* ICYMI: Pritzker signs transit overhaul bill. Evanston Now…

- Gov. JB Pritzker signed a $1.5 billion transit overhaul package into law Tuesday, a month and a half after the legislature adopted the measure to save regional public transit from a catastrophic fiscal cliff.
- Lawmakers say the new law will modernize Illinois’ transit system, increasing funding to capital projects, fare collection, oversight, new trains, tracks and buses, funded through the state’s existing Road Fund interest, a 0.25% increase in sales tax in the six-county “NITA region” and diverting an existing gas sales tax.
- The law, which goes into effect next summer, will establish a new oversight board and eliminate the existing Regional Transit Authority oversight system, create a new unified fare system by 2030, increase accountability standards in 2028, new capital project and transit-oriented development initiatives by 2027 and a new “Transit Ambassador Program.”

* Related stories…

• Daily Herald: ‘Transit should be easy’: Pritzker signs reform bill, plugging $1.5 billion into Metra, Pace, CTA system
• NBC Chicago: Bill to transform public transit in Illinois signed into law. Here’s what is included
• Tribune: JB Pritzker signs transit bill that should avert major service cuts, but cautions that ‘transformation’ takes time

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*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | Trump administration plans to eliminate hundreds of vacancies at Chicago area VA hospitals: Officials are aiming to close more than 400 open jobs at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center on the Near West Side, and about 200 vacancies will be eliminated at the Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, sources told the Sun-Times. They spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of workplace retaliation. Figures weren’t available for Hines VA near Broadview or Illinois’ other federal veteran health care facilities in downstate Marion and Danville. But vacancies are being eliminated nationwide, according to Pete Kasperowicz, press secretary for the federal Veterans Affairs Department.

* WMBD | Darin LaHood urges Trump to deny Mike Madigan’s plea for a pardon: “We write with a unified message as Republican Members of the United States House of Representatives for the State of Illinois to express our concerns regarding a request for a presidential pardon from former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan,” the letter to the president said. “Illinois families and taxpayers have suffered for decades under entrenched corruption, and a pardon in this case would send a dangerous message that public officials can betray the public trust with impunity,” the letter said.

*** Statewide ***

* WBEZ | Illinois vaccine committee votes to keep recommending hepatitis B vaccine for newborns: The state’s vaccine advisory committee voted Tuesday to reaffirm and continue the practice of administering the hepatitis B vaccine to all healthy and stable infants within 24 hours of birth in Illinois. The recommendation once again puts the state at odds with federal health officials who this month voted to end longstanding guidance to give newborns the vaccine to prevent liver infection and chronic disease.

* Chalkbeat | Report: A college degree is most ‘promising path’ to a good job in Illinois: A bachelor’s degree is the best pathway to a good job in Illinois — and while alternative pathways can lead to good jobs, they are more inequitable, according to a new report from the Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative and the UChicago Consortium on School Research. Some non-college pathways also led to good jobs, such as construction and agriculture, but they heavily favored white and Latino men. “I know there’s a lot of questions about: Is the college degree worth it?” said Meg Bates, director of I-WERC. “Here we’re seeing that, really, it’s the only degree that consistently leads to that upward mobility.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* Daily Southtown | Napoleon Harris to appear on ballot in Democratic committeeman race after objections struck down: Hearing officer Frank Tedesso previously dismissed most of the arguments brought by Keith Price and Michael A. Smith against Harris’ eligibility to appear on the March 17, 2026 primary ballot. Price and Smith are both former allies of Tiffany Henyard, the former Dolton mayor and Thornton Township supervisor. Tedesso recommended Tuesday that Harris appear on the ballot for township committeeman after neither Price nor Smith showed up to present evidence 30 minutes after the hearing’s scheduled start time. Harris will face former ally and township Trustee Stephanie Wiedeman, who supported Price and Smith in their objections, in the race for Thornton Township Democratic committeeman.

* OSV News | Illinois Catholic Bishops back pregnancy centers’ suit over law requiring abortion referrals: Becket, a Washington-based religious liberty law firm, filed an amicus brief, sometimes called a friend-of-the-court brief, Dec. 16 on behalf of the Catholic bishops of Illinois, the Illinois Catholic Health Association, the Orthodox Church in America, and the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of New Gračanica-Midwestern America in support of a lawsuit from ​​a group of pro-life pregnancy centers and doctors challenging the state’s Health Care Right of Conscience Act. The Catholic bishops joined the effort, the brief said, in part to “ensure that no Catholic healthcare provider in Illinois will be forced to speak against the Church’s true teachings on abortion.”

Click here to read the amicus brief.

* Center Square | Manufacturers group urges Pritzker to veto Illinois energy legislation: Since then, Illinois Manufacturers’ Association President and CEO Mark Denzler said a recent study from the Illinois Power Agency, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Illinois Commerce Commission shows if Illinois continues on the current path, even with billions in subsidies for battery storage, there’ll be an energy shortage in four years. “Particularly after this reports come out, we would encourage the governor to veto that bill,” Denzler told The Center Square Tuesday. “Go back to the table. Look at this report that, you know, they should have waited until they saw the report in the first case and see what this said. And it clearly says you need to keep your current resources on board.”

* WCIA | New Illinois law strengthens state response to human trafficking: Illinois has identified thousands of human trafficking victims in recent years, though officials believe the actual number is significantly higher. As a result, a new law sponsored by State Senator Julie Morrison (D-Lake Forest) aims to bolster Illinois’ response to trafficking cases by enabling faster victim identification and enhancing survivor support through improved coordination, training and services.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson’s Council opposition passes alternative revenue plan through Finance Committee: An emboldened City Council majority made a clean break with Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday, advancing its own plan to balance the 2026 proposed budget without a corporate head tax, but with a revenue mix that includes a surprise 50% increase in Chicago’s 10-cent tax on shopping bags. A renegade group of moderate and conservative alderpersons finally showed the hand they withheld from Johnson in an attempt to prove that their newly revised revenue plan includes conservative estimates that would not, as Johnson has claimed, set Chicago up for a midyear budget shortfall. After hours of debate, the Finance Committee approved the plan by a vote of 22 to 13. Later in the day, the Finance Committee approved a $9.15 million property tax increase to fully fund the Chicago Public Library system.

* WGN | Michael Sacks gives big to alders before corporate head tax fight : Even before the mayor proposed reviving Chicago’s corporate head tax, powerful financier Michael Sacks was filling up the campaign coffers of several members of City Council. Opposed to the tax, Sacks, an ally of former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, heads a group funding ads against the plan. Campaign finance records show every alder who initially opposed the head tax had also received direct donations from Sacks and his wife, Cari. In all, the Sacks donated close to $373,000 to campaigns controlled by alders.

* WGN | No damages awarded to man suing Chicago police officers over Red Line shooting: With final arguments in the books, the jury in the trial of Ariel Roman’s federal civil rights lawsuit ruled in favor of officers Melvina Bogard and Bernard Butler on Tuesday at the Dirksen Federal Building. Roman’s lawsuit against the officers requested an unspecified amount of damages for what his attorneys said were significant injuries he sustained when Chicago Police Department officers shot him in February 2020.

* Sun-Times | Chicago police officer accuses fellow cop of sexual assault after Christmas party: A Chicago police officer has alleged that another officer sexually assaulted her Friday morning after they attended a Christmas party with other cops assigned to their Southwest Side police district. Officers responded Friday afternoon to Trinity Hospital, where a nurse told them that a 26-year-old female officer had reported being assaulted by her 37-year-old male co-worker, according to a police report. Both officers are assigned to the Chicago Lawn district and had attended the party together. A police spokesperson said a “known offender” was responsible, but no one had been arrested.

* Sun-Times | Chicago is failing to keep proper track of most police discipline except firings, watchdog finds: A report by the inspector general finds that police disciplinary files are held in three different databases. It recommends putting information regarding suspensions in officers’ personnel files along with an “associated deduction of pay” in the relevant citywide databases.

* Sun-Times | Thrill seekers ’subway surf’ in Christmas outfits atop CTA’s holiday train in Loop: Videos of the incident are making rounds across social media, which is blamed for fueling the dangerous practice in New York City. The CTA recorded at least two-dozen train surfing incidents since 2023, and wouldn’t comment about this latest incident.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Evanston Now | Dozens of layoffs loom at D65: Faced with a hopeless deadlock on which schools to close, and whom to choose to fill a vacancy, the District 65 Board of Education did not vote on either on Monday night. Instead, Board President Pat Anderson said that while the six-member panel has worked for several weeks trying to reach agreement, “deadlocks remain on both issues.” Anderson said there has been “no progress,” and “significant differences remain” in what she termed a “unique situation.”

* Daily Herald | Arlington Heights village manager gets 5% raise, $15K bonus: Arlington Heights Village Manager Randy Recklaus has received a 5% raise and $15,000 performance bonus following his most recent annual evaluation with the village board. Recklaus, at the helm of day-to-day operations of town’s government since 2014, will be paid an annual base salary of $313,533 retroactive to Nov. 10. With the one-time bonus, he will make $328,533.

* Naperville Sun | D203 board OKs tax hike, acknowledges dire financial forecast: Naperville taxpayers are expected to pay about 2.9% more on District 203’s portion of the property tax bill after the school board approved its annual levy Monday. Some board members were reluctant to approve the levy, which passed by a 5-2 vote, saying that inflation has taken a toll on homeowners’ pocketbooks. However, other board members said they can’t rely on the state or federal government for any additional funding, and property taxes are the primary mechanism for funding the district.

* Daily Herald | Judge denies release for Border Patrol agent charged with sex assault, robbery: During a detention hearing Monday, Judge Keri Holleb Hotaling denied Uribe’s motion for pretrial release with electronic monitoring. The motion, filed by defense attorney Mary Judge, argued that Uribe is “not a danger to the community,” citing his lack of criminal history, that he is an honorably discharged Marine after serving four years, and has been employed by the federal government since 2009.

* Sun-Times | After vandals wreck anti-ICE Nativity scene, Evanston church gets creative: When church staff saw the scene the next morning, the Rev. Michael Woolf said, they chose to respond, not retaliate. They replaced the figure with a sign stating that Mary had been beaten and dragged away in front of her son — and is now being detained by immigration agents.

* Sun-Times | One for the books: Oak Park landmarks former Marshall Field’s store: The Oak Park village board has granted landmark status to a 96-year-old commercial building that was the first built-from-the-ground-up Marshall Field’s store outside of Chicago. The five-story structure, 1144 Lake St. in the village’s downtown, was cited for its connection to the historic, but now defunct, upscale retailer and for its architecture — a stately and unique blend of French Revival and Art Deco. “Particularly of interest is the French mansard roof bringing a French Empire style to its bold Art Deco color contrasting design,” Oak Park Planning and Urban Design Manager Michael Bruce said. “Truly a unique building with important historic and cultural significance.”

*** Downstate ***

* WGLT | Federal government grants license extension to Clinton nuclear plant: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed the operating license for both the Clinton and Dresden nuclear power plants in Illinois. Without the extension, the generating station in DeWitt County would have closed next year. The energy company Constellation owns the plants. In August, Constellation announced an agreement with Facebook parent Meta to buy electricity generated by the Clinton Clean Energy Station for the next 20 years. Constellation says that makes the plant economically viable and preserves jobs and tax base in the region after state zero emission tax credits expire in May 2027.

* WCIA | Decatur Police deciding where to place new surveillance cameras: The Decatur City Council passed a vote to purchase 10 new surveillance cameras Monday. In the next week, the Decatur Police Department will be deciding where those cameras will be placed. The department has about 20 places in mind where they’ve seen upticks in crime, according to Chief of Police Brad Allen. He said since they’re getting 10 cameras right now, they’ll have to decide which spots need them most. Allen said possible locations could be downtown Decatur, Millikin University and some of the larger intersections in the city.

* WGLT | Bloomington considers downtown trolley service during parking crunch: Winter weather complicates an already tight parking situation in Downtown Bloomington. The Market Street parking deck has closed. And the Front and Center block has yet to finish demolition and become surface parking. That’s likely to become available sometime next spring. More people face longer chilly walks once they do find parking. Mayor Dan Brady said the city is trying to compensate in a variety of ways. It has rented some private lots and made the spaces public. The lot that formerly held the Elks lodge is now available for parking.

*** National ***

* WaPo | Statue of Black teen who fought segregation replaces Robert E. Lee at U.S. Capitol: Barbara Rose Johns was only 16 when she led a walkout in 1951 to protest horrendous conditions at her segregated high school for Black students in rural Farmville, Virginia.

* AP | 2 big rail unions oppose $85B Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger over safety and cost concerns: The unions’ decision they plan to announce Wednesday will make the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division two of the most prominent critics of the deal to create the nation’s first transcontinental railroad. They join the American Chemistry Council, an assortment of agricultural groups and competing railroad BNSF in raising concerns that this combination would hurt competition. But the deal has picked up the support of the nation’s largest rail union that represents conductors and hundreds of individual shippers as well as an Oval Office endorsement from President Donald Trump. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board will begin weighing the opinions of all those stakeholders to determine whether the merger is in the public interest once the railroads file their formal application, which is expected later this week.

* The Guardian | Water levels across the Great Lakes are falling – just as US data centers move in: Two years ago, the company said it would invest about $202m on a “hyperscale” data center that would employ 18 people and dozens more in the construction process. Although the company claims it uses a closed-loop, air-cooled system for cooling its computers that can reduce the need for water, artificial intelligence, machine-learning and other high power-demand processes do rely on water as a cooling agent. All the while, a 10-minute drive north, the shoreline of Lake Erie hasn’t been this low in years.