* So, wait, you mean there won’t be massive prisoner releases and carnage in the streets? What happened to The Purge we were promised? I mean, didn’t this very same state’s attorney warn that the SAFE-T Act would “lead to the ‘greatest jailbreak’ in Madison County history”? Huh. Interesting…

Madison County officials say they have been preparing for the implementation of the SAFE-T Act and are ready when cash bail ends in Illinois on Sept. 18.

Representatives of the courts, the sheriff’s department and the public defender’s, state’s attorney’s and court clerk’s offices gave reports about those preparations to the county board’s judiciary committee on Thursday.

It was noted several times that most of the prisoners currently in custody at the Madison County Jail are there for what would qualify as “detainable” offenses under the SAFE-T Act, and that Madison County generally does not hold people for misdemeanors or minor felonies.

* Rep. West…

Today, Gov. JB Pritzker signed Zachary’s Parent Protection Act (SB2034), legislation that will require employers to provide additional unpaid leave for parents who experience the sudden loss of a child by suicide or homicide.

Under the legislation, employees of large employers are entitled to use a maximum of 12 weeks of unpaid leave and employees of small employers are entitled to use a maximum of 6 weeks of unpaid leave. Currently, parents are only entitled to use a maximum of 2 weeks (10 work days) of unpaid bereavement leave after the loss of a child.

“The loss of a child is an unimaginable tragedy. Amid the pain and suffering that follows, no parent should be forced to choose between their grief and their employment,” said State Rep. Maurice West (D-Rockford), chief sponsor of Zachary’s Parent Protection Act. “Parents who lose a child to suicide or homicide deserve a respect and patience from their employers as they cope with their trauma and grief. Zachary’s Parent Protection Act will extend the amount of leave parents can use in these situations, which will hopefully provide some small measure of relief in the immediate aftermath of such a tragic event. I extend my sincerest gratitude to Laura Kane, Zachary’s mother, for her tireless efforts to pass this critical legislation, and I thank Gov. Pritzker for signing this bill.”

The bill passed the Illinois House of Representatives by a vote of 81 to 24 and the Illinois Senate by a vote of 42 to 10. More information can be found here.

* Treasurer Frerichs…

The Illinois State Treasurer’s Office returned more than $11.5 million in unclaimed property during July, Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced today.

The total includes nearly $11.5 million in cash and interest and almost $45,000 in stock value. All told, 12,554 claims were paid.

“My office helps the Illinois economy by putting money back in people’s pockets,” Frerichs said. “I have taken numerous steps to make the system of reuniting people with their unclaimed property more efficient.”

Illinois’ unclaimed property program — also known as I-CASH — is one of the state’s oldest consumer protection initiatives. The State Treasurer is tasked with safeguarding unclaimed property, such as the contents of overlooked safe deposit boxes, unpaid life insurance benefits, forgotten bank accounts and unused rebate cards. Illinois holds more than $5 billion in unclaimed property.

The Treasurer’s Office has returned more than $1.8 billion since Frerichs took office in January 2015. When Frerichs first became treasurer, there were 60,000 claims paid in a year. Today, more than 200,000 claims are paid each year.

So far this year, the Treasurer’s Office has returned nearly $120 million through more than 103,400 claims.

The record-setting performance is the result of a complete restructuring of the unclaimed property process under Frerichs. The state treasurer’s office has added electronic claims, eliminated red-tape that slowed small-money claims, and leveraged technology to allow payments to be made without a claim even needing to be filed.

* SoS Giannoulias…

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias is encouraging vehicle enthusiasts to mark their calendars for the 73rd Secretary of State Vehicle Show, which will be held Saturday, September 9, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in downtown Springfield at the corner of Capitol Avenue and Second Street. The show is celebrating the 1966 Pontiac GTO.

First organized in 1949 as an Antique Auto Meet, the Secretary of State Vehicle Show features some of Illinois’ finest antique and classic vehicles, sports cars, motorcycles, trucks and tractors. The show will be held rain or shine.

* The HDems are starting to catch up with last Friday. Rep. Norma Hernandez…

Cook County’s water management agency will be able to more quickly and efficiently hold accountable those who violate the law by improperly discharging waste into the sewage system—under a new law introduced by state Rep. Norma Hernandez, D-Melrose Park.

“When hazardous waste is being introduced into our sewer system by unscrupulous businesses or other entities, we can’t afford to let that go on any longer than it has to,” Hernandez said. “Having to wait for a letter to arrive in the mail and for the offender to read it takes too long and results in additional contamination and longer and more expensive cleanup.”

Under existing law, when a person or entity was found to be unlawfully discharging waste into the sewer system, notices and orders—including cease-and-desist orders—had to be sent either by certified mail or by official courier.

Hernandez’s House Bill 3133 permits Cook County’s Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) to implement an electronic reporting system that, once operational, can be used to serve notices and orders to violators via email. It also stipulates that such electronic notices have the same validity and effect as those delivered by mail or by hand.

The bill was signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on July 28 and took effect immediately.

* A report from the Redneck Fishing Tournament in Bath, Illinois…

Them Copi aint small pic.twitter.com/0KxXLDr01Q

— John Patterson (@backupflakattak) August 4, 2023

In case you missed it, “Copi” is the new term for what used to be called Asian Carp.

* Isabel’s roundup…

* Capitol News Illinois | Federal judge temporarily blocks Illinois law subjecting ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ to civil liability: The judge is also presiding over a long-awaited bench trial in a related case next month over a 2016 law aimed at health care providers – including individual practitioners and faith-based hospitals – who have moral objections to abortion. The law, if allowed to take effect, would require providers with such objections to give patients information about where to get an abortion, and a referral if requested. Johnston’s colleague blocked the law in 2017 on First Amendment grounds, but litigation has been ongoing since. Since the law was first challenged in court, the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 struck down a California law aimed at forcing crisis pregnancy centers to advise women about where to get an abortion.

* ABC Chicago | Federal judge halts law targeting crisis pregnancy centers; Pritzker responds: Pritzker signed that law last week, and insists it is constitutional. “Remember what they’re doing? They’re putting their crisis pregnancy centers next-door to abortion rights centers, and they’re directing people to go in their front door, or telling them things that aren’t true often, and when that’s the case, they ought to be held liable,” Pritzker said on CNN.

* Crain’s | Judge freezes Illinois law targeting anti-abortion pregnancy centers: “Free speech won today in the Land of Lincoln — pro-life advocates across Illinois can breathe a sigh of relief they won’t be pursued for ‘misinformation’ by Attorney General Kwame Raoul,” Peter Breen, executive vice president and head of litigation for the Thomas More Society, said in the statement.

* KHQA | Federal judge halts Illinois law targeting ‘deceptive practices’ at pro-life pregnancy centers: The lawsuit, National Institute of Family Life Advocates et al. v. Raoul, asserts that this law—enacted on July 27, 2023, and amending the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act—was designed to target pregnancy help ministries solely because of their pro-life message.

* State Week | Former top Madigan aide heads to trial: Prosecutors say Tim Mapes failed to tell the truth to a federal grand jury about his former boss, Michael Madigan, who has been indicted for racketeering. Mapes, who worked as Madigan’s Chief of Staff, faces charges of perjury when his trial begins Monday. His trial is estimated to last about three weeks.

* Capitol News Illinois | Residents, activists ask state regulators to reject utilities’ rate increases: Activists and residents in the utilities’ service territories, however, accused the companies of corporate greed and of disregarding the needs of the poor. Environmental advocates also shared concerns about the effects of natural gas on public health and the climate.

* CBS Chicago | Bill making Illinois first state to count Arab Americans in public data signed into law: The amendment will require agencies to include the MENA category in addition to white, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander when reporting statistical data on ethnic or racial categories.

* WREX | Pritzker signs bill creating statewide Farm to Foodbank Program: “Illinois farmers are producing some of the finest food in the country, and now that produce, dairy, and meat can go directly to Illinoisans struggling with food insecurity,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “It’s good for our farmers’ bottom line, it’s good for those in need, and it’s good for our state—a win for everyone in Illinois.”

* Center Square | New Illinois law allows some felons to serve as executors: As signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, House Bill 1268 amends the Probate Act of 1975, which prohibited a convicted felon from serving as an executor, and will require the person who is the owner of the estate to acknowledge that they are aware that the person named executor is a convicted felon.

* Daily Herald | Glendale Heights president charged with filing false police reports: According to the indictment, Khokhar filed the report “knowing at the time of the transmission that there was no reasonable grounds for believing that the offense had been committed.”

* Sun-Times | Randy Garrett, who helped overturn wrongful convictions in Jeanine Nicarico’s killing, dead at 64: Information he unearthed helped free innocent men in the 1983 killing of the 10-year-old Naperville girl. “I know there are at least three innocent men who owe their freedom and reputations to Randy,” attorney Gary Johnson said.

* WICS | Illinois State Treasurer’s returns $11.5 million in unclaimed property in July: The total includes nearly $11.5 million in cash and interest and almost $45,000 in stock value. All told, 12,554 claims were paid.

* CBS Chicago | Oak Forest man charged with trafficking machine gun switches: According to the indictment and a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Prisco sold 25 machine gun conversion devices, a firearm with an obliterated serial number, and a 3D printer to the officer.

* The Atlantic | How the Recession Doomers Got the U.S. Economy So Wrong: Last October, a Bloomberg economic model said that the odds of a U.S. recession this year were 100 percent. No, not 99.99 percent, as in the odds that you’ll avoid being struck by lighting this evening. One hundred percent, as in the odds that you’ll avoid falling into a time-bending wormhole that spits you out in 17th-century Versailles at a dinner table with Louis XIV.

* Crain’s | United Airlines is bulking up in Denver: The Chicago-based airline also has been ramping up its flying out of Denver, where it’s in the middle of an expansion that will increase the number of gates by more than one-third. Denver, one of the country’s fastest-growing cities and a popular travel destination during the COVID-19 pandemic, has enjoyed a faster recovery in air travel than many cities. And United is in a fierce battle in Denver with Southwest Airlines.

* Crain’s | Michael Reese developer nears deal to buy empty Mag Mile building: A joint venture of Chicago-based Farpoint Development and Northfield-based Saxony Capital is under contract to pay just more than $40 million for the empty 117,400-square-foot building at 830 N. Michigan Ave., according to people familiar with the deal. The building has been vacant since Japanese clothing chain Uniqlo closed its store there almost two years ago.

* WCIA | False alarms straining Decatur Police, stretching officers thin: Police Chief Shane Brandel said false alarms make up more than 90 percent of their alerts. Between January and May, they responded to nearly 1,000 burglar alarms and only three of them led to a report.

* Newsweek | ‘Sound of Freedom’ Funder Fabian Marta Arrested For Child Kidnapping: Fabian Marta was charged with felony child kidnapping in July, while since-removed Facebook posts appear to show the same person revealing their pride in funding the film. Marta’s name appears in the movie’s credits among the “investors [who] helped bring Sound of Freedom to theaters.”

* Sun-Times | Beer prices have gone higher and higher. Why?: The Cubs are charging $28.99 for a 26-ounce “beer bat” memorabilia cup filled with cold lager — a little pick-me-up you might well need to get over how much the cup costs.

* NBC Chicago | Where to get Illinois’ best cookies on National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day: Coming in at No. 27 was the cookie at 3 Arts Club Café, inside RH Chicago. Further down on the list, at No. 61, was the chocolate chip cookie at Summer House Santa Monica, located in Lincoln Park. And the 71st best chocolate chip cookie can be found at Defloured, a gluten-free bakery in Andersonville.

* WaPo | Canada’s wildfires have doubled previous records and keep raging: In British Columbia, 350 fires are burning, according to the BC Wildfire service, including 15 “wildfires of note” that are out of control. Numerous communities were placed under evacuation orders this week, because of expanding fires. Another hundred-plus blazes are ongoing in Alberta, with similar numbers in the Northwest Territories.

* The Atlantic | Bird Flu Has Never Done This Before: At bird breeding grounds this spring and summer, the skies have been clearer and quieter, the flocks drastically thinned. Last year, more than 60 percent of the Caspian terns at Lake Michigan vanished; the flock of great skuas at the Hermaness reserve, in Scotland, may have shrunk by 90 percent.