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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Monday, Nov 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * The Daily Herald…
* The Real Deal | Where Chicago real estate money is going in Tuesday’s election: [Sen. Darby Hills,] however, has been apprehensive about supporting the Illinois Realtors-backed BUILD Act legislation championed by Gov. JB Pritzker before it stalled out during this year’s lawmaking session, due to her concerns about preempting local government zoning control to allow developers easier paths to housing construction in certain areas. The proposal may come up again in future sessions. “We need to have more affordable housing in Illinois, and I support having more options and more housing,” Hills said in an interview Friday. “But I want to make sure we have the local municipalities at the table to weigh in.” * Capitol News Illinois | On economic development, Pritzker, Bailey are miles apart: Pritzker’s opponents have criticized the governor and the supermajority Democrats who control the legislature for enacting policies they say have made the state unfriendly to business. “He can talk about economic growth, but families and businesses are still moving out,” Bailey said in February following Pritzker’s budget address. Pritzker acknowledges there’s more work to be done but believes they’re “only scratching the surface of what Illinois’ potential really is.” * Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson’s nominating petitions to be challenged, opponent says: “He doesn’t have enough signatures, and he did a sloppy process,” Boykin said. Wilson’s objection against Johnson would be the first time a sitting Chicago mayor had their petitions challenged since Mayor Richard M. Daley faced an unsuccessful claim against his in the 2007 race. Johnson’s campaign manager Christian Perry said in a statement Monday that the challenge would be a “distraction.” * Block Club | Chicago School Board Member Rivas Scrutinized Over 2018 Work Suspension: Rivas declined an interview request but said in a statement that events in question happened “during an incredibly difficult period while caring for my mother, who was suffering from end-stage renal failure and dementia.” In a statement, he said he “took responsibility” for the incident and received support through Noble’s Employee Assistance Program. […] In August 2018, when Rivas was alumni counselor at UIC College Prep, he allegedly “engaged in an inappropriate, unwanted touching of another employee without consent” at a work event while intoxicated at the Robey Hotel in Wicker Park, according to a disciplinary notice obtained by Chalkbeat. It was written by Audrey Borling, then principal of UIC College Prep. * WTTW | City Council Votes 44-6 to Add $75M From Parking Meter Sale to Pension Payments, Opening New Budget Gap: The deal negotiated by a group of Chicago City Council members to green-light Stonepeak Partners’ purchase of the city’s 36,000 parking meters required the New York-based firm to pay the city $75 million once the deal closed and earmarked those funds for the city’s pensions. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed budget sends more than $2.94 billion to the city’s four pension funds. State law requires two of Chicago’s pension funds to be funded at a 90% level by 2055 and the other two by 2058, ensuring they can pay benefits to employees as they retire. * Block Club | Affordable Housing For Domestic Violence Survivors Coming To North Center: Located in North Center, the project is the first of its kind in Chicago. During the Friday groundbreaking, Ald. Matt Martin (47th) said it is only the second long-term affordable housing development designed for survivors of domestic violence in the state. The YWCA in Evanston has offered long-term housing since 2017. “While this development is the first in Chicago, it can’t be the last,” Martin said. “It’s important to tie the relationship between domestic violence and housing, because domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness for women in Chicago and beyond.” * Sun-Times | Early voting, mail ballot turnout in Cook County surpasses 2022 levels by nearly 30%: Early voting and mail-in ballot turnout in suburban Cook County for the midterm elections has surpassed turnout in the 2022 gubernatorial election by nearly 30% so far, Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon said Monday. More than 242,000 residents have cast ballots during early voting as of Monday morning. Nearly 107,000 mail ballots have been returned and 11,000 are in the postal service pipeline. Early voting turnout is expected to exceed 2022 levels by 50,000, and mail-in ballot turnout is also projected to surpass 2022 levels by the same margin, said Edmund Michalowski, deputy clerk of elections. * New York Daily News | Tech company Brave plundered Chicago Tribune’s content and resold it to A.I. giants: copyright lawsuit: The Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, and affiliated newspapers filed federal lawsuits in Manhattan Monday accusing the technology company Brave Software of using high-tech scraping tools to illegally plunder their websites for exclusive news stories to resell to A.I. giants, including Anthropic and Perplexity. A Manhattan Federal Court complaint, filed by the News and affiliated Tribune Publishing newspapers the Daily News and the Orlando Sentinel, says Brave acts as “the supplier, dealer, and distributor of stolen copyrighted content” and provides a back door circumventing paywalls to its own users as well as prominent generative A.I. companies to help build their businesses. * Sun-Times | East Aurora District 131 board member denies allegations of kickback scheme following federal charges: Annette Johnson, the former board president who signed the statement as a member of East Aurora School District 131, maintained her innocence and said she intended to “vigorously defend myself through the judicial process.” […] According to a grand jury indictment released last week, Johnson is charged with two counts of honest services mail fraud and one count of honest services wire fraud after allegedly using her position as board president to push the district to buy $2.7 million in wearable air purifiers in 2021 in exchange for a $1.3 million payment to a company that Johnson helped lead. * Tribune | Cook County Dems trying for blue sweep in board races, GOP hopes to keep one seat, make gains: In the far-reaching 17th District, Republican Commissioner Sean Morrison late Thursday shared a lengthy Facebook post about why the GOP nominee to succeed him, Liz Gorman, “SHOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED TO HOLD PUBLIC OFFICE EVER AGAIN.” Morrison encouraged votes for every other Republican on the ballot but her. Gorman said she didn’t seek his endorsement because she never wanted it in the first place. * WAND | East Central Illinois Pre-Apprentice Program announces new graduates: Champaign Mayor Deb Feinen served as keynote speaker at the recent Champaign graduation ceremony, while East Central Illinois AFL-CIO President Luther Baker provided keynote remarks at the Danville ceremony. “We’re proud to celebrate this group of graduates in Danville and everything they’ve accomplished through Climate Works,” said Trina Taylor, CEJA Program Director at HIRE360. “They came into the program to learn about the trades and they’re leaving ready to see where that knowledge can take them.” * WCIA | Champaign-Urbana MTD offering free rides to the polls on Election Day: According to MTD, all fixed-route bus service will be free from the start of service until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. MTD Access, the ADA paratransit van service, will also be free for eligible people with disabilities traveling to and from voting locations. Officials said they hope offering free rides to voters will encourage civic participation and increase voter participation. * WCIA | Champaign Co. voters share what’s bringing them out to the polls this year: Election Day is quickly approaching, and over the weekend, WCIA took a look at what is bringing voters to the polls in the Champaign-Urbana community. Some people said they are feeling great about the election, and some said it is their “civic duty” to get out, vote to make change and support the community as a whole. Some people said they might not know everyone on the ballot, but others said they did their research on who will be on them come Tuesday.
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