* ICYMI: Gov. J.B. Pritzker expresses support for expanded CPS school closing moratorium; House sends bill to Senate. Tribune…

- The moratorium extension is included in a bill sponsored by Rep. Margaret Croke it’s aimed at protecting selective enrollment schools, and would prohibit any admission changes for selective enrollment schools until 2027.
- Pritzker said extending the moratorium is the right call “so that decisions can be made by people who are representative of the people of Chicago.”
- The House passed the bill late Thursday in a 92-8 vote, with all eight no votes from Democrats. The bill now goes to the Senate.

* Related stories…

∙ The Daily Line: House approves plan to pause school closures until board is fully elect; CTU calls plan ‘racist’
∙ Sun-Times: Chicago Teachers Union demanding 9% annual raises, won’t rule out a strike

My top picks

* Daily Herald | ‘I’m begging you’: Distraught tollway workers ask board, Pritzker to avert potential layoffs: SEIU Local 73 members, who include former toll collectors now working as customer call takers, said they feared layoffs affecting over 100 people. They appealed both to the tollway board and Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who appoints its members, for help. “Losing my career with the Illinois tollway would be devastating,” Melissa Jacobson said. “It would affect me emotionally, mentally and financially. It would affect my opportunity to have my home, pay utilities and the list will go on.

* AP | Emergency rooms refused to treat pregnant women, leaving one to miscarry in a lobby restroom: One woman miscarried in the restroom lobby of a Texas emergency room as front desk staff refused to admit her. Another woman learned that her fetus had no heartbeat at a Florida hospital, the day after a security guard turned her away from the facility. And in North Carolina, a woman gave birth in a car after an emergency room couldn’t offer an ultrasound. The baby later died. Complaints that pregnant women were turned away from U.S. emergency rooms spiked in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, federal documents obtained by The Associated Press reveal.

Capitol news

* WTTW | Need a Notary? Now You Can Get One Online as Illinois Launches New E-Notary Service: Illinois had previously allowed portions of notarization to take place online, but Giannoulias’ office said a notary still had to sign and seal a paper document and that all parties still had to be physically in Illinois. As the National Notary Association describes it: “Notarization is the assurance by a duly appointed and impartial Notary Public that a document is authentic, that its signature is genuine, and that its signer acted without duress or intimidation, and intended the terms of the document to be in full force and effect.

* WAND | Plaintiffs file brief in challenge of Illinois public transit carry ban: “As noted in the brief,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, “this case asserts the Illinois Public Transportation carry ban cannot stand unless it is consistent with the historical tradition of firearms regulation at the time of the ratification of the right to keep and bear arms. It is abundantly clear the defendants can’t provide such information, and in their response, they have failed to offer any Founding-era evidence supporting the ban.”

* Sun-Times | 25 years after my dad was killed, his murder is unsolved. Two bills could spur action on cold cases like his: There are two bills currently up in the Illinois General Assembly written specifically to address the issue of unsolved homicides and homicide data transparency. This legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Kam Buckner, aim to increase our homicide closure rates, deter future violence, and rebuild trust between communities and law enforcement. […] While we can’t legislate all our problems away, these bills could pave the way for a transformative future for Chicago. Solving unsolved homicides isn’t just about statistics; it’s about bringing closure to grieving families.

* WCBU | Illinois medical license system still plagued with delays despite new mandate: Republican Rep. Bill Hauter of Morton, who is also an anesthesiologist, said this issue impacts all healthcare workers, from nurses and doctors to pharmacists and physical therapists. He said the problems have only gotten worse with workforce shortages. “With this shortage we have in all the medical fields, with having temporary workers come from out of state,” Hauter said. “So therefore, it puts a great strain on the licensing process, because you’re having so many applications for licenses in Illinois from out of state workers.”

* Center Square | Hundreds of gun owners rally at Illinois Statehouse: State Rep. John Cabello, R-Machesney Park, addressed attendees after they marched through the capital city. He told the crowd that police want to help protect people, but they can’t always be there and that’s why he wants a “stand your ground” law as found in his House Bill 5803. “You should not have to retreat,” Cabello said. “You should not have to worry about a lawsuit if you’re protecting yourself or your family.”

Chicago

* Sun-Times | No cracks in Blue Wall? Top Democrats vow Chicago is ready for convention, despite party divisions: Hundreds of Democratic Party officials came to Chicago this week for tours and meetings ahead of the Aug. 19-22 convention, including an executive committee on Tuesday to select members of three convention standing committees. At a downtown news conference on Thursday, party leaders were joined by convention chair Minyon Moore, who sought to quell concerns that intra-party divisions over the war in Gaza could derail the convention — and Biden’s campaign. Biden won this year’s Democratic primary in Wisconsin but about 50,000 voters cast a ballot for an “uninstructed” delegation.

* Block Club | Englewood’s ‘Back 2 School’ Parade, A Tradition Since 1961, Canceled As Police Prep For DNC: Parade organizers were asked to reschedule or “scale back” the procession and festivities, but the alternate dates will not work, they said. Families can instead attend a school supplies giveaway.

* Tribune | Democratic Convention organizers leaning on locals to handle possible migrant surge in August: So far, Johnson and Pritzker have not detailed how they’ll respond if Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas attempts to make political hay by busing a larger-than-normal number of asylum-seekers to Chicago during the four-day convention at which President Joe Biden is expected to accept his party’s renomination. […] “First of all, we can’t just look at these as migrants,” Minyon Moore, chair of the Democratic National Convention Committee, told reporters Thursday during a gathering of state Democratic Party leaders from across the country. “These are human beings. These are people that are being bused to places that some don’t even know where they’re going. And we have to show them compassion and the concern as a Democratic Party and a Democratic family.”

* Sun-Times | Howard Brown, union reach tentative agreement after 17 months of negotiations: The contract would include raises across the union body — including annual wage increases — a new minimum wage of $19.23, insurance for part-time employees, two weeks of paid leave for gender-affirming care, a union rights clause and protections against layoffs, among other things.

* Sun-Times | Pride Parade will now allow participants from schools, organizers say: The change came a day after the Sun-Times reported parade organizers denied entry to six Chicago schools that had a history of participating in the parade. Nettelhorst School will now coordinate with the five other previously denied schools, said Francis W. Parker School teacher Karen Liszka. The heavily attended parade passes by Nettelhorst in the heart of the city’s well-known LGBTQ+ area in Lake View.

* Sun-Times | Rainbow PUSH leader’s quick exit underscores challenge following Rev. Jackson: ‘It’s the most difficult job in Black America’: But former Rainbow PUSH insiders and longtime allies of the coalition agreed Haynes’ short-lived appointment was hamstrung from the beginning by a split commitment with his Texas megachurch — and it only raises more questions about the future of the organization. “For [Haynes] to be here and there — it was impossible,” said Hermene Hartman, founder of the Black Chicago publication N’DIGO. She worked alongside Jackson in the 1960s at Operation Breadbasket, a precursor to the groups that would become Rainbow PUSH.

Everywhere else

* Daily Herald | DuPage County Board members want answers on county clerk’s election invoices: Several DuPage County Board members are asking for answers about some no-bid contracts awarded by the county clerk. Each of the county board’s seven Republican members and one Democrat have signed a letter requesting discussion about the contracts be placed on the agenda for Tuesday’s board meeting. The contracts, which covered the printing of election material, total more than $250,000.

* Lake $ McHenry County Scanner | State’s attorney declines to file charges in 3 McHenry County inmate custody deaths; 4th case still pending: The three inmate deaths in a two-week span prompted the sheriff’s office to issue a lengthy statement saying they are “transparent” and “faithfully serve the community, promoting the safety and equal protection of all.” Illinois Department of Corrections Criminal Justice Specialist Sara Johnson conducted compliance monitoring at the McHenry County Jail on February 15. […] The report said the jail was in compliance with Illinois county jail standards and no recommendations were made for changes.

* WBEZ | Talking to your kids about race can reduce bias, a Northwestern professor found: In 2018, Perry began experiments in her lab. She brought in nearly 90 white parents and their 8- to 12-year-old children to discuss kid-appropriate situations dealing with prejudice and racism — and she measured whether those chats had any effects on the racial biases. The results were clear. “An overwhelming majority of them, their data points are showing a reduction [in bias]. It’s a very large effect,” Perry said.