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DPI says it voluntary recognized staff union
Tuesday, Jul 14, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * DPI press release…
Thoughts/
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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Tuesday, Jul 14, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * It’s now signed into law…
WAND has more on the bill…
* WTTW | Illinois Confirms 194 Probable Cases of Cyclosporiasis as Parasitic Infection Spreads: The state has seen 194 confirmed and probable cases of cyclosporiasis as of Monday, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. In Chicago, there are 47 confirmed and probable cases among residents, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health on Monday. Of that number, 23 have not traveled internationally, making it more likely they acquired the illness locally, according medical director Dr. Janna Kerins. * Independent Gubernatorial candidate Collin Corbett is officially on the ballot…
* Capitol News Illinois | Pritzker signs new laws on birth control, AI regulations, play-based learning: Senate Bill 3341 allows minors to receive birth control without permission from their parents or another adult. With Illinois’ new law, half of states now allow minors to access birth control on their own. During debate on the bill in the Senate, Republicans objected and said it cuts parents out of important decisions concerning their children. They also worried minors won’t fully understand complications from birth control. * Press release | Historic House Speakers from Across the Nation to Gather in Chicago for “Beyond the Gavel” Brunch Celebration: Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch will welcome four of the nation’s most influential legislative leaders to Chicago for Beyond the Gavel, a first-of-its-kind brunch celebration honoring historic leadership, enduring legacy, and the impact of public service beyond elected office. Hosted during the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), along the iconic Chicago River, the event will bring together five trailblazing House Speakers who have each made history in their respective states. * Tribune | After ballot challenges, at least 5 Chicago school board races will likely be uncontested: The Chicago Electoral Board voted Tuesday to remove five school board candidates from the ballot after upholding challenges to their nominating petitions, likely leaving at least five races uncontested in the historic November election. Current board members Angel Velez in District 9A on the South Side and Cydney Wallace in District 8B on the Southwest Side — who were appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson and are aligned with the Chicago Teachers Union — were among those removed. Their opponents will now be the only candidates in their respective districts. In District 10A on the South Side, Krista Nichols Alston was thrown off the ballot. The board hasn’t yet made an official ruling on candidate Tameka Walton, but she was endorsed by CTU as write-in candidate. That means elected incumbent Che “Rhymefest” Smith will likely be the only name printed on the ballot. * Tribune | City Council blocks Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Chicago Housing Authority appointments: A special meeting in the council Housing Committee was quickly upended when Ald. Pat Dowell protested the direct introduction of three commissioners to the Chicago Housing Authority board. Dowell, Johnson’s Finance Committee chair, condemned what she said was a pattern from the administration of abusing the direct introduction process rather than taking the usual steps to bring proposals to the body. “These CHA nominations are not an emergency, and this administration continues to thwart the rules of order and procedure of the City Council as outlined in this document that we all voted on, and we cannot allow this pattern to continue,” Dowell, 3rd, said. * Block Club | Federal Funding Cuts To Permanent Housing For Homeless Could Leave More Chicagoans On The Streets: Deborah’s Place serves nearly 700 women, with about one-third living in federally funded Permanent Supportive Housing units. Its executive director, Kathy Wilson, fears that funding cuts will force them to convert their programs into shorter-term transitional housing, displacing housing-insecure people in the process. “All of the women that we’re serving have disabilities that would be barriers to them all of a sudden going out to get a full-time job. Many of them get Social Security or disability income, and that is not enough to afford fair-market rent,” Wilson said. “If we converted to transitional, they would have two years of a subsidy, and then they would be on the streets. * Daily Herald | People angry about fatal shooting of Mundelein woman again pack village hall in protest: It was the latest in a series of village board meetings dominated by people upset and enraged by the killing two months ago of 37-year-old Mary Alice Love in her family’s home. The 20-plus audience members who took to the lectern to talk about the case included Love’s parents, other relatives, friends and strangers. They alleged racism contributed to the fatal confrontation. They demanded the officer who fired the shots be fired. * Patch | Lake Co. Man Sentenced To Federal Prison For Threatening Trump, Public Officials: The same day, Schneider appeared at the Lake County courthouse while involved in a pending foreclosure case and allegedly told the judge presiding over the case that he would burn the courthouse down. The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service with assistance from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Winthrop Harbor Police Department. * Crain’s | Frustrated judge wants settlement in West Suburban hospital fight this week: A Cook County judge aired frustration with a newly appointed lawyer who still hasn’t been fully briefed on a potential settlement between the owners of shuttered West Suburban Medical Center and pressed both parties to come to an agreement by the end of the week. * Daily Herald | Neighbors who complained about smell from feed plant now battling warehouse proposal in Mount Prospect: The commission voted 3-2 Thursday to recommend approval of the zoning change to allow the warehouse. It paves the way for 1600 Bishop Partnership LLC to replace a four-story office building with a warehouse in excess of 90,000 square feet at the southwest corner of Kensington and Wolf roads in the village’s Kensington Business Center. The LLC is affiliated with the Wingspan Development Group, part of the Nicholas Family of Companies, which has its headquarters in the business park. * Elgin Courier-News | Elgin smoke shop seeks to add liquor to their inventory after THC ban: Abdul and Goma Musa’s request that they be allowed to expand Friday Tobacco at 968 Dundee Ave. into an adjacent unit so the brothers can sell packaged liquor won the endorsement last week of the Elgin Planning and Zoning Commission. Their application for a conditional use permit now heads to the Elgin City Council. Abdul Musa, who runs the store’s day-to-day operations, said many customers have told them they usually stop at a liquor store after visiting the tobacco shop, which is what prompted them to consider diversifying what they sell. * Daily Herald | Elgin issues alert after drinking water samples exceed allowable lead levels during test: The first set of test results from this year indicates a 90th-percentile value of 0.0185 mg/l, exceeding the 0.015 action level. According to a news release from the city, this period’s results are “much lower” than previous tests due to changes in the water treatment process. * WSIL | Mounds residents race to save belongings as floodwaters rise: Floodwaters rushed through neighborhoods in Mounds, forcing families to get what they could to stay dry with more rain in the forecast. Residents spent the day carrying out belongings and wading through water that reached knee-high in some areas of an apartment complex. […] As the water kept rising, the Mounds Fire Department called in boats from Mounds City to help rescue people trapped inside their apartments. Fire Captain Curtland Sawyer said he had never seen flooding like this before. * WCIA | Hotly contested Urbana apartment complex finds its final decision in round four: The vote was pushed back for a few different reasons; first, city council members said they wanted more time to learn about the details of the project. Last week, they said they wanted the developers to be at the meeting for a decision. Both of those asks were met, and now, and the city was ready for an answer. “What is the cost of choosing not to build? What is the cost of losing residents who cannot find a home that fits their needs?” said Champaign-Urbana resident Adani Sanchez. * WMBD | Peoria County now sending jury duty postcards instead of letters: Official summons from the Peoria County Jury Commission will now be sent as postcards instead of letters, according to a Peoria County Government Facebook post. The summonses are for petit and grand jury duty and include instructions on the next steps you need to take when you receive them. * The Hill | ICE plans to temporarily limit traffic stops following fatal shootings: reports: The shift comes after two high-profile deadly shootings during traffic stops Last week, agents shot and killed Lorenzo Sagrado Araujo in Houston, Texas. While ICE said he had weaponized his vehicle, other men in the van he was driving said the accusation was false, and that officers in unmarked vehicles trailed them before surrounding their vehicle on the driver and passenger sides. * The Telegraph | Why the internet is becoming so infuriating to use: And a growing number of “AI agents” are using them to carry out tasks on their users’ behalf, meaning there is no human to see adverts or be enticed into impulse purchases, and often harvesting data without their consent. Captchas and other bot tests are now ubiquitous. Cloudflare, which relies on other tests such as the “verify you are a human” tick boxes, says it now carries out 7.7 billion anti-bot checks a day, up from 2.1 billion in 2023. But bots have become better at evading them. Two years ago, researchers at the University of Zurich found that machine learning systems could solve 100pc of robot tests provided by reCaptcha, Google’s captcha system (the company is responsible for the quizzes asking you to click all the squares containing buses, bridges or fire hydrants out of a grid of 16 squares). * Albuquerque Journal | State, Roadrunner lure Illinois quantum startup to Albuquerque: The New Mexico Economic Development Department and Roadrunner Venture Studios awarded $500,000 in grant funding to Photon Queue, an Illinois quantum computing startup, to locate and hire in Albuquerque. Roadrunner Venture Studios is an Albuquerque firm that invests in early-stage deep technology startups such as Photon Queue, a two-year-old company, and provides them with resources to grow.
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Benton demands respect at township meeting, has still not withdrawn from House race
Tuesday, Jul 14, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * The Wheatland Township Board of Trustees unanimously last week approved this statement calling on former Rep. Harry Benton to resign as Highway Commissioner…
There was no further discussion. * Benton, however, spoke later in the meeting…
There was no further discussion. * Also, as of 1:41 this afternoon, Benton has still not withdrawn from his House reelection campaign, even though he promised to do so eleven days ago.
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Dick Durbin’s last hurrah is blasted by state and national groups
Tuesday, Jul 14, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
The legislation would create the Organized Retail and Supply Chain Crime Coordination Center, which would be under the Department of Homeland Security. The center’s director would be appointed by the Director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). * More than 125 organizations, including several in Illinois, have banded together to oppose inserting the legislation into the “must-pass National Defense Authorization Act”…
They go on to say that the proposal is “dangerously overbroad,” would “quietly construct a massive public-private surveillance network,” would deepen “DHS’s influence over state and local policing through grants and open-ended cooperation agreements,” and would entrench DHS and ICE in local law enforcement…
* ACLU Illinois…
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who has been outspoken about ICE and DHS, is a co-sponsor.
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The rest of the story
Tuesday, Jul 14, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * Subscribers were given much more detail about this story on Monday. Politico…
Blaha actually interviewed Stava and posted it on Substack…
Video of the hearing does not appear to show any staff members whispering in Rep. Stava’s ear. And several legislators said during the hearing that her language to criminalize violations needed to be changed to civil penalties, similar to the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act. Stava also justified calling the vote that day by telling the committee, “if people want to vote against their constituents’ privacy” then that was on them. For the most part, Democratic legislators have tried not to go public about internal disagreements on the anti-BDS bill, but there are definitely fissures. Kinda curious to see what happens next.
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Governor Pritzker, Fight For Us.
Tuesday, Jul 14, 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).
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Tuesday, Jul 14, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: As Illinois revamps property tax sales, questions over repaying homeowners loom. Crain’s…
- The legislation makes substantial changes going forward to the annual tax debt auction, but does not get Illinois and its counties off the hook for the liability built up over decades by the old system, which a series of federal court decisions has hung on the government’s shoulders. - Also not settled is the question of whether the legislation will have one of its intended effects: generating enough money from fees on tax buyers to pay out claims of lost equity by property owners who lost their homes since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision finding tax systems like the one in Illinois are unconstitutional. * Gov. JB Pritzker has no public events scheduled today. * Tribune | Illinois elections board judge recommends Mayra Macías’ name not be on 4th Congressional District ballot: A hearing officer for the state Board of Elections is recommending to the board that independent candidate Mayra Macías be blocked from running for Illinois’ 4th Congressional District in the contest to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García. The recommendation Friday determined the independent candidate did not gather enough valid signatures for her name to be placed on the November ballot. The decision is not final but marks a major blow to Macías in a race defined by García’s late decision to drop out and handpick a successor in the Democratic primary who is now challenging efforts to prevent other candidates from running in the general election. * Tribune | Can Indiana pay for a Bears stadium? Analysts ask how it will pay its debt as some residents balk at new taxes: A fiscal analysis by the state’s Legislative Services Agency did not address the costs, but estimated the proceeds for the stadium from a slew of proposed taxes in the legislation. A 1% food and beverage tax in Lake and Porter counties could generate an estimated total of at least $12 million to $18 million annually, legislative Chief Economist Randhir Jha estimated. A 5% increase to double Lake County’s innkeeper’s tax could collect at least $5 million annually. An admissions tax of 12% of the ticket price for events at the stadium could bring in around $12 million a year. * WGN | Mayoral speculation abound as Giannoulias drops new campaign ads: The timing is impossible to ignore, as the ads come two weeks before candidates can begin circulating petitions for next February’s mayoral contest. The Giannoulias campaign says the ads will run on TV, cable and digital platforms. It’s a major flex. Giannoulias ended the last campaign filing period with close to $20 million in the bank, which would help propel him into the mayoral campaign top tier should he enter the race. * Austin Weekly News | 8th House candidate Franklin introduces herself to local Dems: Franklin got a healthy round of applause when she noted that she’d be the first woman to represent the 8th District. And one of the youngest. She’ll soon have a direct say in other legislation, and said she’s keeping an eye on the West Suburban Hospital situation. The 8th House District is ground zero for the ongoing financial and legal debacle that threatens to take a major safety net hospital permanently off the board for West Side residents. She will soon represent much of the Austin neighborhood east of Austin Boulevard, areas heavily impacted in numerous ways by the closure of West Sub. * Sun-Times | Finance Committee stalls showdown vote on sale of Chicago parking meters: A City Council committee poised to reject a New York investment firm’s $2.53 billion bid to acquire Chicago parking meters instead postponed that politically-volatile vote Monday under threat of a lawsuit by the current owner. In a July 3 letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson, Finance Chair Pat Dowell warned that the proposal by Chicago Parking Meters LLC to unload the 57 years that remain on the lopsided deal “has not secured the support necessary to advance from committee at this time.” * WBEZ | CTU endorses 15 school board candidates, throwing weight behind incumbents, mayoral picks: The Chicago Teachers Union announced Monday it will endorse only 15 candidates in the upcoming school board race in which all 21 seats are up for election — a decision that could make it difficult for the union to hold onto its majority. The union will back 10 incumbents who they supported in the election two years ago or were appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson. Johnson, a former organizer for the CTU, is an ally of the union. Notably absent from their list of endorsements is Yesenia Lopez, who won in 2024 with the union’s endorsement, but occasionally voted independently of other CTU-aligned school board members over the past year and half. * ABC Chicago | Chicago Public School lays off more than 160 employees: As of Friday, 162 people have been notified. Of those, 82 are central office positions and the other 80 are citywide positions. The cuts come as CPS tries to close a budget deficit that exceeds $730 million. Officials plan to unveil details of the district’s proposed budget later this week. * Chalkbeat Chicago | CPS lays off 162 employees as it works to close budget deficit for 2026-27 school year: The layoffs will save the district $18 million, CPS spokesperson Mary Fergus said in a statement. […] Of the 162 people laid off, 38 people are represented by SEIU Local 73, the union that represents support staffers at CPS, such as custodians, and 25 were represented by the Chicago Teachers Union. The unions did not immediately respond to a request for comment. * WTTW | Key City Panel Gives Green Light to $425M Subsidy for Chicago Fire Stadium Site: The subsidy will make it possible for the team’s owner — Joe Mansueto, the billionaire founder of financial services firm Morningstar — to build a new $750 million stadium south of the Loop. The soccer club is privately financing the stadium, even though it would not be reachable unless the city agrees to use taxpayer dollars to build the necessary infrastructure. Ald. Byron Sigcho Lopez (25th Ward) was the only alderperson to vote against both parts of the massive subsidy, while Ald. Bill Conway (34th Ward), Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward) and Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st Ward) voted against the portion of the subsidy that will be used to build a city-owned parking garage. * ABC Chicago | Derek Mayer returning as special agent in charge at US Secret Service Chicago Field Office: In his first interview as SAC, he tells the I-Team it’s an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. For the past year, while working as the chief security officer and vice president of executive protection for P4 Companies, Mayer acted as ABC7’s law enforcement expert, which he is unable to continue to do in his new role. * Tribune | Munetaka Murakami back for Chicago White Sox — and slugger added to AL roster for All-Star Game and HR Derby: “Just truly happy,” Murakami said through an interpreter of the All-Star selection. “Because of the injury I thought I was not going to be playing for the All-Stars. So I’m just really happy that they called my name.” Murakami went 1-for-5 with an RBI double Friday after returning from a lengthy stint on the injured list. He suffered a right hamstring strain on May 29 and went on the IL the next day. * CBS Chicago | First public hearing held on proposed toll hike tied to $26.5 billion road improvement program: During the 5:30 p.m. meeting at the Greenbelt Cultural Center, no one at the hearing outwardly spoke out against the hike. However, at a nearby rest stop, some expressed that they don’t support the proposed toll increase. “You commute every day, whether it’s a job or anything of that nature, yeah, it can become expensive,” said Jericho Harris. Harris says though he doesn’t want to see the price increase, he feels like he has no choice in the matter. * Naperville Sun | Naperville commission votes in favor of ban on kratom products: Naperville already restricts the sale of kratom to anyone under the age of 21 and prohibits its possession by anyone under the age of 18. But the commission voted Thursday, July 9, to recommend that the city council take a stronger stance in the wake of health experts raising concerns about new synthetic variations of the drug, which are producing a stronger, more opioid-like effect. * Daily Herald | Prestige neighbors now battling warehouse proposal in Mount Prospect: The homeowners cited public safety issues and traffic concerns in their letter. “Mount Prospect should have consideration for the public safety issues and the residential fabric of our neighborhood,” they wrote. “Our communities pay well over $1 million a year to get our kids safely to River Trails school district. Our roads are busy enough with semitruck traffic.” * ABC Chicago | Northwest suburban high school principal to lead National Principals Association: Huntley High School Principal Marcus Belin will take a leave of absence from the school next academic year after being named president of the National Principal’s Association. Belin, who has led Huntley High School for nearly a decade, said his time at the school has been rewarding. * Daily Herald | Rosemont mall keeps parking fees despite shopper decline: Fashion Outlets of Chicago officials and Rosemont Mayor Brad Stephens don’t appear to be budging from their positions about paid parking at the indoor mall. […] He cited the mall’s statistics that track foot traffic year over year. The number of shoppers walking into the mall was steadily increasing until the paid parking policy started in February. Then it was down 17% in March — compared with the same period last year — 14% in April, 12% in May and 14% in June. * Tribune | Lawsuit alleges IDOC inmates denied exercise in ‘dungeon-like’ solitary cells: The Illinois Department of Corrections confined inmates in “dungeon-like conditions” in solitary confinement and refused to allow them to exercise, causing chronic physical and psychological pain, a complaint filed on Monday alleges. The amended complaint, filed in federal court in Southern Illinois, names IDOC Director Latoya Hughes, along with other wardens and officials, accusing them of depriving some inmates at Menard Correctional Center of nearly all ability to move their bodies on a daily basis. * WGLT | Bloomington sets date at BCPA for public forum on data centers: The City of Bloomington will host a public planning commission meeting focused on “hyper scale” data centers at 5 p.m. Aug. 26 at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts. City Manager Jeff Jurgens said a panel will be available to the commission. He did not specify who would be on the panel during his report at the city council meeting Monday night, adding more information would be released later. […] Bloomington is in the midst of a six-month moratorium on proposals for data centers. It started in late May, following similar action by Town of Normal. * WCIA | Separation agreement sheds new light on Clinton Board of Education, superintendent parting ways: The document reveals that Goebel and the Board of Education “mutually” enter into the agreement, which waives any “charges, grievances, lawsuits, claims or other potential litigation between the parties.” But, the agreement makes the distinction that it is not an “admission of any wrong-doing” by the board or Goebel, because both parties “expressly deny any and all liability or wrong doing in connection with disputed issues.” The agreement also states that Goebel will remain a licensed administrator of the Board until June 30, 2027. During that time, he will be “absent from duty on paid administrative leave” and will continue to receive his $148,526 salary, along with his district benefits. * ABC | LAPD ending deal with company operating license plate-reading cameras: “This contract is not being renewed because of serious concerns around civil liberties and civil rights issues, particularly around privacy and the data that is being collected from these cameras,” said Dean Gialamas, LAPD’s chief information officer. “The LAPD had to make a difficult decision, in this case discontinuing using Flock services until we can get those data, privacy, security and sharing concerns ironed out through a contractual relationship.” * WaPo | One of sci-fi’s most difficult questions about AI is becoming real: “I just don’t think the developer is in a position to know exactly how their product is being used,” David Sacks, a venture capitalist who until recently was one of the White House’s top AI advisers, said in a podcast interview with Politico in May. Just as Microsoft isn’t held liable when a money launderer uses an Excel spreadsheet, AI companies shouldn’t be blamed when a criminal uses their technology, Sacks said. For decades, technology companies have been shielded from liability for things said and actions committed by people using their platforms thanks to Section 230, a foundational internet law enacted in 1996. But critics of AI companies say that the current technology is fundamentally different. Chatbots and other AI tools are interactive, engaging with users and stating their own perspectives. * AP | New York to impose the country’s first statewide moratorium on data centers: New York will block the construction of any new large data centers for up to a year so the state can create rules to protect the environment and energy grid from the power-hungry facilities that fuel artificial intelligence technology. Gov. Kathy Hochul is set to sign an executive order Tuesday morning imposing the country’s first statewide moratorium on hyperscale data centers, which house thousands of computer servers and require massive amounts of energy and a steady supply of water to keep cool.
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Good morning!
Tuesday, Jul 14, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * Perhaps the greatest folk/country song ever written. Kris Kristofferson… I’d smoked so much the night before
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Selected press releases (Live updates)
Tuesday, Jul 14, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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