* ICYMI: Illinois attorney general claims victory in lawsuit against Trump administration. Capitol News Illinois…

- A federal judge in Rhode Island on Monday struck down the Trump administration’s attempt to require states to verify a person’s citizenship or lawful immigration status before allowing them to access services such as Head Start, mental health crisis programs, homeless shelters and many other programs.
- The order did not, however, prohibit the agencies from promulgating new rules if they go through the proper administrative process, including public notice and comment.
- “I am proud to have secured this legal victory protecting some of our most crucial social service programs,” Raoul said in a statement. “I will continue to oppose arbitrary and illegal actions by the Trump administration and will use all the tools at my disposal to fight unlawful orders.”

* Gov. JB Pritzker has no public events scheduled today.

BlueRoomStream.com’s coverage of today’s Illinois Supreme Court coverage can be found here.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Tribune | To fill staffing gaps, an Illinois nonprofit turns to parents already in the building: Ladders of Opportunity is a relatively new statewide nonprofit working to address Illinois’ chronic shortage of paraprofessionals. It grew out of the Parent Engagement Institute, which recruits parents to volunteer in their children’s schools. Ladders takes it a step further, moving parents with at least 100 volunteer hours and an interest in an education career into its licensure track.

* Illinois Times | County Board defends data center approval in court: The Sangamon County Board defended its April zoning approval of the county’s first hyperscale data center in court on Sept. 11, as Circuit Judge Adam Giganti set the stage for an Oct. 9 hearing about a motion to dismiss. Several Waverly residents who live approximately a mile or less from the site filed a lawsuit July 6 against Sangamon County and the County Board, seeking to overturn the county’s April 7 approval of the project. The Sangamon County Board approved a conditional permitted use for a data center to be constructed on 280 acres of farmland by a vote of 17-10, with one board member abstaining.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Chicago Crusader | Welch joins Black State House Speakers for historic discussion: Welch joined Pennsylvania Speaker JoAnna McClinton, New York Speaker Carl Heastie, and Delaware Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown for “A More Perfect Union: From Independence to Inclusion,” a landmark group discussion on the promises written into that document and the ongoing effort to fully realize those words for all Americans.

* Press release | Illinois Insurance Association Announces Bob Stefanski as New Executive Director: The Illinois Insurance Association (IIA) today announced that Bob Stefanski has been selected as its next Executive Director. “I am honored to join the Illinois Insurance Association as its next executive director,” said Stefanski. “Illinois is a great insurance state with industry-leading companies and thriving competitive markets. I look forward to collaborating with policymakers to build on those advantages for the benefit of all Illinoisans.” Stefanski will lead the association’s advocacy efforts before the Illinois General Assembly, executive branch agencies, and statewide media, while working closely with member companies to strengthen Illinois’ property and casualty insurance landscape. He noted that the work of the property and casualty insurance industry is ultimately about helping Illinoisans rebuild their lives after unexpected losses, which underscores the importance of promoting consumer understanding of insurance products and advocating for sound public policy.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson’s top lawyer will step down, UIC law professor poised to step into the job: Mary Richardson-Lowry is stepping down from her role as the city’s corporation counsel after more than three years, Johnson told WBEZ. She is the latest and one of the last remaining original appointees to leave Johnson’s administration. Richardson-Lowry, a seasoned attorney who came out of retirement to become the first Black woman to fill the role, will be replaced by Renee Hatcher, a career academic who is an assistant clinical law professor and legal clinic director at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Her appointment requires City Council approval.

* Tribune | Democratic megadonor Michael Sacks demands social media videos stop in legal letter: Sacks sent the letter Sept. 14 to Good Influence, an advertising firm that specializes in connecting clients with social media influencers who create videos. The company solicited “false, misleading and defamatory statements” that threaten to harm Sacks’ reputation, his attorney, Ed Siskel, said in the letter sent to Good Influence CEO Stuart Perelmuter and President Josh Cook.

* Sun-Times | As school board election nears, CPS parents incensed by political group at school event: CPS strictly prohibits political campaigning on school grounds. CPS’ ethics office is investigating what happened at Peirce. A spokeswoman for the Common Ground Collective said the group staffed a table and paid for the DJ at the Aug. 20 fair through its nonprofit, which is separate from the group’s two political arms. The spokeswoman also said the endorsements weren’t posted until after the Peirce Elementary event, pointing to social media posts timestamped on Aug. 24 as evidence.

* Sun-Times | Downtown Chicago hotel workers vote to authorize strike: Members of Unite Here Local 1 voted Monday night to authorize a strike; its current contract expired Aug. 31. “Tourism in Chicago is booming, all while inflation is increasing, and it’s affecting our hotel workers across the industry,” Karen Kent, president of Unite Here Local 1, said in a statement issued by the union.

* CBS Chicago | South Chicago business hopes new quantum computing campus brings growth to neighborhood: Perez’s father worked at the steel plant, and his family has watched a lot change since it closed in the early 1990s. He said he’s been waiting decades for an investment like this. “Pretty much everyone has left this area. There’s been 30 years of disinvestment. Here’s a chance where you can actually spark a new area of development with Quantum Shore,” Perez said. Malki Brown, president of the Euclid Block Club, a South Chicago community organization, said he’s also happy to see growth and hopeful to see investment as the quantum computing campus comes to the neighborhood.

* Sun-Times | Instead of driving to school, more kids are taking the ‘bike bus’: The idea is simple: Once a week, a group of kids and parents bike to school together. It’s a replacement for driving to school or taking the bus. Parents say people ride for safety in numbers, to socialize and to push back against the city’s car-centric culture.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* WGN | Evanston-Skokie School District 65 considers closing 2 schools amid $20 million budget deficit: fficials now say the district needs to make approximately $20 million in reductions in fiscal year 2028 and is considering closing two additional schools. District leaders say the longstanding structural deficit has reached a point where difficult decisions are now on the table. “We are now looking at an approximate enrollment of about 5,900 students in our district this year,” said Dr. Stacy Beardsley, Assistant Superintendent of Accountability for District 65. “That enrollment is contributed to by decreasing birth rates, it can be contributed to by the housing stock in Evanston, it can be contributed by people’s decisions where they send kids to school.”

* Evanston Now | Data center proposed in 2nd Ward: A data center has been proposed inside an industrial space in Evanston’s 2nd Ward. However, its property manager said it won’t be like the massive centers whose campuses can sometimes span hundreds or even thousands of acres.

* Beacon-News | Board chair says Kane County is in a time of ‘transition’: Kane County has gone through a “year of transition,” Pierog said at Tuesday’s event. The county is no longer experiencing the significant population growth it was in the past, Pierog said, and is seeing changes in things like its workforce and transportation systems. The changes going on in county government include the future establishment of an ethics commission, Pierog said, and Kane County’s emergency communications center, called KaneComm, beginning a structural review.

* Daily Herald | End near for two TIFs created to spark redevelopment in Vernon Hills: Village officials recently authorized actions to formally close the books on tax increment financing districts created to develop the Vernon Hills Town Center at Route 45 and the Mellody Farm center at Route 60. […] About $14.2 million remain outstanding with maturities through 2037. The village board agreed to pay the outstanding balance, saving $3 million in interest.

*** Downstate ***

* BND | ‘We have a voice, too’: Cahokia students protest looming strike with walkout: On Tuesday evening, the union spoke directly to students in a video message posted on Facebook. “First, we see you, we hear you and we are so proud of you and how you handled yourself today, and most of all, we love you,” Local 1272 President and high school English teacher Wendy Lochmann said in the video. “Teachers and staff are not asking for a strike, we’re asking for an agreement. We want a fair resolution, not a picket line.”

* WCIA | Piatt Co. Mental Health Board partnership brings resources to farming families: The board is teaming up with the Piatt County Farm Bureau and Topflight Grain Cooperative to bring these items — as well as cards containing helpful mental health resources — to families in need. These cards are informing people of local mental health, substance use disorder and developmental services resources, as well as the Mental Health Voucher program offered by the University of Illinois Extension.

* Rockford News First | PCI Pharma Services opens three more Rockford facilities: The expansion adds roughly 650 skilled positions and equips Rockford with advanced cold storage, according to officials. The new positions include line operators, project managers, and technical engineering and quality roles related to drug-device combination products.

* KWQC | Galena and U.S. Grant Museum relocates fragile historic artifacts to new home: The new location promises more parking, ADA accessibility and temperature control. The most famous piece in Monday’s move is the painting by Thomas Nast called “Peace in Union.” Tessa Flak, executive director of the Galena and Jo Daviess County Historical Society, said, “That painting came off the wall in March. It has been rolled. We are going to be moving that to the new facility today. We’re going to unroll it. Put some humidifiers on it. We’re going to do a cleaning of that. The frame has also been cleaned and repaired and by the end of this week, we are going to put those two pieces together and up on its new wall in our new home across town.”