* ICYMI: Hundreds sue over alleged sexual abuse in Illinois youth detention centers. AP…

- Overall, 667 people have alleged they were sexually abused as children at youth facilities run by the state and Cook County in lawsuits filed since May.
- Monday’s complaints, based on the accounts of 272 people, name several repeat offenders.
- At least one employee accused in a lawsuit filed Monday still works for the state, according to state records.
- Many said their abusers threatened them with beatings, solitary confinement, transfers to harsher facilities and longer sentences if they reported the abuse.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* WGLT | New exhibit on asbestos reveals a dark, unsettling and important B-N story: A story of corporate greed, willful worker exploitation, and human tragedy in Bloomington-Normal began nearly a century ago. And the investments in worker safety the Unarco company and others failed to make are paying dividends of a horrible sort — ones of blood and lost public treasure. It’s the story of asbestos, the subject of a new exhibit opening Saturday at the McLean County Museum of History. “The anger that you have knowing that the company did this to your family, it eats on you daily,” said Terry Redman of Wapella.

* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois celebrates dispensary openings while manufacturers face significant challenges: The independent diversity study – commissioned by the state at a cost of $2.5 million by Peoria-based Nerevu Group consulting firm – found that while the state has awarded more licenses to women and people of color than any other regulated market in the United States, white men are still the demographic most likely to have a cannabis license in Illinois. But the Department of Agriculture’s most recent licensee operation status list shows only about 30% of businesses awarded specialty cannabis licenses are operational. And for some social equity applicants, turning the licenses into a functioning business has been difficult.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WAND | Illinois public universities ask lawmakers for equitable, evidence-based funding model: Smaller campuses like Chicago State University receive significantly less funding than the state’s flagship college. Dr. Z Scott told the House Appropriations-Higher Education Committee Monday that she would love to have the same quality buildings as the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “Look at their facilities and compare those to what is happening at Chicago State,” Scott said. “Chicago State received $42 million in state appropriations, a 2% increase, which amounted to $787,000. It was not even enough to keep up with inflation or our growing union demands, reasonable demands for salary increases.”

* Center Square | Legislators hear need for more funding for Illinois college, university upkeep: Some university officials said they look to control their own contracts, rather than have it facilitated by the Capital Development Board. CDB Executive Director T.J. Edwards said they’re concerned about ensuring equitable funding. “The only concern I have is how do we duplicate that across multiple universities,” Edwards said. “How do we ensure that multiple universities that may have individual strategies for their delivery of projects are all going to be compliant, are all going to use Illinois Works … that they’re all going to make sure the accessibility standards are being followed.”

* Lake County News-Sun | Political newcomer challenging 3-term incumbent in State House District 59; ‘I’m fed up no one is willing to step up’: State Rep. Dan Didech, D-Buffalo Grove, is pleased with the direction the state is going, and wants to continue doing his part as the representative of the Illinois House of Representatives’ 59th District. His Republican opponent this fall, Chris Henning, has a different take on the state of the state. “We’ve got the state on a sound financial footing, and I’m proud of that,” Didech said. “We’ve had nine credit upgrades. Our annual funding for public schools is $350 million a year. It’s been $2 billion since 2018.”

* WGLT | Immigration advocate says bill to stop Illinois non-citizens from voting is unnecessary and harmful: “If you have an organization that is going around, particularly going around these housing areas, where we have these illegal aliens, and registering them to vote, I think that makes is pretty obvious,” said Caulkins. Caulkins said he thinks this has been a problem in Illinois, though could not say where. […] Illinois has had one confirmed ballot fraud incident since 2019, a duplicate primary election voter in Macon County in 2022.

*** Statewide ***

* 25News Now | Nearly 60 Illinois police officers graduate into leadership roles through cost-free training program: The program is called, ‘Enduring, Surviving, and Thriving as a Law Enforcement Executive in the 21st Century,’ and it was held at the Embassy Suites in East Peoria, located at 100 Conference Center Drive. The event was hosted by Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board. The training is a free four-day course that is meant to prepare incoming officers with the concepts, strategies, and insights needed for success in their new roles.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | CTU announces ‘no confidence’ in CPS CEO Pedro Martinez: CTU’s announcement comes amid ongoing collective bargaining negotiations and debate over whether the Chicago Board of Education, whose members have the sole power to terminate Martinez, should buck the union’s desires and former CTU organizer Mayor Brandon Johnson — in favor of stability in district finances and leadership.

* Fox Chicago | CTU president denies involvement in effort to oust CPS CEO: CTU President Davis Gates denied any involvement in the mayor’s apparent decision to let Martinez go, something Martinez is resisting as his contract requires a six-month notice for termination. […] When asked if she wanted the Board of Education to terminate Martinez, she responded: “No, I want the Chicago Public Schools, I want the Chicago Board of Education, I want the CEO of Chicago Public Schools, I want the Mayor of Chicago to fully fund public schools.”

* Block Club | As ShotSpotter Contract Ends, City Starts Search For New ‘First Responder Technology’: Johnson’s office announced the “request for information” for new “first responder technology” on Sunday, the same day ShotSpotter detectors began to go dark in Chicago. The request is the latest move in the prolonged effort to decommission ShotSpotter, which fulfilled a Johnson campaign process but has since ignited a political firestorm. The Chicago Police Department stopped using ShotSpotter shortly after midnight Sunday, a police spokesperson said.

* Sun-Times | Ex-Chicago cop — once a national TV pundit on policing — now an accused police impersonator: The former cop appeared on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and CBS News, offering his insights on police misconduct and proper law enforcement procedures. Now, Roberts has become the subject of the news after being charged with impersonating a federal agent in Texas. He was previously hit with similar allegations in Chicago and California two years ago, the Sun-Times has found.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Biden OKs disaster declaration in wake of July storms: The announcement comes after Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Gov. JB Pritzker made similar disaster proclamations Aug. 12 and Aug. 30, which unlocked state funds to assist residents in their recovery efforts. With Biden’s declaration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency can offer individual assistance to residents in areas hardest hit by the July storms, including Cook, Fulton, Henry, St. Clair, Washington, Will and Winnebago counties.

* Daily Herald | Parents criticize how high school handled discovery of gun at school: In the wake of a student bringing a loaded handgun to Glenbard East High School, parents are criticizing how school officials handled the situation, and they’re calling for schools to have metal detectors at entrances. The gun was found in a boys restroom Sept. 10 and was traced to the home of a 14-year-old boy in Glendale Heights, according to a news release from the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office.

* Sun-Times | Size matters — Illinois could soon lay claim to country’s largest truck stop: Outpost, an Austin, Texas-based company is set to open a 30-acre truck stop in West Dundee in mid- to late October, said Pat Hardin, Outpost’s VP of revenue and operations. “Chicago is really the crown jewel of transportation in this country,” Hardin said Monday. “[And West Dundee] has access to the city without hitting the city traffic.”

* Sun-Times | Northwest suburban woman is first in the Midwest to receive ‘groundbreaking’ skin cancer treatment: Alla Pinzour says she’s a trouper. She has lived with melanoma for 15 years. A new therapy offered at the University of Chicago used her own body’s cells to fight the cancer and shrink her tumors.

*** Downstate ***

* Sun-Times | Illinois man pleads guilty to Jan. 6 riot property destruction charges: A southern Illinois man has pleaded guilty to a destruction of property charge after he smashed a window in the U.S. Capitol building during the Jan. 6, 2021 riots, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Justin LaGesse, a 37-year-old who lives about 300 miles south of Chicago in McLeansboro, pleaded guilty to felony destruction of property Monday. Proceedings are ongoing for 36-year-old Theodore Middendorf, another McLeansboro resident charged alongside him.

* WSIL | 6 sent to hospital after becoming ill sorting mail at Shawnee Correctional Center, tests yield no positive results, IDOC says: The Marion Fire Rescue Hazardous Material Team responded to the correctional facility and tested items and clothing of the staff members who were affected. After testing the items and clothing, results came back negative for any presence of drugs or narcotics, IDOC stated. […] IDOC also stated searches were conducted and the Shawnee Correctional Center’s Investigations and Intelligence Unit found suspicious mail, however, preliminary tests yielded no positive results.

* WCIA | U of I building, food service workers begin strike: Although the strike affects food service workers, a university spokesperson clarified that all dining halls are open except the one at Lincoln Avenue and Allen Residence Halls, which is open for kosher meals. The convenience stores operated by University Housing are also open but are not serving made-to-order hot food.

* WSIL | Harrisburg officials are investigating after tornado sirens sound with no severe weather: Harrisburg’s Mayor John McPeek says he received calls from emergency officials trying to figure out how they started sounding off. “They don’t know if they got interfered with another town or what happened. But something definitely went wrong for them to go off like that because they should not do that,” Mayor McPeek said. He says the emergency management director is investigating it.

* SJ-R | Springfield-area woman turning 112 years old is likely state’s oldest resident: Wenonah Bish, who currently lives in Sherman, will be turning 112 on Oct. 2. […] Bish’s family describes her as someone who prefers to look at what’s coming rather than what’s behind her. She loves calling and talking to her daughter Delores throughout the day, in addition to speaking with her grandson Dirk, who lives in Miami, and her grandson Don who lives in the Dominican Republic.