* Sun-Times…

A federal judge will not force City Hall to further alter the path it offered protesters during next week’s Democratic National Convention, finding the route satisfies the First Amendment while addressing significant security and safety concerns.

U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood handed down her 24-page ruling late Monday, writing that challenges to the route “boil down” to a complaint that city lawyers “have not offered the exact route” protesters desire, even though it “allows them to speak near their intended audience.” […]

In her order Monday, Wood said the protest groups had cited “no evidence to support the proposition” that turns in the route “will introduce problems that staying on Washington Boulevard would avoid.”

“Even assuming the protest parades draw as many people as [the protest groups] expect, they cite no prior event precedent or other evidence suggesting that such a crowd could not navigate the two turns onto Hermitage Avenue and Maypole Avenue,” Wood wrote.

Click here to read the full ruling. A court hearing on the case is scheduled Tuesday afternoon.

* Crain’s…

Chicago Police Department Superintendent Larry Snelling sought to reassure the city’s business community today that the city is prepared for the weeklong spotlight that comes with hosting the Democratic National Convention next week.

Snelling said Chicagoans can expect to see more local police patrols in the downtown area and that his department would be aggressive in shutting down protests that become violent. He delivered his message at the City Club of Chicago, where his warnings to those planning to disrupt the convention were mostly met with applause. […]

“The moment that starts, we’re going to intervene. I’m not going to wait until it gets out of control and then try to bring it back in,” he said. “The moment it starts, you put an end to it quickly, because a greater response now may mean that we need less of an even higher response later. So we will not allow people to come here and destroy the city.” […]

Speaking to reporters after his City Club event, Snelling said the line between protesting and rioting begins with “violent actors, those who are committing acts of vandalism, violent attacks against police officers, against each other — that’s the type of thing we’re not going to tolerate.”

“The minute that starts, we have to put an end to it,” he said. “When people become comfortable committing acts of violence and vandalism, that’s when it turns into a riot.”

* ABC Chicago…

Tuesday morning, CPD will hold their final DNC tabletop exercise with city agencies and the Secret Service.

This comes as the security perimeter is already taking shape around McCormick Place and the United Center.

Fencing is going up this week around the UC, but street closures don’t begin until the end of the week.

* Tribune…

The CTA plans to add some additional “L” runs to handle the influx of convention visitors, though the agency provided few specifics about the service. CTA riders will contend with bus reroutes around security perimeters surrounding the convention sites. The agency is also preparing for some equipment to go to DNC use, though CTA President Dorval Carter has promised aldermen the transit agency would be able to run buses and trains during the convention with minimal effects on everyday passengers.

The stakes will be high for the CTA and the embattled Carter as an expected tens of thousands of politicians, dignitaries, protesters and media descend on Chicago for the convention and the city looks to put its best foot forward. After years of complaints about lagging transit service, ridership and concerns about personal safety, both real and perceived, whether the transit agency can run buses and trains frequently and reliably during the convention could serve as a test of its ability to adequately serve both visitors and everyday residents looking to get to work and about their daily lives in the city. […]

But riders remain worried about how the CTA will handle service during the event. That included downtown commuters such as Claire Widseth and her boyfriend, who plans to work in Rosemont instead of his typical downtown office during the convention in part to avoid the hassle of crowds on transit and elsewhere around the area, he said.

“The CTA Red Line can barely handle when there’s a Cubs game and a Sox game on the same day,” Widseth said. “So like, I can’t imagine when there’s a national convention going on.”

West Wing Playbook put a list of DNC parties together, click here to check it out.

* More…

* Crain’s | Democrats plan DNC side rally for Jewish voters alienated by Gaza protests: Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker are among at least a dozen lawmakers who will headline an Aug. 19 launch event for an advocacy group seeking to engage progressive, pro-Israel voters, according to a spokesperson. Called the Zioness Action Fund, the group was formed by a coalition of Jewish activists and bills itself as “pro-choice, pro-diversity, pro-LGBTQ, pro-democracy, pro-freedom.” The event will take place in Chicago on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention.

* Sun-Times | Gaza should be on DNC agenda, Chicago Muslim leaders say: The leaders called for less talk and more action about drawing the war in Gaza to a close — a war that’s killed tens of thousands in Gaza. And while some of them are more hopeful that Vice President Kamala Harris may be more forceful in pressing for a ceasefire, they are waiting to see actual action.

* Sun-Times | DNC protests planned over Gaza, other causes as one organizer says, ‘People feel betrayed by the Democratic Party’: Protest organizers are concerned about how the Chicago Police Department will handle the protests and have held safety training sessions in preparation. They point to the department’s forceful response to demonstrations after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020 and images of cops beating demonstrators with batons during the Democratic convention in 1968. Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling has promised to protect the right to protest but also said peaceful protests aren’t always legal, indicating the police might go after demonstrations that block streets or occupy buildings without permission.

* Daily Herald | ‘Face of the convention’: DNC volunteers getting front-row seat to history: After years of teaching her students to appreciate history, retired social studies teacher Cindy Vogt will witness it firsthand during the Democratic National Convention. […] About 30,000 people showed interest in helping out. Of those selected, 77% are from Illinois, 39% are Chicagoans and many come from the suburbs. Vogt and neighborhood ambassador organizer Daniel Schack of Northbrook said offers of help poured in from towns like Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Glenview, Northbrook, Palatine and Wheeling.

* NYT | New Public Art Rides the Rails in Chicago, Timed to the Convention: Starting Aug. 12, a handful of the city’s famous elevated trains covered in the work of emerging artists and designers will take to the tracks of the Chicago Transit Authority, accompanied by a series of cultural events in neighborhoods throughout the city. The project, called “Track(ed) Changes,” along with the related community events, jibes with the city’s promise to Chicagoans to broaden the limelight and to spread the economic impact of the convention through many of the city’s 77 neighborhoods. More than 50,000 people are expected to descend on the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls of the N.B.A. and the Blackhawks of the N.H.L.

* Crain’s | Downtown hotels have rooms to fill ahead of DNC: As of Aug. 5, visitors have booked between 63% and 70% of downtown hotel rooms during the four days of the convention, which kicks off Aug. 19, according to data tracked by real estate information company CoStar Group. Those occupancy rates are slightly below the numbers downtown hotels saw during the comparable week of August last year, CoStar data shows, and well below the near-90% occupancy during the same weekday period in 2019.

* Fox Chicago | Chicago Airbnb bookings surge ahead of DNC, driven by these U.S. cities: Searches for Airbnb listings in Chicago and surrounding areas for the week of the DNC have jumped over 30% compared to the same period last year.

* Block Club | Some West Loop Businesses To Close During DNC: ‘Too Many Opportunities For Chaos’: “There’s too many opportunities for chaos that to be closed seems easier for our patients as well as my staff,” said Stephanie Wolf, owner of Vitahl Medical Aesthetics, a medical spa at 1135 W. Madison St. that will be closed all four days of the convention. Large-scale events Downtown have prevented customers from attending appointments in the past, Wolf said. Anticipating a similar scenario for the DNC, Wolf decided to close the spa and reschedule the appointments for about 15 patients. Appointments are typically booked three to six months in advance, she said.

* Tribune | Where to go for a taste of democracy during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago: The new Kamala cake at Brown Sugar Bakery in Chicago did not just fall out of a coconut tree. Baker Stephanie Hart created the cake inspired in part by a visit from Vice President Kamala Harris in 2021. The VP’s staff had pre-ordered a slice of German chocolate cake, made with coconut frosting. Harris had said it’s her favorite cake flavor, and she gets it for her birthday every year.

* Semafor | ‘Central Park Five’ member Yusef Salaam invited to DNC for convention speech: According to multiple sources, Democratic officials have been in communication with Salaam, but it’s not yet clear if plans have been locked in. One source familiar with convention planning said Salaam had been invited and that other members of the “Central Park Five” could also potentially join him onstage. Reached by phone, Salaam declined to comment, referring calls to his office. A convention spokesman declined to comment on programming.

* Sun-Times | How Chicago’s 1968, 1996 conventions stirred songs, movies and a dance craze: April of 1969 marked the release of the debut studio album by a local rock band that initially called itself the Big Thing before changing its name to Chicago Transit Authority and then simply “Chicago.” Side four of the double album kicked off with “Prologue, August 29, 1968,” which incorporated audio of anti-war demonstrators chanting “The whole world is watching, the whole world is watching,” as they clashed with police outside the Conrad Hilton Hotel during the 1968 DNC.