* ICYMI: Illinois sees strong revenue growth to start fiscal year. Capitol News Illinois…

- Fiscal year 2027 revenue is up 7% through the first two months, according to the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.
- “While this level of growth is unlikely to continue at such an elevated rate, the stronger than expected totals to start the year will provide additional financial cushion if revenues were to weaken later in the fiscal year,” COGFA’s report said.
- Personal income tax is up 5%, corporate income taxes, which have been sluggish over the last year, are up 50.9%, and sales taxes are up 11.6%.

* Gov. JB Pritzker has no public events scheduled today.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Travelers flocked to the ‘Middle of Everything’ last year, generating over $88 billion in economic impact: According to a news release from the governor’s office, the state’s ‘Middle of Everything’ tourism campaign helped generate an additional 2.8 million trips and $904 million in visitor spending last year. Illinois’ tourism industry was also supported by over $3.3 million in state grants in fiscal year 2025, helping to promote projects like the state’s Route 66 centennial celebrations and the Illinois America 250 campaign.

* Tribune | CPS board president candidates lay out competing visions at first forum: Dominguez, who has been endorsed by CTU, pointedly and repeatedly called for more money from Springfield. “With a deficit as large as we have at CPS, there is no solving it without help from the state,” he said. “That’s why we’re going to fight for progressive revenue, that includes taxing the billionaires that have the money to fund our schools.” CPS is only considered 70% funded by the state’s own funding formula. And while all candidates said the district should fight for more state funds, Dominguez’s opponents called for a less bullish budgeting approach. “If we say that the state should give us more money, I’m curious which people have actually looked at the state budget and said, ‘What is the plan to make that happen?’” Revuluri said.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WTTW | Illinois Prisons Do Not Provide Equal Phone Access to Incarcerated Deaf People, Lawsuit Alleges: According to Valenzuela, he and other incarcerated deaf people do not have equal access to the prison’s phone program compared to non-disabled people. The lawsuit was filed against Latoya Hughes, the director of the Illinois Department of Corrections. The suit, filed by the law firms Disability Rights Advocates, Equip for Equality and Much Shelist, alleges that IDOC’s practices violated the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. Valenzuela is seeking a court order requiring the department to provide telephone access equal to that provided to non-disabled people in custody.

* Sun-Times | Cardinal Cupich, nuns challenge ‘right-to-die’ law, say Illinois ‘has no business’ forcing assisted suicide: Cardinal Blase Cupich has added his high-profile name to a federal lawsuit challenging Illinois’ assisted suicide law, arguing that the practice is unconstitutional and “denies the choice of a dignified death” to Catholics who want to die naturally. Cupich’s suit is one of at least three filed ahead of the law’s effective date: Sept. 12. A federal judge is expected to rule Friday on a request for a preliminary injunction on one of the suits. Cupich joined two orders of nuns and an Illinois pharmacist Thursday in seeking to block the law via a permanent injunction. Illinois joined 11 other states that have passed so-called “right-to-die” legislation, which is opposed by many religious leaders and disability rights activists.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Bally’s CFO resigns amid liquidity issues, VGT dispute and Chicago construction slowdown: Bally’s announced the departure Thursday of Mira Mircheva, who is stepping down as CFO effective immediately for “personal reasons,” according to a news release. “On behalf of the entire Board and executive management team, I want to thank Mira for her dedication to Bally’s and we wish her great success going forward,” Robeson Reeves, CEO of Rhode-Island-based Bally’s Corporation, said in the release.

* Tribune | Iceman on ‘Hot Ones:’ Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams takes on popular YouTube series’ gauntlet of scorching wings: Williams said when he first moved to Chicago after being drafted as the No. 1 pick in 2024, he had his doubts. “I didn’t think I was going to like it that much, to be honest. And I fell in love with the city of Chicago. The people, the food, obviously the sports,” he said. “And then, also, Chicago’s actually insanely clean. So it surprised me.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Sun-Times | Illinois sues ABC Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electric over alleged ‘deceptive’ practices: Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has filed a lawsuit against an Arlington Heights-based home repair company for alleged deceptive business practices that targeted seniors, according to court documents. The lawsuit accuses ABC Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electric Inc. of violating multiple state laws by having customers sign contracts for home repair work “at inflated prices by unlicensed technicians” that also waive the customers’ right to exit the contract, the office said in a statement.

* Daily Herald | ‘Trust was horribly violated’: Victims speak out after chiropractor admits to recording patients: A Batavia chiropractor accused of secretly recording at least 180 nude or partially clothed patients, including children, pleaded guilty Thursday to child sexual abuse material crimes. David Hanson, 44, formerly of the 1100 block of Challenge Road in Batavia, admitted to felony charges of producing child sexual abuse material of someone under 13 and disseminating child sexual abuse material of someone under 13.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora City Council eyes plan for hotel near Hollywood Casino site: The Aurora City Council is set to vote on a proposed ECHO Suites hotel by Wyndham near North Farnsworth Avenue that if approved could open next year. The proposed development at 1350 Corporate Blvd. would be able to take advantage of a location near the new Hollywood Casino resort that opened in late June, said Ald. Daniel Barreiro, 1st Ward. His ward includes the casino and the proposed hotel site.

* Daily Southtown | La Grange Trustee Glenn Thompson, who led flood mitigation effort, resigns from Village Board: Thompson, who had previously served on the village’s Environmental Quality Commission and was a founding member of Dry Up La Grange, the citizen’s group formed in the wake of massive flooding in 2021, officially resigned July 31. “This was something that was not planned,” Thompson said of his new job. “It was an opportunity that just kind of came out of the blue that blossomed into being a full-time role to the point where they made me an offer I could not refuse. … It was just too good to pass up.”

* Tribune | In Evanston, a rare breed emerges: a new jazz listening room: Local Note is a place of big swings — in more ways than one. The club, which opened its doors in late July, is banking on a bold prospect: bringing a jazz-only venue to Evanston. With a cozy capacity of just 50, the intimate, dark-paneled space dissuades chatter and encourages active listening. Spots are guaranteed through reservations, though walk-ins are welcome when they happen: Passersby can only reach the club through the adjacent alley. At the time the Tribune visited in mid-August, the entrance was still unmarked, speakeasy-style.

*** Downstate ***

* Heartland News | ATF, State Fire Marshal investigating fire in downtown Du Quoin, Ill.; 1 injured: “What the rebuilding looks like down the road, we don’t know. Do these business owners want to rebuild? Do they not? We don’t know the answer to that this time. And that is a personal decision that they will make and the city will support them in any way that we can. But we will overcome this. We will persevere and we will rebuild something in that area. It’s not going to be an open block. That’s my commitment to everybody in Du Quoin and to everybody who is involved in this,” Du Quoin Mayor Josh Downs said in the news conference.

* 25News Now | Illinois State University sees ‘modest’ enrollment decline in 10th day numbers: 21,577 students are enrolled at Illinois State University for the Fall 2026 semester. The university calls that a modest decline from last year’s enrollment of 21,994, an increase of 448 students from Fall 2024. 3,891 are first-time-in-college students, with more than 1,000 earning a GPA of 4.0 or higher, and an incoming-class average of 3.64.

* WGLT | ISU enrollment falls for first time in 5 years as ‘demographic cliff’ arrives; IWU headcount nears 1,700: At the smaller Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, enrollment reached its highest total in the past decade: nearly 1,700 students. Both campuses enrolled fewer new students, but that’s hardly a surprise: ISU, IWU and educational institutions across the country have been bracing for the enrollment cliff. Those entering college now were born at the beginning of a population decline that began with the Great Recession and continues through today. This is not a one-time problem and will persist for several years.

* Heartland News | From plastic bottles to food: SIU research draws global attention: The protein-rich prototype is the result of years of research aimed at taking materials people cannot eat — including plastic and agricultural waste — and using microbes to turn them into something they potentially can. The research has been underway at SIU for about five years, but it suddenly found a much larger audience this week. The team presented its work Monday at the American Chemical Society Fall 2026 meeting in Chicago.

*** National ***

* NYT | After OpenAI’s Bots Went Rogue, Watchdogs Were Kept on a Short Leash: OpenAI allowed three A.I. safety researchers from the nonprofits METR and Redwood Research into its headquarters to conduct an investigation. METR’s 91-page report, released last week, was the most comprehensive account yet of the incident, revealing alarming new details, including how the agents coordinated their hacking plans and tried to keep them secret. But the report, though extensive, still may not have told the full story of how OpenAI’s A.I. agents went rogue. OpenAI dictated the terms of the METR investigation, limited its scope to just the single week when the agents had attacked Hugging Face and allowed the researchers in its San Francisco offices for only a few days in July and August.

* AP | US diesel prices hit a record high of $5.85 on average as the Iran war disrupts the flow of fuel: Diesel hit a new record price in the U.S. on Friday, soaring to an average of $5.85 a gallon for the first time ever as the six-month war with Iran disrupts the world’s flow of fuel. Because diesel is used for many freight and delivery networks, higher diesel prices mean higher transportation costs for a long list of everyday goods.