* ICYMI: Developer mum on what pols, White Sox greats attended South Loop stadium pitch. Sun-Times…

Legislators, business leaders and other VIPs were invited on a downtown riverboat tour that docked at the undeveloped parcel known as The 78, near Roosevelt Road and Clark Street, where longtime Sox groundskeeper Roger Bossard has manicured a pop-up field of the team’s future dreams.

Attendees then got to “round the bases and shag ground balls on The Diamond with White Sox Greats and Hall of Famers,” according to an invitation for the event, which was closed to press and billed to “celebrate the spirit of America’s pastime, and embrace the future of Chicago’s legacy.” […]

A Related Midwest spokesperson wouldn’t say how many lawmakers were invited Monday, who made the trip or which Sox greats were enlisted for the cause.

One suburban state representative told the Sun-Times they passed on the invite “because I don’t need a tour to know it would be awesome with that outfield skyline.”

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* The Trace | More Than a Thousand Felons Have Challenged Their Gun Bans Since the Supreme Court’s Bruen Decision: The Trace reviewed more than 2,000 federal court decisions that cited Bruen over the past two years. More than 1,600 of them answered challenges to a wide variety of federal, state, and local gun laws — from assault weapons restrictions to bans on guns at the U.S. Post Office. The majority — some 1,100 — of the decisions included a challenge to the felon gun ban, making it the single most frequently contested statute by far.

* Crain’s | Ty Fahner, former Illinois attorney general who mentored Lori Lightfoot at Mayer Brown, dies at 81: Fahner was president of the Commercial Club of Chicago and its Civic Committee from 2010 to 2017, when it wrestled with the still unsolved challenges of public pension deficits and other fiscal woes. He was an apostle of the late Gov. Jim Thompson, dating to their days in the U.S. attorney’s office 50 years ago.

* Chicago Reader | ‘No new revenue without reform’: The CTA, Metra, and Pace leaders have all opposed merging their agencies and instead want more state funding. At the first of six public hearings held by the Illinois Senate Transportation Committee, CTA president Dorval Carter argued that “the governance model is not the problem here”—chronic underfunding is. Metra and Pace executives also argued against consolidation, saying the issues of suburban and collar county riders would go ignored under a single board.

*** La Schiazza Trial ***

* Sun-Times | Madigan’s ‘bandits’ comment barred from trial again: The judge made his ruling during a hearing that lasted more than six hours Monday. U.S. District Judge John Blakey, prosecutors and defense attorneys reviewed logistics and evidence for the Oct. 8 trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan and his longtime confidant, Michael McClain.

* Sun-Times | Ex-AT&T Illinois chief declines to testify in his corruption trial — closing arguments expected Tuesday: The trial over whether the payments to Acevedo amounted to a bribe has played out just weeks ahead of Madigan’s own trial, which is set for Oct. 8. In fact, Madigan spent much of the day Monday in a pretrial hearing five floors below the La Schiazza courtroom.

* Capitol News Illinois | Prosecutors rest case against former AT&T Illinois boss accused of bribing Madigan: After years of pushing in Springfield, AT&T Illinois’ executive team was thrilled when the Illinois General Assembly in 2017 passed legislation that would get the company out from under expensive obligations to maintain its aging copper landline wires in Illinois. “Game over. We win,” AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza wrote to a colleague after the final vote to override then-Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of the legislation on July 1, 2017. “I am very proud of our team persevering through the most difficult of circumstances.”

*** Chicago ***

* WTTW | Chicago Budget Director on Anticipated Shortfall, Hiring Freeze and City Services: On anticipating the deficit: “In January, beginning this year, we started to look at our expenditures, to better understand where our expenditures were going, as well as where our revenues were coming in. As we saw our revenues come in a little softer this year we started to contract on our expenditures. One thing that we didn’t anticipate that came to us a little bit later in the year was the non-receipt of a very critical revenue source that we use to support our pension obligations.”

* Tribune | Mayor Johnson dismisses criticism after staff changes, controversy: The mayor defended former progressive organizer Kennedy Bartley, whose appointment to head up his intergovernmental affairs office set off the controversy. “Here’s someone who has apologized. She has sought atonement,” Johnson said. “I mean, isn’t that what this is about? Being able to have the grace of God, where, even when we say things that are harmful, that we can recognize those who seek atonement and then ask for grace and for forgiveness?”

* Tribune | ShotSpotter fight continues as detection system’s days in Chicago dwindle: Wednesday’s meeting could offer two chances for the City Council to voice its support for ShotSpotter. The first is being led by South Side Ald. David Moore, 17th, who has signaled he will use a parliamentary maneuver to force a vote on an ordinance compelling the police superintendent to extend the contract. Meanwhile, members of the council’s informal pro-police caucus called for a separate special vote immediately following the regular City Council meeting on a measure allowing the head of the city’s Office of Public Safety Administration to extend that same contract.

* Jinx Press | “SheepdogCPD” Detective Shawn Popow faces termination: People’s Fabric and Jinx Press first reported on Officer Shawn Popow’s social media posts in November 2023. The South Side Chicago Police detective with more than twenty years on the force should be fired over dozens of social media posts disparaging “African Americans, migrants, Muslims, the LGBTQ+ community, and people who are disabled,” wrote investigators with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability in their full summary report.

* Sun-Times | CPD slammed for ‘complete failure’ at traffic checkpoints during Mexican Independence Day revelry: The city promised to make sure area residents could get home and medical employees could get to work at Northwestern and Lurie Children’s Hospital. But that didn’t happen, said Ald. Brian Hopkins, and one resident said they slept in the car after being turned away by police on the way home.

* Crain’s | Chicago morning news wars heat up as TV viewership declines: Local morning news stations are on a mission to attract and keep viewers in the face of decreasing ratings and economic challenges. Glen Dacy is stepping into the role of vice president of news content and streaming for Fox’s Chicago stations, WFLD and WPWR, with the aim of bringing fresh energy to the morning news landscape. He replaces Matt Piacente, who left the station earlier this year after eight years.

* Sun-Times | Rules Committee backs Burnett as chair of City Council’s Zoning Committee: Ald. Walter Burnett, the Council’s vice mayor and longest-serving member, offered to “take one for the team” and accept the Zoning job after Mayor Brandon Johnson was unable to get the votes for his first choice, progressive firebrand Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez.

* Sun-Times | Chicago’s National Public Housing Museum to co-present conversation on race events with Smithsonian: Before opening its new building on the Near West Side, the National Public Housing Museum will partner with the Smithsonian and other organizations to host the latest installment of the “National Conversation on Race” in Chicago. The nationwide series was created as part of a Smithsonian initiative, “Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past,” which examines the history of racism while working toward an equitable future.

* ABC Chicago | Illinois Supreme Court to hear Jussie Smollett appeal Tuesday: In 2021, the former Empire TV star was convicted of faking a racist an homophobic attack in 2019 and then lying to police about it. His attorneys appealed arguing Smollett should not have been punished for the same crime twice. In 2019, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx reached a plea agreement with Smollett to drop the charges against him in exchange for a 10-thousand dollar bond and community service.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* CBS Chicago | Chicago area center for homeless residents transformed with help of community: When CBS News Chicago first met Township Supervisor Bonnie Kahn Ognisanti last year, she gave out some hard facts about homelessness. “You don’t have choices,” Ognisanti said. “Where you’re going to sleep, what you’re going to eat, how you’re going to be treated, where you can rest, and if you don’t have these very simple things, it exacerbates everything else.” That’s why she founded the Niles Township Respite Center in 2022 in the basement of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Skokie. It’s a daytime space for people experiencing homelessness.

* FOX Chicago | Dixmoor aims to end years of water woes with major water main upgrade: Officials announced the completion of the Dixmoor water main infrastructure improvement project Monday. In 2021, multiple water main breaks led to a system failure. Since then, the village has not had a reliable water supply, leading to multiple water main breaks

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Sonya Massey Commission holds first listening session, lays out roadmap: The commission was created by Sangamon County Board Chairman Andy Van Meter and Democratic State Senator Doris Turner to discuss, research and eventually propose policy changes for at both the local and state level in response to Massey’s death. “We wanted to look at systematic change throughout all of the systems within our community,” Sen. Turner (D-Springfield) said. “I know that in this situation and in a lot of situations, we focus on law enforcement. But there are so many other sectors that are involved that usually culminate with law enforcement or an instance with law enforcement. But we want to look at all of those different sectors and really focus and channel it into real change.”

* WCBU | East Peoria Mayor Kahl discusses push for a new TIF district to spark future development on riverfront: “I call it visionary leadership. I look at TIF districts (creating) Town Centre I, Town Centre II,” said Kahl, referencing the shopping centers at the intersection of Main and Washington streets. “Back in the day, when I grew up in East Peoria, you had the old-style, four corners, and a lot of those buildings were dilapidated and some were vacant. […] The proposed area for what would be East Peoria’s fourth TIF district is east of Interstate 74 and along Illinois Route 116. Kahl says plans to have these properties developed have been in the works for a long time.

* 25 News Now | Stark County starts 911 service, the last Illinois county to do so: “Stark County has finally reached the 21st Century with our 911… When you call 911, it’s going to show up on our map. We’re going to know right where you’re at. Where before, we didn’t have that. We had to be transferred from a different county,” said Stark County Sheriff Steve Sloan. It was an effort that took about 100 meetings over two years. Now, Stark County’s 911 service isn’t just online, it wound up with a next generation system with Geographic Information System Location and other enhanced call data. Illinois State Police hope to eventually bring this technology statewide.

* WSIL | 14th Annual “Our Stories, Our Lives” African American Women’s Conference focuses on medical issues Black women face in Healthcare: Dozens of African American women traveled to Ullin, Illinois, to advocate for their health care needs. Lynne Chambers is the executive director of Legacy Training Incorporated and says they started the conference in 2010. “14 years ago we focused on HIV, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. So we’ve still kind of kept those themes throughout the years,” Chambers said.

* WCIA | Tuscola fertilizer plant nears construction after more than a decade: The company behind it, Cronus Chemicals LLC, has gained the approval of necessary air permits. That should be one of the last steps in making the ammonia production plant come to life. “Economic development is a long road, and the bigger the project, the longer the road can often be,” Brian Moody, Douglas County economic development corporation executive director, said.

*** National ***

* AP | Postal Service insists it’s ready for a flood of mail-in ballots: U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy assured state election officials in a letter released Monday that he’ll work with them to handle their warnings of problems with election mail delivery during the primary season, while insisting that the Postal Service will be ready for the flood of mail-in ballots ahead of the November election. The Postal Service already dealt with most concerns raised by election officials, he said, after they warned that properly addressed election mail was returned — a problem that can cause voters to be automatically placed on inactive status — and that mail-in ballots were postmarked on time but arrived after election deadlines.

* WaPo | Scientists just figured out how many chemicals enter our bodies from food packaging: These are just a few types of food packaging that surround humans every day. And a new study released Monday shows the chemical toll of all that wrapping — and how it might affect the human body. Researchers from Switzerland and other countries discovered that of the roughly 14,000 known chemicals in food packaging, 3,601 — or about 25 percent — have been found in the human body, whether in samples of blood, hair or breast milk.

* ProPublica | Abortion Bans Have Delayed Emergency Medical Care. In Georgia, Experts Say This Mother’s Death Was Preventable: The most restrictive state laws, experts predicted, would pit doctors’ fears of prosecution against their patients’ health needs, requiring providers to make sure their patient was inarguably on the brink of death or facing “irreversible” harm when they intervened with procedures like a D&C. “They would feel the need to wait for a higher blood pressure, wait for a higher fever — really got to justify this one — bleed a little bit more,” Dr. Melissa Kottke, an OB-GYN at Emory, warned lawmakers in 2019 during one of the hearings over Georgia’s ban.