* Subscribers know more. And as Rich told you weeks ago, it didn’t seem to him like the AFL-CIO would withhold very many endorsements when all was said and done…

One month after announcing they were holding off endorsements amid “widespread frustration,” the @ILAFLCIO releases its list of backed candidates for the Nov election. Union Prez Tim Drea says “the message has been received” and that “a more collaborative process” is forthcoming. pic.twitter.com/NlYkUvimJG

— Brenden Moore (@brendenmoore13) July 20, 2026

*** Statewide ***

* BND | 28 hospitalized with cyclosporiasis in IL. What we know about risk level: Out of 355 reported cases in Illinois, 180 were domestically acquired, 134 were in people who reported travel outside the U.S. and 41 had an unknown travel status. Illinois has reported 28 cyclosporiasis-related hospitalizations. […] “The biggest issue now is that we’re not able to pinpoint to one source as to where exactly this outbreak is coming from,” Dr. Vidya Sundareshan, infectious diseases specialist at Southern Illinois University Medicine and medical advisor to Sangamon County Health Department, said in a July 16 interview with the News-Democrat.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Tribune | GOP candidate Darren Bailey uses trespassing arrest at Gov. JB Pritzker’s home for familiar attack on crime: When he didn’t show up to court June 25, Gillespie issued a warrant for his arrest. The alleged trespassing at Pritzker’s mansion took place just over a week later. After the July 4 arrest, Cook County Judge Shauna Boliker ordered Milton not to go near the property or have any contact with the state trooper who reported him to authorities. But records show Milton remained in custody and pleaded guilty July 8 to the original retail theft charge. He was sentenced to a year in the Illinois Department of Corrections and currently is being held at Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet. […] A Bailey spokesperson did not respond to questions about whether it had evidence suggesting Milton would have remained detained under the cash bail system Pritzker abolished or whether it was appropriate to use an alleged crime at an opponent’s home as a fundraising tool and campaign attack line.

* Press release | Amy Elik Blasts Speaker Welch Over ‘Culture of Misconduct’ in Illinois House: “Members of the Illinois General Assembly must be held to the highest ethical standards, but under Speaker Chris Welch’s leadership we’ve seen a total lack of accountability. Sexual harassment cannot be tolerated in the General Assembly, and any attempts to sweep allegations against elected officials under the rug must be met swiftly and with serious ramifications. Sadly, this is not an isolated event, but rather a culture of misconduct at the hands of Speaker Welch. It needs to end.”

* Capitol City Now | GOP secretary of state hopeful wants to bring customer service back: Harris is the GOP nominee for secretary of state, an office held now by Democrat Alexi Giannoulias. He has a multi-million-dollar campaign fund amid speculation that he will run for mayor of Chicago in the spring. But that doesn’t intimidate Harris, she says. “You don’t need that much to beat me,” she told the WTAX Morning Newswatch, “but i don’t see it as a concern to me. I just want to make sure that individuals who may consider supporting me don’t look at that as a hindrance. We still need funding to get out and get our message out.” […] She says she wants to bring customer service back to the secretary of state’s office. While putting services online is one thing, she fears it’s come at the expense of old-fashioned service. “Not everyone is up to par on the Internet, so we should have many options to choose from,” said Harris. “I have had many, many complaints in terms of individuals wanting to just walk right in, get their service, and walk right out, like it used to be.”

* Press release | AG Raoul wins ruling to protect billions in critical federal funding: The decision explained that five words in U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, referencing situations where a grant “no longer effectuates … agency priorities,” did not silently give federal agencies unfettered authority to revoke grants nationwide just because the federal administration claims it is shifting its focus. “I applaud this decision, reminding the Trump administration that it is not above the law, and federal regulations cannot be misinterpreted to support its political agendas,” Raoul said. “I will continue to stand beside my colleagues to oppose the unlawful termination of federal funding that is authorized by Congress to support life-saving state programs, which directly impact communities in Illinois and across the county.”

*** Chicago ***

* WTTW | More Than 700 CPS Employees Disciplined for Misconduct Over 1 Year, 10 Faced Allegations of Sexual Abuse: Between Jan. 3, 2025, and Jan. 6, 2026, Chicago Public Schools sustained misconduct allegations against more than 700 employees, with most cases involving routine workplace violations and dozens involving more serious allegations, including harassment, discrimination and fraud, records show. Among the most serious offenses, 10 employees resigned or were fired after facing allegations of sexual abuse involving a student, and almost two dozen cases overall involved allegations of sexual misconduct or discrimination.

* Crain’s | Feds subpoena Chicago law firms in Trump’s fight with ABA: The subpoenas include requests to question firm leaders including Jenner’s Ishan Bhabha and Kirkland’s Jon Ballis. Neither firm responded to a request for comment from Crain’s. While the subpoenas could end up revealing communications with advisers the administration had tried to protect by blocking the ABA’s information request in court, the government could have another motivation in mind, according to one observer. The subpoenas could potentially serve as a backdoor method to get law firms that do not want their internal dealings exposed to the light of day to pressure the ABA to drop its suit, said Steven Harper, a former partner at Kirkland & Ellis and an adjunct professor at Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law.

* WBEZ | Amid changing industry, Chicago cabbies and ride-hailing drivers are both struggling: ‘I’m stuck in this’: Fast forward to this year. On an average day in May, Chicago riders took about 22,000 cab rides — but about 250,000 ride-hailing trips. That’s despite cab rides being typically cheaper per ride compared to a ride-hailing service, based on an analysis of city data before the new taxi fare hike went into effect this month.

* Bloomberg | Tempus to buy cancer-tech firm Personalis for $1.7B: Tempus AI Inc., which uses artificial intelligence for tailored disease prevention and treatment, has agreed to buy Personalis Inc. in a deal that gives the cancer-testing company an equity valuation of $1.7 billion. Chicago-based Tempus will pay Personalis shareholders $16.25 per share for a value of $1.5 billion including debt, the company said in a statement Monday. That represents a 5.6% premium over Personalis’ closing share price on Friday. The deal is expected to close in late 2026 or early 2027.

* Block Club | Chicago’s ‘Concrete Beach’ Is Going Viral On Social Media. Here’s Why Locals Love It: Danny Izewski, 30, of Lincoln Park, said he prefers the concrete beach because he doesn’t have to worry about sand coating his belongings. He chooses the concrete beach over the sandy beaches 75 percent of the time, he said. “It is just a slab next to some water,” Izewski said. “I think they’re just mad because they didn’t think of it first.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Kane County-area leaders relaunch entrepreneurship center for those impacted by criminal legal system, other groups: First launched in 2024, the initiative — which evolved from a program that gave detainees the chance to participate in a business plan and pitch competition — was meant to help current and former detainees start businesses. At least two former detainees went on to launch real businesses based on their pitch plans, per the county — one in catering, the other in transportation. Last May, the entrepreneurship center then launched independently as an initiative of the sheriff’s office, as a result of funding changes.

* Pioneer Press | Northbrook residents oppose plan for 6-story condos near downtown: Susan Nelson, who said she has been a resident of Northbrook for more than 35 years, told Pioneer Press she started organizing against the proposal with other residents after seeing discussions on neighborhood social media platform Nextdoor. Nelson was among other residents who spoke in opposition to the development at the Board meeting this week. “Community is more than real estate,” said Nelson in an interview. “This is a place where kids ride their bicycles, people shop locally and people socialize.”

* Evanston Now | Downtown becomes showroom for vintage rides: Andy Vick, executive director of Downtown Evanston, said the group always had a goal of holding the show “out on the street in downtown Evanston.” His organization decided to approach the car show as a pilot event last year to gauge interest. Encouraged by the event’s popularity last year, Vick’s organization decided to give the downtown streets a go this year.

*** Downstate ***

* SJ-R | A look at how Rebuild Illinois has impacted Springfield: However, the Springfield area fell below the state average, ranked as the lowest output multiplier in the state at $1.44 made for every $1 spent. “The reason it’s the case is that the district had a relatively low share of Rebuild Illinois dollars devoted to public transit systems,” economist Frank Manzo explained. “Chicago had the greatest output … and that is primarily due to the fact that a quarter of the dollars invested have been in public transit systems. It’s less than 1% for (Springfield area.)”

* STLPR | Fair housing advocates warn of ‘bond for deed’ scams in Metro East homebuying: Fair housing advocates and legal groups are warning Metro East residents to be on the lookout for “bond for deed” scams that contain predatory terms that could leave homebuyers destined for eviction. As of late last year, the Hope Fair Housing Center, a Chicago-area nonprofit, has identified more than 400 properties in the Metro East owned by out-of-state companies that use such tactics when they sell. Many of the properties are clustered in East St. Louis, Cahokia Heights and Granite City. While there is nothing illegal about buying a home using a bond for deed instead of a mortgage, the devil is in the details with each contract, said Blake Mitchell, the associate director of enforcement at Hope.

* Rockford Register Star | Rockford to hold hearing on $103M bond sale for Hard Rock Casino hotel: Hard Rock officials have told the city they need its assistance to finance construction of a roughly 215-room hotel in order to compete with the Ho-Chunk Gaming Beloit casino that’s under construction 17 miles to the north. It is an arrangement that means the city will — at least for several years — own a hotel managed and operated by Hard Rock. […] Hard Rock is guaranteeing the city $7 million in revenue annually. A hotel should also mean additional visitors, $4.7 million a year in taxes and millions in economic activity.

* WGLT | Inside ISU’s new home for the College of Engineering: The two-story building features a mostly lab-focused first floor, with space for mechanical engineering and first year engineering studies. The second floor is where the dean suite, electrical engineering and more classrooms are. Classrooms range from 30- and 50-student rooms for more focused studies, up to 125-student spaces. […] Keyser said the building will suit up to 700 students comfortably, after which he said the college will start talking expansion.

* WCSJ | Estimated 10,000 Visitors Came To Dwight For Big Boy’s Arrival: An estimated 10,000 people from across the country and world came to Dwight to see the arrival of Big Boy 4014 on Friday afternoon. According to the Union Pacific, Big Boy 4014 is the largest and most powerful steam engine ever built. It is also the world’s only fully operational Big Boy. Big Boy is on coast-to-coast tour to celebrate America’s 250th Birthday.

*** National ***

* Sun-Times | Former Illinois public health chief Nirav Shah drops Maine Senate bid: Before moving to Maine, Shah presided over a series of fatal Legionnaires disease outbreaks at the state of Illinois’ veterans’ home in Quincy that were linked to 14 resident deaths and the sickening of dozens of other staff and residents at the former facility. His oversight under Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration was condemned at the time for worsening the horrific and preventable public health crisis and causing a greater loss of life.

* Reuters | Judge orders Paramount to temporarily pause Warner Bros acquisition: The order will pause the deal for 14 ​days, giving the group of states time to argue for the ​merger to be delayed throughout the course of the lawsuit, ⁠which could take months to reach a final ruling. […] California and 11 states sued on July 13, arguing the deal would create a media ​behemoth with the power to raise prices in film and television. If the ​deal is allowed to close, Paramount would soon begin cutting jobs and sharing sensitive ‌information ⁠with Warner Bros., actions that are hard to undo if the merger is ultimately found to be illegal, the states argued.

* ProPublica | FBI Has Looked at Using Questionable AI Tech to Review Signatures on Seized Mail-In Ballots: The FBI has explored using artificial intelligence to assess the validity of signatures on tens of thousands of mail-in ballot envelopes seized from Fulton County, Georgia, the latest push in the Trump administration’s unprecedented reinvestigation of the 2020 vote. The effort, according to internal communications reviewed by ProPublica and an agency tech specialist familiar with the work, focuses on comparing signatures on ballot envelopes with signatures on other election documents, such as registration forms. President Donald Trump has long claimed, without evidence, that the 2020 election was stolen from him.