* WTTW…

A nurse inside Stateville Correctional Center called 911 on June 19 over an individual in custody who was unresponsive and in and out of consciousness.

In the 911 call audio obtained by WTTW News, the nurse tells the dispatcher that “it’s a possible overdose, probably possible heat stroke.”

The dispatcher asked how long the individual had been outside if there’s a chance he had a heat stroke.

“No, he’s been in his cell, but it’s like 100 and something degrees in here,” the nurse replied.

That nurse was calling about Michael Broadway, a 51-year-old man who died in custody that day.

Broadway’s death is due to bronchial asthma, with hypertensive cardiovascular disease and heat stress as “significant contributing conditions,” according to an autopsy report from the Will County Coroner’s Office that was provided to WTTW News.

* WBEZ…

An attorney representing gun dealers and owners on Monday said in court Monday that an Illinois law banning semi-automatic guns like the AR-15 violates the right of many “law abiding citizens throughout the state” to shoot recreationally, hunt and defend themselves.

He made the argument as part of opening statements at the start of a week-long federal trial in East Saint Louis over Illinois’ assault weapons ban, in which U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn will decide whether the nearly two-year-old law violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

In his opening statement, Christopher Wells with the Illinois Attorney General’s office recalled the 2022 Highland Park mass shooting, where the suspected gunman used an AR-15-style weapon to shoot into a Fourth of July Parade, killing four and wounding dozens more. […]

But in his opening statement, attorney representing the plaintiffs Andrew Lothson said these guns are not exclusively, nor predominantly used in military contexts. Lothson, who practices out of Chicago, said the law bans many popular shotguns, “including those used right here in Southern Illinois for duck hunting.”

Wells, however, pointed to the 7th Circuit Court ruling, which said the AR-15 is not materially different from the M-16 fully-automatic rifle, commonly used in the military. A 2008 decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark Heller case found that states can restrict citizens from owning guns used in the military. Wells also said a gun’s popularity in sales “tells us nothing about Americans’ actual self defense needs.”

*** La Schiazza Trial ***

JUST IN: After 14 witnesses over four days of testimony, prosecutors have rested their case in the trial of ex-AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza, accused in a scheme to bribe then-House Speaker Michael Madigan. pic.twitter.com/Eic7tQAOdy

— Jason Meisner (@jmetr22b) September 16, 2024

* Tribune | ‘We are on the friends and family plan now’: Jury sees emails from Speaker Madigan’s son in bribery trial of ex-AT&T boss: In his donation request, Andrew Madigan made clear that “our good friend Mike McClain” had suggested he reach out to AT&T. McClain, according to prosecutors, was at the center of a scheme to have AT&T funnel payments to former state Rep. Eddie Acevedo, a Madigan ally, to help win the speaker’s support. In the email exchange shown to jurors, Barry told La Schiazza: “We are…and there is a sensitivity in that office about us going away now that we got COLR. That is something to keep in mind in rest (of) 17 and in 18 regarding budget and profile with the Speakers office.”

* Tribune | Former Madigan aide to face cross-examination in bribery trial as Madigan due in court for pretrial conference: Longtime Springfield insider Tom Cullen will face cross-examination Monday in the trial of a former AT&T Illinois boss accused of bribing House Speaker Michael Madigan by funneling payments the speaker’s ally through Cullen’s lobbying firm. As Cullen is testifying, a pretrial conference is scheduled in Madigan’s own racketeering case in another courtroom at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse.

*** Statewide ***

* Tribune | Electric bill savings will be lower for some new Illinois rooftop solar owners starting in 2025: Starting next year, some new Illinois rooftop solar owners will see lower savings on their electric bills than those who got their solar panels earlier. The long-expected change — required under the state’s 2021 climate law — essentially trims a generous introductory offer, but ComEd and the nonprofit consumer watchdog Citizens Utility Board say that residential rooftop solar will remain a very good deal for customers. “You can still save an awful lot of money on your electricity bill by deploying solar,” said Scott Vogt, ComEd vice president of strategy and energy policy.

* Crain’s | Illinois nursing home associations merging: The Health Care Council of Illinois, or HCCI, and the Illinois Health Care Association, IHCA, announced their plan to merge today. The combined organization will be called the Health Care Council of Illinois and become the Illinois affiliate of the American Health Care Association. The two parties have signed a memorandum of understanding to merge, according to a statement. The plan is still subject to due diligence and detail finalization.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Onetime COPA supervisor slams agency leadership in whistleblower lawsuit: Matthew Haynam filed the lawsuit against the city last week, alleging that COPA chief administrator Andrea Kersten fired him in late August “in retaliation for Plaintiff’s good faith disclosure of Kersten’s outrageous misconduct to both the Office of the Inspector General for the City of Chicago and Civilian Commission on Public Safety and Accountability.” Haynam’s suit accuses Kersten of repeatedly tainting the public’s perception of still-ongoing police misconduct investigations. What’s more, Haynam alleges, COPA investigators have a practice of disregarding Chicago Police training materials that are critical in determining if an officer engaged in misconduct.

CTA got around to posting May ridership data. Year-over-year YTD trends:
🟦O'Hare: +18.5%
⬜️Pink: +17.5%
🟥Dan Ryan: +15.6%
🟩Lake: +14.7%
🟩South: +14.7%
🟦Subway: +13.6%
🟥Subway: +13.5%
🔃: +11.4%
🟥North: +8.9%
🟫: +8.7%
🟧: +6.6%
🟪: +4.4%
—
🟦Forest Park: -1.8%
🟨: -8.9%

— Star:Line Chicago (@StarLineChicago) September 16, 2024

* Chalkbeat | Explaining Chicago Public Schools: The students: The vast majority are students of color, with 47% identifying as Hispanic, 35% as Black, 11% as white, and 4.5% as Asian American. About 70% come from low-income households, 16% are students with disabilities, and 24% are learning English. These demographics shifted over the past decade — as Black families left Chicago, birth rates declined, and new immigrants arrived.

* WBEZ | More arts classes in CPS schools is an easy sell. Paying for it and finding teachers is the real feat.: In Chicago, arts education is determined by a school’s size and, critically, by how much an individual principal prioritizes it. But leaders are questioning whether it should be this way. As the school year starts, district leaders and the Chicago Teachers Union are putting a spotlight on arts education. In ongoing union contract negotiations “more art teachers” is a rallying cry. At the same time, CPS’ director of arts education is spearheading a new plan to replace the existing 12-year-old blueprint.

* Tribune | Ex-National Association of Realtors employee files lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, discrimination: An ex-employee of the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors has filed a federal lawsuit against the trade association alleging a hostile work environment that included sexual harassment and discrimination, as well as retaliation after she was fired. Roshani Sheth, a former product manager for Realtors Information Network, a subsidiary of NAR, worked at company headquarters from 2014 to 2019 and was the only woman and person of color on her team, according to the amended lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Sept. 10. Sheth was repeatedly subjected to comments about her body and other derogatory language, as well as sexual advances, by male supervisors, the suit alleges.

* Daily Herald | ‘I wouldn’t wish that on anybody’: ’62 Mets hurler has sympathy for White Sox: As the White Sox appear destined to shatter the 1962 New York Mets’ modern-day record for losses in a baseball season, a suburban native who pitched for that infamous Mets squad has empathy — and encouragement — for the South Siders. “As I said many, many times, I wouldn’t wish that on anybody,” said Jay Hook, who grew up in Grayslake before going on to an eight-year Major League Baseball career. “I’m surprised I’m still talking about the ‘62 season.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Huntley chosen for stop on new Chicago-to-Rockford train line. But where will the station go?: Last year, Huntley was announced as one of the municipalities that would be getting a stop on the proposed Chicago-to-Rockford Metra line. The service is expected to launch in 2027, have maximum speeds of 79 mph and take about two hours from Rockford to Chicago, according to a presentation from the Illinois Department of Transportation to the Huntley Village Board.

* ABC Chicago | Threat forces schools in Joliet, Plainfield to switch to remote learning: Disclosing the threats over the weekend, Joliet police said they surfaced online, adding that while there doesn’t appear to be any credible evidence to support them, additional security measures would be taken. Joliet Public School District 86 reverted to e-learning for Monday. As did Plainfield’s Troy Community Consolidated School District 30-C.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Mahomet president not re-running, endorses board member: Sean Widener has served the community in different positions since 2006. First with planning and zoning, then on the board of trustees, and finally as the president starting in 2015. But now, he knows it’s time to focus on his day job at Clark Dietz overseeing engineering in Chicago, suburban Oakbrook and Champaign.

* WCIA | Central Illinois airports improving infrastructure with FAA money: Officials said the money is being used to improve terminals to handle more passengers, modernize technology and improve the integrity of taxiways. Rantoul Airport used their $2.4 million to improve their north-south runway. “The runways are graded by a company called applied payment technology,” said Carson Vericker, the airport manager. “And they put a grade on what their asphalt is and the degrade that come off of runway 1836 was very poor.”

*** National ***

* NBC | Cut up and leased out, the bodies of the poor suffer a final indignity in Texas: In the name of scientific advancement, clinical education and fiscal expediency, the bodies of the destitute in the Dallas-Fort Worth region have been routinely collected from hospital beds, nursing homes and homeless encampments and used for training or research without their consent — and often without the approval of any survivors, an NBC News investigation found.

* WGN | REO Speedwagon to cease touring in 2025, citing ‘irreconcilable differences’: “To our fans: Bruce has intended to be Back On the Road Again by now. If it were up to just him, he’d be back on tour… but it’s not up to just him. The consensus opinion was that he had not recovered sufficiently to be able to perform at the level the fans have come to expect. Bruce respected that opinion and is grateful that Matt has been around to keep the Wagon rolling through the summer tour. Bruce never had any intention of retiring or walking away from the band, fans, and crew he has loved for almost 50 years.”

* Tallahassee Democrat | Florida school board pays over $100K to defend ban on book about same-sex penguin pair: “The question is: Is that what you want your school district spending money on, which could go to providing services or books or hiring staff, rather than defending a decision to keep people from reading a book that some people don’t like,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.