* ICYMI: Potential testimony in Madigan case is previewed as attorneys start wrangling over what a jury might hear. Tribune…

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was back in a federal courtroom Thursday to hear proposed expert testimony from a former Chicago alderman about the structure and importance of political operations like the one Madigan helmed during his record run in the state legislature.

Madigan’s attorneys asked a judge to bar Dick Simpson, a political science professor emeritus at the University of Illinois Chicago who served as the 44th Ward alderman in the 1970s, saying his opinions are not based on any scientific methodology and that he has a long history of bias against Madigan and the regular Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, with his racketeering trial rapidly approaching, Madigan’s attorneys also filed a lengthy list of other items they want to keep a jury from hearing. That included any evidence mentioning Madigan’s son, Andrew; wiretapped calls mentioning former Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios; and a potentially damning recording where Madigan tells his confidant and co-defendant, Michael McClain, that some of his friends had “made out like bandits” with the contracts they’d landed for them.

The flurry of court activity comes as both sides are ramping up to the highly anticipated trial, which is scheduled to kick off Oct. 8 and will last up to three months.

* Related stories…

∙ Sun-Times: Madigan arguments turn to professor’s testimony with trial fast approaching
∙ Law360: Madigan Seeks To Block Ex-Alderman’s Expert Testimony

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Crain’s | Signature Bank stands by sponsorship of Dan Proft’s radio show after hosts mock Gus Walz: Signature Bank is maintaining its sponsorship of conservative talk radio show “Chicago’s Morning Answer” despite continued fallout from recent comments by hosts Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson about the son of Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. “Signature Bank works with a variety of media and partners, and the opinions expressed by them do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Signature Bank,” the company said in an email to Crain’s. “Every day, we deliver our banking services with integrity and respect, and we encourage our partners to do the same.”

* Sun-Times | CTA testing artificial intelligence to detect guns at train stations, but ACLU is raising questions: ACLU Illinois spokesman Ed Yohnka said the biggest concern of his organization is the lack of public input. ZeroEyes’ technology was implemented without public discussion, he said. And it adds another layer of technology to a surveillance network that has failed to improve public safety. […] CTA and CPD would not share the number of gun arrests attributable to ZeroEyes in its first month of operation. But the CPD did share that there have been 626 reports of violent crime on the CTA this year through Aug. 27, compared with 547 during the same period in 2023.

* Sun-Times | Abortion access could be in jeopardy as Chicago Abortion Fund, others run short of money: The Chicago Abortion Fund is set to receive about $5 million from the state of Illinois, which helps cover out-of-state patients’ travel and stay in the state, according to Jeyifo. She estimates that the organization needs at least $200,000 a month more to cover abortion procedures.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WAND | New law creates legal protections for Illinois certified forensic pathologists: Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon said this can help address the drastic shortage of forensic pathologists in Illinois, as there are only three working south of I-80. “They are supposed to operate independently. They’re a non-biased stand alone entity,” Allmon said. “We want an honest opinion by the highly-trained forensic pathologist of why that person died and we don’t want those waters to be muddied at all.”

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | CPS to offer Chicago teachers raises up to 5% in each of the next four years: The union had been waiting on this proposal, which a source in the mayor’s office said it had greenlighted weeks ago. It includes annual raises between 4% and 5%. […] At a regularly scheduled bargaining session on Friday, Martinez plans to offer union members 4% raises in 2025 and between 4% and 5% raises in each of the next three years, depending on inflation, according to a statement from CPS. The district plans to expand healthcare and dental coverage without increasing costs for employees.

* Sun-Times | CTU president denies trying to force out Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez: Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates said Thursday she’s not working behind the scenes to engineer the ouster of Schools CEO Pedro Martinez. She simply wants him to “do his job” and deliver the schools poor children deserve. “We give them an opportunity to remediate. I’m a high school social studies teacher. … I don’t offer the ‘F’ first. I offer a warning. I provide opportunity. I give support. I call home. I make [myself] available during lunch and after school,” Davis Gates told the Sun-Times.

* Tribune | New year, new (and old) challenges: First Chicago Board of Education meeting of the new school year reflects tension over district leadership: A day earlier, roughly 400 CPS principals and assistant principals sent a letter to Board of Education members, encouraging them to retain Martinez. As CTU’s criticism of Martinez mounts, the school administrators said that the “atmosphere of uncertainty” regarding his future has colored the start of the school year.

* Crain’s | Federal judge throws out CTU lawsuit accusing a nonprofit of election interference: An Illinois federal judge ruled against the Chicago Teachers Union in a lawsuit brought against an education nonprofit in 2022, alleging it was unlawfully interfering in a CTU election. The 2022 complaint accused the New York-based nonprofit Educators for Excellence of promoting candidates in favor of “thin contracts” with the “goal of limiting the power of teacher unions and limiting the scope of the bargaining that teacher unions may conduct.”

* Crain’s | Chicago faces dubious distinction with Greyhound station closure looming: The city is in danger of losing its transportation hub in less than a month as the property owner eyes the site for redevelopment. Greyhound’s parent company sold the bus line to German company Flix in 2021 for $172 million. Three years after the sale, the bus line’s lease on 630 W. Harrison St. is expiring Sept. 20, and there is not a “viable path” for an extension, said Gilda Brewton, head of public affairs at Flix.

* Tribune | Angel Reese-Caitlin Clark duel for Rookie of the Year offers intriguing subplot for final Chicago Sky-Indiana Fever matchup: Sky ticket sales have more than doubled this year in reaction to the popularity of Reese and fellow rookie Kamilla Cardoso. And Friday’s fourth and final matchup against Clark and the Indiana Fever is expected to draw another sellout crowd with the second-highest average ticket price of the season.

* Tribune | Chicago White Sox swept again, suffer 104th loss — 2 shy of the franchise record — and fall to 4-33 in the 2nd half: The day after Wednesday’s heartbreaking 4-3 loss to the Texas Rangers, Sizemore said “it’s been the theme of just coming up a little short, being right there and an inch or two away from a victory and just having it taken away.” The Sox proceeded to lose 2-1 to the Rangers on Thursday before an announced crowd of 10,402 for their 104th loss, getting swept for the 21st time in 2024.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Credit card bills reveal Dolton officials spending big on hotels, meals: Hotel spending for those the Atlanta and Portland trips topped $4,500, and that’s apart from airfare and dining charges, records show. Airline tickets in some instances included extra fees for seat upgrades, and charges for excess baggage, according to the statements, which include American Express and Fifth-Third Bank cards issued to Dolton.

* Daily Southtown | Tiffany Henyard says Thornton Township trustees spending caps harming residents: Supervisor Tiffany Henyard called a special Thornton Township Board meeting Wednesday in an effort to change recent ordinances that cap spending. But when none of the four township trustees showed up, Henyard railed against the measures, saying they prevent the township from providing services to children and older adults. “You thought it was just a way to stop Tiffany Henyard,” the supervisor told about 20 people, many of whom left after about 10 minutes, when Henyard refused to respond to their questions. “But it was a way to basically stop the services here in Thornton Township.”

* Daily Herald | Mayoral candidates already making their pitch in Gurnee, Vernon Hills: In Gurnee, incumbent Mayor Tom Hood this week said he would be seeking a second four-year term. And in Vernon Hills, longtime village Trustee Thom Koch Jr. will be running for the position formally known as village president but informally referred to as mayor.

* WSPY | Kane County Board Chairperson defends free speech zone at Kane County government building: Kane County Board Chair Corinne Pierog says that safety for visitors and staff is the top priority at the Kane County Government Building in Geneva. In a statement to WSPY News, Pierog said that while she respects the right to free speech, including the distribution of pamphlets, such activities cannot interfere with anyone’s ability to conduct business at the county office building.

* WTTW | Stateville Workers Rally Against Planned Prison Closure: ‘We’re Asking for No Layoffs and No Chaos’: Meanwhile, the state is moving forward with the closure; 103 incarcerated people have been transferred from Stateville to other facilities, according to IDOC. The union’s plea to keep the prison open is a stark contrast to the feelings of some of those incarcerated at Stateville. Abdul Malik Muhammad wrote to WTTW News earlier this month that the transfers are “life saving news.”

*** Downstate ***

* WAND | Man accused of murdering DCFS worker found guilty, but mentally ill: The defense had been arguing for a not guilty verdict by reason of insanity, but Reed was found guilty but mentally ill. In Illinois, a defendant found guilty but mentally ill will still serve time in prison, but may also get additional health care while in custody.

* WTVO | Hard Rock Casino Rockford finally opens, delay causes customer frustrations: “I’m really looking forward to all the different music that they’re going to have here,” Belvidere resident Paul Turner said. “They’re going to have everything from country to rock to folk. It’s going to be actually fantastic for the community.”

* AP | In Southern Illinois, BYU faces an FCS foe that knows how to beat upper-division teams: The Salukis are looking to take down an FBS opponent for the third straight season. They’re 0-5 all time against Big 12 teams but they upset Northern Illinois and Northwestern in back-to-back seasons.

* WSIL | New DCFS Field Office Opens in Marion: State and community leaders cut the ribbon, signifying the opening of the new field office; a 51,000 square foot building which is valued at $4.5 million and can accommodate 400 employees. Housed at the new site is the agency’s clinical, contract administration, day care and foster family licensing, education and transition services, permanency and quality assurance operations.

* AG Web | Chicago’s Urban Sprawl Leads Illinois Corn Growers to Start a Whole New Business Making Whiskey: “Rather than seeing urban sprawl as a threat, perhaps it’s an opportunity for us to create direct-to-consumer relationships and take advantage of the big population center that’s literally on our doorstep,” Jamie says. The Whiskey Acres brand was born. Of course, there was a lot of trial and error along the way and, since whiskey takes years to age properly, determining that an error had been made was a slow process.