One Illinois farmer is celebrating a record harvest, but inflation is taking a toll.

In Dekalb County, Mark Tuttle, a fifth-generation farmer, said he’s had the best soybean crop he’s ever had in 44 years of farming.

As Mayor Lori Lightfoot ramps up her bid for reelection, her close allies have created a new campaign fund unbound by how much money contributors can give or who they are — restrictions Lightfoot must abide by.

The 77 Committee, being run by a longtime top Lightfoot adviser, is allowed to accept unlimited funds, including from city contractors who are severely bound under city ethics rules from contributing to Lightfoot’s campaign fund or a Lightfoot-aligned political action committee.

Chicagoans checking where to vote on Election Day may have been surprised to find that fewer than 10% of the city’s polling places were marked as accessible for people with disabilities — and a third of the city’s 50 wards had no sites considered compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners admits they have not met a deadline arising from a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that required the city to make every voting location fully accessible to people with disabilities for this past election — despite receiving a four-year extension.

Indicted Ald. Carrie Austin (34th Ward) told a federal judge on Friday that she is too ill to stand trial. She also informed Mayor Lori Lightfoot she plans to retire from the Chicago City Council on March 1 — one day after the next Chicago City Council election.

Austin, 73, pleaded not guilty to charges that she accepted bribes from a developer and lied to FBI agents. Indicted in July 2021, Austin has never appeared in person before Judge John Kness because of her ill health and restrictions put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19.

After the midterm elections, many fraud claims were focused on mail-in ballots.

Citing unofficial results from a Florida election, an Instagram user pointed to Democrat Kelly Skidmore’s win over Republican Dorcas Hernandez, after Skidmore received more than three times the number of mail-in votes as her opponent.

A typical Peoria County home listed for $144,900 in October, down 2.7% from the previous month’s $148,925, an analysis of data from Realtor.com shows.

The median list home price in October was up about 38% from October 2021. Peoria County’s median home was 1,713 square feet for a listed price of $90 per square foot.

The real estate market in Belleville and St. Louis area has continued to see inflated prices, but some seller’s market indicators have changed.

One real estate company recently described it as “somewhat competitive,” as median home values are up from last year but home sales have dropped in some localities.