* News from the North…

Maria Peterson announced her Exploratory Committee for State Representative in the 52nd District. The event was held in Wauconda at Strawberry Moon with a packed crowd. Peterson was introduced by State Representative Nabeela Syed (D., 51) and joined by supporters and the following elected officials:

The Hon. Lauren Beth Gash,
The Hon. Maria Galo,
The Hon. Kristina Zahorik
The Hon. Barry Altshuler,
The Hon. Timothy Howe,
The Hon. Mary Lenling,
The Hon. Dennis Leslie,
The Hon. Jennifer Lucas,
The Hon. Jackie McGrath,
The Hon. Diane Scholten,
The Hon. Ruth Scifo,
The Hon. Nancy Shepherdson,
The Hon. Candace Sinclair,
The Hon. Linda Troester,
The Hon. Lucinda Troester,
The Hon. Gloria Van Hof,
The Hon. Kelli Wegener

* Here’s your morning roundup…

* Patch | Supporters Urge Governor To Sign Mental Health Center Transfer Bill: Legislators Sen. Michael Hastings and Reps. Robert Rita, Debbie Meyers-Martin, and Justin Slaughter spoke in support of HB 3743 and the park district’s plans, flanked by representatives of the Cook County Building Trades Council, Chicago Southland Convention and Visitors Bureau, Sierra Club, Illinois Environmental Council, South Suburban Special Recreation Association, Lincolnway Special Recreation Association, Tinley Park Bulldogs, Moraine Valley Community College, local youth organizations, south suburban school boards, and south suburban area park districts. The group gathered at the park district’s White Water Canyon Park to praise the legislation and publicly petition Pritzker to sign it into law.

* Bond Buyer | Pension risk meter on the rise for Chicago and Illinois, reports warn: Chicago and Illinois — longtime examples of outliers nationally on the size of their unfunded liabilities and funded ratios — have made progress, with Chicago now making payments more closely aligned with an actuarial calculation and both making supplemental contributions to complement scheduled payments.

* Capitol News Illinois | Pritzker signs bills altering Illinois’ health insurance market: “Since day one of my administration, I’ve been committed to making health care more equitable and holistic and accessible,” Pritzker said at a bill signing ceremony in Chicago. “With these bills, we aren’t just increasing access to affordable preventative care, we’re improving the quality of life for millions who call Illinois home.”

* Tribune | In year since defeat in GOP primary for governor, Richard Irvin embracing role as Aurora mayor: “A lot depends on how much more work we have to do,” he said, responding to a query on whether he would run for a third term as mayor in 2025. “This town’s going to look a lot different in two years.” It was Irvin’s way of saying he’s not ready to commit yet to running for a third term with one year and 10 months left on his second one. Nor is he ready to commit to running for anything else, or even if he would just settle into the life of an attorney at Oak Brook-based Castle Law, where he is now affiliated.

* WBEZ | Abortion bans are fueling a rise in high-risk patients heading to Chicago hospitals: Emily had a crushing decision to make: continue to carry a baby who would not survive, which could be a risk to her health and having children in the future, or have an abortion. “I don’t think I stopped crying for an entire two weeks,” said Emily, who asked WBEZ not to use her real name to protect her privacy and safety. “The whole world felt heavy. … It’s not something anybody should have to go through. It’s not easy losing somebody you love.”

* Tribune | Latin School refuses parents’ request for records of son who died by suicide after bullying, new lawsuit says: “We are entitled to our child’s school records, regardless of a loss,” said Robert Bronstein, father of Nate Bronstein, who died in January 2022. “Any parent is, and the school has that statement in their policies and in their handbook that says if a parent wants their children’s school files, here’s the department that you go to. They are refusing because, obviously, whatever’s in the school files will show their negligence.”

* Sun-Times | $1,000 available to survivors of gender-based violence through Chicago program: It’s the latest form of direct cash assistance from the city as residents continue to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. The Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot — which provided $500 for a year to 5,000 residents — is sending out its last benefit this summer. Another city program, the Chicago Resiliency Fund, provided a one-time payment of $500 to domestic workers and undocumented immigrants who were shut out of other federal pandemic relief efforts.

* Sun-Times | ACLU lawsuit: Chicago police target minorities for traffic stops: Fewer than 1% of the 600,000 stops made by CPD officers resulted in an arrest or the discovery of illegal drugs or a gun, according to the lawsuit, but the frequent stops do serious damage to minority Chicagoans’ faith in police, the lawsuit states, citing CPD records and community survey data. A 2023 survey cited in the report showed more than a quarter of Black respondents reported having been in a car that was stopped by police in the last year, versus 11% of Latinos and 7% of whites.

* Crain’s | Invest South/West projects ring up sky-high construction costs: That’s one of the great ironies of Invest South/West, a massive economic development initiative launched four years ago by former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Construction costs for the program’s affordable housing projects in some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods exceed $600,000 and even $700,000 per unit, far higher than the $450,000 to $500,000 per unit for the ritziest high-rises currently under construction in and around downtown.

* Tribune | Chicago’s minimum wage is increasing July 1. Here’s what to know.: The annual bump comes as Chicagoans experience a strong labor market despite layoffs in certain industries, such as Big Tech. Though inflation has cooled off historic highs, prices remain elevated. The minimum wage will increase 2.5% on the first of the month, a percentage that does not match inflation, which grew at a 4% annual rate in May.

* Ald. Raymond Lopez | An open letter to President Biden on what migrants — and Chicago — need now: Putting the politics of fixing the country’s broken and convoluted immigration system aside, it is imperative that you direct Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Ur Jaddou to work with breakneck speed to process and adjudicate all asylum cases as quickly as possible wherever the migrants and asylum seekers presently find themselves.

* WBEZ | Black cowboy culture in Chicago lives on: “A cowboy’s a cowboy no matter [where you are],” Perry recently told WBEZ’S Reset. “The love of horses, the love of animals, the outdoors, the riding that’s involved — that part of nature that’s in some of us humans, you know, that part will not go away, especially the connection between horses and people.”

* AP | Supreme Court rejects novel legislative theory but leaves a door open for 2024 election challenges: The court’s 6-3 ruling Tuesday drove a stake through the most extreme version of the so-called independent state legislature theory, which holds that legislatures have absolute power in setting the rules of federal elections and cannot be second-guessed by state courts. That decision cheered voting rights groups.

* Tribune | Lawsuit that pushed Eric Ferguson off the air at WTMX is dropped without explanation: The lawsuit by former assistant producer Cynthia DeNicolo, filed in May 2021, sparked a tumultuous two years of public battles for Ferguson and Hubbard Radio Chicago, the company that owns the adult contemporary station at 101.9.

* Tribune | Stretch of the CTA Blue Line to close this summer and fall for work to remove slow zones: CTA Blue Line tracks between the West Loop and the Illinois Medical District are set to temporarily close this summer, as work gets underway to remove some of the slow zones that plague the Forest Park branch of the line.

* ABC Chicago | 100 mph speeds, party decks and more: Here’s what the upcoming Chicago NASCAR race has to offer: NASCAR enthusiasts seasoned and novice geared up for the weekend’s races at NASCAR Night at Navy Pier. “I feel so lucky,” said 9-year-old Brian Stanley. “Like, they can race anywhere else and they chose Chicago.”