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Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, Oct 20, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: CTU’s Stacy Davis Gates elected to lead Illinois teachers union. WBEZ…
- More than 100,000 teachers, college faculty and public employees from across the state are represented by the union. - As has been the practice in the past, Davis Gates will continue leading her own local, the Chicago Teachers Union. - Even as she has faced criticism for divisive rhetoric, she said the CTU has experience bringing together people who work in vastly different schools and uniting them around common purposes. She insists she can bring that energy to the state. * Related stories… Sponsored by Ameren Illinois
* Governor Pritzker will attend a ribbon cutting at the Illinois Veterans’ Home in Quincy at 11:30 am, give remarks on Rebuild Illinois in Fairmont City at 2 pm and join the 3:30 pm grand opening of the Downstate Illinois Laborers’ District Council Building in Collinsville. Click here to watch. * Sun-Times | Trump administration threatens SNAP benefits amid government shutdown, risking 1.9 million Illinois residents: For Illinois, that would mean a loss of $350 million the state administers to recipients. “If SNAP funds are not delivered by the federal government, the State of Illinois does not have the budgetary ability to backfill these critical resources,” the state agency said in a statement. * Capitol News Illinois | Trump asks U.S. Supreme Court to allow National Guard deployment in Illinois: In a 43-page filing, the administration argued the judicial branch has no right to “second guess” a president’s judgment on national security matters or resulting military actions. “A federal district court lacks not only the authority but also the competence to wrest control of the military chain of command from the Commander in Chief,” U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer wrote. President Donald Trump’s Oct. 4 order to federalize, or take control of, 300 members of the Illinois National Guard, along with the deployment of 200 Texas guardsmen and another 16 troops from California, has been blocked since last week. U.S. District Judge April Perry issued a temporary restraining order on Oct. 9 forbidding the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard, ruling there was “no credible evidence that there is a danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois.” * Daily Herald | Amid pushback, fiscal crunch, Metra reverses course on using operating funds for capital projects: The commuter railroad had sought to shift $60 million from operating revenues to the capital side to secure matching federal grants and finance loans for urgent projects in its 2026 budget proposal. But with a looming fiscal crisis next year, the RTA objected. The timing also was fraught with the General Assembly in the midst of a veto session that could result in a financial bailout for Metra, Pace and the CTA. “We told the RTA and the legislative leadership that we will work with the Metra board to remove the transfer of $60 million from operating to capital,” Metra spokesperson Michael Gillis said Friday. * Tribune | ‘Devil’s ideology’: President Donald Trump’s darkening rhetoric escalates attacks and often targets Illinois: Rather than just suggesting Democrats and other opponents are incompetent, Trump and his supporters have increasingly cast their critics, including other elected officials, as illegitimate and even dangerous. Just in the past few weeks, they’ve described Democratic senators who continue to reject a Republican budget deal as negotiating like “terrorists” and said those attending Saturday’s nationwide anti-Trump “No Kings” rallies “hate America.” The president himself went so far as to say last week that Democrats follow “the devil’s ideology.” * WBEZ | Fewer international students are studying at some Illinois universities: Data from at least three schools — DePaul, the University of Illinois Chicago and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — show declines in international enrollment among graduate students. The resulting drops in tuition revenue are squeezing universities’ finances, and faculty say fewer international students on campus will hurt teaching and research. * Press Release | Illinois sets new record for youth deer season harvest: Illinois youth deer hunters set a new record for the season, harvesting a preliminary total of 4,714 deer Oct. 11-13. Top harvest counties include Randolph, 259; Pike, 164; Adams, 155; Jefferson, 155; and Marion, 135. Comparatively, youth hunters took 4,097 deer during the season in 2024. * WGIL | ‘Just the tip of the iceberg’: Hill Correctional Center violence fuels demand for IDOC reform: Local lawmakers, a state senate candidate, and a lodge representing correctional officers are raising concerns about a string of violent incidents at Hill Correctional Center in Galesburg and other Illinois prisons. They’re pressing for major changes in the Illinois Department of Corrections leadership to keep staff and incarcerated people safe. The situation drew widespread attention on Oct. 9 when Patrick Harlan, the “Illinois First” candidate for the 36th State Senate District, posted on Facebook about three serious incidents at Hill. Those incidents include a stabbing on Oct. 5, a hostage situation on Oct. 7, and an escape attempt the next day. * Tribune | Digging in on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget plan, which counts on short-term fixes to plug hole: Johnson wants to close a significant part of city’s $1.19 billion 2026 deficit with “revenue enhancements.” The largest is a 3 percentage point increase to the city’s existing tax on cloud-based computer services. Though the mayor framed the tax as one on big tech, the tax isn’t due by the companies themselves. “It’ll get passed along to every small business that uses cloud computing, that uses offsite data servers, all the streaming stuff,” said Justin Marlowe, director of the Center for Municipal Finance at the University of Chicago. “I think a lot of this framing will be cut through pretty quickly.” * Media Ite | ‘Unquestioned Power’: Trump Warns ‘Fake’ Dems He’ll Use Insurrection Act to Counter ICE Resistance: The president told Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo, during an interview on Sunday Morning Futures, that he would prefer not to use the act. But if politicians like Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) keep verbally and legally battling him on his mission to reduce crime and illegal immigration, he will have no choice. “Don’t forget, I can use the Insurrection Act. Fifty percent of the presidents almost have used that. And that’s unquestioned power,” Trump said. “I choose not to, I’d rather do this. But I’m met constantly by fake politicians — politicians who think, it’s not like part of the radical-left movement to have safety. These cities have to be safe.” * Sun-Times | From California to Chicago, a Border Patrol boss sparks accusations of race-based arrests: Michelle García, deputy legal director for the ACLU of Illinois, said the Border Patrol’s approach hasn’t changed since the April 29 court order in California — despite the agency’s commitment to training its agents. “It’s all the same people,” Garcia said. “They’re using the same tactics because it’s intended to scare people. It’s intended to terrorize people.” * WBEZ | To stand up to ICE agents, some Chicagoans are arming themselves with whistles: Though the whistles are just a small piece of plastic, community organizers like Teresa Magaña say they are “making a huge difference.” “In these videos, you are now seeing [ICE agents] driving away, or they don’t hang out long,” Magaña said. “And as soon as the cameras come up, the aggressiveness eases.” * Tribune | ‘Feeling the pain’: Chicago’s federal court employees to go without pay amid ongoing government shutdown: U.S. District Chief Judge Virginia Kendall told the Tribune on Friday that the announcement was “out of the blue,” but the exact date the funding would run out was unclear. “I think we have funding to make it to the end of the year as far as paying jurors,” Kendall said. Still, the ongoing shutdown, which began Oct. 1 and currently has no end in sight, prompted Kendall to announce Friday the U.S. District Courts in Chicago are now entering “Phase 2” of its shutdown operations, stopping salary payments to courthouse employees and reducing operations at the clerk’s office to only “excepted activities” such as constitutional functions. * Tribune | They were already living in one of Chicago’s worst apartment buildings. Then came the ICE raid: What the federal agents found, though, was a building as vulnerable as any in the city. A building that “is basically 7-Eleven,” said one resident, Darren Hightower, because “you can come any time you want,” in and out of unlocked entrances. Living in the building is “like being held hostage,” Hightower said. “You want to go, but you can’t go.” “It’s disgusting day after day and it seems to only get worse day after day. This is before and after the migrants, since everybody wants to blame the migrants,” he said. * WGN | Vendors seek support after ICE activity at Swap-O-Rama sparks boycott: On top of already low sales, which many vendors attribute to the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Chicago, they are now facing a growing boycott from people who believe Swap-O-Rama could have done more to stop federal agents from entering the property. […] “Don’t punish the vendors for something that’s not their fault. Instead, call for action from the management of Swap-O-Rama,” vendor Maritza Jaimes said. * The Guardian | How Chicago succeeded in reducing drug overdose deaths: Among US counties containing the nation’s 10 largest cities, Cook county, Illinois – where Chicago is located – has seen the largest reduction in overdose deaths since the national peak of the crisis in 2023, by 37%, according to an exclusive Guardian analysis. Chicago has one of the most robust drug supply surveillance and overdose prevention response systems in the nation. Jenny Hua, medical director for the Chicago department of public health, hesitated to take full credit for the progress, explaining that many factors influencing overdose deaths are beyond any one health department’s control. It’s also easier to have a coordinated response in a big city, where people and resources are concentrated. Changes to the drug supply are also affecting regions differently. * Crain’s | Bank OZK confirms JDL’s deal for Lincoln Yards parcel has closed: Chicago’s JDL Development is poised to take over the northern portion of the site after purchasing it for about $84 million from Bank OZK, which confirmed the sale in a regulatory filing today. The lender had initially issued a $128 million mortgage on the parcel in 2019 but took it over in March of this year after a series of delays and financing struggles upended the plans of Sterling Bay, the previous developer. * Block Club | Tony Fitzpatrick’s Art Is All Over Chicago. Here’s Where To Find It: Located on the exterior of the theater’s Arts and Education Center, this multi-panel piece titled “Night and Day in the Garden of All Other Ecstasies” is a tribute to Steppenwolf’s artistic director Martha Lavey, who died in 2017. Not only was Lavey a close friend of Fitzpatrick, but he had appeared in five works at the theater, said Steppenwolf Executive Director Brooke Flanagan. * Crain’s | See inside the $50 million magic venue coming to downtown Chicago: The McCormick Mansion just west of Chicago’s Magnificent Mile is being redeveloped into The Hand & The Eye in a $50 million project announced earlier this year that will turn the 1880s-era building into an array of luxe performance spaces, dining rooms, parlors and secret passageways. […] The redevelopment will preserve certain historic features of the mansion, such as its ornate carved plaster staircase and thick masonry walls that outline the original structure. The original lamps on the mansion’s facade are also being restored. * Tribune | Upset neighbors interrupt federal immigration manhunt in Mount Prospect: Two of Fisher’s three children, ages 17 and 20, were home alone when the agents were in their backyard, she said. She and her husband had come home from playing wallyball, a combination of racquetball and volleyball, when they saw the agents emerging from their yard, which is under construction. One of the agents told them that they were pursuing an individual who went into their backyard and left a jacket on their fence, Fisher said. But she said she knew the article of clothing had been there for several days. At that point, she said, she lost patience with the agents and repeatedly asked them to leave. * Sun-Times | 15 protesters arrested at Broadview ICE facility: Eleven of those arrested have been charged with misdemeanor resisting and were all detained by Illinois State Police, according to a statement by the Cook County sheriff’s office. Three others were also arrested by ISP and are charged with disobeying a police officer, while the other person was arrested by Broadview police and charged with disorderly conduct. * Daily Herald | Border Patrol agents step up enforcement efforts in Lake County with raids at car washes, nurseries: Adrian Martinez, sales manager at Elite Growers in Ingleside, said agents arrived unannounced at the commercial nursery at around 8:30 a.m. “They pulled in and one guy immediately jumped out of a vehicle and ran toward an employee, and the SUV pulled up next to a customer who was here and they immediately started questioning him,” Martinez said. * Daily Southtown | Will County prohibits use of its property for immigration enforcement staging: Under the executive order, county-owned properties under the control of the executive’s office will be prohibited from serving as staging areas for federal immigration operations such as assembling, mobilizing or deploying vehicles. This includes buildings, parking lots, vacant lots or garages under the executive’s office, the order said. Some of the county buildings under this order include the county office building in Joliet, the health department, animal protection services, the Sunny Hill Nursing Home and the Children’s Advocacy Center, among others, said Mike Theodore, spokesman for the executive’s office. The executive order does not apply to the Will County Courthouse, which is under the jurisdiction of Chief Judge Daniel Kennedy, he said. The order also does not apply to buildings the county leases. * Sun-Times | As northwest suburban strip club prepares for new liquor license push, questions swirl around video gambling: The owner of the Blackjacks gentlemen’s club near Elgin says she has no plans for video gambling devices should the establishment first secure a coveted license to sell alcohol. But critics don’t buy it, and records show the machines have proven lucrative for other local strip clubs. * Sun-Times | Archdiocese removes Waukegan priest, launches sexual misconduct investigation: The Rev. Xamie Reyes of Little Flower Parish in Waukegan is stepping away from the parish as the archdiocese, the arm of the Catholic Church for Cook and Lake counties, investigates the allegations, church officials said. Cardinal Blase Cupich, leader of the archdiocese, has appointed the Rev. Ismael Garcia, the parish’s current associate pastor, as the administrator of the parish. * Daily Southtown | Will County OKs $10 million levy for mental health grants: The $10 million allocation is a $2 million increase over last year, but it is $2 million less than the proposed $12 million that was initially requested. Teena Mackey, executive director of the Community Mental Health Board, said the board provided grants to help fund 42 programs for the 2025 to 2026 cycle, which began in April. * Daily Southtown | Mayor declares Harvey financially distressed, says city government shutdown imminent: The Illinois Financially Distressed City Law gives the state broad authority to intervene in a city’s financial affairs in order to “provide a secure financial basis for the continued operation of a financially distressed city.” The law has been invoked once before, when East St. Louis was given the designation in 1990. Harvey’s finances have been turbulent for years, and most of the meeting was taken up by a 90-minute presentation by Clark that laid the blame squarely at the feet of the previous mayor, Eric Kellogg, who led the city from 2003 to 2019. Kellogg’s administration was marked by multiple high-profile scandals, including the disappearance of millions in bond money intended for hotel construction, the diversion of water bills owed to the city of Chicago, and a yearslong strip club extortion scheme. * Daily Herald | ‘Best thing in the world’: Hundreds receive free care at Heal Elgin clinic: The clinic, held Saturday and Sunday, was operated by the Heal Elgin Project, Mission Minded Worldwide and Better Vision, Better Hope, in partnership with Judson and the City of Elgin. The first-come, first-serve event offered free medical, dental and vision care, as well as health assessments and recommendations of lifestyle choices. Hundreds of patients passed through the doors over the weekend. They received vision tests, dental X-rays, fillings and extractions, courtesy of volunteer professionals. * Daily Southtown | Banging Gavels Brews in Tinley Park lauded by state for restoring its 160-year-old home: Banging Gavel Brews, 17400 S. Oak Park Ave., was recently awarded the 2025 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Adaptive Reuse. It was one of nine recipients in the state, and the only one in the south suburbs to earn the recognition. Richert said he honestly wasn’t familiar with the honor, but as he researched more about how rare it is to win the award, especially in this area, he said he got emotional. “It’s mind boggling,” he said. “I’m very proud of this place, and I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished as a team here. It was a lot of sacrifice by a lot of people that supported us and really believed in what our vision was for this building.” * WCIA | Trial for former deputy charged with killing Sonya Massey begins Monday: Grayson has been in jail since, despite multiple hearings hoping to get him out before trial because of his health. He is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. The first-degree murder charge can carry a sentence of 20 years to life in prison. The aggravated battery charge could carry a sentence anywhere between six to 30 years, while the official misconduct charge could earn him between two to five years in prison. * Illinois Times | Sean Grayson trial to begin Oct. 20: Grayson’s attorneys wouldn’t say whether he plans to testify in his defense during the trial. If Grayson does testify, he would have to submit to cross-examination by prosecutors. After an Oct. 2 pretrial hearing on the case, community activist and Massey family friend Teresa Haley, 60, told the news media that Massey supporters and the family hope jurors use their own experiences to weigh the bodycam video. “You can watch the video,” Haley said. “A blind person can see that she didn’t throw the pot.” * WICS | Peoria County sheriff speaks out on safety plans for Sean Grayson’s trial: Peoria County Sheriff, Chris Watkins, said Peoria law enforcement has over planned for this trial. He said safety planning started back in April, when the news broke of the venue change. Sheriff Watkins said it’s always best to scale up on safety plans than to start with small plans and scramble to make adjustments. He said there will be numerous streets blocked off, including a staging area for law enforcement officers. * WGLT | After getting millions in tax breaks, Rivian now won’t say how many people work in Normal: Until recently, media outlets like WGLT could ask for and receive the number of employees working at Rivian’s Normal plant. The public watched as the number soared – from 350 people in 2020 to around 8,000 just three years later. The hiring was so fast it strained Bloomington-Normal’s housing market. Now, WGLT doesn’t know how many people work at Rivian. Neither does Normal’s mayor or others. In a recent email, a Rivian spokesperson said they would no longer provide a headcount for Normal. They also said the 8,000 figure previously given was no longer accurate. * Illinois | First data center in Sangamon County: CyrusOne, which operates more than 55 data centers across the United States, Europe and Japan – including two in the Chicago area – filed the request in recent days for a conditional permitted use in an agricultural zone at the northwest corner of Thayer and Clark roads in Talkington Township, 14 miles southwest of Springfield. Six 250,000-square-foot, one-story buildings would be constructed as part of the project. The total indoor space would be the size of 26 football fields, and the project’s footprint would be more than three times the size of Springfield’s Scheels Sports Complex at Legacy Pointe. * Illinois Times | Springfield’s Amazon hub opens: Same-day and next-day deliveries of pet food, diapers, makeup, hair gel, breakfast cereals and other common household items will be available in the Springfield area by late-October or early November with the recent opening of Amazon’s new distribution hub, a company official says. The 71,000-square-foot warehouse, so far employing 75 part-time, entry-level workers and about 25 full-time managers, began shipping packages Oct. 9 from its site at North Dirksen Parkway and Bissell Road on Springfield’s northeast side. * WGLT | ISU trustees call for campus flexibility as new budget model approaches: Less than a month ago, ISU President Aondover Tarhule highlighted continuing financial challenges the institution faces during his State of the University address. He did that again Friday at a board of trustees meeting. Trustees chair Kathryn Bohn also emphasized the new budgeting process ISU is implementing will not make challenges vanish and does nothing to create new revenue. “We understand some choices will be difficult and that compromises will be necessary, but we strongly encourage the administration and all campus constituents to remain resolutely focused on the university’s long-term fiscal resilience,” said Bohn. * AP | President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown weighs heavy on the US labor market: In a July report, researchers Wendy Edelberg and Tara Watson of the centrist Brookings Institution and Stan Veuger of the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute calculated that the loss of foreign workers will mean that monthly U.S. job growth “could be near zero or negative in the next few years.’’ * AP | State emergency officials say new rules and delays for FEMA grants put disaster response at risk: In another move that has caused uncertainty, FEMA in September drastically cut some states’ allocations from another source of funding. The $1 billion Homeland Security Grant Program is supposed to be based on assessed risks, and states pass most of the money to police and fire departments. New York received $100 million less than it expected, a 79% reduction, while Illinois saw a 69% reduction. Both states are politically controlled by Democrats. Meanwhile, some territories received unexpected windfalls, including the U.S. Virgin Islands, which got more than twice its expected allocation. * The Guardian | US tells airlines to disregard ‘X’ sex markers on passports and input ‘M’ or ‘F’: US Customs and Border Protection implemented a rule this week that will require airlines to disregard “X” sex markers on passports and input an “M” or “F” marker instead, sending those people with an “X” marker into panic. […] Passports with “X” markers should still be considered valid travel documents; the US district court of Massachusetts issued an order in June ensuring that they would remain valid after the Trump administration attempted to ban them under executive order 14168, titled Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. While the courts have continued to prevent the Trump administration from outright banning a third gender marker, this week’s rule can still serve to make the lives of trans and non-binary people more difficult, Izenson says. * NYT | Wealthy Americans Are Spending. People With Less Are Struggling: “This isn’t just an inequality story — it’s a macroeconomic story,” said Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive policy group. “As the wealthy continue to consume, that’s masking more and more insecurity and instability in the economy under the hood. The split is evident across industries. Well-to-do fliers are snapping up pricey seats in first and business class, as airlines struggle to fill the cheaper seats at the back of the plane. Credit card companies are competing to offer ever-more-expensive cards to high earners who are happy to pay the annual fees in return for exclusive perks — while lower-income households are struggling to make minimum payments on their debts.
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- H-W - Monday, Oct 20, 25 @ 8:26 am:
Capitol News Ilinois quotes the Trump Administration as saying, “protesters have thrown bottles, rocks, and tear gas at [ICE agents].”
I thought only the military and the police can purchase tear gas. Shouldn’t this say, protesters have returned tear gas canisters to their people who brought tear gas to the protests?
- Steve - Monday, Oct 20, 25 @ 9:33 am:
Stacy Davis Gates is arguably one of the greatest union leaders alive in America today. Look what she’s achieved for her members. She’s a force. Gates understands that she doesn’t represent the students or the taxpayers. If I was a government school teacher: I would want her representing me with all she’s achieved. She really is a superstar. We aren’t that many years away from many teachers retiring with a 100k a year. Having Stacy behind you is way better than investing in a 401K.
- clec dcn - Monday, Oct 20, 25 @ 9:34 am:
I still cannot believe no SNAP benefits, but it is going to happen. That will be day that might changes the minds of those funding government. In my years of handling the SMAP program people had to eat and relied on them, certainly kids. Many saw fraud and abuse which does exist but is far outweighed my hungry kids.
- clec dcn - Monday, Oct 20, 25 @ 9:43 am:
Got to proofread. Snap and by hungry kids.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Monday, Oct 20, 25 @ 10:08 am:
I get the argument for IFT to select Davis Gates. CTU wins good raises and contracts, so let’s hire the head of CTU to win the same for the rest of the state. But CTU, Davis Gates, and their involvement in Mayor Johnson’s administration is a real house of cards that could go very wrong for a lot of people. I do not think IFT would make the same decision if the public knew the truth about what is really going on there.