* ICYMI: Springfield community gathers at peace rally in support of Massey family. WAND…

- Just an hour after the body camera footage of Sonya Massey’s shooting death was released to the public, hundreds took to the streets in support of her family.
- The rally provided a space for the community to lean on each other for support and to remember Sonya’s legacy.
-Protester and 13-year-old Alfred Dixon said that he had played with Sonya’s children and had the pleasure of meeting her. “She was the nicest person I knew. She was just very loving, inviting me to her home.” said Dixon “She loved everyone. In [just] a short amount of time, she loved you already.”

* Related stories…

∙ SJ-R: ‘Where is the humanity?’ Reacting to release of the Sonya Massey bodycam footage
∙ WAND: Video shows sheriff’s deputy shoot and kill an unarmed woman in Springfield, Ill.

* Levy Konigsberg LLP media advisory…

Systemic Sexual Abuse of Children in the Cook County, Illinois Juvenile Court System: Bailey & Glasser LLP and Levy Konigsberg LLP File Lawsuits on Behalf of Nearly 200 Sexual Assault Survivors

What: A press conference with attorneys and numerous survivors of alleged sexual abuse to announce the filing of lawsuits on behalf of 37 female and 156 male survivors of sexual violence who were sexually abused while confined at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (formerly known as the Arthur J. Audy Home). Attorneys and survivors will speak out about the physical, psychological, and emotional injuries suffered as a direct result of childhood sexual abuse as detailed
in the lawsuits filed on July 22nd in the Court of Claims of the State of Illinois and in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.

All sexual assault survivors were between 9 and 17 years old at the time of the abuse with the assaults taking place between 1995 and 2022. The perpetrators of the sexual abuse were male and female Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center staff. Nearly 400 cases have now been filed involving child sexual abuse in juvenile detention centers in Illinois, with over 200 cases previously filed in May and June of this year arising from state-operated Illinois Youth Centers (IYC).

When: Tuesday, July 23rd, 2024 at 11:30am CST
The event will also be livestreamed here.
Who:

• Todd Mathews, partner, Bailey & Glasser LLP
• Jerome Block, partner, Levy Konigsberg LLP
• Numerous survivors to present statements

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Daily Chronicle | DeKalb man charged in assassination threat to Rep. Jeff Keicher jailed ahead of trial: A DeKalb County judge on Monday decided to keep jailed a DeKalb man accused of threatening to assassinate state Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore, citing in part the man’s criminal history of making false 911 calls to police. Forrest R. Brandon, 58, will remain in custody at the DeKalb County Jail in Sycamore without release pending trial. He appeared for a second court hearing Monday in front of Circuit Court Judge Joseph Pedersen. Brandon is expected to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 15 on a charge of threatening a public official, a Class 3 felony. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

* Crain’s | Lurie to expand mental health training for primary care docs: Lurie Children’s Hospital will receive nearly $1 million from Cook County Health to train and support primary care providers at federally qualified health centers serving under-resourced neighborhoods in Chicago.

* CBS | Oscar Mayer Wienermobile rolls on its side in crash on Chicago-area expressway: No one was injured in the crash. The right northbound lane of I-294 was shut down for more than an hour while police investigated the crash, but all lanes were open by 12:30 p.m. According to the website for Oscar Mayer, there are six different official Wienermobiles that tour the country. The next scheduled stop in the Chicago area is on July 27 at Tony’s Fresh Market in Round Lake Beach.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Advantage News | Illinois Comptroller addresses the state’s pension challenges: Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza recently made the first pension prepayment as allowed under a new law. The change allows Mendoza to pay more into state pensions earlier in the year. “The pre-payment of monthly state contributions allows the retirement systems to keep assets working to generate investment returns longer, improving the financial condition of the systems and potentially reducing required state contributions in the future.,” said Mendoza.

* WCIA | New IL bill requires weather radios installed in recently built mobile homes: Ed Shimon, the warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln, knows this is a crucial step, especially after the damage across Central Illinois last week. “I’ve seen a lot of mobile home parks get hit just by chance. It’s very devastating,” Shimon said.

* WAND | Illinois law will expand mental health coverage for patients following miscarriage, stillbirth: Illinois currently requires insurance coverage for mental, emotional, nervous and substance use treatments for pregnant people through delivery, postpartum and neonatal care. “But there is no requirement to provide those services in the case of miscarriage or stillbirth,” said Sen. Linda Holmes (D-Aurora). “House Bill 5282 adds coverage for individuals needing those services as a result of a miscarriage or stillbirth.”

* WCIA | Pritzker signs several auto, medical service-related bills: Legislation like House Bills 4255 and 5370 were put forth to improve safety around emergency scenes. HB4255 will soon allow tow trucks and other specified vehicles to use green oscillating flashing lights at the scene of a crash or disablement. HB5370 amends Illinois’ “Scott’s Law” by requiring drivers to slow down around such accidents. These will all go into effect at the top of 2025.

* WAND | New Illinois law expands family counseling services for first responders: The plan requires every self-insured county and municipality cover marriage and couples counseling for police and firefighters. This change will apply to local first responders, Illinois State Police, university law enforcement and their families.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | United Center owners plan $7 billion Near West Side campus: The next-generation owners of the United Center are proposing a $7 billion transformation of the property around the Near West Side arena, a plan to redraw 55 acres surrounding the venue with a megaproject that includes a new 6,000-seat music hall, hotel and retail buildings, public open space and thousands of apartments.

* Sun-Times | United Center owners planning massive $7 billion mixed-use campus around the arena: The United Center is the second busiest arena in America, according to the development team, hosting 3 million guests annually. The arena was built thirty years ago with no government funding — and the same would hold true for The 1901 Project. Spearheaded by the Reinsdorf and Wirtz families, the ownership group said there’s no plan to request city funding or tax increment financing assistance.

* WGN | ‘The person knows they hit me’: Chicago newspaper columnist suffers broken hip after Pilsen hit-and-run: Perez, 32, was struck by the unidentified vehicle Tuesday evening, just a block away from his home. Perez said the car hit him while in the middle of the crosswalk on 18th Street moments after he left a nearby store. […] “The doctors did their part, and I just hope the police also find this person because I wouldn’t feel safe with someone who feels it’s OK to just drive off after this,” Perez said.

* Sun-Times | AKA sorority sisters filled with pride as Kamala Harris steps in for Joe Biden weeks before DNC: “In this geopolitical environment, and sometimes (with) the views of people of color, and especially a woman leading, I honestly did not think that Kamala Harris would even get a nod,” AKA Central Regional Director Kiahna Davis told the Sun-Times. “To hear that, it made me proud as a woman, and it made me proud as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha.” […] AKA was founded on the campus of Howard University in 1908, making it the country’s oldest historically Black sorority. The organization, which is headquartered on the South Side of Chicago, now has more than 300,000 initiated members worldwide. […] AKA will not officially endorse any political candidate, but it along with fellow Black Greek-letter organizations — known as the “Divine Nine” — have launched a massive voter mobilization campaign.

* Sun-Times | McCormick Place installs bird-safe film to deter migrating birds from hitting its windows: The lakefront building’s glass windows are currently being covered with a bird-safe film, which is meant to deter birds from flying into the glass. The $1.2 million project began in early June and will take three months to complete, just in time for the beginning of the fall migration, according to a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which manages McCormick Place.

* WBEZ | What’s That Building? Muddy Waters house and Mojo Museum: McKinley Morganfield (stage name Muddy Waters) and his wife, Geneva, bought their Kenwood house in 1954 and the home has remained the family ever since. Today, the building is owned by a nonprofit run by one of the singer’s great-granddaughters and is a city landmark. It was turned into the Muddy Waters MOJO Museum by his great-granddaughter, Chandra Cooper.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Suburban delegates lining up behind Harris: “It appears everyone is coming together,” said DuPage County Board Chair Deborah Conroy, who was a Harris delegate before she ended her campaign in 2020. “It’s refreshing to see everyone standing behind our candidate and moving in the right direction. The most important thing is that we defeat Trump.”

* WGN | NWS confirms record 27 tornadoes from July 15th storms: On Monday, the National Wheater Service (NWS) updated the total tornado count from the storms to include three more twisters that touched down in the NWS Chicago forecast area. According to the NWS, the newly confirmed tornadoes hit the ground in Maple Park, Country Club Hills and at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

* Daily Herald | President of Hoffman Estates company dies from injuries suffered in accident that also killed CEO: The president of Hoffman Estates-based international software firm Vistex died Friday from complications of injuries suffered in a Jan. 18 fall in India that also killed the company’s founder and CEO. The death of Raju Datla, 54, of Barrington had secondary causes from carotid stenosis, or narrowing of a carotid artery, as well as a prior stroke, a records review by the Cook County medical examiner’s office determined Saturday.

*** Downstate ***

* WSIL | Black Bear Confirmed Spotted in Jackson County, Officials Offer Safety Tips: The Jackson County Animal and Rabies Control (JCARC) announced on Monday morning there has been a confirmed sighting of a black bear. This comes after multiple reports of a black bear sighting starting in Carrier Mills on July 11, to multiple reports of black bear sightings last week in Williamson County.

* WCIA | U of I Archives detail story of Illini Olympian 100 years after gold medal wins: — The 2024 Summer Olympics kick off this week in Paris, exactly 100 years after the city last hosted the games. The United States won 45 gold medals in 1924, and two of them were won by a Fighting Illini. Harold Osborn was a member of the Illinois track and field team from 1920 to 1922, setting six world records and helping the Illini to Big Ten team championships all three years of his collegiate career. He individually won 17 national championships and his world record in the standing high jump still stands today.

* KFVS | SIU Grad Deanna Price prepares for Olympics: Former SIU Athletic Standout Deanna Price is headed to the Olympics to compete in the hammer throw. Not for the first time but her third. “For me, the Olympics are something I’ve been dreaming about. I didn’t think it was gonna be a reality,” said Price. Deanna first gained national attention when she went to the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil and placed 8th. She says she would have never made it to those first games or beyond without the support of SIU.