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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Friday, May 22, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * WTTW…
* Capitol News Illinois | 10 provisions in the latest Illinois cannabis omnibus bill: Identical bills have been introduced in the House and Senate, though neither has been assigned to a substantive committee. It’s unclear if they will move before lawmakers adjourn May 31. […] “Rumors of the demise of House-Senate collaboration have been greatly exaggerated,” said Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, in a statement. “I’m proud of the partnership that’s gone into drafting this bill, and I’m proud of the end product — legislation that will help keep our cannabis industry among the most vibrant and diverse in the nation.” * WCIA | Illinois farmers weigh in on bill updating farm wagon regulations: Wednesday night, WCIA reported on a new bill that would allow heavier farm wagons to still qualify for exemptions — allowing them to drive on the road. The previous regulations have been in place since the 1970s, and one farmer in Central Illinois said he’s glad they’re catching up with new technology. * Tribune | What’s behind the push to make the Italian beef Illinois’ official sandwich? Thank ‘The Bear.’: Despite its deep roots and existing legendary status, over the last few years, Mr. Beef has become the city’s most famous Italian beef purveyor thanks to its prominent feature in “The Bear,” an FX show that follows a fine dining chef who returns to his family’s Italian beef stand. So when House lawmakers downstate passed a bill to designate the sturdy yet soggy Italian beef the official state sandwich of Illinois, Zucchero’s brain had to be picked. “Did they ask the other counties in the state?” Zucchero asked the Tribune over the phone. He was 70 miles south of the Canadian border in Minnesota, where he lives when he’s not in Chicago. “I think it’s great that Italian beef is getting recognized, but does it just represent the city of Chicago, which has a tendency to overshadow the whole state of Illinois? There’s still 101 other counties,” he laughed. “I think I would feel better if I knew that every county got to vote.” * Illinois Answers Project | After Chicago Cop was Shot, Frantic Search for Car Keys Delayed Care, Newly Obtained Video Shows: In an interview with COPA months after the shooting, Baker said he carried Rivera down the first floor of the building, laying her against a wall and giving the keys to his squad car to another cop. […] One newly released video shows an officer crossed the street behind Baker’s SUV and walked down a fenced-in sidewalk that leads to the steel front door of the apartment building[…] During that window, officers spent just over a minute shouting for keys and for officers and others to move their cars. Baker later told investigators he had the keys. […] Once the SUV carrying Rivera got on the road, it caught fire on the way to the hospital. Radio traffic shows a dispatcher asked about the car fire and that an officer responded about a minute later that another squad car was needed to carry Rivera to the hospital. * Tribune | Hundreds attend funeral services for Chicago firefighter Steven Decker: Decker was a fire engineer with CFD, according to city human resources data. He had spent nearly 30 years on the job and was assigned to Engine 71 in the West Ridge neighborhood, fire officials said. “Steve gave everything in service to the people of Chicago and his courage and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” CFD Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt said in a statement. “Our deepest condolences go out to the Decker family, fellow firefighters and paramedics and all who cherished him.” * Sun-Times | Bears coaches have a simple message to QB Caleb Williams this offseason: ‘Do less’: The Bears aren’t trying to turn Williams into Goff. The clockwork precision and timing of Goff’s game, though, reflects Johnson and Barrett’s deeply rooted belief of what efficient, winning quarterback play should be. They want more of that in Williams’ game as he grows. That starts with completion percentage and Johnson’s insistence that Williams is at 70%. Not only did he fail to reach that number in any single game last season, but he finished last in the league at 58.1% overall. That sunk his yards per pass to 6.9 and his passer rating to 90.1, whereas Goff completed 68%, averaged 7.9 yards per pass and registered a 105.5 passer rating. * Block Club | Atelier, Lincoln Square’s Michelin-Starred Restaurant, Has Closed: Owner Tim Lacey, himself an acclaimed bartender and Lincoln Square resident for over 20 years, announced the closure in a note posted to the restaurant’s website and social media. It’s not clear when the last day of service was at Atelier, 4544 N. Western Ave. Lacey didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. “It pains me tremendously to say this but, we’ve had to close Atelier. This was not a decision made lightly, but due to financial issues closing was our only option,” reads the note signed “Tim.” * Crain’s | Neighbors say Northwestern University lets empty houses deteriorate: Six of the 14 houses are unoccupied: four on Colfax and one each on Noyes and Haven. The house on Haven has holes in the eaves and on the porch roof that are visible from the sidewalk. One house on Colfax has a work permit in the window whose date is 2016. The concrete steps on the house are crumbling, the cast-off bits of stone scattered around. “We don’t want this to become a demolition-by-neglect scenario,” said Clare Kelly, the Evanston City Council member whose ward the houses are in. She believes all six houses have been vacant for at least five years. Some appear from a sidewalk view to be in good order, though no details are available on their interiors. * Daily Herald | Judge rules South Barrington Park District’s land sale to religious group was improper: * Beacon-News | Indian Prairie D204 board OKs new support staff contract and raises for administrative, non-union employees: The Indian Prairie School District 204 board has OK’d raises for administrative and non-union employees for next school year, and formally approved a four-year contract for support staff, which includes pay hikes in the coming years. First, the school board approved, as part of the consent agenda at its meeting May 18, 3.9% pay hikes for some of its employees for the 2026-27 school year, according to district documents. The hikes are meant to be in line with the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, per the district. * Press release | Gov. Pritzker Announces Des Plaines River Bridges Replacement on I-80: The new $164 million Des Plaines River bridges are the centerpieces and most complex elements of the overall I-80 improvements, currently IDOT’s largest active project. Originally built in the 1960s, the existing bridges will be replaced with two wider, concrete structures 300 feet to the north. The new bridges are expected to be completed in 2028, with the old bridges demolished in 2029. * Pioneer Press | Oak Brook mayor lauds response to ‘anxious and rowdy’ crowd amid Swatch release at mall: But according to Oak Brook village President Larry Herman, it would have been impossible for Oakbrook Center management to plan for this. “This release was unannounced to the mall management and our police department,” he said. “I commend our police department for an immediate and orderly response to de-escalate the crowd that had gathered for a limited Swatch timepiece. The actions taken by the officers on duty, and officers from nearby departments that assisted, ensured there were no injuries from a crowd that was becoming increasingly anxious and rowdy.” * Aurora Beacon-News | Kane County Cougars’ bus set on fire in Canada, police say: Upon police arriving, two teenagers were taken into custody in connection with the incident, the Winnipeg police said. Investigators from its major crimes unit believe the fire was deliberately set, police said, and one of the teenagers — a 15-year-old girl — is facing charges of arson causing damage to property and possession of incendiary material. She has since been released and turned over to a responsible adult, the Winnipeg police said on Thursday. […] The team ultimately came back to defeat the Goldeyes 12-5 later in the day on Thursday. * Illinois Times | Sangamon County wrestles with land use issues: The Zoning and Land Use Committee also did not take any action on a recent proposal by District 7 board member Craig Hall, who represents the area where the Double Black Diamond Solar Farm opened last year and where the CyrusOne project is slated to be built. Hall’s proposal would attempt to circumvent the state’s latest laws that prevent local governments from having stricter authority on zoning for renewable energy projects. A 2023 law specifically “requires counties to allow commercial, utility-scale solar and wind energy conversion systems to be sited in areas zoned for agricultural or industrial use,” according to a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign fact page. “A county can have more lax requirements than called for in state law, but it cannot have more restrictive requirements,” though no mention of rezoning land so its not sited for agricultural or industrial use is outlined. * WCIA | Over 100 people at public hearing in Decatur for proposed power plant: If the construction permit is approved, the facility would contain piping to transport carbon dioxide from the carbon capture plant to ADM’s nearby existing sequestration wells. That’s what many people there on Thursday were focusing on. Illinois People’s Action Group was well represented at the hearing. One of their big fears is carbon escaping from the sequestration wells and carbon going into Lake Decatur. “If we are not heard by the EPA, and they don’t want to protect us, and accidents do happen, and they will eventually, it could totally destroy this community,” said Verlyn Rosenberger, an IL People’s Action Group leader. “There could be absolutely no Decatur and no outlying areas that also rely on their wells, their farm ponds, their farm animals, the wildlife. It’s all going to be affected. Nobody is going to escape.” * IPM Newsroom | Yankee Ridge students head to Sola Gratia Farm for the last time this spring – with the program’s future uncertain: “Best strawberries I’ve ever had,” said fourth grader Hanna Sanmartin Hernandez. “I usually don’t like strawberries, but these are too good. I can’t stop eating them. I’m trying to save some for my family and I can’t do it.” The students visit the non-profit, urban farm every Friday after school to learn about plants, get their hands dirty and breathe the outside air. […] But when the Trump administration restarted the program in the fall of 2025, the recipients of the cancelled grants applied alongside new applicants. There were over twice as many applicants for fewer grants that would each allocate more money – a change put in place by the U.S. Department of Agriculture with the relaunch of the program. * IPM News | Chancellor Charles Isbell reflects on his first year at U of I, looks ‘towards the future’: Isbell also noted that this academic year, the university admitted the highest number of freshmen in U of I’s history, a total of 9,207 new students. This brought total enrollment to the largest number in U of I’s history as well, reaching 60,848 students. U of I also had the highest number of students from Illinois more than any previous academic year. 6,587 freshmen students enrolled at the university are from Illinois, bringing the total of undergraduate Illinois residents to 27,978. * WCIA | Big Boy No. 4014 train coming to Springfield in July: The train is set to start its Eastern tour early next week, with a few stops in Illinois. The historic locomotive is set to stop and be available at the Amtrak Depot in Springfield on July 18 from 10:45-11:15 a.m. On this specific tour, Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 will be traversing parts of the country it hasn’t seen in more than 80 years. * CNBC | Consumer sentiment hits fresh record low in May as Iran war fuels inflation worries: “Consumer sentiment fell for the third straight month as supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz continue to boost gasoline prices. Sentiment is now just below the previous historical trough seen in June 2022,” Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu said in a statement. “Critically, consumers appear worried that inflation will increase and proliferate beyond fuel prices, even in the long run.” * NYT | Your Memorial Day Travel Forecast: Heavy Traffic and Pricey Gas: AAA predicts that a record 45 million people will travel from Thursday to Monday. Despite the continued pressures of rising gas prices, which are the highest they’ve been since the summer of 2022, most travelers — 87 percent — are likely to drive, AAA said. At the start of the week, the national average for regular unleaded gas was around $4.56 a gallon as of Thursday, according to AAA data. The price was $3.18 at the same time last year. * AP | Companies join a deep-sea mining rush after Trump executive order, as regulators fast-track permits: At least nine companies are in talks with the government for access to seabed minerals, according to an Associated Press review. Sections of the seafloor from American Samoa to Alaska could be auctioned for offshore mining this summer and through the fall. All the action suggests the U.S. may soon give the green light for companies to commercially mine the seabed — something that’s never been done in international waters.
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No Cuts. Increase Funding. Save Lives.
Friday, May 22, 2026 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] These hospitals are lifelines for Black and Brown communities, providing critical care, supporting local jobs, and stabilizing entire neighborhoods. After years of chronic underinvestment, many are already operating on the edge. Even small cuts could lead to closures, fewer services, and dangerous gaps in care. The message is urgent and clear: Illinois cannot balance its budget on the backs of vulnerable communities. Protecting these hospitals means more than preventing cuts, it means increasing investment so they can meet the growing needs of the people they serve. Fully fund and strengthen safety-net hospitals. Lives depend on it. Paid for by Association of Safety-Net Community Hospitals
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Today’s quotable
Friday, May 22, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * Tribune…
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Illinois GOP attacks Democrat ‘priority’ bill that hasn’t moved and is sponsored by a Republican
Friday, May 22, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * The Illinois Republican Party last night…  * Except, it turns out that HB5769 was sponsored by Republican Rep. Dave Severin earlier this month and has never emerged from the House Rules Committee. So, according to the ILGOP, Springfield Democrats are now prioritizing bills filed by Republican lawmakers and then leaving them parked in Rules? Also, even it was a Democratic bill, this is the best attack they got with a week or so to go in the session? The ILGOP’s tweet was deleted around 11 o’clock this morning. I’ve reached out to the state party and I’ll let you know if they respond.
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It’s almost a law
Friday, May 22, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * WAND…
* WGLT…
* Rep. Nicole La Ha…
* The Illinois Education Association…
* WCIA…
* Rep. Margaret DeLaRosa…
* Rep. Diane Blair-Sherlock…
* WCIA…
For more press releases on legislation and other matters, click here. * More… * Press release | Koehler measure to strengthen nursing home mental health reviews advances: House Bill 4509 would require the Illinois Department of Human Services or a designee to visit any individual admitted to a nursing home with a diagnosis of serious mental illness within 60 days of admission. It would also require a resident review within 72 hours when a resident with serious mental illness experiences a significant change in their physical or mental health. The legislation would also require IDHS to ensure there are no conflicts of interest among the employees administering pre-admission screenings. The goal is to give families the confidence that the residents are being evaluated fairly and appropriately. * Press release | Ellman bill aims to reduce food waste, expand student access to meals: Under current law, school districts participating in federal child nutrition programs must develop food-sharing plans as part of their local wellness policies. House Bill 4859 would clarify that share tables, already used in many schools, can fulfill this requirement, ensuring safe, equitable and efficient redistribution of unopened food items in accordance with guidance from the United States Department of Agriculture. Share tables are designated areas where students can place unopened, uneaten food items for others to take at no cost. * WAND | Bill requiring businesses to pay employees during jury duty sent to Pritzker’s desk: The bill would require businesses with more than 25 workers to pay their employees the regular pay rate during jury duty. Sponsors said this is an attempt to address the financial disincentives that exist for potential jurors to serve. Federal courts pay jurors $50 per day, but county courts provide a minimal rate for civic duty. * TSPR | A Naperville student is leading legislation to close CPR gender gaps: The bill was filed in February and assigned to the Education Policy committee. They quickly got feedback from the Illinois Principals Association that it needed amendments. “We pushed back the start date to a year later to give school some more time, and then we removed the ratio of male to female manikins, and we’re just saying you have to have at least one,” said Goldstein. It made the plan cheaper for school districts who’d have to buy additional manikins, or chest covers they can put on the male manikins they already have. * WAND | IL Senate passes bill increasing fine for drivers ignoring school bus safety arms: Although the school year is ending, safety around school buses is the focus of a proposal heading to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk. The Illinois Senate unanimously passed a bill on Wednesday to increase fines for people driving around school buses using the extended stop arm. Drivers stopped by police for ignoring the safety arms are currently fined a minimum of $300 and have their driver’s license suspended for six months. Illinois school districts can also choose to install stop arm safety technology, but the fine for drivers is capped at $150. * Press release | Cervantes measure to change developmental disability centers’ administrator qualifications: In order to be an administrator, someone must have a license under the Nursing Home Administrators Licensing and Disciplinary Act, be qualified as an intellectual disabilities professional, completed four semesters of higher education with two years of management experience, or have two years of experience in a position with progressive health care responsibility. However, they would also need to be at least 21 years old. House Bill 4112 passed the Senate Thursday and now heads to the governor’s desk for further consideration.
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Dick Durbin has some explaining to do about why he hired Broadview 6 prosecutor (Updated)
Friday, May 22, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller * Tribune…
From February 23rd…
Mecklenburg’s LinkedIn… The October indictment news release is here. * The case began to publicly wobble on February 5th…
* Back to yesterday’s Tribune story about the grand jury proceedings…
* From the judge’s comments during yesterday’s hearing…
Hat tip: Meredith Shiner, who pointed to Mecklenburg’s detail to Durbin’s committee staff with suspicion and disgust months ago. It’s doubtful that Durbin knew of the problems with this case when he brought Mecklenburg to his committee staff. But he had to have known that she was one of the lead prosecutors of the Broadview Six, all but one of whom were politically active Democrats. As Shiner wrote, “Dick Durbin is completely oblivious to current politics and thinks he’s operating in 1986 instead of 2026.” …Adding… The usual deflection…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Friday, May 22, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Subscribers know more. ICYMI: Bears have ‘exhausted every opportunity to stay in Chicago’ despite mayor saying new meetings held. ABC Chicago…
- However, the NFL team put out a statement Thursday afternoon, saying “The Chicago Bears have exhausted every opportunity to stay in Chicago, which was our initial goal. There is not a viable site in the city. As a result, the only sites under consideration are in Arlington Heights and Hammond.” - The Bears issued another statement in response to the mayor’s office earlier Thursday, saying, “Any meetings between the City of Chicago and the Chicago Bears were limited to counsel-to-counsel engagement. There were no conversations with team management. Such exchanges are subject to heightened confidentiality and routinely encompass a wide range of matters related to the Chicago Bears’ tenancy at Soldier Field. * Related stories… Sponsored by American Innovators Network
* At 11 am, Gov. JB Pritzker will deliver remarks at the Des Plaines River Bridge event. Click here to watch. * BlueRoomStream.com’s coverage of today’s press conferences and committee hearings can be found here. * Capitol News Illinois | Lawmakers frustrated over delay in distribution of after-school program funds: The budget lawmakers passed last year included $35 million for ISBE to distribute for after-school programs, with $17 million of that earmarked for programs operated directly by schools and $18 million reserved for programs operated by outside organizations. […] ISBE said its delay in awarding funds this year was due to two factors: The last-minute increase in the amount of money lawmakers approved for the year, and an unexpectedly large number of appeals the agency received in response to its tentative award decisions. In an email, an ISBE spokesperson said the agency requested only $25 million for after-school programs and was prepared to issue a “Notice of Funding Opportunity,” or NOFO — an invitation for organizations to apply for grants — as soon as the budget was approved. * Aurora Beacon News | Phone scam caused Aurora to lose nearly $1.1 million from city bank accounts, officials say: Early findings of the investigation show that, on April 29, a city employee received a phone call from someone impersonating a bank representative, city officials said in the statement. “The caller used deceptive tactics to appear legitimate, establish trust, and create a false sense of urgency, ultimately prompting the employee to disclose sensitive account information,” the statement said. Aurora Mayor John Laesch called the incident a “very sophisticated cyber attack” when he spoke to The Beacon-News on Tuesday. When asked if disciplinary action had been brought against any employees because of what happened, he said that he couldn’t comment since the situation was still under investigation. * Capitol News Illinois | ‘We will be left out and left behind’: Senate GOP urges action on school choice bills: he demand follows a renewed wave of pressure for either Pritzker or the General Assembly to opt the state into the federal tax credit after New York recently became one of the latest states and the second Democratic-led state signaling its intent to do so. Senate Republican Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, said “time is of the essence” to opt into the program ahead of its Jan. 1, 2027 deadline. While any taxpayer throughout the country can take advantage of the tax credit, only students in states opted into the program can benefit from scholarships. According to Curran, delaying the decision means hindering the formation of scholarship granting organizations and losing willing taxpayers in Illinois, which would disadvantage the state in the competition for “free federal dollars. * Capitol City Now | All these years later, AIDS still a Black ‘epidemic’: The overrepresentation of Blacks in the AIDS community, said Simmons, “has nothing to do with us or our DNA or our health makeup. It’s all about health care systems that prioritize profit over people. It’s all about cultural incompatibility in terms of who’s offering health care and the folks like us who feel comfortable seeking out the health care, let alone whether we have Medicaid or health insurance to be able to get us in the door.” Simmons, the first openly LGBTQ senator in Illinois, is carrying a bill to try to resolve the funding disparities. * Center Square | House GOP pushes Pritzker for local control: Illinois House Republicans say Governor J.B. Pritzker’s housing proposals will give local control to state politicians, but the governor says decisions will still be made by local government units. The governor’s Building Up Illinois Developments plan consists of at least five bills aiming to address housing supply and affordability issues. State Rep. Jennifer Sanalitro, R-Hanover Park, said the plan would take zoning decisions away from local communities and move them to Springfield. * Tribune | Chicago Teachers Union political director running for school board president: In an interview with the Tribune, Domínguez said his focus as board president would be to insulate Chicago Public Schools from cuts and press state legislators for additional funding. Last week, the district unveiled school-level budgets with reduced teaching staff to close a $732 million deficit. “I’m not going to support balancing budgets through school closures or cuts to programs that students rely on,” Domínguez said. “My priority is simple: We protect our classrooms first, and we organize, organize, organize for the resources that our students are promised.” * Willie Wilson creates an exploratory for Chicago mayor…
* Sox Machine | Justin Ishbia’s path toward building a new White Sox ballpark: During a webinar presentation by the University of Illinois-Chicago Urban Transportation Center, Amtrak Director of Program Management Joe Shacter spoke out of school about plans Amtrak was preparing for the coming years. The thrust of the presentation was to highlight and draw excitement about the Chicago Hub Improvement Program (CHIP) progress in modernizing rail infrastructure. Instead, Shacter gave away Ishbia’s planned course in moving the Chicago White Sox to the South Loop. * ABC Chicago | Chicago beaches open Friday as Mayor Johnson, officials outline summer safety plan: “We will also have additional resources In our business areas, like the beaches, the lakefront, the downtown, our business corridors throughout the entire summer,” CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling said. This weekend, CPD cancelled days to ensure officers have a presence across the city. Community violence intervention groups are also planning to have expanded hours in neighborhoods. * Tribune | Chicago Tribune strikes 11th-hour deal to buy Daily Herald, outbidding suburban suitor: It took several full-page ads, an 11th-hour bid and ostensibly a premium price, but Tribune Publishing has swooped in and struck a deal to buy the employee-owned Daily Herald suburban newspaper. The board of Paddock Publications, which operates the Daily Herald, sent an email to employees Thursday afternoon announcing that an asset purchase agreement has been signed, with a scheduled June 22 closing date. Terms of the sale were not disclosed, but the board said it would send out an information packet to Daily Herald employees in the next few days detailing the offer. The employee stockholders of the 150-year-old, formerly family-owned newspaper will then vote on whether to approve the offer, according to the Paddock email, which was obtained by the Tribune. * Daily Herald | Why Arlington Heights Fire Department will start charging for repeated assist calls: The number of so-called lift assists — what fire department officials define as non-emergency service requests to move someone who hasn’t immediately suffered an injury or acute illness — has increased, and is directly affecting the department’s emergency operations, Fire Chief Lance Harris said. Call volume grew by 6% — from 483 lift assist requests in 2024 to 513 in 2025 — and numbers so far this year are on pace to be even higher, according to department statistics. One resident required lift assistance for 25 days in a row in February, and another called 30 times over several months, Harris said. * Tribune | Elk Grove Village mayor defends data centers at packed community hearing: “All you hear is negative, negative, negative; tonight you’re going to hear facts, facts, facts,” Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson said. “A lot of this negative stuff comes from Facebook.” The village now has 20 data centers, occupying about 4.5 million square feet and all located within the Elk Grove Village Business Park, a 66-million-square-foot industrial campus on the village’s eastern edge near O’Hare Airport, he said. Several more are under construction or in the planning stages. * Daily Herald | $175M cancer, neuroscience care facility proposed at Arlington Heights hospital: A $175 million expansion for cancer and neuroscience care has been proposed for Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights. The facility is planned for land between the existing hospital at 800 W. Central Road and Kirchoff Road, which is on the north side of the medical campus, according to documents filed with the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board by the hospital’s parent company, Endeavor Health. * ABC Chicago | Plans in works to turn horse farm in unincorp. Crete into campus for those on road to sobriety: Leu has been sober for two years. On the verge of a new beginning, his transformation is a success story the 2nd Story Ranch hopes to replicate. “Our goal is to help people reach long-term sobriety, and work is just the major dimension of your life that you have to get through to continually be successful,” said Jim O’Connor, managing director of the Second Story Foundation. […] “I’m a little older; I can’t work as physically, as fast and hard as everyone else. But I’m still valuable, and I’m still here. I’m still clean. I’m still sober; I’m still alive,” Williams said. * BND | Swansea votes to scrap crime-free housing program, citing unused provisions: “The village already has tools to hold rental property and all property to an acceptable standard, has code enforcement working at a rate that has been unseen for years prior and already maintains property maintenance and zoning standards, nuisance violations, and police interventions for criminal matters,” he said. “It sounds bad that crime-free housing is being repealed, but we already do it,” said Police Chief Matthew Blomberg. “We just don’t do it underneath all the red tape that is listed in the 10-page legislation that was passed in 2018. So everything that it’s asking to do, we can do.” * WGLT | Unit 5 parent sues over alleged harassment of a trans student at Chiddix Junior High: A Unit 5 parent is suing the school district for alleged discrimination of her child at Chiddix Junior High School in Normal. Angela Sutton claims her daughter was repeatedly harassed by other students because she is transgender. Court filings said Sutton raised concerns to administrators on multiple occasions about the harassment and was ignored. The suit alleges the district took no meaningful action after her child was physically attacked at school and that the harassment was preventable. * WCIA | ‘There are no words’: Central IL racing community reacts to loss of Kyle Busch: Racing fans across Central Illinois are reacting after NASCAR’s winningest driver, Kyle Bush, suddenly passed away after a “severe illness.” The 41-year-old shaped a generation of fans all around the country. “He didn’t leave anything on the table. He raced every single lap like it was the last one,” Brian Rieck, the Coles County Speedway owner, said. Rieck has always watched Busch race, and now has memories of Busch’s young son, Brexton, racing at the Mattoon track. He got second place in a recent junior sprint race. * NOTUS | How A Republican Amendment Destroyed Bipartisan Support for Women’s History Museum: The legislative push to establish a Smithsonian museum focused on women’s history had finally seemed to be gaining momentum — a rare bipartisan effort in a deeply polarized Congress. Then, Republican Rep. Mary Miller introduced an amendment in March that cost the bill all its Democratic support in Thursday’s House vote. Miller, from Illinois, added the amendment to the bill in the Committee on House Administration, denying the inclusion of transgender women in the museum and giving President Donald Trump the ability to choose an alternate location for the museum if he deems the chosen one unfit. The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino, which had moved in tandem with the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum since its authorization in 2020, was also left behind. * Giz Modo | Trump Admin Takes Equity Stake in IBM and Other Quantum Computing Companies: On Thursday, the Department of Commerce announced that it was investing more than $2 billion in nine quantum computing companies. In turn, it’ll receive “a minority, non-controlling equity stake” in each. […] Shortly after, Trump’s commerce chief Howard Lutnick announced a series of investments in companies that mine critical rare earth elements. One of those companies was a three-year-old startup called Vulcan Elements. Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm, 1789 Capital, also happens to be an investor in Vulcan Elements. Friends in high places, it seems.
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Good morning!
Friday, May 22, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller The way that buck has shrunk Do you have the inflation blues?
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition
Friday, May 22, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
Friday, May 22, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Selected press releases (Live updates)
Friday, May 22, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Live coverage
Friday, May 22, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Click here and/or here to follow breaking news on the website formally known as Twitter. Our Bluesky feed…
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