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Truth in Accounting founder and CEO Sheila Weinberg said Illinois’ taxpayer burden is $36,900, and the state does not currently have the money to pay $166.3 billion in bills. “In the private sector, this would be considered bankruptcy, but in the state of Illinois, they claim everything is good."
Some of the lobbyists work for firms that lobby Illinois’ state government, overseen by her political ally and benefactor, Gov. JB Pritzker. Others work for firms that lobby Congress and other arms of the federal government. 
The candidates sparred on state spending, education funding, safety net hospitals, the SAFE-T Act, the Chicago Bears, Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center and more. But much of the debate centered on the relationship between the federal government and the state. More Highlighted Illinois Stories
"The policy of Tribune Publishing’s Board of Directors is that we do not formally endorse in this race, nor that of governor.... Stratton is to the far left of her party; Tracy is on the moderate wing of his. But by moderate wing, we don’t want to imply he’d be a Republican revolutionary. And, given where we are at this moment, many will conclude that will just not be enough."
The new site, called Disappeared in America, is backed by Pritzker's Illinois Accountability Commission and documents roughly 
News of the letters comes just three weeks before Election Day and is reminiscent of a similar threat in 2023, when election offices in six states received mailings that contained a white powder. In some cases, the incidents disrupted work around local elections.
Despite the governor’s housing package not passing in full, Pritzker touted that lawmakers were still able to include $250 million in the current budget to increase funding for existing state programs to work toward the goal.
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi said the shooter at an Aurora temple Oct. 10 was radicalized by social media, where silos of communities develop and vent hate. Krishnamoorthi said Congress should close the immunity from liability loophole that Big Tech companies enjoy under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Pritzker said there has been a lot of negotiation and discussion over the summer and early fall after regulatory bills failed to advance in the General Assembly last spring. House Bill 5513 and Senate Bill 4016 include provisions to prohibit cost shifting, ensure data centers power their own operations, and provide clean energy incentives.
Gov. JB Pritzker proposed the statewide program based on Cook County’s two years ago. “I don't know any other program that has that kind of return for people. So, it's one that I really believe in. I mean, we're going to have to work hard to find those dollars,” Pritzker said. “I'm hopeful that as we continue to identify debt that we can relieve, that we’ll be able to find the dollars in our state budget.”
Jim Dey: "Other possible trouble spots are legal challenges filed to several of the governor’s tax increases including the digital asset tax, the social-media platform fee and the prediction-markets-exchange wager tax. If those are struck down by the courts as unconstitutional, it could create a big hole in the budget — in the neighborhood of $250 million."
Gov. JB Pritzker’s presidential disaster request that was denied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency met the threshold for statewide disaster assistance, according to state documents. A spokesperson for FEMA did not explain why Illinois’ request was denied and did not say if the agency conducted additional in-person damage assessments.
The typical Illinois home value has risen 49.9 percent since August 2019, going from $198,526 up to $297,573, according to Zillow’s Home Value Index. Some communities saw even larger increases: 76.6 percent in south suburban Chicago Heights, 71.8 percent in Waukegan and 69.3 percent in far northwest suburban Lake in the Hills. Meanwhile, the number of Illinois homes on the market is just 39 percent of pre-pandemic levels, according to Realtor.com Economic Research.
The Pritzkers also made $1.9 million in charitable contributions last year, the campaign said. Unlike on his 2024 returns, Pritzker did not record any gambling winnings this year.
The settlement allows for a 9.48 percent return on equity for shareholders, which is between the 8.95 percent that Illinois PIRG and Legal Action Chicago had sought and the 10.35 percent rate that Nicor originally requested. Utility watchdog groups had characterized that request as “outrageous” and “exorbitant.”
"In presidential polls, (Gov. JB) Pritzker usually registers around three percent, which should be quite troubling for him, because he’s been posturing for 2028 since Kamala Harris gave her concession speech. (Former Chicago Mayor Rahm) Emanuel doesn’t even register in polls. He does slightly better on the online betting market Kalshi, but like Pritzker, Emanuel is currently under three percent there."
The alleged plot targeted people of Indian descent at a Hindu temple, according to court documents, raising concerns about hate-fueled violence at places of worship in the Chicago suburbs.
A state appeals panel says a nurse practitioner isn't immune from medical negligence litigation for conduct that occurred during a declared pandemic, even if there may have been an order from Illinois' governor a judge thought made it so.
Illinois leaders set an initial goal of erasing $1 billion in medical debt while spending less than $10 million in state funds.
"SIU Carbondale has no plans to shut down its coal and natural gas power plant at this time," SIUC spokesperson Jeff Harmon told the Journal Star. "As with most higher education institutions, we will consider alternative energy sources in the future." The generator produces about 14 percent of the campus' annual electricity supply.
Congress created these grants in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021, amid the pandemic-related surge in unemployment claims as state unemployment agencies nationwide battled widespread fraud by scammers using information obtained in data breaches to falsely claim unemployment benefits.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said no to a sweetener, while Gov. JB Pritzker added $11 billion to Chicago’s liabilities.
Investigators say they found a manifesto apparently written by the teenager-who called himself the "Aurora Shooter." The writings "expressed words of hate, violence, superior race and mass shooting of Indian people. His hatred was against Jewish people, African Americans, Indians, & "non-white" people."
State Rep. Kam Buckner was asked if it would be possible to give the Bears control and still protect taxpayers. He responded, “Yeah, I think that's a conversation that, number one, has to be at the center of this. I don't know what that part looks like."
Former head of the Illinois GOP Pat Brady weighed in: "The governor came across as a governor. It was fact versus fiction. I thought the governor was very effective, and I give him credit for even doing it. ... I think the problem with the Republican Party right now, we're attacking Pritzker, but we're not talking about what we're going to do."
Some governors had been waiting for the federal government to issue regulations for it before deciding whether to opt in. The U.S. Treasury Department released those rules in early October, but they lack guardrails Democratic governors had hoped for, including provisions that might allow them to steer money toward students from low-income backgrounds or require certain standards for scholarship-granting organizations.
Comment: For a very different viewpoint on what Frerichs is doing, see our own recent column here.
Top Chicago Stories
The plan estimates a $610 million (of the overall $9 billion plan) to improve Union Station to allow trains to run through it. If that happened, someone in Aurora could take the BNSF line through downtown all the way to O’Hare.
"Government programs that dole out money based on race are illegal," a White House spokesperson said. "Chicago would be better served if Mayor Johnson focused more on lowering his city’s homicide rate instead of advocating for divisive, unconstitutional government action."
"Party loyalty is the only explanation for a settlement by the city of Chicago to a collection of largely gangbanging, murdering thugs all claiming they were coerced into confessing to their atrocities by a retired detective, Ray Guevara."
In their joint statement, Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke and transit union president Pennie McCoach said Chevazz Campbell, 37, had been on electronic monitoring following a retail theft conviction but had repeatedly violated his probation before the stabbing. "On at least four occasions … prosecutors filed to violate the defendant's probation because of repeated curfew violations, including multiple periods when he was out of compliance for hours at a time," they said. Campbell's violations were "repeatedly ignored," Burke and McCoach further stated, "because there is a lack of oversight."
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"It's not that I want to, but I have to," Kass wrote, describing his struggles with brain fog after suffering five strokes in three years.
The executive order establishes a Mayor’s Office on Aging (MOA) and creates a working group to explore how to re-establish a Department of Aging in city government. That agency merged in 2009 with the Department of Family and Support Services. Johnson said he would include money for a new director of the Office on Aging in next week’s budget proposal.
Charter school backers and a few prominent billionaires aligned in a shared antipathy for the teachers union have aimed their millions attacking the Chicago Teacher Union’s choice for board president rather than at bolstering any particular candidate.
"This process was tainted from the start. The Mayor's hand-picked CPS Inspector General rushed a finding to meet the deadline he publicly demanded, sending a devastating message to every girl weighing whether to report abuse," the 16 alders wrote. Mayor Brandon Johnson has maintained support for Dominguez despite the allegations against him.
Eighteen-year-old write-in candidate Alexander Angeles aligns with the progressive Chicago Teachers Union and was heavily influenced by his teachers at Hancock High School. He considered circulating signatures earlier in the year, but said he didn't want to oppose incumbent Cydney Wallace. Then she was kicked off the ballot.
Over half a dozen police district councils asked the city to look into whether police are complying with the city’s sanctuary policies and executive orders Mayor Brandon Johnson passed to limit cooperation with federal immigration agents and guide the department’s interactions with them.
Homebuyers in Chicago are walking away from home purchase agreements as the U.S. housing market struggles with rising mortgage rates, high home prices and weakening demand, according to a new report from real estate brokerage Redfin.
The sale of two data center properties for more than $1.4 billion generated more than $4 million in real estate transfer tax revenue, according to the village. Elk Grove Village has decided to pass along the windfall to residents.
At about 2:36 p.m. Oct. 9, the 65-year-old victim saw a group of people tagging a train car while riding near the Clark/Division station, according to a preliminary CPD report. When he approached one of them, the group battered him, dragged him off the train car, and sprayed paint into his face and mouth.
According to the inspector general’s probe, the Board of Ethics employee “falsely denied drinking or being in an accident multiple times and lied to officers about the employee’s occupation before being arrested.”
“I wonder if our work should be centered around not only challenging the ultra-rich and big corporations to pay their fair share in taxes. I wonder that if the State of Illinois is not prepared to do that, then give me and other municipalities the local authority to do it ourselves,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said.
Prosecutors allege Alexandros Paporakis, of Palatine, drove to the Hindu temple in Aurora armed with a modified rifle and about 300 rounds of ammunition and equipped with body armor and other tactical gear. Authorities said Paporakis intended to carry out a shooting, but returned home after the rifle malfunctioned.
Critics have long raised concerns over the foundation's failure to fully fund a proposed $470 million endowment — a financial safety net designed to generate income for the center's upkeep and reduce the risk of taxpayers footing the bill if the project runs into trouble. Obama Foundation officials said the agreement with the city of Chicago required them to establish an endowment, not fully fund it, before taking control of the site.
In all, 17 members of the Chicago Police Department have faced termination for allegedly defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program of a total of approximately $517,000, according to reports released by the Office of the Inspector General.
Federal authorities are currently investigating letters with "suspicious substances" that have been mailed to congressional and election offices nationwide. The large building that houses Chicago City Hall also houses Cook County government offices, including the treasurer's office, the assessor's office and Cook County Board offices.
"In affluent wards, a restrictive zoning code and deference to hyper-local aldermanic control is throttling the housing that the market would otherwise build. In South and West side neighborhoods, moderate incomes and high construction costs are translating into vacant lots and disinvestment. And across the city, we’re building and maintaining far fewer publicly funded affordable units than we could."
Among the accusations made by both members of the City Council and colleagues on the 14th District Police Council, David Orlikoff claimed Ald. Ray Lopez and Ald. Nicholas Sposato were "directly responsible" for the 2023 stabbing death of 6 year old Plainfield Palestinian-American resident Wadee Al Fayoumi, because they spread "Nazi style hate and fear mongering."
Despite former Chicago Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara’s well-documented misconduct that sent 55 now-exonerated Chicagoans to prison for decades, any attempt to revoke his pension is sure to fail, since he was not charged with criminal wrongdoing, much less convicted, while a Chicago police officer. Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel commissioned a probe into Guevara’s conduct in 2013 at a cost of $1.9 million, but the report has never been released by city officials.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Eve Reilly dismissed the case Wednesday on a technicality, saying the lawsuit was premature because none of the candidates had officially filed nominating petitions for mayor. Therefore, she could not rule on future events. “People change their mind. They may not file their petitions,” Reilly said.
The debate was emotional and filled with racial overtones, as well.
Lawyers for the 17 defendants who were wrongfully convicted of murder dating back to 1987 noted it is the largest police misconduct settlement in U.S. history. "There's the thing called evidence. That if you take this thing to court, what we actually save the taxpayers by voting for this one is $500 million," Ald. Andre Vasquez said.
Prosecutors say the 67-year-old woman was walking near a koi pond at the mall when the suspect in the case struck her in the head with a bag, knocking her to the ground. The suspect then grabbed the woman’s head and shoved it underneath the surface of the koi pond, prosecutors said. The victim tried to kick and scratch at him, but he shoved her head back under the water, slamming it into the bottom of the pond.
“We have a prompt payments act with the state government that if there are public dollars involved, and somebody is doing work and not getting paid, that's a violation of the law,” state Rep. Kam Buckner said. “These students were not just missing out on education, on their athletic experience, but many of them who are juniors and seniors are in the running for scholarships. This is affecting their recruiting process.”
"Chicago cannot erase the pension debt by outsourcing garbage collection. It cannot rewrite an existing employee’s pension merely because the city’s finances deteriorate. It cannot necessarily select employees for dismissal because their pension tier is expensive. The City, however, can decide how many people it employs, which functions the government performs directly and what retirement package it offers people who have not yet joined the workforce."
The Protecting Renters Ordinance has been significantly pared down since Mayor Brandon Johnson introduced it earlier this year, but a key remaining plank would fulfill a longtime goal of advocates and organizers: a comprehensive, city-managed public database showing who owns each of the thousands of apartment buildings in the city. City officials argue it is a step toward regular, proactive safety inspections for every unit in the city.
Chicago voters will see a question backed by Mayor Brandon Johnson on their Nov. 3 ballots that asks if the city should seek compensation from the Trump administration for the economic fallout from the immigration enforcement operation.
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To top it off, Stratton is funded mostly by Gov. JB Pritzker, who has long purported to be a rock solid supporter of Israel's right to exist. El-Sayed is anything but. SIGN UP HERE FOR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
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What Pritzker doesn't tell you that it cost taxpayers billions, not millions, in higher taxes to get those upgrades, vastly exceeding the savings. 
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Ballots start going out next week and Stratton has yet even to attempt to show that she’s qualified for the Senate. She has assessed that Illinois' media environment and one-party political culture will let her get away with hiding.
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