* Institute of Government and Public Affairs…

The Illinois Flash Index for June fell to 101.9 from its 102 level in May.

An index reading above 100 indicates growth.

“The end of June marks the conclusion of the state’s fiscal year and the first half of 2025,” said Fred Giertz, Professor Emeritus, Institute of Government and Public Affairs, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “Despite recent political and economic turmoil, the Illinois economy has remained surprisingly stable.”

The Flash Index has stayed within a narrow range, declining slightly. The state unemployment rate has held steady at 4.8 percent for the past three months, down from 5.1 percent a year ago. Illinois has also reduced the gap between the national and state unemployment rates. A year ago, Illinois’ rate was 1.1 percentage points higher than the U.S. rate. Now, the difference has decreased to six-tenths of a percentage point.

For the month, state tax receipts for income and sales taxes increased compared to the same month last year, after adjusting for inflation, while corporate receipts declined. For the fiscal year, real individual income tax receipts grew by 7 percent, whereas sales tax receipts dropped about 1.5 percent. Corporate receipts fell approximately 12 percent following a particularly strong previous year.

* Crain’s | The cost of entry is crushing Illinois’ cannabis entrepreneurs: As of June 2025, the state of Illinois had issued 694 business permits to various companies looking to run marijuana dispensaries, grow facilities, THC-infusing manufacturing operations and transportation businesses. But of those, only 382 have managed to open for business thus far, according to information from the Illinois Department of Federal and Professional Regulation and the Department of Agriculture, which share industry oversight duties.

* WSIL | Grants bring $20M to Illinois libraries for community growth; here’s the list: This announcement comes as libraries nationwide face federal budget cuts. Giannoulias said in March, the Trump administration signed an executive order to eliminate and defund the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which provides $180 million annually to libraries. Illinois receives nearly $6 million of this funding annually. “We’re doing things differently in Illinois,” Giannoulias added. “Instead of cutting funding that would limit learning and prove harmful to Illinois communities, we’re fighting for Illinoisans to ensure they have the funding and resources to learn, grow and explore today and in the future.”

* WCIA | Corn crops way past ‘knee high at the Fourth of July’ in Central Illinois: “I’ve heard that all my life, and a lot of farmers talk about it, but, oh my gosh, it hasn’t been that way for many years,” Champaign County farmer Dennis Riggs said. Recent extreme heat in the area hasn’t been good for all plants, but it is causing the corn crops to thrive. “It’s really speeding the crop up,” Dr. Fred Below, a crop science professor at the University of Illinois, said. “Corn grows by accumulating heat units. It’s 90 plus, you’re maxing the crop out at 80 units so, as long as they’re getting enough moisture it’s growing as fast as it can.”

* Press Release | IDPH Adds More ZIP Codes to Lead Testing List: The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has announced an expansion of its list of ZIP codes where lead exposure testing is required for children who live within those areas. 180 new zip codes, representing parts of 47 Illinois counties, have been added to the list this year, bringing the total of high-risk ZIP codes to more than 1,350. By this time next year, all remaining ZIP codes in the state will be included, implementing universal childhood lead testing statewide.

* Press Release | New Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery Launches: - Today, Governor JB Pritzker announced that the newly formed Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery (DBHR) has officially begun operations. Housed in the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), the new division integrates the former IDHS Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (SUPR) and Division of Mental Health (DMH). Governor Pritzker signed an Executive Order February 2025 instituting the change to improve outcomes and access to behavioral health care and to streamline and reduce administrative burdens for providers. The executive action went through the legislative process and became law.

* WGLT | State Rep. Regan Deering announces re-election bid: “If you’re fed up with high prices, woke nonsense, broken schools, and politicians who care more about power than results, I’m your candidate,” Deering said in a statement. During her first term in the state legislature, Deering proposed 11 bills; one passed. It would require the Illinois State Board of Education to post submitted career opportunities for high school students on its website.

* WVIK | Halpin: Vote Against Budget Reflects Underfunding Higher Ed: State Senator Mike Halpin (D-Rock Island) discusses the recently concluded Illinois legislative session, his vote against the budget, education, economic issues, district accomplishments, mental health, the budget process, tariffs and what the national Democratic party needs to do to improve its image.

* WAND | Proposal helping farmers with deer control arrives on Pritzker’s desk: Farmers across the state have told Democrats and Republicans that nuisance deer have caused expensive and costly damage to their crops and farmland. This plan would allow the state to issue antlerless-only deer removal permits based on the percentage of permits redeemed in the previous season. It could also expand youth hunting tags from one to two.

* Chalkbeat | Chicago Public Schools laid off 161 employees. More cuts could be on the way: The layoffs included 87 people represented by SEIU Local 73 — nearly all of whom were crossing guards — plus 67 employees in the district’s central and network offices, and seven people represented by the Chicago Teachers Union, CPS confirmed to Chalkbeat. The district also said it will not fill more than 200 vacant positions, including 166 at the central office and 19 CTU-represented positions. The district originally said it would not fill 24 open crossing guard jobs as part of freezing those open positions, but late Monday revised that figure to 19.

* Sun-Times | Chicago Police say an ICE worker’s 911 call prompted them to patrol an immigration raid protest: “There were federal agents that needed assistance” with “crowd control,” Chenetra Washington, a police communications operator, said at a hearing on allegations that CPD assisted ICE in enforcement actions last month. Still, Glen Brooks, the director of CPD’s Community Policing office, contended officers weren’t aware that a civil immigration raid was taking place when they arrived at the scene and entered the federal immigration office.

* ABC Chicago | Chicago leaders host hearing over South Loop ICE operation, CPD’s involvement: On Tuesday, the committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights will vote on a measure for Chicago Police, the Office of Emergency Management Chicago, and the mayor’s office to provide all data and communication related to that day. Chicago police were called to the scene, but the department says they were not aware of any ICE activity when they arrived and did not help with any arrests.

* Bloomberg | Trump Hotel Pays $4.8 Million to Resolve Complaint Over Killing Fish in Chicago: Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago will pay $4.8 million to resolve a complaint that it was killing fish in the Chicago River. A system used to cool the building by drawing in river water was sucking in thousands of fish and other organisms, the plaintiffs in the case said Tuesday in announcing the settlement. The complaint was brought in 2018 by the Illinois attorney general and state environmental agency, as well as the Sierra Club and a group called Friends of the Chicago River.

* Crain’s | Fulton Market landlord defies office market struggle with big refi: A joint venture of Chicago-based Shapack Partners, Focus Development and Walton Street Capital is set to close this month on a new $247 million loan backed by the 17-story office building at 167 N. Green St., according to a presale report on the debt offering from ratings agency KBRA. The new mortgage will be used to pay off a $232 million balance on a loan the trio took out from Deutsche Bank in 2021 to refinance the property, which was completed in late 2020.

* Sun-Times | Veteran police dispatcher who was a calming voice for Chicagoans at their worst moments goes off the radio: Debra White’s OEMC dispatch colleagues describe her as the “mama” of the unit, making everyone feel welcome and treating emergency callers with empathy. They held her up when tragedy struck her own family and sent her off to retirement with cake, tears and a procession of police and firefighters.

* Illinois Answers Project | Cook County Tried to Erase Medical Debt. For Many, Help Came Too Late: But data shows the majority of debt was relieved for people who likely should have qualified for free care — a sign that hospitals are failing to screen for some of the region’s poorest patients.

* Lake County News-Sun | EPA weighing how to address Lake County asbestos contamination; ‘It’s a pretty isolated location’: Currently inaccessible to the public both by physical means — there is a fence — and an EPA ruling, Dave Nadel, the EPA’s community involvement coordinator for Region 5, which includes the Chicago area, said he is in the process of finalizing the decision-making. Adjacent to the Johns Manville EPA Superfund site, Nadel said the contamination occurred years ago — likely in the 1940s or 1950s — before it became part of the nature preserve in 1964. Not part of Manville’s property, dumping occurred in the past. The discovery of asbestos was more recent.

* Daily Southtown | South, southwest suburban high school districts prepare to implement new AI programs: Several high school districts, including Orland High District 230, Bremen District 228 and Oak Lawn District 229, have expanded technology committees and implemented guidelines on AI in discipline codes, giving teachers autonomy to use AI but prohibiting certain uses, such as generating content. “Because it’s been embedded in so many programs now, we had to come up with a clause in our policy that actually covers that. I mean, AI is just everywhere,” said Marcus Wargin, assistant principal at Oak Lawn Community High School. “We knew we didn’t want to say no to AI, so we just wanted to put some guardrails in place.”

* Daily Herald | What’s next for Spring Brook restoration in Blackwell Forest Preserve?: The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority funded the first two phases of the project — within St. James and Blackwell, respectively — to help mitigate construction impacts associated with road widening. In Blackwell specifically, the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County rerouted a section of the creek so that it’s more sinuous or natural. The district also removed a dam structure — a barrier to fish movement. The intergovernmental agreement with the tollway provides funding for the third and final phase of the Spring Brook project, according to district documents. On Tuesday, the forest preserve board is set to vote on a contract with RES Environmental Operating Co., with substantial completion of the work expected by December 2025.

* Daily Herald | ‘A trusted colleague’: veteran Des Plaines Public Works Director Tim Oakley retires: Throughout his lengthy municipal career, Des Plaines Public Works and Engineering Director Tim Oakley kept the city running — above and below ground. But now the state of the city’s streets, sewers and overhead utilities are someone else’s responsibility. After nearly 40 years of public service, Oakley retired June 27.

* Sun-Times | This year’s fireworks could cost you more and cost some suburbs extra, too: All of the fireworks on sale at Uncle Sam’s Fireworks Store in Hammond, Indiana, come from China, said co-owner Dan “Dynamite” Mota. Though the shop bought most of its stock before the president’s tariff policies were first imposed in April, some items required replenishing — Roman candles, for example — and were bought more recently. Last year, the candles at Uncle Sam’s went for $6.95 per package. This year, the same pack is $13.95, according to Mota.

* Daily Southtown | South Holland woman sentenced in theft scheme, pocketed rent payments: A South Holland woman was sentenced to two years in prison for taking more than $18,000 in rent payments while she was working for a property management company, according to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office. Delvya Harris also admitted to fraudulently obtaining more than $41,000 in federal Paycheck Protection Program loans by falsely claiming she owned a business, Raoul’s office said in a news release.

* Crain’s | Chicago’s pro golf drought continues — except in Bolingbrook: When LIV Golf, the controversial Saudi-funded tour challenging golf’s establishment, lost its residency more than a year ago at the exclusive Rich Harvest Farms club in far west suburban Sugar Grove, local golf fans figured organizers would seek out a new welcome mat at another of the storied private clubs — maybe Medinah or Olympia Fields or Butler National — in the professional golf-starved Chicago marketplace. Not hardly. More than a year ago, on a tight deadline, LIV announced a deal to move its 2024 event to the municipal Bolingbrook Golf Club, a nondescript public course unlikely to appear on the radar of elite touring pros. It’s flat, largely treeless and mostly defenseless in the face of low-handicappers except for the man-made ponds that its designer, Arthur Hills, carved into cornfields three decades ago.

* WGLT | Illinois Wesleyan adds nutrition, physical education and quantum science for 2025-26 school year: A new concentration in Quantum Science and Technology [QST] will be delivered by the Physics department, becoming one of few Midwestern schools offering quantum science at the undergraduate level. Physics chair Narendra Jaggi said QST courses were initially offered on a trial basis to assess student interest and available resources, with introductory courses quickly filling to capacity. “We see this program as a prime example of the deep and broad learning that defines a liberal arts education,” Jaggi said. “It offers interdisciplinary training and encourages strong student-faculty collaboration — an approach that has already propelled our physics majors, and students in our Optics & Photonics concentration, into leadership roles in both academia and industry.”

* WGLT | Connect Go rural transit service launches July 1: The service called Connect Go provides door-to-door transportation for McLean County residents living outside Bloomington-Normal and Towanda. Reservations for Connect Go’s wheelchair accessible vans must be made before noon, one to three weekdays before a scheduled ride. The service is currently available weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at no cost to customers.

* WCIA | Coles Co. Board to vote on wind project during Tuesday’s meeting: WCIA previously reported that the Coles Wind project would include 51 turbines, is estimated to create nearly 300 constructions jobs and is projected to add $2.7 million in tax revenue to the area each year. But, not everyone in the community is on board. In previous meetings, residents attended in droves, hoping to prevent the project from happening.

* Reuters | Despite last-minute changes, US Senate bill deals big blow to renewable energy: The U.S. Senate’s massive budget bill that passed on Tuesday will make it harder to develop wind and solar energy projects, despite the removal of some contentious provisions, industry advocates and lawmakers said. The Senate dropped a proposed excise tax on solar and wind energy projects that don’t meet strict standards after last-minute negotiations with key Republican senators seeking better terms for renewables.

* The Atlantic | That dropped call with customer service? It was on purpose: “Yes, sludge is often intentional,” he said. “Of course. The goal is to put as much friction between you and whatever the expensive thing is. So the frontline person is given as limited information and authority as possible. And it’s punitive if they connect you to someone who could actually help.” Helpfulness aside, I mentioned that I frequently felt like I was talking with someone alarmingly indifferent to my plight. “That’s called good training,” Tenumah said. “What you’re hearing is a human successfully smoothed into a corporate algorithm, conditioned to prioritize policy over people. If you leave humans in their natural state, they start to care about people and listen to nuance, and are less likely to follow the policy.”