* The Block…

Two cryptocurrency industry groups representing a slew of digital asset firms are escalating their legal fight in Illinois over its controversial crypto tax.

On Wednesday in a Circuit Court in Sangamon County in Illinois, the Blockchain Association and the Crypto Council for Innovation filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop Illinois from enforcing its new tax legislation before it takes effect in January.

Over the summer, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law the Digital Asset Tax Act as part of the state’s fiscal year 2027 budget planning. The law imposes a 0.2% tax on digital asset transactions and is scheduled to go into effect in January 2027. Crypto industry groups like BA and CCI were quick to criticize the new tax, and by August, both groups and The Digital Chamber had sued Illinois over it.

In its 34-page motion, CCI and BA say the new tax would be unprecedented and that it is causing “irreparable harm” to its members.

* From the motion…

Illinois should be enjoined from implementing this unprecedented and flawed tax before it goes into effect in January. The Act is imposing serious and irreparable harm on Plaintiffs and their members. Plaintiffs’ members—innovative digital-asset firms—are incurring millions of dol- lars in costs to develop new systems to comply with the Act before it takes effect. And even if they are able to comply once the Act goes into effect, they will lose business as their customers shift their activities to untaxed assets. To prevent those irreparable harms and preserve the status quo, this Court should grant a preliminary injunction barring Illinois from enforcing the Act.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Capitol News Illinois | These 61 organizations will receive $3.5M in Illinois local food grants: The grants from the Department of Agriculture are part of a three-year-old program aimed at making it easier for local farmers to process and distribute food locally. In total, 61 organizations received grants, 16 of them in Cook County and the other 45 distributed among 34 other counties. “These awards will help farmers, food businesses, and community partners expand their capacity and reach new markets,” Illinois Department of Agriculture Director Jerry Costello II said in a statement. “When we invest in local food infrastructure, we are creating economic opportunity for businesses while ensuring Illinois residents have greater access to fresh, locally grown foods.”

* Sun-Times | State bill would make gunmakers pay if their weapons are recovered in shootings: Gun violence costs the state about $20 billion annually, according to estimates based on data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That figure includes direct costs like emergency services, medical care, law enforcement resources and funeral expenses. It also includes indirect costs like mental health treatment, loss of income and childcare. The Responsibility in Firearms Legislation Act, a bill coming before the Illinois General Assembly, would require gunmakers to contribute to a state fund that would help offset the costs shouldered by taxpayers and the individuals directly affected by a shooting.

* Press Release | Illinois Supreme Court seeks applicants for first state public defender: The Illinois Supreme Court invites applications from individuals interested in serving as the initial Illinois State Public Defender, a new chief executive role overseeing an independent agency within the Judicial Branch. In this role, the selected individual will be the State’s leading advocate for Illinois’ public defenders and for the constitutional rights of people charged with offenses and represented by Illinois’ public defense system. The State Public Defender will also establish policies, practices, resources, and reforms necessary to ensure effective and meaningful representation of defendants across Illinois. Applications will be accepted beginning today, Wednesday, September 9, 2026. The deadline for submission is Friday, October 9, 2026. Submitted applications will be reviewed prior to selecting finalists, after which the Illinois Supreme Court will appoint an initial State Public Defender for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2027.

*** Chicago ***

* WTTW | Number of Unhoused Chicagoans Dropped 12% in 2026 But Remains Near All-Time High, Survey Found: However, approximately 1,641 Chicagoans were completely unsheltered on the city’s streets at the time of the survey, an increase of nearly 25% from the 2025 survey, according to the results.

* Crain’s | Landlord groups pan concessions in Johnson’s latest renter protection ordinance: A new version of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed renter protection ordinance has exempted certain small building owners from some of its most contentious provisions, but the concessions aren’t winning over real estate groups. The updated language of the Protecting Renters Ordinance exempts owner-occupied buildings with six units or fewer from provisions in the legislation that require landlords to provide just cause for evictions and to pay thousands of dollars in relocation assistance to tenants whose leases aren’t renewed for reasons other than failing to pay rent or other violations.

* Illinois Answers Project | Dozens of Chinatown residents, businesses face uncertainty as landlord’s empire crumbles: An analysis of court filings and property records by Chinatown Spotlight and the Illinois Answers Project found that Chen has borrowed money against his properties repeatedly, allegedly overstated his rental income to secure financing, and defaulted on loans totaling at least $119 million. His tenants have complained of property management problems and uncertainty over their leases as foreclosure proceedings are underway.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | ‘Something special’: The Grove at Bloomingdale takes big step with announcement of five new restaurants: Bloomingdale has announced the first five new restaurants that will anchor the $375 million mixed-use redevelopment project on the site of the former Stratford Square Mall. Suburban favorites GIA MIA and Hacienda Real will be joined by a yet-to-be-named contemporary Greek restaurant from Chicago-based Forte Hospitality Group and a pair of Boston imports — Game On! and Loretta’s Last Call.

* Daily Herald | District 214 offering behind-the-scenes tours before $295 million referendum: Northwest Suburban High School District 214 will host a series of behind-the-scenes public tours of its aging school buildings ahead of a $295 million referendum in November that will seek voter approval for renovations. The tours of the six school campuses begin next week and continue through late October, in the lead-up to the Arlington Heights-based district’s first referendum in 55 years.

*** Downstate ***

* Heartland News | American Airlines set to begin service in Marion, Ill. on Sept. 9: It was a busy day for folks on Tuesday at the Veterans Airport as Contour Airlines took its final flight out of Marion before American Airlines takes over with nonstop service to Chicago on September 9. The transition has been underway all day with new signage going up and Contour equipment already headed out on semi-trailers. And while the airline may be changing, American Airlines officials say that nearly all of Contour’s employees in Marion were hired and are now a part of the American Airlines team.

* Illinois Times | Mental Health Board faces forks in the road: Kelly Hurst, who served as managing director of the commission, addressed the Mental Health Board at its Aug. 26 meeting and expressed her concerns with how things were starting off. One example she gave was its 3 p.m. meeting time, which she said is at “a highly inconvenient time of day and that you actually could do a whole lot more with the community.” Hurst also expressed concerns to Illinois Times over the board’s early decision-making, contending “this Mental Health Board shouldn’t have to discover from scratch that compliance is not community or that procedure isn’t trust.

* NPR Illinois | NIU fall 2026 enrollment down 1.7% from last year; 17% over past decade: An NIU release says it’s one of the largest freshman classes they’ve had over the past decade. This fall the university welcomed 2,301 new freshmen and 1,403 new transfer students. NIU says the incoming freshmen class has the highest high school GPA on record at 3.43. More than half of new freshmen are also first-generation college students.

* NPR Illinois | Overall enrollment down at UIS, freshman students increase: The University of Illinois Springfield saw enrollment drop from a year ago, but there was some positive news. The fall semester count stands at 4,008 students, compared with 4,364 in fall 2025, a decline of 356 students. Campus officials said the result was due to fewer international graduate students enrolled. UIS also saw the number of international students go down in 2025 after the Trump Administration implemented stricter visa guidelines.

* Press release | Illinois welcomes its largest freshman class ever in another record enrollment year: Freshman enrollment increased to 9,332, compared to 9,207 last year, which brought total student enrollment — undergraduate, graduate and online students — to 61,060 students, eclipsing the 61,000-mark for the first time in university history.

* WCIA | Tolono Girl Scouts create new ‘Pawblic Library,’ provide free resources for pets: A group of girl scouts in Tolono are the masterminds behind the new “Pawblic Library.” Girl Scout troops 2452 and 2119 said they knew there was a need to help animals, and since they were working toward their bronze award, this was the perfect project. All of their materials were donated to them. One scout said they completed this construction in six hours, all on their own.

*** National ***

* Bloomberg | ABA repeals diversity standards for law schools amid pressure from Trump administration: In the wake of pressure from the Trump administration, the American Bar Association has repealed the diversity standards it required for accredited law schools to remain eligible for federal recognition. The move comes as the ABA’s role as an accreditor of law schools is under attack from the Department of Education, part of the Trump administration’s offensive against the legal industry group it views as biased. The ABA been forced to slash hundreds of jobs over the past year and a half as it faces a multi-pronged assault from conservatives.

* 404 Media | A Secretive DHS ‘Predictive Policing’ Unit is Analyzing Americans’ Financial Habits and Pulling Them Over: The DHS document obtained by 404 Media shows that Border Patrol is analyzing the financial activity of Americans to find people to pull over. The Associated Press’s investigation found the predictive policing program is also heavily using ALPRs to track potential targets’ movements. It is not clear how exactly Border Patrol is monitoring Americans’ financial activity. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) declined to answer what financial activity the agency was monitoring, and whether it obtained a warrant or not. […] Border Patrol’s predictive policing program has led to innocent people being pulled over and questioned. In the case of Alek Schott, who was pulled over on Interstate 35 by a Bexar County sheriff’s deputy in 2022, authorities claimed he had drifted between lanes and then tore apart his vehicle. They found nothing, according to the Institute for Justice, which represented Schott.