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Isabel’s morning briefing
Wednesday, Sep 16, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: ‘Broadview 6′ say Boutros’ ’significant failings’ warrant special counsel probe of ‘poisoned’ case. Sun-Times…
- At “bare minimum,” they said, answers are needed about Boutros’ recent admission that he possessed a transcript of October 2025 grand jury proceedings during which one of his prosecutors engaged in apparent misconduct. - It’s not clear how — or when — Perry will hand down a ruling, though. She could summon lawyers to her courtroom and hand it down from the bench. She might hold a hearing. Or, she might drop a written ruling on the court docket without warning. * Related stories… * Gov. JB Pritzker has no public events scheduled today. * Capitol News Illinois | ‘Illinois remembers’: State, local leaders reflect on Midway Blitz 1 year later: Gov. JB Pritzker echoed the calls for federal agents and Trump administration officials who carried out the campaign to be held to account. “Accountability means documenting what happened, listening to people who experienced it. It means refusing to allow fear, misinformation, or the passage of time to erase the truth,” Pritzker said. “Let me say this to any agent or to any administration official who thinks that we’ve forgotten about their cruelty: it will not go unchecked. It will not. Illinois remembers what happened.” * Tribune Illinois Democrats cheer Supreme Court mail-in voting order while President Trump lashes out at justices: Matt Dietrich, a spokesman for the State Board of Elections, said the Postal Service rules left officials in county clerk and election board offices confused as to whether they could meet the ballot standards with early voting set to begin on Sept. 24. With 108 election authorities in Illinois, it would have been up to each one of those government bodies to submit, without error, a list of mail-in eligible voters to the Postal Service for ballots to be delivered and collected for return. The state elections board does not keep or compile a list of eligible mail-in voters. * CBS Chicago | State agency expected to discuss possible Chicago White Sox stadium move: The state The state agency that owns the ballpark must consider what comes next for Rate Field as the White Sox explore a potential move and a major construction project threatens to reduce parking. The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority’s 2024 annual report shows nearly $460 million in outstanding stadium debt. That debt helped finance Rate Field, which opened in 1991, as well as renovations to Soldier Field in the early 2000s. agency that owns the ballpark must consider what comes next for Rate Field as the White Sox explore a potential move and a major construction project threatens to reduce parking. * Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson pitches renters’ rights compromise, opponents balk as fight continues: Johnson framed the changes as a trade-off to pass an urgently needed law and praised tenant advocacy groups for helping his team alter the legislation. “What’s best is ensuring that those families who need affordable, regulated housing have support systems in place, to make sure that we’re not doing anything as a city that’s making it harder for people to actually live in Chicago,” he said during an unrelated Tuesday news conference. * Tribune | Chicago school board president candidates field questions in televised town hall: On the campaign trail, Biggs has leaned on her community ties as a former CPS principal; Dominguez has echoed the progressive politics of CTU leadership; Henderson has sought to bill himself as an independent outsider; and Revuluri has spoken to his past experience as board vice president. Biggs is endorsed by SEIU, which represents support staff in CPS, while Dominguez is backed by CTU. Those endorsements carry significant weight because of the resources and boots-on-the-ground organizing of the district’s two largest labor unions. Much of the town hall focused on the district’s beleaguered finances. Only Dominguez has come out in support of the district’s $10.11 billion budget, which banks on $150 million in unconfirmed state funding to avert layoffs. CTU-aligned members who voted in favor argued the move is a pressure tactic to force Springfield to act and ease cuts to schools. * Sun-Times | William J. Quinlan, son of Richard J. Daley’s corporation counsel, joins crowded race for mayor: Quinlan’s father and namesake was the ultimate Chicago insider, having served as city corporation counsel under former Mayor Richard J. Daley. Quinlan followed in his father’s footsteps, spending three years as general counsel for Illinois until the arrest of now-convicted, then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. He went on to serve as an election attorney for leading Democrats, including in the 2012 reelection campaign of then-President Barack Obama, and as an attorney for fired former Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez. * Sun-Times | Who’s vying to be mayor of Chicago? Here’s a look at the roster of candidates so far: For now, 13 candidates are circulating nominating petitions in hopes of gathering the required 12,500 signatures to secure a place on the ballot. Candidates have until Oct. 26 to file their nominating petitions. * WBEZ | Design contest picks proposals that would significantly green up Chicago: In addition to bringing the city attractive new greenery, the proposed landscapes would also help absorb stormwater runoff and keep the city cooler in the summer by reducing heat islands caused by heat radiating off the pavement. “These kinds of land management and resource management and sustainability theories are not just beautification,” World Business Chicago President and CEO Phil Clement said. “And I think that’s what really won everybody over.” * Sox Machine | Frequently and infrequently asked questions about Tristan Peters’ 18-pitch walk * Tribune | Google provides a glimpse inside the renovated Thompson Center: Google gave the public on Wednesday a glimpse of its vision for the interior of a renovated James R. Thompson Center building. The building’s soaring atrium will be preserved, along with its iconic, black-and-white mosaic on the marble-clad ground floor. The internet search giant plans to eventually move several thousand employees into the Loop structure, but the public will enjoy access to a courtyard with a grand staircase, along with terraced seating surrounded by new restaurants and retail. * Crain’s | Google’s Thompson Center debut delayed to 2028: It’s unclear what caused the delay, and a spokeswoman for the company declined to share more information beyond the blog post from Vice President Mike Miller. Miller took over as Google’s Chicago site lead this summer with the retirement of longtime local leader Karen Sauder. The reset timeline means the Loop will have to wait a little longer for Google’s modernization of the Helmut Jahn-designed building to help restore regular foot traffic. Since Google’s initial announcement of its Thompson Center vision in 2022, many investors, landlords and city officials have viewed the project as a catalyst for restoring vitality the urban core has lost to pandemic-era remote work patterns. * Tribune | Forest Preserves spent extra $40 million yearly on expanded conservation, maintenance: Voters overwhelmingly gave the preserves the OK to raise property taxes by 0.025% in a 2022 referendum. While at the time it cost the average homeowner about $20 a year, it was a “watershed moment” for the district, according to a new progress report on the district’s spending since then. Because the new money was commingled with other preserve funds, it’s not possible to trace the improvements dollar for dollar, but the report puts some hard numbers on the “impressive and undeniable” benefits. Among them: $11 million spent on ecological restoration projects, buying $4 million in new “greener” vehicles and equipment, and spending $2.4 million to expand the district’s “Conservation Corps.” * Crain’s | Owners near last-second deal to hand off shuttered West Suburban, Weiss hospitals: Cook County Judge Patrick Stanton said this afternoon that after almost four and a half hours in his chambers, the parties have asked until tomorrow afternoon to iron out a deal. Stanton said the hearing will resume at 4 p.m. [today]. Stanton had said last week he would rule on receivership today, but instead worked with the landlord and Resilience lawyers to frame a different deal. * Daily Herald | Under ‘microscope’ with Bears project, Arlington Heights to keep local campaign finance rules: Ahead of local elections next April, most village board members have endorsed imposing limits on contributions to candidates for mayor and trustee, but agreed those caps — unchanged since 2018 — should increase due to inflation. Current contribution caps limit local candidates from accepting more than $1,000 from any single organization and $500 from an individual. * Evanston Round Table | District 65 to present plan to cut $20 million from budget, close at least 2 more schools: District 65 has been fending off a structural deficit for several years, and projections from the previous chief financial officer estimated that the board would need to make about $11 million in cuts over the next two years to balance the budget. Last year, the school board ultimately approved the closure of Kingsley Elementary School after a prolonged debate, which followed an earlier vote to close the Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies. Both buildings shuttered after last school year. * CBS Chicago | Cicero woman files lawsuit against Uber and driver she accuses of sexual assault: But he said despite showing police the recorded confrontation and the Uber app with the driver’s name, photo, vehicle description, license plate number and the track which showed the vehicle still moving, police didn’t go after the man right away. […] Enright also said the police investigation is letting her client down because it’s moving too slowly, despite all the evidence detectives already have. Arroyo has not yet been arrested or charged with any crime. […] As of publication of this article, Enright said police have told Jane Doe they are still waiting on results of her rape kit taken at the hospital. By state law, the crime lab has 180 days to process it once they receive it. That would mean the results may not come back until sometime in October. * Tribune | ‘We know that trust isn’t restored by a statement’: District 128 pledges reforms after teacher grooming accusations: The lawsuit, filed by a district parent, was dismissed late last month with “no objections,” according to court filings, and the district announced in an Aug. 24 letter to families and staff that it had reached a settlement agreement. […] Schaffer made pledges to “strengthen how concerns involving student safety are reported, escalated, and followed through,” including mandatory reporting training for every employee and the creation of a dedicated safety oversight position, the director of campus safety and security. * ABC Chicago | District 130 teachers, ex-custodians clash with board over school conditions after staffing change: Teachers, parents, and former custodial workers packed a District 130 school board meeting Tuesday night, raising concerns about conditions inside school buildings following the district’s decision last month to lay off its custodial workforce and switch to a new contractor. […] Teachers have raised complaints about conditions in school buildings, including reports of rodents, dead animals, and unsanitary bathrooms. New photos shared Tuesday showed what teachers said were concerning conditions they have faced over the past several weeks. * CBS Chicago | DuPage County says 2 false tornado sirens triggered by human error, faulty equipment: On Aug. 18, at 3:52 a.m., the Du-Comm technical services manager wrote to the director, “I wish I could say good morning” in regards to the dead-of-night-test, when a trainee triggered an accidental alarm “It appears the all-town test button was pressed instead of the all-town cancel, which ultimately led to a sire activation countywide,” the email reads. In another email, the head of Du-Comm wrote, “This was terrible timing…for whatever reason she hit the wrong button at 3.” The blast came just days after multiple tornado outbreaks in the Chicago area. * WCIA | Dozens of Macon Co. residents gather for data center forum: “The Broadwing Energy Center that they are proposing with a carbon capture technology, I think is a serious long-term risk to the city of Decatur,” said another resident who attended the meeting. Two Decatur City Council members set it up to get the community’s opinions on data centers and to keep in mind there was a moratorium recommended in June while the issue is studied further. But the final decision has received delays. * WAND | Once the worst bridge in Macon Co., Reas Bridge project near completion: The new bridge is expected to be completed by the first week of October. It has taken three years to complete the new bridge, with construction beginning in late 2023. The Reas Bridge project’s price tag is about $30 million. Earlier this month, the Brush College Road bridge project was completed, ending a $93 million project. * Heartland News | Southern Illinois child advocacy network unveils new name, Carbondale facility: Formerly known as the Children’s Medical and Mental Health Resource Network, the Willow Center is now open and operating at 1840 Innovation Drive. The new location broadens regional access to care specific to traumatized victims and comprehensive medical evaluations when abuse or neglect is suspected. Led by board-certified child abuse pediatrician Dr. Kathy Swafford, the center collaborates with child advocacy organizations, law enforcement, health care providers. The center also works with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to coordinate medical care specific to young victims. * WGLT | BNWRD steps in to solve Colonial Meadows water woes: The Bloomington Normal Water Reclamation District [BNWRD] will fix the longstanding bad water situation in the Colonial Meadows subdivision on the east side of Bloomington. The water reclamation district will also spend $2 million on a new exhibit at the Children’s Discovery Museum. The district board has approved borrowing up to $65 million. And BNWRD will probably raise its property tax rate to the maximum allowed. * AP | Americans are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of AI, new poll finds: The survey data say about half, 53%, of Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about artificial intelligence’s environmental impacts. That is up from 41% last year. Democrats are driving much of the increase in environmental concern, but the poll also reveals broader worries about the local impact of data centers, which power AI and cloud computing. * WGN’s Ben Bradley…
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