* Here you go…

* Tribune | Potential candidates can start circulating petitions Tuesday as election year officially gets underway: The state Democratic Party is joining with the Democratic County Chairs’ Association in an effort find candidates, assist them with ballot access and petition gathering, and provide training and ongoing support. It’s part of a nationwide program called “Contest Every Race” conducted by a coalition of groups working to help local Democratic candidates.

* WBEZ | Dying and disabled Illinois prisoners kept behind bars, despite new medical release law: Behind the lower-than-expected numbers is the Prisoner Review Board, a state body appointed by Pritzker and confirmed by the Illinois Senate with final say on medical release requests. As of mid-August, the board had denied nearly two-thirds of medical release requests from dying and disabled prisoners who met the medical criteria to get out of prison under the Coleman Act — including Merritt.

* Tribune | Illinois House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch’s staffers say he’s rebuffed their efforts to unionize: “Despite his outspoken pro-labor rhetoric and vocal support for the right of all employees in Illinois to unionize, he is apparently intent on denying this right to his own staff,” the association said of Welch in a statement. “It should not be controversial in 2023 for a group of workers in a blue state with a strong union tradition to form a union, especially when the right to organize is enshrined in the state constitution.”

* Tribune | Ex-Madigan aide Tim Mapes found guilty but he’s still collecting a big pension: Illinois’ pension laws generally require a direct connection to a crime that happened during a public employee’s official duties before a pension can be halted. Given Mapes’ lies to a federal grand jury came nearly three years after he was forced by Madigan to resign, the highly forgiving pension laws may give Mapes plenty of room to stop any efforts to halt his pension after he’s expected to be sentenced by a federal judge early next year.

* Crain’s | Illinois GOP funding pitch takes a turn for the red-meat right: In a line of attack more commonly heard in deeply red states, the email links to video of a recent speech by state Sen. Andrew Chesney, R-Freeport, objecting to a bill that would require sex-neutral language in certain state health-insurance laws. In his speech, Chesney noted that the bill would specifically affect coverage for pap tests, used to screen for cervical cancer in women, and prostate tests, for men. “Biological males can’t get pap tests. . . .Biological women can’t get a prostate test,” Chesney declared. Such moves explain “why kids get confused. . . .This is why kids are dressing up as furries and want kitty litters in the bathroom.”

* SJ-R | State creates task force to consider merits, needed regulations for AI: The task force will consist of 20 members and hold at least five public meetings in Chicago, Springfield, Metro East, Quad Cities and Southern Illinois. The summation of these meetings will lead to a report shared with the governor’s office and the General Assembly by Dec. 31, 2024.

* Sun-Times | At O’Hare Airport, hundreds of migrants are stuck at a shelter that’s overcrowded, unsanitary: The problems at O’Hare follow a doubling of the number of incoming migrants to Chicago seeking more long-term shelter. As of Thursday, that figure was 2,089. At the airport, the number was 411, up from just 31 at the beginning of August. That population is almost four times the capacity limit initially set by the city.

* Tribune | Illinois is solidly blue. So why did President Joe Biden’s reelection effort spend so much time here this summer?: Illinois is an “easy in and out to a major market in the middle of the country,” David Axelrod, political strategist for President Barack Obama and a CNN analyst, said when asked about Biden’s focus on the state this summer. “I assume some of them are picking up some campaign money while they’re here. And, it is the (DNC) convention city, so they’re building toward that.”

* Tribune | Chicago treasurer accused of misconduct and ethical violations in letter city kept secret for years: City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin used government workers to plan her daughter’s birthday party and be her personal bodyguard while she also pressured public employees to hold events benefiting political allies and repeatedly misused taxpayer resources, two former top aides alleged in a recently released letter the city fought for years to keep confidential.

* WBEZ | At summer’s end, Chicago murders are down 21% from horrendous 2021: Gun violence citywide has been trending down for about 20 months. By Thursday night, the Chicago Police Department had counted 420 murders during the year’s first eight months. That tally is 7.9% less than during the first eight months of 2022 and 21.3% less than during those months of 2021, when Chicago had its worst gun violence in a quarter century.

* NBC Chicago | Locked out on Labor Day: Kinzie Hotel workers protest: Sanchez received a letter from Kinzie Hotel’s General Manager Karen Criss, saying in part, “We are exercising our right under the NLRA to hire a replacement worker in order to continue operations. You have an opportunity to apply for reinstatement after the strike. There is no guarantee your positions will be available.”

* Crain’s | Union calls off Labor Day strike at 11 Infinity nursing homes: About 900 workers at the nursing homes owned by Infinity Healthcare Consulting of Illinois had threatened to strike over what the union said were “poverty wages” that led to dangerous staffing shortages. The union said staffing levels at Infinity nursing homes often fall critically below state-mandated minimum care hours per day.

* Daily Herald | ‘Oversaturation’? Video gambling profits shrinking for many suburban businesses: A Daily Herald analysis of video gambling revenue in 70 suburban locales shows the devices in 27 towns were generating less money per machine from August 2022 through July 2023 than they were during the same months a year earlier.

* CBS | Bally’s needs state’s OK before opening temporary Chicago casino in matter of days: The slots are up and running, but the doors remain closed to the public. The Illinois Gaming Board will run testing on Wednesday and Thursday. If approved, the temporary casino could be operational in days. Revenue generated could bring $55 million a year to the city.

* USA Today | Student loan repayments surge ahead of official restart, but many may still be scrambling: How people handle student loans, which total $1.7 trillion spread across more than 40 million Americans, could be a barometer for which way the economy could be headed. Early voluntary payments could be seen as a sign of financially healthy consumers, but looking closer, Goldman Sachs says the situation may not be as rosy as it looks.

* Crain’s | Rivian hires former Porsche exec as sales chief: Automotive News had reported in July that Gruner was jumping to Rivian after a relatively short tenure with the German luxury brand. Porsche said then that Gruner was leaving “at his own request” after less than three years. Gruner steered Porsche’s U.S. business through the pandemic and put it on track to hit a three-year sales high this year.

* WCBU | Stoller says he won’t seek a third term in state Senate: The Germantown Hills Republican says his district shifted much further north after the recent remap, and he doesn’t want to be a career politician.

* WBEZ | Professor Lori Lightfoot is teaching Harvard students how to run a city in a pandemic: In an interview with WBEZ, Lightfoot said she’ll use a mock press conference, a simulated community meeting and guest speakers to teach in part about the dangers of politicizing a pandemic and how to interact with the media, drawing on the lessons learned from running a city amid COVID-19.

* Tribune | Secretary of state plans requiring appointments at driver service facilities begin: Walk-in service will still be available for people seeking title and registration services or hoping to renew license plate stickers in person, the release said. The secretary of state’s office is also pushing customers to go online for many driver services, including renewals of licenses and plate stickers. The office will also send more alerts to drivers advising them they can renew licenses and get other drivers services online.

* SJ-R | Here are the most interesting things included in State Fair Grandstand performer contracts: McGraw was paid $750,000 guaranteed with all the box office receipts over $850,000; Parker received a guarantee of $5,000. Interesting stuff found in their rider(s): McGraw has ten pages of suggestions for meals and dressing rooms, with the suggested meals including a grilled cheese bar for lunch and a made-to-order pasta bar for dinner. As for his dressing room, McGraw asks that in addition to providing him with six cans of Coke, he also have four Muscle Milk protein drinks – preferably the “Intense Vanilla” flavor.