*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Tribune | Early voting off to strong start in Chicago suburbs: ‘There’s excitement in the air’: Officials in the collar counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will have begun tallying up early voting, which opened Thursday. Chicago voters, however, have to wait until Thursday to cast early ballots in person, and suburban Cook County residents will be able to vote early in person beginning Oct. 9. In DuPage County, turnout on day one of early voting smashed records set four years ago, according to the clerk’s office. Some 1,530 voters took to the polls last Thursday, more than double the 660 voters that turned out for the first day of early voting in 2020, which — at the time — was a record in itself, the county clerk’s office announced in a news release.

* WGN | City Club of Chicago: Investing in Illinois Innovation: Join Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs and RockCreek Founder & CEO Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss for a conversation about the FIRST Fund, the Illinois Growth and Opportunity Fund (ILGIF), and the importance of investing in infrastructure and the tech ecosystem.

At 11 am Governor Pritzker will be in Aurora for a data center groundbreaking. At 1 pm the governor will announce new highway safety initiative. ​Click here to watch.

*** Statehouse News ***

Reaction to incident overnight outside IL Treasurer Frerichs’ home: pic.twitter.com/HzgBmleCjc

— Mary Ann Ahern (@MaryAnnAhernNBC) October 1, 2024

An event held by Frerichs was also disrupted by protesters, video is here.

* 25 News Now | Koehler and Owens compete for 46th District State Senate seat: The race for the 46th Illinois Senate District is approaching the finish line with incumbent Democrat Dave Koehler facing off against Republican challenger Sally Owens. When asked to identify her biggest priority if elected, Owens said she thinks spending is too high, including the pay of state legislators who received a 5% percent raise in the most recent state budget.

* Barrinton Hills Observer | Illinois 52nd District Candidate Forum October 10th: Hear from Martin McLaughlin and Maria Peterson, candidates for the 52nd House District in the Illinois General Assembly. The forum is Thursday, October 10th from 6:30 – 7:30 PM at the Barrington Area Library located at 505 N. Northwest Highway. “Attendees who register for the program by October 1 may submit a question for the candidates. All questions are subject to review & editing by a League of Women Voters team.” Registration is required.

* Daily Herald | District 27 Senate candidates discuss mental health: State Sen. Mark Walker, a Democratic former state representative who was appointed to fill the vacated seat of Sen. Ann Gillespie, said the state is increasing funds for services to address mental illness, substance use disorder and developmental disabilities. Walker, an Arlington Heights resident who worked as a corporate executive, added the state has set up programs allowing people in the mental health services area to receive better salaries. He also said programs have also been created enabling social workers to receive scholarships.

*** Statewide ***

* Solar Power World | Illinois moving to “Smart Solar Billing” in 2025: Smart Solar Billing is set to begin in Illinois on January 1, 2025, and solar industry partners have launched a new webpage for consumers and companies to learn everything they need to know about the new billing system. Solar customers and businesses can visit the Solar Powers Illinois website to learn more about the changes to net metering and the new Smart Solar Billing system that will change the way residential solar and storage owners are reimbursed for the energy they sell back to their utilities.

* Shaw Local | Historic Highlights: President Garfield was assassinated by Illinois native: Inaugurated just four months before, Garfield was walking in a Washington train depot on July 2, 1881, when a lone gunman approached from behind. Two shots were fired at Garfield, one piercing the right side of his back. His assassin was Charles Guiteau, a native of Freeport, who later lived in Chicago. A former Garfield supporter, some believe that the term “disgruntled office seeker” arose from the deranged resentment that festered in Guiteau after failing to receive a prime political appointment.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Gov. JB Pritzker on Chicago Board of Education turmoil: ‘I hope people don’t resign’: “I hope people don’t resign. I don’t know why they should or would at this point,” Pritzker said, noting some new members will be elected to the board in November. “At minimum, let’s elect those new members.” Pritzker’s brief remarks were his latest show of concern over a standoff between City Hall and CPS leadership.

* Tribune | Appeals court hears potential wrongful conviction case following special prosecutors’ report: The case has come under extra scrutiny in recent years after allegations of coercion and other misconduct have been leveled at the Chicago police detectives who investigated the case. Jackson, 43, is serving a 45-year sentence for the 2001 slaying of 54-year-old Ernest Jenkins and shooting of a second man at a Southwest Side gas station. Jackson has maintained his innocence as his post-conviction case has taken several unusual turns.

* WTTW | Did You Get an Unsigned Mailer Praising or Slamming Your Alderperson? Here’s Who Sent It: Although the mailers did not identify who paid for them, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 helped bankroll the campaign, Marc Poulos, a Local 150 member and executive director of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting, told WTTW News Tuesday. At the center of the dispute is a proposal dubbed the Clean and Affordable Buildings ordinance, which supporters contend is “the first step in a managed, planned process to move away from dirty, expensive gas and embrace a cheaper, cleaner energy future for all Chicagoans” as part of a larger fight against climate change.

* Nadig News | Teachers union-backed candidate says she would be independent on school board: District 1 elected school board candidate Jennifer Custer is supported by the Chicago Teachers Union but said she would vote against its wishes if necessary in order to do what’s best for public schools. “I feel I can see all sides (and) make the best decision … not necessarily do everything they want me to do,” Custer said at a Sept. 24 candidates forum held by the Edgebrook Community Association at Edgebrook Lutheran Church, 5252 W. Devon Ave. The forum was moderated by 45th Ward Alderman Jim Gardiner.

* The Triibe | Barbecue smokehouse opening just blocks away from famed Lem’s Bar-B-Q: Albert Johnson, owner of the Black-owned smokehouse No Sauce AZ, speaks with pride when talking about his barbecue. “I study meat. I’m really into what I do,” Johnson said, explaining what sets his restaurant apart from other barbecue spots across the city. “I like pulling a [rib tip] off of the smoker, cutting it and eating it. And if you can’t do that, I don’t feel like you’re doing quality.”

* TND | Chicago animal shelter ‘in urgent need of fosters’ as communities reel from Helene: In Florida, the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast is also helping out. Sarah Fisher, who is the communications manager for the non-profit, told WPEC they worked ahead of the storm to protect dozens of pets that were housed in outdoor kennels. “We got an email just a few days ago stating that there was some desperate need for shelters up in that area to evacuate their dogs because their dogs were in outside kennels that were already being flooded by previous storms,” Fisher told WPEC last week.

* Chicago Mag | The Enchanted Life of a Hotel: The Morrison lot had probably been cleared by 1803 — the intersection of river and lake had been a trading post for Native Americans and French trappers — when the federal government built Fort Dearborn nearby, establishing an outpost in a wilderness that ran nearly unbroken to the Pacific. Potawatomi warriors burned down the fort on August 15, 1812. On the same day, a hundred years later, the Cubs beat the Braves 10—7. Fort Dearborn was rebuilt, then destroyed again, this time by savages: the real estate men and city fathers who mapped Chicago’s first streets.

Mary Wallace: First female bus driver for Chicago Transit Authority, 1974. She remained a bus driver for 33 years before retiring. pic.twitter.com/PDmOSt4VKd

— AFRICAN & BLACK HISTORY (@AfricanArchives) October 2, 2024

* South Side Weekly | South Side as Culture: Arionne Nettles: Living in the city, the hustle and bustle of urban life can have us forgetting to seek out moments of calm. But we actually are lucky enough to have green spaces on the South Side that can help us slow down. The Mamie Till-Mobley Forgiveness Garden in West Woodlawn is a new and special addition to the neighborhood because not only is it a place for people to sit and take in the greenery, it’s named for a very important reason. After Emmett Till was murdered by a white mob during a visit to Mississippi in 1955, his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, became an important part of the civil rights movement.

* Sun-Times | Meet 3 Chicago-area performers competing to be ‘the World’s Next Drag Supermonster’: “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula,” premiering Oct. 1 on Shudder and AMC+, enters its sixth season with three contestants from Illinois among the 12 monsters competing for the title and grand prize of $100,000. They include Aurora Gozmic, a mainstay in Chicago’s drag scene for the past decade; Auntie Heroine, a dramatic camp queen who’s also a community leader in the Rockford area, and Scylla, an otherworldly performance artist in Chicago inspired by fantasy and mythology.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Naperville Sun | DuPage County sees record-breaking turnout over first days of early voting: ‘There’s excitement in the air’: About 1,533 voters took to the polls Thursday for DuPage’s opening day of early voting for the Nov. 5 general election, the county clerk’s office said. That’s more than double the 660 voters who turned out for the first day of early voting in 2020, which at the time was record itself, a news release said.

* Daily Herald | ‘Yes, we’re ready’: Suburban firefighters doing search and rescue in hurricane-ravaged North Carolina: Two dozen firefighters from Cook and DuPage counties are among the first responders doing searches and rescues and providing other assistance near Asheville, North Carolina, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The local firefighters are part of two specialized water rescue teams managed by the Wheeling-based Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, a statewide firefighting response consortium that is lending helping hands — and equipment like boats and an all-terrain vehicle — to emergency response agencies in and around Buncombe County.

*** Downstate ***

* Herald-Review | ADM pauses carbon injections after potential fluid seepage discovered in second well: Archer Daniels Midland Co. has temporarily paused carbon dioxide injections below its North American headquarters in Decatur after tests revealed a seepage of fluids from a second monitoring well.

* PJ Star | ‘Investing back’: Major Peoria manufacturer plans new $30 million building: Komatsu broke ground on a new $30 million building at its Adams Street campus in Peoria on Monday. Local politicians, including U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, a Democrat from the 17th District, were in Peoria to champion the investment they said will be big for the future of manufacturing in the area.

* WSIL | Transportation company in Murphysboro collecting donations for hurricane victims: Many from across the country are helping out with recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene washed ashore and created havoc for millions across several states. Area businesses are also wanting to help out and are doing what they can to provide for those who lost everything.

*** National ***

* Pantagraph | In Decatur, former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger said he is ‘open’ to spot in Harris Cabinet: But when Kinzinger was asked to speak at last month’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, he said he “didn’t hesitate for a second.” After all, he had already joined hundreds of former GOP elected officials, staffers and political operatives in endorsing Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign to deny Trump a second non-consecutive term.

* AFP | California passes law allowing Dutch-style cannabis cafes: “Right now, our small cannabis businesses are struggling to compete against illegal drug sellers that don’t follow the law or pay taxes,” said state assemblyman Matt Haney, who authored the bill. “In order to ensure the legal cannabis market can survive and thrive in California, we have to allow them to adapt, innovate and offer products and experiences that customers want,” Haney continued.

* Reuters | Texas can’t sue over Biden ‘public charge’ immigration rule, US judge says: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security rule says immigrants will only be deemed “public charges” who are ineligible for green cards under federal immigration law when they are likely to become primarily dependent on the government for subsistence. The rule repealed a Trump-era regulation that said any immigrants who receive food stamps or Medicaid are public charges. That 2019 rule was blocked by several federal courts and the DHS dropped appeals of those decisions after Democratic President Joe Biden took office.