* Illinois GOP…

On Thursday, August 14, Illinois Republicans will host a joint meeting between the Illinois Republican Party State Central Committee and the Republican County Chair’s Association with special guest speaker, Texas GOP Chairman Abraham George. Chairman George, a dedicated Republican leader, previously served as Chairman of the Collin County GOP and on the Republican Executive Committee.

At Thursday’s joint meeting, Chairman George will call out AWOL Texas Democrats who have fled to blue states like Illinois and show how Texas Republicans are the ones who show up to work and fight for their state.

Following the meeting, speakers at the State Fairgrounds will include FOX News Analyst Gianno Caldwell, ILGOP Chair Kathy Salvi, House Republican Leader Tony McCombie, and Senate Republican Leader John Curran.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries will headline the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association’s annual brunch on Wednesday.

* The pro-Raja Krishnamoorthi Impact Fund is out with a new poll…

The Impact Fund, the affiliated PAC of Indian American Impact, today released new polling showing Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi as the clear frontrunner in the Illinois U.S. Senate Democratic primary, with unmatched name recognition and a decisive lead over his closest competitors.
The survey of likely Democratic primary voters found:

- Raja Krishnamoorthi is the most widely known candidate, with 88% name recognition statewide.
- In a three-way matchup against Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton and Congresswoman Robin Kelly, Krishnamoorthi holds a 21-point lead (Krishnamoorthi 38%, Stratton 17%, Kelly 7%, Undecided 37%)
- When undecided voters are asked to choose in a three-way matchup, Krishnamoorthi breaks above 50% support—cementing his majority backing among Democratic voters. […]

The poll memo can be viewed HERE. Z to A Research surveyed 615 likely 2026 Illinois Democratic primary voters from August 8-10th, 2025. The margin of error is ±3.952%.

* Daily Herald…

AbbVie, a global leader in life sciences, announced Tuesday the company’s is investing $195 million to expand its North Chicago manufacturing facility. […]

AbbVie previously announced plans to invest more than $10 billion in U.S. capital projects over the next decade. Construction is expected to begin this fall to expand North Chicago facility. It will grow AbbVie’s footprint in Illinois, where it is headquartered and employs more than 11,000 people.

​ “Over the next decade, AbbVie will expand production of API, drug product, peptides and medical devices in the U.S. to support future medical breakthroughs,” said Robert A. Michael, AbbVie chairman and chief executive officer. “This is an important step to maintain U.S. leadership in pharmaceutical innovation and deliver next-generation medicines that make a remarkable impact on patients’ lives.” […]

​As part of the Economic Development for a Growing Economy agreement with the state, AbbVie has committed to creating at least 50 new, full-time jobs within three years. In 2024, companies in the EDGE program committed more than $650 million in investments in Illinois communities.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Muddy River News | Tracy talks about being deputized for Texas lawmaker case: Her Friday court filing in Adams County Court was not as an elected official. The petition seeks to compel the Texas Democrats to return to their native state after they fled to Illinois last Sunday to avoid a vote on a redistricting map. “Many people think I’m doing it as a state senator. No,” Tracy told Muddy River News at Saturday’s fundraiser dinner for the Adams County Republican Party. “It was a very fast-paced thing,” Senator Tracy divulged. “I was contacted at 11 am, and by 4 o’clock it was filed. But I am not receiving compensation.”

* Fox Chicago | Illinois lawmaker, DCFS dispute legality of intern investigators in child abuse cases: State Rep. Jed Davis, R-75th, alleged that DCFS has permitted interns without proper credentials to investigate families, in some cases leading to the removal of children from their homes. He argued the practice violates the Child Protective Investigator and Child Welfare Specialist Certification Act of 1987, which requires certification before any official investigative work, and says it undermines public trust and harms families. … In a statement, the department said every employee conducting an investigation — regardless of their job title — is certified under the law after meeting education, training, and examination requirements. The agency said its Child and Family Services Intern positions are part of a longstanding pipeline program to recruit qualified investigators and keep caseloads manageable. “To be clear, DCFS complies fully with the Certification Act,” the agency said. “DCFS has developed guidelines for education and profession requirements and a curriculum in child protection investigations.” The department also said it attempted to clarify the issue with Davis, including arranging a face-to-face meeting before his press release, which it says he canceled.

*** Catching up with the Congressionals ***

* Tribune | Top candidates for the US House in Illinois’ 2nd, 7th, 8th and 9th districts for the 2026 election: A South Side native and community organizer, state Sen. Robert Peters of Chicago received an early endorsement from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont after Peters announced his intent to run for the 2nd Congressional District seat. That gave him an early leg up with progressives in the district. “I have a record and I have a personal narrative that I think really touches on where we’re at right now,” Peters recently told the Tribune. The 40-year-old was born deaf and with a speech impediment, and he was influenced by his adoptive father’s work as a civil rights lawyer.

* Pantagraph | Rep. Mary Miller gets a primary challenger: Ryan Tebrugge, a state employee and small business owner from Springfield, is circulating petitions to take on the three-term incumbent, who is one of President Donald Trump’s most ardent and, at times, controversial backers. Much like the three Democrats seeking their party’s nomination in the 15th, Tebrugge did not cast the challenge in a partisan lens. He instead criticized Miller’s constituent services as poor and said that she was neglecting the needs of the district by not taking advantage of opportunities to bring money back for infrastructure projects and programs.

* Muddy River News | Supporters and protestors greet Congresswoman Miller in Quincy: Inside, well-wishers far outnumbered the outside detractors and applause awaited the congresswoman. […] Adams County Democratic Party Chair Katherine Daniels says they are especially galled that Miller has never met with them. “We have tried to contact her. We have tried to meet with her. We’ve asked her to have town halls, and she completely fails to respond or have a town hall. And she will only speak to Republicans. She won’t speak to her other constituents.”

* The 9th Congressional District, already packed to the gills, now has a mystery candidate squeezing in…

👀 pic.twitter.com/YjBJRLWj4d

— H Kapp-Klote (@hkappklote) August 12, 2025

* 25News Now | Rivian autoworker is 3rd Democrat wanting to unseat LaHood: Scott A. Best, 24, is seeking the Democratic nomination for Congress in the 16th District, which covers portions of several Central Illinois counties including Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, McLean, Bureau, Stark and Marshall. Best is running as a pro-union, anti-establishment candidate who supports universal healthcare and a federal $25 per hour minimum wage. He’s also for guaranteed paid sick leave and stronger union protections to “ensure companies like Rivian can’t take public money while exploiting their workforce,” his release said.

*** Chicago ***

* WTTW | Federal Judge Allows Chicago to Join Lawsuit to Stop Trump from Yanking Funding Sanctuary Cities: A federal judge allowed Chicago to join a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration from yanking funding from cities and counties across the country because they have laws designed to protect undocumented immigrants by prohibiting state local law enforcement officials from helping federal agents. U.S. District Judge William Orrick agreed Aug. 5 to allow Chicago and 33 other cities and counties, including Los Angeles, Denver, Boston and Baltimore, to join the lawsuit that claimed the Trump administration was unlawfully trying to force local officials to help federal immigration agents conduct deportation efforts.

* Crain’s | Johnson, firefighters reach tentative deal after 4-year standoff: Without detailing specifics, Johnson confirmed the annual raises in the proposed contract are similar to those agreed to for the city’s largest police union, which began at 5% the first two years and are tied to inflation in the final two years. “I’ve said from the very beginning that part of the agreement would include, and we budgeted for, back pay, and there are some other elements within the tentative agreement that I believe place us in a stronger position to build a safe and affordable big city,” Johnson said.

* WTTW | Lawyers Ask Judge to Expand Lawsuit Accusing CPD of Targeting Black, Latino Chicagoans With Traffic Stops to Include All Black, Latino Drivers: If U.S. District Court Judge Mary Rowland agrees to certify the lawsuit as a class action, it will sharply raise the stakes in the case and increase the pressure on city officials to reach a settlement to reduce the costs to taxpayers. Rowland has already ruled there is enough evidence that the city intentionally discriminated against Black and Latino drivers because of their race, and that the mass traffic stop program unlawfully burdens Black and Latino drivers disproportionately, for the lawsuit to proceed, court records show.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | CPS budget won’t include contested city pension payment: Interim Chicago Public Schools CEO Macquline King is planning to propose a $10.2 billion budget to the school board Wednesday that doesn’t include midyear cuts to schools or a reimbursement to the city of Chicago for a highly-debated pension payment covering the retirements of city workers and CPS staff, multiple sources told Chalkbeat.Not including the pension reimbursement — a move that most elected school board members have said they support — would help close the district’s budget deficit, which was estimated at $734 million in June. According to a source with direct knowledge of the budget plan, King’s budget proposal also does not include a plan to take out a short-term, high-interest loan — a strategy to address the budget deficit previously pitched by the mayor’s office, where she worked before she became CEO.

* Tribune | Mayor Johnson’s CPS chief resists City Hall borrowing plan, pension payment as budget deadline looms: King is scheduled to have meetings with aldermen and state representatives on Tuesday, discussing her budget plans. Sources told the Tribune she intends to tell them that they won’t make the $175 million pension payment and will avoid borrowing measures. It’s not clear whether the district plans to avoid borrowing altogether or do a smaller amount than previously proposed.

* WBEZ | CPS leader, unions brief City Council members on budget plan in rare sign of unity: “Every option that’s available to us we have to actually lean into and have a robust discussion around it, and we’re doing just that,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said at a City Hall news briefing Tuesday morning. Later, when asked what would happen if CPS doesn’t take out a loan to cover part of the deficit, Johnson said: “We’re either gonna cut or invest. Those are our options right now.”

* Block Club | The Never-Ending Line For Benefits Is Back, With Some Immigrants Sleeping Outside To Get A Spot: Leda, who is from Afghanistan and has lived in suburban Skokie for more than a year, said she hoped to renew food stamps and medicaid benefits for her, her four children and her husband. After two failed attempts to get benefits at the facility, she went back for a third time at 2 a.m. with a small camping chair and a blanket.

* Windy City Times | Chicago protest targets hospital cuts to gender-affirming care for youth: The rally was organized in response to recent rollbacks in health care access for transgender youth, including four major hospitals in Chicago—UI Health, Rush University Medical Center, University of Chicago Medicine and Lurie Children’s Hospital—that have suspended gender-affirming surgeries or other care for people under 19. These decisions are part of a national trend in which health care systems are abandoning transgender youth care in the face of political pressure from President Donald Trump’s administration, which has threatened to revoke funding for institutions offering gender-affirming care to minors.

* Sun-Times | From Slurpees to Shostakovich, an abandoned 7-Eleven becomes a home for classical music: “It’s pretty unrecognizable,” Boustead said. “The door dings when you walk in, like a 7-Eleven — we left that. Behind the bar, there’s still, where the grease trap used to be, a door that goes down into the floor where they used to dump grease. I found a training poster for their employees, and we’re planning to frame it and put it in the bathroom.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Lake County News-Sun | Lake County district embraces AI technology in the classroom; ‘We really are on the forefront of … recognizing the importance of this’: D112 launched its pilot partnerships last school year with services Magic School AI and School AI. Magic School offers a variety of tools in its suite, including chatbots that imitate historic figures, authors or characters, image generators, coding assistance, college counseling and even a “joke creator.” The district provided teachers with the pilot’s key objectives, implementation strategies and expected outcomes, all aimed at launching the district into the world of the new technology.

* Daily Herald | ‘It’s going to be a game changer’: DuPage’s Crisis Recovery Center opening soon in Wheaton: Expected to open the first week of September, the center will be available around the clock on the county health department campus and serve as an alternative to hospital emergency departments or law enforcement intervention. The goal is to stabilize those in crisis and provide an ongoing care plan — all within less than 24 hours in most cases, particularly in the adult and youth mental health pods. There’s also a separate unit that will provide a range of services for people with substance use issues.

* Shaw Local | Appellate court affirms former Joliet inspector general had no power to sue Illinois State Police: Not even the city’s attorneys could have authorized Connolly to file a lawsuit because his office is not a separate unit of government, according to the appellate court. […] Connolly filed his lawsuit in 2023 after Illinois State Police challenged his authority to issue them a subpoena. Connolly’s subpoena requested numerous records of their investigation of involving former Joliet Mayor Bob O’Dekirk and former Joliet City Council member Donald Dickinson.

* NBC Chicago | Suburban boil order continues; Medieval Times cancels show after ‘careful consideration’: Schaumburg officials said the boil order, which began Monday morning, would continue for 24 to 36 hours following an emergency water main break in the area. The village confirmed to NBC Chicago the order remained in effect as of 6 a.m. Tuesday. The order led Medieval Times in Schaumburg to cancel its scheduled show Tuesday “out of an abundance of caution.”

*** Downstate ***

* Dispatch Argus | Scott County pays $1.3 million to house inmates elsewhere; Rock Island gets $508K for housing 121 from Scott County during fiscal year: Overcrowding, housing logistics and the need to keep some inmates separated caused the Scott County Sheriff to spend more than $1.3 million to house inmates in other county jails in fiscal year 2025, a jump of 91.7% over the previous year. Sheriff Tim Lane reported that in fiscal year 2024, his department spent $681,012 to house Scott County inmates out of county. However, in fiscal year 2025, that jumped to $1,305,419.

* WGEM | Quincy Public School officials detail start of school year with superintendent suspended: Quincy Public School officials on Monday released a letter to the community outlining how the new school year will begin in the absence of Superintendent Todd Pettit and two Denman Elementary School teachers. The letter states that the Board of Education has asked the Chief of Business Operations, Ryan Whicker, and Director of Teaching and Learning Kim Dinkheller to provide interim leadership in Pettit’s absence. […] This comes after Pettit reported in early November that QPS received reports from parents reporting concerns over birthday spankings and the use of tape on students.

* WGEM | Start of Quincy High School delayed as mold is found in theater: Officials stated they found surface mold in the theatre over the weekend. They also found that three of six air conditioners were not working, increasing the humidity in the theatre. Officials said the theatre has a separate air conditioning system, so the rest of the building has not been impacted.

* Muddy River News | Mayor settles dust up about Pride in the Park: Mayor Linda Moore set out to set the record straight about the city council’s recent approval of Pride in the Park, September 21 in Clat Adams Park. “The city council does not have the right to screen content,” the Mayor explained after receiving several calls and various chatter after the vote. “The organizers of Pride in the Park met all the city requirements. The ability to make our own choices is the core of our democracy.”

* Muddy River News | Eighth Judicial Circuit Court candidates flex their resumé muscles: Judge Chris Pratt touts his unanimous recommendation from a local selection committee before being appointed to the position by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2024. […] His opponent is longtime prosecutor Tim Bass, whose official announcement was covered by Muddy River News. Bass told his supporters then that his 30 years as a prosecutor make him the most qualified.

* WCIA | Central Illinois schools introducing ‘phone-free’ environment: New this year, the Champaign School District said cell phones are not to be used during instructional time. In an email sent to district families, the district said students will need to put phones/electronic devices in pockets or backpacks and phones must be powered off or silenced during instructional time. In both the middle and high schools, electronic devices will be allowed in the cafeteria during lunch. High school students will also be allowed to use their phones during passing period.

*** National ***

* WaPo | Pentagon plan would create military ‘reaction force’ for civil unrest: The plan calls for 600 troops to be on standby at all times so they can deploy in as little as one hour, the documents say. They would be split into two groups of 300 and stationed at military bases in Alabama and Arizona, with purview of regions east and west of the Mississippi River, respectively. Cost projections outlined in the documents indicate that such a mission, if the proposal is adopted, could stretch into the hundreds of millions of dollars should military aircraft and aircrews also be required to be ready around-the-clock. Troop transport via commercial airlines would be less expensive, the documents say.

* Popular Info | Why you might not know that 2024 was America’s safest year since the 1960s: In the early 1990s, there were over 750 reported violent crimes for every 100,000 Americans. As the population has increased in the last 30 years, the raw number of violent crimes has decreased. In 1992, for example, there were 747,000 more reported violent crimes in America than there were in 2024 — even though America had 84 million fewer people in 1992. Similarly, in 2024, there were 1,760 reported property crimes for every 100,000 Americans. That is the lowest rate of property crimes since 1961. The murder rate also plummeted 14.9 percent in 2024, which is “the fastest drop in murder ever recorded.”

* Nieman Lab | Politico’s recent AI experiments shouldn’t be subject to newsroom editorial standards, its editors testify: The allegations revolve around two generative AI-powered tools. One tool, called LETO, generates live summaries of speeches and was used on Politico.com’s homepage during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and the vice presidential debate last fall. The other tool, Report Builder, lets Politico Pro subscribers create AI-generated write-ups of niche policy subjects using Politico’s archive. The Guild found that both tools generated statements that were false, violated Politico’s style guide, or were taken down without formal corrections or retractions.

* ProPublica | The FDA Let Substandard Factories Ship These Medications to the U.S.: All told, ProPublica identified more than 150 exempted products, mostly from factories in India. One factory in China and one factory in Hungary also received exemptions. Several of the factories make ingredients for drugs, which are then sent to the manufacturers that produce pills, capsules, tablets or injectables.

* WaPo | Every VA medical center has severe staffing shortages, audit finds: The inspector general’s office released its annual report Tuesday, revealing the extent of staffing shortages that have plagued the department for years and have worsened this year. All of the Veterans Health Administration’s 139 medical center campuses reported lacking workers, and reports of severe shortages increased 50 percent from the previous fiscal year.

* AP | New special session could begin Friday if quorum break continues in Texas: Burrows told members the House would attempt to gavel in with a quorum one last time on Friday morning. If it fails to reach a quorum, he said Gov. Greg Abbott will call a second special session, set to begin immediately on Friday.