* ICYMI: Recent postal service changes could disrupt mail-in voting, county clerks warn. Capitol News Illinois…

- New postal service changes to postmarking and transportation rules could disrupt mail-in voting in the 2026 election, Illinois county clerks warn.
- Some localities’ mail may be sent to a different distribution center than in the past, which can increase the amount of time it takes for the USPS to receive and then postmark mail at these centers.
- “It’s a question mark of when will it actually get through a distribution center. So I’m advising my voters to make sure that they get their vote-by-mail ballot in the mail no less than a week before Election Day,” John Ackerman, the Tazewell County clerk, said.

* Related stories…

• PBS: How this new mail rule could affect your ballot, your tax return and more
• NCSL: How the New USPS Postmark Changes Could Affect Mail Voting

* Gov. JB Pritzker will sign the Clean Slate Act into law at 10 am. Click here to watch.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Tribune | Judge who blasted Operation Midway Blitz use-of-force tactics will hear new lawsuit by city, state: The federal judge who issued a landmark preliminary injunction in November limiting the use of force by immigration agents agreed Thursday to take over a new lawsuit filed by the state and city of Chicago alleging a much broader swath of illegal actions during the Trump administration’s Operation Midway Blitz. U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis made the decision over the strenuous objection of Justice Department lawyers, who argued there were not only contrasting legal issues in the two cases but that they were at diametrically different stages of litigation.

* WTTW | Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on State’s Legal Battles, Immigration Enforcement: A recent report from Raoul’s office found that four Illinois sheriff’s offices complied with immigration detainers or civil immigration warrants, defying the state’s sanctuary laws. “They’re self-reporting to us,” Raoul said. “We communicate back once they alert us that there may have been a violation as to how to avoid it happening again. These are situations where we’ve been alerted and we try to work with our law enforcement partners into making sure they’re abiding by the state law.”

*** Statewide ***

* Governing | Nearly 100 People Died in Illinois Jails Over 4 Years: Between 2021 and 2024, almost 100 individuals died in the custody of a municipal or county jail in Illinois, according to data from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. However, a monthslong investigation by the Lee Enterprises Public Service Journalism Team and The Pantagraph show that many of these deaths — whether they are the result of withdrawal, chronic medical conditions or mental health complications — could be prevented.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WGLT | GOP candidates for governor blast sanctuary cities and SAFE-T Act in Central Illinois forum: Immigration was a major theme for all the candidates. They spoke out against so-called sanctuary cities. Dabrowski said his immigrant parents supported assimilation. “I don’t like this, teaching kids in Spanish in our schools. That doesn’t make sense. We’re in America, so you have to get rid of that. That’s got to go,” said Dabrowski.

* Center Square | IL Senate GOP: Pritzker, not Trump, raised power bills: Pritzker spoke Wednesday at the ribbon cutting for an electric vehicle charging site in Pontiac and said Trump administration policies have raised electricity prices. “They’ve taken away all the incentives, particularly from solar and wind, and said, ‘Now we’re going to advantage fossil fuels,’” Pritzker said. State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, spoke during a press conference Wednesday at the Illinois Capitol and said it was Pritzker who signed energy legislation that increases rates and lifts price caps.

* Independent | Pritzker likens Trump’s America to the early days of Nazi Germany: In an interview with independent journalist Aaron Parnas, Pritzker attacked the Trump administration for indiscriminately going after people, comparing it to dictator Adolf Hitler’s leadership in the 20th century. The governor said that in his state of the state address last February, he “likened what Donald Trump was doing in this country to what was happening in the early days of Nazi Germany.”

*** Chicago ***

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Chicago Public Schools to borrow more as it faces property tax revenue delays: The board is expected to boost that amount by $400 million, to $1.65 billion — a change that district officials estimate will set the deficit-plagued Chicago Public Schools back about $6.6 million in added short-term borrowing costs. District officials told the board this week they estimate that delays in receiving property tax revenue from Cook County have cost the district more than $70 million over the past eight years. This school year, they are costing CPS about $220,000 in interest costs a month — “a lot of money and definitely more than the cost of one teacher,” as school board member Carlos Rivas put it at a Wednesday meeting to review the board’s monthly agenda.

* Sun-Times | Bovino murder-for-hire case on thin ice after judge bars gang evidence from trial: “Without evidence showing that [Espinoza Martinez] is a member of the Latin Kings or that the Latin Kings instructed [Espinoza Martinez] to send the alleged murder-for-hire information, the prejudicial nature of such testimony outweighs any probative value,” she wrote. The judge also denied a request from prosecutors that she allow a key witness, identified only as an anonymous “source of information” to testify without disclosing his full name. The feds had cited a social media post that had been taken as a threat against him.

* Sun-Times | Chicago launches first support center for formerly incarcerated women in Pilsen: The center, which will help women returning from incarceration access resources designed to meet their specific needs, was made possible by a $375,000 grant from the city’s Department of Family and Support Services. “Coming home from incarceration is not simply about relief. It’s about rebuilding,” said Dyanna Winchester, reclamation specialist for WJI. “ It’s about healing trauma, restoring dignity, reconnecting families and learning how to believe in yourself again in a world that too often refuses to see your work.”

* Crain’s | Foundry Park megaproject clears first hurdle despite infrastructure concerns: Chicago developer Jim Letchinger is a step closer to his $3 billion vision for thousands of apartments on the former Lincoln Yards property, winning city planning officials’ sign-off despite key unanswered questions about new infrastructure needed to serve the former industrial site. […] Winning the Plan Commission’s approval, however, may not be the trickiest obstacle for JDL and Kayne Anderson. The developers still need to come to terms with city officials on how much public funding could be used for new infrastructure at the site, which is notoriously plagued by traffic congestion.

* Block Club | South Side Group Offering Free Trees To Chatham Residents In Effort To Curb Flooding: unded partially by a grant from The Morton Arboretum, the South Side organization hopes to plant 400 trees in the Greater Chatham Area this upcoming spring and summer, Fears said. Over the past 18 months, they’ve already planted 600, she said. The goal is to add 17,000 trees over the next few years to the Greater Chatham Area, which includes Chatham, Avalon Park, Greater Grand Crossing and Auburn Gresham, Fears said.

* Sun-Times | Country star — and Ben Johnson’s former teammate — will play Bears halftime Sunday: It will be a glitzier halftime show than last week; for the Packers game, the Bears featured two youth football scrimmages at halftime. Jim Cornelison will sing the National Anthem before Sunday’s game, the team said on Thursday.

* Sun-Times | Looking for a pen? Shoppers overwhelm Chicago stationery shops as social media touts ‘return to analog’: Stationery stores like Paper & Pencil — packed with stickers, fountain pens, washi tape, planners and notebooks — have seen sales surge. But it’s not because consumers are looking to get organized in the New Year, though it has been a factor. Chicago shop owners credit social media and influencers who have marked this year as a return to analog, opting for physical media, entertainment and, yes, pens and paper.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | ‘Taking money and throwing it into a fire pit’: School districts struggling with property tax distribution delays: Several suburban school superintendents told the Cook County Board Thursday their districts are hurting financially because of delays in receiving revenue from property tax collections. The problems stemmed from Tyler Technologies’ Integrated Property Tax System purchased by the county, which repeatedly has failed to distribute property taxes on time, resulting in millions of dollars lost to suburban public schools. Palatine Township Elementary District 15 absorbed about $2 million in losses. This included about $1 million in interest income lost from delayed collections and $715,000 from early redemption of investments.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora to financially support city-connected fiber network: Aurora will be giving financial support to OnLight Aurora, a city-connected organization established to manage the city’s fiber network, amid ongoing budgetary issues at the organization. Mayor John Laesch has previously said that OnLight was nearly $1 million in debt after failed attempts to bring internet service to residents’ homes and “unregulated debit card expenses for marketing purposes” that took place before he took office. The city-owned fiber network managed by OnLight stretches for over 60 miles and provides internet access to city government facilities as well as other institutions, nonprofits and businesses in Aurora.

* Daily Herald | Investigation reveals several Cook County employees falsified PPP loan applications: The Cook County Independent Inspector General has concluded investigations of 18 mostly former employees who were accused of violating county employment policies, and some were found to have falsified federal documents to obtain Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling a combined $329,500. According to Inspector General Tirrell Paxton’s quarterly report released Thursday, his office “conducted investigations to determine if the employees informed the county that they were engaging in secondary employment and otherwise complied with county personnel rules.”

* Daily Herald | Mundelein District 120 to issue $75 million in voter-approved bonds for facility improvements: Property owners in Mundelein High School District 120 will see increases on tax bills in June for ongoing improvements to school facilities approved by voters in late 2024. School officials Tuesday approved a not-to-exceed amount of $75 million in bonds to be issued in February as the first phase of funding approved by voters to pay for an array of projects. The school board approval provides for the levy of an annual tax to pay the principal and interest on the bonds. The owner of a home valued at $300,000 will pay an estimated $414 per year.

* Daily Herald | Hindu temple development in Elgin clears hurdle after zoning change approved by council: On Wednesday, the council voted 6-3 in favor of changes that would allow Umiya Mataji Sastha Chicago Midwest to construct a religious and residential development on the 34-acre vacant property at 890 Galt Boulevard, just north of Route 20 and east of Shales Parkway. Council members Diana Alfaro, Dustin Good and Steve Thoren voted against the plan. However, the temple still faces another challenge, as the property in question is subject to a consent decree issued by the Circuit Court of Cook County in 1967 following litigation by residents of the neighboring Sherwood Oaks subdivision.

*** Downstate ***

* WAND | Critical Illinois mental health programs spared after federal funding scare: Illinois service providers were alerted that funding had been cut for five behavioral health and suicide prevention programs. These funds not only provide critical services for communities, but they also provide hundreds of jobs. “These grants are really hitting the mark in getting scientifically proven suicide prevention research into the spaces where they really need to be and then therefore educating people and saving lives,” Cummings said.

* Illinois Times | City Council approves contract with alderman’s brother: Gregory Moredock, the city’s legal counsel, told Illinois Times that Ralph Hanauer voting present on the ordinance related to his brother’s contract falls in line with the general trend of how council members vote on ordinances that potentially present a conflict of interest. He also clarified that there are two kinds of conflicts of interest, common law and perceived. “A contract directly with one of the alderpersons or the mayor,” Moredock said, “would involve a direct conflict of interest and any participation in that actually could be considered a crime, so that’s something that would be evaluated. We don’t have that here, or at least that’s not what was presented.”

* Illinois Times | Court finalizes HSHS settlement: A $7.6 million court settlement stemming from a data breach that affected almost 869,000 Hospital Sisters Health System patients will result in average payments of $40 to $50 for 80,000 people. That estimate – representing patients who responded by mail to become part of the class-action settlement – came from Nickolas Hagman of the Chicago law firm of Cafferty Clobes Meriwether & Sprengel. He was representing current and past HSHS patients in the lawsuit.

* WGLT | McLean County Board approves agreement for scope of mental health fund audit: The MOU clarifies the scope of the audit, as clarified by a working group consisting of representatives from the county, Town of Normal and City of Bloomington. More specifically, it defines the term “audit” for the purpose of allowing an examination of spending in a way that is slightly different from what the term audit typically entails. This includes expenditures, outgoing transfers and contractual obligations of the fund existing on or before Dec. 31, 2024.

* WCIA | Sullivan residents asked to conserve water as aquifer level drops: “We’ve lost 15 feet of static water in our aquifer,” said Sullivan Public Health Commissioner Chuck Woodworth. “We’ve been drawing water from this aquifer since 1924, so 100 years. This is the first time we’ve had this issue.”

* Muddy River News | Adams County to look at putting non-binding secession question on the November ballot: The Adams County Board’s Legislative and Judicial Committee heard from supporters of an initiative to place a non-binding referendum on the November ballot that would allow voters to voice their opinion on whether Adams County should be part of a new state separate from Chicago and Cook County. David Blickhan of Illinois Separation addressed the committee Tuesday night, giving four examples of when other states were formed by separating from an existing state (with the latest being West Virginia breaking away from Virginia in 1863) and bringing up that 33 other Illinois counties have already voiced support of the initiative. […] “It’s a non-binding referendum,” Reich said. “We’re not giving support to it as a board, even though some members might support it. It’s just a question.”

*** National ***

* NYT | Cracks Begin to Appear at the Nation’s Biggest Banks: Results at Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo all fell short of expectations, and their shares fell. Troubles ranged from delayed merger deals (JPMorgan) to stubborn expenses (Citi) to questions about the efficacy of artificial intelligence tools (Bank of America). Banks that do business largely with rich individuals and corporations, such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, fared comparatively better.

* WaPo | Trump’s promised manufacturing boom is a bust so far: Manufacturing employment has declined every month since Trump declared “Liberation Day” in April, saying his widespread tariffs would begin to rebalance global trade in favor of American workers. U.S. factories employ 12.7 million people today, 72,000 fewer than when Trump made his Rose Garden announcement.

* NYT | Couple Says ICE Agents Gassed Them as They Drove With 6 Children: Shawn Jackson and his wife, Destiny, both 26, said they were driving home from a son’s basketball game when the family found themselves caught in a clash between protesters and federal agents in North Minneapolis. The couple sensed the encounter could quickly spiral out of control, they said, but when they tried to turn their car around to exit the blocked-off street, they were surrounded by federal agents. […] One agent told the couple that they needed to get out of the area. Ms. Jackson said she and her husband responded that they were trying to do exactly that, but their path was blocked by agents coming up the street.

* Reuters | Fewer foreigners visited US in 2025 as global tourism spending rose: The United States registered a 6% drop in foreign visitors in 2025 even as global tourism overrode concerns about saturation in some locations to generate a 6.7% rise in spending compared to the previous year, according to an industry group. More than 1.5 billion tourists spent $11.7 trillion on hotels, cruises and flights last year, according to the data from the World Travel and Tourism Council.