* Sun-Times…

One of four remaining candidates for Chicago School Board president is suspending his campaign, saying he’s come to the conclusion that he cannot compete with the special interest groups pouring money into the election.

Sendhil Revuluri’s name will still be on the Nov. 3 ballot, but he said Tuesday that he’s “not willing to spend either an irresponsible amount of my own money or spend more of others’ time, money and energy trying to keep up when these other groups have leaned into messaging that’s completely unrelated to student success, but is backed by a lot of resources.” […]

Revuluri is the second presidential candidate to drop out. The remaining candidates are current school board member Jessica Biggs, former Chicago Teachers Union deputy political director Hilario Dominguez and prominent defense attorney Victor Henderson. […]

Revuluri said he is not endorsing any of the remaining candidates.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Gov. JB Pritzker | March Us Toward the Summit, Not the Chasm: Especially if the federal government fails to act, Illinois needs to be prepared for the danger that AI poses to our economy, our safety, and our critical infrastructure. This AI cabinet will help bring expertise, build critical state capacity, and improve coordination to handle those threats. From industry to academia to government, we are bringing together an expert team to help us handle this potentially generation-defining issue with the seriousness it deserves.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Split, stalled and stonewalled: CPD oversight body beset with division over follow-up to Operation Midway Blitz: But as Chicagoans took stock of Midway Blitz and considered the possibility that federal agents could eventually return to Chicago in force, the commission’s president resisted using the full scope of the body’s power to take Snelling to task on how his officers had handled themselves during the federal incursion. Commissioners’ attempts to get information from CPD were met with bureaucratic replies that offered almost no new insight into the department’s handling of encounters with federal agents, records show.

* Sun-Times | Arts group seeks $15 million boost in cultural grants from city: The statewide arts advocacy group Arts Alliance Illinois is calling on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to boost cultural funding in the next budget. In an open letter to the mayor, the group says it wants the city to increase the grantmaking budget at the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, which gives funding directly to artists and arts organizations, by $15 million.

* Sun-Times | CPS cancels multiple football games after referees strike over nonpayment: Chicago Public Schools has canceled multiple freshman and junior varsity football games this week after football referees went on strike due to not being paid for several weeks. “Varsity [football] games are in jeopardy,” official Breyion Hutchinson told the Sun-Times on Wednesday. “If the officials are not paid today they will not work tomorrow.”

* Tribune | City Colleges of Chicago faculty and staff to announce strike date: The Cook County College Teachers Union Local 1600 will picket outside Harold Washington College and announce a strike date before City College’s board of trustees meets on Thursday, just over two months after its contract with the schools expired. The union has been negotiating with City Colleges since February and is still “far from reaching an agreement,” according to a Tuesday news release. Last week, 96% or 1,388 of the union’s eligible faculty and staff voted to authorize a strike against City Colleges of Chicago, with a 91% turnout. Contracts for faculty and professional staff expired on July 15.

* Tribune | Morningstar to move global headquarters to the Thompson Center: Morningstar’s decision gives another boost to the long-anticipated revival of the former state office building, where Google plans to locate thousands of employees by 2028. “It’s an iconic building and an iconic symbol of Chicago,” Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor said. “We are a homegrown company and what better way to announce a decision to keep growing in our city?”

* Block Club | Chicago Mariachi Band’s National Anthem At Bears Game ‘Monumental’ For Genre: “It’s an exciting response to see, but it’s even more of a moment for mariachi music in general,” said Maldonado, who is also the band’s manager and producer. Mariachi Herencia de Mexico played a special musical arrangement of the national anthem inspired by musician Arturo Sandoval for Monday night’s Bears game. The artists proudly wore elegant blue mariachi suits paired with bows in the team’s colors and a Bears logo.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* ABC Chicago | 3 accused of misusing Ford Heights village funds arraigned Wednesday: Three of 11 people connected to the Village of Ford Heights accused of taking taxpayer money and using it on vacation, casinos and hotels were arraigned Wednesday. One was delayed until Thursday and seven others given until November 19 to secure counsel. Among those delayed until November 19 are former Mayor Annie Coulter, who served between (2017 and 2021) and current Village Clerk Nyree Ford

* Press release | 55+ organizations call on Cook County to freeze law enforcement spending to protect social services: The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice and more than 55 community, faith, policy, and service-providing organizations sent a letter to the Cook County Board of Commissioners calling on them to protect funding for essential services like violence prevention, behavioral health, and community investment to reduce intra-community violence. With the County facing a $550 million budget shortfall, we believe the best way for the county to protect these critical services is by freezing law enforcement spending, which is already far above the levels set when there were many more people in jail and many more criminal cases being processed by our court system.

* Aurora Beacon News | Officials say Aurora faces over $9 million projected deficit: ‘We can’t cut our way out of this’: Facing a projected $9 million to $10 million deficit in Aurora’s general fund for 2027, city officials expect tough decisions ahead, according to a town hall budget presentation Saturday. But unlike last year, when the city passed a budget with controversial staffing cuts to public safety departments, Aurora Mayor John Laesch said the city can’t “cut its way out” this year. Laesch said the city is looking for other revenue streams and while it’s not ideal, property tax increases are not off the table.

* Evanston Roundtable | Evanston Transit Alliance mobilizes residents as city updates bike plan for the first time since 2014: Now, for the first time in more than a decade, the City of Evanston is conducting a bike plan update. Sarah FioRito, the city’s transportation and mobility coordinator, said the update comes after significant changes over the past decade, including the growing popularity of micromobility and cycling in the region. She added that the existing 2014 plan contains “lots of useful information,” including ideas that have yet to be implemented.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | ‘It’s baffling to me’: County board officials weigh in on proposed data center for Mahomet: After a data center was proposed to the Village of Mahomet earlier this week, Champaign County board officials say they want answers about what the process will look like and how the village plans to move forward. “It is scary,” said Champaign County Board Vice Chair Emily Rodriguez. “I’m a Champaign County resident, too. I’ll experience the effects of this just along with everyone else.”

* WAND | Champaign County seeks more election judges for general election: Champaign County said it does not have enough election judges to staff the 64 polling locations for this year’s general election season. They currently have 148 judges but need a minimum of 270. With the number of judges who are trained and committed at this time, the county would only be able to have 37 polling locations, 27 fewer than needed for Election Day, the county said.

*** National ***

* NYT | How Meta Uses A.I. Data Centers to Avoid Billions in Federal Taxes: But when Meta files its taxes, it tells the Internal Revenue Service a different story. It claims that its A.I. data centers are a giant experiment that could fail, according to four people with knowledge of the company’s operations. It does this so it can tap into a tax credit intended for research and experimentation. It’s an aggressive interpretation of the tax break, which Meta embraced to claim billions of dollars in tax credits for data center expansion.

* The Atlantic | The Great Data-Center Rebellion: I found the proceedings both mind-numbing and inspiring. The seriousness of purpose, the attention to detail, the stamina required to talk and listen—all of it moved me more than it seemed to impress anyone involved. Clintonians Against Data Centers still felt patronized and ignored. Perhaps the council came away exasperated with the NIMBYs and gadflies who were making the process such an ordeal. (Later, the mayor admitted to me, “We’re learning that there’s probably more ways that we can communicate with the citizens.”) In all likelihood, this small populist uprising will not achieve its goal; a hyperscale data center will come to Clinton, Iowa, amid widespread unhappiness and damaged friendships; and AI will continue to roll over the fields of the republic.

* ABC | TSA says officers must stand, chairs banned at airport checkpoints nationwide: The union representing TSA workers is pushing back on the chair ban, saying they were not consulted before the decision was made and that “these chairs serve as basic ergonomic and safety support for officers that stand and walk on hard surfaces all day. TSA is treating this matter like it is a privilege it is not; it is basic safety and common decency for the workforce.”