* ICYMI: Local leaders hope to keep Bears in state. The Daily Herald…

- Preckwinkle brokered a meeting last Friday attended by representatives of the Bears, state, county and city of Chicago to again pitch the team on redevelopment of the former Michael Reese Hospital site in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. “Not a word” was mentioned about Indiana, she said.
- The Bears previously rejected the 48.6-acre hospital site as too small, as well as due to security concerns because train lines run through the property. But after team officials saw conceptual renderings showing a stadium that would “fit comfortably,” they committed to walking the site with the local alderman and potential developer, Preckwinkle said.
- “So, how we got from that willingness to walk the site and explore its potential to (the) letter (from Warren) … is unfathomable to me,” she said.

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*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois Accountability Commission hears testimony about excessive force by ICE agents. Felt like a ‘war zone’: Castillo said commission staff had already been busy reviewing evidence and vowed they would investigate “every single” allegation of abuse by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents. Though it does not have the legal power to compel testimony or prosecute cases itself, the commission may recommend prosecution of agents accused of misconduct. In January, the commission will open a portal where the public can submit information for review. The commission is required to issue a public status update by the end of January and a final report by the end of April.

* Crain’s | Last year, Illinois hospitals looked forward to calmer financial waters. Then 2025 happened: Strata found hospital and health system operating margins remain thin, and disparities are widening in financial performance metrics between large and small health systems. While nationwide median health system operating margins have held near 1% throughout 2025, smaller and rural hospitals — and those treating the sickest patients — face the steepest financial strain.

* The Block | Coinbase sues Michigan, Illinois and Connecticut over prediction market oversight: Today, Coinbase filed lawsuits in CT, MI, and IL to confirm what is clear: prediction markets fall squarely under the jurisdiction of the CFTC, not any individual state gaming regulator (let alone 50),” Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said in a Thursday post on X. “State efforts to control or outright block these markets stifle innovation and violate the law.” Coinbase called for declaratory and injunctive relief in its filing in Illinois, saying that state intervention would cause it to suffer “immediate and irreparable” harm.

*** Statewide ***

* PJ Star | Ameren Illinois rate hike request cut by $11 million: The ICC said that $11.2 million had been cut from Ameren’s $59.6 million electric rate hike request made earlier this year, the first in a performance-based evaluation process that reconciles what a company is spending on utilities with what was agreed upon with the ICC in multi-year grid and rate plans. The cut is slightly larger than the $9.8 million cut recommended by regulatory judges.

* NBC Chicago | Menards to pay $4.25M to Illinois, other states after suit claims the retailer deceived customers on discounts: Illinois is set to receive a chunk of a major, multi-million dollar settlement against popular home improvement chain Menards, with the suit claiming the retailer made misleading and deceptive claims about how much money customers could save. A Wednesday announcement from Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office says the program, which claimed “11% off,” falsely advertised a point-of-purchase discount for customers when it actually only offered an in-store credit for future sales.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Justice Department sues for access to Illinois voter rolls: The Justice Department has been seeking that information since July, but the Illinois State Board of Elections so far has declined to hand over the information, citing both state and federal privacy laws that it says prohibit it from handing over such information. Instead, in August, the agency gave DOJ a copy of the same database it makes available under state law to political parties and candidates. That file includes voters’ names, addresses and their age at the time they registered, but not their date of birth, driver’s license, state ID or Social Security number.

* The Telegraph | Illinois bill would let people with past convictions run for office: The proposal from an Illinois House bill filed earlier this year is being somewhat resurrected in Illinois House bill pitched Dec. 16. Democratic state Rep. Rita Mayfield has filed Illinois House Bill 4236, which would amend the Unified Code of Corrections and allows individuals who have been previously convicted to run for, be nominated for and hold elected office. The bill stipulates individuals may do so after serving their time incarcerated, on parole or mandatory supervised release.

* Tribune | New Trump administration proposals could further reduce gender-affirming care for minors in Illinois: The specter of losing federal funding already drove some Chicago-area hospital systems to scale back on their gender-affirming care for minors. Medicare and Medicaid are huge sources of funding for most hospitals. UChicago Medicine stopped providing gender-affirming pediatric care this summer, and Advocate Health Care said in August it would no longer provider gender-affirming medications to patients younger than 19. A few Chicago-area hospital systems, however, have held out. Lurie Children’s Hospital and UI Health halted gender-affirming surgeries for minors earlier this year but continued providing other types of gender-affirming care. Rush University System for Health stopped offering hormonal care to new patients under the age of 18 this summer.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Under CTA ’security surge plan,’ more officers to be on trains, platforms and buses: Private security canine staffing will also increase from an average of 172 canine security guards per day to 188. Under the Voluntary Special Employment Program, CPD officers sign up to patrol the CTA on their days off. It supplements CPD’s Public Transportation Section and district police officers. CTA also has similar programs for additional police resources with the suburbs of Forest Park, Oak Park and Evanston.

* Sun-Times | RTA board OKs its final Chicago area transit budgets: Dillard said he’s been peppered with questions about why the State/Lake station is taking three years to build. The Chicago Department of Transportation, which is leading the project, won’t publicly say why. Dillard said there are a host of reasons for the length of the State/Lake project, including the adjacent hotels and construction hours being limited to the daytime. There’s also the national problem of rising construction costs and bottlenecks in the manufacturing supply and construction workforce, he said.

* WGN | O’Hare on track to reclaim “World’s Busiest Airport” title: O’Hare has been battling against Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for the title. This year, O’Hare recorded an average of 2,318 daily flights, compared to 2,190 in Atlanta, according to AirNav Radar. Chicago lost its title as home of the world’s busiest airport years ago and was even dethroned as ‘America’s busiest’ in 2005. In June, WGN Investigates reported FAA data showed O’Hare had surpassed Atlanta in the first five months of this year.

* Sun-Times | CPS picks buyers for 3 closed schools, including mom of slain officer Aréanah Preston: The proposals for the three schools still have to be approved by either the City Council or the Public Building Commission, depending on which entity holds the title, before the deal is finalized. But new owners can struggle to develop the sites. Some properties sold before the pandemic still sit empty. The district said it periodically reviews sold properties to monitor their progress.

* CBS Chicago | Some Chicago area hospitals at risk for significant flooding that could impact patient care, new models show: A monthslong KFF Health News Investigation analyzed new flood risk data provided by Fathom, a company considered a leader in flood simulation. The analysis identified 171 hospitals in the United States facing the great risk of significant or dangerous flooding in a 100-year flood. A few of those hospitals are located in the Chicago area, in Illinois and Indiana. Each one is predicted to face from one or two feet up to several feet of water in a 100-year flood.

* WBEZ | In Austin, Black mentors are making college possible: In Austin, where the two men grew up and live, just 1 out of 4 Black men who go to college graduate within six years, according to data from the University of Chicago To&Through Project. That rate has not budged for a decade and is slightly below the citywide rate for Black men. The racial disparity is stark: Nearly 3 in 4 white men in Chicago finish their degrees in that time.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | 2 claims dismissed in Orland Park lawsuit against former Mayor Keith Pekau: Judge Kate Moreland dismissed the village’s requests Dec. 12 to limit Pekau’s speech in relation to confidential documents the village claims Pekau brought with him after he lost his bid for reelection to Mayor Jim Dodge, and left office in May. She also struck the village’s request for injunctive relief. Moreland in August granted the village a temporary restraining order barring Pekau from publishing “future statements disclosing the village’s attorney-client privileged communications and confidential non-public information contained in village personnel files,” and ordering he remove any publications of such information.

* Daily Herald | ‘A good thing for people’: Palatine Township levies first tax for community mental health board: This levy is a thoughtful first step toward filling critical service gaps and ensuring our township is a healthier, more supportive place for everyone,” Trustee Natalie Sahinoglu said. The mental health levy is part of Palatine Township’s overall 2026 tax levy totaling $5.9 million, which also includes the town fund, general assistance and the road district. “Getting the full tax levy is huge news for Palatine Township,” said Justin O’Rourke, one of those who drove the citizen-backed petition for the mental health board ballot question. “I’m optimistic that this is going to be a good thing for people. There is no way it can’t be.”

* Daily Herald | Elgin council meeting paused twice following interruptions from residents frustrated with federal immigration enforcement tactics: The first brief stoppage occurred at the start of the 7 p.m. meeting. The second, which lasted more than 45 minutes, followed a series of passionate and at times vitriolic public comments. A half-dozen people spoke not only to condemn the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a recent action on the 1600 block of Maple Lane on Dec. 6. The speakers also criticized what they perceived to be a lack of support from the city and its police department. Angel Manuel Martinez said he suffered a fractured rib when multiple ICE agents took him to the ground while he and others protested the arrest of Luis Jesus Acosta Gutierrez.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Boys & Girls Clubs of Central IL will reopen after-school programs: The programs will serve students at Black Hawk Elementary School, Dubois Elementary School, and Ridgely Elementary School, beginning Jan. 12. BGCCIL said the expansion funding comes from Springfield Public School District 186, and will come at no cost to the families.

* WGLT | Bloomington residents and officials respond to new proactive property maintenance violation policy: In an effort to improve the city’s property values and reduce neighborhood blight, the City of Bloomington is moving to a proactive approach to property maintenance enforcement. It shifts away from the prior policy where city inspectors operated off complaints from residents. Cordaryl Patrick, the city’s community impact and enhancement director, told the city council last week the new policy was not about writing citations or punishing residents. “As a department, we don’t write citations to begin with. We don’t write any citations for violations. In fact, what we write is a compliance letter and give residents at least seven days to comply with the city rules,” he said, noting his department has seven inspectors covering Bloomington’s nine wards.

* WCBU | Tazewell County Board rejects plan to give townships $1K for America 250 historic markers: The county board’s Historical Preservation Ad-Hoc Committee recommended giving each of Tazewell’s 19 townships $1,000 to purchase a historic marker, if the township applied for one. The plan as part of the nationwide America 250 celebration was not received well at the board’s monthly meeting Wednesday, as members sent it back to the ad-hoc committee for further discussion. “This is too vague for me,” said Nancy Proehl. “Frivolous,” is what Greg Sinn called it.

*** National ***

* Rolling Stone | Minnesota Speaker Melissa Hortman’s Family and Friends on Her Life and Death: During a testy policy debate, an angry Walz tells the press corps that the House is acting like spoiled children. Within minutes, Hortman gets Walz on the phone and he receives a slap-down. “You need to be specific who you are talking about, not group us all together,” Hortman tells Walz. “Ms. Speaker, I apologize. I should have been more specific,” Walz says. Walz issues a public apology the same day.

* Front Office Sports | WNBA Players Authorize Strike in Near-Unanimous Vote: “Time and again, the players’ thoughtful and reasonable approach has been met by the WNBA and its teams with a resistance to change and a recommitment to the draconian provisions that have unfairly restricted players for nearly three decades,” the WNBPA said in a statement. “The players’ vote is neither a call for an immediate strike nor an intention to pursue one. Rather, it is an emphatic affirmation of the players’ confidence in their leadership and their unwavering solidarity against ongoing efforts to divide, conquer, and undervalue them.”

* AP | US says price increases eased last month but data may be distorted and Americans aren’t feeling it: But economists quickly warned that that last month’s numbers were suspect because they’d been delayed and likely distorted by the 43-day federal shutdown. And most Americans have not felt any let up in the high prices they are paying for food, insurance, utilities and other basic necessities. The Labor Department reported Thursday that its consumer price index rose 2.7% in November from a year earlier. Yet, year-over-year inflation remains well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Americans, dismayed by high prices, handed big victories to Democrats in local and state elections last month.