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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Crain’s | Prime Healthcare maintenance workers avert strike after ratifying contracts: Some 53 members of International Union of Operating Engineers Local 399 were set to go on strike tomorrow after alleging California-based for-profit Prime and its staffing subsidiary MedSpace Services had been interfering with workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively since acquiring the facilities from Ascension Illinois in March 2025. However, the union said it reached a temporary agreement with the health system today, with members voting to ratify late this afternoon. * Tribune | Appeals court sides with city on Chicago police union COVID vaccine mandate case: The latest chapter in a years long legal scuffle between the city of Chicago and two of its main police unions over COVID-19 vaccine mandates has ended with a city victory, though the fight could continue. A three-judge appellate court panel reversed a decision by the Illinois Labor Relations Board, finding the board “abused its discretion” by siding with the union during a dispute about then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s requirement that Police Department employees either receive the COVID vaccination or pay for their own testing twice a week. Employees who didn’t do so risked being placed on no-pay status. * Borderless | Once Packed with Day Laborers, a Chicago Hiring Corner Empties Out Under Immigration Crackdown: The number of workers is dwindling further as local police crack down on day laborers seeking work at the site. Chicago police arrested three men looking for work at the site in late June, several day laborers told Borderless. Day laborers say the threat of arrest by police, on top of the risk of detention by immigration agents, makes it difficult to find work and make ends meet. * Crain’s | Chicago-area homes are selling fast. Here are some of the fastest.: With the race to land a good house moving swiftly, Re/Max agent Mario Barrios tells his clients to be ready to roll at any time. “If you make any (restaurant) reservations, tell your friends you might be late or you might not make it,” Barrios, a Re/Max Premier agent, said he’s been advising his home-buying clients recently. “Because the house you want always becomes available at the most inopportune time.” * Block Club | How Chicagoans Beat The Heat As Temperatures Soared This Week: The city has been in the grips of a days-long heat wave that, at its worst, saw Chicago feel as hot as about 108 degrees Tuesday afternoon, said Lee Carlaw, a National Weather Service meteorologist. The weather agency issued an extreme heat warning, encouraging people to stay inside if possible and take safety precautions if they needed to venture outside. * Lake County News-Sun | Grayslake data center opponents call for wetlands protection: ‘Wetlands are incredibly important’: Opponents of the Grayslake T5 data center are focusing on almost 16 acres of wetlands on the site that developers have applied to fill in, seeing it as a potential stopping point for a project that has sparked increasing resistance. Earlier this year, the developers of T5 @ Chicago IV applied to fill in 15.75 acres of wetlands with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In April, the USACE told T5 that it would issue a 30-day public notice describing the project as happening “in the near future.” * Lake County News-Sun | Highland Park group seeks to shame gun-manufacturer ‘enablers’: ‘We’ve … allowed corporations and consumers to ask for accountability’: HP3 co-founder Daniel Perlman was at the Highland Park parade when a gunman opened fire on the crowd, killing seven and wounding nearly 50 others. He’s been active in the gun violence prevention space ever since and helped found the group a year ago. […] HP3 and its database were built on that idea, approaching gun violence “through a commercial lens,” he said, using money to put pressure on the gun manufacturers, and providing information to “businesses’ decision-makers and everyday people.” * Block Club | Did You Know You Can Camp In The Cook County Forest Preserves?: In 2015, the forest preserves opened campgrounds at Bullfrog Lake in Willow Springs, Dan Beard in Northbrook, Camp Reinberg in Palatine, Shabbona Woods in South Holland and Camp Sullivan in Tinley Park. While some of the campgrounds had previously been used by groups like the Boy Scouts and the Izaak Walton League, Stagner said the forest preserves wanted to open them up to individuals and families so more people could experience all the nature Cook County has to offer. * Daily Herald | Funeral set for Mundelein police officer killed in off-duty crash: Visitation for a Mundelein police officer who died following an off-duty motorcycle accident last weekend will be held Tuesday. The public gathering honoring officer Paul B. Viduya Jr. is scheduled to run from 3 to 6 p.m. at Mundelein High School, 1350 W. Hawley St. A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Transfiguration Catholic Community, 316 W. Mill St., Wauconda. * WGLT | Realtor group will study west Bloomington to recommend revitalization moves: The Counselors of Real Estate Consulting Corps will send a team to survey a broad batch of community stakeholders and write a proposal on how to regenerate the oldest housing stock in the Gridley-Allin-Prickett neighborhood and preserve the neighborhood character of Dimmit’s Grove and the near east side. “This award will have a lasting impact on our community by helping us confront some of our most pressing housing and neighborhood challenges with data-driven strategies and expert guidance,” said Melanie Walker, president of the Mid-Illlinois Realtors Association [MIRA] in Bloomington. * WICS | More than two weeks after EF3 tornado, Effingham County families continue long road to recovery: “We’re slowly gaining, getting everything cleaned up, but we got a long road ahead of us. We’re hoping we can be back milking in six weeks because we kind of got a deadline, but right now it just takes a lot of work and a lot of time,” said Caleb Meyer. Meyer said neighboring farms stepped in immediately after the tornado to help care for the family’s cattle. * WAND | Dangerous Heat and Storm Threat Heading to Central Illinois: Friday will be similarly hot with a high near 91 degrees and a heat index near 105 degrees. However, the more significant threat Friday night will be isolated strong to severe storms developing overnight. A marginal risk for severe weather is in place for Friday evening. Overnight lows will drop to 73 degrees as storms move through the area. * The Southern | Longtime Jackson County Board member John Rendleman dies: John Rendleman, a longtime Jackson County Board member, former board chairman and Carbondale attorney, has died. Rendleman served on the Jackson County Board since 2008, representing District 5. He most recently chaired the board’s Public Health Committee and previously served as chairman of the Jackson County Board. He also practiced law in Carbondale through Rendleman Law. * WCIA | Monticello Freedom Festival moves to new location for 2026: The Monticello Freedom Festival has been wowing the community in Lodge Park since the 1960s, but now it will do so at Monticello Middle School. The Piatt County Park District voted for the change, citing concerns about noise and light pollution impacting animals in the area. * WSIL | Carbondale to Celebrate Buckminster Fuller with Birthday Block Party: The free community event will feature the reading of a proclamation recognizing July 12 as Buckminster Fuller Day and the unveiling of the new honorary “Buckminster Fuller Way” street sign along West Cherry Street. Fuller, a former Southern Illinois University professor, lived in the iconic Dome Home with his wife, Anne. * The Trace | A Faith-Based Movement Is Destroying Guns — And Turning Them Into Gardening Tools: Martin learned blacksmithing and founded RAWtools, a national nonprofit that offers people a way to get rid of unwanted guns without returning them to the market or risking them being stolen or accessed by children or people who may be a danger to themselves or others. It was the progenitor of the larger Guns to Gardens movement. “We need to figure out ways to handle conflict without violence, so that’s the basis behind RAWTools,” Martin told me. “Raw is war backward, so exchanging tools of violence for tools of creation and generation.” * AP | Heat adds to strains on areas with data centers, raising the temperature on AI debates: When temperatures climb into triple digits — as they’re expected to this week in New England — it’s harder to push heat out of a data center. Keeping it cool then requires more power, as is true of commercial buildings and homes. That can strain power grids and pose a “real risk” of power outages, Koomey said. * Tribune | Trump administration proposes a rule it says could save Medicare patients $1.1 billion on drugs: The rule would apply to hospitals that serve low-income patients under what is known as the 340B program, which lets hospitals buy outpatient prescription drugs at discounted prices. But in many cases, hospitals can bill insurers at rates that exceed those costs, allowing hospitals to keep the difference and resulting in higher costs to patients. Under the proposed rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would change the formula for what hospitals participating in the program can get reimbursed, in an effort to cut costs for patients.
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