* Capitol News Illinois…

Gov. JB Pritzker signed a new law Friday to make a series of changes to the Prisoner Review Board after it released a man who would go on to commit murder, leading to intense scrutiny in Springfield.

Pritzker signed Senate Bill 19, which contains changes designed to include victims’ participation in Prisoner Review Board decisions and ensure more board members have relevant law enforcement or judicial experience.

The law gives victims the right to file impact statements ahead of hearings, provides them with additional notice when their offender is granted early release, and allows them to seek an order of protection against an offender who is incarcerated.

It also creates the Office of the Director of Victim and Witness Services within the PRB, which would ensure the board complies with victims’ rights. The measure also mandates the board provide victims with contact information for the State Victim Assistance Hotline. […]

In May 2024, the Senate unanimously passed a bill that would have made a series of reforms to the board, including requiring that certain meetings be livestreamed and board members receive additional training. The bill appeared ready to pass the House with 76 members signing on as cosponsors. But the bill was never called for a vote in the final hours of session after Pritzker had concerns about the feasibility of the livestreaming requirements and lack of funding for the board.

Instead, lawmakers moved forward with the legislation signed by Pritzker on Friday, which Republicans opposed saying it doesn’t go far enough to meaningfully reform the board.

* Marijuana Moment…

The governor of Wisconsin says that, if Democrats take control of the legislature now that new “fair” district maps have been set, the state can “finally” legalize marijuana so that residents don’t have to go to neighboring Illinois to patronize its adult-use market.

During a speech at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s 2025 convention on Sunday, Gov. Tony Evers (D) said “Republicans better start getting used to Democrats being in power in the state,” as the new redistricting map he approved last year could deliver the party a “Democratic trifecta,” with control of the Assembly, Senate and governor’s office.

That would free up lawmakers to overcome roadblocks in the currently conservative legislature that have prevented the advancement of several key issues, including health care expansion, parental leave and, “yes, we could finally legalize marijuana so we can stop sending our revenue down to my good friend, [Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D)] down in Illinois,” he said.

“He’s got enough,” Evers joked. […]

A legislative analysis requested by lawmakers estimated that Wisconsin residents spent more than $121 million on cannabis in Illinois alone in 2022, contributing $36 million in tax revenue to the neighboring state.

* Bloomberg Law | Justices Skip Illinois Workers’ Covid-19 Vaccine Mandate Case: Illinois government employees who unsuccessfully challenged the state’s Covid-19 vaccine mandates on religious grounds failed to convince the US Supreme Court to take a look at their dispute Monday. The petitioners, who work for state agencies, urged the justices to weigh in on whether an amendment to Illinois law on employees’ rights to refuse medical treatments that conflict with their religious beliefs stripped out those protections when it came to Covid-19 vaccines and testing, which they said ran afoul of the US Constitution.

* Tribune | State Sen. Emil Jones III to face retrial on bribery charges in 2026 — when he’ll also be up for reelection: U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood on Friday set a trial date of Jan. 12, which will be nine months after his first trial ended in a mistrial when a jury deadlocked on all counts. If he chooses to run, Jones will have to submit signatures to get on the ballot by late November, a little over a month before his trial. The case, which is expected to last three or four weeks, would be long over before the Democratic primary in March, and a conviction would almost certainly force him from the ballot.

* Fox Illinois | Decatur racino promises $27M boost, 300 jobs; awaits legislative approval: While the bill gained momentum in the Spring, it never came up for a vote. Senator Turner says there was concerns, in part, from local business that 900 gaming position at the site could take revenue away from them, as people would be at the track instead. She expects the bill to be discuss in the Fall, and changes could be made to help it pass.

* WGLT | Students can soon earn automatic admission to state’s universities, hoping to keep more in Illinois: The Direct Admission Program [DAP] will require public universities to offer admission to any student who meets their established GPA standard, according to the bill synopsis. Additionally, qualifying community college students who have completed 30 credit hours and are eligible to transfer to a public university will be able to do so. The program begins with the 2027-28 academic year.

* Tribune | Embattled Kenwood shelter housing migrants and homeless Chicagoans to close in coming months: A Kenwood shelter housing both migrants and Chicagoans experiencing homelessness will close in the coming months following a divide amongst neighbors, according to an email update from state Sen. Robert Peters. […] Peters said he was notified of the closure by city and Illinois Department of Human Services officials at 3:15 p.m. Friday. Those currently housed at the shelter will move to new facilities over the next three to six months, he said.

* NBC Chicago | Flags at half-staff in Illinois ahead of funeral for CPD officer Krystal Rivera: According to a memo from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, all flags in Illinois were ordered to fly at half-staff beginning at sunrise Monday. Flags are set to remain at half-staff until sunset on Wednesday, the memo said. According to the Chicago Police Department, visitation for Officer Rivera will be held from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, at Montclair-Lucania Funeral Home, located at 6901 W. Belmont Ave. The funeral will be held Wednesday at Living Word Christian Center, located at 7600 Roosevelt Rd. in Forest Park.

* Crain’s | Duckworth warns Chicago could see LA-style troop deployment next: Duckworth warns, however, it’s not protests over ICE raids that people should be focused on. “What he’s doing in L.A. isn’t about the protests in L.A.,” she told the audience during Crain’s Power Lunch today at the Hilton Chicago. “There are two points for what he did in L.A., with calling up the National Guard and sending in the Marines: One was to distract from the really bad press he was getting on Medicaid.”

* Block Club | NW Side Alderpeople Want Out Of Anti-Gentrification Zone, Saying It’s ‘Punishing’ Longtime Homeowners: Alds. Felix Cardona, Jr. (31st) and Gilbert Villegas (36th) introduced an amendment last week to exclude their wards from the Northwest Side Preservation Ordinance, which passed overwhelmingly in September after years of community action and went into effect in October. The legislation seeks to better protect two-, three- and four-flat apartments and help longtime residents in Avondale, Hermosa, Logan Square, Humboldt Park and West Town stay in their homes by increasing demolition fees for developers and making it easier to build two-flats instead of single-family homes.

* Block Club | Lake Michigan Has Fallen Nearly 4 Feet Since 2020, Changing The Shape Of Chicago’s Lakefront: Lake Michigan’s water levels have been steadily decreasing the past five years since a record high in 2020, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The lake is down about 3.5 feet between May 2020 and this May, data shows. [..] In Edgewater, a new path between two popular beaches has exposed a protected natural area to beachgoers. And in South Shore, neighbors whose buildings were threatened by elevated lake levels are now seeing a reprieve.

* CBS Chicago | Former Illinois senator Carol Moseley Braun releases memoir “Trailblazer: Perseverance in Life and Politics”: Moseley Braun hit the political spotlight and broke the glass ceiling in 1992, when the Chicago native was elected to the U.S. Senate, becoming the first Black woman ever to accomplish that. She also once ran for mayor of Chicago, though she lost to Rahm Emanuel. She would go on to make history again when she was appointed as ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. Her pioneering and sometimes controversial political careers is documented in her new memoir “Trailblazer: Perseverance in Life and Politics.” The book is out Tuesday.

* Sun-Times | Dubious videos of ‘Underground Chicago’ have gone viral. Here’s the real story: Veteran city spelunkers say none appear to show the most extensive underground network in the city: the nearly 60 miles of freight tunnels 40 feet below. After supporting the city’s coal needs and transportation of goods for more than 50 years, those fell into disuse and have sat largely deserted for nearly 70 years and are now under tight surveillance by the city.

* Tribune | Jewel-Osco pharmacy division argues National Labor Relations Act unconstitutional: Osco, which was acquired by Jewel in 1961, entered the fray after local labor board officials issued a complaint against it last month alleging it had refused to bargain in good faith with the union representing its pharmacists, Teamsters Local 727. […] The local represents about 500 pharmacy workers in stores throughout Cook, DuPage, Lake and McHenry counties, Brown said. The pharmacists are working under a collective bargaining agreement that expires in 2028, she said.

* Sun-Times | Delays hit Metra Union Pacific-North trains: Trains on Metra’s Union Pacific-North line were running with delays Monday morning due to emergency track repairs in Evanston and a broken down inbound train near Fort Sheridan.

* Daily Herald | ‘It was horrific’: Elgin immigrants advocates say ramped-up deportation push brings fear, unease: “We’re interacting with everyday people that have lived here for decades, that have gone about their day every day — going to work, like the man on Monday did. Now they’re being targeted primarily because of their appearance or their racial ethnicity and background. “It just seems that they’re picking people at random. (In recent) major interactions we’ve had, everyone was driving their work vehicle. I don’t know if that was just a racial statement … that someone in a construction truck or van will most likely be undocumented,” Cordová-Clough said.

* Daily Herald | Carpentersville officials work to find fix for exposed water, sewer lines following dam removal: Two water and two sewer lines were installed roughly 60 years ago at the bottom of the Fox River north of the Carpentersville dam. However, all four lines became exposed this spring after water levels along the Fox River decreased dramatically. The depth of the river dropped, in part, because of a project that removed the Carpentersville dam. Other factors include drought conditions and the temporary closure of the Stratton Lock and Dam in McHenry for the boating season. “A year ago, it would have been underwater in the river,” Carpentersville Village Manager Brad Stewart said. “But now, where the exposure was identified is the new shoreline.”

* Tribune | Oak Park and River Forest High School hires former Homewood-Flossmoor, Naperville administrator: Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 has hired an administrator experienced in curriculum to be its new assistant superintendent for student learning to replace Laurie Fiorenza who resigned, effective June 30, without explanation in April. Fiorenza’s replacement will be Jen Hester, who has worked for the last five years as the director of student curriculum, instruction and professional development at Homewood-Flossmoor High School District 233, a one-school district like OPRF.

* Daily Herald | ‘I just want to be whole’: Arlington Heights residents struggle to get homes repaired months after garbage truck blast: Video that showed the blast in front of her home on the corner of Euclid and Derbyshire avenues went viral online and made international news. But she’s upset fewer people are paying attention now. More than six months later, Battin’s three-bedroom ranch remains damaged — windows boarded up, the corner frame broken, and walls and ceilings cracked throughout — while she struggles to get more than $100,000 worth of repairs covered by insurance.

* Daily Herald | Well-known Addison shopkeeper (and one-time presidential candidate) mulls retirement after robbery: Ed Gombos has a story about everything. Which is fitting since his 7,000-square-foot Addison USACO silk-screening shop — tucked into a nondescript business park along South Addison Road — has just about everything in it. There are the track suits once worn by U.S. Olympians, letters from various silver screen icons, including Charlton Heston and Robert Redford, a collection of T-shirts too numerous to count, books, photos, memorabilia from his ill-fated presidential run in 1996, as well as a wooden door that he is trying to sell for $100,000 because he believes it is adorned with the image of Jesus Christ.

* Naperville Sun | Anderson’s Bookshop celebrates 150 years of independent bookselling in Naperville: ‘We will always find that book for you’: This year marks the 150th anniversary of Anderson’s Bookshop. From a small drugstore founded before the turn of the 20th century to a beloved bookseller sought after by some of today’s biggest authors, Anderson’s has stood the test of page-turning time. And all the while, the business has remained family-owned and most importantly, owners say, community-driven. “That’s what we do,” said Becky Anderson, fifth-generation owner of Anderson’s Bookshop. “We will always greet you. We will always find that book for you.”

* Daily Herald | ‘It’s fun to bird with others’: Why DuPage Birding Club is going strong at 40 years: It was late 1984 when a dozen birders gathered in a College of DuPage classroom to discuss the idea of starting a club. At a second meeting, also at COD, the name DuPage Birding Club was chosen and club bylaws were adopted. The date was Jan. 14, 1985. Within two years the club boasted 109 members. Membership today surpasses 350. Club records list 23 founding members, and nearly half are still active. I contacted several of them and other longtime members to collect their thoughts about the club on its 40th anniversary. How, I asked, does DBC survive and continue to grow? And what makes it special?

* WGLT | Peoria chapter of business mentorship group looks to relaunch Bloomington effort, amid possible federal cutbacks: Corbett, a retired technology business analyst, said SCORE Peoria gets less than $3,000 a year from the national organization that’s funded by about $17 million through the federal Small Business Administration. “You’ve got a national organization to run. You buy national advertising, you have a computer system that supports all of us that is funded by the national organization. The chapters, being largely volunteer, have relatively small budgets,” said Corbett, noting the proposed reconciliation bill currently before the U.S. Congress would wipe out the entire $17 million as of Oct. 1.

* BND | Army Corps completes $40M upgrade to Madison County levee: A nearly $40 million Metro East project that officials believe will enhance flooding prevention along the Mississippi River has been completed, officials said Friday. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Wood River Drainage and Levee District said their federal-local partnership will address known deficiencies in the levee system by building 80 new relief wells, a drainage system and an access road.

* KHQA | Taco Bell fender bender: Adams Co. Chairman cited for ‘leaving the scene’ in Quincy: Bret Scott Austin—the Adams County Board Chairman and District 1 board rep—was given a citation by the Quincy Police Department on June 19 for “leaving the scene” after hitting another car almost 24 hours earlier in the downtown Taco Bell parking lot. […] In the report, Austin stated that he was unaware he hit the vehicle and didn’t realize he had lost his truck’s running board until the next morning. […] Austin’s court date is set for August 5 at 9 a.m. He told KHQA Friday evening that he plans to plead guilty.

* WCIA | Central Illinois cooling centers open this season: Scott Anderson, Iroquois County Emergency Management Agency Coordinator, sent out a release with locations that residents can go to keep cool during the summer heat. Anderson said the centers offer air-conditioned relief during extreme heat or when a heat advisory has been issued.

* WTVO | ‘You guys showed up,’ Rockford hosts inaugural Ironman 70.3 race: First place finisher Cody Williams was born in Madison, WI but recently moved to Sycamore, IL. Williams crossed the line with a time of four hours and 10 minutes. Williams said the energy throughout the race was electric. “It was really cool; it was really special,” Williams said. “The energy, all the volunteers, you guys showed up, you showed out and it was special. There were so many people cheering every lap. I know it’s getting hotter out there, but man did all the volunteers, and everybody just make the day easier, even though it was not that easy.”

* CNN | Former leader of anti-vaccine group founded by RFK Jr. to present at first meeting of new CDC vaccine advisers: Redwood’s scheduled presentation to the CDC vaccine advisory committee is unusual. Typically, presenters are members of the ACIP working groups who have spent months gathering and discussing evidence on a given topic. The vote on thimerosal was added days ago, and it’s not clear what the discussion and vote on thimerosal in flu vaccines will entail.

* AP | The number of abortions kept rising in 2024 because of telehealth prescriptions, report finds: The latest survey, released Monday, tallied about 1.1 million abortions nationally last year, or about 95,000 a month. That is up from about 88,000 monthly in 2023 and 80,000 a month between April and December of 2022. WeCount began after Roe was overturned, and the 2022 numbers don’t include January through March, when abortions are traditionally at their highest. The number is still well below the historic peak in the U.S. of nearly 1.6 million a year in the late 1990s.

* Texas Tribune | Gov. Greg Abbott vetoes THC ban, calls for regulation instead: The late-night action just minutes before the veto deadline keeps the Texas hemp industry alive for now, while spiking a top priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. [..] In a statement explaining his veto, Abbott argued that SB 3 would not have survived “valid constitutional challenges,” and that the bill’s total ban “puts federal and state law on a collision course,” noting that the 2018 federal Farm Bill legalized hemp products.

* NBC | Republican attempt to rein in federal judges is stripped from Trump’s big bill: Trump and his allies have harshly criticized judges who have ruled against the administration. Although nationwide injunctions have only become commonplace in recent years, Trump is not the only president to have been frustrated by them, with the Biden and Obama administrations both suffering similar fates on various fronts. The language added to the bill would have required anyone seeking an injunction to pay a fee that would be equal to “the costs and damages sustained by the federal government” if it were to ultimately win the case. On major national policies, that amount could be in the billions of dollars and would deter people from filing lawsuits, legal experts said.