* Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul…

Attorney General Raoul won a court order on Thursday that blocks the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism.

On April 29, Attorney General Raoul joined a coalition of 25 states and attorneys general in challenging the administration’s plans to eliminate nearly 85% of AmeriCorps’ workforce and terminate $400 million worth of AmeriCorps-supported programs, among other actions. Attorney General Raoul and the coalition sought a preliminary injunction to immediately stop the closure of programs in plaintiff states. On Thursday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland granted the preliminary injunction, ordering defendants to restore all programs that had been terminated in plaintiff states by reinstating and returning to service the AmeriCorps members who served on those programs, and ordering the reinstatement of over 750 National Civilian Community Corps members. […]

Attorney General Raoul and the coalition successfully argued that the Trump administration’s termination of more than 1,000 programs and the removal of certain members from service violated the law. By closing $400 million worth of AmeriCorps programs without explanation, the Trump administration harmed states that administer those programs and the veterans, K-12 students, vulnerable seniors and residents who depend upon their services. In Illinois, the Trump administration canceled 26 grants managed by Serve Illinois, which served students, veterans and individuals experiencing homelessness, as well as other programs across the state. These cancelations impacted hundreds of AmeriCorps members and the individuals they served and disrupted schools, health systems and services, food banks and other critical community agencies upon which Illinoisans rely.

A federal judge found that the Trump administration’s actions were unlawful because Congress explicitly required the agency to provide advance notice and an opportunity to comment on an any major changes to AmeriCorps services. The Trump administration ignored this clear legal requirement, and the court granted relief to the plaintiff states as a consequence.

The order restores vital AmeriCorps programs in Illinois. The court’s decision preliminarily stops the Trump administration from terminating these essential programs while the litigation continues.

* Tribune…

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement subpoenaed the Chicago city clerk’s office in April for the personal information of applicants to a municipal ID program popular with immigrants, an apparent new tactic in Republican President Donald Trump’s plan to target Chicago as he seeks to ramp up deportations.

The clerk’s office received the summons on April 17 requiring the city to turn over the past three years of CityKey records, according to a copy obtained by the Tribune in a Freedom of Information Act request. The program was launched in 2017 by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel and city Clerk Anna Valencia as part of a stand against Trump.

Asked whether the city complied with the subpoena, Law Department spokesperson Kristen Cabanban indicated some type of response but would not directly confirm whether it turned over documents to ICE, which demanded several years worth of data. […]

After being overwhelmed by demand for the IDs by Venezuelan migrants at in-person events in fall 2023, Valencia started offering an online application in December 2024. To meet state document requirements, the Clerk’s Office has kept application materials for more than 2,700 people who used the online CityKey system since then, according to Diana Martinez, a spokesperson for Valencia. […]

ICE spokesperson Erin Bultje declined to comment on both subpoenas, citing “an ongoing investigation.”

* House Speaker Chris Welch is leaning into the $40 million he put into the state budget for a high school sports complex. From his constituent newsletter…

House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch and Proviso West High School are making plans for a modern sports complex on the school’s Hillside campus a reality. The $40 million investment made possible through Welch’s new state budget will create a dynamic space for student athletics and community events—uplifting the entire region and promoting local economic development.

“Traveling across our state and across the Midwest, I’ve seen how projects just like this can transform entire communities—and I’m so excited to partner with Proviso West to undertake this exciting development in our community,” Welch said. “Sitting on the border of Cook and DuPage county, this project is truly an investment in regional economic growth. A world-class sports complex on the Proviso West campus creates a multifaceted space for our student athletes as well as for youth and intramural leagues across our area. The local, regional, and statewide events this complex can attract will benefit our business community as well.”

*** Statewide ***

* ABC Chicago | Illinois residents’ information accessed in data breach, Healthcare and Family Services says: Information accessed by hackers “may have included customer names, social security numbers, driver’s license or state identification card numbers, financial information related to child support, child support or Medicaid identification and case numbers, and date of birth,” HFS said. Officials said 933 people were impacted by the data breach, including 564 Illinois residents.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Crain’s | Too late, too divided: Inside the collapse of Springfield’s transit rescue: Sen. Ram Villivalam, D–Chicago, the lead Senate transit negotiator, told Crain’s his chamber’s vote reflected the urgency required to save mass transit. “We did not want to have a conversation with public hearings of 40% cuts to service and 3,000 layoff notices being sent to our front-line public transit workers. That’s why we put forward our package of reforms and funding, and that’s why we passed it over to the House,” he said.

* WGLT | Clean Slate Act, Medical Aid in Dying bills among those that stalled in Illinois legislature: The Clean Slate Act stalled in the Illinois House, dimming the hopes of advocates who thought it might be called in the last hours of the Spring Session. It would have automatically sealed records for criminal non-violent criminal convictions, though police and prosecutors would still see those convictions. Automatic sealing would not be extended to felonies involving murder, domestic violence, sex crimes, animal cruelty, and drunk driving.

* IPM Newsroom | How will this spring’s General Assembly session affect education in Illinois?: The state budget, Senate Bill 2510, is the most important bill that passed. It includes a smaller increase for grade and high schools than many education advocates wanted. Those dollars will be distributed through the state’s Evidence-Based Funding formula, which assesses the gap between the resources school districts have and the costs of services their students receive.

* Capitol News Illinois | Despite victories, major higher education policy bills stall in General Assembly: But lawmakers did not approve the overall funding increase that Pritzker requested at the start of the session, settling on a 1% bump in their operational budgets instead of the 3% the governor proposed, Pritzker’s office, however, has said there are contingencies to provide an additional 2% in the event of significant cuts in federal funding. They also did not pass other major higher education policy initiatives, including Pritzker’s plan to allow community colleges to offer four-year bachelor’s degrees in certain high-demand career fields, and a long-sought overhaul in the way Illinois funds its public universities.

* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois ‘chicken bill’ aims to boost small poultry farms, expand access to their products: Under a measure dubbed the “chicken bill,” farmers who process fewer than 7,500 birds annually would be exempt from state and federal inspections of their poultry operations or from having to send birds to USDA-approved processing facilities — an increase from the previous 5,000-bird threshold. The change, part of an update to the Illinois Meat and Poultry Inspection Act, also allows these farmers to sell their poultry beyond their own farms — including at farmers markets, roadside stands and through delivery — a major shift from earlier restrictions.

* SLPR | After deadly Edwardsville tornado, Illinois lawmakers pass warehouse safety bill: The legislation, which awaits the governor’s signature, mandates that all warehouses in the state craft a tornado safety plan and build storm shelters in newly constructed warehouses. It requires county and city building inspectors hold a certification from the International Code Council. The passage of the legislation in the last hours of the Illinois legislature’s spring session marks a critical step in a more than three-year-long journey to passing legislation in response to the tornado that flattened half of an Amazon warehouse.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Jenner & Block hires former U.S. attorney from firm that made deal with Trump: A top white-collar litigator is joining Jenner & Block, leaving rival Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison after less than six months following a deal that firm made with President Donald Trump to avoid an executive order targeting its practice. Damian Williams, who had joined Paul Weiss in January after serving as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, will become co-chair of Jenner’s litigation department and investigations, compliance and defense practice.

* WBEZ | Chicago’s immigrant community ‘sad’ and ‘numb’ over Trump’s new travel ban: Trump’s latest order will go into effect on Monday. The ban prohibits travel into the U.S. from citizens from Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Afghanistan is also part of the ban, though there will be exceptions for Afghan Special Immigrant Visas holders, a program for Afghans who worked either directly or in support of the U.S. government. There will also be further restrictions on people traveling to the U.S. from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

* Crain’s | Chicago’s Pride Parade is bucking a national sponsorship trend: Take PrideChicago, for example, the nonprofit that runs the Chicago Pride Parade. A handful of its sponsors from last year did not return for 2025, but chair Steve Long said in a statement that “fluctuations in participation are natural and should not be viewed as indicative of broader trends.” He said as some sponsors left, others joined. That’s par for the course, especially because PrideChicago has only offered sponsorship opportunities for the last three years and does not require multiyear commitments. Chicago’s sponsors this year include Cboe, Metra, Ulta Beauty and Wintrust, to name a few.

* Tribune | Meet the former Chicago ‘theater kid’ who stages Kendrick Lamar: Carson knows pop ambitions. He grew up in the western suburbs of Berkeley and Bellwood, then later moved to the Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen. He attended Columbia College for a time until meeting legendary Chicago fashion designer and Kanye West collaborator Virgil Abloh, who died in 2021. “I basically dropped out after my first semester sophomore year and began working with Virgil and went on the whole ‘Watch the Throne’ thing with Kanye and Jay-Z, the album and the tour. I was documenting Kanye and Jay-Z. Virgil took a chance on me. For a few years, that was my college experience.”

* Tribune | Resale prices for Sky-Fever at UC plummet after Caitlin Clark injury. Can they still break the WNBA record?: Initial ticket sales aren’t a concern. Fewer than 500 original tickets at the 20,923-capacity United Center remained available via Ticketmaster as of Wednesday. The majority were in the 100 level, where prices began at $393. But Clark’s injury sent the resale market plummeting, with prices dropping by an average of 70% in the first 48 hours after her injury was announced, according to TickPick. Upper-level tickets originally priced at $125 are now available for less than $20 on SeatGeek.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Harvey Ald. Colby Chapman faces felony charge, announces mayoral run before turning herself in: Harvey Ald. Colby Chapman turned herself in at the city’s police station Thursday night, having been informed that a felony aggravated battery charge had been brought against her. Chapman’s arrest came just one day after Cook County prosecutors dropped misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and resisting a police officer brought against her following a City Council meeting April 28. Chapman, who has been a vocal critic of Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark’s administration, says her repeated arrests indicate political retaliation.

* Tribune | County caseworker accused in ex-girlfriend’s fatal stabbing allegedly threatened to kill her two months earlier, police reports show: A county caseworker accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death and severely wounding two of her sons in February had been placed on desk duty at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center after he allegedly threatened to kill the same woman two months earlier, police records show. Cook County prosecutors have charged Marcus Bausley, 40, with stabbing Teone Jones, 33, to death on Feb. 20 while they were at home in the Grand Crossing neighborhood. Bausley is also accused of abducting and stabbing two of Jones’ young sons.

* Daily Herald | New Aurora police chief hopes to keep positive momentum going: When Matt Thomas started his career as a police officer in the late 1990s, he wanted to be on the streets. “I always wanted to be a detective. I did not see myself sitting behind a desk,” Thomas said. But that’s where he finds himself today. Thomas was sworn last month as Aurora’s new police chief and now leads a department that serves and protects Illinois’ second-largest city.

* Daily Herald | As Lisle looks to update brand, some question ‘Arboretum Village’ motto: While that tagline may have deep roots, at least one official in Lisle — the home of the Morton Arboretum — isn’t keen on the slogan. And another has suggested he’s open to exploring alternatives as part of a new village branding initiative. Lisle Trustee Meg Sima said she’s an arboretum member, spends a lot of time there and that it’s a wonderful place. But, speaking a “little sacrilege,” she doesn’t “love ‘The Arboretum Village’ as our village motto.”

* Naperville Sun | Naperville council to hold workshop meetings to establish electricity goals: As it continues to weigh the future of the city’s electricity grid, the Naperville City Council will hold a series of workshops to define the city’s strategic long-term energy goals. Discussions, however, will not cover any specific contract decisions. Council members unanimously agreed Tuesday to the workshop plan, dates for which have not been set.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora further delays special census: Aurora is further delaying a special census originally planned to start earlier this year that was postponed by the federal government. The 2020 decennial census showed that Aurora had a population of around 180,000, down from 197,000 in 2010 — but city officials have disputed those numbers, arguing that the city’s population is actually closer to the levels found in the 2010 census.

*** Downstate ***

* WGLT | Homeless encampment residents in Normal have relocated; sewer construction project is underway : “In the 11th hour, late Thursday, early Friday, there was another site located somewhat nearby that got some approval, at least from BNWRD,” HSHM Community Outreach Director Steve Tassio said. “It was their property, and they offered to step up and try to give some space for people to go temporarily.” Many encampment residents moved to the approved BNWRD property, others got into housing, and others are staying with family and friends, according to Tassio.

* WCIA | Former GCMS teacher, coach arrested for 6 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse: Former Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley School District employee Robert Dinkins was arrested in Georgia for six counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse on Thursday. The arrest comes after a months-long investigation stemming from a claim that Dinkins, an 8th grade teacher and coach, sent inappropriate text messages to students.

* WCIA | Iroquois County to retest warning sirens next week after sirens fail to sound: Coordinator for the county EMA Scott Anderson said in a press release Friday that following the regular monthly test of the warning sirens throughout the county, it was discovered that all the sirens — except for those in Watseka — failed to sound. As a result, all the sirens in the county will be re-tested between 10 a.m. and noon on June 9.

*** National ***

* The Hill | Illinois Republican mistakes Sikh for Muslim, calls him delivering prayer in House ‘deeply troubling’ : Miller later edited her post on X to replace “Muslim” with “Sikh” before deleting the post altogether. Her office did not respond to a request for comment about the incident. The House has long welcomed guest chaplains from many types of faiths — including Muslims, with a Muslim guest chaplain notably reading from the Quran in November 2001 following the 9/11 terror attacks

* ProPublica | DOGE Developed Error-Prone AI Tool to “Munch” Veterans Affairs Contracts: The engineer, working for the Department of Government Efficiency, quickly built an artificial intelligence tool to identify which services from private companies were not essential. He labeled those contracts “MUNCHABLE.” The code, using outdated and inexpensive AI models, produced results with glaring mistakes. For instance, it hallucinated the size of contracts, frequently misreading them and inflating their value. It concluded more than a thousand were each worth $34 million, when in fact some were for as little as $35,000.

* LA Times | Study finds removing school mask mandates contributed to 22,000 U.S. COVID deaths in a year: A newly published study from data scientists at Michigan State University knocks one pillar out from under this claim. It finds that the abrupt removal in 2022 of mandates that children wear masks in school contributed to an estimated 21,800 COVID deaths that year — a shocking 9% of the total COVID deaths in the U.S. that year.