* ICYMI: Mayor Brandon Johnson unveils $17.3 billion city budget, proposes steep property tax increase. Sun-Times…

Chicago property owners reeling from reassessments will be hit with a double whammy — a $300 million property tax increase — to help Mayor Brandon Johnson balance his $17.3 billion budget for 2025 without layoffs.

Johnson chose the property tax increase he campaigned against — and made it the city’s largest in a decade — instead of asking unionized city employees to give a little by accepting mandatory furlough days or targeted layoffs.

Wednesday afternoon, the mayor’s office released estimates of the impact of the tax increase on homeowners. It ranges from $72 a year for a home valued at $100,000 to $481 per year for a home valued at $500,000.

Even after eliminating 743 vacant positions (400 in the Chicago Police Department), the mayor also needed a record tax increment financing surplus of $570 million — $54.1 million more than last year, the previous record. Chicago Public Schools gets $311 million of the TIF surplus. The city gets $132 million.

* Related stories…

∙ WBEZ: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson pitches $300 million property tax increase to help close massive budget hole
∙ ABC Chicago: Mayor Brandon Johnson calls for $300M property tax hike in Chicago budget proposal
∙ Block Club: Mayor Proposes Property Tax Hike To Close Budget Gap, Breaking Major Campaign Promise

* Tribune | Local abortion providers predict out-of-state ballot measures won’t quell the surge in patients traveling to Illinois: Dr. Allison Cowett, medical director of the Chicago abortion provider Family Planning Associates, said she’s optimistic voters will generally support abortion rights. In previous ballot measures in seven states — California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont — voters have favored reproductive health freedoms. “I do feel hopeful that the ballot measures will send a message that the majority of Americans want abortion to be available close to home,” she said. But Cowett noted that abortion rights don’t always translate into access to reproductive care. She cautioned that even if voters support pro-reproductive rights measures in these states, that doesn’t mean abortion will actually be available and accessible there, at least in the short term.

* Release | Advance Illinois Statement on the 2024 Illinois Report Card: There is good news and bad news in the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE)’s 2024 Illinois Report Card. It is encouraging to see improvements in student learning, growth, and achievement, with some measures exceeding pre-pandemic levels. However, recovery from the pandemic and disparities among underrepresented student groups across the K-12 continuum persist and will require ongoing attention and effort.

* Daily Herald | Ugaste faces rematch from Democrat Robertson in 65th House District: Robertson, a scientist from St. Charles, said she believes the district isn’t being represented in the Democrat-majority House. “I don’t believe the incumbent has a voice at the table,” she said. “I would be able to have that voice.” For his part, Ugaste said he’s helped pass bills with bipartisan support and has been able to work across the aisle on issues that are important to the district.

* NBC Chicago | Why are most Illinois schools closed on Election Day?: Under provisions of an amendment to Illinois’ school code, Election Day is an official state holiday for the 2024 election season, meaning that children in K-12 public schools will not be required to attend classes. The law also holds that any school that doesn’t have instruction on Election Day can be used by local authorities as a polling place.

* Crain’s | Johnson’s $17.3 billion budget faces pushback in City Council, with a close ally in the opposition: Pilsen Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, said no thanks. “I cannot support a property tax increase,” Sigcho-Lopez said. Sigcho-Lopez is instead calling for the mayor to withhold a $272 million advance pension payment that helps stabilize the city’s four beleaguered pension funds but is above what’s statutorily required.

* CBS | “Extraordinary” amount of money spent in Chicago school board election, experts say: Two education experts who spoke to CBS News Chicago said that nearly $7 million is a lot of money for a school board election, and that kind of money, along with turnout, will make a difference. “That’s an extraordinary amount of money to see put into a school board race, and it’s very atypical,” said Michael Hartney, a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

* Tribune | Former Dunbar Career Academy student sues Chicago Board of Ed, alleging it failed to protect him from sexual abuse by security guard: When the teenager was asked if he wanted to share a statement at a court hearing for a former security guard at Dunbar Vocational Career Academy who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting him when he was a 15-year-old student, he worried that he wouldn’t be able to express his emotions in detail using his voice. So, instead, he wrote a poem — an “alternative route,” he called it. “From poor self-esteem to no sleep, you brought all of this upon me,” the poem said. “Please don’t take me out of another classroom. I hope you feel the deceit, and I hope you don’t have any more access to hurt me.”

* NYT | What Happened When Chicago’s Mayor Followed a Teachers’ Union Playbook: Chicago is in the midst of a radically different experiment: What would happen if one of the nation’s feistiest teachers’ unions was able to elevate the mayor of its choice, who then embraced the union’s agenda almost unequivocally?

* Block Club | Historical Garfield Park Women’s Shelter To Become A Community Center After City Council Vote: onstructed in 1892, the Crittenton Anchorage took over the building in 1949, turning it into a place of housing and respite for single women and their children. Later known as the Living Center for Girls, the complex remained a haven for young women until closing in 1973. It remained vacant for years and was in jeopardy of being demolished when it was purchased last year by Samantha Walton, the wife of Lukas Walton, the billionaire grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton.

* ABC Chicago | Walgreens announces over 250 layoffs in Chicago: The cuts are not at Walgreens stores; 256 support center positions are being eliminated. The Deerfield-based drugstore chain is also cutting more than 200 open positions. Walgreens has struggled financially in recent years. This is the fourth round of corporate job cuts for the company in the last year and a half.

* Sun-Times | New Google rendering gives an early glimpse of former Thompson Center atrium’s future: Google will refashion the ground floors of the former Thompson Center atrium into a hotel lobby-like space with restaurants, retail, seating and greenery, according to a new rendering obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. The image shows the building’s main concourse and lower level being turned into an almost single bi-level space linked by open stairs, bleacher seating and overlooks.

* Block Club | 5 Transit Board Appointees Advance, But Some Bristle At Another Pastor With No Transit Experience: Most of the new nominees were lauded for their experience in transit or related fields. All passed through the committee unanimously except Jarixon Medina — a pastor with New Life Covenant Church’s Spanish-speaking campus in Humboldt Park — who was questioned like Acree for having no bonafides in professional transit roles.

* Crain’s | The Jean Banchet Awards are terrified to name the best pizza in Chicago: The Banchet Awards for Culinary Excellence tried last year to introduce a new pizza-specific category to their annual honors of Chicago-area restaurants. It did not go well. “Friendships were ruined,” said Michael Muser, organizer of the awards. The judging panel, made up of food journalists and industry experts, was unrelentingly divided. “It was just the craziest thing. Everybody got frustrated.” They decided to kick the can.

* Block Club | Nonstop Christmas Music Is Back On 93.9 LITE FM Starting Friday: “93.9 LITE FM listeners have spoken year after year — once Halloween ends, they are ready for Christmas music on 93.9 LITE FM,” Mick Lee, 93.9 LITE FM program director and host, said in the news release. “We’re thrilled to celebrate our 24th year as Chicago’s Christmas station, spreading cheer, unity and warmth all season long!”

* Daily Southtown | Indicted Riverdale Mayor Lawrence Jackson seeks reelection, faces 2 primary challengers: Riverdale Mayor Lawrence Jackson filed petitions Monday to run for reelection in the February Democratic primary, but will face two challengers. Three trustees also filed for reelection but face challenges in the Village Board race. Michael Airhart and Rena Poulos will challenge Jackson, who was charged last year with perjury and obstruction of justice in U.S. District Court for allegedly lying in a civil deposition about accepting secret funding for his trucking business from a clout-heavy waste hauling firm.

* Daily Herald | Suburban students make significant gains in English language arts proficiency, report card data shows: Schools across the suburbs have made notable strides in improving English language arts proficiency, mirroring a statewide trend seen in the 2024 Illinois School Report Card data released Wednesday. Statewide, students in third through eighth grades achieved an ELA proficiency rate of 40.9% — the highest ever since they began taking the Illinois Assessment of Readiness in 2019, according to report card data.

* NBC Chicago | First physical Google store in Midwest opening at suburban mall Friday: The first-ever physical Google retail store in the Midwestern U.S. is opening this weekend, with a popular suburban mall serving as the site. Google Store Oakbrook, located at the Oakbrook Center shopping mall, will open its doors for the first time at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 1.

* SJ-R | Rhetoric ratchets up in election for Sangamon County Recorder: The idea of merging the Sangamon County Recorder’s office with the county clerk has become a hot button campaign issue between incumbent recorder Josh Langfelder and challenger Frank Lesko in the Nov. 5 election. Those aren’t the only sparks flying. Fallout from a contentious 2023 mayoral campaign, involving Josh Langfelder’s brother, Jim Langfelder, still may be lingering.

* Pantagraph | McLean County voters weigh future of auditor’s office: In June, the McLean County Board voted to introduce a referendum asking voters whether the elected office of county auditor, which has been held by Michelle Anderson since 2007, should be eliminated. A similar measure is also on the ballot in Champaign County.

* WSIL | Burn bans across the region: On Wednesday, October 30, several fire departments alerted the public of burn bans and fire dangers. The Franklin County Emergency Management Agency issued a burn ban for Franklin County on Wednesday due to the elevated fire danger. Residents are refrained from burning until further notice.

* WCIA | Bement Public Library puts Narcan box outside to prevent overdose: “We’re hoping to do what we can to prevent deaths,” Bement Public Library Director Donna Techau said. The Bement Public Library has partnered with Piatt County Mental Health to provide boxes with free Naloxone, a medicine that reverses overdoses. Four years ago, the library started carrying it in their bathrooms. Yesterday they took it a step further.

* WCIA | U of I freshman sings national anthem at World Series: Pearle Peterson performed The Star-Spangled Banner in front of 52,000 fans before Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday, Oct. 26. On the field, she represented the Boys and Girls Club of America as a National Youth Talent Ambassador. Peterson said her favorite part about performing at Dodger Stadium was the support from her loved ones and the deeper meaning the song holds.

* Brennan Center for Justice | On Fertile Ground: How Racial Resentment Primes White Americans to Believe Fraud Accusations: In a survey experiment, show that racially resentful white Americans are especially likely to believe accusations of fraud when these accusations are racialized. At a time when America’s multiracial democracy appears fragile, groups poised to lose power draw on rote narratives linking race and criminality to legitimize their own denial of free and fair elections.

* ProPublica | A Woman Died After Being Told It Would Be a “Crime” to Intervene in Her Miscarriage at a Texas Hospital: Barnica is one of at least two Texas women who ProPublica found lost their lives after doctors delayed treating miscarriages, which fall into a gray area under the state’s strict abortion laws that prohibit doctors from ending the heartbeat of a fetus. Neither had wanted an abortion, but that didn’t matter. Though proponents insist that the laws protect both the life of the fetus and the person carrying it, in practice, doctors have hesitated to provide care under threat of prosecution, prison time and professional ruin.

* WaPo | GOP leaders in some states move to block Justice Dept. election monitors: The U.S. government has regularly dispatched hundreds of monitors to voting locations in blue, red and swing states, aiming to protect ballot access, discourage improper partisan influence and act as a moderating force on political campaigns. While the Justice Department has the legal right to request access to polling sites, inflamed partisanship and ideological extremism have contributed to greater resistance to such activities in some GOP-controlled states, legal experts said. Those states have attempted to politicize the process and cast federal monitors as partisans from the Biden administration who cannot be trusted.