RETAIL: Strengthening Communities Across Illinois
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Retailers throughout Illinois remain focused on serving their neighborhoods. Luckeyia Murry, owner of Luckeyia’s Balloons & Distribution in the city of Homewood, says running a small business is a lot of hard work. She wants policymakers to understand it is small businesses who build community and keep people connected. Retail generates $7.3 billion in income and sales tax revenue each year in Illinois. These funds support public safety, infrastructure, education, and other important programs we all rely on every day. In fact, retail is the second largest revenue generator for the State of Illinois and the largest revenue generator for local governments. Policies that support small businesses help communities thrive as retailers like Luckeyia are better equipped to meet local needs. We Are Retail and IRMA are showcasing the retailers who make Illinois work.
|
Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Sun-Times federal courts reporter Jon Seidel…
Click here for the full opinion. ![]() Illinois families are already stretched thin and a delivery tax would push them even further. For Illinois residents, delivery services are essential, not optional. Working parents, seniors, and those with limited mobility rely on them for groceries, meals, and everyday needs. Now, a proposed delivery tax threatens to raise costs on the families who can least afford it. Learn more about the impact of a delivery tax and why we MUST stop it. * Capitol News Illinois | Dabrowski sets fundraising bar at $1.5M in GOP primary for governor: According to quarterly fundraising and spending reports that campaigns filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections on Wednesday, Dabrowski raised $1.5 million since forming his campaign on Aug. 20. A sizeable portion of that, $250,100, came from Dabrowski himself. Dabrowski, of Wilmette, is a former researcher for Wirepoints, a conservative media website dedicated to researching and proposing public policy solutions in Illinois. * IPM Newsroom | New Illinois law looks to put guardrails on AI in mental health as researchers push for innovation: Morgan said he thinks the increased use of artificial intelligence is inevitable. He said the goal of the new law is not to ban companies from using AI to help treat mental health, but to establish a set of standards guiding how the technology can be used. “This need for mental health care is just so high that it’s unrealistic to think that our existing network of actual people, of licensed professionals, are going to be enough to satisfy the need,” he said. “That’s why we have to have guardrails.” * WTTW | Mayor Brandon Johnson Calls for $617M in New Taxes to Close Budget Gap, Avoid Layoffs: Instead, it would close the city’s massive shortfall in part by imposing a $21 per employee tax on large companies to generate $100 million to fund violence prevention and youth employment programs. Johnson also proposed a first-of-its-kind tax on social media companies to generate $31 million to fuel the city’s public mental health clinics and crisis response programs, according to the proposal. * Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson’s $16.6B budget would revive corporate head tax, tax social media companies: “It’s not a job killer. It’s a job creator. The top priority that businesses have expressed over and over again is to ensure that our city is safe,” Johnson told reporters during a budget briefing this week. “We’re talking about 3% of companies who will be asked to put more skin in the game; 97% of businesses won’t be impacted by this.” * The Triibe | Mayor Brandon Johnson reveals budget to ‘Protect Chicago’ from Trump cuts: Recommendations include $200 million in cost cuts that will result in savings, along with no “new property taxes or regressive fees,” according to materials provided by the city’s Office of Budget Management (OBM). Johnson’s FY 2026 budget equates to $16.6 billion, a 3.2% decrease from last year’s budget due to losses of pandemic-era grants and pension costs, according to materials sent by the OBM. * Tribune | CPS gets $522 million boost from Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget proposal: The draft budget, unveiled Thursday, calls for the city to draw $1 billion from its Tax Increment Financing districts, or TIFs. More than half of that money is slated for CPS, covering the $379 million the district already anticipated and a controversial $175 million municipal pension payment. The move marks a rare victory for CPS, allowing school officials to maintain their August spending plan — which relied heavily on TIF money — and spare classrooms from deeper cuts. * Sun-Times | Chicago police supervisor hopes $1M settlement over traffic stop quota sends ‘clear message’ to bosses: He insisted that his crusade against Barz and the police department “was never about the money.” He said he plans to use the settlement to make charitable contributions, including to the scholarship fund honoring Officer Ella French, a member of the Community Safety Team who was fatally shot during a traffic stop. * Crain’s | Weiss Memorial, West Suburban owe $69 million in taxes: report: The owner of shuttered Weiss Memorial Hospital in Uptown and financially troubled West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park owes more than $69 million in state taxes and penalties, the Chicago Tribune reports. Illinois Department of Healthcare & Family Services records obtained by the Tribune showed Manoj Prasad, CEO of Resilience Health, was sent letters from the department about both hospitals. An HFS spokeswoman told the Tribune the taxes and penalties are up to $27.7 million owed by Weiss and $41.6 million owed by West Suburban. * WBEZ | ICE activity is stressing Chicago’s building managers, who warn rents could rise: Other property managers and owners said workers are not showing up to job sites — frightened by ICE — and it’s causing delays on building repairs and maintenance. Some residents are not able to pay rent on time as they are holed up at home, too afraid to go to work with federal agents popping up throughout the city. This adds to the already rising business costs for building owners and managers, some of whom say they are eating the increased expenses connected to ICE raids. But if the enforcement activity continues into the busy spring moving season, property managers and owners like Warren said they may have to increase rents to recoup some of their costs. * Tribune | Immigration agent who shot Chicago woman drove ‘rammed’ vehicle to Maine, attorneys reveal: [Martinez’s attorney, Christopher Parente] said he was particularly worried about the Border Patrol agent’s vehicle, since where and how it sustained any damage would be pivotal evidence in the case. Parente said after he demanded to inspect the vehicle, he was notified the agent was allowed to “drive it back to Maine, which I believe is 1100 miles away.” “I assumed this car was being kept as evidence,” Parente said, adding the agent should be instructed immediately to not get the vehicle repaired or washed. “I shouldn’t have to find that out…how they let this happen is beyond me.” * Crain’s | Former generals warn against troop deployment in Chicago: “It is imperative that as citizens we stand up to the overreach of the federal government today in Illinois, in California and elsewhere,” retired Maj. Gen. Bill Enyart, former adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard, said today during a press conference after meeting with Gov. JB Pritzker. “Our National Guard members joined and serve to defend our nation to respond to national disasters. They are not policemen, they are not political pawns.” * Block Club Chicago | Criterion Collection’s Famed Movie Closet Coming To Chicago: The Criterion Mobile Closet will be parked at NEWCITY Lincoln Park, 1457 N. Halsted St., Friday through Sunday. This is the Closet’s first visit to Chicago. “We love curation,” said Vivian Teng, managing director of the Chicago International Film Festival. “Just like how we consider ourselves curators of international independent film, Criterion shares that same philosophy. We both serve cinephiles and film lovers.” * Tribune | Video of teen arrested in Hoffman Estates prompts call for federal investigation: Agents from ICE went into the police station Friday afternoon to file a report alleging an assault, the chief said, but left, saying they would come back later after protesters gathered at the police station as word of their presence in the suburb spread. […] Hoffman Estates police confirmed that the video posted online was of the arrests. The intersection is the same area where the Hoffman Estates squad car was and the squad car in the video bears markings that match those of Hoffman Estates police. * Daily Herald | Ex-Campton Hills police chief Steven Millar charged with money laundering, gun crime: Steven Millar is charged with official misconduct, forgery, money laundering, misapplying governmental funds, wire fraud, theft, and delivering guns before a 72-hour waiting period is over. Illinois State Police arrested him, Douglas Kucik and two former officers — Scott Coryell and Daniel Hatt — Thursday morning. The other three were charged with official misconduct, theft, money laundering and delivering guns before a 72-hour waiting period. * Crain’s | Walgreens lays off 80 corporate employees: Newly private Walgreens Boots Alliance has fired 80 employees this week from its corporate offices in Chicago and Deerfield, according to an internal memo obtained by Crain’s. The layoffs come a little more than a month into private equity firm Sycamore Partners’ $10 billion acquisition of the retail pharmacy giant. * Daily Herald | Elgin asks residents to weigh in on potential plastic shopping bag ban: The city’s Sustainability Commission brought the issue to the city council in April. The council, in turn, directed city staff to draft an ordinance that mirrors an Illinois Senate bill introduced by Sen. Cristina Castro of Elgin. If passed, SB 1872 would prohibit retailers from offering single-use bags to consumers starting in 2029. Under the draft ordinance, the ban and fees would apply to retail establishments larger than 5,000 square feet. Restaurants, small nonchain retailers and pop-up shops would be exempt. There are also exceptions for bags for frozen foods, flowers, bakery goods, and several other items. * WCIA | Illinois soybean farmers react to short and long-term tariff effects: Severs says they’re focusing on making diesel and grease for farm equipment out of soybeans as another way to help make up the loss. But, ideally, he would want to see China’s market open back up with a new deal. * WCIA | 1.8 million pounds of soybeans spilled after Martinton grain bin collapse: First responders said it happened around 1 p.m. at a Donovan Farmers’ Cooperative facility in the small village of Martinon. The 90-foot-tall grain bin, which officials said was built in 1972, structurally failed and collapsed, spilling over 30,000 bushels of soybeans — or 1.8 million pounds — that were stored inside. No one was hurt, but the village was without power until Thursday morning. * WSIL | Illinois JusticeCorps aids court users in southern Illinois courthouses: Illinois JusticeCorps has placed volunteer Brock Freeman at courthouses throughout the First Circuit. Freeman provides non-legal support, including help with court procedures, e-filing, and self-help resources. Freeman’s role is to assist court users in navigating the courthouse. He does not provide legal advice but offers clear and respectful assistance to make the court experience more user-friendly. * Harvest Public Media | Corn, but shorter: Why Midwest farmers are experimenting with smaller varieties: Moore is a third-generation farmer who grows corn and soybeans on about 1800 acres in central Illinois, south of Decatur. He’s also the self-described guinea pig among farmers in his area and is now in his second year growing the short-stature corn, called the Preceon Smart Corn System. The new variety doesn’t look too different from the road. It’s only about three to four feet shorter than the rows of corn you see as you drive through states like Illinois — corn that is largely used to feed livestock and make ethanol fuel. * ProPublica | Immigration Agents Have Held More Than 170 Americans Against Their Will, ProPublica Finds: “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States,” Kavanaugh wrote, “they promptly let the individual go.” But that is far from the reality many citizens have experienced. Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents. They’ve had their necks kneeled on. They’ve been held outside in the rain while in their underwear. At least three citizens were pregnant when agents detained them. One of those women had already had the door of her home blown off while Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem watched. * Investigate Midwest | The shutdown is poised to deepen hunger in America — just as the Trump administration stopped tracking it: In the midst of it all, America’s ability to track the real-world impacts of the shutdown on hunger is disappearing. Shortly before the shutdown, the Department of Agriculture moved to scrap the Household Food Security Report, the nation’s primary tool for tracking food insecurity, and in doing so, stripped away the very infrastructure needed to remedy rising hunger in America. * AFP Fact Check | White House’s Chicago ‘chaos’ video uses footage from other cities: But many of the video’s sensational scenes purporting to depict the “mess” in Chicago are outdated and were filmed outside of the city. The Daily Beast first reported that some of the shots were from April in Florida, a Republican-leaning state home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate (archived here). An AFP investigation, based on reverse image searches and a review of the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service’s (DVIDS) video archive, has revealed that the White House’s video lifted numerous additional shots from footage of immigration-enforcement operations in California, Arizona, Texas, South Carolina and Nebraska. Some of the videos date to 2024 and 2023, when former president Joe Biden was in office. * The American Prospect | The AI Ouroboros: There’s just one problem with this master plan: OpenAI doesn’t have the money to pay for it. For example, OpenAI is committing to pay Oracle $60 billion in capex investment annually for five years. For reference, Meta, one of the most valuable and profitable companies in the world, which brought in $164.5 billion in revenue in 2024 and ended the year with a free cash flow of $52.10 billion, plans to spend $72 billion in 2025 building data centers. OpenAI, on the other hand, is on pace to bring in $12.7 billion this year, expects to lose $9 billion, predicts its losses will swell to $47 billion by 2028, and doesn’t expect to break even until 2029. How can OpenAI plan to spend five times what it brought in?
|
Pritzker pressed on gambling winnings (Updated)
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * From earlier…
* From the governor’s press conference today…
Thoughts? …Adding… Darren Bailey…
|
Business groups put Chicago mayor’s budget proposal on blast, while CTU strongly supports (Updated)
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Sun-Times…
Click here to read the mayor’s budget outline, which includes some cost reductions and program expansions. * IRMA…
* Illinois Manufacturers’ Association…
* Illinois Chamber…
* Civic Federation…
* CTU…
Discuss. …Adding… Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association…
* Chicagoland Chamber…
* Chicago Federation of Labor…
* Institute for Public Good…
|
Judge orders ICE field director to court to explain alleged violations of her order: ‘I’m not blind’
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Jon Seidel at the Sun-Times…
* The Tribune’s Jason Meisner…
* More from Seidel…
* Tribune…
|
What Illinois Can Learn From Texas On Battery Energy Storage
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] As Illinois confronts skyrocketing electric bills, legislators are on the hunt for solutions that provide relief as quickly as possible. Battery energy storage is our best and most cost-effective solution. But last session— without evidence —opponents attempted to claim that battery energy storage wouldn’t work. Try telling that to Texas, where the rapid deployment of battery storage has already prevented blackouts and saved consumers billions. Called “Ground Zero for the US Battery Boom” by Bloomberg, Texas added enough storage in 2023 to power 3 million homes and drop grid emergency risk during peak hours from 16% to less than 1%. The result? Storage saved consumers an estimated $750 million in 2024. Texas has proven that storage is the quickest, cheapest, most reliable way to get consumers relief from skyrocketing, demand-induced price spikes. Storage is a nimble way to address growing populations, power-hungry data centers, and meet other electrification-related power needs. These are benefits Texas saw from storage even as the state reduced its gas generation capacity by 166 MW last year. Illinois lawmakers should follow Texas’s lead and pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Act this fall to deploy 6GW of energy storage by 2035. Click here for more information.
|
It’s just a bill
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Sen. Cristina Castro…
* Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts…
* Subscribers know much more. Daily Herald…
* NBC Chicago…
* Illinois Public Interest Research Group director Abraham Scarr…
|
Credit Unions Spread Kindness
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Each year, Illinois credit unions designate special initiatives to support the people and communities they serve. This year’s CU Kind Day showcased the incredible power of credit unions coming together to make a difference across Illinois and beyond. This one-day initiative continues to grow - spreading kindness, inspiring collaboration, and creating lasting community impact. ![]() Our Springfield team spread kindness by supporting The Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Illinois! We donated $500 and stocked up on after-school snacks to fuel the 1,000+ kids who participate in their programs, helping them grow into healthy, responsible citizens. Learn more about CU Kind Day: https://creditunions.com/features/theres-nothing-random-about-these-acts-of-kindness/ Paid for by the Illinois Credit Union League.
|
Illinois Republicans say Pritzker, Johnson ’should be in jail’
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * From the Illinois Republican Party…
* Response from the Democratic Party of Illinois…
|
Vote YES On HB 2371 SA 2 To Protect The 340B Program And Invest In Low-Income Chicago Communities
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Sinai Chicago serves an area including 1.5 million people on Chicago’s West and Southwest sides, where poverty rates range from 30%-50%. As the state’s largest private safety net provider, Sinai considers the federal 340B program a “safety net in and of itself.” With 340B savings, the health system has provided patients with free or deeply discounted medications, and it has invested in specialty clinics and medication management services. Yet, drugmaker restrictions on hospitals have reduced Sinai Chicago’s ability to expand access to care and offer new healthcare services—counter to the 340B program’s intent. The program requires drugmakers participating in Medicaid to discount outpatient medications to healthcare providers caring for uninsured and low-income patients. One glaring drugmaker restriction is limiting where patients can get discounted drugs. In some instances, hospitals are only allowed to contract with one pharmacy for an entire community. “Such a policy does not ensure access to essential drugs for a patient population like the one Sinai serves,” the health system said. “The threat and fear of 340B program reductions can prevent planned extensions of care and new programs in clinical areas greatly needed in our community that would not otherwise have access to care.” Support House Bill 2371 SA 2 to stop drugmakers from restricting the 340B program and patient access to care. Learn more.
|
Isabel’s morning briefing (Updated)
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: ‘Dramatic, quick, and devastating’: Prairie Research Institute losing millions in funding. WCIA…
- Interim Director of the Illinois State Geological Survey at the Prairie Research Institute, Steven Brown, said that they are losing $30 million in grant money that funded many of their projects. - “We were alerted on October 2nd, the letter that we received stated that the termination of the contract happened that day. So, there was no lead time, no lead time whatsover. So, as of October 2nd, the funding is just cancelled and stopped. This means we have a workforce that needs to be paid, we have all the other items related to the projects that we can no longer work on because the money was just stopped,” Brown shared.
* Governor Pritzker will hold a press conference with former U.S. Major Generals, Admirals, and veterans to discuss the militarization of American cities. Click here to watch at 11 am. * Sun-Times | Gov. JB Pritzker won $1.4 million via gambling, 2024 tax returns show: The latest windfall was boosted by $1,425,000 in gambling winnings, their federal filing shows, in addition to $4.2 million in capital gains, nearly $3.9 million in ordinary dividends and more than $800,000 in taxable interest. Pritzker doesn’t take a salary as governor. …Adding… NBC Chicago’s Mary Ann Ahern…
* Capitol City Now | SNAP changes leave a bitter taste: Kate Maehr, executive director and CEO of the Greater Chicago Food Depository and co-chair of the Illinois Commission to End Hunger, said the federal government, which has been paying virtually 100 percent of the costs, will eventually offload up to $800 million per year to Illinois. Maehr said such requirements add unnecessary hoops to jump through and do not promote work or economic stability. * Abortion, Every Day | Illinois Woman Denied Treatment for Ectopic Pregnancy: The 28-year-old—who had to go to multiple healthcare centers and hospitals before getting the care she needed—tells me that she was sure she was going to die. “I was 100% convinced,” she says. That’s in no small part because Harmonie lost her right fallopian tube in another ectopic pregnancy a few years ago. So when she was diagnosed again last week, she knew how dangerous the situation was—and how important it was to get quick treatment. […] Here’s what Harmonie didn’t know: this particular OBGYN was affiliated with Ascension—a multi-billion dollar Catholic health system that’s been at the center of similar firestorms. A federal investigation actually found that an Ascension hospital in Texas violated EMTALA when they refused another woman care for her ectopic pregnancy in 2023. * NCSL | His Advice After Beating Cancer? ‘Maximize the Moments’: “I’ve always had an enthusiasm and positivity,” Evans says. “But when you have cancer, and you’re near death, and you make it through, you just value time more. It has changed me tremendously because I don’t want to miss an opportunity. I just try to maximize the moments.” He adds, “I’m going to live life until life is no more. You’ve got to keep moving through life’s challenges.” * AP | Illinois Joins Other States in Forming a Public Health Alliance in Rebuke of Trump Administration: They’re framing it as a way to share data, messages about threats, emergency preparedness and public health policy — and as a rebuke to President Donald Trump’s administration, which they say isn’t doing its job in public health. “At a time when the federal government is telling the states, ‘you’re on your own,’ governors are banding together,” Maryland Governor Wes Moore said in a statement. * Capitol News Illinois | Pritzker tax summaries show more than $10M in 2024 income — not including trusts: The 2024 summary prepared by Deloitte Tax LLP shows Pritzker and his wife, MK, made $10.7 million, including $4.2 million from capital gains. Pritzker received a $4.8 million standard deduction, meaning he paid taxes on $5.9 million in income. The trust benefiting the Pritzkers paid $4.5 million in state taxes and $30.2 million in federal taxes last year, according to his campaign. The first family also reported $3.3 million in charitable donations. […] Mitchell made $595,830 last year and claimed a $65,841 deduction. * WMBD | Illinois lawmakers clash on how to condemn political violence: Democrats and Republicans went back and forth, criticizing the other party in its failure to reduce political violence. […] Two lawmakers on the House floor said they have received death threats over being a lawmaker. Democrat state Rep. Harry Benton said he’s been physically assaulted and had his cars taillights smashed in. State Rep. Nicole La Ha has recently received threats to her life for being a lawmaker. The Republican from Lemont said the House should do more to reduce political tensions. * WAND | Insurance group calls for ‘fairness’ in response to IL SOS town halls: Illinois Insurance Association Executive Director Kevin Martin told WAND News that no one from the Secretary of State’s office has “engaged experts” from the insurance industry. “Political theater is not the best approach for public policy development and risks doing a disservice to the millions of Illinoisans who rely on a stable, competitive insurance marketplace,” Martin said in a statement to WAND. * WTTW | Same Name, New Legacy: Ald. Walter ‘Red’ Burnett on His New Role and Development in the West Loop: The 29-year-old Walter “Red” Burnett was confirmed Sept. 25, officially making him the youngest member of the City Council. Burnett says he is charting a new path for the 27th Ward, overseeing several development projects and addressing affordability for longtime residents. * Sun-Times | What to know about PIT, the driving maneuver feds used in Southeast Side car chase: The maneuver, known as a precision immobilization technique, or PIT, is a driving tactic used by some law enforcement agencies to end a vehicle pursuit. However, some law enforcement professionals, legal experts and advocates say the move is ineffective and dangerous. Many police departments across the country, including the Chicago Police Department, bar or limit their officers from using the maneuver. * Tribune | CPS tells JROTC students to only wear military-issued uniforms inside: The district is immediately revising its dress code policy to require students to travel to and from school in civilian clothes, wrote Tyese Sims, executive director of CPS’ JROTC department, in a Friday letter to families. “Unfortunately, when they are in uniform, there is no way for the general public to distinguish these CPS students from members of the military, including the National Guard,” Sims said. * Sun-Times | Driven by arts and culture, pedestrian traffic in Downtown Chicago exceeds pre-pandemic levels, report finds: New data from the Chicago Loop Alliance show that Downtown pedestrian traffic now exceeds pre-pandemic levels from 2019, with more visitors drawn by arts and culture and dining. The new numbers validate efforts to make the Loop a social destination and combat high retail and office vacancy rates that have plagued the area since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to CLA President and CEO Michael Edwards. But even as the Loop evolves into a more complete urban district, there are concerns that threats from President Donald Trump to send the National Guard to Chicago — currently delayed due to a federal appeals court ruling — could impact progress. * Chicago Reader | Chicago’s creatures of the night: Fidino studies how animals change their behavior according to their environment, especially when their environment contains humans. In Chicago, he and his colleagues at the zoo monitor one hundred or so motion-triggered trail cameras, or camera traps, that they’ve scattered in a 25-mile radius from the city’s center: in city parks, outside forest preserves, on golf courses, along the 606 trail, and in cemeteries. “We’ve got cameras next to the Bean!” he told me. Four times a year, for the last 15 years, those cameras are turned on for a month. * Sun-Times | ‘Chicago Rat Hole’ was not made by a rat, say rodent researchers: The “Chicago Rat Hole” captured hearts in Chicago and on social media last year. Researchers analyzed the anatomical dimensions of the famous imprint and found the creature responsible was not a rat, but most likely a squirrel. * Press release…
* Shaw Local | McHenry County Board to consider raising property tax levy to pre-referendum level: Under the state lookback law, a taxing body is permitted to reset its property tax levy to the highest level in the past three years. In the county’s case, doing that would bump the levy up to the $73.8 million it approved in 2023. The levy was lowered to about $65 million last year after voters approved switching the Mental Health Board funding mechanism to a sales tax. * Tribune | Hollywood Casino Joliet posts higher revenue at new land-based facility in September: The new Joliet casino, which opened in August, generated more than $11.2 million in adjusted gross receipts last month, ranking fourth in revenue among the state’s 17 casinos, according to Illinois Gaming Board data. That’s up 48% year-over-year, when Hollywood Casino Joliet was an aging vessel docked on the Des Plaines River. Admissions to Hollywood Casino Joliet topped 96,000 for September, ranking fifth in the state and up nearly 75% over last year, according to Gaming Board data. * Daily Herald | Metra reviewing cause of glitch that delayed thousands: About 80 trains and thousands of passengers on the Metra Electric Milwaukee District, Rock Island, Southwest Service and Union Pacific lines were delayed. The glitch started around 5 p.m. and involved the Positive Train Control (PTC) system, technology designed to stop a train if a crash is imminent. “What happened was a telecom network time-source failure,” Metra spokesperson Meg Thomas-Reile explained Wednesday. “Basically, the times weren’t syncing in the system, and when it did that … some of the devices went back to 2006. * Daily Herald | Barrington borrowing $6.8 million to replace iron filtration plant: The village board this week agreed to issue general obligation bonds to be paid off over a 20-year period. It will pay off the bonds by charging water users a fixed monthly fee. Deputy Village Manager Marie Hansen said the village is still deciding out how much users will pay. That will be determined when the village passes next year’s budget. * Crain’s | Maplewood Brewery expands to Glen Ellyn, defying industry headwinds: Maplewood plans to take over the home of Two Hound Red, a brewpub that closed Oct. 12. Co-founder and CEO Adam Cieslak said he expects the new location, which will be Maplewood’s second, to open by early spring. “For some time, we had been looking at just growth and expansion opportunities,” said Cieslak, who grew up in the western suburbs along with co-founders Paul Megalis and Ari Megalis. “We’ve looked at a lot of different buildings, a lot of different areas. . . .We went and saw (this one) and really, really liked the spot, and thought it’d be a nice growth opportunity out into the suburbs.” * WCIA | Officials share more information about Martinton grain bin collapse: Terry Winger, General Manager of the Donovan Farmers Cooperative location in Martinton, said employees noticed one of the cement silos showing “signs of distress.” Employees evacuated the site and contacted first responders. Several hours later, the silo collapsed. * BND | Metro-east IDOT supervisor back at work, despite scathing report on bad behavior: Yet the yard supervisor, Joe Hamm, a non-management union member whose formal title is “lead worker,” returned to the job last fall after being on administrative leave for 10 months with full pay during the investigations, according to employees. “It was a paid vacation,” said Highway Maintainer Mike Turner, 32, of Godfrey, one of seven employees who complained about Hamm’s behavior in 2023, prompting the investigations. Investigators interviewed more than 25 other employees, past and present, before concluding that “sufficient evidence” existed to back up most of the allegations and that Hamm’s superiors had failed to intervene or take corrective action. * Rockford Register Star | Rockford area judge suffers ‘threats and harassment’ after releasing homicide suspect: Winnebago County Chief Judge John Lowry is blaming a Facebook post by Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara for a spate of “threats and harassment.” They come after McNamara posted comments critical of Associate Judge Heidi E. Ruckman-Agustsson’s decision to grant pretrial release to a suspect charged with first-degree murder. The release came over the objections of the Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s office which has filed a motion asking the courts to reconsider. * IPM News | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign unlikely to join federal higher education compact: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign leaders said Monday the school would likely decline to join the kind of compact the Trump administration has proposed for higher education institutions. Illinois’ flagship university was not one of the nine universities invited to join the compact. During a student and faculty senate meeting, Provost John Coleman recognized a similar request could come from the White House in the future. * WGLT | Bloomington mayor says sales tax vote is consistent with earlier decisions: Last month, the council created the local tax to begin when a similar state tax expires at the end of the year. It was supposed to help narrow a structural budget deficit and be used for infrastructure. Brady broke a tie vote Monday night that now dedicates all the $3 million in estimated annual grocery tax money to infrastructure. “We tangibly show the electorate, the taxpayers, what are we going to do with the money. It’s not just going back to the city general fund,” said Brady. * SJ-R | With the Sean Grayson trial on the brink, a timeline of the Sonya Massey shooting: With the trial of former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, accused of murdering Sonya Massey, set to begin in Peoria on Oct. 20, The State Journal-Register has compiled a timeline of events, beginning with the fatal shooting on July 6, 2024. * WCIA | Central Illinois National Guard units under federal command in Chicago: WCIA confirmed with U.S. Northern Command, which is in command of National Guard troops in Chicago, that the troops will be mobilized for 60 days and will be under the command and control of the Commander of U.S. Northern Command for that time. This means the troops are under federal command, not state command. While the Northern Command was unable to break down the specific number of troops from each Central Illinois armory, staff could confirm troops from the armories in the region were among those in Chicago. * WCIA | SNAP benefit cuts impacting food banks in Central Illinois: Volunteers with the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen in Champaign said with more SNAP benefit cuts on the horizon… the soup kitchen will be serving more people and handing out more meals. The president, Bob Goss, said they went from serving around 600 meals a day to nearly 1,000 in just the past six months. He said they serve a five-course-meal every day at noon… and then send their guests home with a sack lunch. * WBEZ | Students for profit? University of Illinois campuses pay company per online student: The University of Illinois Chicago and the University of Illinois Springfield are paying a for-profit company for each student it recruits to online programs — a practice that would be illegal if done by the universities’ admissions offices and one that’s been banned by another state, a WBEZ investigation has found. Critics, including U.S. senators and consumer protection advocates, say this kind of arrangement incentivizes the company, Risepoint, to recruit as many students as possible, whether the online programs are a good fit or will help the students get better jobs or make more money. * NYT | Trump Considers Overhaul of Refugee System That Would Favor White People: The proposals also advise Mr. Trump to prioritize Europeans who have been “targeted for peaceful expression of views online such as opposition to mass migration or support for ‘populist’ political parties.” That appeared to be a reference to the European far-right political party Alternative for Germany, whose leaders have trivialized the Holocaust, revived Nazi slogans and denigrated foreigners. Vice President JD Vance has criticized Germany for trying to suppress the views of the group, which is known as the AfD. * The Atlantic | The Lincoln Way: How he used America’s past to rescue its future: Cautions aside, Lincoln’s claim that the Declaration carried across generations set him squarely against those who sought to narrow its promise. In its Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court declared that Black Americans “had no rights which the white man was bound to respect” and sought to anchor that exclusion in the very history of the founding. To Lincoln, that teaching did not merely misread the past—it rewrote it, extinguishing the Revolution’s promise in the present. He claimed that whoever “teaches that the negro has no share, humble though it may be, in the Declaration of Independence” was “muzzling the cannon that thunders” the Revolution’s “annual joyous return.” * SCOTUS blog | Court appears ready to curtail major provision of the Voting Rights Act: The Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared ready to strike down a 2024 congressional map that a group of voters has challenged as the product of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering – that is, according to them, it sorts voters based on race in violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. During nearly two-and-a-half hours of oral arguments, the court’s conservative justices signaled that they are likely to undermine a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, even if they may not ultimately strike it down altogether.
|
Good morning!
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
|
Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
|
Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
|
Selected press releases (Live updates)
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
|
Live coverage
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Click here and/or here to follow breaking news on the website formally known as Twitter. We’re experimenting this week with a new app which feeds Bluesky posts. Still tweaking it…
|
PREVIOUS POSTS » |