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Isabel’s morning briefing
Thursday, Dec 4, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Illinois unveils plans to celebrate 250 years of American independence. Capitol News Illinois…
- A $300,000 investment from the Illinois Arts Council will provide $15,000 grants to 20 public art installations across the state. - Some of the focus will be on recognizing tribal histories and contributions that predate the Declaration. That effort will be led in part by commission member Dorene Wiese, a member of the White Earth Ojibwe Nation and chief executive officer of the American Indian Association of Illinois. * Related stories… Sponsored by PhRMA
* Investigate Midwest | Pesticide drift is catching schools off guard. Lawmakers want to require notice before spraying.: House Bill 1596 would require certified pesticide applicators to provide written notice, 24 to 72 hours before spraying, to private and public schools, daycares, and public parks and playgrounds within a half mile of the application site. The notification requirement would apply only to large-scale operations over five acres that use boom sprayers, tractor-mounted sprayers and airplanes to apply weed killers — not residential applications. Violators would face a $250 fine, which increases to $500 for a second violation and $1,000 for additional infractions. Bill sponsor Rep. Laura Faver Dias, a Grayslake Democrat, said the bill could change during the next legislative session, which begins in January. * Tribune | Federal funding cuts threaten Chicago Harbor Lock, one of the nation’s busiest: The harbor lock is one of the nation’s busiest for both commercial and recreational use; more than 900,000 passengers and 80,000 vessels traveled through it last year. But looming federal funding cuts have become a source of worry for boaters who rely on the lock. […] The Army Corps requested $3.85 million for the operation and maintenance of the Chicago Harbor Lock and Dam next year, Corps spokesperson Emily Helton said. But in his proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, President Donald Trump allocated under $300,000 for the harbor, leaving a shortfall of more than $3.5 million, Helton said. * Chalkbeat Chicago | Illinois State Board of Education extends timeline for public comment on school accountability overhaul: Sanders wrote in a weekly message on Tuesday that the Illinois State Board of Education will keep the current public comment window open until Jan. 7, instead of Dec. 7. There will also be opportunities for the public to weigh in on the proposal’s drafts between January and April. Under the new timeline, state board members would discuss the final plan during the March board meeting and vote on new accountability metrics in April, instead of discussing the plan in December and voting in January. * Press Release…
* Sun-Times | Illinois secretary of state bolsters REAL ID services to help residents avoid new TSA fee: State officials are partnering with Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon’s office to streamline processes to obtain birth certificates, marriage licenses and the other additional personal documents needed to get a REAL ID. Clerk’s offices will have designated cashiers for REAL ID-related requests, as well as a new appointment system. * Rep. La Shawn Ford | I survived prostate cancer. Without ACA tax credits, other Americans may not be as lucky: Black men are nearly twice as likely to die from prostate cancer as white men. In neighborhoods like Austin, Englewood, West Garfield Park and North Lawndale — where poverty, food insecurity and limited access to specialists already shorten life expectancy — this kind of policy failure isn’t just immoral. It’s lethal. I was lucky. I had insurance. I had a health care team that moved quickly. But I also had fear, and I some sleepless nights. I had to tell my daughter that I had cancer. And I had to fight — not just for my health, but for my peace of mind. No one should have to fight for access to health care on top of fighting for their life. * Crain’s | Council bloc urges Johnson not to brush off budget overhaul: A day after a bare majority of the City Council signed on to a letter outlining $441 million in potential alternatives to Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $16.6 billion budget, it’s unclear if the defiant move will force the mayor back to the table. The alternative proposal stripped out Johnson’s proposed corporate head tax, reduced borrowing costs and increased an advance pension payment through a grab bag of increased garbage, rideshare and liquor taxes and $90 million in spending cuts that the mayor has argued are not feasible in 2026. * Crain’s | Hospital CEOs warn health care safety net will begin unraveling next year: Endeavor’s O’Grady criticized OBBA, saying the legislation is anything but beautiful for hospitals. He said as emergency rooms fill with sicker, uninsured patients who have delayed care, all patients will face longer wait times and other disruptions. Hospital finances will take a hit from rising levels of charity care and bad debt, especially in Illinois where medical debt cannot damage a person’s credit rating, O’Grady noted. * Tribune | Sweeping ban on hemp products in Chicago advances in City Council: Proponents argue the proposed ban would make Chicago safer by speeding up a pending congressional prohibition on the products that get users high. But Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration has urged aldermen to rework the ordinance with narrower regulations. Hanging in the balance are dozens of small businesses like Rubina Mirza’s Ukrainian Village shop, Kizmah CBD. “This proposed ban on these products will put me out overnight and destroy all the hard work I spent with my family building a small business,” Mirza told aldermen as the meeting started in a room packed with hemp supporters. * Chalkbeat Chicago | Chicago Public Schools finds buyers for three vacant schools: The district is seeking the Chicago Board of Education’s approval at its next meeting on Dec. 18 to sell the old Bontemps Elementary in Englewood on the South Side for $75,000, the old Henson Elementary in North Lawndale on the West Side for $25,000, and the former Shedd Elementary, which last served as a satellite building for Bennett Elementary, in Roseland on the Far South Side for $25,000. All three buildings closed in 2013. The proposed sales come after CPS put 20 properties on the market in May. Stephen Stults, the district’s director of real estate, said they got bids for 12 properties. * Sun-Times | Business concerns stall plan to let Chicagoans flag crosswalk, bus and bike lane parking scofflaws: Everyday Chicagoans will have to wait for the right to use their cellphones to provide recorded evidence of bus, bike lane and crosswalk parking violations, thanks to concerns raised Wednesday by business groups. First Ward Ald. Daniel La Spata initially proposed a measure that would allow citizens to report parking violations by both commercial and passenger vehicles. * WTTW | Feds Drop Charges Against Laugh Factory Manager Accused of Assaulting Immigration Agent in Lakeview: Nathan Griffin, 24, is now the latest person to have been charged during what the federal government called “Operation Midway Blitz” in a blaze of publicity only to have prosecutors quietly dismiss the case after failing to get an indictment or determining that there was not enough evidence to go forward. Griffin was charged with one count of forcibly assaulting and interfering with a federal agent in the performance of his official duties in connection with a melee that occurred on Oct. 24, hours before a team of masked immigration agents tear gassed a crowd in Lakeview. * Sun-Times | Museum of Science and Industry workers ratify first union contract: The contract with the Hyde Park museum covers roughly 120 employees, and includes an average 8% pay raise and 3% annual increase over the next two years, according to a Wednesday statement from the Museum of Science and Industry Workers United. The contract also adds holiday pay for part-time employees, policy changes on remote work, just cause for discipline, a grievance procedure and a joint committee on paid parental leave. * Sun-Times | Killings of Black Panthers dedicated with plaque in Chicago 56 years later: It’s the latest of 12 plaques to be placed around Chicago, as well as another in Peoria, as part of the Black Panther Heritage Trail that denotes historic sites in Illinois. “We have to remember the people who stood up and gave their lives,” Nefahito said. “We see where we’re at now. … We can’t be complacent, we can’t take the liberties and rights we have for granted. We have to fight, work and be kind to each other. We always have to help others and look for opportunities to get involved.” * Press Release | CTA and Chance the Rapper Team Up to Launch New “Enjoy the Ride” Campaign: “I think this partnership is so important because I grew up taking the Red Line train from 79th,” said Chance. “All of the train lines create a pathway to connection and an opportunity for people to build community, and that’s what STAR LINE is about. It’s about us forming together to fight anything that’s going against us. This is an important time in the city for people to stand up, be brave and protective of each other.” * Crain’s | Ken Griffin’s last remaining Chicago condo lands a buyer: The last piece of Citadel chief Ken Griffin’s portfolio of Chicago condos went under contract to a buyer today, nearly two and a half years after he began selling his units in various downtown towers after moving his business empire and family to Florida. The condo, on the 67th floor of the Park Tower on North Michigan Avenue, was Griffin’s longest-held property in Chicago. He bought it in 2000, when the building was new, for $6.9 million, according to the Cook County clerk. That’s the equivalent of paying $12.98 million in 2025 dollars. * Daily Herald | Will 2026 be the year for this stalled downtown Arlington Heights apartment project?: Facing rising interest rates, difficulty in raising equity capital and higher construction costs, a developer’s plan for a six-story, 135-unit apartment building with a ground-floor restaurant in Arlington Heights remains in limbo two years after receiving zoning approvals. But Joe Taylor of Barrington-based Compasspoint Development expressed confidence that 2026 will be the year to get shovels in the ground and transform the long-vacant office building site on the edge of the village’s downtown. * Aurora Beacon-News | Geneva considering bond referendum in March for new police station, mulls vote on home rule by 2028: The possibility of selling bonds to construct new public safety facilities is not new in Geneva — the city had initially planned to put the question to voters last April, but pulled it from the ballot in January after discovering a calculation error that would have doubled the projected property tax payment. Now, the Geneva City Council is again considering a referendum — with a particular emphasis on constructing a new police station for the city. * Daily Herald | ‘Vendors, volunteers and vibes’: Why Arlington Heights Farmers Market is ranked top in the state: The competition of 1,263 farmers markets nationwide tallied more than 60,000 votes by the public.“That is really something to be proud of, because I know a lot of people enjoy it, and it doesn’t happen easy,” said Mayor Jim Tinaglia, who recognized farmers market committee members at this week’s village board meeting. “These are people who work really hard to make it happen.” * WICS | Sonya Massey’s family breaks silence following Sean Grayson’s request for new trial: Sonya Massey’s cousin, Sontae Massey, told me his family is not surprised that Grayson’s lawyers are filing for a new trial. Sontae said his family doesn’t want to make a big deal out of Grayson’s defense team trying to accomplish certain procedures at the last minute. He said Grayson is guilty and everyone saw the crime he committed through the body camera footage. Sontae said Grayson is now a convicted felon and he got the conviction he deserved. * News-Gazette | Champaign council unanimously rejects ban on public camping: The city council unanimously voted down a proposed ban on public camping after hearing two hours of public comment on the ordinance, which Cunningham Township Supervisor Danielle Chynoweth called “draconian and regressive.” Chynoweth, who also chairs the Champaign County Continuum of Service Providers to the Homeless, said that the city broke trust by not communicating with its partners in the continuum about the proposal. “This is a reactive and uncollaborative approach,” she said at Tuesday’s lengthy Champaign City Council meeting. “That may seem an unfair accusation, but I looked up how many times I have met with staff members on your senior team and a council member in the last three weeks. Seven meetings, 10 hours of meeting with your staff members, and I did not know about this till I woke up this morning.” * WGEM | SAFE-T Act, conservatism debated in race for 8th Judicial Circuit judge’s position: Over the years, Pratt has advocated for the change on the basis that it doesn’t let people without a large bank account sit in jail while only the wealthy walk free. […] Under the SAFE-T Act, judges are allowed the discretion on whether to allow a defendant in a case to be jailed or to be granted pretrial release. During a pretrial hearing, a defense attorney and a prosecutor can both make the case on why a defendant should or shouldn’t be detained. […] Bass voiced his displeasure with the SAFE-T Act. * WAND | Sangamon Co. residents voice concerns over proposed $500 million data center: “We don’t know the effect that it’s going to have on our utility bills, but we do know that everywhere these things have been built. Utility bills have gone way, not just a little,” said community member Don Hanrahan. The county is partnering with a company called CyrusOne. The project includes six data centers on one large campus, which could take six to 10 years to complete. Illinois has multiple data centers. These facilities represent more than $1.2 billion in infrastructure investment. Many people are concerned their electric bill will skyrocket, but the rural electric cooperative says rates will not increase. * PJ Star | What to know about East Peoria emergency alert system breach: The data taken from Crisis24’s systems includes people’s names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and passwords used to create their profile for CodeRED, which notifies people about emergencies such as boil orders, weather-related closures and police and fire events. The city said that the CodeRED system was immediately decommissioned, with a new platform being created through Crisis24 using backed-up data. Any resident signed up for CodeRED through March 31 was immediately transferred over to the new platform. * WAND | Free skating returns to downtown Springfield: The rink, located in Union Square Park, opens for the season on Wednesday with a special grand-opening celebration featuring historic re-enactors portraying Abraham and Mary Lincoln. The event begins Dec. 3 at 4:30 p.m. and will include ALPLM leaders and special guests. According to the ALPLM unlike traditional ice rinks, this skating surface is made of artificial material, giving visitors an ice-like experience even in above-freezing temperatures. Guests can bring their own skates or borrow a pair at Union Station at no cost. * SJ-R | Residents spent millions on these gaming machines in Springfield: 833 video gaming terminals live in Springfield, spread across 151 establishments. What establishments are most popular, and which pay out the most? Gamblers in Springfield wagered $596.4 million in 2024, according to data from the Illinois Gaming Board. The capital city wagered more than any other Illinois city in that year, winning $544.3 million. * AP | Steve Cropper, guitarist and member of Stax Records’ Booker T and the M.G.’s, has died at age 84: AP) — Steve Cropper, the lean, soulful guitarist and songwriter who helped anchor the celebrated Memphis backing band Booker T. and the M.G.’s at Stax Records and co-wrote the classics “Green Onions,” “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay” and “In the Midnight Hour,” has died. He was 84. […] Cropper’s very name was immortalized in the 1967 smash “Soul Man,” recorded by Sam & Dave. Midway, singer Sam Moore calls out “Play it, Steve!” as Cropper pulls off a tight, ringing riff, a slide sound that Cropper used a Zippo lighter to create. The exchange was reenacted in the late 1970s when Cropper joined the John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd act “The Blues Brothers” and played on their hit cover of “Soul Man.”
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