* ICYMI: After State Farm rate hike, legislators are pressured to provide relief. Here’s what could be on the table. Tribune…

- In Illinois, those familiar with state insurance law say there’s currently no effective mechanism to prevent companies like State Farm from imposing excessive rates for home and auto insurance.
- “I do agree with the governor that what State Farm did is wrong and they need to fix it,” House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, a Democrat from Hillside, told the Tribune. “If they don’t, as a leader in this state, as a leader of one of our chambers, we’re going to take a look at it because we have to protect our consumers.”
- Proposed legislation would establish a rate review process for homeowners, renters and auto insurance, and would require companies to be more transparent with government entities about decisions to raise rates.
- The bill was introduced in January by state Sen. Michael Hastings and has six other Democratic co-sponsors in the Senate. State officials say an amendment filed in March will serve as the starting point for debate when lawmakers return to Springfield in October for the two-week veto session.

* Related stories…

∙ Daily Herald: Pritzker seeks more regulatory authority over homeowners insurance business
∙ State Farm: Understanding the Issues in Illinois
∙ Insurance Journal: State Farm Implements 27% Rate Increase for Illinois Homeowners

* Governor JB Pritzker will participate in the “Aspen Ideas: Climate” conference at 6 pm, joining ABC News Live Anchor Linsey Davis in a fireside chat about his efforts to grow the clean energy economy in Illinois.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Capitol News Illinois | ‘The public deserves to know.’ State agency withholds details in girl’s death: Eighteen-year-old Mackenzi died on May 11, 2024, from a blood clot that hit her lungs, doctors said. Her neck, shoulders, legs and face were bruised, and her dehydrated body weighed just 90 pounds. But the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has refused to release a timeline or reports detailing their actions in the case — despite a law that requires DCFS to make findings and recommendations available when a child dies or is seriously injured in its care.

* Crain’s | Chicago media leaders warn of tough road after aid rollback: Fourteen Illinois public media stations receive about $12 million in the form of community service grants from CPB, according to Heather Norman, general manager at Tri States Public Radio. Tri States is an outreach service of Western Illinois University and an NPR affiliate. “For some stations these funds are 10% of their budget, for others it is 50%,” Norman wrote in an email to Crain’s. CPB also helps pay for broadcast music license systems and certain distribution services. It is possible that some broadcast programs or stations could be cut, Norman said.

* Daily Herald | Companies warn Illinois will be ‘toxic tort’ capital if bill is signed, but lawyers call it ‘fundamental fairness’: The legislation would allow anyone harmed by exposure to a toxic substance anywhere in the U.S. to file a lawsuit in Illinois against the company that’s responsible, provided it’s registered with the state. “This scares away companies from wanting to come here or even establish a business office or sales office because our court system is far more generous in terms of jackpot justice,” Illinois Manufacturers’ Association CEO Mark Denzler said. Illinois Trial Lawyers Association President Timothy Cavanagh disagreed. “It’s a limited bill that applies in limited circumstances. And it’s based on fundamental fairness,” he said.

*** Statewide ***

* Harvest Public Media | Farmers in one Midwest state may lose conservation resources, allowing soil to ‘fly in the breeze’: Nearly every county in the U.S. has a Soil and Water Conservation District. The districts started after the Dust Bowl in the 1930s to slow down soil erosion and promote conservation. They’re often the face of conservation in communities, said Eliot Clay, the executive director of the Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The districts connect farmers to programs, grants and funding. Many also lend farming equipment and offer educational opportunities for new farming methods. Illinois state budget cuts have only allotted about $40,000 per district – which is supposed to be able to cover salary, benefits and conservation programs, Clay said.

* Tribune | Snapshot of food insecurity in Illinois and the US: If SNAP recipients in those categories don’t find 80 hours of work per month, they will lose their benefits. Nearly 2 million Illinoisans were using SNAP benefits in 2024 — 15.7% of the state for the seventh-highest percentage in the nation, the Illinois Policy Institute reported. SNAP recipients are not the only ones in need of food assistance, though. Mike Havala, president and CEO of the Naperville-based nonprofit Loaves & Fishes Community Services, explained the “SNAP gap” at a roundtable event in Geneva earlier this month

* Tribune | In the wake of SNAP cuts, feeding hungry Illinoisans falls more than ever on food pantries: As nonprofits reliant on donations, food banks and pantries were already stretched thin before the bill passed. Volunteers said they see more American families fall into food insecurity every day. As long as shoppers fit a certain criteria, pantries typically don’t turn them away — but as demand grows, each family gets less to eat. Thousands of Illinoisans will be directly affected by Trump’s SNAP cuts, which means thousands more people relying on food pantries, which means less food for everyone. Unless thousands more donations appear.

* NBC Chicago | Illinois residents asked to report armadillo, black bear sightings: IDNR is reportedly evaluating whether armadillos are extending their range northward, with climate change potentially impacting the effective northern end of their habitat. According to officials, armadillos do not hibernate, and can only live in regions where the annual temperature remains above 28 degrees year-round. The animals aren’t the only ones IDNR is interested in receiving reports on, either. According to the state, residents who see large predators like gray wolves, cougars or black bears are also encouraged to report those sightings, with multiple such incidents occurring in recent years.

*** Statehouse News ***

* ABC Chicago | Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore to be sentenced Monday in corruption case: Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore was convicted on charges of bribery and conspiracy. Prosecutors also said she falsified company records in the scheme to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. They want her to serve a 70-month sentence and pay a fine of nearly $2 million.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Chicago-area children get deportation letters: Leave or ‘the federal government will find you’: McLaughlin added that Immigration and Customs Enforcement “does not ‘target’ children nor does it deport children.” The agency also does not separate families, she said in the statement. Instead, “ICE asks mothers if they want to be removed with their children or if the child should be placed with someone safe whom the parent designates.” But questions regarding why letters are being sent to unaccompanied minors, like Xally, and what the protocol is to deport them, as stated in the letter, were left unanswered.

* Tribune | ICE arrests increase across Chicago under Trump, many with no convictions, data shows: The figures peaked at 88 bookings on an early June day that, at the time, drew attention for clashes between Chicago community members and federal immigration agents. Of the 88 booked that day, the latest analysis found, three-fourths had no criminal record logged by ICE. The surge in detentions — including immigrants with no known criminal record — mirrors broader trends across the country. The second Trump administration has increasingly focused on boosting the number of people arrested who lack legal status to be in the country, even if the efforts ensnared more people who didn’t fit the traditional ICE focus on tracking down and deporting those who committed serious crimes.

* Sun-Times | Feds issue ‘information requests’ on University of Chicago international students, admissions practices: In the more than 200 pages of documents dated July 11, the university wrote that the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security had issued information requests regarding “admissions practices and international students.” “There may be prospective investigations or inquiries,” the documents said. “While the immediate financial impact on the University is not material at this time, these and other developments involving the federal government may, directly or indirectly, have a material adverse effect on the financial profile and operating performance of the University.”

* Sun-Times | In a charged political climate, Colombian Fest opens with a message for ICE: ‘Cease and desist’: Carlos Ramírez-Rosa, chief executive of the Chicago Park District, said the July 9 incident at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture, when officers with the Department of Homeland Security parked 15 unmarked vehicles in the museum’s private lot, is a “travesty.” Puerto Rican museum staff previously told the Sun-Times that they overheard the self-identified DHS agents talking about upcoming festivals in the area, including the Gran Festival Colombiano, featuring Colombian culture, food and music.

* Sun-Times | We’re tracking grocery prices around Chicago since Trump took office. They’re up and likely to keep rising: The Sun-Times has been tracking prices for 35 grocery items since December. Our shopping cart’s total tab is up by $11. Experts say to expect more increases. We’ll keep tracking.

* Sun-Times | Chicago mayors and their inspector generals: a contentious relationship that almost always ends badly: Four mayors have had inspectors general: Richard M. Daley, Rahm Emanuel, Lori Lightfoot and Johnson. Four different styles. Same result. The political equivalent of a separation, or a messy divorce. “It’s tough when you have someone laying it all out there —the good, the bad and the ugly. And we’ve had plenty of bad and ugly to talk about in recent years and decades,” [Ald. Matt Martin] said. “That’s gonna be challenging, especially when any executive is gonna want to paint things in ways that look as rosy as possible. But it’s never been more important to have someone who is strong and principled and independent.”

* CBS Chicago | Peter Mendez speaks about $2.5 million settlement after botched Chicago police raid: On Friday, Peter, now 17, spoke out for the first time about his family’s settlement with the city. “Kind of relieved; I can close this chapter of my life and move on,” he said. The Mendez family’s legal fight centered on the trauma they endured after officers, acting on a tip from an informant, burst into their home with guns drawn. But they were in the wrong place, because they failed to verify the informant’s information. Peter said he’s ready to move on from the fear and trauma he experienced the night a team of Chicago police officers wrongly raided his family’s home.

* Crain’s | NASCAR will not return to Chicago in 2026 but is keeping the door open for 2027: “Following a successful three years, the NASCAR Chicago Street Race will hit pause in 2026 to allow NASCAR to be responsive to residents’ and elected officials’ feedback,” the company said in a statement shared with Crain’s. “We will continue to work together toward a new potential date and develop a plan to further optimize operational efficiencies with the goal of the event’s return in 2027.”

* Sun-Times | Four renovated North Side Red Line stations reopen: The stations at Argyle, Bryn Mawr, Lawrence and Berwyn have been closed since 2021. They were updated during the first phase of the CTA’s $2.1 billion Red and Purple Line modernization project that started in 2019. The stations were made more accessible with new elevators and escalators. The station’s platforms were widened, and each location has new train trackers, benches, overhead canopies, turnstiles and fare machines, according to the CTA.

* Sun-Times | ‘Secret River Show’ concept hits high note with musical parade on the North Branch: “I want them to take away a sense of freedom, a sense of delight in music, and delight in the nature that is around us,” said Kinsinger, who performs in the band Lawrence Tome. “There is beautiful nature here in Chicago, and the river is part of that. And the more eyes we get on the river, the more that we can also pass legislation that then helps restore it to a more natural haven for the herons and the ducks and the turtles, and people can enjoy it.”

* WBEZ | Thanks to his daughters, psychedelic soul man Charles Stepney takes his place in music history: When Chicago’s famous soul music scene was at its pinnacle in the 1960s and ’70s, the biggest artists — from Earth, Wind & Fire to Minnie Riperton — shared one key thing: They worked closely with the legendary producer, composer and arranger Charles Stepney. Stepney wrote hit songs like Earth Wind & Fire’s “That’s the Way of the World” and “Reasons,” plus Riperton’s “Les Fleurs.” Despite his many contributions, Stepney was not well known in Chicago following his untimely 1976 death when he was 45. “As the kids say, he never got the flowers that he was supposed to get,” said his daughter, Charlene Stepney.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Whose downtown is it? Mayors wary transit board will control development near stations: There’s not much middle ground over a provision buried in House Bill 3438, which seeks to create a new Northern Illinois Transit Authority overseeing Metra, Pace and the CTA, and offset a $771 million shortfall in 2026. The provision states that NITA “shall have power to acquire by purchase (and) condemnation” any property within half a mile of a train or bus station for the purpose of transit-supportive development, such as housing or retail. A number of suburban leaders call the plan appalling.

* Tribune | Bridget Degnen joins exodus from Cook County Board: Once rumored to be thinking about running for board president if incumbent Toni Preckwinkle stepped down, Degnen instead said she would serve the remainder of her term through December 2026, and then consider her next career move. Commissioners Kevin Morrison and Donna Miller are also not running for reelection to the board. Morrison is running to fill U.S. Rep Raja Krishnamoorthi’s seat and Miller for U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly’s seat in Washington, as both members of Congress seek the open Senate seat being vacated by Dick Durbin.

* Daily Herald | Abughazaleh, Biss hold fundraising lead in crowded race to replace Schakowsky in Congress: Biss led the pack by collecting nearly $703,000 between early May and the end of June. But it was Abughazaleh, a novice candidate and relatively recent Illinois transplant, who finished the period with the most cash in the bank — nearly $667,000. Abughazaleh recorded her second-straight strong fundraising quarter by collecting more than $525,000 during the period.

* Daily Herald | St. Charles chooses state police leader as city’s next police chief: City Administrator Heather McGuire will formally recommend Daniel J. Likens to be the next police chief at the city council’s Sept. 2 meeting. Pending official appointment by Mayor Clint Hull and city council approval, Likens will assume the role Sept. 15.
“We conducted a thorough national search for our next police chief to find the candidate who embodies the priorities of the Police Department and the values of our community,” Hull said in a statement. “St. Charles has been fortunate to have a strong tradition of outstanding police leadership, and I’m confident Daniel Likens will carry on that legacy. St. Charles is in good hands.”

* Patch | Sexism Claims Against Addison Township Consultant: Addison Township in May hired a management consultant who faced sexism claims years ago when he worked for Bernie Sanders’ Democratic presidential campaign. Through a public records request, Patch obtained Addison Township’s contract with Veritas Strategies, headed by Bill Velazquez. The township includes the northern part of Elmhurst. […] In January 2019, the New York Times ran a front-page story about allegations of sexual harassment in Sanders’ 2016 campaign. The paper wrote about how a female campaign worker brought an allegation to Velazquez, a manager on Sanders’ Latino team, that a fellow worker ran his hand through her hair in a “sexual way” and continued to grab and touch her for the rest of the day.

* Daily Southtown | New report says Southland mosquito control district still ignores rules on pay: Misspending at a taxpayer-funded mosquito control district serving the south and southwest suburbs continues years after Cook County officials were urged to put a stop to it, a report of the Cook County inspector general says. The July 15 report says district trustees, whose jobs are supposed to be voluntary, are being paid, though the sums are relatively small. The Cook County Office of the Independent Inspector General report said some trustees whose terms expired continue to serve. The Cook County Board made one appointment of a new district trustee, the report states, and the appointment of a second will be heard by the County Board July 24.

* Aurora Beacon-News | After his arrest, Oswegoland Park District board puts director on leave: Betsinger, 50, of Montgomery was arrested Sunday evening after reportedly crashing into multiple vehicles and attempting to strike a pedestrian, according to past reporting. After being taken into custody by the Yorkville Police Department, he was taken to the Kendall County Jail and booked on charges of aggravated assault, criminal damage to property, driving under the influence of alcohol and attempted reckless homicide. Deputy Chief Garrett Carlyle of the Yorkville Police Department told The Beacon-News that Betsinger declined to provide a statement to the police department. Carlyle confirmed that there were no injuries resulting from the incident, and said the pedestrian told the department that they do not know Betsinger. The department’s investigation into the incident is closed, Carlyle told The Beacon-News on Friday.

* Daily Herald | Cost over coal? Naperville and St. Charles consider 20-year contract extension for energy needs: Both Naperville and St. Charles have meetings scheduled on July 28, with the Naperville City Council discussing the contract in a workshop session and St. Charles’ government operations committee discussing the issue. Naperville Councilman Josh McBroom has won support to have a vote on the contract placed on the Aug. 19 agenda. St. Charles Mayor Clint Hull also expects to have a vote on the pact in August. “We’re working really hard at it,” said Hull, who convened a special committee shortly after his election in April to review energy options.

* Daily Herald | Elk Grove Village mayor throws down in tag-team wrestling showcase match against pros: Before he became mayor, Elk Grove Village’s Craig Johnson was a regular presence on the wrestling mats at Elk Grove High School, where he later became head coach. […] I’ve been a wrestler since I was 5 years old. This wrestling is far different than anything I’ve ever seen in my life,” Johnson said. The colorful seven-term mayor teamed with Justin James — a Holmes Junior High School physical education teacher, wrestling coach and former professional wrestler — along with wrestlers Pauly and Joey in the Saturday smackdown against “Ruthless” Ramon, Xavier, Angel and Axel.

*** Downstate ***

* WGLT | Bloomington mayor says reassessing sales tax sharing with McLean County hinges on what’s in it for the city: Bloomington Mayor Dan Brady said this week’s decision by the county board executive committee against approving a hiatus on sales tax sharing drives home the seriousness of the matter, as talks continue about the intergovernmental agreement to fund mental health and other services. “Those are … at the table, I don’t know if they convey it enough to elected county board members to understand the delicacy of this,” Brady said on WGLT’s Sound Ideas.

* WCIA | Mattoon businesses getting helping hand after ‘do not drink’ order is lifted again: The Mattoon Chamber of Commerce is helping non-chain businesses like these by giving them $1,500. The chamber said the Southeastern Illinois Community Foundation out of Effingham gave money to help try and make up for losses. The nonprofit was able to give checks to 18 businesses in the city like Hunan Chinese restaurant, Luigi’s Italian and more.

* Shaw Local | City of DeKalb gives final OK to cannabis dispensary tasting rooms: City Manager Bill Nicklas said the city is supportive of cannabis dispensaries in establishing tasting rooms for edibles. “There was not, as you know, in our unified development ordinance a provision allowing for such a service or convenience,” Nicklas said. The amendments as unanimously approved apply to both dispensaries in town. However, city officials said owners for NuEra Cannabis have not indicated interest in establishing a tasting room at 818 W. Lincoln Highway, Suite No. 7.

* WCIA | 100% of EIU nursing students pass licensure exam for 2nd year in a row: The university said the achievement is rare — especially considering the national average pass rate for the exam is around 88.5%. […] Eastern Illinois University established the Gail and Richard Lumpkin School of Nursing in 2021 to address the nursing shortage in Central Illinois. Since then, university leaders said enrollment has grown, and the program has become more competitive.

* Metropolis Planet | ‘She definitely has what it takes’: Brown sworn in as Metropolis’ first female African American officer: From her demeanor to the way she handled herself to the way she treated others, Metropolis Police patrol officer John Suggs noticed something different about Nickayly Brown. And he knew she would be a perfect fit for the department. Following a lot of encouragement, Brown decided to take the plunge. She was officially sworn into the Metropolis Police Department during a ceremony held in the Metropolis City Hall council chambers on Tuesday, July 15.

*** National ***

* CNN | This is the summer of flooding across the US, and scientists know why: It’s no accident this is the summer of flooding, climate scientists say, with 100-year to 1,000-year deluges happening nearly simultaneously in multiple states on multiple days. […] “When we talk about e.g. ‘1000 year’ events, we’re talking about the likelihood of these events in the absence of human-caused warming (i.e. how often we would expect them from natural variability alone),” said climate scientist Michael Mann of the University of Pennsylvania. “These events are of course much more frequent *because* of human-caused warming,” he said in an email.

* The Guardian | ‘Profound alarm’: US veterans agency roiled by fight over anti-discrimination provisions: The US Department of Veterans Affairs has enthusiastically joined Donald Trump’s war on DEI – demanding that staffers report colleagues who engage in diversity initiatives, banning LGBTQ+ pride flags from VA hospitals and shuttering an office investigating why Black veterans are more likely to have their mental health disability claims rejected. Last week, the VA secretary, Doug Collins, tweeted that “VA is now squarely focused on Veterans – not out-of-touch, woke causes such as DEI and gender dysphoria treatments.”