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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Thursday, Nov 13, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino’s responds to federal judge’s plan to grant bond to about 615 people arrested in violation of a consent decree…
* Evanston Now | Ruttenberg scores nurses union backing: The Illinois Nurses Association announced this week it’s endorsing Rachel Ruttenberg of Evanston in her state senate race. The endorsement was part of a slate announced Tuesday, which included Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton in her race for the U.S. Senate, State Sen. Rob Peters in his race for the 2nd District U.S. House seat and Karina Villa, who’s running for state comptroller. Ruttenberg was the only candidate INA backed in a state senate race, according to Tuesday’s announcement. She’s running for a seat currently held by Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview). Fine is leaving her seat to run for Congress in the 9th District. * Press Release | Manley Appointed to Legislative Audit Commission, Tapping CPA Experience: As a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) working in the accounting field for nearly three decades, state Rep. Natalie Manley, D-Joliet, will serve on the state’s Legislative Audit Commission (LAC), a select group of legislators to lead public hearings on major audits of state agencies to review performance, correct outstanding issues and ensure public dollars are being spent appropriately for Illinois residents. * Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson offers concessions to salvage his $16.6B budget, but City Council support still in doubt: The $18 million revenue loss from that change would be made up by raising the personal property lease tax on cloud computing and software higher than Johnson initially proposed. Instead of 14%, the tax on cloud computing would be raised to 15%, which would generate an estimated $416 million. That would make the tax 66% higher than what it was a year ago when Johnson raised the tax from 9% to 14%. With that increase, the tax yielded $333 million. Towing fees would also be raised by 66% — from $150 to $250 for vehicles under 8,000 lbs., a category that includes passenger vehicles and SUVs. The towing fee for heavy-duty vehicles would rise from $250 to $350, under the revised fee schedule expected to raise $7 million a year. * Tribune | Judge rules mandatory detention of Chicago day care teacher by ICE is illegal: A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the U.S. government’s mandatory detention of Diana Patricia Santillana Galeano, the day care teacher arrested at a Chicago preschool, is illegal and she must be given a bond hearing. According to the ruling by U.S. District Judge Jeremy Daniel, Santillana will be given a bond hearing in front of an immigration judge, who could order her released while her civil deportation case proceeds. Her hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. * NPR | Some labor unions remain committed to recruiting women despite policy rollbacks: Women make up less than 5% of the construction trades - professions such as carpenter, electrician and plumber. President Trump wants to grow the industry, but there are fears women could be further sidelined. Some labor unions say they will not let that happen. * WTTW | Toxic Dump Set for Transformation Into Chicago’s Next Lakefront Destination, Introducing Park #608: On Wednesday, with the sun shining on a brisk fall day, the Chicago Park District unveiled signage for the future home of Park #608. The name is a placeholder for 43 acres adjacent to Calumet Park that have, since 1984, been home to a disposal facility used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to hold polluted sediment dredged from the Calumet River and Cal-Sag Channel. “What was once a dumping ground will be a destination,” said Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, CEO and general superintendent of the Chicago Park District. * Block Club | 3 Friends Visit Every CTA ‘L’ Stop In 9 Hours In Effort To Set Guinness World Record: “We think Chicago is one of the best places in the whole world, and we want more people to come here and understand how easy it is to get around,” he said. “It’s about showing people that you can go to Little India on the North Side, Little Village on the Southwest Side and anywhere in between on the CTA.” * ABC Chicago | Chicago’s Manny’s Deli shares noodle kugel recipe on Cooking up a Storm: BC7 Chicago meteorologist Tracy Butler was Cooking up a Storm Thursday with an iconic Jewish deli that has called Chicago home for decades. Manny’s, located at 1141 S. Jefferson St. in the South Loop, is a frequent stop for politicians and celebrities. And it’s also been giving back, dishing up 1,800 free meals during the government shutdown. * Sun-Times | Protest hours at Broadview ICE facility too restrictive, lawyer suing village says: A Chicago attorney who filed for a preliminary injunction as part of a federal lawsuit against the village of Broadview over its recent restrictions on protests near the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility appeared Thursday to discuss the ongoing matter. “My hope and expectation is that a federal judge will sustain the rights to ordinary working people to exercise their first amendment rights other than the restricted hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” Robert Held, a Chicago Council of Lawyers board member and activist, said during a short media briefing Thursday outside the facility at 1930 Beach St. * Daily Herald | Why Elgin could increase its general property tax levy for the first time in more than a decade: The 13.2% levy increase will help close a $4.2 million gap in the city’s roughly $407.6 million budget, City Manager Rick Kozal said Wednesday during a special committee of the whole meeting to discuss the 2026 budget and a three-year plan. “It is with great debate and deliberation that this recommendation for this modest increase was coming,” Kozal said. “But we thought that the property tax increase, rather than going to other revenue sources, was the most efficient and economical way to recover what is needed, that $4 million, to maintain the level of city operations.” * Evanston Now | Body camera contract gets mixed reaction: Ald. Matt Rodgers (8th) argued in favor of the proposal, pushing back on some panel members’ suggestion the city try and purchase services ‘À la carte’ from various providers to try and bring the price tag down. “I think it’s very important that it be a whole ecosystem,” Rodgers said, something Ald. Tom Suffredin (6th) agreed with. “This isn’t a place to cheap out,” Suffredin said, raising concerns about potential liability for the city by trying to find a cheaper deal. * Aurora Beacon-News | First home unveiled in Aurora’s new ‘smart neighborhood’: The show home highlights various features that houses in the neighborhood will have, from solar panels on the roof to electric car chargers in the garage. The innovation going into these homes is expected to make them more resilient against inclement weather plus lead to lower utility costs, making them more affordable. One example of the houses’ innovative features is the method used to create the walls of the structure: foam blocks connected by plastic webs that fit together sort of like LEGO bricks. * Fox News | Duckworth staffer accused of posing as lawyer in attempt to free illegal immigrant from ICE custody: According to a letter sent Wednesday to Duckworth, D-Ill., U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons said the staffer told federal agents he was the attorney of Jose Ismeal Ayuzo Sandoval — a 40-year-old illegal immigrant previously deported four times to Mexico and who had a DUI conviction. […] While at the facility, York successfully met with Ayuzo and got him to sign a G-28 form, the letter said. It allows an attorney to represent a client on immigration matters, empowering them to receive official correspondence, communicate with government agencies on their behalf and more. * WCIA | City of Decatur implements water rationing measures as lake level drops: On Oct. 8 it was reported that Lake Decatur was 2.4 feet below its normal water level. A month later, Ryan Huffer, the City of Decatur’s Communications Coordinator, said the lake is now more than three feet below normal, and the water level continues to decline due to evaporation and a lack of consistent rainfall. While rain did fall on Oct. 18 and 19, it wasn’t enough to reverse the lake’s decline. * WJBD | Marion County Board chair wants to begin work on multi-million-dollar digital radio system for emergency responders: The Marion County Board will be asked to add $1 million to next year’s budget from the Public Safety Tax to begin work on converting the county to a new digital radio system. Board Chair and Centralia Police Lieutenant Steve Whritenour says the old analog system has outlived its time. “Marion County unfortunately is still on an old analog system,” Whritenour said. “Improving communications throughout the entire county would benefit every fire department, every law enforcement agency and ambulance service, to have that lifeline between the dispatch and all those agencies. It’s a vital link.” * WICS | Springfield voters may decide on landlord registry in March 2026 ballot: Springfield voters could soon have a say on a proposed landlord registry ordinance, potentially appearing on the March 2026 ballot. After years of discussion, city leaders are considering allowing constituents to weigh in on the matter. Roy Williams Jr., co-sponsor of the ordinance, emphasized the need for public input. “All we’re asking for tonight is for the permission to put it on the ballot,” Williams said. “It’s been well over time to do something different in Springfield, Illinois.” * Bond Buyer | SEC muni enforcement down sharply in 2025: Municipal securities enforcement actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission have totaled just three so far this year, putting 2025 on track to record a noteworthy decline from the enforcement level pace it has maintained going back to at least 2019. * Bloomberg | VW, Rivian eye selling EV technology to other carmakers: Volkswagen AG and Rivian Automotive Inc. have ambitions of selling the electric vehicle technology they’re developing together to other carmakers in the future. Their joint venture, known as RV Tech, said it has made solid progress on delivering the EV electrical and software platform that Volkswagen needs to compete with Tesla Inc. and Chinese rivals. The JV is focused on delivering models for Rivian and VW but is keeping communication open with third parties about the scalability of its platforms. * AP | Lifelong drugs for autoimmune diseases don’t work well. Now scientists are trying something new: Researchers are altering dysfunctional immune systems, not just suppressing them, in a variety of ways that aim to be more potent and more precise than current therapies. They’re highly experimental and, because of potential side effects, so far largely restricted to patients who’ve exhausted today’s treatments. But people entering early-stage studies are grasping for hope.
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Pritzker on federal shutdown, Trump, midterm elections
Thursday, Nov 13, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * More from Gov. Pritzker’s press conference today…
Thoughts?
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Pritzker on hemp ban, BSL, Johnson head tax, and homeowners insurance bill
Thursday, Nov 13, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * As part of the spending deal to end the federal government shutdown, Congress approved provision banning THC products. Governor Pritzker was asked about the hemp ban during an unrelated news conference…
* Click here for some background. On Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s head tax…
The governor is wrong that Sigcho-Lopez would need to run a write-in campaign. He can run as an independent, but he’ll need more than 11,000 valid signatures. * On the Homeowners’ insurance reform bill that failed in House with 56 votes…
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Catching up with the federal candidates
Thursday, Nov 13, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Politico…
From US Rep. Garcia’s spokesperson…
The Sun-Times’ coverage of Patty Garcia’s campaign launch yesterday…
* US Senate candidate Raja Krishnamoorthi has released his sixth TV ad of the cycle. Press Release…
* Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin is one of 13 Democrats running to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Danny Davis in the 7th CD,. Crain’s…
* Evanston Now…
* More from Politico…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Thursday, Nov 13, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: ‘We will win’: Six Broadview protesters plead not guilty to conspiracy, decry attack on First Amendment. Sun-Times…
- Charged with Kat Abughazaleh, Brian Straw and Cat Sharp — who is chief of staff to Ald. Andre Vasquez — are Michael Rabbitt, a 45th Ward Democratic committeeperson, Andre Martin and Joselyn Walsh, a musician. - Each defendant faces a maximum of seven years in prison. * Related stories… * Gov. Pritzker will attend the ribbon cutting for the newly renovated International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 2 training facility at 10 am. Click here to watch. * Sun-Times | Hemp product ban, tacked onto law to reopen government, stuns Illinois businesses: ‘Unnecessary and cruel’: ”In the absence of action in Springfield, Governor Pritzker supports policies to protect people, including children, from being misinformed or harmed by these products,” a spokesperson said. West Side state Rep. La Shawn Ford — who has pushed for less stringent regulations including age limits, testing standards and packaging requirements for hemp products — said the ban starts “a whole new war on drugs.” “You can’t ban it. It’s still here. It’s just being driven underground,” he said. * E&E News | Grain Belt Express faces Illinois high court review: Lawyers for the developers of the Grain Belt Express power line and Illinois utility regulators said a state appellate court erred last month when it overturned approval of a permit for the $7 billion project, throwing its future into limbo. They made their case during oral arguments before the Illinois Supreme Court, the latest plot twist in a decadelong effort to build the 780-mile Grain Belt Express line to deliver renewable energy from windy, sunny southwest Kansas to the nation’s largest electricity market, PJM Interconnection. * Tribune | Illinois sees record EV sales as Trump administration ends federal tax credits, but state goals still far off: The third quarter of this year saw EV sales grow to 8.4% of overall vehicle sales in Illinois, a record, according to data from Experian Automotive published in Illinois Auto Outlook, a local publication of Foltz’s group. That was up a percentage point from the same period last year and from 7.1% the previous quarter, the data showed. * Tribune | Illinois climbs in national hospital safety ranking, but four hospitals get F grades: Illinois now ranks 17th in the country — up from 23rd a year ago and 30th before that — for its percentage of hospitals earning A grades for safety, according to Leapfrog, which releases hospital safety grades twice a year. Illinois moved up in the rankings because its percentage of A-graded hospitals increased slightly, while other states have seen their percentages drop, said Alexandra Campione, program manager of the safety grade for the Leapfrog Group. * NPR Illinois | Looming court decision on conversion therapy could impact Illinois law: Mike Ziri is Director of Public Policy for Equality Illinois, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group. He said the laws protect patients. “Impacted communities know that this law exists and that they have recourse under the law to file a complaint if a therapist unethically engages in conversion therapy practices, coerces someone into conversion therapy practices,” he said. * Governing | How Illinois Made a ‘Transformational’ Investment in Transit: Supporters of the legislation hope it makes the transit network easier to use, with more intuitive wayfinding for riders, simpler fare policies, a stronger sense of safety and cleanliness and more frequent service. The ultimate goal is to increase ridership and make transit a viable alternative to driving for more people. “What’s super exciting about this is that it is taking the fiscal cliff and turning it on its head,” says Yonah Freemark, a researcher at the Urban Institute. “It’s saying, not only do we need to solve the funding crisis, but we need to make transit better.” * WMBD | Pekin Republican said Downstate bailed out Chicago transit: State Rep. Travis Weaver is still sore that some of Central Illinois’ tax dollars were used to fix Chicago’s transit problems. The Pekin Republican had blunt words when it came to helping Chicago and Cook County dig out of their $200 million budget hole. “You and I don’t pay our gas tax to bail out Chicago Transit,” he said. “You and I pay our gas tax so that we can have good roads here in Peoria. So, I was really, really disappointed to see how that came together.” * The Read Deal | A look at newest GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Heidner’s real estate business: Heidner and his wife, Alisa Heidner, run commercial real estate firm Heidner Properties, along with their four children. The company owns and manages 280 commercial properties across the U.S., making him the most experienced real estate professional in the GOP primary. Over the past three years, the company has led the turnaround of a struggling suburban Chicago shopping mall, the Arboretum of South Barrington. * Crain’s | Head tax talks in flux as Johnson scrambles for budget votes: Johnson has held meetings with individual aldermen to gauge their support for the potential changes, but it’s far from certain the amendments will gain the 26 votes required for budget approval. Meanwhile, members of the Progressive Caucus say the mayor’s actual plan doesn’t line up with how he’s framed it. * Illinois Answers Project | Feds Deployed Tear Gas on the Far South Side Even After Cops Told Them They Had No Gas Masks, Sources Say: Just after police officers arrived to take over and secure the area, the federal agents deployed tear gas, smoke and other riot-control chemicals against residents and officers, including Chicago Police Department Deputy Chief Dan O’Connor, who had asked the feds not to use the gas, the sources said. In addition to O’Connor, the South Chicago police district’s second-in-command, shift commander and much of the district’s tactical team were sickened by the gas, according to police sources. * ProPublica | “I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime: Stephen Miller, the White House homeland security adviser and architect of the nationwide immigration crackdown, declared that the building was “filled with TdA terrorists,” that the raid had “saved God knows how many lives” and that it was “one of the most successful law enforcement operations that we’ve seen in this country. A ProPublica investigation, however, has found little evidence to support the government’s claims. ProPublica has discovered the names of 21 of the detained Venezuelan men and women and interviewed 12 of them. We also spoke with dozens of their relatives, friends and neighbors. And we reviewed U.S. public records databases and court websites, examined court documents and social media accounts, obtained audio and video recordings made that night, and attended immigration court hearings. * WIRED | DHS Kept Chicago Police Records for Months in Violation of Domestic Espionage Rules: For seven months, the data—records that had been requested on roughly 900 Chicagoland residents—sat on a federal server in violation of a deletion order issued by an intelligence oversight body. A later inquiry found that nearly 800 files had been kept, which a subsequent report said breached rules designed to prevent domestic intelligence operations from targeting legal US residents. The records originated in a private exchange between DHS analysts and Chicago police, a test of how local intelligence might feed federal government watchlists. The idea was to see whether street-level data could surface undocumented gang members in airport queues and at border crossings. The experiment collapsed amid what government reports describe as a chain of mismanagement and oversight failures. * WGN | $172M and counting: What taxpayers spent on misconduct claims tied to one Chicago detective: The Chicago City Council is expected to approve a $17 million settlement in another wrongful conviction case involving a notorious former Chicago Police detective. Jose Maysonet spent 27 years in prison for a double murder conviction that was later overturned, amid allegations of misconduct by Reynaldo Guevara. Maysonet claimed in legal filings that Guevara beat him during a lengthy interrogation, forcing him to falsely confess to the 1990 killings of two brothers on the Northwest Side. * Block Club Chicago | St. Sabina Food Pantry Sees ‘Record-Breaking Numbers’ As SNAP Benefits Falter: “We have made record-breaking numbers in the last two weeks,” Norwood said. Less than a week ago, lines formed outside the pantry an hour before it opened at 9 a.m., Norwood said. Staff couldn’t shrink the line until 2 p.m. — an hour before closing. One day, they had to cut the line off and ask people to return in the morning. * ABC Chicago | Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson hospitalized amid rare brain disorder diagnosis: Jackson is “under observation for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), a neurodegenerative disorder he has managed for more than a decade,” a statement from Rainbow PUSH read. The civil rights activist was initially diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. However, he was diagnosed with PSP in April 2025. * The Times | Tales of Pope Leo, the Blues Brothers fan ‘on a mission from God’: Pope Leo XIV, 70, was a big fan of the anarchic 1980 Hollywood classic, a Vatican-produced documentary has revealed. He dressed up as one of the brothers while a seminarian, donning dark glasses and a fedora hat years before he switched to a mitre and papal robes. Leo from Chicago was released on Monday to mark six months since the pope’s election. It investigates the American pope’s younger years, interviewing his brothers, childhood friends and seminary colleagues. * Chicago Eater | Alinea Has Lost a Michelin Star: “We were disappointed to learn of our @michelinguide demotion to two stars. For 20 years, Alinea has been devoted to pushing creativity, rigor, and the pursuit of perfection in our craft. That commitment remains as unwavering today as it was on day one, and will continue until the back door of 1723 locks for the last time,” the post reads. * ABC Chicago | Judge to tour Broadview ICE facility amid ‘inhumane conditions’ allegations: The ICE facility in Broadview has been at the heart of “Operation Midway Blitz.” On Thursday, it will be in an even greater spotlight as U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura McNally will visit the facility. Attorneys who filed a class action lawsuit over alleged inhumane conditions will join Judge McNally. * Daily Southtown | Dolton says former Mayor Tiffany Henyard should be responsible for attorneys fees in FOIA lawsuit: The village, during a court hearing Wednesday, called the amount sought by the Edgar County Watchdogs in attorney fees unreasonable. The nonprofit requested Cook County Judge Kate Moreland order the village pay $10,000 in civil penalties, $41,000 in attorney’s fees and $1,500 in other costs, which will be decided ahead of a hearing at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 26. * Tribune | Riverdale Mayor Lawrence Jackson convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice: A federal jury on Wednesday found Riverdale Mayor Lawrence Jackson guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice, a verdict that may force the four-term mayor from office. The verdict came just hours after prosecutors and defense attorneys presented conflicting portrayals of Jackson’s conduct in a 2021 deposition. The charges stemmed from Jackson’s deposition in a civil lawsuit brought by Tri-State Disposal, a waste company that had trash disposal contracts in Riverdale for years. * Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora to host town halls on proposed 2026 city budget next two Saturdays: The city’s proposed budget for next year was made available last month, and since then Aurora aldermen have been reviewing the document during special meetings of the City Council’s Finance Committee. As proposed, the $569 million budget for 2026 is $163.6 million less than this year’s, mostly because of bonds the city took out this year for big construction projects, city officials have said. * WCIA | Sangamon Co. Mental Health Commission urges formation of countywide mental health board: The commission also approved videos pushing for the creation of a Sangamon County 708 Mental Health Board in an effort to coordinate and expand mental health and substance use services across the county. If the county board agrees with this recommendation, the question of whether to establish and fund a mental health board will be placed before Sangamon County voters in March 2026. * WCIA | Mahomet School Board member facing felony charge in I-57 crash that hurt State Trooper: Illinois State Police said around 1:50 p.m. on March 1, a trooper responded to a report of debris in the road on I-57 near Chebanse. The trooper was parked in the right lane with their emergency lights on. Later, the trooper returned to the car, and the squad car was hit by a Lincoln SUV that failed to move over. Both the trooper and the other driver, who was later identified as 66-year-old Harold (Max) McComb, were brought to the hospital with injuries. […] Now, however, McComb is facing a charge of passing an emergency vehicle and causing an injury, which is a Class 4 felony. He is also facing charges of reckless driving and failure to reduce speed — a Class A Misdemeanor and a Petty Offense, respectively. * WGLT | Bloomington homeless shelter village delays opening due to electrical component: The Bridge was originally anticipated to be open in December. But HSHM CEO Matt Burgess said it will not likely open until January because there has been a delay in shipping a switchgear that is a crucial part of electrical grids. “We won’t be able to open without power running to the cabins,” Burgess said. “And that [switchgear] is not due to arrive until the very end of December.” * WMBD | Panel discussion at Illinois Central College addresses education landscape in Illinois: The Student Center CEFCU Commons at Illinois Central College‘s Peoria campus was occupied by around 50 educators, administrators and local officials, all to discuss what Illinois schools are succeeding in, and what they need to improve. The discussion, hosted by Advance Illinois, is entitled “The State We’re In”, and is a state-wide initiative to be transparent about the educational landscape of the individual communities within Illinois. * WSPY | Kendall County budget draws criticism from State’s Attorney’s Office: Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis says his office is having trouble keeping good prosecutors due to competition with other counties. Weis says the Kendall County Board’s recently approved budget lacks the pay increases for prosecutors needed to make the county competitive. “Even when they give us funding for new employees, if they don’t give us enough money, it’s really kind of a moot point. If I can’t fill the position with a prosecutor that is willing to take that money that we’re offering them when they could go work somewhere else, we’re not going to fill the spot. So it’s sort of a hollow gesture to say here’s the position, but we’re not going to give you enough money to actually fill it. It’s really not going to make a difference overall.” * Politico | Fellow Democrat takes aim at Chuy García’s ‘undemocratic’ retirement gambit: A fellow Democrat moved to sanction Illinois Rep. Chuy García Wednesday for a gambit in which he retired and functionally guaranteed that his chief of staff would be the only Democrat on the ballot to succeed him. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington went to the House floor as lawmakers prepared to debate legislation reopening the government to introduce a resolution accusing García of “undermining the process of a free and fair election” and calling on the House to disapprove of his behavior. * NYT | Trump Administration Expected to Drastically Cut Housing Grants: The Trump administration has developed plans for a wholesale shift in homelessness policy that would slash support for long-term housing programs, according to a confidential grant-making plan, and critics say it could quickly place as many as 170,000 formerly homeless people at risk of returning to the streets. Pivoting from housing aid, the administration’s approach would shift billions to short-term programs that impose work rules, help the police dismantle encampments, and require the homeless to accept treatment for mental health or addiction. * Financial Times | How high are OpenAI’s compute costs? Possibly a lot higher than we thought: A Microsoft spokeswoman told us: “We won’t get into specifics, but I can say the numbers aren’t quite right.” Asked what exactly that meant, the spokeswoman said Microsoft would not comment and did not respond to our subsequent requests. An OpenAI spokesman did not respond to our emails other than to say we should ask Microsoft.
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Good morning!
Thursday, Nov 13, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Selected press releases (Live updates)
Thursday, Nov 13, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Live coverage
Thursday, Nov 13, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Click here and/or here to follow breaking news on the website formally known as Twitter. Our Bluesky feed…
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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
The Tribune’s Jason Meisner is in the courtroom…
* Bloomberg…
* Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson sues to keep $6 million federal grant for community policing: The new lawsuit filed this week in federal district court in Chicago challenges conditions that the Justice Department imposed on a $6.25 million grant that the Johnson administration had hoped to use to recruit, hire and train 50 Chicago police officers to fill vacancies in the city’s community policing program. St. Paul, Minnesota, joined Chicago in asking the court to declare such grant conditions illegal. * Injustice Watch | ‘Horrific’ video of incident at Chicago’s juvenile jail raises questions about recent trial, experts say: The minute-and-a-half-long video, which was provided to Injustice Watch by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in response to a public records request, appears to show former detention center rapid response specialist Kevin Walker flinging a handcuffed 15-year-old boy to the floor by his shirt. Shortly after, the boy can be seen lying motionless on the floor of a holding cell. The boy was knocked unconscious and sustained visible bruising around his left eye, according to the testimony of a doctor who treated him afterward. * AP | Chicagoans buy out street vendors amid a federal immigration crackdown: In Little Village, Rick Rosales, community organizer with Cycling x Solidarity, helps organize two of these “buy out” rides per week that typically support five street vendors each. “The vendors are often speechless,” Rosales said. “They’ll say, ‘I have a lot of tamales. You want all of them?’” * Sun-Times | CTA board approves no fare increase in 2026 budget, questions when new transit bill money will come: The board’s Wednesday budget vote closes the door on a potential fare increase after the Regional Transportation Authority walked back its 10% fare hike requirement last week for CTA, Metra and Pace. The RTA did so after the state legislature passed a $1.5 billion transit bailout last month, sparing the agencies from drastic service cuts. Without the CTA’s 25 cent fare hike for bus and train tickets, the agency expects to lose nearly $30 million in additional revenue next year, according to budget figures shared at the board meeting. Those lost funds will be made up by $141 million in extra money from the transit bill, which Gov. JB Pritzker is expected to sign. * WTTW | With No Easy Fixes in Sight, Debate Over Chicago’s 2026 Spending Plan Reaches Tipping Point: But a marathon session before the City Council’s Budget and Government Operations Committee on Monday made it clear there is no easy way to bridge the city’s $1.19 billion projected shortfall, leaving alderpeople across the political spectrum frustrated as the budget debate hits a tipping point. Even as departmental budget hearings are set to wrap up Thursday, there is no clear consensus on the bulk of Johnson’s proposal to impose $617 million in new taxes on the wealthiest Chicagoans and largest firms. That makes it likely negotiations over the city’s spending plan will once again stretch past Thanksgiving, forcing alderpeople to scramble to meet a Dec. 31 deadline. * WBEZ | What happens to survivors of police torture after the big payout?: James Gibson is a busy man. The 59 year-old has his hand in a number of projects, from starting an investment firm to writing an autobiography to producing music. He feels he has no time to waste because he spent nearly 30 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. “I lost everything,” he said. “I never had a chance to serve my country. I never had no kids. I never had a chance to get married. I don’t know what it feel[s] like to be feeling emotions. I don’t know what it feel[s] like [to have] human contact.. [The] only thing I had was God.” * Sun-Times | Try to see the Northern Lights over the Chicago area Wednesday night: Residents got their first taste Tuesday night when the aurora borealis lit up the night sky in pink, yellow and green. It was the most visible example of the Northern Lights in the Chicago area since at least October 2024, when another geomagnetic storm sent heads looking up to the sky. Forecasters say those who missed it might get another shot. * Daily Herald | Bodycam video shows how Palatine police officer assisted immigration agents with arrest: The arrest, and the officer’s involvement, led some residents to call for Palatine leaders to ban immigration agents from using village property and resources. Village Manager Reid Ottesen told a packed crowd at Monday’s village board meeting there are no plans to enact such policies because they are merely cosmetic and unenforceable. The village also defended the officer’s actions, saying the unidentified officer “made a split-second decision to assist in stabilizing the situation.” * Daily Herald | Barrington delays ICE ordinance, Palatine rebuffs citizen proposal: arrington officials delayed action on a proposal restricting federal immigration agents from village property, while Palatine leaders rejected a similar proposal. Both boards met Monday night. A packed audience at village hall in Palatine was upset with the decision announced by Village Manager Reid Ottesen. “As a longtime Palatine resident, I have never felt unsafe in our community until today,” said resident Jennie Lussow, who captured video of two masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with guns detaining a man Monday afternoon at the corner of Colfax and Schiller streets. * Naperville Sun | Police make gun-related arrest No. 17 near Naperville Topgolf: Naperville police were patrolling the Topgolf parking lot at 3211 Odyssey Court when officers “took note of an odor of fresh cannabis coming from a parked vehicle,” Naperville police Cmdr. Rick Krakow said. When officers observed multiple people, including Billups, return to the vehicle, they pulled it over for an unlawful tint violation, Krakow said. Billups was seen reaching down as if he was placing something on the floorboard, leading police to conduct a probable cause search that revealed open cannabis and alcohol. Under the front passenger seat, which was just in front of Billups, officers found a loaded Taurus 9mm handgun, Krakow said. Billups did not possess a valid Firearm Owners Identification card or a concealed carry license, leading to his arrest. * Aurora Beacon-News | St. Charles adopts new rules for e-bikes, e-scooters: St. Charles officials have indicated that the city’s ordinance reflects current state law, which offers some guidance about where e-bikes can be used and who can ride them, but also gives local municipalities some leeway to make their own rules. Under Illinois law, e-bikes, which are sometimes referred to as low-speed electric bicycles, are different from an electric motorcycle. An e-bike must have an electric motor of less than 750 watts, and is split into three classes. * Naperville Sun | Naperville rules for e-bikes, e-scooters would set age limits, make parents liable for fines: If adopted, the new minimum age requirement for e-bikes in Naperville would be 16. Fines ranging from $100 to $500 would be assessed on the parents of children caught violating the law. * Daily Herald | ‘We are listening’: Wauconda District 118 officials pause proposed deficit reduction plan: The school board was to have voted on the budget deficit reduction plan Thursday but the item will be removed from the agenda to allow for more discussion and input. Parents and others say the situation remains concerning and there is no transparency or accountability about how the deficit happened. * Shaw Local | Dale Berman’s widow among 4 to be interviewed for his seat on Kane County Board: Mary Berman, Dale Berman’s widow, is one of the candidates for the seat. The other three are Batavia Township resident Kimberley Young and North Aurora residents Martha Quetsch Davison and Matt Dingeldein. Mary Berman described herself as a “dedicated and compassionate professional with over 42 years of experience in retail, specializing in fine jewelry sales and customer service.” * NASCAR | NASCAR appoints Jacqueline Herrera as general manager of Chicagoland Speedway: As a child, Jacque Herrera was heading to Chicagoland Speedway to watch the stars of NASCAR rip around the 1.5-mile oval in Joliet, Illinois. She gets to relive those glory days in a new way now as Herrera was introduced as general manager of Chicagoland Speedway on Tuesday, just under eight months before NASCAR makes its triumphant return to Will County for the 2026 Fourth of July weekend. * WGLT | U of I College of Media removes Illinois Public Media executive director, promotes from within to fill: Staff at the Urbana-based station learned in an email Tuesday morning that the College of Media is removing current executive director Moss Bresnahan, moving him to an advisory role within the college. Longtime development and operations leaders John Steinbacher and Lillie Duncanson are being promoted to share the executive director role. “The fact that they picked two people within the organization who had been working here for so long, I think, says that they have a lot of confidence not only in Lillie and I but in the entire team and in the direction that Illinois Public Media has been heading,” Steinbacher said. * 25News Now | New chemical manufacturing plant to run along Illinois River in Peoria: Viridis Industrial Chemistry will be operating next to the former BioUjra facility. Based in Nebraska, the company specializes in producing ethyl acetate, a renewable chemical compound commonly used in manufacturing. This compound has previously been made using fossil fuels, but Viridis will use corn-based ethanol as a greener alternative. * WNIJ | Rockford panel to discuss local housing shortage and homelessness on Nov. 12: The League of Women Voters of Greater Rockford is hosting a community housing meeting Wednesday, Nov. 12 from 6-8 p.m. at the Rockford District 1 Police Station. The meeting will discuss needed resources such as affordable housing, homelessness and home maintenance. Gina Meeks is an alderwoman in Rockford who represents the city’s 12th ward. She says Winnebago County faces a shortage of between 3,000-9,000 housing units over the next decade to meet demand. * WSIL | Carterville library trades food for fines to help with food insecurity: “This is the time of year when the community needs to come together and support people who maybe don’t have that support on their own,” said Adult Services Librarian Mike Terrana. All collected items will be donated to the Crainville and Cambria pantries. * WCIA | EIU looking to improve emergency messaging after Monday’s false threat: While the call wasn’t credible, students said it wasn’t any less alarming to receive emergency notifications from the university on the situation or false information from friends that a campus shooting was underway. “EIU recognizes that some of its emergency messaging created confusion or concern,” university officials said in a news release. “Emergency situations are dynamic and complex, and EIU recognizes the importance of clear, timely, and easily understood communication in such moments.” * NYT | The Penny Dies at 232: The American penny died on Wednesday in Philadelphia. It was 232. The cause was irrelevance and expensiveness, the Treasury Department said. Nothing could be bought any more with a penny, not even penny candy. Moreover, the cost to mint the penny had risen to more than 3 cents, a financial absurdity that doomed the coin. The final pennies were minted on Wednesday afternoon in Philadelphia. Top Treasury officials were on hand for its final journey. No last words were recorded. * 404 Media | Judge Rules Flock Surveillance Images Are Public Records That Can Be Requested By Anyone: In a ruling last week, Judge Elizabeth Neidzwski ruled that “the Flock images generated by the Flock cameras located in Stanwood and Sedro-Wooley [Washington] are public records under the Washington State Public Records Act,” that they are “not exempt from disclosure,” and that “an agency does not have to possess a record for that record to be subject to the Public Records Act.” […] Stanwood’s attorneys first argued that the records were Flock’s, not the city’s, which is clearly contradicted in the contract, which states “customer [Stanwood] shall retain whatever legally cognizable right, title, and interest in Customer Generated Data … Flock does not own and shall not sell Customer Generated Data.”
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Federal hemp ban included in deal to reopen government (Updated)
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * The Guardian…
Gov. JB Pritzker has been hoping to pass a bill to regulate the intoxicating hemp industry for almost a year now, but Illinois’ General Assembly has repeatedly failed to enact its own regulatory system. I’ve asked the governor’s office for a response and will post it if and/or when I hear back. …Adding… Governor’s Office Spokesperson…
* Craft brewers have cashed in on the THC beverage market as more consumers shift away from alcohol. Minnesota Reformer…
Thoughts? * More…
* Cannabis Business Times | 13 GOP House Reps Oppose Hemp Product Ban Ahead of Vote to End Shutdown: U.S. House Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and 12 of his Republican colleagues previously spoke out in opposition to a federal ban on intoxicating hemp products that was under consideration earlier this year. Comer led a bipartisan coalition of 27 representatives – 13 Republicans and 14 Democrats – in asking House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to strike anti-hemp provisions from a previous version of the fiscal 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. * Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Wisconsin hemp businesses say Senate bill banning THC products would ‘decimate’ the industry: John Kashou, owner of Kangaroo Brands, which includes THC and CBD shop Kind Oasis, said he and other local business owners agree with enacting “common-sense” regulations on the hemp industry statewide. Among the regulations business owners proposed were testing requirements, clearly labeled packaging and age restrictions to avoid children accessing the products. “Whatever happens on a national level is going to happen,” Kashou said. “We’ve got to be more concerned about what we’re going to do on a state level in order to ensure not only our continued existence, but to protect thousands and thousands of jobs that are at stake.”
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Caption contest!
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Yesterday, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez got into it with Gov. JB Pritzker and Ald. Michael Rodriguez at a Veterans Day event in Little Village. The Tribune…
* Tribune staff photojournalist Brian Cassella captured the moment between Rodriguez and Sigcho-Lopez. From Cassella’s Instagram…
There’s some profanity in both of these videos of the incident (here and here), so maybe don’t play them on speaker. Caption?
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Today’s number: 2 percent (Updated)
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Tribune…
…Adding… Another one…
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Catching up with the federal candidates (Updated)
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * The Daniel Biss campaign released an internal poll yesterday. The press release…
Click here for the polling memo. Biss’ pollster Impact Research also tested favorability and name ID for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren…  Biss and Warren have history. He was among the Illinois Democrats who backed her 2020 presidential bid. She returned the favor in July and tops the endorsement list on his campaign website. More from Evanston Now…
* Meanwhile, Krishnamoorthi dropped yet another TV ad. Press release…
His Democratic opponents, including U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, haven’t hit the air yet. * Krishnamoorthi also picked up another labor endorsement…
* Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton announced a new endorsement of her own…
* Stratton was part of a larger slate of early INA endorsements released yesterday…
- Sen. Robert Peters — U.S. House, Illinois’ 2nd District - Karina Villa — Illinois Comptroller - Rachel Ruttenberg — Illinois Senate District 09 - Adam Braun — Illinois House District 13 - Lynn LaPlante — Illinois House District 42 - Erin Chan Ding — Illinois House District 52 - Saba Haider — Illinois House District 84 - Wesam Shahed — Cook County Board, District 6 * GOP Senate candidate Don Tracy praised Sen. Dick Durbin for his vote to reopen the government…
* State Rep. La Shawn Ford picked up an endorsement in the 7th CD race…
* Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot and City Clerk Anna Valencia are backing Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin for the same seat…
React from the Tribune’s Gregory Pratt…
Click here to read that Tribune story. * In the 9th CD, Bushra Amiwala is pushing Morton Grove to formally reject ICE operations…
* US Rep. Chuy Garcia’s chief of staff Patty Garcia is set to officially launch her campaign this morning…
…Adding… The SEIU Illinois State Council…
* More…
* Press release | Melissa Bean statement on Senate government funding compromise: “Congressional Republicans continue to show that they do not believe health care should be affordable for all Americans. I believe it should — always have — and I was proud to vote for the Affordable Care Act. I remember its passage well: not a single Republican voted to make health care coverage better for everyone and more affordable for millions of families. * Tribune | Senate candidate Raja Krishnamoorthi makes his pitch to Oak Park Democrats: Oak Park Democrats seemed impressed as they gave Krishnamoorthi a standing ovation at the end of his approximately 30 minute appearance that consisted of a version of his stump speech and time answering questions. “I liked his messaging, I thought it was very clear and he is very on top of the issues that matter to me and he understands the complexity of representing Democrats,” said Pat Baccerllieri, of Oak Park. * Daily Herald | Ex-Lake County coroner Rudd to drop out of 10th Congressional District race: Democratic congressional candidate Thomas Rudd of Lake Forest is ending his campaign for the 10th District seat just two weeks after filing to run. Rudd — a former Lake County coroner who in 2018 pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor election law violation and was temporarily prohibited from running for office again — told the Daily Herald he intends to withdraw his name from ballot consideration because he didn’t gather enough signatures on his candidate petitions.
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Reports: As winter rolls in, Bovino heading for warmer climes
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Not sure I believe it yet, because so many Border Patrol statements and rumors have turned out to be false, but…
* CNN…
“Never attack Chicago in the winter,” is a snarky slogan I’ve seen online since the story broke. Gov. Pritzker jokingly called Bovino a “snowflake” yesterday. * However, if Bovino & Co. return in early March, that could be right before the state primary election. And if his next incursion is as disruptive to everyday lives as his latest, then Democratic candidates who have tried to downplay or at least not play up the storm could very well be at a disadvantage. …Adding… The whole bunch of them just isn’t a reliable information source…  Operation Midway Blitz started September 9th.
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Bailey to stay in governor’s race following family tragedy. Capitol News Illinois…
- Bailey said he received encouragement from President Donald Trump to “keep fighting” and stay in the race. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Bailey said in a nearly three-minute video recorded with his wife. - Bailey said the tragedy changed their lives forever, “but it also reminded us why we fight.” His late son and daughter-in-law, he said, “believed in an Illinois where families could build a future without being crushed by bad government and broken promises.” * Related stories… * Capitol News Illinois | Key Illinois Democrats at odds with Durbin over shutdown vote — again: “I simply cannot, and I will not, vote to do nothing to help protect them (families) from Trump’s vindictive and malicious efforts in exchange for a vague promise from the least trustworthy Republican party in our nation’s history,” Duckworth said in a statement after voting against the procedural vote on Sunday. * Illinois Answers | Too mentally ill for trial, she spent months in an Illinois jail as the state looked for a hospital bed. She died waiting. : Following a change in state law in 2023, IDHS is required to admit people to a state hospital within 60 days when a person is found unfit and ordered to receive inpatient treatment. But an Illinois Answers Project investigation found hundreds of incidents in the last five years in which it exceeded this time period. Instead, the Department of Human Services relies on the law’s language that says the department can have an extension if it shows “good faith efforts at placement and a lack of bed and placement availability.” The number of times defendants have been found unfit and in need of inpatient restoration has exploded in recent years, resulting in people having to wait longer for an available hospital bed. They are often waiting in jail. * Bloomberg | Moody’s Mulls Upgrade to Illinois Transit Bonds After State Fix: * Austin Weekly News | OP Township Supervisor Thomas challenges Welch for Democratic leadership spot : Thomas said Harmon’s absence doesn’t mean the race for outgoing U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis’s seat on the committee won’t be compelling. “I’m in this fight to win. I expect a very spirited and good election,” he said in an interview last Thursday. * Center Square | Lawmakers divided after federal complaint targets student mental health screening law: Illinois lawmakers are responding after America First Legal (AFL) filed a federal complaint urging the U.S. Department of Education to investigate Illinois’ new law requiring annual student mental health screenings without parental consent, a move the group calls a “clear violation of federal law.” […] Supporters of the law, including Democratic state Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, D-Chicago, defended it as an urgent step toward addressing what she called a long-standing youth mental health crisis. * WAND | Illinois lawmakers pass behavioral healthcare parity law, send plan to Pritzker’s desk: Illinois could soon increase access to behavioral healthcare and substance use treatment by improving insurance adequacy. The mental health parity plan is heading to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk after three years of hard work by state lawmakers. Democrats and Republicans have spent countless hours negotiating a plan to set minimum reimbursement rates for providers. Sponsors said proper compensation could encourage more behavioral healthcare specialists to join insurance networks. * Block Club | Package Delivery Tax Floated To Help City’s Budget Woes — But Mayor Says It’d Need State Approval: But when asked about the idea during a Monday press conference, Johnson said he believed the tax would be impossible to implement without approval from state legislators — who recently wrapped up their fall veto session and aren’t set to meet again until next year. “As of now, we don’t have any indication that this is something that we can institute without Springfield,” Johnson said. Villegas said he’s not sure that’s the case. Lawyers with the council’s Legislative Reference Bureau and the city’s Department of Law had a call Monday to discuss the proposal and conversations remain ongoing, he said. * Tribune | ‘Excessive and even exorbitant’: CPS watchdog urges district to reform travel spending policies : CPS travel expenditures, including airfare and lodging, more than doubled between fiscal year 2019 and 2024, surging from $3.6 million to $7.7 million, the report said. Over and over, CPS staffers exceeded spending limits, bypassed required preapprovals and expensed activities “of dubious necessity or value to students.” * Chalkbeat Chicago | Wildlife safaris, hot air balloon, camel rides: Chicago Public Schools watchdog decries ‘lavish’ staff travel spending: Over the summer, the district laid off hundreds of custodians, crossing guards, cafeteria workers, and others and made other budget cuts to close a $734 million deficit in its $10.2 billion budget. It faces more massive shortfalls in the coming years. In response to the inspector general’s findings, the district imposed a freeze on nearly all staff travel unrelated to student activities this fall and formed a committee this month to come up with better travel approval procedures and controls. A new financial system the district is currently rolling out will better flag travel expenses that exceed district limits or mismatches between preapproved and actual spending, the district said in a statement. * Block Club | Officials Gather In Little Village For Show Of ‘Strength’ After Border Chief’s Threat To Return To Area: Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino, known to pick fights on social media, told Gov. JB Pritzker he should “feel free to join” Border Patrol agents in Little Village Tuesday. Pritzker took him up on the offer, joining other officials, neighbors and clergy in a show of strength against the promised immigration enforcement activity. But Bovino and his agents never showed up amid reports that he and his command were imminently headed out of town. * Crain’s | Chicago, New York airports hit hard by government flight curbs: Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest hub, each had about 60 flights canceled as of 7:45 a.m. Eastern time, according to data from aviation analytics provider Cirium. The cuts represented more than 5% of each airport’s scheduled trips for the day. Fifty-eight flights were scrapped at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, nearly 11% of its daily schedule, according to Cirium data. * Block Club | Chicago Abortion Fund Celebrates Milestone As State Expands Reproductive Health Efforts: In the years since Roe v. Wade was overturned, the demand for care has exploded. The Chicago Abortion Fund went from supporting less than 200 people in a calendar year to supporting over 1,000 care seekers a month, and roadblocks erected by the current presidential administration have only complicated matters, Jeyifo said. * Crain’s | Owner of former Rainforest Cafe building facing foreclosure suit: The suit alleges that the building’s owner, a venture led by investor Sean Conlon, defaulted on an $8.3 million loan that Alecko issued in January 2024 and now owes nearly $9.3 million including interest and fees. Reached by phone Tuesday, Conlon said the suit was over one late payment and that he was working out a refinancing that would resolve the situation. * WGN | Inside the technology that powers Chicago’s Doppler radar: Former WGN Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling climbed a 100-foot tower at the National Weather Service office in Romeoville to get an up-close look at the 28-foot Doppler antenna that scans Chicago’s sky day and night. The radar has transformed how meteorologists track storms and severe weather. William Passalaquam, electronics technician at the NWS Chicago office, says the bigger the dish, the bigger the resolution on the radar. * Tribune | Uber adds new feature in Chicago matching women riders with women drivers: The Women Preferences feature will allow women riders to request women drivers and vice versa. Teens of both genders will also be able to request women drivers. “It’s giving women what they want, which is the choice to be matched with other women,” said Uber spokesperson Brooke Anderson. “Some women feel more comfortable being matched with other women, maybe in the middle of the night, or for a super-late trip.” * Daily Herald | Lawsuit: Downers Grove Park District’s free-speech zone illegal: A state representative candidate is suing the Downers Grove Park District, claiming it violated her free-speech rights by limiting where she could campaign in a public park. Laura Hois argues the rule that required her to restrict her campaigning last year to a “free speech zone” violated her free speech and association rights, as well as the Civil Rights Act, according to the federal complaint she filed Nov. 6. The suit also alleges the district violated the state constitution. * Pioneer Press | ICE agents in Northbrook point rifles at bystanders, try to break down door: The immigration enforcement action, which took place over the course of around 50 minutes Wednesday morning, Nov. 5, led to the arrest of a man living in the Salem Walk apartments and involved more than a dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and an armored car, according to eyewitness accounts and photos and videos shared with the Tribune. “ICE basically held… 90 apartments hostage while they’re trying to get to one man,” said Bobbie Montgomery, a Salem Walk resident. * Daily Southtown | Orland Park pastor Stephen Lee, accused in Georgia election interference, on list of Trump pardons: The Rev. Stephen Cliffgard Lee, a pastor at Living Word Lutheran Church in Orland Park, is one of the more than 70 people included on a list of President Donald Trump pardons released Monday by U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin. Lee is one of several defendants in a high-profile Georgia prosecution under the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which accused Lee and 18 other defendants, including Trump, of having broken state laws in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. * Lake County News-Sun | Critics accuse Highland Park of declawing preservation group: ‘I thought there was a process’: Sogin and Levy have both criticized the decision. Levy warned that “important tools” have been taken away that aid the preservation of historic architecture. Requiring 100% consent before a nomination can even be considered, assumes all the owners have enough information to make “intelligent, informed decisions,” Levy said. “I firmly believe that many people will benefit and learn from the process, and will then be able to make informed, community-focused decisions, after hearing the history and the context of the proposed historic district,” he said. * Daily Herald | ‘A good deal for everyone’: Solar farm transforms Waukegan Superfund site: “The Yeoman solar project is the largest community solar facility in ComEd service territory, and it’s completion is a major milestone for Clean Capital, as well as for Waukegan-area customers looking to reduce their energy costs,” said ComEd President and CEO Gil Quiniones. Illinois Solar for All is a state incentive program that aims to make solar energy more affordable for eligible households, nonprofit organizations and public facilities, with no upfront charges and guaranteed savings on electric costs. * Lake County News-Sun | Lake County mosquito abatement district dissolved, to merge: ‘This consolidation will increase efficiency … and lower taxes’: The consolidation is a “commitment to continuing abatement services,” Stone said, which would slightly reduce the tax levy for Lake County residents, benefit from an economy of scale, and eliminate a local unit of government. The approved intergovernmental agreement requires that Lake County have a seat on the board of the newly merged agency, an approach “favored” by the Southlake District’s municipalities, she said. * WGLT | Bloomington-Normal food drives respond to SNAP uncertainty: With SNAP benefits causing statewide uncertainty, he said the department is aiming to collect more this year by hosting drives at two locations. “We’re bumping up and doing two locations this time, so there’s no reason we can’t blow that number out of the water,” Janssen said. “I’d love to see us get a ton worth of food — 3,000 pounds if we can do it.” * WAND | Mini O’Beirne Crisis Nursery seeing increase in need for care and supplies: Mini O’Beirne Crisis Nursery provides free, emergency child care for anyone who needs it. Other times, parents drop their kids off when they have a medical procedure, court session, death in the family, or something similar. The nursery’s current building can fit 10 kids, with a ratio of four children per adult. Lately, they have been hitting this capacity limit more frequently. “When I looked at the numbers compared from October to November, we were about the same number of intakes, but we’ve doubled the number of turnaways this month,” said Chriss Wilson, Executive Director of the nursery. “We’ve had 18 turnaways from Nov. 1 until yesterday, which was the 10th.” * WICS | Battling blight: dozens of properties slated for demolition in Springfield: An additional 28 properties are actively going through litigation in the city. “I don’t care if it’s a 700,000-dollar house in impeccable condition, if its empty and not occupied there could be problems and multiple problems. You don’t ever want to have an empty property, you want to have a viable property with people either working at the property or living in the property,” Jim Donelan said. Jim Donelan, Ward 9 alderman, said property owners are often given time to address concerns. * WCIA | IDNR hosting deer hunting mentoring event at Fox Ridge State Park: Adult and youth hunters with less than three years of deer hunting experience may apply for the event as long as they have not been previously drawn in the mentored deer hunt program lottery. Those selected will be allowed to participate in the event at Fox Ridge State Park from Dec. 15 to Jan. 4. * WGEM | Quincy animal shelter seeing drop in adoptions: * WSJ | Using Your Credit Card at the Checkout Is Set to Get a Lot More Complicated: A settlement between Visa, Mastercard and U.S. merchants announced this week could usher in a new era of tiered pricing at the register, giving businesses more power to charge fees depending on the credit card you use. The agreement comes after a two-decade antitrust battle over interchange fees, the charges banks collect from merchants every time a customer pays with plastic. * The Atlantic | Baseball’s Big Whiff on Gambling: Gambling is a numbers game, so here are a few: The pitcher Emmanuel Clase’s 2025 salary from Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians is $4.5 million dollars. This weekend, prosecutors unveiled charges that he had made just $12,000 from two recent rigged pitches. And he could face as many as 65 years in prison (though such a stiff sentence seems unlikely). * Bloomberg | Walgreens cuts pay for store workers after $10B buyout: Walgreens will no longer give many of its retail workers paid vacation time for Thanksgiving, Christmas and other major holidays, as the company looks to cut costs under new owners. The pharmacy chain eliminated six paid holidays for hourly store workers, cutting hundreds of dollars from their paychecks, according to interviews and records reviewed by Bloomberg News. Walgreens informed workers of the change in early October. That was a little over a month after it was acquired by private equity firm Sycamore Partners.
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Good morning!
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * I saw the legendary Terry Allen this past Saturday night at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Loved it… ‘Cause I’m panhandling, manhandling, post-holing How was your Veterans Day?
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition and a bit more
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Selected press releases (Live updates)
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Live coverage
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Click here and/or here to follow breaking news on the website formally known as Twitter. Our Bluesky feed…
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