* ICYMI: Judge dismisses Chicago-area use-of-force lawsuit at plaintiffs’ request. Sun-Times…

- U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis tossed the case without prejudice after the plaintiffs moved to dismiss the lawsuit last month in a seemingly strategic move.
- The case was brought last fall by protesters, clergy and members of the media. It culminated in November with Ellis’ historic order that restricted the feds’ use of tear gas, chokeholds and other uses of force during President Donald Trump administration’s deportation campaign in Chicago called Operation Midway Blitz.
- During Thursday’s brief hearing, Ellis decertified the class governed by that preliminary injunction since the order is no longer in effect.

* Related stories…

• CNI: 1st Operation Midway Blitz-related trial ends in acquittal after other cases fell apart
• Courthouse News Service: Protesters’ case against Operation Midway Blitz in Illinois stalls

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*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Tribune | Illinois ramping up REAL ID campaign before TSA’s $45 fines begin Feb. 1: The Illinois secretary of state’s office will have its REAL ID supercenter in downtown Chicago at 191 N. Clark St. open for the next two Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to make it easier to obtain the identification before the Transportation Security Administration’s planned $45 fine for all air travelers without one goes into effect. In addition, in partnership with the secretary of state’s office, the Cook County clerk’s office will extend its Saturday hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to help Illinoisans get the documents they need to obtain a REAL ID, such as marriage or birth certificates. People can walk in or schedule appointments online with the clerk’s vital records office in downtown Chicago at 118 N. Clark St.

* Crain’s | Latest federal funding threat targets Illinois’ abortion referral law: The move is the latest in a series of funding threats from the Trump administration against Illinois, which along with other states has faced pressure from federal offices over issues from transgender care for minors to diversity, equity and inclusion policies and abortion rights, including threats to end Medicaid payments for non-abortion services to Planned Parenthood organizations. Yesterday’s action follows lawsuits challenging mandated physician referral for reproductive health services that include abortion, regardless of a provider’s conscientious objection to abortion.

* Tribune | State finds nearly $500 million in budget reserves amid federal funding uncertainty: Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration on Thursday announced it has identified nearly $500 million it will keep in budget reserves following the governor’s request last year that state agencies identify 4% of their budgets to hold back amid federal budget uncertainty. […] The governor’s fall executive order essentially codified his lack of confidence in Illinois’ ability to come out unscathed from Trump’s funding cuts and economic policies. The order applied to agencies that operate only under the governor and not the attorney general, secretary of state or other branches of government.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Post Tribune | Bill aimed at attracting Chicago Bears to Indiana passes committee: The bill offers a financial framework “that Illinois simply cannot match,” according to the press release. The bill “creates a pathway for the team to control its own destiny without the prohibitive tax burdens and stalled infrastructure talks currently seen in Illinois,” according to the release.

* Axios | Pritzker, Gallego head to Nevada: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego will headline a Democratic Party event in Nevada on Feb. 1 to celebrate the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), a person familiar with the matter told Axios. […] The Illinois governor donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to back a successful 2024 [Nevada] ballot measure in the state as part of an effort to protect abortion rights.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Bally’s shooting for end-of-year opening for permanent casino in River West: A bill now pending in Springfield would extend Bally’s license to operate a tempoary casino at Medinah Temple until September 2027. But the Bally’s team assured City Council members Thursday that the mega-casino is “on track to speed through completion,” and that they have no intention of needing or using the entire one-year extension.

* Sun-Times | Chicago gets its first-ever LGBTQ+ affairs director, Antonio King: King was the first gay Black man ever to serve as LGBTQ+ health & outreach liaison for the Chicago Department of Public Health. Now he’ll help develop a policy plan to strengthen protections and opportunities for LGBTQ+ Chicagoans.

* Block Club | Chicago Crossing Guard Carries Students To Safety In Frigid Temps After Water Main Break: While WGN’s chopper was overhead filming the water main break’s aftermath, its camera also caught Joe Sass, longtime Jamieson Elementary school crossing guard, helping a student across the flooded street. […] Some of the children get to Jamieson pretty early, and once he realized they’d have to navigate the flooded street, Sass decided to help some kids by carrying them across the urban river on his back, he said.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Postponed: Public hearing for data center in Lisle delayed due to large turnout: The village’s planning and zoning commission decided to postpone a Wednesday night hearing due to the size of the crowd. More than 300 residents showed up for the 7 p.m. meeting, exceeding the 250-person capacity in the village board chambers and an overflow room set up for the meeting, Mayor Mary Jo Mullen said. Cloud Centers LLC is proposing a 256,000-square-foot, 50-megawatt data center on the shuttered Lockformer property at 711 Ogden Ave. The 18-acre parcel on the south side of Odgen has sat vacant for more than 20 years. The Lockformer property was the center of a firestorm after a toxic chemical used in the plant had leaked into the drinking water.

* Tribune | Naperville D203 wants state OK to increase driver’s ed fee to $500 max: The D203 School Board this week approved the waiver request that would allow the district to charge up to $500 for driver’s education for the 2027 to 2031 school years. School districts are allowed to charge $250 under state rules, and anything beyond that amount must be submitted to the state school board for approval. […] In 2024-25, it cost the district $537,549 to run the program for 682 students but only received $279,500 in revenue through student fees and state funds, district documents said.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Responding to resident concerns, St. Charles makes immigration enforcement proclamation: ‘Of course we care’: Following requests from residents to address the federal immigration crackdown happening in Chicago and its suburbs in recent months, St. Charles Mayor Clint Hull and the City Council responded with a proclamation at its meeting on Tuesday. The proclamation comes months into President Donald Trump’s administration’s immigration crackdown in Chicago, dubbed Operation Midway Blitz. Thousands were detained across Chicago and its suburbs — most of whom had no known criminal record — and fear and uncertainty have permeated work, school, Halloween celebrations and more.

* Evanston RoundTable | Emotions run high at first closure hearing for Kingsley Elementary: The first closure hearing for Kingsley Elementary on Wednesday was less than an hour long, but things got tense, resulting in an Evanston man being escorted from the meeting room during public comment.
The district is considering school closures because it needs to cut $10 million to $15 million to eliminate its structural deficit by fiscal year 2030 after running budget deficits for several straight years. Marc Bear, who identified himself as a former Kingsley parent, criticized board members Sergio Hernandez and Mya Wilkins, whose time on the board overlapped with former Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Superintendent Devon Horton.

* Sun-Times | In Kane County’s first bison herd, a chance for Native Americans to reclaim what’s lost: When Jay Young, a Citizen Potawatomi and co-executive director of American Indian Center of Chicago, heard about a chance to bring the bison back to the Midwest, he was intrigued but a little mystified. The Forest Preserve District of Kane County was seeking a partner for a prairie restoration project and was running out of time; it had promised residents that the herd would be in place for spring 2026, and a first candidate had fallen through. Young scrolled through the email for the deadline. “We’re a little nonprofit organization,” Young recalled thinking. “We’re not a tribe, we don’t have any land. What are we going to do with bison? That’s crazy. We live in the city.”

*** Downstate ***

* Crain’s | With new leader, U of I stakes out bold AI mission for Discovery Partners: The research institute — which aims to give downstate faculty, researchers and students a presence in Chicago — will focus on artificial intelligence and quantum computing. “We think the focus should be the future of computing, and the future of computing is AI and quantum,” said Rashid Bashir, dean of the Grainger College of Engineering at UIUC and vice chancellor Chicago partnerships. “To advance quantum you need advances in AI.”

* Shaw Local | Manteno rejects request for Gotion to file form on foreign investment: After a brief presentation by Gotion representatives during public comment and discussion among Manteno trustees, the board voted 3-2 against requesting that Gotion submit the form, which would have been voluntary. After the meeting, Manteno Mayor Annette LaMore said she was disappointed in the vote to not ask for the filing. “It’s not even mandatory, so even if we ask them to do it, they don’t have to do it,” she said. “It’s something that you have to be willing to do. But it would certainly show good faith if they said, ‘Yeah, we’ll be glad to fill that out.’

* WCIA | USPS changes could impact vote by mail; Vermilion Co. Clerk encourages early voting: Robyn Heffern said in late 2025, the USPS updated its postmark system. The postmark date will no longer be the date the item is placed in the mail; instead, the postmarks reflect the date mail is processed at a postal facility. Heffern added that ballots may receive a later postmark date than expected because of mail processing delays.

* WCIA | Central Illinois warming shelters open as extreme temperatures approach: In Hoopeston, the mayor said City Hall will open up its chamber as an unmanned warming center through the weekend. At Danville’s City Council meeting Tuesday, the city said it won’t open a city-sponsored emergency warming shelter because it simply wasn’t used enough in past years. But, there are several options in the city and county. One of them is The Dwelling Place, open Mondays and Fridays during the day.

* WSIL | Pinckneyville Community Hospital Ranked Among Nation’s Fastest Emergency Departments: Using 2024 data, the hospital achieved a median emergency department length of stay of just 56 minutes, placing it among the top 10 hospitals nationwide for emergency department efficiency. The performance is well below the national average of 161 minutes. Hospital leaders say the recognition reflects a sustained commitment to continuous improvement and patient-centered care. By identifying opportunities to streamline processes and eliminate unnecessary delays, Pinckneyville Community Hospital has improved efficiency while maintaining high standards of quality, safety, and personalized attention for patients.

*** National ***

* WaPo | The abhorrent power of the photograph of a 5-year-old held by ICE: School officials in Minnesota say that the prekindergarten student was used “as bait” by ICE, in an apparent attempt to gain access to the adults inside the private house where he once lived. That act, the use of a boy too young to understand the political game in which he became a pawn, mirrors in a perverse and deeply disturbing way the power of the photograph. The photograph stirs empathy and compassion, the same emotions that ICE agents apparently used to entice adults into making themselves vulnerable to capture.