* Fox Chicago…

Rising utility bills and increased noise aren’t the only concerns surrounding data centers. They’re also making headlines over fears they could contribute to lower water levels in Lake Michigan. […]

“So I’ll be just very clear, data center water use is highly unlikely to affect the level of Lake Michigan,” said Joel Brammeier.

Brammeier is the president and CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes.

“The real concern here in Illinois is the fact that we have this limit on how much water we’re allowed to use from Lake Michigan. So the limit in this case isn’t being made by the level of Lake Michigan, it’s being made by the fact that Illinois has to keep itself under this limit that’s been imposed by the Supreme Court,” he said.

* Chalkbeat…

The Illinois State Board of Education unanimously approved an overhaul to its system for deciding how well schools across the state are performing.

The changes to the federally required school accountability system include some new labels that indicate how well a school is doing. The new system would also calculate the designations differently.

The proposed changes now go to the federal government for final approval; State Superintendent Tony Sanders said he expects a green light. With federal approval, the new accountability system would go into effect by this fall.

* Daily Herald…

Three consumer and environmental protection agencies shared their testimony against Nicor’s proposed rate hike, warning it would cost consumers an additional $221 million annually.

Representatives from Illinois PIRG (Public Interest Research Group), Environmental Defense Fund and the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) spoke during Monday’s online news conference.

They noted that Nicor’s hike, proposed in January, came just seven weeks after the company received a $168 million increase. Regulators had cut that request in half.

This new hike marks Nicor’s sixth since 2017. Since then, the company has raised delivery rates by 137%, totaling $898 million. Meanwhile, its parent company, Southern Co., made over $29 billion in profits. […]

CUB Communications Director Jim Chilsen stated the requested hike is five times what Nicor can justify. While gas supply costs fluctuate, the delivery costs, which make up half to two-thirds of bills, are worsening the impact on consumers.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Subscribers were kept up to date on all of this spending and more during the primary. Bloomberg | DraftKings, Meta, AI Firms Have a New Election Playbook: Flood State-Level Races With Cash: With months to go before the November elections, the numbers are already staggering: Meta’s Democratic super PAC Making Our Tomorrow spent $750,000 on just three Illinois state legislative primaries this year. That’s more than 15 times the $48,500 total Meta spent on Illinois’s last midterm elections in 2022. […] Three out of the four candidates Meta’s super PAC backed in Illinois’s March 17 primaries lost. The sports gambling companies’ super PAC did better there. After spending more than $2.5 million in 10 Chicago-area state legislative races, their chosen candidates won in seven of them.

* Tribune | Gov. JB Pritzker dismisses questions about urology procedure complication: ‘I’ve given you the information’: Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday dismissed questions about a complication from a urology procedure last week, declining to provide any significant details beyond what his office had already disclosed. “Literally, I’ve given you the information. I had a urological procedure, and there’s — I would tell you and release any information if it was life-threatening or anything that would interfere with my ability to do my job,” Pritzker said when asked whether he planned to have his doctors make any statement about his health.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Chicago school board hopefuls file to enter historic race: Henderson, a business attorney who serves the board of Urban Prep Academies charter network, called it “important” to be first in line. Any candidate who arrived prior to 9 a.m. will be entered in a lottery to appear at the top of the ballot. “It shows the work that we’re putting in, it shows our commitment, it shows our dedication, it shows that we’re serious,” Henderson said.

* Crain’s | Power families of Chicago: The 14 families at the top of the power structure have influence across Illinois’ civic, cultural and business life. Some built global companies. Some reshaped neighborhoods. Some fund campaigns, foundations and institutions that help set the city’s and the nation’s agenda. Others carry forward names that have mattered here for generations. Their power is not always public and it’s not always uncomplicated.

* Sun-Times | Chicago History Museum violated labor laws after firing employees for unionizing, NLRB alleges: The Chicago History Museum violated federal labor laws after management disciplined and fired employees for unionizing last year, the National Labor Relations Board alleges in a complaint filed last week. The NLRB says the museum’s former president and former HR head started retaliating against employees after they voted to form a union last April, according to a news release from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31, the union representing museum employees.

* Press release | Borealis Carries More Than 416,000 at Second Anniversary: BorealisSM train service between the Twin Cities and Chicago continues to exceed expectations as it celebrates its second birthday. The partnership between three states and Amtrak began in May of 2024 and more than 416,000 passengers have enjoyed the comfortable and reliable service, demonstrating the need for safe and accessible transportation options in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Lake County News-Sun | Lake County approves pay raises for countywide positions: ‘We want people that are highly experienced’: According to the 2026 Lake County employee compensation report, the annual salary for county clerk, circuit court clerk, coroner and treasurer is just over $134,000 each. A 3% increase for all four positions comes to a total of about $16,000, or roughly $4,000 per position.

* Oak Park Journal | West Suburban hospital owners in court again as final hearing nears: Counsel for the business-partners-turned-legal-foes at the heart of the West Suburban Medical Center were in court again Monday morning as a third party continues its review of contested financial records. The hearing comes after Resilience Healthcare CEO Manoj Prasad and Hospital Landlord Rathnakar Reddy Patlola filed lawsuits against each other last month, with Patlola seeking a judge’s order that could start the process of reopening West Suburban under new management.

* Evanston Now | Mung Chiang named new NU president: Mung Chiang, the president of Purdue University, has been named the 18th president of Northwestern University, Northwestern’s Board of Trustees announced Monday. Chiang, who has led Purdue since January 2023, will start at NU on July 1.

* CBS Chicago | Judge delays decision on Markham restraining order against Park District over prom helicopter incident: The judge did not grant a TRO Monday, instead saying he wanted to allow for discovery. A hearing on a possible preliminary injunction will be set for 28 days from now, though an exact date was not set at the end of the hearing.

*** Downstate ***

* WJBD | Continental to Build $76-Million Highly Automated Warehouse in Mount Vernon: Continental has announced plans to construct a new, highly automated finished-goods warehouse in Mount Vernon, Illinois. The company plans to invest approximately $76 million in the project. The facility is designed primarily to meet the growing demand in North America while enhancing service levels and customer support. Covering an area larger than six American football fields, the warehouse will have capacity for approximately 500,000 passenger car tires. Construction is expected to start in summer 2026, with operations scheduled to begin in 2027.

* CBS Chicago | Test finds patient in Winnebago County, Illinois, did not have hantavirus, officials say: The Illinois Department of Public Health said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a confirmatory test on the person with the suspected case of hantavirus in the county, far northwest of Chicago. It turned out the person did not have hantavirus after all, the department said. The resident is no longer considered a potential hantavirus case, and no further public health action is necessary in this case, the department said.

* Press release | Country Superstar Tyler Hubbard Joins Du Quoin State Fair Grandstand Lineup: Hubbard, who first rose to fame as one-half of the multi-platinum duo Florida Georgia Line, helped shape the sound of modern country music with a string of No. 1 hits and genre-defining anthems. With 23 career No. 1 singles as a songwriter and artist, he has already built a remarkable legacy—and now, as a solo artist, he’s carving out an exciting new chapter, amassing more than 2 billion global streams to date.

* Capitol City Now | Opinions split on fines for Springfield parking violations: Ald. Shawn Gregory, noting that parking has been free since the pandemic yet people still feed the meters, said, “Ten dollars more is not going to move the needle. I’m not going to vote for it, because I am not in favor of that. People don’t know it’s free. And it’s not free. It’s free for two hours.” Gregory suggested using the proceeds from the parking meters – “free money” – to improve parking services, such as adding digital signs.

*** National ***

* NPR | The Supreme Court avoids taking up a fight over Voting Rights Act enforcement for now: Weeks after further weakening the Voting Rights Act, the U.S. Supreme Court sidestepped weighing in on a legal question that could severely limit enforcement of the law’s remaining protections for minority voters. In a brief, unsigned order on Monday, the high court announced it is sending cases about Mississippi and North Dakota state legislative maps back to lower courts to be reconsidered in light of its recent ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. That landmark decision in April weakened the Voting Rights Act’s protections against racial discrimination in redistricting and as a result reignited the congressional gerrymandering battle sparked by President Trump ahead of the 2026 midterm election to help Republicans keep control of the House of Representatives.

* Futurism | Doctors’ AI Systems Are Hallucinating Nonexistent Medical Issues During Appointments With Patients: First reported by Global News, the audit took a look at 20 AI scribe platforms and found that “all AI scribe systems from the 20 [government] approved vendors showed one or more inaccuracies at the procurement testing phase,” such as “hallucinations (fabrication), incorrect information, or missing or incomplete information.” “Inaccuracies in medical notes generated by AI Scribe systems could potentially result in inadequate or harmful treatment plans that may potentially impact patient health outcomes,” the report declared.

* NYT | Ebola Raged for Weeks in Congo Before Anyone Raised the Alarm: Congo has surveillance systems meant to identify outbreaks early so that they can be effectively contained. The country has added several laboratories in recent years and has extensive experience with previous, devastating Ebola outbreaks. And yet, precious time was lost when officials in Ituri, the province at the heart of the current outbreak, did not raise the alarm when patients began to show symptoms. Samples may not have been sent quickly enough to Kinshasa, the capital, for testing.