* ICYMI: Bears discussions move toward publicly-owned stadium. Center Square…

- State Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, told a Lincoln Forum panel on Monday there have been ongoing discussions about his bill that would allow for a municipal stadium authority with a privately-financed and publicly-owned stadium.
- “It’s an approach that the NFL is familiar with. All but three stadiums in the NFL were built under that kind of public ownership construct. And I would say in the recent weeks, the Bears have gotten more comfortable with that approach,” Cunningham said.
- Gov. JB Pritzker said he would like a stadium bill to be ready for fall veto session next week.

* Related stories…

• ABC Chicago: IL lawmakers look to fall session for stadium framework aimed at keeping Chicago Bears in state
• Politico: Can Springfield get to the end zone?

* Gov. JB Pritzker has no public events scheduled today.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* WCIA | Aaron Ammons asks for delay in trial as prosecutors respond to Carol’s motion to dismiss: Court documents filed in the Ammons’ cases indicate that Aaron requested that his trial — currently set for Dec. 7 — be postponed to late April or early May. He cited his “professional governmental responsibilities,” his counsel’s availability and the “complex nature of the case” as reasons why. Aaron already had a pretrial hearing scheduled for Election Day postponed due to his duties as Champaign County Clerk in overseeing election proceedings. His motion notes that he briefly met with his counsel the day after, but he still has responsibilities concerning certification of the 2026 midterm elections on Nov. 17 and the looming municipal elections.

* Sun-Times | Class of 2027 Illinois congressional delegation arrives in Washington: The state will see five new faces in Congress next year after a series of retirements created a seismic shift in Illinois politics. Senator-elect Juliana Stratton arrived in Washington on Monday for a two-day Senate orientation after winning the open race to succeed Sen. Dick Durbin.

* Tribune | Community leaders say new environmental study of Amtrak’s proposed South Side facility ‘woefully inadequate’: “This assessment process, which Amtrak and the FRA only agreed to under intense pressure, is woefully insufficient,” said Ald. Nicole Lee, 11th, and Cook County Commissioner John Daley in a joint statement. They called for an independent study of Amtrak’s proposal, which has drawn fierce community opposition. Local residents say they worry their neighborhoods will get hit with diesel fumes and suffer from noise pollution as Amtrak trains rumble in and out of the proposed $915 million maintenance facility near Rate Field.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Daily Herald | From social worker to senator, Santa Maria is latest Arlington Heights trustee off to Springfield: One of the first things Santa Maria said she wants to do is pass a law ending child marriage in Illinois. But the topic she’s often asked about — the prospect of a Bears stadium in Arlington Heights — may not come across her desk by the time she gets to Springfield. “I think it’ll be on my plate from a trustee perspective,” said Santa Maria, who noted the “deep conversations” to come during the upcoming veto session that opens Nov. 17.

* Capitol City Now | Del Mar: “I’m not going anywhere”: He says the “national headwinds” brought down the GOP last week, and now – not two years from now – is the time to recruit “high-quality candidates.” Connecting with potential donors and discussing the platform are important. “This election really should be a wakeup call for everybody across the state that we need to get our act together,” added Del Mar. Del Mar wants a party convention next year “to draft new bylaws, new platform and elect new leaders and build a solid foundation for future growth.”

*** Chicago ***

* Block Club | Mayor Says He’s ‘Always’ Favored Gunshot Detection Technology As Voters Back Its Return: The mayor said he wants any replacement technology to protect residents’ privacy and demonstrate its effectiveness before the city commits to a long-term contract. The city is preparing to launch a six-month pilot program testing a range of violence interruption and public safety technologies, including gunshot detection systems in six South and West side police districts: Wentworth (2nd), Calumet (5th), Englewood (7th), Deering (9th), Ogden (10th) and Harrison (11th).

* Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson upends gunshot-detection pilot after voters resoundingly back the technology: Roberts said her office initially planned a pilot program with one vendor that wasn’t involved in a lengthy, competitive bidding process for a gunshot-detection contract. But the Johnson administration has now decided to let all of the “short-listed” bidders showcase their violence prevention strategies in the pilot, Roberts said.

* WGN | Mayor Johnson, opposition alders dig in for budget debate: Mayor Johnson’s proposal is already facing fierce opposition from a group of alders who blocked his budget last year and passed their own alternative budget. Among them is 39th Ward Ald. Samantha Nugent. “I think you look under the hood, what my colleagues will tell you is let’s look for efficiencies first before we put new spending in a budget,” she said during an interview on Monday.

* WGN | Guevara claims cost Chicago $475 million: Last month, the Chicago City Council approved a mass settlement to resolve lawsuits, filed by 17 men who claim they were framed by a former Chicago police detective. At a total of $261 million, observers say it ranks as one of the largest police settlements in U.S. history. The detective, Reynaldo Guevara, retired in 2005.

* Crain’s | As gaps widen, community health centers double down on Chicago: Impending cuts to Medicaid, the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act marketplace subsidies and staggering premium increases making coverage unaffordable are placing immense financial and operational strain on CHCs, even as the services they provide are becoming more critical to some communities. Chicago’s biggest healthcare providers, Rush among them, in the last decade have taken more steps to strengthen outreach and services to surrounding communities. They’ve invested millions in providing care to address the social determinants of health — the non-medical conditions in the environments where people live and work that influence health and quality-of-life outcomes, and reduce disparities.

* ABC Chicago | Chicago mayoral petition challenges begin as candidates defend ballot access: Johnson’s campaign began defending the signatures it submitted as part of the nomination process. Last month, the mayor turned in more than 31,000 petition signatures. His team maintains that total will leave him with more than enough valid signatures after challenges to meet the required threshold of 12,500 signatures needed for ballot access. Johnson faces challenges from activists with Flip Chicago Red, as well as political consultant and former State Sen. Ricky Hendon, who is working for mayoral candidate Willie Wilson. Hendon contends the mayor has fewer than 5,000 valid signatures.

* ABC Chicago | Alderpersons grill Chicago election officials about glitch that caused ballot shortages: Ald. Bill Conway, of the 34th Ward, asked the executive director of the Board of Elections, Sandra Aspera, if she thought they did a good job last Tuesday. “I actually feel our staff did a really good job. It was the ballot error, the coding error, a big confusion, not a confusion. It created a lot of media attention and then everyone assumed it was because of the ballot error. No, there were many reasons why we had long lines,” said Aspera.

* Sun-Times | City sports commission hopes better terms can be met for hosting 2031 Women’s World Cup: The city is pinning its hopes on FIFA choosing Soldier Field, though a decision is years away. Chicago Sports Commission executive director Kara Bachman hopes the exclusivity period — the number of days Soldier Field must be shut down before and after the tournament — will be shorter than in years past.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Why 5-term incumbent Elgin City Council member was kicked off ballot: According to the documents, Elgin City Clerk Kim Dewis told Steffen that she couldn’t certify his candidacy. She said his nominating petition failed to comply with the Illinois Election Code, specifically because it “was not signed by you or notarized.”

* Evanston Now | Parents groups criticize D65 budget errors: “It has been a hard couple weeks for anyone trying to follow District 65 finances.” That statement, from the community group Thrive 65, is hard to dispute, whatever your position may be regarding the proposed $20 million budget cuts, which include closing Dewey and Lincolnwood schools at the end of this academic year.

* Daily Herald | ‘We rise together and we fall together’: Refurbished Illinois Holocaust Museum reopening: Among the improvements are a new reflection gallery; a larger, state-of-the-art auditorium; improved accessibility; a refurbished lobby and welcome center; and expanded exhibitions, including virtual reality and digital options available to visitors around the world.

* Daily Herald | New Metra alert system offers texts and train arrival predictions — but you have to sign up: With prediction alerts, commuters who select origin and destination stations will receive a list of trains at a specified time. For example, a weekday commuter who requests a prediction alert for trains leaving the Union Pacific West Line’s Oak Park station en route to Ogilvie Transportation Center around 7 a.m. might receive six options, Metra spokesperson Michael Gillis said.

*** Downstate ***

* Capitol News Illinois | BJC HealthCare, Aetna agree to extend access for southern Illinois retirees: Thousands of Illinois retirees will maintain in-network access to BJC HealthCare hospitals and providers through the end of next year after BJC and insurer Aetna reached a one-year agreement. The deal, announced Friday, Nov. 6, applies specifically to members enrolled in the TRAIL program through the end of 2027. Discussions remain ongoing between Aetna and WashU Medicine.

* WIFR | More Rockford families turn to food pantries as holidays near: Rock River Valley Pantry CEO Tabatha Endres-Cruz says the organization has seen a more than 235% increase in the number of people served over the past four years. The pantry now helps between 7,000 and 8,000 people each month.

* WCIA | Memorial Health looks to expand Springfield presence with new rehab facility: It would be located in a current farm field at the corner of Milby Lane and Alex Boulevard. The 60-bed rehab center would treat patients recovering from brain injuries, fractures and other medical issues. It will cost just over $66 million to build.

* WGLT | Bloomington council hears call for hyperscale data center ban ahead of 2nd hearing on draft regulations: Adam Heenan was one of two speakers during public comment at the city council’s meeting on Monday. He said the results of an advisory question on the 2026 midterm ballot indicated a large majority of Bloomington residents want a permanent moratorium on data centers. About 78% of voters said they would like the city to implement a permanent moratorium. “It is a mandate to act,” Heenan said. “We don’t want them.”

*** National ***
* AP | California voters reject measure to tax the wealth of billionaires: The “no” side raised roughly 10 times as much as the “yes” side. Google co-founder Sergey Brin alone dumped more than $100 million into a political action committee working to defeat the measure. The measure would have imposed a one-time 5% tax on the wealth of Californians whose net worth exceeds $1 billion. Most of the money would have been used to backfill federal funding cuts to healthcare, and 10% would have gone toward education and food-assistance programs. SEIU United Healthcare Workers West, which backed the tax, said it was necessary to replace an estimated $100 billion the state will lose in federal healthcare funding over five years.

* Chicago Reader | Now that Democrats can do something, will they?: U.S. Representative Lauren Underwood,, first elected to Congress in 2018, outlined similar priorities in an interview with the Reader. Underwood hopes to reduce rising healthcare costs and reverse Trump-imposed Medicaid cuts. She said Democrats should pursue “a really rigorous oversight agenda . . . to offer a sense of transparency to the American people,” and that accountability must extend beyond hearings to include investigations and depositions of key political figures.

* The Atlantic | The One Source Bob Woodward Can’t Get to Talk: Throughout most of Woodward’s career, several criticisms of his journalism have recurred: It provides little or no analysis; he’s a pawn of his sources, telling the story they want told; and he’s dangerous to talk to, because he privileges scoops above all else. These might seem to contradict one another, but in fact few people can survive stenography.