* Ed Burke’s sentencing hearing is still in progress as I write this. But you can check out these threads from Jason Meisner and Jon Seidel for live updates.

* Sens. Julie Morrison and Celina Villanueva…

State Senators Julie Morrison and Celina Villanueva responded Friday to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that upheld a federal law restricting firearm possession for domestic violence abusers.

“This decision reinforces the intent behind laws like Illinois’ Firearms Restraining Order Act, which I championed to prevent tragedies by keeping guns out of the hands of people who demonstrate threatening behavior,” said Morrison (D-Lake Forest). “When a credible threat to the physical safety of another person is identified, it is imperative that action is taken swiftly — the consequences of not intervening are too great. I commend the U.S. Supreme Court for upholding these lifesaving protections, and I remain committed to advocating for tangible solutions to keep our communities safe.”

“Domestic violence situations can escalate quickly when firearms are involved, and these restrictions are a vital component in the effort to reduce and prevent domestic violence-related homicides,” said Villanueva (D-Chicago). “There is still more work to do when it comes to protecting survivors and their families in Illinois, but I am glad to see these restrictions upheld at the federal level. I am hopeful that this will continue, on a state level, for us to move forward with Karina’s Law.”

Read the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion here.

* Patrick Keck…

Now, @RobertKennedyJr team is outside the elections board Springfield office submitting its papers. Campaign spox says they have 60K signatures. #twill https://t.co/LmI7ahijq4 pic.twitter.com/rYSW19AtxK

— Patrick M. Keck (@pkeckreporter) June 24, 2024

* Press release…

Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity(DCEO), local officials and IRONMAN leadership today announced that Rockford will host the IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon beginning next year in 2025 through 2027. Supported by a $800,000 grant to the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (Go Rockford) as part of the state’s $15 million Tourism Incentive Grant Program, this is the first time the IRONMAN will be held in Illinois. The race is expected to generate upwards of $45 million in economic impact over three years.

“I’m thrilled to welcome the IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon to Illinois,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “My administration’s Tourism Incentive Grant Program attracted this major event to Rockford, and we look forward to showcasing Illinois’ natural beauty and world-class hospitality to the thousands of athletes and spectators that will join us over the next three years.” […]

The triathlon will consist of a 1.2-mile swim on the Rock River, a 56-mile bike loop that takes athletes through the area north of Rockford and a 13.1-mile run that will take runners from Davis Park on a two-loop journey on the east and west banks of the Rock River. The event is expected to draw in nearly 3,000 athletes and 15,000 visitors during each race. The race is also expected to fill an estimated to 7,000-12,000 hotel room nights.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Daily Herald | The Springfield recap: Highlights from this legislative session: Illinois politicians enacted a law that will support small businesses struggling to hire employees, foster opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals, improve public safety and significantly reduce the costs of reincarceration. Soon small businesses will be able to receive a much higher tax credit for hiring formerly incarcerated individuals to offset the costs of on-the-job training. This hard-earned victory took years to achieve and came to fruition through grit, collaboration, and the leadership of dedicated policymakers.

* Shaw Local | New Illinois program will give incentive to taxpayers who donate to foundation endowments: The Illinois Gives Tax Credit Act will incentivize up to $100 million over the next five years, starting Jan. 1. The funds will be equally distributed among the certified community foundations in the state, including The Community Foundation for McHenry County. Each community foundation will be able to take a maximum of 15% of the $100 million, Alliance of Illinois Community Foundations Executive Director Amanda Standerfer said.

*** Statewide ***

* Fox Chicago | Illinois blood center calls for donations amid shortage: Versiti Blood Center of Illinois issued an emergency appeal on Monday in response to the decreasing state-wide blood supply. Almost 5,000 blood donation appointments at the center were canceled or missed in June. […] Some blood types only have a day’s supply of blood left, which puts local patients in need of blood at risk.

* ABC Chicago | As 2024 Illinois cicada emergence comes to end, here’s what to do with netting, dead bugs: Spencer Campbell with the Morton Arboretum joined ABC7 Chicago Monday to talk about what to do. Instead of discarding cicada carcasses and exoskeletons in the garbage or landscape waste, the arboretum suggests scattering them on lawns or garden beds as fertilizer.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | CPD pushes to boost its ‘clearance’ rate in homicide cases, with some success: As part of the city’s new contract with the Fraternal Order of Police, CPD’s detective bureau restructured the schedules of homicide detectives across the city in an effort to boost the clearance rate by giving investigators more ownership of a case. Antoinette Ursitti, CPD’s chief of detectives, said the staffing change has made “a profound effect” on the bureau. As of June 20, the department had a clearance rate of more than 65% — a marked increase from the 51.7% clearance rate the bureau recorded in 2023 and well higher than its overall clearance rate of 44% between 2012 and 2022.

* WTTW | Chicago Police Department Revises Plan to Handle Protests Around DNC After Reform Groups Object: Alexandra Block, director of the Criminal Legal System and Policing Project at the ACLU of Illinois, who represents the coalition, said the revised policy represents a “substantial improvement” over the original policy, even though concerns remain. “The coalition does not endorse this policy,” Block told WTTW News on Friday, in advance of a formal summary of their response to the new policy being filed next week with the federal judge overseeing the consent decree. “But it is a policy that we made better.”

* Mass Transit | RTA of Northern Illinois Board of Directors votes in favor of integrated day pass for unlimited rides on CTA, Metra and Pace: The approved agreement sets the pricing parameters for the day pass for unlimited rides on CTA and Pace and on selected fare zones for Metra on weekdays, ranging between $10 and $16. There will be one systemwide price on the weekend days of $10. Riders will be able to purchase this pass using the Ventra App at a discounted price in comparison to purchasing two existing passes separately (the CTA/Pace 1-Day Pass and the Metra day pass). The fare revenue difference will be funded by the RTA of Northern Illinois and distributed to CTA, Metra and Pace.  

* Crain’s | Ex-employee sues National Association of Realtors over alleged smear campaign: A former employee of the National Association of Realtors is suing the Chicago-based trade association, claiming that after she was fired over complaining of workplace discrimination, a retaliation campaign ensued, including cyberstalking her and attempting to ruin her career. Roshani Sheth claims that after the NAR fired her on the heels of her internal complaint about sexual harassment — including men in the workplace ogling her breasts and commenting about her body — the organization declined to even confirm her prior employment at the association when potential future employers checked her references.

* CoStar | San Francisco Firm Seeks Sale of Historic Office Building in Chicago After High-Profile Loss: Shorenstein Properties has hired JLL brokers to seek a buyer for the 16-story building at 1 N. State St., which is more than 58% vacant, according to a marketing brochure. The offering does not include separately owned retail space on the lower two floors of the tower that was completed in 1912. It’s a challenging time for deals around the country: Shorenstein in December not only sold the third-tallest building in Los Angeles, the Aon Center, for $153.5 million, far below the $268.5 million it paid in 2014, it recently handed the second-tallest building in Minneapolis, Capella Tower, back to its lender after failing to sell the property and pay off its loan from a $225 million purchase in 2018. Shorenstein also faces a potential loss on the smaller tower it bought in Chicago for nearly $80 million in 2016.

* Tribune | Ann Lurie, one of Chicago’s most prolific philanthropists, dies at 79: Her name and that of her husband Robert, who died in 1990, are affixed most prominently to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. But there have been dozens of other beneficiaries in Chicago and across the world, fueled by Robert Lurie’s success in business but also by Ann Lurie’s deeply altruistic nature. “When I was young, my mother encouraged me to ‘do a good deed daily,’” she said some years ago. “Following her advice as a teenager gave me a great deal of personal pleasure, and now, many years later, it still feels good.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Sun-Times | Man accused of throwing liquid in face of State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and driving toward her: A Flossmoor man has been charged with throwing a liquid in the face of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and driving his truck toward her late last week. Foxx “was forced to step off of the road onto the parkway grass due to her fear of being struck,” according to court documents.

* Crain’s | After a rocky path to approval, Northwestern breaks ground on new stadium: University and city of Evanston officials gathered, along with members of the Ryan family, for the groundbreaking ceremony today, which included remarks by Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, who cast the deciding vote in November to narrowly grant approval for the new football stadium. “The Ryan family is proud to enable this generational, transformational project that will catapult Northwestern to the forefront of athletics facilities while creating a powerful year-round asset for the Northwestern and Evanston communities,” Ryan, whose $480 million donation kick-started the stadium project, said in a written statement.

* Daily Herald | Why Des Plaines may become latest suburb to lift limits on beekeeping: If new rules are approved, Des Plaines would join a slowly growing list of suburbs that have changed course in recent years and now allow people to keep honeybees in backyard hives. The council’s change of heart comes a little more than a year after it softened restrictions for keeping chickens in coops at home. Bees and chickens often are linked as municipal issues, and several aldermen pointed to the earlier decision as a positive development and a reason to allow beekeeping.

*** National ***

* Columbia Journalism Review | When they won’t even say ‘no comment’: The rising tide of nonresponses coincides with the rise of social media, which enables the subject of any news story to bypass pesky journalists by putting out his or her own messages. It also parallels the growing hostility toward the press, at least among some political figures. Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s former press secretary, Christina Pushaw, sometimes posted media requests to her social feeds before bothering to communicate with the reporter; she then all but invited her followers to deride the reporter for seeking her input. Reporters seeking comment from Twitter’s press office in the months following Elon Musk’s purchase of the platform received an automated poop emoji. At least it was a response.

* The Cut | Liz Phair Remembers It All: In the years since, between follow-up albums — Whip-Smart, Whitechocolatespaceegg, Liz Phair, and Soberish — and a memoir, Phair is going back to her roots by celebrating the 30th anniversary of Exile in Guyville with a tour, swinging by Kings Theatre in Brooklyn on November 24. A germaphobe with a father who was an infectious-disease doctor during the AIDS epidemic, Phair says she needed a “really strong sense of purpose” to hit the road again. “When the pandemic came, in my mind I’d been waiting for this, which doesn’t help — sort of like, Oh, God, it’s here,” she admits. “Concurrently, I’m humbled and amazed and grateful that Guyville, this little record that could, is still relevant and powerful to people 30 years later. I’ve watched it be recognized here and there in ways that just stun me.”

* Crain’s | How a cyberattack took 15,000 car dealers offline: The Hoffman Estates-based company is one of just a handful of dealer management system providers that underpin auto retailers’ ability to access customer records, schedule appointments, handle car-repair orders and complete transactions, among other tasks. CDK has confirmed it’s been the subject of a cyber-ransom event, and Bloomberg reported that the company was planning to pay the tens of millions of dollars that the group behind the hacks had demanded in order to restore service.