* ICYMI: Illinois pharmacists, State Medical Society split over new test and treat practice. WAND…

- Illinois pharmacists are now allowed to administer tests for the flu, COVID-19, strep throat, lice and RSV.
- The Illinois State Medical Society argues that pharmacists do not have proper training to provide certain exams or diagnose illnesses.
- Advocates said the new law will help pharmacists fill a critical gap in care.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Crain’s | Sidewalk plaques will memorialize 1919 race riot victims: The plaques will highlight victims of a horrific episode in Chicago’s history that “we need to know about because it literally explains why we’re so segregated,” said Peter Cole, a professor of history at Western Illinois University in Macomb and a part-time Chicago resident who heads the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project. The anger and mistrust that followed the riots contributed heavily to the patterns of segregation that became entrenched in the 20th century, Cole said. Until now, the only monument to the event has been a bronze plaque on a knee-high boulder near the beach where the riots started.

* Tribune | Alderman wants explanation for low arrest rates on cyberstalking, electronic harassment complaints: Ald. Nicole Lee, 11th, who heads the City Council’s women’s caucus, raised the issue this week in response to a Tribune investigation that found Chicago police made arrests in only 2% of the domestic-related electronic harassment and cyberstalking complaints received in the past 10 years. The arrest rate last year was about 1%. “I certainly want to have a conversation with CPD about it, to just better understand what their processes are and what the challenges are,” Lee said. “I know that we’ve got challenges across the city. … I think there’s a lot that needs to be done to better understand how we can support the police in providing more resources to address these issues. It seems like we’ve got the right laws on the books, but enforcement is key in terms of the actions that are taken.”

* WaPo | ‘Everyone is drinking it’: Why this type of ‘forever chemical’ seems to be everywhere: A growing body of research has raised concerns about a forever chemical known as TFA, which is short for trifluoroacetic acid and has been found in increasing amounts in rainwater, groundwater and drinking water. […] Recently released research by the Pesticide Action Network Europe, an organization that advocates against the use of pesticides, found strikingly high levels of TFA contamination in 23 surface and six groundwater samples from 10 European Union countries. The researchers found that the TFA levels were 70 times higher than those of other, better-known forever chemicals in the water.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WSIU | A Deep Dive Into This Years Illinois Fiscal Budget and Beyond: A little more than a week into the new Illinois fiscal year, CNI Broadcast Director Jennifer Fuller talks with Center for Tax and Budget Accountability Executive Director Ralph Martire. The discussion includes a look at the high points, the low points, and what Martire and others are keeping an eye on for future budget negotiations.

*** Statewide ***

* Tribune | Advocates criticize bid by Illinois power grid operator to skip some federal reforms: Last year federal regulators approved a long-awaited set of reforms designed to ease waitlists for new power sources seeking to come online and deliver electricity to homes and businesses. Such waitlists have emerged as one of the leading barriers to clean energy — including wind and solar power — and the federal reforms were widely viewed as an important step forward. But now PJM Interconnection, the powerful but little-known company that runs the waitlist in northern Illinois, is pushing back, with requests for exemptions from aspects of the reforms, including a new timeline for key studies.

* WTTW | From the Uihleins to Prominent Business Owners, Who Are Illinois’ Biggest Republican Donors?: Craig Duchossois, whose billionaire family previously owned the Arlington Park horse racing track, has given more than $9 million to an array of candidates and committees this cycle. According to federal records, Duchossois gave $3 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, which backs GOP House candidates; $2 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, which supports Republican Senate candidates; and $1 million to the PAC associated with the Koch Brothers-founded group Americans for Prosperity. He also gave $13,200 to Ricketts’ campaign and an associated fund.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Johnson rejected by Board of Education on CPS loan, pension payment: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s appointed Board of Education has refused to take on a pension payment that the mayor had insisted be paid by the school district. And the board and Chicago Public Schools leaders are strongly opposing a City Hall request that they take out a loan to cover the payment and a new Chicago Teachers Union contract, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ. The stunning rejections from Johnson’s own school board and district leaders come as discussions continue on the short-term, high-interest loan CPS officials and board members fear could impact the district’s financial health.

* Block Club | Loretto Hospital Executive At Center Of COVID Scandal Charged With $15 Million In Fraud: The federal charges came after a Block Club Chicago investigation that began with allegations Ahmed funneled hard-to-get vaccines early in the pandemic to his neighbors at Trump Tower and to workers at high-end businesses he frequented. The vaccines were meant for the city’s poorest people but ended up in areas where Chicago’s wealthiest lived and played.

* Sun-Times | 3rd piping plover chick dies in 5 days at Montrose Beach: Late Saturday, the chick was seen “lethargic and struggling” by observers near Montrose Beach after “feeding and moving normally” throughout the day, according to the statement. After being cleared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the chick was collected and taken to Lincoln Park Zoo for observation. Despite no signs of external or internal injuries, the chick died overnight after being given warmth, fluids and oxygen.

* Block Club | Dogs And Cats Scared Of Fireworks Overcrowded Chicago’s Animal Shelter. Now They Need Your Help: Armando Tejeda, the public information officer for the [Chicago Animal Care and Control Department], said there were 251 dogs and 234 cats staying in the shelter as of Thursday. That’s 21 percent more than average, and the highest number of animals in their care in five years.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | ‘A big win for the community’: How $6 million project aims to end decades of flooding in Wheeling: “There are no pipes in the neighborhood,” Wheeling Public Works Director Dan Kaup said. “The water has nowhere to go.” As a result, water accumulates on streets and in yards during every heavy rainstorm, typically two or three times a year, Village Manager Jon Sfondilis said. Houses rarely take on water, but cars driving down flooded streets can create wakes that splash up to front doors and into garages. The new project should change that.

* Shaw Local | Storm damages downtown Joliet buildings, knocked down several trees: An exterior section of the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66 was damaged in a freakish development during a storm that blew through downtown Joliet on Sunday morning. The storm intensified when it reached the near West Side of the city, blowing down trees that blocked at least one section of Broadway Street, which also serves as Route 53, before doing more damage downtown.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | ‘She was like a fresh breath of air’: Springfield community remembers Emma Shafer one year after her death: “Everywhere we went, Emma was there,” said Pastor Susan Philips from First Presbyterian Church in Springfield. “This last year has been really hard for many of us because we go to those same places and her absence is so profound. And it’s also inspired so many people to get more involved and to show up in deeper ways, and to make sure the things that have been part of Emma’s vision continue to be part of our future, too.”

*** National ***

* The Atlantic | AI Has Become a Technology of Faith: An important thing to realize about the grandest conversations surrounding AI is that, most of the time, everyone is making things up. This isn’t to say that people have no idea what they’re talking about or that leaders are lying. But the bulk of the conversation about AI’s greatest capabilities is premised on a vision of a theoretical future. It is a sales pitch, one in which the problems of today are brushed aside or softened as issues of now, which surely, leaders in the field insist, will be solved as the technology gets better. What we see today is merely a shadow of what is coming. We just have to trust them.