*** RNC ***

* Illinois GOP chair-elect Kathy Salvi, House Minority Leader Tony McCombie and Sen. Terri Bryant held a press availability this morning:

* Sun-Times | Illinois Republican goes viral after confronting ‘obnoxious’ Gaetz on convention floor: Illinois National Republican Committeeman Richard Porter’s Tuesday night interaction with Gaetz made the rounds in a social media video that showed him berate the scandal-plagued Gaetz for trying to embarrass former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a television interview. […] At the Illinois RNC delegation’s Wednesday breakfast, Porter said Gaetz’s display “was just for show. It was obnoxious, it was not consistent with what we’re here for.”

* WTTW | As Illinois RNC Delegation Celebrates Agriculture, Congresswoman Decries ‘Communist Environmental Movement’ and ‘Demonized’ Carbon Dioxide: Miller said excessive regulations are hurting agriculture, blaming the so-called “communist environmental movement, the ‘Green Bad Deal’ that Donald Trump has called out as a sham issue. And I want to tell you as a farmer, we love CO2 – and trees and plants love it too. They have demonized the miracle molecule that causes things to grow.”

* Capitol News Illinois | Fioretti makes his case: Bob Fioretti, the GOP candidate for Cook County State’s Attorney, addresses reporters with Black Chicago-area community activists who say they’ve grown frustrated with Democrats and are now willing to give Republicans a try. Fioretti faces an uphill battle to become state’s attorney in predominantly blue Cook County against Democrat Eileen O’Neill Burke.

* Sun-Times | New Illinois GOP chair Kathy Salvi heralds ‘fresh new day’ at Republican National Convention: Salvi struck a familiar refrain of unity among Illinois delegates this week at the Republican National Convention, pushing for “culture of collaboration” in a divided state party that is trying to claw its way back to statewide relevance in Illinois. “I love this party, because sometimes we air our dirty laundry with one another,” Salvi said during her first public address since her election last week as the next party chair. “We need to say, ‘You know, let’s give that person the benefit of a fresh new day.’ And that’s how we win elections here in Illinois.”

* Sun-Times | Police arrest armed man in ski mask approaching RNC perimeter in Milwaukee: About 1 p.m. Monday, U.S. Capitol police “observed the suspect looking suspicious, wearing a ski mask and a large tactical backpack” in the 1200 block of North 11th Street, according to a statement from Milwaukee police. That’s about four blocks away from the downtown arena hosting most RNC events. Officers stopped the 21-year-old man and found a gun in his backpack, police said. He didn’t have a concealed carry permit, according to police. Wisconsin is an open-carry state.

…Adding… ILGOP…

The Illinois Republican Delegation will begin their day with breakfast at 8:00 AM CT that is open to the media. Details for the breakfast and speakers can be found below.

Illinois Republican Party Delegation Breakfast:
WHEN: Thursday, July 17, 2024 - 8:00 - 9:30 AM CT
WHERE:
Comfort Suites Milwaukee Airport - Ballroom
6362 South 13th Street
Oak Creek, WI 53154
WHO: Congressman Darin LaHood and Ohio Senate Candidate Bernie Moreno

AGENDA:
8:00 AM CT - Doors Open for Guests and Media
8:30 AM CT - Welcome, Prayer, and Pledge of Allegiance
8:45 AM CT - Guest Speaker - Ohio Senate Candidate Bernie Moreno
9:10 AM CT - Delegation speaker - Congressman Darin LaHood
9:30 AM CT - Breakfast Concludes

Congressman Darin LaHood, State Representative John Cabello, and Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy will hold media availability following the breakfast programming.

*** Statewide ***

* WAND | IDPH reports first human case of West Nile Virus in Illinois this year: The person is in their 60’s and lives in suburban Cook County. The onset of WNV symptoms was in mid-June. IDPH is tracking positive batches of birds and mosquitos on its West Nile virus dashboard and has reported 33 Illinois counties this year with positive results, an early warning of the presence of WNV in an area.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WCIA | Sen. Rose leads measure against proposed stricter OSHA firefighting requirements: A proposal from OSHA looks to expand protections for first responders including firefighters, but it focuses on increasing training requirements, medical screenings for all first responders, and more inspections of emergency vehicles. […] Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) initiated a resolution a couple months ago, with bipartisan support expressing the state of Illinois’ opposition to the proposed regulations as presented.

*** Chicago ***

* Block Club | The Feds Sent Millions To The CHA For Lathrop Homes. After 2 Decades, 300 Apartments Are Still Empty: But Lathrop residents say they suffered while the CHA delayed construction and stockpiled cash for years. Even when the next phase is completed, only 300 units at Lathrop will be reserved for public housing residents — a loss of 625 units from 25 years ago, and 101 fewer than the CHA is obligated to produce under a federal court settlement.

* The Triibe | Pro-Palestinian protestors call on city to drop charges ahead of the DNC in Chicago: The 40 people who were arrested face misdemeanor charges for obstructing traffic, which the city’s law department brought against them. Some of the 40 were present for a press conference Wednesday’s Chicago City Council’s meeting to speak out against the charges. The group sent a letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson on July 2, calling for his administration to drop their charges, but they said they haven’t received a response.

* Block Club | West Loop’s Free Parking Coming To An End As Hundreds More Metered Spots Planned: The problem: The parking meter proposal is already a done deal and has been for the past five years. But that isn’t stopping Ald. Bill Conway (34th) from trying. “I’m trying to have as few of the meters as I can and put them as close to commercial corridors versus residential as much as we can. But it’s difficult because, obviously, the ordinance predates me, so I don’t have a lot of leverage,” Conway said.

* Crain’s | Capital One commits to keep more than 1,000 staff at Discover’s Chatham call center: Capital One committed to meeting Discover’s original goal of employing more than 1,000 people at its call center in Chatham as part of its proposed $35 billion takeover of the Riverwoods-based credit card company. The commitment was included in Capital One’s announcement of $265 billion in widespread community benefits it says will stem from the deal, which must be approved by government regulators.

* Sun-Times | City Council approves $11.25 million settlement to female paramedic candidates: The settlement involves 12 women who were hired as paramedics, then flunked out of the fire academy by a “discriminatory,” post-hiring test so demanding and unrelated to the skills needed as a paramedic that four of the plaintiffs suffered “career-ending” hip and back injuries during the testing.

* Tribune | Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy will headline Chicago Live on Navy Pier: Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy will headline September’s Chicago Live arts festival on Navy Pier, according to an announcement Wednesday. Tweedy will play a free acoustic set on Saturday, the first night of the two-day event slated for Sept. 21-22. He’ll play on the Lake Stage in Polk Bros. Park, just to the west of the Pier.

* Tribune | Miche Fest went from Pilsen street fest to a leading Chicago Latino music festival: Six years ago, Michelada Fest started out of an empty parking lot in Pilsen when Fernando Nieto said he realized that most of the street festivals in the neighborhood were organized by non-Latinos. With some help from friends and community members, he created a festival to celebrate Mexican culture. […] Miche Fest, short for Michelada Festival, is now one of Chicago’s largest Latino music festivals, bringing together thousands of people from all over the city and featuring world-renowned artists who speak to different generations of Latinos.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Lansing Journal | ‘Read your bill,’ says Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas in response to record tax hikes: Newly redesigned bills show taxpayers, “Where Your Money Goes.” Bills show the amount of taxes owed for 2023 and how much the bill changed from 2022. The typical bill displays about a dozen taxing districts and shows how much is paid to each taxing body. “The first thing homeowners should do about their property taxes is to read their tax bill,” Pappas said. “In order to fix the broken property tax system, you must first understand where the money goes.”

* Daily Herald | It’s official: DuPage voters to decide on tax hike for forest preserves: If it passes, the owner of a home valued at $308,500 would pay roughly $36 more a year in property taxes to the district. The increase would raise more than $17 million in additional annual revenue, provide “long-term financial stability” and allow the district to purchase more land, officials say.

*** Downstate ***

* SJ-R | Multimillion dollar warehouse project takes step forward in Springfield despite objections: A project that could bring hundreds of jobs to the Springfield area took a step forward despite concerns from residents. The zoning agenda on Tuesday had council members vote on the proposed variances to move the warehouse forward. Fred O’Connor, Doug Kent and Charles Young made an objection to zoning docket 24-028, the multimillion dollar warehouse facility which was proposed on May 1. […] One of the main areas of concern for residents like Melissa Smith was traffic.

* SJ-R | Death of Sangamon County Board member will trigger special election: The July 6 death of longtime Sangamon County Board member John H. O’Neill III will trigger a special election for his seat on Nov. 5, according to Sangamon County Clerk Don Gray. O’Neill represented District 26, which is the Chatham area. The Republican was first elected to the board in 2002 and defeated Democratic challenger Rusty Jones in the 2022 election. In an email, Gray said the special election was being held because more than 28 months remain in the term.

* WGN | Underground railroad house in Payson, Illinois for sale: The home is located at 102 N Park St, Payson, Illinois. It is currently listed on Zillow for $169,900. […] The Library of Congress includes an entry about the building in its archives. On the property, there is a plaque that says that the home was recorded by the Historic American Building Survey of the United States Department.

* PJ Star | Teen drowned in Illinois River while fleeing from police, sheriff’s department says: The Peoria County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday that 14-year-old Leron Griffin drowned in the Illinois River while fleeing from police after he and another teenager led officers on a chase after having been allegedly caught in a stolen vehicle. “Unfortunately, these teenagers made several wrong decisions during this incident that led to one of them losing their lives,” the Peoria Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with Leron Griffin’s family.”

* Shaw Local | Ancient fault line likely responsible for DeKalb County earthquake, NIU expert say: Mark Frank, chair of NIU’s department of earth, atmosphere and environment, said he wasn’t surprised to discover an earthquake had occurred in that area, even though earthquakes aren’t particularly common in northern Illinois. “The earthquakes we get here in northern Illinois are associated with ancient cracks in the earth’s crust,” Frank said. “So, this one is plotting very close to a known fault called the Sandwich fault, which kind of runs from Dixon through and then south of DeKalb through DeKalb County.”

*** National ***

* Royal Astronomical Society | Want to spot a deepfake? Look for the stars in their eyes: That’s the compelling finding of new research shared at the Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting in Hull, which suggests that AI-generated fakes can be spotted by analysing human eyes in the same way that astronomers study pictures of galaxies. The crux of the work, by University of Hull MSc student Adejumoke Owolabi, is all about the reflection in a person’s eyeballs. If the reflections match, the image is likely to be that of a real human. If they don’t, they’re probably deepfakes.

* Bloomberg | Reckitt expects baby formula sales drop after tornado hits Indiana warehouse: The consumer goods company said Wednesday that the third-party warehouse has not been operational since the tornado hit on July 9. The Mead Johnson nutrition business contains Reckitt’s infant formula brands. Shares in Reckitt are down by more than a fifth since the start of the year after the company was hit by a damaging court verdict in the US relating to one of its formulas, called Enfamil Premature 24, which an Illinois woman blamed for the death of her baby.

* Crain’s | Top brass at Blue Cross Illinois parent take home big raises: Keeping with tradition, top executives at the parent company of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois were given large raises last year, despite a slight drop in profits. […] The raises came the same year [Health Care Service Corp] saw revenue soar to a record $54 billion as the health insurance giant hiked premium rates and added new customers to its plans across Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. However, a larger federal tax burden pulled down year-over-year net income 2% to $1.4 billion.

* ABC | Navy exonerates 256 Black sailors unjustly court-martialed for WWII-era Port Chicago explosion: The U.S. Navy has exonerated 256 Black sailors who were unjustly court-martialed in 1944 following the Port Chicago explosion in California that killed 320 people. The sailors had been punished for refusing to go back to work in what they considered to be an unsafe environment. Their prosecution took place at a time when the U.S. military was still segregated and reflected the unfair treatment that Black sailors experienced.

* Vox | The lessons Houston didn’t learn from Hurricane Harvey: Houston’s energy system has had its own unique issues within this milieu. “​​Texas in general — and CenterPoint in particular — had problems with reliability, even not during storms,” said Doug Lewin, an energy analyst who writes the Texas Energy and Power Newsletter. In Texas, CenterPoint ranked among the worst utilities for power outages and one of the worst in the country for energy efficiency. The Texas grocery chain H-E-B even installed backup generators at its Houston-area stores specifically because of CenterPoint’s unreliable service.