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* ICYMI: In rare caucus, Tiffany Henyard loses Thornton Township nomination. WGN…
* Related stories…
* STL Today | Illinois among 9 states poised to immediately cut Medicaid rolls if federal funding drops: With Donald Trump’s return to the White House and Republicans taking full control of Congress in 2025, the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion is back on the chopping block. More than 3 million adults in nine states would be at immediate risk of losing their health coverage should the GOP reduce the extra federal Medicaid funding that’s enabled states to widen eligibility, according to KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News, and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. That’s because the states have trigger laws that would swiftly end their Medicaid expansions if federal funding falls.
* A City That Works | Chicago’s state capacity crisis: City government is being slowly strangled by layers of process that have accumulated over decades. Many of these constraints are well intentioned correctives to past misdeeds. Anti-corruption checks are important, affordable housing should be high-quality, and accountable policing is fundamental to long-term public safety. But without any effort to rationalize the constraints we continue to add, we have a crisis of state capacity: a government unable to get things done.
* WBEZ | Chicago is closing its biggest tent city, but comes up short on promised apartments: Homeless advocates are praising Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration and the local City Council member for coming up with the apartments; they’re also urging them to scrap the plan to remove any tent dwellers who remain. Meanwhile, the people who aren’t getting an apartment are wondering why. […] City officials say they found 63 units for people in Humboldt Park’s encampment. They say that’s the most ever for a Chicago tent city. […] Patricia Nix-Hodes, who heads the law project of the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness, said there is an issue more basic than who gets offered an apartment.
* WGEM | New Illinois law will require employers include salary range on job postings: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) signed the legislation in 2023 amending the state’s Equal Pay Act of 2003. It will require employers with 15 or more employees to include the job’s pay scale and expected benefits in all postings. “This is kind of making it clear that there is transparency around those things. People are going to work to provide for their families. They have a right to know how they’re going to be making if they get chosen for that position,” said Frances Orenic with the Illinois AFL-CIO.
* STLPR | Illinois warehouses should be built with storm shelters, state task force recommends: The recommendation for storm shelters would require that they be built specifically for tornadoes based on the size and occupancy of a warehouse. It would amend a section of the state’s International Building Code requirements. “I don’t like the idea of encouraging safety. I like the idea of requiring safety,” said state Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, who made the storm shelter recommendation. “We’re talking about deaths that happened in my district, and I take that very seriously. So, I think to require safety is something that we should all want to do as a body.”
* Tribune | EPA watchdog: Undeserving Florida getting millions for lead pipe replacement while Illinois, other states have bigger needs: During the past two years the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave Florida the largest share of funding set aside by Congress to replace lead service lines. The Sunshine State got $483 million, compared with $471 million sent to Illinois, even though several of Florida’s big water utilities told the agency’s inspector general the toxic pipes don’t exist in their service areas. Florida will double its take during the next two years if the EPA fails to fix the problem, the inspector general concluded.
Before Ronnie Reese was fired, Mayor Brandon Johnson texted CTU’s Stacy Davis Gates: "Ronnie! Call me. Message from the Elders." CTU says she didn’t respond. City Hall won’t explain text. Mayor says he didn’t learn of misconduct until later https://t.co/eI50xVtvM5 pic.twitter.com/6WdVeGK8zf
— Gregory Royal Pratt (@royalpratt) December 4, 2024
* Crain’s | City Council puts do-not-hire policy under a microscope in wake of mayor’s press office shakeup: Standing before four former employees of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s communications team who were placed on the do-not-hire list after being fired by their former boss, Ronnie Reese, Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, and Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, said during a news conference outside City Hall today that they plan to push for an easier appeal process for those who believe they were unfairly placed on the list.
* Crain’s | CPS needs to plug a huge financial hole — but where will it find the funds?: Chicago Public Schools invested its federal dollars largely in hiring. But while students’ test scores rose, those federal funds are running out. Here’s how the school district got into a financial hole, what its options are and how this impacts an already messy budget.
🚨 UPDATE ON BARGAINING 🚨
CTU has presented a roadmap to settlement with CPS! This pathway focuses on the transformation our schools need and includes:
✅ Fair pay for all educators.
✅ Expanded staffing to meet student needs.
✅ More arts, music, and sports access for… pic.twitter.com/0xWhNUDOqW— Chicago Teachers Union (@CTULocal1) December 4, 2024
* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson tells City Club he wants Chicago under 500 homicides in 2025: Johnson floated the benchmark — which has not been achieved since 2015 — during a City Club of Chicago speech, after noting this year’s drop in homicides and shootings. The mayor’s remarks to the lunch crowd of business types and politicos also leaned heavily on his racial identity and faith as he sought to recast the narrative on his rocky year-and-a-half leading the nation’s third-largest city.
* WBEZ | Chicago election officials want more voting sites, as alderpersons float agency consolidation: During the board’s annual budget hearing Tuesday, several alderpersons raised the need to consolidate the Chicago Board of Elections with the Cook County Clerk’s Office. The budget watchdog The Civic Federation and a collaborative of county and city officials had previously recommended the move more than a decade ago, with officials estimating annual savings between $5 million and $10 million.
* Tribune | Pennsylvania-based Yuengling, the oldest brewery in America, is bringing its beer to Chicago: Beginning late next month, beer drinkers can be on the lookout for Yuengling at Chicago-area bars, as the historic family-owned East Coast brewery continues its slow expansion westward into the land of Old Style. Yuengling beers will also make their way onto store shelves in the weeks that follow, ending years of waiting for Illinois fans, some of whom take regular interstate journeys to fill their trunks with cases of the stuff.
* Crain’s | Here’s how one of Chicago’s restaurant meat suppliers is using AI: The orders would come in from dining spots throughout the city: Lonesome Rose in Logan Square and The Bellevue in the Gold Coast, as well as catering companies, pizza joints and taverns. An employee at one of those restaurants would place an order with Northwest Meat for their chicken breast or sirloin steak for the next day. Then someone — usually co-owner Andrew Neva, his father or one of their office employees — would plug those orders into their own system, one by one, to be filled by their West Loop warehouse workers. It was tedious. It took hours. It required intimate knowledge of the meat company’s 1,300 different products. And it usually happened in the evening — a time when few employees are keen to sit back down at their computer.
* WBEZ | Cook County is launching a free doula program for pregnant patients: Nearly 1,000 mostly Black or Latina patients at Cook County Health are currently pregnant, and they will be offered a choice to have a doula support and advocate for them before, during and after labor. “This program is a direct response to the stark and unacceptable disparities in maternal health that have plagued Black women for far too long,” said County Commissioner Donna Miller, who spearheaded the initiative.
* PJ Star | Illinois is home to the most expensive home in all of Christmas movies: Cinch Home Services used home value data from Zillow to explore the average home prices in neighborhoods that star in some of the top Christmas movies. The McCallister house, located on Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, Illinois, and featured in the “Home Alone” franchise, is in a neighborhood where the average home price is $1,565,804. The McCallister house is a spacious residence that often sparks curiosity due to its impressive size. At approximately 4,250 square feet, it is a large Georgian-style home with three floors, a spacious attic, five bedrooms, and four bathrooms. Earlier in 2024, the home actually went on the market for $5.25 million — well above the amount of the average home in the neighborhood.
* Daily Herald | Gould resigns as Rolling Meadows football coach: Gould, who was the Bears’ kicker from 2005 through 2015 while becoming the team’s all-time leading scorer, was named the ninth head football coach in Rolling Meadows history when he was hired in February. Gould inherited a program that failed to reach the playoffs the previous two seasons after going 2-7 in 2023 and 4-5 the year before. The Mustangs had qualified in 17 of the 18 previous seasons.
* PJ Star | More than 500 workers furloughed at Liberty Steel in Peoria, union says: Liberty Steel is temporarily shuttering its Peoria wire mill as the company continues to struggle financially, facing deep debts around the globe amid a challenging steel market. The company has furloughed over 500 employees at its Peoria facility, according to the union representing workers.
* SJ-R | Springfield alderman: Clerk ‘hindering’ city business by not resigning: Gregory, who went through his own close election with Gail Simpson to gain his seat in 2019, told Lesko “the people, county and city, they need 100% of you. They don’t need 50% (on the city side) and 50% on the county side. This is about the city of Springfield continuing on our business and you having to do two jobs at one time.” Frank Lesko is sworn in as Sangamon County Recorder by Circuit Court Presiding Judge Ryan Cadagin at a ceremony at the county complex on Dec. 2, 2024. “We’re about to come up on budget season. We have to do interviews (for your vacancy), figure out that process and you’re hindering us, bro.”
* Nieman Lab | There’s now a way for journalists to verify their Bluesky accounts through their employers (while still keeping control of them): On Bluesky, an account gets verified by connecting it to a web domain under the user’s control. For example, my account there is @joshuabenton.com, because I put a little piece of code on that domain name, which I own. Bluesky checked that little snippet of code and determined that I am me. For news organizations — or any other online publisher or brand — this means it’s easy to skip past the spoofable @mynewsorgname.bsky.social and become @nytimes.com, @cnn.com, @propublica.org, @time.com, or @npr.org. And if you’re a reporter who owns your own domain name — something I’d highly recommend! — the process is fiddly but doable in minutes.
* Fox Chicago | Indiana residents could see sharp increase in electric bills: Residents in Indiana may soon see a sharp increase in their electric bills, with monthly costs expected to rise by an estimated $32 to $45. NIPSCO is seeking approval for a 22% electric rate hike, which would further increase the already highest power costs in the state.
* Sun-Times | Rahm Emanuel ‘not interested’ in DNC chair, but far from done with politics: The former mayor, now U.S. ambassador to Japan, would not rule out another run for elective office — governor, U.S. senator or mayor of Chicago — even though he fully expects Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker to seek a third term. Emanuel plans to support Pritzker “100%” if he runs again.
posted by Isabel Miller
Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 7:50 am
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In 2001 we saved Liberty Steel, then Keystone, with a grant made possible by Senator Shadid and Governor Ryan.
Comment by Neef Jr. Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 7:54 am
Unfortunate that things didn’t work out for Robbie Gould as RM coach.
But first there’s the ex-Cub factor, now there must also be an Ex-Bear Factor. First Lovie Smith’s Illini and Texans tenures, now Robbie Gould.
Comment by NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 8:02 am
=“This is kind of making it clear that there is transparency around those things. People are going to work to provide for their families. They have a right to know how they’re going to be making if they get chosen for that position,” =
If we are being fully transparent (and we are not, you know that is true anytime someone talks “transparency”) then employers could ask what the person is currently making on the app.
=CTU has presented…=
LOL. I have to check my notes on collective bargaining but I don’t remember one side setting the “roadmap”. CTU wants more, more, more then they need to show two things- where the money is coming from (hint- not everyone else in the state) and much much better performance.
Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 8:39 am
A City That Works article contains an “If I’d only known!” Specifically, “Approach centralized services with caution.”
That is the last 45 years of Illinois State Government. DoIT, CPOs, Shared Services, IOIA, all of Filan’s doozies, and Ground Zero of them all, CMS. What did I miss?
Comment by Anyone Remember Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 8:49 am
Mayor Johnson: “I’m not saying I’m Jesus, but I was sent by God to save you all.”
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 8:53 am
It would be impossible to overstate the potential negative impact of rolling back Medicaid expansion. Obviously we would need to figure out how to pay for it, but this should be part of our “Trump-proofing” agenda.
Comment by Change Agent Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 9:04 am
I think ultimately the state will find (or at least should find) that the offices of municipal clerk and county recorder are incompatible. Especially now, with at least half of city and village clerks being appointed employees under unelected managers, city interests could conflict with the interests of property owners that independently elected recorders represent.
That being said, the Springfield situation appears to be a temporary issue of a few weeks.
Comment by yinn Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 9:06 am
@Yinn, serious question about this part of your post…
=Especially now, with at least half of city and village clerks being appointed employees under unelected managers=
I may be misunderstanding your meaning (if so my apologies) but it seems like you see unelected officials as problematic or not serving in the best interest of the public. If that is the case, and given the amount of corruption and incompetence of elected officials, why is that the case? MOst governmental functions (at all levels of government) are handled by unelected employees/officials. At the national level they are often referred to as the “deep state” in a clearly derogatory manner. But the reality I have experienced is that the electeds focus more on good governance and governmental operations versus elected who focus on whatever gets them elected. Maybe the answer is fewer elected positions, managed ultimately by an elected.
And yes, as an appointed government official that works for an elected board, I am very biased on this issue. Bit it is my experience with elections in primarily small towns and how, at times, they worry less about good governance and more about their friends or local reputation.
With respect.
Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 9:27 am
=Mayor Johnson: “I’m not saying I’m Jesus, but I was sent by God to save you all.”=
If you listen to Dolton or Thornton Township meetings from recent years, that statement also seems to sum up Tiffany Henyard to a T.
Comment by NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 10:21 am
Message from the Elders???
Comment by Alton Sinkhole Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 11:17 am
“Yuengling beers will also make their way onto store shelves in the weeks that follow”
Now we’re talking. Always an enjoyable beer when traveling east, great that it’s coming here.
Comment by Grandson of Man Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 11:43 am
==“Yuengling beers will also make their way onto store shelves in the weeks that follow”==
I’m hoping this will bring Oswego Willie back for a quick comment (banned punctuation)
Comment by don the legend Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 11:55 am
=New Illinois law will require employers include salary range on job postings=
Long .
Comment by Mason County Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 12:08 pm
Somehow the ‘overdue’ portion of Long Overdue got eliminated by me when I sent it.
Comment by Mason County Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 12:15 pm
==Long Overdue==
Exactly right. Tell people what you value the job at and let them decide whether to apply based on that value. By not telling you up front what they will pay for the position you are allowing the employer to low ball someone.
Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 12:31 pm
As history has taught us time and time again, it is the lie that gets you in trouble. Clearly, Johnson had to have been aware of his Press Secretary’s bad behavior. Peace circles….
Comment by Teve DeMotte Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 1:11 pm
=By not telling you up front what they will pay for the position you are allowing the employer to low ball someone=
Why can’t both be true? Most of our salaries are on a salary schedules that are already public so it isn’t really an issue for us. If a candidate thinks they are getting low balled can’t they just say no?
Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 1:15 pm
During the 2016 election, Trump appeared at the Yuengling brewery and was endorsed by whichever Yuengling was in charge at the time. Right then and there I put the ban on drinking Yuengling. The ban lasted just short of 5 minutes as there are some things that just transcend politics. Welcome to Illinois!
Comment by Paddyrollingstone Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 1:24 pm
I wonder what incentives could be given to Liberty Steel to continue operations?
Comment by Chicagonk Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 1:37 pm
I think MBJ knew about the practices in his office far before October 2024. The “opp” nonsense was not just a Ronnie Reese thing, but is reflective of the character of MBJ’s administration. If you’re not a booster, you’re basically nothing to them.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 1:45 pm
Rahm Emanuel just did an interview on the Ezra Klein show that sounds like he is far from done with politics. Not that that’s a surprise. He will be done when they lower him down into the ground.
Comment by ZC Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 3:04 pm
“You can’t do stuff like this.”
Oh yes they can.
Comment by btowntruth from forgottonia Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 3:32 pm
@JS
What is the harm in publishing the anticipated salary or salary range? I question the motives of anyone opposed to this.
Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Dec 4, 24 @ 3:34 pm