* Here you go…

* Tribune | With government on the verge of resting, sexual harassment, Chinatown deal, secret FBI recordings stir Tim Mapes case: Proving that someone is lying about not remembering something can be difficult. But this has been far from the typical perjury case. To win an acquittal, Mapes will likely have to explain why he told the grand jury he was unaware of what was happening inside the Madigan operations after the speaker told him to resign on June 6, 2018, in the wake of #MeToo allegations.

* NBC Chicago | Illinois to eliminate cash bail next month. Here’s what to expect: As part of the court’s decision, the Supreme Court’s hold on the elimination of cash bail in Illinois ends 60 days following the ruling. That puts the date at Sept. 18. At that time, circuit courts in the state are expected to begin operating in accordance with the SAFE-T Act provisions.

* SLPR | New program to address ‘unintended consequences’ of Illinois’ disabled veteran exemption: St. Clair County and its various taxing districts will be some of the biggest recipients of a new state reimbursement pilot program that aims to replace property tax revenue, according to an Illinois Department of Revenue report. In 2015, Illinois quit collecting property taxes from disabled veterans. To make up for lost revenue, taxing districts compensated by raising rates on other taxpayers, to the dismay of many. In some cases, local taxing districts — like cities, schools, libraries and fire departments — lose out on property tax dollars because they reach a state limit, according to the Department of Revenue.

* Shaw Local | State Rep. Lance Yednock will not seek reelection in November 2024: Yednock has served as a state representative since 2019, besting state Rep. Jerry Long (R-Streator) to take back a 76th District State Representative seat long held by Democrats.

* SJ-R | Thousands of jobs, pennies on the dollar: How Illinois uses prison labor: According to data provided by IDOC, there are 27,400 incarcerated laborers working in the state. The work and pay vary by the individual. Some lay bricks, cook, or even tend to plants at the Illinois State Fair. The work can lead to reduced sentences. IDOC issued a 10% raise last year retroactive to fiscal year 2022 which cost the department $6.4 million in fiscal year 2023. The current fiscal year appropriation for labor expenses is $6.5 million, which is less than 2% of IDOC’s $337.3 million fiscal year 2024 budget.

* Tribune | Lincoln Yards and The 78 are developments that are years off, but nearly $140 million in TIF funds are flowing: The public dollars are set to pay for constructing and improving roads and bridges within and around both developments. While use of the often-overlooked but controversial tax increment financing dollars was always expected to be part of both projects, the city’s maneuvers mean certain infrastructure work stands to be funded by tax dollars from neighboring TIF districts and not the TIF districts the city established in recent years to support the Lincoln Yards and The 78 projects.

* Tribune | State seeks to combat food deserts with $20 million program to seed independent grocers: The bulk of the program’s funding will go toward financial assistance in the form of grants or loans for purposes such as feasibility studies, marketing, salaries and benefits for workers, down-payment or rent assistance, capital improvements, or for buying and establishing a new grocery store. Grant recipients also will qualify for other incentives such as tax exemptions on utilities and building materials.

* WSJ | America’s Fight Over Tipping at Restaurants Comes to Its Biggest Battleground Yet: Chicago restaurants say they will have to boost prices, cut staff if ‘sub-minimum wage’ proposal becomes law.

* Daily Herald | ‘I had to say thank you’: How an Elgin restaurant owner became an inflation warrior: “But I didn’t know what the (heck) to do. The prices kept going up. I couldn’t give them a discount, I couldn’t do this or I couldn’t do that. Then, as god always does, He slapped me on the back of my head and said wake up, this is what you’re going to do. You’re going to become a tenacious individual, and you’re going to talk to your vendors and you’re going to let them know, enough is enough.”

* Sun-Times | CPS juggles funding, bilingual staff to welcome thousands of new migrant students: About 5,300 new English-learning students registered at CPS throughout the last school year. Not all those children came from asylum-seeking families — some may have had a more stable immigration or were not recent immigrants at all. But schools felt a surge compared to the typical year, when around 3,000 new English learners enroll.

* Make It | This city has the worst traffic in the U.S.—and it’s actually a good thing: ‘Congestion shows the economy is moving’: Of the cities ranked Chicago and Miami now have more traffic congestion and delays than they did pre-Covid, while Boston, New York, and Los Angeles have yet to catch up.

* SJ-R | Heatwave to descend on central Illinois; what to know about it and where to find relief: Springfield already has had five consecutive days over 90-degree highs from July 25-29 and temperatures this week could scale above 95 degrees for five straight days, a stretch that hasn’t occurred in central Illinois since 2012.

* Sun-Times | As she turns 104, Loyola’s Sister Jean talks AI, migrant crisis, basketball and dying: Sister Jean is older than the Internet, television and sliced bread. She’s seen things change quite a bit, especially in the realm of media, she says.

* Daily Herald | ‘Perfect fit’: New owners of state’s oldest bar are ready to build on establishment’s traditions: The oldest tavern in Illinois opened in modern-day Long Grove in 1847 as the Zimmer Tavern and Wagon Shop. Later renamed The Village Tavern, the establishment at 135 Old McHenry Road received Long Grove’s first liquor license — signed by Village President Robert Parker Coffin — after the village’s 1956 incorporation.

* Daily Herald | Monument to innovation: Can preservationists save 121-year-old railroad depot in West Chicago?: Built around the turn of the 20th century, the structure served as a passenger depot and power substation for the electrically operated Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railway. Where some now see boarded-up windows and patches of grass, Brian Ostberg sees innovation and workmanship. “The only viable alternative right now, as far as we can see, is moving it,” Ostberg said.