* Fox 23 Now…

State Sen. Dale Fowler announced Tuesday he will resign from the Illinois Senate after the conclusion of the 2026 legislative session, ending nearly a decade representing the 59th Senate District in Southern Illinois.

Fowler, first elected in 2016 and sworn into office in 2017, said the decision follows a pledge he made when he first ran for office to serve no more than 10 years and not accept a legislative pension.

“I have been truly blessed to serve the people of Southern Illinois in the Senate,” Fowler said in a statement. “This has never been about a title for me. It has always been about the people, the communities, and the opportunity to make a difference for the region I call home.” […]

Under Illinois law, because Fowler is resigning before the end of his term, Republican leaders from counties within the 59th Senate District will appoint someone to temporarily fill the vacancy until the next election. The appointment process is handled by Republican precinct committee members within the district.

While no official replacement has been announced, current State Rep. Paul Jacobs has already launched a campaign for Fowler’s Senate seat and is considered a leading Republican contender for the position.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Shaw Local | State Sen. Patrick Joyce launches annual book club for students on break: “It can be easy for young students to drift away from reading when the school year ends,” Joyce said. “Reading over the summer helps students stay in a routine that can last for the rest of their lives.” The Summer Book Club requires students to read eight books of their choice during summer break, record the book names on a form, and return the form to Joyce’s district office by Friday, Aug. 21. Participants who complete the reading will receive a certificate and an invite to a pizza party, according to a news release.

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | On Vatican trip, Mayor Johnson will laud Pope Leo for his pushback against Trump’s ‘godforsaken’ policies: The delegation headed to Rome includes business leaders, Johnson’s deputy mayor for economic development, his sustainability officer, advisor Jason Lee, top council ally Jason Ervin (28th), as well as non-Catholic faith leaders to represent Chicago’s religious diversity. That includes Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann of Mishkan Chicago in Ravenswood, who said she will give the pope a White Sox kippah, a traditional Jewish head covering that represents “the respect for the divine.”

* Tribune | Chicago Teachers Union members vote down proposed dues increase: It’s unclear how the vote will affect the union’s financial picture. Dues account for nearly 90% of CTU’s revenue, which is expected to exceed $40 million this fiscal year. Without the change, the union is facing a $4.2 million deficit, according to the April documents. A union spokesperson declined to comment on the shortfall. Meanwhile, fundraising is heating up in the race for Chicago’s first fully elected school board. CTU was the top spender in the 2024 election, which largely pitted the union against pro-school choice groups. The union has yet to endorse or make contributions to candidates this election cycle.

* Sun-Times | ‘I don’t feel like I’m a major-leaguer’: Rikuu Nishida humble despite successful debut with White Sox: The 25-year-old native of Osaka, Japan, had a lot to be happy about. The Sox had just promoted him from Triple-A Charlotte to make his major-league debut at Rate Field, batting ninth and playing right field in the same lineup with countryman Munetaka Murakami. Nishida, who understands and speaks English but still had an interpreter at his side, giggled his way through a pregame interview session with reporters in the dugout. “I’m really, really happy, excited, but really nervous at the same time,” Nishida said through the interpreter. “I still can’t believe it’s true right now, so [there are] a lot of butterflies inside me.

* Block Club | Chicago Toasts To Schlitz As Bars Serve Up Their Last Kegs Of The Truly Midwestern Beer: Neighbors have flocked to at least two of those former tied houses — Schubas Tavern in Lakeview and Friends of Friends in West Town — to get one last draft of Schlitz before the kegs run dry. Friends of Friends, 2001 W. Grand Ave., even held a “Schlitz funeral” Monday, where patrons could snag 86-cent Schlitz drafts during happy hour. “We’re selling the Schlitz for 86 cents because 86 means ‘We’re out of it, it’s done,’ in restaurant lingo,” Friends of Friends co-owner Abe Vucekovich said. “So we wanted a way for Chicagoans to say goodbye to such an important beer, and when better to do that than on Memorial Day?”

* WBEZ | Chicago’s Lyric Opera receives $20 million gift from Illinois-based Negaunee Foundation: Half of the gift to Lyric will be used to support the company’s education program, which will be renamed for Negaunee. Lyric says it will expand its in-school and family programming and work more closely with Merit School of Music. The funds will also support a recently announced collaboration with the Music Institute of Chicago. Mangum said in a statement that engaging with young people is key to developing future opera audiences.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | ‘Broadview Six’ case in rare waters as defense says US attorney had ‘personal contact’ with grand jury: Over the weekend, MacArthur said, the office requested a litigation hold on “all records, emails, text messages, voice messages, documents and notes” related to the Broadview Six prosecution, including decisions about the disclosure and redaction of grand jury transcripts. That evidence could be crucial to potential future hearings over alleged prosecutorial misconduct, including vindictive prosecution. Also Tuesday, MacArthur said prosecutors were not objecting to the public release of most of the grand jury transcripts in the case, with limited redactions to remove personal identification of any grand jurors and one limited section where a juror expressed personal opinions about the case.

* Sun-Times | Grand jurors in tainted ‘Broadview 6′ case had contact with Chicago’s top federal prosecutor, defense says: Tuesday’s disclosure about Boutros’ potential contact with the grand jury came from Straw attorney Christopher Parente. He shared no additional details during the public portion of Tuesday’s hearing, though. A spokesman for Boutros’ office did not immediately comment. Boutros told Perry on Thursday he wasn’t aware of the alleged grand jury misconduct until late April. He later announced a review of grand jury presentations in other cases that could have been tainted similarly to the “Broadview Six” case.

* Sun-Times | Attorney accusing ICE agent of suburban Chicago attack now pushing for felony charges: Robert Held, 68, told reporters he followed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Adam Saracco from the ICE facility in suburban Broadview on Dec. 27, then filmed as Saracco stopped for gas in Brookfield. Held said Saracco eventually started walking toward him and pushed him to the ground. Saracco appeared in court in Maywood earlier Tuesday for a status hearing in the misdemeanor battery case stemming from the incident. Held later told reporters that he now wants the Cook County state’s attorney’s office to upgrade the charge to a felony.

* Greg Hinz | As mayoral field forms, Mendoza targets Johnson on TIFs: In a likely preview of a mayoral campaign soon to come, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza is ripping Mayor Brandon Johnson’s use of a financial device that has been a hallmark of his fiscal management of the city. Mendoza’s target is Johnson’s increasing dependence on “surplus funds” in the city’s tax-increment financing accounts to balance the city’s budget. The practice began in a small way under former Mayor Rahm Emanuel and expanded some during the tenure of successor Lori Lightfoot, but has exploded under Johnson, with the city sweeping a record $1.01 billion from the TIF pot as part of the 2026 city budget.

* Aurora Beacon-News | St. Charles City Council OKs $7.6 million bid for lead service line replacement work: In the wake of recently-approved utility rate hikes meant to pay for such improvements, the St. Charles City Council has given the green light for a $7.6 million lead service line replacement project in the city. The replacement of lead service lines is required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and must be completed within 10 years under a rule approved by former President Joe Biden’s administration meant to reduce lead in drinking water, a deadline that President Donald Trump’s administration recently indicated it is backing, according to the Associated Press. […] St. Charles’ lead service line replacements are expected to cost about $8.4 million annually, and must begin in 2026, officials have said. The city’s water utility has a little over 3,000 projected lead service lines connected to the community water supply distribution system, according to documents from the city.

* Lake County News-Sun | Buffalo Grove ranked best place to live in Illinois: ‘Now everybody else in the country knows’: Buffalo Grove has been named the best place to live in Illinois, according to a U.S. News & World Report 2026-2027 ranking that also designated the village as the 15th best in the country. […] Village President Eric Smith said he “couldn’t be more excited” about the ranking, recalling a conversation he had with a journalist when he first became mayor. “What are your goals?” Smith recalled the reporter asking. “When people think of Buffalo Grove, I want them to want to come here. I want this to be the best place.”

* Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora Farmers Market set to open for its 115th season: “We’ll have between 50 and 60 vendors each week,” Freitag said. “Some will come once a month, and others every other week. About a quarter will be rotating, while the rest will be there weekly.” Old favorites like Strawberries BBQ, Michigan’s Lopez Farms, Dick’s Mini-Donuts and Soulshine Farm will be back along with “at least 15 new vendors,” Freitag said. “Some of our new ones include some farms we’ve added based on surveys we’ve offered to patrons,” she said. “There’s been a request for more fresh local produce and we have a couple of farms including Microcosm Farm from Shabbona who have produce and sauerkrauts and kimchi which we’ve never had before.”

*** Downstate ***

* Muddy River News | No official word on suspended PE teachers, but QPS looking to fill positions in June: It’s been one year since Muddy River News reported that two Denman Elementary School physical education teachers who admitted to giving birthday spankings and taping students’ mouths shut were investigated by the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Since then, the two teachers have been on paid administrative leave, the Quincy School District parted ways with Superintendent Todd Pettit and have had two interim superintendents. A new superintendent, Larry Gray, takes over July 1. The Quincy School Board had no updates last week on the status of the two teachers, Kim Kirby and Jen Oitker. They remain are under investigation by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) for their conduct.

* WCIA | Forsyth officials share renovation plans for veterans memorial: Planned improvements include military branch monuments, enhanced walkways and gathering spaces, restored flagpoles, relocated engraved pavers, landscaping improvements, seating areas and more. “This project is about honoring service, preserving history, and creating a place where families, veterans, and visitors can gather in remembrance and gratitude,” Village Administrator Jill Applebee said in a news release. “We are excited to provide opportunities for individuals, families, organizations, and businesses to be part of this lasting tribute.”

* WGLT | Midwest Punk Fest returns with a new home at Meltdown Creative Works: Plue said now was an ideal time to resuscitate Midwest Punk Fest, in large part, because he’s got a space of his own. “We moved the show every two years, just because of venue issues,” he said on WGLT’s Sound Ideas. “Either had to get bigger, or it just didn’t work out at a certain venue, or the venue was closed. We now have our own venue and can kind of control a little bit more of how it’s done.”

* WCIA | Phoebe Bridgers announces surprise show in Champaign: Recently, Bridgers has been popping up in cities throughout the country for small, intimate concerts. Her shows are announced through posters shortly before tickets go on sale — on the day of the concert. Monday, posters showed that Bridgers would perform at The Orpheum in Champaign.

*** National ***

* States Newsroom | Congressional Black Caucus calls for corporate leaders to speak out for voting rights: The CBC’s attempt to mobilize the business community comes as Black representation in Congress potentially faces its most severe threat since the end of Reconstruction following the Civil War. But some business leaders have taken a friendlier tone with President Donald Trump, who backs the gerrymandering. A U.S. Supreme Court decision in April, in a case called Louisiana v. Callais, sharply weakened the federal Voting Rights Act, which had blocked states from breaking apart majority-minority districts. It limited the use of race in redistricting, prompting several Southern states to advance new maps targeting these districts, which are mostly held by Black Democrats.

* AP | South Carolina Senate rejects Trump’s call to redraw congressional map for midterm elections: As early in-person voting began Tuesday in South Carolina’s primaries, the state Senate rejected a Republican plan to cancel those congressional votes and instead schedule a new primary under revised districts designed to help the GOP oust a longtime Democrat. Some senators said it was simply too late to make a change. “South Carolina citizens are going to the polls today. And neither my conscience or common sense is going to let me stop an election that is already underway,” Republican state Sen. Richard Cash said.

* Business Insider | Uber’s COO says it’s getting harder to justify the money spent on AI tokenmaxxing: He said that the trade-off costs from AI are harder to justify because he can’t draw a direct link. Earlier this month, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in an earnings call that Uber was slowing hiring to counter its investments in AI. Macdonald added that AI can seem free if you’re “just a user sitting there coming up with interesting use cases” without paying for it. But ultimately, the company foots the bill. […] Duolingo, for instance, walked back its decision to include AI usage in performance reviews after employees asked whether they had to use AI for the sake of using it.