* The Sun-Times…

Illinois is on track to have slightly fewer people enrolled in the Affordable Care Act marketplace this year following the expiration of enhanced tax subsidies that were at the center of last year’s federal government shutdown.

On Monday, Get Covered Illinois announced it was giving residents two additional weeks to enroll in health plans, pushing back the enrollment deadline to Jan. 31 with coverage starting Feb. 1. […]

The 4% decrease in enrollment is, so far, less severe than what many experts and advocates had anticipated, especially since enrollees in Illinois were expected to see an average increase of 78% in their monthly premiums. Anywhere from 2 to 4 million people across the country were expected to become uninsured if the tax credits weren’t extended.

As of Jan. 4, Get Covered Illinois, the state-run marketplace, reported 445,335 Illinois residents had signed up for an Obamacare health insurance plan. People had to enroll in a plan by Dec. 31 so coverage could start by the first of the year.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Suburban Chicagoland | Candidate Harrell joins regional Pastors to demand “freeze and rollback” of Cook County Property Taxes: John Harrell, a candidate for the 8th Illinois House District, joined a coalition of Pastors, mostly from the region’s south and West Sides and representing minority and low-income communities to demand that Cook County officials and the Illinois Legislature “freeze and rollback” the most recent property tax hikes. The pastors said that as a result of Assessment increases just in the past year, property taxes have skyrocketed more than 150 percent, and in some cases as much as 500 percent, choking the economies of local residents and making it “difficult for them to survive and put food on their tables.”

*** Chicago ***

* WTTW | Pay Family of Man Killed Struck by Driver Being Chased by Police $22M, City Lawyers Recommend: The City Council’s Finance Committee on Wednesday is set to consider the proposed settlement, which calls for taxpayers to pay $20 million and the city’s insurance company to pay $2 million. A final vote of the City Council could come Jan. 21. Angel Eduardo Alvarez Montesinos, 25, died in the crash that ended the chase launched by Officer Michael Spilotro just after 6 p.m. June 16, 2023, records show.

* WTTW | City Lawyers: Pay $875K to 25 People Who Accused CPD Officers of Misconduct During 2020 Unrest: In all, Chicago taxpayers have already paid more than $6.8 million to resolve 59 lawsuits identified by WTTW News that were filed by Chicagoans who said they were the victims of misconduct by CPD officers during the protests and unrest, according to federal court documents and records from the Chicago Department of Law. An additional $5.1 million went to pay private lawyers to defend the conduct of CPD officers from late May until mid-August 2020, one of the most tumultuous periods in Chicago history, according to records obtained by WTTW News through a Freedom of Information Act request.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Chicago Public Schools unveils calendars for the coming two school years: A tentative calendar for the following school year is also out, with an Aug. 23 start date and June 9 end date. As in the current school year, both calendars include 176 student attendance days, four professional development days, four Teacher Institute days, four school improvement days, and two parent-teacher conference days. Also in line with this year’s calendar, students and staff will be off for the entire week of Thanksgiving. They will get a two-week winter recess and a week off for spring break in late March.

* Crain’s | Croke Fairchild bucks office downsizing trend in wake of hiring spree: A Chicago law firm that has grown quickly over the past few years with high-profile hires is expanding its workspace and moving it to a Loop office building overlooking the Chicago River. Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres has signed a lease for about 40,000 square feet on the fifth floor at 222 N. LaSalle St., the firm’s top partners confirmed. The new space will allow the practice to grow its downtown office footprint from the roughly 25,000 square feet combined it leases today and will leave behind at 180 N. LaSalle St. and 191 N. Wacker Drive.

* Block Club | Want A Cheese Grater Hat? Wait List 10,000 Deep After Bears Comeback Over Packers: Houston-based Foam Party Hats received 2,000 orders for the hats in 24 hours — with over 10,000 prospective customers also put onto a waitlist, co-owner Manuel Rojas said Sunday. The company had to put a notice on its website Sunday saying the “overwhelming viral demand” has its production plant at “full capacity.” But the operation is scaling up, Rojas said. “We’ve hired four new people today,” he said. “We started doing overtime and overnight shifts just to keep up with everything. The challenging part is that if you look on our Instagram, you can see how we make the products. These are really handmade, so it’s really difficult to scale up, especially because we all know the manufacturing process.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | One Democratic Will County Board candidate removed from ballot, another reinstated: A Will County Electoral Board ruled 2-1 Wednesday that Homer Glen resident Kevin Koukol cannot appear on the ballot for County Board District 4 after he incorrectly listed the wrong district on his statement of candidacy. He is considering appealing that decision. A Will County judge ruled Friday Bolingbrook candidate Tyler Giacalone should be reinstated to the ballot for County Board District 11 after an Electoral Board removed him last month. Eight out of the 11 County Board districts, with two representatives each, are up for election next year. Challenges have been heard during the last month to see which names will appear on the primary ballots for a chance to run in November.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora earns statewide award for fleet sustainability: The Illinois Alliance for Clean Transportation, a statewide nonprofit that promotes environmentally-friendly vehicles and cleaner air, announced that Aurora had won its 2025 Clean Transportation Leadership Award for fleet suitability at its annual program and holiday reception on Dec. 11, where the organization also gave out other awards. “We are honored to receive this award,” Aurora Superintendent of Fleet Maintenance Chris Linville said in a city news release. “We will continue to modernize our fleet, working hard to reduce emissions and support our sustainability goals.”

* Aurora Beacon-News | Some Geneva residents still pushing to save structure at old Mill Race Inn site, with demolition vote looming: In a last-minute effort to save a landmarked structure along the Fox River from being torn down, a group of Geneva residents is proposing the structure be turned into a visitor information center. On Monday evening, the Geneva City Council is expected to vote on whether the limestone structure, formerly part of the Mill Race Inn, can be demolished. Last month, the city’s Historic Preservation Commission unanimously shot down a request by Dave Patzelt, the president of Geneva-based Shodeen Group, to demolish the structure.

* Daily Southtown | Faithful gather to bid farewell to Bishop Ronald Hicks in Joliet, as he heads to New York: Joliet Diocese officials say there is no announcement for neither an interim bishop nor a replacement and said those decisions are up to the Vatican. Hicks has been Joliet’s bishop since 2020. During Hicks’ final homily as Joliet bishop, he talked about how throughout the years, he has asked people to pray for him, and he always prays for them. “I have taken that commitment seriously each and every time,” he said. “Please know that your prayers for me are one of the greatest gifts you have given to me.

*** Downstate ***

* BND | Metro-east families fear possible funding freeze could end their child care aid: If the freeze ultimately goes through and funds are not released, the effects will be far-reaching, said Janice Moenster, Brightpoint’s director of programs and operations for the southern region of the state. If families cannot pay for child care, child care businesses will close. Without accessible child care, parents may be forced to leave the workforce, causing local economies to suffer, Moenster said. She added that for some, not working is not an option, and that could lead to children being left alone or in otherwise unsafe situations.

* WMBD | Peoria Fire Department receives $3M from FEMA to hire firefighters: The grant was received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Fiscal Year 2024 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program, Sorensen said. Fire Chief Shawn Sollberger said the department is very excited about the grant and that it is a “much-needed award.” “With the SAFER grant, the City of Peoria is able to hire eleven firefighters and sufficiently staff our three aerial trucks,” he said. “Thank you to all of our federal legislators, especially Congressman Sorensen, for keeping the FEMA SAFER and AFG grant mechanisms properly funded.

* 25News Now | Tentative contract with Peoria firefighters includes higher pay, changes in residency rules: The Peoria City Council will vote Tuesday on the deal that calls for a 5% pay increase the first year, a 4% raise the second year, and a 3% pay boost the third and final year of the contract. Pay for paramedics would increase the first year by 3.5% and 4% in each of the final two years. Field training instructors would see a 4.5% increase in 2026 and a 5% hike in 2027 and again in 2028.

*** National ***

* WIRED | Right-Wing Influencers Have Flooded Minneapolis: These creators have focused much of their content on how protesters are allegedly using personal vehicles and blocking traffic to obstruct ICE operations. In one video posted on Friday, Kevin Posobiec, a creator for the far-right Human Events website, highlighted how protesters seemingly shut down traffic in downtown Minneapolis. […] Once these clips are posted to platforms like X, right-wing aggregation accounts, like End Wokeness and other influencers, including Matt Walsh from the Daily Wire, repost them to their millions of followers. These clips then become talking points across social media, sometimes making it to cable television channels where they become primary evidence in attempts to justify the Trump administration’s surge on American cities.

* NYT | E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution: The change could make it easier to repeal limits on these pollutants from coal-burning power plants, oil refineries, steel mills and other industrial facilities across the country, the emails and documents show. That would most likely lower costs for companies while resulting in dirtier air. Fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, refers to particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream. Ozone is a smog-causing gas that forms when nitrogen dioxide and volatile organic compounds are emitted from power plants, factories and vehicles and mix in the air on hot, sunny days.

* ABC | The Trevor Project receives $45M from MacKenzie Scott after federal funding cuts: In July, the Trump administration stopped providing specific support for gay, trans and gender nonconforming young people who called the 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. The Trevor Project was one of the organizations staffing that option and lost $25 million in funding, the nonprofit said. The Trevor Project continues to run an independent hotline for LGBTQ+ young people that Black said reaches about 250,000 young people annually, but they served another 250,000 callers through the 988 Press 3 option, which was tailored for LGBTQ+ young people.