* ICYMI: We’ve raised over $35,000 to make Christmas magical for children in foster care! Click here to donate…

But with 2,530 kids to serve, we still need your help to cross the finish line.

$25 buys a gift and brings joy to a child this holiday season.

Let’s keep the momentum going—Christmas is just around the corner!

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* WTTW | Waiting for Grace: Incarcerated People Hope Pritzker Addresses More Petitions for Clemency: Zavala is one of more than 1,100 people who submitted petitions for clemency to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board in 2021 alone. He’s one of 535 that landed on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk. […] The Prisoner Review Board said just this year, Pritzker has granted only six clemency petitions. In 2023 he granted 57, and 11 in 2022. But he granted 144 in 2020 and 2021 each.

* Center Square | Illinois Senate Human Rights Committee says housing is a human right: State Sen. Mike Simmons, D-Chicago, said he called for the hearing in an effort to fight for humane, clean and well-kept residential buildings while addressing the strain of increased property taxes in Illinois, the second highest in the nation. “Housing directly impacts a person’s health, ability to thrive, and generations of families just like my own, so today we aim to address the fact that housing is a human right,” said Simmons.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Sanborn Williams Consulting | IDFPR Hosts Town Hall on New Licensing Software Launch: Secretary Mario Treto opened up the town hall meeting with a pledge to be a partner with license holders, wanting to right the debacles of the past and not just start a new chapter but write a new book on the relationship between licensees and regulators. Treto’s genuine desire to improve the licensing system has already been felt by the music therapists, who have had a direct line of communication with the Department to get every glitch fixed, even something as small as a formatting issue on a pocket-sized license printout.

* WREX | Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie has returned from the State of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Midwest Delegation: Representative McCombie sharing that following the delegation, the Illinois House’s next step is to successfully re-file a resolution in remembrance of October 7th. Adding that once passed, it’ll show as another form of strong support.

*** Statewide ***

* Covers | Revenue Plummets in Illinois Despite Record Sports Betting Handle in October: Sports betting operators’ 5.6% hold was the state’s eighth-lowest ever and down from four points year-over-year. Retail sportsbooks didn’t even produce a 4% win rate on the $36.7 million wagered in person. Mobile operators kept 5.7% of a nearly $1.41 billion handle.

* WAND | Workers prepare for Illinois minimum wage increase in the new year: “So for tipped workers you know, it goes up to $9 dollars an hour. It was set at 8 dollars and 40 cents, so it goes up to nine. And, for those child workers or those under the age of 18, it will go up to $13 dollars,” explained Jason Keller, the Assistant Director for the Illinois Department of Labor. This is the 7th and final minimum wage increase, with the first one being in January of 2020.

* Fox Chicago | Scott’s Law violations on the rise in Illinois, Dan Ryan and Eisenhower are ‘danger zones’: The Illinois State Police is urging drivers to follow Scott’s Law—commonly known as the Move-Over Law—after a troubling rise in crashes this year. With 25 crashes related to violations, 12 state troopers have been injured, and Chicagoland remains a hotspot for these dangerous incidents.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Calls for CTU transparency from principals and newly elected school board members: Angel Gutierrez, who won the race for school board in the Southwest Side’s District 8, wrote a letter to Chicago Public Schools officials last Friday asking for an explanation as to why a scheduled training for newly elected school board members this week was canceled. Gutierrez urged the current seven-member appointed board “to refrain from making significant decisions until the new board — both elected and appointed — is officially seated in five weeks.”

* Greg Hinz | Will Johnson learn from his budget fiasco?: Overall, this budget process was the bonehead amateur hour, be it initially proposing a $300 million property tax that was a deal breaker and not a conversation starter, moving to gut enforcement of the police department consent decree that is critical to achieving racial justice in Chicago, or trying to pass the budget tab to Chicago Public Schools, Springfield or the business community — anyone except Johnson’s labor allies, who suffered neither job nor pay cuts.

* WBEZ | Chicago Film Office leader out of job at city’s cultural department: Deputy Commissioner Jonah Zeiger’s departure, which was confirmed Tuesday by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, is the latest in a series of high-profile staff changes in recent months at the department. Zeiger — who often greeted the public at events like Millennium Park’s movie series and other film festivals — is at least the fourth DCASE deputy commissioner to exit since Mayor Brandon Johnson appointed Clinée Hedspeth to lead the department in March.

* Crain’s | Old Post Office owner nears deal for East Loop office tower: If a sale is completed at close to that price — no guarantee, given many buyers’ struggle to secure financing today for office purchases — it would add to the list of office building sales downtown that have financially clobbered sellers over the past couple years. The COVID-19-fueled rise of remote work has combined with elevated interest rates to hammer office property values and leave landlords with few options to pay off maturing debt. The result: a Chicago central business district riddled with buildings in foreclosure and other types of financial distress.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* ABC Chicago | Supervisor Tiffany Henyard threatens Thornton Township government shutdown: The threat of a shutdown comes as a Thornton Township meeting, for the fifth time in recent weeks, had to be canceled because of a lack of a quorum. It was the result of Trustees Carmen Carlisle and Chris Gonzalez not showing up. Their aim is to block Henyard from appointing someone who could provide tie-breaking votes to a vacant trustee position.

* Sun-Times | Sheriff Tom Dart plans to scrap decades-old electronic monitoring program over safety concerns: More than 1,500 people are in the program, including more than 100 facing charges of murder or attempted murder. Dart says he thinks the program should be for people charged with lower-level crimes. He’s negotiating with Chief Judge Timothy Evans to handle all of the county’s electronic monitoring cases after April 1.

* Naperville Sun | After decades of red, 2024 election shows DuPage County now ‘reliably blue,’ observers say: County-wide, three-term DuPage County Coroner Richard Jorgensen was unseated by Democratic challenger Judith Lukas. Democratic incumbents prevailed in their reelection bids for circuit clerk and auditor while the Democratic candidate clinched a win in the race for recorder. On the DuPage County Board, a Democratic challenger unseated her Republican predecessor, while other Democratic incumbents held onto their seats, leaving the body with 12 Democrats, six Republicans and a Democratic chair.

* Daily Herald | Des Plaines joins coalition against hate speech: Des Plaines is the latest community to join a suburban coalition against hate speech and hate crimes. The city council on Monday approved a resolution supporting the Cook County United Against Hate initiative. Championed by Cook County Commissioner Scott Britton, the organization formed nearly three years ago after antisemitic literature was left in residential driveways across northern Cook County.

* Daily Herald | Authorities: Two dozen geese sickened, killed by lead pellets in suburban parks: The volunteer managed to catch one and bring it to the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center in Glen Ellyn. X-rays determined the goose had eaten lead pellets. From Nov. 15 to Dec. 7, volunteers captured sick geese nearby. Some were found in retention ditches off North Avenue in Lombard, at North Terrace Pond in Villa Park, and some at an industrial park retention pond in Addison.

*** Downstate ***

* Herald Whig | Quincy Park Board to consider action on Frankenhoff: Following accusations from Trent Lyons made last week as his explanation for his resignation, the Quincy Park Board will hold a special meeting on Thursday to consider action against long-time Commissioner John Frankenhoff. In his statement of resignation as a Park Board commissioner and the board’s vice president, Lyons said the motivating factor in his stepping down was what he called Frankenhoff’s “history of manipulation, bullying, harassment, and abuse.”

* WCIA | Central IL volunteer fire departments facing staffing shortage issues: “The last ten years, we’ve kind of seen a trend in people not wanting to do it,” Dilley said. “The last five years, it’s become a crisis, for us at least. And I think for a lot of other departments.” He said right now they have a roster of 10 to 12 people. They’ve tried everything from recruitment videos, sending out mailers to the communities, pleading for help and brainstorming with other departments. But nothing has worked.

* WCIA | 23 Central IL nursing homes, rehab facilities fined by IDPH: Almost two dozen nursing homes and rehab facilities across Central Illinois are facing fines from the IDPH for violations of both state and federal law. The Illinois Department of Public Health recently released its quarterly report for nursing home violations throughout the state. Over 300 facilities were fined between $50,000 and $500 for violations of varying severity that were found in the third quarter of the year.

* WCIA | Southern Illinois organization temporarily closes meal centers after delays in reimbursements: The organization gets reimbursements through the Department on Aging, but in October, they never got paid and have used up their reserve funding. And when they do get payments, they say they’re often late. “Right now, it consistently runs about 60 plus days behind in funding,” Jessica Backs, the executive director of BCMW Community Services, said. “The program itself, on average is $50,000 to $60,000 a month to run, so it does take a big chunk of change to operate and run the program to ensure that we have staff, food, gas for the cars and so forth, insurance and things like that.”

* WGLT | State grant to fund sustainable park in west Bloomington: The city said the project is a step forward in Bloomington’s commitment to environmental stewardship, public education, and residential quality of life. The grant is one of 100 park projects the state is funding with $55.2 million; 29 of the grants from the Open Space Land Acquisition and Development, or OSLAD, program will go to economically distressed communities.

* WSIL | Local lawmakers team up with food pantry for free turkey giveaway: State Senator Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) and State Representative David Friess (R-Red Bud) partnered with Meridian Health Plan of Illinois and Chester Area Christian Food Pantry. On Wednesday, they handed out donated turkeys to more than 130 Randolph County residents at the food pantry’s mobile market.

* SJ-R | Possible closure of Boys & Girls Clubs programs in Springfield has families in limbo: More than one parent or grandparent has said they are heartbroken that their child’s Boys & Girls Clubs of America program could be closing because of grant funding that was not able to be renewed earlier this month. Eight programs in Springfield are scheduled to end after New Years, though money raised and matched by large donor could extend the programs to reach the end of the school year.

* WIFR | Rockford-area leaders support funding private school safety after Madison shooting: State Rep. Dave Vella (D-Rockford) attended Boylan Catholic High School years after a student shot his teacher in 1983. On Monday, a deadly shooting at a private Christian school in Madison, Wis., reminded him of his responsibility as a lawmaker: “to protect every child in my district.” That duty also raises a question to him: how can private schools stay as safe as public schools?

* WTVO | ‘The culture is shifting’ Winnebago Co. overdose deaths plummet: The nation has experienced a decline in overdose deaths, according to the CDC, and Winnebago County is no exception. Overdose deaths in Winnebago County peaked in 2022 at 166, but as 2024 starts to wind down, there have been only 63 overdose deaths. This would be a 57.7% decrease compared to last year.

* Crain’s | Marriott acquires cabins near Starved Rock as part of 2025 outdoor recreation push: Marriott International is expanding into the outdoor hospitality market through deals with Postcard Cabins and Trailborn that include the acquisition of a large network of cabins near the popular Starved Rock State Park. The two companies specialize in accommodations tailored to outdoor recreation, and the new portfolio will serve as the anchor of Marriott’s outdoor-focused collection set to launch in 2025.

*** National ***

* Tampa Bay Times | Pinellas County approves bonds to pay for new Rays stadium: “It was unsurprising to see the Commissioners acknowledge how important the Tampa Bay Rays and our stadium development agreement are to this community and its citizens,” Rays president Matt Silverman said. “As we have made clear, the County’s delay has caused the ballpark’s completion to slide into 2029. As a result, the cost of the project has increased significantly, and we cannot absorb this increase alone. When the County and City wish to engage, we remain ready to solve this funding gap together.”

* WaPo | In online drone panic, conspiracy thinking has gone mainstream: More than half of U.S. adults now get their news from social media, according to data from the Pew Research Center, and the voracious demands of the content economy often influence what’s considered newsworthy and how fast stories develop. Over the past month, as authorities have met the growing drone panic with occasional flight restrictions and scant information, online creators and communities have taken over, rushing to fill in the blanks with theories tailored to followers across the political spectrum.