Pepsi workers in Chicago are out of a job after the company announced the closure of the only plant left in the city. Simultaneously, Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is urging Stellantis to reopen its plant in Belvidere.

State Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville, said Stellantis choosing to expand elsewhere and not in Illinois is a result of bad public policy. The company, which owns the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands, said it will invest more than $6.1 billion into its Brazil plant.

Voters in Oak Park overwhelmingly approved a referendum last week that will change the way the village president and members of the Village Board are elected.

Initial results from the Nov. 5 election indicate 79.21% of voters voted in favor of switching to ranked choice voting for those offices. The switch goes into effect in 2027 so next April’s village election will be held under the current first past the post system.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed $300 million property tax increase will be “significantly decreased” — and replaced with a healthy mix of new revenues and reprogrammed federal stimulus funds — thanks to a collaborative process that began in earnest over the weekend.

Twenty-two of the City Council’s 50 members met Saturday with top mayoral aides, including Johnson’s budget team, to begin negotiations that, some alderpersons said, should have started long before Johnson belatedly introduced his $17.3 billion budget.

Two of the nine candidates for Naperville City Council face challenges to their nominating petitions — and the possibility of being booted off the ballot.

Farid Shabazz and Nag Jaiswal are fighting to stay on the ballot after three people — Diane McGuire, Nancy Turner and Mark Urda — objected to their petitions. The city’s electoral board will conduct a hearing on Wednesday.

Illinois will receive a $40 million share of a $1.4 billion bipartisan national settlement with Kroger over the grocery chain’s role in the opioid crisis, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced. The settlement is the latest contribution to the 2021 Illinois Opioid Allocation Agreement steered by Raoul and state’s attorneys.

“This settlement ensures Kroger is held accountable and allows resources to reach communities hardest hit by this ongoing opioid crisis that continues to affect all corners of America,” Raoul said in a Nov. 4 statement announcing the settlement.