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The US Supreme Court agreed to decide whether federal ballots can be counted if they arrive after Election Day in a politically charged clash that will decide the fate of about 30 state laws in advance of next year’s pivotal midterm vote.

The justices said Monday they will review a federal appeals court decision invalidating a Mississippi law that lets mail ballots be counted as many as five business days after Election Day. The Republican Party is challenging the measure as being incompatible with federal law.

Illinois has a law similar to Mississippi’s and joined an amicus brief with other states urging the court to take up the case. The justices heard arguments in a separate challenge to Illinois’ mail-in voting deadline in October. That appeal deals with whether U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, a Republican from downstate Murphysboro who brought the case, has standing to challenge the law.

The rules governing mail ballots have been a recurring issue in recent elections, with Republicans generally arguing for strict deadlines and Democrats for more flexibility. The new case, likely to be resolved by July, gives the Supreme Court a chance to clear up a core legal question without the specter of a particular election hanging in the balance.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Muddy River News | State Senator Jill Tracy: ‘I’ve never seen a veto session quite like it’: “I’ve never seen a veto session quite like it,” Sen. Tracy said. “And I wasn’t alone. In talking with other colleagues and other people who have been around the statehouse a long time, we took up a lot of issues that should have been addressed in the spring session when they had longer periods of time to vet them.” Tracy thinks the massive immigration bill that passed will be struck down eventually because it usurps the federal supremacy clause.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Shell casings recovered, arrests made after shots fired at feds during chaotic scene in Little Village: Hector Gomez, 45, remains in custody accused of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, police said. Court records show he allegedly pointed a nine-millimeter gun from a black Jeep at a woman. […] Though Gomez is not charged with firing a gun, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that a man in a black Jeep fired shots at them and fled the scene as they conducted operations near 26th Street and Kedzie Avenue.

* Sun-Times | City Hall mulls deep cuts to domestic violence programs as funding dries up: The end of federal COVID money could mean a 43% reduction in city spending for domestic violence aid as fatal attacks jump. Mayor Brandon Johnson has tied future funding for programs to his proposed corporate head tax, which faces City Council opposition.

* WTTW | 2 CPD Officers Suspended for 1 Year Each After 2019 Drunken Wrigleyville Brawl, Records Show: The Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the agency charged with investigating police misconduct, urged in 2021 that both Officers Moises Diaz and Salvador Perez be fired for their actions on May 23, 2019. Former Chicago Police Supt. David Brown agreed several months later. However, Diaz and Perez challenged their terminations, and before the Chicago Police Board could decide the officers’ fate, city officials agreed to allow Diaz and Perez to serve suspensions of 365 days each, according to records published by the agency better known as COPA.

* Daily Herald | More than 440 flights canceled at O’Hare, Midway as snow flies, shutdown grinds on: Although the U.S. Senate reached a deal Sunday to end a 40-day impasse, the federal government shutdown remained in place Monday and has been a major contributor to fewer flights and frazzled passengers. Air traffic controllers are working without pay, which has resulted in more absences, officials said. “We are seeing signs of stress in the system, so we are proactively reducing the number of flights to make sure the American people continue to fly safely,” Federal Aviation Administrator Bryan Bedford said in a statement last week.

* The Triibe | Cook County Public Defender’s new community legal hub to expand legal resources for South Siders: “For too long, access to legal assistance has depended on where you live or what you can afford,” Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell, Jr., wrote in a press statement. The free sessions will be held on the first and third Wednesdays of each month from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Freedom Defense Center, located at 11437 S. Michigan Avenue. Walk-ins are welcome.

* Tribune | Scrappy entrepreneurs are setting up cafes, coffee bars and stores in the Loop. ‘A recovery has started.: More workers are venturing to the Loop several days each week, and tourists flooded the Riverwalk and other top downtown attractions over the summer, boosting confidence and making it a bit easier for small-business owners to launch new ventures, said Colleen Wagner-Caulliez, co-owner of Léa French Café, which in May opened a new location at 20 N. Michigan Ave. “We do see foot traffic is better year on year, and even week on week, so it’s going in the right direction,” she said. “Even a few years ago, I would say there was a lot more risk, because we were all still wearing masks and had no idea what was going to happen.”

* Sun-Times | Chicago’s historic Auditorium Theatre will restore original Sullivan and Adler elements, including stained glass atrium: The skylight and atrium at Chicago’s historic Auditorium Theatre will undergo a significant restoration project that aims to return key design elements to how architects Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler intended. Leaders at the 135-year-old landmark theater located at 50 E. Ida B. Wells say they plan to update the building’s iconic 108-panel stained-glass skylight and the surrounding atrium, located directly above the main balcony. “We know we’ve got our work cut out for us,” said architect Matt McNicholas, who is also an Auditorium board member. “We’re very excited about the way this is going to shock people, because it hasn’t been seen in anyone’s lifetime.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Cook County to pay $10M to 2 men wrongly convicted in 1994 slaying: The Cook County Board has approved $10 million in settlements for two wrongly convicted men who spent 23 years in prison for a 1994 slaying. Commissioners voted late last month to settle legal claims brought by Nevest Coleman and Derrell “Darryl” Fulton alleging wrongdoing by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office that led to their convictions. Each is to receive $5 million. The two men are still suing Chicago over allegations that police coerced them into false confessions and framed them in the gruesome death of Antwinica Bridgeman.

* Crain’s | Chemical maker Ineos plans more layoffs near Joliet: Chemical manufacturer Ineos is laying off another 93 workers at its plant near Joliet. The company notified the state Oct. 31 of plans to lay off the workers by the end of the year, which would bring total announced cuts to 142 jobs in about 18 months. Last year Ineos cut 49 jobs when it shut down a facility at its Channahon manufacturing complex following “a lengthy unplanned shutdown imposed by our utilities’ contractor, combined with significant uncertainty in the market upon restart.”

* Daily Southtown | Homewood and East Hazel Crest leaders want Pace buses to drive up to Wind Creek casino entrance: Many of Wind Creek’s hundreds of employees use Pace’s Route 352 bus, which runs up and down Halsted Street, to commute to work, Hofeld said. The buses stop at Halsted Street and 174th Street, not far from the casino’s main entrance. However, there’s no clear sidewalk or walking path between the stop and the entrance, which is primarily designed for cars. The stop is also immediately south of entrance and exit ramps for Interstate 80/294.

* Aurora Beacon News | Batavia experiencing growth, Mayor Jeff Schielke tells business audience: “One of the news tidbits out there is that I have been informed by the Kane County Department of Transportation that their plan to rebuild the intersection at [Route 31] Batavia Avenue and Fabyan by the Holmstad facility — the money has been reduced, so they are not going to be able to do that intersection this year,” he said. “It’s kind of a disappointment because it’s an intersection where we have a lot of accidents and it needs to be redone.”

* Daily Southtown | Dixmoor middle school football team qualifies for national championships but needs funds: The Grand Champions Elite team qualified for back-to-back championships in Las Vegas and Tampa, which Elijah said has been a dream, but coach Dwayne Tyson, said the team needs funding help to get there. Tyson said it would cost about $50,000 to take the 50 team members and some parents across the country for the two tournaments. The team has started a GoFundMe fundraiser and made a plea for support Thursday night. Tyson said for much of the team, this is their “last ride,” as they’re aging out of the league.

* Daily Herald | Metra to run holiday trains on five lines: Holiday train trips will be offered on the Metra Electric, BNSF, Milwaukee District West, Rock Island and Union Pacific Northwest lines. On the Metra Electric line, which will have two trips, the ticket will include a visit to a North Pole winter wonderland at Millennium Station, where families can enjoy treats, holiday music, face-painting, games and other activities.

*** Downstate ***

* WSIL | School bus camera upgrades lead to more tickets in Johnson County: The Johnson County State’s Attorney’s Office has reported an increase in tickets for passing stopped school buses. The Johnson County State’s Attorney’s Office said enhanced security cameras on school buses have led to a higher likelihood of identifying and charging drivers who commit this offense.

* SJ-R | Officials say they’re keeping tabs on homeless encampment in Springfield: There are about a dozen makeshift structures over three lots just off an alley separating Ninth Street from Eighth Street. Ernesto Jr., who didn’t give his last name to The State Journal-Register during a recent interview, said he and most of the residents there were part of another encampment at Fifth Street and North Grand Avenue where the city removed items in September 2024.

* WSIL | Williamson County turns potential financial woes from SAFE-T Act to generating new revenue: By securing partnerships to house federal inmates, Sheriff Diederich says he has transformed unused jail space into a revenue source following the Illinois SAFE-T Act’s impact on local jail populations. “In 2022, the jail generated only a few hundred thousand dollars annually from housing agreements,” Diederich said. “Today, that number exceeds two million dollars per year and we’re on track to top three million dollars annually by the end of 2026 based on proposed housing commitments.”

* WGLT | Bloomington artist Angel Ambrose reflects on home during 25th annual Art Walk: As downtown Bloomington’s art galleries prepare for a milestone Art Walk, one of the event’s founders unveils an exhibition that is both new, and decades in the making. Angel Ambrose first debuted Reckoning Home this summer at Foster Gallery, a division of First United Methodist Church of Peoria. A version of the exhibition is on view for a month in the Monroe Building, where Ambrose has had her studio for more than two decades. […] Ambrose is a graduate of Illinois State’s art program, studying primarily with painter Harold Gregor. A large-scale, three-dimensional work hangs above a door frame in her studio that was part of her culminating show, depicted two houses — one dark, one light — slightly distorted. Home has been a recurring theme ever since.

*** National ***

* NYT | As Low-Income Shoppers Tighten Belts Further, Businesses Worry: Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, Mr. Wright stocked his grocery store with the large birds, potatoes, stuffing and other foods for his customers in the community, about 28 miles northwest of Columbus, Ga. But with payments on hold for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and continued uncertainty around when or how much recipients may receive, Mr. Wright is anxious. As much as 45 percent of his store’s sales come from customers using the food-assistance program and he isn’t sure whether those customers will be buying a Thanksgiving meal this year.

* AP | Supreme Court rejects call to overturn its decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide: The justices, without comment, turned away an appeal from Kim Davis, the former Kentucky court clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the high court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. Davis had been trying to get the court to overturn a lower-court order for her to pay $360,000 in damages and attorney’s fees to a couple denied a marriage license.

* WSJ | Italian Pasta Is Poised to Disappear From American Grocery Shelves: Italy’s biggest pasta exporters say import and antidumping duties totaling 107% on their pasta brands will make doing business in America too costly and are preparing to pull out of U.S. stores as soon as January. The combined tariffs are among the steepest faced by any product targeted by the Trump administration.

* Crain’s | Rivian gives CEO Scaringe pay package worth up to $4.6B: Electric-vehicle maker Rivian has approved a compensation plan for CEO R.J. Scaringe that could be worth as much as $4.6 billion over the next decade — one of the largest CEO pay packages on record — if the company meets a series of aggressive growth and profitability targets, Reuters reports. The package mirrors the structure of Tesla’s closely watched award for CEO Elon Musk, tying Scaringe’s potential payout to Rivian hitting a mix of stock-price milestones and new operating income and cash-flow goals. Under the plan, Scaringe could exercise options to purchase up to 36.5 million shares at $15.22 each, vesting only if Rivian’s stock rises to between $40 and $140 a share and the automaker delivers sustained profitability.