* Sun-Times…

The Families Receiving Emergency Support for Hunger, or FRESH, program will provide support to an estimated 100,000 people in Illinois who were deemed ineligible for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, as of May 1. The state allocated $70 million for the program in the budget passed this year, with one $400 benefit allowed per household.

Congress expanded the work rules for the SNAP program to include 55- to 64-year-olds, veterans and parents whose youngest child is age 14 or older. Since those rules went into effect in Illinois, about 148,000 people have lost food assistance, according to the Illinois Department of Human Services, which administers the program and will also distribute FRESH funds.

Overall, participation in the SNAP program in Illinois declined by 16% since last summer when President Donald Trump signed into law the bill that overhauled the program.

Households eligible for the FRESH program do not have to apply, according to state officials. The funds will be distributed through LINK cards, which is how SNAP recipients receive funds to buy groceries.

*** Statehouse News ***

* NBC Chicago | Thousands of Illinois residents will receive $400 in benefits in the coming days: According to IDHS, the FRESH Program “…gives a one-time [$400] cash payment to people whose SNAP benefits were reduced or stopped because they did not meet the federal SNAP work requirement.” Previously, Illinois SNAP recipients were exempt from work requirements due to the state’s high unemployment rate, Perry explained. Come August 1, an estimated 100,000 eligible Illinois residents who recently lost food assistance benefits due to new federal regulations should see a one-time $400 deposit on their LINK cards.

* Windy City Times | ‘Celebrate what makes you different’: Why Chicagoan Mario Treto Jr. chose a life in public service: Treto was first appointed to his role in 2021 by Gov. JB Pritzker. He is perhaps best known as the first openly gay Latino cabinet member in the Illinois state government. He told Windy City Times that his background as a child of Mexican immigrants inspired him to work in politics. While growing up, it fell on him to translate doctor’s appointments and building permits to his parents, who came from, as he described, “modest means” in Mexico. He was raised in the predominantly Latino Little Village neighborhood.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | City will seek to dismiss federal complaint in shooting death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo: The city of Chicago plans to seek dismissal of a new federal complaint filed by the family of Adam Toledo, the 13-year-old boy who was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer in 2021, according to documents filed Thursday, even as the family is pushing for a January trial date. A report, filed in federal court in Chicago, offers the first look at the status of the federal civil case in the March 29, 2021 police shooting that roiled the city, after a state court case was abruptly dropped just before jury selection was about to set off a high-profile trial.

* Crain’s | Realtors’ membership could slip after Compass boosts rival trade group: There’s a new challenge for the influential Chicago-based National Association of Realtors, which has worked to retain members on the heels of a few troubled years and a struggling nationwide real estate market. The challenge comes from the giant real estate brokerage Compass, which is putting its considerable weight behind a smaller startup trade association.

* ABC Chicago | Lollapalooza gates open on day 1 in Grant Park: During the festival weekend, Lollapalooza will stream live across both Disney+ and Hulu for the first time. Livestreamed content is available across all four days of the festival weekend.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Des Plaines District 62 lost $3.2M in fraud scheme, officials say: The stolen money had been intended for a vendor but did not go to the expected recipient, District 62 officials and Des Plaines police said in a joint news release. District 62 employees committed no criminal acts, according to the release. “Based on our investigation, this is an external criminal matter,” Police Chief David Anderson said in the release. No arrests have been made, nor have charges been filed, police said. Des Plaines police and the FBI are investigating.

* Lake County News-Sun | Waukegan alderwoman appears in court on voter-fraud charges: Waukegan Ald. Sylvia Sims Bolton, 1st Ward, learned little about the charges the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office has filed against her for voting fraud at her initial court appearance Thursday, except that she must return to Lake County Court. Charged with felony mutilation of election material and the misdemeanor of disregarding the election code for casting a vote in the March 17 primary for her deceased mother, Bolton surrendered to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office after a warrant was issued.

* Shaw Local | State Sen. Hastings calls for disaster declaration for Will County communities damaged by storms: Democratic state Sen. Michael E. Hastings from Frankfort called on Gov. JB Pritzker and the state of Illinois to declare communities affected by Monday’s storms a disaster area. The storms hit eastern Will County and other south suburbs on Monday, causing widespread damage, extended power outages, fallen trees and significant cleanup efforts.

* WMTV | Dodge County sheriff expands lawsuit over Illinois woman’s ICE detention claims: Four months after filing a federal defamation lawsuit over claims an Illinois woman was secretly detained at the Dodge County Jail, Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt has expanded the case, adding another defendant and alleging a civil conspiracy. The amended complaint, filed Monday in U.S. District Court, adds Sarah Afzal, the sister of Sundas ‘Sunny’ Naqvi, as a defendant and accuses Afzal, Naqvi and Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison of conspiring to spread false claims that Naqvi was secretly detained by immigration authorities and held at the Dodge County Jail.

*** Downstate ***

* WGLT | First look shows recidivism holding steady in McLean County: A first glimpse at the new data set, which ISU sociologist Frank Beck is still being worked on, now considers 23 years of records, and showed 67% of criminal and misdemeanor convictions have not been convicted again. According to the Stevenson Center’s data, that’s 15,629 people navigating the criminal justice system with a single offense resulting in judgment.

* WSIL | SIU Establishes Center Preserving Local Black History: “We found out that everybody has all these projects that they’re doing and nobody knows what each other is doing,” Hamilton-Brehm said. “So that this is going to be an important role of the center to connect everybody.” The center’s collection includes historic newspapers documenting life in Cairo, emancipation records and the autobiography of Reverend Henry Armstead. Armstead wrote about being born into slavery, gaining his freedom and helping build churches across Southern Illinois. One of many stories the center wants to continue archiving.

* WAND | Boys and Girls Club of Decatur has critical need for $750,000 this year: The organization has a critical need of $750,000 this year and cannot provide quality after-school care without it. oys and Girls Club Board Chair Niki Fenderson said so many families depend on its services. “We try to bring in a lot of different activities to help our students experience so much more than they would get to regularly,” Fenderson said.

* Capitol City Now | Pinball has arrived downtown: Developer Chris Nickell has put some machines in the former Cafe Moxo on Adams Street and is calling the place Vault 66. He ended up teaming up with the Dumb Records guys, Brian Galecki and Jeff Black,” said Michelle Ownbey, executive editor of the Springfield Business Journal. “Of course, they’ve got an arcade there in the back of Dumb Records, and so they decided to team up on this endeavor, and Dumb Records is now staffing what is essentially a second location. For ten bucks you get a wristband, and that gets you all-access play at both locations Chris is up to something like fourteen pinball machines, and I understand he is also bringing in some arcade games. This Saturday is going to be the grand opening.”

*** National ***

* Axios | Musk plans massive push for GOP in midterms: America PAC will focus on door-knocking, digital advertising and direct mail aimed at turning out the conservative base, including voters who typically are less inclined to cast ballots in a non-presidential election year, sources with knowledge of the plans tell Axios. Musk’s representatives declined to specify exactly how much he’d spend. But given what he donated in 2024, the number is expected to be high.

* Mediaite | ABC Accuses Trump FCC of ‘Attempted Censorship’ In Fiery New Court Filing: “The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country: accommodate the Administration’s view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price,” the network wrote in the filing. ABC currently faces the potential loss of several broadcasting licenses. […] “The FCC has spent the last 18 months searching for some pretext for revoking the Stations’ licenses,” it also reads. “The Commission has found none, because the Stations easily meet the standard for license renewal—which under the law means that the Commission cannot revoke their licenses or order a hearing on their renewal applications.” Despite that, the FCC has pursued ABC “on multiple fronts.”

* CNBC | U.S. economy slowed to 1.5% growth rate in Q2; June core inflation at 3.3%: Gross domestic product, a broad measure of goods and services, increased just 1.5% for the April-through June period, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis numbers adjusted for seasonality and inflation. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a growth rate of 1.8%, following the 2.1% increase in the first quarter.