* ICYMI: Gov. JB Pritzker runs for rare third term on his record but few new plans for Illinois. Tribune…

- When it came to what he would do as the first Democrat elected to three terms as Illinois governor, however, Pritzker — widely considered a potential contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination — was less precise and less succinct.
- “A lot of times people think, ‘Oh, it’s got to be, here’s a new education thing; here’s a new healthcare thing,’ right?” Pritzker said. “When, in reality, many of the long-term affordability challenges that people face are the very ones that we’re working very hard underneath, and it’s one of the reasons I’m running for reelection. Some of those things have been taking years to effectuate.”
- As an example of how he’d tackle affordability, the governor pointed to efforts to lower energy costs by “attracting a nuclear company to build more nuclear power in the state,” made possible by his repeal of a decades-old moratorium.

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

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | After our prison fires investigation, Illinois made some safety fixes. Are they enough?: AFSCME Council 31, the union representing front-line workers at the Joliet Treatment Center, said that since the investigation of the prison was published in July, the facility has begun to provide more robust fire safety training, fire-retardant mattresses and full oxygen tanks for employees in case of fires. But they said the prison still has not provided workers with a written fire safety plan. And for the fourth year in a row, an annual inspection by the Office of the State Fire Marshal showed that the prison’s alarms remain broken.

* Sun-Times Pope Leo will vote from the Vatican, by mail, in Illinois’ midterm election: “Robert Francis Prevost is on the list of individuals who requested a vote by mail ballot for the upcoming election,” Kim Fladhammer, Will County clerk’s office chief of staff, told the Chicago Sun-Times. The pope, who is registered to a New Lenox address, made the request Oct. 3.

* Tribune | Latest Bears stadium plan for White Sox site in Bridgeport draws interest — but no involvement from the team: Sterling Bay CEO Andy Gloor made a surprise informal pitch of the plan to Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren, along with Carl Williams, a real estate developer who is the father of Bears star quarterback Caleb Williams, Gloor told the Tribune. But the team said they declined to pursue the plan.

*** Statewide ***

* Center Square | Durkin campaign filing raises questions about lobbyist contributions, PAC power in Illinois: “In response to your questions, my campaign committee was reactivated due to the return of old campaign funds in the possession of the unclaimed property division of the Illinois Treasurer Office,” Durkin told The Center Square. “I did not solicit nor raise these funds.” Durkin said he consulted with the Illinois State Board of Elections and was advised to reactivate the committee to receive the funds. He added that transactions would be disclosed according to state law.

* Tribune | Illinois seniors face fewer Medicare Advantage choices this open enrollment season: In Illinois, about 57% of seniors had traditional Medicare and 43% had Medicare Advantage or a different type of plan in 2024, according to KFF, a nonprofit organization focused on health policy. For next year, however, the average U.S. senior will have fewer Medicare Advantage plans from which to choose. In Illinois, the average Medicare beneficiary has 30 plans with drug coverage to choose from for next year, compared with 38 plans this year, according to KFF. Plan choices vary by county.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Tribune | Calumet City Mayor and state Rep. Thaddeus Jones hospitalized after minor stroke: Jones, also a state representative who is facing a write-in challenge for his 29th District seat in the general election, checked himself into a Northwestern Hospital “after experiencing physical complications while working from home,” spokesperson Sean Howard said Thursday. The mayor stayed in the hospital overnight for tests, which confirmed he experienced a minor stroke, according to a news release. Jones informed Illinois House Emanuel Chris Welch and the Calumet City Council’s president pro tempore of his medical condition.

* CNI | Consumer groups hand deliver 10k comments opposing $144M Peoples Gas rate hike: “The Chicagoans who have made comments have made it clear that the change we’re calling for can’t wait any longer,” said Levi Orgas, an associate with Illinois Public Interest Research Group. “Today, we renew our call to the Illinois Commerce Commission, made louder by thousands of Chicagoans, to end the pipe replacement program as we know it and to slash the rate hike.”

* CNI | DCFS director found in contempt for noncompliance with judge’s order: “I understand this is not a department with 10 employees. It’s a department with thousands of people who work there, but the buck stops at the director’s office,” Judge Jack Davis said Thursday in explaining his indirect civil contempt finding, a decision that found the agency director willfully violated a court order and allows remedies to ensure future compliance.

* ABC Chicago | Pritzker, Bailey make final push on affordability as Illinois governor’s race enters final days: Earlier in the day, Bailey campaigned at Patti’s Sunrise Cafe in Burr Ridge, appearing alongside other Republican candidates and encouraging supporters to vote. “I’m standing here before you today with every ounce of integrity in my body to tell you that we are going, we are winning this race. We are going to win this race if you do your part,” Bailey said.

* WGN | Battle for power at the Illinois Statehouse: On Tuesday, voters will pick members of the Illinois General Assembly. All 118 House seats are up for election, and 29 of the 59 seats in the Senate are up for grabs. Massive amounts of cash are being spent in several contests, as Democrats look to expand their supermajorities, while Republicans try to gain ground.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | For South Side mothers, the nearest delivery room keeps getting farther away: Earlier this month, two west suburban hospitals and a Northwest Side hospital owned by Prime Healthcare ended their labor and delivery services, with the for-profit health system saying it was forced to consolidate care into two “centers of excellence” for deliveries in far South Suburban Olympia Fields and in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital. Tomorrow, South Side safety-net Roseland Hospital will close its labor and delivery unit, citing low birth volumes and unsustainable costs.

* ABC Chicago | Mayor Johnson defends proposed $17 billion Chicago budget at West Side town hall: “I think more funding for teens is huge. Having more opportunities for them to have jobs, giving them something to do other than teen takeovers,” Johnson said. In all, the budget adds $130 million in new spending. The mayor is looking to fill the gap with a corporate head tax.

* NBC Chicago | Brandon Johnson’s election petitions may be challenged by mayoral rival: For example, Johnson included five pages of petition signatures from City Treasurer Melissa Conyears Ervin. In addition, there are nearly 100 pages worth of signatures that are photocopied. Chicago law requires signatures to be original and does not permit photocopies, and it is one of the issues that could lead to a challenge of Johnson’s petitions.

* ABC Chicago | AI-powered shoplifting detection expands in Chicago-area stores, but some raise concerns: “Yeah. Now you’re grabbing the item, putting it in the bag. As soon as you close, we’re going to receive a notification of what you did. If you theft… we can catch you,” Valle said. While some shoppers support the technology, others worry about privacy and surveillance. “it’s slippery slope with that footage nothing can be deleted forever it could still be used to surveille regular people walking around in stores,” said Franki Flameno.

* CBS Chicago | Retiring U.S. Rep. Danny Davis looks back on 30 years in Congress, 46 years as elected official in Chicago: “When I go in the grocery store or something, and have trouble getting out, because I run into people who want to stop and chat, those to me are the magic moments, and those to me are the things that I relish the most,” he said.

* WTTW | As Organizations Help Chicagoans Navigate High Cost of Living, New Survey Finds 43% of Residents Just Getting By: The ChicagoSpeaks Poll commissioned by NORC at the University of Chicago and first reported by WTTW News offers insight into Chicagoans’ financial pressures, concerns of job loss and the inability to pay bills, along with the role of federal safety net programs like SNAP and Medicaid.

* Block Club | All 50 Alderpersons Agree To Take Pay Boost For Next Year: Aldermanic and mayoral salary raises, as well as those for the city treasurer and clerk, are tied to inflation as determined by the Consumer Price Index. That means elected officials are set to receive a pay increase of about 2.3 percent in 2027, according to Johnson’s budget recommendations that were introduced to City Council last week.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Demonstrators again disrupt Mundelein board meeting: After more than an hour of public comments about 37-year-old Mary Alice Love’s death, protesters interrupted a trustee’s unrelated report to chant and yell at village leaders on the dais. When the demonstrators — including Love’s father, Johnny Love, who called officials cowards — refused to be quiet, officials halted the meeting and left the room. The demonstrators eventually were ushered out of the boardroom by uniformed officers. Once they were out of the building, officials returned and resumed the meeting.

* Daily Herald | Why e-bikes are causing Buffalo Grove Park District to scrap project: That project involved color-coating the basketball court at Apple Hill Park on the village’s north side. “Because we’ve been noticing an uptick in e-bike damage, we have decided to remove it from this project, so it will just be a black asphalt top,” said Laurie Hoffman, the park district’s planning and development manager.

* Daily Herald | ‘They are the good guys’: Palatine police thanked for foiling alleged terror attack on Hindu temple: The gathering at the Palatine police station Thursday night came about 2¹/₂ weeks after officers arrested a 19-year-old man authorities say planned to carry out a mass shooting Oct. 11 at the Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple. Among those offering thanks was Devesh Pandit, who said he had planned to visit the temple the day authorities allege Alexandros Paporakis of Palatine showed up with a rifle and 300 rounds of ammunition.

*** Downstate ***

* WAND | Logan County Sheriff’s Office violated teen victim’s rights, Illinois AG finds: “As the questions progressed, two of the detectives actually called my daughter a liar, and basically said that it was her fault,” Lonnie Nichols said. The family said the questioning became so intense that the advocate ended the interview and removed their daughter from the room. Robin Nichols said the advocate later told the family that the interview should not have been handled that way.

* WCBU | Peoria OKs taking passenger rail effort to next step, but some see project as a ‘boondoggle’: “Eventually we’re going to see this happen, it’s just slowed down a bit. We’ve had a change in [federal] administration that has slowed down grants, period. So the process is taking longer than we want, but it’s still going forward.” Council members John Kelly and Alex Carmona voted against the measure, with Kelly calling the pursuit of rail service to Chicago a “boondoggle” and doubting it will come to fruition. “If it ever happens, I think we will have that train for five years, and they’ll finally cancel it because of the lack of ridership,” said Kelly.

* WGLT | City of Bloomington shows receipts it sought to investigate ex-assistant police chief: Jurgens said city administration found out about the June 14 incident, in which DoorDash drivers were briefly detained and had their phones taken, a few days after it happened. “We were notified by the city attorney, and at that point I said I’d like to see the police report,” he said. “It initially came across as a FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] request, and that’s when our legal department got involved. That’s when I became aware of it.”

* WCBU | Clock starts on 9-month Tazewell County data center moratorium: No data center applications have ever been submitted to the county, and none can be filed during the moratorium. The county will use the moratorium time to continue crafting a data center ordinance that will list rules and regulations for the controversial facilities that have been opposed vigorously throughout the country.

*** National ***

* NYT | Patrick Stewart, ‘Star Trek’ Captain and Professor X on ‘X-Men,’ Dies at 86: Patrick Stewart, who overcame a bleak childhood in England’s coal-mining country to find acclaim as a Shakespearean actor before making an unlikely career pivot in middle age that would bring him his greatest fame, playing a noble starship captain on the TV series “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 86.

* WSJ | Binance Suspends Transactions After It Is Targeted in Biggest-Ever Cyber Heist: The crypto exchange says users will be made whole. But hackers made off with an estimated $6.3 billion. […] “It does look like a hack on Binance,” Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s founder, said in a post on the social-media platform X. “User funds are safe.”