* ICYMI: CPS board members ask Pritzker, lawmakers to call special session on school funding. Sun-Times…

- As they stare down a $734 million budget deficit, some Chicago Board of Education members are calling on the governor to hold a special legislative session this summer to drum up money for schools.
- The state has put more than $300 million in new money into the funding formula each year since it was approved in 2018. Yet, with those increases, it won’t be fully funded until at least 2034, despite the deadline of 2027 set in the law, according to the Center on Budget and Tax Accountability.
- So far, neither Gov. JB Pritzker, nor legislative leaders, are jumping to heed the call. Asked Tuesday, Pritzker’s office referred to a previous statement in which the governor said he would like to provide more money for education, but finding the dollars to do so was a challenge.

* Governor Pritzker will be at Venue SIX10 at 1 pm to deliver opening remarks at the Global Quantum Forum. At 2 pm, the governor will announce a new IQMP tenant. Click here to watch.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | Cane sugar Coca-Cola coming this fall, and Illinois corn farmers worry about financial impact: After the announcement Tuesday, Corn Refiners Association president and CEO John Bode told the Sun-Times in a statement that “an increased use of U.S. cane sugar is certain to lead to a corresponding increase in imports of foreign cane sugar.” “Replacing high-fructose corn syrup with cane sugar would cost thousands of American food manufacturing jobs, depress farm income, and expand the trade deficit,” Bode added.

* Sun-Times | ComEd bills likely to remain high as AI, data centers suck up power: ComEd’s rate hikes this summer are directly related to the high demand across the country. After a recent “auction” to determine what those payments to power companies will be in 2026, it appears that electric customers will not get a break from high bills anytime soon. In fact, signs point to even higher electric bills by the middle of next year. Electric rates just went up June 1, and most customers didn’t see the increases on their bills until this month.

*** Statewide ***

* CBS Chicago | Gov. Pritzker says state of Illinois is seeing major drop in violent crime alongside Chicago: Gov. Pritzker also said there has been a similar drop in crime statewide. “Shootings and homicides on our highways are down 60, 70, 80% depending on where you look — but certainly in the Chicago area — and that’s a result of more officers, investment in technology, making sure that we have summer jobs for kids, and making sure that we’re investing in areas that have high poverty rates. All of that works, I think, to reduce crime rate in the city of Chicago, and well as across the state of Illinois.”

* Daily Herald | How sweating corn will intensify this week’s Midwest heat wave: In the week ahead, some of the country’s most oppressive heat and humidity will be found in the Corn Belt, an area of the United States that stretches from the Dakotas to Ohio, sending heat index values toward a dangerous 115 degrees. Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana and the Dakotas are forecast to have humidity levels that rival or exceed Florida’s. According to Iowa state climatologist Justin Glisan, this is the time of the year when humidity contributions from corn sweat are highest — around the time of tasseling and pollination, when the flower emerges from the corn stalk.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Austin Weekly News | As Ford plans state house exit, open seat draws early bids: Thomas Gary, an Oak Parker who has served on the Triton College board and in the U.S. Navy Reserve for 27 years, announced late last week that he will run for Ford’s seat. Pastor John J. Harrell, a pastor with both Austin and Proviso Township roots, has also filed to run. Harrell is an Austin resident and pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Austin. He also leads Proviso Baptist Church in Maywood and is on the board of Loretto Hospital and Hire 360 Workforce Development. He filed his candidacy with the state on July 10.

* WAND | House GOP want Illinois to support ICE, Democrats hope to ban police from wearing masks: This comes as Rep. Barbara Hernandez (D-Aurora) has filed a bill to ban law enforcement from wearing masks and neck gaiters while interacting with the public. At least 15 House Democrats hope to fine police officers wearing masks. Law enforcement could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor for multiple offenses. House Bill 4086 would also allow the state to put money from fines into a special fund to provide immigrant family services.

* WGN | Chicago’s budget deficit threatened by pension bill that awaits Pritzker’s signature: To cover the adjustment, fiscal watchdogs project Chicago taxpayers would be on the hook for $60 million in 2027 and $754 million by 2055. “We’re still evaluating the bill. Obviously, there is a lot to consider here,” Pritzker said Tuesday.

* WGLT | Consumer advocate pushes for legislative action regarding State Farm rate spike: Over the last three years, Illinois policyholders live in the only state outside of Utah who have faced 50% increases in their homeowner’s insurance. Illinois Public Interest Research Group State [PIRG] Director Abe Scarr said those increases will “impact countless families across the state.” About 1.5 million State Farm policyholders will be impacted by the near half-billion rate hike — a 27% hike. Scarr and PIRG are advocating for more regulatory control over insurance rate increases.

* Evanston Now | Pritzker: ‘Confident’ of transit funding solution: Evanston Now asked the governor about the likelihood of state lawmakers coming up with a transit funding solution before the $770 million “fiscal cliff” kicks in next year. Unless that deficit is headed off, area transit agencies project massive service cuts, layoffs, and fare increases. Pritzker said if the amount of legislative work put in on resolving the crisis is any indicator, “I’m confident something will get done.” “Some of the issues are hard,” Pritzker added, “which is why this has been taking so long.”

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Chicago Housing Authority resident leaders voice opposition to Ald. Walter Burnett as potential next CEO: The residents — 14 people who make up CHA’s Central Advisory Council, an elected resident board — said Ald. Walter Burnett is not fit to lead the nation’s third-largest public housing authority and will sell off CHA’s land for non-public housing purposes. “It doesn’t matter that he grew up in Cabrini-Green,” said Mary Baggett, who represents the CHA’s Near West Side community on the resident council. “He never helps public housing residents ever.” “I always stand up and fight for the residents,” Burnett, who said he lives near CHA housing, told the Tribune. “I sit in the shadows of public housing because I know the culture, I grew up in the culture and I respect the culture.”

* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson wants CTA smoking crackdown after aldermen’s call: Mayor Brandon Johnson promised Tuesday to crack down on smoking on Chicago Transit Authority trains and buses, latching onto an effort already underway in the City Council. Johnson signed an executive order directing city departments to send social workers onto the transit system and City Hall lobbyists to push for more safety funding in Springfield. The mayor said he was “fed up” and signaled a hesitant openness to ramping up police enforcement. But he shared few specifics on what anti-smoking efforts will look like and how much they will cost during an afternoon news conference.

* Block Club | Mayor Vows To Curb Smoking On The CTA After Years Of Complaints: ‘It Has Got To Stop’: Johnson’s executive order directs the city’s public health and family and support services departments to deploy mental health workers, such as Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement teams, to trains and platforms to provide additional outreach to people who are unhoused or experiencing mental health episodes. It also asks those agencies to explore the feasibility of forming “Transit Health Response Teams” that would “engage smokers and offer on-site counseling, smoking cessation resources and long-term treatment,” according to a press release.

* Sun-Times | Chicago cop who tested positive for marijuana can keep job, police board rules: Police Supt. Larry Snelling had pushed to fire Officer Marshall Andrews Jr. for failing a random drug test in August 2021, but the board instead voted Thursday to suspend the veteran cop for 90 days. “While the board has discharged officers from CPD in the past for using cannabis, medical and recreational use of cannabis is now permitted by Illinois state law,” the board wrote in its written ruling, noting that future discipline will be assessed “on a case-by-case basis.” Still, the ruling could set a precedent for two other pending disciplinary cases in which officers face firing for allegedly using cannabis.

* ABC Chicago | Secret Service one of few federal agencies currently hiring; Chicago field office talks recruitment: Every week, up to 10 recruits from around Chicago attempt to score a minimum of 20 points on the Applicant Physical Abilities Test that includes timed push-ups, an agility run, sit-ups and finally a mile-and-a-half run. “We give them the scoring chart. We give them the test. So, they know when they show up, what they’re going to be tested on. They know what they need in each section to pass,” said Biljana Spasojevic, assistant to the special agent in charge.

* ABC Chicago | Downtown Chicago fed building lockdown, standoff ends after roughly 9 hours, evacuation: The man was seen being taken out on a stretcher, but he appeared alert and conscious, with a wound on his neck. His condition is not known. A U.S. Marshals spokesperson said he would be taken to a hospital, and no one else was injured in the incident.

* WBEZ | ‘Unpleasant, uncomfortable and maybe dangerous’ temps are headed to Chicago. Here’s how to stay safe: The heat index is expected to hit 105 to 115 degrees in the metro area on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. And the setting sun won’t provide much relief — temperatures will likely remain above 90 degrees well into the night. But don’t expect any temperature records to be broken, said Gino Izzi, a meteorologist with the weather service’s office in Romeoville. “It will be unpleasant, uncomfortable and maybe dangerous,” Izzi said. “But this is pretty normal for this time of the year.”

* Sun-Times | Work on replacement of Chicago Avenue Bridge to begin next month: The Chicago Department of Transportation announced Tuesday that construction on the Chicago Avenue Bridge and the Halsted Street viaduct would begin in early August and continue through the end of 2026.

* NBC Chicago | Chicago’s Union Station celebrates its 100th birthday: Union Station is “a great American success story” by becoming Amtrak’s main connecting hub, says Joseph Schwieterman, DePaul University professor and author of “Terminal Town,” a history of Chicago’s transportation hubs. “While other stations closed, trains were rerouted into it, raising its national profile,” Schwieterman told the Sun-Times.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* ABC Chicago | Immigrant rights groups demand action on ICE facility in western suburbs: The protesters are calling on the county and state to shut down ICE’s Broadview facility. It’s not officially categorized as a detention center, and is said to be increasingly housing people for longer than even ICE’s own standards. Marching into the Loop’s Cook County Administration Building, a group of protesters Tuesday tried and failed to hand deliver a letter addressed to Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. They are calling on the lawmakers to use existing state law to shut down the immigration processing facility in Broadview.

* Daily Herald | Rep. Underwood has massive fundraising lead over GOP’s Marter: Democratic U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood of Naperville has a massive fundraising lead over the perennial Republican candidate hoping to capture her 14th District seat in 2026, federal records show. Underwood’s campaign committee ended June with nearly $1.2 million in the bank — roughly 60 times what the GOP’s Jim Marter of Oswego had put together as of the same date, according to quarterly financial reports filed last week with the Federal Election Commission. The FEC has no financial reports from a second challenger, Democrat Roman G. Valenciano of Earlville, who aims to take on Underwood in the March primary.

* Daily Southtown | Thornton Township officials ask for time to manage finances as residents question supervisor’s salary: The first budgets taken on by Supervisor Napoleon Harris passed unanimously but faced questions from some in the nearly full audience. People who criticized former Supervisor Tiffany Henyard expressed frustration that Harris was carrying on of the former supervisor’s $202,000 salary. “My comment is to you, Supervisor Harris, what motivated you to seek the supervisor position of Thornton Township?” asked Jennifer Robertz during the public comment period. “Was it solely for the six-figure compensation, or did you feel the sense of entitlement to become the most powerful figure in the Southland?”

* Daily Southtown | Orland Township votes to end lease for secretary of state motor vehicle office: Township trustees raised questions about safety and parking before voting 3-2 to end the lease, which is for $1 a year. The secretary of state leases 1,100 square feet inside the township offices and renewed the lease, for a five-year term, this February, said Scott Burnham, a spokesman for the secretary of state. He said at the time the lease was renewed no complaints or issues about the office were raised. Under the terms of the lease, the township has to provide 90-day notice to end a lease, so the office would presumably be closing later in October, Burnham said.

* Harvey World Herald | Alders contest accuracy of meeting minutes as residents call for transparency and accessibility: During the approval of minutes from the April 28, May 12, and June 9 sessions, Colby Chapman (2nd) made a motion to have the minutes sent to the legislative committee for further review. Her motion failed. Ald. Tracy Key (4th) voiced significant concerns about the accuracy of the meeting minutes. “The minutes don’t include everything that happened in the meeting,” Key said. “We need to have a better procedure for documenting what occurs during these sessions.” Mayor Chris Clark responded by noting that the existing rules, established by the prior administration, specify that minutes do not need to be verbatim. “Number one, minutes do not have to be verbatim,” he said. “Number two, if someone has an issue, even though they don’t have to be verbatim, we can address it, but we have to follow procedure.”

* Daily Herald | Arlington Heights board divided on public sleeping ban: At the heart of the debate are complaints from downtown condominium owners about a group of people loitering in front of their building. Those clash with concerns from advocacy groups that any local ordinance would be a step toward criminalizing homelessness. While nothing is set in stone, the mayor and trustees debated potential restrictions that would prohibit anyone from staying on public property — such as park benches — during the overnight hours and for consecutive nights.

*** Downstate ***

* Center Square | Watchdog demands probe of Illinois public library amid property tax push: Americans for Prosperity–Illinois filed a 35-count ethics complaint and is now urging Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to hold officials accountable. “Through our [Freedom of Information Act] investigation, we found that the library used public funds to conduct a survey about the tax referendum and promised respondents their answers would remain confidential. But they turned that information over to the board president and the campaign committee, a clear violation of state law,” said Costin. “It’s deeply troubling to see personal data used to fuel a political campaign aimed at raising taxes on Illinois residents.”

* WCIA | Effingham School Dist. at risk of losing afterschool programs over lack of funds: The district’s programming is funded by a federal grant called the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant. Superintendent Andrew Johnson addressed the status of this funding during the district’s Board of Education meeting on Monday, saying that around the start of July, the district was informed the federal government would no longer provide that grant. “From my understanding, there were multiple states that sued the government,” Johnson said. “And it appears, though I don’t have confirmation, that there is a very good chance that that is going to be back on the table and allocated and paid out.”

* Shaw Local | Sycamore approves 1% grocery tax: ‘Our job is to do what’s best for the city,’ mayor says: Sycamore has joined DeKalb, Genoa and Sandwich by also enacting a 1% grocery tax, which will replace the expiring state tax on most grocery items come January. The Sycamore City Council approved the new local tax in a 6-1 vote Monday. Fourth Ward Alderman Ben Bumpus was the only alderperson to vote against the measure.

* SJ-R | ‘Increasingly tense, but hopeful’: Talks between school district, teachers union continue: The president of the Springfield Education Association described the situation between the union and District 186 Public Schools as “increasingly tense, but hopeful.” The comment by Aaron Graves came after 80 or so union members wearing red shirts attended the July 21 board of education meeting and on the eve of a new round of negotiations. The July 22 session will be the first with a federal mediator called in by the union to help move the talks, which began in January, along.

* Secure Community Network | Secure Community Network Launches Illinois-Iowa Security Program: The Secure Community Network (SCN), the official safety and security organization for the Jewish community in North America, is proud to announce the launch of the Illinois-Iowa Security Program. Ken Scarlette, a highly respected veteran law enforcement leader, will serve as the region’s new Regional Security Advisor (RSA). Scarlette joined SCN in June 2025 following a distinguished 27-year career with the Springfield, Illinois Police Department, where he most recently served as Chief of Police. In his new role, Scarlette will oversee the safety and security operations for the Jewish Federations of Champaign-Urbana, Peoria, Greater Rockford, Springfield, Greater Des Moines, Quad Cities, and Sioux City. His work will include conducting facility assessments, leading trainings and drills, advising on threat mitigation, and coordinating responses to critical incidents. The area includes more than 11,000 Jewish residents and over 60 Jewish facilities, including synagogues, schools, community centers, and other centers of Jewish life.

* BND | 3 victims of serial killer identified by Illinois police and SIUE students: In a new partnership with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville students, Illinois State Police have identified three victims of an infamous St. Louis-area serial killer and also brought charges for a murder that had gone unsolved for 14 years. State police Director Brendan Kelly said that the internship program helped law enforcement identify Kelly Johson, Crystal Lay and Carol Jean Hemphill and that all were victims of Maury Travis. Kelly said Travis killed 17 women in the early 2000s.

* WEEK 25 | Pekin political hopeful arrested for murder-for-hire plot: That investigation led officers to the door of Alison L. Salinas, who was arrested Tuesday afternoon in connection to the murder-for-hire plot. […] Salinas was the owner of Busy Beez Bakery, a now-shuttered business in Pekin, in which five of its employees claim they were not paid for their services. This discovery led to an investigation by the Illinois Department of Labor, which can be read about here. Salinas was also a one-time political candidate, running as a Republican for U.S. Senate against Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth. However, her name did not appear on the 2022 Republican primary ballot.

* WCIA | Gibson City drive-in to host celebration of life for co-owner: “To honor her memory and the lasting legacy she left for me I am hosting a Celebration of Life for her at the drive-in on Sunday July 27th as a means for folks to join us and show appreciation and support for an incredible young woman taken far too soon from this world and those that loved her,” Nora’s husband, Ben Harroun, wrote in a post on the drive-in’s website. Some of the food stands will be open and the money raised from the event will go to the family, medical bills, and charities that were important to Nora. Tab’s Chocolate will also be at the event.

* Muddy River News | Quincy Plan Commission gives green light for six-story hotel with rooftop bar: A special permit to allow for an exemption to the height limitations was requested by Sam Adler, the managing director for the St. Louis-based real estate development firm New + Found. Adler said the property at 200 Maine is one of three riverfront properties currently in development under the company. The budget for the project sits around $35 million and is estimated to be completed by fall 2027, pending approval.

*** National ***

* ProPublica | He Came to the U.S. to Support His Sick Child. He Was Detained. Then He Disappeared: Now, a case-by-case examination of each of the deportees, along with interviews with their lawyers and family members, reveals another jarring reality: Most of the men were not hiding from federal authorities but were instead moving through the nation’s immigration system. They were either in the middle of their cases, which normally should have protected them from deportation, or they had already been ordered deported and should have first been given the option to be sent back to a country they chose.

* WaPo | Ozzy Osbourne’s fame never felt as big as his music: Osbourne sang about war and madness in a dismal moan that he often torqued to resemble a dying ambulance siren, frequently cutting through the noise of rock-and-roll writ large. Warning the meek and the powerless of the ugly future being designed by the rich and the powerful, he helped make the people’s music into something unprecedentedly loud and invigorating and paranoid and fun. But that kind of balancing act can weigh heavily on a working-class boy from Birmingham, so in the 1980s, Osbourne transformed himself into a mascot for heavy metal hedonism — until his god-tier antics finally caught up with him on Tuesday when he died at 76. Throughout the second half of Osbourne’s unbelievable life, the American media consistently tried to reduce his courageous freakiness to a joke, initially positing him as a shock-rock punch line, then later as a hapless dad on the pioneering MTV reality series “The Osbournes.” Yet, as impossibly famous as he continued to become, his music remained more immense than his celebrity.

* Rolling Stone | Election Gambling Is About to Blow Up With Polymarket Back in U.S.: More than three years after prediction-market startup Polymarket was blocked in the U.S. as part of a settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for failing to register as a derivatives trading platform, the company announced it had found a path back into the country. “Polymarket has acquired QCEX, a CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse, for $112 million,” founder and CEO Shayne Coplan wrote on X on Monday. “This paves the way for us to welcome American traders again. I’ve waited a long time to say this: Polymarket is coming home.” Established in 2020, Polymarket allows users to bet on the outcomes of events ranging from national elections to the timing of a potential Israel–Hamas ceasefire, Bitcoin reaching a certain price threshold, how many times Elon Musk will post online in a given week, and when the next version of ChatGPT may be available.

* Bloomberg | EPA Plans to Ditch Key Climate Policy, Washington Post Says: The US Environmental Protection Agency is considering scrapping a landmark almost two-decade old legal opinion that greenhouse gas emissions are harmful to human health, the Washington Post reported. The so-called endangerment finding, published in 2009, has been the legal basis of a wide range of climate rules under the Clean Air Act. A draft proposal to formally abandon the policy is being considered by the EPA, though is still subject to change, the newspaper reported, citing two sources familiar with the details which it didn’t name.