* Attorney General Raoul…

Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 15 attorneys general, filed a lawsuit to prevent the U.S. Department of Education from unlawfully terminating congressionally approved school-based mental health grants. Despite a previous court order prohibiting it from discontinuing the grants, the administration plans to renew its efforts to end essential mental health programming at the end of July by terminating the grants. […]

Terminating the grants would result in the loss of millions of dollars in mental health services to Illinois students. Raoul has gone to court repeatedly to fight for these mental health grants and has won five times against the administration. But the department has dragged its feet, harming the ability of schools and other grantees to address the ongoing youth mental health crisis. Now the department threatens to terminate the remaining grants in Illinois at the end of July.

In today’s lawsuit, the attorneys general allege that the Department of Education’s plan to terminate the mental health grants violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution. The attorneys general have also requested a preliminary injunction to prevent the grants from being terminated.

* Former state legislators Dave Sullivan and Mike Zalewski got together for the latest episode of Zalewski’s podcast. Click here to listen. It’s a good one.

*** Statewide ***

* Press release | NFIB: John Deere Settlement Paves the Way for Right to Repair for Small Businesses: The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy organization, released a statement highlighting the need to expand right to repair efforts following the recent antitrust lawsuit settlement between the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and John Deere. “This settlement is a huge win for farmers, independent repair shops, and all small businesses who rely on John Deere products in some aspect of their business,” said Mary Alex Hamby, NFIB Principal of Federal Government Relations. “Now, we have the chance to build on this incredible momentum and bring the same access to independent auto and electronic repair shops. Lawmakers have the clear opportunity to compel manufacturers to share the critical data and tools that small business repair shops need to level the playing field, lower costs, compete, and serve their customers.”

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Johnson moves to reclaim control of rogue CHA board: Mayor Brandon Johnson is trying to reassert his influence over the Chicago Housing Authority, nominating three new board members to replace a mayoral challenger and two others who voted to install a new leader of the agency over the mayor’s objection. Johnson is directly introducing three nominees to the Housing Committee for a July 14 vote in an attempt to fill the 10-member board with allies, but it’s unclear who the mayor wants to lead the $1.4 billion agency.

* Sun-Times | ICE arrests have increased in Chicago, but tactics less publicized than last fall, legal groups say: Last week, at least 20 people were arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago, and another 17 people have been arrested so far this week, according to reports from rapid response groups who document the arrests. Those numbers seem to be an increase from recent months, said Marcela Rodriguez, co-chair of the Illinois Latino Agenda and a member of the nonprofit group Enlace Chicago.

* Sun-Times | Court monitor dings city for lacking a single compliant accessible crosswalk signal for impaired pedestrians: Besides failing the technical requirements, the monitor found that many devices were not functioning properly or required maintenance. The city has work to do on that end, Weisberg said. But the city has made substantial progress at identifying and constructing accessible signals at crosswalks across the city.

* Tribune | Black Chicagoans displaced for the Dan Ryan Expressway are the focus of ‘Remember’: It’s those truths that Hunter wants to find and gather in her project, part of “The Ways We Remember: Celebrating 20 Years of the Black Metropolis Research Consortium” and featured in the BMRC Gallery. (Founded as a collective, the Black Metropolis Research Consortium is an archive of Black Chicago life.) Hunter is seeking to talk with people, their relatives, and neighbors who remember the Dan Ryan displacement. To aid in this, Hunter has been holding “memory tea” sessions for the past two years with Chicagoans in their late 70s and early 80s who remember the Dan Ryan being built, to hear and share their stories.

* Block Club | Pitchfork Sues Co-Founder, Saying He Misappropriated $564K After Fest Shuttered: A lawsuit filed this week on behalf of Pitchfork Festivals LLC in federal court in Chicago accuses co-founder Mike Reed of keeping $564,680 that he falsely claimed were expenses he had already incurred to prepare for the 2025 fest before it was cancelled. Instead of returning the money, Reed allegedly secretly transferred the money from the company that was under contract with Pitchfork to another entity that he controlled.

* Block Club | Shedd Aquarium Rescuing 10 Beluga Whales From Shuttered Canadian Park: The aquarium is preparing to rescue and rehome up to 10 beluga whales from Marineland of Canada, a shuttered zoo and amusement park in Ontario, according to the Shedd. It’s unknown when the whales will arrive at the aquarium, but rescues are slated to begin in the “next few weeks,” according to the Shedd. The Shedd is one of several facilities expected to take part in the rescue of 30 stranded beluga whales. Other participating facilities include aquariums in Georgia, San Diego, San Antonio and Spain.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Lake County News-Sun | Waukegan stepping up efforts to replace lead water pipes: ‘Every resident … deserves equal access to clean, safe drinking water’: After three years of asking residents to voluntarily use a camera and technology to show the city whether the water service line in their home is lead, galvanized or copper, David Motley, the city’s public relations director, said identifying the pipe type is now a resident’s obligation. Though the method of determining the pipe’s material remains taking a picture of the pipe in the home and sending it to the city electronically, Motley said a lack of technological know-how or equipment is no longer a barrier. An active education campaign is also underway.

* WGN | School supt. charged after WGN Investigates finds bills for porn and more: Prosecutors say Toulios, who was the superintendent of Argo Community High School District 217, used the district-issued credit card to make more than $10,000 in unauthorized purchases, including more than $4,000 spent on adult-content websites. The investigation also revealed more than $4,000 spent on golf equipment and more than $5,000 in Visa gift cards, some of which were allegedly used to pay for adult websites and personal purchases, according to prosecutors.

*** Downstate ***

* WSIL | Last WWII-era Quonset Hut at SIU Being Demolished: The World War II-era structure is the last of what was once hundreds of Quonset huts on campus. Historic photos provided by SIU’s Special Collections Research Center show the large, aircraft hangar-like building that served the university for decades. Heavy equipment moved in this week to tear down the longtime landmark after years of limited use. University officials said the project is a significant undertaking, but completing the demolition during the summer helps improve safety while fewer students, faculty and staff are on campus.

* WCIA | Champaign-Urbana caddie academy lets high schoolers to learn on and off the course: If you find your way out to Atkins Golf Club in Urbana this summer, you’ll find some new faces ready to help you play better while changing their lives. Eight high school students are hitting the links as caddies for most of the summer, raking in the dough, while also working toward the Evans Scholarship, which gives select students full tuition and housing for their undergraduate degrees.

* SJ-R | ‘Big Boy’ train to stop in Springfield: The world’s largest operating steam locomotive will soon make a stop in the capital city. Union Pacific’s “Big Boy” No. 4014 is journeying west from the east coast in collaboration with Norfolk Southern Railway, as the railroads celebrate America’s 250th anniversary.

*** National ***

* Tribune | Why is beef so expensive? And can consumers expect lower prices anytime soon? ‘It’s got to get worse before it gets better.’: Average prices are up nearly 13% in the last year, with a pound of ground beef now costing $6.75 nationwide, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the Midwest, prices are even steeper, kissing $7 per pound. The cost of ground beef has already surpassed all-time highs twice this year, and cattle ranchers and beef market experts alike doubt it’ll be the last. The historically high prices seen this year are the result of a combination of economic and environmental factors — from inflation and a labor shortage to drought and disease. All contribute to one bottom line: less beef.

* 404 Media | We Are Living in a ‘ChatGPT Flyer Pandemic’: Jonathon Yule, executive creative director for design at the creative studio Concrete in Toronto told 404 Media that these types of posters continue a long tradition of terrible graphic design that we see in the world, but with “none of the charm” that may accidentally come from a business owner making something low quality. “Terrible posters are nothing new,” Yule said. “The only difference today is generative AI makes it easier than ever to get the veneer of “polish” with none of the charm that these types of posters might have had when the designer was faced with constraints (usually time, resources or experience). These types of posters would have typically been done by designers either working at a small agency or print shop and these mid-level design jobs are disappearing. Stepping back to think about where this style (and its acceptance in the world) might have come from I’m going to have to pin the blame on YouTube and AB-tested-whatever-gets-more-clicks approach to thumbnail design with the exaggerated facial expressions and shoddy yet eye catching typography.”