We’ve raised over $36,000 so far to help LSSI buy Christmas gifts for children in foster care—thank you! Let’s keep the holiday magic going. Donate today to bring joy to even more children in foster care.

* Governor JB Pritzker…

Today, Governor JB Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), and the Illinois Capital Development Board (CDB) announced the selection of 13 organizations to receive funding through the unprecedented Healthcare Transformation Capital Investment Grant Program. The grants, which total $200 million, will fund capital projects addressing health-related social needs and reduce disparities in healthcare in historically underserved communities. […]

Healthcare Transformation Capital Improvement grants will build on HFS’ equity-driven Healthcare Transformation Collaboratives (HTC) program, which was established in 2021. The goals of the HTC program are to expand access to care and improve health equity, especially in underserved communities, by leveraging shared resources among collaborative partners to create locally-driven solutions.

These awards also support the State’s safety net hospitals, which are critical to providing essential medical care to our most underserved communities.
​Safety nets are hospitals and medical centers that provide healthcare to patients regardless of insurance status or their ability to pay. Of the awardees, 6 of the 13 are safety net health entities, representing 48% of the total funding. […]

Organizations were selected following a merit-based review in accordance with Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) Uniform Requirements. The grant recipients are:

- Lawndale Christian Health Center: $7.5 million to renovate the Mirador building into a combined community center that includes a fitness facility and fresh food cafe and primary care clinic. Location: Lawndale, Chicago IL

- Insight Chicago Inc., in support of South Side Health Equity Collaborative HTC: $22.5 million for an Urgent/Primary Care buildout and renovation of Corpus Christi Building into a youth and community empowerment space which will include access to educational and academic support, the arts, and an athletic facility. Location: Bronzeville, Chicago IL

- Marcfirst (Lifelong Access), in support of Medicaid Innovation Collaborative HTC: $21.7 million to purchase and renovate The Pantagraph newspaper building to serve as a collaborative hub for multiple agencies supporting services in behavioral health, psychiatry, a youth behavioral urgent care center, pediatric primary care, dental wellness, alternative youth education, community day services, food security initiatives and supported employment programming. Location: Normal, IL

- Clay County Hospital: $12.1 million to construct a Clay County Health Department building on the campus of the Clay County Medical Complex which will be an expansion of the hospital to enhance educational and prevention services, and renovation of the hospital, including Medical Surgical Department, Nutritional Services Department, and Surgery Department. Location: Flora, IL

- Heritage Behavioral Health Center Inc.: $43.8 million for a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic that will provide vital, comprehensive and integrated behavioral-primary healthcare services to people living in Macon, DeWitt and Piatt counties. Location: Decatur, IL
- Swedish Covenant Health, in support of Chicago North Side Collaborative HTC: $7 million to renovate a church building into a teaching kitchen, workstations, gathering hall, and for a behavioral health program expansion to further address health disparities in the community. Location: North Side, Chicago, IL

- Touchette Regional Hospital, in support of East St. Louis Health Transformation Partnership HTC: $15 million for construction of a new adolescent mental health wing that will be integrated into the already under development Health Care Campus funded through the Illinois Healthcare Transformation grant previously awarded to Touchette Regional Hospital in 2021. Location: Cahokia Heights, IL

- Arukah Institute of Healing, Inc NFP: $3.6 million to fund construction and renovations to develop shared space with the Bureau County Health Department FQHC for a “no wrong door” integrated health and rural health workforce training center and to purchase a building enabling a new Child and Family Center that will house specialized child family crisis workforce, child psychiatry, primary care, counseling, and other integrated services to best meet needs of low income families. Location: Princeton, IL

- TCA Health, Inc., in support of South Side Healthy Community Organization HTC: $7.7 million to establish a nutrition and wellness center connected to the organization’s main health center and administrative building by an enclosed walkway, resulting in improved community health affordable food availability in Chicago’s Far South Side. Location: South Side, Chicago, IL

- Crawford Hospital District: $6.7 million to construct a new two-story addition for office and treatment spaces, nurses’ stations with privacy screens, and patient registration bring these much-needed specialty care services and the capacity to treat a large volume of patients. Location: Robinson, IL

- Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (University of Illinois at Chicago) in support of the Target Health HTC: $33 million for the purchase and renovation of buildings to develop a comprehensive care center and a community space for wellness programming including primary and specialty care, medical imaging and diagnostic/screening services, navigation and coaching, and a community space for wellness programming. Location: South Side, Chicago, IL

- Southern Illinois Hospital Services, in support of Integrated HUB HTC: $9.9 million to increase capacity for mental health treatment, including new acute mental illness beds and updates to the current psychiatric unit to address the critical mental health need in the broader southern sixteen county region. Location: Southern Illinois Counties

- Thorek Memorial Hospital: $9.3 million to renovate TMH Andersonville’s emergency department to enhance capacity for medical emergencies, psychiatric and substance abuse crisis management and develop robust outpatient behavioral health services. Location: Chicago, IL

* Bloomberg…

Federal Reserve officials lowered their benchmark interest rate for a third consecutive time, but reined in the number of cuts they expect in 2025, signaling greater caution over how quickly they can continue reducing borrowing costs.

The Federal Open Market Committee voted 11-1 on Wednesday to cut the federal funds rate to a range of 4.25%-4.5%. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack voted against the action, preferring to hold rates steady.

New quarterly forecasts showed several officials penciled in fewer rate cuts for next year than they estimated just a few months ago. They now see their benchmark rate reaching a range of 3.75% to 4% by the end of 2025, implying two quarter-percentage-point cuts, according to the median estimate.

Only five officials indicated a preference for more reductions next year.

* WTTW…

For years, the debate has raged over ride hailing apps Uber and Lyft — are they taxi companies or tech firms? […]

Now, a similar crop of apps has arisen in the temporary employment arena. The apps connect people looking for work with companies just as staffing agencies do, but assert they’re tech platforms exempt from regulations aimed at protecting temp workers.

The companies have drawn millions in funding, hundreds of thousands of workers, and legal action over their labor practices — including here in Illinois.

“Not surprisingly, their assertion is much like the Uber defense — ‘We’re not an employer of record, we provide laborers through an app, we connect workers with jobs, like Monster.com or LinkedIn,’” said Chris Williams, a labor attorney who’s brought complaints against several temp staffing apps on behalf of the Chicago Workers Collaborative. […]

The CWC complaints to the Illinois Department of Labor charge that the apps have failed to register as temp staffing agencies with the state, which Illinois law requires. Williams said that registration might sound trivial but it serves as an important protection for some of the most vulnerable workers in the labor marketplace.

* Tribune | After prosecutors rest, defense in Madigan corruption trial calls ex-AT&T exec about deal to hire Edward Acevedo: After 30 days of testimony over three months, prosecutors rested their case in chief Wednesday in the blockbuster public corruption trial of Michael Madigan, formerly the immensely powerful speaker of the Illinois House and leader of the state Democratic Party. Prosecutors presented about 150 wiretapped calls and undercover video recordings in the case against Madigan and his co-defendant, ex-lobbyist Michael McClain.

* WGN | Prosecutors rest case in Madigan federal corruption trial: The only witness to take the stand for the defense so far is Stephen Selcke, longtime AT&T Illinois lobbyist, who testified separately for the prosecution during the trial of former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza, which ended in a hung jury. La Schiazza allegedly agreed to pay Madigan allies, including former state Rep. Edward “Eddie” Acevedo, a one-time assistant majority leader to Madigan, thousands of dollars in do-nothing contracts.

* Capitol News Illinois | Feds set to rest case in Madigan trial; defense prepares to call first witnesses: Though he wouldn’t get a formal diagnosis of dementia until a few years – and one felony plea – later, former state Rep. Eddie Acevedo told FBI agents and government lawyers in a September 2019 interview that he had memory problems. Those memory issues made for confused and, at times, emotionally charged testimony this week when the government called Acevedo as one of its final witnesses in the trial of ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Prosecutors are set to rest their case Wednesday while defense attorneys gear up to call their own witnesses.

* NBC Chicago | Is the DMV open in Illinois during Christmas week? What to know about holiday hours: Illinois drivers license and DMV facilities across the state will be closed for part of Christmas Week for 2024, according to the Illinois Secretary of State, as well as the week following. According to the Illinois Secretary of State’s list of state holidays, DMVs will be closed on Tuesday, Dec. 24 — Christmas Eve — and Wednesday, Dec. 25, Christmas Day.

* WBEZ | How the new Chicago budget will hit your pocketbook: In all, increased fees, fines or taxes on everything from plastic bags to rideshares are expected to yield an additional $170 million in revenue for 2025 — helping to close a $982 million deficit. The hikes helped Johnson make good on a promise not to layoff or furlough city workers, or cut essential services. While his budget nixes some vacant positions from the city’s spending, no current employees will lose their jobs.

* Tribune | Chicago Board of Education meeting called, schools’ chief job could be discussed: If the board were to vote to fire Martinez, it would happen in closed session. There is a motion for a closed session on the agenda to discuss the employment of CPS personnel, but it is not clear if the board’s lawyers will move to oust the district’s leader. Anything can technically be discussed in a closed session.

* Block Club | Trump Wants To Deport Them. Chicago Is Scaling Back Help. Meet The Migrants Stuck In Limbo: More than two years after busloads of migrants began arriving in Chicago from the southern border, many of the new arrivals are broke, unhoused or facing eviction, prohibited from working legally and unable to return safely to their home countries — essentially stuck in limbo. Yet local government officials have scaled back resources for recent arrivals by closing shelters and ending rental assistance, citing a decline in new arrivals and budget constraints.

* Crain’s | How did we get all these McMansions? UIC professor finds their origin story.: Stewart Hicks, an architecture professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, believes he’s found the birthplace of the McMansion movement. In a video he posted to YouTube Dec. 12, Hicks traces the McMansion back to the late 1950s invention of a modest metal plate made to keep roofs solid in the face of storms. “This little invention is responsible for the suburbs as we know it,” Hicks says in the video, the 139th in a series about architecture he started posting during the pandemic. Hicks, who has degrees in architecture from the University of Michigan and Princeton University, has been teaching at UIC since 2012. He’s now an associate professor of architecture and associate dean of physical resources and planning and lives in the West Loop.

NFL teams - places where u have won a game in the last 70 days pic.twitter.com/pemjWDaogN

— Jay Cuda (@JayCuda) December 17, 2024

* NBC Chicago | Chicago White Sox announce new ballpark name for 2025 season: The Chicago White Sox will be playing in a renamed ballpark for the 2025 season. According to an announcement from the team Tuesday, the ballpark will now be known as Rate Field beginning with the 2025 season, reflecting their sponsor’s name change that dropped the word “Guaranteed” earlier this year.

* Daily Herald | Accused Highland Park parade shooter’s incriminating statements to be admitted at trial: Incriminating statements made by the man charged with fatally shooting seven people two years ago at Highland Park’s Independence Day parade can be played in court at his trial, a judge ruled Wednesday. Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti denied defense attorney’s motion to suppress the videotaped remarks Robert E. Crimo III gave to police after his arrest, rejecting arguments that his constitutional rights had been violated during questioning.

* Daily Southtown | Homer Glen Village Board race finalized with 9 candidates for 3 trustee positions: Objections were filed to nominating petitions for 15 of the 17 interested candidates who filed to run for three trustee positions. Pericles Abbasi, an attorney to Craig Carlson who objected to 14 of those petitions, withdrew the five outstanding objections to petitions from Ruben L. Pazmino, Kevin Koukol, John Hayes, Katie Surges and Kyle Surges. Because their objections were removed, they will appear on the April 1 ballot.

* Daily Southtown | Lawsuit seeking back rent from Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard pushed to January: Hull filed eviction papers in September, saying Henyard and Kamal Woods owe more than $3,350 in unpaid rent and late fees for the home in the 14600 block of Harvard Street. In an amended complaint filed Dec. 2, Hull now seeks more than $13,600 in rent, damages and attorney fees. The new complaint said Henyard and Woods last paid rent in August.

* ABC Chicago | Supervisor Tiffany Henyard warns Thornton Township shutdown could start Wednesday: The threat of a government shutdown comes as a fifth Thornton Township meeting had to be canceled because of a lack of a quorum. The result of Trustees Carmen Carlisle and Chris Gonzalez not showing up. Their aim is to block Supervisor Tiffany Henyard from appointing someone to a vacant trustee position, who could provide tie-breaking votes.

* Capitol City Now | The man with two jobs: The answer has not changed, but aldermen continue to press the question: Can Frank Lesko serve as Springfield city clerk and Sangamon County recorder simultaneously? “There’s about 26 pages from the attorney general’s office.” said corporation counsel Greg Moredock. “They will look at each individual conflict, and there has never been an opinion (dealing with the combination of) a city clerk and a county recorder.”

* WJBD | Centralia City Manager announces plan to resign: “I’m going to miss you terribly, but you taught me a lot about city management, and I appreciate that,” Allen said to Smith. “You’ve taken the time, listened, and done a lot of things that I asked you to do. You have done fabulously for the city.” Smith plans to vacate the city manager position in January, and will be joining the Crain, Miller & Wernsman law firm in Centralia.

* Herald & Review | Decatur council approves hiring of high-powered lobbying firm: The Decatur City Council unanimously approved a two year, $8,333-per-month contract with Mercury Public Affairs, adding to the city’s portfolio of lobbyists to push the city’s legislative agenda and fight to bring more state and federal dollars back to Soy City.

* WSIL | Carbondale city leaders look to the future in their state of the city address: “I am proud of our budget,” Mayor Harvey says. “We’ve received these awards for our budget for many years.” During her speech, Harvey shared that the city has not raised its portion of property tax for several years, and talked about its work to invest in the town.

* WaPo | How much abuse can a local newspaper reporter take?: On Feb. 1, Tom Lisi took a seat in Courtroom 12 of the Lancaster County Courthouse. He was looking into a possible story on how prosecutors handle criminal cases, a routine outing on his beat as county reporter for LNP/Lancaster Online, which is a daily newspaper of 70 newsroom positions in south-central Pennsylvania that shares ownership with Harrisburg-based public broadcaster WITF. After settling into his seat, Lisi received some not-so-routine attention from a deputy sheriff, who yanked the journalist from the courtroom and inquired about the topic of his reporting.