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* ICYMI: State anti-book-ban law leads some school districts to forsake grants to maintain local control. Tribune…

- Around 700 school districts regularly applied for state library grant funding in the last two years. Since the law took effect on Jan. 1, about 40 elementary and high school districts opted not to seek the funding from the secretary of state’s office.

- The state library grants are not large — about $850 for small districts. No district that opted out of applying for funding this year received more than $4,000 in grant money during the last fiscal year, according to state records.

- Joe Salmieri, superintendent of the Laraway Community Consolidated School District 70C in the Joliet area, said he didn’t want to lose autonomy over his school or library policies by applying for a grant.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* QC Online | See where Illinois cities stand on keeping 1% grocery tax cut by state: East Moline is the first city, voting at the City Council meeting on Nov. 4 to implement its own 1% tax when the state tax expires in 2026. First Ward Alderperson Olivia Dorothy was the only councilmember to oppose the measure, saying at the meeting that taxes on groceries are regressive and hit lower-income residents harder.

* IPM | Illinois law requires transparency when police kill people. Many cases stay in the dark: In most of Illinois’ largest counties — including Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kane, McHenry, Winnebago, Champaign, Sangamon, Peoria, McLean, Rock Island, and Kendall — prosecutors generally seem to comply with the law, releasing reports when they decide not to charge an officer. In fact, of the 15 largest counties in Illinois, just three elected prosecutors appear to fail to meet this requirement: Will County State’s Attorney Jim Glasgow, Madison County State’s Attorney Thomas Haine and St. Clair County State’s Attorney James Gomric.

* Daily Herald | How Illinois generated $2 billion in tax revenue from gamblers in the last fiscal year: The most recent “Wagering in Illinois” update from the Illinois legislature’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability also shows gambling tax revenue crossed the $2 billion threshold for the first time in 2024. The $96 million increase in gambling tax revenue from the previous year represents a 4.8% spike, according to the report. The state’s fiscal year ended in June.

*** Statehouse News ***

* ABC Chicago | Illinois Legislative Black Caucus holding policy summit: The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus will hold its most critical policy summit in Chicago this week. It’s happening as the future of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs and the Department of Education face concerns and challenges with the pending Trump Administration.

*** Madigan Trial ***

* Tribune | Ex-Rep. Edward Acevedo granted immunity, compelled to testify in Madigan corruption trial: Former state Rep. Edward Acevedo’s name has been thrown around five separate federal criminal trials in recent years involving the sweeping corruption probe of ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan. But Acevedo, 61, a Chicago Democrat and onetime member of Madigan’s leadership team, has never been called to testify — until now. Prosecutors late Thursday filed a motion in U.S. District Court saying they intend to call Acevedo as a witness in Madigan’s ongoing corruption trial, and are seeking permission of the chief judge to compel his testimony if he invokes his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination as expected.

* State Week | Prosecutors move closer to wrapping up their case against Madigan: After weeks of testimony and recorded conversations, prosecutors have indicated they are inching toward resting in the case against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and his longtime friend and advisor, Mike McClain. The court action has put a spotlight on how Madigan conducted business in the role he held for so long. We get an update on the case so far.

*** Statewide ***

* Journal-Topics | Del Mar To Step Down Next Year As State GOP Co-Chair To Seek Statewide Office: Palatine Township Republican Committeeman Aaron Del Mar, who also serves as co-chair of the Illinois Republican Party, plans to explore a run for a statewide office and will step down as state party co-chair in January or February, the Journal & Topics has learned. Del Mar said he sent what was to be a private email to party Chair Kathy Salvi informing her of his intention, so she would have time to find a new person to take his place. Del Mar said Salvi then sent an email to all members of the Illinois Republican State Central Committee, informing them of his pending departure.

* Crain’s | New report shows Illinois ranks near bottom for wage gains: Illinois employees who have been in their jobs for at least 12 months experienced a 4.5% increase in wages from November 2023 to November 2024, according to data from ADP Pay Insights. This growth was below the national average of 4.8%; Illinois ranked 44th in the country for wage increases. The median salary in the state was $56,700, below the national average of $59,200, the report found.

* Tribune | Imperiled wetlands save the Midwest billions in flood damage costs, study shows, but they’re disappearing: By absorbing water from storms and flooding, wetlands can effectively reduce the risks and destructive effects of these disasters, which are intensifying and becoming more frequent because of a changing climate. Previous research estimated that 1 acre of lost wetland can cost $745 in annual flood damage to residential properties, an amount that taxpayers fund through local, state or federal assistance programs.

* WGEM | Illinois seeking high schools for student-led initiative to prevent targeted violence and hate: Known as Illinois Invent2Prevent, it’s a partnership between the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security (IEMA-OHS), Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and EdVenture Partners. The program is based off a similar program at the federal level run by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Students in participating schools will be tasked with designing and implementing peer-developed projects, tools and strategies to combat targeted violence and hate according IEMA-OHS.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Study shows ‘promising’ results from Chicago’s mental health responder pilot: The research, conducted by UChicago’s Health Lab, concluded the city’s “ambitious” Crisis Assistance Response & Engagement, or CARE, program showed “promising” results in providing enhanced interventions for mental and behavioral health issues — both high- and low-risk situations — and opioid overdose or substance use-related incidents.

* Block Club | City Clears Humboldt Park Tent Encampment, Vows Enforcement Moving Forward: The closure is part of a city plan that’s been in the works since the summer, said Sendy Soto, the city’s first chief homelessness officer. City officials offered all of the tent residents housing during the Department of Family and Support Services’ accelerated moving event in September, which secured 63 apartments for households living in the park. Those who didn’t get housing were offered shelter beds. On Friday, some said they missed out on housing in September because they weren’t there at the time or didn’t have IDs or documents the city needed.

* Bond Buyer | S&P releases report warning Chicago Board of Education: S&P Global Ratings released a report this week warning that the credit trajectory of the Chicago Board of Education will hinge on the outcome of current contract negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union and the willingness of the CTU and Mayor Brandon Johnson to cut expenditures at Chicago Public Schools.

* Chicago Reader | Chicago’s first school board election happened. What’s next?: “We should have more Latino parents on the board, more Black parents, at least one Asian parent,” observed Martinez de Ferrer, who also serves on the Kids First Elected School Board Task Force. Regardless of who Johnson chooses, his 11 appointees plus the four CTU-backed elected board members theoretically equal a supermajority on the incoming board for the mayor and his close union ally. But in practice, matters may be more complicated. “Even if there is a majority interest, it’s going to be harder to get there than anybody can assume at this point,” District 2 winner Ebony DeBerry, who was endorsed by the teachers union, told WBEZ’s Reset.

* Edward Keegan | Are Chicago’s latest big projects too big to succeed?: One critical way to evaluate these proposals is a simple one: Are any of these proposed neighborhoods comparable to those that have evolved from Chicago’s basic street and density patterns? And the answer is no. While density of the city’s fabric does vary, two- to three-story-high structures dominate, accommodating residential and commercial construction with aplomb. At its most essential, Chicago’s basic form is simplicity: city blocks subdivided into 25-by-125-foot lots with a service alley behind each property. And while Chicago is rightly considered the birthplace of the skyscraper, most neighborhoods don’t have, or need, many buildings of great height.

Kicking off the holiday season in true Chicago style at the Irish Fellowship Club’s Annual Christmas Luncheon! 🍀🎄 It's traditions like this that make our city great - one of my favorite events of the year! pic.twitter.com/kNuTdBq1qA

— Secretary Alexi Giannoulias (@ILSecOfState) December 6, 2024

* Tribune | ‘Long overdue’: Dick Allen, the 1972 American League MVP for the Chicago White Sox, is elected to the Hall of Fame: The celebration started the moment National Baseball Hall of Fame President Josh Rawitch said “1963 to 1977” as he began to unveil the results of the classic baseball era committee voting on television. Richard Allen Jr. jumped out of his seat and was swallowed in a sea of hugs. His father, the late Dick Allen, had just been elected into the Hall of Fame. “I wanted to hear it, I wanted to see it,” Allen said at a watch party at the Hilton Anatole, where the MLB winter meetings are taking place. “We saw it, just so much to take in.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Electoral Board rules Mayor Thaddeus Jones can be on ballot while state representative; residency challenge continued: Calumet City Clerk Nyota Figgs’ effort to prevent Mayor Thaddeus Jones from reelection was undercut Friday after the city’s Election Board dismissed her claim that he cannot serve as both mayor and as an Illinois state representative. Figgs said she believes that based on a state Supreme Court ruling on Jones’ eligibility to run in 2021, a referendum not certified until after the election would disqualify him from holding top position in Calumet City government.

* Daily Herald | ‘Starved for so long’: Pace wants riders to comment on service revamp, $150 million boost: Pace buses every 20 minutes? Pace buses in every town? Or a hybrid system? It’s in your hands, officials say. As Pace, Metra and the CTA face a looming $771 million shortfall in 2026, the suburban bus service is seizing on the crisis by proposing a Revision initiative. “This is really the first time in my career that we’ve put together a plan that is totally revamping our entire system — not just one piece of it, but the entire system,” said Executive Director Melinda Metzger, who has worked at Pace for 40 years.

How can we rebuild public transportation for the Chicagoland region? State legislators @barbara_isabel, @staterepmoeller, State Rep Matt Hansson, and @delgadorep want your input on how to fix it.

📅 Thurs, Dec. 12
⏰ 6–7:30 PM
📍 Batavia Public Libraryhttps://t.co/tjZrWXAvlY pic.twitter.com/EQ3ksQLp8b

— The People's Lobby (@peopleslobbyusa) December 7, 2024

* ABC | Labor Department investigating migrant child labor claims at HelloFresh: The U.S. Department of Labor is investigating HelloFresh, the popular meal kit service company, over allegations that migrant children were working at its cooking and packaging facility in [Aurora,] Illinois as recently as this summer, ABC News has learned. At least six teenagers, at least some of whom migrated from Guatemala, were found working night shifts at the facility, said Cristobal Cavazos, the executive director for Immigrant Solidarity, an immigrant rights advocacy group that helped report the matter to federal regulators.

* Daily Herald | Call for action after 2 kids, grandmother hit by vehicle outside Wheeling school: A crash that injured three pedestrians, including two children, during morning drop-off Friday at London Middle School in Wheeling is the latest example of unsafe driving by adults on campus, a school leader said Sunday. “Adults need to start being more conscious of the safety of our students that are coming to and from school, point blank,” said Michael Connolly, superintendent of Wheeling Township Elementary School District 21.

*** Downstate ***

* SJ-R | Supreme Court denies emergency motion to move Grayson pre-trial release hearing: An emergency motion filed by the Office of the State Appellate Defender asking for a supervisory order directing the Fourth District Appellate Court remand the hearing of a former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy charged with the July 6 murder of Sonya Massey back to the circuit court was denied by the Illinois Supreme Court.

* WCIA | Urbana brewery gives people a taste of a German Christmas: Riggs Beer Company is offering a little taste of Germany in Central Illinois. The brewery is hosting their annual German Christmas Market, where food, drink and gift vendors are ready to celebrate the holiday. People can warm up with crepes, bratwurst and hot mulled wine.

* Rockford Register Star | When is Illinois vs South Carolina bowl game? Citrus Bowl schedule, date: The Fighting Illini will play the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Eve in Orlando, Florida, game officials announced Sunday afternoon. The Illini finished the season 9-3 and are the Big Ten Conference’s highest-ranked team not in the College Football Playoff. They meet the South Carolina (9-3), who finished in a logjam at fourth place in the SEC and left out of the 12-team CFP along with other SEC teams Alabama and Ole Miss.

*** National ***

* Sun-Times | Sen. Dick Durbin will decide if he will seek another term after the first of the year: During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper asked Durbin if he has “decided if you’re going to run for reelection.” Durbin replied, “I’ll be making an announcement after the first of the year.” That’s about what Durbin has been saying for months. But now that day is soon coming.

* Fast Company | Why 2023 was the year of the e-bike and not the self-driving car: All signs indicate that a city full of e-bikes would be safer, healthier, cleaner, and less congested than one dominated by cars—no matter how they are driven. And e-bikes really are car replacers: The addition of a battery can enable even mobility-constrained cyclists to conquer hills, haul packages, or beat the heat. Better yet, families can save tens of thousands of dollars by using an e-bike in lieu of a second or third car. And lest we forget: E-bikes are fun.

* WGN | Forever chemicals tainting food supply, destroying American farmers: Maine’s PFAS threshold for drinking water is 20 parts per trillion. Nordell says their soil also tested high. He recalls the terror of that time: “We were in free fall, do we have a business? Do we have a home here?” Then they had their blood tested for forever chemicals. Nordell says his and his wife’s blood levels are higher than chemical manufacturer employees who worked in PFAS factories.