* More back and forth…

* Speaking of Congress…

Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin is running for Congress against longtime U.S. Rep. Danny Davis while she continues to face fallout from recently revealed allegations of unethical conduct in her administration from two former top aides.

A former state representative first elected city treasurer in 2019, Conyears-Ervin was a prominent Davis supporter in 2022 when the incumbent faced a strong challenge from anti-violence activist Kina Collins. This time, Conyears-Ervin is challenging Davis, currently in his 14th term in Congress, and Collins, who is running again. […]

In a letter to the city from the former employees’ lawyers, the two alleged Conyears-Ervin had used government workers to plan her daughter’s birthday party, repeatedly misused taxpayer resources and attempted to force BMO Harris — one of the banks where city money is deposited — to issue a mortgage tied to the building that houses the aldermanic office for the treasurer’s husband, Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th.

Investigators with Chicago’s inspector general last month seized computers from the treasurer’s City Hall offices. The move by Inspector General Deborah Witzburg’s staff came after the release of the letter. It also came after the head of the Chicago Board of Ethics said the agency referred the letter to the inspector general’s office years ago but said the board couldn’t do more unless it received detailed findings from the IG.

* Press release…

Today, Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) launched $2.5 million in funding for the new Illinois Economic Empowerment Centers Program (EEC). Eligible career education agencies and non-profit organizations can now apply to serve as EECs to provide entrepreneurship training to prepare individuals from historically marginalized communities to pursue business opportunities in a more inclusive business ecosystem. EECs will be selected through a competitive Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) process. […]

EECs will provide business advice, technical assistance, education, and cohort training, including resources and training tailored toward start-ups, existing businesses, and dislocated workers. Selected EECs will provide a variety of services, including management analysis and counseling, business planning and financial planning assistance, market analysis, referrals to educational programs and more.

* I asked Mark Denzler with the IMA if he rode the bus for this entire 8-day, 2,000-mile trip. Yep, he said. Mad props to him and everyone else…

* Hope this doesn’t happen in Illinois with the dreaded Copi…

* Isabel’s afternoon roundup…

* ABC Chicago | AJ Freund case LIVE: Judge makes decision in ex-DCFS workers’ child endangerment trial: UPDATE: A judge found found one of two former DCFS employees guilty of ignoring warning signs in the child abuse case of 5-year-old A.J. Freund on Friday. … During the trial, witnesses testified they believed A.J. would still be alive if the employees, Carlos Acosta and Andrew Polovin, had done their jobs properly. The judge found former DCFS case worker Acosta guilty, but found ex-supervisor Polovin not guilty. The judge said he could not determine what Polovin knew and when he knew it.

* WTWO | How a rural Illinois town is growing through diversity: “When we moved in years ago from Mexico, [it was for] only one reason, to bring family and get a better life and we make it, we [made] it happen,” Jesus Garza, Mayor of Arcola, said. Garza has been the Mayor of Arcola for 2 1/2 years and is the first immigrant to lead the city.

* Daily Herald | How Kane County is helping the public track cashless bail: The circuit court this month debuted a daily updated dashboard, showing how many cases police departments have sent to first-appearance court, the charges involved, how many petitions for pretrial detention prosecutors have filed, and whether those petitions were granted or denied.

* WCBU | ‘How can I tell if these books are good or bad?’: New Moms for Liberty chapter starts in Tazewell County: Virg Cihla, Dee Fogal and Suzette Swift make up the board of the new chapter in Central Illinois. […] None of them have children currently in school, though Cihla does have a granddaughter in a Tazewell County district and Fogal grew up in Pekin.

* WTVO | Illinois State Police releases response to homelessness guidebook: “Law enforcement officers respond to all types of emergencies and social-service related calls among all populations, including people experiencing homelessness,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly. “Because of these interactions, officers are in a position to provide information about resources and programs available in communities, and help connect individuals to longer-term solutions to prevent and end homelessness.”

* Shaw Local | La Salle County Jail to house Cook County inmates for $70 per inmate per day: Thursday, the La Salle County Board approved an intergovernmental agreement with Cook County that permits inmate transfers (no more than 50) from Chicago to be housed at the jail in Ottawa. Cook County will pay $70 per inmate per day. Worried about the county taking high-risk transfers from Chicago? Sheriff Adam Diss said there is no cause for concern.

* WCIA | Flex-N-Gate workers stunned as Effingham plant lays off employees: The company announced it is shutting its doors in Effingham because of the United Auto Workers strike in Kentucky. Nearly 9,000 employees left their jobs at Ford’s Kentucky truck plant in Louisville Wednesday night. The news came nearly four weeks after the union began walkouts against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis on Sept. 15.

* WTTW | Chicago Police Officer Who Threatened to Kill Romantic Partner and Their Family Won’t Be Fired: Watchdog: Instead, the officer, who was not identified in the report released by Inspector General Deborah Witzburg in keeping with the city’s rules, was suspended for two months, according to the watchdog’s quarterly report.

* Tribune | Chicago Fire Department’s 2nd-ranking official gets mild punishment after sexual harassment violations: In addition to violating sexual harassment policies, Sheridan failed to cooperate with the investigation, according to the memo. It stated that Sheridan refused to sign a document prepared by human resources summarizing their interview and instead submitted her own statement. She also left a second interview with her lawyer and declined to answer more questions.

* Les Winkeler | IDNR deserves increased funding: As a young adult, I was vaguely aware of what was then the Illinois Department of Conservation. I knew the agency had game wardens to enforce hunting and fishing regulations. I knew the department was responsible for the operation of state parks. However, until I assumed the role as the outdoors writer for The Southern Illinoisan in the late 1980s, I was woefully under-informed about the breadth and scope of the agency.

* NBC Chicago | Synagogues, schools, daycares increase security Friday in Chicago area as precautions: Synagogues, schools and daycares in parts of the Chicago area increased security measures Friday amid reports of “increased threats of violence,” and though officials said no credible threats have been identified, authorities are paying “special attention.”

* Daily Herald | Two years after public uproar, Mount Prospect police choose new patch: The village board voted 4-3 in August 2021 the remove the previous patch over its “thin blue line” imagery. During several board meetings and hours of public comment, along with protests and counter-protests outside village hall, critics of the patch said the imagery had been co-opted by extremist groups and its use was intimidating to people of color.

* Sun-Times | More than 1,000 COVID relief loans went to city of Chicago employees — and many look fraudulent, watchdog says: Deborah Witzburg, inspector general for the city, said her office examined more than 350,000 federal COVID loans approved in the Chicago area. Of them, she found more than 1,000 loans that city employees got from the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

* Daily Southtown | Spiders get some love and a temporary zoo at Will County program designed to demystify arachnids: A group of youngsters ages 3 to 5 used headlamps and flashlights one evening last week during a free Nature Play Day After Hours to spot the reflections from spiders’ eyes on the grounds outside of the nature center in Crete Township. Occasionally, a parent offered a caution not to get so close, but most simply embraced the excitement instilled by Heather Van Zyl, an interpretive naturalist for the Forest Preserve District of Will County, who enjoyed the outing just as much as the kids.

* WCIA | A brief history of Champaign on its birthday: Champaign was founded in 1855 when the Illinois Central Railroad placed its tracks two miles west of downtown Urbana. The town was initially named “West Urbana” before adopting its permanent name five years later with the acquisition of a city charter. The document provided rights and privileges to create a new governance system.

* Crain’s | Professional cricket has come to the U.S. and Chicago is ready to host a team: “There are definitely some really strong markets for cricket in the U.S. that we don’t currently have a team for, and Chicago is certainly high on that list given the size of the market and the demographics,” said Tom Dunmore, MLC’s vice president of marketing. “Chicago certainly has a lot of the strong characteristics for a major-league cricket team in the future. It’s a really good potential market; all the metrics support it.”

* Block Club | Could The Douglas Neighborhood Get A New Name — Douglass?: The area is named for Democratic senator Stephen Douglas, who had a complicated stance on slavery. Ald. Lamont Robinson wants to rename it in honor of abolitionist Frederick Douglass.