* ICYMI: 15 Illinois Residents File Claims Against DHS Alleging They Were Victimized by Federal Agents During ‘Midway Blitz’. WTTW…

-Fifteen Illinois residents have filed claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act with the Department of Homeland Security, which allows those who have been injured by the “negligent or wrongful acts” of federal agents to seek monetary damages in what can be the first step toward a lawsuit.
- Among those who filed claims Thursday are Oak Park Township Trustee Juan Muñoz, independent journalist Leigh Kunkel and local attorney Jennifer Moriarty.
- They’ve accused federal agents of excessive force, wrongful detention and other misconduct carried out during the infamous enforcement operation that began across northern Illinois last fall.

* Related stories…

• Evanston Now: Evanston resident sues over ICE violence

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

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Post-Dispatch | SIUE student journalist wanted unsupervised interviews. Then the police were called: After his meeting with police on Tuesday, Hembrough said police told him they were closing the case. Officer Levi Cox, in a previous email to Hembrough and Merrett, said he did not believe the student editor’s communications amounted to harassment.

* Reuters | Floodwater overwhelmed pump at Exxon Mobil’s Joliet, Illinois refinery; facility remains offline following outage: Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), opens new tab said floodwater overwhelmed a pump ​at its 275,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Joliet, Illinois, according to ‌a filing on Thursday. A containment boom had been deployed as part of the cleanup effort, the filing shows. Exxon took the Joliet refinery ​offline on Sunday after a power outage triggered the ​facility’s safety flare. […] Industry ​monitor IIR Energy had expected return to normal service ​by the end of this week.

* Courthouse News Service | Wine sellers look to Seventh Circuit to overturn Illinois liquor law: “Illinois allows in-state retailers to ship wine anywhere within the state but prohibits out-of-state businesses from doing so. This court previously, in* Lebamoff v. Rauner*, held that this was discriminatory, and the law has not changed since then,” he said. The Illinois ban on out-of-state retail shipping was previously challenged in the 2018 Seventh Circuit case Lebamoff v. Rauner. In that case, the Seventh Circuit deemed the Illinois alcohol law discriminatory and remanded the case to determine whether Illinois could justify requiring a local presence for statewide mail-order sales. That determination, however, was never made because Lebamoff went out of business, and the consumer plaintiff could not continue for medical reasons.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Subscribers know much more. Politico: A fight over money and campaign strategy within the Democratic Party of Illinois isn’t going away before the November election. It’s a disagreement we first reported last month. […] Last week, TaQuoya McConnico, the executive director of the Democrats for the Illinois House, sent a message to members, assuring that their campaign needs could be taken care of by the House caucus. And she explained: “The proposed DPI-coordinated campaign structure called for Speaker Welch to demand $10,000 in contributions from every single House member — even in cases where members don’t have a race and don’t have that amount of cash on hand.” The same day, Hernandez sent a memo to House members, saying, “We did not demand that individual members personally write $10,000 checks to DPI.”

* Press release | Unemployment Rate Falls and Payrolls Down in August: The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate was 4.7 percent in August, down -0.2 percentage point from July, and up +0.4 percentage point from the same month, one year ago, based on data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The revised July unemployment rate was 4.9 percent. Total nonfarm payrolls decreased over-the-month in August, down -4,400 (-0.1%) to 6,175,600. The July monthly change in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report, from +11,700 to +15,300. The August payroll jobs estimate and unemployment rate reflect activity for the week including the 12th.

* Fox Chicago | Aaron Del Mar responds after George Floyd remarks spark controversy: As Illinois’ gubernatorial race heats up, FOX Chicago Political Reporter and Editor Brandon Pope has obtained audio of Republican lieutenant governor candidate Aaron Del Mar referring to George Floyd as “one of the grossest human beings ever” during a public town hall. […] During an exclusive interview with Pope on “The Chicago Report,” Del Mar acknowledged making the remark but did not apologize. When asked what he would say to Black Illinoisans who were offended by his comments, Del Mar shifted the discussion to public safety and said he would work to address violence in communities across the state.

* WTTW | Advocates Rally in Support of Reinstating Parole in Illinois: ‘We’re Violating the Constitution’: At issue in Illinois is Article 1, Section 11, which states one objective of incarceration is “restoring the offender to useful citizenship.” Illinois’ use of determinate sentencing, in which someone must serve the entirety of their sentence without eligibility for parole, contradicts that section, advocates argue. “We are dealing with a geriatric program in the (Illinois Department of Corrections),” said Johnnie “Khalif” Veal, who was previously incarcerated and now heads the criminal justice reform group Project Sound Off. “People are serving 40 to 50 years in a state where there’s no outlet, no parole, there’s no chance for redress.”

* Capitol News Illinois | Bears stadium lead, board member met with top Illinois official in August: Deputy Gov. Andy Manar, who oversees the state’s budget and economic development efforts, emailed Karen Murphy, the Bears’ executive vice president of stadium development and chief operating officer, on Aug. 11 requesting a 30-minute “check in” via phone or video conference sometime in the following weeks, records show. […] “As we’ve said, we continue to have conversations with the Bears about their plans in Illinois,” Pritzker spokesperson Andres Correa said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to work with them.”

*** Chicago ***

* Block Club | How Far Should City Go To Protect Renters? 2 Competing Bills Head To Full City Council: Meanwhile, progressive alderpeople and some activists — who have derided FAIR as a “big beautiful bill” for landlords — continue to push for PRO’s passage. Julie Dworkin, the co-director of policy group Institute for the Public Good, on Thursday argued that FAIR would fail to deliver vitally-needed safeguards for Chicago renters.

* WBEZ | Should Chicago close more schools? Candidates for school board president diverge on key issue: Hilario Dominguez, a former political director for the Chicago Teachers Union, is the only candidate who is pledging not to support school closings. Jessica Biggs, a former principal, and Victor Henderson, a prominent defense attorney, said they would consider closing schools, but only after hearing from communities that would be affected. Sendhil Revuluri, a former Chicago board member and math teacher, made the case for closing under-enrolled high schools, in particular, because they typically can’t support a wide array of classes and programs.

* Tribune | Chicago’s Latino population is shifting west, with Belmont Cragin now the city’s largest Latino neighborhood: Belmont Cragin, on the Northwest Side, is home to more Latino residents than any other area of the city, according to findings released Thursday by UIC’s Great Cities Institute. Of the nearly 802,000 Latino residents citywide, more than 57,000 call Belmont Cragin home, accounting for roughly 80% of the neighborhood’s population. The report offers a sweeping look at how a community that now accounts for nearly 30% of the city’s population is changing. Its findings trace not only shifts in where people live, but changes in income, education and employment that show a Latino Chicago increasingly extending beyond the neighborhoods historically associated with it.

* Sun-Times | Illinois Restaurant Association chief calls out uneven enforcement of sidewalk cafe lights rule: The head of the Illinois Restaurant Association says Chicago’s uneven enforcement of rules banning strings of sparkling lights for outdoor dining areas is unfair to restaurant owners, who are already struggling. President Sam Toia made the comments following the city’s crackdown against one Roscoe Village restaurant’s outdoor lights — even as scores of other restaurants hang them over sidewalks and parkways.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Battle for control: DuPage County clerk takes fight to appellate court: DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek took her legal fight over how her office is run to a panel of three appellate court justices this week, asking them to overturn earlier rulings made by a county judge on billing and bidding procedures. The clerk’s attorney, Ken Florey, told the appellate court justices on Wednesday that the arguments over who controls how a county office is run are not new. He pointed to a long history of opinions on the topic from the Illinois attorney general’s office. “This case shows a 50-year history of county boards and county elected officials fighting over control of their offices,” Florey said, adding the case has implications not just for DuPage County, but for county boards and elected officials across the state.

* NBC Chicago | Conditions at suburban Blue Island school criticized after custodial layoffs: State Rep. Bob Rita, whose district includes Blue Island, joined state Sen. Bill Cunningham and state Reps. Justin Slaughter and Mary Gill in urging the education board and Illinois Department of Public Health to investigate. “I was disgusted and appalled,” Rita told NBC 5 Thursday. “It’s unacceptable, and the school board has failed, and we need to get these schools cleaned immediately.”

* Daily Southtown | Orland Park officials spar over tax break for Amazon retail development: While Mayor Jim Dodge said Cook County’s tax system makes such an incentive necessary, board members William Healy and Cynthia Katsenes raised concerns about fairness, noting many smaller businesses are not provided with such benefits. If the County Board approves Amazon’s application, the new retail center will receive a Class 7b property incentive, which is reserved for commercial projects costing more than $2 million, according to Cook County. The property would be assessed at a rate of 10% for 10 years, 15% for the 11th year and 20% for the 12th year, before returning to the standard 25% assessment rate for its 13th year.

* Sun-Times | Lincoln-Way board votes to allow students involved in racist incident to withdraw instead of being expelled: The school board did not name the students or specifically outline the reasons for each student’s discipline. The board returned from closed session and voted to allow six students to withdraw instead of being expelled. Tingley spoke after the vote. “My responsibility as superintendent was to ensure the law and the board of education policies were followed at every step with respect to those students’ discipline,” Tingley said. “To do that, the administration conducted a thorough and timely investigation and assessed each student’s individual level of involvement and offered every one of them the right to be heard.”

*** Downstate ***

* CNI | Choate workers’ union files lawsuit to block state from gutting mental health facility: The labor union representing hundreds of employees at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center has filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s planned downsizing of the facility, arguing Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration failed to follow state laws governing reductions in healthcare services, the closure of state facilities and the preservation of psychiatric beds. The Illinois Department of Human Services announced to staff in late July that it planned to significantly reduce staffing and beds for patients with mental illness and developmental disabilities.

* WQAD | State of Illinois to help search for new operator of former Tyson Foods plant in Joslin: The State of Illinois is preparing to offer incentives as the search continues for a new buyer of the former Tyson Foods plant in Joslin following its sudden closure last month left approximately 2,500 people without jobs. According to an announcement from Gov. Pritzker’s office, resources will be offered from the Invest in Illinois Fund, with the goal of finding a new operator who will return jobs to the facility and support the state’s beef industry.

* WGLT | Bloomington mayor says recent police incident with assistant chief hurt public trust: The mayor of Bloomington said the city and police department must work to regain public trust in the wake of the abrupt retirement of Assistant Chief Paul Williams. Williams was involved in a questionable traffic stop in June that sparked a lawsuit against Williams and the city. In this Sound Ideas interview with WGLT’s Charlie Schlenker, Dan Brady also addressed huge amounts of overtime the city paid Williams over several years. The mayor also expressed concern that he was not notified in a timely way of the June incident or brewing controversy by the city administration or the police department.

* WGLT | Traffic stop wasn’t the first power play for former Bloomington Police assistant chief: Williams’ track record shows the incident wasn’t the first time he leveraged his position and power in ways that sometimes concerned his subordinates and superiors, a WGLT investigation found. Williams was disciplined just last year for improper use of force for pepper-spraying someone – one of at least 21 times he did so over a three-year period, records show. A former police-union leader, Williams racked up over $500,000 in overtime in less than a decade – an amount that’s alarmed Bloomington Mayor Dan Brady.

* WGLT | For 30 years, ‘the newspaper that wouldn’t die’ spoke truth to power in Bloomington-Normal: Bloomington-Normal was home to the longest running underground newspaper in United States history. The paper, called Post Amerikan, ran from 1972-2004 and is now the subject of a feature length documentary film titled Post Amerikan: The Newspaper that Wouldn’t Die. The film is being shown Friday at the Normal Theater.

* Heartland News | SIU researcher wades into southern Illinois swamps to fill gaps in fish research: “It comes down to management and conservation,” Zaczek said. “So more than 90% of all the native wetlands in Illinois are gone. So we only have about 2% of really the prime habitat left.” With so little of that habitat remaining, Zaczek said researchers need to understand how threatened species are using it and what conditions they require.