* From the Tim Mapes trial…

…[Defense attorney Katie Hill] stepped up to speak on Mapes’ behalf. She told jurors to imagine being forced to take a pop quiz on their way into their high school reunion.

“The test is full of questions about your life from that time period,” Hill said. “Who was elected class president your junior year? What was the name of that guy your best friend had a crush on when you were a freshman? What color was the corsage you wore to prom?”

Hill later turned to the reputations Madigan and McClain had in Springfield — where people assumed McClain spoke for Madigan. But she said Madigan was not “free-flowing” with information. And when information is not free-flowing, she said, “folklore takes its place.”

But for someone like Mapes, she said, “there was no need to rely on folklore or common knowledge.”

Hill said someone like Mapes, with rare direct access to Madigan, “would not have considered what McClain said to be the gospel truth about what Madigan actually said or wanted.”

More…

According to Hill, Mapes did his “level best” to inform the grand jury about his relationships with Madigan and McClain. She claimed he was only charged because in seven questions out of some 500 he was asked, Mapes gave “answers the government did not like.”

More…

Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur contended Mapes “perverted” the grand jury process and “jeopardized” the corruption investigation against Madigan with “false testimony.”

“The defendant lied. Not just once but again and again and again, to prevent the grand jury from finding out” about Madigan’s actions.

* Not going well, particularly for the Belvidere workers…

UAW President Shawn Fain on Tuesday criticized early bargaining proposals from Stellantis as a “slap in the face” to members before throwing a copy of the document in a trash can during a livestream on Facebook.

Fain, who last week detailed the union’s “audacious and ambitious” economic demands, including more than 40 percent raises, said the response from Stellantis doesn’t address the union’s concerns. The two sides started bargaining last month on contracts that expire Sept. 14. […]

The company, Fain said, is seeking cuts to medical coverage, threatening profit-sharing payouts, refusing to reopen the idled Belvidere Assembly Plant and insisting on keeping a two-tier wage system.

* The Washington Post took a look at the costs of recharging electric vehicles as opposed to filling up with gas…

The bottom line? In all 50 states, it’s cheaper for the everyday American to fill up with electrons — and much cheaper in some regions such as the Pacific Northwest, with low electricity rates and high gas prices.

Illinois finished in the top ten for average savings…

* Shades of Gov. Abbott in the SJ-R…

That frustration was also voiced by Springfield Police Chief Ken Scarlette who detailed how recently a neighboring law enforcement agency drove a homeless individual from their community to Springfield to drop that person off.

“That person is now a consumer of our health system, is now a consumer of our social service system, is now a consumer of the mental health system,” Scarlette said. “People are bringing homeless individuals into our community because they think this is where the services exist.”

* Press release…

In a year that saw exponential growth in the youth in agriculture movement, the Illinois State Fair, along with Governor JB Pritzker, announced that the Illinois State FFA Officers will serve as Grand Marshals for the annual Twilight Parade.

Since Governor Pritzker announced in 2022 that every student in the state of Illinois taking an agriculture class would have their FFA dues paid, FFA membership increased from 23,000 to over 41,000 members strong. Additionally, 5,500 students not enrolled in agricultural education courses joined FFA, demonstrating an appreciation of the value of the organization. […]

The Grand Marshals are as follows:

President Thaddeus Bergschneider- Franklin FFA

Vice President Eric Wisely- Nashville FFA

Reporter Cooper Nelson- Canton FFA

Secretary Riley Kessler- Staunton FFA

Treasurer Benjamin Bremmer- Pearl City FFA

* Northwestern’s sports culture ain’t ready for reform…

Several Northwestern coaches/staffers, including OC Mike Bajakian, are donning "Cats Against the World" shirts with No. 51 — Pat Fitzgerald's old jersey number — on them. pic.twitter.com/ZFQ3tNU1Vv

— Bradley Locker (@Bradley_Locker) August 9, 2023

* Isabel’s roundup…

* WBEZ | Researchers say tens of thousands in Cook County have a high risk of flooding: Roughly 172,000 properties in Cook County have a high risk of flooding — about eight times more than what FEMA’s maps show, according to First Street’s assessment. In the city of Chicago, roughly 79,000 properties are at high risk, according to First Street. That’s more than 50 times higher than the number of high-risk Chicago properties indicated in FEMA’s maps.

* Sun-Times | ‘We’ll protect the boss’: Perjury trial kicks off for Madigan’s chief of staff, but defense says no evidence he lied: “Tim Mapes did not lie in the grand jury,” defense attorney Katie Hill argued as Mapes’ perjury trial began in earnest. “He did not attempt to obstruct justice.” And, she said, the trial jury he now faces will not hear any direct evidence that Mapes knew and remembered the things he was asked about before the grand jury March 31, 2021.

* WTTW | ‘The Defendant Always Tries to Defend the Boss’: Opening Statements Underway in Perjury Trial of Ex-Madigan Chief of Staff Tim Mapes: MacArthur said Mapes spent his entire professional career working for Madigan — whom she repeatedly referred to as “the boss” — describing him as the former speaker’s “right hand man, the gatekeeper, the person who kept the trains running on time.”

* Tribune | Tim Mapes perjury trial opens in earnest with clash over alleged lies in sprawling federal probe: Hill maintained Mapes was “limited to what he actually knows” and an appearance before a grand jury “is not the time to start making assumptions, not the time to start guessing.” And while McClain might have told Mapes directly at times about orders he got from Madigan, Mapes knew that McClain was prone to exaggerating, Hill said.

* SJ-R | Helping Hands will most likely open shelter on Dirksen after New Year’s: As members of the city council took up consideration of an ordinance dealing with already-budgeted funds to deal with the city’s homelessness issue, Ward 3 Ald. Roy Williams Jr. raised a question of whether the issue had worsened in the city.

* Business Wire | ComEd Announces New Programs to Accelerate Adoption of EVs Across Northern Illinois: ComEd today joined with regional and municipal leaders to unveil its latest programs designed to accelerate the adoption of electrified technologies, including electric vehicles (EVs), in northern Illinois. As part of ComEd’s $231 million investment in new customer programs geared toward removing barriers to electrification, ComEd today announced a new EV Charging Delivery Rate option to incentivize the buildout of an expanded network of EV charging infrastructure to meet a growing need in the northern Illinois region.

* Daily Southtown | Thornton administrator says help may be coming to alleviate stench from quarry reservoir: But Beckman said the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago is now taking a proactive approach to address the odor concerns. “They’ve been talking to us about different operational procedures to try to control it, but I think they finally realized they have to do more than that,” Beckman said. “They finally started investing some money.”

* Block Club | Walter Payton Grad’s Study Finds ‘Adequate’ But Not ‘Equitable’ Internet Access At 6 CPS Schools: But only 13 percent of tests run at the schools met the federal long-term benchmark, which is 1 megabit per second for every person in the school. None of the tests met a national tech directors association’s goal for large districts like Chicago Public Schools, which is 1.4 megabits per second per person.

* Block Club | Police Are Launching A Nightlife Patrol In The West Loop And West Town: The new unit will consist of six officers and one sergeant, all focusing on criminal activity along entertainment strips. Several focus areas include Greektown, parts of Taylor Street, the University of Illinois Chicago and part of Division Street, said Sgt. Mike Karczewski, business, licensing, and special events supervisor for the 12th District.

* Bond Buyer | On Yvette Shields, and the Hall of Fame: I first want to make it clear that this is not a decision we came to lightly, impulsively, or emotionally. Our intention with this Hall of Fame has been to celebrate those individuals who, over the course of their life’s work, have made an indelible impact on the municipal finance community. When we set that criteria, we did so intending to honor the practitioners of muni finance themselves, not necessarily fellow journalists covering the industry. But that notion began to change after Yvette’s passing.

* WGN | Elmhurst baseball team on the brink of Little League World Series: That has shown as the Elmhurst team is now just one win away from Little League World Series after an impressive season & run through the Great Lakes tournament. They’ll face Ohio for the regional championship in Whitestown, Indiana at 4 p.m. time and will be televised nationally on ESPN.

* ABC Chicago | Red Bull bringing Formula One race car to Chicago for free showrun: The Formula One grand-prix winning race car RB7 to show its speed and agility on a 2,000-foot temporary “pop-up” circuit down Madison Street and in the parking lots surrounding the United Center.

* Forbes | Chicago’s 30 under 30: The Second City is first class when it comes to its bevy of young entrepreneurs, tech geniuses and changemakers. The inaugural 30 Under 30 Local Chicago list includes a photographer capturing the 2020 protests across the city, a duo creating a burgeoning ceramics studio and a founder streamlining composting for apartments.

* Crain’s | McDonald’s new meal celebrates its pop culture cameos — from ‘Seinfeld’ to ‘Loki’: The meal, which will be available for a limited time starting Aug. 14, is tied to the chain’s upcoming appearance in the second season of “Loki” on Disney+. The bag for the meal includes a list of TV shows, movies and songs that have also referenced McDonald’s, including “Seinfeld” and “Space Jam.” “Loki Season 2” appears last on the list, with an asterisk that clarifies, “New season streaming soon.” The season premieres Oct. 6.

* Sun-Times | Out of sriracha? Try one of these 12 Chicago-made hot sauces: Even now, a 28-ounce bottle of Huy Fong sriracha was spotted selling on Amazon for $24.99, down from $29.99. On eBay, you can still find sellers listing sriracha packets, possibly a hangover from the height of the pandemic-driven hoarding mania.

* NYT | This Is a Reminder That You’re Probably Oversharing on Venmo: The snooping works the other way around, too. Even if you seldom use Venmo today, the app is most likely leaking sensitive information about you to the general public. How do I know? I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I recently discovered that my contacts list, which includes the names of people in my phone book, was published on Venmo for anyone using the app to see.