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Isabel’s afternoon roundup: Rep. Canty says she won’t run for speaker; Sen. Johnson wants reentry housing bill taken up in veto session
Tuesday, Nov 10, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Rep. Mary Beth Canty…
* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois Republicans assess damage from nationwide ‘blue tsunami’: “The party has to thread a needle,” Grogan said. “We have to make sure that viable, competitive folks do put their name forward.” Grogan said, for example, the party can’t leave statewide offices uncontested. Last year, no Republican candidate filed to run for Illinois treasurer in the March primary. Attorney Max Solomon won the party’s ballot line after waging a write-in campaign. Grogan called the situation “suboptimal.” * WCSJ | 106th District State Rep Reelected, Talks About General Election Results: “I guess if anything else, it gives us a wake up call that we need to work with the other side. We need to have discussions that are going to help, the cost of living, have discussions that are going to help constituents with some of the concerns that they’ve got. We just need to get back to good government,” Rep. Jason Bunting said. * Sun-Times | City Council’s aldermanic opposition demands that Mayor Johnson revamp his proposed budget: Mayor Brandon Johnson built his pre-election budget around a revival of his failed corporate head tax, defying a warning from the City Council majority that rewrote his budget last year. On Tuesday, 28 members of that same coalition drew an even wider line in the sand. They informed Johnson that his proposed $17.6 billion budget does not have the votes to pass the City Council for reasons that go far beyond the head tax, and that it’s up to him to rewrite his spending plan — they’re not going to do the work for him. * Crain’s | City Council majority draws line against $400M in Johnson tax plans: Johnson responded with a letter of his own, saying his administration is already working on changes to the proposed lease tax increase and a tax credit included in his corporate head tax proposal. The credit, known as SEED, would exempt companies from the head tax for employees who spend most of their working hours in designated economically disadvantaged areas of the city. The letter also claims the mayor has broad support for new spending in the city’s corporate fund in his proposal. * CBS Chicago | Chicago Public Schools blocks generative AI on student account as Google threatens to block search access: Chicago Public Schools is blocking generative AI tools like Google Gemini, ChatGPT and Claude on student accounts, even as Google has threatened to block search access for schools that disable its artificial intelligence. In a statement released Monday, a CPS spokesperson said the decision to block the AI apps was made for “student privacy and safety.” Apps like Gemini, ChatGPT and Claude will be blocked on CPS-issued devices and on the CPS network for all students. * CBS Chicago | Amtrak begins construction on new “level boarding” platforms at Chicago Union Station: Construction starts Tuesday on a $112 million project to create new “level boarding” platforms for Amtrak trains at Union Station in Chicago. The 2 ½-year project is designed to install platforms that serve multiple tracks and allow passengers to step directly onto trains without using stairs, ramps, or lifts. The project will transform platforms 30 through 38 at Union Station. * WBEZ | Chicago’s South Side used to be a hub for Black theater. There’s hope it could flourish again: Built in 1897, the Forum Hall in Bronzeville may appear to be in a state of disrepair. But the venue, a staple of the 1950s-era Black Metropolis, is on the precipice of a return. Today, developer Bernard Loyd is working to revitalize the Forum and has already brought musicians back to the space. He understands the historical importance of the theater. * Block Club | Gino & Marty’s Workers Still Owed Thousands As Former Owner Launched Projects In Dubai, Mexico: Camiola’s is one of at least 20 wage complaints filed against Bartucci from 2022 to 2025, according to state records. They are all connected to the once-popular Italian restaurant Gino & Marty’s, previously located in Fulton Market, collectively alleging tens of thousands in unpaid wages. * Daily Herald | ‘They did not want public scrutiny’: Judge to rule on Grayslake data center lawsuit by end of year: During a hearing Friday, Judge Janelle Christensen heard the motion to dismiss, filed by the village of Grayslake and T5. They argued the plaintiffs had “waited a year past the deadlines” to file. In an order filed Friday, Christensen said the court would issue a written ruling no later than Dec. 30 on the motion. Michael Smith, co-founder of the Lake County Illinois Data Center Opposition Coalition, said project opponents hope the judge will “see through their arguments,” and deny the motion to dismiss. * Daily Herald | Loud demonstration at Mundelein village hall prompts police response: A loud demonstration outside Mundelein village hall Monday night prompted a large deployment of police officers equipped with riot helmets and disposable restraints for potential crowd control efforts — but no arrests were made. It was the latest protest over the May 11 fatal shooting by police of Mundelein resident Mary Alice Love during a mental health crisis at her home. The noise began Monday night as the village board held a regularly scheduled meeting inside. Demonstrators banging on drums, yelling and making siren sounds with an electronic bullhorn could be heard within the boardroom. Protesters hit the boardroom’s windows several times, too, which eventually triggered a verbal response from Village Administrator Eric Guenther. * Daily Southtown | Orland High School District 230 Superintendent Robert Nolting placed on administrative leave: The board voted to place Nolting on leave and appointed McMillan acting superintendent, effective Oct. 20, during its Oct. 29 meeting. Because the board took action after a closed session, the district did not livestream the vote like the rest of the meeting. Johnson said Monday the district would not provide more details regarding Nolting’s leave. * Daily Herald | Batavia narrowly approves much-discussed telehealth service for city residents: After considerable discussion, Batavia will pursue a program that provides city residents access to text-based consultations with a doctor for a monthly fee added to their utility bills. The program — called Tap, or “Text a Physician” — has been discussed at several city meetings, generating both support for the healthcare access it provides and concern about the way residents are charged for it. Ultimately, the city council recently voted 7-7 to approve an agreement for the program, with Mayor Jeff Schielke casting the tie-breaking vote in favor of it. * Tribune | Round Lake mother released from ICE detention after 15 months, reunites with daughters: ‘She’s safe now’: U.S. District Judge Angelica Powers of the Memphis Immigration Court in Memphis, Tennessee, released Beata Siemionkowicz on bond, allowing the 57-year-old Polish citizen to return to the Chicago area and reunite with her daughters, Gabi, 22, and Claudia, 26. Her daughters drove to Kentucky early Monday to pick up their mother from Campbell County Detention Center, where she’d been detained since August 2025. Then they sat in the detention center’s parking lot for more than 24 hours, waiting for the moment their mom would walk out the front door. * CNI | IDOC worker who embezzled $125K sentenced to 2 months in prison: A federal judge on Monday sentenced a former Illinois Department of Corrections payroll worker who stole about $125,000 from the agency to two months in prison and 18 months of supervised release. Maggi Tudor, 34, pleaded guilty in July to a monthslong scheme to embezzle the money from the state of Illinois. She did so by using her position as a payroll technician at Pinckneyville Correctional Center to falsify the overtime and holiday pay of her husband, who worked as a correctional officer at the prison’s satellite campus, the Murphysboro Life Skills Re-Entry Center, federal court records show. * WAND | Public hearing set for Springfield proposed property tax levy increase: According to a statement from the Board of Education, the corporate and special purpose property taxes extended or abated for 2025 were $127,698,088, and the proposed corporate and special purpose property taxes to be levied for 2026 are $134,067,170, which represents a 4.99% increase over the previous year. Additionally, the estimated total property taxes to be levied for 2026 are $144,846,780, which represents a 5.50% increase over the previous year. * WGLT | ISU campus community celebrates first-generation students and others who are ‘their own opportunity’: First-generation students at Illinois State University were celebrated Sunday at an event to mark National First-Generation College Day. TRIO Student Support Services [SSS] at ISU hosted the event at the Bone Student Center. The day is celebrated annually to mark the anniversary of the signing of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which laid the foundation for federal financial aid programs, including TRIO programs. * NPR Illinois | SCHEELS Sports Park GM planning for the future: “Right now we’re doing all that work. I think we’re going to be able to be a major player in the next three to four years. It is a process. It is new. But what’s exciting is that Springfield has done such a great job and the owners of looking forward with a vision of saying this is important for this community. Let’s do the little things right and they haven’t cut corners,” Brandon Doherty, SCHEELS Sports Park General Manager said. * NYT | America’s Measles Problem Has Reached Endemic Level: Measles is once again endemic in the United States, 26 years after it was declared eliminated in the country, an analysis of genetic data from outbreaks of the disease has found. Data from the outbreaks will be the focus of deliberations by an international panel of scientific experts convening on Tuesday to decide whether the United States should lose its official designation as a nation that has eliminated measles. An announcement of the decision is expected on Nov. 17. (The CDC has confirmed 5,182 measles cases in the US this year) * Punchbowl | Inside the competitive House leadership races: Dem leadership watch. As Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) mounts her run for House Democratic Caucus vice chair, the California Democrat is showing off her fundraising prowess. This cycle, Jacobs raised more than $7.8 million to help Democratic House candidates. Jacobs also campaigned for candidates from 35 different districts. Jacobs is running against Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) for the vice chair role. Underwood officially entered the race on Wednesday. * WaPo | ‘No business having a gun’: Some ICE recruits had a record of red flags: Another ICE officer named in the leaked data, Timothy Keske, resigned from the police department in Berwyn, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, in October 2023 following disciplinary measures over excessive force, inflating tuition reimbursement requests and falsifying a police report. In a 2021 incident, Keske asked a man to step out of his car after smelling marijuana, which is legal to possess in Illinois. […] In another incident, in August 2023, Keske sideswiped an Amazon delivery truck that was parked on the side of the road for deliveries, according to the findings of an investigation by the Berwyn Police Department. […] The investigative report, issued by Deputy Chief of Police Michael Ochsner, said that Keske admitted during an interrogation to submitting false reports, omitting evidence and improperly investigating his own case, among other violations of department policy.
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