* ICYMI: ‘We should have a sense of urgency’ as farm drainage tile drives nutrient pollution. Investigate Midwest…

- An increased use of agricultural drainage tile is one reason a 2025 deadline to reduce nitrate and phosphorus entering the Gulf of Mexico by 20% is unlikely.

- Drainage tile, a system farmers use to drain water from croplands, is also a contributor to the historic loss of up to about 100 million acres of wetlands in the U.S.

-Tile is a major influence on the massive amounts of nitrate that flow into the Gulf of Mexico. About 90% of this nitrate comes from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers, which are connected to highly tiled states like Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

* Related stories…

∙ Investigate Midwest: At the mouth of the Mississippi, Louisiana bears the burden of upstream runoff. Why doesn’t it push for solutions?
∙ WWNO: Not just a Gulf problem: Mississippi River farm runoff pollutes upstream waters

* Delayed again!…

By our math this project to replace a bridge is just ~two months shy of taking as long as it took to build the Sears Tower. https://t.co/YEv9Ul8jfA

— The People’s Fabric (@peoplesfabric) June 27, 2024

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Pritzker calls SCOTUS emergency abortion ruling ‘small respite’ as state protections await his signature: The proposal, House Bill 581, would codify abortions as a “stabilizing treatment” that doctors must offer when necessary, in emergency situations such as ectopic pregnancy, preeclampsia, and fertility loss related to pregnancy complications. The measure passed on partisan lines. Its chief sponsor, Rep. Dagmara Avelar, D-Bolingbrook, said on Thursday that the “primary reason” the bill was introduced was to preserve the status quo in case a Supreme Court decision casts doubt on EMTALA’s coverage of abortion procedures.

* Tribune | Fallout from Supreme Court ruling just beginning in Michael Madigan racketeering case: The fallout from the ruling will be particularly acute in Chicago, where federal prosecutors have used the 666 law for years to bring political corruption indictments, including Madigan’s, where it makes up five of the 23 overall counts charged against the longtime speaker of the House. In a minute order posted to the docket Thursday, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey ordered both sides to meet and confer on the issues — including whether they should proceed with pending motions to dismiss and if the U.S. attorney’s office will seek a superseding indictment — and report back to him by July 8.

* Sun-Times | On Kennedy Expressway, Illinois Tollway, no speed cameras are watching despite what signs say: But there aren’t any speed cameras in work zones on the Tri-State or the other toll roads overseen by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. And the Kennedy hasn’t had any work-zone speed-enforcement cameras since construction began on the expressway early last year. The Illinois Tollway used to have speed cameras, an agency spokeswoman says, but not for many years.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Tribune | State adds two migrant shelters months before DNC, causing objections from lawmakers: Ahead of August’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration this week revealed it’s opening two new shelters to house up to 1,700 migrants, though the governor’s office sought to downplay the timing. […] [Rep. Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar] and state Sen. Mike Porfirio, a La Grange Democrat who also represents the area, said in a statement this week they only learned Pritzker’s administration was moving forward with its plans after it sent out a news release detailing the shelter openings. During previous discussions about the shelter being located in a former hotel near Midway Airport, the lawmakers had raised numerous questions and public safety concerns. (Click here for more info)

* WREX | Several new laws set to go into effect Monday in Illinois: The new law will allow a license to be obtained without as much documentation and also act as a form of identification for things such as opening a bank account or renting homes. […] [Mary Lou Castro] believes this change is imperative as non-citizens work to navigate everyday life. “Making you feel more at ease, more at home. They’re paying taxes, they’re working like everybody else and just providing the same services that any individual has to in the state of Illinois in order to survive and move forward,” Castro said.

*** Statewide ***

* AGRI News | ICGA, oil industry sue EPA: The Illinois Corn Growers Association joined 12 other state corn organizations and oil industry representatives to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for its inequitable and costly electrification of America’s vehicle fleet. […] “In its multi-pollutant rule, the EPA incentivized the electric vehicle industry for its ability to reduce carbon, but refused to acknowledge the positive impact of renewable fuels,” ICGA President Dave Rylander said. “Ethanol is currently decarbonizing our atmosphere. Why are we penalizing our current solution for a technology that is not obtainable at its proposed level today?”

* WGEM | Illinois residents warned about firework safety and regulations: Novelty fireworks such as smoke bombs and sparkles are legal to set off during the fourth. However, bigger fireworks such as mortars are illegal in the cities themselves. Violating these laws is a class A misdemeanor which can lead to fines ranging from $75 to $2,500.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Chicago wants to reach violence victims at the hospital bedside: Chicago will use $3 million in American Rescue Plan funding on hospital-based violence intervention to help those at risk of a repeat of violent injury. The Chicago Department of Public Health on June 26 said it was looking for proposals from qualified hospitals and community-based organizations to deliver programming and services to victims. The project aims to promote partnerships between hospitals that provide care to the highest volume of patients with violence-related injuries and the community-based organizations that can serve them.

* Tribune | CTU lobbyist helped craft mayor’s letter to Senate president at heart of Springfield selective enrollment fight: Harmon pointed to Johnson’s promise in the late May letter as evidence of the trust between the two officials, saying the mayor’s “commitment to me is even more clear and more binding than the bill would have been.” But public records provided to the Tribune reveal a CTU official helped craft the eleventh-hour letter that likely saved the teachers union and Johnson from an embarrassing defeat in the statehouse, as well as an earlier, watered-down version.

* Sun-Times | Chicago Public Schools lays off nearly 600 support staff members: The school district acknowledged Thursday that nearly 600 support staff were laid off as schools look to the year ahead, about half teacher aides. Officials said only about 5% of all teacher aides lost their positions and that most will find jobs in other schools. They also said these were individual decisions made by principals and that overall, CPS schools are hiring more teachers, special education aides and restorative justice coordinators. CPS CEO Pedro Martinez also insisted, as he has in the past, that spending on schools overall will either stay the same or increase next school year.

* Tribune | Cracks revealed between Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Teachers Union at board meeting: [A]s resources have become more scarce—with the district facing an approximately $400 million deficit when pandemic-era federal relief funds expire in the fall—different priorities emerged at Thursday’s more than six-hour meeting. Education support staff, known as paraprofessionals, help manage classrooms and materials and provide tailored support to students. CTU members said that by cutting the number of staff members who often support homeless, bilingual and special education students, CPS will destabilize not only staffers’ families but also their students.

* CBS Chicago | Chicago Board of Education approves settlement for lawsuit accusing teacher of sexual abuse: The Chicago Board of Education has given final approval to pay $800,000 to a former student who was sexually abused by a teacher. The payment comes as the settlement of a 2019 lawsuit filed by a woman known only as Jane Doe, who said she was sexually abused by a former teacher at Gurdon S. Hubbard High School in the West Lawn neighborhood.

* Tribune | Shradha Agarwal, former Outcome Health president, sentenced to 3 years in a halfway house: Shradha Agarwal, 38, was the second of a trio of former top Outcome executives to be sentenced this week for their roles in a scheme that prosecutors said defrauded pharmaceutical companies, investors and financial institutions out of $1 billion. In handing down the unusual sentence, U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin said Agarwal deserved to go to prison, but he was giving her a break because of a “ridiculous” policy of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons that non-U.S. citizens like Agarwal cannot go to a prison camp, where most first-time, nonviolent offenders are housed.

* Block Club | Chicago Pride Parade 2024: Here’s What You Need To Know: The parade is 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, June 30. City officials and parade organizers moved up the start time to give the Police Department an easier shift change once the parade is over and again later at night, Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th) previously said.

* Sun-Times | Bubba Wallace’s Block Party moves to Douglass Park for 2024 NASCAR Chicago: “I’m excited to host another block party in Chicago,” Wallace said in a statement. “I was impressed by how the community showed up last year, eager and willing to learn more about our sport. Let’s run it back.” Activities for all ages are also part of the mix, including coloring stations, race car courses for kids, free haircuts and giveaways. Attendees can also take laps on racing simulators.

* Sun-Times | Kinky Friedman, provocative Texas musician and novelist, dies at 79: Friedman, 79, died Thursday at his family’s Texas ranch near San Antonio, close friend Kent Perkins told The Associated Press. The Chicago native had suffered from Parkinson’s disease for several years, Perkins said. […] Often called “The Kinkster” and sporting sideburns, a thick mustache and cowboy hat, Friedman earned a cult following and reputation as a provocateur throughout his career across musical and literary genres. […] Friedman joined part of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour in 1976.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Lake County News-Sun | Statistics show most Waukegan Township residents struggling to make ends meet; ‘It’s important all people are able to live with dignity’: As the cost of things like housing and food continues to increase, more than half the families in Waukegan Township — and approximately 25% of those in Lake County — are not earning enough to afford the basic necessities of life. […] In Waukegan Township — much of Waukegan, the northern part of North Chicago and some of southern Beach Park — 57% of families are below the [Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed] level. It is 52% in Zion Township, 30% in Warren Township and 33% countywide, according to United Way data.

* Crain’s | Can Walgreens save itself: The Deerfield-based company’s stock slid 25% yesterday after disclosing disappointing third-quarter earnings and revealing the pharmacy giant intends to shrink its footprint, write down assets and try to narrow its focus on profitable parts of the business. The poor performance comes amid a $1 billion cost-cutting plan and a strategic review of the entire business, both of which were kick-started by CEO Tim Wentworth. The turnaround moves are intended to boost profits and investors’ confidence, but so far, there’s little evidence the plan is working or will pay dividends anytime soon. Executives said headwinds, particularly in its largest segments, are expected to last into next year.

* NBC Chicago | Arlington Heights mayor sheds light on Bears stadium talks after announcing he won’t seek re-election: Hayes, who plans to spend time with his family after serving several terms as mayor, indicated talks with the team are still ongoing. “I’m hopeful about where things are at, otherwise I wouldn’t be leaving,” he said. “We’ve got a really good team here of our own that has been working on it for about three and a half years. And so we’re going to continue to work on it in the next 10 months.”

* NBC Chicago | Former AG Lynch recommends that Northwestern enhance hazing prevention training: A team of investigators led by former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch recommended Northwestern enhance its hazing prevention training in the wake of a scandal that rocked the school’s athletic department. Though the report released Thursday by the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP stated “the results of our review have been largely positive,” investigators found room for improvement when it came to preventing hazing during a nearly year-long review.

* Daily Herald | Des Plaines shrine welcomes national pilgrimage with special Mass: Starting Wednesday and continuing through Sunday, the Archdiocese of Chicago is welcoming the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, a two-month walking journey across the U.S. led by clergy and a small group of young adults who will converge July 17, at the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. “The whole idea is to rekindle the faith of the community and call them out, to rekindle people’s sense of hope,” said the Rev. Esequiel Sanchez, rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. “The message is faith through action, to take responsibility for what we can do and make wherever we live a better place.”

*** Downstate ***

* CBS | Illinois cold case victim identified as Ohio woman nearly 50 years after she was killed: The woman found dead in Grundy County had been nameless. Officials identified her on Thursday as JoAnne “Vicki” Smith, who was only 20 years old when she died. Detectives said the woman’s DNA led them to surviving relatives. Earlier this year, a DNA match led authorities to identify the body as Smith’s. […] Ronnie said JoAnne was his older sister and the “apple of my mother’s eye.” She went missing from their family home in Cincinnati in 1976 and was never heard from again. Ronnie was just 8 years old when his sister disappeared.

* The Southern | Fuller Dome project includes visitors’ center: Restoring the house was financed through a Save America’s Treasures’ Grant through the National Park Services. The preservation grant meant putting everything back in its place as much as possible. For example, the floors are made of cork from Portugal. Restoring it meant finding a very specific type, size and color to match the original flooring. […] The visitors’ center has 3D printed walls from a California company called Mighty Buildings. There is a “proprietary recipe” for the walls that the company is secretive about. The center is designed to fit with Fuller’s vision of being creative, unique and good for the environment. It features triangular patterns on the outside of the building.

*** National ***

* National Low Income Housing Coalition | How Much Do You Need to Earn to Afford a Modest Apartment in Your State?: Hourly wage required to afford a two-bedroom rental home by state.