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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Monday, Dec 1, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * WTVO…
* Sun-Times | Something amid the junk caught their eye, and a bidding war was on : Bigmike11 peered into the plastic tub filled with a tangle of sparkly bangles, bracelets, even someone’s military dog tags, and decided there was something in there that he must have. Ditto for Repostl1975 and 41junk72. How else to explain why these three were in a bidding war — up to $4,050 as of mid-November — for what to most people would appear to be a heap of junk? But here’s the thing: None of the bidders (Bigmike11, Repostl1975 and 41junk72 are their online names) had actually examined the thing (or things) they wanted. They’re online bidders in the State of Illinois’ Online Auction, which runs year-round. Each auction typically lasts a week, offering items as tiny as a set of earbuds or as big as a dump truck. All of it is housed in a one-story, 40,000-square-foot warehouse in Springfield, which isn’t open to the public. * Press Release | Chicago Abortion Fund Launches Statewide Visibility Campaign to Expand Awareness of Abortion Access Across Illinois: The campaign will run from mid-October through December 21, 2025, with placements across Chicago, Chicagoland, Champaign/Urbana, Bloomington, Decatur, Springfield, Ottawa, and targeted border-state digital extensions. It directs people to CAF’s secure landing page and helpline, offering immediate access to funding, logistical coordination, and confidential guidance. Total estimated impressions across Out-of-Home (OOH), digital, and audio exceed 26.6 million statewide. * Capitol City Now | Former Ameren owner settles with Illinois Attorney General on 10-year-old price-fixing allegations: According to a news release, the Illinois Attorney General’s office says Texas-based Dynegy has agreed to pay $38 million to settle allegations it manipulated the energy market back in 2015, a few years after Dynegy purchased the utility. They essentially, the AG says, manipulated the market “to overcharge electric customers by taking advantage of rules that already been deemed unjust and unreasonable.” * Illinois Times | Turner and Coffey find agreement on veto session bills: Turner, a Democrat, and Coffey, a Republican, both voted against the transit bill, explaining that the reform package to fill a funding gap for the Regional Transportation Authority in the Chicago area did little for central Illinois, though a move to fill the funding gap for the RTA felt inevitable. “The reason why I voted no is because I really felt like it was more of a bailout for Chicagoland and wasn’t going to benefit downstate,” Turner said. “There was going to be some type of legislation that was going to be passed, because just looking at what was happening in Chicago with transportation, you knew something was going to happen,” she said. * WAND | Pritzker signs bill increasing weight limit for electric, hydrogen trucks: Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law Friday to create a weight limit exemption for clean energy trucks. The change could help businesses using hydrogen and electric vehicles, but downstate lawmakers are concerned about potential road damage. The legislation calls for a 2,000-pound allowance for vehicles operated by engines fueled wholly or partially by natural gas, electric batteries, or hydrogen fuel cells. Sponsors filed the plan to help a southwest suburban company working with DHL to add hydrogen-powered trucks to their U.S. fleet. * WCSJ | Assisted Suicide Bill Passed “Out of the Blue”: 38th District State Senator Sue Rezin was in our studios recently providing the latest details about a controversial bill that passed during the fall veto session. “Two-thirty in the morning, they called the assisted suicide bill out of the blue. This bill has been assisted suicide has been talked about and come before committees for the last two years, but really hadn’t gained momentum. Well, they called the bill at two thirty in the morning. There’s a tremendous amount of pushback rightfully so from the faith based community. we didn’t support the bill. We haven’t supported the bill because we have heard from not only our constituents, but, you know, I, again, coming from the faith based community, believe that it is not the appropriate approach. The fact the bill was called at two thirty in the morning so people who oppose it could not contact us and really come out and advocate against the bill is exactly why the bill was called and passed at two thirty in the morning.” * Tribune | Who’s to blame for this year’s property tax bills? Finger-pointing and opportunism abound: This year’s bills showed Chicago homeowners’ median property tax bills jumped 16.7% over last year, according to the Cook County treasurer, while the collective bills for commercial real estate in the Loop dropped by $129 million. […] Fueling much of it is a crisis of timing: a monthslong technology snafu involving Tyler Technologies, the Texas-based vendor whose software underpins the county’s tax system. The glitch delayed the release of bills by months, landing them not in the usual quiet of midsummer but at the peak of budget negotiations and election-season maneuvering. […] The collective levies of governments inside the city of Chicago grew $528.6 million in 2024, reaching $8.87 billion, according to the treasurer’s analysis. Chicago Public Schools make up the largest part of Chicagoans’ bills. CPS increased its levy by 4.5% to nearly $4 billion earlier this year, a hike unanimously approved by the Chicago Board of Education this summer, including members aligned with the teachers union. * Sun-Times | Alternative to Mayor Johnson’s budget could entail higher trash collection fee, new package delivery fee: The plan they hope to unveil later this week would likely hold the line on property taxes, but increase the $9.50 a month garbage collection fee that has been frozen since its 2015 inception. Sources said the proposal could more than double the garbage collection fee — to roughly $20 a month — while exempting senior citizens * Block Club Chicago | Construction To Begin Soon On South Loop Data Center: Urbanize Chicago reported that a foundation permit has been issued to HydraVault to renovate a two-story building at 2538 S. Wabash Ave., where the 76,000-square-foot data center will be housed. Construction is set to begin before year’s end, according to the real estate blog. Building owner Scott Greenberg shared details of the plan at a town hall this year, telling neighbors the data center would be available to a wide range of clients, including researchers and government agencies. The facility will have a power supply of 20 megawatts and deliver up to 200 kilowatts per rack, using a hybrid liquid-and-air cooling system that operates on a closed loop, promising “scaleable usage,” per HydraVault’s website. * WTTW | Lawsuit Filed by Man Police Shot in CTA Red Line Station Set for Trial: Roman’s shooting was captured on cellphone video and was one of several instances of police violence that drew widespread attention during 2020, fueling calls for criminal justice reform that grew after a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd in May 2020. The trial, set to start Dec. 8 and last 10 days, represents a high-stakes gamble for the city, whose lawyers typically recommend settling civil cases involving actions by the police that led to criminal charges and are ruled to have violated department policy. […] Chicago taxpayers paid $1.15 million through Aug. 28 to defend the lawsuit filed by Roman, according to documents obtained by Roman’s lawyers through a Freedom of Information Act request and provided to WTTW News. * Tribune | Union Pacific says rail merger could unclog Chicago. Critics worry about costs and traffic tie-ups: Union Pacific says the $85 billion merger would serve the public interest and win federal approval by unclogging Chicago, the cradle of American railroading and still its biggest and most notorious bottleneck. But the “increased monopolistic power” of the combined railroad will drive up shipping costs and could kneecap America’s global competitiveness, according to nine Republican attorneys general in a letter last month. Shipping costs are already a pocketbook issue for everyday Chicagoans. Americans received 66 packages on average in 2024, a 78% increase over seven years, according to Capital One retail data. During this time, the average price per package dropped by just 4%. * Tribune | Judge’s unusual criticism in dropped immigration case is latest strange twist for US attorney’s office: In granting the prosecution’s motion to dismiss assault charges against Dana Briggs, U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Fuentes took the opportunity to opine more generally on the U.S. attorney’s office’s role in prosecuting a number of other immigration-related cases that have since fallen apart. In his nine-page opinion, Fuentes wrote he could not “help but note just how unusual and possibly unprecedented it is” for Chicago’s venerable U.S. attorney’s office to bring charges “so hastily” that, once more facts came out, they were unable to obtain an indictment in the grand jury or were forced to dismiss the case as not provable. * Press Release | Chicago Board of Elections Welcomes New Commissioner Laura Kotelman: The Chicago Board of Elections welcomed its new Commissioner Laura Kotelman, who was sworn in by the Office of the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County on November 26, 2025. A long-time public servant and lawyer, Commissioner Kotelman is the first Republican woman to be appointed, and for the first time in its 130-year history, the Board will be comprised of all women. * Sun-Times | 227 vehicles towed on first night of winter parking ban, frustrating unaware drivers: ‘It sucked’: The 227 tows on the first night of the ban were the lowest in four years and the second-lowest this decade. Last year, 244 cars were towed, while 263 cars were hauled away in 2023, according to the department. Those who violate the parking ban will be towed and face a minimum $150 towing fee, a $60 ticket, and a storage fee of $25 per day. Vehicles are towed to auto pounds at 10301 S. Doty Ave. or 701 N. Sacramento Ave. * Block Club | Chicago Could See 4 Inches Of Snow Monday And ‘Bitter’ Cold Through The Week: After seeing its snowiest November day ever Saturday, Chicago is expected to get 2-4 more inches of accumulation Monday, the National Weather Service’s forecast states. The agency issued a winter weather advisory from 2 p.m. through midnight. Chicagoans can expect slippery road conditions and “hazardous conditions” including reduced visibility, with high temperatures only hitting 25-30 degrees and low temperatures falling to 11-21 degrees. * ABC Chicago | New Cook County Circuit Court chief judge sworn in for first time in over 20 years: The new chief judge of the Cook County Circuit Court was installed Monday morning. The Honorable Charles S. Beach II took the oath during a ceremony inside the Chicago-Kent College of Law. He was elected in September. […] Chief Judge Beach is an eight-year veteran of the bench. He took over for former Chief Judge Tim Evans, who served eight terms since 2001. * Chicago Reader | Cook County law enforcement agencies get more money in 2026: The 2026 budget includes massive investments in digital surveillance, including millions of dollars in servers and hardware, as well as dozens of positions in digital forensics and predictive analytics. In all, more than 56 percent of the county’s general fund is earmarked for the public safety system—which encompasses the Cook County Department of Corrections, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and the various facets of the county court system. The $1.5 billion allocated for law enforcement in 2026 represents an increase of more than $300 million, or about 30 percent, from the previous year, driven mostly by personnel costs. * Aurora Beacon-News | Kane County Board shoots down chair’s pick for District 2 seat, as some members criticize selection process: Then, on Nov. 17, the full board met, and Pierog recommended Berman’s widow, Mary Berman, for the seat. At that meeting, Pierog said that other candidates under consideration were interested in running for the seat when it is up for election in 2026. She expressed concern that, with early voting beginning in just a few months for the primary election, selecting one of those candidates to fill the seat now would allow them to claim to be the incumbent. * Aurora Beacon-News | Fox Valley Park District gets $330K grant to help fund after-school program in West Aurora District 129: The Fox Valley Park District was receiving the federal funds on a three-year grant cycle, which expired in June. But uncertainty surrounding federal funding availability prompted the park district to look for other funding sources to continue on with an after-school program at West Aurora, explained Fox Valley Park District Recreation Superintendent Becky Harling. “The grant world … can be kind of fluid at times,” Harling said. “You’ll have funding one year and not the next, and trying to make sure that there’s stability within your program when you’re looking at grant funding can be a little tricky.” * Muddy River News | Pike Co. budget shows $880,328 shortfall, county chair gets no confidence vote: Tensions linger from last week’s Pike County Board meeting, which then carried over to a special meeting on Tuesday. Discrepancies emerged after a budget was passed, delaying its filing until late Thursday, with the new budget year beginning today, Dec. 1. Pike County’s projected revenue is $5,876,900. The projected expenses are $6,767,228. That’s a $880,328 shortfall. “$500,000 is debt service that we had to borrow this year to cover payroll and other operational costs,” Board Chair Reta Hoskin told Muddy River News over the weekend. “That leaves $380,328 in 2026 estimated expenses that are not covered by regular revenue sources. * Capitol News Illinois | Budzinski intervenes in local housing dispute on behalf of low-income residents: Yet, past reporting has documented HUD’s inspection process as failing to flag dangerous living conditions in federally subsidized housing. HUD has since shifted to a new set of standards for inspecting publicly subsidized housing, but full implementation of requirements to meet those standards has faced delays. Although Sangamon Towers received a satisfactory score on the inspection, HUD’s September letter to Budzinski notes deficiencies “for cockroach presence in two units and a mold-like substance in a bathroom of another unit.” Neither issue was associated with the original complaint submitted to HUD. * Illinois Times | HSHS to pay cyber attack settlement : The nonprofit health system, based in rural Sangamon County near Riverton, discovered the suspicious cyber activity “by an unauthorized third-party threat actor” on its computer network in mid- to late August 2023, according to Sangamon County Circuit Court documents. The breach caused the personal information of almost 869,000 former and current patients to be disclosed and resulted in several lawsuits to be filed against HSHS, which posts about $2.8 billion in annual revenues and operates HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield as its flagship. * AP | Federal review finds 44% of US trucking schools don’t comply with government rules: The Transportation Department said Monday that it plans to revoke the accreditation of nearly 3,000 schools unless they can comply with training requirements in the next 30 days. Another 4,000 schools are being warned they may face similar action. […] The list of schools being targeted wasn’t immediately released. * The Hill | Flying without REAL ID may cost you $45 under new TSA program: On Monday, the TSA announced it “will refer all passengers who do not present an acceptable form of ID and still want to fly an option to pay a $45 fee to use a modernized alternative identity verification system, TSA Confirm.ID.” The $45 fee would allow the traveler to use TSA Confirm.ID for 10 days. “This fee ensures the cost to cover verification of an insufficient ID will come from the traveler, not the taxpayer,” Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy Administrator for TSA Adam Stahl said in Monday’s press release. * NYT | The ‘Race Against Time’ to Save Music Legends’ Decaying Tapes: A huge portion of the world’s recorded musical heritage is stored on magnetic tape, used regularly from the 1940s into the digital age to capture musicians’ sounds in the studio. But as analog tape ages, it grows more fragile and vulnerable, posing a challenge for engineers like Pribble, 60, an audio preservation expert with the giant storage company Iron Mountain. For 15 years, he has been at the forefront of an obscure but vital industrywide effort to save old tapes — for which he employs an assortment of handmade tools and Rube Goldberg-worthy machines in a cramped workshop.
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