* Here you go…

* Tribune | Illinois to offer credit monitoring for those affected by cyberattack against state and others: The state will send out notices this week to people eligible to sign up for the credit monitoring, according to the Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology. Only people whose data was part of the breach will get the call center phone number, the state said.

* ABC Chicago | Illinois assault weapons ban goes to 7th Circuit Court of Appeals: Thursday a three-member panel hear arguments from attorneys involved in six consolidated lawsuits challenging the ban. Deputy Solicitor General Sarah Hunger argued for the state and said of the AR-15, “These are not in common use for self-defense.” They are instead, she said, “offensive and militaristic.”

* Tribune | Appeals hearing asks whether a weapon’s popularity should exempt it from Illinois’ sweeping gun ban: The half-dozen challenges being heard in a consolidated case before a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals all hinge on whether the individual right to bear arms under the Second Amendment extends to the more than 100 types of guns that are subject to the state ban, including the popular AR-15 rifle, and to the high-capacity magazines that also are subject to the ban.

* Daily Herald | ‘Reclaim our hometown’: Highland Park community to walk parade route in show of solidarity, resilience: “In an effort to sort of find that balance, my thought was that by having a walk together we reclaim our parade route,” Rotering said. “For the last year, it was taken from us. It was taken from us by somebody with bad intent, it’s been taken from us and politicized, and to me it really means wonderful hometown memories grabbed away from our community without any say on our behalf.”

* David Kraft | Governor should veto lifting nuclear moratorium: Pritzker’s April statement was correct – we need to ensure we’re not “opening this up to nuclear everywhere or every type of nuclear.” He unfortunately finds himself in the tough political space of having to consider vetoing two pieces of legislation championed by the Democratic legislature, one whose 11th-hour political manipulations closely resemble the way the BMI (”Before-Madigan-Indictment”) legislature operated.

* Tribune | After yearlong reprieve, Illinois grocery tax returns Saturday, while gas tax rises for second time this year: “What we did last year was a temporary measure because we had very high inflation,” Pritzker said during an unrelated news conference in Chicago on Tuesday. “Inflation, you may notice, has come down. But we had very high inflation, and we wanted to do everything that we could, and we provided $1.8 billion of tax relief for families across Illinois.”

* Tribune | As Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action, Chicago and Illinois react: ‘This decision only sets us back’: In Illinois, widespread rebuke over the decision came quickly from politicians and educators alike, who called the ruling a devastating setback to equity at institutions of higher education nationwide. Eddie Phillips, provost and vice president of academic affairs for National Louis University, one of Chicago’s leading minority-serving universities, said the ruling reverses decades of progress.

* CBS Chicago | Former Illinois State Rep. Greg Harris reflects on work to support LGBTQ+ community: In more than 16 years in the Illinois House, Greg Harris sponsored legislation that changed the lives of many members of the LGBTQ+ community. Before he became one of the first openly gay lawmakers in Illinois and the first openly gay man to hold a leadership post in the Illinois House, he was also chief of staff to former Chicago Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th).

* Crain’s | State’s top banking regulator joins Johnson’s administration: Johnson named Chasse Rehwinkel to serve as the city’s comptroller, charged with overseeing the collection and disbursement of the city’s revenues. Rehwinkel joins the city from the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation, where he oversaw regulation of roughly 300 banks as state banking director.

* Sun-Times | Migrant crisis reverses decade-long enrollment decline at CPS, top mayoral aide says: To ensure better educational outcomes for the new arrivals, the Johnson administration plans to open an “enrollment center” at Roberto Clemente Community Academy High School in time for the first day of school on Aug. 21.

* Tribune | Cook County juvenile detention center officials defend practices after reports criticize use of restraint and confinement: The JTDC is where about 180 youths aged 10 to 21 are detained at a given time while court proceedings are pending. The center is subject to varying levels of oversight from the county board, the county’s chief judge and the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, but recent reports from independent watchdogs have raised concerns about internal practices.

* Sun-Times | Staffing shortages are hindering reforms in Chicago Police Department, court monitor tells mayor:
In a report filed in federal court Thursday, monitor Maggie Hickey’s team offered three broad agenda items for the mayor, who will decide on a new superintendent over the next several months. Hickey urged the Johnson administration to conduct a comprehensive study of department staffing, data collection and reporting, and to develop a community policing plan.

* Reflector | Drought hits the Midwest, threatening crops and the world’s food supply: Nearly 60% of the Midwest, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin, is under moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, which is run jointly by the federal government and the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Nearly 93% of the region is abnormally dry, with around 16% of it suffering severe drought.

* Eater | In ‘The Bear,’ the World’s Greatest Restaurant Resides in Chicago: Viewers won’t see Curtis Duffy’s face while watching the second season of The Bear, but the chef of Michelin-starred Ever’s hands are all over the production. That’s not a metaphor. In Episode 7, titled “Forks,” Duffy’s hands are seen plating the dishes served at Ever. At least The Bear’s version of Ever, the Fulton Market restaurant co-owned by Duffy and Michael Muser. The Bear’s version of Ever is a three-starred establishment from chef Terry (portrayed by Oscar winner Olivia Colman), hailed as the world’s best restaurant.

* Illinois Times | More heads in beds: A few more dollars tacked onto daily hotel room charges in Springfield could be used to expand the Bank of Springfield Center and boost the city’s hospitality industry for years to come. That option is among several potential uses for a tourism improvement district, or TID, that the director of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau said he hopes will be pursued in coming months.

* Center Square | Despite a statewide ban, Illinoisans continue to go over the border to buy fireworks: Chris Brunson with Mark’s Fireworks in Evansville, Indiana, with locations all over the state, said they see a steady stream of Illinois license plates in the parking lot. “We do, we have a location in Vincennes that gets Illinois business, but we have plenty of locations in Indiana that get traffic from Illinois,” Brunson said.

* Daily Herald | When and where you can see Fourth of July fireworks displays in the suburbs Fourth of July — which falls on a Tuesday this year — is almost here, and that means fireworks. Here’s a list of where you can see them each day leading up to July 4 and beyond.

* SJ-R | After storm, city declares local state of emergency; curfew to be enacted: “The damage and destruction to the city is to such an extent that extraordinary measures must be taken to protect the health, safety and welfare of the city of Springfield and its residents,” Buscher said at a press conference early Thursday evening.