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Isabel’s morning briefing
Tuesday, Dec 2, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Darren Bailey reflects on tragedy, his decision to continue gubernatorial run. NBC Chicago…
- Bailey said he plans to zero in on issues that he says will “focus on that 80% that we all agree on,” affordability, public safety and schools. - Bailey is also rethinking his criticism that “Chicago is a hellhole.” That was a frequent campaign message in 2022. Bailey concedes he had doubled down on the criticism, but he’s decided to change his message. * Related stories… Sponsored by PhRMA
* At 10:30 am Gov. Pritzker will sign a bill “bolstering vaccine access.” Click here to watch. * Tribune | Nearly 1,900 immigrants were detained during the first half of Operation Midway Blitz. Most had no criminal record: Of the 1,895 people detained by ICE, 1,271 lacked any criminal record. Another 343 people arrested had a pending criminal charge, while 281 had a criminal conviction. Of those with a criminal conviction, the vast majority of offenses were misdemeanors, traffic citations or non-violent felonies. Only 28 arrestees —1.5% — had been convicted of a violent felony or sex crime. * Sun-Times | What Northwestern accepted from the Trump administration to get back $790M in research funds: Professors interviewed by the Sun-Times disagreed that the university remains autonomous. They decried the agreement as a violation of academic freedom and free speech. “I’m disappointed that we have capitulated,” says Laura Beth Nielsen, a sociology professor. “I’m gobsmacked at the idea that anyone can say with a straight face that this isn’t an invasion into our academic freedom.” * WAND | Clean Slate Act: Bill automatically sealing nonviolent felony records awaits Pritzker’s signature: The proposal could allow felony convictions currently eligible for expungement to be automatically sealed by a circuit court judge or the Illinois State Police. State lawmakers passed legislation in 2017 to allow certain offenders with nonviolent felony convictions to apply for expungement. However, each of the state’s 102 counties have addressed the record sealing process differently. * Crain’s | With O’Hare traffic rising, city asks airlines to rethink terminal construction plans: The city of Chicago is talking with the major airlines at O’Hare International Airport about going back to the initial plan for construction of new terminals. The city originally proposed building two new satellite concourses adjacent to Terminal 1 before demolishing Terminal 2 and replacing it with a new global terminal. But the airport’s two largest carriers, United and American airlines, balked at the cost and sequence of construction. During months of tense negotiations, they pushed the city to delay building the second satellite until after the global terminal. * Tribune | More CPS students are graduating high school, but finishing college is a challenge: The overall college completion rate for CPS alumni is 48% — below the national average of 64%, according to an annual study from the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research and the To&Through Project. “Getting students into college is a great first step, but starting college and not completing is not a good outcome, for the most part,” said Alex Usher, director of data and research at the To&Through Project. “There’s definitely work to be done ahead.” * WBEZ | Roseland Hospital opens delayed sickle-cell clinic on Chicago’s South Side: Sickle cell disease is a blood disorder affecting red blood cells and causing pain and organ damage. It disproportionately affects African Americans patients. Many South Side families lack timely access to care, often relying on emergency departments during a sickle-cell pain crisis. Roseland Community Hospital primarily serves African Americans patients. * Tribune | Chicago officials ease capacity limit for Christkindlmarket; organizers say cap remains unsustainable: The city on Monday agreed to increase the event’s space restriction by nearly 1,000, bringing the amended capacity limit up to 2,500 people, according to Mark Tomkins, the president and CEO of the German American Chamber of Commerce, which runs Christkindlmarket. In a statement to the Tribune, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office said the city was working with organizers to “increase capacity in a safe and organized manner” in response to concerns raised. * WBEZ | Illinois prison artist wowed that her artwork reached Pope Leo XIV: Diaz submitted a drawing of herself as a young girl, dancing in a garden with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a butterfly resting on the other. Half of the drawing is in black and white, depicting a barbed wire fence and a prison tower. The other half is in color, showing sunshine and flowering bushes wrapping around a white picket fence. Diaz called her piece “Praising My Way to Wholeness.” * ABC Chicago | Evanston-Skokie District 65 board deadlocks again on which schools to shutter to close funding gap: There is no consensus again as District 65 school board members arrived at a tie vote Monday night on whether to close one or two additional schools at the end of this school year. That means Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies is likely the only one that will shutter next spring. Like last month, board members deadlocked when voting on competing plans to close either just Kingsley Elementary School, or to close both Kingsley and Lincolnwood elementary schools. * Daily Herald | Could goats be forest preserve district’s secret weapon against invasive plants?: Grazing isn’t an uncommon practice but would be new to the forest preserve district. It’s considered a research project to understand longer term costs and effectiveness. “We think this could be a way to provide additional management to degraded areas containing buckthorn,” and help achieve a 100-year plan objective, he said. The agreement would last four years, which matches terms of farm leases, but could be canceled or expanded depending on results. * Daily Herald | ‘I think we’ve got a hit’: Metra riders love café car idea — what’s the next step?: Surveys of riders showed 98% said they would recommend the café car to friends and family, and 94% would pay for drinks and snacks. Nearly 60% of participants said they would visit the café car one to two times a week, and 26% intended to make purchases every week. The prototype car received an average 4.6 rating out of 5 for look and design, and a 4.5 score for space and comfort. * STLPR | Carlyle names ‘temporary’ police chief amid FBI investigation: “The investigation being conducted by the FBI centers around one individual,” Smith said in a statement. “That individual has been placed on paid leave for now. “I want to make clear that the Carlyle Police Department is not, and I repeat, not under investigation,” she said. “Services provided by the police department will not be interrupted, and under new leadership the police will continue to serve the citizens of Carlyle.” * WCIA | Child advocate program expands into Ford County: The organizers behind the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program announced that they are expanding their services into Ford County starting after the new year. CASA is a nationwide organization that promotes and protects the best interests of children who have * WGLT | Normal council approves raise for Reece; hears pleas to keep College Ave. firehouse open: The Normal Town Council on Monday approved a year’s contract extension and a raise of nearly 5% for City Manager Pam Reece. The action adds $11,000 to her current salary of $226,000, effective April 1, 2025. It also increases the contribution to her retirement savings account — from $2,750 per year to $3,000 per year. The contract extends Reece’s employment by one year; it now runs through March 31, 2028. * STLPR | Alton company launches $25M fiber project to bring high-speed internet citywide: AltonWorks, which already opened a coworking space and has a number of housing efforts underway, is behind the opening of FiberNet. The service will reach 94% of the city’s residents and provide speeds up to 10 gigabits per second, the same connectivity used by Fortune 500 companies, AltonWorks said. “Today marks Alton’s entrance into the next century,” John Simmons, CEO of AltonWorks, said in a statement. “We’re not just installing cables. We’re dismantling digital barriers, unlocking innovation, and ensuring that every child, every entrepreneur, and every resident has access to the same world-class opportunities as anyone, anywhere. This network will serve Alton for the next 100 years, evolving with technology we can’t even imagine today.” * Floridian Press | DeSantis Will Call for Special Legislative Session on Congressional Redistricting: “Yeah, yeah, so we’re going to redistrict. The issue is that there is a Supreme Court decision that we are waiting on - the argument in October about Section 2 of the VRA [Voting Rights Act] that impacts Florida’s maps, so we’re going to do it next Spring,” Gov. DeSantis said. “I am going to talk to Sen. Albritton about when it makes sense to do it, but that will be done. I think we are going to be required to do it because of this court decision.” * NOTUS | The Plan to Address Expiring ACA Subsidies Is That There Is No Plan: “My assumption is that by next week, when we have to have that vote, that we might not be far enough along on the bipartisan discussions,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday. He added: “I think that the conversations are still active on a solution. Whether that originates with the White House or folks working up here remains to be seen.”
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