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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Crain’s…
* Sun-Times…
* Crain’s…
* Sun-Times | Sen. Duckworth travels to Portugal, Poland to strengthen Illinois National Guard ties: “I am always proud of what the Illinois National Guard is doing. And the 200 who were activated were not activated in a way that our governor, or that we, agreed with. But they conducted themselves well, and I’m always going to support the Illinois Guard,” Duckworth said. “And frankly, I think this is an opportunity to highlight what the Guard should be doing. They shouldn’t be out terrorizing, being told that you’re supposed to help ICE terrorize the citizens of Chicago. They should be doing what they have been doing for 35 years, which is strengthening the bond between the United States and our NATO allies.” * Sun-Times | Subzero temperatures expected by end of week — ‘Don’t spend time outdoors unless you have to’: “Don’t spend time outdoors unless you have to,” said Gino Izzi, senior meteorologist at the weather service. “If you have to spend time outdoors, you’re going to want to wear a lot of layers, multiple layers of loose-fitting clothing. The more layers you put on between yourself and the outside is better.” Meanwhile, before the colder temperatures roll in at the end of the week, Izzi said a system that could blanket the Chicago area with 1 to 2 inches of snow will move through Tuesday night but end before rush hour Wednesday. * ABC Chicago | Illinois has filed more than 50 lawsuits against Trump administration, AG Raoul says: Over the past 365 days, Illinois has filed more than 50 lawsuits. The attorney general said the state is locked in a series of legal battles with the Trump administration challenging everything from federal funding freezes to “aggressive and unconstitutional” immigration enforcement tactics. Raoul said his office has been trying to combat what they deem unlawful actions in Trump’s first year of his second term. * Sun-Times | Slightly smaller share of Chicago families choosing CPS for their children, report finds: Though overall enrollment at CPS has declined for years, the district steadily served roughly 75% of the city’s school-age population between 2008 and 2018. That’s despite major disruptions including mass school closures and multiple budget crises that could have caused more families to look elsewhere. Since then, the district’s share of the population has dipped, falling to 71% in 2023, the report found. * Block Club | Despite Fears, Chicago’s Rapid Responders Vow To Continue Facing Down Federal Immigration Officers: “They’ve gotten much more brutal,” said Diego Morales, a rapid response organizer with Pilsen Unidos por Ñuestro Orgullo (PUÑO), “They’ve abandoned any pretense of respecting the law, and the risks for everybody involved have gotten higher and higher.” “The federal government is not doing this behind a curtain. They are doing it plain, at the public eye, and with no remorse,” said Marièn Casillas Pabellón, executive director of the West Suburban Action Project, or PASO. “People can see the harm that it causes and the trauma that it causes long-term … even if they are not directly impacted.” * Lori Lightfoot: The former mayor, 61, on her enemies, lessons from COVID, and why she’s finished with politics: Someone once asked me, “What would you have done differently?” Ridiculous question. What I would say is that if you have the time to build authentic relationships, that’s always best. But sometimes you don’t have the time. Sometimes you’ve got to say, “I need you to be a grownup and work with me here.” So much of what I saw in politics was just transactional: “What will it take for me to get you to give me X?” That’s really not how I operate. You should do things because it’s the right thing to do. And I often found myself being the only one who felt that way. That was difficult for me to navigate, for sure, because I was often appalled by what I saw. So I don’t want to do anything like that again. * Block Club | Award-Winning Alarmist Brewing Closing After Almost A Decade On Northwest Side: He said the business struggled to recover after the COVID-19 pandemic. Gulley said people “just aren’t drinking as much” post-pandemic, a trend that has hit breweries and wineries across the country. “We got into November and I was looking at the numbers and when I was having trouble buying ingredients, I knew we were in trouble,” Gulley said. * Tribune | Burst pipe in air traffic tower causes delays at O’Hare: The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that a water pipe burst in the tower shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday morning. Air traffic controllers were evacuated and were able to continue operations at the airport’s other air traffic facilities, according to the FAA. Still, a ground delay program was in place at O’Hare Tuesday and the main air traffic tower remained closed, according to an FAA alert. Delays were expected to average around an hour and twenty minutes. * Daily Herald | No longer a bridesmaid, O’Hare clinches busiest U.S. airport award: After seven years of second best, O’Hare International Airport once again holds the title of the nation’s busiest airport. Preliminary federal data posted Tuesday shows 857,392 flights at O’Hare in 2025 compared with arch-rival Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s 807,625 operations. That represents a nearly 10.5% climb from 2024, when 776,036 flights landed and departed at O’Hare. * Aurora Beacon-News | Districts 2 and 9 still without board members in Kane County: Kane County’s District 2 board seat has been vacant since early October, when board member Dale Berman died at the age of 91. Berman was a longtime resident of North Aurora and a four-term village president, and had been serving on the Kane County Board since 2021. The board sought applications for Berman’s seat and made several attempts to appoint someone to fill the position until it’s up for election in the fall of 2026, but ultimately failed to vote in a candidate in November. The situation prompted some concern from board members about the transparency of the selection process and the board’s procedure for appointing candidates. * Daily Southtown | Orland Park board approves Amazon retail development at 159th and LaGrange Road: The Plan Commission ultimately approved the proposal 6-1, with Daniel Sanchez voting no due to lingering concerns raised by residents. “Overall, I think it’s great, I think it’s pretty exciting,” Sanchez said. “Some of the other comments about traffic and overall scale and fit in that location do concern me a little bit.” Dodge told the Daily Southtown developer interest for the 35-acre parcel has been high, with the village previously considering to zone it for mixed use including residential. * Naperville Sun | Naperville student’s nonprofit delivers food to shelters, offers English classes: Empower Futurewave Foundation started by providing English as a second language courses to students from around the world who did not have access to such programs. The organization now provides English and STEM courses to students in eight countries, including Mexico, Guatemala and Vietnam. In addition to the global classes, it also has a local initiative called EmpowerEats, which helps restaurants in the Naperville area donate meals they do not sell to local shelters. Shah said that through the EmpowerEats initiative, about 150 meals are donated every week to Hesed House, a homeless shelter in Aurora and the largest second largest shelter in Illinois. * Tribune | Elmhurst museum explores history of healthcare in DuPage County in new exhibit: One surprising thing she discovered was that, even though the county was affected by such diseases as influenza and the Spanish flu, the second-biggest killer was train accidents. “They didn’t have alarms, bells and whistles, and arms going down to stop you from crossing train tracks,” she explained. Artifacts in the exhibit include doctors’ instruments and tools, medications, original documentation from the establishment of Elmhurst Hospital, and nurses’ uniforms from different eras, among other items. * WGN | Prohibition-era gun discovered in walls of Thornton distillery: The gun was found tucked inside a wall in an underground catacomb beneath the distillery. Howell says he immediately contacted police. “The police ran the number on it, and they said it’s not in their database. He said it’s technically an antique,” Howell said. “What’s really scary is that it’s a loaded clip. He said the bullets look like they’re from the 1920s. When we had the model number, we pulled it and it looked like it was manufactured between 1903 and 1923.” […] The building is the oldest standing brewery in Illinois. It was built in 1857 and continued operating through Prohibition as an illicit bootlegging operation. * WGLT | Unit 5 and Baby Fold pivot after Department of Education cancels grant money: The grant, at $1 million annually over five years, was used to support and expand programming at both schools. In December, the U.S. Department of Education announced the rest of the grant money will not be awarded. The cuts were another step in a series of Trump administration actions meant to defund “diversity, equity and inclusion” initiatives. * WIFR | The Issues: Winnebago County Sales Tax Referendum: A referendum question on Winnebago County’s upcoming primary ballot asks voters if they want to impose a 1% sales tax, with revenue going toward area school districts. WIFR’s Jake Pearson sits down with a pair of Winnebago County Board members, learning where they will cast their vote this March and the concerns they have around the tax. * Illinois Times | Roundabout slated for West White Oaks: If all goes according to the city’s plans, such traffic chaos will soon have a solution in the form of a new roundabout involving Hedley Avenue, Cascade Drive and West White Oaks Drive. The Springfield City Council will consider ordinances at its Jan. 20 meeting that would set the wheels in motion for the purchase of three parcels of land near the intersection. The total cost to the city for the three parcels would be close to $130,000, with five other smaller parcels of adjacent property needed to finish construction currently in the negotiation stage. * NYT | Swan Seeks Mate: Must Like Cold Lake and Small Flock: The swan, who had recently lost his mate, would not move away from a vending machine at Tri-Township Park in Troy, Ill. The swan stared at his reflection below the Dr Pepper dispensers, thinking it showed his mate, park officials said. […] On Thursday, the department posted a flyer on social media that asked the public to donate money to help the swans “find companionship again.” * 404 Media | ICE’s Facial Recognition App Misidentified a Woman. Twice: In testimony from a CBP official obtained by 404 Media, the official described how Mobile Fortify returned two different names after scanning a woman’s face during an immigration raid. ICE has said the app’s results are a “definitive” determination of someone’s immigration status. * Popular Information | ICE has stopped paying for detainee medical treatment: ICE, however, has not paid any third-party providers for medical care for detainees since October 3, 2025. Last week, ICE posted a notice on an obscure government website announcing it will not begin processing such claims until at least April 30, 2026. Until then, medical providers are instructed “to hold all claims submissions.” ICE’s failure to pay its bills for months has caused some medical providers to deny services to ICE detainees, an administration source, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press, told Popular Information. In other cases, detainees have allegedly been denied essential medical care by ICE. * AP | The US is on the verge of losing its measles elimination status: The reevaluation is largely symbolic and hinges on whether a single measles chain has spread uninterrupted within the U.S. for at least 12 months. Public health scientists around the country are investigating whether the now-ended Texas outbreak is linked to active ones in Utah, Arizona and South Carolina. But doctors and scientists say the U.S. — and North America overall — has a measles problem, regardless of the decision. “It is really a question of semantics,” said Dr. Jonathan Temte, a Wisconsin family physician who helped certify the U.S. was measles-free in 2000. “The bottom line is the conditions are sufficient to allow this many cases to occur. And that gets back to de-emphasizing a safe and effective vaccine.”
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Pritzker moves from ‘prerequisite’ that Bears must ‘pay off what’s owed on the existing stadium,’ to ‘That is not the core issue’
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * Last September…
* Last week, Pritzker was asked about the “core issue” of paying off the debt. His response…
I think this Indiana gambit may have some folks spooked a bit. Either way, the tone has changed. State capital money for infrastructure is still on the table and has been from the beginning. But there remains zero appetite to shovel state GRF money at the team to build its stadium complex. Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey rcently whacked Pritzker for allowing the Bears to consider Indiana, but would not, in the end, support giving the team tax money…
Property taxes, as indicated above, might be a different story because that’s on the locals, not the state. * Last week, we linked to former Rep. Mark Batinick’s white paper on the Bears stadium. He focuses mainly on property taxes…
Discuss.
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Illinois drought worsens
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * Isabel posted this story earlier today…
I can see out my window that Lake Springfield water levels are very low. * From the Washington Post…
Check out the drought map…  Click here for an interactive Illinois county map. It appears that ten counties are at least partially within the “Extreme Drought” area. Several more are in “Severe Drought” areas. If you click here and scroll down and then compare it to the first map posted above, you can see how the drought has spread here since the fall.
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If you’re coming to Springfield today, avoid southbound I-55 near town
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * WICS TV…
Traffic has been at a dead stop for a long while. I’m told by one person who’s been stuck that it’s slowly crawling forward. A legislator I spoke with earlier said she was passed north of Springfield at a high rate of speed by a fast-moving SUV followed by several police cars. Then, just beyond the Sangamon Ave. exit, traffic came to a full stop. Police eventually cleared the interstate north of the accident and she was able to turn around and get off the interstate, but others north of there were apparently bottle-necked. An online report from a crime watcher site claimed the driver of the vehicle fired a shot, and that it may have been self-inflicted. The driver reportedly was transferred to the hospital, but “southbound traffic will be diverted for hours,” the site claimed. * From ISP…
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Catching up with the federal candidates
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Sun-Times…
Krishnamoorthi clarified on CNN that “in theory” ICE should exist…
…Adding… Click here if you want to watch the full CNN clip.
* Jewish Insider ran a story this morning claiming congressional candidate Daniel Biss sought AIPAC support last year. But the piece relies on a single source who happens to be running against Biss for state central committeeperson and has also endorsed Sen. Laura Fine in the congressional race, something the story doesn’t mention…
The Biss campaign’s response…
Meanwhile, some back and forth between Kat Abughazaleh and Biss…
* Neil Knot, a candidate in the 8th CD, ran an ad during the Bears playoff game. Press release…
* Politico…
* More…
* Press Release | Congressional Candidate, Donna Miller, Receives Endorsement from Elect Democratic Women: “Elect Democratic Women is proud to endorse Donna Miller for Congress,” said Congresswoman Lois Frankel, chair of Elect Democratic Women. “As a health care advocate, Donna has fought to expand access to quality care, advance health equity and deliver real results for working families. As a Cook County Commissioner, she’s been a solutions-oriented leader who brings people together to tackle tough challenges–from supporting veterans to strengthening community health systems. Donna has the experience and values Chicago residents need in Congress representing them and we’re proud to stand with her.” * Press Release | L-07 Congressional Candidate Anabel Mendoza Stands With Harrison Courts Tenants Demanding Immediate Action from the Department of Housing and Urban Development: This MLK Day, Illinois’ 7th Congressional District candidate Anabel Mendoza and Rev. Robin Hood stood alongside community leaders and more than 20 tenants from Harrison Courts Apartments in East Garfield Park, calling for immediate action from the Department of Housing and Urban Development following months of unsafe and unlivable conditions in the building. Harrison Courts Apartments is currently governed by a special contract between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), under which the federal government has placed restrictions on how CHA may use federal funding for repairs and redevelopment at the complex. Tenants and advocates say those restrictions have contributed to dangerous delays while residents continue to live in unsafe conditions.
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Credit Unions: Expanding Access To Responsible Credit
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2026 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] January is a natural fit for Financial Wellness Month, as credit unions have long treated financial literacy as a core part of their mission. Coming on the heels of the holiday spending season, the month offers an ideal opportunity for a financial “fresh start,” encouraging individuals to set meaningful goals and build healthy, lasting habits. Access to fair, transparent credit is essential to financial wellness. Illinois credit unions often take a relationship‑based approach to lending, looking beyond credit scores to understand a member’s full financial picture. Many credit unions also provide small‑dollar loans and alternatives to payday lenders, giving members responsible options during financial emergencies. These products help prevent cycles of high‑interest debt that can derail financial progress. Financial Plus Credit Union’s Trent Threadgill discusses how credit unions look beyond the credit score: Learn more at www.betterforillinois.org
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It’s just a bill
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Tribune…
* Rep. Mike Crawford…
* SB 2884 from Sen. Graciela Guzmán would allow cities and towns to adopt rent control if voters approve it by referendum…
* Sen. Michael Hastings introduced SB2866 last week…
* SB2876 from Sen. Terri Bryant…
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The Illinois Supreme Court’s patronage system needs reform
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Discuss.
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Showcasing The Retailers Who Make Illinois Work
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2026 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Retail provides one out of every five Illinois jobs, generates the second largest amount of tax revenue for the state, and is the largest source of revenue for local governments. But retail is also so much more, with retailers serving as the trusted contributors to life’s moments, big and small.
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: At one time, Illinois was a top oil producer. Today, that legacy is a $160M problem. Tribune…
- Left unplugged, some of these wells leak toxic chemicals hundreds of feet below the surface, potentially contaminating groundwater, and spit climate-warming methane gas into the atmosphere. - For the last 35 years, a portion of annual fees paid by Illinois oil operators has been deposited into a fund to plug wells and restore the land they once occupied. And yet, the state cannot account for where most of that money has gone over the years, only to say that much of it has been swept away for uses other than intended. * Related stories… * At noon, the governor will sit down for a roundtable with Illinoisans who’ve been impacted by federal actions and funding cuts during the first year of Trump’s second term. Then at 2 p.m., Gov. Pritzker will make an announcement celebrating International Jazz Day. Click here to watch. * Capitol News Illinois | States say paperwork tied to $10B funding freeze is an intentionally ‘impossible task’: “As Defendants know, that is an impossible task on an impossible timeline, offered only as pretext to maintain the freeze against Plaintiff States,” the lawsuit states. For the Child Care Development fund, the Administration for Children and Families is asking for the documented attendance for subsidized child care services, which include the days and hours when care is provided as well as payment information. The administration said it will use the data to decide whether the money the state gets is “‘reasonable, allowable, and allocable.’” * WGLT | Former Illinois Farm Bureau president refuses to resign seat on Country Mutual board in unprecedented move: In a statement to WGLT, Duncan said his stepping down is a tradition, not a requirement. “The Country Board serves one‑year terms that start at the Country Annual Meetings each April,” said Duncan. “The next one is on April 22, 2026. Board members can step down earlier if they want to. Some choose to do that when their IFB Board service wraps up, but they don’t have to.” * Injustice Watch | Cook County allows tax foreclosures by municipalities. Poor oversight led to misuse by local officials.: Several months into her term as the mayor of south suburban Ford Heights in 2017, Annie Coulter learned about alarming irregularities in the village’s real estate records. Village officials discovered that her predecessor, Charles Griffin, had arranged to give away 17 village-owned houses: At least four of them were transferred to friends and family members, while another six went to his political supporters, school board members and fellow village officials, including Freddie Wilson, the village’s current mayor, court records show. * Hollywood Reporter | New Jersey, New York and Illinois See Gains In Film and TV Production As California Loses Ground: Meanwhile Illinois, home to Dick Wolf procedurals on NBC (Chicago Fire, P.D. and Med) along with FX’s The Bear, saw film count in the fourth quarter increase 70 percent year-over-year while production spend increased 46 percent. Prior indicators — namely major year-over-year growth in background actors’ jobs booked, per one payroll firm’s estimate — had suggested that Illinois was poised to be a bigger production hub, and in the latest quarter it appears to be closing the gap with a more established state, Georgia, that saw year-over-year declines in projects shooting and in spend. * Sun-Times | How changes at the U.S. Postal Service could affect when your mail is postmarked: Approximately one-third of Illinois voters are at risk of experiencing postmark delays, the Brookings report found, which is more moderate exposure compared to other high-risk states like South Dakota and Arkansas. The agency said the postmark wasn’t intended to serve as proof of when mail is sent. A postmark also doesn’t necessarily indicate the date on which the item was collected, but it can serve as proof of possession by the agency, according to the Postal Service. * Capitol News Illinois | Few fireworks as Illinois GOP governor hopefuls share stage for first time: Far ahead of his Republican primary opponents in the most recent public polling, Darren Bailey told a half-filled central Illinois auditorium in that he expected to be “the punching bag.” Instead, Bailey walked away relatively unscathed from a candidate forum Thursday evening as the four Republican candidates for governor struck a conciliatory tone with one another. The four candidates preached unity after years of intraparty conflict, called for an end to the state’s robust protections for immigrants and took aim at Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker while pitching themselves as the most electable candidate in a general election. * Center Square | GOP hopefuls seek support, blast Pritzker at IL gubernatorial candidate forum: The candidates generally avoided criticizing each other, but all four took aim at the state’s policies and governance under Pritzker. Mendrick said Chicago, Springfield and the entire state needs emergency management. “Crime is out of control. That’s because of the SAFE-T Act, which I vow to get rid of. Day one, SAFE-T Act is gone, executive order. We’re violating federal law. It should not be allowed. It’s causing us to spend billions,” Mendrick said. * Evanston Now | State Senate race heats up: Evanston Democrat Rachel Ruttenberg has taken a fundraising lead over Winnetka Democrat Patrick Hanley in the race for State Senate District 9, ending the year with over $145,000 cash on hand, closing a gap Hanley opened in the fall. Ruttenberg, who’s the Democratic Party of Evanston’s deputy committeeperson, drew the bulk of her new support a single PAC, which reported a $72,800 contribution to her campaign in mid-December, most of the $92,800 she reported raising since Oct. 1. The large contribution came from the Jewish Caucus PAC. * Sun-Times | Bears, Bally’s elbow way onto General Assembly’s spring agenda as lawmakers eye $2.2B shortfall: State lawmakers return to the Illinois House on Tuesday to gavel in the 2026 legislative session and prepare for months of wrangling over how to bridge a $2.2 billion budget gap in a critical midterm election year. Leaders of Democratic supermajorities in the Illinois General Assembly are sticking to the national party message of addressing affordability for voters who face rising costs on utility bills, health care, home insurance and just about everything else. * WCIA | IL state senators set priorities entering 2026 legislative session: Up in New Salem, another economic hotspot is grabbing Senator Steve McClure’s attention. Last year, his legislation earmarked $8 million for renovations to Lincoln’s New Salem. The funds are for renovating log cabins, and McClure said he wants to make sure it stays that way. […] Senator Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) said he wants to make sure a hard-fought win from 2025 isn’t wiped away by data centers. New laws now prohibit any carbon capture in areas around the Mahomet Aquifer. * WAND | New IL law increases access to early intervention services for NICU babies: The Illinois Department of Human Services’ early intervention program helps children with disabilities or developmental delays up to age three learn and grow. Youth in the program are evaluated for movement, learning and behavior among other areas, but many families are unaware they are eligible for these services. The new law states hospitals must sign a letter referring babies to early intervention services if the child is born weighing less than 2.2 pounds. * WBEZ | Chicago parking meters up for sale, but Johnson urged to proceed carefully on potential buy-back: The meters generated roughly $160.9 million in 2024, audits show. “Do we think we could grow that over the next 57 years? If we were to think that we could grow that at, say, 3% a year, what kind of value does that have?” Conway asked. He also wondered whether the city could save money by no longer having to pay “true-up” costs which are due to the investors to keep them whole whenever meters are taken out of service. * Bloomberg | Chicago Splits 2026 Advance Pension Payment on Cash Crunch: Chicago is dividing up its annual advance supplemental payment to its underfunded pensions into two, a departure from paying the entire amount at the start of the year. The third-largest US city is paying the first half — about $130 million — on Friday and the balance later this year, according to a statement from a spokesperson for Mayor Brandon Johnson. Almost $260 million has been earmarked for the advance payment to the city’s four retirement systems in the 2026 budget, which was passed in late December after contentious negotiations between the Johnson administration and the City Council. * Sun-Times | Chicago’s first ‘Midway Blitz’ trial could revolve around the feds’ Bovino murder-for-hire claim: Espinoza Martinez’s trial is expected to be swift. He faces one murder-for-hire count, and prosecutors have signaled they’ll call just a few witnesses. Bovino is not among them. […] Espinoza Martinez’s lawyers, Jonathan Bedi and Dena Singer, have described their client as a “working man with deep roots” in the community and an “unblemished record.” They say he worked at his brother’s construction company for a decade, took his children to soccer games, and has never been convicted of a crime. Now he’s been in federal custody since Oct. 6. * WBEZ | Chicago Teachers Union leaders question timing of second federal inquiry into finances: But CTU officials said the timing is suspicious. The letter arrived one day before the CTU was due to submit five years of audits and other financial documents to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in response to a demand from the committee to examine the union’s audits. Committee members said they wanted to determine if “reforms” were needed to the federal law that requires unions to submit financial information to the Labor Department. * Sun-Times | Cardinal Blase Cupich, fellow cardinals criticize Trump administration foreign policy: Cardinal Blase Cupich joined two other U.S. Catholic leaders in denouncing President Donald Trump’s military action in Venezuela and overtures to take over Greenland. The policies raise “basic questions about the use of military force and the meaning of peace,” Cupich and two other cardinals wrote. Trump’s name was not used in the letter. * Crain’s | Gary dangles three development sites in bid to woo the Bears: City officials announced today that three sites, ranging from 145 to 760 acres, are available to help woo the team, which nearly one month ago announced it would consider sites in northwest Indiana for a stadium amid an impasse with Illinois leaders over sites in Chicago and northwest suburban Arlington Heights. “Gary’s proposal gives the Bears the tax certainty and stability that the organization says is key to success,” Gary Mayor Eddie Melton said in a written statement. “No other location offers this combination of proximity, identity alignment, and iconic visual connection to Chicago.” * Sun-Times | Rams’ social-media team trolls Bears after L.A.’s victory: Another clip asks, “Chicago fans: Did the cold affect the Rams?” with a picture captioned, “Wouldn’t you like to know, weather boy.” The Rams were amused by the attention given the weather during the lead-up to the game, presumably including billboards that welcomed them to Bears weather. * Daily Herald | A ‘data center next to homes’? Naperville council weighs Karis development: “At the end of the day, the biggest issue is that having a large industrial facility such as a data center, and in particular, a data center next to homes, does not make any sense,” said James Butt, a technologist who has consulted for data center companies and customers who have moved into them. “Other municipalities have learned this the hard way.” Karis earlier proposed building two data centers near Naperville and Warrenville roads. The current request calls for a single data center. * Daily Southtown | Cook County opens courthouses for cold weather shelter second time this season: The three courthouses used as warming centers, in Markham, Skokie and Maywood, were activated as warming centers around the clock for four days in December, when the National Weather Service expected wind chill temperatures to reach 20 degrees below zero. These warming centers were activated again at 6 p.m. Saturday and will be open until 8 a.m. on Wednesday because of the predicted cold weather this week. They open if wind chill temperatures are forecast to fall into the negative range, said Audrey Jonas, the communications deputy director of the Cook County Asset Management Bureau. * Naperville Sun | Park district lands $600K grant to help fund Naperville’s Nike complex upgrades: he grant money comes from the Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development program, administered through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which provides matching funding for park and forest preserve district conservation projects throughout the state. […] “It’s been a tremendous program. It’s certainly benefitted Naperville with the park district being able to bring on various projects and add amenities throughout the community,” park district Executive Director Brad Wilson said. “We’re excited to be able to receive the grant to help with fast-tracking and bringing improvements to the Nike Sports Complex.” * Daily Herald | Elgin’s crime rate down 8% in 2025, shots fired incidents reach historic low: The statistics show an 8% drop in “Group A” serious crimes, which includes reductions in assault, theft and criminal damage offenses compared to 2024. The city recorded one murder in 2024, down from seven the previous year. “It’s one of the lowest crime levels we’ve recorded in decades,” Elgin Police Chief Ana Lalley said before passing the credit to her officers. “This happens because of a group of people who are very thoughtful about trying to make a safe community.” The city also experienced a 63% drop in gunfire incidents, finishing 2025 with 24 shots fired reports after recording 65 in 2024. * Daily Herald | From AI-powered robotic mayor to aircraft fuselage, plans for $3 million Rosemont museum unveiled: “We are pretty far along with the face and the head of what it’s going to look like. It’s all in a sculpt right now before they actually start fabricating it,” said Brad Stephens, who plans to travel to the Jacksonville, Florida-based Sally Dark Rides design studio next month to check on the progress in person. The robot will be motion activated — coming to life, so to speak, as visitors walk into the mayor’s office — and have a set of at least four prerecorded lines. The creators are now finalizing the script, and the younger Stephens signed an affidavit giving them permission to use AI to re-create his dad’s voice. * WAND | Sullivan joins Decatur in pushing for water conservation amid drought: “We were, I believe in Decatur, about 12 inches below average for the year [2025)],” said WAND News Meteorologist Nick Patrick. “It was worse in Springfield and Champaign. They’re almost 20 inches below the average. That’s a huge departure. We need a lot of rain to make up for that this year.” Sullivan has asked residents and businesses to conserve as much water as possible until further notice and to limit non-essential water use. The city goes on to say in a post that its wells are having difficulty keeping up with demand, which is causing a water shortage in the community. * WCIA | Effingham Co. woman crowned Miss Illinois County Fair Queen: 21-year-old Krista Phillips of Effingham was selected from a field of 75 contestants to reign over the 2026 Illinois State Fair and DuQuoin State Fair. Phillips will graduate from the University of Illinois-Champaign in May with a bachelor’s degree in business management and marketing. After graduating, she plans to return to the Effingham-area and open a small business. * WGLT | Kathleen Lorenz testifies in marathon public hearing about McLean County GOP’s $28K campaign contribution to her mayoral campaign: Lorenz is accused of knowingly accepting $28,000 from a private donor who funneled the money through the McLean County GOP. Lorenz said she only later learned of a donation to the GOP that was intended to benefit her campaign. A former member of incumbent mayor Chris Koos’ campaign, Ben Matthews, made the complaint and questioned Lorenz for more than an hour Friday, using public statements made on social media and to WGLT by phone suggesting private donors used the GOP as a passthrough for Normal landowner Greg Shepard and his wife to give to Lorenz’s campaign anonymously. That maneuver would allow the Shepards to send more money to Lorenz than they would’ve otherwise been allowed to. * WCIA | Illinois Supreme Court places Champaign Co. attorney on probation: An attorney in Champaign County is facing disciplinary action from the Illinois Supreme Court after officials said he lied about completing work for a client and made false statements about the integrity of a judge. Jason Spangehl, who was licensed in 2010, was issued a suspension from practicing law for six months. Although the suspension was issued, Spangehl will actually be placed on probation — with conditions — for two years. The details of these conditions were not immediately clear, but if they are violated, then Spangehl will need to serve out his suspension * The Atlantic | America Is Slow-Walking Into a Polymarket Disaster: The more that prediction markets are treated like news, especially heading into another election, the more every dip and swing in the odds may end up wildly misleading people about what might happen, or influencing what happens in the real world. Yet it’s unclear whether these sites are meaningful predictors of anything. After the Golden Globes, Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan excitedly posted that his site had correctly predicted 26 of 28 winners, which seems impressive—but Hollywood awards shows are generally predictable. One recent study found that Polymarket’s forecasts in the weeks before the 2024 election were not much better than chance. * NYT | No Link Between Acetaminophen in Pregnancy and Autism, a Study Finds: A scientific review of 43 studies on acetaminophen use during pregnancy concluded that there was no evidence that the painkiller increased the risk of autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders. “We found no clinically important increase in the risk of autism, A.D.H.D. or intellectual disability,” Dr. Asma Khalil, a professor of obstetrics and maternal fetal medicine at St. George’s Hospital, University of London, and the lead author of the report, said at a news briefing. The study was published on Friday in the British medical journal The Lancet.
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Good morning!
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * Anyone else feel that earthquake last night? This is also an open thread.
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Selected press releases (Live updates)
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Live coverage
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Click here and/or here to follow breaking news on the website formally known as Twitter. Our Bluesky feed…
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