* ICYMI: 1908 Springfield race riot site could be national monument. Dave Dahl…

Springfield community members are calling on President Biden to commemorate the site of 1908 Springfield Race Riots as a national monument.

On Monday, the Department of Interior held a public meeting at Union Baptist Church to discuss the topic. Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and Shannon Estenoz, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, attended the meeting and heard from community leaders as they expressed support for President Biden to use the Antiquities Act to designate a national monument in Springfield.

The Springfield site would be the first national park to tell the history of race riots in the U.S. and would document one of the country’s worst examples of mass racial violence, where a White mob attacked and lynched Black residents of Springfield and burned their homes and businesses within blocks of the former home of Abraham Lincoln.

“Making the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot a National Monument will give all Americans the chance to know their history so something so horrible as this will never happen again,” said Ken Page, President, Springfield ACLU.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Tribune | Feds want 10 years in prison for ex-Ald. Edward Burke, saying he was ‘no novice’ when it came to corruption: The sentence requested by the U.S. attorney’s office would mean that Burke could very well die in prison. But it’s a punishment prosecutors say is warranted, given the “mountain” of evidence in the case — including hundreds of undercover recordings — that captured Burke in his own words and make it “obvious that Burke was no novice when it came to corruption.” “Burke operated as a seasoned professional when it came to identifying new potential clients for his law firm and exploiting his power and position in order to secure their business,” prosecutors wrote.

* Sun-Times | Obama visits presidential center as signature tower reaches full height: The site of the presidential center and museum is “about 56%” complete, according to workers at the site, and former President Barack Obama briefly spoke and shook hands with dozens to celebrate the latest milestone — the museum building hitting its full height of 225 feet.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WAND | Illinois Senate could pass plan tackling deepfake cyberbullying during veto session: “House Bill 299 arrived in the Senate as a new House bill on May 22, two days before our scheduled adjournment,” said Liz Mitchell, a spokesperson for Senate President Don Harmon. “As such, time did not allow for the Senate to take it up in the spring session. It will be reviewed.”

* WGEM | Bill awaiting Gov. Pritzker’s signature aims to improve birth equity in Illinois: The bill would require private insurance companies to cover all pregnancy, postpartum and newborn care provided by perinatal doulas or licensed certified professional midwives. This includes home births, home visits and support during labor. Insurers would also be required to cover home visits by board-certified lactation consultants including the cost of recommended breast pumps, breastfeeding supplies and feeding aids.

*** Statewide ***

* Sun-Times | New initiative to expand gender-affirming care across Illinois: Despite Illinois serving as a blue haven for those seeking gender-affirming care, Illinois officials said many LGBTQ+ adults avoid seeking care due to disrespect and discrimination from providers, and they hope this new initiative will address prejudices. Lawmakers in 2019 approved legislation that directs coverage of gender-affirming surgeries for Medicaid members age 21 and older who are diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

* SJ-R | Planned Parenthood sees ‘unprecedented’ surge in out-of-state patients at Illinois clinics: Planned Parenthood said that it has seen patients from 41 states over the course of the past two years, now encompassing some 25% of all patients seen at the 19 in-person facilities and two virtual facilities across Illinois. Overall, the group said that it had experienced a 47% increase in overall patients over the past two years since the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that the U.S. Constitution did not guarantee the right to an abortion, overruling the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision and the 1992 Planned Parenthood vs. Casey decision that upheld the former.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Chicago weighs up to $3 billion of debt for O’Hare upgrades: The City Council’s Finance Committee held public hearings today and then approved a series of proposals from the Johnson administration that could add up to more than $4 billion in debt
Airport debt makes up the bulk of the proposals with a plan to issue up to $3 billion in general airport senior lien revenue bonds and passenger facility charge revenue bonds for O’Hare capital improvements.

* Sun-Times | Bally’s a bad bet? Johnson casts doubt on permanent casino in River West: “I liken it, frankly, to the airlines deal that was negotiated two administrations ago. There were some challenges in there,” said Johnson, who recently hammered out a cost-cutting deal with United and American airlines, clearing the massive O’Hare expansion plan for takeoff. “I wish I could say something definitive today. I know our team is working with ownership to figure it out like we figured out some of the other things that I’ve inherited. It just has to make absolute sense. … I think that one’s still to be determined, to be perfectly frank with you.”

* Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson opposes 8 p.m. downtown curfew for minors: “The data indicates that setting … arbitrary curfews does not yield results that are favorable,” the mayor told the Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board Monday. “For my administration, it’s not just about youth employment. … We have to create safe spaces for [young] people. … The more activity that you have in neighborhoods, including downtown, that actually creates safer spaces,” Johnson added.

* Tribune | City demands thousands of Chicago police officers pay off pension error: Thousands of Chicago police officers received an unwelcome letter from their pension fund this week: thanks to a payroll error spurred by officers’ latest contract, approximately 3,000 are required to cut a check to their pension fund, plus interest. The Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 7, which represents most rank-and-file cops, said it planned on filing a grievance over the error so that the city would have to pay that interest charge instead of workers.

* WTTW | CPS, CTU to Hold First-Ever Contract Negotiation Session Open to the Public Friday: The CTU announced the sides have agreed to schedule an open contract bargaining session Friday from 5-7 p.m. at Marquette Elementary School, 6550 S. Richmond St., in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood. According to the union, this session will be focused on “Healthy, Safe, Green Schools” and how schools can be updated to support student learning.

* Chakbeat | Reputation vs. reality: A closer look at four Chicago high schools: In the 2022-23 school year, 44.51% of elementary school students and 76.18% of high school students opted out of attending their zoned neighborhood schools. As the city shifts its focus to neighborhood schools, Chalkbeat spoke with community members and alumni at four Chicago high schools about how reputation affects their schools and communities, and how they’re trying to change the narrative.

* ABC Chicago | At least 5 taken to hospitals after CTA bus hits building, cars in Bridgeport: Surveillance video from the scene shows the out-of-control bus also hit a building before slamming into the cars. CPD said there were a total of 11 vehicles involved in the crash. At least five people had to be taken to the hospital.

* Tribune | Chicago White Sox are the 1st team to lose 50 games this season — and they did so in grand fashion: Cal Raleigh hit a game-ending grand slam in the ninth inning against reliever Jordan Leasure as the Seattle Mariners stormed back to beat the Sox 8-4 in front of 23,027 at T-Mobile Park. The Sox had a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the eighth, only for the Mariners to pull even — with three of the four runs allowed in the inning by Michael Kopech. The Mariners loaded the bases with two walks and a single in the ninth, setting the stage for Raleigh’s walk-off slam.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | No Ribfest planned for this year: Exchange Club of Naperville president: “We never planned one this year, so we didn’t really cancel it because we never scheduled it,” said Emy Trotz, president of the Exchange Club of Naperville, the civic group in charge of Ribfest. “We had other things going on that we didn’t have the capability to put it together.”

* Crain’s | Wilmette residents irate after park district fences off lakefront beach: Furious Wilmette residents are set to rally in opposition to the park district’s recent decision to fence off and charge admission to the beach at Gillson Park. The rally, which will take place at Wimette’s village hall tonight at 7:00, comes as residents say the fence was erected without proper notice and their input. Beachgoers are now required to pay $5 for residents and $10 for nonresidents for admission, which was formerly free. Park advocates say the move restricts access for “community members including seniors, families and individuals with disabilities, who rely on the open space for recreation and relaxation.”

*** Downstate ***

* Illinois Times | Rebuilding the Catholic Church: The future central Illinois school just hired its first president, Kent Lasnoski, who is moving to Springfield from Wyoming, where he led another Catholic college. He hopes to open the doors for San Damiano in the fall of 2025 on the campus of the former Chiara Center, located on the grounds of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis in Springfield. The Franciscan Brothers of the Holy Cross operated the St. James Trade School there from 1928 to 1972.

*** National ***

* AP | Justice Alito questions possibility of political compromise in secret recording: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is heard questioning whether compromise between the left and right is possible in a conversation posted on social media Monday. The conservative justice is also heard agreeing with a woman who says the United States should return “to a place of godliness.” The audio was posted on X by liberal filmmaker Lauren Windsor. She said it was recorded at the Supreme Court Historical Society’s annual dinner last week.

* The Athletic | Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone shows anything’s possible for her at Paris Olympics and beyond: McLaughlin-Levrone declared before the race she was aiming for the American record. And as she glided down the final 100 meters, resisting the Manhattan wind, she almost got it. She clocked in at 48.75 seconds, just shy of Richards-Ross’ national record of 48.70 set in 2006. “So close,” McLaughlin-Levrone told reporters afterwards. “But you know what, it’s all good. There’s so much time to do that. It’s always just about refining it and learning the race.”