* Crain’s…

Against a backdrop of escalating political and trade tensions between Canada and the United States, Canada’s minister of industry traveled to Chicago for a major manufacturing technology trade show at McCormick Place and to meet with Gov. JB Pritzker and various Chicago companies. […]

Canada is the state’s largest foreign trade partner. Illinois companies exported nearly $20 billion in goods to Canada, predominantly chemicals and machinery, in 2024 while importing $64 billion, mostly oil and gas. Illinois refineries process tar sands from Alberta. The state’s nuclear plants also use uranium from Canada.

“All companies are impacted by geopolitics and trade weaponization,” Melanie Joly, minister of industry, said after meeting with Pritzker, who has been a vocal critic of President Trump’s tariffs.

She declined to provide specific details of their conversation other than to say it touched on “how can we stand together to protect jobs and reduce the costs on people.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* Illinois Times | Local surgeon inspires prescription accessibility law: Whitehurst, a surgeon at SIU Medicine, said Illinois’s past decision to require providers to prescribe medication electronically led to some unintended consequences. “The state passed an electronic prescribing law several years ago… what we’ve seen in practice with this is a lot of inconvenience that adds stress to the patients and to the practitioners,” Whitehurst said. “In the old days, you would go with your paper script (and) if they didn’t have it, the script was in your hand, you just went wherever. The patient didn’t have to try to track down the doctor.”

* USA Today | Her Black dad couldn’t go on a Capitol trip. She could be a US senator: Henry W. Wiggins Jr. wanted to attend his Clearfield High School trip, alongside the class of 1951, to visit the U.S. Capitol in Washington. But he was not allowed, as Stratton tells it, due to an era of segregation practices. Wiggins, then a young Black man, was unable to sleep in the same hotel or eat in the same restaurants as his classmates. “It’s not lost on me. First of all, I’m not talking about my great-grandfather,” Stratton, 61, told USA TODAY. “I’m not even talking about my grandfather. I’m talking about my dad.”

* Chicago News Weekly | Christian Mitchell: The Quest for the Second Seat: As a judge advocate, Mitchell has provided legal assistance to Guard members, including preparing wills and trusts for those facing deployment. The experience reinforced his belief that people who disagree politically can still be required to trust one another when called to serve. “When I go to the National Guard, a whole bunch of people, I’m quite sure, are not voting for me and don’t vote Democratic, and we still work together,” he said. “We get each other’s backs, and if we’ve got to go overseas and go downrange, we are going to make sure that flag on our shoulder is more important than any differences that we may have.”

*** Chicago ***

* Fox Chicago | Why the Chicago River Swim hits close to home for Bears legend Charles ‘Peanut’ Tillman: The city is jumping into the Chicago River Swim on Friday to benefit ALS research, but for long-time Chicago Bears player Charles “Peanut” Tillman the event means a little more this year.

* Cook County Record | CTU wins court fight over formerly missing financial audit reports: A Cook County judge will allow the politically powerful Chicago Teachers Union end a lawsuit accusing them of violating their members’ rights by refusing to provide access to financial audits, allegedly in breach of the union’s own governing rules. On Sept. 11, Cook County Circuit Judge David B. Atkins ruled he had no choice under the law and controlling legal precedent but to accept the CTU’s assertions that the union’s decision to post only summaries of the audits is in keeping with CTU bylaws requiring the union to publish “audited reports” for members concerning its finances.

* Block Club | Your Guide To Devon Avenue: Where To Eat, Shop And Spend The Day: “Throughout it all, Devon was always a great place for immigrant families to start their lives,” said Faraz Sardharia, who grew up along Devon. “Because they had resources available, all within distance, and our community available, all within distance.” Sardharia is of both Pakistani and Indian descent. He used to ride his bike to his father’s restaurant, Lal Qila, after school as an 11-year-old, attracted to it by his interest in the kitchen. Devon, and his father’s kitchen, is where he learned some of the culinary skills that he now serves in his restaurants almost 30 years later.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Block Club | ICE Says It Can’t Find Its Own Records Of Teargassing And Arresting Broadview Protesters: But after “searching” for almost a year, ICE somehow couldn’t find any other reports on the incidents in Broadview on Sept. 19, 2025. No reports on its “hard techniques” or other uses of force. No reports on the arrests by its agents, or the alleged “assaults” against them. No memos or communications with Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, DHS or other federal agencies that have, through lawsuits and other FOIAs, produced lots of records about the violence that day.

* Pioneer Press | Oak Park OKs tiered water rate hike to dismay of Park District: The Oak Park Village Board approved a new five year water and sewer rate structure that will increase water bills in a tiered system where larger water consumers will end up paying a higher rate. Out of the three alternatives that were presented, the approved rate structure is divided into two tiers billed depending on how much water was used in a quarter. Those who use up to 10,000 gallons of water quarterly will see a 2% increase in their water bills over the next five years, while consumers who use 10,000 gallons and up will see bills increase by about 6.5% annually over five years.

* Sun-Times | Cook County Crime Stoppers could slow operations if funding not secured by new year: He has also submitted multiple grant applications, including to the Cook County Judicial Advisory Council, in an effort to secure funding. “When you see a flyer for a missing person or fatal hit-and-run with a reward up to $1,000, that money is coming out of my pocket,” Rutherford said. “Consistent funding is the goal.” […] “I will receive emails from detectives, I’m getting follow-up calls from families of victims, and it’s just it’s taking a toll,” Rutherford said. “I’ve been put on notice already that I need to focus on my job because that’s what I’m being paid for.”

* Cook County Record | Insurer: Henyard on her own vs lawsuit over Thornton Township meeting brawl: An insurance company is asking a judge to rule Thornton Township’s scandal-plagued former supervisor Tiffany Henyard, or her boyfriend and another former township employee, are on their own in defending against a lawsuit brought by two men demanding Henyard and her associates pay for their roles in an all-out brawl with critics during a regular township board meeting. On Sept. 3, RSUI Indemnity Company filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court, seeking an order declaring the insurer has no obligation to defend or cover neither of Henyard; her boyfriend and former Thornton Township employee, Kamal Woods; nor former township employee William Moore.

* CBS Chicago | Plainfield man breaks 11-year Illinois record with 2,492.5 pound pumpkin: The pumpkin also took the title for the heaviest pumpkin weighed in the United States during the 2026 Great Pumpkin Commonwealth season. While Groenewold said he can’t pinpoint just one factor that contributed to his pumpkin’s success, he did say the right seed, while adding nutrients to the soil, and up to 80 gallons of water per day, helped.

*** Downstate ***

* WSIU | Southern Illinois local governments oppose Choate closure: Local governments across Southern Illinois are formally opposing the state’s plan to cut mental health and disability services at the Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center — and to eliminate hundreds of union jobs at the facility. In recent weeks, the Union County Board, the Anna and Vienna city councils, and the Cobden and Dongola village boards have all approved resolutions urging the Illinois Department of Human Services to reverse its decision to significantly downsize Choate.

* WCIA | Mahomet-Seymour teachers’ union votes ‘overwhelmingly’ to authorize strike: The Mahomet-Seymour School District is even closer to shutting down amidst a labor dispute after the teacher’s union authorized a strike Thursday night. Cam Zindars, a spokesperson for the Mahomet-Seymour Education Association (MSEA), said the union “voted overwhelmingly” to authorize a strike. It comes just days after the school board presented its final offer to teachers, which they rejected.

* WJBD | Sandoval latest to ban Kratom and other synthetic or novel substances: The Sandoval Village Board is the latest to ban Kratom both in its natural and synthetic form. The ordinance also bans several other synthetic and novel substances from sale and distribution for recreational use in the community. The action comes a month after two village residents came before the board to explain how items sold at a local business had harmed their son, leaving him with disabilities. Mayor Mike Gelsinger says there will be exceptions for prescriptions for the use of the natural Kratom.