* ICYMI: Attorneys for ex-Speaker Michael Madigan want sex harassment, other ‘controversial’ evidence excluded from trial. Tribune…

- In a 41-page motion filed Monday, Madigan’s legal team said extensive pretrial publicity is already undermining Madigan’s right to a fair trial, and that adding “irrelevant” evidence about sensitive or peripheral topics would only make it worse.
- In a pair of pretrial filings earlier this year, prosecutors revealed they want to introduce evidence of a secret plan to funnel money to ex-aide Kevin Quinn, who was ousted from Madigan’s 13th Ward organization for sexually harassing a campaign worker.
- In their motion to exclude the evidence, Madigan’s legal team said both the Quinn evidence and testimony in general about the sexual harassment scandal that engulfed Springfield is irrelevant to the charged conduct and would unfairly paint Madigan in a bad light.

Click here to read the filing.

* Related stories…

∙ ABC Chicago: Lawyers for ex-House Speaker Mike Madigan ask judge to exclude certain evidence from upcoming trial
∙ Center Square: Madigan seeks to limit evidence from prosecutors in corruption trial

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* AP | Free COVID tests will soon be available again by mail via COVIDtests.gov: They’ll be available from the federal government at a yet-to-be-announced date in September. Though the numbers of deaths and serious infections have dropped dramatically since the coronavirus began spreading across the United States in 2020, the number of hospitalizations has started to creep up in recent weeks.

* WCIA | Trial begins for man accused of killing DCFS employee Deidre Silas: Benjamin Reed will stand trial Monday afternoon. He was charged with the murder of Deidre Silas back in 2022. […] Reed’s trial will be a bench trial, which means the judge will decide the case from the bench instead of a jury.

* Crain’s | DEA delays cannabis rescheduling until after election to hold hearing: The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has scheduled a hearing on Dec. 2 for proposed rulemaking regarding the potential rescheduling of marijuana to Schedule III from Schedule I, thus ensuring that the process will not be completed before the presidential election in November. The hearing date could put the entire rescheduling process in peril. Should Vice President Kamala Harris lose to former President Donald Trump in November, he could halt the process when he takes office in January, given that Trump has not committed to finishing rescheduling or staked out much of a platform at all on cannabis reform.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WGEM | Slated candidates to appear on Illinois general election ballot: The Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE) ruled last Friday slated candidates can appear on the November ballot despite state lawmakers passing controversial elections reform legislation during the spring legislative session banning the practice that is typically used for down ballot state legislative races. The legislation did several things: It put three non-binding referendums on the November ballot, move the deadline to file petitions from 106 days to 134 days before the election and ban post-primary slating.

*** Statewide ***

* NBC Chicago | How ‘corn sweat’ helps make blistering heat wave worse in Illinois: All of northern Illinois will be under an excessive heat warning on Tuesday, but a phenomenon known as “corn sweat” will make the conditions especially oppressive in areas away from the city of Chicago. Heat indices could soar above 110 degrees and could even approach 115 degrees in some parts of the state on Tuesday, according to an excessive heat warning issued by the National Weather Service.

* Farm Week | Farm helpline available in all Illinois counties: “I call it the chronic drip, drip, drip of stress because there are all these factors we cannot control, and that all adds to our heightened anxiety and stress levels,” said Karen Stallman, an ag resource specialist. In Randolph County, where she farms with her husband, they are in a “real dry spot” right now with a lack of rain adding to the pressure of low commodity prices. These kinds of issues are why the Farm Family Resource Initiative was created. It started as a test pilot in six counties and is available in all 102 Illinois counties, now.

* Citizen | OUTSafe Program Supports LGBTQ+ Seniors with Statewide Service Provider Training Sessions: OUTSafe: The LGBTQ+ Older Adult Violence Prevention Training Program is free training being offered across Illinois to law enforcement, health care, social service and other providers who support and interact with LGBTQ+ older adults. The need is strong. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in Illinois, hate crimes based on sexual orientation have increased by almost seven times (from 2020 to 2022) and hate crimes based on gender identity have increased by more than four times over that same time.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | A year after 2 women were injured by gunfire at Guaranteed Rate Field, one files lawsuit against White Sox and Illinois Sports Facilities Authority: Nearly one year after two women were shot in the bleachers of Guaranteed Rate Field, a lawsuit was filed against the White Sox and the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority alleging that negligent security practices allowed a firearm to be brought inside the ballpark last season. The complaint was filed last week in Cook County Circuit Court by one of the two women wounded by gunfire during the Aug. 25, 2023, White Sox home game against the Oakland A’s. The lawsuit contends that the gun was fired by someone within the confines of Guaranteed Rate Field.

* NBC Chicago | Demolition to begin Tuesday for new Bally’s Casino in River West: Demolition is poised to begin Tuesday for the new Bally’s casino and hotel complex at the former Tribune publishing site in the city’s River West neighborhood. […] The project consists of a 34-story, the 500-room hotel tower, 3,000-seat theater and a 2-acre public park. Within the casino itself, will be six restaurants, cafes, a food hall and space for 3,300 slots, 173 table games and VIP gaming areas.

* Block Club | First All-Girls Little League Baseball Team At Warren Park Starts This Fall: There will be two teams in the all-girls league fall, and games will take place Sunday evenings in Warren Park, 6601 N. Western Ave., and other local parks. Registration for the upcoming season has ended. Rachel Gansner, who was responsible for organizing the league and will coach one of the teams, said she chose the fall season so as not to conflict with the girls’ regular co-ed leagues from June to August.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Last hurrah: Schaumburg village hall to host final Septemberfest before demolition: The aging building’s planned demolition is not until next year, so employees will continue to work there and residents can still pay their water bills in person. But for many, the community’s annual Labor Day weekend festival has been the most consistent reason to visit the village’s headquarters, named for Schaumburg’s visionary second mayor.

* Tribune | Evanston officials consider law prohibiting landlords from not leasing to renters because of dog breeds: Pit Bulls have “a bad rap” that sometimes cost their owners housing and Evanston City Council member Devon Reid (8th) is trying to change that. Reid is sponsoring a law making its way to the Evanston City Council that would forbid landlords from denying housing to renters just because they have any dog including a pit bull. And he said that law could soon be followed by another initiative requiring people adopting pets to first take a test and get a license to ensure they’re able to properly care for the animal.

*** Downstate ***

* PJ Star | Cities in Illinois are criminalizing homelessness. What will Peoria do?: The ordinance, which was the top subject of debate at a six-hour Peoria City Council meeting on Aug. 13, would make it possible for the city to impose fines and even jail time on people sleeping on public property in tents, benches, stairwells and other outlets. […] The debate at Peoria City Hall was a first reading of the ordinance which meant it was the first time councilmembers could give public feedback to staff about the proposal.

* BND | Belleville opens four cooling sites during extreme heat, but do they really help?: The forecast will trigger the opening of four cooling sites in Belleville, but Jesse Arms, a local advocate for homeless people that has worked with others to establish shelters in the past, said cooling and warming sites were meant to be a first step for Belleville, not the answer to a growing need. […] Arms said creating a permanent, well-supervised, and always-open shelter would be more effective and help a greater number of people, even when the weather is nice. “(The sites) don’t provide enough service for the energy it takes volunteers to run them,” Arms said.

* WCIA | More Ford Co. mosquitoes test positive for West Nile Virus: The county recorded its first positive test result earlier this month, from a batch of mosquitoes collected on Aug. 8 in Piper City. 11 days later, another batch was collected from the same town that also tested positive for West Nile Virus.

* WSIL | Du Quoin State Fair honors Veterans: Veterans and their families received free entry into the fair on Sunday, plus access to a slew of special offerings. Fair organizers worked with the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA) and the Department of Agriculture to host a Gold Star Rose Ceremony, keynote speakers and a resource fair for vets. The theme for the 2024 honors was “Service Across the Generations.”

*** National ***

* Futurism | Elon Musk Tweets Plagiarized Article Bylined by Fake Writer: The article was published to Medium back in January of this year, under the byline of an alleged author named “Mark Higley.” Dozens of articles have appeared under that name for a Medium publication called The Savanna Post — but that’s it. He has no publishing history outside his Medium profile, and no social media footprint. A reverse image search for the headshot associated with his Medium profile returns a stock photo from Pexels.

* CBS | Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton raids Latino Democrats’ homes, including those of LULAC members: Last week, Paxton’s office announced in a press release that it was launching undercover operations and investigation into reports alleging some organizations in Texas are unlawfully registering noncitizens to vote, in violation of state and federal law. LULAC officials told CBS News that some of the group’s Texas members were targeted and had their laptops and cell phones confiscated by Texas authorities executing search warrants. Some of the raids focused on Latino activists across the state.

* Crain’s | The IT meltdown that idled auto dealers this summer didn’t leak data, software maker says: CDK’s disclosure offers some good news for the 15,000 dealerships affected by the attacks, which forced CDK to shut down its DMS for two weeks. Dealerships scrambling to maintain operations relied on pen and paper and third-party software workarounds during the shutdown. They took hits to their second-quarter net income, as the shutdown happened toward the end of a crucial sales month and quarter. The company compensated its customers with a one-month rebate, dealers have said, but some thought the gesture was not enough.