* The Sun-Times’ Jon Seidel…

#BREAKING Former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan asks the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case.

Full petition here: https://t.co/eBfWDDNQny https://t.co/3jHwBXIsXb pic.twitter.com/OylzqK96Rj

— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) July 29, 2026

Click here for the petition. Click here for the story.

* Maze Jackson has responded to our post. Click here.

*** Statewide ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Reports: IDOT, Tollway capital programs boost economic development: A study from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute found that the Rebuild Illinois capital construction has resulted in a boost in economic activity that equals $1.79 for every dollar invested. A twin study examining the Illinois Tollway’s nearly-complete Move Illinois capital program estimates the return at just over $2 for every dollar invested.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WBEZ | New Illinois law lets courts wade into pet disputes involving unmarried couples: Divorcing couples were already able to fight for custody of a shared pet in Illinois. State Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, who sponsored the legislation, said people reached out to her after losing custody of their pet because they weren’t married to the other owner. “Either they were in an abusive relationship, and the partner used their pet as leverage to stay in the relationship, or there were military people that had an emotional support animal, and unfortunately, had to leave them behind because their partner wanted to keep it,” she said. “There was no path for them to fight for the animal.”

* Press release | Giannoulias Initiative Strengthens Oversight of Tow Truck Industry and Fights Fraud: House Bill 4843, which the Illinois General Assembly approved unanimously, expands the Secretary of State’s authority to suspend or revoke certificates and special registration plates issued to tow truck and wrecker operators who fraudulently obtain registrations, illegally use tow truck plates or violate vehicle registration laws. “For too long, rogue tow-truck operators have exploited loopholes in the system, deceived consumers and undercut the honest businesses that play by the rules,” Giannoulias said. “This legislation gives us stronger enforcement tools to identify bad actors, revoke their registrations and remove them from Illinois roads.”

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Trade union jabs Mayor Brandon Johnson as mayoral petitions circulate: LiUNA Local 1001 business manager Bob Chianelli accused the Johnson-appointed leaders of the departments of Transportation, William Cheaks, and Aviation, Michael McMurray, of violating the laborers’ contracts and treating them “like indentured servants.” “Most of the members of Local 1001 are middle class working men and women with families who go to work every day and just want what’s coming to them,” Chianelli said. “They don’t need to be insulted, degraded and abused by these two rogue Commissioners who think they are Kings and not public servants.”

* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson signs executive order aimed at bad gun sellers: Johnson’s order calls for stricter standards and disclosure requirements for the firearm and ammunition wholesalers the city buys from to arm the Chicago Police Department. The mayor told reporters the new rules will allow the city to steer money away from stores that regularly sell guns used in crimes. “If a vendor fails to take seriously its responsibility to prevent the unlawful diversion of firearms, it should not expect to profit from Chicago taxpayer dollars,” he said.

* WTTW | Agency Charged With Probing Chicago Police Department Misconduct Created ‘Vacuum of Accountability’ By Clearing Backlog: Watchdog: But the initiative also “allowed misconduct to go unaddressed,” according to the analysis. “By administratively closing hundreds of cases COPA may have alleviated its own burden, but it also created a vacuum of accountability within the police oversight system it is mandated to uphold,” the analysis concluded, warning the agency against implementing similar efforts in the future.

* Block Club | As Beverly Speed Cameras Continue To Rack Up Tickets, One Camera Could Be On The Move: In its first year in operation, the Western Avenue camera had 11 days where it recorded over 1,000 speeding violations. It holds 73 of the 200 all-time largest single-day totals for violations enforced by a single camera, according to data from the Chicago data portal.

* Sun-Times | Indicted ex-Loretto Hospital executive no longer fighting extradition to the U.S., attorney says: The former chief financial officer of Loretto Hospital who left the United States before federal grand jurors handed up two fraud indictments against him will no longer contest extradition from Serbia, where he has been held in custody since November, his lawyer told a judge Wednesday. That means Anosh Ahmed might soon return to Chicago to face criminal charges. But the news also comes as federal prosecutors here have grappled with a scandal that’s rippled through the city’s courthouse and led to the dismissal of charges against two of Ahmed’s co-defendants.

* WGN | Feds: Chicago investors scammed in $100M alleged fraud by ‘Joker’ movie producer: His film credits include producer titles in blockbuster movies including “Joker,” “House of Gucci” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife;” but now Jason Cloth has another title — alleged fraudster whose victims include people from the Chicago area. A Chicago grand jury indicted Cloth on seven counts of wire fraud. The Canadian film producer and financier is accused of defrauding clients of Chicago-area investment firm out of at least $100M.

* Sun-Times | Rep. Delia Ramirez takes medical leave during August recess to recover from surgical procedure: “That’s why I am sharing that I will be taking a several-week-long planned leave over the August recess to recover from a time-sensitive and medically required surgical procedure,” Ramirez said in a written statement. She did not disclose further details of the medical treatment. The U.S. House has been in recess since July 23 and plans to return to session on Aug. 31. Ramirez, 43, said her medical procedure will coincide with the recess, and while her offices remain closed until Aug. 3 for the recess break, they will reopen on Aug. 4.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Chicago Reader | An oasis inside the Cook County jail?: While the building wouldn’t have real oases or groves, the team promised to bring those healing, soothing properties indoors. But DLR wasn’t enlisted to design a hospital, a behavioral health center, or any other site you might typically consider restorative. Rather, the studio had been hired by Cook County officials to design a $7.1 million “enhanced visitation center” at the notoriously dangerous—and sometimes deadly—county jail. It is expected to include small and large meeting rooms, an open atrium that could be converted into a community event space, a spot for wraparound social services, a kids’ play area, and an outdoor patio. Site preparation is already underway, and the county is planning to break ground later this fall.

* Pioneer Press | Police respond to bomb threat at Endeavor Health Evanston Hospital, investigation underway: Evanston police are investigating a reported suspicious item with exposed wires found outside of Endeavor Health Evanston Hospital Tuesday evening, according to a police department news release. Police told Pioneer Press the owner of the bag in which the item was discovered has since been identified but there is no believed “active threat to the hospital or the public.”

*** Downstate ***

* Journal Courier | Waverly reviews water contract over data center concerns: The city approved hiring outside counsel through Brown, Hay & Stephens to represent the city of Waverly in discussions with Apple Creek Water Cooperative, which is expected to supply water to the CyrusOne data center. “Right now we are exploring our contract with Apple Creek and the language in it,” Samaras said. “This is related to the data center.” The data center will be constructed in Talkington Township, just a few miles from Waverly in Sangamon County.

* Illinois Times | Future uncertain for Logan County data center: Village President Theodore Allen said he would vote for the Miami-based company’s proposal to have the Logan County village of 350 people annex property set aside for the data center, then classify the agricultural land in a business zone for that purpose. But Allen told Illinois Times on July 23 that he informally polled village trustees and determined the plan would fail if called for a vote. When informed about board members’ leanings by phone, Hut 8 officials agreed to withdraw their application and focus on winning zoning approval at the county level, Allen said.

* Illinois Times | 183rd Wing to lose jet engine repair mission at Capital Airport: The U.S. Air Force is eliminating the long-standing jet engine repair mission at the Illinois Air National Guard’s 183rd Wing at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport, a move that will affect 192 positions as the military shifts away from maintaining older aircraft. The Air National Guard Readiness Center informed the Illinois National Guard earlier this year that the 183rd Wing must divest its Centralized Repair Facility mission, which maintains and repairs engines for F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft and U-2 surveillance planes. The divestiture is expected to be completed by April 1, 2027.

* Farm Progress | Costello looks to future of Illinois State Fairgrounds: One of the biggest changes? The old 4-H dormitory building that sat vacant for two decades and was condemned over 10 years ago was finally demolished earlier in the summer. Costello credited Gov. JB Pritzker with making that happen, following his tour of the fairgrounds after the 2025 state fair. “I told him, ‘This is an eyesore, and it’s unsafe. If we could take it down, the footprint is huge, and there’s a way to make that space into something that enhances the fairgrounds, produces revenue for the state and is good for everyone,’” Costello said.

* Farm Week | Early indications show Illinois State Fair weather avoiding ‘extremes’: “The latest outlooks show equal chances of above- and below-average temperatures, and a better chance of a little bit of drier weather,” said Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford during a Tuesday guest spot on the RFD Radio Network. “Right now, there’s no indication of particularly or unusually hot weather or unusually or extremely severe or wet weather.”

* WCIA | Harness racing on last legs in Central IL as fans try to bring the sport back to past glory: “The Sulkey Sisters are trying to do, like, fun, family friendly activities and draw people back into the stands,” Henderson said. “You know, giveaways and driver meet-and-greets.” Harness racing has been a staple at the Champaign County Fairgrounds for decades, but it’s not bringing the crowds it used to.

*** National ***

* Investor’s Business Daily | AI Data Center Turbines, Backlogged For Years, Are Suffering Early Deaths: The problem begins with fluctuating computational loads that gulp down energy for artificial intelligence operations, such as training machine learning models. Changes in normal grid demand tend to be gradual. […] But they are designed to run steadily for days, weeks or months at a time. And, by its nature, AI training demand comes in short-term surges. This cycling on and off appears to be sharply reducing the life of the turbines, leading to downtime and costly repairs or, worse yet, the need for new equipment as the backlog for new turbine deliveries runs to the end of the decade.