* It can’t be stressed enough that almost all national economics experts have been consistently and even wildly wrong for more than a year…

Another key economic report further propped up the idea that a soft landing is not only possible, but also in motion: The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge continued its deceleration in June while consumers kept the US economic engine running.

Commerce Department data released Friday showed that the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index rose 3% for the 12 months ended in June, easing for the second-consecutive month and stepping back from May’s 3.8% increase.

* Rep. Rita and the Tinley Park mayor have been on the outs for a while now. And it’s coming out into the open…

State Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, is suing Tinley Park and Orland Township as well as village and township officials in federal court, alleging his constitutional rights have been denied because he’s been blocked from taking part in or holding community events.

The lawsuit was filed Friday and cites a “consistent and systematic campaign” to prevent Rita from taking part in events such as the National Night Out Against Crime, scheduled to take place Tuesday in Tinley Park.

The lawsuit also alleges village officials twice denied applications by Rita to hold shredding events last year in Tinley Park, something he had organized for several years prior.

The lawsuit is here.

* Press release…

Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) awarded scholarships to a record 259 college-bound current and former youth in care – the most the agency has ever awarded in its history. The milestone was celebrated at a lunch and ceremony held in the students’ honor at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Lisle, Ill.

Historically, the department has awarded an average of 53 scholarships each year. This year’s record breaking 259 scholarships is a 389% increase over the prior year, demonstrating the department’s commitment to education and increased investment in DCFS programs by Governor Pritzker and the General Assembly. The Governor’s FY24 budget provided$5.66 million in funding for DCFS scholarships, up from just over $1.2 million in FY19. […]

The DCFS Scholarship Program is available to youth who have an open DCFS case, whose cases were closed through adoption or guardianship, or who aged out of care at 18 or older. DCFS Scholarship Program recipients are selected based on their scholastic record and aptitude, community and extracurricular activities, three letters of recommendation, and a personal essay illustrating their purpose for higher education. […]

“The support I received from my DCFS Scholarship far exceeded its financial pillar. It also provided me with the time to focus on my studies, the confidence to enter a classroom with my head held high, and the assurance that success was obtainable,” said Krystal Hudson, event keynote speaker and 2006 scholarship recipient. “Attending the state university of my choice enabled me to create my own future, family, and career in southern Illinois. I am forever grateful for the opportunities given to me through being a recipient of the DCFS Scholarship.”

Scholarship recipients receive up to five consecutive years of tuition and academic fee waivers to be used at participating Illinois state community colleges and public universities, a monthly grant of $1,506 to offset other expenses, and a Medicaid card. Four awards are reserved for the children of veterans, and two awards are reserved for students pursuing degrees in social work in honor of Pamela Knight and Deidre Silas, two DCFS caseworkers who succumbed to injuries sustained in the line of duty.

* “Never mistake activity for achievement”…

[Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg] also accused CPD of going through the motions of complying with the federal consent — by reporting the percentage of the consent decree’s 799 paragraphs where there is “some level” of compliance.

That only means they’ve “written a policy that says that they intend to comply” with the mandate. It has “absolutely no impact on real life on the street — either for Chicagoans or members of the department,” Witzburg said.

“The metric that matters is the number of things that have changed in a real operational way. The number of things that are different on Chicago street corners today than they would have been at the beginning of 2019. And that number is in the single digit percentages,” Witzburg said.

That city’s government is just chock full of fittin’ to get ready types.

* No more indoor vaping…

Put down that vape pen! Gov. Pritzker today signed House Bill 1540, which adds e-cigarettes to the list of products covered under the state's indoor smoking ban. #twill

— Brenden Moore (@brendenmoore13) July 28, 2023

* Isabel’s roundup…

* WBEZ | Dixmoor hopes $14 million in state funds can begin to fix years of water infrastructure problems: The funds will be used to immediately begin replacing lead pipes and water meters. Improvements will also include the installation of a 750,000-gallon elevated storage tank, and replacing approximately 10,500 feet of six- and eight-inch water main pipes with more capable 12-inch water mains.

* Tribune | Gary gun shop, targeted in 2021 lawsuit, to close after more than six decades: The decision comes two months after a Cook County judge sided with Westforth and dismissed a lawsuit brought by the city of Chicago against the shop in 2021. That lawsuit, which attorneys for the city are now trying to revive, accused Westforth of repeatedly violating federal gun laws, often resulting in criminal charges against straw purchasers.

* Sun-Times | In Alsip red-light-camera investigation, feds have done new interviews, issued subpoenas: In 2019, Alsip Mayor John Ryan acknowledged that he’d been approached by federal agents asking about SafeSpeed, the company that village officials had decided to hire for red-light camera services in the south suburb. […] Four years later, Alsip’s decision to bring in SafeSpeed — which the village board voted to hire but whose contract was put on hold amid the questions — appears to be a subject of renewed interest by the FBI and the IRS.

* Tribune | Appeals court upholds 57-month sentence for former state Rep. Luis Arroyo, saying ‘bribery is a premeditated crime’: “Bribery is a premeditated crime — those tempted to sell out the public have plenty of time to weigh the risks and rewards before doing so,” the nine-page ruling by the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals stated. “The district judge did not err by reasonably presuming that public officials consider the criminal sentences of other politicians, and that a longer sentence for Arroyo was necessary to deter corruption at the margins.”

* Sun-Times | Banned by City Hall for lying on construction contracts, company is still getting government work: That followed a City Hall investigation that found Joel Kennedy’s Joel Kennedy Constructing Corp. falsified records to make it appear it was meeting a requirement to have Chicago residents do at least half of the work on sewer projects. The city’s ban of Kennedy and his company doesn’t apply, though, to other governmental bodies. So Kennedy’s company has continued to get contracts from other agencies, including the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, which serves all of Chicago.

* Fortune | There’s no such thing as a new nuclear golden age–just old industry hands trying to make a buck: The story is selling well but the push for more and more money—in direct subsidies, ratepayer financing, and government grants or loans–has a dark side. To cite just a few examples, former state officials and utility executives in Illinois and Ohio face lengthy prison terms for bribery schemes linked to subsidies for unprofitable nuclear plants. In South Carolina, two former Scana executives received prison sentences after pleading guilty to criminal charges in 2020 and 2021 over a nuclear project that ultimately collapsed. Two Westinghouse executives also charged are facing a similar fate, with one still awaiting trial in October.

* Lexis Nexis | Data Privacy Landscape Continues to Change as States Pursue More Laws: A more recent search of the LexisNexis® State Net® legislative tracking database turned up about 300 bills in 42 states concerning some form of data privacy. These include several wide-ranging data privacy bills in Illinois, Massachusetts and Minnesota, along with robust proposals in Maine (HB 1270) and Montana (DB 4408), the latter of which was put on hold.

* Sun-Times | Chicago cop shot fellow officer while firing at fleeing car in Englewood, investigation finds: “It is believed that during this incident, a Chicago Police Officer discharged their weapon and inadvertently struck a fellow officer in the hand in the course of firing at the fleeing sedan,” said COPA First Deputy Chief Administrator Ephraim Eaddy. “There is currently no indication that shots were fired from the sedan, or by any other civilian and there are no reports of a gun recovered.”

* Daily Herald | The suburban driver’s license offices that will require an appointment starting Sept. 1: Starting Sept. 1, 44 driver services facilities in medium- to large-sized cities around the state will require appointments for driver services — things like renewing a license, updating a license to meet Real ID requirements or taking a driving test. Vehicle services, like title registration, still will be offered on a walk-in basis.

* Daily Herald | ‘It’s in its very infancy right now’: Kane County sets up its own forensic crime lab: “We do everything from blood testing to rapid DNA … to expedite criminal cases in Kane County. … And it gets turned right around in a day or two,” Sheriff Ron Hain said. “It’s a partnership to have our own lab with the state’s attorney and the coroner. I’m paying for it out of my budget, but the cost will be shared. It’s in its very infancy right now.”

* Sun-Times | Chicago’s Chinatown, unlike similar neighborhoods elsewhere, is flourishing: From 2010 to 2020, the population of Armour Square — the community area that includes Chinatown — grew from 13,443 to 13,890, according to a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of census data. And the Asian American population increased in neighboring community areas including Bridgeport, McKinley Park, Douglas and the Lower West Side.

* Crain’s | United buys former Motorola building in Arlington Heights for ops center: United bought a 205,000-square-foot building at 1421 W. Shure Drive to provide more space for its network-operations centers, which moved out of the airline’s headquarters at Willis Tower last year after flooding knocked out power and caused it to evacuate flight dispatchers to a backup facility at its former headquarters in Elk Grove Village.

* Reuters | Tesla created secret team to suppress thousands of driving range complaints: Inside the Nevada team’s office, some employees celebrated canceling service appointments by putting their phones on mute and striking a metal xylophone, triggering applause from coworkers who sometimes stood on desks. The team often closed hundreds of cases a week and staffers were tracked on their average number of diverted appointments per day.

* WaPo | ‘Vicious cycle’: Heat waves ramp up U.S. burning of fossil fuels: The problem is global and set to intensify. The International Energy Agency last week said that only a tenth of the 2.8 billion people who live in the hottest parts of the world already have air conditioning, foreshadowing what is likely to become “a vicious cycle.” Use of air conditioning is expected to increase in the years to come, further driving fast-rising energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions in the developing world, the Paris-based watchdog said.

* New City Stage | Crossed Paths: In “Port of Entry” the Albany Park Theater Project Uses Immersive Theater to Explore the Immigrant Experience: In a Northwest Side warehouse, you can visit the apartment of a Mexican family, anxious because the father has been deported. Or a multi-generation Filipino family, about to cook supper. Or immigrants from Poland or Cambodia, facing the challenges of the new world as well as tough memories from the old one.

* WICS | Travis Denning completes Du Quoin State Fair grandstand lineup: The Du Quoin State Fair is excited to complete the 2023 Grandstand lineup with singer/songwriter Travis Denning. Denning will headline the Pepsi MidAmerica stage on Sunday, August 27.

* Heidi Stevens | The beauty of ‘Barbie’ isn’t that men are subjugated. It’s that no one is.: The movie had been in theaters for all of 24 hours — plenty of time to become a cultural lightning rod. Too woke. To man-hating. Too much feminist agitprop. Right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro even made a 43-minute video about the “flaming garbage heap of a film” (his words) and set fire to some dolls to drive his message home.

* Block Club | Take A Ride On A Vintage CTA Railcar Saturday: The oldest railcars in the Chicago Transit Authority’s fleet date to the 1920s. A century later, riders will get to ride the vintage “L” cars around the Loop. The CTA will run the 4000-series railcars in the Loop from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.

* Military History | Lincoln’s Spies — Meet Four Union Agents Who Fought in the Shadows to Bring Down the Confederacy: Ultimately, Lincoln and the Union Army had at their disposal a robust network of secret agents infiltrating the South, aeronauts observing enemy movements from hydrogen gas-filled balloons, photographers taking shots of future battlefields and signal corps officers intercepting enemy information transmitted by flag or over telegraph lines. The phone tapping, human collection, and aerial snooping today’s U.S. spy community engages in can be traced back to the Civil War.

* Herald-Review | Glenn Poshard to tour Central Illinois to promote new book: “Son of Southern Illinois: Glenn Poshard’s Life in Politics and Education” follow’s Poshard’s life from his childhood until his founding of the Poshard Foundation For Abused Children, a nonprofit providing funds and resources for abused, neglected and abandoned children in Southern Illinois.

* Bond Buyer | Illinois Senate honors Bond Buyer’s Yvette Shields for her work: The life and legacy of Bond Buyer reporter Yvette Shields was honored Tuesday with a proclamation introduced on the floor of the Illinois Senate. Introduced by Sen. Rob Martwick, D-Chicago, the proclamation pays homage to Shields as a “celebrated and beloved financial reporter” who “left behind an indelible mark on the public finance industry in both the Midwest and the nation as a whole.”