* ICYMI: Federal cuts gut grants, threatening the work of Illinois researchers. Crain’s…

- The Trump administration cut $1.8 billion from NIH grants and proposed slashing the agency’s budget by nearly 40%. Academic researchers say no other funding source rivals the scale of federal support for biomedical research.
- Illinois institutions have played a key role in advancing the field. The first bone marrow transplant (in mice) was performed at the University of Chicago, where surgeons also pioneered several types of organ transplants, including the world’s first living-donor liver transplant in 1989.
- In April, the White House announced a $790 million freeze on research funding for Northwestern. The University of Chicago has lost around 50 grants so far, totaling $40 million to $45 million, of which $10 million to $15 million affects the current fiscal year.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Tribune | Clean energy job training offers hope to hundreds: ‘It’s changed my life’: Eleven of 16 major training hubs statewide are now up and running, training hundreds of people. “This moment is massive,” said Juliana Pino, interim co-executive director at the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization. “It’s really significant because before the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, communities had to fight very hard to even have (access to job training) be respected and understood.”

* WAND | New Illinois budget features massive investments for workforce development, SkillsUSA opportunities: The spending plan includes a $1.3 million increase for career and technical education programs to expand access to underserved students using an updated equity-based formula. It also features $2 million for SkillsUSA, a nonprofit educational organization getting students pre-apprenticeships and community college training. “When we start to think about workforce development and the return on investment that brings to our individual communities, there are some incredible opportunities that our students are going to have as a result of our budget,” said Eric Hill, Executive Director of SkillsUSA Illinois.

*** Statewide ***

* Sun-Times | Illinois could lose $18M in legal aid funding if Trump’s budget passes — hurting Legal Aid Chicago, others: The White House is proposing to eliminate Legal Services Corporation, the country’s largest funder of civil legal aid. If passed, thousands of Illinoisans would no longer receive free legal help through the state’s three legal aid groups.

* Illinois Farmer Today | Knee-high by July? How corn, soybeans are faring around Illinois: “Overall plants are healthy and progressing through the growth stages and a wet June would go a long way to help the corn specifically catch up in height and overall growth,” Brand said. Meagan Diss, an Extension commercial ag specialist based in west-central Illinois, said recent rain systems have helped to replenish soil moisture.

* Tribune | Taxes on vapes, Zyn and most tobacco products go up July 1: Illinois set the tax on vaping products at 15% of the wholesale price about six years ago. The first increase since then kicks in July 1, with the rate going up to 45%. Most tobacco products other than cigarettes, including cigars and chewing tobacco, will also be taxed at 45% of the wholesale price, up from a 36% levy that’s been in place for more than a decade.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Governing | Chicago’s Transit Systems Face a Fiscal Cliff: Sen. Villivalam recently spoke with Governing about the proposal to increase transit revenue and overhaul governance of the system before the budget gap results in layoffs and service cuts. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

* AGRI News | Daily Herald opinion: The legislative shell game: GOP lawsuit draws attention to a practice that threatens faith in government: Lawmakers approved a third round of $2 million funding in support of the Local Food Infrastructure Grant Act. With funding provided through the Illinois Department of Agriculture, 19 local food projects received funds last year that strengthened the local food system and increased access to agricultural products grown and raised in the Prairie State.

* Tribune | Despite moves by Indiana lawmakers, Illinois’ borders are unlikely to change: While the measure creating the commission sailed through the Republican-dominated Indiana statehouse on its way to the GOP governor’s desk, a companion proposal from one of Illinois’ most conservative state lawmakers went nowhere in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly before it adjourned its spring session.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Mayor Brandon Johnson’s transportation department head exits: The leader of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s transportation department is leaving his post after more than 20 years with the agency. Tom Carney marks yet another City Hall stalwart dropping from the mayor’s administration. In a statement, Johnson said Carney will be “transitioning out of his role to focus on his family.”

* Tribune | ICE took her mother. Now, a 6-year-old is left without a guardian or legal path back to reunite in Honduras.: Still, wearing a pink dress and ballerina flats, Gabriela, 6, smiled and twirled around holding a bouquet on her way home. An older neighbor who sometimes cares for her walked by her side. Just a week earlier, on June 4, her mother, Wendy Sarai Pineda, 39, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside an office in downtown Chicago during what was supposed to be a routine check-in, while Gabriela was at school. The little girl doesn’t understand why her mother vanished and had hoped her mother would be at her graduation, said Camerino Gomez, Pineda’s fiance.

* Tribune | Lincoln Yards site is poised for new chapter, but debate over what went wrong with the stalled project continues: The war of words over what went wrong with developer Sterling Bay’s grand vision for its Lincoln Yards development on the North Side continues, even while the city waits to see what will happen with the sprawling site. Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot recently fired back at Sterling Bay, saying company leadership blamed their project’s failure to launch on her one-term administration. Axios reporter Justin Kaufmann interviewed Lightfoot in May at the Hideout, a music club adjacent to the 53-acre site, and asked her about Sterling Bay’s failure to build the controversial Lincoln Yards project. She ripped company CEO Andy Gloor for having “repeatedly lied about me in public,” blaming her administration for the development’s lack of progress.

* WGN | ‘Larger than life’: Chicagoans remember local musician, actor hit and killed on DuSable Lake Shore Drive: According to the Chicago Police Department, it’s believed Siddall was crossing the northbound lanes of DLSD around 3:30 a.m. when they were hit by a car. CPD released these photos of the white 2019 Honda Accord they’re looking for in connection with the hit and run. Siddall was a singer and a leader in Chicago’s Gay Men’s Chorus, where they served as President of the Membership Council.

* CBS Chicago | Rescue crews pull multiple people from Lake Michigan as crowds pack beaches amid heat wave: “We don’t have a boat that’s operable in any type of wave action,” said Winthrop Harbor Fire Chief Rocco Campanella. Officials said large rocks were put in the lake by the state to break waves and help with erosion in 2023. The mounds attract swimmers, but are extremely hazardous. On Tuesday, a 20-year-old man drowned at Illinois Beach State Park. “The breakwalls, we think, are creating a rip current effect out there for people,” Campanella said.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Skokie budget restores 1% grocery tax, hikes water rates but freezes property tax: The move took place as the Skokie Village Board approved the upcoming fiscal year’s budget, which also contains a 15% water rate hike, but maintains the village’s freeze on the property tax rate for the 36th year in a row. Essentially, residents will not see their grocery tax go up; it will, in effect, remain the same, though if Skokie and the other suburbs had not restored it, grocery shoppers would have paid less tax at the checkout counter.

* Shaw Local | Ex-dairy owner Jim Oberweis to fundraise in Kane County Sunday for Florida Congressional run: Former Illinois State Sen. Jim Oberweis is returning to Kane County for a fundraiser to support his run for Congress in Florida’s 19th District. Oberweis, formerly of Sugar Grove, is running in the 2026 Republican primary seat on Florida’s southern Gulf Coast being vacated by Byron Donalds in the 2026 primary election.

* Shaw Local | ‘Industrial condos’ proposed in Crystal Lake: Developers are looking to create six industrial “condos” in Crystal Lake to house manufacturing businesses – space that local planning commissioners see as a potential incubator for new local businesses. Architect Tony Sarillo and property owner Steve Theofanous propose six “light industrial condominium buildings” on three vacant lots.

* Daily Southtown | Pride Fest in Irwin Park: ‘Homewood has my back’: U.S. Robin Kelly, the 2nd District representative who announced in May she is running for the U.S. Senate, spoke about not giving up the fight. “Despite what looks like an ugly climate and despite what is an ugly climate, those of us out here and beyond are saying they are not taking this,” she said. “Do me a favor. Do not get weary. That’s what they want you to do.

* Tribune | Pet hotel dubbed Ritz-Carlton for dogs to open in Deerfield: K9 Resorts, a national pet hotel chain which bills itself as the Ritz-Carlton for dogs, is opening its first Illinois location Monday in Deerfield. The facility features individual suites with high-definition TVs tuned 24/7 to DogTV and Animal Planet, premium shampoos in its bathing salons, antimicrobial play areas, an air purification system and of course, room service.

*** Downstate ***

* Farm Progress | ‘Every decision I make this year is the wrong one’: “There’s algae on the field and it’s as green as it can be. Earthworms are lying on top of the soil, dead. Snail shells are everywhere. “The ground is dead. It’s anaerobic. It’s growing algae and mold.” That’s how Kelly Robertson describes one southern Illinois field, but it could be anywhere across southern Illinois, where rainfall has topped 20 inches in April, May and June.

* Journal Courier | Brown sees rise in calls to domestic violence hotline amid statewide increase: Brown County tied with Piatt County in 2024 for the highest percentage increase in contacts to the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline, according to a report from The Network. The report found the counties had two contacts with the hotline last year — up from none in 2023. Brown and Piatt counties were tied for first in largest increase in contacts to the hotline. Logan County came in second with 16 contacts — an 81% increase from 2023 — while Livingston County came third with 30 contacts, or a 77% increase.

* WGLT | Sale of site for proposed shelter village in Bloomington is approved: The Bridge would consist of 50 tiny sleeping cabins on a fully enclosed campus, with a total occupancy of 60 adults, according to materials previously provided to the McLean County Board. It would have on-site laundry, toilets and bathing facilities. The approximately 75,000-square-foot site was sold to Home Sweet Home Ministries [HSHM] for $250,000.

* WGLT | Bloomington removes annual licensing fee from proposed massage business regulations: City staff removed the proposed yearly $250 fee from the ordinance the city council tabled on June 9 after massage parlor owners complained they were being unfairly targeted and weren’t consulted. City staff proposed the regulations as a way to prevent sex trafficking, amid claims that some of the businesses were engaging in illegal sexual activity.

* WCIA | U of I hosting STEM academic boot camp for student veterans: This specific program requires each participant to complete 75 academic hours, which would simulate a typical “finals week” in college. The purpose of this is to prepare student veterans for the demands of academic life as they transition from military careers to higher education.

* WAND | Golf carts soon to take to the streets in Mattoon: Regulations in the ordinance require golf carts to drive in the same direction as traffic. It will also be illegal to drive on sidewalks, bike paths and multi-use paths. Drivers must have a valid driver’s license and be at least 18 years old. Children who need to use a car seat or a booster seat are not permitted to ride in a golf cart.

* Illinois Times | Great Race coming to Springfield: For the first time, Springfield will be an overnight stop for drivers in the Hemmings Motor News Great Race, an event that began in 1983 and this year starts in St. Paul, Minnesota, on June 21 and finishes in Irmo, South Carolina, on June 29. The pit stop in Springfield will be on Monday, June 23, when drivers will display their 1974-and-older vintage automobiles to anyone who wants to see them. They’ll also mingle to discuss what it’s like to race more than 2,000 miles in cars that, in some cases, date to when William Howard Taft was president (1909-13).

* SJ-R | New summer beer coming to Illinois State Fair thanks to local nonprofit and microbrewery: The new beer is a light summer lager meant to be washed down, thrice. “I have an old rule: people should be able to drink three, the first one should be gone before they know it because it tastes so good,” Reisch said. “Like really good food, you just have to literally push yourself away from the table as a solution to not overeating.”

* Illinois Times | Springfield’s Reisch Beer makes a comeback: For more than 50 years, Reisch Beer lived on in the memories and stories of many Springfield families. But it was about more than just the beer. The Reisch family was a generous community supporter. They helped found the Citizens Street Railway Company, Illini Country Club, the Springfield Art Association and the Sangamo Club. They also were major contributors to the Springfield YMCA/YWCA, St. John’s Hospital and Blessed Sacrament Church and School. And they donated land to help establish Washington Park. According to George, his family’s philosophy was “Give till it hurts.”

* WCIA | Cat back home in Central Illinois after three years, thousand-mile travel: Doug and Michele Carder of VALOR Rescue said their cat, Ivy, was stolen from PetSmart in Champaign back in 2022. […] After years of what-ifs and worries… the Carders got a message that Ivy was in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “I looked at it and I’m like ‘No, this is a scam, I just know it’s a scam,’” Michele said. “I plugged in the microchip number they had listed on the email and it was her.”

*** National ***

* Forbes | Tesla Misses Robotaxi Launch Date, Goes With Safety Drivers: Tesla’s much-anticipated June 22 “no one in the vehicle” “unsupervised” Robotaxi launch in Austin is not ready. Instead, Tesla is operating a limited service with Tesla employees on board the vehicle to maintain safety. Tesla will use an approach that was used in 2019 by Russian robotaxi company Yandex, putting the “safety driver” in the passenger’s seat rather than the driver’s seat. (Yandex’s robotaxi was divested from Russian and now is called AVRide.)

* MSN | Rahm Emanuel confronts ‘awkward’ prospect of facing a home-state rival in the 2028 presidential race: “Look, JB and I are friends,” Emanuel said in an interview. The two recently had dinner, he noted. They text. When Emanuel came into town in his capacity as U.S. ambassador to Japan, they made a point of getting breakfast. “We’re going to continue to be friends, but if we’re running for the same position, it will be awkward.”

* AP | How Senate Republicans want to change the tax breaks in Trump’s big bill: Republicans in the two chambers don’t agree on the size of a deduction for state and local taxes. And they are at odds on such things as allowing people to use their health savings accounts to help pay for their gym membership, or whether electric vehicle and hybrid owners should have to pay an annual fee. The House passed its version shortly before Memorial Day. Now the Senate is looking to pass its version. While the two bills are similar on the major tax provisions, how they work out their differences in the coming weeks will determine how quickly they can get a final product over the finish line. President Donald Trump is pushing to have the legislation on his desk by July 4th.

* Press Release | “One Big, Beautiful Bill” Has More Provisions That Violate the Byrd Rule, According to Senate Parliamentarian: “There is no better way to define this Big Beautiful Betrayal of a bill than families lose, and billionaires win. Democrats are on the side of families and workers and are scrutinizing this bill piece by piece to ensure Republicans can’t use the reconciliation process to force their anti-worker policies on the American people,” said Ranking Member Jeff Merkley. “The Byrd Rule is enshrined in law for a reason, and Democrats are making sure it is enforced.”

* NYT | Compass Sues to Stop ‘Zillow Ban’: Compass, the real estate brokerage that sells more houses than any of its competitors in the United States, has sued Zillow, the country’s largest real estate site — in a legal showdown that accuses Zillow of gatekeeping home listings and of breaking federal antitrust laws. In its suit that was filed in New York federal court on Monday morning, Compass claims that Zillow is engaged in an anticompetitive conspiracy to maintain a monopoly over digital home listings.