* ISP…

For the second year, the Illinois State Police (ISP) is reporting a decrease in the number of shootings on Chicago area expressways. At the midway mark for 2023, the Illinois State Police (ISP) is reporting the total number of Chicago area expressway shootings is down 23% compared to this time last year. The number of non-fatal injury expressway shooting in the Chicago area is down 50% compared to this time in 2022.

“The Illinois State Police’s dedication of additional resources has reduced shootings on Chicago area expressways for the second year in a row,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly. “This year’s reduction in the number of shootings, on top of the decreases we saw last year, shows our actions to reduce violence on the expressway are effective and we will continue tackling shootings head-on to make the expressways safer.”

Expressway shootings have dropped from 109 in the first six months of 2021 to 59 so far this year, but that’s still more than two per week.

* Press release…

Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) today highlighted Illinois’ top rankings in CNBC’s 2023 Top States for Business publication - an annual report that ranks states based on 10 broad categories of competitiveness. This year, Illinois ranked in the top 10 in the nation for four categories of competitiveness, and six categories in the top 20. Illinois is ranked 17th best state for business, rising ahead two spots from the 2022 ranking and up from 30th in the 2019 ranking.

Highlights include:

• #2 in the nation for infrastructure (up from #3 in ‘22)
• #2 in the nation for education (up from #6 in ‘22)
• #6 in the nation for access to capital (up from #8 in ‘22)
• #9 in the nation for cost of living (up from #20 in ‘22)

Not mentioned is that CNBC ranked Illinois 39th for business friendliness, 33rd for the economy, 32nd for cost of doing business and 28th for workforce.

Minnesota ranked 5th overall, Michigan ranked 10th, Ohio was 12th, Indiana was 13th and Pennsylvania was 15th. Illinois, as mentioned above, was 17th.

* Can Illinois get some of this?…

Florida Republican Governor and 2024 presidential contender Ron DeSantis quietly rejected hundreds of millions of dollars in federal energy funding, as the Biden administration touts the benefits of its marquee climate law on the campaign trail in battleground states.

The funding, totaling about $377 million, included hundreds of millions of dollars for energy-efficiency rebates and electrification as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as money from the bipartisan infrastructure legislation that became law in 2021.

* Some of this is a bit of a stretch…

EXCLUSIVE — A freshman House Democrat may have violated federal law due to his “improper” Twitter usage, according to a right-leaning ethics watchdog group.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust is demanding that the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent and nonpartisan body that reviews misconduct allegations against lawmakers, “immediately investigate” if Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-IL) “has abused official resources for political purposes” by using the Twitter account for his campaign to post content from his congressional office and the House floor, according to a Wednesday ethics complaint obtained by the Washington Examiner. […]

Sorensen, a former weatherman who was elected in 2022, links on his campaign Twitter account to his official social media account. The congressman’s campaign account, as of this writing, also has a pinned tweet linking to “all of his official accounts” for social media, the watchdog noted in its complaint.

The complaint cites several Twitter posts from Sorensen’s campaign account that purportedly use official resources, including one from May 25 that shows the House floor with the caption, “It’s not even 11 o’clock on Thursday morning and every Republican left the House and went home.”

I reached out to Sorensen’s DC office and haven’t heard back. I’m not quite sure why someone can’t link to government accounts from a campaign account. The other way around would definitely be a problem.

* Background is here if you need it. From Jennifer Welch, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois…

“This is a sad day for Iowa residents who are facing a draconian 6-week abortion ban, a time when many people are unaware they are even pregnant. Abortion bans and restrictions do not stop people from having abortions, it just creates unnecessary and burdensome barriers to those most vulnerable like young people, immigrants, people living in poverty and people facing domestic violence. Already Illinois is welcoming more abortion patients than any other state; our doors are open and we are actively preparing for the waves of pregnant Iowans fleeing their home in search of care. We continue to fight for everyone to access the health care they need and deserve.”

* StudyFinds…

To find out who is currently dealing with crippling amounts of stress, the WalletHub team compared more than 180 cities across 39 key metrics, looking at everything from unemployment rates and household income to health and divorce rates.

Chicago ranked 32nd most stressed, but Aurora was 147th out of 182.

* Isabel’s roundup…

* Bloomberg | Inflation at 3% Flags End of Emergency, Turning Point for Fed: At 3% last month, consumer-price inflation is now just one-third of the level it reached a year ago, which was the highest in four decades. And the details for June were also better than expected, with key measures of underlying inflation coming in below forecasts.

* WTTW | Battle Lines Drawn in Northwest Side State Senate District as Progressives Look to Consolidate Power: In next year’s primary, Toro is likely to face Graciela Guzman, who has the support of the political movement that not only elected Johnson in April but also notched a series of victories in the 2022 Democratic primaries, winning six of seven contested races.

* WTTW | Chicago Officials Seek Community Input on Environmental Issues Facing Neighborhoods: Chicago Department of Public Health Managing Deputy Commissioner Megan Cunningham said that identifying neighborhoods that experience the greatest combined impact of environmental exposure, along with health and social stressors, is important so the city knows which areas might require additional protections and investment when it comes to decisions related to zoning, permits and planning.

* In These Times | Meet the New Leader of Chicago’s Progressive Political Powerhouse: Kennedy Bartley is taking over as the next executive director of United Working Families, the group that helped elect Chicago’s new left-wing leadership.

* Shaw Local | Joliet City Council not in agreement on limiting City Hall contacts: The Joliet City Council had a mixed reaction to a presentation advising how much influence elected officials should have at City Hall.

* Crain’s | Could a union have protected Northwestern football players?: In the wake of the scandal, former University of Minnesota regent and college athlete advocate Michael Hsu has filed a new complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against Northwestern. His goal: to help athletes gain employment status — partially so they can better protect themselves in the future.

* Crain’s | CEO of med tech giant joins Walgreens board: “Tom is a strong addition to our board,” Roz Brewer, CEO of Walgreens, said in the statement. “As the health care landscape continues to evolve, his extensive industry and technology experience will be a great benefit to delivering on our consumer-centric health care strategy and driving long-term shareholder value.”

* SJ-R | Disaster proclamation sends city workers scurrying to submit report: Tuesday’s meeting had the added attraction of former Mayor Jim Langfelder addressing what he called “misstatements” by Buscher about technology which might have better aided City Water, Light and Power in the aftermath of the storm that caused widespread damage across the city and knocked power for more than half of its customers.

* KMOV | 3 dead, 14 injured in Greyhound bus crash along I-70 near Highland, Illinois: Illinois State Police told News 4 the Greyhound bus hit three semi-trucks that were parked in the off-ramp on a rest stop on westbound I-70 just before 2 a.m. Officials told News 4 the Greyhound bus was traveling from Indianapolis to St. Louis.

* Sun-Times | Northern lights unlikely to illuminate Chicago skies this week: Though Chicago didn’t get lucky this time, some best practices to see the northern lights include avoiding city light and downtown areas. Light pollution can make it more difficult, especially since the aurora borealis is dim to begin with, said Adam Miller, an astronomy professor at Northwestern University.

* CBS Chicago | More than 500 flights delayed, 200 canceled at Chicago airports due to weather: As of 11:30 a.m., 415 flights were delayed at O’Hare International Airport. There have been 243 flight cancellations. At Midway International Airport, 217 flights were delayed. Two flights have been canceled.

* WCIA | Illinois-shaped pollinator garden coming to Champaign: “I hope that when people visit the pollinator garden, they, number one, recognize the importance of pollinators to agriculture,” said Farm Manager Sophia Hortin. “But number two, the agriculture commitment to pollinators. Farmers really do care about the role that pollinators play and are committed to preserving them and having a role for them in the environment. And that’s what we’re trying to showcase here.”

* AP | A Biden plan cuts student loan payments for millions to $0. Will it be the next legal battle?: Starting this summer, millions of Americans with student loans will be able to enroll in a new repayment plan that offers some of the most lenient terms ever. Interest won’t pile up as long as borrowers make regular payments. Millions of people will have monthly payments reduced to $0. And in as little as 10 years, any remaining debt will be canceled.

* Art News | Illinois State Museum Returns Stolen Artifacts to Kenyan Officials: The Illinois State Museum has returned more than 30 stolen artifacts with ties to the Mijikenda peoples, who are native to modern-day Kenya, to the country’s network of national museums. The memorial statues, known as “vigango,” are considered spiritual objects commemorating deceased ancestors.

* Block Club | A 7-Year-Old’s Mullet Made Him Stand Out. Now, His ‘Chicago Cascade’ Could Win A National Championship: Evan Hall, of Gladstone Park, wanted to highlight that city kids can rock a mullet just as well as country kids. You can vote for him in the USA Mullet Championships.