* Our LSSI Christmas toys for foster kids fundraiser reached just over $10,000.

Thank you!

I cannot imagine what it’s like being a foster child, everything these children have known has been turned upside-down and they have no idea if a sense of normalcy in their lives will return.

Luckily we have people that want to help these kids. And a way for everyone to pitch in.

* ICYMI: Illinois organizations decry state’s convoluted process for overdose prevention money. Chicago Reader…

In 2022, the last year for which data is available, 3,261 people in Illinois died from opioid overdose–related deaths. That same year, Illinois attorney general Kwame Raoul settled the first of multiple lawsuits against opioid manufacturers, dispensers, and distributors “for their unfair and deceptive practices in the marketing, sale, and distribution of these drugs,” according to the state opioid settlement website. Like the cigarette lawsuits of the 90s, these multistate suits are one attempt to hold large corporations that profited from opioid addiction and death accountable for their role in the crisis. The settlements with drugmakers and pharmacies collectively amount to billions of dollars and are divided between numerous states that were part of the lawsuits. Even so, Illinois is expected to get more than $1.3 billion by 2038. Fifty-five percent of that money will go to the Illinois Opioid Remediation Fund; the remainder is divided between state and local governments.

Most, though not all, decision-making powers for remediation funds are housed within the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) and its Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (SUPR). A governor-appointed steering committee determines if these funds are distributed via intergovernmental agreements, expansion of existing programs, or competitive awards. The steering committee uses Illinois’s Statewide Overdose Action Plan (SOAP) guidelines, which include five priority recommendation categories: social equity, prevention, treatment and recovery, harm reduction, and “justice-involved populations and public safety.” The goal is to reduce overdose deaths and related harms. But the half-dozen harm-reduction leaders, large nonprofit directors, psychiatrists, state lawmakers, and former IDHS workers who spoke to the Reader for this story describe a confusing and burdensome application process, promises of feedback for rejected applicants that are not delivered on, and a lack of transparency around award allocation. […]

Midway through November, the Reader contacted IDHS for an update; spokesperson Daisy Contreras responded that the report would be out by the end of the month, but, on on December 1, I found an annual report that had been posted to IDHS’s website on November 2. I emailed Contreras to confirm whether this was the report she was referring to but, as of press time, have not received an answer.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Patch | With Mobile Driver’s License Deadline Looming, No Updates From Illinois Secretary Of State: With less than a month before Illinois’ new mobile driver’s license law is set to take effect, state officials have remained silent on how much progress has been made toward implementing it — or when the public can expect to start using the promised digital IDs. […] Giannoulias’s spokespeople have not responded to repeated requests for information about the program’s status or a timeline for its rollout, and public records requests for records and contracts related to the program remain pending.

* Columbia Journalism Review | Should a Student Reporter Face Prosecution for Embedding with Protesters?: Gohill and his editors thought he’d be treated with some deference. “I was told by my editors, ‘When they [deputies] walk in, step to the side and tell the police you’re press. They’ll let you go,’” he told me. “They said, ‘Once the protesters are out of the building, meet up with Greta outside and follow them in the car and take pictures.’ We never thought this would happen.” His editors couldn’t believe it either. He recalls that one of them told him, “It’s okay, Dilan, they have the right to relocate you, they don’t have the right to arrest you.”

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | High-stakes school board meeting overshadowed by power struggle with CPS CEO Pedro Martinez: The offer, made over the phone earlier this week, came after Martinez retained attorney William J. Quinlan to represent him in an ongoing power struggle with Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union, which has waged a fierce campaign against the chief executive officer as the union negotiates a new contract with the district. Martinez’s contract limits the district’s ability to fire him without cause and could lead to an expensive lawsuit. So far, Martinez has resisted the buyout offer, sources said.

* WGN | ‘Frustrated’ CTU head on contract talks, getting dragged into city hall scandal: October 19th, Mayor Brandon Johnson sent Davis Gates a text message saying: “Ronnie! Call me. Message from the Elders.” The message refers to Ronnie Reese, the mayor’s former communications director who was fired over allegations including sexual harassment, misogyny and abusive behavior. Reese, like Johnson, used to work for the CTU. […] Davis Gates: “I don’t know what that text message means. If you followed the story you would know that I did not respond to the text message. And what I think people need to also understand is that the mayor and I, we have a relationship that goes beyond work and that there are boundaries to the work that I do here and the work that he does there.

* Sun-Times | City Hall braces for Trump assault on its minority set-aside program: At a City Council budget hearing Wednesday, newly-appointed city Chief Procurement Officer Sharla Roberts was asked what she intends to do to Trump-proof a program that Black alderpersons say is not doing nearly enough to share the wealth with companies owned by African Americans. The city spent $273 million on construction contracts this year, but Black-owned companies got just $18 million, or a 7% share. That’s compared to $52 million, or 19%, for Hispanics and $31 million, or 12%, for Asian Americans.

* WTTW | Potential Settlement Reached in Lawsuit Filed by Family of Dexter Reed Over Fatal Police Shooting: Records: That agreement must be approved by the Chicago City Council by Feb. 10, according to a joint filing from the lawyers representing the city and Reed’s mother, Nicole Banks. The exact amount of the settlement was not immediately clear, but the City Council is only required to approve settlements of more than $100,000. The City Council’s Finance Committee is scheduled to meet on Dec. 10, but it is not clear whether this proposal will be considered for approval.

* Sun-Times | First major cold snap of the season to send wind chills plunging to near 0 degrees: Thursday’s temps in Chicago could feel like 0 degrees when combined with wind chills and as cold as minus 10 in the suburbs. A 77-year-old man died from hypothermia in East Garfield Park, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. Winds delayed flights at airports.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Illinois AG: Police ticketing at Palatine high schools violated law, unjustly applied to minority students: However, the 29-page report signed by Attorney General Kwame Raoul also found the practice had significantly declined at the Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 schools since the study began in late spring 2022. “OAG finds reasonable cause to believe that the district engaged in a pattern and practice of directing Palatine police officers to issue tickets to students in violation of state law, and that this practice imposed an unjustified disparate impact on Black and Hispanic students,” the report reads.

* Daily Herald | Bensenville president could make $135,000 a year if village changes form of government: If the ballot measure fails, Bensenville will revert to a president-trustee form of government, where the elected village president runs the town full-time as the executive and administrator. The board also approved an amendment to an ordinance that would increase the pay for the village president if that happens. DeSimone is set to receive a salary of $33,000 in 2025, according to the village.

* Daily Herald | None hurt in fire at Elgin homeless encampment: Residents should avoid State Street between Kimball and Wing streets, as well as the Kimball bridge, police said. Metra said service on its Milwaukee District West line was disrupted for several hours because the fire was close to the tracks near Big Timber Road. It was not immediately clear how the fire started and no suspects were in custody.

* Beacon-News | Aurora City Council to vote on establishing education savings accounts for kindergarten students: There are 128 similar programs in 38 states across the country, serving about five million children, Aurora officials said. This program would be the first in Illinois. “This is still a new idea; we’re doing a pilot program,” said Mayor Richard Irvin, who announced the program earlier this year. “We start small, and get bigger where we can include every child and every family that wants to participate.”

*** Downstate ***

* Herald-Review | A ‘new day’ in Shelby County as ‘more even’ board sworn in, lone bid for county farm withdrawn: It’s a new day in Shelby County. After years of long, heated Shelby County Board meetings that pitted an arch-conservative board majority against a vocal, bipartisan segment of residents on a number of topics impacting the future of the county, the county turned a new page Monday with the swearing in of a new board. And last week, the lone bid for the county’s publicly owned 240-acre farm was withdrawn, effectively ending an effort by the previous board majority to sell the land on constitutional grounds.

* WCIA | City of Decatur passes property tax levy: DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) — The City of Decatur recently passed a new levy that will increase property taxes. But — City officials said this won’t have as big an impact as you might think. The City Council decided to raise the property tax earlier this week. The 6% increase will only apply to 16% of your total property taxes. The other 84% will not be impacted.

* WSIL | One shelter says they are at full capacity ahead of cold weather: Pastor Kent Jackson with the Family Life Church says their shelter on Sparrow Road in Mount Vernon has been at capacity for the last several days. “So we have a certain level of capacity that we could be at,” Pastor Jackson says. “However for people to just have a warm place to go overnight we’re letting a few extra stay just if that’s needed.” Jackson says they can have up to 28 guests that stay at the shelter 24/7 while they need a place to stay.

* SJ-R | Bridgestone grant provides Springfield Boys & Girls Clubs much-needed passenger van: The van from Bridgestone arrived, said club CEO and executive director Tiffany Mathis Posey, right around the time another new passenger van, made possible by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield Foundation, also docked. The vans had been on Mathis Posey’s wish list, so now two-thirds of the club’s aging fleet is brand new.

*** National ***

* Status News | The Times They Are A-Changin’: Patrick Soon-Shiong is tightening his grip over the Los Angeles Times. […] Nevertheless, journalists at the Times respect that Soon-Shiong is entitled to his own political views. What has concerned them is that he has simultaneously started to exert more influence over the broadsheet’s operations, seeking to marry his worrisome views about the news media with how the newspaper carries out its work.