* ICYMI: Barrington Hills trustee to fill McConchie’s seat representing Illinois’ 26th Senate District. Daily Herald…

- Darby Hills replaces Republican state Sen. Dan McConchie of Hawthorn Woods, who resigned Feb. 2 to lead a new nonprofit advocacy group for people with disabilities.
- As his successor, Hills will finish McConchie’s term and can run for election in 2026.
- Hills is the founder of Barrington Children’s Charity, which provides meals to 525 children weekly across Barrington-area school districts.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Tribune | State mental health, substance abuse divisions would merge under governor’s executive order: The Illinois Department of Human Services departments tasked with mental health and substance use would be combined under an executive order from Gov. JB Pritzker, his office announced Friday. The change is aimed at easing administrative burdens and improving accessibility to services for people who need help with both substance use and mental health, according to Pritzker’s office and advocates. Under Pritzker’s order, the consolidation would take effect in July unless state legislators vote against it.

* Subscribers know more. Jon Seidel…

JUST IN: Defense attorneys in Chicago's ComEd bribery case, including for former Mike Madigan co-defendant Michael McClain, have asked Judge Shah to put the ComEd case on hold, citing an executive order from President Trump: pic.twitter.com/6P1tbZulhV

— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) February 17, 2025

* Sun-Times | ComEd defendants: Trump order means case with Madigan ties should be put on hold: Defense attorneys are pointing to a Feb. 10 executive order from President Donald Trump pausing enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The president’s order says the law’s use has been “stretched beyond proper bounds and abused in a manner that harms the interests of the United States.”

*** Madigan Trial ***

* Tribune | Mixed verdict in Madigan case reflects a new, harder reality for federal prosecutors: On many of the counts that ended in a mistrial, the jury was deadlocked 11-1 to acquit, the foreman said, meaning that if it weren’t for a lone holdout, Madigan could have been cleared on 13 counts — the majority of the charges he faced. “I did not want to find him guilty of anything,” said the foreman, Tim Nessner, 46, an insurance underwriter from Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood on the Far South Side. “I believe that our verdict is very telling of two things: that we are keeping politicians in check but also government overreach in check.”

* Muddy River News | McClain attorney hopeful for new trial on previous conviction following favorable ruling in latest trial: As far as Madigan’s testimony where he attempted to distance himself from McClain, Cotter called the former speaker’s remarks “very odd” but said they had anticipated that strategy. It’s also why they had twice requested to have a separate trial from the Madigan defense. “We were disappointed but not surprised,” Cotter said. “The jury saw through the speaker trying to deny their relationship. They were friends, and (McClain) was (Madigan’s) lobbyist. (Former ComEd vice president) Fidel Marquez testified that Mike’s job was to lobby the speaker.” Cotter said while they would’ve preferred an outright acquittal, the feedback from the jury is positive and, he believes, bodes well in the previous conviction against McClain.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Capitol Connection | Comptroller talks Madigan verdict, federal funding freezes: llinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza sat down with Capitol Bureau Chief Cole Henke on Capitol Connection to give some insight on the upcoming budget address. Mendoza said she believes Governor J.B. Pritzker will rise to the challenge of presenting a balanced budget at his address Wednesday despite a $3.2 billion projected deficit. That job is made much harder due to federal funding freezes from President Donald Trump’s administration.

* Tribune | Ex-Gov. Pat Quinn calls on Gov. JB Pritzker to push ethics reforms after Michael Madigan conviction: The Quinn commission, headed by former federal prosecutor Patrick Collins, delivered a set of recommendations to upgrade Illinois’ laws, but the results were mixed. Some proposals never passed in part because of a largely recalcitrant General Assembly dominated by Madigan, who Quinn and other critics said impeded wide-ranging reforms. Some proposals that did become law had significant gaps that have allowed public officials to skirt tougher standards.

* Rockford Register Star | Lt. Gov. Stratton: Trump ‘chaos’ not helping working families: Stratton said she would consider a run for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s seat if the 80-year-old chooses to retire following his fifth term in office. The PAC is a way to beef up her political infrastructure while supporting candidates and causes in the wake of President Donald Trump’s election. “One month in, we’re seeing the chaos that’s not helping people’s lives get better,” Stratton said. “We have not heard anything about lowering costs. We have not heard anything about protecting healthcare. None of the things that were promised on the campaign. We have seen none of it happen for working families.”

*** Statewide ***

* WJBD | Illinois health officials taking bird flu precautions despite assessing no ‘active risk’ to humans: [T]he director of the Illinois Department of Public Health said this week said the virus is “not an active risk” to humans in Illinois because no human-to-human spread has been recorded. But the state has taken steps to limit its spread among animals.

* Daily Herald | New IDOT crash data shows drop in traffic deaths but pedestrian fatalities spiking: IDOT reported 1,103 fatal traffic crashes last year that killed 1,196 people, a decline of about 3.5% from 2023. However, 219 fatal pedestrian-involved crashes occurred in 2024, a 9.5% spike from the 200 in 2023. […] IDOT cautions that the 2024 data, reviewed by the Daily Herald last week, is preliminary and could change before finalized.

* Sun-Times | Trump’s tariffs raise alarms for Illinois farm industry: The state is the nation’s second-leading exporter of both soybeans and feed grains and related products, said the Illinois Department of Agriculture. About 44% of grain produced in Illinois is sold for export. The U.S. is the world’s largest food exporter. Illinois ranks fifth in the country for agricultural product exports, with $10.6 billion, according to the Illinois Agriculture Department. Overall, marketing of the state’s agricultural products generates more than $51.1 billion annually. Crops account for 40% of that total.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Chicago-area federal workers on edge as Trump guts agencies: ‘It’s devastating’: About 82,000 federal workers were based in Illinois as of December 2024, including 48,300 in the Chicago area, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Loreen Targos, a physical scientist at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes National Program Office downtown, helps represent about 1,000 local EPA workers as executive vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704. She said “morale is at an all-time low.”

* FOX Chicago | CTU’s Stacy Davis Gates challenged by ‘Real Caucus’ in May election: Real Caucus presidential candidate Erika Meza, a 25-year Chicago Public Schools educator currently teaching at an elementary school on the Southwest Side, is leading the charge. Meza criticized the current leadership, saying they have prioritized politics over the needs and struggles of teachers. “There is loss of trust among members, among parents, and community allies,” Meza said. “Our current leadership seems to think our power is politics, but I’m here to say our power is in our solidarity.”

* Sun-Times | Court revives former White Sox trainer’s claims against team: An Illinois appellate court revived former White Sox trainer Brian Ball’s discrimination claims against the team Friday, finding that a lower-court judge mistakenly put the burden on Ball when dismissing his claims in 2023. In a 13-page opinion that reversed the 2023 ruling, the appellate court found that the lower-court judge failed to accept Ball’s claims as true and to consider them in a light most favorable to him when ruling on a motion to dismiss from the Sox.

* Tribune | Bobby Jenks, the former Chicago White Sox All-Star closer, is undergoing treatment for stomach cancer: Jenks, 43, said he’s planning to recover well enough to return for a second season as manager of the minor-league Windy City Thunderbolts in Crestwood. “Now it’s time to do what I got to do to get myself better and get myself more time, however you want to look at it,” Jenks told MLB.com in an interview. “I’ll tell you one thing: I’m not going to die here in Portugal.”

* Sun-Times | Polar vortex brings wind chills as low as minus 20 to Chicago region: A cold weather advisory is in effect until noon Tuesday, with wind chills ranging between minus 15 and minus 25 before plummeting to minus 10 overnight in outlying areas. But a warm-up is on tap for the end of the week, with Friday’s high at 26.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Lake County News-Sun | Raids hindering Waukegan’s lead pipe replacement efforts; ‘Our engineers are not from ICE’: Since agents from the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began raids to deport undocumented people on Jan. 25 and 26, Moeller said she is noticing residents in the city’s sizeable Hispanic community are reluctant to come to the door. [Diane Moeller, the project engineer with Robinson Engineering assigned to the effort,] has some advice. “We are seeing it more and more,” Moeller said. “They can go to our website and see the pictures of our entire team. If it is one of us at the door, it is safe to open it. We’re all Spanish speakers. Our engineers are not from ICE.”

* WTTW | Cook County State’s Attorney Will No Longer Divert Nonviolent Gun Cases to Restorative Justice Courts: Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke has instructed her office to stop diverting people with gun possession charges to the county’s Restorative Justice Community Courts (RJCC), which reroute people with nonviolent charges from criminal courts to an alternative program. The move guts the RJCC caseload, 82.8% of which was dedicated to adjudicating gun possession cases, according to the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts. Already the caseload has been cut in half, according to Judge Patricia Spratt, who presides over the North Lawndale RJCC.

* Daily Southtown | Homer Township Reset slate challenges Freedom Caucus incumbents in Republican Primary: Balich and his Will County Freedom Caucus slate are seeking reelection to various Homer Township offices this spring, but are challenged in the Feb. 25 Republican Primary by the Homer Township Reset slate led by Homer Glen Trustee Susanna Steilen. Steilen said Balich and his administration have caused rifts in the community. She said residents are chastised for speaking out and haven’t had input into the administration’s plans, citing the civic center and failed attempts to build houses on open space and sell open space.

* Rodriguez is running against Dominick for Town President…

Larry Dominick just used a government phone number (708-656-3600) for a robocall pushing his reelection. Misusing taxpayer resources to cling to power is exactly why Cicero needs change. Don’t let him get away with it—vote for honest leadership. Listen for yourself: ⬇️ #Cicero… pic.twitter.com/pudxmwtm7w

— Esteban Rodriguez (@elprimodecicero) February 10, 2025

*

…Adding… Cicero Voters Alliance…

This was a statement we put out immediately after the error by the contractor:

The CVA hired a vendor to execute a robo-call on Monday to residents in Cicero.

The Town of Cicero’s caller-id (708-656-3600)was inadvertently programmed to display the general number

As soon as this error was discovered, the communication was immediately canceled.

No taxpayer funds were ever requested or used to generate this communication.

* Daily Herald | Candidate drops out of race for Aurora mayor: Aurora mayoral candidate Jazmine Garcia dropped out of the race on Monday and threw her support to another candidate, John Laesch. Garcia said she quit because it was “necessary to ensure that our mission for an honest, accountable and corruption-free government continues in the strongest possible way,” according to a video posted on Facebook.

* Tribune | Cook County explores Planned Parenthood partnership in Englewood: A partnership with the county could help maintain care for thousands of Englewood patients while potentially bringing new patients into Cook County Health and its Medicaid managed care insurance program, CountyCare. The need is especially acute in Englewood, where HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, infant mortality and the teen birth rate are higher than the city average.

* Daily Herald | German food manufacturer plans $25.8 million project in Huntley: Open space to the south could accommodate another 60,000 square feet of future expansions. The Huntley village board unanimously signed off on the plans Thursday. The company makes flavorings including barbecue, fruits and cheeses. Huntley is offering economic incentives to Silesia, including a 100% rebate of the village share of the site’s property taxes for the first five years and a $25,000 moving grant.

* Tribune | End of state grocery tax creates conundrum for suburbs facing revenue shortfall: The Clarendon Hills Village Board and staff discussed the grocery tax at a Feb. 10 meeting, and the board is expected to take action soon. First consideration of the ordinance for approval and adoption of a local grocery sales tax is scheduled for the March 17 board meeting, and second consideration and a vote for passage is to take place at the April 21 meeting, said Clarendon Hills Finance Director Maureen Potempa. While discussions about implementing a local grocery tax, beginning at the start of 2026, have not yet taken place, plans exist to do so later in the year in Hinsdale, La Grange, Western Springs and Burr Ridge. In Hinsdale, Village Manager Kathleen Gargano said the possibility of implementing a local grocery tax will be addressed by the state’s October deadline.

* Beacon-News | Six years after mass shooting shook Aurora, legal battle continues for victims’ families, witnesses: For the victims’ families and several witnesses, the nightmare is compounded by a protracted lawsuit against the Illinois State Police. The wrongful death suit, filed shortly after killings, blames the state police for allowing the shooter to possess a gun even though the agency knew he was a convicted felon and prohibited from owning a firearm.

* Sun-Times | Skokie businesses suffer Valentine’s Day heartbreak of lost customers after water main break: Valentine’s Day is Libertad’s biggest, most profitable night of the year. But on Friday, he and his staff had to call and cancel the 140 reservations for Friday night’s special menu of roasted Blue Point oysters with bone marrow, ora king salmon alongside scallion rice and shrimp escabeche, and filet mignon with potatoes au gratin and a bordelaise sauce. “We brought in different, higher-cost ingredients than what’s normally on our menu to help those who came out to celebrate and enjoy something different and special,” Rivera said. “Now, we don’t really know what to do with it since those ingredients aren’t on our normal menu.”

* Shaw Local | Barrington Hills couple wants to sell flowers on their farm. So far, the village has said no.: Trustees and zoning board members were concerned that the residential property would be used for commercial purposes. They approved of wholesaling the product. But they did not want direct-to-consumer sales. Under the new proposal, only products of the property’s own agricultural operations — such as fruits, flowers, vegetables, eggs, or honey — may be sold.

*** Downstate ***

* PJ Star | When this small Illinois high school needed a music director, a student stepped up: Following Best’s sophomore year, Stark County’s long-time band and choir director retired, and her replacement quit unexpectedly just a few weeks into the 2023 school year. Principal Megan McGann said teacher shortages are a “growing concern,” especially in the arts and especially in smaller rural schools like Stark County, a 230-student school located in Toulon, about 45 minutes northwest of Peoria. But instead of going without a music program, [Stark County senior Lauren Best] and other students took over and assumed leadership of the program from September 2023 until last January, when Elswick became music director.

* WCIA | ‘There were people crying’; Central Illinois federal workers face unemployment, uncertainty: A.J. Ruggieri of Champaign walked into the office last week for what he thought would be a normal day. He’d been working for a sub agency of the USDA for nearly two and a half months when he learned that his job was cut short. “I went into the office Friday morning, I looked at my email, and the previous night at 7:50 p.m. I had been sent an email that was titled ‘Termination Notice Probationary Employee,’” Ruggieri said. […] “There were people crying,” he continued. “No type of severance, just nothing other than thank you for your federal service.”

*** National ***

* NBC | Trump administration fires at least 20 immigration judges amid massive case backlog: The Trump administration has fired at least 20 immigration judges – including 13 who were consider in their probationary status – according to NBC 5 Investigates source and those of NBC News. […] We referenced a 2023 Congressional Research Service study that showed that the 3.7 million backlog of cases - where immigrants are either seeking asylum or fighting deportation - is so immense that adding another 300 judges wouldn’t clear it for 10 years. In fact, the study pointed out it would take an additional 700 judges – more than 1300 in total – to clear the case backlog by 2032.

* Nature Communications | Epidemiological data of an influenza A/H5N1 outbreak in elephant seals in Argentina indicates mammal-to-mammal transmission: Our combined ecological and phylogenetic data support mammal-to-mammal transmission and occasional mammal-to-bird spillover and suggest multinational transmission of H5N1 viruses in mammals. We reflect that H5N1 viruses becoming more evolutionary flexible and adapting to mammals in new ways could have global consequences for wildlife, humans, and/or livestock.

* NYT | As Wall Street Chases Profits, Fire Departments Have Paid the Price: Desperate to gain control of flames that were raging through Pacific Palisades last month, the Los Angeles Fire Department issued an urgent call for any available personnel to report for possible deployment. But there was a problem: Dozens of the rigs that would have carried extra crews that day were out of service. The city maintenance yard was filled with aging fire engines and ladder trucks, many of which were beyond their expected service life.

* NBC | Top Social Security official steps down after disagreement with DOGE over sensitive data: One of the sources familiar with the situation, Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, a left-leaning group focused on protecting and expanding Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, told NBC News she learned of the situation after speaking with several current officials at the agency. Altman said some of the information involved in the dispute included Americans’ bank information, social security numbers, earnings records, marital statuses, dates of birth and in some cases medical records if a person has applied for disability benefits.

* The Southern | ‘This is a big moment’: Paul Simon Public Policy Institute weighs in on future of judicial checks: “I do think that, you know, we’re — everyone is exhausted and worn down, and they’re all thinking, ‘OK, this moment will pass,’ but — but this is a big and consequential moment, and it’s worth people taking the time to to following what’s going on and to expressing their concerns,” [John Shaw, the director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute,] said.

* Reason | Birthright Citizenship - A Response to Barnett and Wurman: There are several flaws in Barnett and Wurman’s “allegiance-for-protection” theory. The biggest is that, if consistently applied, it would undermine the central purpose the Citizenship Clause: extending citizenship to recently freed slaves and their descendants. Slaves born in the United States (and their parents, who were also usually slaves) obviously weren’t part of any social compact under which they traded allegiance for protection. Far from protecting them, state and federal governments facilitated their brutal oppression at the hands of their masters.