And after we do this, we’ll go to another location, and we’ll make it safe also. We’re going to make our country very safe. We’re going to make our cities very, very safe. Chicago is a mess. You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent. And we’ll straighten that one out, probably next that will be our next one after this, and it won’t even be tough. And the people in Chicago, Mr. Vice President, are screaming for us to come in. They’re wearing red hats, just like this one, but they’re wearing red hats. African American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying, ‘Please, President Trump, come to Chicago. Please.’ I did great with the Black vote, as you know, and they want something to happen, so I think Chicago will be our next.
* The Black ladies in the red hats belong to @FlipChicagoRed. The group has been relentlessly hyped by outlets like Fox News and made its bones by pitting Black people against migrants…
Thank you, @aishahhasnie, for taking the time to chat with Danni C about her testimony yesterday at the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement: Sanctuary Jurisdictions: Magnet for Migrants, Cover for Criminals.
Read the constitution. Article I Section 9. Due process is not a right when it comes to illegal migrants and terrorist organizations. It can be suspended when necessary - it's not inherent.
* For some reason, Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg never heard of them before. But he did a bit of digging…
So I asked: She sincerely believes Chicago will benefit from the National Guard patrolling its streets?
“Yes, I do,” said Carter-Walters, who lives in Marquette Park. “Our communities are out of control. The destruction. The devastation of what’s happening. We are being displaced out of our homes by illegal aliens.
“I stay on the South Side of Chicago. I’m living the experience. You can’t sit in your car without worrying about being robbed, mugged, shot, carjacked. We definitely need something to be done.”
She said her group has only eight members, but more are out there.
* Subscribers were told earlier this morning. After narrowly losing the Cook County Democratic Party’s slating vote last month, Sen. Karina Villa officially announced her bid for Illinois Comptroller today. Press release…
Today, Illinois State Senator Karina Villa (D–25th District) officially launched her campaign for Illinois State Comptroller. Speaking at a press conference in Chicago’s Little Village, Karina was joined by U.S. Representatives Delia Ramirez (D–3rd District), Chuy García (D–4th District), as well as state and local officials.
Karina, who has built winning coalitions in the Chicago suburbs to flip Republican districts, enters the race as a proven leader with experience leading state budgets and fighting for Illinois families.
“I’m running for State Comptroller because Illinois families deserve a government that works just as hard as they do,” said State Senator Karina Villa. “I’ve flipped tough districts, delivered middle-class tax relief, and led state budgets that invest in our public schools, affordable housing, and health care. I’ll put that same proven record to work in the State Comptroller’s office, ensuring every dollar is accounted for, every decision is transparent, and Illinoisans get real results from their government.”
Rep. Margaret Croke, Rep. Stephanie Kifowit and Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim are already in the race for Comptroller. Champaign County Auditor George Danos and former State Sen. Rickey Hendon have also expressed interest in the office.
* Villa’s campaign also announced three endorsements…
Today, State Senator Karina Villa announced the endorsements of U.S. Representatives Delia Ramirez and Chuy García, along with Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, in her campaign for Illinois State Comptroller.
The three leaders praised Karina’s record of delivering results for Illinois families, her leadership in Springfield, and her proven ability to win tough races.
“Karina Villa has been a long-time champion for working families. From her years as a school social worker to her service in Springfield, she has never lost sight of who she’s fighting for,” said U.S. Congressman Chuy García. “As Comptroller, Karina will be the watchdog Illinois families deserve – protecting our taxpayer dollars and making sure our government works for the people, not the powerful.”
“Karina Villa fights for Illinois families and she wins,” said U.S. Congresswoman Delia Ramirez. “From flipping Republican-held seats to championing budgets that put working Illinoisans first, she’s delivered real, measurable results. In this race, Karina stands alone with the experience and track record to be the State Comptroller Illinois needs.”
“Karina Villa has proven herself to be an effective and trusted legislator in Springfield. She knows how to navigate tough negotiations, stand firm on her values, and still deliver results for Illinois families,” said Illinois Senate President Don Harmon. “Her experience on appropriations and shaping state budgets give her the financial expertise we need in our next State Comptroller.”
“I’m thrilled to have the support of my colleague in the State Senate, Don Harmon — one of Illinois’ most progressive Senators and a leader who has fought to protect a woman’s right to choose, propelled Illinois into a clean energy future, and injected billions of dollars more into our schools,” said State Senator Karina Villa. “I’m also deeply grateful to Congressman Chuy García and Congresswoman Delia Ramirez, two fearless champions for working families who inspire me every day. Having their support in this race is a true honor.”
I’ve been belatedly reading Jeremiah Joyce’s 2021 book “Still Burning: Half a Century of Chicago, from the Streets to the Corridors of Power; A Memoir.”
The former 19th Ward alderman and Southwest Side state senator is a conversational writer and speaks frankly about some very divisive times, particularly regarding race. (It can get cringey.)
Joyce is remembered now as a consummate insider, but he came up the hard way without regular party support. It wasn’t until he forged a bond with Richard M. Daley, the first Mayor Daley’s son, that he came into his own as a power broker.
Anyway, what I wanted to tell you about was one of Joyce’s observations of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, who died in office in 1976 during Joyce’s one and only aldermanic term.
“Over time,” Joyce wrote of the first Mayor Daley, “he developed a firm though rarely spoken theory of Chicago government — let some other entity pay, whether it be the state, the county, a regional body, or the federal government.”
It was true then, and it’s still true today, although perhaps stated more bluntly by the city’s current mayor and some of his closest allies.
We saw it again for the umpteenth time last week when Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates castigated the governor and the Democratic legislative majorities for not spending more on the city’s public schools.
Gates, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s most visible ally, was responding to Gov. JB Pritzker’s remarks to reporters that CTU’s demand for $1.6 billion in additional state funding is “just not going to happen.”
“And it’s not because we shouldn’t,” Pritzker clarified. “We should try to find the money, but we don’t have those resources today, and we’re not going to see the resources from the federal government level either.”
Pritzker went on to blame the Trump administration. “The federal government has taken away education funding from schools all across the United States,” he said, adding the state has increased funding by $2.5 billion during his time in office.
“We are all having to deal with the onslaught of Donald Trump on education in this country, and I’m going to continue to stand up for and protect students across the state of Illinois, including students in the city of Chicago,” the governor continued.
“But, at the local level, every school is going to have to do whatever is it is required in order to protect those students, and I will stand with them in that endeavor. But there is not extra money laying around in Springfield, mainly in part because of what Donald Trump has done at the federal level.”
CTU President Gates issued a blistering response: “Logic would tell you that if the Republican despot in the White House is defunding public education, then a state with a Democratic supermajority should take the opposite approach by fully funding schools in its largest district. There was no delay in giving $10 billion in tax breaks to the wealthiest businesses and individuals in our state, so why do Black and Brown children have to wait?”
The CTU has mentioned these “$10 billion in tax breaks” quite often, so I reached out and asked what that was all about.
For the most part, these aren’t actually “tax breaks.” Instead, almost $6 billion, according to CTU spokesperson B. Loewe, comes from the Illinois Revenue Alliance’s list of potential tax hikes on corporations, although a very small part of that is from closing corporate tax loopholes.
Another $4.5 billion is from not imposing a state surcharge on annual income over $1 million, which would require a constitutional amendment and couldn’t be implemented until after the 2026 election, if voters approved it.
Loewe also pointed to several state incentives criticized by a group called Good Jobs First, including tax breaks for electric vehicles, data centers, and TV and film production.
But it’s not like state leaders can snap their collective fingers and suddenly produce $10 billion in new revenues. Lots of labor unions, particularly the trades, would strenuously object to some of these ideas.
What the CTU really wants is an immense expansion of the state tax base.
“Why do students at Carver Elementary have to go without their flag football team?” Gates asked. “Why are educators being told to conserve toilet tissue and paper towels? Why does everyone have to subsidize the foot-dragging of our governor and Democratic General Assembly.”
From the first Mayor Daley to the present, some things never change.
I’m still reading the book and Joyce claims that Richard M. Daley had the same “make somebody else pay for it” philosophy as his father.
Monday, Aug 25, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department
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* Click here for background if you need it. Governor JB Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul and community leaders will hold a 3 pm press conference emphasizing “there is no emergency that requires President Trump to send military deployments to Chicago.” Click here to watch.
* Senate President Don Harmon…
“If Trump is dead set on spending millions of taxpayer dollars deploying the National Guard and uprooting their families, I understand that budget cuts have created a need for crossing guards in the city to keep children safe. That could be a great public service. I would encourage the president to contact CPS leadership for logistics, or perhaps he could call the CTU President, as I’m sure she’d be happy to tell him where to go.”
* The Cook County Sheriff’s Office…
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office has not been contacted by anyone regarding any plans with the deployment of the National Guard. We have longstanding relationships with Federal partners, and we have not been informed of any strategic plan involving the National Guard in Chicago.
* House Speaker Chris Welch…
“Safe communities are built on trust between local law enforcement and our neighborhoods, so there is no situation in Chicago—or in any other community for that matter—that can be improved by Donald Trump’s unprecedented federalur overreach. The real crisis the president should be focused on is the cost of living crisis that is stretching families to the breaking point because of this administration’s erratic policies and misplaced priorities.”
* Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias…
“Everyone wants safer communities. If you really want to help Chicago get crime under control Mr President, how about restoring C.V.I. grants, passing common-sense gun safety laws and stopping the cutting of funding for city/state resources that would allow us to hire more police, law enforcement and “de-escalation” officials.
The National Guard was not established nor trained for crime fighting. Let’s make all our cities safer by pursuing policies that really work, not just pretending we’re doing something as a way to divert attention from all the failures of your administration.”
* Chicago Federation of Labor, Equality Illinois, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Personal PAC and Sierra Club Illinois…
“Trump’s scare tactics are nothing new and our communities see right through them. As he well knows, our crime numbers have hit a 30-year low in this city, all while he fails to deliver on a single promise that would actually improve the lives of working people. He’s doubling down on a racist gambit to create chaos in cities to distract from his tanking poll numbers and disastrous policy agenda.
“We won’t be cowed. We won’t back down from fighting against his attacks on our fundamental rights, and we are committed to working together to ensure Illinois stays on course to protect our communities and our future.”
* Gov. JB Pritzker…
“The State of Illinois at this time has received no requests or outreach from the federal government asking if we need assistance, and we have made no requests for federal intervention.
“The safety of the people of Illinois is always my top priority. There is no emergency that warrants the President of the United States federalizing the Illinois National Guard, deploying the National Guard from other states, or sending active activity duty military within our own borders.
“Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he is causing working families.
“We will continue to follow the law, stand up for the sovereignty of our state, and protect the people of Illinois.”
If Trump wants to take his ego trip on tour, he picked the wrong city.
Chicago doesn’t bow down to kings or roll out the red carpet for dictators. As a Black woman from the South Side, I can assure you @realdonaldtrump, your political circus isn’t welcome here. https://t.co/pb6w4STMa2
“We take President Trump’s statements seriously, but to be clear the City has not received any formal communication from the Trump administration regarding additional federal law enforcement or military deployments to Chicago. Certainly, we have grave concerns about the impact of any unlawful deployment of National Guard troops to the City of Chicago. The problem with the President’s approach is that it is uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound. Unlawfully deploying the National Guard to Chicago has the potential to inflame tensions between residents and law enforcement when we know that trust between police and residents is foundational to building safer communities. An unlawful deployment would be unsustainable and would threaten to undermine the historic progress we have made. In the past year alone, we have reduced homicides by more than 30%, robberies by 35%, and shootings by almost 40%. We need to continue to invest in what is working.
“We know that our communities are safest when we fully invest in housing, community safety, and education. The National Guard will not alleviate the housing crisis. It will not put food in the stomachs of the 1 in 4 children that go to bed hungry every night in Chicago. The National Guard will not fully-fund our public schools or provide mental healthcare or substance abuse treatment to Chicagoans in need. The National Guard is no substitute for dedicated local law enforcement and community violence interrupters who know and serve our communities every day. There are many things the federal government could do to help us reduce crime and violence in Chicago, but sending in the military is not one of them.”
* Attorney General Kwame Raoul…
“Throughout my tenure, I have successfully collaborated with federal law enforcement partners, such as the FBI, DEA, ATF, Secret Service and Homeland Security – Investigations, to investigate and prosecute crime in Illinois, as have other local and state law enforcement partners around the state of Illinois. I appreciate the federal government’s contribution of their expertise, technology and manpower toward those efforts. In fact, violent crimes have decreased in the city of Chicago over the last year. But instead of dedicating more resources to that work, the president is focused on turning our military on American citizens in his ongoing attempts to move our nation toward authoritarianism. His actions are not just un-American. They are unwise strategically. Our cities are not made safer by deploying the nation’s service members for civilian law enforcement duties when they do not have the appropriate training.
“To be clear: We have made no such request for the type of federal intervention we have seen in Los Angeles or Washington D.C. There is no emergency in the state of Illinois.
“In fact, even as the president publicly laments the rampant crime he claims is taking over our cities, his Justice Department is threatening to withhold critical Victims of Crimes Act funding. If the president was serious about supporting victims of crime, my office would not have had to file suit this week to stop him from placing unlawful immigration conditions on completely unrelated funding that supports critical services for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking, child abuse and other violent crimes.”
* US Sen. Tammy Duckworth…
U.S. Senator and combat Veteran Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) issued the following statement today amid reports that the Trump Administration is planning another inappropriate deployment of American troops into American cities, this time to Chicago, without coordinating with state or local officials and despite the state not requesting any deployment:
“It comes as no surprise Donald Trump is once again attacking Chicago, but that doesn’t change that Trump’s continuing pattern of politicizing and misusing our nation’s military for his own partisan gain and to crush dissent is deeply disturbing, is un-American and has no place in any of our cities.
“We know this isn’t about ‘law and order’ because Trump is once again refusing to coordinate with state and local officials. And if he really cared about ‘health and safety,’ he wouldn’t have cut millions of dollars in gun violence prevention funding just weeks ago. This is just another attempt to distract the American people from the price increases his own policies are causing and the various personal scandals he wants to change the subject from.
“Forcing the military, uninvited, into Chicago to intimidate Americans in their own communities does not make our nation stronger, it simply distracts the military from executing its core mission of keeping Americans safe from real adversaries who wish us harm.
“It’s yet another unwarranted, unwanted and unjust move straight out of the authoritarian’s playbook that will only undermine our military’s readiness and ultimately weaken our national security.”
* US Sen. Dick Durbin…
“What President Trump is doing in DC is purely political theater. His actions are creating chaos and sowing fear rather than making our nation’s capital safer, and now he says Chicago will be his next target. Chicago is a beautiful, vibrant city with people from all walks of life, which I see firsthand all the time. While there is more work to do, violent crime in the city has significantly declined in recent years. These unprecedented threats and manufactured emergencies from President Trump are nothing more than a power grab to distract from his disastrous policies like ripping 17 million people off their health care and raising costs for Americans. We should be focusing on proven bipartisan solutions to continue to reduce violent crime rather than using our brave men and women in uniform for political purposes.”
* US Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi…
“President Trump’s illegal attempt to militarize Chicago will do nothing but spark chaos and create spectacle. There is no emergency in Illinois that warrants federalizing our National Guard or deploying active-duty troops into our communities—just as there was no justification in Washington or Los Angeles. Donald Trump’s flagrant abuses of power must end. Our brave servicemen and women are not pawns in his political games.
That’s why I introduced legislation to block any president from unilaterally deploying the military into states without a governor’s request. If the President is serious about making Chicago safer, we’re ready to work with his Administration—but not on half-baked stunts that trample the Constitution and spread chaos. I stand with Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson in rejecting this reckless overreach and defending the rule of law.”
“President Trump, let me be absolutely clear: you are not welcomed in Chicago. Do not send the National Guard into our city. And you have no authority to claim what Black women want. Black women have lost sons and daughters, spouses, fathers and mothers to gun violence – and experienced the horrific trauma of gun violence and domestic violence themselves – yet you have done nothing to save Black lives. In fact, bringing the National Guard into Chicago threatens Black communities that have already been overpoliced and under-invested in for generations.
“President Trump believes he can make an easy target out of Chicago – but he’s never understood our city. Crime has gone down to pre-pandemic levels due to community violence intervention organizations that have provided opportunities and safer pathways for young adults. If the President truly cared about law and order, he would keep the National Guard away – out of DC, too – pass gun safety laws, and release already-allocated funds to CVI organizations. We all know, though, that he’s too scared of the gun lobby to do anything.”
According to the Chicago Mayor’s Office Violence Reduction Dashboard, crime has decreased this year compared to 2024, including a 45% reduction in multi-victim shooting incidents, 35% reduction in fatal shooting homicides, and 49% reduction in car hijackings.
I know Trump is not too smart and possibly senile, so he might not remember when Chicagoans ran him out of town in 2016–but we do. We all see the distraction game he’s playing for just what it is, and Chicagoans don’t take well to being threatened. Keep Chicago out of your mouth!
Rahm Emanuel, the former mayor of Chicago, said on CNN on Sunday that Mr. Trump’s threat was more a reflection of the president’s animus toward its Democratic leadership and desire to crackdown on immigration than a considered strategy to take on crime.
“When you look at what he did in D.C., he’s not going to actually deal with crime,” Mr. Emanuel said. “This is an attempt to deal with cities that are welcoming cities, known as sanctuary cities, and deal with immigration.” […]
In Chicago, Mr. Emanuel said that prosecutors should pursue penalties for gun crimes and that law enforcement should work to combat carjackings, a category of crime that he said has not fallen as sharply as others. But city leaders are treading the right path already, he said, and do not need the kind of assistance the federal government is offering.
“We have a strategy for fighting crime: more police on the beat and getting kids, gangs and guns off the street,” he said. “And that’s what has to be done.”
The chair of the Chicago City Council’s Public Safety Committee spoke to NBC Chicago about the need to reduce crime in the city but said Trump’s National Guard threats are misguided.
“We still see an unacceptably high number of robberies, carjackings, burglaries, break-ins. We have work to do, but we need help that makes sense,” Alderman Brian Hopkins said. “The federal National Guard isn’t going to make a difference in carjacking in Chicago. If he really wanted to help, we’re short 2,000 police officers. Unfortunately, that is not what Trump is talking about.”
…Adding… Darren Bailey…
Former State Senator Darren Bailey released the following statement blasting Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for opposing National Guard deployment to restore order in Chicago:
“If Brandon Johnson and JB Pritzker try to block the National Guard from coming into Chicago, they should be thrown in jail. They are siding with criminals and putting politics ahead of the safety of families. Enough is enough. Chicago is bleeding, and these two are too busy playing politics.
Families are burying their children, businesses are shuttering, and entire neighborhoods live in fear. For Pritzker and Johnson to say there’s no emergency is disgraceful. They’re not just failing Chicago—they’re enabling the chaos.
Chicago is a world class city. The City and our state do not need weak politicians making excuses. We need leaders with a backbone who will fight for law and order. Pritzker and Johnson have failed. It’s time to put families first and restore this city to greatness.”
…Adding… Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke…
“The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office works with local, state, and federal law enforcement officers every day to get illegal guns and violent criminals off our streets. We prosecute crimes in collaboration with our law enforcement partners when they are properly presented with appropriate jurisdiction and sufficient evidence. Federal intervention in our public safety efforts will never result in a deviation from our core mission of following the law and representing all victims of crime in Cook County.”
* ICYMI: Johnson, Pritzker, other local leaders ponder steps to counter potential Pentagon plans to deploy National Guard in Chicago. Tribune…
- The Washington Post reported the Pentagon has been preparing plans to deploy the National Guard to Chicago as soon as next month, following earlier deployments in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
- Mayor Brandon Johnson blasted the reported plan as unconstitutional and vowed legal action if necessary, with Johnson saying Chicago “does not need a military occupation.”
- US Sen. Tammy Duckworth has sharply criticized what she said were Trump’s attempts to politicize the nation’s military and use them to “intimidate Americans in their own communities.”
* Governor Pritzker will speak at the Illinois Holocaust Museum’s Satellite Campus opening at 10:30 am and hold a 3 pm press conference in downtown Chicago on Trump’s planned military deployments. Click here to watch.
*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***
* Crain’s | Intersect Illinois undertakes a rebranding as it markets the state’s economy: The organization, which has 56 corporate members, now calls itself the Illinois Economic Development Corp. What the name lacks in pizzazz, it makes up for with pragmatism. To outsiders, who are the group’s primary audience, Intersect Illinois doesn’t say much about what the entity does. “Illinois EDC embodies our sharper strategy and bold vision to make Illinois a premier destination for business and innovation,” Chairman John Atkinson said in a written statement.
* Tribune | Justice Department demands Illinois hand over voter data. Election officials are debating compliance: The Labor Day deadline, sent to Illinois State Board of Elections officials via email Thursday, marks an escalation of a conflict that’s been brewing between state and federal officials since the Civil Rights Division of Trump’s Justice Department in late July requested the voter data and a laundry list of other information on Illinois elections and voters. The push for disclosure of Illinois voters’ sensitive personal information is part of a broader effort from the Trump administration to exert federal authority over state-run elections, including shifting the Civil Rights Division’s focus from ensuring access to the polls to combating the specter of voter fraud. Several other states, including neighboring Wisconsin, have received similar data requests this summer, while the Justice Department in recent months has filed lawsuits against election officials in North Carolina and Orange County, California, over issues related to their voter rolls.
*** Statewide ***
* Inside Climate News | ‘Forever chemicals’ in drinking water pose challenge for Illinois communities: As part of the new groundwater quality regulations, the Illinois EPA is collecting PFAS data from every water system in the state. The agency provided guidance to local officials through seven PFAS health advisories issued between 2021 and 2024, EPA public information officer Kim Biggs said in an email. “We will continue our work with community water systems to ensure residents receive information on these important issues, as well as working with systems to determine any necessary actions to reduce exposure to PFAS,” Biggs said.
* Crain’s | How federal changes to SNAP will put pressure on Illinois’ food system: Farmers markets will also feel the pain, as many accept SNAP and a statewide program enables recipients to double their buying power and farmers to sell more fruits and vegetables. Less SNAP is likely to lead price-conscious shoppers to forgo fruit and vegetables in favor of less nutritious but calorie-dense food such as pizza and hot dogs, experts say. “Wherever SNAP is spent, whether it’s at a corner store, a farmers market, or a larger grocery store, those dollars do not evaporate. They circulate and they feed local economies,” says Connie Spreen, executive director of the nonprofit Experimental Station in Hyde Park, which runs the Link Match program. The program doubles the value of Link purchases at farmers markets by providing matching currency redeemable at the market for fruits and vegetables, according to the program’s website.
* CBS | Why utility bills are rapidly rising in some states: The increasing demand is a big reason why the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects residential electricity rates to increase steadily by as much as 18% in the next few years, far outstripping the annual inflation rate of about 2.7%. The fastest way to bring rates down would be to increase supply, but there are challenges.
* Daily Herald | How much additional revenue did your school district receive through state’s evidence-based funding formula?: Nearly $1.4 billion is headed to 102 suburban school districts in the Northwest and Western suburbs, ISBE records show. “The additional EBF funding will be used to support educational programming, including hiring the additional teaching staff needed to maintain the district’s current class size targets as well as additional support for our growing English Language Learner populations,” said Wheeling Township Elementary District 21 Superintendent Michael Connolly. “We will also utilize portions of the additional funding to defray the increasing costs of operations, including increased transportation, utility and costs for materials and services.”
*** Statehouse News ***
* WSIL | Giannoulias announces $1.5M in grants to Southern Illinois libraries: Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced nearly $1.5 million in grants for Southern Illinois libraries. He toured the Du Quoin Public Library and visited the State Fair on his recent visit. The Du Quoin library received $12,500 in technology grants and $8,594 in per capita grants. These grants aim to ensure access to quality resources and programming.
* Daily Herald | Here’s how new road test rules for seniors, reporting unsafe drivers will work: The rule goes into effect July 1, 2026. At that point, drivers ages 79 and 80 seeking to renew their licenses still will need to visit a DMV and take a vision test. Motorists between the ages of 81 and 86 still will be required to renew their licenses every two years in person at a DMV and take a vision test. Road exams are eliminated for ages 79 through 86. The legislation also allows immediate relatives of unsafe drivers, regardless of age, to report problems to the secretary of state’s office. Issues could be a decline in driving skills or cognitive or medical issues. If authorities find the concerns are credible, a driver would need to submit a medical evaluation and/or have written, vision and behind-the-wheel tests to keep their license.
* WCIA | New Illinois law will bring farmers more opportunities at farmers markets: The new law will let smaller producers like Anna process more of her own birds, saving her time and money that would have been spent at big meat lockers. “A lot of the processors are reserved for red meat and with rising cost, a lot of the processors now have minimums and so small producers that are raising less than 100 birds in a batch can’t get into the most popular processor in like a three hour radius,” Morrell said.
* STL PR | Warehouse safety bill that followed the deadly Edwardsville tornado is now law: The new requirements are the product of a task force state lawmakers created the following year to study possible legislative solutions after an EF3 tornado tore through half of an Amazon warehouse, killing six employees. The law now mandates all warehouse operators prepare a tornado safety plan, requires new warehouses contain a designated refuge area as a form of shelter and dictates that city and county building inspectors hold a certification from the International Code Council.
*** Chicago ***
* Sun-Times | Trump Medicaid cuts threaten ‘the little hospital that could’ on Chicago’s Far South Side: A “firing squad” is how Tim Egan, the hospital’s president, describes the expected cuts. A majority of Roseland patients are on Medicaid, according to the Illinois Hospital Report Card. […] As Khan walks around the 134-bed hospital, he says the expected funding cuts will mean the hospital will have to make do with fewer support staff, like certified nurse assistants and specialists who help treat wounds. They are also already thinking of how to save money by reducing medical equipment like ventilators that were in demand during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.
* Tribune | Aldermen opting out of new tenant powers, but proponents defend anti-gentrification effort: While the Northwest Side Preservation Ordinance aims to slow gentrification by giving tenants a “right of first refusal” and discouraging development that decreases density, a pair of aldermen are opting out. They say the still-nascent law that affects neighborhoods including Avondale, Humboldt Park and Logan Square severely disrupts real estate deals and strips homeowners of the right to control their property.
* Tribune | Grain Belt Express pits Chicago businessman, politicians and farmers in power line battle: [Michael Polsky’s] Chicago-based company Invenergy is the country’s largest privately held generator of renewable power. And his investors include Blackstone, the world’s biggest private equity firm. But it’s been a seesaw battle, and the outcome is still in doubt. One of the main problems for Polsky’s power line is that it needs to cross lots of farmland in Kansas, Missouri and Illinois. And lots of farmers hate the idea of eminent domain, especially when it’s a private developer such as Polsky who wants their land.
* Sun-Times | Illinois Holocaust Museum’s satellite location brings survivor stories to life through virtual reality experiences, interactive holograms: It also features a gallery, “Stories of Survival: Object. Image. Memory.,” which comprises 61 carefully preserved objects and images from Holocaust and global genocide survivors. Museum CEO Bernard Cherkasov said the satellite location is opening during a time when “the world feels in crisis.” “There is dehumanization, there is suffering [and] polarization that’s happening in our own society and around the world,” Cherkasov said. “The Holocaust, as one of the darkest moments in our human history, has so much to teach people now.”
*** Cook County and Suburbs ***
* Daily Southtown | Suburban community college presidents among the highest paid in the state: Topping the list are Harper College President Avis Proctor, Oakton College President Joianne Smith, College of Lake County President Lori Suddick and McHenry County College President Clinton Gabbard, based on their latest contracts and salary data from the Illinois Community College Board. Statewide, the salaries for district executive officers range from $169,950 to $377,825. A community college president’s salary in Illinois is on average $246,642, according to ICCB’s 2024 annual salary report.
* Daily Herald | Feds appeal judge’s ruling denying intervention in Haymarket’s lawsuit against Itasca: The saga began in 2019 when Haymarket proposed a comprehensive substance use and mental health treatment center in Itasca for people from DuPage County and surrounding communities. Itasca trustees, however, unanimously turned down Haymarket’s zoning request to convert a former Holiday Inn into a 240-bed facility. In response, the nonprofit provider sued the village in January 2022, arguing that officials violated antidiscrimination laws. According to its original complaint, Haymarket is unique among substance use and mental health treatment facilities in the area because it accepts people for treatment regardless of their ability to pay and provides additional services, including career counseling.
* Shaw Local | Woodstock hires firm to communications about Route 47 widening: The City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday to approve a contract with Downers Grove-based Metro Strategies. Council member Gregg Hanson was the only one who voted no; Mayor Mike Turner and Council member Melissa McMahon were absent. Council members Bob Seegers, Tom Nierman, Natalie Ziemba and Darrin Flynn voted yes. Hanson said he wasn’t worried about who the contractor was or the dollar amount of the contract, but he said he wanted “some sort of restraint in spending.”
* Daily Herald | Lawmakers continuing public events despite disruptive pro-Palestinian protests: The most recent protests occurred last month during events featuring U.S. Reps. Sean Casten of Downers Grove and Bill Foster of Naperville. The legislators were berated over their support of Israel’s war against Hamas and its extremist allies at the expense of Palestinian civilians. Casten and Foster haven’t been the only suburban lawmakers targeted by pro-Palestinian activists. So have U.S. Reps. Brad Schneider of Highland Park and Jan Schakowsky of Evanston.
* Shaw Local | Special recreation program serves Will County kids and adults with disabilities: Family bingo, swimming lessons, bumper bowling, walking club, pickleball and Parents’ Day Out are among the fall programs offered by the Northern Will County Special Recreation Association for children and adults with disabilities from ages 3 to 99. Northern Will County Special Recreation Association provides year-round recreation programs and services for children, teens and adults with disabilities.
*** Downstate ***
* WGLT | Heartland Head Start wins $4.4 million federal grant renewal: Federally funded Head Start agencies across the country have been anxious in these first months of the second Trump administration. The Project 2025 conservative blueprint that’s guided many of Trump’s moves called for Head Start’s demise, and there already have been unsuccessful attempts to eliminate funding. It was tough timing for Heartland Head Start, whose five-year grant was up for renewal this summer. The agency has faced other challenges in recent years, including numerous leadership changes, workplace-culture complaints, and compliance issues.
* The Southern | Environmentalist groups take the fight to Forest Service over logging: Decades after initially fighting against logging operations at the Shawnee National Forest, Friends of Bell Smith Springs are once again taking the fight to the U.S. Forest Service. A lawsuit filed in federal court in July seeks to halt a Forest Service project that has marked 70 acres of trees to be cut in the watershed of Hunting Branch Creek, which flows into Bell Smith Springs. […] “Regardless of what the Forest Service and the timber industry try to sell the public on, never in the history of this planet has a forest been logged back to health,” Stearns said.
* Capitol News Illinois | United Methodist Church buys billboard space that hosted Proud Boys sign: In response to the uproar over a Proud Boys message displayed on a billboard near Central Community High School, the United Methodist Church has a simple message: “Hate Divides, Love Unites.” The church purchased billboard space in the same location as the Proud Boys sign, which was removed this week. It paid $2,100 for the next four months.
* Tribune | New database catalogs plant species in latest effort to restore prairies: Zinnen was part of a team that recently launched the RELIX database, alongside Jeffrey Matthews, associate professor in natural resources and environmental sciences at the U. of I. RELIX catalogues every plant species in 353 prairie remnants — parts of the native grasslands of the Midwest that were not converted to farmland during colonization. “A good way to think about prairie remnants is, they were spared by accident,” Zinnen said. “These were places that you really couldn’t farm or were not worth farming, and many of them had these kind of lucky conditions to keep them as a prairie community and not be turned into woodland or some type of non-native ecosystem.”
* Illinois Times | Securing mental health funding: Social workers and mental health providers informed Sangamon County Mental Health Commission earlier this month about the possible ways they could benefit from dedicated funding and planning from a community mental health board. The vast majority of counties in Illinois have these boards, which approve funding for local social service organizations through some form of tax revenue. The boards, which are also known as 708 Boards, provide a more consistent avenue for mental health providers to fund their work when compared to applying for fixed state or federal grants.
* WGLT | Town of Normal is working on growth in new strategic plan: The strategic plan focuses on several ever-present initiatives, including housing strategies, infrastructure, and finishing fire station number two. A new item appearing on the radar is planning for infrastructure in north Normal where there is an opportunity for growth, said city manager Pam Reece. “What we’re specifically looking at is the area along Business 51 and I-39, that northwest area of Normal. Growth is going to be driven by infrastructure. It’s going to require water, sewer, storm water services, additional roads. We’ve got our hands full in terms of looking at how to prime that area in the future for growth and take advantage of the highway adjacency,” said Reece.
* Illinois Times | Robert Moore reflects on his life: Born in 1943, Moore grew up in the Jim Crow era in a Mississippi farming community. He graduated from an all-Black high school after never experiencing an integrated school. He declined a scholarship to play basketball in junior college and enlisted in the U.S. Army, setting him on a life journey that he boldly designed. He describes all of this in his autobiography, Off My Neck, published Aug. 1. He says the title “doesn’t just reflect a moment. It reflects a lifetime. It bridges my journey as a Black man growing up in Mississippi who found his purpose in life in Illinois.”
*** National ***
* CNN | National Guard troops in Washington, DC, begin carrying weapons: US National Guard members deployed to Washington, DC, started carrying their sidearms on Sunday, a spokesperson for the Joint Task Force carrying out the mission told CNN. This follows a directive by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week that authorized members of the National Guard, who were deployed as part of President Donald Trump’s anti-crime agenda in the nation’s capital, to begin carrying weapons.
* NYT | How Trump Used 10 Emergency Declarations to Justify Hundreds of Actions: Tracking the use of these emergency orders to justify tariff actions is extraordinarily complicated: Mr. Trump has changed rates; extended and further extended deadlines; and made specific adjustments to minimize disruption to particular American industries, among other actions. But the result, at least so far, has been a landscape of punishing rates — starting at 10 percent and going as high as 50 percent — that have taken effect for more than 90 trading partners. Attempts in Congress to block or forestall the tariffs have not been successful, but court challenges remain underway.
* 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.
The Pentagon is working on plans to deploy the U.S. military to Chicago as President Donald Trump says he is cracking down on crime, homelessness and undocumented immigration, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.
The Defense Department planning, in the works for weeks, involves several options, including mobilizing at least a few thousand members of the National Guard as soon as September, the Post reported, citing officials familiar with the matter.
“Chicago is a mess,” Trump, a Republican, told reporters on Friday, deriding its mayor as he continued his attacks on cities run by Democratic politicians. “And we’ll straighten that one out probably next.”
The Pentagon said in a statement late on Saturday: “We won’t speculate on further operations. The department is a planning organization and is continuously working with other agency partners on plans to protect federal assets and personnel.”
A state’s governor generally oversees his own National Guard, but the president can federalize and deploy troops over objections under Title 10 of federal law. It permits the president to issue orders to National Guard members if there is a “rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the government.”
A president also can invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty troops to perform law enforcement duties in the U.S., but such an act would be politically polarizing and trigger alarm in the Pentagon. Trump flirted with the idea in 2020, during unrest following the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Trump deployed both the National Guard members and a battalion of Marines in California in June while citing “incidents of violence and disorder” that had occurred during ICE operations to round up undocumented immigrants. Under the law Trump used, Title 10, the troops are generally prevented from being involved in law enforcement.
The California deployment was contested in court, with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and other officials questioning whether Trump had violated the Posse Comitatus Act, a federal law that prohibits U.S. troops from carrying out civilian law enforcement actions. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that Trump’s orders violated the law, but his decision was halted by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco.
This month, Breyer oversaw a case in which California officials again contested the legality of the deployment there. Administration officials said the troops involved were not enforcing the law, but rather protecting federal buildings and law enforcement personnel. No final ruling has been issued. A couple hundred members of the California National Guard remain involved in the mission in Los Angeles.
Trump has faced fewer legal challenges with his deployment of the National Guard in D.C. because the city is subject to federal oversight. As of Friday, more than 2,200 troops from the D.C. Guard and six other states were involved in the mission under orders detailed by Title 32, a federal law that governors can use to deploy National Guard members in other states.
* Gov. JB Pritzker…
“The State of Illinois at this time has received no requests or outreach from the federal government asking if we need assistance, and we have made no requests for federal intervention.
“The safety of the people of Illinois is always my top priority. There is no emergency that warrants the President of the United States federalizing the Illinois National Guard, deploying the National Guard from other states, or sending active activity duty military within our own borders.
“Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he is causing working families.
“We will continue to follow the law, stand up for the sovereignty of our state, and protect the people of Illinois.”
The ACLU of Illinois argued public safety involves more than just policing, and the National Guard is not the answer.
“National Guard are not trained in order to be police officers, in order to collaborate and cooperate with communities. They’re trained to do militaristic operations, and so the idea that that’s the substitute is really a poor one,” ACLU Illinois spokesman Ed Yohnka said.
* Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson…
“We take President Trump’s statements seriously, but to be clear the City has not received any formal communication from the Trump administration regarding additional federal law enforcement or military deployments to Chicago. Certainly, we have grave concerns about the impact of any unlawful deployment of National Guard troops to the City of Chicago. The problem with the President’s approach is that it is uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound. Unlawfully deploying the National Guard to Chicago has the potential to inflame tensions between residents and law enforcement when we know that trust between police and residents is foundational to building safer communities. An unlawful deployment would be unsustainable and would threaten to undermine the historic progress we have made. In the past year alone, we have reduced homicides by more than 30%, robberies by 35%, and shootings by almost 40%. We need to continue to invest in what is working.
“We know that our communities are safest when we fully invest in housing, community safety, and education. The National Guard will not alleviate the housing crisis. It will not put food in the stomachs of the 1 in 4 children that go to bed hungry every night in Chicago. The National Guard will not fully-fund our public schools or provide mental healthcare or substance abuse treatment to Chicagoans in need. The National Guard is no substitute for dedicated local law enforcement and community violence interrupters who know and serve our communities every day. There are many things the federal government could do to help us reduce crime and violence in Chicago, but sending in the military is not one of them.”
* Related…
* CNN | Officials have been planning for weeks to send National Guard to Chicago as Trump seeks to expand crime crackdown: When asked for comment, the White House on Saturday referred CNN to Trump’s remarks in the Oval Office a day earlier. The president said Friday he hadn’t spoken to the Chicago mayor when asked by a reporter whether he had taken any “concrete steps” toward a crackdown in the city. CNN has reached out to the Pentagon for comment on the potential deployment of troops to Chicago, first reported by The Washington Post.
* Tribune | Judge blocks President Trump from cutting funding from Chicago and other cities over ‘sanctuary’ policies: U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco extended a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from cutting off or conditioning the use of federal funds for so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions. His earlier order protected more than a dozen other cities and counties, including San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. An email to the White House late Friday was not immediately returned. In his ruling, Orrick said the administration had offered no opposition to an extended injunction except to say the first injunction was wrong. It has appealed the first order.
*AP | National Guard troops on DC streets for Trump’s crackdown will start carrying guns: The Defense Department didn’t offer any other details about the new development or why it was needed. Hegseth referred to it as “common sense” on social media. No troops have been spotted yet with firearms around the city in the hours after the announcement. But the decision is an escalation in the Republican administration’s intervention in the nation’s capital and comes as nearly 2,000 National Guard members have been stationed in the heavily Democratic city.
*Reuters | Trump crime crackdown deploys troops in Washington’s safest sites: By contrast with central Washington, residents of Ward 8 in the city’s southeast - the area with the highest crime rate - said there was not a guardsman in sight. With the ward’s murder rate dwarfing that of most other neighborhoods, many locals said they would welcome troops on their streets.
* NYT | See Trump’s Use of Federal Law Enforcement in D.C.: Those agents have roamed the district on patrol, set up checkpoints to stop and search vehicles and have occasionally evicted homeless people from city streets in a highly visible effort to make arrests and project the administration’s show of force. The White House has lauded their efforts in daily news releases, tallying more than 600 arrests over a two-week period — many of them for immigration violations. In the last two weeks before Mr. Trump commandeered the city’s police, 1,182 arrests were made.
* Democracy Docket | The States Sending Troops to DC Have Way Worse Crime Problems. Most Didn’t Want to Talk About It: According to a Democracy Docket analysis of the FBI’s Crime in the United States Annual Report, using Offenses Known to Law Enforcement, by State by City in 2024, 53 cities across Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia had higher murder rates than D.C. in 2024. Some of the cities have violent crime rates significantly worse than D.C. Memphis saw 2,501 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 2024, more than double Washington’s 926. The murder rate in Memphis was 41 per 100,000 residents, compared to 26 for D.C.
