* WBEZ…

Health care behind bars in Illinois comes with heavy financial and human costs. Since 2011 Illinois has paid Wexford Health Sources, a private company, well over a billion dollars to provide medical care to people in the state’s prisons. During that time, a federal judge determined the care was so poor it violated the US constitution, and an independent monitor has released reports documenting deaths from substandard medical care.

Wexford’s shortcomings could be measured in numbers:

Fifty percent of the health care provider’s jobs in Illinois are unfilled. Three Wexford doctors lack the proper credentials. Patients in need of dental fillings at one prison are on a 104-week waitlist. And in a review of 17 deaths, an outside monitor found that medical staff gave two prisoners medications that contributed to their deaths.

Or you could measure the failings in the horror stories:

Go read the rest.

* Good news for cannabis sales…

Illinois pot shops sold $136.4 million worth of cannabis to recreational buyers, according to the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation. That’s the largest total since a record-setting haul of $143.9 million in December, which is typically the best month of the year for marijuana sales. […]

Total revenue was up, despite falling prices, fueled by a 15% increase in the number of products sold to a record 3.46 million items. Sales are benefiting from an increase in the number of retail outlets, as winners of new licenses awarded last year begin opening stores.

“There are close to 30 more stores open this June versus a year ago, which is making cannabis much more accessible across the state,” said Jason Erkes, spokesman for Cresco Labs. “That, combined with lower prices, contributed to last month’s bump in sales.”

Competition works. Keep at it.

* Good news on tourism…

Today, Governor JB Pritzker joined the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), elected officials, and industry leaders to announce that Illinois reached its highest-ever hotel revenue figures in FY23 ($308 million) – surpassing the pre-pandemic record in FY19. Additionally, Illinois welcomed 111 million visitors who spent $44 billion in 2022 – representing 14 million additional travelers spending $12 billion more than calendar year 2021. […]

State hotel revenue collections are provided by the Illinois Department of Revenue. The figure represents all of Illinois’ hotels, motels, and lodging establishment’s taxable revenue. Additionally, the annual economic impact of visitors is compiled by Tourism Economics and measures the number of visitors as well as their impact on Illinois’ economy during the calendar year.

* ICCB…

The Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) is picking up the cost for state residents to earn a State of Illinois High School Diploma (formerly high school equivalency certificate).

Over 1.2 million Illinoisans don’t have a high school diploma. The state grant funding can be used in the form of discount codes to take the tests free of charge.

“People that earn a high school diploma make $600 more a month on average so taking these tests and earning that diploma is a big deal. It can lead to better lives for thousands of Illinoisans and we want to remove as many barriers as possible,” said ICCB Executive Director Brian Durham.

To educate the public, the ICCB has launched a digital campaign to spread the word about the critical grant funding available to take the test for free using the discount code ILSAVE.

Interested residents can go to FREEGEDIL.ORG to access the testing site, use the code and take the test.

* This was in the morning roundup…

A state representative has launched a petition drive to demonstrate the level of support for Illinois’ Invest in Kids scholarship program, which is in danger of being phased out.

State Rep. Randy Frese, R-Paloma started the petition drive to show Democrat leadership in the General Assembly there is grassroots support for the state-backed scholarship program for children who attend non-public schools and technical academies.

So far, just 13 people have signed.

Oops.

* ABATE of Illinois…

TESLA has announced the expansion of testing their experimental full-service autonomous driving technology on public roadways into 14 additional cities including Elgin, Illinois. They announced new positions for drivers to collect data from the use of their autopilot and full-service driving systems. This technology was the subject of a blockbuster Washington Post Report that revealed TESLA’s full-service driving & autopilot driving systems have killed more drivers than previously disclosed. This included four motorcyclists, three of whom were run over at highway speeds by TESLA vehicles using these driving modes.

The specific threat posed to bikers by Tesla vehicles was recently recognized by former NHTSA Senior Safety Advisor Missy Cummings who stated, “It’s very dangerous for motorcycles to be around Teslas”. Missy continues to be active in the autonomous vehicle field as a professor at George Mason University’s College of Engineering & Computing.

“Despite the documented dangers to motorcyclists and the driving public, Tesla continues to push forward with the irresponsible and hazardous testing of their vehicles on public roadways.” Said Bob Ellinger, State Coordinator of ABATE of Illinois. “ABATE of Illinois has been a leader in talking about the dangers of Tesla vehicles in Illinois and nationwide. We will continue to fight against technology on the road that has shown to be fatal to riders.”

In addition to being dangerous to bikers and motorists, Tesla autonomous systems are under investigation for 16 different crashes into first responder vehicles including one fatality. The initial investigation was for 10 collisions, and 6 additional collisions were found during that investigation.

“While Congress removed any reference to Autonomous Vehicles in recently passed Highway Bills, there were several bills filed this year to deal with the responsible regulation of these vehicles here in Illinois.” According to Josh Witkowski, State Legislative Coordinator & Lobbyist for ABATE of Illinois. “Our lives are not a field test for autonomous vehicles like Tesla, and Illinois must step up to lead in responsible regulation and development of autonomous technology. There was talk of a serious autonomous vehicles working group during session. Now is the time to make that happen.”

A recent AAA study found that only 9% of Americans “trust” self driving vehicles and 68% are “afraid” of it. This is an increase in the level of distrust of autonomous vehicles since the AAA started tracking surveys on the issue. ABATE believes that this increased level of distrust is directly due to increased fatalities caused by Tesla’s haphazard deployment of testing their dangerous technologies. This increased distrust is harmful to those companies who want to responsibly develop autonomous technology in Illinois.

Therefore, in an effort to protect the motorcyclists of Illinois and encourage responsible development of autonomous technology in Illinois, ABATE of Illinois is calling on the Governor and legislative leaders to convene an Autonomous Vehicle Working Group to develop legislation that will both protect the public and help keep Illinois a leader in developing the next generation of transportation technologies. This group should have representatives from the manufacturing and industry sectors, transportation safety advocates and professionals, and transportation advocacy groups representing all modes of transportation and road users.

* Isabel’s roundup…

* Crain’s | Rivian shares soar on signs the EV maker has turned a corner: The maker of plug-in pickups, SUVs and delivery vans is coming off its best week since its November 2021 debut — the shares soared 48% after the company reported better quarterly production than expected and started shipping hundreds of vehicles to Europe for Amazon.com Inc., its biggest shareholder.

* Pioneer Press | Winnetka business owner convicted for price gouging N95 masks during early days of the pandemic: Prosecutors said that from March to April 2020, Topouzian purchased 79,160 respirator masks, including N95 masks, for about $5.08 per mask. The masks were later sold for as much as $19.95 per mask, an approximate markup of 185% to 367% per mask.

* Tribune | West Siders want a seat at the table when Democratic National Convention comes to Chicago: ‘It’s important that they invest in our people’: U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, who has represented the West Side since 1997, is pledging he and other members of Illinois’ Washington delegation will press the Democratic National Committee to secure Black businesses don’t get left behind when contracts and jobs are awarded ahead of the event.

* Crain’s | Illinois reports record hotel revenue: Gov. J.B. Pritzker today announced that the state collected nearly $308 million in hotel tax revenue during its 2023 fiscal year, which ended on June 30. The figure was up 36% from the 2022 fiscal year and topped the previous record high of $296 million the state pulled in from hotels during its 2019 fiscal year.

* WBEZ | Here’s why there is still so much lead pipe in Chicago: Consider Chicago, with more water pipes made out of lead than any U.S. city, some 400,000. About 7% of homes that requested sampling last year exceeded federal limits, and in at least 73 homes, it was at least twice that much, according to an AP analysis of more than 3,500 samples collected using a method that’s more sensitive than the federal government’s.

* WJBC | More funding coming to Illinois for microbiology research: According to a press release, U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, R-Rockford, joined the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to announce on Monday that Illinois State University will receive $74,000 in funding for microbiology research.

* Center Square | Danville, IL Ranks Among the Poorest U.S. Cities: The Danville metropolitan area in Illinois, for example, is one of 23 U.S. metro areas where more than one in every five people live below the poverty line. The 20.9% poverty rate in Danville is the 17th highest of the 386 U.S. metro areas with available data.

* Rock River Current | ‘It’s Going To Be Really Dynamic’: Belvidere Primed For New Downtown Train Station After Metra Pick: The city’s future passenger platform is planned to be built just east of South State Street, roughly between City Hall and the Boone County Museum of History. It’s a location that connects the city’s future rail service to parts of its past, and it’s located about one block west of the historic depot that was razed more than five decades ago.

* SJ-R | ‘A voice of authority.’ Longtime public radio news director, morning host Bradley dies at 83: After graduating from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and stints at radio stations in Herrin, Carbondale and Danville, Bradley came to Springfield to work at WCVS-AM in 1965. He joined WSSR-FM at then-Sangamon State University, now the University of Illinois Springfield, several months before the station went on the air on Jan. 3, 1975, staying as news director and host of “State Week in Review” until his retirement in 2009.

* Daily Southtown | ‘Amazing and kind of shocking’: Bluegrass draws estimated 12K to Frankfort for free festival: After running nine Bluegrass Fests from 2011-2019, organizer Steve Haberichter had to shut it down in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic. He finally got to resume the 10th edition of the downtown Frankfort event in 2022, but had plenty of scheduling headaches when a handful of bands canceled at the last minute because their members had COVID-19.