* ICYMI: Pritzker pushing for data center legislation in fall veto session. Crain’s…

- “In November, there’s going to be a session of the General Assembly, and in that session they’ll be considering the Power Act,” Pritzker said yesterday.
- The governor says a legislative working group has been meeting for months to come up with a proposal, though it’s not yet clear what will be included in the legislation.
-The bill Pritzker envisions “would require that these data centers bring with them, first of all, dollars to both invest in energy and the source of energy, hopefully clean energy, to power them. And of course, we want them to bring their own closed-loop water systems, so they’re not taking away from and increasing the cost of water for people who live in the area.“

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

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | ‘Broadview Six’ prosecutor ‘owns’ mistakes in tainted case, says she was following orders: Sheri Mecklenburg announced her retirement in a 16-page court filing from her attorneys, who insisted she followed the instructions of U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros’ front office “at every turn” as she sought to bring the case against six Operation Midway Blitz protesters.

* Capitol News Illinois | The 2026 Capitol News Illinois Election Guide: While most can vote at their local election authority’s office, the rules are different in Chicago, where early voting begins on Sept. 24 at two downtown locations, a supersite at 137 S. State St. and the Board of Elections Office at 69 W. Washington St. Voting will be available at more locations beginning Oct. 19.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WNIJ | Bishop wants fresh look at allegations involving representative for Illinois’ 76th district: Former Legislative Inspector General Michael McCuskey announced his resignation after House Republicans questioned how his office handled harassment complaints. “In the case of Laura Jackson’s complaints, the system failed Laura,” Bishop told WNIJ. “She did all the right things. She went to all the right people. She had all the right information. Nobody listened.”

* David Greising | We need statewide solutions to the poor oversight at Illinois’ county jails :
People held in Illinois’ 90 county jails are virtually all presumed innocent. A few are held after conviction on minor offenses, too. Some have violated parole; others are accused of violent crimes. Many have mental health issues or drug addiction. As a society, we are obligated to keep them safe and healthy. They are entitled to humane treatment and protective observation. With that in mind, consider these troubling revelations from a multipart series published last week by the Better Government Association’s Illinois Answers Project. It details a record of epic mismanagement that ranges from shoddy recordkeeping to inhumane treatment of people behind bars. Some are matters of life and death.

* Dr. Disha Narang | Gov. JB Pritzker’s honesty about GLP-1s is good medicine for Illinois: Unfortunately, Illinois Medicaid does not cover obesity medicines, putting some of the most effective treatments available out of reach for nearly 3 million Illinois residents who also deserve equitable care. This matters in a state where 69% of adults are living with obesity or are overweight. A GlobalData analysis estimates obesity contributes to 23,000 premature deaths in Illinois each year and costs state and local government $2.6 billion annually.

* Windy City Times | Christian Mitchell talks about Gov. Pritzker, Ulysses S. Grant and the fight for marriage equality:” The lieutenant governor also runs a Rural Affairs Council and a committee on military construction. Going to all 102 counties—if I can do so in my first term—would be a goal. I plan to focus on economic development; there’s a Main Street program that we partner on with our Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. I want to reinvigorate downtowns in Belleville, Alton and Centralia but also the South Side of Chicago. So having walkable communities with really great businesses that put people to work is something I’ll care about. Economic development is also tied in, I think, with higher education. How do we continue to make higher ed more affordable and educate people for the jobs of the future?”

* The Daily Illini | Illinois State Sen. Paul Faraci talks Project Success, data centers with Illini Dems: Project Success, formally SB3080, is a bill Faraci proposed to the Illinois Senate in January. The bill would create a pilot program of the original Project Success, initiated by the former Gov. Jim Edgar. The project aims to improve child and family well-being by providing community services and resources to those in need, according to Faraci. “What we want Project Success to do is, under one umbrella, as a wraparound service, be able to identify those families and those kids who need the help … and bring those resources to them,” Faraci said.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Civic Committee’s answer for city’s financial woes — less borrowing, rein in spending, shrink the payroll: On Thursday, the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club, one of Chicago’s most influential business groups, weighed in with a 66-page report it called “Chicago’s Fiscal Future: A Roadmap to Reform.” It includes dozens of recommendations to rein in spending, shrink a city payroll that ballooned during the pandemic and wean the city off its historic addiction to borrowing money and using other one-time revenues to avoid making politically unpopular choices.

* ABC Chicago | Chicago parking meter sale agreement advances after Finance Committee approval: A negotiated agreement tied to the sale of Chicago’s parking meter system cleared the City Council’s Finance Committee on Thursday, advancing a proposal supporters said would return money to taxpayers while critics argued it only marginally improves a deal long viewed as unfavorable to the city. The city’s 2008 agreement to lease its parking meters to a private company has frequently been criticized, but the contract requires City Council approval for any future sale of the asset.

* Crain’s | Johnson is making Michael Sacks a symbol of billionaire power. Jewish leaders see a dangerous trope: Again and again, Johnson portrayed the coming election as a struggle between working-class Chicagoans and wealthy interests seeking to reclaim power at City Hall. And he gave those interests a face: billionaire businessman and civic leader Michael Sacks, whom Johnson linked to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the influential pro-Israel organization known as AIPAC. The choice was striking. Sacks isn’t running for mayor. AIPAC’s political operation is focused on federal elections, not Chicago municipal races. Yet Johnson invoked both while leaving his actual opponents largely unnamed.

* Sun-Times | It’s now nearly impossible to get asylum in Chicago immigration court: In Chicago, the asylum approval rate is just 3.3% so far this year; last year it was 14.6%. The national average dropped to 2.1%, down from 8.8%, according to a Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ analysis of immigration court court data. Asylum is historically a hard-won way to stay in the United States, requiring evidence of persecution back home that specifically targets protected groups of people, such as political dissidents or ethnic minorities. Escaping general dire conditions such as poverty, violence or a failing government was never sufficient to win asylum protection.

* Tribune | Cubs and White Sox enter season’s final weekend with playoff foes in flux: Their next three games will determine whom and where they will play the best-of-three National League wild-card series as the Cubs wrap up their season against the Red Sox. How many games of their final series take place at Fenway Park is still to be determined because of a concerning nor’easter forecast to hit Boston this weekend.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Naperville Sun | DuPage County suspends early voting due to technical problems: DuPage County officials halted early voting Thursday morning after experiencing technical problems. Voting in the county is expected to resume Friday. Adam Johnson, chief deputy clerk for the county clerk, said the voter registration database was not pulling up the correct dates of birth for some voters. Instead, it used the individual’s registration dates. In addition, an issue caused a candidate for the Kane County Regional Office of Education, which covers part of western DuPage, to be excluded from ballots. The candidate’s filing petition was challenged. But the challenge was denied, and the person’s name was allowed to appear on ballots.

* Daily Herald | Pace passengers can lose themselves in a book thanks to Dolly Parton tribute: Parton, who died Aug. 25, contributed millions of dollars toward promoting literacy, including her popular Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program, which provides free books to children. Pace plans to launch the lending libraries at major bus stations located at Barrington Road, Bolingbrook, Elgin, Harvey, the Northwest Transportation Center in Schaumburg and Plainfield.

* Daily Southtown | Cook County proposes fix for Vollmer Road viaduct plagued by truck crashes: The Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways has proposed a project to increase the clearance at the Vollmer Road viaduct under the Canadian National tracks in Olympia Fields, which for decades has been plagued by collisions and jams caused by over-height trucks. The clearance on the viaduct is 11 feet, 9 inches, substantially less than the maximum legal height for vehicles in Illinois, which is 13 feet, 6 inches, meaning many semitrailers are more than a foot too tall to fit under the viaduct.

* Daily Herald | ‘I miss the racetrack’: Five years after Arlington Park’s final race, regulars recall its legacy: Friday marks five years since the final turn at Arlington Park, the storied thoroughbred horse racetrack that operated for 94 years and became Illinois’ grand racing palace. Alan Henry — a retired newspaper journalist, accomplished author, former horse owner, longtime Arlington box holder and one-time Illinois Racing Board commissioner — remembers it this way: “It was families picnicking on the grass at the top of the stretch, and office parties going full tilt in the tents. It was folks marveling at the flowers, and the massive cantilever roof, and the expansive European-style paddock. It was the bowling club high-fiving in the winner’s circle as the horse they recently claimed won its first race, and dads standing at the rail with their two-year-old on their shoulders cheering on their pick, and couples posing for pictures in front of the statue of John Henry and The Bart, and still looking like The Bart won the world’s first million dollar race.”

*** Downstate ***

* BND | Smithfield Foods plant faced safety fines before worker death: Smithfield Foods’ Monmouth plant had been fined twice in the past year by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration for violating federal regulations prior to a man being found dead earlier this month at the facility. Records from OSHA indicate that the Smithfield plant had incurred over $15,000 in fines for exposing employees to carbon dioxide in May 2025 and amputation hazards in February. Patou Mpinda, 44, was found dead Sept. 14 by a maintenance crew following a workplace accident.

* WCIA | Developer renovating apartments on Urbana’s Philo Road says mission is to add more affordable housing: The developer said these apartments are located in the Philo Road corridor. Prior tenants are accused of causing costly issues inside multiple units, like putting holes in the walls, getting graffiti on the walls and damaging flooring. Now, new floors are going in, appliances are being updated and new cabinets are being added.

* WCIA | Danville school board passes budget for 2026-27 school year: The board voted 5-1-1 in favor the budget. Reggie Warfield abstained from voting due to a conflict of interest with working cash bonds and his employment. Christopher Easton voted “no” due to the potential borrowing of money through these working cash bonds and believing there are other ways to cut from the budget.

* WAND | Construction begins on Sangamon County Public Health building: Three organizations are moving into the space: the Veterans Commission, the Lincoln Land Workforce Alliance and the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The renovation will add 6,000 ft2 to the building. “I am just absolutely super excited about that,” said John Ridley, director of public health. “I hope, for the eastern part of the city, that it really is a beacon and our constituents here are proud of it and celebrate that with us and use the facility for all the things that we have here.”

* WGLT | Student success, AI readiness among top priorities in ISU president’s State of the University address: Tarhule said ISU must focus on improving its student retention rate (81%) and six-year graduation rate (nearing 68%). “I’m extremely proud of our student-success numbers,” he said. “But I think we can do more. Because if we flip the equation and look at the number of students we lose, every year we lose close to 800 students who drop out of Illinois State. Students that we don’t retain. That’s a big number.

* WCBU | Bradley University touts new student growth as total enrollment slips: New student enrollment is on the rise at Bradley University, although overall enrollment has fallen just below 4,000 for the first time in at least 36 years. The university’s annual student census for the fall semester showed 1,160 new students for the new academic year, including a 36% increase in first-year students.

*** National ***

* The Intercept | Flock Wants the Most Detailed Map of Its Surveillance Cameras Taken Offline: But a new map published Wednesday by a cybersecurity researcher reveals Flock’s nationwide reach is even bigger. Based on location coordinates from Flock’s own database, the map shows more than 170,000 cameras, plus more than 130,000 accompanying gadgets that play a part in the company’s expansive American surveillance network. Joshua Michael’s Flock Surveillance Map highlights the locations of what he says are 300,000 Flock surveillance devices spread across the country. His findings — which were cited in Wednesday’s Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism hearing on Flock — differ from existing maps of Flock’s automated license plate readers in scope and methodology.

* AP | Just 40 days out from midterms, election officials say new US cyber plan comes too late: The nation’s cybersecurity agency on Thursday released an election infrastructure security plan 40 days before November’s midterms, laying out potential threats to election systems and listing services it would offer to election officials to protect the vote. Election officials said the plan is both inadequate and belated after the administration gutted the agency’s election security work last year, prompting the officials to pay for private services to ensure they were prepared for the upcoming elections.

* Gallup | Socialism’s Positive Rating Tops 40% for First Time: Forty-three percent of Americans now have a positive view of socialism, marking the first time this figure has exceeded 39% in Gallup’s trend since 2010. Socialism still trails capitalism and free enterprise in public favorability but now ranks ahead of big business. Small business remains the clear leader among the five economic concepts tested, with 95% viewing it positively.