* The Tribune…

Michael McCuskey, the Illinois legislature’s top ethics watchdog whose tenure has become clouded by recent controversy after his investigation determined a former state lawmaker’s sexual harassment of women violated state law, is resigning the post.

McCuskey, a former state and federal judge, submitted a letter of resignation on Aug. 31 to the eight-member bipartisan, bicameral Legislative Ethics Commission. As the commission was posting a notice of vacancy in the office, McCuskey said he submitted an end date for his employment of Sept. 30.

It was unclear if the commission, made up of four Democrats and four Republicans, with two members from each of the House and Senate’s caucuses, would accept McCuskey’s end date or act to have McCuskey removed sooner. The commission also has the power to terminate McCuskey for cause.

But by posting the notice of vacancy and the process to fill it, the commission made it clear it was taking steps to remove McCuskey from the position, which the legislature appointed him to in February 2022 for a term ending in mid-2028.

* Capitol News Illinois…

Illinois is set to become the first Midwestern state to allow terminally ill adults to take life-ending medication prescribed by physicians when the law goes into effect late this week.

But a federal judge is weighing whether to block the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act, or EOLA, from its Sept. 12 operative date after hearing arguments Friday in a lawsuit that alleges EOLA discriminates against people with disabilities. The suit also claims the law runs afoul of federal law including the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Affordable Care Act.

Thomas Geoghegan, who represents the disability rights groups, physician and disabled Illinoisans who brought the case, told U.S. District Judge John Tharp that the law upends the millennia-old tradition of the Hippocratic oath, a pledge doctors make to “first do no harm.” As a result, Geoghegan argued, EOLA will result in the “severe impairment” of the relationship a patient with disabilities has with his or her physician. […]

But the attorney defending EOLA on behalf of the state argued that the law contains a key stopgap: Physicians are only allowed to discuss lethal options with a terminally ill patient if the patient is the one who brings it up.

EOLA only applies to adults with less than six months to live — a prognosis that must be confirmed by two independent physicians. Patients must make the request for lethal medication both verbally and in writing, and doctors are required to inform them of alternate hospice care and pain control options.

Additionally, a patient requesting the medication must pass a mental evaluation by a physician to determine that they are mentally capable of making the decision and not facing undue influence. Patients must also be physically able to self-administer the medication.

* Crain’s | Illinois moves to curtail delays in getting an autism diagnosis: Under the new law, prompted by research at Northwestern University, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) will now receive specialized training in autism diagnostic evaluation methods to diagnose children with the condition and must complete at least five hours of related continuing education as part of their licensing requirements. The Northwestern study, called “Reduce the Wait,” indicated that SLPs accurately diagnosed autism 93% of the time.

* Sun-Times reporter Mitchell Armentrout…

* Block Club | Chicago-Area Businesses Lost $1.2 Billion Because Of Immigration Crackdown, Report Says: The report’s findings are huge: UIC estimates that Cook County retail and restaurant businesses have lost roughly $1.26 billion in commercial activity and about $107 million in tax revenue since ICE enforcement increased last year. This lost spending was not redirected elsewhere so the losses reflect foregone commerce. This is due to a massive reduction in routine shopping trips that once served as a cornerstone of the local economy. […] “The biggest change we see is in the connections between high Latin America–born neighborhoods and the wider Cook County economy,” said Matt Wilson, a senior associate director at the Great Cities Institute who co-authored the report. “Residents made substantially fewer trips to businesses elsewhere in the county, and that sustained decline meant fewer customers for businesses and less commercial activity across Cook County.”

* Bloomberg | Chicago SPAC makes $1.2B bet on nuclear power’s AI boom: HGP Intelligent Energy plans to go public via a blank-check vehicle in a deal valuing the nuclear services firm at about $1.2 billion, according to a statement from the company on Tuesday.

* Block Club | Conversion Of Former Logan Square Recovery Center Into Apartments Finally Moving Forward: The proposal would add four units to the 2022 proposal and would switch up the unit mix, now with nine studios and 33 one-bedroom apartments, Acosta said. The previous plan called for a 38-unit apartment building, with a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom units with 34 parking spaces. More units were added and two-bedroom apartments were taken out to make the project financially feasible, as construction and lending costs have increased since 2022, Acosta said.

* Tribune | Feds demand FOP president John Catanzara’s financial records from state lodge: Reached by phone for comment Tuesday afternoon, Catanzara told the Tribune that he had not seen the subpoena issued to the state lodge, and said he had not testified to the grand jury or retained an attorney to represent him in the proceedings. He said the investigation was likely sparked by animus within the union, and added that the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 received a similar subpoena last year, as well. “Should we ever determine the origins of this investigation that has cost this lodge membership a lot of money over nonsense and pure hatred, personally, of me — it’s based on nothing more than that — those members will be held responsible,” Catanzara said.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Ice skating path, band shell, shops and more still on the table for old St. Charles police station site on Fox River: At a meeting of the St. Charles City Council’s Committee of the Whole on Aug. 31, Derek Conley, the city’s economic development director, outlined some of the potential options for the site and what each would entail. A band shell is one possibility being considered, Conley told the city council members. The amenity — which could have lower operating costs compared to some of the other options under consideration — could function as a gathering space for the community, he said, as well as increase foot traffic in the city’s downtown. It could also be fairly small, and wouldn’t necessarily take up the full site.

* Sun-Times | Second racist Lincoln-Way East incident alleged by Homewood-Flossmoor: “Our athletes gave written statements that described what occurred while they were in the HF box before the start of the Varsity race on Saturday. Three HF athletes shared a description of one of the LWE coaches making comments about running ‘past those monkeys’ to the LWE team in the starting box directly adjacent. The athletes then reported that some of the team began cheering and making ‘noises that were racist’ and ‘monkey gestures.’ Upon their return and receiving the written statements, we notified LWE leadership. Yesterday evening, our leaders followed up with LWE on what had been done and it was reported that the coach in question stated she was sharing with the LWE runners that they call that event the ‘Jungle’ and the HF team must have misunderstood what was said.” Homewood-Flossmoor says it plans to pursue legal action on this second occurrence as well as the incident at the football game on Friday.

* WCIA | Environmental groups urge more time for feedback on carbon sequestration proposal near Mahomet Aquifer: With three draft permits recently issued, a public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 22 at Gibson City’s Countryside Event Center. Richart said there will be a 90 minute Q&A followed by two hours of formal comments, with written comments due the very next day. “So the EPA really needs to do a good job satisfying the people who rely on [the aquifer], that they’ve done everything they can to make sure that this water that we drink is protected. And they’re not going to be able to do that in 90 minutes, not with hundreds of people attending this hearing,” Richart said.

* Muddy River News | Quincy alderman unsuccessfully seeks orders of protection against third ward constituents: Alderman Mike Adkins was denied an order of protection against a Ward 3 constituent and his wife after their tense exchange during a town hall meeting over Adkins’ social media posts regarding Islam and Muslims. On August 30, Tyler and Chelsea Ormond called for Adkins’ resignation during a town hall meeting for Ward 3, saying Adkins shared Facebook posts that were Islamophobic.

* IPM Newsroom | Workers at The Literary are hopeful unionization and new ownership will bring positive changes: Workers at The Literary — a bookstore, cafe and bar in downtown Champaign — voted to unionize in late August. A day before the vote, former owner Jenny Shima sold The Literary to Jeffrey and Lauren Brokish, according to reporting from Smile Politely. […] The Lit’s new owners, Jeffrey and Lauren Brokish, also own several other businesses across the greater Champaign area, including Martinelli’s Market and Central Illinois Bakehouse. They did not respond to a request for comment.

* The Daily Egyptian | Lost Cross takes over Carbondale for its 40th anniversary: Punk rock dominated Carbondale Sept. 4-6 in celebration of 40 years of Lost Cross, the oldest continually operating punk house basement venue in America. Despite the heat wave that blasted southern Illinois, people still brought their wild dance moves and alternative style for a memorable weekend. Around 40 bands performed throughout the weekend across multiple venues, including the Lost Cross, PK’s, Booby’s, Hangar 9 and the New Era Events Plaza. Each venue provided the bands with a stage and a hyper crowd.

* NOTUS | Trump Is Quietly Planning to Majorly Change How National Parks Are Run: The country’s 430 park units would experience a significant change under the proposed plans. The documents describe transitioning the park service to a new “hub and spoke” model, with some “hub” parks given the power to manage priorities, leadership and direction for “spoke” parks that would report them, according to the documents. Currently park superintendents report to regional leadership. While the regional system will remain in place, the draft documents indicate that Interior intends for power to be centralized in the “hub” parks: They would direct priorities and vision, while “spoke” parks would be responsible for implementation.

* AP | Cyclospora Outbreak Followed Years of Declining FDA Foreign Inspections: Under the law, the FDA is supposed to inspect more than 19,000 international food sites annually. The agency hit an all-time high of 1,700 in 2019 — less than one-tenth of the target, according to the Government Accountability Office.