* ICYMI: DOJ investigating Sangamon County for discrimination after Sonya Massey murder. WCIA…

- County officials received a formal letter from the Department of Justice asking for more information after receiving allegations the Sheriff’s Office, the county, and the Sangamon County Central Dispatch System could have violated federal nondiscrimination laws.
- DOJ officials said Sonya Massey’s murder “raises serious concerns” about members of the Sheriff’s Office’s interactions with Black people and people with behavioral health disabilities.
-The department also asked for review of several years of policies, practices, procedures, and training deputies receive on de-escalation, rendering medical aid, and responding to behavioral health crises.

* Meanwhile, from the Illinois Times…

The only people to speak in support of a serial sex offender at a recent sentencing hearing were two Springfield police detectives.

More than three years after his arrest by Illinois State Police, Zane Merreighn, 25, was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the sexual abuse of five girls who ranged in age from 14 to 16 years old.

Merreighn is the son of Jennifer Oglesby Mack, who is a sex crimes investigator for the Springfield Police Department. Parents of the victims contend Merreighn’s crime spree could have been stopped sooner if not for area law enforcement agencies cutting him breaks because his mother was a cop.

Special Appellate Prosecutor Lorinda Lamken said there was no evidence that Oglesby Mack used her influence to protect her son. But she added it is clear that Merreighn evoked his mother’s name and sought special treatment. […]

During the testimony, Oglesby Mack sat next to her husband, Michael Mack, and stared at the floor. Mack is also a detective with the SPD.

* At 10 am Governor Pritzker will give remarks at the Inwood Athletic Club in Joliet to celebrate the first CEJA-funded EV charging stations. Click here to watch.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | Secretary of State Giannoulias discusses importance of organ donation at west suburban church: He joined Jordan Temple’s Senior Pastor Stephen Richardson, the recipient of two heart transplants. He received the first in November 1996 when he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. He got the second in November 2013 when medications formed plaque buildup that blocked his arteries. He also got a new kidney that same year. “Three hearts, three kidneys and I’m still moving, I’m very thankful,” Richardson told the Sun-Times. “A donor extends a person’s life.”

* Tribune | After-school programs on the chopping block due to delayed funding disbursement: About 40% of the state’s after-school programs have been slashed this year, following delays in the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant, and the number is expected to rise to 87%, totaling about 290 sites, by the end of this year. The problem is that the governor’s office is at a standstill with the money, and there has been no communication on when funds will be released.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Center Square | Illinois homeschoolers worry Trump tax credit could lead to state regulation: Trump, in a video posted on social media, promised homeschooling parents tax relief on their education costs, up to $10,000 per year per child. […] Illinois Family Institute Executive Director David Smith said rumblings of regulation coming out of the Illinois capitol might deter homeschooling parents from applying for the credit.

*** Statewide ***

* Tribune | Illinois nuclear plants are in the crosshairs of data centers and AI’s insatiable demand for clean power. At what cost?: On Tuesday, President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled plans to triple the nation’s nuclear power supply by midcentury. While support for most clean energy projects is threatened by Republican control of Washington, this one might stick. A Pew Research poll from August shows Republicans are more likely than Democrats to favor expanding nuclear power generation. […] If early experiments reopening plants and developing smaller reactors fail, tech giants could zero in on Illinois’ operational plants, which provide more than half of the state’s power.

* WCIA | IL launches multi-million-dollar Cannabis Research Institute: On Friday, Governor JB Pritzker, U of I System President Tim Killeen, government officials, and cannabis researchers with Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) launched the Cannabis Research Institute (CRI). […] “The Cannabis Research Institute will use innovative research and data collection to deepen our understanding of cannabis and help shape the future of the industry, better inform the public, and develop policies for consumer protection, economic and community development, and equity,” Pritzker said.

* Tribune | After Trump win, Illinois providers report a spike in demand for abortion pills, birth control and sterilizations: Planned Parenthood of Illinois saw a 15% increase in calls immediately following the Nov. 5 election, with many callers asking about vasectomies and options for long term but reversible contraception, such as intrauterine devices and birth control implants. “People are frightened,” said Cristina Villarreal, chief external affairs officer for Planned Parenthood of Illinois, which has 17 clinics statewide. “We are concerned about a lot of different things with the coming administration and we are doing what we can to prepare for it. But I think the important thing for patients to know right now is that we are open for providing the reproductive and sexual health care that they need … and we will fight to continue to do that.”

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | After 50-0 defeat of his $300 million property tax hike, Mayor Brandon Johnson brokers a new deal: The largest chunk of new revenue — $128 million — will come from raising the personal property lease tax on cloud computing to 11%. Another $14 million would be squeezed out of “redundancies and efficiencies” in administrative costs tied to the spending programs bankrolled by federal pandemic relief programs in 2026 without laying off employees or disrupting programs.

* Tribune | Killing extra pension payment could spare Mayor Brandon Johnson and aldermen political headaches, but cost Chicagoans later: Some officials are rallying around the idea of diverting surplus dollars from past years’ budgets that were set aside to keep the city’s pension funds afloat. The “advance” or “supplemental” pension payment Johnson wants for 2025 is $272 million, just shy of the $300 million tax hike he called for then abandoned last week in the face of an overwhelming council revolt against it. Cutting that pension payment is among the most straightforward fixes floated to fill the gaping property tax hole in Chicago’s budget. But there are plenty of warnings against skipping it, including from Johnson’s budget team and municipal finance experts.

* Block Club | Most Chicago Street Fests Aren’t Paying Police Overtime, Leaving Taxpayers On The Hook: Last week, alderpeople grilled officials from the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, demanding to know how many police resources were poured into neighborhood street festivals while raising concerns about officer burnout amid so many competing demands. […] “It’s my understanding there are a number of events in the city where, for whatever reason, we don’t ask the event organizer to reimburse us for things like police resources, police and fire, paramedic, traffic control,” Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) said during the hearing last week. “Some events spend lots of money on those sorts of things, like Lollapalooza, for example. Yet other events don’t get charged these things.”

* WBEZ | Trump’s inroads in Chicago driven by staggering dropoff in votes for Democrats: Citywide, former President Donald Trump saw a roughly 16,000 vote bump compared to 2020, but Vice President Kamala Harris’ vote total was more than 205,000 votes behind President Joe Biden’s in 2020. “The real story is you have fewer people voting and that Trump got the same number of votes in 2024 than he got in 2020,” said Delmarie Cobb, a Democratic political and media consultant.

* Crain’s | Chicago Tribune union ratifies first-ever contract: Per the deal, employees will now receive a 3% pay raise each year along with a 401(k) match and bonuses, according to an announcement by the publication. Several Tribune employees went decades without raises and “no one can remember the last time back-to-back, company-wide raises were made,” the union claimed in a social media post.

* Crain’s | Loop landlords pitch taxing themselves to boost ailing downtown:
Many commercial landlords in the Loop have expressed interest in a BID to help revitalize downtown amid record-high office and retail vacancy, even as the real estate industry grapples with the burdens of high energy costs and property taxes, BOMA Executive Director Farzin Parang said. “The industry is very sensitive to new costs; we already have the highest commercial property tax in the country, so really the purpose of this process is to find out, ‘does this make sense?’ ” Parang told Crain’s.

* Sun-Times | Celebrated as a ‘voice’ for the community, Perri Small retires from WVON: Small was not only celebrating her retirement, but her 65th birthday. Sitting in front of a bouquet of flowers and sipping champagne, she spoke to in-studio visitors and took calls from prominent figures honoring her decadeslong career as a journalist and media personality. Public intellectual and former presidential candidate Cornel West even called in, encouraging Small to “keep that smile and that style and that spirit and that soul.”

* Tribune | Addiction treatment center opens Mac’s Deli, a new West Loop restaurant staffed entirely by patients in recovery: Monday marked the grand opening of Mac’s Deli, a restaurant that Haymarket Center has opened in order to employ patients in recovery and provide them with job training. Mac’s Deli will be fully staffed by Haymarket Center clients, with the proceeds from its classic Chicago fare going toward the center’s initiatives. The restaurant was built into the side of Haymarket Center’s building, just paces away from its other services. Mac’s Deli is designed to provide patients with substance use disorder an opportunity to return to the workforce within a supportive community centered around recovery, according to Haymarket Center President and CEO Dan Lustig.

* Block Club | Chicago Crowns Jeremy Allen White Lookalike Contest Winner: The contest sought to find the person who most closely resembles White, who plays Chicago chef Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto in the hit FX on Hulu series “The Bear.” Ben Shabad, 37, took home the coveted “Num. 1 J.A.W.” ribbon along with a cash prize of $50 and a pack of Marlboro Cigarettes.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* WBEZ | Amid concerns about a federal rollback, Cook County Commissioner pitches more money for reproductive health: Amid concerns about the next presidential administration’s lack of support for abortion rights, Democratic Cook County Commissioner Bridget Degnen wants the county to infuse more money into access to reproductive health services. County commissioners are set to vote on a proposed 2025 budget next week totaling nearly $10 billion. Degnen wants to amend the proposed budget to provide $2 million in grants to community organizations that provide wraparound reproductive health services. These organizations help cover the cost of everything from hotel stays and travel to medical bills for people seeking abortions.

* Sun-Times | Kim Foxx sees legacy as helping community trust law enforcement: After eight years as Cook County’s top prosecutor, 12 before that as an assistant state’s attorney and three with the office of the public guardian, Foxx said it has been “decades of sadness first thing in the morning,” as she briefs herself on cases that came in overnight. But the reports were also motivating, she said, inspiring her to try to make the county better.

* Daily Herald | ‘Looking out for the child’: How a Lake County nonprofit helps low-income families: Since the nonprofit’s inception in 1998, some 53,000 children and their families have received financial support totaling nearly $6 million. That includes nearly 2,900 kids and $688,619 over the last year. “Barbara set the mission up, and the mission hasn’t changed,” said Lisa Cervieri, the organization’s executive director. “The crux of it is just helping kids that are in dire situations, and she hit the nail on the head because of her years in social work: It’s the little things that make the biggest difference to these kids.”

* Evanston Round Table | Mayor Biss ready to do ‘whatever it takes’ for what’s to come in Trump presidency: Biss acknowledged early in the interview that what’s to come is still somewhat unknown. He sees a push toward Trump’s mass deportation plans, which the president-elect had alluded to during debates, happening early in the administration. Beyond that, though, “I don’t think we know,” Biss said. “I don’t think we should pretend to know.”

*** Downstate ***

* SJ-R | ‘This isn’t over yet.’ Final ballots to be counted in Springfield-area recorder race: The four-term incumbent in the Sangamon County Recorder’s office and the only Democrat to hold a county-wide seat said he is feeling upbeat despite having to make up a 68-vote deficit against his opponent. On Tuesday, county clerk officials will tabulate some 450 late-arriving vote by mail ballots and qualified provisional ballots under the gaze of the two candidates, Springfield Clerk Frank Lesko who leads current Recorder Josh Langfelder by just a handful of votes.

* IPM News | Josh McCray runs for three TDs to lead Illinois to a 38-16 win over slumping Michigan State: Josh McCray ran for three touchdowns and Luke Altmyer threw two TD passes, leading Illinois to a 38-16 victory Saturday over Michigan State. McCray had nine carries for 61 yards, Altmyer completed 19 of 32 passes for 231 yards and Pat Bryant caught four passes for a career-high 135 yards and a TD in his final home game as the Illini (7-3, 4-3 Big Ten) ended a two-game losing streak.

*** National ***

* The Chicago Council on Global Affairs | How cover crops could help the Midwestern agriculture business: While cover cropping in the Midwest has increased fourfold from 2011 to 2021, it still occurs on just a small percentage of the region’s 148 million acres of farmland. That stands in stark contrast to the practice’s use in some farming regions overseas. Parts of Europe, for instance, use cover crops on almost all of their arable land due to stricter regulations. Coppess said more state and federal incentives could similarly increase uptake in the Midwest — though he also notes that, while the practice helps eliminate some risks, it also comes with risks of its own.

* The Guardian | ‘Queen of polling’ J Ann Selzer quits after Iowa survey missed by 16 points: In a column published by the Des Moines Register on Sunday, Selzer wrote that public opinion polling had been her “life’s work” and had made a decision to step back from it a year ago. “Would I have liked to make this announcement after a final poll aligned with Election Day results? Of course,” she wrote. “It’s ironic that it’s just the opposite.” Seltzer ventured that her strong track record had “maybe that history of accuracy made the outlier position too comfortable”.

* NYT | How Bluesky, Alternative to X and Facebook, Is Handling Explosive Growth: Bluesky’s 20 full-time employees have been working around the clock to deal with the issues that come with hyper-growth: site outages, glitches in the code and content moderation issues. Most importantly, they have been trying to keep early users happy as new members have flooded in. “We as a team take pride in our ability to scale quickly,” Jay Graber, 33, the chief executive of Bluesky, said in an interview. “But there’s always some growing pains.” She added that the app — which is still dwarfed by Facebook, Instagram and X — was adding more than one million new users a day.

* Vox | Bluesky brings the fun, weird vibes of old Twitter back to life: Bluesky looks a lot like the old Twitter you knew and loved. It’s a reverse chronological feed of posts, including images, videos, and links that you can like and repost. Like old Twitter, your feed is not ruled by an algorithm. Meanwhile, Bluesky’s open source, decentralized framework gives you a lot more control over how your feed works than X or even Threads, the X alternative Meta has been pushing onto Instagram users.