* Background is here if you need it. The Daily Herald…

A Republican candidate for state House has been removed from his post as secretary of the Cook County GOP after reportedly expressing Holocaust-denying views in a text exchange with another party official.

Cook County Republican Party Chair Aaron Del Mar announced the decision late Thursday, saying he has zero tolerance for the remarks attributed to Elk Grove Township Republican Committeeman Edward Lapinski. […]

Attempts to reach Lapinski were unsuccessful. Del Mar said he spoke with Lapinski, who insisted the texts were doctored and not authentic.

“I don’t know how he proves that,” Del Mar said.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Illinois…

After evidence emerged showing ILGOP House District candidate Ed Lapinski denying the Holocaust and spreading dangerous antisemitic lies, Aaron Del Mar, candidate for Lieutenant Governor and Chairman of the Cook County Republican Party, finally responded to the allegations over a day later.

In response, Democratic Party of Illinois Communications Advisor Leah Hurwitz released the following statement:

“It took Aaron Del Mar more than a full day to say the obvious: Holocaust denial is unacceptable. Rejecting antisemitism shouldn’t require consultation with your team – it should be immediate and unequivocal. Instead, Del Mar let a Holocaust denier linger in his own party. Illinois Republicans should be ashamed that a full day of silence was their response to this extremism.”

* Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey accuses opponent Rick Heidner of “poaching” clips…

Rick is such a biter.

Instead of poaching our clips and captions he could save himself the time and drop out. https://t.co/65UlV7KVXW

— Team Bailey- War Room (@BaileyWarRoom) January 30, 2026

*** Statewide ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Student loan borrowers in Illinois could face federal, state ‘tax bomb’ in 2026: President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted last summer, did not make the student loan tax forgiveness provision permanent. As a result, student loans that are canceled or partially forgiven in 2026 and beyond will see taxes owed on those forgiven amounts, advocates said. These taxes could amount to as much as $10,000, depending on the borrower’s income. This includes income-driven repayment plan-related forgiveness; some closed school discharges — where 100% of a student loan obligation is wiped out if a school closes — and private settlements. Meanwhile, some forms of loan forgiveness remain tax-free, such as public service loan forgiveness, teacher loan forgiveness, and death and disability discharge programs.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Press Release | State Rep. Margaret Croke Earns Endorsement of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) Statewide: Today, State Representative Margaret Croke announced the endorsement of the Construction & General Laborers District Council of Chicago & Vicinity, the Great Plains Laborers’ District Council and the Downstate Illinois Laborers’ District Council in her campaign for Illinois State Comptroller. The endorsements build on her strong statewide coalition of labor support and reflect her proven record of standing with organized labor, supporting policies that protect workers’ rights, expanding access to family-sustaining union jobs, and investing in apprenticeship and workforce training programs across Illinois.

* Capitol News Illinoi s| Interview with Illinois Comptroller Candidate Margaret Croke: As a part of a series of interviews focusing on contested races for major-party nominations in the March 17 primary elections, Capitol News Illinois reporters Peter Hancock and Brenden Moore talk with state Representative Margaret Croke (D-Chicago) about her campaign for Illinois Comptroller.

* Daily Herald | Judge: GOP candidate shouldn’t be on 11th District ballots due to signature shortage: The decision to keep a suburban Republican candidate off ballots in the 11th Congressional District was upheld Friday by a Cook County judge. Tedora M. Brown’s attorney said he would promptly file an emergency appeal. “She’s going to keep fighting,” attorney Max Solomon said. “And in the end she’s going to be vindicated.”

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | One detective’s work demonstrates how CPD improved the homicide clearance rate: Records obtained by the Tribune detail how one of the Chicago Police Department’s most effective homicide investigators recently closed that 5-year-old cold case, helping to raise the department’s murder clearance rate to its highest level in more than a decade. CPD’s homicide clearance rate reached 71% last year — up from 55% in 2024 — amid a sharp decline in murders that helped buoy the figure. Records obtained by the Tribune show CPD detectives cleared fewer cases in 2025 — 296 — than in any year since 2019.

* Crain’s | American moves to win back gates at O’Hare: The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier notified Chicago aviation officials that it wants to start the annual process of re-allocating the gates that airlines use to park aircraft while passengers board and disembark. Under a new lease agreement between the carriers and the city that was signed in 2018, the gates are subject to a use-it-or-lose-it provision. The city awards gate space based on the amount of flying done by each carrier during the previous year.

* WTTW | Park District Asks Chicagoans to Decide What Statue Should Replace Columbus in Little Italy: Chicagoans can vote through Sunday to pick a notable Italian to be honored with a statue in Little Italy’s Arrigo Park, where a statue of Christopher Columbus once stood. […] Ballots can be cast here.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Illinois Answers Project | ‘You’re One of Us’: After Off-Duty Cop Crashed Car Then Holed Up at Home in Armed Standoff with Police, He Got a Big Hug and Initially Faced No Charges: Officer Ryan Harter, who worked at the Downers Grove Police Department about 20 miles away from his home, can be seen drinking and heard slurring his words on police body camera footage of the standoff obtained by the Illinois Answers Project. Police tried but failed to Tase him repeatedly. At one point, Harter allegedly threatened one of his daughters with a pocketknife and also waved a gun at a 68-year-old neighbor. The standoff ended peacefully, with Harter, 41, surrendering himself unarmed to police on the street in front of his house. So peaceful, in fact, the chief negotiator gave him a long hug and told him he was “not in any trouble.” […] Harter wasn’t charged that day, the next or even that week. Plainfield police initially downplayed what happened as “more of a mental health situation.” A police news release about the standoff didn’t mention that Harter was a cop. They closed the case.

* Daily Southtown | Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark has died, city says: Clark was administrating Harvey through a period of major financial difficulty. The City Council voted unanimously in October to declare the city financially distressed and apply for state relief. More than 40% of the city’s workforce was furloughed indefinitely shortly after. Clark ran as a reformer in 2019, aiming to replace outgoing mayor Eric Kellogg, who had been prevented from running for reelection by term limits. Kellogg’s tenure as mayor was marked by scandals, including the disappearance of millions in bond money meant for hotel construction, that Clark later said left Harvey in an inescapable financial crisis.

* Daily Herald | ‘He knows what our interests are in Washington’: DuPage County to pay D.C. lobbyist up to $96K: The county will pay Lincoln Park Group $8,000 a month. For the past two years, the “boutique government affairs” firm has worked on the county’s behalf in Washington, D.C., as a subcontractor of the McGuireWoods team. The county board first hired McGuireWoods in 2024 at the same rate. Greg Bales, then the firm’s senior vice president, previously worked for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin as senior adviser in the Democratic lawmaker’s government office and as Durbin’s campaign manager for his reelection in 2020, according to a McGuireWoods bio.

* Daily Southtown | Homer Glen seeks $4 million in federal grants for sanitary sewer, water rate assistance: Homer Glen is seeking $3 million in federal grants toward building a one-mile sanitary sewer line extension and another $1 million in federal funding to provide financial relief for senior citizens burdened with high water bills. The grant money is not guaranteed, but requesting the federal funds is one step in the process to help reduce the village’s dependency on private septic systems or intergovernmental agreements with other companies and communities, village officials said.

*** Downstate ***

* WAND | Former Illinois deputy Sean Grayson in IDOC custody: The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office says former deputy Sean Grayson is now in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections. […] Grayson will serve a two-year mandatory supervised release period after his prison sentence ends. He also received credit for time served.

* BND | Report by Swansea’s attorney disputes trustee allegations of mismanagement: Swansea’s village attorney has completed an investigation into recent allegations by a Board of Trustees member that officials have been mishandling the village’s general reserve fund. Attorney John Kurowski concluded in his report that Trustee Brian Thouvenot had overstated the issue at board meetings and in Facebook posts, and that there was no need for an independent “forensic audit,” as Thouvenot had requested.

* WGLT | OSF adds ‘Victoria’ to OB-GYN team, pushing emergency preparedness in mobile maternal care: “Victoria” is a high-tech birthing simulator that can replicate a variety of birth emergencies, including rare, high-risk complications. An addition to the mobile maternity care unit, “Victoria” provides advanced practice providers [APPs] with the skillset to effectively prepare for any situation they come across on the road. Simulation Specialist Jacob Wilson said “Victoria” prepares health care providers for a range of rare complications related to labor and delivery.

* WSIL | $2.25 Million Estate Gift to Strengthen SIU Journalism and Advertising Programs: A $2.25 million estate gift from Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumnus Roy D. Franke will provide long-term support for the Charlotte Thompson Suhler School of Journalism and Advertising, enhancing hands-on learning opportunities and student experiences across journalism, advertising and media. The gift, designated through Franke’s estate, ranks among the largest private contributions in the school’s history. Franke earned his bachelor’s degree from SIU in 1966 and directed the funds to support the school within the College of Arts and Media.

* WCIA | Danville youth present solutions to try and eradicate gun violence: Students in Vermilion County say they want to end gun violence in their area, and they have ideas they think can be solutions. They partnered with Project Success to put on a gun violence prevention expo. Thursday night, they presented projects detailing ways they think shootings can be curbed, including midnight basketball, a community task force and more.

*** National ***

* Bloomberg | ICE Begins Buying ‘Mega’ Warehouse Detention Centers Across US: On Thursday, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt said he’d met with the owners of a warehouse identified by ICE who told him they were no longer going to sell or lease the facility to the agency. “I commend the owners for their decision and thank them on behalf of the people of Oklahoma City,” Holt said. “I ask that every single property owner in Oklahoma City exhibit the same concern for our community in the days ahead.” The warehouses, many of which originally were designed and marketed as e-commerce distribution facilities, represent a significant pivot for the administration’s $45 billion immigration detention buildout. Last year, it relied on tent camps constructed in remote places like the Florida Everglades and an Army base in Texas.

* AJC | ‘Smoking gun’ video of Georgia vote count is now evidence against Trump: The “suitcases” were official ballot containers. The “double-counted” ballots were only counted once. The “smoking gun” video for voting fraud showed normal ballot counting. State and federal investigators quickly debunked a conspiracy theory sparked by surveillance video of ballot counting at State Farm Arena in 2020. That didn’t stop Donald Trump from making the video the centerpiece of his campaign to overturn the election in Georgia — even though some on his own team knew the voting fraud claims were dubious, documents reviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show.