* [From Rich]: The US Department of Justice has responded to the Illinois State Board of Elections’ decision to not fully comply immediately with a request for voter registration documents, including drives’ licenses numbers, Social Security numbers and dates of birth. More on that refusal is here. But the DOJ’s response cites several federal laws allowing the access to the information (including the last four Social Security digits). Click here for that. A board spokesperson says the federal response is “under review.”

* As subscribers know, Rep. Buckner floated an event surcharge during a City Club appearance in June. Sun-Times…

A key player in the Springfield scramble to save mass transit said Friday there will be a fall bailout that uses a mix of tax hikes and a modest fare increase to avert dire service cuts at CTA, Metra and Pace.

State Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) even floated a new idea to add to the revenue mix: a “large event surcharge” that would add anywhere from $1 to $3 to the price of tickets to major concerts and sporting events.

“It can be a catalyst to increase ridership,” Buckner said. “If you’re going to Lollapalooza and you’re paying an extra buck or $2 on your ticket each day, that ticket also doubles as your pass on the system for that day. That’s not just putting money in the coffers. It’s actually getting people to give back to the system and to use the system, which is what we’ve got to find a way to do as well.”

Buckner said a stalled $1.50-per delivery tax proposal could be part of the revenue mix but, “I don’t know if the $1.50 that the Senate did was the right level.”

* South Side Weekly…

A data broker that allows users to obtain information about incarcerated people could be a digital backdoor enabling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to access the personal data of thousands of immigrants in Cook County.

At a Cook County Board meeting last year, commissioners raised concerns about the Sheriff’s use of the system, called VINE (Victim Information [and] Notification Everyday), but voted to keep it. VINE notifies crime victims when an offender or defendant is released from jail, transferred, or has a change in custody status.

ICE’s access to that data goes far beyond the public’s, letting agents combine VINE jail records with personal data to build profiles that can pinpoint where people live and work. Immigrant rights advocates contend that the data, intended for victim notification, has been repurposed into commercial databases ICE uses to locate and arrest immigrants.

Now, advocates are renewing their push to get the Board to amend the County’s contract with VINE after its current contract ends in November.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Block Club | Private Pools Across Chicago Shut Down All Summer Thanks To Health Dept. Delays: While the City of Chicago used to do a large number of pool inspections, Martin said the city passed off most pool inspection responsibilities to the state in 2024 because of the increased workload caused by hosting the Democratic National Convention. Since then, the state has done most of the city’s pool inspections, which occur annually, Martin said.

* Tribune | Illinois’ rental assistance program has restarted. Here’s what you need to know.: While the program saw a third of its funds wiped away for the 2026 fiscal year that began July 1, $50 million in state funds are available. The reduction came as rents in Chicago keep rising and after the state grappled with serious fiscal challenges when balancing its budget this year, issues exacerbated by a federal government focused on axing spending. State lawmakers cut spending in various areas beyond housing as well.

*** Chicago ***

* Compact | The Crisis of the University Started Long Before Trump: The story of the University of Chicago is in one sense unique. No peer institution has borrowed so much in relation to its assets; none spends remotely as large a percentage of tuition on servicing debt. Despite gifts and the surge in the stock market, the University’s endowment has actually shrunk under its current president from 2021 to 2024 because it has been liquidating assets to mask the size of its deficits. But its story also distills forces and trends in American higher education that are corroding ideals, and wasting money, throughout the land.

* Sun-Times | We’ve been tracking grocery prices in Chicago: Coffee and ground beef are up: For the last nine months, the Sun-Times has been tracking grocery prices for 35 items at four major Chicago retailers — and the prices keep getting higher. Our latest price check this month found a number of items increased, causing our total shopping basket to be higher at most of the stores. The total for our basket at Jewel-Osco was $276.65, up by $3.30 from July — and up $14.20 since we started tracking prices in December. At Mariano’s, our total was $270.15, an increase of $3.20 compared to July’s basket total.

* Tribune | ‘There definitely was a need’: CPS, communities host back-to-school events to big crowds: Educational book and supply costs in the average U.S. city have increased by about 1.3% from January to July, according to data maintained by the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank. Since July 2023, those prices have increased by more than 10%. Average weekly wages, in comparison, grew by 0.2% in Cook County in 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

* WBEZ | Savannah Bananas, the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball, to make Chicago debut at Rate Field: When the Savannah Bananas take the field at Rate Field Friday and Saturday evenings, it will be the first time Chicago gets a taste of what’s come to be known as Banana Ball (think baseball’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters). “The Bananas are the perfect combination of a world where baseball meets a circus, meets a concert … something for everybody,” said team spokesman Sam Bauman.

* Block Club | Chicagoans Unite To Expand Search For Bam Bam, The Service Dog Stolen From A Blind Man: While Bam Bam has still not been found, a team of neighbors and animal lovers have created an email tip line, a fundraiser for search efforts and a Facebook page to keep the community up to date and streamline the search on Santiago’s behalf. A website was also made with all the information in one spot, including a link to download flyers.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | State trooper, a youth hockey referee, arrested on federal child porn charges: An Illinois state trooper who also served as a youth hockey referee was arrested on child pornography charges this week while at work at the agency’s Des Plaines headquarters, authorities said. Colin Gruenke, 38, of Deerfield, was charged in a criminal complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court on Thursday with one count of distribution of child pornography, court records show. Prosecutors are seeking to have Gruenke held without bond pending trial, and a detention hearing is set for Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Young Kim.

* Daily Herald | Former Kane County coroner Rob Russell announces bid for sheriff: Russell cited his dozen years as coroner as instrumental in boosting his positive name recognition throughout the county. “I’m very proud of the work we did during my three terms as coroner,” Russell said in the release. “I was encouraged by Democrats, Republicans, and independents to succeed Sheriff (Ron) Hain.”

* Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora City Council pushes back on possible reductions in support for Paramount: The presentation described the city’s use of American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funds during the COVID-19 pandemic, money which had to be obligated by 2024 and spent by 2025, Aurora Chief Financial Officer Stacy Peterson told the council. Much of that funding was spent on ongoing costs, she said, like the ShotSpotter system, body cameras and dash cameras for the police, the addition of 49 full-time employees and financial support to things like the Aurora Civic Center Authority.

* Daily Southtown | South, southwest suburban districts align Title IX policies with new federal guidance: Orland High School District 230 and Bremen High School District 228 are among districts statewide that received suggested Title IX policy revisions from the Illinois Association of School Boards’ Policy Reference Education Subscription Service in April, aiming to bring schools in compliance with federal law and best practices, said Jennifer Waterman, director of communications for District 230. The Title IX revisions revert the policy back to its 2020 version, which removes protections for students facing sex discrimination, meaning students facing discrimination on the basis of sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation and/or gender identity, as defined in the 2024 policy, are no longer protected.

* Daily Southtown | Governors State University predicts loss of revenue with Trump pullback on student visas: “Every administration has a different viewpoint on how they handle international students,” said Paul McGuinness, the Governors State vice president for student affairs and enrollment management. “But there’s also a difference in the type of institution and how you might benefit from students.” The Trump administration canceled visas of international students at institutions including the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago as part of a larger movement nationwide.

* Naperville Sun | Ribbon-cutting event held for new DuPage County Crisis Recovery Center: The DuPage County Board and DuPage County Health Department cut the ribbon this week on the county’s new Crisis Recovery Center, which will offer around-the-clock support for individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis. Expected to officially open the first week of September, the center is the first of its kind in Illinois to provide mental health crisis services for children and adults, officials said in a news release. It aims to reduce unnecessary hospital emergency room visits as well as interactions with police that put a strain on public resources, the release said.

* Tribune | Two priests who serve the poor at Evanston church could be forced to leave U.S., parish fears: The archdiocese, like many others in the United States, is facing a shortage of priests as fewer men choose that vocation. Some Chicagoland parishes rely on immigrant priests to fill the gap. Nearly 60% of younger diocesan priests — under the age of 50 — who serve in the Archdiocese of Chicago are immigrants, according to a 2023 report. The number is a considerable contrast with priests over the age of 50, of whom 81% were born in the U.S. The average age of a priest in 2023 was 64.

*** Downstate ***

* Sun-Times | Corn dogs & cows: Scenes from the 2025 Illinois State Fair: The 2025 Illinois State Fair in Springfield ends Aug. 17. From livestock competitions to carnival rides and festival eats to the butter cow, attendees experienced several activities highlighting Illinois’ farming industry. Here’s some of what the Sun-Times saw during our visit.

* We made sure to get our annual pork burger from the Pork Pavilion…

Can’t miss a pork burger at the @capitolfax table #ilstatefair pic.twitter.com/q522v4oGaW

— IsabelMillerMedia (@IsabelMMiller) August 14, 2025

* BND | Metro-east elementary starts school year without its principal: Madonna Harris served as an assistant principal at Collinsville Middle School for seven years before retiring in May 2025. When Maryville Elementary Principal Charity Eugea was unable to start the school year due to health concerns, the district called Harris in to be the school’s acting principal, Collinsville school district superintendent Brad Skertich said.

* WGLT | Past State Farm Holiday Classic president arrested, charged with theft from the charity tournament: Police have arrested a past president of the State Farm Holiday Classic for allegedly stealing from a nonprofit that runs the charity high school basketball tournament. 39-year-old Kyle W. Myers of Normal has pleaded not guilty to theft of more than $100,000 and less than $500,000 over a two-year time frame.

*** National ***

* NYT | How Train Riders With Disabilities Are Faring on Amtrak: Passengers are facing blocked wheelchair space, getting stuck in doors and suffering other indignities 35 years after the Americans With Disabilities Act became law. […] The couple, who estimate that they’ve spent 560 hours on Amtrak together in the last three years, traveling coast-to-coast five times, said that riding the train is still much easier than flying. But the indignities they’ve experienced — not just trash cans and a faulty app but also incorrectly deployed boarding ramps, inaccessible dining cars and more — have left them with the sense that they must constantly advocate to receive the services they’re entitled to by law.

* AP | The US plans to build a $750M fly factory in Texas to stop a flesh-eating cattle parasite: Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Friday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture hopes to be producing and releasing sterile male New World screwworm flies into the wild within a year from the new factory on Moore Air Base outside Edinburg, Texas, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the border. She also said the USDA plans to deploy $100 million in technology, such as fly traps and lures, and step up border patrols by “tick riders” mounted on horseback and train dogs to sniff out the parasite.