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Isabel’s morning briefing

Tuesday, Jun 10, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Illinois joins lawsuit against U.S. over triggers that can make semiautomatic rifles fire faster. Sun-Times

    - Illinois joined 15 other states Monday in suing the Trump administration over plans to return forced-reset triggers that were confiscated by federal law enforcement and once again allow them to be sold.
    - Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said he would continue to enforce the ban on the devices through state law that bars owning them and other devices — such as bump stocks — that can also make semiautomatic rifles fire more rapidly.
    - Forced-reset triggers were previously considered illegal machine guns by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Forearms and Explosives, but the Justice Department reached a settlement with Rare Breed Triggers last month to allow their sale.

* Related stories…

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*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | Gov. Pritzker prepping for House committee showdown with help from top Biden attorney: The billionaire governor is paying for the services of Covington & Burling out of his own pocket. Dana Remus, former White House counsel to President Joe Biden, is among those helping Pritzker prepare for Thursday’s Republican-led committee hearing about immigration policies. Republican attorneys at the firm are also providing counsel, according to a source with direct knowledge of his preparations.

* Justice David Overstreet and Ron Flagg | Defunding the Legal Services Corporation will significantly harm Illinoisans: Domestic violence survivors who need help getting a court order to keep their abusers away. Seniors who need peace of mind from a will and power of attorney. Veterans who need help getting Social Security. All of these Illinoisans may soon find it harder to get free legal help. The Administration’s proposed elimination of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), which funds free legal assistance for Americans, would have disastrous effects on residents of central and southern Illinois. Land of Lincoln Legal Aid has been providing free legal help to Illinoisans in 65 counties for 53 years, and currently 20 percent of its funding comes from LSC.

*** Statewide ***

* NBC Chicago | Salmonella outbreak linked to eggs sold in Illinois, 8 other states leaves 79 sickened: A Salmonella outbreak linked to eggs that were sold to restaurants and retailers in Illinois and eight other states has left 79 people sickened, leading to 21 hospitalizations, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. The recall was announced Friday by August Egg Company, and includes all varieties of eggs distributed by the company, including organic, cage-free brown and omega-3.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Tribune | State agrees to pay $1.3M for never-built migrant tent encampment despite Gov. JB Pritzker’s assurances: In response to questions about the apparent contradiction, a Pritzker spokesman maintained that “GardaWorld had no contractual right to payment.” Nevertheless, the state agreed to pay the company because “the situation evolved,” Pritzker spokesman Alex Gough said. Neither Pritzker’s office nor officials with the state Human Services Department would explain why the state agreed to pay if it was under no legal obligation to do so.

* Tribune | Cook County property tax reforms stall out in Springfield: An overhaul of the county’s tax sale process spearheaded by Treasurer Maria Pappas was among the more prominent reforms to sputter out. Pappas’ legislation would have changed the way the county handles delinquent taxes to ensure those who don’t catch up on their property tax bills can still pocket some of their home’s value if it’s turned over to a private investor. The reforms would have swapped out the county’s current way of dealing with the sale of past-due taxes. Private investors — known as tax buyers — can currently win a deed to a home outright if a homeowner doesn’t pay up in a certain amount of time.

* Daily Herald | Fighting for the right to die: Terminally ill Lombard woman continues push for medical ‘aid in dying’ bill: Deb Robertson isn’t giving up on state legislation that would give terminally ill patients like herself the option to end their lives with medical assistance. The Lombard woman, who was diagnosed with a rare cancer in 2022, has spent much of the last 2½ years lobbying lawmakers to pass a medical aid in dying bill in Illinois. The measure, which recently passed the Illinois House by a 63 to 42 vote, would allow terminally ill adults, like Robertson, an option in how they die. Under the proposed bill, a patient with six months or less to live could opt to take a prescribed medication to end his or her life.

* Daily Herald d| Legislation regarding impact fees for schools on hold after clearing General Assembly: The state House approved the plan in early April, and the Senate did so May 29 with an amendment establishing it will be effective immediately. The amendment required another House vote, which happened May 31. The same day, however, Didech placed a procedural hold on the proposal to delay its delivery to Gov. JB Pritzker for his signature. Didech said he ordered the hold to allow village and school officials and Wirtz family representatives an opportunity to reset their conversation. It follows the election of a new mayor in Mundelein, Robin Meier, and the addition of three new trustees to the village board.

*** Chicago ***

* Block Club Chicago | Did Chicago Cops Help ICE During Mass Arrests? City Leaders Call For Investigation: Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), who chairs the city’s Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights, introduced an order to City Council to determine if the actions of the Chicago police officers on scene that day violated the city’s Welcoming Ordinance. Chicago police officials said officers were on the scene to preserve public safety and did not violate the ordinance. On June 4, Chicago police vehicles and officers were inside and outside the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program office building at 2245 S. Michigan Ave. as agents arrested people, leading city officials and organizers to question whether the Chicago police officers were assisting ICE.

* WGN | Broadview ICE facility faces scrutiny over alleged poor conditions, treatment: Over the past few days, families have been reaching out to WGN-TV raising concerns over the conditions inside an ICE processing center in Broadview. Those families are desperate for answers on what to do next since their loved ones were detained in the South Loop on Wednesday. The Trump administration’s border czar has acknowledged overcrowding at facilities is an issue, complicating their hopes to deport more people.

* Crain’s | Brandon Johnson’s COO joins the Obama Foundation: Mayor Brandon Johnson recently backed off a plan to appoint Roberson to lead the Chicago Transit Authority amid the uncertainty over state legislation lessening the mayor’s control of the CTA and pushback from transit advocates and one of the mayor’s own appointees to the CTA board, who were calling for a broad national search.

* Crain’s | Amid anti-DEI orders, Lori Lightfoot reflects on equity-focused pandemic response: Lightfoot, speaking at the seventh anniversary of hospital-community collaborative West Side United, said the story of targeting the hardest-hit communities, which had the fewest resources to deal with a rapidly spreading virus, is something she’s often asked about. She’s lectured on the topic as a public health professor at Harvard University, and it’s the subject of a book she’s writing. […] Before residents would listen to the city’s desperate directives about COVID, Lightfoot said, they had their own message: “This COVID thing, that’s fine. But we need food.”

* Crain’s | Bally’s settles suit by white men over Chicago casino stake: “We are very happy with the resolution and Bally’s decision not to use race in this investment,” Dan Lennington, an attorney for the men and the AAER, said in a statement. “This case should serve as a warning to other companies that hope to dole out investment opportunities based on race. It is illegal and we’ll fight it wherever we can.” Lennington declined to comment on whether Fisher and Aronoff had purchased any shares of the offering since it had been opened up to other investors.

* Crain’s | Downtown rents jump as supply pipeline dries up: The net monthly rent at top-tier apartment buildings in downtown Chicago jumped 6.25% year over year in the first quarter of 2025, according to new data from the Chicago office of appraisal and consulting firm Integra Realty Resources. High rents are expected to persist over the next few months as the market sees the number of new apartments delivered annually hit a nearly three-decade low.

* Crain’s | The $860M lawsuit that’s looming over one of Chicago’s biggest cannabis companies: One of Chicago’s biggest marijuana companies — Verano Holdings — has a historically big $860 million lawsuit hanging over its head like a boogeyman. The case could inflate to nearly $1 billion in costs with interest, damages and attorneys’ fees if a worst-case scenario comes to pass, spelling major trouble for the multistate operator. The threat stems from a lawsuit, originally filed in 2022 by Minnesota-based multistate operator Vireo Growth, after a failed all-stock acquisition deal that year purported to be worth $413 million. Vireo currently has a footprint in Maryland, Missouri, New York and Utah, apart from its home state.

* Sun-Times | Chicago’s kid carjackers: Inside the SRT Boys’ yearslong crime spree: They began their crime spree during the COVID-19 shutdown, a time when they were supposed to be studying at home because the city’s schools were closed. But, for many of these kids, there was nobody to call them back home, to check whether they were tucked into bed at night. Some of their parents were hustling, too, or in jail — or dead.

* WTTW | Chicago Cracks Down on Nearly 200 Illegal Trash Pickups in First Months of Enforcement Effort: Private waste haulers were slapped with nearly 200 tickets for illegal, early-morning pickups during the first six months of a new enforcement. That’s according to records obtained by WTTW News from the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation, which began coordinating the crackdown through a newly created 311 complaint category in October 2024. Trash and recycling companies aren’t allowed to make pickups in Chicago between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. For nearly two years, WTTW News has been tracking numerous companies flouting the law and documenting a tsunami of complaints from residents.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Aqua Illinois warns University Park, other communities of tap water risk for infants: Customers of Aqua Illinois complained Monday about the quality of water they receive from the utility and the company’s response to nitrate contamination affecting University Park and other communities. Aqua Illinois is advising customers not to use tap water for infants under 6 months old after recent testing showed elevated nitrate levels in drinking water systems. But at an Aqua water plant in University Park, where cases of bottled water were being distributed, some customers said they wouldn’t drink the water regardless. The complained of cloudiness in the water flowing from their taps, the smell and the cost.

* Daily Herald | ‘We’re all in this together’: Hawthorn Woods looks for long-term water option: In Hawthorn Woods, Halvorson is among about 1,200 Aqua Illinois customers, the second-largest privately-owned water utility in the state. And for the foreseeable future, all are in the pickle of not having a viable alternative. […] About a third of Hawthorn Woods households get their water from Aqua, with about 300 of those customers receiving it from Aqua through a contract with Lake County. The rest in town are on wells and generally happy with that arrangement, Newton said.

* ABC Chicago | Several detained in HSI operation at Elk Grove Village warehouse: Cook County commissioner: That building is operated by Accelerated Global Operations and SpeedX. “The manager told me everyone at that location has a worker’s permit. To my understanding, everyone who was detained was detained solely based on not having a physical copy of their work permit on their person today,” said Kevin Morrison, Cook County commissioner for the 15th District. Morrison says he arrived after employees were detained.

* Tribune | Worried Northwestern lab directors describe ‘bleak’ atmosphere in wake of Trump research funding freeze: The Trump administration’s freezing in April of $790 million in federal research funding for Northwestern University has left concerned lab directors without key grant money from the National Institutes of Health and forced the university to spend millions to keep vital research afloat and to continue to pay graduate workers and scientists. Carole LaBonne, a professor of molecular biosciences at Northwestern, said the situation at the prominent research institution can only be described as “bleak” as the halt in federal funds continues to send shockwaves across the Evanston campus.

* Daily Southtown | Former Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard does not have document demanded in FOIA lawsuit, attorney says: Henyard was required to appear in court Friday at the Daley Center in Chicago to produce documents requested last year by the nonprofit Edgar County Watchdogs that are public via the Freedom of Information Act. Cook County Judge Kate Moreland filed an order holding her in contempt May 23 for repeated violations of court orders. Though Henyard was called to testify, Henyard’s attorney, Beau Brindley, told Moreland she would not take the stand due to an ongoing federal investigation into possible misconduct during her tenure as Dolton’s mayor. Brindley confirmed after the hearing he is representing Henyard in the federal investigation.

* Daily Herald | ‘While we still have time’: DuPage County ecologists working to save endangered dragonfly: But Ortega cautions against dismissing those efforts, noting the harm that can accompany the loss of a “keystone species,” on which the survival of other species and their ecosystems depend. Throughout history, humans have “found out the hard way how important one species can be, and we generally only find that out after the species is gone,” Ortega said. “The removal of one species can have catastrophic effects,” he added.

* WTTW | Nearly 80% of Chicago-Area Forests Are Infested With Invasive Plants. Ecologists Urge Homeowners to Join the Fight: Restoration ecologist Matt Ueltzen can remember a time not that long ago when the Lake County Forest Preserve District had to more or less “hide” some of its most vital work from the public. Those were the days when, if people saw crews clearing invasive buckthorn, angry calls were sure to follow. Why was the forest preserves cutting down trees? “In the past, people would think that anything that’s green is good,” said Ueltzen. “Now I think people have come to realize there are some very invasive and damaging, harmful plants out there.”

* Daily Herald | Rosemont buys former Ram restaurant building for $2.5 million: Village officials say they want to hold onto the property temporarily and resell to a new owner. “We don’t intend to own all of this forever,” said Mayor Brad Stephens. “We intend to sell it sooner rather than later.”

* Daily Herald | Invasive, ravenous and hard to stop: Asian jumping worms on suburban gardeners’ radar: The invasive worm was found last year in at least 12 members’ yards, including Landwehr’s compost bins. Wanting to be good nature stewards, the club decided this year to follow horticulture experts’ advice to slow the spread: Don’t share plants. “In good conscience, we could not propagate these and spread them around,” Landwehr said.

*** Downstate ***

* WGLT | McLean County Board Executive Committee unanimously approves request for money for shelter village in Bloomington: HSHM is seeking $1.3 million in grant funding from McLean County behavioral health coordination. The full county board will vote on the proposal at its monthly meeting on June 12. McLean County Behavioral Health Coordination Director Marita Landreth joined Home Sweet Home CEO Matt Burgess to discuss the features and community benefit of the project — and its name. “We have chosen to name this shelter village, ‘The Bridge,’ as a nod both to its location on the south end of downtown [Bloomington] right before you come over the bridge to come into town, but also to indicate its purpose,” Burgess said. “And that’s to be a bridge for people coming inside to get out of homelessness and into a permanent housing arrangement.”

* 25News Now | Some McLean County teachers say book banning can be dangerous for students: A small group of educators from McLean County’s largest two school systems, Unit 5 and District 87, rallied in Bloomington Saturday to speak out against banning books, particularly books about race relations and LGBTQ+ culture. In a tent outside Bobzbay Books in Downtown Bloomington, novels were on display that have been banned in other states, like “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky, “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson, and “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee. Informational pamphlets were available explaining why educators are advocating for these books.

* WCIA | Charles Isbell one step closer to assuming role as U of I Chancellor: The U of I Board of Trustees approved his appointment as the 11th chancellor on Monday, although he won’t start serving until current Chancellor Robert Jones finishes his term next month. Isbell is a former computer scientist and provost at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He didn’t go to the U of I as a student, but he said he’s long been invested in the school.

* WCIA | Sangamon Co. Fair set to kick off, celebrating 75 years: The fair will begin on June 11 and will run until June 15 at the fairgrounds in New Berlin. Organizers said attendees can expect exhibits ranging from the arts to culinary to horticulture.

*** National ***

* WaPo | Meta found a new way to violate your privacy. Here’s what you can do.: Apps on your phone are walled off from accessing your activity on other apps, including web browser apps like Chrome. Meta and Yandex found work-arounds. The techniques essentially were akin to malware, or malicious software that is surreptitiously planted on your phone or computer, Dolanjski said. Google said the behaviors of Meta and Yandex “blatantly violate our security and privacy principles.”

* AP | RFK Jr. ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory committee: “Without removing the current members, the current Trump administration would not have been able to appoint a majority of new members until 2028,” Kennedy wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. “A clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science.” […] “Make no mistake: Politicizing the ACIP as Secretary Kennedy is doing will undermine public trust under the guise of improving it,” [Dr. Tom Frieden, president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives,] said in a statement. “We’ll look back at this as a grave mistake that sacrificed decades of scientific rigor, undermined public trust, and opened the door for fringe theories rather than facts.”

       

4 Comments »
  1. - Demoralized - Tuesday, Jun 10, 25 @ 10:35 am:

    RFK is going to completely destroy the public health infrastructure of this country. We all knew he was a vaccine skeptic crackpot. Now he’s going to go full bore in his attack against vaccines by getting rid of the advisory committee and undoubtedly stacking it with a bunch of his anti-vaccine nutjobs.


  2. - This is ridiculous - Tuesday, Jun 10, 25 @ 11:47 am:

    In more ways than one, Demoralized. Wait until you see what they’re doing to cancer.


  3. - Dotnonymous x - Tuesday, Jun 10, 25 @ 12:40 pm:

    If you asked my wrung out guts about the last ten days?…they’d tell you Salmonella is no joke…Ooooh, Mama!


  4. - Cornerfield - Tuesday, Jun 10, 25 @ 2:22 pm:

    Jeepers creepers. First it was Asian jumping carp; now there are Asian jumping worms.


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* Isabel’s afternoon roundup
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