* ICYMI: Michael Madigan due in court Friday for sentencing on corruption convictions. Sun-Times…

- A federal judge is expected to sentence former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan on Friday for multiple corruption convictions involving the abuse of an office he held for decades.
- A jury in February convicted Madigan on 10 criminal counts, including bribery conspiracy, wire fraud and other crimes. The jury delivered its verdict at the end of a four-month trial featuring more than 60 witnesses. All told, the panel convicted Madigan for his role in two schemes.
-Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge John Blakey to give Madigan 12 ½ years behind bars. Defense attorneys sought probation for the Southwest Side Democrat

* Related stories…

∙ Tribune: An expert at rounding up support, ex-Speaker Michael Madigan leaning on letters at corruption sentencing
∙ Tribune: After six decades on Illinois’ public stage, Michael Madigan’s likely last act will be his sentencing in a courtroom Friday
∙ NBC Chicago: Former House Speaker Michael Madigan to be sentenced Friday
∙ WEBZ: Michael Madigan due in court Friday for sentencing on corruption convictions

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* Governor Pritzker has no public scheduled events for today.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | Gov. JB Pritzker grilled on sanctuary state policies – here are the facts: Jaime Dominguez, associate professor of political science at Northwestern University, said the Trust Act falls within the scope of a state’s right, and that Illinois legally does not have to carry out the responsibility of the federal government. It’s a state’s right issue.” Dominguez said. “Immigrants in the state of Illinois, particularly Chicago, have always been viewed as an integral part of the governing apparatus, particularly within the Democratic Party,” Dominguez said.

* Tribune | Chicagoans continue protests against Trump and ICE Thursday as demonstrators rally across US: Protests continued for another day Thursday in Chicago, part of the demonstrations across the country against President Donald Trump’s deployment of troops in Los Angeles amid his immigration crackdown. The crowd at the day’s second protest grew to about 400 people by 4 p.m., as demonstrators held red signs and shouted their support for immigrants at Michigan Avenue and Ida B. Wells Drive. “For months now the deportation machine has failed in Chicago because of our resistance,” said Muhammad Sankari of the Arab-American Action Network. “Trump forgot that Chicago fights back.”

* NPR | House votes to claw back $1.1 billion from public media: The House of Representatives narrowly approved legislation Thursday to eliminate the next two years of federal funding for public media outlets. It did so at the direct request of President Trump, who has accused NPR and PBS of bias against conservative viewpoints as part of his broader attacks on the mainstream media. The measure passed largely along party lines, 214 to 212, with two key Republican lawmakers switching their votes from “no” to “yes” to push it over the finish line.

*** Statewide ***

* Tribune | Secretary of state’s office says law enforcement using license plate reader data illegally: The Illinois secretary of state’s office said Thursday it will conduct an audit of the state’s automated license plate reader system after it was allegedly used illegally by law enforcement in Texas to track down a woman for an abortion care-related matter. A state law last year restricted the sale, sharing and access of its license plate reader data by law enforcement when it interferes with someone’s abortion rights, particularly if the person comes to Illinois from out of state.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Raoul’s office to receive $15.7M budget increase for operations: That General Revenue Fund increase is significantly more than some other constitutional officers received for their operating expenses in the upcoming fiscal year. It’s also more than the $15 million that Raoul himself requested when he appeared before House and Senate appropriations committees this year – although reductions in revenue from other state funds left Raoul’s all-funds budget roughly flat from a year ago.

* Press Release | IL Coalition for Human Rights Urges Illinois Officials to Decline All-Expenses Paid Trip to Israel During Genocide: The Illinois Coalition for Human Rights today called on all Illinois elected officials to decline an invitation from the Israeli Consul General to the Midwest for an all-expenses-paid delegation trip to Israel scheduled for August 24-28, 2025. The trip, organized and funded by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government, has been presented as an opportunity to learn about Israel’s culture, economy, and democracy. However, such an invitation would constitute a tacit endorsement of a government currently under investigation for war crimes and accused of genocide. “These are not neutral cultural exchanges—they are propaganda tours designed to manufacture support for policies that have devastated Palestinian communities,” said Sheri Maali, of the Illinois Coalition for Human Rights.

* Streetsblog Chicago | The first cut is the deepest: RTA warns some transit impacts may be unavoidable, even if the state comes through with a bailout: Today’s RTA board meeting was the first one since the Illinois Legislature departed for a holiday in the sun, leaving Chicago-area public transportation high and dry. Today’s hearing was to give the service boards general direction on what their budgets should look like. RTA officials said they are hopeful that Springfield will approve funding, whether it’s during a special summer session or the fall veto session. But they also warned that, because it would take months for many of the funding sources to actually bring in revenue, the delay will mean that the RTA needs to figure out a funding stopgap for the first few months of 2026.

* Center Square | Illinois lawmakers continue to make a case to bail out mass transit: State Sen. Ram Villivallam, D-Chicago introduced legislation that would restructure and rename the current Regional Transit Authority to the Northern Illinois Transit Authority, increasing the number of appointed board members from 16 to 20. “We also centralized a lot of the decision making on service plans, capital plans,” said Villivallam during a virtual briefing Wednesday. “Seven different apps for the [Chicago Transit Authority], Pace, RTA. We’re saying there should be one app.”

* Covers | DraftKings Putting 50-Cent Fee on Illinois Sports Bets, Joins FanDuel: Both coming transaction fees are in response to Illinois lawmakers recently passing a per-bet tax on online sportsbook operators, which kicks in next month. Under the new tax, the first 20 million bets in a year will cost a mobile bookmaker like DraftKings an extra 25 cents apiece. The levy then goes up to 50 cents per-bet after 20 million wagers.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | ComEd launching $10M customer relief fund to offset spike in electricity prices: At the start of a spike in electricity supply charges, ComEd is announcing the launch of a $10 million relief fund to defray costs for low-income residential customers and nonprofit organizations facing a long, hot summer. Exelon, the utility’s Chicago-based parent company, is donating the relief money, which will be administered through Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago and The Salvation Army to help customers behind in their bills, ahead of peak air-conditioning season.

* Crain’s | Chicago Tribune offers buyouts to newsroom union employees: The amount and scope of the buyouts was not known, but the email links to a “Voluntary Separation Plan” that states only full-time newsroom union members are eligible. The buyout window opens June 26 and closes July 7. Employees who accept the buyout will be notified about the status of their application by July 9 and will end their employment at the Tribune by July 11. The Chicago Tribune is pursuing a similar buyout plan among its design and production staff, according to the email, which is represented by a separate union.

* Crain’s | RFK Jr. cuts hit not just farmers but his family’s nonprofit in Chicago: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s cuts to federal funding included a promising program that supported small Illinois farmers and food-insecure residents. It also hit his family’s nonprofit in Chicago. The Trump administration ended the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, or LFPA, a joint federal department initiative that included the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, led by RFK Jr. The program promised $43 million in federal funds to buy food from Illinois farmers and ranchers that was then distributed to food-insecure communities at no cost.

* Sun-Times | Mayor’s education aide and former principal chosen as interim CPS CEO: A former teacher and principal who currently works in the mayor’s office will serve as the interim leader of Chicago Public Schools as it faces a $529 million budget deficit and no clear path for solving it. Macquline King, the senior director of educational policy in the mayor’s office, will take over for terminated CEO Pedro Martinez, whose last day is next week.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Appointed Chicago school board member Frank Niles Thomas steps down: Frank Niles Thomas, an appointed member of the Chicago Board of Education, is stepping down, board President Sean Harden announced Wednesday. In remarks to the public, Thomas did not disclose a reason for leaving. “Sometimes we’ve agreed, sometimes we’ve disagreed, but many times we spent more time working on those things that we agree on, and it has really been a pleasure,” Thomas said. “I wish you much success in the future, and I wish the citizens of Chicago and the children of Chicago Public Schools the best school system that they could possibly have.”

* Tribune | Plea deal ends career of Chicago police officer who struck 14-year-old student: Craig Lancaster, 56, was placed on 18 months’ supervision and ordered to undergo eight hours of anger management as part of a plea deal in which prosecutors reduced the original felony charge of aggravated battery to misdemeanor disorderly conduct. Lancaster also agreed to voluntarily decertify as a police officer, ending his nearly 30 years of service to the Chicago Police Department. He was indicted in late 2023 after the Tribune published a video that showed Lancaster striking 14-year-old JaQuwaun Williams near his throat as the boy walked into Gresham Elementary School that May.

* Sun-Times | Chicago unveils new marketing slogan: ‘Never Done. Never Outdone’: “It ushers in a new era of Chicago swagger. … It’s a declaration that Chicago is ready to elevate, but also dominate,” said Choose Chicago President and CEO Kristen Reynolds, having spent a little over a month on the job after the last decade as CEO of New York’s Discover Long Island. Introduced as the city gets set to host the U.S. Travel Association’s IPW trade show, the campaign aims to boost visitor numbers to the city not yet back up to pre-pandemic levels.

* Crain’s | Parisian handbag retailer coming to Oak Street: A Parisian handbag retailer is coming to Oak Street, adding to the upscale offerings on the Gold Coast shopping strip. Polène has signed a 10-year lease for the building at 116 E. Oak St., with plans for a 6,000-square-foot store slated to open in early 2026, landlord Fred Latsko confirmed. “They fell in love with the building,” he said.

* WGN | ‘Deeply saddened’: 4-day-old bottlenose dolphin calf at Brookfield Zoo abruptly dies: According to zoo officials, the male calf was born early Saturday morning and appeared healthy, but died abruptly on Wednesday evening. “We know our guests and supporters share this sadness with us,” Dr. Rita Stacey, Brookfield Zoo Chicago senior vice president of programs and impact, said. “This calf’s birth brought hope and joy, and his sudden loss reminds us of the delicate balance of life.”

*** Downstate ***

* WIFR | U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Rockford, city leaders say: Leaders from Rockford confirm the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was in the city Thursday, June 12, according to an update shared on its Facebook page. Around 12:30 p.m., the city posted a message from Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara, saying it was working to determine what law enforcement agency was captured in videos circulated on local social media.

* WGLT | ICE agents make arrest after court appearance in Bloomington: McLean County Sheriff Matt Lane characterized the incident as isolated and rare, and said ICE agents making arrests at the McLean County courthouse used to be more frequent. “It happened on a regular basis for several years. It’s kind of slowed down,” said Lane, adding that the McLean County sheriff’s office was not notified in advance of ICE’s arrival and did not assist ICE officers in the arrest. The Illinois Trust Act, signed in 2017, limits the role local police can play in cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

* WJBD | Nationwide company opens three solar farms in Marion County: Director of Operations Angie Burke showed off the facility south of Salem to the media this week. “Pivot Energy is a nationwide solar developer,” Burke said. “We develop, manage construction, finance, and then own solar assets like this for the long term. We’re spread across over a dozen sites, including Illinois. Illinois is a really big market for us. As of today, we have thirty projects that are either operational or under construction. Approximately a hundred additional projects are in early-stage development.”

* WSIL | Southern Illinois Named A 2025 Logistics Hub: Businesses Facilities Magazine features the region as a confluence of infrastructure and ongoing development. Southern Illinois boasts an extensive transportation network that includes major interstates like Interstate 57 and Interstate 24, extensive rail lines, and its prime position along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Multimodal transportation allows goods to transition between trucks, trains, barges, and planes, reducing costs and transit times for businesses.

* WSIL | West Frankfort eyes neighborhood boost with new TIF district: City officials explained the purpose of this TIF district is to promote and support redevelopment in areas of West Frankfort that are declining or in need of improvements. The city plans to capture increases in property tax revenue and allocate them to the TIF. Residents or developers interested in rehabilitating properties or building in the district can apply to receive funding from the TIF to help finance their projects.

* Muddy River News | Human Rights Commission chair admonishes City Council for silence in response to email about ‘anti-white racism’: The author of the letter, who Philpot did not name, allegedly called King an “anti-white degenerate” and that people needed to know the truth about him. Philpot said the letter said it was “an embarrassment” to have King’s name along Eighth Street and that it was “an affront” to all the people of Quincy and Adams County. “We have received complaints from this Individual before,” Philpot said. “The basis of his complaints are that the existence of certain events, i.e., Juneteenth, Martin Luther King Day and things of that nature are ‘anti-white’ and therefore are something that should not be discussed or espoused in the public eye. To kind of quote one of his rantings, 94 percent of the population should not have to be subjected to things like Juneteenth because it’s ‘anti-white racism.’”

* WGLT | McLean County Board awards $1.3 million grant to construct shelter village: The vote was 12 to 8 in favor of awarding the grant. The money comes from a mental health sales tax implemented in the county in 2016, with the revenue collected going toward priorities in line with the county’s Mental Health Action Plan. The funding will allow construction of The Bridge, a non-congregant shelter village with about 50 sleeping cabins and other accommodations for those who struggle with congregant housing.

* Pantagraph | McLean County authorizes funding for Home Sweet Home Ministries’ shelter project: The McLean County Board authorized the use of about $1.3 million in mental health and public safety funds for Home Sweet Home Ministries’ 56-bed shelter village project at Oakland Avenue and Main Street. The project to house homeless people would include 80- to 100-square-foot units, all with electricity and climate-controlled. Each would include a bed, desk and dresser space.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Evanston Now | Evanston makes the cut by eight bucks: Failure by the budget-cutting Republican Congress to cut the budget means Evanston will receive $150,008 in federal support for those experiencing homelessness. City officials expected to get zilch in this particular program. But because Congress made no reductions in the 2025 budget for this area, Evanston was able to qualify, meeting the threshold by all of eight dollars.

* Daily Herald | Elgin receives statewide honor for response to homelessness: Christine Haley, the chief homelessness officer for the state, presented the award in recognition of Elgin’s leadership, innovation and compassionate response to homelessness, according to a press release. Haley cited the city’s swift coordinated response following a series of fires at “Tent City,” a roughly 8-acre site along the west side of the Fox River that had served as a homeless encampment for 20 to 30 years.

* Daily Herald | ‘Long-term potential’: Retail, grocery proposed for 20 acres at center of Hawthorn Woods: Twenty prime acres in Hawthorn Woods, a property that has been beset by challenges and remained vacant for more than 15 years, is ready for development. “We’ve started reaching out to the marketplace and reaching out to potential users,” said developer Jonathan Berger, head of Berger Asset Management. “I think we’ll be revealing users in short order.” The private group owns the property north and east of Old McHenry and Midlothian roads and has worked over the years with national and regional developers who tried to overcome challenges, but development stalled.

* National Park Service | Frederick Douglass Visits Arlington Heights: While in Washington I was taken by Mr. James Wormley over to the Virginia side, to visit the contraband villages on the estate of the rebel General Lee, known as Arlington Heights. All around were striking proofs of retribution. Here we see the proud mansion of the rebel slaveholder occupied by common soldiers and by his former slaves; his fences in ruins; his noble ancestral trees, the pride of generations, cut down; his once beautifully winding lane, over which he rolled in pride and splendour, all cut up by the wheels of army wagons; his formerly richly furnished parlours are now occupied by soldiers, and the whole premises bear marks of desolation. I should have been deeply sad over the ruin but for the thought that this was the reward of iniquity—a righteous retribution—a wise and necessary chastisement of crimes unrepented, perpetrated against the weak, the ignorant, and the defenseless. I went to the gentlemen’s ‘Smoke House,’ there I saw dear little children, some of them nearly white, and possibly more nearly related to the General than he would be willing to own. They were too small to be taken south in his flight, and had been left on the place with a few old slaves, who were too old to be taken, and not wanted.

*** National ***

* Crain’s | Krishnamoorthi, health groups decry RFK Jr.’s vaccine committee restructure: Krishnamoorthi said in an emailed statement to Crain’s he was looking through the list of new members. “As Secretary Kennedy restructures the ACIP, I will be carefully reviewing the qualifications and views of these new appointees,” he said. “The American people deserve to know that those advising on vaccines and immunization are guided by science, not ideology or conspiracy theories. Secretary Kennedy’s troubling track record on vaccines and his dangerous approach to the avian flu crisis only heighten the need for close oversight of these appointments.”

* Politico | Megabill would cost poorest households $1,600 a year, boost richest by $12K, CBO predicts: The distributional study of the bill reflects the impact of tax changes, including extensions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and an increase in the state-and-local-tax deduction claimed by many upper-income households, as well as cuts to social safety-net programs such as Medicaid and food aid. The loss of resources to the lowest earners in the U.S. amounts to almost 4 percent of total income for those households, while the increase for the highest earners would equal more than 2 percent of their income.

* WGN | ‘Marbles in the rear ends of cats’: WGN fact checks Hegseth’s claim: The research Hegseth appears to be referencing was money awarded in 2020, during President Trump’s first term, to reimburse the University of Pittsburgh $10M for research to “develop revolutionary new treatment approaches for spinal cord injuries.” […] Hegseth’s claim about marbles being inserted into the rear ends of cats is correct, but lacks all context. Soldiers – or anyone else – who suffer severe spinal cord injuries can lose control of their bowels. The study used anesthetized cats as test subjects to study the impact of a new procedure to restore functionality in the sphincter and rectum. The marbles were meant to simulate defecation and determine whether a procedure restored control in test subjects.