* Subscribers know more. ICYMI: Sangamon Co. Sheriff speaks to WCIA on former deputy who killed Sonya Massey, resignation calls…

- In the interview, Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell pinned all of the responsibility for the shooting that took the life of the 36-year-old mother of two on former Deputy Sean Grayson, and he said he and department carry no culpability.
- Despite receiving a strong recommendation from his fiancé’s father, retired Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Butterfield, Campbell also said nepotism did not play a role in Grayson’s hiring.
-Campbell is vowing to change his hiring practices to prevent future tragedies. He refused to give specifics, but he did say his department may start requesting documents through FOIA for their officer records.

* Related stories…

∙ WCIA: Deputy who killed Massey didn’t have hiring ‘edge’ after recommendation from fiancé’s father: Sheriff Campbell
∙ Illinois Times: Sheriff defends hiring process

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* July University of Illinois System Flash Index fell slightly for the third month in a row : The unemployment rates for Illinois and the nation crept upward by one-tenth of a percentage point, five percent for Illinois and 4.1 percent nationally. Illinois’ rate is now seven-tenths of a percentage point over the rate a year ago. Continuing last month’s trend, individual income tax receipts were up in inflation-adjusted terms compared to the same month a year ago. At the same time, sales and corporate tax revenues were down from July last year.

* Block Club | Maternity Care Deserts On South And West Sides See Higher Infant, Maternal Death Rates: The study found the range of full maternal care is distributed unequally across the city, with the South and West sides containing the most low-access ZIP codes. Downtown and the North Side had the most full-access ZIP codes. Three conveniently located clinics on the South and West sides have closed in the past six years, and the dearth of specialists in certain ZIP codes requires expectant parents to seek care outside of their communities.

* Capitol News Illinois | Preparations for November election underway, with security a top priority: A new state law is changing the kind of identification badge that election judges and poll workers wear in Illinois in an effort to protect their safety. Starting this year, the badges will no longer display the person’s name, ward, precinct, or township. Instead, they will wear badges with a unique identification number that say they’re authorized by their local court. That was one of several changes made in an omnibus elections bill, House Bill 4488, Pritzker signed into law last month.

*** Statewide ***

* Tribune | Illinois’ federal rental assistance dollars have run out. As the state prepares its new program, tenants and landlords are left with less support.: But the program, which doled out nearly $82 million in federal funds between its inception and July 21, stopped accepting new applications on May 31. A new state program is in the works, with $75 million in state funding having been allocated to the effort for fiscal year 2025, which began on July 1. But state housing authority representatives say they won’t be able to get the new program off the ground until after Labor Day, leaving more tenants at risk of becoming homeless and more landlords at risk of not getting paid this summer.

* Crain’s | DraftKings to implement a customer surcharge in high-tax states like Illinois: DraftKings Inc., a leader in the online sports-betting business, reported second-quarter profit that missed Wall Street estimates and said it plans to implement surcharges for customers in high-tax states. Revenue rose to $1.1 billion, the company said Thursday, in line with analysts’ estimates. The company reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $128 million, compared with estimates of $133.2 million.

* River Cities Reader | Illinois AFL-CIO Wraps Up 46th Constitutional with an Eye on November Election: The Illinois AFL-CIO wrapped up its 46th Constitutional Convention at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare in Rosemont. Four-hundred delegates asserted their trust in the leadership of IL AFL-CIO President Tim Drea and Secretary-Treasurer Pat Devaney by voting to re-elect President Drea, Secretary-Treasurer Devaney, and the Executive Board to a four-year term.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Racing the clock, Johnson speeds up spending of federal pandemic funds: Mayor Brandon Johnson has been racing to beat a Dec. 31 deadline to allocate $1.88 billion in pandemic relief funds — and spend it all by 2026 — to avoid losing the federal money. The race is paying off — but in a way that two influential City Council members fear could create a culture of dependency that beleaguered Chicago taxpayers can’t afford to sustain.

* Tribune | Plans for outside police officers to assist Chicago cops at DNC still fluid as convention month arrives: CPD, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Tribune, said this week that the final roster of “mutual aid officers” has not yet been set. In an emailed statement, CPD director of news affairs Don Terry said the majority of additional officers will be from Illinois.

* WBEZ | Will this year’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago be a repeat of 1968?: Now, as Chicago gets ready to host another Democratic National Convention, many people are wondering whether the chaos of 1968 will repeat in 2024. We spoke with historians, protesters who were there during ’68 and other experts to analyze similarities and differences between this year’s DNC in Chicago and that of 1968.

* Sun-Times | Botched Little Village smokestack implosion wasn’t my fault, Chicago city official says of dust storm fiasco: Finally meeting with community residents more than four years later, Buildings Commissioner Marlene Hopkins faulted a contractor and city health officials for not planning for and containing the dust after developer Hilco demolished the old Crawford coal-burning power plant.

* Block Club | Will CHA Finally Build Long-Promised Housing? Agency Moves To End Landmark Housing Lawsuit: The Chicago Housing Authority and public housing residents and advocates amended a 2019 agreement in a federal lawsuit this week, citing progress the housing agency has made in building housing and strengthening its voucher program while targeting work that still needs to be done. Advocates at Impact for Equity and lawyers for the Housing Authority submitted an amended agreement to their 2019 settlement of the federal civil rights suit, Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority, earlier this week. It is slated to go into effect Thursday.

* Sun-Times | Chappell Roan is our favorite artist’s favorite artist — and Chicago’s: Lollapalooza review: Thursday afternoon, fans could be seen stretching from the fencing on the east side all the way west to Columbus Drive and as far north as the IHG Hotels & Resorts Stage where eager Kesha fans comingled, happily singing along to Roan’s hits. People were trying to climb trees, kids were crying at not getting a view, the ADA platform had to figure out a way for overfill, and at least five people passed out near me as the incredible medics were as choreographed as the performers on stage.

* Sun-Times | Black women struggle to find Black sperm donors: Though Black men make up 13% of the U.S. male population, they account for under 3% of sperm-bank donors, according to a study this year in the journal Fertility and Sterility, published by the American Society of Reproductive Health. White men, who make up 55% of the male population, account for 61% of sperm donors — a disparity that affects not only Black women like Brady but also same-sex couples and heterosexual couples with fertility issues.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Naperville Sun | City of Naperville files motion to dismiss civil suit requesting $20 million in compensatory damages after 2019 AirPods incident: In May, Amara Harris filed a civil suit against the city and Naperville police officers Juan Leon and Jonathan Pope asserting that their pursuit of the theft charge caused her emotional and financial injury. The dismissal motion was the city’s response to the case, filed Wednesday by its attorneys Michael Berasani and G. David Mathues of the Itasca-based Hervas, Condon & Bersani law firm.

* Patch | Late Larry Walsh Sr. Will Have Joliet Building Dedicated In His Honor: On Saturday, Will County area politicians and representatives from Pace will meet in downtown Joliet to host a dedication to honor the late Larry Walsh Sr. […] The former Illinois State Senator and Will County Executive was an advocate for Pace and was integral in securing authorization for buses to utilize the shoulder of Interstate 55.

* Daily Herald | District 25 ready to welcome first full-day kindergarten students this month: The school additions for full-day kindergarten cost the district $44.6 million, while the first three years of districtwide capital projects cost $25.6 million. Another $8.2 million of capital projects are planned in the summers of 2025 and 2026, according to Stacey Mallek, the district’s assistant superintendent for business. In total, the $78 million building project is being funded by $75 million in bond proceeds authorized by voters, about $3 million in interest earned on the bonds, a $100,000 Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity grant, and a $50,000 school maintenance grant.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora City Council approves $4.1 million contract as part of RiverEdge Park renovation: The $4.1 million contract with R.C. Wegman of Aurora is the first of several for an estimated $16 million project that will include a new backstage, a new entry on the southern edge of the park, a new beverage pavilion, a new VIP section and new restrooms. Eventually, the renovations are expected to increase the capacity of the park by about 2,500 people. Current capacity is about 7,300 for events and 6,500 for concerts.

* Evanston | Mayor Biss stays grounded by climbing: Biss thought when he first started climbing that the space might be “bro-y,” as many gyms can be. “That’s not me,” he said. “But it isn’t that kind of macho culture.” He describes the acceptance he sees of different racial and gender identities, sexual orientations and especially recently, body types, at the First Ascent network of gyms.

* Daily Herald | Suburban teams prepping for first season of IHSA flag football: Girls flag football got started in Illinois thanks in large part to the Chicago Bears, who provided gear for the 22 teams who played in the inaugural 2021 season. This season, teams will play between 22 and 25 games. Two games will be played on Saturday and each team will play one game during the week.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Corn production could be causing cancer in Illinois, new study says: Living in an agricultural area like Central Illinois could be making people sick. An associate professor, along with others, conducted a study where he found being exposed to corn production chemicals can cause cancer. Illinois is the highest among the 50 states for these cancer-causing chemicals. Through the study, they’ve looked at more than 50 pesticides.

* PJ Star | Major Peoria road scheduled for $9.6 million overhaul with more lanes, sidewalks, lighting: The project, which has received $500,000 from the federal government via congressman Darin LaHood, is entering the engineering and design phase, which will determine the final changes. At a minimum, Radnor Road will likely move from a rural cross section road to an urban cross section road, outfitted with three lanes, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, and street lighting, according to Peoria County Administrator Scott Sorrel.

*** National ***

* AP | Sha’Carri breezes through opening round at first-ever Olympics race, wins 100 heat in 10.94 seconds: Sha’Carri Richardson blazed through a no-fuss opening round in the 100 meters Friday, winning her first-ever race at the Olympics in 10.94 seconds to easily qualify for the semifinals. Wearing neon green shoes, which contrasted well against the bright purple track, the American captured the first of eight first-round races on the opening day of track action at a jam-packed Stade de France.