* Capitol News Illinois…

Dozens of elected officials penned a letter Tuesday urging state regulators to reject Peoples Gas’ $144 million rate hike request and reform the company’s pipeline retirement program.

Several officials joined utility watchdogs at a news conference at Chicago City Hall announcing the letter.

“If a company is delivering a service to us, we should pay for it,” Ald. Maria Hadden said. “But when is enough enough? … This will be the eighth year in a row that they’re making record profits.”

The lawmakers and consumer advocates decried the 10.1% shareholder profit Peoples Gas sought in its latest rate request as “outrageous” and “greedy,” particularly at a time when residents are already struggling to keep up with rising costs. […]

If approved in full, the $144 million request would increase average monthly bills for residential customers by $7-8 beginning in January. Consumer advocates say that would result in a 71% increase in the company’s gas rates over the last four years. The utility received the largest rate hike in state history only three years ago, when regulators approved a $303 million increase in spending.

The company shaved nearly 30% off its original $202 million request earlier this year, but utility watchdogs say it did not go far enough.

*** Statewide ***

* WBEZ | Illinois environmental scientist wins prestigious ‘genius grant’: The foundation came calling because of Guan’s ground-breaking work combining satellite observations, process models and machine learning to build resilient agricultural systems. The MacArthur Foundation eventually emailed him, requesting help with a “proposal.” When they finally connected days later, he learned he’d won the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. The so-called “genius grant” is awarded to 20 to 30 individuals each year, and it comes with a no-strings-attached prize of $800,000. The 2026 Fellows were announced by the foundation Tuesday.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | City Council raises debt threshold, sets stage for potential fourth veto from Mayor Johnson: By a 32-15 vote, the Council agreed to require future borrowing to be approved by a three-fifths vote. That’s 30 votes instead of the current threshold of 26 votes. But the Council’s support of the reform championed by retiring 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn fell short of the 34 votes that would be required to override a mayoral veto. That means Quinn’s political victory could be short-lived. “The mayor does have a history of vetoing really good policy. He vetoed the hemp [ban]. He decided to choose dodgy storefronts over the safety of kids, so anything is possible,” Quinn said, acknowledging that 34 votes is “a reach.”

* Unraveled | In plain sight: a year of ICE using Chicago police parking lots for its operations: Unraveled has obtained multiple videos from witnesses and city agencies showing an ongoing pattern of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents using Chicago Police Department (CPD) parking lots across at least four police districts, despite a mayoral executive order banning civil immigration enforcement operations on city-owned lots. ICE activity has ranged from meeting and parking their vehicles in the lots to using them as a secure space for transferring detainees. In one incident this past August, ICE arrested an observer in the 25th District Grand Central lot and held her for hours on CPD property while police officers drove by.

* Tribune | Chicago parking meters switching owners, aldermen point to improvements over 2008 deal: The City Council on Tuesday approved the sale of the parking meter system to Stonepeak Partners by a 46-3 vote. The firm made key concessions during the final stretch of a monthslong, high-stakes negotiation in order to get the $2.53 billion package across the finish line. While it does not buy back the roughly 36,000 meters across the city, supporters of the transfer framed it as a big improvement over Mayor Richard M. Daley’s 2008 sale that’s now widely mocked as a boondoggle and seen as a black mark for the aldermen who voted for it.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Bloomberg | ​FDA cites ‘significant violations,’ including hair in drugs, at suburban Fresenius plant: ​Fresenius SE’s generic drugs unit Kabi received a warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration citing “significant violations” at a facility in Melrose Park. The letter dated Sept. 22 said a sterile injectable drug manufacturing facility in the west suburb failed to meet U.S. manufacturing standards during an inspection at the start of the year.

* Daily Herald | U-46 to spend $62.6 million on 25 school construction projects: “For summer 2027, we are planning curriculum, infrastructure, and we do have a carryover project,” Assistant Superintendent of Operations Sheila Downs said at Monday night’s school board meeting. “Also, you’ll notice a new section, which is the commissioning of extra projects.” The curriculum projects will center on addressing aging science instruction infrastructure and providing more modern learning spaces at two schools, Downs said.

* Evanston Roundtable | City Council will pick acting mayor at Oct. 19 special meeting: In one of his last acts before leaving the city government, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss has called a special City Council meeting for Monday, Oct. 19 for the sole purpose of councilmembers appointing an acting mayor less than 24 hours after he resigns from office. The mayor emailed notice of the special meeting to councilmembers on Sept. 14, booking the meeting for 5 p.m. with only “one substantive agenda item, namely a special order of business for the election of an Acting Mayor.” Under the rotating schedule set at the start of the term in May 2025, the meeting will be chaired by Councilmember Clare Kelly (1st Ward) in the capacity of mayor pro tempore.

* Daily Herald | ‘An adult listening room’: Music lounge proposed for downtown Mundelein: To be called Mondegreen Hi-Fi, the business is proposed for a storefront at 455 N. Lake St., just south of Park Street. The name comes from the term for a misinterpretation of a song lyric or phrase that gives it a new meaning. “Everyone has one,” co-owner Matt Darst explained to the village board during a presentation of his group’s business plan Monday night. “That song that you sang for years out loud and then were corrected by your friend.”

*** Downstate ***

* WGLT | Alleging ‘unlawful conspiracy,’ Country Financial sues American Farm Bureau Federation: Country Financial is suing the American Farm Bureau Federation, the latest move in a series of escalating legal trouble tied to the insurer’s decision to drop its requirement that some policyholders be farm bureau members. In legal documents obtained by WGLT, Bloomington-based Country Mutual Insurance Company [CMIC, the legal name of Country Financial] alleges the American Farm Bureau Federation [AFBF] has “openly engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to violate Illinois law through anticompetitive conduct, contractual breaches, intentionally tortious conduct and unfair and deceptive trade practices.”

* WCIA | City of Springfield, CWLP unveil 40 new EV charging stations: Mayor Misty Buscher joined officials from CWLP and the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce to celebrate the new charging stations. They were installed throughout the summer as part of a citywide project, and 38 of them are already in service. “These chargers will serve our residents and our visitors while supporting local businesses and the surrounding neighborhoods,” said Mike Gorsek, CWLP’s electric division manager. “We expect those benefits to grow as more people use electric vehicles.”

* WCIA | Champaign School District projects $10.2M deficit for FY2027: A PowerPoint presentation from the district shows more than 80% of Champaign School District funds come from property taxes and other local funds. About half of the district’s money goes to salaries. The FY27 financial priorities include supporting the district’s instructional and operational priorities and maintaining essential programs and services. Looking ahead to the future, the district said it plans to maintain long-term financial stability.

*** National ***

* Vox | America’s empty bedrooms are up for grabs: With rents outpacing wages in most of the country, legislators are increasingly looking at co-living — sometimes called house-sharing or adult dorm rooms — as an overlooked piece of America’s housing stock. Zillow counts roughly 21 million “empty nest households” — or homes where older residents living with no children have at least two extra bedrooms. Some lawmakers want to make it easier for those homeowners to rent them out, which could put workers closer to their jobs and help seniors stay in houses they can no longer afford alone. Others are eyeing a different kind of vacancy: Post-pandemic remote work has left about a fifth of American office space empty, and there’s growing interest in turning some of it into apartments.