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* Crain’s…

The Department of Energy is racing against the clock to finalize a $335 million grant to help Stellantis overhaul its auto plant in Belvidere.

The project, which is expected to cost about $5 billion and result in 4,000 jobs, has been in limbo since it was announced a year ago as part of a new contract with the United Auto Workers.

The Department of Energy announced the Belvidere grant in July, but the agreement hasn’t been finalized. The department is negotiating with Stellantis to wrap up the agreement by the end of year, sources briefed on the matter say.

Once the agreement is finalized and funds are deemed “obligated,” it makes the money much harder to rescind. Because of federal budgeting rules, if the funds were canceled after being obligated, they wouldn’t count toward savings for future budgets.

* SJ-R…

The State Appellate Defender Friday morning filed an emergency motion with the Illinois Supreme Court asking for a supervisory order directing the Fourth District Appellate Court remand the hearing of a former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy charged with murder back to the circuit court.

Friday’s request comes with directions that the lower court “set the case for a hearing to determine the least restrictive conditions of (Grayson’s) pre-trial release.”

The 30-year-old Sean P. Grayson is accused in the July 6 fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman and mother of two children, who had called 911 about a possible prowler around her home in an unincorporated Springfield neighborhood. […]

Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser, in asking the Supreme Court asking it take up the appellate court decision, said in a news release that Grayson had demonstrated that he “cannot comply with conditions and is a danger to the community.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* Block Club | Promontory Point’s Iconic Limestone Should Be Preserved, State Senate Says: The chamber unanimously passed a resolution during its veto session last month to “support the legitimate community preservation plan for Promontory Point,” as federal and city agencies work to strengthen the lakefront park against wave and storm damage.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson pitches aldermen on yet another tax package as he tries to pass 2025 budget: With the budget process already weeks behind schedule, aldermen Friday were briefed on a series of new taxes — and about $90.2 million in proposed cuts — in the hopes of reaching the at least 26 votes the mayor needs to push through a 2025 package. Under the proposal, the property tax hike would be cut to $68.5 million, according to sources present at the Friday morning briefing. To help make up the difference, the city would raise $8.1 million by changing the existing surcharge on rideshare trips downtown.

* Crain’s | Opponents rally against cuts to basic guaranteed income in Johnson budget talks: Equity and Transformation, or EAT, a nonprofit focused on helping formerly incarcerated residents, and the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant & Refugee Rights held a press conference inside City Hall this morning to emphasize the importance of basic guaranteed income, saying such programs help many people get themselves out of financial distress.

* Crain’s | Most crime in Chicago is exaggerated. But theft really is that bad.: The numbers are up across the board. The Chicago Police Department tracks burglary and theft separately. The former is defined as “the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft, or an attempt to do so.” The latter is “the unlawful taking or attempted taking of property or articles (valued at $500 or more) without the use of force, violence, or fraud.” CPD has already tracked more burglaries this year than last. The city is on pace to clock 7,780 reports by year’s end, up from 6,904 in 2023. Theft reports for 2024 currently total 18,771, also on pace to exceed last year by about 7%.

* Crain’s | Chicago’s Chan Zuckerberg Biohub hits a milestone: Its first big research rollout: Researchers in Chicago developed tiny sensors that measure proteins that indicate inflammation. It’s similar to the idea behind continuous glucose monitors, which help diabetes patients track their blood sugar. Glucose monitors focus on small molecules. Other diseases, however, are marked by proteins, which are large molecules that present different challenges and generally are monitored in one-off tests on blood or urine samples.

* Block Club | ‘unBlocked Englewood’ Film Explores Decades Of Unfair Housing Practices On The South Side: The documentary “unBlocked Englewood,” chronicling Johnson’s collaborative work to help repair homes on Englewood’s 65th and Aberdeen streets, will premiere 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Kennedy-King College, 740 W. 63rd St. Tickets for the event are currently sold out, but some may available on a first-come, first served basis at the door.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Fire at Elgin homeless encampment spurs donation drives by local businesses: As word of the fire spread on social media Wednesday, several local restaurants announced they would be collecting donations for residents of the encampment. […] Elaine Paul of Paul’s Family Restaurant said they have been collecting supplies for the homeless for the past few months. But as word of the fire got out, they received a huge outpouring of donations Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

* Daily Herald | Why two Des Plaines candidates could be bumped from 2025 ballot: A special electoral board will meet Saturday to discuss the objections to Brian Kowalkowski’s and Margaret Chlebek’s bids in the 1st Ward, which is on the city’s northeast side. A third candidate for the 1st Ward seat, current City Clerk Jessica Mastalski, filed separate objections against Kowalkowski’s and Chlebek’s petitions. Kowalkowski’s paperwork faces an additional challenge from current 1st Ward Alderman Mark Lysakowski.

* Tribune | Appeals court overturns conviction against former Northwestern professor accused in knife slaying of boyfriend: An Illinois appeals court on Friday overturned the murder conviction of a former Northwestern University professor who was convicted in the gruesome killing of his boyfriend, ruling that a Cook County judge unlawfully barred him access to his attorney during the trial. Wyndham Lathem, a microbiologist who was fired by the university, in 2022 was sentenced to 53 years in prison in the 2017 slaying of Trenton Cornell, Lathem’s 26-year-old boyfriend, a punishment that Judge Charles Burns at the time called an “extreme sentence” but for an “extreme crime.”

* Shaw Local | DeKalb Park District missed $1M-plus in property tax revenue from Meta data center since 2022, says exec: The 2.3 million-square-foot development was left off of the park district’s tax rolls for the 2022 and 2023 tax years as a taxable property, according to city documents. DeKalb city officials and taxing bodies have for years touted the data center – owned by the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram – as a significant tax revenue generator, bringing in needed money to fund city services. The center went online in November 2023, investing more than $1 billion in the city, Meta representatives said.

* Daily Herald | Volo Museum debuts Homer Simpson’s car for 35th anniversary of iconic show: This one-of-a-kind exhibit is a fan-recreated version of Homer Simpson’s iconic pink car, “The Junkola.” The car will be on display only this month, offering fans of the show a unique photo opportunity filled with a decorated Christmas tree, life-size cutouts of the Simpsons family in festive holiday outfits, and of course, the famous vehicle.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Ford County Board facing Open Meetings Act complaint for secret votes: WCIA’s newspaper partners with the Ford County Chronicle said John Kraft filed a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General’s office for how the board elected its chairman and vice chairman. Kraft, who works for the Edgar County Watchdogs website, filed the complaint three days after a “ballot vote” at their meeting. Board members at that meeting handed secret ballots to the County Clerk & Recorder, who then read the results out loud.

* WSPY | Former CEO of Big Brothers Big Sister of Will and Grundy Counties Indicted: The former Chief Executive Officer of Big Brothers Big Sister of Will and Grundy Counties was indicted by a Will County grand jury on Tuesday. Theodore Brodeur, 55, of Shorewood was charged with Theft, a class two felony. The indictment alleges that Brodeur knowingly exerted unauthorized control over property of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties organization, being ATM cards and used them to obtain cash in excess of $10,000.00 which was for his own personal gain.

* WCIA | Danville City Council votes ‘yes’ to approve 1% grocery tax rate: Earlier this week, the Danville City Council voted ‘yes’ to approve the proposed 1% grocery tax rate. Danville Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. said nothing has changed and the new element is that cities will rule if they’d like to implement the grocery tax instead of the state. Williams said each year they collect about $750,000. It’ll go towards new police vehicles and a new playground for Elmwood Park. But people like Alderman Ed Butler feel the money could’ve been used elsewhere.

* WCIA | Rochester library faces ethics complaint after allegedly advocating for failed tax rate referendum: The Rochester Public Library District asked voters last month with a binding referendum to increase the tax rate for approximately $8 million in construction plus an increase of $261,000 per year for operations. The library’s website said an average homeowner in the district would pay an additional $37 each month. […] Now, the Illinois chapter of the Americans for Prosperity filed 35 ethics complaints, alleging library workers and board members used their jobs to push residents to vote yes.

* TSPR | With increased social service needs, Galesburg Public Library to add safety coordinator: But Library Director Noelle Thompson said since moving to the new building, the staff is handling a much greater volume and depth of needs — and helping people find the resources they need falls under the library’s mission of being a center of information. “Information needs vary greatly person to person,” said Library Director Noelle Thompson. “So when somebody comes in saying, I need a book on this topic, or somebody comes in saying, I need to know what resources are available to me, our responsibility is to be able to provide information for those services.”

* STLPR | ‘Dramatic way to go’: Lightning likely killed mastodon found on Principia College campus: “That’s something that doesn’t happen every day,” said Andrew Martin, chair of the sociology and anthropology department at Principia. Martin has been teaching classes since the fall 2023 semester all focused on digging up the skeleton. After examining the remains, the professor and students believe a lightning strike likely killed the animal. “It’s kind of a dramatic way to go,” Martin said. “We’re still developing that. You’re piecing together parts of the story from the bits that you find in the ground.”

*** National ***

* Medill | In news deserts, Trump won in a landslide: While Trump’s national popular-vote margin was just under 1.5%, his margin in news deserts was massive. He won these counties by an average of 54 percentage points. In the few won by Harris, her margin was a comparatively slim 18 points, the analysis shows. The findings are based on results from 193 of the 206 counties Medill has identified as news deserts, in states where county-level election results are currently available. The third annual State of Local News report, released by Medill’s Local News Initiative in October, documented the continuing decline of local news across the country, as measured by the number of newspapers, circulation, frequency of publication, employment and readership.

* AP | TikTok’s future uncertain after appeals court rejects its bid to overturn possible US ban: The U.S. has said it’s concerned about TikTok collecting vast swaths of user data, including sensitive information on viewing habits, that could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion. Officials have also warned the proprietary algorithm that fuels what users see on the app is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content on the platform in a way that’s difficult to detect — a concern mirrored by the European Union on Friday as it scrutinizes the video-sharing app’s role in the Romanian elections.

* ABC | RFK Jr. asked Fresno County raw milk producer to apply as FDA advisor: McAfee owns RAW FARM in Fresno County and says Kennedy has been a long-time customer, who now wants him to help create standards for getting raw milk safely on store shelves across the country. “And then they called me back and confirmed that I actually had that application was submitted and told me thank you very much,” McAffee said. “It’s just a waiting game now to see if RFK is confirmed and whether the team for “make america healthy again” is confirmed and going forward.”