* Tribune…

CTA chief of staff Nora Leerhsen will become the interim president of the transit agency, taking over after Dorval Carter’s retirement at the end of January.

Leerhsen will, for now, take on leadership of an agency that has faced rampant complaints from riders in recent years, with another challenge on the horizon as a massive budget gap looms and lawmakers in Springfield prepare to debate the future of the region’s four transit agencies in a move that could have significant repercussions for the CTA’s authority. Leerhsen will be paid an annual salary of $278,703.73.

This is from Block Club’s 2023 story on how many times CTA officials used public transit…

Nora Leerhsen, chief of staff for the CTA president, did not swipe her work card in 2021 [to ride a bus or train] and then used it on five days in November and December 2022.

* The Illinois Freedom Caucus…

The Illinois General Assembly has once again wasted time and taxpayer resources to push through yet another gun bill that will most certainly not withstand a Constitutional challenge, according to members of the Illinois Freedom Caucus.

“Radical leftists are congratulating themselves for ramming through yet another gun bill, but their victory today will be a short-lived one and they know it. House Bill 4144 mandates police seizure of firearms from anyone subject to an order of protection or “red flag” order and includes ex parte orders in which there is no notification of a hearing or any due process rights. Furthermore, there are no provisions for the return of firearms should the ex parte orders be dismissed.

No one wants criminals to use firearms to commit acts of violence, but the way to stop violent acts from happening is to punish those who break the law and to increase the penalties for those who violate orders of protection. There are solutions that actually work. Unfortunately, the Democrats chose the least effective path by passing a bill that will most likely be ruled unconstitutional, proving that the priority of the radical left is not to solve problems but rather to make political statements. Illinois needs solutions and real leadership not more political slogans and activism.”

Several members of the freedom caucus boycotted the vote for minority leader.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Capitol News Illinois | While deficit looms in next year’s budget, current-year revenues remain on track: Pritzker is slated to give his budget address on Feb. 19, facing the largest projected deficit entering a spring session since 2021, when the pandemic hurt state income – though federal stimulus funds and a strong economic recovery helped erase the gap that year. Since then, the state has enjoyed more robust revenue with little need for new revenue-generating policies – until the current-year budget that passed in May with about $1 billion in new revenues through a tax hike on sportsbooks and businesses among other changes.

* Block Club | Hemp Loophole Causing Chaos In City Hall, Springfield — But Smoke Shop Owners ‘Ready To Fight’: While negotiations in Springfield stall, Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) is quickly advancing a local ordinance to not only ban the sale of “cannabinoid hemp products” but compel the city to not renew any retail tobacco licenses in a part of the Southwest Side he calls the “Midway Residential Area.” That would all but force Race to close two stores near Midway Airport this year. The ordinance is expected to be up for a vote before City Council Wednesday.

* KARE | Minnesota, Illinois attorneys general sue John Deere company alleging ‘repair monopoly’: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sued agricultural manufacturer John Deere Wednesday, alleging it has used unfair practices to drive up equipment repair costs for farmers. AG Ellison, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the Federal Trade Commission filed the lawsuit, claiming that Deere & Company practices have made it difficult for farmers and independent repair providers to repair Deere products. The lawsuit alleges this has forced farmers to rely on Deere’s dealers for repairs and pay heightened repair fees for decades.

*** Madigan Trial ***

* Tribune | Former chief counsel for Madigan’s office testifies as closer for ex-speaker’s defense team: The former top legal counsel to House Speaker Michael Madigan testified at Madigan’s corruption trial Wednesday that key legislation being pushed by ComEd and AT&T came amid a “political war” with then-Gov. Bruce Rauner and only passed after months of negotiations and compromise. … Wier Vaught also testified there was a strong vetting process to identify any potential conflicts of interest between his private legal clients and state legislation.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Johnson blasted for failing to deliver on environmental promises: Despite promising to fix city policies, Johnson has made no progress in a number of areas, all requirements laid out in a binding agreement with federal officials, the South Side groups said in a letter sent to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday. The civil rights complaint was filed with HUD in 2020 in response to the city’s multiyear involvement in moving the scrap metal operation General Iron from white, affluent Lincoln Park to East Side, a low-income Latino-majority community. The relocated metal-shredding operation was fully built at East 116th Street along the Calumet River, but the city — under pressure from community organizations and other advocates — ultimately refused to issue an operating permit. That permit denial is still being fought in court.

* WTTW | Key City Panel Advances Measure to Ban Sale of Intoxicating Hemp in 2 Southwest Side Wards: The Chicago City Council’s License and Consumer Protection Committee advanced an ordinance that would prohibit the sale of “cannabinoid hemp products” that are “capable of producing a psychoactive effect in a person who consumes it” in Ald. Marty Quinn’s 13th Ward and Ald. Silvana Tabares’ 23rd Ward. If approved by the full City Council, violations of the ordinance could trigger fines of at least $2,000 and no more than $5,000. A final vote on the measure could come at the City Council meeting scheduled for Jan. 15.

NEW: Chicago will not change it's sanctuary city law today.

Aldermen voted 39-to-11 to block an effort to allow for Chicago police to cooperate with ICE in deporting people arrested and convicted in the city. The roll call: pic.twitter.com/BdHTV0qLQ5

— Jake Sheridan (@JakeSheridan_) January 15, 2025

* Crain’s | Bally’s seeking lucrative property tax break for Chicago casino: Chicago regularly approves property tax incentives to developers, including recently inking a deal with the developers of the Southeast Side quantum campus, reducing their taxes by over $175 million for the life of the 30-year incentive. But the request from Bally’s — coming right as the company appears ready to begin construction of a permanent casino that City Hall is banking on to shore up its police and fire pensions — may rankle some in the City Council who have been skeptical of the project since it was approved in 2022.

* SCOTUS Blog | Supreme Court considers Chicago alderman’s “false statement” charges: The Supreme Court on Tuesday grappled with the case of Patrick Daley Thompson, a former Chicago alderman and member of Chicago’s most storied political dynasty. Thompson served four months in a federal prison for making false statements to bank regulators about loans he took out and did not repay. He contends that the federal law under which he was convicted does not apply to statements – like his – that are misleading but not false. But after just over 75 minutes of oral arguments, it wasn’t clear whether the justices would actually decide that legal question, or whether a majority of the justices believed that a ruling on that question would even help Thompson.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* WTIP | Cook County sells land to HRA for future Hamilton Habitat project: After several weeks of discussion and working to create a legal description, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted on Jan. 14 to convey a parcel of public land to the Cook County Housing Redevelopment Authority (HRA), earmarked for a future Hamilton Habitat project. The sale has been part of the board discussion for the past several weeks. It is located at the intersection of the Gunflint Trail and Creechville Road. While the final board of commissioner meetings of 2024 included discussion of transferring the land to the HRA, a lack of a legal description of the plot caused some delay.

* Daily Herald | Officials: Fires at Elgin homeless encampment were accidental and unrelated: The Elgin Fire Department’s investigation into the three fires, which took place Dec. 4, Dec. 12 and Jan. 11, found no evidence of suspicious activity in any of the incidents. In a press release Wednesday, the fire department said the use of heating equipment near combustible materials was a common factor in the three fires.

*** Downstate ***

* KWQC | Inquest: Dead man’s DNA found on off-duty Carroll Co. deputy’s truck: The DNA of Jackson Kradle was found underneath the vehicle of an off-duty sheriff’s deputy in July, according to testimony during a coroner’s inquest. […] In November, Carroll County Coroner Matthew Jones said Kradle died from blunt trauma to the head after he was hit by a vehicle.

* Daily Journal | Gotion buys more land around its plant: Since buying the former Kmart distribution center in Manteno in 2023, Gotion has continued to purchase land surrounding the plant at 333 S. Spruce St. is transforming the 1.5-million-square-foot facility into a lithium battery manufacturing plant.

* WMBD | Hundreds of tires popping up across Woodford and Peoria County: Amy McLaren with the Peoria County Highway Department said it’s likely more than one person who’s behind this. “If you have this many tires, it can’t be just one person. You have multiple vehicles. If we fill up our large snowplow trucks with tires, it is more than one person. It’s a larger operation that’s just trying to dispose of these.” said McLaren.

*** National ***

* Streetsblog | Alarming Report Shows that Two Auto-Braking Systems Can’t See People in Reflective Garb: The worst systems were on two popular models made by Honda and Mazda. The alarming finding by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety will likely shock millions of American pedestrians … and maybe even force change among the governmental agencies that lay the onus on them for their own safety.

* Fortune | Walgreens CEO describes drawback of anti-shoplifting strategy: ‘When you lock things up…you don’t sell as many of them’: he company plans to close approximately 450 additional stores in 2025, noting that the stores that remain open outperform the ones designated for closure by approximately 250 basis points. Wentworth also acknowledged the ongoing struggle with shrink as a “hand-to-hand combat battle.” After reporting a 52% increase in shrink, or lost inventory, in 2020 and 2021, Walgreens invested in increased security that proved to be “largely ineffective.” And while many drug stores have taken to locking up commonly looted goods, Wentworth admitted, “When you lock things up…you don’t sell as many of them. We’ve kind of proven that pretty conclusively.”

* WSIL | 140 Illinois National Guard Soldiers and Airmen to assist with Presidential Inauguration Security: Information from the Illinois National Guard Public Affairs Office detailed the Soldiers and Airmen which includes 100 Military Police Soldiers from the 933rd Military Police Company out of Fort Sheridan and about 30 Security Forces Airmen from the 183rd Wing based in Springfield, the 126th Air Refueling Wing based at Scott Air Force Base, and the 182nd Airlift Wing based in Peoria.