* Sun-Times…

The 29-member City Council coalition that rejected Mayor Brandon Johnson’s corporate head tax on Monday laid the ground rules for the pre-election budget debate with three boundary lines: no property tax, no “head tax or tax on job growth” and no counting on money from Springfield not yet approved.

With an $882.4 million shortfall looming less than five months before the mayoral election, Johnson has drawn his own line in the sand. He is staking his uphill battle for re-election on a promise to “tax the rich.” […]

“Our position is plain: No property tax increase. No head tax or tax on job growth. No counting on Springfield money that has not been approved. Within those bounds, we stand ready to work with you.” […]

Northwest Side Ald. Samantha Nugent (39th) argued that the $882.4 million shortfall in next year’s budget would have been “much smaller” if Johnson had fully implemented the 2026 budget, instead of “sabotaging” the alternative spending plan.

“With this letter, we’re providing clarity. A budget that raises taxes before seeking cuts and efficiencies, or that relies on Springfield revenue that doesn’t exist, is a non-starter,” Nugent told the Sun-Times.

* Press release…

The Democratic Party of Illinois (DPI) and Lieutenant Governor candidate Christian Mitchell joined Democratic State Central Committeeman and McLean County Democratic Chair Patrick Cortesi, State Senator Dave Koehler, State Representative Sharon Chung, McLean County Board Chair Elizabeth Johnston, and candidate for McLean County Clerk Joshua Crockett on the first stop of the ‘Cost of MAGA’ press tour, slamming the federal government’s cuts to social safety net programs, specifically the Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP), that kicked more than 360,000 low-income Illinoisans off the program.

With three days until states must cover 75% of SNAP’s administrative costs, Illinois Democrats reaffirmed their commitment to protecting families from the fallout of these federal cuts. In the FY27 budget, Democrats passed legislation that provides nearly $100 million to help families afford groceries and $400 in emergency assistance for families kicked off food assistance. In addition, under Governor JB Pritzker’s administration, new grocery stores have been able to open under the Illinois Grocery Store Initiative, which works to eliminate food deserts across Illinois.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | City Council majority warns Johnson: No head tax in 2027 budget: A City Council majority is drawing lines around Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2027 budget before he even unveils it, ruling out a corporate head tax, a property tax hike and uncertain help from Springfield — without yet offering its own plan to close an $882.4 million 2027 deficit. In a letter to Johnson released today, 29 of the 30 aldermen who approved the 2026 budget over the mayor’s objections laid out their conditions for working with him to close the gap.

* Tribune | City Council majority warns Mayor Brandon Johnson against proposing head tax again: Johnson has not confirmed what he will propose in his spending plan for next year to close a projected $882 million gap, but progressive allies have clamored for another try at the employee head tax despite his failed attempt to pass one as part of this year’s budget.

* Crain’s | Inside the last-minute push to squeeze more from Stonepeak’s $2.53B parking meter deal: The calls came amid a frenzied 24 hours ahead of a special City Council meeting, after the Finance Committee had overwhelmingly approved the deal. But the Progressive Caucus remained split, with some members seeking further assurances that Stonepeak Partners would sell off a controversial company linked to federal deportation flights. After the Finance Committee vote, Alds. Jason Ervin, 28th, and William Hall, 6th, who were the only two “no” votes, held a call with members of the Progressive Caucus, pushing them to vote against the deal or stall to allow further negotiations.

* Block Club | WasteShed, An Art Supply Resale Nonprofit, Is Moving From Evanston To Edgewater: WasteShed had to start looking for a new home after Rebuilding Exchange — which WasteShed shared its Evanston home with — went out of business in October, Ray said. They couldn’t find another suitable space in Evanston, so the nonprofit widened the search area and eventually found the empty Broadway storefront and closed their doors in Evanston earlier this month, she said. “People have been extremely excited about us coming to this area, and we’ve been getting a lot of really positive feedback,” Ray said, adding that the team is excited to be easily accessible by the Red Line.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Crain’s | Evanston official calls for millions in fines over Northwestern’s vacant houses: Fining the university for the full documented span of vacancy, which stretches back nearly six years, would total between $4.16 million and $16.65 million. That’s according to an analysis of the city’s published vacant-building fines compiled by Tom Lubin, a neighbor of some of the university-owned houses. But the city plans to issue fines with a start date in July of this year, when it issued 26 citations against the properties. The total would come to something like $100,000, or about 2% of the minimum figure in Lubin’s analysis.

* Daily Herald | District 214 spending about $2 million a year on unexpected repairs: It will cost nearly $500,000 for the emergency plumbing repairs that took place over Labor Day weekend at Wheeling High School — which led to the cancellation of classes on Sept. 8 — as crews replaced 300 feet of corroded sewer pipe beneath the main hallway outside the cafeteria.

* Naperville Sun | Naper Settlement seeks $145,000 to assess historic buildings, plan museum’s future:
The nonprofit is asking the city for $145,000 to fund a feasibility study that would help the museum create a master plan for its buildings. “The (last) master plan that was done was over 20 years ago and it was done at a time when this institution’s desire was to be a settlement-type village that told the story of the 1800s,” said Rena Tamayo-Calabrese, president and CEO of Naper Settlement.

*** Downstate ***

* WGLT | Sales tax dispute reignites between McLean County and Bloomington and Normal: The underlying issue is the city and town believe the county is getting too much sales tax money — more than the city and town thought they would ever pay. The county has maintained it is spending the revenue according to the decade old intergovernmental agreement. The city and town disagree with the county on the amount and nature of some of the spending. In August audit results came back, and the governmental bodies said it offered a basis for continuing discussions. Those talks have not happened, according to various elected officials and staff. The fact the city and town have now hired an outside law firm to handle the matter and a letter WGLT acquired under the Freedom of Information Act suggest why.

* WCBU | Peoria Civic Center management maintains optimism amid industry challenges: New general manager Beau Sutherland presented the downtown entertainment and convention complex’s latest annual report at the most recent Peoria City Council meeting, showing an adjusted gross income of $7.8 million. “Overall, operating revenue remains strong, driven by healthy ticket sales, concession performance and event-related income across the facility,” said Sutherland. “The convention center contributed over $2 million in net income this last year, highest in venue history.”

* WCIA | U of I Extension announces new center focused on food, nutrition, health: The U of I Extension announced the center on campus Thursday. Organizers said their goal is to help people access high-quality food by connecting farmers and communities with research. They also said the center will be used to facilitate food and nutrition education.

* WAND | Mattoon-raised filmmakers develop feature film for hometown: Four Mattoon-raised filmmakers — Craig Titley, Damien LeVeck, Luke Ryan and Joe Webb — are developing a feature film they intend to shoot in Mattoon. According to a post shared by Cosmic Games on Facebook, Mattoon will not stand in for another town; it will play itself. The film will draw on the community’s character, history, local legends, businesses and people to help shape the world of the movie. The story has not been revealed yet, but the filmmakers described it as “Friday Night” Lights meets “Stranger Things.”

*** National ***

* WaPo | Education Department officially scraps Biden-era Title IX rules: The Education Department will scrap Biden-era Title IX rules that sought to bolster nondiscrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity, officials announced Monday, marking a return to rules from the first Trump administration.

* CNN | Nvidia launches new tool to keep AI agents from going rogue: The announcement comes in the wake of a series of incidents in which AI systems hacked into both corporate and government systems without being told to do so. OpenAI said Saturday that it was pausing development on its latest models after one accessed the internet without authorization.

* Media Buying…

The U.S. Government is up on TV with this spot —

It aired nationally on FOX yesterday during Illinois at #7 Ohio State and also during Fox News Sunday this morning pic.twitter.com/8PP9FPzUZk

— Medium Buying (@MediumBuying) September 27, 2026

* AFP | ‘Pseudo-journalism’: Partisan ‘news’ sites target US midterms: NewsGuard has identified 21 pink slime outlets that launched this year, bringing the total number of such sites to 1,179. By comparison, only 937 daily newspapers were operating, according to Northwestern University’s Local News Initiative. “These pink slime sites can be confounding to news consumers who may not be aware of their agendas and confuse them with authentic independent news websites in their area, thereby undermining trust between journalists and their readers of all political persuasions,” said NewsGuard’s Sam Howard.