* ICYMI: ‘A danger to the people of Illinois’: Calls mount for lawmaker to step down over alleged racist comments. FOX 32…

-Illinois State Sen. Sara Feigenholtz faces calls to resign after high school teacher Fuzia Jarad and CAIR accused her of making anti-Muslim comments during a personal encounter and on social media.
-Feigenholtz denies the allegations, calling them baseless, and says she is working to rebuild trust with her community.
-CAIR has urged Senate President Don Harmon to strip Feigenholtz of committee leadership roles if she refuses to step down.

* Related stories…

∙ Sun-Times: Muslim leaders call for resignation of state Sen. Sara Feigenholtz after anti-Muslim social media posts
∙ CAIR: CAIR-Chicago to Renew Calls for Senator Feigenholtz’s Resignation Over Promoting Hatred of Muslims

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Tribune | Man suspected of killing estranged wife before being found dead was previously released on electronic monitoring: Weeks before a man allegedly fatally stabbed his estranged wife in a Portage Park attack that also injured a police officer, he appeared before a Cook County judge on accusations that he threw her to the ground and held her in his car, records show. During a detention hearing, Cook County prosecutors argued for detention as the public defender for Constantin Beldie, 57, hit back against the state’s evidence. Judge Thomas Nowinski ordered him released on electronic monitoring, finding that prosecutors did not meet their burden for detention. He criticized the case work, calling it “a little sloppy,” according to a court transcript of the Oct. 9 proceeding.

* Sun-Times | NW suburban state Rep. Martin McLaughlin on track for reelection by just 47 votes: With the final ballots counted this week in the hotly contested 52nd House District that includes Algonquin, Wauconda and Mundelein, Republican state Rep. Martin McLaughlin, R-Barrington Hills, had 29,520 votes — about 50.04% of the total — compared to 29,473 for Democratic challenger Maria Peterson.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WCBU | Here’s why some lawmakers want to ban paper mail going into Illinois prisons: In a statement, Illinois Department of Corrections spokesperson Naomi Puzzello said while the agency is “exploring additional options to enhance safety,” it has already intensified mail screening protocols, and is encouraging staff to use personal protective equipment when handling mail.

* Tribune | Ex-transportation official gets 18 months in prison in bribery case involving then-state Sen. Sandoval: William Helm, the onetime deputy commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation and a former state transportation official, also admitted in a plea agreement with prosecutors earlier this year that he and others helped arrange $40,000 in bribes to other, unnamed officials.

Deputy Leader Norine Hammond pays tribute to the life and service of former State Rep. Brent Hassert, who passed away on August 29, 2024, at the age of 71. Hassert served in the Illinois House of Representatives for 16 years, from 1993-2009. #twill https://t.co/ctAMQ1NDup

— ILHouseGOP (@ilhousegop) November 20, 2024

*** Statewide ***

* Tribune | Conservative group asks US Supreme Court to reverse ruling that allows Illinois mail-in ballots to be counted after Election Day: The appeal, filed Tuesday by the organization Judicial Watch, also asks the nation’s highest court to clarify rulings about who has the right to appeal post-Election Day challenges, after many lawsuits contesting individual state results of the 2020 election filed on behalf of Donald Trump were tossed for lack of standing. Judicial Watch was among several groups that assisted Trump in seeking to halt the counting of mail-in ballots after Election Day four years ago when Trump lost to President Joe Biden.

*** Chicago ***

* WGN | Chicago ‘solves’ murders in which no arrest is made: Most notably, police closed 117 homicide cases this year due to what’s called “bar to prosecute.” Simply put, it means police believe they identified the killer, but prosecutors would not approve charges. If police included only cases closed by arrest, this year’s homicide clearance rate would be 23 percent, according to police data, reviewed by WGN Investigates.

* Bond Buyer | S&P places Chicago’s GO bonds on watch negative: S&P Global Ratings placed Chicago’s general obligation bond rating on watch negative Tuesday, warning the city against heavy reliance on one-time budget solutions, as reports suggest Mayor Brandon Johnson has slashed his proposed property tax increase in half in order to get his 2025 budget approved by the City Council.

* Press Release | CTU to Hold “Resist Trump’s Project 2025” Rally to Defend Public Schools & Chicago’s Students and their Families: The Chicago Teachers Union’s members will be rallying at the Chicago Temple on Thursday, November 21st, to demand the settlement of their contract, protest the planned closures of schools by Acero, and call for expanded protections against the racist, sexist, anti-LGBTQ, anti-worker agenda being planned by the Trump administration.

* The Triibe | Today’s Chicago City Council regrets the infamous 2008 parking meter deal: “I wasn’t in on the negotiation,” Ald. Emma Mitts (37th Ward) told The TRiiBE about the parking meters. She was one of the 40 alders who voted in favor of the deal. At the time, she had been in office for eight years. Today, Mitts and other alderpersons in the Chicago Aldermanic Black Caucus, who also voted for Daley’s deal back then, admit that the deal wasn’t smart but some also say it would’ve done little to solve the city’s current financial crisis. The deal, now 16 years old, has been widely criticized as being one of the most foolish deals in Chicago’s history.

* WBBM | Ex-rideshare driver suing Uber, Lyft, Chicago for violating workers’ rights: Cohran is suing Uber, Lyft and the city of Chicago after she was deactivated from the rideshare apps for allegedly spitting on a passenger, which she said is not true. “That’s assault,” she said. “I’ve never assaulted anyone ever, so it was crazy. My life being turned around, and they wouldn’t even really hear me out.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau says state comptroller trying to ‘inflict harm’ on residents in holding back money: The Village Board approved a resolution Monday accusing the comptroller of singling out Orland Park for harsh treatment while dozens of government entities throughout the state have been late in filing audits but not subject to the same treatment. The comptroller has “decided to try to inflict harm on the people of Orland Park,” Mayor Keith Pekau said. He called the comptroller’s actions “capricious and unacceptable.”

* Crain’s | Evanston looks at eliminating single-family-only zoning: The proposal is one piece of a comprehensive overhaul of all zoning in the North Shore city that officials rolled out in early November and hope to have finalized in the spring. If approved, it will put Evanston in company with, among others, the city of Minneapolis and the states of Oregon, California and Washington. “It’s an important question for the community to consider based on the increasing costs of housing,” said Liz Williams, the city’s planning manager. “Evanston is known historically for its diversity of housing types, and this particular change is intended to expand housing choices for residents at all income levels and life stages.”

* Daily Herald | Just follow the arrows: Tollway unveils I-294 SmartRoad system to give real-time traffic tips: Similar to the Jane Addams Tollway SmartRoad that went live in 2017, the I-294 version introduced Wednesday will stretch between Wolf Road and Balmoral Avenue. The system will expand and eventually there will be 80 gantries placed every half mile on I-294 between Oak Lawn and Rosemont.

*** Downstate ***

* BND | Former East St. Louis administrator charged with alleged misuse of city credit card: Carlos Mayfield, 60, was arrested and charged on Oct. 1 after an investigation by Illinois State Police determined he used the card to make personal purchases. Mayfield is accused of taking between $500-$10,000 of Government property, a class 2 felony. He is also accused of fraudulent use of a credit/debit card, a class 4 felony, according to charging documents.

* Illinois Times | Frank Vala helped fund recorder’s race: Langfelder said he sees Springfield businessman Frank Vala’s political fingerprints behind the scenes. Vala helped finance Springfield Mayor Misty Buscher’s successful 2023 campaign to unseat Josh Langfelder’s brother, Jim. […] “I walked into a restaurant where he’s having breakfast with some individuals – some political individuals – and he basically grabbed my hand and said, ‘You know, it’s nothing against you, it’s against your brother.’ I said, ‘Well, I’ve never met you. Let me introduce myself. My name is Josh Langfelder. And he said, ‘Well, I’m just gonna tell you, your brother tried to kick me off the (Springfield Airport Authority) board. That’s the reason I got Frank Lesko to run against you.’ So, do I see fingerprints on it? Yeah.”

* RR Star | ’Please think!’: Anti-abortion protesters convene outside Rockford clinic on opening day : Midwest Reproductive Health Executive Director Ali Kliegman said the protesters did not interfere with the clinic’s opening. “We just, you know, let them do their thing and we ignored them,” Kliegman said. “They yelled at us, which I would say is a type of mental violence, but that was the extent of it.”

*** National ***

In the 37 competitive House districts where we have near-final presidential election results:

• Dem incumbents are outperforming Harris by an avg of 5.9 points (or a median of 6.1 pts)

• Dem non-incumbents are outperforming Harris by an avg of 0.5 pts (or a median of 1.4 pts) pic.twitter.com/ABmZJGhsLd

— Adam Carlson (@admcrlsn) November 21, 2024

* NYT | U.S. Proposes Breakup of Google to Fix Search Monopoly: Beyond the sale of Chrome, the government asked Judge Mehta to give Google a choice: either sell Android, its smartphone operating system, or bar Google from making its services mandatory on phones that use Android to operate. If Google broke those terms, or the remedies failed to improve competition, the government could force the company to sell Android at a later date.