Isabel’s morning briefing

 * ICYMI:  ‘Busiest Thanksgiving ever' expected at airports across the country this week, including Chicago. NBC Chicago...

- According to TSA, more than 18.3 million people expected to move through airports across the country beginning Tuesday. 
- In Chicago alone, 1.8 million people are expected to pass through Midway and O'Hare International Airports between Tuesday, Nov. 26 and Monday, Dec. 2, the Chicago Department of Aviation said. 
- The surge in passenger traffic amounts to an expected increase of 11.4% compared to Thanksgiving 2023, the CDA said.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WAND | Illinois lawmakers left veto session without passing gun control plans: Many hoped gun control would be a major priority for lawmakers during veto session, but that period has come and gone. Now, lawmakers and advocates are determined to get guns out of the wrong hands during lame duck session in early January.  "When a firearm is involved in a situation of domestic violence, time is of the essence," said Amanda Pyron, Executive Director of the Network Advocating Against Domestic Violence. "Risk of intimate partner homicides increase 500% when abusers have access to a gun."

*** Statewide ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Conservative group asks U.S. Supreme Court to review Mike Bost’s challenge to how mail-in votes are counted in Illinois: Two lower courts have already ruled against Bost’s 2022 case against the Illinois State Board of Elections. The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled in August Bost lacked standing to sue in the case.  But the legal fight is not over for Judicial Watch, which filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 19 asking the court to take up the case in hopes justices might strike down Illinois’ law.  “Specific holdings in this case will tend to make the next electoral cycle as fraught as 2020,” the group argues.

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | Chicago policing real costs could be nearly double next year’s $2.1 billion budget, former city analyst finds: Johnson’s nearly $2.1 billion CPD budget does not account for pensions, benefits or vastly underbudgeted spending on overtime and legal defense, according to Jonathan Silverstein, who left the Council Office of Financial Analysis in 2020. Silverstein’s report says these and other hidden costs could total $1.7 billion, lifting next year’s police spending total to $3.8 billion.

* Sun-Times | Chicago's upcycling artisans host alternative Black Friday shopping experience: The artisans include Maggie Joyce, who makes colorful jewelry from recycled eyeglasses; Kate Wolicki, who uses old textiles such as thrifted neckties to create bags and more; and Chris Wooten, who transforms furniture found in Chicago’s alleys into unique wooden bowls, utensils and even chessboards.  The upcycled crafts fair will also feature eco-friendly activities and coincides with Small Business Saturday. It’ll be held at several shops, including Irish bistro Mrs. Murphy & Sons, 3905 N. Lincoln Ave.; fitness studio Free MVMT Shop, 3868 N. Lincoln Ave.; and Bartleby’s Homemade Ice Cream, 1943 W. Byron St.

* Tribune | Too Midwestern for a megasale? In some markets, mansions are selling for $100M and up, but not in Chicago. Here’s why: The dearth of megasales in the Chicago area is probably linked to the fact that local listings tend to be less pricey than in other cities, families here tend to assemble large homesteads rather than buy them, and buyers bring good old-fashioned Midwestern sensibility to the process, agents said.

* Block Club | Inside Chicago’s Essential Dive Bars: Photos From 14 Iconic Watering Holes:  Reporter Linze Rice and photojournalist Colin Boyle hit up many of the classic Chicago spots. Here’s a peek inside and outside the ones they visited.  For the full story about the bars’ histories, vibes and clientele, click here.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | One Aurora mayoral candidate removed from the ballot: Karina Garcia’s name will not appear on the ballot because the electoral board ruled she did not file a proper economic interest statement.  Instead of listing the position she was seeking in the form, Karina Garcia entered her job.  The form, which candidates had to file with the Kane County clerk, asks for a person’s job title. Underneath the lines to be filled in, it reads: “Office, department or agency that requires you to file this form.”

* CBS Chicago | Some suburban Chicago leaders say Supervisor Tiffany Henyard is using turkey giveaway as distraction: The township holds turkey giveaways annually. But some believe Henyard used the event this year to defer from the work that needs to be done by township government.  Henyard was enthusiastic giving out smoked ham hocks and smoked turkey at the Thanksgiving giveaway. She called herself, "You super Mayor Tiffany Henyard" and "the people's mayor-slash-people's supervisor."

* Daily Herald | Mundelein pot store wants second recreational lounge: The first lounge opened in 2021 and was the first in the Northwest suburbs.  Creating a second lounge will allow Rise to offer live comedy and musical performances or art classes without disturbing lounge customers who don’t want to partake in such activities, according to a memo from its parent company, Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries, to the village.

*** Downstate ***

* Illinois Times | Springfield grapples with increased crime: [Antwaun Readus Sr.], a barber at First Class Barbershop, 100 N. Wesley St., and vice president of the nonprofit Better Life Better Living for Kidz, pleaded at the council meeting for approval of a $30,000 loan from the city for the financially strapped but respected organization. More youth programs are needed to intervene in the lives of young people to prevent them from becoming victims or perpetrators of crime, he said. The 43-year-old Springfield native was frustrated by bureaucratic delays that had prevented Better Life from getting access to a $215,000 grant awarded to the group a year ago.

* WSIL | EEOC sues employer, alleges transgender employees were subjected to harassment at Carbondale Wendy's: The EEOC stated in its lawsuit, the agency charged the Wendy's location in Carbondale subjected a class of transgender employees to persuasive sexual harassment which includes misgendering, graphic sexual comments, unequal access to bathrooms, intrusive questions and degrading conduct based on gender identity.

* WSIL | Giant City State Park plans programs for December: On Saturday, December 7th, grab your cold weather gear for an easy stroll to spot winter birds. Starting at 9 a.m., Vicki Lang-Mendenhall, park volunteer and Southern Illinois Audubon Society member, will guide spotters along the easy third-of-a-mile Post Oak Trail. You'll want to bring along your binoculars for that one.

*** National ***

* AP | Walmart becomes latest - and biggest - company to roll back its DEI policies: The changes, confirmed by Walmart on Monday, are sweeping and include everything from not renewing a five-year commitment for an equity racial center set up in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd, to pulling out of a prominent gay rights index. And when it comes to race or gender, Walmart won’t be giving priority treatment to suppliers.  Walmart’s moves underscore the increasing pressure faced by corporate America as it continues to navigate the fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June 2023 ending affirmative action in college admissions. Emboldened by that decision, conservative groups have filed lawsuits making similar arguments about corporations, targeting workplace initiatives such as diversity programs and hiring practices that prioritize historically marginalized groups.