When the COVID-19 infection rate surged in August, Illinois officials reinstated an indoor mask mandate to fight it. Today the rate is nearly double, but no new safety measures have been added to the mask mandate.

Why it matters: Every Illinois county has now reached "high transmission" levels.

• Winnebago County issued a disaster declaration in response to skyrocketing numbers of cases and hospitalizations last week.
• A new COVID surge at Chicago Public Schools has put 10,000 students in quarantine.
• Chicago cases have tripled in eight weeks.
• The Bulls are in the midst of an outbreak. More than half the team is in health and safety protocols.
• At least one recent event suggests current regulations are only spottily enforced. At Saturday's TBOX bar crawl, thousands jammed into Wrigleyville bars without masks.

Between the lines: Illinois has recently seen a daily rise in vaccinations, with a rolling average of 72,775 jabs last week.

What they're saying: Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th Ward) wants lawmakers to consider stronger measures.

• "One option would be limiting the number of people that can attend a bar or restaurant, you know, capping it at 50% perhaps or less," Ramirez-Rosa told NBC News.
• Health Commissioner Allison Arwady said she won't rule out requiring vaccination proof to attend public gatherings.

Reality check: The Department of Business Affairs told us last week they were sending teams to Wrigleyville bars to "remind them to abide by the mask mandate" during TBOX.

• We checked in at half a dozen bars and didn't spot a single indoor patron following the mandate.

The Bears started strong but fell apart in the second half to lose their sixth straight against the Packers.

Why it matters: The Bears lost 45-30 to fall to 4-9. They've guaranteed their first losing season since 2017.

• After taking a lead into halftime, the Bears gave up 24 unanswered points and were thoroughly outplayed by the Packers in the second half.

MVP: Speedster Jakeem Grant scored a big punt return for a touchdown. The special teams played well, including a late onside kick recovery. They almost turned the game around with a fumble TD return, but it was nullified by a questionable penalty.

LVP: The Bears secondary continued their mediocre season, giving up big plays and missing tackles. Justin Fields also turned the ball over three times, including an interception returned for a touchdown.

• Playing in relief of the injured Jason Peters, rookie offensive tackle Teven Jenkins committed costly penalties and had a hard time protecting Fields.

Other tidbits: Linebacker Robert Quinn had two sacks to give him 14 on the season. He's tied for the lead in the NFC.

• The Bears' 27 first-half points were a season high.
• Coach Matt Nagy is now 1-7 against the Packers.

What's next: The Bears play the Vikings on Monday Night Football.

Crews continue to search for victims of last week's tornadoes, including at the Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Ill. (Chicago Tribune)

⚖️ State's Attorney Kim Foxx is "taking another look" at when to prosecute retail theft as smash-and-grabs continue. (Crain's Chicago Business)

💕 The legendary "pink house" on the West Side is being sold … and saved. (Block Club Chicago)

🎻 Classical music station WFMT turns 70 today and will celebrate with a broadcast of live performances all day. (WFMT.com)

👋 Hey, it's Monica the Compost Lover.

Today's local gift is aimed at the environmentalist on your list.

The gift: A compost service subscription with a company that picks up your food scraps on a schedule and brings them to a processing facility.

• Some even offer free finished compost in the spring.

The local choices: Suburbs like Evanston and Oak Park already offer "organic waste" collection as a municipal service. But if your recipient lives in Chicago, you'll need to sign them up with one of these private outfits.

• Companies that provide bucket pickups include Healthy Soil/Urban Canopy, Collective Resource and Waste Not.
• Companies that offer bins to share with neighbors include Resource Center and Block Bins.

Price of subscription: Starts at $10.50-$15 a month per home.

Price of shedding food waste guilt: Incalculable.

Go deeper: More composting services in Illinois.

Faithful Axios reader and retired Sun-Times art director "Mr. Bill" Linden takes a brisk downtown walk every morning and sends reports on cool stuff he sees.

• He sent these snaps of his favorite trees at the Blackstone, Congress Plaza and Hilton Chicago hotels downtown this month.

📸 Mr. Bill is asking you for photos of the best holiday spectacles in your area. Send them by responding to this email and we'll share them soon.