|
Reader comments closed until Tuesday
Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * We hope to have a subscriber edition on Friday, but we’ll see. In the meantime, Isabel and I both wish you a Happy Fourth. Jesse Welles will play us out… I hear her voice in the mornin’ hour, she calls me
Comments Off |
|
Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Crain’s | Prime Healthcare maintenance workers avert strike after ratifying contracts: Some 53 members of International Union of Operating Engineers Local 399 were set to go on strike tomorrow after alleging California-based for-profit Prime and its staffing subsidiary MedSpace Services had been interfering with workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively since acquiring the facilities from Ascension Illinois in March 2025. However, the union said it reached a temporary agreement with the health system today, with members voting to ratify late this afternoon. * Tribune | Appeals court sides with city on Chicago police union COVID vaccine mandate case: The latest chapter in a years long legal scuffle between the city of Chicago and two of its main police unions over COVID-19 vaccine mandates has ended with a city victory, though the fight could continue. A three-judge appellate court panel reversed a decision by the Illinois Labor Relations Board, finding the board “abused its discretion” by siding with the union during a dispute about then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s requirement that Police Department employees either receive the COVID vaccination or pay for their own testing twice a week. Employees who didn’t do so risked being placed on no-pay status. * Borderless | Once Packed with Day Laborers, a Chicago Hiring Corner Empties Out Under Immigration Crackdown: The number of workers is dwindling further as local police crack down on day laborers seeking work at the site. Chicago police arrested three men looking for work at the site in late June, several day laborers told Borderless. Day laborers say the threat of arrest by police, on top of the risk of detention by immigration agents, makes it difficult to find work and make ends meet. * Crain’s | Chicago-area homes are selling fast. Here are some of the fastest.: With the race to land a good house moving swiftly, Re/Max agent Mario Barrios tells his clients to be ready to roll at any time. “If you make any (restaurant) reservations, tell your friends you might be late or you might not make it,” Barrios, a Re/Max Premier agent, said he’s been advising his home-buying clients recently. “Because the house you want always becomes available at the most inopportune time.” * Block Club | How Chicagoans Beat The Heat As Temperatures Soared This Week: The city has been in the grips of a days-long heat wave that, at its worst, saw Chicago feel as hot as about 108 degrees Tuesday afternoon, said Lee Carlaw, a National Weather Service meteorologist. The weather agency issued an extreme heat warning, encouraging people to stay inside if possible and take safety precautions if they needed to venture outside. * Lake County News-Sun | Grayslake data center opponents call for wetlands protection: ‘Wetlands are incredibly important’: Opponents of the Grayslake T5 data center are focusing on almost 16 acres of wetlands on the site that developers have applied to fill in, seeing it as a potential stopping point for a project that has sparked increasing resistance. Earlier this year, the developers of T5 @ Chicago IV applied to fill in 15.75 acres of wetlands with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In April, the USACE told T5 that it would issue a 30-day public notice describing the project as happening “in the near future.” * Lake County News-Sun | Highland Park group seeks to shame gun-manufacturer ‘enablers’: ‘We’ve … allowed corporations and consumers to ask for accountability’: HP3 co-founder Daniel Perlman was at the Highland Park parade when a gunman opened fire on the crowd, killing seven and wounding nearly 50 others. He’s been active in the gun violence prevention space ever since and helped found the group a year ago. […] HP3 and its database were built on that idea, approaching gun violence “through a commercial lens,” he said, using money to put pressure on the gun manufacturers, and providing information to “businesses’ decision-makers and everyday people.” * Block Club | Did You Know You Can Camp In The Cook County Forest Preserves?: In 2015, the forest preserves opened campgrounds at Bullfrog Lake in Willow Springs, Dan Beard in Northbrook, Camp Reinberg in Palatine, Shabbona Woods in South Holland and Camp Sullivan in Tinley Park. While some of the campgrounds had previously been used by groups like the Boy Scouts and the Izaak Walton League, Stagner said the forest preserves wanted to open them up to individuals and families so more people could experience all the nature Cook County has to offer. * Daily Herald | Funeral set for Mundelein police officer killed in off-duty crash: Visitation for a Mundelein police officer who died following an off-duty motorcycle accident last weekend will be held Tuesday. The public gathering honoring officer Paul B. Viduya Jr. is scheduled to run from 3 to 6 p.m. at Mundelein High School, 1350 W. Hawley St. A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Transfiguration Catholic Community, 316 W. Mill St., Wauconda. * WGLT | Realtor group will study west Bloomington to recommend revitalization moves: The Counselors of Real Estate Consulting Corps will send a team to survey a broad batch of community stakeholders and write a proposal on how to regenerate the oldest housing stock in the Gridley-Allin-Prickett neighborhood and preserve the neighborhood character of Dimmit’s Grove and the near east side. “This award will have a lasting impact on our community by helping us confront some of our most pressing housing and neighborhood challenges with data-driven strategies and expert guidance,” said Melanie Walker, president of the Mid-Illlinois Realtors Association [MIRA] in Bloomington. * WICS | More than two weeks after EF3 tornado, Effingham County families continue long road to recovery: “We’re slowly gaining, getting everything cleaned up, but we got a long road ahead of us. We’re hoping we can be back milking in six weeks because we kind of got a deadline, but right now it just takes a lot of work and a lot of time,” said Caleb Meyer. Meyer said neighboring farms stepped in immediately after the tornado to help care for the family’s cattle. * WAND | Dangerous Heat and Storm Threat Heading to Central Illinois: Friday will be similarly hot with a high near 91 degrees and a heat index near 105 degrees. However, the more significant threat Friday night will be isolated strong to severe storms developing overnight. A marginal risk for severe weather is in place for Friday evening. Overnight lows will drop to 73 degrees as storms move through the area. * The Southern | Longtime Jackson County Board member John Rendleman dies: John Rendleman, a longtime Jackson County Board member, former board chairman and Carbondale attorney, has died. Rendleman served on the Jackson County Board since 2008, representing District 5. He most recently chaired the board’s Public Health Committee and previously served as chairman of the Jackson County Board. He also practiced law in Carbondale through Rendleman Law. * WCIA | Monticello Freedom Festival moves to new location for 2026: The Monticello Freedom Festival has been wowing the community in Lodge Park since the 1960s, but now it will do so at Monticello Middle School. The Piatt County Park District voted for the change, citing concerns about noise and light pollution impacting animals in the area. * WSIL | Carbondale to Celebrate Buckminster Fuller with Birthday Block Party: The free community event will feature the reading of a proclamation recognizing July 12 as Buckminster Fuller Day and the unveiling of the new honorary “Buckminster Fuller Way” street sign along West Cherry Street. Fuller, a former Southern Illinois University professor, lived in the iconic Dome Home with his wife, Anne. * The Trace | A Faith-Based Movement Is Destroying Guns — And Turning Them Into Gardening Tools: Martin learned blacksmithing and founded RAWtools, a national nonprofit that offers people a way to get rid of unwanted guns without returning them to the market or risking them being stolen or accessed by children or people who may be a danger to themselves or others. It was the progenitor of the larger Guns to Gardens movement. “We need to figure out ways to handle conflict without violence, so that’s the basis behind RAWTools,” Martin told me. “Raw is war backward, so exchanging tools of violence for tools of creation and generation.” * AP | Heat adds to strains on areas with data centers, raising the temperature on AI debates: When temperatures climb into triple digits — as they’re expected to this week in New England — it’s harder to push heat out of a data center. Keeping it cool then requires more power, as is true of commercial buildings and homes. That can strain power grids and pose a “real risk” of power outages, Koomey said. * Tribune | Trump administration proposes a rule it says could save Medicare patients $1.1 billion on drugs: The rule would apply to hospitals that serve low-income patients under what is known as the 340B program, which lets hospitals buy outpatient prescription drugs at discounted prices. But in many cases, hospitals can bill insurers at rates that exceed those costs, allowing hospitals to keep the difference and resulting in higher costs to patients. Under the proposed rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would change the formula for what hospitals participating in the program can get reimbursed, in an effort to cut costs for patients.
Comments Off |
|
Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Update to today’s edition (Updated)
Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller
Comments Off |
|
Medical cannabis advocate: New reforms worth celebrating, but ‘we still have work to do’
Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Press release…
* From Medical Cannabis Advisory Board vice chair Jim Champion’s remarks during the press conference…
|
|
Rate the new Byron Sigcho Lopez digital ad
Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * Democratic Socialist Byron Sigcho Lopez, who is hoping to secure a ballot spot to run for Congress as an independent, has a new digital ad… * Script…
Discuss.
|
|
Pritzker on Benton, SCOTUS assault weapons case, Bears
Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Click here for some background. Governor JB Pritzker was asked about Speaker Welch’s call for Rep. Harry Benton to resign during an an unrelated press conference…
* Gov. Pritzker was later asked whether the Legislative Inspector General’s report should be made public…
* Gov. Pritzker was also asked how Illinois is preparing for the legal fight after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to Cook County’s assault weapons ban…
* Finally, the Bears…
|
|
Governor Pritzker, Fight For Us.
Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Working families face rising costs and medical debt, while hospital systems continue to profit by exploiting the 340B program - making billions, while patients are paying the price. Leaders in Kentucky, Virginia and California recognize that a program meant to help vulnerable patients shouldn’t become a profit stream for billion-dollar hospital systems and their business partners. Governor JB Pritzker has the opportunity to lead the way. Illinois deserves better — veto 340B Profit-Grab (HB 2371).
Comments Off |
|
Pritzker praised for not sending National Guard to DC for ‘America 250′ duty, unlike other Dem governors
Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * NPR…
* Jon Steinman from ProtectDemocracy.com yesterday…
* Signatories…
* I asked the governor’s office for a response…
|
|
When RETAIL Succeeds, Illinois Succeeds
Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Surrounded by acres of maple trees along historic Route 66, Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup has been producing pure Illinois maple syrup for more than 130 years. Jeff Hake proudly continues the family tradition, welcoming visitors from around the world to experience the farm, sample products, and learn the story behind Illinois’ oldest and largest maple syrup operation. From pure maple syrup to locally made pancake mixes and fruit products, Funks Grove offers a truly unique taste of Central Illinois. Findings of a recent economic study are 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. Policies that support small businesses help communities thrive as retailers like Jeff from Funks Grove are better equipped to meet local needs. We Are Retail and IRMA are showcasing the retailers who make Illinois work. Please visit https://WeAreRetail.IRMA.org/.
Comments Off |
|
Isabel’s morning briefing
Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: Here are the Illinois data centers on track for more than $650M in tax credits. Capitol News Illinois…
- The $666.6 million in total estimated tax credits through 2025 is lower than the $983.2 million DCEO reported through 2024 in a report released last summer. - The latest report shows seven data centers inked deals in 2025, pledging to invest a combined $2.6 billion in Illinois to receive $159.9 million in tax benefits. This includes four sites in Elk Grove Village, including a new data center built by Oracle, and a controversial center built by T5 in Grayslake. * Related stories… * At 10 am, Gov. JB Pritzker will hold a ceremonial bill signing for legislation advancing equity and oversight in the cannabis industry. Click here to watch. Then, at 2:30 p.m., he’ll head to the Village of Lynwood’s Pre-4th of July Cookout to greet attendees and celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. * Subscribers know more. Tribune | Suburban Democratic Party chairs to pick Aurora-area Illinois Senate nominee behind closed doors : Democratic state Rep. Matt Hanson, who represents half the state Senate district in his current role, said Wednesday he had submitted his name for consideration, as did at least two other local Democrats. […] The weighted vote is split among the county party chairs of Kane, Kendall, DuPage and Will, putting a lot of sway into just a few largely unknown party insiders who are expected to move quickly. * Subscribers know more. NBC Chicago | Illinois House speaker calls on State Rep. Harry Benton to resign: Welch says the IG’s report found “clear patterns of conduct by Representative Benton that are outrageous, unethical and unbecoming of a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, and that he had spoken to Benton to demand his resignation. “Today, I spoke directly with Representative Benton and called for his immediate resignation from the Illinois House of Representatives,” he said in a statement. “If he does not resign, we will initiate the process of expelling him from the House.” * Sun-Times | Chicago FBI chief leaving unexpectedly, raising eyebrows amid feds’ ongoing credibility crisis: DePodesta led the agency’s Chicago Field Office for nearly two years, taking the helm in August 2024. He’s been with the FBI since 2002, and over the course of his career he’s worked investigations involving drugs, corruption, terrorism and foreign counterintelligence. He’s repeatedly touted the value of partnerships between federal, state and local law enforcement while serving as the FBI’s special agent in charge. * Sun-Times | Can Illinois’ newest state agency improve early childhood services? Officials hope so: State officials hope it will solve the challenges that families faced as they assessed their early learning options. With services spread across different agencies, some parents had to fill out duplicate forms. And it was difficult for families to get an overall picture of where quality programs existed because multiple entities were responsible for monitoring that. Ramos will be in charge of 550 staffers and shepherd a $4.4 billion budget approved by the state legislature for early childhood education and care. That includes 340 staff transferring from the state’s Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of Human Services and the State Board of Education. * Tribune | No ‘cakewalk’: Chicago school board president reflects on shift to elected governance: Harden, who was handpicked by Johnson, is typically more reserved in public meetings, but he did not mince words Tuesday before a packed audience at City Club of Chicago. He was joined by State Rep. Ann Williams, a Chicago Democrat who helped craft the legislation creating the elected school board. “There isn’t a blueprint for how you do this, and we’re going to mess up, but as long as we fail quickly and learn from it, then we’ll be better off,” Harden said. * Tribune | Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling to retire after nearly 3 years leading department: Snelling, 57, ascended to the top of the Chicago Police Department in August 2023 after nearly three decades with the department, mostly as an instructor in the police academy. His tenure as superintendent was marked by a continuing decline in overall city gun violence, an increase in compliance with a federal consent decree, a global spotlight brought by the 2024 Democratic National Convention and the chaos that the department was foisted into during a federal immigration crackdown last year. * Bloomberg | Chicago Taps Bank of America for Overdue Parking Debt Sale: Chicago has picked Bank of America Corp. to help sell debt it’s owed from items like overdue parking tickets, according to a city spokesperson. The third-largest US city is seeking to sell about $1 billion in outstanding debt as it tries to close a roughly $1.2 billion deficit this year. * Block Club | Crime Is Down On The CTA As Ridership Increases, Agency Boss Says: But for the second time this year on Wednesday, it was City Council members — not CTA brass — who did not show up for a scheduled oversight meeting. The City Council’s Committee on Transportation and Public Way scheduled the quarterly subject matter hearing for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Seven of the committee’s 14 members needed to be present for the meeting to take place, but only six were. * Block Club | South Siders Still Waiting For Tree Cleanup After June Storms, But City Departments Are ‘Overwhelmed’: Between June 10-25, the Department of Streets and Sanitation recorded about 30,771 tree-related requests submitted through 311, according to city data. Those requests ranged from cleaning up fallen tree debris to tree emergencies, which the department defines as trees blocking city streets. The 13th Ward, which includes neighborhoods on the Southwest Side, had the highest number of tree service cleanup requests with more than 1,700, according to city data. The South Side’s 21st Ward had the second-highest total with about 1,600 tree cleanup requests. * WBEZ | Top aide to ex-Ald. Carrie Austin gets probation for role in home improvement kickbacks: The former top aide to one of Chicago’s longest-serving alderpeople has been sentenced to three years probation and a $20,000 fine for his role in a scheme in which the pair allegedly used their public office to attain granite countertops and other home improvements. The sentencing this week of Chester Wilson Jr., former chief of staff to then-Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), could be the closing chapter in an infamous, yearslong public corruption case in which U.S. District Judge John Kness previously ruled Austin, 77, was medically unfit for trial. * Tribune | Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle proposes new transit board members: Preckwinkle’s proposed CTA appointees are Tom Kotarac, a current member of the Regional Transportation Authority board, and Ann Kalayil, associate vice president of facilities and construction at Columbia College Chicago and the former bureau chief of asset management for the county. * Lake County News-Sun | Waukegan D60 planning to cut spending by $11.5M this year: ‘There was no way we could continue the services we had’: Learning that cash reserves dropped $28.2 million, from $92.3 million to $64.2 million in the past year, during a May 13 budget workshop, board members asked Superintendent Theresa Plascencia and Associate Superintendent for Business and Financial Services Gwen Polk for a plan. When the board gathered for its second budget workshop on June 18, Plascencia and Polk explained plans to cut spending by $11.5 million for the fiscal year starting July 1. * Tribune | With $225 million donation, Northwestern Medicine hopes to construct new cancer care facility in Orland Park: In all, the new four-story office building, along with a 484-car parking garage, would cost $275 million. The facility would be the latest entry into a race among Chicago area health systems to expand their cancer offerings to meet growing demand for the care – due to an aging population and advances that have led to people living longer after a diagnosis. The new facility would sit on the Northwestern Medicine Orland Park campus, which is already home to Northwestern’s St. George Cancer Institute, according to an application for the project filed with the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board. The project must gain approval from that board before it may move forward. * Daily Herald | District 15 school board member steps down: Palatine Township Elementary District 15 board member Lisa Beth Szczupaj announced Tuesday she is stepping down after nine years, eight as board president. Szczupaj, who won reelection in 2025, said the decision did not come easily. “It is not driven by dissatisfaction, but rather by evolving professional responsibilities and increasing family commitments that require more of my time and attention,” she said. * KSDK | Pritzker tours Southern Illinois tornado damage, pledges recovery support: The visits came a day after Pritzker issued a state disaster proclamation for 11 Illinois counties affected by months of severe weather, including tornadoes, flooding, hail and straight-line winds. The proclamation makes additional state resources available to support response and recovery efforts and can help communities pursue state and federal disaster assistance. Still, Pritzker said federal assistance may be limited. “The recovery mode, making sure we can get resources from the Small Business Administration at the federal level. I doubt that we’re going to see FEMA because they really cut back at what they provide at the federal level,” Pritzker said. * WGLT | State-issued disaster proclamation will not have immediate impact on McLean County: The proclamation was signed to “provide state relief to support those impacted by severe weather and storms in order to accelerate the recovery process,” Pritzker said in a press release. But to have an impact on Illinois and McLean County, the proclamation will need to be approved at the federal level, McLean County Emergency Management Agency Director Cathy Beck said. “Right now it doesn’t mean anything other than it’s going up the channels. It needs to go to federal and be approved at federal before there’s really any chance of assistance,” Beck said. * WGLT | Farmer fined $250K after pesticide drift near Morton school: She filed the initial complaint with IDOA after she and other parents were notified by the school by email that high wind drifted the pesticides from the farm across the street to the school’s parking lot. Vandenberg said she supports an amendment to the Illinois Pesticide Act to better protect families and communities. Some Illinois lawmakers feel the same. Democratic state Rep. Laura Faver Dias, representing a suburb of Chicago, sponsored a bill to require farmers spraying pesticides near a school or park to send an email 72 hours in advance notifying when they would be applying the pesticides. * WCIA | Surgery ‘temporarily’ paused at Central Illinois hospital due to ‘extreme heat’: On Wednesday, a Carle Health spokesperson confirmed with WCIA that the Champaign Ambulatory Surgery Center cooling system has been impacted by the extreme heat conditions. “Our priority is to create the safest surgical environment possible, and we will be temporarily halting procedures to assure safety. We are in the process of contacting impacted patients and will be working around the clock to resume care as soon as possible,” Carle Health said in a statement sent to WCIA.
|
|
Good morning!
Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
|
|
Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
Comments Off |
|
Selected press releases (Live updates)
Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller
|
| PREVIOUS POSTS » |
