Known bug... no known solution

I've reach near the "end" of the game when you build up your town to a level 5 star rating. But, upon achieving the 5 star rating, the game goes into an endless loading screen. In addition to this issue, there are Sims completely absent from my game, specifically the mayor. And you can't recall them by inviting them to a makeover or redoing their homes. I've been reading across different forums and found a lot of people facing this glitch, EA doesn't seem to be doing anything about it... any comments?