* IPM News…

On a hot summer day in August, Chelsey Lowe sat in a maroon dress on a bench in the Logan County Courthouse.

Her lawyer had instructed her to arrive early, but she waited nearly three hours before she was called into the courtroom. Inside, a county judge dismissed the nearly two-year-old case against Lowe, which stemmed from her 2022 arrest by then-Logan County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson. […]

Following her 2022 arrest, Lowe filed a complaint alleging that Grayson acted inappropriately while she was in custody—first, by ordering her to remove drugs from inside her body in front of him and another male officer before a female officer stepped in; and later, by pulling back the curtains around her hospital bed, exposing her. […]

Some legal experts wonder if that’s what prompted the Logan County judge to drop Lowe’s case, although we don’t know for sure; Neither her defense lawyer nor the Logan County State’s Attorney’s Office responded to questions about the case.

Regardless, Lowe feels her experience illustrates a problem of inaction — a missed opportunity for Grayson to be stopped before going on to do much worse.

* A small Madigan trial update…

* Governor JB Pritzker…

Today, Governor JB Pritzker joined representatives from Veterans Energy Team and Joliet officials to celebrate the opening of the first electric vehicle (EV) charging station funded under the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). ​ The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) recently awarded the $480,000 grant to Veterans Energy Team, a local veteran-owned business that partnered with the Joliet Park District to build EV fast chargers at Inwood Athletic Club and Nowell Park. […]

Additional grants from the 2nd round of funding for electric vehicle charging will be announced in the near future. Approximately 2,000 fast charging ports will be installed over the next 18 months as a result of funding provided by the Illinois EPA through CEJA and the Volkswagen Settlement. This investment will triple the number of public fast charging ports across Illinois.

*** Madigan Trial ***

* Tribune | ‘Magic list’ of Madigan-connected lobbyists shown to jury in ex-speaker’s corruption trial: “So since I don’t roam the halls like I use to do I do not have the same ‘on site’ engagement that I use to have,” read the email, which was shown to jurors Monday in the corruption trial of Madigan and McClain. “A Friend of ours and myself have gone through the ‘magic list’ and frankly culled quite a few names…There are now a little less than two dozen on the list.” McClain went on to ask the recipient of the email for help fish for potential clients.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Pat Devaney | Fixing Tier 2 pensions would create a fair retirement for Illinois workers : The solution is the Fair Retirement and Recruitment Act, introduced in the Illinois General Assembly. This legislation would bring the final average salary pension calculation back in line with Tier 1, align Tier 2’s retirement age requirements with Tier 1, implement an across-the-board 3% simple interest cost-of-living adjustment for all Tier 2 members and adjust the pension salary cap to comply with federal Social Security requirements. We understand that fully returning back to Tier 1 for all employees is not currently economically feasible, but the changes proposed by the We Are One Illinois coalition are commonsense reforms that would address the major issues driving workers to leave the public sector. Some have suggested the solution lies with simply fixing the Social Security “safe harbor” requirements within Tier 2, which are widely agreed to be out of compliance with federal law. But only fixing the safe harbor issue would affect a sliver of the highest-earning workers and does nothing to address the core problems with Tier 2. That is unacceptable.

* Sun-Times Editorial Board | Illinois must step up as Trump prepares to back away from protecting our environment: In response, environmentalists in Illinois are working to make the Legislature’s January lame-duck session — held before newly elected legislators are sworn in — a busy time. Among their initiatives are copying federal environmental standards into state law so that they remain in place even if Washington weakens or eliminates some of those rules. Many regulations in Illinois are pegged to federal standards, so if the federal government cuts back its requirements on such things as air pollution and water discharge standards, it would automatically affect Illinois. The Legislature should codify existing rules into state law so that won’t happen.

* Tribune | Lobbying is so ingrained in Springfield it’s practically a branch of government, but lawmakers are reluctant to regulate it: Unlike nearly every other state, Illinois until recently had no restriction on how soon former lawmakers could start lobbying their onetime colleagues, creating an environment that can tempt officials to legislate with an eye toward their future employment prospects rather than the public good. The state finally enacted a revolving-door restriction last year, but good-government advocates say the cooling-off period between legislating and lobbying is too short, with a loophole that still allows lawmakers who finish out their terms to become lobbyists the next day, rendering the restriction mostly meaningless.

*** Statewide ***

* Local 916 president JP Fyans | IDOT is turning to nonunion workers, at a cost to the public: According to a summary statement provided by IDOT, these outside contractors currently work the equivalent of an additional 1,013 full-time employees, at a cost of more than $675 million. Internally, IDOT admitted the use of these contractors and consultants has quintupled in the past three years alone. The driving force behind this massive and expensive shift in staffing is the apathetic hiring approach taken by IDOT and Central Management Services. Based on conversations with several applicants, many civil engineers who were deemed qualified after interviews have been waiting for a year or longer to be offered a position.

* Eye On Illinois | Local governments beginning to reinstate grocery tax: With the clock ticking and the budget shortfall approaching, some governments are doing just that: the Normal Town Council voted 4-3 in September to put its own grocery tax in place, preserving about $2.3 million, according to WEEK-TV. The Pekin City Council followed suit earlier this week, also on a 4-3 vote. That community stood to lose $1.7 million. I’m no political strategist, but now is the time to take such actions. We’re still more than a year out from the change, and shoppers won’t actually experience anything different. The alternative approach is letting the state tax expire and hoping the revenue drop doesn’t actually affect operations. But by then, reinstating the tax might feel more like something new than simply local officials taking over what had been a state responsibility.

* KSDK | A forgotten war was lost against crows in Illinois. Here’s why conservationists stopped bombing the birds: “Frank N. Davis, inspector in charge of predatory control, … is said to have perfected one that is less expensive than those used several years ago and also more effective,” according to a 1940 article in the Belvidere Daily Republican. “It’s a cylindrical cartridge about 10 inches long and two inches wide, containing an eight-inch stick of dynamite … (surrounded by)two and one-fourth points of No. 6 1/2 steelblast shot and bits of broken metal.” Officials would set the bombs off in trees where the crows would roost, each one killing between 3,000 to 20,000 birds in a single blast.

*** Chicago ***

* Block Club | Robberies Drop By Half In Logan Square, Humboldt Park, Avondale Compared To 2023: There were 566 reported robberies in Humboldt Park last year compared to 283 so far this year, city data shows. In Logan Square, there were 368 robberies last year and 165 this year. Avondale saw 121 robberies last year compared to 59 so far this year. […] Many businesses hit by burglars have done away with cash to avoid getting burglarized again or they keep very little in the register, but Aylward recommends business owners leave their empty cash drawer open and visible so they don’t get broken into.

* Tribune | University of Illinois nurses reach tentative agreement with hospital, ending strike after four days: Nurses at University of Illinois Hospital & Clinics have ended a four-day strike, after reaching a tentative contract agreement with UI Health late Saturday night. The nurses began their strike Nov. 13, with no set end date. The strike was the second one since August, when the nurses’ last contract expired. About 1,700 nurses are part of the Illinois Nurses Association unit that went on strike.

* Crain’s | Chicago Fire near decision on new downtown stadium site: It’s unclear how far talks have progressed with either developer as both try to jump-start projects that have been stuck in neutral since being approved by City Hall in 2019. But multiple sources said Mansueto and the Fire are expected to move forward with one option in the weeks ahead and are said to be primarily targeting The 78, because it likely presents the quickest path to getting shovels in the ground.

* Crain’s | Union League’s Monet going to auction — but for how much?: Last spring, the club hired an art adviser to see what it could do, only to have the painting consigned to auction. The estimate is $7 million to $9 million, a range that covers the earlier price but not much more. Ahead of the auction, the club and the auctioneer, Christie’s, have clammed up, not saying whether there’s a minimum price at which the painting would be sold, or what that so-called reserve price is.

* Tribune | ‘He was my baby brother’: Hundreds gather for funeral of slain Chicago Police Officer Enrique Martinez: It was the second time this year that scores of CPD officers, department leaders, suburban officers and law enforcement officials from across the country flocked to St. Rita to remember the life of a young officer. Among those in attendance were former Mayor Richard M. Daley and deputy mayor for public safety Garien Gatewood, along with alders Marty Quinn, Anthony Napolitano, Matt O’Shea, Anthony Beale, Peter Chico, Jason Ervin and former mayoral candidate Paul Vallas.

* Crain’s | Stockyards sites proposed for $80 million music campus to support Chicago’s film and TV industry: The DPD put out a request for proposals last November. In its announcement, the DPD said it received two complete proposals. It did not include details of the other proposal. The sale of the site, at a proposed $1.9 million, will need approval from the Chicago City Council. That process is not yet scheduled. “Chicago needs this (facility) because the rest of the production infrastructure is in place and production is booming,” said Rich Daniels, a Chicago Federation of Musicians board member who’s been involved with local production, including as music director for the television show “Empire” for its full six-season run.

* Tribune | Historic Chatham Park Village Cooperative defaults on mortgage as residents disagree on property’s future: Once noted for its beautiful and carefully tended facilities, the Chatham Park Village Cooperative has offered affordable homeownership on Chicago’s South Side for more than 60 years. Today more than 20% of the over 500 units at Chatham Park Village are vacant, said co-op board member Eneal Lee, and the property is at risk of foreclosure as the co-op has defaulted on its mortgage, according to documents reviewed by the Tribune.

* WBBM | Invasive carp avoid the Chicago area, study finds: ‘There’s something in the water’: Cory Suski, a professor of natural resources and environmental sciences at the University of Illinois and a co-author of the study, said the fish instantly slow down as they move closer to the Chicago area. He believes contaminants in the water play a factor. “This is kind of a stress response,” he said. “It’s a response to, sort of, something uncomfortable in the environment for them. They don’t really know exactly what’s going on, but they’re just going to stop and wait it out and hope that that negative stimulus goes away.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Crain’s | Look inside Northwestern’s new $850 million Ryan Field plans: Northwestern University unveiled plans for its new Ryan Field stadium today, and the $850 million project — the most expensive in NCAA history — promises to reimagine the college football viewing experience. The stadium will not replicate the traditional bowl design common at other colleges, but rather look and feel more like a miniature NFL or MLS facility. It is designed to maximize sound and bring attendees as close to the on-field action as possible.

* Crain’s | Ragu sauce maker moving HQ to Schaumburg: The company that makes Ragu pasta sauce and other food products will move its North American headquarters next year to Schaumburg, where it has signed a deal to become the new anchor tenant of an office complex near Woodfield Mall. Mizkan America, a U.S. subsidiary of Japanese food manufacturer Mizkan Group, has inked a long-term lease for 50,394 square feet at the Woodfield Corporate Center property in the northwest suburb, according to a statement from real estate services firm Savills, which negotiated the deal on behalf of the company

*** Downstate ***

* BND | Board calls on metro-east official to resign after she used township debit card at casino: Sally Rodriguez was appointed township supervisor by other members of the board in May of 2023, after elected supervisor Norm Miller died. According to minutes from the board’s Sept. 4 meeting, she admitted using the card for her personal use, but only by mistake. “I asked her how do you make the same mistake five times and how does your personal card have the same pin number as the Township’s?” said board member Rickie Thomas.

* WAND | Workforce development program launches newest chapter in Decatur: In partnership with Workforce Investment Solutions, ADM, and Richland Community College, the program is designed to establish a pipeline of skilled professionals to meet the needs of the manufacturing industry in central Illinois. […] “We are thrilled to introduce the FAME program to the Decatur community,” said Tony Davis, National Director for FAME U.S. “Our goal is to bridge the gap between education and industry, ensuring that our graduates are not only job-ready but also equipped to drive innovation within the manufacturing sector.”

* The 21st Show | Metro East filmmaker who won Miss Trans Illinois is now running for mayor: Colton Baumgartner, 35, was named Miss Trans Illinois in 2024. She is running for mayor of Granite City, in the Metro East area. Colton is also the author of a children’s book, Cawing Love. She raises funds for Elevated Access, a nonprofit organization that flies people who live in states that outlaw abortions or gender-affirming care to states where such health care is offered.

* WGEM | JWCC and WIU sign criminal justice agreement: John Wood Community College and Western Illinois University have established a new transfer pathway for students pursuing a degree in criminal justice and law enforcement. John Wood President Bryan Renfro and WIU Interim President Kristi Mindrup signed the agreement in a ceremony Monday morning.

* BND | East St. Louis official has different story than what’s told in housing authority lawsuit: Michael Collins said Shonte Mueller did not tell the truth when she alleged in her recently filed lawsuit that she came to him with concerns that a former interim executive director of the East St. Louis Housing Authority was not following HUD guidelines and could jeopardize federal government money. […] Nick Mueller and Shonte Mueller filed a civil rights and defamation lawsuit in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois claiming they were wrongfully removed from their positions by City Manager Robert Betts.

* SJ-R | Watchdog organization finds Springfield hospitals below average for patient care, safety: Springfield Memorial Hospital and HSHS St. John’s Hospital have both received “D” grades from The Leapfrog Group. […] Several of the categories for grading showed in red for the hospitals, being on a green-red scale. Springfield Memorial Hospital scored particularly low in the “problems with surgery” category. HSHS St. John’s Hospital scored particularly low in the “problems with surgery” and “safety problems” categories.

* Muddy River News | From small town to national stage: Quincy native earns Grammy nomination for best folk album: Savana Santos, a Quincy High School graduate, recently received a Grammy nomination for best folk album for her work on “Weird Faith” with singer-songwriter Madi Diaz. The album features “Kiss on the Wall,” co-written by Santos. Santos moved to Nashville to pursue music after graduating high school in 2017. She released the song “F2020” with former music group Avenue Beat. The song became a viral sensation, leading to more than 100 million streams across different platforms. Santos took advantage of this momentum and is now a solo artist, releasing songs like “Messy” and “Cheater.”

*** National ***

* NYT | Associated Press to Cut Staff by 8%: The news organization said the cuts, which would be done through buyouts, were part of a plan to meet “the evolving needs of our customers.” The cuts will affect both news and business employees. “This is about ensuring AP’s important role as the only truly independent news organization at scale during a period of transformation in the media industry,” The Associated Press said.

* Editor & Publisher | Investor building newspaper chain eyes Lee Enterprises, DallasNews: A Florida billionaire with a fondness for local news is looking to build a newspaper giant by potentially scooping up publishers Lee Enterprises and DallasNews. David Hoffmann, who last month disclosed a 5.2% stake in Lee Enterprises, has raised that interest to 8.7%, making him the Davenport, Iowa, company’s second-largest shareholder.