* Good news for Belvidere. Crain’s…

Stellantis says it will build its next-generation vehicle platform in Belvidere, starting with the Jeep Cherokee. […]

Stellantis also said today it will increase its investment in Belvidere from $600 million to $800 million. The company already has spent $60 million preparing to upgrade the plant.

The company says it will begin pilot production of the next-generation Cherokee in the first half of 2028, with retail production to follow in 2029.

The company said it expects to have two shifts working at the plant but didn’t specify a job total. When it announced plans last year to bring Cherokee production back to the plant as part of a broader $13 billion investment in the U.S., Stellantis estimated it would employ 3,300 workers in Belvidere.

Gov. JB Pritzker…

“Today’s announcement builds on Stellantis’ commitment to bring thousands of good-paying jobs back to Belvidere and represents another major vote of confidence in Illinois workers and the future of Illinois manufacturing. By increasing its investment to more than $800 million and selecting Belvidere to launch its new STLA One platform in the United States, Stellantis is positioning Illinois at the center of its next generation of automotive innovation.

“For several years, the State of Illinois has been working closely with Stellantis and local partners like the United Auto Workers (UAW) to ensure this investment translates into long-term opportunities for Illinoisans, supports vibrant communities, and bolsters the state’s manufacturing industry. When we partner with job creators who invest in our people, we’re strengthening Illinois’ position as a national leader in innovation, economic growth, and high-quality manufacturing.

“The next-generation Jeep Cherokee will carry forward a proud Illinois manufacturing legacy while creating new opportunities for workers, families, and communities in Belvidere and across the Rockford region.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* Press release | Illinois Housing Development Authority Releases Plan to Create and Preserve Affordable Housing: The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) has published its 2027-2028 Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP), which establishes the rules and criteria governing Illinois’ Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, the state’s primary tool for financing the creation and preservation of affordable housing. The new QAP is part of Governor Pritzker’s broader housing strategy to address Illinois’ housing from multiple facets: maximizing limited federal resources for affordable housing while also supporting the conditions needed for more homes of all types to be built in communities across the state. Together, these efforts advance the goal of ensuring every Illinoisan has access to safe, stable, and affordable housing.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Trial lawyer Victor Henderson makes his case for Chicago school board president: Victor Henderson, a longtime white-collar civil litigation attorney, points to his time on the board of Urban Prep Academies. The troubled charter school network was on the brink of closure in 2023 amid allegations of financial mismanagement and sexual misconduct. But Henderson said he saw another side to Urban Prep, which serves Black boys at two high schools on the South Side. One student, he recalls, told him his school “saved his life.” He stood alongside other Black business and civic leaders at a press conference calling on City Hall to step in.

* Sun-Times | Chicago’s Austin neighborhood was christened ‘Soul City.’ It’s still waiting for its landmark: Since 2020, residents of Chicago’s Austin neighborhood have been waiting for the city to erect a gateway arch at the entrance of its Soul City Corridor, the stretch of Chicago Avenue from Austin Boulevard to Cicero Avenue. They were thrilled when an artist, Bernard Williams, was selected and renderings were drawn up. And last year, Illinois designated a larger segment of Austin as Soul City, one of 15 official cultural districts in the state, paving the way for $200,000 in additional monies to boost the neighborhood. But the gateway construction has stalled, leaving the burgeoning development of Black business, arts and culture unidentifiable to those driving from the west suburbs into the city. The delay over a single symbol illustrates how bureaucratic the process to create a cultural district in Illinois can be.

* Block Club | What’s Going On With Harold’s Chicken? Your Questions (Mostly) Answered: “We are asking that you do not support these locations because we cannot ensure that the quality will be the same, since they are not authorized. We would hate for your supporters to spend their hard-earned money and not receive the authentic Harold’s Chicken experience our family has worked so hard to protect,” the statement read. The statement mentioned nine locations, including one in Zion, Illinois. Yet, on Instagram, the owners of the yet-to-open Zion location disputed Harold’s claim, insisting it is “an ‘authorized’ retailer.”

* Tribune | Obama Presidential Center digital library access across the US was unintentional, CPL says: People around the country similarly tried to access what was erroneously referred to online as “free library cards.” At the same time, Chicagoans hunted for physical library cards with renderings of the Obama center. However, the Chicago Public Library did not intend for people to register across state lines on Libby, Patrick Molloy, director of government and public affairs at the Chicago Public Library, wrote in an email to the Tribune. He also wrote there wasn’t actually a digital library card, and people were referring to a small collection of e-books and audiobooks.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Oak Park Journal | As planned, OPRF draws down cash reserves in new budget: The tentative budget for the 2027 fiscal year, ending June 30, 2027, that was unveiled at the Aug. 6 meeting of the Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 Board of Education projects an operating surplus of a little more than $900,000 but when all funds, including capital expenditures for construction are taken into account, a total net deficit of nearly $7.5 million. The school’s overall cash reserve is projected to decline to approximately $38 million from the approximately $45.5 million cash on hand as of June 30 of this year. That decline in the school’s cash balance is expected since OPRF has been spending down its once abundant reserves by using $44.2 million in cash reserves to help pay for the nearly completed mostly new physical education wing in the southeast corner of the building called Project 2.

* Lake County News-Sun | Grant program teaches Waukegan-area small businesses to thrive: ‘We learn a lot from each other’: Thompson is one of 17 participants in the Lake County Community Foundation’s Small Business Growth Initiative from May 18 through Sept. 21, educating entrepreneurs with businesses in Waukegan, North Chicago and Zion. Courtney Combs, the Lake County Community Foundation’s director of strategy and community impact, said the program is operated in partnership with the Chicago-based Allies for Community Business.

* Daily Herald | ‘Almost a finished building’: Buffalo Grove’s new fire station nearly ready for unveiling: “We’re going to see a more modern facility, something that’s way better for our firefighters, better for their health, better for their welfare, as well as better for response times,” Kane said. With the old building, there were areas where, during winter, when the wind hit the right way, it felt like being in a wind tunnel, officials said.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Kane County now looking to plant elm tree initially meant for America’s 250th celebration at Judicial Center: America’s 250th anniversary festivities have come and gone, but Kane County is still mulling over what it will do with an elm tree and plaque from the local Daughters of the American Revolution that had initially been central to the county’s plans for celebrating the country’s semiquincentennial. After plans to plant the tree outside the Geneva courthouse were shot down, the county is now looking at a new location, this time outside of the Kane County Judicial Center in St. Charles. The county initially accepted a historical marker and “Liberty Tree” from the Elias Kent Kane Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, meant to celebrate the United States’ 250th birthday, in November.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | DACC Adult Education program will lose funding, end operations: State and federal grant funding for the Danville Area Community College’s Adult Education program has been eliminated, and the 60-year program will cease operations at the end of next month. This comes after an investigation into discrepancies in both money and test scores within the program. DACC conducted an internal investigation, officials said in April, and then notified the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB). The ICCB investigated, and officials announced on Thursday the decision to eliminate the college’s funding. The same day, the ICCB released its report from the May 27 Monitoring On-Site Review.

* WGLT | McLean County communities and governments are reducing carbon emission levels: The nonprofit Ecology Action Center [EAC] in Normal has released its third study of greenhouse gas emissions in McLean County, finding those emissions have decreased over the last decade. EAC used 2022 as its data year for the most recent publication, which said the county decreased greenhouse gas emissions by about 10% since 2008, the study’s first year. A second publication measured levels in 2015 in the county.

*** National ***

* Unraveled | Chicago ICE team seen threatening drivers has roamed from Illinois to Minnesota to Virginia: Unraveled has verified the agents in Molina’s videos were far from their usual base of operations. The team has been recorded inflicting violence on immigrants, protesters, and observers in the Chicago area since last summer, including outside the region’s ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois that became the epicenter of anti-deportation protests during Operation Midway Blitz last autumn. Members of the same team were also recorded intimidating and threatening drivers in the Twin Cities in mid-January—in the brief period after federal agents killed Renée Good, and before U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents killed 37-year old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti.