* ICYMI: Stellantis announces it will make Jeep SUVs again in Belvidere. Crain’s…

- Big Three automaker Stellantis said today it will invest $613 million and create 3,300 jobs at the Rockford-area plant, which was idled in early 2023.
- The factory will build Cherokees and Compass sport-utility vehicles rather than electric trucks, starting in 2027.
- The total investment is much smaller than the $5 billion originally expected—in large part because a new battery plant likely won’t be needed. But the number of jobs is more than twice as many as the 1,400 that existed when the plant stopped making Jeep Cherokees in early 2023.

* Related stories…

• Fox 32: Stellantis says it will invest $600M to reopen Illinois assembly plant
• AP: Stellantis says it will invest $13 billion to expand its US operations, including at Belvidere plant
• WREX: Stellantis to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to reopen Belvidere plant

***************** Advertisement *****************

Sponsored by Ameren Illinois

The summer of 2025 has been a tough one for residents and businesses in the Ameren Illinois service territory. Supply constraints, extreme hot and humid conditions, and increased energy usage have led to a significant spike in electricity prices and higher-than-normal monthly bills for residential, commercial and industrial energy users. We appreciate and thank legislators, regulators and stakeholders who are working hard to address the energy challenge in Illinois. Energy policy is complex, and we’re encouraged that there are some creative ideas being proposed and a willingness to work together to find answers.   

While Ameren Illinois cannot control the price or availability of energy, we can ensure that the system that delivers energy to homes and businesses — electric poles, wires, and technology; and natural gas distribution pipelines and storage fields — is equipped to operate at peak performance to withstand severe weather events, facilitate business expansions that grow local communities, and enable the transition to renewable generation.

We have an opportunity to build an energy system that is smarter, cleaner, reliable, resilient, and affordable for Illinois families and businesses. As discussions on short- and long-term legislative solutions occur this fall, we will continue to advocate for our 1.2 million customers.   

If you know of someone who is struggling to pay their energy bill, please encourage them to visit www.AmerenIllinois.com/PathToSavings for information on available financial assistance and energy saving programs. 

*************************************************

* Governor JB Pritzker will be in Minooka at 10:35 to give remarks at the unveiling of the latest zero-emission, battery-electric locomotive from Innovative Rail Technologies. Click here to watch.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Crain’s | State Farm faces lawsuit from Illinois amid scrutiny over rate increases: Illinois filed a lawsuit against State Farm today claiming the insurer refused to comply with a regulatory examination into its homeowners business. The suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of Illinois Director of Insurance Ann Gillespie, alleges State Farm did not provide the state examiners data related to premiums, types of policy coverage and insurance limits and claims against homeowners policies.

* Sun-Times | Top Cook County judge bars civil arrests at courthouses, citing chilling effect: The order takes effect Wednesday and bars the civil arrest of any “party, witness, or potential witness” while going to, remaining at or returning from court proceedings inside the courthouse or the larger property — such as parking lots, sidewalks or entryways — though judicial warrants can still be carried out.

* Tribune | State Board of Elections will decide next week on appeal of Senate President Harmon’s appeal of nearly $10 million fine: The board at its Tuesday meeting will consider the recommendation of Northbrook attorney Barbara Goodman, who heard arguments from Harmon’s attorney on Aug. 20 and found last week that Harmon’s campaign committee “failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the assessment was in error or that no actual violation of (the law) occurred.” At issue is an Illinois election law, which Harmon co-sponsored, aimed at curbing the influence of big money in political campaigns and one key provision that ostensibly was written to ensure lesser-funded candidates weren’t hurt by the campaign contribution limits. The provision sought to offset challenges from deep-pocketed rivals who self-fund their campaigns or have help from wealthy independent expenditure groups by lifting contribution limits for all candidates in a contest.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Ex-AT&T Illinois head could see bribery charges dismissed under agreement with feds:
But the government’s narrative was challenged by testimony from former AT&T Illinois lobbyist Steve Selcke, who denied Acevedo’s contract was a bribe and that it had anything to do with AT&T’s legislation. After Selcke took the stand under an immunity agreement from the feds during La Schiazza’s trial, prosecutors dropped him from their witness list in Madigan’s trial, leaving defense lawyers free to call him

* Illinois Review | PillowGate: McCombie and Norine Hammond Face Growing Backlash Over Taxpayer Spending and Political Favoritism: Even if no law was technically broken, the situation undermines public confidence in the Republican Party’s credibility on issues of ethics and fiscal discipline. Conservative watchdogs, including the Illinois Freedom Caucus, are demanding a full audit of McCombie’s office expenditures and an investigation by the House Ethics Commission.

* WMBD | Illinois lawmakers criticize state’s Department of Corrections new mail scanning system: “We received some answers to questions from our September meeting on Friday last week,” said state Rep. Ryan Spain, a Peoria Republican. “We have to accelerate and improve the collaborative process between the Department of Corrections and this committee.” Another sore point for lawmakers have been the tablets themselves. Even though the tablets were specifically designed to scan mail for inmates, lawmakers said they’ve heard the scanning apps are not working.

* Center Square | Lawmakers, advocates discuss battery storage, consumer costs in energy bill: State Sen. Willie Preston, D-Chicago, expressed concerns about the cost of battery storage. “I know that any other line item put on a utility bill, a light bill, could just crush working-class people in these high inflationary times,” Preston told The Center Square last Friday. Preston said he’s a “hard no” on an energy omnibus.

* WAND | Back in action: Illinois House Speaker, Minority Leader break down veto session priorities: While McCombie is not optimistic about work getting done this week, Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch told WAND News it is time to address actions threatening public safety. […] Democrats hope to limit ICE agents from detaining people in courthouses, expand the definition of law enforcement prohibited from cooperating with immigration enforcement, and potentially ban law enforcement from wearing masks or neck gaiters on the job. Yet, Republicans strongly oppose those ideas.

* CBS Chicago | Illinois lawmakers could take up transit funding, immigration in fall veto session: GrubHub has warned customers their order might soon include an extra tax of $1.50. Experts in the restaurant industry said the added cost could hurt small businesses that have grown increasingly reliant on delivery services. “Seventy-six percent of restaurants now you know, basically offer a delivery service. And upwards to 20% of their business is through deliveries as well,” said Sam Toia, president and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association.

* Newsmax | Sen. Mullin to Newsmax: Pritzker Broke Law Threatening ICE: “When Pritzker comes out and threatens federal agents from doing their job, saying that you may be prosecuted during the next administration, that is a direct threat to a federal agent and trying to inhibit him from doing his job; that in itself is a crime,” Mullin told “Rob Schmitt Tonight.”

* US Senator Tammy Duckworth…

“Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth underwent a long-awaited, preplanned procedure at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to address residual pain and mobility constraints associated with her combat wounds. She expects to be back on Capitol Hill later this week.”

*** Chicago ***

* ABC Chicago | Agents tackle US citizen after East Side operation leads to crash, spills into Walgreens: That is where 19-year-old South Side native Warren King says he was shopping with friends and family before he was tackled and arrested. The takedown by immigration officers was recorded outside a Walgreens store as loved ones pled for his release. King’s relative can be heard saying in the video, “He’s a citizen! He’s a citizen!”

* Sun-Times | In financial maneuver, Mayor Brandon Johnson finds millions for Chicago Public Schools: Johnson will unveil the city’s budget Thursday and, at that time, it will become clear how much he will pull out of the special taxing districts, called TIFs. But sources say it will provide CPS the $379 million it counted on in its budget, plus $8 million that the federal government recently stripped from CPS. It will also provide some of the $175 million the city needs from the school district to cover a controversial municipal pension payment.

* Tribune | Former CPS board Vice President Sendhil Revuluri to run for top seat: If victorious in the November 2026 election, he aims to unite the board behind a common goal: making sure the children of Chicago are learning, Revuluri said in an interview with the Tribune ahead of his campaign announcement. “There is a massive consensus across Chicago, in every neighborhood, across different identities, different affiliations, that we want our students to learn as much as they can, because that’s how we give them opportunity in the future,” he said. “That’s how we give them choices about what they do next.”

* Block Club | Hundreds Of Lots Owned By ‘City’s Worst Landowner’ Went Up For Sale. But Only A Fraction Have Sold: The city signed off on the plan, hoping the sale would bring in millions of dollars to its coffers, reduce blight and take properties out of the hands of what city attorneys have called Chicago’s “worst landowner” and put them back on the tax rolls. But the plan failed to reach its lofty goals because nobody wanted most of the properties, and those that sold went for a fraction of their estimated value. That leaves the city without the money it anticipated and homeowners still saddled with weed-strewn vacant lots with little prospect of a solution.

* Daily Herald | ‘We’re not just figures in this tall tower — we’re real people’: O’Hare controllers worry about shutdown, no pay: “We’re regular American workers,” said Ellington of Round Lake, who was handing out information about the shutdown impact with co-workers Tuesday outside Terminal 2. “Most of us don’t have thousands and thousands of dollars just sitting around waiting for a government shutdown. “We’ve got mortgages to pay, we’ve got kids to take care of, we’ve got groceries, day care expenses. We’ve got everything,” added Ellington, a member of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. “Just like everybody else walking into the terminals right now. The only difference is we’re coming to work and aren’t getting paid.”

* Block Club | Chance The Rapper Turned The Red Line Into The ‘Star Line’ For His Chicago Homecoming: As the train moved south to Chatham, stopping at 79th, Chance walked between train cars meeting, rapping, singing and dancing with fans as his new album played over the speakers. “Thank you to everybody that made today possible. Thank you to my team, to all the people at CTA and to everybody that got on the train with early this morning,” he told fans after the ride. “We had like a fake musical on one of the trains. …

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Sun-Times | Federal immigration agents to continue to use Naval Station Great Lakes until at least December: Federal immigration agents’ use of Naval Station Great Lakes will continue through “at least December,” leaders at Naval Station Great Lakes have been informed, according to an email obtained by the Sun-Times. Naval Station Great Lakes referred questions to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, both of which didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.

* Sun-Times | ICE facility fence in Broadview has been removed, in compliance with federal judge’s order: Illinois State Police guarding the fence Tuesday night said they had no information about the fence, and one officer was overheard saying federal agents had given them no notice it would be removed.

* Crain’s | Metra trains running again after technical issue halted all lines: The commuter rail service posted announcements on social media for nearly all of its lines attributing the problem to “positive train control issues,” which is the computer system responsible for coordinating all of Metra’s trains throughout the system. Metra now says trains are operating again with extensive delays. The system has also been posting cascading delays for other scheduled departures later tonight.

* ABC Chicago | South Barrington woman still waiting on $9K refund 1 year after proving home was wrongly assessed: She has been waiting on more than $9,000 since ABC7’s first I-Team report on her square-footage error one year ago. “I feel that we are owed. It is only fair. We paid it when we shouldn’t have been paying it,” Schnell said. So, what’s the holdup? Cook County leaders now blame the county’s computer upgrade, which the treasurer says has jammed up more than $84 million in property tax refunds to more than 37,000 homeowners. But Schnell’s battle began years ago, when she noticed that homes like hers had lower county assessments and even larger homes had lower assessments.

* Daily Herald | ‘Nothing to compare it to’: Immigration attorneys describe chaotic and complex system: “A lot of what we as practitioners are navigating is within the same sort of environment of chaos that you see on the outside,” said Trisha Chokshi, an immigration attorney based in Mount Prospect. As ICE pursues enforcement goals, due process is being ignored, she said.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Paxton City Council formally requests Robert Pacey’s resignation: The Paxton City Council unanimously approved a resolution censuring Robert Pacey Tuesday night. While the council does not have the ability to remove Pacey from his position as Alderman, the censure formally recognizes that Pacey’s resignation would be in “the best interest of the City and its residents.” WCIA’s partners at the Ford County Chronicle attended Tuesday’s night’s meeting. According to the Chronicle, seven council members voted to censure Pacey. Alderman Pacey abstained from the vote. […] The City Council said that while the Title IX investigation and lawsuits were happening, Pacey only attended two City Council meetings since March 2025. And, at one of the meetings he attended, Pacey’s presence caused “disruption in the meeting.” The City Council added that residents and taxpayers deserve an Alderman who regularly attends meetings.

* WGLT | Public gets answers, raise concerns about McLean County Strategic Land Use plan: Planning officials answered questions from residents Tuesday night on a range of topics, including road safety, the strain on infrastructure, and the impact of data centers, during an open house on the second draft of the McLean County Strategic Land Use plan. Among other things, the plan attempts to address “development pressures” from the expansion of large employers such as Rivian and Fererro. It also looks to address the housing shortage, and suggests McLean County should add more than 8,000 housing units to accommodate growth.

* WCIA | National Guard deployment to Chicago includes U of I students, university confirms: “We are aware that some of our students in the National Guard have been contacted, but we don’t know how many,” Vance said. “Each student has to self-report if they are contacted.” Under the university’s deployment military drill policy, students who are called to active service must inform the Office of the Dean of Students and they will be encouraged to officially withdraw from the university while they are in service. If students have completed 75% of the courses they are enrolled in, they can request incomplete grades in some courses and depart from others.

* WREX | Two northern Illinois elementary schools honored by House Minority Leader McCombie for excellence: Warren Elementary School was recognized as a Blue Ribbon School, which represents excellence in education. Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie congratulated Warren Elementary on their accomplishment. “Warren Elementary’s success is a reflection of its educators’ dedication, its students’ hard work, and its community’s unwavering support,” said Leader McCombie. “I couldn’t be prouder to see this Northwest Illinois school recognized among the top in our state.”

*** National ***

* NYT | Trump Targets Democratic Districts By Halting Billions During Shutdown: Two weeks into the government shutdown, the Trump administration has frozen or canceled nearly $28 billion that had been reserved for more than 200 projects primarily located in Democratic-led cities, congressional districts and states, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

* NYT | Trump Renews Threat to Cut ‘Democrat Programs’ During Shutdown: The president said his administration was “closing up Democrat programs that we disagree with, and they’re never going to open again.” He promised to release a list of programs by Friday.