* 25News Now…

President Donald Trump announced his intentions to end mail-in voting and the use of voting machines earlier this week. […]

Election officials in Central Illinois have told 25News many times that mail-in voting is safe and secure. These authorities test voting machines in public to make sure they are in working order before elections.

Addressing claims of widespread fraud, “I have two words: prove it. And it’s never been proved, and we have very few of those complaints anymore,” said McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael, a Republican. She said mail-in voting has increased every year in McLean County.

“I think it would really hurt our veterans overseas, our disabled folks, people in the hospital, that weren’t able to vote before,” Michael said. […]

Michael said she can’t speak for every state, but all Illinois vote-counting machines have a paper trail that can be checked.

* Brian Wojcicki has a nifty 2026 election map…

2026 Illinois Election Map work in progress, but with enough to start sharing…https://t.co/OrnBkV0zAa pic.twitter.com/PHnWX7VAGy

— Illinois Capitol Group (@ILCapitolGroup) August 22, 2025

Click here to check it out.

* Gov. JB Pritzker…

Building on efforts to bolster reproductive health in Illinois, Governor JB Pritzker signed two bills to protect reproductive rights by safeguarding medical professionals and making contraception and the abortion pill more available across the state. Gov. Pritzker signed an expanded state shield law (HB3637) protecting health care providers from discipline for providing health care services that are lawful in Illinois, and HB3709 which requires public colleges and universities to offer contraception and medication abortion if they have an on-campus pharmacy or student health center. While Trump’s anti-choice agenda has fueled unprecedented attacks on reproductive freedom in states across the nation, Illinois continues to enshrine women’s access to critical care into state law. […]

HB3637 expands upon the state’s existing shield law and safeguards for reproductive healthcare in two areas. First, this bill extends shield law protection to all health care providers. This includes Licensed Certified Professional Midwives and wholesale drug distributors. Second, this bill amends the state’s Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, such that a medication that was previously approved by the FDA whose approval was revoked but is still considered effective by the World Health Organization (WHO), will not be considered in violation of the Act. This means that health care providers will not be violating Illinois law by prescribing drugs that are widely considered safe and effective but have had their FDA approvals revoked for political reasons—as anti-choice politicians have sought for mifepristone, the drug commonly used in medication abortions.

These changes to the state’s Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act are the first of their kind in the nation, with Illinois on the frontlines of protecting and promoting reproductive rights and health care. […]

HB3709 is Governor Pritzker’s initiative for reproductive health care on college campuses and is a direct response to student advocacy and action. This bill requires public universities in Illinois to offer students access to contraception and medication abortion on campus, beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. Amending the Public Higher Education Act, HB3709 mandates that state colleges and universities must offer consultation appointments with health care professionals who can provide and dispense contraception and medication abortion to students. Further, schools with on-campus pharmacies must be able to dispense contraception and the abortion pill to students.

Personal PAC president and CEO Sarah Garza Resnick…

“Today, Governor Pritzker is furthering Illinois’ commitment to equitable access to reproductive health care by expanding birth control and abortion services for college students and increasing protections for abortion providers. 

“At a time when states surrounding Illinois are criminalizing doctors and making abortion inaccessible, Illinois is leading with bold, compassionate policy. We are especially encouraged for our futures by the college student leaders who led HB 3709’s successful passage. We thank Governor Pritzker and the reproductive freedom champions in the general assembly for always recognizing abortion is health care and advancing access to care in our state.”

* Shaw Local…

Shaw Media is set to buy four northern Illinois newspapers after their publisher abruptly shut down operations earlier this month. […]

News Media Corp. ended operations Aug. 6, the same day the company notified its employees in an email. The newspapers shut down include the Rochelle News-Leader, Ogle County LIFE, Ashton Gazette, Amboy News, Mendota Reporter, and three other northern Illinois newspapers, as well as newspapers in Arizona, South Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming. In all, the company owned 34 newspaper offices in nine states, their website said.

Shaw Media is acquiring The Rochelle News-Leader, printed twice a week, and The Mendota Reporter and Ogle County Life, each printed weekly, as well as The Amboy News, Shaw Media’s Chief Administrative Officer & Corporate Secretary Don Bricker said.

*** Statewide ***

* WTTW | Feds Launch New Unit to Prosecute Health Care Fraud Cases in Illinois: U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros announced Friday the creation of a new section within the Northern District of Illinois’s Criminal Division that will be dedicated to the prosecution of health care fraud. “Since becoming U.S. Attorney, my office has charged nearly $2 billion in health care fraud schemes involving alleged criminal conduct that has stretched across the country, and even transnationally,” he said in a statement. “The newly created Healthcare Fraud Section that I’ve launched will bring greater focus, efficiency, and impact to our efforts in this important program area, which often involves the exploitation of patients through unnecessary and/or unsafe medical tests and procedures.”

* River Bender | ICJIA Releases 2025-2029 Statewide Violence Prevention Plan: The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) today announced the release of the 2025-2029 Statewide Violence Prevention Plan. The 2025-2029 Statewide Violence Prevention Plan serves as a framework for grantmaking that can create more resilient, safe, and thriving communities. The plan supports the Governor’s goals of breaking the cycles of violence caused by years of failed criminal justice policies, overincarceration, and economic disinvestment in minority communities.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | City taps six developers for $39M ‘Missing Middle’ housing push on South Side: The projects comprise the second round of the Chicago Department of Planning & Development’s Missing Middle Housing Initiative, a program meant to address a dearth of multi-unit buildings that fall between single-family homes and mid-rise apartment towers. The initiative is expected to support the construction of more than 750 new homes on the South and West sides, based on available city funding, with more than 100 units now in progress in North Lawndale.

* Crain’s | CME pushes the boundaries of retail trading with FanDuel bet: The Chicago-based derivatives exchange is forming a joint venture with the online gambling company to develop contracts that will allow traders to bet – or take positions in traditional parlance – in the intraday movements of commodities such as gold, cryptocurrencies or oil. Contracts tracking economic indicators such as the consumer product index or gross domestic product also will be offered. The blurring of the line between financial trading and sports gambling raises concerns about attracting customers who are not educated on properly hedging their trades to prevent big losses, said Ferhat Akbas, a professor of finance at University of Illinois Chicago.

* WBEZ | Chicago band Case Oats ‘accidentally’ made one of the standout debuts of 2025: “It’s kind of the joke now. I wanted to write a novel, but I accidentally made an album,” said the 30-year-old during a chat over coffee at the North Side’s Hexe. She has a nonchalant tone like someone might recall when accidentally making a wrong turn or burning a pizza – not making one of the standout albums of 2025. “Last Missouri Exit” has been years in the making and began when the Wildwood, Missouri transplant was enrolled in creative writing and journalism classes at Columbia College Chicago. “I was trying to write a novel that was kind of coming-of-age with the same themes that are in the record,” she said.

* Crain’s | Layoffs at Eater leave a barren Chicago food publication: Eater Chicago’s front page today is still dotted with Ashok Selvam’s byline, but Selvam, one of Chicago’s top food journalists, no longer works at the publication. Vox Media, the parent company of Eater, laid off about a dozen employees earlier this month, including Selvam, who most recently served as the outlet’s Midwest regional editor. He was previously the editor solely of Eater Chicago but moved into the regional role in Vox’s last round of cuts in January, which grouped his coverage with Eater chapters in Detroit and Minneapolis-St. Paul. He had worked at Eater in various other roles for more than a decade.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Citing ‘glaring lack of forensic capability,’ Burke seeks to build staff in first budget fight: During a budget hearing last month, State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke did not mince words when describing her office’s means to stay on top of rapidly developing forensic science and its impact on criminal cases. “I would be remiss,” she told Cook County board members, “not to mention our glaring lack of forensic capability.” In addition to evaluating DNA results and firearms analyses, prosecutors are often wading through hours of surveillance footage and cellphone records when trying cases. Burke even posited that trials could unfold without a single eyeball witness when crimes happen in plain view of cameras.

* Daily Herald | Mount Prospect exploring internal public transit options: Mount Prospect could follow in the footsteps of communities like Niles and Schaumburg and offer its own public transportation options to residents. Consultants from Civiltech Engineering unveiled the results of a study examining the community’s transportation needs at Tuesday’s village board meeting. Among the recommendations floated was a fixed-route shuttle service, one for the northern end of town and another for the southern.

* Daily Herald | Making Des Plaines ‘look good’: City buying former restaurant on Lee Street for redevelopment: The city council on Monday agreed to purchase a vacant restaurant building at 1062 Lee St. and its parking lot for $675,000. The building, just north of Walnut Avenue in the 3rd Ward, has been vacant since Sahil Grill & Lounge closed in August 2023. It previously had been occupied by Five Boroughs Pizza and Giuseppe’s La Cantina. The property has fallen into disrepair, running up thousands of dollars in fines increasing by $200 a day, documents indicate.

* Daily Herald | Anti-bullying scholarship program at Fremd marks 10 years, seeks new funding: The $10,000 monetary goal in 2015 was far exceeded, reaching $15,000. But when Trout’s mother Jeanne died at 94 shortly afterward, she left $50,000 that spared the scholarship from having to raise any more money since then. Olander said the aim has been to provide individual scholarships of $2,500, approximately a semester at Harper College. “I think it’s what it symbolizes that makes it meaningful,” she added. “It’s a way of taking some action against this heinous behavior.”

* Daily Southtown | Tinley Park Chamber cancels this year’s Oktoberfest due to cost: Holt said costs to run and properly secure the event this year became unsustainable for the Chamber’s volunteer organization, despite the event’s popularity. When relaunching the event in 2017, Oktoberfest organizers predicted they would be able to handle continuing the event, even as it was expected to grow. The event had about a 20-year hiatus, they said, after becoming too large. But the Chamber faced multiple deficits in its total income in the past few years, starting in 2020 with a deficit of more than $51,000. The Chamber regained an income surplus in 2021 and 2022, but hit another deficit of more than $97,000 in 2023, which was reduced to $26,327 last year, according to its tax filings.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | DeWitt County, union employees at standstill on contract negotiations: The county says workers are wanting anywhere from 12.5 to 14.5% depending on the job. Union members say this would put them back in line with the rest of the state, which they’re below right now. “The issue really revolves around wages,” said County Board Chair Joe Witte.

* WCIA | ‘Undeliverable’ mail blows throughout Springfield street: USPS: “This mail was UBBM (Undeliverable Bulk Business Mail) that is recycled,” spokesperson Timothy Norman told WCIA. “It blew out of a recycling truck when it left the USPS Mail Processing facility.” Norman said the Postal Inspection Service and Springfield Police Department were notified, and USPS employees are recovering the mail.

* WSIL | Du Quoin State Fair kicks off today: A ribbon-cutting will mark the commencement of the fair at 5:30 p.m. Additional festivities today include the Twilight Parade at 6 p.m., Live Pro Wrestling at 7 p.m., and a performance by Sister Hazel at 9 p.m.

*** National ***

* Apple Insider | Meta accused of inflating ad results & dodging Apple privacy rules: A filing at the Central London Employment Tribunal, reported by The Financial Times, suggests Meta didn’t play by Apple’s rules. Former product manager Samujjal Purkayastha alleges the company used “deterministic matching” to link data across platforms. That means identifiable details, not anonymous signals, were tied together to track behavior without consent. If true, Meta found a a back door through Apple’s privacy wall.