* Fewer bets, more money. Tribune…

The number of sports bets in Illinois dropped 15% after the state imposed a new tax on every wager, officials said, prompting warnings from licensed gambling operators that more bettors are fleeing to the illegal online market.

There were more than 5 million fewer bets placed in September 2025 than in the same month last year — a 15% decrease — according to statistics from the Illinois Gaming Board.

Despite the drop in the number of bets, the amount of money wagered on sports in September increased 9% from the previous year to a new record high handle of $1.4 billion. That means gamblers on average were spending more per bet, generating $10.6 million in taxes.

The average ticket size for the month ballooned to $46.44, a 28% increase from last year, according to Legal Sports Report.

* Politico…

Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker has pumped $25.5 million of his own fortune into his campaign fund over the past 10 days, jump-starting his bid for a third term — and fueling speculation about his longer-term political ambitions.

By the numbers: New filings with the Illinois State Board of Elections show Pritzker dropped $25 million on Friday, just a week after he cut a separate $500,000 check to his campaign.

The billionaire governor — whose wealth stems in part from the Hyatt hotel empire — remains the wealthiest Illinois candidate, with Forbes estimating his net worth at $3.9 billion.

Pritzker’s campaign spending has long shaped Illinois politics: He poured more than $171 million into his successful 2018 challenge to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, and another $152 million into his 2022 reelection fight against Republican Darren Bailey, who’s running again in the GOP primary for 2026.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Halle Berry, Juliana Stratton and Dr. Pauline Maki | Newsom Dropped the Ball on Menopause, But Other States Are Ready to Lead: Even with California’s failure of leadership, other states are leading the way. In Illinois, bipartisan leadership established the state’s first Menopause Awareness Week, a foundational step toward Gov. JB Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s goal of making Illinois a national model for comprehensive women’s health policy. Starting in Jan. 2026, health insurance plans must cover all FDA-approved hormonal and non-hormonal menopause treatments. And this is only the beginning of a larger vision to ensure that Illinois becomes the best state in the nation for women and girls at every stage of life.

* Pantagraph | Meet JB Pritzker’s ‘indispensable right hand’: Liz Brown-Reeves, a prominent Springfield contract lobbyist close to Caprara, described her as “a visionary” who “always has her eyes on the prize” while giving deputy governors room to run their own portfolios. That approach stood out in a political culture that had long been dominated by “insecure white men having to be involved in every nuanced thing.”

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson’s head tax plan defeated in council committee vote: The 25-10 vote shooting down the revenue package was a remarkable rebuke against the first-term chief executive who has steadily overseen more losses in City Council than his predecessors. But not in modern times has a mayor lost a budget vote, even in committee. How aldermen navigate the waters after Monday’s defiance could chart a new course in City Hall’s power dynamics and prove consequential to Chicago’s longstanding fiscal woes, but their stance against the mayor sends the process for a second straight year toward a critical end-of-year deadline.

* Sun-Times | Finance Committee rejects Johnson’s $600M tax package: Johnson can try to save face politically by portraying opponents as champions of the wealthy and opponents of working people. However, he’s also lost control of a budget process that Chicago mayors have long dictated. Johnson had hoped to put his budget to bed by Thanksgiving to avoid a repeat of last year’s budget stalemate that ended in a 27-23 vote the week before Christmas — and only after the City Council unanimously rejected the mayor’s proposed $300 million property tax increase and refused to raise property taxes by any amount.

* Crain’s | U of I bids out the next two buildings at quantum park: The new buildings include the National Quantum Facility, a 62,200-square-foot structure that will include a cryogenic plant needed to produce super-cooled temperatures needed for some quantum-computing equipment. The other, called Quantum Works, will serve as the front door to the quantum park. It will total 150,000 square feet of research and office space and be occupied by U of I’s Discovery Partners Institute. The building also will feature community space.

* Tribune | Record property tax increases slam Chicago homeowners as downtown owners see cuts: The long-awaited second installment of Cook County property tax bills was mailed to property owners on Friday and is due Dec. 15. Across the county, residential and commercial property owners are being billed a total of $19.2 billion, a nearly 5% increase from last year. But the burden is falling unequally. Audrey Pierce, 71, last year paid about $3,300 in property taxes for the greystone three-flat she has owned on Christiana Avenue in North Lawndale since 2000. On Thursday night, she logged onto the treasurer’s website to discover her new annual bill now is nearly $7,000.

* WTTW | Property Tax Bills for South, West Side Homeowners Set to Jump 30%: Study: Kaegi, who is running for reelection, has vowed to more accurately pinpoint the value of commercial properties to ease the size of property tax burden on homeowners. But that effort was once again largely thwarted by the Cook County Board of Review, a government agency made up of three elected commissioners, which frequently rules in favor of commercial property owners who object to Kaegi’s determination of their properties’ value, reducing their tax bills.

* Block Club | Jackson Park’s Burnham Building To Be Restored With Help From $500,000 Federal Grant: The restroom will feature “all new utilities,” Park District spokesperson Michele Lemons said. Accessibility improvements will be integrated into the comfort station, which was completed in 1912 and designed by D.H. Burnham & Company, Lemons said. Parks officials told members of the Jackson Park Advisory Council this month the restoration will be a multimillion-dollar project, the Herald reported.

* Tribune | CTA Holiday Train returns to Chicago on Black Friday: The decked-out holiday train, a CTA tradition for more than three decades, will make appearances on all of the agency’s rail lines beginning Nov. 28. It will launch that day from the Midway Orange Line station. The CTA’s holiday bus will travel on 19 of the CTA’s bus routes this season, with its run lasting Nov. 25 through Dec. 20.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* ABC Chicago | Mayor declares ‘emergency order’ amid death threats against Broadview officials: Mayor Katrina Thompson said there was a specific death threat made against her on October 13. On Sept. 4, the Village Hall received a bomb threat via telephone. Thompson said on Saturday, Nov. 14m a group allegedly tried to “storm Village Halland explicitly threatened to ’shut down’ the scheduled” a board meeting scheduled on Monday, Broadview police said.

* Tribune | Federal judge certifies class in lawsuit over conditions at Broadview ICE processing center: A federal judge has allowed a lawsuit alleging inhumane conditions at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Broadview to proceed as a class action, authorizing two former detainees to represent potentially hundreds of current and future immigration arrestees processed at the west suburban facility. The complaint, filed in October, accused Department of Homeland Security officials of cramming people into dirty holding cells and not providing enough food and water, among other problems, as they sought to boost immigration arrests during the Operation Midway Blitz enforcement operation. It also claims that officials blocked attorney access at the site and coerced people into signing voluntary deportation forms.

* Law & Crime | ‘Irretrievably destroyed’: Trump admin says video footage inside ICE facility at center of class action lawsuit ‘cannot be produced’ in line with court’s discovery order:: The plaintiffs, for their part, say they are “in the process of hiring an IT contractor” who will work with ICE’s discovery liaison and attorneys “to attempt to work through issues concerning the missing video, including whether any content is able to be retrieved.” The missing footage will be pursued, at least in some fashion, the status report says, but the plaintiffs say the issue is not paramount.

* Naperville Sun | Next year’s Naperville Park District budget to hike tax levy, program fees: Naperville Park District’s proposed budget for next year calls for a property tax increase as the district works to balance rising costs. If approved, the average homeowner would pay an increase of about $17 more in taxes to the park district. For a home value assessed at $515,000, the increase would hike the park district’s portion of the property tax bill to about $458. The park district is budgeting a 3.9% levy increase that includes all capped and non-capped funds.

* Aurora Beacon-News | East Aurora School District’s Illinois Report Card: Chronic absenteeism rates top 30%, but graduation rates on the rise: The figures from ISBE also show attendance rates declining slightly in District 131, for an average of just over 88% for 2025. That’s lower than the state average of a little under 92%. Chronic absenteeism continues to be an issue for the district, mirroring a statewide trend. According to its 2025 data, more than 30% of district students missed 10% or more of school days with or without a valid excuse, a figure that has ticked upwards in recent years.

* ABC Chicago | Flossmoor man guilty of aggravated battery against Kim Foxx, documents show: William Swetz of Flossmoor allegedly threw a drink in Foxx’s face before he tried to hit her with his vehicle in June 2024, prosecutors said. The crime happened in Flossmoor outside a home on Sterling Avenue, the documents show. The defendant was allegedly inside his vehicle when he threw a “brown liquid substance from a drink cup” at Foxx. Foxx had to step out of the roadway in fear of being struck by his accelerating vehicle, prosecutors said.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Oswego board to vote on accepting donation of site tied to village’s agricultural history: The structures on the property include a feed mill dating from 1898-1905 and two grain elevators, one dating back to the late 19th century. There’s a storage building and three silos as well on the property. A 2009 survey commissioned by the village listed these structures as historically significant for their association with Oswego’s agricultural history, Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo said in a report to the Village Board. With the owner’s permission, the village recently had murals painted on the silos, he said.

* Daily Herald | Accessibility along Naperville Riverwalk improved after $3 million project: In addition, the project created a second point for street-level access, eliminating the need for patrons using the lower walkway to turn around and exit the same way they came. “Not only does this project improve accessibility for people with disabilities or families with strollers, but it also dramatically improves the appearance of this highly visible section of the Riverwalk,” said Geoff Roehll, chairman of the 2031 Master Plan Fund committee.

* Daily Southtown | With construction complete, downtown Flossmoor plans grand reopening: Construction work on the Downtown Flossmoor Streetscape Project began in June, but the project was in the works for nearly 10 years. Traffic analysis and work to obtain funding began in 2017. “The streetscape project was twofold. One, making our downtown safer for pedestrians, and it’s a very pedestrian heavy part of our village, with the Metra stop there, with all of the restaurants, with it being a crossing for folks going to and from school,” said Mayor Michelle Nelson. “The most important part of that project was slowing cars down to make it safer for pedestrians.”

* Naperville Sun | Naperville-based, all-girls robotics team clutches fourth place at international competition: The team of girls from Naperville, who call themselves “Robot Penguin,” were also the only all-girls team in the competition this year (they call themselves “Robot Penguin” because they say they all really like penguins). “In my mind, they’re no longer ‘Robot Penguin.’ They’re ‘Mighty Penguins’ because they impressed a lot of people,” Sharma’s father said. “There were so many coaches and parents who were coming and saying, ‘Oh, these girls are really good. Your team is strong.’”

*** Downstate ***

* WGLT | Mobile home park owner Oak Wood’s business practices trap residents with rising costs: Even now, Greta and Steve are paying $545 a month in lot rent – up 36% from two years ago when Oak Wood took over. Soon it’ll jump to $595. They’re struggling. (Greta and Steve are not their real names. They asked for anonymity because of concerns that Oak Wood would retaliate against them.) “I’ve had to work a little overtime. She’s had to get a second job, and it’s just we have no time at home,” Steve said. “We bought a home to be at home, not to be at work.”

* WGLT | Why private equity sees a moneymaker in B-N’s mobile home parks: Oak Wood bought Grandview Estates and four other manufactured home parks (aka mobile home parks) in Bloomington-Normal two years ago for $86 million, property records show. It’s part of a nationwide trend toward consolidation in manufactured home park ownership, often led by private equity acquisitions. Oak Wood even got help from Freddie Mac, a government entity that is supposed to help make housing more, not less, affordable.

* WAND | Local, state leaders come together to sign beam for upcoming Springfield transportation hub: State and local leaders met Thursday morning for the signing of the beam in Springfield. It will be part of the upcoming Springfield Sangamon County Transportation Hub that will be located behind the Sangamon County Assessor building on 9th Street. The Hub will house Amtrak facilities and connections to Greyhound routes.

* The Southern | Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library delivers 100,000 books: The power of a good story has reached a remarkable milestone in Southern Illinois. The local chapter of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has officially distributed its 100,000th free book to children across an 18-county region, inspiring a lifelong love of reading and helping prepare young learners for school success. Since launching in July 2024, the Imagination Library of Southern Illinois has provided high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to children from birth to age five—at no cost to families.

* WCIA | ‘We know he’s going to beat this thing’; Maroa-Forsyth rallies behind mascot battling leukemia: Matthew Clary’s principal called him a great kid filled with school pride. The sophomore asked to be the Maroa-Forsyth’s mascot while he was in junior high. “He has been our mascot, and he is at as many events as we will let him go to,” said Principal Brice Stewart. “He’s never happier than whenever he makes a little Trojan fan smile.”

*** National ***

* Bloomberg | NIH grant cuts leave hundreds of clinical trials, 74,000 patients in limbo, study finds: Trials on prevention and infectious-disease, as well as those conducted outside the US, were the hardest hit among the more than 380 affected studies, the analysis from Harvard Medical School showed. The largest concentration of terminated projects were in the US Northeast. Cancer, cardiovascular and mental-health studies were also affected. The cancellations mark the most extensive disruption to federally funded medical research in modern history, halting studies across every major disease area and undermining the stability of a $48 billion-a-year system that underpins global biomedical innovation. Researchers say the fallout extends far beyond academic labs, threatening drug development, clinical care and the country’s scientific credibility abroad.

* The American Prospect | ICE Air’s Sloppy, Dangerous Deportation Flights: Flight attendants have also long questioned how migrants can reach for oxygen masks, since their handcuffs are attached to a waist chain. And on November 13, an Avelo ICE flight declared an emergency when the cabin lost pressure, according to air traffic control transmissions. The plane made a rapid descent and landed safely. Of 88 people on board, six were injured, an emergency notification message said, experiencing nosebleeds. The notification does not say how many of the six were migrants, guards, or crew members.

* Politico | Indiana Republican called out by Trump on redistricting is swatted: An Indiana Senate Republican who President Donald Trump called out in a Truth Social post Sunday for not backing the White House’s plan to draw new congressional maps was later targeted by a swatting, according to local authorities. Greg Goode, who Trump posted was a “RINO” he was “Very disappointed in” Sunday was targeted hours later by what Vigo County Sheriff Derek Fell called a “swatting” in a statement. Despite Trump’s social media post insinuating otherwise, Goode has not publicly announced his position on redistricting.

* WSJ | He’s Been Right About AI for 40 Years. Now He Thinks Everyone Is Wrong.: Most of his recent takes have been knocks on the LLMs at the center of Zuckerberg’s ambitions–and also of nearly every other major tech company’s. “We are not going to get to human-level AI just by scaling LLMs,” he said on Alex Kantrowitz’s Big Technology podcast this spring. “There’s no way, absolutely no way, and whatever you can hear from some of my more adventurous colleagues, it’s not going to happen within the next two years.”

* The Harvard Crimson | As Summers Sought Clandestine Relationship With Woman He Called a Mentee, Epstein Was His ‘Wing Man’: “She must be very confused or maybe wants to cut me off but wants professional connection a lot and so holds to it,” Summers wrote in a March 2019 exchange to Epstein, explaining why he believed she continued to engage with him despite tensions. A spokesperson for Summers said that the woman described in the exchanges was never Summers’ student, but declined to comment further for this article.