* Capitol News Illinois…

Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill on Tuesday that’s aimed at providing free identification cards to more people exiting correctional facilities in Illinois.

The state already provides identification cards to people leaving the Department of Corrections or the Department of Juvenile Justice, but the new law expands the program to every county jail and federal prison in the state. It took effect upon Pritzker’s signature. […]

The new law also allows officials to verify a social security number through the Social Security Administration instead of being shown a physical card.

Pritzker said without identification, people returning to society from correctional facilities are deprived of a basic need.

“For returning citizens, at a time when they need the most support to get reestablished in society, the lack of identification often shuts them out,” he said. “They can’t pursue employment opportunities, they can’t pursue housing, social services, health care.”

* Illinois Answers reporter Alex Nitkin…

Illinois quietly hit a milestone last week: the state issued its 111th social equity cannabis dispensary license, meaning social equity pot shops now outnumber the 110 incumbents who got in on the ground floor of the 2020 legalization:https://t.co/IjY2vgRXr9

— Alex Nitkin (@AlexNitkin) August 6, 2024

* Illinois Times…

It’s August – that means the Illinois State Fair and its must-see, iconic butter cow sculpture is back again.

And so is the annual miniature butter cow contest sponsored by Illinois Times and Prairie Farms Dairy. The contest, which started in 2020 when the fair was canceled because of the COIVD-19 pandemic, invites people to try their hand at sculpting their own butter cow creations. […]

This season, some notable young butter artists are honing their creative skills.
One of them is Giovanni Steele, 9, of Springfield.

Giovanni, who was in the contest last year with his mother, Abbey Caitlin Steele, asked his mother if they could compete again. Their summertime butter masterpiece, named “Moo Lincoln,” is a cow wearing the classic stovepipe hat Abraham Lincoln wore.

I give you “Moo Lincoln”…

*** Statehouse News ***

* Sun-Times | Kamala Harris picks Walz for VP — not Pritzker: Speaking at a bill signing in Chicago on Tuesday, Pritzker said he was “torn” about being considered as a vice presidential candidate and called the vetting “a grueling, long process,” despite it being an abbreviated one.

*** Statewide ***

* Sun-Times | National blood supply is running thin. Here’s how to help keep it from hurting local health care: Since July 1, the organization’s supply has fallen by more than 25%. Four blood drives in Illinois and more than 100 others nationwide had to be called off because of high temperatures, the Red Cross said. Other seasonal obstacles such as travel and summer activities also have meant fewer people donating. All those factors contributed to a shortfall of over 19,000 blood donations in July, the organization reported.

*** Illinois State Fair ***

* WSIU | IDPH to Offer Public Health Information, Services at Illinois State Fair: You will also find IDPH at Conservation World at the State Fair, with information about how to prevent “vector-borne” diseases carried by mosquitoes and ticks, along with information on safe consumption of fish from Illinois waterways.

* SJ-R | There’s nothing fair about these new food items at the 2024 Illinois State Fair: The flavor of the Illinois State Fair has been announced, and it’s about as close as you can get to healthy as far as fair foods go. Raspberry Crunch, a Prairie Farms original, features fresh raspberries frozen in vanilla ice cream with granola crunch topping. Midwest Dairy manager of farmers relations Kendra Anderson said the idea came to the team around six months ago, as a healthy follow up to last years’ theme of cookies and cream.

* Outdoor News | Illinois Mixed Bag: Conservation World returns to state fair: Among the offerings this year is DNR’s cicada art show, an Eagle’s nest photo opportunity, opportunities to catch a fish, try Copi (invasive carp), practice archery and BB shooting skills, ride in the Voyageur Canoe, dunk a conservation police officer, enjoy the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show, talk with DNR wildlife biologists and purchase hunting and fishing licenses.

*** DNC ***

* Sun-Times | Fed judge mulling whether to intervene in DNC dustup between City Hall, protest groups: A federal judge is expected to hand down a key ruling by early next week in a months-long dispute between City Hall and groups promising a massive protest during Chicago’s upcoming Democratic National Convention. U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood heard roughly two hours of arguments Monday while considering a request for her intervention in a conflict over where those protesters will be allowed to march during the convention, which begins Aug. 19.

* Tribune | City, protests groups still at odds over routes for DNC marches and demonstrations: Several pro-Palestinian groups who together sued the city in March in an effort to secure protest routes within “sight and sound” of the convention were in court again Monday to demand a more direct and longer route along Washington Boulevard for their “March on the DNC.” Their attorney, Chris Williams, said they were “blindsided” by the possibility that they might not be able to hold speeches in a park two blocks north of the United Center. […] “The way the city is doing this is take-it-or-leave-it, ‘you do what we say,’” Williams told U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood. “It’s not enough to say, ‘You have a route, you’re going to live with it.’ You’re going to have chaos.”

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Indiana businessman not guilty of bribing Cook County assessor officials with free golf, fed jury finds: A federal jury Tuesday cleared an Indiana businessman who had been accused of bribing officials at the Cook County assessor’s office with free golf in return for lowered property assessments — a rare loss for public corruption prosecutors at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. The trial of businessman Robert Mitziga lasted roughly a week. It exposed jurors not just to the inner-workings of the assessor’s office but to the lure of posh, high-end golf clubs — particularly one in southwest Michigan, about 90 miles from Chicago.

* Crain’s | Chicago’s maternal care gap worsening, creating deserts in South and West sides: A joint report by the American Medical Association and the Sinai Urban Health Institute finds obstetric and gynecological closures, particularly since 2018, have had a significant negative effect on maternal and infant health in its analysis of maternal care by ZIP code. […] Since 2018, three OB-GYN facilities that were more convenient for residents of the South and West sides have closed and many ZIP codes have no access to OB-GYN physicians for childbearing female residents, the release said. These maternity deserts require expectant mothers to travel outside of their neighborhoods to receive routine or specialty OB-GYN care, the release noted.

* Block Club | Day Laborers Say They Are Being Beaten, Harassed Outside Home Depot By Off-Duty Cops: Five recently arrived migrants say criminal trespassing enforcement at a Southwest Side Home Depot has escalated to alleged physical assaults by security personnel, including multiple off-duty Chicago Police officers. The allegations are at the heart of a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, which names two Chicago police officers, two Home Depot employees, and other unnamed security personnel and police officers, in addition to the city and Home Depot, as defendants. In the course of its six-month investigation into the treatment of migrant laborers, City Bureau learned of the pending suit.

* Tribune | Protesters in Daley Plaza rally decry reelection of Venezuelan president, claim voter fraud: The Venezuelan community in Chicago was disheartened in the days after the election. Many have family members in areas affected by protests and said they were worried their relatives might get imprisoned or even killed for having ties to the opposition. Human rights organizations in Venezuela have found the government’s solution to silence people’s discontent has been “through the disproportionate use of force” that has resulted in the deaths of protesters.

* Block Club | Divvy ‘Bike Sculpture’ On Oak Street Beach Made Entirely Of Bikes Dumped In The Lake: Members of the the group, the Alternative Anglers Association, pulled out 15 bikes from the lake in just a few hours Friday afternoon and built the bike sculpture over two days. Glenn Rischke, who created the group — formerly known as the Divvy Fishers Society — was shocked by how many bikes and how much construction material was on the floor of the lake, he said.

* Block Club | The Dave Matthews Band Chicago River Poop Incident, 20 Years Later: ‘Our Generation’s O’Leary’s Cow’: On the afternoon of Aug. 8, 2004, a charter bus belonging to the Dave Matthews Band drove across the Kinzie Street Bridge and emptied its septic tank over the Chicago River. The sewage ran through the metal grates of the bridge, and rather than landing in the water — itself a health hazard — it splattered onto more than 100 people on a sightseeing boat operated by the Chicago Architecture Foundation.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Three Skokie parks renamed to honor Native American tribes: The name changes have been made online, but physical changes to the signs will take some time, said Michelle Tuft, executive director of the park district. […] The park district board unanimously voted in favor of the name changes at its July board meeting. In addition to the new signage, the park district will add QR codes with links to web pages about the history of the tribes and the pronunciation of the names, Tuft said.

* Daily Herald | DuPage Forest Preserve District moves to buy horse farm near Wheaton for $12 million: After several stalled attempts through the years, Danada’s owner — the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County — is now on track to buy the pastoral property to its east. On Tuesday, forest preserve commissioners authorized district leaders to negotiate and enter into a contract to acquire the Gladstone Ridge horse boarding center — also known as Bolger Farm — along Leask Lane. The cost is anticipated to be $12 million.

* Daily Southtown | Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard says administrator fired, trustees OK handful of layoffs: Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard said Monday that Keith Freeman, the village’s administrator, has been fired, although trustees said the mayor lacked the legal authority to do so and did not move to support her decision. Trustees also voted to eliminate a handful of village jobs amid what they described as a “financial disaster” for the village and placed police Deputy Chief Lewis Lacey on administrative leave for an undefined period.

* WGN | Big Lots to close additional stores in Illinois: According to the company’s website, Burbank, Calumet City, Elgin and Oakbrook Terrace are Chicago-area stores on the chopping block. Centralia and Fairview Heights are two other Illinois locations set to close. Last month, the company announced Crest Hill, Lockport, and Niles will be shuttered.

*** Downstate ***

* SJ-R | County board members pushing advisory referendum to voters to recall Campbell: Five Democrat Sangamon County Board members are pushing for an advisory referendum to give voters a say on the future of Sheriff Jack Campbell at the ballot box in November. The county board would have to pass the referendum at its Aug. 13 meeting for it to get on the ballot. Even if it passes the voters on Nov. 5, Campbell would not be bound to resign.

* WIFR | Former Rockford Speedway redevelopment off to the races: The former Rockford Speedway sits idly by, without so much as the roar of an engine or the cheer of a crowd. But not for much longer, according to Loves Park Mayor Greg Jury who says multiple businesses are on their way to fill in the empty space. Club Carwash and Belle Tire will start construction in just a few days as the only current businesses staking claim to the area. But Mayor Jury says this is just the beginning.

* VCF | Custard Cup Celebrates 75th Anniversary with Special Local Donations: These checks presented, representing $1,000 Custard Cup donations on top of funding donated by customers to their “Beneficiary of the Month;” included $2,126.77 to CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Vermilion County, $2,000 to Danville Youth Hockey, and $2,201.13 to the St, James United Methodist Church Food Pantry.

* WCIA | Communities across Central Illinois celebrating National Night Out: “National Night Out was started to bring neighbors and law enforcement together to establish relationships, and trust that it will do just that,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a news release. “Preventing crime in Illinois is one of my office’s top priorities, and I am proud that an increased number of volunteers from my office will participate in National Night Out events throughout the state. I encourage everyone to locate an event in their own community.”

*** National ***

* AP | Elon Musk’s X sues advertisers over alleged ‘massive advertiser boycott’ after Twitter takeover: The lawsuit’s allegations center on the early days of Musk’s Twitter takeover and not a more recent dispute with advertisers that came a year later. In November 2023, about a year after Musk bought the company, a number of advertisers began fleeing X over concerns about their ads showing up next to pro-Nazi content and hate speech on the site in general, with Musk inflaming tensions with his own posts endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory. Musk later said those fleeing advertisers were engaging in “blackmail” and, using a profanity, essentially told them to go away.