* A reminder that the Yvette Shields Memorial Fund is still accepting donations. Please, click here if you can give. Thanks.

* Press release…

Today Governor JB Pritzker joined Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, local officials, and business leaders to celebrate the official opening of Lion Electric’s newest electric vehicle manufacturing facility. The 900,000 square foot facility is the largest all-electric U.S. plant dedicated to medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicle production and builds on Governor Pritzker’s years of investment in EV manufacturing and production across the state.

“My administration has made investing in the EV sector a priority, because we know that the future of Illinois relies on dependable clean energy jobs as we transition to a carbon-free future,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Companies like Lion have recognized the many resources Illinois provides, including our uniquely talented workforce, and together we have set the state on a path to thousands more jobs and increased EV capacity.”

Governor Pritzker, Lion Electric CEO Marc Bédard, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth attended the event alongside Lion executives and other area representatives. The event was also attended by nearly 150 students from the Boys & Girls Club of Chicago and Com Ed’s Youth Ambassador Program, to tour the facility, ride a zero-emission school bus, and learn about future career opportunities in green engineering and manufacturing.

This event followed a successful week of meetings regarding EV’s and manufacturing during the Governor’s delegation trip to the United Kingdom. The Governor attended the Goodwood Festival of Speed and met with executives and government leaders from around the UK to promote Illinois’ many opportunities for business development and trade. Illinois’ burgeoning EV industry and the many incentives Illinois provides to EV manufacturers were crucial aspects of these conversations.

* Another press release…

Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) launched $37.9 million in funding for the Illinois Clean Jobs Workforce Network Program or “CEJA Workforce Hubs.” The program represents the largest training component of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), establishing a network of 13 community-based hubs across the state offering training, job placement services, barrier reduction support and more. The organizations that will run CEJA Workforce Hubs will be selected through a competitive Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) process.

“It’s been our priority since day one that as Illinois moves into the clean energy future, we make sure to continue to build strong career paths for those breaking into this growing industry,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Investing in these workforce hubs is a cornerstone of that commitment, working in collaboration with educational institutions and businesses to build on our successes as we move towards a greener and more equitable state.”

The CEJA Workforce Hubs are at the core of a highly interconnected set of statewide clean energy workforce development and community support programs. The Hubs will provide training and certification in alignment with the Clean Jobs Curriculum Framework to prepare people for entry-level clean energy jobs, including an introductory bridge training program and at least two job-specific training programs in the clean energy space, which will be selected by each Hub based on the local clean energy workforce needs. Participants can attend free of charge, receive a stipend, and access support services through barrier reduction funding.

* Farm Week…

JUST IN: Illinois @usdafsa Executive Director Scott Halpin says 5 counties — Adams, Hancock, Pike, Randolph & Schuyler — now authorized for emergency grazing on #CRP acres due to extreme #drought conditions limit. pasture quality/availability. Big deal for livestock producers. pic.twitter.com/JK98qHfXAm

— Tim Eggert (@TimothyMEggert) July 21, 2023

* WBEZ…

From July 2 to July 18, more than 12,000 [Chicago] basement flooding reports were filed with 311, more than the number of basement flooding reports filed in all of 2021 and 2022 combined, according to a WBEZ analysis.

No other month since 2019, the earliest year 311 flooding data is available online, comes close to July’s current volume of reports.

“I’ve been here [at the Department of Water Management] for 19 years now, and we’ve seen some bad storm events before, and I mean bad, but this one was unbelievable,” said the department’s commissioner, Andrea Cheng, who was on the West Side on July 2 assessing the impact of the rainstorm.

* Springfield city council coverage…

Ward 6 Ald. Jennifer Notariano had some cross words for the Illinois Freedom Caucus and the Independent Women’s Forum, organizers of last Thursday’s rally against the YMCA of Springfield.

Notariano called them “outsider agitators” who had come to Springfield “to sow discord.”

“We all appreciate that the YMCA strives to offer a welcoming space, so I choose to highlight the staff, the administration and the members who make it that way, rather than the politicians who traveled 100 miles out of their way to use our community as a backdrop for their manufactured outrage,” said Notariano towards the end of the meeting. […]

Emails provided by the YMCA to The State Journal-Register also suggested Wheeler’s parents voluntarily removed her from the swim team and canceled their membership.

* Heh…

Tribune: "To feature your luxury listing of $1,000,000 or more in Chicago Tribune’s Dream Homes…" https://t.co/ukxqJEZ1FL

Also Tribune: https://t.co/dOvnG31Zuq

— Capitol Fax (@capitolfax) July 21, 2023

* Isabel’s afternoon roundup…

* ABC Chicago | Lion Electric opening electric vehicle plant in Channahon Friday: The creation of this electric vehicle plant is going to generate an estimated 1,400 and produce up to 20,000 vehicles per year. This is major news for Illinois and the greater Chicago area. The creation of Lion Electric’s new plant in Channahon is the first dedicated vehicle assembly plant in the Chicago metro since 1965.

* BND | Illinois Gaming Board files third disciplinary complaint against a businessman from Highland: Lucky Lincoln Gaming, which is owned by Jeff Rehberger Jr., has nearly 1,200 machines, officially known as “terminals,” in about 200 bars, restaurants, gas stations and other locations throughout Illinois. That includes 10 in the metro-east, according to its website, along with central and Southern Illinois locations in McLean, Livingston, DeWitt, Macon, Christian, Franklin, Crawford, Fayette and Marion counties.

* Chalkbeat | Will Chicago meet an Aug. 21 deadline to train staff on how and when they can restrain students?: If Chicago does not follow state law, the Illinois State Board of Education warned that the district could be placed under probation in a letter dated April 18. If the district does not comply, Chicago could lose state recognition meaning that it could lose state funding.

* Tribune | Migrants are leaving Chicago shelters with the help of rental assistance. Some landlords are skeptical, others step in to help: But while many migrant families like Ari’s have received rental assistance and signed leases for housing units around the city, more than 11,000 new arrivals remain in limbo, housed in city and volunteer-run shelters and police stations, waiting for their turn. Some are unaware of the assistance available.

* Sun-Times | Pioneering environmental justice organization threatened with eviction from South Side headquarters: Johnson said she’s not been told why CHA or its property manager would want her out other than the office could be used for a family. On Thursday, representatives from the management company tried to enter Johnson’s office and told her they wanted to make sure the unit was vacated, she said.

* Dewitt Daily | Lincoln Mayor: Lincoln College Will Reopen: On the WHOW Morning Show Friday, Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch told Regional Radio the school will reopen. What it will look like though remains to be seen. If it were to come to fruition, the Mayor calls the re-opening of Lincoln College a huge positive for the community.

* Crain’s | Toxic posts on economist job site traced to users from UChicago, Notre Dame and other elite schools: Economics Job Market Rumors, a site started in 2008 to aid newly minted doctorate holders in their job searches, has become notorious for hateful and damaging content, all anonymous. A trio of researchers from Boston University and Yale University said they unmasked internet addresses connected to two-thirds of posts and determined many of the users’ physical locations, though not their identities.

* Sun-Times | Beyoncé at Soldier Field: Bag policy, transit options, tickets: Soldier Field has a strict clear bag policy that does not allow any purses larger than a clutch bag, briefcases, backpacks or fanny packs. Any bag you bring into the stadium must be see-through and can’t exceed 12”x6”x12” — one-gallon clear plastic freezer bags are also permitted.

* Block Club | At Friday Morning Swim Club, Thousands Of Swimmers Go Jump In Lake Michigan: In the two years since, Swim Club has amassed thousands of attendees. Commuters on DuSable Lake Shore Drive can’t help but notice the crowds of Divvy bicyclists on the Lakefront Trail, draped with inflatable floaties over their shoulders and pool noodles sprouting out of their bags. Thousands of attendees crowd the harbor at Montrose Beach around 6:45 a.m. every Friday. Swim Club even earned a pin on Google Maps, marking exactly where swimmers meet to take their Friday morning plunges.

* Crain’s | Companies rushed to stake their claims on Threads. So what’s next?: “It’s important for us to be where the conversation is and planting the United flag early as a brand that’s utilizing Threads and having fun with it,” says Maggie Schmerin, who oversees advertising and social media at United.

* The Southern | SIU Foundation brings in record number of gifts, awards and scholarships: Through 38,621 gifts, the Foundation raised over $31.2 million. It also awarded a record number of scholarships (1,645) and total scholarship dollars ($4,931,584) to students. More than 14 percent of all SIU students received an SIU Foundation scholarship in FY23.

* Daily Herald | Nervous about carnival ride safety? Here are some things to keep in mind: State officials vetted 2,608 rides in the last year. “We put a sticker on all rides and amusements that have been inspected by our inspectors,” said Paul Cicchini, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Labor. “It’s green this year.”

* Herald-Whig | Despite dry weather, expert not writing off Illinois crop year: Recent scattered rains throughout West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri have brought “a pretty remarkable revival” of the corn crop, said Emerson Nafziger, University of Illinois professor emeritus and a featured speaker at Wednesday’s Orr Agricultural Center Agronomy Field Day.

* Daily Southtown | Robbins Park District lawsuit calls for candidate disqualification after too many candidates elected to the board: The Robbins Park District filed the lawsuit in May against Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough and the three candidates certified as elected, Ryan Buckley, Angelia Murphy-Watts and Terry Lee. Edward Brener, attorney for the Yarbrough’s office, said he will file a motion to dismiss the case with a hearingset for Oct. 6.

* Illinois Times | Repurposing MacMurray Hall:
Michael Woods and Tim Smith have purchased the old MacMurray Hall building, a large 1920s-era brick-and-stone science classroom structure on East College and South Clay streets and are transforming it into the Midwest Agricultural and Arts Complex. As the building’s metamorphosis continues, the two men have already started to teach farming and music through the educational edifice, and room by room they are setting it up as a vibrant community center for locally grown products, artwork and music.

* Sun-Times | Tony Bennett, iconic interpreter of the Great American Songbook, dies at 96: Tony Bennett, the eminent and timeless stylist whose devotion to classic American songs and knack for creating new standards such as “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” graced a decadeslong career that brought him admirers from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga, died Friday. He was 96, just two weeks short of his birthday.

* Bond Buyer | A tribute to Yvette Shields: The untimely death of Yvette Shields has left an irreparable void in the municipal bond business. This void may never be closed because it represents a deep pain in our collective hearts.