* Energy News Network…

A major expansion of battery storage may be the most economical and environmentally beneficial way for Illinois to maintain grid reliability as it phases out fossil fuel generation, a new study finds.

The analysis was commissioned by the nonprofit Clean Grid Alliance and solar organizations as state lawmakers consider proposed incentives for private developers to build battery storage.

“The outlook is not great for bringing on major amounts of new capacity to replace the retiring capacity,” said Mark Pruitt, former head of the Illinois Power Agency and author of the study, which suggests batteries will be a more realistic path forward than a massive buildout of new generation and transmission infrastructure.

The proposed legislation — SB 3959 and HB 5856 — would require the Illinois Power Agency to procure energy storage capacity for deployment by utilities ComEd and Ameren. Payments would be based on the difference between energy market prices and the costs of charging batteries off-peak, to ensure the storage would be profitable. The need for incentives would theoretically ratchet down over time.

* Sun-Times…

Alex Gallegos, the south suburban school board member who was the only member of Illinois’ Democratic National Convention delegation to withhold support for Kamala Harris’ nomination, says he still strongly supports the vice president over Republican nominee Donald Trump.

“Yes, I am the one ‘present’ vote from Illinois,” Gallegos wrote in an email to the Sun-Times, declining to be interviewed. “Unfortunately I am not able to vocalize the silence of 40K Palestinian souls during an interview.”

He continued: “They want to know why I want the Vice President to lose to Trump. That couldn’t be further from the truth,” Gallegos wrote. “I want Kamala to not only win the election, I want a landslide. The only way I see that happening is if she forces a ceasefire.

“Together we can win and save lives,” Gallegos wrote.

*** DNC ***

* NBC Chicago | What time does the DNC start tonight? Here’s the full Day 4 schedule, where to watch: As has been the case for each night of the convention so far, major performances and celebrity appearances are expected throughout the night, with speculation swirling over who could be in attendance. Already, sources have confirmed that Pink will perform Thursday night and The Chicks, formerly known as the Dixie Chicks, are also expected to hit the stage.

* Politico | Kamala Harris had more donors in just 10 days than Biden had the whole election: Harris’ campaign and affiliated joint fundraising committees received contributions from nearly 2.3 million individual donors from July 21, when Biden dropped out of the race, through July 31, according to a detailed POLITICO analysis of new fundraising data. Biden had just shy of 2.1 million donors dating back to April 2023, when he formally launched his reelection bid. (In fact, Harris surpassed Biden a day earlier, on July 30.)

* Sun-Times | Supt. Snelling says no arrests were made at Wednesday’s protest: “The individuals who showed up on Tuesday came here strictly to commit crimes, to fight with the police and cause destruction to the city,” Snelling told reporters at a media briefing this morning. “That wasn’t the focus of the group yesterday. They just wanted to be heard, and we allowed that to happen,” Snelling said. However, Snelling said there was one “dust-up” during Wednesday’s protest from Union Park to the United Center’s security perimeter.

* Tribune | DNC sees third day of protests as Chicago’s top cop blasts demonstrators who confronted officers at Israeli consulate: Snelling was also asked why the protest drew so many journalists when another, more peaceful candlelight vigil on Tuesday memorializing those killed in Gaza went largely uncovered. “It sells,” Snelling said, adding there are those looking for a repeat of the chaos of the 1968 convention. “Why cover the people who are calling for peace? Everybody wants to see the carnage.”

* CBS | Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Illinois Asian American Caucus on supporting Harris: “We have grown the Asian American caucus from 0 to 17 members in just eight years in a state that is only 7% Asian American, we’re so proud,” Cook Country Commissioner Josina Morita said. Morita is a founding member and chair of the Illinois Asian American Caucus. “There’s a saying that you’re either at the table or on the menu, and we’re so excited that our community, for the first time in this last decade, has really come to the table,” she said.

* Pantagraph | Six-time DNC attendee Nikki Budzinski steps into role of delegate for first time: “I’ve always been, in multiple conventions, a volunteer on the floor,” Budzinski said. “And what you don’t realize when you’re at home is so much of this is really well-organized and put together, and it takes a lot of volunteers to help organize the signs that you see, making sure that people get to their seats, making sure that people know where they’re going.”

* CBS | Illinois’ DNC delegates hear from top party leaders ahead of Harris’ speech on final day: “I think it’s important for us to remember that we are all blessed. We’ve been on the floor or in the arena as the first woman to be elected president of this country has been nominated by her party,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who is also chair of the Cook County Democratic Party. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear also spoke to Illinois delegates about being on Harris’ shortlist for running mates, alongside Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, before she chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to join her on the ticket.

* Tribune | Stephen Colbert grills JB Pritzker on hot dogs and Chance the Rapper performs on Night 3 of ‘Late Show’ in Chicago: Colbert, playing the humble hot dog vendor, also interviewed Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker at the United Center, asking him how he takes his Chicago dog. “With mustard and everything else, but no ketchup,” Pritzker said. “A terrorist is going to blow up the Bean unless you have ketchup on a hotdog, do you eat the ketchup on the hot dog,” Colbert questioned. “Mustard only,” Pritzker responded.

* Tribune | ‘That’s my dad!’: Gus Walz tearfully cheers on his father as he accepts Democratic VP nomination: “That’s my dad!” the 17-year-old could be seen saying. He stood, tears streaming down his face, and pointed to his father, Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, who was accepting the Democratic nomination for vice president in a speech to thousands of people in a packed arena and millions more watching at home. The teen’s exuberance captured hearts and went viral, becoming perhaps the defining image of his father’s address and further humanizing a running mate picked by Vice President Kamala Harris in no small part for his everyman appeal.

* Sun-Times | Thousands march on DNC without incident — or a permit: ‘We just want a peaceful protest’: The event followed Tuesday’s clash in the West Loop between protesters and Chicago police that led to 59 arrests. But the group involved in Tuesday’s violence was not affiliated with the coalition that planned Wednesday’s event that began at Union Park. And the organizers of the latest demonstration were familiar with Chicago police.

* Sun-Times | Pro-Palestinian groups protesting outside the Cultural Center: Code Pink, which has interrupted other events this week, is among the groups present. The protesters outside the Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St., have been chanting “Free, free Palestine” and “Kamala, you can’t hide. You’re supporting genocide.”

* Sun-Times | Uncommitted delegates stage sit-in while calling for Palestinian American speaker at DNC: “I am begging that the Democratic Party, who has made space for so many, be the party that makes space for the Palestinians who are hurting,” said Jonathan Simonds, an uncommitted delegate from Hawaii. The sit-in has been peaceful and quiet. On Wednesday night, journalists and onlookers stood in a semi-circle around delegates and demonstrators who sat cross-legged on the sidewalk and stood with a banner that read “Arms Embargo Now,” in all caps.

* FOX Chicago | 19-year-old Northbrook woman attends DNC as Illinois’ youngest delegate: ‘I have hope for the future’: “I’ve met so many cool people,” said 19-year-old Claire Satkiewicz. “And to be able to see some of my favorite political leaders speak like Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders yesterday was very cool.” Satkiewicz, who was raised in Northbrook, is about to begin her sophomore year at Northeastern University in Boston. Luckily, classes don’t start until next week because she is attending the DNC as Illinois’ youngest delegate.

* Sun-Times | Oprah Winfrey’s speech at DNC: ‘Who says you can’t go home again?’: Full text of Winfrey’s convention address to delegates at United Center.

*** Chicago ***

* Block Club | Salt Shed, Ramova Theatre And 2 Other Historical Chicago Buildings Win Award For Preservation Efforts: Nonprofit preservation organization Landmarks Illinois is honoring four Chicago institutions for their efforts in rehabilitating historical buildings. Those four buildings — Lawson House on the Near North Side, Bridgeport’s recently remodeled Ramova Theatre, Bucktown’s The Salt Shed and The Terminal in Humboldt Park — have been awarded the 2024 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Awards.

* WBEZ | DNC speakers tout big plans for manufacturing, while Chicago remains slow to rebound: However, the full picture is more complex. Much of that increase in manufacturing jobs is due to a postpandemic recovery. Meanwhile, uncertainties about sustainable growth persist. In addition, recent estimates are subject to an annual revision. For example, on Wednesday, the BLS reported it overstated manufacturing job growth by 115,000 in the 12 months that ended in March. The final estimates for March 2024 will be announced in February 2025.

* Crain’s | River North office skyscraper owner pays off $431 million loan: Newport Beach, Calif.-based real estate firm Irvine today announced it retired its loan tied to the 60-story tower at 300 N. LaSalle St. when it matured earlier this month. The company did not disclose the balance of the debt, but a source familiar with the mortgage said the outstanding balance was around $431 million, down from the original $475 million loan amount Irvine took out to finance its $850 million purchase of the building in 2014. Cook County records do not show any new debt borrowed against the property.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Construction of 164 townhouses about to start at Bell Works Chicagoland in Hoffman Estates: Preparations only await the issuing of a building permit now that an updated and slightly revised approval has been made of the site plan first given the green light in February 2023. Only minor changes to aspects such as lighting and landscaping were made, though the original approval was in need of a refresh for being more than a year old, Hoffman Estates Director of Development Services Peter Gugliotta said.

* The Times Weekly | Will County Health installs Naloxone Distribution box at Veterans Assistance Commission in Joliet: “The Will County Health Department is continuing to make Naloxone readily available throughout the county,” said Dr. Kathleen Burke, Will County Health Department’s Program Coordinator for Substance Use Initiatives. “Adding a distribution box at the Veterans Assistance Commission is a great step to help us make this life-saving drug available to our veterans.”

*** Downstate ***

* Sherry C.M. Lindquist | This is why it matters that Western Illinois University fired all its librarians: The priorities expressed by the cuts taking place at WIU over the last decade are consistent with such cuts being taken all over the country in which the liberal arts and humanities are being gutted. Administrators such as President Kristi Mindrup at WIU claim to be cutting their universities into “the right shape.” How do we know what the right shape is? Who decides that it is the liberal arts, the humanities or the librarians who are responsible for “misshapen” institutions?

* WSIL | Residents hopeful a new industrial project in Murphysboro will boost economy and add more jobs: Once home to a train repair shop a hundred years ago, it had many uses through the years, and now it will be revitalized for an aircraft maintenance company, Crucial MRO. Crucial MRO’s Vice President Wesley Perkins says they want to become a one-stop shop in Southern Illinois.

* WCIA | WCIA drone footage shows cows on the loose after I-57 crash: WCIA drone footage shows the ongoing chase for the loose cows after a semi-truck hauling them rolled over on I-57 near Tuscola. Overhead views of the footage show one cow making it’s way through a corn field as community members riding horses try to track it down.

* WICS | Central Illinois school districts still facing teacher shortage, is legislation helping?: Newschannel 20 spoke with several school districts to see if the legislation aimed at combatting the teacher shortage is truly helping. “Williamsville School District feels the pain just like all the other school districts,” said Tip Reedy, superintendent of Williamsville School District. “It still hurts not having 12 classrooms covered,” said Jennifer Gill, superintendent of District 186.

* WIFR | Landmarks Illinois announce Preservation Award winners: On Wednesday, Landmarks Illinois announced the winners of the 2024 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Awards. The preservation efforts awards were bestowed to rehabilitation and adaptive reuse projects in Rockford and Woodstock

* WCIA | Man arrested for impersonating a police officer in Effingham County: 39-year-old Jerrod Estes has been arrested on multiple charges, including false personation of a peace officer. He was taken into custody at his Teutopolis home on Tuesday. The arrest is a result of a four-month investigation into an incident back in May. Several victims were pulled over in Effingham County by a person pretending to be an officer.

*** National ***

* AP | Labor dispute stops Canadian freight railroads and could cause major economic disruption in US: Canadian National and CPKC railroads both locked out their employees after the deadline of 12:01 a.m. EST Thursday passed without new agreements with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference that represents some 10,000 engineers, conductors and dispatchers. All rail traffic in Canada and all shipments crossing the U.S. border have stopped, although CPKC and CN’s trains will continue to operate in the U.S. and Mexico.

* DNYUZ | What Kalamazoo (Yes, Kalamazoo) Reveals About the Nation’s Housing Crisis: Like Detroit, Kalamazoo got walloped by a foreclosure crisis in the early 2010s that left many of its neighborhoods with overgrown lots where ramshackle houses had been bulldozed. And like virtually every other city I’ve written about, its housing problems first appeared among lower-income families, then climbed steadily up to those considered solidly middle class. As affordability problems have moved up the income ladder, both Kalamazoo County and the state have expanded their aid programs to include households that had previously made too much money to qualify for subsidized housing. It’s part of a nationwide shift in which housing assistance has moved from an anti-poverty focus to what is increasingly looking like a middle-class support program. Those ideas now permeate Vice President Kamala Harris’s housing plan, which calls for assistance both for first-time home buyers and developers who build housing for them.