* Chicago Reader…

The Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA) took full effect in September 2023. The landmark legislation fully abolished cash bail in Illinois—the first state in the nation to do so. It also required prosecutors to petition judges when they believe someone should be detained before trial and established a three-prong test for judges to consider, along with the specific facts of each case, before granting those requests.

But a report released last month by a criminal legal reform coalition scrutinizes the individualized application of the PFA in Cook County’s Leighton Criminal Court Building. The report, titled Changing Landscapes: Community Court-Watchers’ Observations of the Second Year of Pretrial Fairness Act Implementation and released by the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice (INPJ), collated the observations of 50 court watchers who observed pretrial detention hearings over 28 days between May and June 2025.

The study claims judges ordered people to be detained ahead of trial in about three-quarters of the instances that Cook County prosecutors requested it. “It seems as though the default decision is to detain—the burden of proof seems to be on the defense rather than the prosecutor,” the report cited one court watcher as noting.

This is a higher frequency of pretrial detention than indicated by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office’s own data, which shows that, across all of May and June 2025, defendants were detained in about two-thirds of cases where prosecutors requested pretrial detention. For the entirety of 2025, the same data indicates defendants were detained in about 64 percent of cases where prosecutors requested pretrial detention.

*** Statewide News ***

* Shaw Local | Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has sent 5 million free books to Illinois kids: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has mailed its 5 millionth free book to an Illinois child, marking what the organization called a major early literacy milestone. The Imagination Library, a nonprofit formed in 1995, now serves more than 111,000 Illinois families and operates in 95 of the state’s 102 counties.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WGLT | Change could give Illinois townships more ways to help people who are financially struggling: The bill [SB 3565] would allow townships to put public aid money that they levy toward administering in-kind aid. Currently, that general assistance money can only be used to give up to $500 monthly to people in specific circumstances — chiefly those who are in between jobs or unemployed. Under the bill, a township also could use money coming from that levy to establish and administer food banks, food pantries and other programs to benefit more homeless, indigent or poor residents in need of immediate assistance. That would help those who couldn’t qualify before.

* WAND | IL Sen. Doris Turner named to Medical District Commission: The Springfield City Council named Sen. Doris Turner to the Mid-Illinois Medical District Commission Wednesday night. The district is a one-square-mile designation north of downtown. The commission is responsible for maintaining the area for the four healthcare centers in Springfield and attracting new clinics and research facilities to the area.

* Shaw Local | New Illinois law helps speed up IDOT safety reviews of dangerous Will County intersections: A newly signed state law will help get safety improvements and infrastructure work on problematic intersections on state roads in southern Will County, according to state Sen. Patrick Joyce. “When the safety decision process lacks efficiency, people get hurt,” Joyce, D-Essex, said. “I am grateful to see this legislation signed into law, especially for the Will County residents who need it most.” Senate Bill 3275 will require the Illinois Department of Transportation, in consultation with local agencies, to identify and conduct a road safety assessment of the 10 most hazardous state-controlled intersections in Will County located south of Interstate 80.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Pullman Innovations sued by city of Chicago, Illinois attorney general over odors: According to the lawsuit, the smell from Pullman Innovations’ vegetable oil plant have prompted nearby schools to cancel recess and homeowners to stay indoors with their windows shut. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency had referred the issue to the state attorney general’s office after the plant’s owners “allowed excessive odors, caused illegal air pollution, constructed a boiler without a permit that could cause or contribute to air pollution and violated certain conditions of the operating permit at its Chicago facility,” the attorney general’s office and City Hall said.

* Tribune | Fulton Market high-rise powered by geothermal could set new standard for development: “We found out Chicago is a perfect place for geothermal, but in the development world, taking that leap of faith can be difficult,” he said. “I think it’s a lack of understanding about what geothermal is.” Tapping into geothermal energy does require a significant amount of digging. Construction teams last week began drilling the first of 65 on-site wells that will reach depths of 820 feet, where the temperature is roughly 55 degrees year-round. Once completed, pumps will circulate water through miles of piping, helping heat the building on cold winter days and cooling it off during summer heat waves.

* Sun-Times | John Damore, oldest living former Chicago Bears player, has died at 92: Mr. Damore grew up in Riverside and remembered wearing a Bears jersey as a 9-year-old, long before he’d wear the team’s colors as an offensive lineman in 1957 and 1959. An ankle injury prompted him to retire in 1959. But Mr. Damore’s love for the Bears only deepened. In an interview last year with the Chicago Sun-Times, he spoke of spending every game day on his bedroom recliner, with an unlit cigar in hand and his eyes glued to the Bears on TV.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Feds threatened Sheriff Tom Dart with criminal charges over access to jail for immigration enforcement: Federal authorities sent Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart subpoenas for inmates wanted for civil immigration enforcement along with letters that threatened criminal charges if the office didn’t turn over the individuals, according to the sheriff’s office. The New York Times was the first to report on the existence of the letters, which appear to be the Trump administration’s latest tactic to try to gain access to jails in sanctuary jurisdictions. The Times reported that letters were also sent to Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt, who called it a “scare tactic.”

* Tribune | Portillo’s lays off 18% of corporate employees at Oak Brook headquarters amid sluggish same-store sales: “While never an easy decision, it is imperative that we examine areas of the business where we can operate more efficiently and ensure our resources and future investments are directed at the right priorities,” Brett Patterson, Portillo’s CEO, said in a news release. “These actions, along with other efficiencies, will support our long-term growth strategy.” The layoffs included an undisclosed number of employees at the Portillo’s corporate headquarters along with “a limited number of field management roles,” but no restaurant-level employees were impacted, the company said.

*** Downstate ***

* Illinois Times | Springfield Police Department launches interactive dashboards to share crime, policing data: One of the new dashboards displays statistics involving gunshot victims in a variety of ways, including the number of fatalities. The dashboard shows a surprising detail – that there were six gunshot victims citywide in 2026 as of Aug. 3. It’s more than halfway through the year, and 2026’s total compares with 43 in all of 2025, 43 in 2024, 31 in 2023, 33 in 2022 and 69 in 2021.

* WGLT | Surgical safety invention dreamed up by OSF nurses is coming to Bloomington-Normal soon: “Some devices, you need to tell the patient to bring a tool to turn it off for the day of surgery,” she said. “So if we have a patient living three hours away, and they aren’t told that — you can only imagine how frustrated a patient would be if they got there and they could not have their surgery.”

* WCIA | Macon Co. Fair seeking $80K for major renovations: 2026 marks 170 years of the Macon County Fair, with 70 of those in their current location. Nearly $80,000 is needed for structural repairs to the bleachers, the 4H building and restrooms. The fair’s president said gutters across the campus are one of the many things that need to be fixed.

* WCIA | Agrivoltaic research at the University of Illinois: Agrivoltaics is not a well-known term. It describes agricultural production — both crops and livestock — in combination with solar panels that generate electricity. One of the primary researchers is crop scientist emeritus Bruce Branham. Stu Ellis met him for his latest segment From the Farm.

* BND | Watermelon Festival, District Night bring summer fun to downtown O’Fallon: The Downtown District will host its third District Night of the summer from 5 to 9 p.m. with two O’Fallon-based bands playing on separate stages for the concert series. The Scott Keller Band will be on the main stage and Thursday’s Hazy, a rock band, on the second stage. Jon Greenstreet, who is on the Merchants Committee, said the District Nights have continued to draw festive crowds downtown once a month for the past three years. He points to a combination of good food, good music and neighborly folks getting a chance to catch up and enjoy a summer evening.

*** National ***

* 404 Media | Cities Are Ditching Flock, Immediately Replacing It With Axon License Plate Readers: The switch to Axon, which is not yet widespread but appears to be increasing as people oppose Flock, signals what might come next for the nationwide conversation around ALPR cameras: instead of doing away with the cameras entirely — which 404 Media has linked to ICE, the tracking of a woman who self-administered an abortion, and rampant abuse by cops stalking their exes — some cities may enter contracts with another company which has faced less scrutiny and backlash.