* ICYMI: Mayor Johnson turns up heat on Springfield to deliver $150M in funding built into CPS budget. Sun-Times…

- Mayor Brandon Johnson vowed Tuesday to do “anything and everything necessary” to keep Chicago Public Schools afloat, but claimed it’s past time for the Illinois General Assembly to deliver on its commitment to fully fund public schools.
- “The state of Illinois cannot be OK with the bare minimum when people are starving across this city,” Johnson said. “We need our state partners to continue to rise to the occasion. That’s what working people demand. … They made a commitment to fully fund our schools. That just has to happen.”
- Johnson was asked whether he believes it was legal for the Chicago Board of Education to approve a budget based on $435 million in “uncommitted funds.” He avoided answering the question, saying only that the part-elected, part-appointed Board of Education has “gone through their full process to ensure that we’re protecting the classroom

* Gov. JB Pritzker has no public events scheduled today.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Pritzker signs bills allowing state to review insurance rate hikes: The new laws, which take effect July 1, 2027, prohibit companies from charging “excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory” rates and prohibit them from shifting the cost of losses in other states onto Illinois consumers. The new laws come a little more than a year after Illinois-based State Farm announced it was raising homeowners insurance rates an average 27.2% statewide. They also come two years after Illinois motorists saw an average 18% hike in their auto rates, according to Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias.

* WTTW | Chicago Sees Lowest Homicide Total For Any July in Decades: There were 37 homicides in the city last month, the lowest total for any such month dating back to at least 1970. That total is down 18% compared to July 2025 — a year that ended with Chicago’s lowest homicide total in 60 years — and is less than half the totals of July 2020 and 2021, which each saw more than 100 killings. Over the past decade prior to 2026, Chicago has averaged more than 71 homicides in July, per CPD data.

*** Data Center News ***

* CBS Chicago | Data center water use projected to grow from 17 billion to 72 billion gallons by 2028: The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago says treated wastewater from its Calumet plant could be redirected to data centers — potentially reducing how much drinking water those facilities consume each day. The Calumet Water Reclamation Plant processes an average of 350 million gallons of water daily, treating sewage, rainwater and wastewater before releasing it into the Little Calumet River. John Murray, who leads the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, said that treated water could instead be put to industrial use.

* Pantagraph | Logan County committee reevaluates data center moratorium: The moratorium, as presented, would be imposed on applications, building permits, zoning amendments, special use requests, and site plans tied to data centers exceeding 100 megawatts. “Any (developer) could apply to build a large scale data center in Logan County,” board member Hannah Fitzpatrick said on Monday. “We have no protections in place, so why wouldn’t we put a moratorium in place until we can finalize data centers?”

* WGLT | DeKalb and Aurora are flush with data center cash. They differ in how to spend it: Since the Meta Data Center has operated in DeKalb, it has accumulated $72 million in additional property tax revenue for the city 100 miles north of Bloomington-Normal, according to City Manager Bill Nicklas. He said that money has been “transformational.” “The economic impact has been beyond our wildest dreams,” he said. “In the first four years, the total tax benefit in direct dollars, actual dollars to our taxing bodies, has been around $72 million.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* 21st Show | What the Illinois House speaker knew about a colleague’s harassment allegations — and when: Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch is facing criticism for his handling of sexual harassment allegations against a fellow Democrat. That’s Harry Benton, a state representative who has now resigned. But a victim disputes official accounts — and some of the speaker’s colleagues say he should have done more. Two journalists, who cover state government and politics, discuss the questions being raised.

* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson praises Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch’s ‘maturation’ amid Harry Benton scandal: “Watching his maturation has been just a remarkable testament to what’s possible in this country, to serve as first Black Speaker of the House,” Johnson said of Welch when pressed by reporters about the controversy during a news conference. “I trust that the speaker is going to do what’s right for his constituents and the state of Illinois.” Johnson’s comments came just days after Welch told the mayor’s allies at the Chicago Teachers Union that he would “lead” efforts to provide additional state funding to avoid layoffs and cuts at Chicago Public Schools — a politically dubious pledge that was also seen as the speaker’s attempt to shore up support from a highly political progressive group amid criticism over the Benton case.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Chicago grocers are severely affected by reductions to SNAP: ‘We need to bail out this industry’: At Fresh Market Place, 25% of the customer base relies on SNAP. “The big guys are a little different, but we literally run on penny margins sometimes. And when that much of your clientele is relying on a government resource to come in and shop … we feel it deeply,” Drossos said. Before the bill was signed last year, adults aged 18 to 54 were required to work, volunteer or enlist in a training program for 20 hours a week, totaling 80 hours a month, while anyone living in a household with a dependent child under age 18 was exempt. Now, those requirements apply to adults 18 to 64 who don’t have dependents under the age of 14.

* Sun-Times | Chicago foundation doubles down on Black-led organizations amid DEI rollbacks: Grand Victoria Foundation launched a rebrand Tuesday — changing its name to A Movement Advancing Repair and Abundance, or AMARA — that centers investment in Black-led organizations and those with missions that promote racial justice. Despite the new name, AMARA President Sharon Bush said the work is the same. “We’ve been funding this work probably since 2021,” she said. One year after the racial reckoning catalyzed by George Floyd’s murder, AMARA commenced a study to identify 81 municipalities across Illinois that had a population of at least 30% Black residents. Bush said the 2021 study allowed the foundation to “learn where people are, so we can figure out how to best focus our efforts.”

* Sun-Times | Dumpsters full of books showed up outside former Acero schools. Parents and teachers worked to salvage them: The online posts about the dumpsters drew the ire of parents who accused Chicago Public Schools of wasting school supplies at a time when inflation has pushed up costs for families and the district is asking the state for more money to stave off classroom cuts. CPS officials say the materials were supposed to be recycled or donated and were not meant for the trash.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | 15 more Chicago campuses join Sustainable Community Schools program: Chicago Public Schools will open 15 more Sustainable Community Schools this upcoming school year, meaning roughly 10% of district schools will receive extra funding to partner with nonprofit organizations and provide wraparound support for students and families. Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the expansion Monday morning at Malcolm X College, where he was joined by allied Chicago Board of Education members, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, and several educators whose schools are part of the program or are joining this year.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | ‘This is bush league stuff’: Hoffman Estates mayor seeks return to civility after chaotic ending to board meeting: “I think we have to crack down on this profanity and interrupting people,” he added. “This is bush league stuff. If you want to make an argument, make an argument. Don’t act like a 2-year-old kid.” What began as a protest and appeal to Hoffman Estates officials to take a more proactive stance against any U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in the village spun into chaos after one speaker was ejected from Monday’s village board meeting by not giving up the microphone during public comment.

* Crain’s | Portillo’s taps Olive Garden exec as CFO in leadership reboot: Portillo’s has named Kevin Kalicak, a longtime executive at national restaurants operator Darden Restaurants, as its next chief financial officer and treasurer, the latest step in new CEO Brett Patterson’s leadership rebuild. The appointment comes six months after Oak Brook-based Portillo’s hired Patterson as CEO following the departure of longtime chief executive Michael Osanloo amid slowing performance, a reset of the company’s expansion strategy and pressure from an activist investor.

* Daily Herald | South Barrington looking at creating special taxing district to improve old Allstate headquarters site: As a redevelopment plan for Allstate’s former headquarters in South Barrington comes together, village officials are taking steps to create a special taxing district that would help fund improvements there. The proposed tax increment financing district would raise cash for new infrastructure and other upgrades at the site, which is near the southeast corner of Higgins and Bartlett roads. It also would help bankroll improvements at the neighboring South Barrington Office Center, which is just west of where Higgins and the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway cross, officials said.

* Daily Southtown | Dolton changes curfew to 9 p.m., adds penalty to prevent teen takeovers: Dolton’s previously set curfew hours for all minors from 11 p.m. through 6 a.m. from Sunday through Thursday, and from midnight through 6 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, according to the ordinance. The new curfew, as of Monday, prevents children under 18 from being without adult supervision from 9 p.m. through 6 a.m. every day, including weekends. The village also added a penalty for violations, with fines for each offense ranging from $250 to $2,500. […] Mayor Jason House thanked Chapman and other officers for their efforts to restore order following teen takeovers. He said the curfew adjustment and added penalty for violations will provide police with “another mechanism during teen takeovers and help to weed out undesirable individuals from the community.”

*** Downstate ***

* WGLT | Hauman quits Bloomington Election Commission after McLean County GOP complaint: Hauman told WGLT the complaints were “unfounded,” but she did not wish to incur legal costs to contest the petition. She said she also did not want to distract commission staff as the fall election approaches. “[To be] Perfectly blunt: The Republicans are mad that there’s two Democrats. First time in 112 years that there have been two Democrats and one Republican as commissioners,” said Hauman. “I feel like with two Democrats, it was really looking more like our community, which is moving in that direction.”

* BND | City of Belleville’s new economic development director resigns abruptly: Austin Albert, who was hired in March and started working on April 1, resigned on July 13, according to Human Resources Director Bill Clay. He was on the job less than four months. “I don’t know that there was a specific reason,” Meyer said Monday. “It just wasn’t a good fit. So he chose to resign.” Albert resigned after a meeting with Meyer in her office at City Hall. She declined to give further details on a personnel matter, except to confirm that the resignation was effective immediately.

* Daily Egyptian | Choate employees, local officials rally against layoffs and service cuts: “Shame on IDHS,” Ona “Tina” Rivero Winfield, president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 141 told the crowd. “They sent us the memo — but where are they now?” AFSCME — the union that represents the majority of Choate staff — organized Tuesday’s rally to condemn the decision from IDHS, asking that it be reversed.

* WGLT | Music community mourns loss of Twin City producer Erik Nelson: Erik Nelson was the owner and chief engineer at Eclipse Studios at 404 Northtown Road in Normal. The Grammy-nominated songwriter, producer and engineer’s catalog spans a wide variety of genres, ranging from pop, rock and soul, to R&B, alternative, indie folk/Americana and hip hop. Nelson died Sunday at age 57 after a battle with cancer.

* SJ-R | Ambulance for substance abuse, mental health disorders nears ready: A new unit at the Springfield Fire Department will assist people with substance abuse disorders, mental health disorders and behavioral health crises. Dubbed “Rescue One”, the ambulance is estimated to take to the streets in coming months.

* WCBU | Taking a look at Caterpillar’s $10M pledge to bolster Illinois’ manufacturing workforce: The Illinois workforce initiative extends across multiple communities where Caterpillar has an existing manufacturing footprint, including East Peoria, Mapleton and Morton in the Tri-County region, as well as Pontiac and Decatur. “We’re really looking to help more people look at careers in manufacturing and skills trade,” said Asha Varghese, Caterpillar’s head of corporate social responsibility.

*** National ***

* NYT | Uber’s Strategy for Fighting Sexual Assault Suits: ‘What Were You Wearing?’: More than 4,000 lawsuits have been filed, so many that thousands were combined to streamline procedural matters. Most remain in the early stages. The New York Times reviewed documents from the three cases that reached trial and about a dozen others that have advanced to the stage when the parties start exchanging documents and conducting depositions. The litigation has revealed a clear pattern: Uber’s lawyers scour women’s private communications, medical records, therapy notes and other sources for sensitive details, including other sexual assaults, childhood abuse and domestic violence. They grill the women about those issues, their sex lives and their behavior on the night of the incident.