* Illinois Department of Employment Security…

The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in December, up +0.2 percentage point from November, and down -0.3 percentage point from the same month, one year ago, based on data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The revised November unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.4 percent.

Total nonfarm payrolls increased over-the-month in December, up +11,800 (+0.2%) to 6,159,300. The November monthly change in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report, from -9,700 to -7,800. The December payroll jobs estimate and unemployment rate reflect activity for the week including the 12th.

The industry sectors with the largest over-the-month jobs increases included: Leisure and Hospitality (+7,100), Private Education and Health Services (+4,000), and Government (+2,800). The industry sectors with the largest monthly payroll jobs decreases included: Trade, Transportation and Utilities (-3,400), Manufacturing (-2,500), and Construction (-700).

Compared to a year ago, total nonfarm payroll jobs were down -1,700 jobs. The industry groups with the largest jobs increases included: Private Education and Health Services (+17,800), Construction (+7,900) and Information (+4,500). The industry groups with the largest jobs decreases included: Trade, Transportation and Utilities (-17,600), Manufacturing (-9,300), and Professional and Business Services (-6,000). In December, total nonfarm payrolls were almost unchanged (0.0%) over-the-year in Illinois and up +0.4 percent in the nation.

*** Catching up with the Congressionals ***

* Evanston Now | Biss campaign denies he sought AIPAC support: According to a source with knowledge of AIPAC’s conversations with the candidates, AIPAC tried to reach out to Biss again in the late summer to “make a deal with Daniel” after a slow start to Fine’s campaign. But days later, Biss came out publicly with a more critical position on Israel, despite his familial ties to the country, calling for the recognition of a Palestinian state and endorsing the Block the Bombs Act, which would block offensive weapon sales to Israel.

* Jon Seidel…

NEW: Chicago's six Broadview conspiracy defendants, including Kat Abughazaleh, seek details about their indictment through a bill of particulars.

Their motion raises questions about the case and alleges their politics and criticism of Trump "are the only ties that bind them." pic.twitter.com/boZqvYf3Rx

— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) January 23, 2026

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Chicago faith leaders recount harm from immigration agents: ‘Prayers and thoughts was not going to stop ICE’: Villarreal said he asked the students, all native Spanish speakers who have immigrant parents, what was wrong. A student, with her voice shaking, replied that federal immigration agents were in her neighborhood. She didn’t know what to do if they knocked on her door, Villarreal said. “I had no clue what to answer, because prayers and thoughts were not going to be enough,” he said. “Prayers and thoughts was not going to stop ICE from knocking and pounding down their doors. Prayers and thoughts was not going to change the situation.”

* Jason Meisner…

Attorneys Jonathan Bedi and Dena Singer, who represent Juan Espinoza Martinez, say his acquittal is “an example of the power of the Jury Trial.”

“Twelve ordinary citizens stood between an overreaching government and an innocent man. They demanded proof, not politics.” pic.twitter.com/RPc8i8XR15

— Jason Meisner (@jmetr22b) January 23, 2026

* Sun-Times | 12 stunning photos of frozen Lake Michigan in Chicago’s deep freeze: Wrapped in four layers and armed with a drone, a Chicago Sun-Times photojournalist braved the brutal temps to capture delicate pancake ice swirling beneath the cold gaze of Chicago’s skyline.

* Sun-Times | Power restored to 1,500 on North Side, with another cold night ahead: Over a third of the outages were reported in West Ridge as of about 8 a.m., but power to the area has since been restored, according to ComEd’s website. A ComEd spokesperson said most of the outages weren’t related to the cold weather and that crews were on standby “around the clock.” Wind chills dropped as low as 36 degrees below zero at O’Hare Airport and 34 below zero at Midway as of 6 a.m. Friday, according to the National Weather Service. O’Hare recorded an official low of 8 degrees below zero as of the same time.

* Block Club | Commuters, Tourists — And Even A Few Swimmers — Brave Brutal Cold: But despite the conditions, Dan O’Conor, known as the Great Lake Jumper, still showed up early Friday to take a dip at Montrose Harbor. He was joined by George “Iceberg” Miller and several other brave souls.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Governors State University student scammed by caller threatening to report him to ICE: Governors State University notified students of scam that led an international student to pay $2,400 out of fear that he would be reported to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The university, through a campus notification, said the student was targeted by a caller who falsely claimed to be a member of the Governors State Department of Public Safety “and indicated that if the student did not pay a $2,400 fine immediately, he would be reported to ICE.” The student paid the fine before calling the public safety to verify the request, which the department confirmed was a scam.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Developer pitches 151-unit senior living project in St. Charles, citing demand in area: Cedarhurst Senior Living, a St. Louis-based owner and operator of senior housing communities, is looking to build a senior living development at the southwest corner of Dean Street and Peck Road, currently in an unincorporated part of St. Charles Township. The proposed project would have assisted living units and a memory care facility, as well as a number of independent living units. The project — which would be called Cedarhurst of St. Charles — is intended to meet a demand for senior housing options, said Nick Dwyer, the Director of Development for Dover Development, at the city’s Planning and Development Committee meeting on Jan. 12. Cedarhurst Senior Living is the management company for Dover.

* Crain’s | Empty suburban office space ended 2025 at new record high: The suburban office vacancy rate ended the year at a record high of 32.9%, up from 32.4% three months earlier and 32% at the end of 2024, according to real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle. The share of available workspace across the suburbs is up from 22.1% when the COVID-19 pandemic began and has now hit new all-time highs every quarter for five years.

* Evanston Now | Evanston home prices rose 5.7% in 2025: The value of midrange houses, condos and co-ops and Evanston were 5.7% higher at the end of 2025 than they were at the same point the previous year, according to data provided by Zillow. By comparison, home prices in Chicago grew 2.3%, below the 2.7% increase in the December consumer price index.

*** Downstate ***

* STLPR | Scott Air Force Base has a new job — hosting the HQ for the military’s moving company: Scott Air Force Base will soon have a new responsibility: hosting the new headquarters for the part of the military that’s responsible for being soldiers’ moving company when they are reassigned. […]The change is the result of a task force started last year to improve the relocation process, which more than 300,000 American soldiers across the globe undergo every year. Problems, including damaged furniture and poor packing, had plagued the current system, Hegseth said.

* BND | Freeburg mayor accepts plea deal on St. Clair County hunting violations: Kujawa dismissed three other charges against Speiser, including two counts of unlawful taking of a white-tailed deer with the aid of bait and one count of firearm deer hunting with the aid of bait. “There was a dismissal of three counts in exchange for a plea to one,” said Chris Allen, spokesman for State’s Attorney James Gomric. Speiser declined to comment this week, saying he didn’t want to interfere with the case of another defendant, Danny Cox, 66, his friend and neighbor, who formerly pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals and managed the Gateway Grizzlies. Cox’s next hearing is set for Feb. 17.

* WGLT | Organizers launch Peoria-based Braver Angels chapter to ‘disagree better’ and ease political tension: Bill Poorman and David Pittman are co-organizers of the West Central Illinois Braver Angels, set to launch formally next week with a purpose of giving people tools for “disagreeing better.” “The ultimate motivation is just seeing all the polarization in our politics, seeing all this division and rancor,” said Poorman, who will act as the group’s moderator. “There is another way, right? We can find ways to work across differences and to get along, so to speak.”

* WGLT | Illinois State campus to add public art installation to revived arts complex: The Illinois Arts Council and the Illinois Capital Development Board have partnered to commission an outdoor public art piece for display at the new Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts complex. It’s part of a larger push for public art in Bloomington-Normal that will now include a major opportunity on Illinois State University’s campus for an Illinois artist. In a news release, the Illinois Arts Council said artists have about 1,045 square feet of space within the Fell Arboretum, with a $195,000 budget to “utilize as they see fit and…draw inspiration from the cultural, historical and environmental contexts of ISU, the Fine Arts Complex and the Fell Arboretum.”

*** National ***

* Ken Klippenstein | ICE Making List of Anyone Who Films Them: The Department of Homeland Security has ordered immigration officers to gather identifying information about anyone filming them and to “send that information to Intel who will do a ‘work-up’ on them,” a federal law enforcement official directly involved tells me. “Meaning, trying to identify them via social media, running their license plates if available, and running a criminal history check,” the official explained.

* WaPo | ‘House burping’ is a cold reality in Germany. Americans are warming to it: Lüften, meaning “airing out” or “ventilation,” is dogma in German households. Rain or shine, hot or cold (which, in Berlin winters, can be bone-numbing), windows must be opened several times a day to exchange stale indoor air for the fresh outdoor stuff. Ventilation, of course, is part of life in much of the world. Germans, however, have codified it in an especially German way. Many apartment leases here contain a “lüften” clause, requiring tenants to open their windows multiple times a day, even - or especially - in winter. German courts have ruled that, absent specific landlord guidance, a tenant is required to open windows twice a day, morning and evening, for 10 minutes each.

* Electrek | Tesla didn’t remove the Robotaxi ‘safety monitor’ – it just moved them to a trailing car: When Musk says there’s “no safety monitor in the car,” he’s technically telling the truth, the monitor is in a different car, following right behind. But the implication that Tesla has achieved true unsupervised autonomy is misleading at best. True unsupervised autonomy means the vehicle can operate safely without any human backup ready to intervene. That’s what Waymo does, their vehicles operate genuinely alone, without chase cars, across multiple cities. They’ve accumulated over 100 million fully driverless miles.