shortage: There are currently 43 vacancies across the Circuit Court of Cook County. While 379 judges are on the bench, the vacancies have a trickle-down effect for anybody who wants to contest a traffic ticket or see their civil lawsuits move forward.

* Bolts | How Illinois Housing Banishment Laws Push People into Homelessness and Prison : That’s why state police came calling in 2013. “You have to move, sir,” the officer repeated. “A day care moved [within] 500 feet.” Orr says he panicked and started calling around, trying to find a place to go. But each time he found an available apartment, police shot down the address saying it wasn’t compliant with Illinois’s dense web of housing restrictions.

Governor Pritzker will be at the Rochester Elementary School at 10 a.m. to celebrate Smart Start investments in early childhood education, and the Peoria Heights Grade School at 12:45. Click here to watch.

* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…

* WREX | Election Judge pay raised by $175 but recruits still needed: “Right now, we have less than half of the judges we would like come March 19th.” Some of the reasons finding judges has been a challenge is due to low pay and working long hours.

* Tribune | Democratic candidates for Cook County state’s attorney ramping up fundraising: With the March 19 primary a little over two months away, Judge Eileen O’Neill Burke has nearly $250,000 ready to spend and almost $100,000 more than opponent Clayton Harris III as the Democrats vie to succeed Kim Foxx as Cook County state’s attorney.

* BND | Under new owner, a metro-east manufacturer plans expansion to make electric car parts: Wieland Rolled Products North America, the German firm that owns the former ammunition manufacturer, unveiled plans for a $500 million modernization and expansion project so that it can increase production of copper and copper alloy parts for electric vehicles, charging stations and other renewable energy sources.

* AP | Freezing temperatures complicate Chicago’s struggles to house asylum-seekers: “The city’s favorite word for everything is ‘temporary,’” said Vianney Marzullo, a volunteer who has helped migrants staying at O’Hare International Airport. “It’s their new choice of Band-Aid word. Everything is temporary, temporary, temporary.”

* Sun-Times | Mayor Brandon Johnson’s campaign returns contributions improperly accepted from city contractors: Records filed Tuesday with the Illinois State Board of Elections show Johnson’s campaign fund made refunds to many — but not all — of those people and companies between Nov. 9 and the end of the year. Among those who gave to the Friends of Brandon Johnson despite being city contractors are Michael Tadin Sr., who runs MAT Leasing Inc., and his son Michael Tadin Jr., who runs MAT Construction Leasing Inc.

* Crain’s | Bally’s seeks big change to casino hotel due to ‘unforeseen infrastructure issues’: City water pipes below the Chicago Tribune’s Freedom Center printing plant are forcing Bally’s to find a new location for 400 hotel rooms at the casino and entertainment complex it intends to build on the site, raising questions as to whether the gambling giant will need to clear another public review process and why city officials didn’t flag the problem before choosing Bally’s to run Chicago’s first casino.

* Rockford Register Star | Illinois Humane Pet Store Law having impact with store closures. Here’s what advocates say: Even after the Human Pet Store Law passed, Furry Babies — a store that sold puppies and kittens from shopping malls across the country, including CherryVale Mall in Rockford — continued to sell dogs from the chain’s network of breeders, claiming the legislation was flawed.

* WTTW | Despite Decades of Cries for Help, Chicago Failed to Aid Blind Pedestrians. Now, City Wants Lengthy Timeline to Fix Problem: The Chicago Department of Transportation said it currently maintains 2,703 signalized intersections with pedestrian signals. In March 2022, CDOT told WTTW News it planned to install 150 APS during 2022 and 2023. But the agency only installed nine signals in 2022 — one of which was an upgrade to an existing signal — and 12 signals in 2023, bringing the total number of APS across the city to 45. CDOT said it has yet to determine how many APS it plans to install this year.

* Daily Herald | Masking returns to area hospitals, health centers with rise in COVID-19 and other viruses, but requirements not universal: In November, Edward Hospital was admitting between 15 and 20 COVID-19 patients a week, said Dr. Jonathan Pinsky, medical director of infection control and prevention. Currently those numbers are in the 40s, he noted.

* News-Gazette | Experience Champaign-Urbana develops location database to help film scouts: Experience Champaign-Urbana is working on a project to help film crews find picture-perfect spots to make movie magic. The agency is developing a database of potential filming locations, said Mark Brown, director of sports, events and film.

* WICS | Illinois State Museum to host “Latinos in Illinois and USA”: Join the ISM as we dive into the cultural history of Latine music in Illinois with Bilingual Chicago-based music journalist, Catalina Maria Johnson. She brings this rich history from the last several hundred years of music in the Latine U.S. to life during this lively virtual presentation.