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Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, Jan 26, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: llinois soybean harvest profits down from inflation, trade wars. Journal Courier…
- Part of the issue stemmed from soybean prices staying relatively the same from where they were in 2024, he said. Input costs, however, were the primary culprit, having been driven up by inflation, just like other consumer items, he said. - As for international trade, Holst surmised that China might buy from Illinois farmers more than 50% of all soybeans it buys from the U.S. If a farmer in the state could not sell overseas anymore, it would be impossible for them to make up that lost revenue by selling exclusively in the U.S., he said. * Related stories… Sponsored by the Association of Safety-Net Community Hospitals: Our Healthcare Backbone At Risk. Safety-net hospitals are the backbone of Chicago’s Black and Brown communities. They provide emergency and lifesaving care for families who rely on them. They also support thousands of good, local healthcare jobs, serving as economic anchors in neighborhoods that have faced decades of disinvestment. With federal support being reduced, safetynet hospitals need more resources – not less – to avoid further strain that could irreversibly damage local health systems and weaken the essential services our communities rely on. Now, these hospitals are under threat. This is not reform. It is a sell-off of community healthcare, driven by outsiders – not by the needs of patients, workers, or neighborhoods. Save safety-net hospitals. Protect our care, our jobs, and our communities. * Tribune | Judge rules Trump administration must keep funding child care subsidies in 5 states for now, including Illinois: The ruling Friday from U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick extends by two weeks a temporary one issued earlier this month that blocked the federal government from holding back the money from California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York. The initial temporary restraining order was to expire Friday. Broderick said Friday that he would decide later whether the money is to remain in place while a challenge to cutting it off works its way through the courts. * Tribune | Where will Barack Obama’s chairs from the Illinois Senate go? Not his presidential center: But those aspirations are being dashed at the moment as officials at the Obama Presidential Center, now just months from opening in Chicago, say they aren’t interested in adding the duo to their collection. The center currently has “no plans to include the chairs in our exhibit,” Obama Foundation spokesperson Erin Elzo said recently. The result: Illinois remains the proud owner of two historically verified, Obama-era chairs with nowhere obvious to go. * Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson calls to abolish ICE after Minneapolis shooting as Gov. JB Pritzker urges funding halt: Several Democrats, such as U.S. Rep. Delia Ramírez and Juliana Stratton, Pritzker’s lieutenant governor and a candidate for U.S. Senate, as well as several congressional candidates, have also endorsed the “Abolish ICE” movement. Pritzker, a possible 2028 presidential contender, has not yet gone that far. “We must put a stop to Trump’s ICE,” Pritzker wrote on X. “Stop the funding, stop the occupations, stop the killings.” * WBEZ | Gov. Pritzker pushes back at State Farm in escalating fight for tighter insurance regulations: Gov. JB Pritzker ratcheted up the heat Friday against a top Illinois insurance executive, aiming to correct what he called “factual inaccuracies” in the CEO’s staunch opposition to tighter state oversight of the industry. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company chief executive officer Jon Farney wrote Pritzker on Wednesday to push against legislation aimed at reining in insurance premium hikes — a measure Farney said would “destroy Illinois’ current healthy insurance market.” * WCIA | Gubernatorial Republican candidates stop in Central Illinois as part of tour: “To communicate and let people know that I am one of them, I think is very valuable,” Bailey said. “And I think many times after these meetings; that’s definitely the feedback that we get.” “We’ve had so much fun meeting and greeting with people from all over the state. It’s been exhilarating,” Del Mar said. “You go through a long day, and you expect to be tired at the end of it, but every time you get a great room, just like we had here, it just pumps you up. And I think our message has really resonated with a ton of people.” * Shaw Local | ‘United front’: GOP governor hopefuls pledge unity: * Daily Herald | As fatal pedestrian crashes rise, state task force aims for zero deaths: One key idea is making it easier for municipalities to lower speeds on state roads, instead of having to navigate a lengthy bureaucratic process. Crashes have multiple causes, but “by far and away, it’s speed that is the biggest contributor to pedestrian deaths and injuries,” the Active Transportation Alliance’s Maggie Czerwinski said. * Sun-Times | Man acquitted of Bovino murder plot taken into ICE custody: Juan Espinoza Martinez, 37, was taken into custody Friday morning by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, attorney Jonathan Bedi confirmed for the Chicago Sun-Times. That was less than 24 hours after a federal jury found Espinoza Martinez not guilty of one count of murder-for-hire, which carried a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow entered an order that said Espinoza Martinez “shall be released as soon as practical after processing” in the criminal matter. But Espinoza Martinez’s attorneys acknowledged an immigration detainer existed that would likely be acted upon. * Tribune | Signature Room owner shuffled assets to avoid paying laid-off workers, lawsuit alleges: In 2024, a federal judge ruled the Signature Room workers were owed $1.52 million in back pay and benefits under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires businesses to give two months’ notice of certain mass layoffs and business closures. But Unite Here Local 1, the union representing the former Signature Room staffers, said in the lawsuit that the workers never got paid. Infusion Management’s bankruptcy case was closed in 2024 with the trustee assigned to the case reporting he had not paid out any money on behalf of the estate, according to court records. * WBEZ | These Chicago chefs and restaurants won 2026 Banchet Awards, the top local food honors: At the city’s top local food honors — which recognized winners like Indienne (Restaurant of the Year) and John Manion of El Che and Brasero (Chef of the Year) — the politics of the moment were top of mind. A projected slide showing local restaurants with “Hands Off Chicago” signs in their windows drew loud applause. * Block Club | Lake Effect Snow Pummels Chicago As Dangerous Cold Expected To Linger: A cold weather advisory has also been issued for the city from midnight-noon Monday. That’s when wind chill temperatures could make it feel as cold as negative 25 below, the weather service reported. Tuesday could see a high of 20 degrees, but morning wind chills will still be in the minus 5 to minus 15 range. Similar conditions will continue into Wednesday, which could also see wind chills of minus 15 that morning, according to the weather service. * Sun-Times | ICE officer charged with attacking immigrant rights activist in Chicago suburb: An off-duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer was charged with attacking a protester last month at a gas station in west suburban Brookfield, according to officials and the alleged victim of the attack. Robert Held, 68, said he followed ICE Officer Adam Saracco from the parking lot of the suburban Broadview ICE facility and was filming as Saracco stopped for gas. Held said he was standing on the sidewalk when the ICE officer started walking toward him. “He increased his pace, and he came upon me, and he threw me to the ground, and he tried to take my phone,” Held said in an interview. “What came out of my mouth was, ‘Calm down, you need to deescalate.’” Held said people nearby began honking their car horns, and Saracco eventually let him go. * Aurora Beacon-News | Geneva, other suburban communities joining forces to represent interests in potential Union Pacific merger: Geneva and six other municipalities along the Union Pacific West Line are forming an alliance so that they can jointly represent their interests as Union Pacific seeks to merge with Norfolk Southern. The potential rail merger aims to create a coast-to-coast railroad to carry nearly half of all U.S. rail freight, according to reports. Union Pacific has said the $85 billion merger would serve the public interest and secure federal approval by unclogging Chicago, a notorious bottleneck. Critics have cited the possibility that the combined railroad would drive up shipping costs and hinder America’s global competitiveness, and concerns about things like noise, traffic tie-ups and environmental damage in neighborhoods located around tracks and terminals where the railroad may look to expand. * Tribune | Oak Park River Forest League of Women Voters makes a pitch for fair maps: The amendment question the group wants to place on the November ballot “establishes a redistricting commission that must follow clear legal standards,” according to theFair Maps’ website, fairmapsillinois.org. Prerequisites of a Fair Map include no use of political party or voting history in drawing districts, maps must prioritize compactness and preserve communities and municipal boundaries, and legal protections for communities of interest and minority representation remain in place. * Crain’s | With Vatican logjam cleared, Northbrook church site flips to a new developer: As it turned out, Crain’s reported in November, the delays were largely the result of an administrative slowdown in Vatican City following the death of Pope Francis in April and the installation of Pope Leo XIV in May. Add to that the fact that, as an Archdiocese official told Crain’s in November, “Europe shuts down in August,” and the required approval from the Vatican stalled for several months. * Crain’s | Hospitals in rural parts of state confront possibility of loss of services, closings: SIH’s Harrisburg Medical Center was one of nine rural hospitals in Illinois identified as at risk of closure because of its high Medicaid payer mix and losses, according to a study by the Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Harrisburg had been in poor financial shape. It had less than 50 days of cash on hand in 2021. But it was acquired that year by SIH, which was looking to expand its platform in the region, Antes says. Closure hasn’t been considered. Rather, SIH is investing in the Harrisburg center to make it self-sustaining, he adds. * WGLT | Bloomington’s first non-congregate shelter village is filling up ahead of cold snap: HSHM CEO Matt Burgess said the first person showed up at 8 a.m. Monday Jan. 19, ready to move in. By the end of the first night, The Bridge had 26 residents. After four nights of operation, the shelter village now has 48 residents, leaving eight beds still available. “It really warms us to know that we’ve got 48 of our neighbors inside on a bitter cold day like this,” Burgess said. * WAND | Vermilion County town asks residents to conserve water due to extreme winter conditions: A Vermilion County town is asking residents to conserve water due to the extreme winter weather. The Village of Westville’s gas and water department is asking residents to be mindful of water usage over the next few days due to the extremely cold temperatures and snowfall. * WCIA | Illinois State Police respond to 250+ accidents in Central IL: Illinois State Police troopers have responded to over 250 incidents in the past 24 hours as the winter weather continues to impact drivers across Central Illinois. Around 4:45 p.m. on Sunday, State Police told WCIA that Troops 5, 6, 7 and 9 responded to 253 calls since 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. […] Troop 6 covers Adams, Brown, Cass, Christian, Logan, Mason, Menard, Morgan, Pike, Sangamon, Schuyler and Scott Counties. * WCIA | New popcorn coming to State Farm Center courtesy U of I researchers: Tony Studer has been working on making a new breed of popcorn since 2018. Now, after years of mixing and matching characteristics, there is the Illini Super Pop brand, and it’s for sale at the university’s basketball arena. “We pop all of our popcorn in an air popper without salted butter, so that you can actually taste the natural flavor of the popcorn,” Studer said. “And so, it’s got a good volume to it, which is one thing that people look for. It’s not the biggest out there, but I think the standout is the taste, and so in side-by-side comparisons, people like the taste of Illini Super Pop, and it’s got a good texture in your mouth as well.” * NYT | F.B.I. Agent Who Tried to Investigate ICE Officer in Shooting Resigns: An F.B.I. agent who sought to investigate the federal immigration officer who fatally shot a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis this month has resigned from the bureau, according to two people familiar with the matter. The agent, Tracee Mergen, left her job as a supervisor in the F.B.I.’s Minneapolis field office after bureau leadership in Washington pressured her to discontinue a civil rights inquiry into the immigration officer, Jonathan Ross, according to one of the people. Such inquiries are a common investigative step in similar shootings. * AP | Republican calls are growing for a deeper investigation into the fatal Minneapolis shooting: [Bill Cassidy of Louisiana], who is facing a Trump-backed challenger in his reelection bid, said on social media that the shooting was “incredibly disturbing” and that the “credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake.” He pushed for “a full joint federal and state investigation.” Tillis, who is not seeking reelection, urged a “thorough and impartial investigation” and said “any administration official who rushes to judgment and tries to shut down an investigation before it begins are doing an incredible disservice to the nation and to President Trump’s legacy.” * NYT | Timeline: A Moment-by-Moment Look at the Shooting of Alex Pretti: The agent in the gray coat removes the weapon from the scene. It matches the profile of a gun that D.H.S. says belonged to Mr. Pretti. Then, while Mr. Pretti is on his knees and restrained, the agent standing directly above him appears to fire one shot at Mr. Pretti at close range. He immediately fires three additional shots. * Newsweek | NRA Makes Rare Statement Against Trump Admin Over Alex Pretti Shooting: The NRA was responding to remarks by Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, who said that “if you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you,” adding, “Don’t do it.” In a statement, the gun‑rights group called that view “dangerous and wrong,” urging public officials to refrain from broad generalizations and to wait for the outcome of a full investigation into Alex Pretti’s death. * NYT | Musk’s Chatbot Flooded X With Millions of Sexualized Images in Days, New Estimates Show: In just nine days, Grok posted more than 4.4 million images. A review by The Times conservatively estimated that at least 41 percent of posts, or 1.8 million, most likely contained sexualized imagery of women. A broader analysis by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, using a statistical model, estimated that 65 percent, or just over three million, contained sexualized imagery of men, women or children. * WaPo | As grocery prices soar, this German grocery chain is conquering America: Finally, Aldi is ruthless at undercutting its competition, said Katrijn Gielens, a professor of economics and marketing at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. The chain is known for reducing prices when it enters a new market to entice customers to try them out. And once they’ve shopped at Aldi, they’re more willing to stay, she said. “What [Aldi] tries to do is really make sure that whatever product they put on the shelf is very good and high in quality,” Gielens said. “It’s not just about offering something at a very low price … they really have to change attitudes.”
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- yinn - Monday, Jan 26, 26 @ 8:40 am:
Re: Westville’s request for water conservation measures in the extreme cold. It’s quite jolting, almost horrifying, to see your water dept out fixing a burst water main during subzero temps. Heroic. I’d gladly forgo a shower or two to prevent it.