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Start your Thursday with an in-depth investigation from reporter Nick Blumberg on suburban Aurora. That and more from WTTW News. |
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Downtown Aurora is pictured in a file photo. (Denis Tangney Jr. / iStock) |
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Nick Blumberg: Hey there, it’s reporter Nick Blumberg. Earlier this year, Aurora Mayor John Laesch made an eye-catching presentation to the City Council about the city-affiliated nonprofit On Light Aurora, which provides fiber optic internet service to local community institutions and businesses. Laesch outlined a pattern of heavy spending – including charges at strip clubs, ATMs, and extensive travel in the U.S. and abroad.
And there was another issue, officials told WTTW News – Aurora’s former mayor had signed off on a city-guaranteed line of credit for On Light without getting approval from aldermen. By digging into a trove of documents, including a detailed analysis of bank statements, emails, contracts, and other documents, we were able to shine a light on the organization’s questionable financial controls – and what it could mean for taxpayers.
Here’s what we found:
OnLight Aurora, according to an analysis by local officials and documents reviewed by WTTW News, is nearly $1 million in the red, operating at a $27,000 monthly deficit with some $20,000 in monthly debt service payments.
Then-Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin signed a letter saying that the city would guarantee a $450,000 credit line increase for OnLight. There is no record of Aurora’s aldermen approving that increase to the credit limit.
In addition to the nearly $1 million in debt and regular monthly losses, officials also said they have uncovered a pattern of highly questionable spending on a card tied to OnLight — expenses, those officials say, that were almost exclusively racked up by Irvin’s ally Michael Pegue, who served both as chairman and CEO of OnLight.
These include more than $50,000 in ATM withdrawals and nearly $70,000 on entertainment and meals, including more than $7,000 at strip clubs in the Chicago area, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Miami and Pompano Beach, Florida.
The charges total some $337,000 between 2018 and 2025, despite the fact that OnLight actually lost clients during that time. The majority of charges were described on expense reports in broad terms like marketing expenses or meetings — when expense reports were filed at all, leaders say.
Asked about fallout from potentially improper spending, Laesch said: “We’ve shared documents with law enforcement entities — I’ll just leave it at that.” |
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Mayor Brandon Johnson addresses the news media on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, as Ald. Jason Ervin (28th Ward) stands behind him and alongside other allies of the mayor. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News) |
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Negotiations over Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $16.6 billion proposed spending plan for 2026, which eliminates a $1.19 billion projected shortfall, have reached an impasse, Budget Committee Chair Ald. Jason Ervin (28th Ward) said Wednesday.
Two days after the City Council’s Finance Committee refused to advance Johnson’s proposed spending plan to the full City Council, Johnson’s proposal to impose $623 million in new taxes on the wealthiest Chicagoans and largest firms remains in purgatory, with no clear path to a deal with just 41 days left before the deadline to avoid an unprecedented shutdown of city government.
“This is a classic case of an impasse,” Ervin said during a panel hosted by the City Club of Chicago alongside Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th Ward), Ald. Samantha Nugent (39th Ward) and Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward). “We have a body of individuals who support the budget, and we have a body of individuals who do not support the budget.
On Tuesday, Alds. Daniel La Spata (1st Ward), William Hall (6th Ward) and Bill Conway (34th Ward) joined “Chicago Tonight” to discuss the ongoing budget negotiations.
Here’s a snapshot of where they stand:
“Trump has found his way into City Hall,” Hall said. “These are some of the same tactics we saw in D.C. with the government shutdown and we now see them in the city of Chicago. We see nitpicking, we see arguments but no solutions, no counters to negotiate.”
“There’s questions about how do we find in a way that is progressive, that, as Ald. Hall called for, asks those who can pay more and pay their fair share to pay their fair share, but also do it in ways that continues to grow our economy rather than deter economic growth,” La Spata said.
“What I hear in the 34th Ward is we need to show taxpayers that we are being efficient with their tax dollars before we go asking for more,” Conway said. “We need to really go back to departments and show taxpayers we’re being efficient with those dollars, that we have worked that out before we do anything like a head tax.” |
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A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent takes part in an early morning operation in Park Ridge, Ill., Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo / Erin Hooley) |
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A federal appeals court has paused a sweeping order that restricts federal immigration agents’ use of force across Chicago and the suburbs following a series of aggressive raids led by Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday agreed to stay an order issued by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis that sought to rein in agents’ use of tear gas, pepper balls and other crowd control measures against protesters, journalists and others.
The court called Ellis “overbroad” and said it would enjoin “an expansive range of defendants” including President Donald Trump, the departments of Justice and Homeland Security and anyone “acting in concert with them.”
Some backstory:
The injunction came as part of a lawsuit brought by the Chicago Headline Club, Chicago Newspaper Guild Local 34071, Block Club Chicago and other media organizations who’ve alleged immigration agents have engaged in a “pattern of extreme brutality” that’s part of a “concerted and ongoing effort to silence the press and civilians.”
Ellis issued the preliminary injunction earlier this month, ordering federal agents to only use force when it is “objectively necessary to stop an immediate threat of the person causing serious bodily injury or death to another person,” and that requiring that two separate warnings be given before force is used.
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Gov. JB Pritzker this week traveled across the globe to meet with arguably Illinois’ most famous native son — Pope Leo XIV. Sharing art, books and local beer, Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday called it an “honor” to meet with the pope in the Vatican to express “the pride and reverence of the people of this great state.”
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Back in the Day: Nov. 20, 1954 - Chicago Radio DJ Steve Dahl Born |
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Steve Dahl, the longtime radio personality, comedian and provocateur made his mark in Chicago and was behind the infamous “Disco Demolition Night” at Comiskey Park on July 12, 1979. While the promotion, which promised a discounted ticket if you brought a disco LP to blow up between a doubleheader, drew a massive crowd, the demolition itself and the crowd rushing the field forced the White Sox to forfeit the second game. As WTTW News put it in 2016, “It was perhaps the most unusual forfeiture in Major League Baseball history.” On this day in 1954, Dahl was born in Pasadena, California. An inductee into the National Radio Hall of Fame, Dahl has broadcast from Chicago stations like WCKG, WDAI, WLUP, WMVP and WLS. As of February 2025, Dahl announced he was battling prostate cancer. He’s 71 today. |
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This Week’s Arts & Culture Events
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Each Thursday, WTTW News producer Josh Terry highlights the must-see cultural events.
Josh Terry: There are three inevitabilities in life: death, taxes and Christmas. The good news is that, no matter your mileage, one of those things is much more fun than the other two. While we’re not even at Thanksgiving yet, holiday cheer already feels ubiquitous. You’ll hear a carol or a jingle out and about, commercials are telling you to act now on present shopping and your neighbors are already putting up the lights. If you’re in the mood for good tidings and yuletide, you’ll find something to love in the roundup below. If you’re more like Scrooge, don’t worry, several events are not at all related to this season.
Theater: “White Christmas” — Paramount Theater
Yes, the Christmas season is officially here, thanks to Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” opening at Aurora’s Paramount Theater. The production runs until Jan. 11. You can buy tickets here.
Comedy: Kyle Kinane — Thalia Hall
Hailing from Addison, Illinois, Kyle Kinane is one of stand-up comedy’s foremost storytellers. His jokes are long, winding, self-deprecating and wholly relatable. You may have seen him on Judd Apatow’s “Love,” Comedy Central’s “Drunk History,” or maybe you recognize him from a Chicago punk show. He returns to Thalia Hall for two shows Monday and Tuesday. Monday isn’t yet sold out.
Podcast: SongWriter: Kaveh Akbar + Jamila Woods — Metro Chicago
SongWriter is a long-running podcast that “explores the connections between the written word and the lyrical.” While previous guests have included people like Questlove, Joyce Carol Oates, David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), George Saunders, Amanda Shires and others, on Tuesday evening the acclaimed novelist and poet Kaveh Akbar will be in conversation with musician, songwriter and Chicagoan Jamila Woods at Metro. The podcast taping will also include an exclusive poetry reading from Akbar, a new song from Woods and host Ben Arthur interviewing scientist Dr. Eman Abdelhadi. Buy tickets here.
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What's your favorite Thanksgiving dessert? Tell us where you can get it in Chicago.
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. |
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5:30 PM | 11:00 PM |
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Want more WTTW News content? Follow WTTW on Instagram to check in with us daily, go behind-the-scenes, and more. |
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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