* ICYMI: Chicago’s new school board president resigns a week after taking office. Chalkbeat Chicago…

- Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson, resigned Thursday after his past antisemitic and misogynistic comments online resurfaced.
- The mayor said in a statement Thursday afternoon that he asked for Johnson’s resignation and that he resigned effective immediately.
- The mayor said that his office would “identify a qualified individual” — he did not provide a timeline — and that the school board would meet as scheduled.

* Related stories…

∙ ABC Chicago: Chicago Board of Education to meet after president resigns over controversial posts
∙ Tribune: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s school board president, under fire for controversial social media posts, resigns
∙ AP: Chicago school board head ousted because of social media posts deemed antisemitic, misogynistic

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Eye on Illinois | Flag contest provides chance to experience different voting system: No one asked me, but this would be a wonderful opportunity to give Illinoisans more practical experience with ranked-choice voting. We should be further along with this process, but the Ranked Choice and Voting Systems Task Force has yet to formalize its report, which had been due March 1. The idea is spreading slowly in Illinois and throughout the country, but the flag process is a perfect, nonpartisan vehicle for showcasing the concept.

* Tribune | Governors of five states, including Illinois, call for ‘swift action’ on rising electric bills: The governors of Illinois and four other states have signed a letter calling on PJM Interconnection — a company that operates part of the electric grid — to take “swift action” to address record-setting prices for electricity used in times of very high demand. The letter comes after a recent PJM auction for such electricity resulted in a bill of $14.7 billion for consumers in 2025-26, compared with $2.2 billion the year before. That could mean a monthly electric bill increase of roughly $7.50 to $10 a month in northern Illinois, according to a preliminary estimate by the Citizens Utility Board, a nonprofit consumer watchdog.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WTTW | Illinois’ Landmark Law Limiting Credit Card Fees Put to Legal Test: Illinois banks are “freaking out,” their attorney told the chief judge of Chicago’s federal courts Wednesday. Lawyer Charlotte Taylor used the colloquial phrase several times during a more than two-hour court hearing that was otherwise so focused on complex intricacies of banking case law that U.S. District Court Chief Judge Virigina Kendall joked she’ll have to return to law school to make a decision.

* AG Kwame Raoul | Reproductive rights are on the line this election, and Illinois must keep up the fight: When Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022 in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, I immediately flew to Washington, D.C., to strategize with Vice President Kamala Harris and a group of Democratic state attorneys general. We discussed the tools we could wield against Republicans’ cruel attacks on reproductive freedom. Herself a former state attorney general, Harris was forward-thinking in bringing us together to plan the post-Dobbs fight against these harmful state policies. Since then, I am proud to have championed and defended multiple protections for Illinois patients and providers.

*** Statewide ***

* Crain’s | As open enrollment begins, a transformative shift takes place behind the scenes in Illinois: The state of Illinois is in the midst of a transformative project to establish a state-based health insurance exchange marketplace that it says could help fill coverage gaps and lower plan costs for residents throughout the state. The two-year transition, operated by the Illinois Department of Insurance, won’t change much about the enrollment process this season, which runs Nov. 1 through Jan. 15. Customers will still select and enroll in health plans through the federal government’s website, HealthCare.gov.

* WTVO | Illinois public universities achieve highest enrollment since 2016: The Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) reported fall enrollment for Illinois public universities was at its highest in eight years. Enrollment increased by 1.6% this fall, which comes out to 185,590 students that enrolled in total at Illinois public universities. The board highlighted that Black and Latino students have been a major reason for the increase overall.

* Tribune | Illinois volunteers try to tip presidential race in swing states Wisconsin and Michigan: The Cape Cods and other modest homes in the Nash Park neighborhood of Wisconsin’s biggest Democratic city were decked out with skeletons and pumpkins in anticipation of trick-or-treaters, but the knock at the door came from 70-year-old Loretta Jackson of Evanston. The retired state employee and Navy veteran arrived on a recent Saturday afternoon, having traveled with nearly 500 others Illinois Democrats across the state line — past the Mars Cheese Castle — to push voters in this key swing state to cast their ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson’s CPD budget plan cuts constitutional policing, other reform offices: ‘It’s a gutting’: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2025 budget plan for Chicago police slashes several offices that are critical to the ongoing federal consent decree, sparking alarm from policing experts who say now is not the time to take the foot off the gas with reform. Johnson’s $17.3 billion spending plan for the city carves out $2.1 billion for the Chicago Police Department, a $58.7 million increase from this year’s allocation. However, it also includes 456 vacant positions being cut — 98 of them sworn and 358 civilian — saving more than $50 million in salary and other costs.

* Tribune | Activists call for more funding for migrant and homelessness services in Chicago’s 2025 budget: Johnson proposed Wednesday a $17.3 billion budget for next year, which includes the largest property tax hike in nearly a decade to help close a more than $980 million budget shortfall. The proposal seeks to cut a $150 million allocation for migrant services, as the city downsizes its bed availability and shifts to one system for all homeless Chicagoans. Veronica Castro, the deputy director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, believes that “insufficient investments” for programs that support homeless individuals in the budget, coupled with shutting dedicated migrant shelters, will lead to an increase in street homelessness in the city that is “unacceptable.”

* Sun-Times | Hate crime, terrorism charges filed in shooting of Orthodox Jewish man heading to West Ridge synagogue: New evidence indicates the 22-year-old suspect, Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, “planned the shooting and specifically targeted people of Jewish faith” when he attacked the 39-year-old victim in the 2600 block of West Farwell Avenue Saturday morning, Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling told reporters at a news conference.

* Press Release | Amtrak Receives Federal Grants to Improve Chicago Service and Support Partner Projects across the Midwest: Amtrak and Midwestern partners have been awarded up to $300 million to improve passenger rail service with grants from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) competitive grant program. These grants will directly support Amtrak priorities, including the Chicago Hub Improvement Program (CHIP) – an Amtrak-led Midwest megaproject aimed at improving passenger rail service into Chicago – and advance our goal to double Amtrak ridership nationwide by 2040,” said Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner.

* Crain’s | Here’s how True Value went bankrupt: The Chicago-based home improvement company with almost 170 years of history filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in mid-October. It is seeking to sell its business to Do It Best, a hardware rival that offered to pay $153 million in cash for its floundering competitor. True Value has warned that if that deal falls through and it fails to find another buyer, it could lay off 900 employees.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Multiple candidates file in what Homer supervisor says may be ‘dirtiest election Homer Glen has ever seen’: A crowded field of 17 candidates filed petitions this week to run for three open Homer Glen trustee positions, forcing a primary election in February. […] Two slates of candidates for Homer Township offices have filed for the Feb. 25 Republican primary in which the incumbents led by township Supervisor Steve Balich and his Will County Freedom Caucus are challenged by the Homer Township Reset slate led by Homer Glen Trustee Susanna Steilen. While Balich said the race could be clean, he is warning it could be a “nasty” election season, citing a false rumor that he had been arrested.

* Daily Herald | Kane County auditor candidates seek transparency on spending: Republican Gretchen Butler of St. Charles is challenging incumbent Democrat Penny Wegman for the four-year term on Tuesday. Butler wrote in a Daily Herald questionnaire, “By promoting transparency and public comprehension, I aim to foster trust and ensure that all citizens are well-informed about the county’s finances.” Wegman said she will continue to improve the transparency of the office, which posts audit reports and other documents on its website.

* Daily Herald | ‘Somebody dropped the ball’: McHenry County sales tax for mental health falls short: Before McHenry County voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax increase to fund mental health services in a March referendum, officials estimated it would bring in about $1 million a month for the McHenry County Mental Health Board. But when the first month of receipts came in earlier this month from the tax increase that took effect in July, the amount was just above $800,000. County leaders now acknowledge they erred in projecting how much the sales tax would generate because they included revenue from car sales — but the tax doesn’t apply to car sales, per state law.

* Daily Herald | Petitions circulating for mental health board referendum in Palatine Township: Mental health advocates are collecting signatures in an effort to place a referendum for a 708 mental health board in Palatine Township on the April ballot. The initiative follows successful attempts in Schaumburg, Wheeling and Vernon townships. “We’re trying to really get a whole wave of them across the whole Northwest suburbs,” said Hugh Brady, a board member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Northwest Suburbs Chicago.

* Shaw Local | Stars of HBO’s ‘Somebody Somewhere’ say Lockport setting big part of show’s success: A select group of Lockport residents got to be the first people to see the newest episode of HBO’s “Somebody Somewhere” at a special screening Wednesday to celebrate the show’s final season in the town where it was filmed.

*** Downstate ***

* BND | Once called symbol of racism, gates still supported by diverse Signal Hill neighborhood: A “60 Minutes” correspondent traveled to Belleville in 1993 to film an episode on alleged racism, and one of his backdrops was a steel gate across a road leading from Illinois 157 to Signal Hill. More than 30 years later, a Belleville man is upset that the gate on Kingston Drive and another one on nearby Bluff Hill Road are still in place. He believes they were designed to keep people from predominantly Black East St. Louis out of the neighborhood.

* SJ-R | CWLP proposes 4-year contract to lock in coal prices but not everyone is on board: CWLP was proposed the contract by Foresight Coal Sales LLC, for the purchase of coal in a four-year contract for $85.6 million from Foresight’s Hillsboro mine, more commonly known as Deer Run. The contract would set the price of coal at $40 per ton until 2027, when the price would increase to $44.50 per ton and $46.75 per ton in 2028; however, the contract would not include the cost of hauling the coal over fifty miles from Hillsboro to Springfield.

* WSIL | First Franklin County marijuana dispensary opens soon: Ash and Ivy will be the first cannabis dispensary in Franklin County. Store owner Holly Eldridge says it was a long journey getting to the point where they could have their Ribbon Cutting. “We started with an infuser license, which pivoted us to open up the beautiful space that people know as the Luna Lounge. With that, the community grew and three years later we had the opportunity to receive a dispensary license and we are very lucky and excited,” Eldridge said.

* Press Release | Illinois Commitment expands eligibility for tuition-free college to more Illinois families: In order to make an education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign more affordable to low- and middle-income families, the threshold to be eligible for Illinois Commitment — a financial aid program that provides free tuition and fees for in-state students — has been increased from $67,100 to $75,000. The increase puts Illinois near the top of the Big Ten in terms of the income limit.

* WMBD | PPS Superintendent responds to poor Illinois Report Card elementary school grades: Most of the elementary schools in Peoria did not get the best grades in this year’s Illinois Report Card, but we’re now learning how some of them have actually improved since last year. Superintendent Dr. Sharon Kherat said comparing Peoria Public Schools to other communities like McLean County Unit 5 is like ‘comparing apples to oranges’. At Unit 5, most of the schools received “exemplary” or “commendable”, the top scores on the Illinois Report Card.

* PJ Star | Alleged members of violent Peoria street gang could face long prison sentences: Three members of what investigators have described as a violent street gang operating in Peoria were told Thursday that they are facing possible life sentences in prison for their alleged involvement in violent crimes. Messiah Carpenter, 20; Keon Patterson, 20; and Korion Hopkins, 18, were arraigned in Peoria County Court on charges under the racketeer influenced and corrupt organization act that allege their involvement in a Peoria street gang called “The Snakes” led to a violent crime spree that investigators believe could be tied to three homicides and 12 shootings.

*** National ***

* AP | Takeaways from The Associated Press investigation into sexual abuse of incarcerated women: As part of a sweeping two-year investigation into prison labor, The Associated Press found that correctional staff nationwide have been accused of using inmate work assignments to sexually abuse incarcerated women, luring them to isolated spots, out of view of security cameras. Many cases follow a similar pattern: Accusers are retaliated against, while the accused face little or no punishment.

* WaPo | Georgia official warns of likely Russian interference in presidential election: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that a video purporting to show Haitians claiming that they illegally voted for Kamala Harris is fake. In a post Thursday on the social media site X, Raffensperger said that the video is likely a production of Russian troll farms designed to interfere in the U.S. election. “As Americans we can’t let our enemies use lies to divide us and undermine faith in our institutions — or each other,” he wrote.

* The Atlantic | Throw Out Your Black Plastic Spatula: In 2018, Turner published one of the earliest papers positing that black plastic products were likely regularly being made from recycled electronic waste. The clue was the plastic’s concerning levels of flame retardants. In some cases, the mix of chemicals matched the profile of those commonly found in computer and television housing, many of which are treated with flame retardants to prevent them from catching fire.

* The Atlantic | What Orwell Didn’t Anticipate: 1984 ends not with a bang, but with a grammar lesson. Readers of George Orwell’s novel—still reeling, likely, from the brutal dystopia they’ve spent the previous 300-odd pages living in—are subjected to a lengthy explanation of Newspeak, the novel’s uncanny form of English. The appendix explains the language that has been created to curtail independent thought: the culled vocabulary; the sterilized syntax; the regime’s hope that, before long, all the vestiges of Oldspeak—English in its familiar form, the English of Shakespeare and Milton and many of Orwell’s readers—will be translated into the new vernacular. The old language, and all it carried with it, will die away.