Pritzker asked to respond to several recent news stories
Thursday, Sep 4, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Tribune…
Um, he can’t legally “order” soldiers to disobey a federal order. * Pritzker was asked about that story today…
* Crain’s…
* Pritzker was asked about that as well…
* Sun-Times…
* From the presser…
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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Thursday, Sep 4, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Tribune…
* The US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is asking to take part in oral arguments against Illinois’ assault weapons ban…
* WGLT…
* Mexican Independence Day parade organizers have said they’ll be taking additional precautions this weekend amid the threat of immigration raids. Governor JB Pritzker…
* Daily Herald | Rojo drops out of House 52nd Dem race, endorses Chan Ding: Jesse Rojo, U.S. Army veteran and policy advocate, announced Wednesday he’s exiting the Democratic primary race for state Rep. Martin McLaughlin’s 52nd District seat, endorsing recently reelected Barrington Area Unit District 220 school board member Erin Chan Ding. Rojo’s withdrawal leaves Chan Ding and Maria Peterson, vice chair of the Lake County Zoning Board of Appeals, as the two remaining Democratic candidates. “The decision to end my campaign was not an easy one,” said Rojo, who recently ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Barrington village board. “I came to realize that now is simply not the right time for me to run. My focus must remain on my professional obligations and, most importantly, on my family.” * Crain’s | Immigration crackdown deals a blow to Chicago’s Latino business corridors: Since President Donald Trump started his second term in January, his immigration enforcement orders have been a different story. They have contributed to a grim first: The store’s sales are down 20% this year, says Mike Moreno Jr., 34, who runs the business with his parents. “It was said, and we said, the liquor industry was recession-proof,” Moreno says. But this is a perfect storm, he adds, citing concerns over high-profile immigration enforcement, inflation, tariffs and worries that a recession looms. * Tribune | Facing fiscal cliff, CTA will hold September town halls on budget: During the town halls, the CTA said, agency leaders will discuss the funding situation and CTA riders will have the opportunity to weigh in. The CTA said it would release its budget plans next month. The Chicago region’s transit agencies face a budget deficit in the hundreds of millions of dollars next year as federal pandemic aid runs out. The CTA was previously expected to run out of money some months before Metra and suburban bus agency Pace. * Daily Herald | Youth prison worker accused of sexually-oriented official misconduct: A worker at the state youth detention center in St. Charles has been accused of official misconduct over allegations she had sexually-oriented interactions with a teenage detainee. Bryana E. Phelan, 31, of the 1500 block of West 80th Street in Chicago, faces 15 felony counts, according to a news release from the Kane County state’s attorney’s office. […] The complaint accuses Phelan of having multiple phone conversations with a 17-year-old boy and driving him around the facility in a state vehicle for personal reasons. * Aurora Beacon News | Aurora fiber network nearly $1 million in debt, Mayor John Laesch says: During a presentation at a City Council Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday, Laesch said the organization is currently operating at a $27,000 monthly deficit and has the resources to make it roughly to the end of the month. He has replaced the organization’s executive director, Charles Baker, with a volunteer as a cost-saving measure, and has made other cuts, he said at the meeting. Baker told The Beacon-News that he believes his firing was unlawful and unjust. He and other former leadership at OnLight Aurora say this is an overreach by Laesch, and that he is doing this to go after those associated with the previous administration, which the current mayor has heavily criticized. * Illinois Times | Trump’s trans ban affects Chatham resident: Dahl, 22, a Chatham resident and the daughter of Dave and Corrina Dahl, enlisted in the Illinois Army National Guard in late 2020 to help pay for college. The Glenwood High School graduate and cinema major beginning her junior year at Southern Illinois University Carbondale went through basic training in June 2021 and is a specialist in the East St. Louis-based 1844th Transportation Company, for which she serves as a part-time truck driver. She began coming out as a transgender woman in 2022 and started her medical transition in January of this year. Dahl filed for voluntary separation from the military to meet a July 6 deadline set by the Trump administration. That way, she can receive an honorable discharge, call herself a veteran and maintain some benefits rather than be removed from the military. Her service with the National Guard was originally supposed to extend until December 2026. * NPR Illinois | SIU Carbondale enrollment holds steady while Edwardsville campus sees an increase: SIU Carbondale reports overall enrollment on the 10th day of class for fall 2025 remained nearly flat at 11,785 – only five fewer students than last year – which saw a record percentage enrollment growth. This figure reflects increases among several demographics, including new students from the Southern Illinois region (6%), new students from states bordering Illinois (16%) and online students (23% growth overall, 161% in graduate programs). * STL PR | Bucking national trend, SIUE reports increased fall semester enrollment: A total of 12,813 students are enrolled at SIUE, which accounts for a 7.7% increase since last fall, according to university figures released on Wednesday. “The numbers tell us that the value proposition of a high quality, affordable college degree still has meaning for students,” said SIUE Chancellor James Minor in a statement. “We now have the extraordinary opportunity to serve them.” * WCIA | ADM worker files lawsuit, claims company responsible for 2023 explosion: Just weeks before the two-year anniversary of the event, Ogilvie and Shay filed suit against ADM, saying the company had ignored federal safety regulations concerning hazardous materials, leading to the blast. […] “ADM used hexane gas in a device called an extractor, located within the East Plant, to process flaked soybeans into a mixture of oil and hexane called miscella,” Williams wrote. “On the date of the explosion, ADM then conducted further processes to recapture most of the hexane from the miscella mixture in order to reuse said hexane gas in its cyclical soybean oil extraction process.” * WCIA | Champaign church changing security policies: Some Catholic churches in Central Illinois are changing their security policies after a shooting at a school mass in Minneapolis last week killed two children and hurt 21 others. St. Matthew’s Roman Catholic Church in Champaign is locking its doors during weekend mass services, after already locking school mass doors for years. “I said you know what, you don’t know when it’s going to be your turn,” Pastor Father John Zilimu said. * PJ Star | Constant crisis or signs of hope? Longtime Peoria nonprofit PCCEO at a crossroads: Denise Moore had been warned during her interview to be the next CEO of the Peoria Citizens Committee for Economic Opportunity that the state of the nonprofit was bad. The reality of the organization, as she said she would quickly come to learn, was “so much worse.” Moore resigned from her role as CEO of the PCCEO on Aug. 26, citing a family health crisis and disfunction at the longtime Peoria agency. She spoke with the Journal Star and offered perhaps the deepest account yet of the steep troubles plaguing an organization that has spent multiple years in a state of disarray. * WCIA | Champaign’s Black Dog donates food to soup kitchen after fire: As the restaurant moved food they already prepared to their Urbana location, they decided to donate the rest to the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen, where it made a big difference. “All of our main entree today, is from Black Dog. And if that goes all the way and we think it will, it will feed somewhere up in excess of 400 people,” soup kitchen cook Tom Scott said. * Bloomberg | Trump Sued Over Washington National Guard Troop Deployment: The city contends that the mobilization of more than 2,200 troops since mid-August violates US laws meant to bar the US military from carrying out domestic law enforcement activities — a dynamic that DC officials described as an involuntary occupation. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Thursday, also alleges Trump illegally called in National Guard units from other states. * Frank Cerabino | DeSantis betrayed Florida’s chemtrail conspiracy theorists by feeding into it: Twisting the benign common appearance of water vapor trails from aircraft into a nefarious weather modification plot used to be the sole province of America’s fringiest crackpots. People such as Alex Jones at Infowars have been claiming for years that Americans are under air attack from secret forces who poison the skies. Now, those fringe views have taken center stage in Florida, thanks to Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-led legislature. * NBC | In rare interviews, federal judges criticize Supreme Court’s handling of Trump cases: Some judges believe the Supreme Court, and in particular Chief Justice John Roberts, could be doing more to defend the integrity of their work as President Donald Trump and his allies harshly criticize those who rule against him and as violent threats against judges are on the rise. […] Ten of the 12 judges who spoke to NBC News said the Supreme Court should better explain those rulings, noting that the terse decisions leave lower court judges with little guidance for how to proceed. But they also have a new and concerning effect, the judges said, validating the Trump administration’s criticisms. A short rebuttal from the Supreme Court, they argue, makes it seem like they did shoddy work and are biased against Trump. * The Guardian | Texas bill allowing residents to sue out-of-state abortion pill providers reaches governor: If the measure becomes law, it is nearly certain to spark legal challenges from abortion rights supporters. Under the measure, Texas residents could sue those who manufacture, transport or provide abortion-inducing drugs to anyone in Texas for up to $100,000. Women who receive the pills for their own use would not be liable. Under the bill, providers could be ordered to pay $100,000. But only the pregnant woman, the man who impregnated her or other close relatives could collect the entire amount. Anyone else who sued could receive only $10,000, with the remaining $90,000 going to charity.
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Madigan files appeal in bid to remain out of prison
Thursday, Sep 4, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Sun-Times federal courts reporter…
* From Madigan’s appeal…
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What Illinois Can Learn From Texas On Battery Energy Storage
Thursday, Sep 4, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] As Illinois confronts skyrocketing electric bills, legislators are on the hunt for solutions that provide relief as quickly as possible. Battery energy storage is our best and most cost-effective solution. But last session— without evidence —opponents attempted to claim that battery energy storage wouldn’t work. Try telling that to Texas, where the rapid deployment of battery storage has already prevented blackouts and saved consumers billions. Called “Ground Zero for the US Battery Boom” by Bloomberg, Texas added enough storage in 2023 to power 3 million homes and drop grid emergency risk during peak hours from 16% to less than 1%. The result? Storage saved consumers an estimated $750 billion in 2024. Texas has proven that storage is the quickest, cheapest, most reliable way to get consumers relief from skyrocketing, demand-induced price spikes. Storage is a nimble way to address growing populations, power-hungry data centers, and meet other electrification-related power needs. These are benefits Texas saw from storage even as the state reduced its gas generation capacity by 166 MW last year. Illinois lawmakers should follow Texas’s lead and pass SB40 this fall to deploy 6GW of energy storage by 2035. Click here for more information.
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Caption contest!
Thursday, Sep 4, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * The Sun-Times accidentally posted a link to my newspaper column this morning on its homepage under the name and photo of Sen. Lakesia Collins… ![]() I laughed so hard. And Sen. Collins got a kick out of it, too. I told her I hope she wins a Pulitzker Prize. …Adding… They just fixed it.
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Competition Works: Lower Bills. Reliable Power. Say NO To Right Of First Refusal
Thursday, Sep 4, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Illinois families are sweating through heat and higher electricity bills this summer. Across the Midwest, some relief from energy inflation is in the forecast. Thanks to competitive bidding, dramatically lower costs have resulted compared to no-bid Right of First Refusal (ROFR) proposals. Here’s the proof:
Fairport to Denny Transmission Line (MISO – Missouri)
Reid EHV to IN/KY Border Transmission Project (MISO)
• Delivered long-term cost savings
Matheson–Redbud Transmission Line (SPP – Oklahoma)
• Provided a superior engineering solution compared to other proposals In many cases, incumbent utilities won these bids, proving that when they compete with other qualified builders, consumers win. It saves money and drives better results. ![]() Competition Works. Legislators should choose competition and protect Illinois families.
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Catching up with the congressionals (Updated)
Thursday, Sep 4, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Politico…
* NBC Chicago…
* More from the 8th Congressional District…
* Sen. Willie Preston’s congressional campaign…
Preston’s press conference will be streamed here. * US Rep. Bill Foster has endorsed Biss for the 9th CD…
* US Rep. Mike Bost… Click here for the full list. …Adding… 8th CD candidate Kevin Morrison…
…Adding… Sen. Robert Peters…
US Rep. Khanna endorsed Kat Abughazaleh in the 9th CD in July.
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Stuff
Thursday, Sep 4, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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The reality behind the rhetoric
Thursday, Sep 4, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * This question about ICE was asked during Gov. JB Pritzker’s press conference yesterday…
OK, let’s stop there for a moment. * People from the right, the left, and many, many, many in between, as well as the news media and quite a lot of immigrants have totally bought into the “sanctuary state” rhetoric. The only “sanctuary” this state offers is that state and local police are barred from cooperating with immigration authorities on civil matters. State and local cops can’t help ICE arrest suspected undocumented immigrants unless there’s a judicial warrant. State prisons and county jails can’t release inmates to ICE without a judicial warrant and can’t accept accused undocumented prisoners without judicial action. ICE mostly uses civil warrants, which are basically just paper or electronic forms that the agents themselves often fill out right before they arrest someone. Under federal law, that’s legal. There is nothing the state can do to help the arrestees if ICE is following federal law. And even if they’re not following the law, I don’t know what the state could legally do except go to court. I asked Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul back in July if he planned to release any guidance to state and local police about how to deal with federal immigration enforcement officers. AG Raoul said he only issues such guidance when there’s a state law involved, and since no state laws exist about this, he said, no guidance would be forthcoming. And, as far as I can tell, he’s right. * Because of federal supremacy, ICE’s core mission is legal in Illinois like it is in every other state. And local cops can help protect immigration authorities and other federal agents if Illinoisans are violating state laws during the course of the federal agents’ duties. This may not be a perfect example, but it’s local and fairly recent…
The Broadview PD is helping ICE, but in a manner that falls within state laws. If we were an actual sanctuary state (which cannot exist under our US Constitution), the local cops would be forced to let the protesters do whatever they wanted. But we’re not because that’s just reality. As far as I know, the state and the county health departments can’t force inspections of that Broadview facility. DCFS can’t legally demand to check on children being held. Forget it, Jake, it’s federal. I mean, if this was really a sanctuary state and Chicago was a sanctuary city, then Mayor Brandon Johnson could’ve ordered federal agents to take off their masks, instead of just asking them to. * Back to Pritzker…
OK, but a lot of those federal police are now working with ICE…
It’s a bit of a pickle for Pritzker. Ask for more federal help, and all he may do is bring in more immigration reinforcements. * This is a classic example of how Illinois is not a “sanctuary” state as so many people believe. These folks will receive no protection from the state and the county even in a county courthouse designed for domestic violence cases…
The woman was an accused abuser, but if ICE is around, what are the chances that a victim with a perhaps shaky visa status will refuse to go to court against her abuser? Pretty high, I imagine. Ugh. * Amanda Pyron, President & CEO of The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, sent out a press release that basically offered ways to avoid federal police, but didn’t detail any state or local protections because there are none…
* One more thing from Pritzker…
Aside from possible lawsuits, that’s really all there is. * Sorry to all sides for the bluntness, but that’s just the way it is. You gotta deal with the reality as it exists, not argue over the lazy hot takes.
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Thursday, Sep 4, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Gov. JB Pritzker expecting federal ‘actions’ by weekend as local officials brace for 300 immigration agents. Tribune…
- The officers will stay in hotels in Waukegan, Gurnee and possibly other area communities. National Guard troops will be used as they were in Los Angeles to protect federal buildings, Jackson said. - “I’m not suggesting that I am absolutely certain of whether or not the Texas National Guard will, in fact, end up in the state of Illinois. What I know is that we’ve been told by people who seem to have the credentials to know,” Pritzker said Wednesday at the Metropolitan Peace Academy on the Lower West Side. * Related stories…
• Crain’s: Pritzker: Trump’s immigration raids could start as soon as Saturday • CBS Chicago: Gov. Pritzker meets with violence interrupters as Chicago prepares for possible federal troop deployment NBC Chicago: Feds plan to reassign 600 military attorneys to serve as immigration judges * Governor Pritzker will be in Berwyn at 12:30 to make the start of the school year at Prairie Oak Elementary School. Click here to watch. * WCIA | Illinois joins 23 other states in opposing rule change that could cut homecare workers pay: The Trump Administration wants to do away with an Obama era rule that required homecare workers to be paid at least the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 an hour. The rule also guarantees overtime pay if it is required. “If something bad happens right before my shift ends with that individual that you’re serving, then that worker has to choose between either not doing it for that individual or doing the work without the pay,” Keller said. * CBS Chicago | Broadview mayor says ICE campaign “will soon be underway” at local immigration facility: Federal officials have informed us that a large-scale enforcement campaign will soon be underway,” Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson wrote in a letter to residents and business owners. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Beach Street — a brick building with barbed-wire fencing — will serve as the primary processing location for detainees, according to Thompson. “This effort may draw protests and demonstrations, like those seen earlier this year in Los Angeles, where property damage and assaults against law enforcement were reported. As a result, we will be working closely with all businesses along Beach Drive to alert them to the possibility of traffic disruptions that may affect employees and deliveries over the next 45 to 60 days,” Thompson wrote. * Capitol News Illinois | The federal farm policy trap: why some farmers are stuck raising crops that no longer thrive: In these Mississippi River bottoms, federal farm policy became a trap. Farming is one of the most heavily subsidized industries in America. Each year, Congress allocates billions to keep crops in the ground, cushioning the blow from droughts, floods, fires and market swings — a safety net that dates to the 1930s, when the Depression and Dust Bowl put the nation’s food supply at risk. But today, in some of the most flood- and drought-prone parts of the country, those programs can also keep people hanging on, even when it makes more sense to walk away. That’s increasingly clear along parts of the Mississippi River Valley and especially here in Alexander County, at the rural tip of Illinois. As the climate changes and as aging levees fail, the risk is becoming more predictable, the losses so frequent it is clear some land will no longer yield what it used to. * Tribune | Fall foliage tracker 2025: Where and when to go leaf peeping in Illinois, the Midwest and throughout the U.S.: The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center expects above normal temperatures and normal chances of precipitation from September through November. So, the sweaters might have to stay tucked away for a bit longer. What does the weather forecast mean for leaves? When will they change color? Since 2013, SmokyMountains.com has used historical temperature, precipitation and regional tree data and feedback from foliage fans around the United States to produce a map that shows a county-by-county view of the best times to visit for peak leaf-peeping. * Republican Jimmy Ford has announced a bid against Rep. Katie Stuart. Press Release…
Rep. Stuart won the district by 9 points in 2024. The last Republican to win it was President Trump in 2016, by a slim margin. Kamala Harris won the district by 6 points in 2024. * Sun-Times | Illinois attorney general joins push for bond hearings for detained immigrants: In the amicus brief, Raoul and 19 other attorneys general rejected the federal policy giving Immigration and Customs Enforcement the authority to detain unauthorized immigrants without giving them opportunity to attend a bond hearing. The policy was implemented in July as a new interpretation of an existing law that says immigrants in the U.S. without legal status “shall be detained” after their arrest, according to The Washington Post. In a memo sent to immigration enforcement employees, ICE acting director Todd Lyons said such immigrants should be detained “for the duration of their removal proceedings.” * Sun-Times | ICE detains woman at Chicago courthouse as Trump threatens to ramp up immigration enforcement: Lauren Hanna, an advocate at the courthouse, said she saw four plainclothes agents take the woman into custody around 8:45 a.m. One of the agents told Hanna that they wanted to talk to the woman “about her immigration status.” The woman was a defendant in a case that was scheduled to be heard 15 minutes later. Her domestic violence charges were dismissed during the hearing, and the presiding judge wrote in a court document that the woman was in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. * Sun-Times | CTU calls for remote learning option for families amid looming immigration raids: Union President Stacy Davis Gates said the district should have a plan to shift those students to online learning to minimize the impact of being outside of the classroom. But Gates wasn’t optimistic that the district would be able to achieve that. “CPS is not ready for that,” she said, though she noted CPS was in a better position to stand up remote learning than it was when the pandemic hit. * Sun-Times | Pilsen Mexican Independence Day parade to be held with precautions amid potential deportation campaign: Volunteers stationed along the route will carry radios, cellphones and whistles to quickly report any issues, said Rigoberto Gonzalez Jr., executive director of the Pilsen Chamber of Commerce. “We want people to feel safe,” he said. * Second City Cop | FOP Charges Filed (huge post): We’re told that five charges were filed against the president of Lodge 7 Tuesday afternoon. We don’t have a list yet, but supposedly this will be THE topic discussed at the Board Meeting Wednesday with a possible suspension pending investigation. * FOP President John Catanzara’s response to the “drama”…
* Sun-Times | As Chicago braces for troops, a reminder — soldiers have been here before, and often made things worse: That first military effort in Chicago — for years called the Fort Dearborn Massacre, but really a battle, a minor skirmish in the War of 1812 that went very badly for one side — was a mixed bag. The Army’s presence planted the seeds of the city. They also got its residents killed by mishandling relations with the local Native Americans. The history of American soldiers in Chicago — about to get a significant new chapter with President Donald Trump planning to deploy the National Guard to the city — is also checkered. * MediaIte | Daily Wire Host Calls for the Execution of Chicago’s Mayor: Daily Wire host Matt Walsh accused Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson of treason and said Johnson should be “given the requisite punishment for a capital offense.” Speaking on Wednesday’s edition of The Matt Walsh Show, which airs on Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire platform, Walsh expressed support for President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard soldiers to large cities controlled by Democrats, ostensibly to combat crime. * Sun-Times | City-owned vacant lots near United Center could become housing, retail: The city of Chicago is looking for developers to revive more than a dozen vacant lots near the United Center, ahead of the arena’s ownership kicking off construction of its $7 billion 1901 Project. The city opened up requests for proposals last month for four clusters of city-owned lots, totaling 19 sites, along West Madison and West Fifth streets in the Near West Side and East Garfield Park. On Wednesday, it held a presubmission meeting for interested parties. * Chicago Reader | Nancy Faust transformed the sound of baseball: During a particularly good Sox season in 1972, Faust and announcer Harry Caray ramped up the showmanship. When she was hired, Faust had been asked to play the state song of each batter as he strolled to the plate, but she also had license to get more creative. In ’72, she debuted a customized version of “Jesus Christ Superstar” for popular White Sox slugger Dick Allen. * Daily Herald | Batavia alderman to resign: Batavia is looking for a new 7th Ward alderman, as Alderman Sarah Vogelsinger is resigning. Mayor Jeff Schielke announced the news at Tuesday’s city council meeting. Vogelsinger said she is doing so due to increased obligations to her family because her husband is working more hours at his job. “It was a really hard decision,” she said. “I have thoroughly enjoyed the time here learning from all the experts” on topics that come before the council, she said. * Daily Herald | A ‘terrible desecration’: Antisemitic graffiti painted outside Vernon Hills synagogue: A retaining wall near the parking lot at Congregation Or Shalom, 21 Hawthorn Parkway, was vandalized about 8:30 p.m. Sunday night. Someone used spray paint to draw a lewd symbol and write a short phrase targeting Jews, Vernon Hills police said. The graffiti, which faced the synagogue, was discovered Tuesday morning by an employee arriving for work, Rabbi Ari Margolis said. It was being removed Wednesday in a laborious process. * Daily Herald | Aurora mayor says broadband service mismanaged its finances: Aurora Mayor John Laesch is shaking up OnLight Aurora, saying the fiber-optic broadband service has mismanaged its funds and is deep in debt. He is questioning more than $337,000 in marketing expenses that the former chairman of the city-affiliated not-for-profit paid since 2018. Laesch said there is little to show for the money that was spent. The list of expenses includes $7,206 on what the mayor called adult entertainment and $50,937 in debit card withdrawals at ATMs by OnLight’s former chairman. * Lake & McHenry County Scanner | ‘Reckless and dangerous’: County board member to introduce resolution opposing ICE, National Guard in Lake County: Lake County Board Member Esiah Campos said Wednesday that he will call for an emergency meeting of the Lake County Board. Campos said he is introducing a resolution opposing President Donald J. Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard units and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to Naval Station Great Lakes in Lake County. Campos, a Navy reservist, said the resolution is about defending the values of Lake County and rejecting federal action that would bring fear and division into the community. * Patch | Addison Township Official’s Home In Question: Bobby Hernandez, a Democrat, is currently the supervisor of Addison Township. In the April election, he ousted Republican Dennis Reboletti, who served two terms. On Oct. 15, he registered to vote at a house in the 400 block of West Diversey Avenue in Addison. He remains registered there, according to records from the DuPage County Clerk’s Office. Two months later, Hernandez, 36, used that address in a filing with the state Board of Elections as the chairman of Democratic Candidates for Addison Township. The Diversey house is now in foreclosure, with more than $253,392 still owed, according to DuPage County court records. * Aurora Beacon-News | Oswego Village Board discusses possible extension of 1% grocery tax: Oswego trustees meeting as a committee of the whole Tuesday evening directed village staff to prepare an ordinance to locally extend a 1% state grocery tax set to expire at the end of the year. The Oswego Village Board is set to take a formal vote on the measure Sept. 16. However, trustees have yet to decide whether the funds generated by the proposed grocery tax extension should remain in the village’s general fund or to direct some or all of the revenue to the Water and Sewer Fund to help with debt service payments. * Naperville Sun | Naperville D203 contract keeps current school day, increases base salary: A new four-year contract for members of the Naperville Unit Education Association, approved unanimously Wednesday by Naperville District 203 School Board, calls for the current school day structure to remain as is and the annual base salary to increase between at least 2% and 3.85%. The ratification ends several contentious weeks during which members of the teacher’s union overwhelmingly voted to strike after teachers started the school year without a contract and bargaining sessions failed to produce results. * Daily Herald | Naperville city council to vote on appointing Supna Jain to vacant spot: Jain was first elected to the District 204 board in 2021 and won reelection this past April. She is the principal lecturer in communication and media studies at North Central College in Naperville. * Fox Chicago | Suburban attorney accused of forging hundreds of service hours for client, prosecutors say: The indictment alleges Luster “knowingly delivered to the DuPage County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office a false document apparently capable of defrauding another, being a volunteer community service documentation form … dated Dec. 16, 2024, that indicated” her client had completed 247.5 hours of community service at a daycare facility in Calumet City. * Lake County News-Sun | Lake County Forest Preserves wage war on invasive buckthorn; ‘Lots of people hate this’: While visually unremarkable to the layman, the plant is the bane of people like Matt Ueltzen, the manager of restoration ecology with the forest preserves, who is one of dozens of staffers and teams of volunteers that work year-round to combat the invasive species that has detrimental impacts on local ecosystems. Today, more than 50% of Lake County’s trees are buckthorn. At the Edward L. Ryerson Conservation Area, Ueltzen pointed out a few small buckthorn shrubs, maybe a few feet high. The tips of their trunks have a pair of buds resembling deer hooves. […] But its competitive advantages have allowed it to outperform native plants. Ueltzen said it spreads seeds at a young age, leaves out earlier in the spring than native plants and remains green into the fall. * WTVO | Could Illinois ICE surge extend to Rockford? City officials issue warning: The City posted a notice to its Facebook page in both English and Spanish, saying, “We are aware that Homeland Security recently confirmed plans to expand ICE operations in Chicago. While there is no confirmation that these operations will extend to Rockford, we recognize it is a possibility. And, we also recognize the fear and uncertainty this news may cause.” “It’s also important to be clear – the Rockford Police Department follows the Illinois Trust Act. We do not participate in ICE raids, nor will we,” the statement continued. “To our immigrant neighbors: please know this — you are valued, you are cared for and you are an important part of who we are.” * Tribune | A year after opening, Hard Rock Casino Rockford looks to add hotel as it anticipates competition from Wisconsin: One year after launching its $300 million permanent casino, the Hard Rock Casino Rockford is looking to add a hotel and other amenities to defend its turf against the Ho-Chunk Nation, which is building a casino complex 18 miles away in Beloit, Wisconsin. The casino border war could see millions of dollars in play across state lines in an escalating competition for customers when Ho-Chunk Gaming Beloit opens next summer. Both sides are preparing for battle. * WTVO | Over 1 million guests visit Hard Rock Casino Rockford in first year: Since its opening, the casino has generated over $8 million in tax revenue for Winnebago County. A significant portion of this revenue supports the Rockford Promise Scholarship Program, which benefits local students. * OCPA | Federal judge strikes down Oklahoma’s in-state tuition for illegal immigrants: In his order and final consent judgment in United States of America v. State of Oklahoma, U.S. District Judge Ronald White declared that the Oklahoma law is “unconstitutional and invalid.” […] The Higher Ed Immigration Portal notes that Oklahoma state law allowed illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition if a youth graduated from high school in Oklahoma, resided in Oklahoma with a parent or guardian for at least two years prior to high school graduation, and had applied with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for legal status. * The Hill | Oz backs Florida dropping school vaccine mandates: In an interview on “The Story with Martha MacCallum,” the Fox News host asked Oz whether he agrees with officials who want to make Florida the first state in the nation to end childhood vaccine requirements and whether Oz would “recommend the same thing to your patients.” “I would definitely not have mandates for vaccinations,” the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator told MacCallum.
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Good morning!
Thursday, Sep 4, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Selected press releases (Live updates)
Thursday, Sep 4, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Live coverage
Thursday, Sep 4, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. Hopefully, enough reporters and news outlets migrate to BlueSky so we can hopefully resume live-posting.
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