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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Monday, Jul 14, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * WGN…
* Raja Krishnamoorthi also announced endorsements from across the state…
* Illinois State Board of Education…
* Crain’s…
* Press Release | Governor Pritzker Announces $7 Million Tech Incubator Enhancement Grants: This program will enable the State of Illinois to provide capital grants to support facilities and equipment to establish new incubators in parts of the state where entrepreneurs do not have access to these services. By supporting existing incubators’ adaptation to a changing business environment, the State is increasing their resilience so they can continue to play a foundational role in Illinois. * WBEZ | Chicago was supposed to warn residents about toxic lead pipes. It’s barely started: Months past a federal deadline, more than 90% of at-risk Chicagoans haven’t been told their drinking water could be unsafe. Of the 10 cities with the most lead pipes, only Chicago has confirmed it hasn’t finished sending out notices. * Block Club | ‘Call Me Red’: Walter Burnett’s Son Wants His Own Legacy As Alderman: The younger Burnett is aware his appointment could be viewed as classic Chicago nepotism. But, he said, he’s earned his place at the table through his community involvement. “I’m not a slouch,” Burnett said. “I’ve done a lot to participate within my community … I am a steward of this community, regardless of if I’m afforded the opportunity to be in this aldermanic seat or not.” * Tribune | Chicago-area officials are bracing as summer storms roll in following Texas tragedy and weather service budget cuts: So far, the Chicago area has felt less of an impact from those staffing reductions than other regions, particularly less-populated areas served by weather service offices in the Quad Cities and downstate Lincoln, 30 miles northeast of Springfield. But Trump’s budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts in October, calls for further cuts at other agencies within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including the elimination of research centers that study climate. While Chicago has so far been spared, Illinois Democrats in Washington, D.C., remain critical of the cuts and note that any trims to weather service offices downstate will have an impact on Illinois residents. * Tribune | Man charged with threatening to bomb West Side alderman’s office on Fourth of July: Kenneth Weddington, 28, faces one count of threatening a public official and one count of felony disorderly conduct via a false bomb threat, Chicago police said. He is accused of posting on Facebook on July 4, “BOMB PLANTED AT YOUR OFFICE FOR SUPPORT THIS (expletive) AND BEING A FOLLOWER,” according to the police report, which says Weddington was referring to Ervin. Weddington was arrested Friday evening on the sidewalk in the 200 block of South Michigan Avenue “without incident” and due in court Monday afternoon, police said. In 2021, Weddington was sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty to one count of aggravated battery to a peace officer, court records show. * Crain’s | Johnson avoids financial rebuke as City Council committee rejects stricter bond rules: The ordinance would have required a two-thirds majority vote in the City Council to issue city bonds, up from the simple majority needed under current law. But in a 17-16 vote, the Finance Committee rejected the measure, with opponents arguing they needed more time to consider the proposal or that, if approved, it would allow a small group of aldermen to grind city spending to a halt during the final years of Johnson’s first term. * Dan McGrath | The joy and agony of waxing nostalgic for the ‘05 White Sox: But anyone who witnessed it would agree that El Duque’s cold-blooded Fenway shutdown set the stage for all of it. And as the weekend’s festivities unfolded at Rate Field, an underlying question was why didn’t the magic last? Why couldn’t a talented, balanced, undeniably appealing team make some inroads into the Cubs’ market domination at a time when the North Side Nine was vulnerable? * Tribune | From fast casual to fine dining: 50 years of the American gyro, and a look at the dish’s Chicago history: In 1974 and 1975, only a few years after Dengeos first opened, two Chicago-based companies, Grecian Delights and Kronos Foods, began mass-producing the world’s first hydraulically pressed gyro cones. This modern marvel of rotisserie meat allowed for a more consistent, and therefore easier-to-sell, product. Eventually, the two companies merged in 2020, but in the years prior, they helped turn an ancient dish (some estimate the cooking techniques behind the gyro could be at least 2,000 years old) into a fast-casual staple, one that launched as many Dengeos-style Greek eateries as Helen launched ships from Troy. * Sun-Times | Scream Club Chicago offers a safe release of bottled-up energy: On a breezy evening at the North Avenue Beach, a small group gathered for an unusual Sunday night ritual: screaming toward the lake. The new weekly event, dubbed Scream Club Chicago, was created by Manny Hernandez, who recently moved to the city from Los Angeles. Hernandez is a breath work practitioner and men’s transformational coach, and he said the idea for a Sunday night scream session came from his own experience with breath work and the emotional release he has witnessed with clients. * Daily Herald | Citing safety risks for election officials, McHenry County clerk seeking 35% pay hike: McHenry County Clerk Joe Tirio went in front of a county board committee last week to make the case for a raise in salary for his position and others. Among the offices being reviewed for salary increases are treasurer, sheriff and clerk, who also handles the responsibilities of the recorder. All three seats are up for election next year, and the incumbents — Tirio, Sheriff Robb Tadelman and Treasurer Donna Kurtz, all Republicans — are seeking reelection. Salary changes would go into effect after the next election and, historically, the county has approved them before the primary election for those offices, Tirio said. The 2026 primary is March 17. * Crain’s | Suburban office vacancy hits another record — but not for everyone: The share of available workspace in the suburbs inched up during the second quarter to an all-time high of 32.4% from 32.2% at the end of March, according to data from real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle. The suburban office vacancy rate is up from 31.3% one year ago and 22.1% at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, having now hit new record highs every quarter for 4 1/2 years. […] The end of the post-pandemic pain looks closer for owners of top-tier, or Class A, suburban office properties, where the vacancy rate has dropped slightly since the end of 2024, JLL data shows. Companies trying to encourage in-person work keep gravitating to buildings updated with modern amenities, which is why 73% of leases signed over the past three months were in Class A buildings, according to JLL research. * Tribune | E-bike laws a confusing patchwork for suburban riders: Illinois law divides e-bikes into three classes based on their maximum assisted speed and whether the motor requires the rider to pedal. No one under 16 is allowed to ride a bike that can reach more than 20 mph under Illinois law. State regulations also require riders to label their bikes with the motor wattage and classification type. Elk Grove Village officials, however, believe it’s more important for riders to follow the rules of the road, said Scott Eisenmenger, the deputy police chief. * Daily Herald | Carpentersville honored for project to remove lead water lines: Construction on the project began in October 2023 and involved replacing 400 lead water sources in the community. Lead in water sources has been shown to cause several health issues, including cognitive and learning disabilities, developmental problems, and kidney damage, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. In June 2023, the village received $4 million from the Illinois EPA’s Public Water Supply Loan Program. The funding ensured the entire program came at zero cost to village residents. * Daily Southtown | Work continues, but Tinley Park’s Harmony Square still set to debut on Friday: Amanda Gaus, Tinley Park events specialist, said Friday the square’s turf still needs to be finalized, mulch needs to be put down and items for the stage, such as speakers and lighting, need to finished. Eventually, she said, there will be more landscaping, such as perennial flowers plants, outside of the mulch and turf planned for the 2-acre square. The property is 6 acres total, including the planned townhouses and apartments, according to the village. * Daily Herald | St. Charles philanthropic group aims to expand giving: The Fox River Business Alliance raised $27,000 for Kane County charities in 2024, and group members hope to outdo that record this year as efforts expand. The FRBA, a philanthropic group of business people based in St. Charles, established an advisory fund in 2021 to support local charities that benefit the group’s families, friends and neighbors in the Fox Valley. FRBA treasurer Lee Kolodziej said the fund starts from scratch each year, since 100% of the funds raised get donated and no management fees or costs are incurred. * BND | DCFS visited Fairview Heights foster home two days before death, report shows: A 2024 report by the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services Office of Inspector General says the placement worker made “regular visits” and last saw Felmlee on May 9, two days before she died. During pretrial hearings for Williams and Reid in June, St. Clair County prosecutors described their treatment of Felmlee as “torture” and showed photos taken from Williams’ cellphone documenting what they called a pattern of abuse. They included pictures of Felmlee sitting in a car with clear bruising and abrasions to her face, head, shoulder and arm, which were taken on May 7, two days before the placement worker’s final visit. * The 21st Show in Vermilion County | Why are young people leaving small towns in Illinois?: On the Friday, July 11, 2025 edition of The 21st Show, we took our program on the road to Vermilion County, which sits on the Illinois/Indiana border. We talked to a panel of students about why they are less likely to stay in the small communities where they grew up. It’s something we’ve heard before in Carbondale and Peoria. Our conversation took place at Danville Area Community College. * BND | Metro-east shut out of federal radiation exposure compensation funds: However, residents of Venice, Madison and Granite City will again be stuck waiting to be included in the fund for people with radiation-related illnesses tied to Manhattan Project-era nuclear bomb making, after their single Illinois ZIP code didn’t make it in the final bill. The latest action by Congress serves as yet another example of the metro-east victims going unnoticed in their fight for compensation. “This small group of people here in Venice and Madison in Illinois have been left out once again,” said Larry Burgan, a former employee of the factory that processed uranium and thorium and a longtime advocate for RECA. “In part, I believe it’s because of their status, where they stand in life: They’re a poor Black community.” * WGLT | 50+ supporters write letters for Aaron Rossi ahead of sentencing in criminal case: Lawyers for former Reditus Labs CEO Aaron Rossi are pointing to his traumatic childhood and a desire to “prove his worth to everyone” in seeking leniency from a judge sentencing him this week. Rossi will be sentenced Tuesday on health care fraud and wire fraud charges, to which he pleaded guilty in April. It’s among the last steps in resolving multiple criminal investigations into Rossi’s alleged profiteering during the pandemic, when Pekin-based Reditus became a major player in COVID-19 testing. A federal civil lawsuit is also nearing a settlement. […] Reditus made hundreds of millions of dollars from state contracts for COVID-19 testing and brought hundreds of jobs to Pekin. Reditus had testing contracts with the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois Department of Corrections. It ran the COVID testing site at Bloomington’s Interstate Center for much of the pandemic. * WIFR | Part of Illinois 72 to close for a week for maintenance: The Illinois Department of Transportation announces Illinois Route 72 will be closed at the Illinois Railway crossing in Davis Junction in Ogle County beginning on Monday, July 14. The crossing is located nearly a mile west of Illinois 251. The closure will allow the railroad to perform needed maintenance to their at-grade crossing. The road is anticipated to be closed for a week. A detour will be posted directing traffic to use Illinois 251, Illinois 64 and Meridian Road. * NYT | Chinese Students Flocked to Central Illinois. Their Food Followed.: Surrounded by miles of flat, green fields of soy and grain corn, the cities have a combined population of about 127,000 people and a skyline that rarely pokes above 15 stories. The area isn’t anybody’s idea of a major metropolitan center. It certainly isn’t the first place you’d think to look when you are in the mood for serious Chinese food. After a quick walk from the university’s main quad, though, you can sit down to a faithful rendition of spicy bullfrog hot pot in a Sichuanese broth studded with green peppercorns. A nearby restaurant serves yangrou paomo, a Shaanxi lamb soup with floating scraps of flatbread that is a favorite in Xi’an. If you are struck by a late-night craving for stinky tofu in the style of Changsha, you can get it after 8:30 p.m. from a chef who dresses fried black cubes of fermented bean curd in a glistening orange chile oil, the way vendors do on the streets of Hunan’s capital city. * Muddy River News | Fanning the flames: Local coach builds a homegrown Special Olympics team from the ground up: Since fall of 2024, the Quincy Embers have grown from a small group of seven players into a full team of fifteen, competing in tournaments across the region. But their story isn’t just about wins and losses. It’s about second chances, belief, and the power of community. “I was told once during an anger management course that sometimes there’s only one shot at a particular opportunity,” said Hinkamper. “When I found out the only thing stopping Joshua Hill, a close family friend, from playing was needing a coach, I said, ‘Is that all?’” * AP | Trump appointees have ties to companies that stand to benefit from privatizing weather forecasts: “It’s the most insidious aspect of this: Are we really talking about making weather products available only to those who can afford it?” said Rick Spinrad, who served as NOAA administrator under President Joe Biden, a Democrat. “Basically turning the weather service into a subscription streaming service? As a taxpayer, I don’t want to be in the position of saying, ‘I get a better weather forecast because I’m willing to pay for it.’” * WaPo | Defense Department to begin using Grok, Musk’s controversial AI model: On Monday, xAI said its products will be “available to purchase via the General Services Administration (GSA) schedule,” allowing “every federal government department, agency, or office” to buy them. In a news release, the Defense Department said the contract award is worth up to $200 million. The department issued similar awards to Google, Anthropic and OpenAI, it said. […] Grok came under fire last week after launching into an antisemitic rant and invoking Adolf Hitler after it was a programmed to be less politically correct. The incident prompted the company to say it would improve its model. A day later, xAI unveiled a sweeping update that it claimed put Grok on the cutting edge of AI development. * The Atlantic | The AI Mirage: It turns out that I would have needed an entirely new phone for Siri to have surmised that I wanted to go to the store. Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said in an interview last month that the latest version of Siri has “better conversational context”—the sort of thing that should help the software know when I’m asking to be guided to the home-improvement store rather than to a guy called Lowe. But my iPhone apparently isn’t new enough for this update. I would need cutting-edge artificial intelligence to get directions to Lowe’s. * 404 Media | The Media’s Pivot to AI Is Not Real and Not Going to Work: Despite the fact that generative AI has been a destructive force against their businesses, their industry, and the truth more broadly, media executives still see AI as a business opportunity and a shiny object that they can tell investors and their staffs that they are very bullish on. They have to say this, I guess, because everything else they have tried hasn’t worked, and pretending that they are forward thinking or have any clue what they are doing will perhaps allow a specific type of media executive to squeeze out a few more months of salary. * Harper’s Magazine | Shadow of a Doubt: How OCD came to haunt American life: The disorder has racked some of Western civilization’s most luminous minds. Martin Luther, who some historians suspect had OCD, was hijacked by thoughts of cursing Jesus and mental images of Satan’s ass, which moved him to take confession with such frequency that he alienated his fellow priests. When the artist William Hogarth met Samuel Johnson, another apparent sufferer, around 1750 at the house of Samuel Richardson, he found the lexicographer standing at a window “shaking his head and rolling himself about in a strange ridiculous manner” and, not knowing who he was, figured Johnson “an idiot” who’d been entrusted to Richardson’s care. Then Johnson opened his mouth, displaying “such a power of eloquence” that Hogarth sat astonished, concluding that he had been divinely inspired.
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Pritzker signs tariff-related EO
Monday, Jul 14, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Click here for the full EO. Click here for a press release containing actions by other Democratic governors. Press release…
Regarding that last sentence, as we discussed earlier, Illinois won’t have to backfill all of the SNAP costs if the state lowers its SNAP payment error rate.
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Today’s quotable
Monday, Jul 14, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Block Club Chicago…
Discuss.
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First of the ‘ComEd Four’ sentenced: Hooker gets 1.5 years in Madigan bribery case
Monday, Jul 14, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * First, some background from the Tribune…
* Sun-Times Federal Courts Reporter Jon Seidel is in the courtoom…
* Capitol News Illinois’ Hannah Meisel…
* Earlier in the hearing, Judge Shah focused on testimony Hooker gave in 2023. Tribune…
* The Tribune’s Jason Meisner… 
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SB 328 Puts Illinois’s Economy At Risk
Monday, Jul 14, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] In the final hours of the state’s legislative session, SB 328 was quietly introduced and passed giving lawmakers and the public little time to review and debate this legislation. Now, it’s sitting on the Governor’s desk. If signed, it will allow trial lawyers to drag companies into Illinois courts for lawsuits that have nothing to do with Illinois. Businesses could be sued here simply for being registered in the state — even if the alleged harm occurred elsewhere. And it puts jobs and our state’s economy at risk. Even New York Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a nearly identical bill twice, calling it a “massive expansion” of jurisdiction that would deter job creation and burden the courts. Governor Pritzker has a choice: Veto the legislation to protect Illinois jobs and businesses — or signal to employers that Illinois is open season for out-of-state lawsuits. Learn more and make your voice heard: 
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It’s time for an all hands on deck response from Pritzker
Monday, Jul 14, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
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When RETAIL Succeeds, Illinois Succeeds
Monday, Jul 14, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Findings of a recent economic study were clear — the retail sector is a cornerstone of the state’s economy and crucial to our everyday lives. Retail in Illinois directly contributes more than $112 billion in economic investment annually – more than 10 percent of the state’s total Gross Domestic Product. Retailers like Chris in DeKalb enrich our economy and strengthen our communities. We Are Retail and IRMA showcase the retailers who make Illinois work.
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Open thread
Monday, Jul 14, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, Jul 14, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Illinois Head Start leader tells providers to hold off on Trump edict. Sun-Times…
- The Trump administration on Thursday announced that it’s reinterpreting a 1996 law to shut off access to a series of federal programs to anyone who can’t prove they’re legal immigrants — including the Head Start early childcare and education programs for babies and toddlers — kids too little for kindergarten. - “We have never asked for [the] status of our children that we’re serving, and to do so creates fear and anxiety among our community,” said Lauri Morrison-Frichtl, head of the Illinois Head Start Association, which supports about 600 centers statewide serving the 28,000 students in Head Start in the state. * Related stories…
∙ LA Times: New Trump rule immediately bans undocumented immigrants from Head Start child care ∙ Fortune: RFK Jr. says HHS will cut off Head Start preschool program for immigrants without legal status * Capitol News Illinois | Trump’s ‘big bill’ takes center stage in Illinois’ U.S. Senate race: “In polling and different things that we’ve done, half of the population doesn’t even realize what’s going on,” Kelly said. Kelly played up her relationship with U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, saying she has been part of a coalition of House Democrats that have been traveling the country holding town hall meetings about federal spending cuts. * WGLT | State Farm says Pritzker’s rate hike claims are ‘factually incorrect’ political rhetoric: The Bloomington-based company has responded forcefully to Pritzker’s claims, which became public Thursday in a statement to the media. Pritzker claims an Illinois Department of Insurance analysis suggests “State Farm is shifting out-of-state costs onto the homeowners in our state.” He called the rate increase “unfair and arbitrary.” In a statement Friday, State Farm said that “Illinois families deserve an honest conversation about insurance economics rather than political rhetoric.” “Governor Pritzker’s statements are factually incorrect. State Farm does not shift costs between states, and we have provided information to the Illinois Department of Insurance to demonstrate this fact. Our Illinois rates reflect Illinois-specific claims and risks,” the company said. * Gallup | Surge in U.S. Concern About Immigration Has Abated: Americans have grown markedly more positive toward immigration over the past year, with the share wanting immigration reduced dropping from 55% in 2024 to 30% today. At the same time, a record-high 79% of U.S. adults say immigration is a good thing for the country. These shifts reverse a four-year trend of rising concern about immigration that began in 2021 and reflect changes among all major party groups. * Proviso Democrats…
* QC Times | Illinois State Senator Neil Anderson announces reelection bid: Illinois State Senator Neil Anderson, R-Andalusia, has announced he is running for reelection for the Illinois 47th District. Anderson, who is the Senate Republican Caucus Chair, said he remains focused on providing constituent service to the 15 counties he serves across Western Illinois and focused, effective leadership in the General Assembly. * Daily Herald | Legislation prompted by Mundelein impact fee fight awaits Gov. Pritzker’s signature: The bill’s primary champion, Democratic state Rep. Daniel Didech of Buffalo Grove, confirmed this week that he’s lifted a procedural hold that had been in place since it cleared the General Assembly in May. Pritzker has until Aug. 23 to sign the bill into law. A spokesperson this week said it’s under review. “I trust the governor and his team to give this matter thoughtful consideration,” Didech said. “Regardless, we will continue to evaluate any necessary next steps to protect taxpayers and support our local schools.” * Naperville Sun | Will County Board member from Naperville announces bid for Senate seat: Will County Board member Julie Berkowicz, a Naperville Republican, has announced plans to run in the 2026 primary for the state senate seat representing District 21, which covers portions of Will and DuPage counties. The position is currently held by Sen. Laura Ellman, a Naperville Democrat elected to the post in November 2018. Berkowicz said at the county level, she advocates for lower taxes and smaller government and has been frustrated in recent years with the increased tax levies that have been approved. Financial votes tend to break along party lines, she said. * WICS | Unknown powder found in Stratton Building deemed non-hazardous by officials: An unknown powder substance discovered in the U.S. Mail on the 7th floor of the Stratton Building on Friday afternoon prompted an immediate response from authorities. […] After conducting tests, the Springfield Fire Department Hazardous Materials Unit determined that the powder was non-hazardous. * Sun-Times | Illinois opioid settlements share could be at least $23 million: Illinois could get up to $23 million from settlements with pharmaceutical companies that used deceptive practices to increase opioid prescriptions, helping fuel the nationwide opioid crisis. The settlements, totaling $720 million, will go to nine states in a deal with eight pharmaceutical companies, with each company paying different amounts over varying periods, Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced. “As long as Illinois families continue to experience the devastating impacts of opioid addiction, my office will continue to work with other attorneys general to hold companies responsible for fueling the opioid crisis,” Raoul said. * Tribune | Upcoming Chicago budget ‘grimmest picture of all’ for Mayor Brandon Johnson, aldermen: Two days after that roundtable, Johnson’s finance team would disclose the city ended 2024 with a $161 million deficit, emptying one of its key emergency funds. Adding to the bad tidings last week was a final $7 billion estimate for the cost of a state bill boosting benefits for police and fire pensioners through 2055. That zeroed out “unallocated” reserve balance is even lower than the depths of the 2008 recession, when it held just $226,000, according to the city’s annual financial reports. It represents a serious financial alarm for the cash-strapped city, according to Justin Marlowe, the director of the Center for Municipal Finance at the University of Chicago “I don’t think we can overstate how important that is,” Marlowe said. “It is the single most closely watched number in all of municipal finance.” * ABC Chicago | Mayor Johnson discusses crime, budget deficit, sanctuary city lawsuit after church chat: The Chicago Teachers Union said it wants Governor JB Pritzker to allocate more than $1 billion to CPS. Mayor Johnson supported that move on Sunday during his church discussion. “The city of Chicago and districts across the state are not fully funded by the state of Illinois,” Johnson said. “It’s one of those areas where I’m gonna need more people to get active, to challenge not just city government, but the state government as well to fully fund our schools, because the crisis that we are experiencing is a crisis of the result of failures of the past.” * Tribune | Chicago’s safety net hospitals face potential service cuts, layoffs after signing of ‘big, beautiful’ tax bill: Humboldt Park Health will likely see an additional $5 million to $7 million in losses annually once the changes go into effect, said CEO Jose Sanchez. The hospital typically has an operating margin of about $1 million annually. “I came in this morning and met with senior leaders and said, ‘We’ve got to begin to think about how do we position ourselves to face the potential cuts we’ll have,’” Sanchez said earlier this week. * Tribune | Chicago father becomes face of lawsuit against ICE as judge hears challenge to warrantless arrests: Abel Orozco was getting home after buying tamales for his family, like he did most weekends for the past 30 years. They would have breakfast and head to church. Instead, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained the Mexican immigrant outside his home in suburban Lyons without a federal warrant. Now, nearly six months later, he is still detained. Immigration and civil rights attorneys argue that his arrest was not only unfair but illegal. Thanks to the video his son recorded of the arrest, Orozco has become the face of a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE. Attorneys say the two government agencies violated the constitutional rights of Orozco and at least 25 other people, including one U.S. citizen, during the first week of increased immigration enforcement in the Chicago area after President Donald Trump took office. * Block Club | Activists Call On State To Fill Nearly $1 Billion Transit Funding Gap: ‘I Don’t Know How I’m Going To Get Around’: At Saturday’s rally, transit advocates and local leaders demanded Pritzker call legislators back to Springfield to solve the transit budget deficit, with some protesters questioning the Democratic Party’s allegiance to their constituency. “What do we need?” demonstrators chanted. “A special session! When do we need it? Now!” * CBS Chicago | Record turnout at Barrio Arts Festival in Chicago after fears of potential ICE raids: “I think people wanted to send a strong message to the administration that we’re going to stand together,” said Billy Ocasio, executive director of the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture and a former Chicago alderman. “I think that’s the reason we have so many people here.” * CBS | Children Harmed: The children left behind and the hidden toll of domestic violence in Chicago : According to an analysis by the CBS News Data Team, the number of children present during domestic violence crimes in Chicago jumped 35% the first year of the pandemic, from about 8,200 kids in 2020 to about 11,000 kids in 2021. Most of the crimes children were present for were domestic batteries, but they were also exposed to nonviolent domestic crimes such as phone threats, stalking, property damage to homes and cars, and violating orders of protection. * New Yorker | What We Get Wrong About Violent Crime: The Chicago Police Department estimates that arguments lie behind seventy to eighty per cent of homicides. The numbers for Philadelphia and Milwaukee are similar. And that proportion has held remarkably steady over time. Drawing on data from Houston in 1969, the sociologist Donald Black concluded that barely more than a tenth of homicides occurred during predatory crimes like burglary or robbery. The rest, he found, arose from emotionally charged disputes—over infidelity, household finances, drinking, child custody. Not calculated acts of gain, in other words, but eruptions rooted in contested ideas of right and wrong. * Shaw Local | Chicago Bears reportedly extend general manager Ryan Poles: Bears general manager Ryan Poles is set to stay in Chicago. The Bears reportedly signed Poles to an extension that will keep him in town through the 2029 season. ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to report the extension. According to Schefter, Poles had two years remaining on his contract before the Bears added three more with the extension. * Streets Blog Chicago | Why the Suburban Mayors Coalition’s claims about proposed development policies in state transit reform/funding legislation are bogus: Local planning goals are documented in a municipality’s comprehensive plan, which guides future development by shaping zoning ordinances. Again, the area around transit that NITA would be able to build on is limited, hardly the “broad swaths” that the signees mention. In this limited area, a suburb would have almost total control over what NITA could build, just like the municipality has for any other (also unelected) private developer. * Daily Herald | Delays and declining revenue: Are red-light cameras in the suburbs on their last legs?: Several suburbs are finding it increasingly difficult to bring red-light cameras back online after they’ve been deactivated for construction projects or a change of equipment vendors. Gurnee officials announced last week they were scuttling their red-light program after 16 years due to what Village Manager Pat Muetz called “operational challenges we’ve faced combined with expiration of the contract.” Muetz said the operational challenges largely were caused by the Illinois Department of Transportation taking the cameras offline for road construction projects in the area and keeping them down even after construction was complete. He said driver behavior and a reduction of crashes at intersections where the cameras were located also played a part in the village’s decision to end the program. * Daily Herald | Police chief ‘not going anywhere,’ despite vote of no-confidence: There’s a big rift in small-town Gilberts’ police department. At least that’s according to a letter sent to the Kane County community’s village board last month outlining why the rank-and-file passed a vote of no confidence against Chief Todd Block. Submitted by Metropolitan Alliance of Police Lodge 423, the 18-page memo is a scathing critique of Block, portraying him as rude, mean and sexist. * Daily Herald | Slowed by obsolete toll plaza infrastructure? Tollway is removing gates and barriers: The initiative will “convert our system to a barrier-free system to improve traffic operations at these plazas, as well as remove the aging infrastructure that we no longer need because we’re not collecting cash,” Chief Engineer Manar Nashif said Wednesday. It should save time for drivers and money for the tollway by slashing maintenance costs. “At the end of the day, it will be a much more open field. Ultimately, with no barriers, there’s fewer obstacles as traffic passes through it,” Nashif noted. * Daily Southtown | New Governors State University president sees opportunity in her return to region: Since her July 1 start date as president of Governors State University, Joyce Ester says she has been busy meeting with campus community members and embracing change in the south suburbs. Ester, originally from Phoenix and a graduate of Thornridge High School in Dolton, recently moved back to the region after ending her tenure as president of Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minnesota. “This area is very different physically than when I left almost 20 years ago,” Ester said. “When I was a young girl in this community, there wasn’t a lot out here. Seeing new stores and new developments and new businesses that weren’t here when I was a child — it’s really nice to be able to see that and see the pride that people have in this institution.” * Daily Herald | Prospect to remove first principal’s name from theater over ties to controversial teachings: The last name of Prospect High School’s first principal will be removed from the entrance to the school’s theater, Northwest Suburban High School District 214 school board members have decided. The unanimous decision late last week to rescind the honorary naming follows publication of a student journalist’s investigation into former Principal Alvin Kulieke’s ties to a fringe religious group and its early embrace of eugenics principles. Superintendent Scott Rowe said sophomore Sage Gilliland’s reporting, published in the May 16 edition of The Prospector school newspaper, shined a light on historical information about the theater’s namesake that is “not in line with the beliefs of Prospect High School or District 214 today.” * Daily Southtown | Animal Welfare League defends annual six-figure payments for legal services: The nonprofit, led by President Chris Higens, reported on its most recent tax form from 2023 that bills to Nixon Peabody law firm made up about 15% all its expenses that year. Animal Welfare League paid Nixon Peabody about $212,000 in 2020, $348,000 in 2021 and $489,000 in 2022. It is unclear whether Animal Welfare League contracted exclusively with Nixon Peabody before 2020, as tax forms did not require the organization to write in the name of their contractor. Higens on Friday defended the nonprofit’s spending on legal services, saying in an emailed statement to the Daily Southtown that “every cent received is being spent wisely.” * WCIA | ‘We can survive this’: Mattoon community reflects following days without tap water: Mattoon has lifted the “do not drink order” after test results came back on Sunday and showed that the city’s water is safe. But over the last four days — without water from the taps — people realized the value of modern convenience and of community. […] Beyond Mattoon, surrounding cities have also stepped up — offering showers and the chance to do laundry for those in need. “When somebody’s in crisis, people will jump in in a heartbeat,” Love said. * 25News Now | Millions of dollars in sales taxes to fund McLean County mental health and public safety programs called into question: A pair of resolutions presented to the county board’s executive committee also calls for an auditor to determine how the sales tax dollars are being spent. Bloomington and Normal have been collecting a 1% sales tax since 2016 and sending that money to the county. However, the resolutions indicate the county’s “Special Mental Health and Public Safety Fund” currently has a balance of about $20 million, which Normal Town Councilwoman Kathleen Lorenz said is excessive. * Press Release | Carbondale Police Department adds new technology to investigate gun crimes: The new technology will reduce the time required for shell casings found at the scenes of shooting incidents to be analyzed. In the past, fired shell casings found at shooting scenes were sent to the Illinois State Police Crime Lab to be analyzed. Due to large caseloads statewide, this process could take weeks or months. Now, Carbondale officers and investigators can quickly determine that a particular firearm fired the cartridge casing in question within hours or days of the incident. * WGEM | Teachers and students reconnect at historic school tour of Adams County: “It was wonderful to teach out here, and the thing is that the students, their parents, their grandparents were all a part of an educational family, and it was so joyful, it was so rewarding when I started in 1972,” said Bob Winkeljohn, Former Payson-Seymour Elementary 3rd Grade Teacher. Winkeljohn said being able to see his former students on Saturday was a full-circle moment for him, and it makes him feel like he’s made a difference. * Herald-Whig | Feature-length movie set to film in Quincy: Set in the late 19th century, the independent feature-length film “Death of a Brewer” is based on a true story from Iowa and explores the complexities of the brewing industry in the lead-up to Prohibition. “As much as it’s an Iowa City story, it’s an Americana Midwest story. The more I hear about towns that did have breweries, I start to hear stories that are so similar,” said Mokotsi Rukundo, the film’s Los Angeles-based director and writer * WTVO | Rockford organization revitalizes Civil War veterans’ graves: Sunday wasn’t the first time the group of volunteers has cleaned the graves. Jenkin said they frequent Cedar Bluff Cemetary, and she said outsiders have noticed their work. “I’ve had a family in California reach out to me saying ‘Hey I saw that you cleaned the gravestone, thank you so much for doing that,’” Jenkin said. The organization also works to replace or repair damaged graves. Jenkin said they have built stones headstones for fallen veterans that didn’t previously have one. * The Pantagraph | Lincoln’s Bloomington speech ‘lost,’ but legacy lives on: Greg Koos, executive director emeritus of the museum, delivered a presentation on the “Lost Speech” in 2008 titled, “Lost or Not.” Referencing the “Lost Speech” memorial on the corner of East and Front streets in Bloomington, he said, “When we made an effort to publicly commemorate the most important event ever to take place locally — we lost the fact that it was about African American people.” The original 1946 plaques included no reference to enslaved or African American people. In 2009, the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition established a series of new outdoor wayside exhibits that addressed this issue. * Fox Chicago | USPS raises stamp prices again — What to know: The new rates include a 5-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp from 73 cents to 78 cents. The changes would also increase domestic shipping rates by about 6.3% for Priority Mail, 7.1% for USPS Ground Advantage, and 7.6% for Parcel Select, while rates for Priority Mail Express would remain unchanged. * NPR | When The U.S. Government Tried To Replace Migrant Farmworkers With High Schoolers: Problems arose immediately for the A-TEAM nationwide. In California’s Salinas Valley, 200 teenagers from New Mexico, Kansas and Wyoming quit after just two weeks on the job. “We worked three days and all of us are broke,” the Associated Press quoted one teen as saying. Students elsewhere staged strikes. At the end, the A-TEAM was considered a giant failure and was never tried again. This experiment quickly disappeared into the proverbial dustbin of history. In fact, when Stony Brook University history professor Lori A. Flores did research for what became her award-winning 2016 book, Grounds for Dreaming: Mexican Americans, Mexican Immigrants, and the California Farmworker Movement, she discovered the controversy for the first time. Until then, the only time she had heard of any A-TEAM, she now says with a laugh, “was the TV show.” * Bloomberg | Invenergy urges Trump not to kill $11 billion power line: The Grain Belt line would carry electricity generated by wind farms and other energy sources in Kansas across Missouri and Illinois to Indiana. The project is capable of delivering four nuclear power plants’ worth of electricity and would be the highest capacity and second longest line in US history, according to the company. […] The request comes a day after Republican Missouri Senator Josh Hawley said in a statement that he had gotten a commitment from Wright to stop the project and end a $4.9 billion conditional federal loan guarantee offered in the final months of the Biden administration. The Energy Department and Senator Hawley’s office didn’t immediately return requests for comment. * AP | Judge orders Trump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops, arrests in California: Judge Maame E. Frimpong also issued a separate order barring the federal government from restricting attorney access at a Los Angeles immigration detention facility in response to a request from nonprofit law firm Public Counsel. Frimpong issued the emergency orders, which are a temporary measure while the lawsuit proceeds, the day after a hearing during which advocacy groups argued that the government was violating the Fourth and Fifth amendments of the Constitution. * CBS | 18-year-old U.S. citizen detained by border officials said conditions were so bad he lost 26 pounds, almost self-deported: The teen said he lost 26 pounds during his time in the immigrant detention center, and said officers didn’t provide him with enough food. He was crammed into an overcrowded holding area with 60 other men. They slept on the floor with aluminum-foil blankets — some even had to sleep in the bathroom area, he said. Some of the men were very sick and were bitten by ticks, but were afraid to ask for a doctor because CBP officers told them their stay would start over if they did, Galicia said. * Democracy Docket | Election Officials Have Been Under Attack For Years. Now The DOJ Wants to Criminally Charge Them: In recent months, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sent letters to states including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arizona, and Colorado, pressing for information about voter roll management, demanding to see state voter rolls, and threatening to sue over alleged voting law violations. But the department’s campaign has gone much further. Criminal prosecutors at DOJ sent separate broad requests for information to election officials in at least two states, people who have seen the requests told Democracy Docket.
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition
Monday, Jul 14, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Monday, Jul 14, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Selected press releases (Live updates)
Monday, Jul 14, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Live coverage
Monday, Jul 14, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. Hopefully, enough reporters and news outlets migrate to BlueSky so we can hopefully resume live-posting.
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Reader comments closed for the weekend
Friday, Jul 11, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * My mom has had a rough week, but things are looking up, so this one’s for her…
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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Friday, Jul 11, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Sen. Laura Fine’s congressional campaign site is live. Just don’t ask Placeholder McStockphoto who she’s endorsing…  * Tribune…
* Illinois State Police…
* Tribune | Chicago Public Schools lays off 1,458 employees in latest move to close deficit: Chicago Public Schools announced a second round of summer layoffs Friday, firing 1,458 employees in the latest effort to help close the district’s $734 million budget deficit. The layoffs include 432 teachers – representing 1.8% of the teaching staff – including 132 special education teachers. Also impacted were 311 paraprofessionals — or classroom assistants — and school-related personnel, 33 security officers and 677 special education classroom assistants. * Tribune | Son of ‘El Chapo’ Guzman pleads guilty to narcotics trafficking charges in Chicago federal court: One of the sons of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman could spend the rest of his life in prison after pleading guilty Friday in federal court in Chicago to helping his father and brothers run the notoriously violent Sinaloa cartel, importing thousands of tons of narcotics into the U.S., bribing public officials and using murder and kidnapping to amass and maintain power. By pleading guilty, however, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 35, has agreed to cooperate with U.S. authorities in any ongoing investigations and testify against his associates in the hopes that prosecutors will recommend a sentence of less than life in prison. * WTTW | City Poised to Pay $3M to Man Severely Injured During Police Chase: Matthew Aguilar was injured just before midnight on Oct. 9, 2018, when he was struck by an unmarked Chicago police vehicle, which ran over his face, according to an investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. The two officers in the unmarked vehicle were attempting to stop Aguilar and another man they saw walking through a Brighton Park alley and suspected were armed, according to the investigation by the agency known as COPA. When the men did not stop, one of the officers left the vehicle to chase the men on foot while the other officer drove after the men, according to the probe. * Sun-Times | More fireflies are lighting up Chicago this summer, experts say: Fireflies have always lit up the Chicago area’s backyards, but have been harder to spot over the last few years. That’s changing. The small bugs seem to be thriving this season, thanks to a mild winter and wet spring. […] The firefly population usually peaks in late June or early July. But the firefly has been struggling over the last few years for several reasons, Lawrance says. He blames everything from loss of habitat, increasing light pollution, climate change and pesticide use. * South Side Weekly | ‘Undervalued and Overworked’: How Young Chicago Artists Make A Living Without a Living Wage: Arts organizations consistently generate hundreds of millions in local revenue and economic impact through their work, even as the creatives who fuel them struggle to make rent in a city with one of the nation’s highest rates of inflation and a growing housing affordability crisis. Young South and West side artists who spoke to City Bureau said they split rent with multiple roommates, live at home with family, and work service industry jobs just to keep pursuing their dreams. * Sun-Times | Thirty years after historic heat wave, Chicagoans are still at risk: Three decades after Chicago’s devastating heat wave left more than 700 people dead, city efforts to keep people protected from extreme weather continue to fall short. This weekend marks the 30th anniversary of that disaster. Many lessons were learned from the five-day stretch in July 1995, and the city was forced to make changes that included creation of an emergency management department. But City Hall still fails to take simple steps, including providing enough cool places for people to go to escape the oppressive heat, critics say. * CBS Chicago | Chicago weather Friday includes a severe storm threat with tornado, flood risks: Chicago weather remains unsettled heading into the weekend, with the possibility of more severe storms Friday that could produce tornadoes and flooding. One to five inches of rain fell across the Chicago area Thursday night into Friday, with the heaviest rain falling west of the city. There was significant flooding in Rockford, Illinois. Downpours continued into Friday morning, but tapered off between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. * WBEZ | Cartoonist Chris Ware brings Chicago-inspired world to new postage stamps: Esteemed cartoonist Chris Ware is known for his detailed New Yorker covers and his complex graphic novels featuring his characters like Jimmy Corrigan and Rusty Brown. But now, Ware’s work — featuring architectural details familiar to most Chicago-area residents — is going micro. The 57-year-old Riverside resident has created a new sheet of 20 postage stamps, which will roll out on July 23 and help to mark the U.S. Postal Service’s 250th birthday. (USPS was established in July 1775 by the Second Continental Congress with Benjamin Franklin as the first postmaster general.) * Daily Herald | Inmate death prompts changes at DuPage County jail: New policies, individualized treatment plans, and added mental health staff are among some of the changes at the DuPage County jail since a 50-year-old woman was found unresponsive in her cell in 2023. Representatives from the sheriff’s office outlined the changes this week after being asked to attend a DuPage County Board meeting. In March, the county agreed to pay $11 million to the family of Reneyda Aguilar-Hurtado of Addison to settle a lawsuit claiming that jail medical personnel and corrections officers did not provide adequate medical and mental health care. * Tribune | Oak Park officials mull adding protections for gender affirming care: The proposal comes in the wake of a Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of a Tennessee law that outlaws gender affirming care for minors in that state. After reviewing a draft ordinance during its first reading at the July 1 Oak Park Village Board meeting and hearing public comment from three Oak Park residents, the board will likely vote Aug. 5 on adding protections for gender affirming care, which is care that supports gender transitions or sex changes, to the village’s Human Rights Ordinance, though officials said they are gathering further input. * Tribune | A 30-year-old mystery is resolved with a $150K grant to Oak Park River Forest Infant Welfare Society: A six-figure donation the Oak Park River Forest Infant Welfare Society received in June had its origins in a mystery that originated 30 years ago. “It’s incredible,” said John McIlwain, executive director of the society. “It was a little bit of a journey.” The donation, of $150,000, came from the estate of Bernice Feder Chadwick, who had been a longtime supporter of the children’s health clinic at 28 Madison. She died in 1995. * Shaw Local | Dixon Public Schools create new kindergarten program to address behavioral issues at Washington Elementary: Dixon Public Schools will kick off a new transitional kindergarten program at the start of the 2025-26 school year. The program was developed in response to kindergarten students’ increasing behavioral issues at Washington Elementary School that parents and staff described as “violent.” * Block Club | After Stepping Up To Teach Her High School Class, Chicago Teen Earns Ride To Northwestern University: Carchi received these and dozens of other messages praising and encouraging her after a Block Club story revealed she had taught her own classes during a teacher shortage at her high school. College admissions officials were equally impressed. Carchi wrote about her teaching efforts in her college application essay, which helped her get into her top choice. After graduating from Clemente this month, she’s headed to Northwestern University, where she plans to study engineering and eventually become a teacher. * Daily Herald | Look, up in the sky: Windy City Warbirds & Classics returns to St. Charles: Those toys, if you want to call a roughly $10,000 radio-controlled plane a toy, will be zipping through the skies in St. Charles at speeds of up to 200 mph this weekend during the Fox Valley Aero Club’s Windy City Warbirds & Classics. The show features radio-controlled military aircraft and civilian classics that have a wingspan of over 80 inches. The full-scale replica planes are roughly 20% the size of the real ones, right down to the miniature pilots inside many of the cockpits. But they provided 100% joy to the folks who flew them Thursday during the show’s first day of action. * WAND | ‘No timeline’ for when water issue will be resolved in Mattoon after dangerous toxin detected: he Coles County Health Department says there is no timeline yet for when the “Do Not Drink” advisory will be lifted for the City of Mattoon after tests run on the city’s water supply revealed the presence of microcystin, a harmful algae toxin. The health department told WAND News Friday morning that the bare minimum time frame to know whether the water is safe again would be 24 hours, but they do not anticipate it being resolved that soon. “We’re doing what we can and working with the City of Mattoon to get resources to the community,” Gloria Spear, Environmental Health Director for the Coles County Health Department, said. * WTVO | Many Winnebago County tornado sirens out of service, residents urged to sign up for alerts: With tragic news of a disaster in Texas over the weekend, Schomber decided to find out why she hadn’t heard the monthly storm warning test. “So that’s when I just called and I just asked, you know, what’s going on? He says, yes, a whole western part of Winnebago County. They’re not working at all,” she recalled. Tornado sirens across all of Winnebago County were out of service. * News-Gazette | C-U leaders discuss solutions to gun violence : Many concepts were presented, but all groups prioritized open communication between both youth and adults about gun violence, supporting families, having community organizations and governmental units work together, and utilizing data to inform action. “It’s pretty powerful that we have as many people showing up, taking time out of their day to come in here and try and address things in the community,” said Champaign police Deputy Chief Greg Manzana. “It’s going to take everyone in the community to solve community problems.” * News-Gazette | In Mahomet: portable classroom added to address overcrowding: “The incoming class is a little bit bigger than the class we sent to high school (815),” Mills said. “The other piece is with the move-ins. That number will keep going up.” Superintendent Kenny Lee said the portable classroom building will be the third at the school. Like the other two, it will hold two classrooms and will be located south of the other portables. Overcrowding in the district has been well documented. In November, voters turned down a proposed tax increase to fund construction projects to help relieve the conditions. It marked the third defeat for such a measure. * News-Gazette | Vintage equipment lines, caboose featured at Penfield farm show: The Thomasboro resident, who farmed in southern Illinois, said at one time he owned seven of the vintage green tractors, which were no longer manufactured after 1976. His ownership total is now down to three. “I’m getting up there (in age) where it’s time to get rid of them,” Kocher said. “They were good, dependable tractors. They were quiet, too. They ran smooth” — unlike the John Deere “Johnny poppers” of the day. * WSIL | SIU Carbondale to add electric car chargers for public use: The SIU Board of Trustees approved the installation of public Level 3 charging stations through a partnership with the Egyptian Electric Cooperative Association (EECA). These stations will be set up across from the Student Center, at the Touch of Nature Outdoor Education Center, and the Glenn Poshard Transportation Education Center by summer 2026. “This project is part of our sustainability plan and fits well with the sustainability pillar of our strategic plan,” said Susan L. Simmers, vice chancellor for administration and finance. “We are grateful for this opportunity with EECA.” * CBS | COVID cases likely rising in half of states, CDC estimates: Cases of COVID-19 are now likely growing in 25 states, according to estimates published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday, as this year’s summer wave of the virus appears to be getting underway. The agency’s modeling suggests that the uptick is in “many” Southeast, Southern and West Coast states, the CDC said in its weekly update. COVID-19 activity nationwide, however, is still considered “low,” based on data from wastewater samples, although that is up from “very low” the week before. * NPR | This TikTok video is fake, but every word was taken from a real creator: Millions of TikTokkers have watched some version of a video in the past week falsely stating that “they’re installing incinerators at Alligator Alcatraz,” referring to an internet conspiracy theory that furnaces were being set up at a state-run immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades, which spread widely despite having no evidence. […] But there is one account whose tactics stand out in this familiar cacophony of messy online virality: a realistic-looking TikTokker giving a direct-to-camera description of the incinerator conspiracy theory. The speaker’s image and voice appear to have been created with artificial intelligence tools, according to two forensic media experts NPR consulted. The twist: The words spoken in the video are the exact same as those in another video posted by a different TikTok account days before. The copied version attracted more than 200,000 views on TikTok.
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IDPH says the southern Illinois measles outbreak is over
Friday, Jul 11, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Press release…
* More…
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Sen. Preston spouted 2020 election denier talking points, but now says he will fight against Trump
Friday, Jul 11, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Politico…
Preston (D-Chicago) announced on Facebook that he was forming an exploratory committee: “There’s too much at stake in this country—and far too many voices from the South Side of Chicago to the Southland, all the way to the southernmost parts of this district calling on me to bring the same fire to Washington that I’ve brought to Springfield. I hear you. And I agree.” Preston is in the midst of a four-year Senate term, so he has a free shot at the congressional race. * There is an oppo book on Preston, however. And since he talked about fighting MAGA and Trump, at least some of that book is worth bringing up today. Preston strongly questioned whether President Joe Biden had really won the 2020 election. The video surfaced during Preston’s loss in the 17th Ward Democratic Committeeperson race to Ald. David Moore…
* Meanwhile, more from Politico…
* Leon filed paperwork to join the Democratic primary for US Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s seat last week. Evanston Now local political reporter Matthew Eadie…
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Update to Wednesday’s edition
Friday, Jul 11, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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The ILGOP in a nutshell
Friday, Jul 11, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * Your Illinois Republican Party…
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Pritzker calls on GA to address ‘unfair’ State Farm rate hike during veto session (Updated x2)
Friday, Jul 11, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller …Adding… Erin Collins, senior vice president of state and policy affairs at the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies…
…Adding… Joint Statement from the Illinois Insurance Association, American Property Casualty Insurance Association and National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies…
* First, some background from the Tribune…
* Governor JB Pritzker…
Click here for the State Farm’s filing to the state and click here for the DOI’s objection. Thoughts? * More… * Crain’s | State Farm to hike Illinois home insurance prices by another 27.2%: The company, which did not specify how much premiums were slated to rise on the site, said it paid out $1.26 for every $1 in Illinois homeowners’ premiums it collected in 2024. It said the rising costs of labor and materials needed for repairs was behind the increase. Weather trends also contributed, State Farm said. It noted Illinois customers reported $638 million in hail damage in 2024, behind only the $1.1 billion reported by Texas customers. * WAND | State Farm plans insurance hike for Illinois homeowners beginning in July: Illinois customers will now be required to have a minimum 1% wind/hail deductible included in their home insurance policy. Additionally, auto insurance rates in Illinois will decrease an average of 5.7%, with some customers seeing premium reductions up to 15%. The rate adjustments will apply to new and existing policies beginning July 18. * State Farm | Understanding the Issues in Illinois: Severe weather—wind/hail and tornadoes—is increasing in Illinois. Trends in recent years indicate damaging storms are more frequent here. In fact, Illinois had more hail damage claims than any other state except Texas in 2024. Illinois premiums are priced for the risk in this state—not for losses in other states, including wildfires, earthquakes, or hurricanes. * NBC Chicago | State Farm plans insurance hike for Illinois homeowners starting this month: In February, Allstate Insurance, also based in Illinois, raised its homeowners rates by 14.3% in the state, the Tribune reported. Last year, both Allstate and State Farm increased car insurance rates across the state.
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Open thread
Friday, Jul 11, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller * It’s difficult to describe to people now what it was like to listen to Wilco’s intentionally and delightfully stripped-down A.M. album back in the day and then hear this surprisingly complex and definitely F.M. tune at the end. “Too Far Apart” was a gateway to what Wilco’s collective genius would eventually become. Get some good speakers and turn it up… Is it really punk rock, like the party line? Darned near transcendent. * What’s happening in your neck of the woods?
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Friday, Jul 11, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Federal prosecutors seek nearly 6 years in prison for Madigan confidant Michael McClain. Sun-Times…
- But, Lawyers for the 77-year-old McClain asked for probation. They cited the possibility that he could “die alone in prison” and said it would be “unjust” if he were held responsible for “the entire history … of political corruption in Illinois.” - They also said the “most important consideration” for U.S. District Judge Manish Shah could be the adequacy of medical treatment McClain might receive behind bars. They cited the possibility that he could “die alone in prison, separated from his family and loved ones.” * Related stories…
∙ WTTW: Feds Seek Nearly 6 Years in Prison For Madigan’s ‘Henchman’ Mike McClain * Chalkbeat Chicago | Illinois tried to regulate homeschooling. But the backlash was huge.: Even though the Homeschool Act did not pass through the legislature this year, Costa Howard said she remains committed to getting it passed into law. She said the bill is still being negotiated and supporters continue to work with those who oppose the bill to address their concerns. “We will continue to work with the senators on it and keep making changes to it, and keep working on listening to what the opposition is and addressing their concerns and protecting kids,” said Costa Howard in an interview with Chalkbeat. “But our stated goal of protecting children and making sure they receive an education, we are not going to waver from those goals.” * Crain’s | Big names in Chicago dining rally for Birrieria Zaragoza after fire: Some of Chicago’s biggest chefs and restaurants are rallying to support Mexican restaurant Birrieria Zaragoza as it recovers from a June 23 fire that forced its original location to temporarily close. On July 14, chef John Manion of El Che Steakhouse & Brasero will be donating all proceeds from a pop-up event taking place at Spilt Milk bar in Logan Square to support Birrieria Zaragoza. For $25, guests will enjoy a steak sandwich created by Manion and chef Jonathan Zaragoza of Birrieria Zaragoza. * Sun-Times | 180 more Illinois ZIP codes at high risk for pediatric lead poisoning, state health officials say: The Illinois Department of Public Health added 180 ZIP codes across 47 counties, roughly 13% of the state, to the list on July 1. Every Chicago ZIP code appears on the list. Some of the newly added ZIP codes are in Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties. According to state law, children living in the listed ZIP codes are required to be tested at 12 and 24 months old. Children under 6 or those with other health factors are required to be screened by health professionals by questionnaire. * Center Square | Illinois public media could lose millions in federal tax funds: More than $5 million in federal taxpayer funds could be withheld from public media across Illinois if a measure clears the U.S. Senate. […] * WHBF | What House Bill 3140 could mean for retired Illinois K-9 care: They’re now retired from serving their communities, and now Some Illinois law enforcement officers are waiting for Gov. JB Pritzker to sign a measure to help pay some of the vet bills for retired K-9s. * * ABC Chicago | Mother of murdered Chicago boy Jayden Perkins calls out Governor JB Pritzker in open letter: Smith has written an open letter asking Governor Pritzker to stop praising reforms in Perkins’ name. She said state lawyers are trying to dismiss her civil lawsuit against the state. ABC7 reached out to the governor’s office and is awaiting a response. * Crain’s | As Burnett exits the City Council, Johnson loses a bridge-builder: Confirming a July 3 report in Crain’s, the mayor told reporters this week he is “seriously considering” appointing Burnett to lead the Chicago Housing Authority. Burnett told Crain’s he was having a final meeting with the CHA board this afternoon, where “I’ll have to lobby board members myself.” But even if he doesn’t land at the CHA, Burnett has made it clear he’s stepping away from the council to pursue other options. Leaving the City Council at the end of July clears the way for Johnson to appoint Burnett’s son Walter R. Burnett III and have him in his father’s seat in time for the city’s annual budget season, when “aye” votes will be at a premium. * Sun-Times | Thousands of Chicagoans are living in O’Hare — the community, not the airport: “People often think that we’re on the Norridge side of the city,” says Anthony Rubino, co-owner of Sicilian Bakery, one of few businesses in the area. “Most people think about it as the Rosemont area,” says Olga Prohny, a staffer at St. Joseph the Betrothed Ukrainian Catholic Church down the street. “I hate to say this, but they do.” Even a 20-year employee of the nearby Everett McKinley Dirksen Elementary School was mistaken about its location until five years ago. “You’re going to laugh at this,” says Principal Timothy Griffin. “I thought we were in Dunning!” * Block Club | 6 Far NW Side Groups Get $70,000 Donation To Help Fund Garden, Mural And Park Projects: The donation came from the estate of the late Donna King, an Evanston native who was married to the late retail developer Terry King. Donna King died last year after a long struggle with ovarian cancer, said Anthony Licata, the estate’s executor. Licata approached Ald. Samantha Nugent (39th) about distributing funding to local community groups earlier this year. Nugent said she worked with Licata to select six groups that she felt represented the ward and aligned with Donna King’s interests and values. * Daily Herald | $66 million ‘Tropical Forests’ opens at Brookfield Zoo Chicago with close gorilla encounters: “This $66 million project, the largest and most ambitious in Brookfield Zoo Chicago’s history, has officially and quite literally come to life over the last few weeks as our animals have moved in,” said Dr. Michael Adkesson, president and CEO. “It’s a monumental achievement.” An outdoor trail snakes around four areas designed for not one but two gorilla troops, orangutans and smaller primate species. Above them, beyond a thin netting, is nothing but blue sky, and below, a shaggy carpet of real grass. * Crain’s | Jennifer Pritzker’s Tawani completes real estate selloff in Rogers Park: Billionaire Jennifer Pritzker’s investment firm has exited Rogers Park, where it formerly had a sizable footprint with hundreds of apartments, a theater, a 250-car parking garage and a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The latest piece in Tawani Enterprises’ sell-off is a set of six apartment buildings that Silver Property Group announced last week it had purchased from Tawani for $45 million. The buildings, a mix of rehabbed historical structures and new construction done by Tawani, contain a combined 263 rental units, according to Silver Property Principal Ron Abrams. * Sun-Times | Former Cubs manager Lee Elia, known for all-time great rant, dies at 87: The tirade reportedly was witnessed by only a handful of reporters — the Sun-Times’ Joel Bierig, the Tribune’s Robert Markus, the Daily Herald’s Don Friske and WLS-AM’s Les Grobstein, who recorded the rant and preserved it for decades. Shortly after blowing off all that steam, Elia mused to reporters: “I guess I lost it.” * WGEN | From backyard get-together to Chicago heavyweight, house music festival Chosen Few continues to deliver: It’s now one of the most anticipated events of “Summertime Chi,” but it started as a small outdoor get-together with a little music, for family and friends. Terry Hunter and Mike Dunn are two of the “Chosen Few DJs,” known around the world for bringing innovative, feel-good music to millions of house fans. Coined in 1977 by DJ and producer Wayne Williams, “The Chosen Few Disco Corporation” originally included friends and South Side DJs Jessie Saunders, Alan King and brothers Tony and Andre Hatchett. In fact, it was a Hatchett family Fourth of July picnic behind the Museum of Science and Industry, where the festival first took shape. * Daily Herald | Police chief ‘not going anywhere,’ despite vote of no-confidence: “He has removed any semblance of morale,” the letter states. The officers allege Block refers to them and village residents as “(expletive) morons” and “(expletive) idiots.” They say he inappropriately laughed at the scene of a suicide involving an officer’s wife and ordered cheap body-worn cameras that haven’t met expectations. * Daily Herald | Arlington Heights officials mull rules after complaints of loitering downtown: “I want to make sure that not only do we not just move the problem from one bench, from one place to another, but that we don’t take steps that can be perceived as criminalizing homelessness,” Manganaro said. “We can deal with lawlessness. We can craft rules that will allow people to be secure in their homes and safe in their businesses. And I believe we can do that without criminalizing being unhoused.” * Daily Herald | Controversial Schaumburg Township Highway Department website to be revealed July 30: Though Schaumburg Township Highway Commissioner Tim Buelow disagrees with the way his predecessor gave the contract for a new interactive website to a political ally before leaving office, he intends to let the public judge the final product. “They should have a chance to see it,” Buelow said, adding “there was no public debate about how the money was spent.” That reveal is scheduled to take place during a meet-and-greet with the new commissioner from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 30, at the township hall, 1 Illinois Blvd. in Hoffman Estates. * Tribune | Homer Glen official says attorney general seeks answers on Illinois American Water billing: Neitzke-Troike said Wednesday a letter the attorney general’s office sent to Illinois American Water, a private company that services about 6,000 Homer Glen homes, states the office looks forward to working with the utility company to resolve some of the issues. The attorney general’s office reviewed numerous complaints from Homer Glen residents who reported “unexplainably high water bills, meter errors and inadequate customer service from Illinois American Water Company,” states the letter Neitzke-Troike read during Wednesday’s Village Board meeting. * Daily Southtown | Country Club Hills Superintendent Duane Meighan suspended after parents raise spending concerns: Williams, a critic of the board, said she got into a heated argument with two children of board member Jaqueline Doss, which led to police intervention. Doss was board president until Sharon Mack was elected to the role May 8, following a reorganization after the April election. “I have just been a target at this point because I’m advocating for the children,” Williams, who has children at Southwood Middle and Meadview Intermediate, said Thursday. * Daily Herald | ‘We can’t fill the gap’: Food pantries say they can’t overcome federal cuts: State and local governments may have to pick up the costs of feeding the hungry to make up for federal cuts, U.S. Rep. Sean Casten said Thursday during a roundtable discussion in Geneva. Casten joined fellow Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Foster at the event hosted by the Northern Illinois Food Bank, to discuss the impact of nearly $200 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the recently passed budget bill. * The Southern | Southern Illinois kids face dental care gaps: For many families across Southern Illinois, keeping up with their children’s dental care can feel out of reach, even with insurance. That’s one reason Dr. Travis Cripps and his team at Little Egypt Pediatric Dentistry in Carbondale started Free Kids Dental Day. […] The annual event, now in its third year, is held near the practice’s anniversary and provides free dental exams and X-rays to children ages 12 and under. * WGLT | Public commenters pan process and product of a draft McLean County land use plan: The McLean County Regional Planning Commission developed the preliminary land use plan after involving staff from the county, City of Bloomington, and Town of Normal. It’s out for public review before refinement and submission to those municipal government bodies. Early reviews are mixed — on content and process. County Land Use and Transportation Committee Chair Lea Cline told regional planning commission staff the order of work was perhaps not the best. * WCBU | State grant means Tazewell County’s election technology is getting an upgrade: Clerk John Ackerman says a $361,250 grant from the Illinois State Board of Elections has enabled his office to purchase a new voter registration system and electronic poll books for every precinct in Tazewell County. “It’s a massive overhaul, upgrade of our election equipment, but it is needed,” said Ackerman. He explained that, as more and more voters elected to vote by mail in elections, it became more difficult to record and update voter status all on paper. For example, the county’s 2024 presidential elections included two non-malicious double votes, in incidents that could have been caught with through poll books. * WCIA | Brick thrown at firefighter during 4th of July parade: Rantoul Fire Dept.: The firefighter went to the emergency room with a large bruise on his leg. That bruise turned into a muscle infection; an infection the man is still recovering from. Rantoul Fire Chief Chad Smith said it is unfortunate this had to take place at what was supposed to be a celebratory moment. * Daily Journal | Kankakee OKs 1% grocery tax: Although shoppers won’t notice any difference in the checkout line, the Kankakee City Council OK’d a 1% local grocery tax. The 1% tax generates about $1.15 million per year of general fund money, Kankakee Mayor Chris Curtis said. Although the tax now will be put in place by the city government rather than the state, the tax is far from new. * WCIA | UPDATE: Mattoon tap water ‘not safe to use’ due to harmful algae bloom, could ‘result in illness’: Bottled water should be used for all drinking, including for baby formula, juice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, making ice and food preparation until further notice. The health department also said to not try and treat this water yourself. This means that boiling, freezing, filtering, adding chlorine or other disinfectants, or letting water stand will not make the water safe. The water treatment personnel will be maximizing the treatment for containment. * WGEM | Tommy John surgeries, growing concern for aspiring baseball players: Young arms throw harder to generate the needed speed, as college offers are at the top of these young athletes’ minds. But at what cost? “I was with my travel ball team at the time in December, and I was throwing a bullpen, and I felt a more serious pop. And that’s when I kind of knew,” said Collin Dieterle, junior at Brown County High School. “Honestly, it was more of a shock. Down through my whole arm. Completely numb, I felt a lot of tingling.” * WGEM | Pork production facility catches fire in Nebo, Illinois: Spring Creek Fire Protection Chief Josh Martin said his crew responded to the fire at 13500 432nd Lane in Nebo at 2:45 a.m. Communications Manager Danielle Solis confirmed the fire at The Maschhoffs’ facility near County Highway 10. Solis said no workers were on site at the time of the fire and no injuries have been reported. * WSIL | Thousands of meals distributed in Mt. Vernon through summer program: Thousands of meals were given away to those in need in Mt. Vernon on Wednesday, thanks to the efforts of the District 80 Food and Nutrition Services. This organization helps support the needs of nearly 1,600 students with daily food services through their USDA summer food program in Mt. Vernon. State Representative Dave Severin was also on hand on Wednesday to help with distributing the meals to the area students. * La ist | Congress is killing clean energy tax credits. Here’s how to use them before they disappear: “This bill is going to take away a lot of assistance from consumers,” said Lowell Ungar, director of federal policy for the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. He noted that 2 million people used the home improvement tax credit in its first year alone. The good news is that the law does not affect the billions of dollars that the IRA already sent to state efficiency and electrification rebate programs and that much of that money will remain available beyond the federal sunsets. But, Ungar added, the tax credits can still save people thousands of dollars before they vanish. * Tech Crunch | Grok 4 seems to consult Elon Musk to answer controversial questions: When TechCrunch asked Grok 4, “What’s your stance on immigration in the U.S.?” the AI chatbot claimed that it was “Searching for Elon Musk views on US immigration” in its chain of thought — the technical term for the scratchpad in which AI reasoning models, like Grok 4, work through questions. Grok 4 also claimed to search through X for Musk’s social media posts on the subject. * WIRED | DHS Tells Police That Common Protest Activities Are ‘Violent Tactics’: DHS is urging law enforcement to treat even skateboarding and livestreaming as signs of violent intent during a protest, turning everyday behavior into a pretext for police action.
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition
Friday, Jul 11, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Friday, Jul 11, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Selected press releases (Live updates)
Friday, Jul 11, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Live coverage
Friday, Jul 11, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Click here and/or here to follow breaking news. Hopefully, enough reporters and news outlets migrate to BlueSky so we can hopefully resume live-posting.
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