Democrats on a special state House committee investigating Speaker Michael Madigan’s knowledge and involvement in a bribery scheme admitted to by Commonwealth Edison today beat back Republicans’ request to subpoena Madigan to testify.

For now, the 3-3 partisan vote protects Madigan from having to appear and answer questions or invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination. Madigan has not been charged and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Chicago Public Schools is looking to hire 2,000 new employees to take on pandemic-related duties and fill in gaps in staffing once schools return in-person in January, a plan that’s drawing a rebuke from the teachers union and that signifies one of the major challenges of reopening the third-largest district in the nation during a public health emergency.

One of the primary responsibilities for half of the new positions will be student supervision, according to a job posting. That includes supervising “students who are learning in person if [the] classroom teacher is teaching remotely,” the posting says, raising questions about what in-person instruction will look like for students who return to classrooms and signaling that the district intends to forge ahead with reopening despite a potentially massive number of staff requests for medical leave.

Healthcare providers in Illinois are not only fighting against an ongoing pandemic, but the threat of malpractice and negligence lawsuits connected to thousands of COVID-19 deaths.

Healthcare Heroes Illinois, a nonprofit group that advocates on behalf of long-term care providers and hospital workers, is calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to reinstate a level of protection from lawsuits connected to COVID-19. Pritzker included a level of immunity in his emergency orders early in the pandemic but allowed them to sunset in June.

Some municipalities have put in place their own restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19, including mask mandates, creating a patchwork of local rules.

While Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said it’s up to local officials to enforce COVID-19 mitigation, it’s been uneven across the state. The governor’s most recent mandate is for all indoor service at bars and restaurants to prohibit indoor service and for capacity limits on retail.

A proposed tax aimed at revitalizing the North Michigan Avenue shopping strip has failed to advance in City Council amid strong opposition from two downtown alderman.

The Chicago Department of Planning & Development earlier this fall proposed the plan to create a new taxing district along the Magnificent Mile. The district, or special service area, would have raised $742,000 in 2021 for security, marketing campaigns and other costs to help the retail district recover from the coronavirus pandemic and looting over this summer.

Chicago Public Schools is asking its governing board to allow it to continue spending on its coronavirus response with less oversight.

The request to extend the board’s emergency spending authorization through March comes as federal lawmakers wrestle with a second stimulus package — an effort President-elect Joe Biden has said should include money for schools reeling from the pandemic’s fallout. The district has spent the bulk of the $75 million its board allowed under the spending authorization originally approved last March.

Buffalo Grove officials have sent a letter pleading with Gov. J.B. Pritzker to help secure a state license allowing a medical marijuana dispensary in the village to offer recreational pot as well.

Under state law as it’s currently interpreted, Sunnyside at 830 Milwaukee Ave. lost its ability to add recreational marijuana sales without further state permission when it moved from its original location at 1623 Barclay Blvd.