Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Subscribers know more. At an unrelated news conference, Governor Pritzker was asked about the Illinois AFL-CIO’s decision to withdraw from the decades-old “agreed bill process” for workers’ comp and unemployment insurance…

Pritzker: This is an old methodology that’s been around for a long time. It has worked in many circumstances. I understand the frustration of the leaders of the labor movement about the fact that Republicans across the country have been unwilling to actually cut deals that make sense with labor, and therefore they want action on their behalf. So I understand the perspective. I have to say, we’ve seen the process work reasonably well in the state of Illinois before, but, you know, it’s their prerogative to choose not to be part of that process.

* Attorney General Kwame Raoul…

Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) today urged the Illinois Supreme Court to reject Amazon’s request to limit the Illinois Minimum Wage Law in a lawsuit filed against the company by its Illinois warehouse workers. Raoul and IDOL filed an amicus brief in Johnson v. Amazon.com Services LLC in support of the workers, who say Amazon failed to pay them for time they spent undergoing mandatory public-health screenings at the warehouses before their work shifts.

“Illinois law goes further than federal law when it comes to protecting the rights of our workers,” Raoul said. “In Illinois, when a worker is required to spend their valuable time at a workplace for pre-shift tasks, they’re entitled to be paid for that time. I will continue advocating for Illinois workers and ensuring our wage-and-hour standards are respected and enforced.” […]

The warehouse workers sued Amazon under both the Illinois Minimum Wage Law and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. A federal trial judge dismissed the workers’ federal claims based on an exception in the Fair Labor Standards Act for “preliminary” and “postliminary” job activities. The judge also dismissed their state-law claims, reasoning that the Illinois Minimum Wage law implicitly incorporates the same exception. The plaintiffs appealed the ruling on their state-law claims. However, instead of ruling for either party, the federal appellate panel asked the Illinois Supreme Court to clarify whether Illinois law incorporates the exception, explaining that the case raised an “unsettled question of state law” with “profound significance to workers and employers in Illinois.”

In their brief in the Illinois Supreme Court, Raoul and IDOL argue that Illinois has never enacted an exception like the one that exists at the federal level. Although Illinois courts sometimes look to federal law for guidance when interpreting state minimum-wage law, the brief explains, doing so here would be inappropriate because that would add a sweeping exception into a law that Illinois passed to protect workers, and no provision of state law mirrors the relevant federal provision. Raoul and IDOL emphasize that the Fair Labor Standards Act permits the state to enact wage-and-hour standards that exceed federal standards, which Illinois has consistently done.

* Tribune…

Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell Jr. and a coalition of legal groups and social service organizations are petitioning Chief Judge Timothy Evans to enter a general order prohibiting warrantless immigration arrests in or around courthouses.

Court facilities have historically been spared when it comes to immigration enforcement in order to create conditions in which defendants and witnesses are likely to show up for appearances. But sightings of federal immigration agents have increasingly been reported in and around area courthouses. […]

“We are asking Chief Judge Evans to do the right thing and to please protect that right by signing the general order,” said Alexa Van Brunt, director of the Illinois office at the MacArthur Justice Center. […]

On multiple occasions, immigration agents have been spotted around the domestic violence courthouse, raising particular concern about a chilling impact on people seeking orders of protection.

* Tribune…

Education in Illinois shows promising areas of growth — including improved kindergarten readiness and increased graduation rates — but remains hampered by stagnant reading and math literacy, as well as rising higher education costs, according to a new report.

Other problems plague the state as well, including chronic absenteeism and student mental health issues, which continue to be pervasive post-pandemic, according to the biennial analysis by Advance Illinois, a bipartisan education and advocacy organization. The report, released Wednesday, offers an in-depth look at the state’s education infrastructure and how public school students are faring.

Obstacles to schooling begin even before a child’s education journey, and persist after high school, due to increasing costs, according to the report.

“The bad news is there are very serious gaps, and those gaps by income, by race, by learning style, by language, have emerged even before students get to kindergarten,” said Robin Steans, president of Advance Illinois. The good news, Steans said, is that classroom rigor, persistence and graduation rates continue to increase. “Those are all moving in the right direction,” she said.

Overall, Illinois outpaces the nation in academic growth, Steans said, but there is still work to be done to ensure that all students reach their full potential, Steans wrote in the report.

* Citizens Utility Board…

After an expensive summer, Commonwealth Edison’s new supply price has dropped slightly but is still about 47 percent higher than last year, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) said Wednesday.

Even though ComEd’s price is elevated, the watchdog urged consumers to review the “Supply” section of their bills to confirm they are not overpaying with an expensive alternative supplier offer, including offers negotiated by local governments.

ComEd’s new non-summer power price (from October 2025 through May 2026):

● 9.689 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) (Appears as 0.09689 on bills.)
● The price above includes the supply price plus a transmission charge.

While ComEd’s price is down slightly from what it was this past summer (about 10.03 cents per kWh), it’s still up about 47 percent from what it was last October. Overall, ComEd has estimated the price increase will cost customers an average of 10-15 percent, or $10.60, more per month—but the impact can be much higher for individual customers, depending on factors such as weather.

*** Statewide ***

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Illinois now ranks 18th in nation for state education spending per student, report says: Illinois is no longer one of the worst states in America when it comes to funding K-12 schools, an improvement that may have helped it weather some of the COVID pandemic’s disruption to student learning, according to a new report released Wednesday. In its annual “The State We’re In” report, the independent advocacy organization Advance Illinois said Illinois moved from 47th in 2008 for state spending per student to 18th. “This is unprecedented,” said Advance Illinois President Robin Steans. “It’s stunning. It was badly, badly necessary.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Stratton aims to bring Pritzker administration policies to national stage: One of Stratton’s top economic priorities is raising the federal minimum wage to $15. Pritzker signed a bill about one month into his first term in 2019 to raise Illinois’ minimum wage to $15 over six years, checking off one of his top campaign promises. The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 since 2009. Stratton also called for expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit for low- and moderate-income workers. She did not specify what changes she would support.

*** Chicago ***

* Block Club | Chicago Public Schools Should Sue Feds Over Magnet School Money, CTU President Says: Trump administration officials said $5.8 million will not be awarded to Chicago in the coming year under the Magnet Schools Assistance Program and $17.5 million would not be awarded for the remaining years of the district’s grants. The move created an $8 million hole in the current school year’s CPS budget, district officials said.

* Block Club | Bronzeville Homeless Shelter Residents ‘Traumatized’ After Feds Chase, Arrest 4 People: Agents arrived Wednesday morning at the shelter run by the charitable arm of Bright Star Church and “started chasing people outside,” said Caryl R. West, executive director of Bright Star’s community development program. “People were afraid, and they didn’t know who they were being chased by, because the agents didn’t identify themselves,” West said. “So they ran into the field, and were chased there.”

* Crain’s | Chicago hotels set summer record, but profits prove elusive: Choose Chicago today announced there were nearly 3.6 million nightly stays at downtown inns from the beginning of June through the end of August, breaking the all-time high for that three-month stretch set in 2019. Hotels in the central business district posted a record-high of $949 million in revenue during those three months of this year, up by 0.8% from the same period in 2024. Nationwide, that number dipped by 0.5% over that span, according to Choose.

* WGN | Spirit Airlines announces furloughs of flight attendants in Chicago, other cities: A similar WARN notice has also been posted in Illinois, warning that more than 60 Spirit employees at O’Hare International Airport will be impacted come December. More than 330 at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport will be furloughed, according to a Georgia WARN notice.

* Daily Herald | ‘Many live paycheck to paycheck’: Shutdown will impact local workers, airports and services, stakeholders say: The fallout could disrupt travel at O’Hare and Midway international airports, impact the federal courthouse in Chicago and suspend U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pollution monitoring locally, among other problems. […] Many staffers at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5, which serves Illinois and five neighboring states, will be furloughed until the dispute is resolved, said American Federation of Government Employees official Nicole Cantello.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Injustice Watch | Cook County’s New Prosecutor Has Weakened An Already Broken System For Freeing The Innocent: Claims of police abuse are all too common in the Cook County courts. But Wells and Mason have an uncommon piece of evidence from an unusual source: a 77-page report commissioned by prosecutors themselves, citing more than a dozen cases where witnesses or defendants allege that one of those detectives, Brian Forberg, or his partners did the same thing to them. Snowballing claims of coercion by specific Chicago detectives have historically signaled wrongful convictions waiting to be revealed. Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke, however, has shown no sign she plans to act on the bracing report ordered up by her predecessor, Kim Foxx. Instead, Burke — 10 months into her first term — has continued to handle cases involving Forberg one by one in court, rather than systematically investigating their glaring similarities.

* ABC Chicago | Neurodivergent man released from custody pending trial after Broadview protest arrest: A judge Wednesday read a letter of support from the mayor of Oak Park and from a student at Oak Park and River Forest High School, where Paul Ivery works in the cafeteria. The judge later decided to release Ivery from custody, pending trial.

* Daily Herald | ‘Mini-forests’ are rare in the US. The Algonquin Garden Club is planting one in Kane County: The future mini-forest land has been vacant since invasive buckthorn trees were cut down about six years ago, Weinhammer said. Now the land will be transformed into a home for only native plants, creating a vital habitat for local pollinators and wildlife. “Everything we are going to plant will provide either a berry or a flower for native birds and pollinators,” she said. “It’s almost like a food forest” for birds and mammals.

*** Downstate ***

* WGLT | Bloomington elections chief explains how ’safeguards’ caught a rare case of alleged voter fraud: Bloomington Election Commission [BEC] Executive Director Luke Stremlau said state election officials send them a list of people who may have voted in another state. That triggers a BEC inquiry. “In this case, it was brought to me in that manner. It’s something that was flagged in both Bloomington and out-of-state [Wisconsin] as well,” Stremlau said. Of the 37,786 votes cast in Bloomington in the November election, the 55-year-old woman now facing felony charges was the only problematic ballot, Stremlau said. She’s accused of voting twice in the November election – once by mail-in ballot in Wisconsin and then again in person in Bloomington. Stremlau said it’s actually the first case of alleged voter fraud in the three years he’s led the BEC.

* WGLT | ISU leaders ask campus to bear with them on federal shutdown issues: Provost Ani Yazedjian and Vice President for Finance and Planning Glen Nelson said in an email to the campus community the institution remains committed to continuing business as usual. “We will cover expenses for federally funded operations for the next 30 days while we continue to monitor developments closely. As the situation evolves, we will reassess and make any necessary adjustments to ensure continuity and responsible stewardship of resources,” said the message.

* WCIA | Savoy Local 149 workers pushing for more women in trades: Women only make up about 5% of skilled trades workers in the United States, but two women out of Savoy Local 149 are trying to change that. They want to see more women in the field and feel that seeing thousands of likeminded people at a conference two hours north inspires confidence that number will increa “When you’re in the trades, you can do stuff like construction or you can go into education, leadership roles, financial roles,” said Local 149 member Laura Abbott. “There’s so many things you can do that aren’t just working with tools.” se in their shop.

* WGIL | 2026 Galesburg draft budget $76.3M: Tax rate drops, pensions and infrastructure take center stage: The city relies heavily on taxes, which make up 52% of all revenues, split into state-collected, locally collected, and property taxes, according to the presentation’s tax revenue breakdown. The property tax rate is set to decrease—the lowest since 2008—potentially saving homeowners money, though rising property values might offset some benefits. Of the property taxes, School District 205 receives nearly 50%, the largest share, to fund local schools, followed by Knox County at 13.34% and the City at 10.99%. Starting January 2026, the state’s 1% local sales tax on groceries will be eliminated, a move affecting 591 Illinois municipalities that have adopted local ordinances to replace it. Galesburg elected not to adopt a local grocery tax, which will save each individual $20.60 per year and each household $47.95 per year, but reduce city revenue by about $600,000 annually.

*** National ***

* NYT | Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91: On the scientific merits alone, Dr. Goodall’s discoveries about how wild chimpanzees raised their young, established leadership, socialized and communicated broke new ground and attracted immense attention and respect among researchers. Stephen Jay Gould, the evolutionary biologist and science historian, said her work with chimpanzees “represents one of the Western world’s great scientific achievements.”

* AP | Supreme Court lets Lisa Cook remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now: In a brief unsigned order, the high court said it would hear arguments in January over Republican President Donald Trump’s effort to force Cook off the Fed board. The court will consider whether to block a lower-court ruling in Cook’s favor while her challenge to her firing by Trump continues.

4 Comments

Caption contest!

Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Rich and I are currently outside cooking up the biggest pot of chili you’ve ever seen, when an uninvited eight-legged arachnid decided to RSVP…

Caption?

23 Comments

Pritzker announces $50.6 billion multi-year infrastructure program

Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Governor JB Pritzker…

Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) joined state and local leaders, labor and transportation stakeholders today to announce the largest multi-year [2026-2031] program to build and repair infrastructure in state history: $50.6 billion over six years, continuing an unprecedented investment in safety, mobility and quality of life made possible by the Governor’s Rebuild Illinois capital program. The new program, spread across all modes of transportation and touching every Illinois county, also includes $400 million to support 223 local projects. These projects, ranging from street and transit upgrades to bike and pedestrian improvements, are based on priorities submitted by counties, cities, townships, transit districts and other local agencies. […]

Continuing an approach started under Governor Pritzker, IDOT’s new multi-year program is both comprehensive and multimodal, with investments in roads and bridges, aviation, transit, freight and passenger rail, waterways, and bicycle and pedestrian accommodations. Projects are across state and local jurisdictions and in all 102 counties. The $50.6 billion eclipses the previous record of $41.4 billion set last year. […]

The Fiscal Year 2026-31 Proposed Highway and Multimodal Improvement Program will invest $32.5 billion in state and local roads and bridges, with $5.5 billion identified for the current fiscal year. A total of $18.1 billion is programmed for other modes, which includes $13.8 billion for transit, $2.9 billion for freight and passenger rail, $1.2 billion for aviation, and $200 million for ports and waterways.

On the highways side, the program will build or improve 7,107 lane miles of roads and 8.4 million square feet of bridge deck on the state system, with $6.8 billion identified for 1,654 lane miles and more than 1.3 million square feet of bridge deck overseen by local governments. […]

New to this year’s multi-year program is $400 million made available through special legislative appropriation and signed by Governor Pritzker to help further address local transportation needs, with consideration given to disadvantaged or economically distressed communities. Of the 223 awards, 177 are for roads, 34 for bike and pedestrian improvements, 10 for transit, two for ports. All projects required a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise goal to uplift small, local minority- and women-owned firms.

* Lots of money will be heading toward rail and transit projects. From the breakdown of statewide multimodal projects…

RAIL:

• $25.2 million for the 10th Street corridor consolidation of passenger and freight rail in Springfield.
• $19.9 million for improving traffic flow with four major projects in the CREATE program within the 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project.
• $183 million to improve a 1.9-mile segment of the Union Pacific Railroad, north of Rockwell Avenue in Chicago. Part of the CREATE program.
• $388.8 million for re-establishing passenger rail service between Chicago and the Quad Cities with a new intermediate stop in Geneseo.
• $270 million to re-establish passenger rail service between Rockford and Chicago.
• $98 million for safety and reliability improvements on Amtrak’s Saluki service between Chicago and Carbondale.

TRANSIT:

• $3.9 million to relocate a bus transfer facility for the city of Quincy.
• $10.8 million for Metra Ties & Ballast MET replacement of cross ties, switch ties and ballast on the Milwaukee District, Metra Electric, Rock Island District and SouthWest Service lines.
• $3.2 million for up to five projects in the Metra Bridge Rehabilitation Program.
• $175 million for the Chicago Transit Authority Training and Control Center Operations.
• $7.6 million for the Chicago Transit Authority Elevated Track Systemwide Project.
• $3.8 million for the Pace Pulse 95th Street Construction, including stations, vertical markers and other elements of the 12.4-mile corridor.
• $7.4 million for the Pace Pulse Halsted Street Construction, including stations, vertical markers and other elements of the 9-mile corridor.
• $8 million for microtransit/paratransit operations and workforce development facility at the Bloomington-Normal MTD (Connect Transit).
• $3 million for a new administration and maintenance facility in Effingham County.
• $127 million of the Metrolink Extension from Shiloh-Scott station to Mid America Airport.
• $4.2 million for the purchase of six 40-foot expansion buses in the city of DeKalb.
• $6 million for the purchase of six replacement zero-emission buses in the Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District.
• $11.6 million for City of Decatur Public Transit’s new turnkey Microtransit operations.

* In case you’re wondering about those Rock Island County buses…

Bloomberg | Why US Cities Pay Too Much for Transit Buses:

“Paying Less for Public Transit Buses,”

13 Comments

Daily Herald ends reader comments

Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Daily Herald…

Today, the Daily Herald is joining a growing list of media outlets that no longer allow website commenting on stories.

Why are we stopping now?

The comment section was intended to be a tool to spur dialogue among our readers. Sometimes it succeeded in doing that.

Over time, however, it has become increasingly negative, with comments crossing the line into hate speech, bullying and name-calling. Too much time was being devoted to moderating the comments so that readers with thoughtful and relevant commentary could still have their views heard. For those well-meaning readers, there are other ways to weigh in on content and issues of the day.

* Many years ago, I was so fed up with comments that I turned them off. The blowback was severe because even people who rarely or never commented loved reading the comments here. So, I switched platforms to allow me to automatically screen out the worst of the worst.

The worst “bad” words are banned (see George Carlin’s infamous list if you dare and aren’t at work), others are automatically held for review, including a certain punctuation mark. Some of the more aggressive commenters are automatically held in purgatory until we release them or decide to delete them. The system usually works. Often, it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Sometimes, I admit, it’s overkill. But we do try to adjust as we go along.

* The reason the blowback was so harsh was that comments are such a vital part of this site. I always say that this website truly lives and breathes. We have the news feeds on the right side of the page which constantly refresh; then there are our posts throughout the day; the press release posts; and the comments. Leave for 20 minutes and come back and the site has changed. It’s truly quite unique and even beautiful.

I take heat for deleting some comments. I take heat for letting some comments through. It’s a balancing act and it isn’t perfect. But what I will never do is allow this place to turn into a cesspool, which is what happened with the Daily Herald and many, many news sites before. A whole lot of folks spend a bunch of money to post ads on this site (just look around, we’re like a NASCAR racecar right now - an ad on every square inch), so there has to be some sort of decorum or those people won’t spend that money. Hey, I’m a capitalist. What can I say? I don’t have a government pension but I do want to retire someday and hand this over to Isabel. I make zero apologies for that.

* I’m firmly committed to keeping comments alive for as long as I still have breath in my body. But this ain’t a public park. It’s a private establishment. I’ve said for many years that this place is like my tavern. Management (me) reserves the right to refuse service for any reason. If you don’t like it, you’re free to go somewhere else. Goodbye and good riddance. I just don’t care.

* Anyway, I (mostly) love you all and I appreciate what you (mostly) add to this site. It’s incredibly valuable and I (mostly) cherish all of you. We’re (mostly) like family here and that gives me (mostly) great joy. So, (most of you) keep up the great work [banned punctuation]

56 Comments

Competition Works: Lower Bills. Reliable Power. Say NO To Right Of First Refusal

Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Illinois families are sweating through heat and higher electricity bills this summer. Across the Midwest, some relief from energy inflation is in the forecast. Thanks to competitive bidding, dramatically lower costs have resulted compared to no-bid Right of First Refusal (ROFR) proposals.

Here’s the proof:

$87 Million Saved

Fairport to Denny Transmission Line (MISO – Missouri)

• Competitive bidding cut MISO’s initial estimate from $161 million to just $74 million – saving Missouri Customers millions!

$6 Million Saved

Reid EHV to IN/KY Border Transmission Project (MISO)

$14 Million Saved

Matheson–Redbud Transmission Line (SPP – Oklahoma)

In many cases, incumbent utilities won these bids, proving that when they compete with other qualified builders, consumers win. It saves money and drives better results.

Competition Works.

Legislators should choose competition and protect Illinois families.

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Today’s MLB quotable

Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Tribune’s Paul Sullivan…

The ballpark was relatively quiet with the Cubs offense on mute. Wrigley was in dire need of some mood enhancement when Seiya Suzuki homered off Nick Pivetta to lead off the fifth.

“Electric,” Kelly said. “Hearing the crack of the bat, seeing the ball go, I was like, ‘I wanna do that.’ It was pretty cool to see that energy. You feel it as a player, and it was a good day to wear a Cubs uniform.”

Then Kelly did that. He smoked another home run to left, giving the Cubs the lead and turning Wrigley into a fully krausened mosh pit.

I agree with Bill Savage. That’s some fine writing.

And, yes, my Cubs hate is indeed waning as my Sox ownership hate is rising. I even went to a game last week…

At an undisclosed location drinking an appropriate beer pic.twitter.com/6NgLinML9S

— Capitol Fax (@capitolfax) September 27, 2025

* This is a good insight about our two worlds…

17 Comments

Protect the 340B Program to Enhance Healthcare Services in Low-Income Communities

Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Drugmaker requirements are making it hard for hospitals like Franciscan Health Olympia Fields to turn savings on drug costs into healthcare services for patients. The hospital joined the federal 340B program “to help serve the uninsured and under-insured community residents in Olympia Fields and Chicago Heights.” The poverty rates in both Chicago suburbs are higher than the 11.6% state average—nearly 13% in Olympia Fields and almost 25% in Chicago Heights.

The hospital has put 340B savings toward healthcare services, including its:

Outpatient Infusion Center

Medication to Bedside program

Pharmacist-managed Anticoagulation Clinics and Pharmacotherapy Clinics

“The 340B program serves as a vital lifeline for safety-net providers to support critical health services in low-income or isolated rural communities, which are typically operated at a loss,” Franciscan Health said.

Since 2020, drugmakers have blocked access to lifesaving medications acquired through the 340B program, making it harder for Illinois’ 100 participating hospitals to invest in healthcare services—and patients.

Support House Bill 2371 SA 2 to prohibit drugmakers from interfering with hospital pharmacy contracts. Low-income communities deserve access to more comprehensive healthcare services, as the 340B program intended. Learn more.

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The ‘taken out of context’ card is played for the kabillionth time, but, as usual, receipts are delivered

Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* It’s been my experience that whenever politicians, government officials, etc. claim their comments were “taken out of context” by a news media outlet, they’re often just plain wrong. Click here, here, here, here, here, here and here for just a few examples. More here.

Sometimes they’re right, but it’s often just a ploy.

* Three days ago…

Gregory Bovino, commander at large of the border force, contrasted the people being arrested with a white WBEZ reporter, saying agents consider a person’s appearance before taking them into custody.

“You know, there’s many different factors that go into something like that,” Bovino said. “It would be agent experience, intelligence that indicates there’s illegal aliens in a particular place or location.

“Then, obviously, the particular characteristics of an individual, how they look. How do they look compared to, say, you?” he said to the reporter, a tall, middle-aged man of Anglo descent.

* NewsNation…

Bovino told NewsNation early Monday that comments made to the newspaper were taken out of context and was “grossly inaccurate.”

* Um, no…

Mitchell: My partner — Ashlee [Rezin], the [Sun-Times] photographer — she said that you, the guy who was arrested before, seemed to be because he ran. Is that what happened?

Bovino: No, there’s various indicators, we call them articulable facts, and he exhibited articulable facts that made us take a look and then we took a look and our suspicions were proven true. It does appear right now he’s an illegal alien.

Mitchell: How can you tell by appearance?

Bovino: You know, there’s many different factors that go into something like that. It would be agent experience, intelligence that indicates there’s illegal alienage in a particular place or location. Then obviously the particular characteristics of an individual, how they look. How do they look compared to, say, you?

Mitchell is a white guy.

There’s more, of course.

Also, click here for the audio file.

16 Comments

It’s Time To Bring Safer Rides To Illinois

Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Waymo is ready to bring safe, reliable, autonomous rides to Illinois – but we need your help!

Waymo is designed to follow all traffic laws and obey speed limits, and the data shows Waymo’s autonomous vehicles are involved in five times fewer injury-causing collisions compared to humans (as of 6/2025, see waymo.com/safety). Let’s bring safer rides to Illinois.

Waymo’s autonomous vehicles can improve access to transportation for Illinois residents with travel-limiting disabilities like vision impairment, to reach medical care, groceries, and social activities. Waymo’s all-electric autonomous vehicles also provide a more sustainable way for people to get around, preventing 315+ tons of carbon emissions with every 250K trips provided through our ride-hailing service.

Ready to ride? Help bring Waymo to Illinois.

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Isabel’s morning briefing

Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: House speaker unsure if there’s enough support for Bears stadium tax break. Daily Herald…

- Gov. JB Pritzker, who has said he prefers the Bears remain within city limits, has expressed support for the megaproject concept, but earlier this month declared it a “prerequisite” for the Bears to first pay off the $534 million owed for the 2003 Soldier Field renovations.

- On Tuesday night, Welch told the Daily Herald he and House Democrats are “open to listening” to such proposals. “If the megaprojects bill is going to pass, you still need to convince 26 Chicago legislators that it’s good for Chicago as well,” Welch said. “And so is that something that can convince Chicago legislators that it’s a good thing? I don’t know. I think that there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done.”

* Related stories…

• Daily Herald: Arlington Heights could collect $15 million a year from Bears stadium, but costs still unknown
• ABC Chicago: Bears release new Arlington Heights stadium renderings, report on projected cost and economic impact
• Crain’s: Arlington Heights weighs Bears’ stadium economic impact pitch

***************** Advertisement *****************

Sponsored by Ameren Illinois

The summer of 2025 has been a tough one for residents and businesses in the Ameren Illinois service territory. Supply constraints, extreme hot and humid conditions, and increased energy usage have led to a significant spike in electricity prices and higher-than-normal monthly bills for residential, commercial and industrial energy users. We appreciate and thank legislators, regulators and stakeholders who are working hard to address the energy challenge in Illinois. Energy policy is complex, and we’re encouraged that there are some creative ideas being proposed and a willingness to work together to find answers.

While Ameren Illinois cannot control the price or availability of energy, we can ensure that the system that delivers energy to homes and businesses — electric poles, wires, and technology; and natural gas distribution pipelines and storage fields — is equipped to operate at peak performance to withstand severe weather events, facilitate business expansions that grow local communities, and enable the transition to renewable generation.

We have an opportunity to build an energy system that is smarter, cleaner, reliable, resilient, and affordable for Illinois families and businesses. As discussions on short- and long-term legislative solutions occur this fall, we will continue to advocate for our 1.2 million customers.

If you know of someone who is struggling to pay their energy bill, please encourage them to visit www.AmerenIllinois.com/PathToSavings for information on available financial assistance and energy saving programs.

*************************************************

* Governor Pritzker will be at the Laborers Training Center at 11 am. At 1 pm, the governor will attend a panel addressing recent medical misinformation from the Trump administration. Click here to watch.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* 25News Now | ‘End of the day, we need a deal,’ say Illinois Soybean Association leaders on China: Chinese soybean processors in attendance Tuesday said they’re unable to buy now because of circumstances outside their control, like relations between the two countries and tariffs. “He said he’s been importing high quality grains from the States for a long time, and he would be happy if the relations between the two countries alleviates and gets better, so that he can continue buying high-quality grains from the States,” said a translator summarizing comments from Xiaobo Li, who attended to represent processors from China. An Egyptian buyer said his company used to buy most of its beans at low prices from Brazil, but now the United States has low prices, too.

* CNI | State, private developers break ground on quantum research park: California-based PsiQuantum will occupy the first facilities built on the site. The 9-year-old startup plans to build the first utility-scale quantum computer in the country. The development, which is being handled by Related Midwest, will also include a new 53-bed hospital run by Advocate Health, a major hospital system in Chicagoland. The plan also includes over 100 acres of new or upgraded parks.

*** Statehouse News ***

* MSNBC | ‘We don’t want you here’: Pritzker rips Trump’s Chicago troop plan: “Remember that we don’t want you here. Go somewhere where they might invite you. But here in Chicago, here in the state of Illinois, we don’t want you,” says Gov. JB Pritzker on Trump’s plan to send troops to Chicago.

* Crain’s | Pritzker calls for 25th Amendment after Trump ‘training grounds’ remark: Gov. JB Pritzker suggested the 25th Amendment be invoked after President Donald Trump told military leaders they should use cities as “training grounds” and said deploying troops in major cities is necessary due to “a war from within.” Pritzker called the idea “inane” and said of Trump, “I’m concerned for his health. It appears not only has dementia set in, he’s copying the tactics of Vladimir Putin.”

* Sun-times Federal Courts reporter Jon Seidel…

Good morning. Former City Club of Chicago President Jay Doherty is now in prison for his role in the ComEd conspiracy aimed at ex-IL House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Background: https://t.co/iZLwoURsYJ pic.twitter.com/43hZ2WZB9Z

— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) October 1, 2025

* WSPY | During visit to Yorkville, Bailey and Del Mar talk taxes, power shifts as they begin campaign for governor’s race: The second time around, Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey is counting on people to know they need to get off the fence and show up at the polls. The southern Illinois farmer carried 100 of the state’s 102 counties in [the 2022 primary] but got just 42 percent of the vote overall [in the general], his popularity offset by J.B. Pritzker’s mainly in heavily Democratic and densely populated Cook County. Bailey says the state’s in deeper distress now and taxes are a big reason.

* Fox Illinois | Illinois reparations commission to hold public hearing at University of Illinois: The Illinois African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission is set to hold a public hearing at the University of Illinois campus this Saturday. […] Commissioner Jeffrey Trask emphasized the importance of public feedback, stating, “We also are doing these hearings to get input about that as well. We want to make sure that as our harms report comes out, that people have opportunities to talk about those harms and opportunities to also add to the recommendations, and they have any kind of comments or suggestions they have to recommendations to redress those harms too.”

*** Chicago ***

* ABC Chicago | More Chicago protests against immigration enforcement surge expected Wednesday: Legal advocates are petitioning the Chief Judge to prohibit ICE from arresting people without a warrant near Cook County courthouses. The Coalition Against the Trump Administration organizing an emergency protest, following dozens of armed federal agents spotted downtown, detaining multiple people.

* Tribune | Chase of cyclist by ICE agents in downtown Chicago described as surreal by witness: As Gilmore waited to cross the street, a cyclist approached, taunted the agents and — after a brief exchange — jetted off west along Wacker Drive as agents chased after him, Gilmore, 25, recalled in a recent interview with the Tribune. Those moments, captured on video garnered widespread attention online, felt surreal, Gilmore said. “It just felt like we were in an actual movie,” he said.

* WTTW | Partnership Aims to Better Address Food Insecurity Among City Colleges Students: This fall, free take-home meals at Malcolm X College, Kennedy-King College and Olive-Harvey College will be available for students and their family members, with plans to expand to all seven city community colleges, leaders said. Students will also be able to receive free snacks at various locations across campuses starting this fall.

* Press release | Chicago Fire FC Hits the Road with Official Illinois License Plates for Fans: All aboard, fans! Chicago Fire FC is teaming up with the Illinois Secretary of State to bring official Chicago Fire FC license plates to the roads of Illinois – and they’re covering the $25 application fee for the first 2,000 Illinois drivers who sign up. This initiative comes as the Fire – currently sitting 9th in the Eastern Conference with 48 points – continue their push in the MLS playoff race and as excitement builds across the city. Whether they’re cheering from Soldier Field, watching from sports bars, supporting from their couches, or now even driving down the highway, Chicago Fire wants its fans to show their support.

* ABC Chicago | CTA celebrating 78th anniversary with vintage train cars from 1920s in Loop: People can enjoy a ride between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Wednesday only. Unfortunately you still have to pay the standard fare of $2.50, not the five cents that it cost in the 1920s. The train will be making all regular Loop stops.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* WTTW | Broadview Officials Say ICE Waging ‘Disinformation Campaign’ Amid Protests as Local Officers ‘Shell Shocked’: The mayor of suburban Broadview said her constituents are “begging for relief” from federal immigration agents who have placed residents and first responders in danger by their use of tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets against protesters. Mayor Katrina Thompson on Tuesday accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials of waging a “disinformation campaign” amid their continued use of chemical and less-lethal munitions directed at crowds outside the agency’s Broadview processing center.

* WGN | Broadview police conducting 3 criminal investigations into ICE activity at facility: “We are experiencing an immediate public safety crisis,” Broadview Police Chief Thomas Mills said. “Our own Broadview police are routinely being exposed to tear gas, forcing them out for an amount of time so they can decontaminate, get their breath, clear their eyes, which takes them out of service.” “Our personnel responded to emergency calls during protests, providing first aid and transports to the hospital. My men and women have been exposed to chemical agents and attacks while performing their duties,” said Broadview acting fire chief Matt Martin.

* Daily Herald | Glen Ellyn Historical Society searching for new leader: Jeffrey Anderson announced in a Historical Society newsletter that he’s stepping down from the role but still plans on continuing to be a member and volunteer for “years to come.” His successor will be charged with being the public face of the nonprofit, volunteer-based organization and the Stacy’s Tavern Museum, a restored 1840s-era inn near the modern-day Five Corners intersection of St. Charles and Geneva roads and Main Street.

*** Downstate ***

* CBS | Once left behind, an Illinois town finds hope in a new school and grocery store: When steel and manufacturing jobs dried up over the last several decades in Venice, Illinois, the town lost two-thirds of the population, followed by its only grocery store and only school. But now, Venice hopes to make a comeback that’s already underway — thanks, in part, to the vision of Ed Hightower, a retired school superintendent who has deep roots in the area. “I don’t care what color you are, what belief you have. You want to reside in a safe area where you can go to school, you go get your groceries,” Hightower said.

* WCIA | ‘It’s a huge, huge deal’; Farmers, firefighters come together amidst field fire risk in Central Illinois: Marty Wilson is taking his empty tanks and filling them with water to have in the fields in case of a fire. Because it’s so hot, dry, and windy, it’s a recipe for concern for farmers all over. They’re even thinking static electricity on combines could be starting fires. […] “We ought to have some water tanks full of water in case we need it in the future for anybody,” Wilson shared.

* BND | Opponent of solar farm at Belleville cemetery sues city, developers: The complaint asks Associate Judge Stacy Campbell to declare that the city would be violating state law if they moved forward with an agreement to allow Belleville Solar to lease 19 acres of cemetery land and operate a solar farm for 35 years. Berger has long argued that cemetery owners are prohibited from using cemetery land and roads for industrial purposes, even if they’re cities with home-rule status, and that this invalidates Belleville’s lease.

* WGLT | Unit 5 superintendent gives update on enrollment, transportation needs and cell phones: Unit 5 superintendent Kristen Weikle provided updates about the Normal-based school district, including on enrollment, transportation, cell phone policy and the teacher shortage during an interview on WGLT’s Sound Ideas. Cropper GIS Consulting, which completed a capacity study in April 2024, will again provide data for Unit 5 to analyze student populations and decide whether action should be taken to address needs at schools with high enrollment.

* WAND | CWLP receives $1.1 million grant to improve electric grid: Springfield City Council unanimously passed a plan Tuesday night to accept a $1.1 million grant to improve the City Water Light and Power energy grid infrastructure. The grant is funded by federal dollars passed through the Illinois Finance Authority. The grant will cover the majority of the $1.67 million project, which citizens will not have to pay for.

* 25News Now | Caterpillar’s former CEO sells almost $8 million in company stock, although he owns a lot more: A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows Umpleby, now the executive chair of Caterpillar’s board of directors, sold 17,166 shares of common stock on Monday, Sept. 22. At a stock price of $462.65 per share, Umpleby earned $7.94 million. He still owns 465,339 Caterpillar shares, according to the SEC filing. Caterpillar’s stock price remains at lofty levels even though the company acknowledged in late August that it was taking a bigger hit from tariffs than earlier estimates.

* WAND | IL State Superintendent praises Taylorville HS culture, ’sense of purpose’: Students at Taylorville High School welcomed State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders Tuesday to showcase the programs and innovations shaping their learning experience. [….] “Tommy TV” is the school’s student-led broadcast network where athletic games are broadcast live. In addition to the broadcast, principal Matt Hutchison says half of the student body is in the FFA Program. Known as the Future Farmers’ Program, the program teaches students about agriculture.

* WAND | An inside look at the Springfield Clinic Dome at Scheels Sports Park: “We have basketball and volleyball, we have batting cages that also do golf simulation,” said General Manager of Scheels Sports Park at Legacy Pointe, Brandon Doherty. “And the turf field, really we could do whatever we want, which is two full-size softball fields, we could do a full-size soccer field or a football field … we do plan on doing at least two to three events on a weekend or even during the week in the dome at one time.”

* 25News Now | Longtime Peoria journalist, WMBD-TV Vice President, General Manager dies: Shaun Newell, WMBD’s vice president and general manager, and a longtime Peoria journalist, has died. While his cause of death has not been released, WMBD Creative Services Director James Kerr confirmed that Newell passed away peacefully. A Central Illinois native, Newell spent most of his broadcast career in Central Illinois, having worked for several media agencies, including WEEK-TV, WMBD Radio, and, eventually, WMBD-TV.

*** National ***

* AP | What happens now that a government shutdown is underway: Republicans supported a short-term measure to fund the government generally at current levels through Nov. 21, but Democrats blocked it, insisting the measure address their concerns on health care. They want to reverse the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s mega-bill passed this summer and extend tax credits that make health insurance premiums more affordable for millions of people who purchase through the marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act. Republicans called the Democratic proposal a nonstarter that would cost taxpayers more than $1 trillion.

* WaPo | Napheesa Collier blasts WNBA commissioner: ‘I will not stand quietly by’: Behind a pleasant smile and a measured voice, Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier delivered a scathing takedown of WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert on Tuesday. Through a prepared statement in which she brought receipts and named names, Collier used a standard end-of-season media session to light into the league on a variety of issues.

* 404 Media | ICE to Buy Tool that Tracks Locations of Hundreds of Millions of Phones Every Day: The documents explicitly show that ICE is choosing this product over others offered by the contractor’s competitors because it gives ICE essentially an “all-in-one” tool for searching both masses of location data and information taken from social media. The documents also show that ICE is planning to once again use location data remotely harvested from peoples’ smartphones after previously saying it had stopped the practice.

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Good morning!

Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* WGLT last week…

Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist A.J. Croce waited decades to play his famous father’s songs, developing a setlist from Jim Croce’s catalog for his Croce Plays Croce tour at 50 years old.

Croce Plays Croce tours to Bloomington this weekend, for one performance only on Sunday, Sept. 28.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. I’m spending my birthday in Bloomington.”

Singer-songwriter and master guitar player Jim Croce died Sept. 20, 1973, in a plane crash. He was 30, the crash happening just before his son’s second birthday. The elder Croce’s career had just taken off, with hits like Time in a Bottle, Operator and Bad, Bad Leroy Brown among some of the most popular of the decade.

* Let’s go deeper into the catalogue…

Well I could not help it but to fall in love
With this heavy-duty woman I been speakin’ of
Things looked kind of bad
Until the day she skated into my life

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Selected press releases (Live updates)

Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

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Live coverage

Wednesday, Oct 1, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. Hopefully, enough reporters and news outlets migrate to BlueSky so we can hopefully resume live-posting.

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