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Feds handed third court loss in a row

Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Sun-Times

A federal judge said she is partially granting the state’s request to block the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard units in the Chicago area as part of an immigration enforcement action.

After hearing arguments from lawyers representing the state and the Justice Department, U.S. District Judge April Perry said she will grant “in part” a state request for a temporary restraining order against troop deployment.

Perry said her decision comes down to a “credibility determination.”

“I simply cannot credit [the Trump administration’s] declarations to the extent they contradict state and local law enforcement,” Perry said. “[The Department of Homeland Security’s] perception of events [is] simply unreliable.”

* This ruling marks three loses for the Feds this week. Tina Sfondeles

* More from the Tribune’s Jason Meisner

Judge Perry will issue a written ruling tomorrow.

Loss #1: Federal judge limits ICE arrests without warrant, probable cause

Loss #2: Judge rules Feds can’t pepper-spray, tear-gas journalists after Block Club Chicago and others sue

…Adding… The TRO

  16 Comments      


Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* WTTW

A federal judge is set to decide Thursday whether to block President Donald Trump from deploying 200 members of the Texas National Guard alongside 300 members of the Illinois National Guard to the Chicago area. […]

The hearing began Thursday morning with U.S. District Court Judge April Perry saying she has “several pages of questions” for lawyers on both sides. In her questioning, Perry appeared skeptical of the federal government’s argument that incidents of violence around protests at a Broadview ICE facility rise to the level of troop deployment. […]

National Guard troops must be deployed to Chicago because there is “a danger of a rebellion against federal authority” that impedes “the ability of federal officials to enforce federal law,” lawyers for the Trump administration told the judge. […]

But lawyers for the state and the city accused federal officials of overstating the threat and noted that the head of operations for ICE at Broadview praised efforts led by the Illinois State Police to keep protests from spiraling out of control by creating designated zones where protests are allowed and preventing demonstrators from blocking federal operations.

* The Sun-Times is covering the hearing live

Arguments have concluded in the hearing over the state’s lawsuit against the Trump administration that seeks to block the deployment of National Guard units over Gov. JB Pritzker’s objections.

U.S. District Judge April Perry intends to reconvene in her courtroom at 4:30 p.m. with lawyers representing the state, which is seeking a temporary restraining order against the deployment, and Justice Department lawyers fighting that effort.

Before the court went into recess, Christopher Wells, the lead lawyer representing Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the Pritzker administration, summarized the state’s position that President Trump was acting maliciously with his push for National Guard troops in Illinois despite the governor’s objections.

“This case is replete with evidence of bad faith, of an abandonment of public virtue, of a lack of honest devotion to the public interest and of a grave risk of usurpation or wanton tyranny,” Wells said.

* Sun-Times

In early October, a black Chevrolet Express van without license plates on the front or the back left a gated federal immigration facility in Broadview and drove through the western suburb.

The passengers wore Army green typical of U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers. The van had an “inventory” decal on the back, but with faces shielded, no badge numbers and no visible license plates at all, the pair were virtually untraceable — the latest sign, documented by the Chicago Sun-Times, of the ways in which federal immigration agents are shielding themselves from public scrutiny.

The Sun-Times has documented four such unmarked cars on public streets without proper license plates and no other indicators that they are government vehicles, ever since an influx of federal officers sent by the Trump administration began roaming Chicago in early September. One car had no license plates at all; three had only one plate.

Illinois law requires all registered vehicles to display front and back license plates, without exception, according to the secretary of state’s office. But the greater concern here, a civil rights lawyer says, is a “severe lack of accountability.”

Rich reached out to the Secretary of State’s office for comment, but was told there would not be one.

*** More Courthouse News ***

* Block Club | Judge Rules Feds Can’t Pepper-Spray, Tear-Gas Journalists After Block Club Chicago And Others Sue: “Whatever lawlessness is occurring is not occurring by peaceful protesters” and journalists, Ellis said after reading her decision aloud. Some actions by federal agents “clearly violate the constitution,” the judge said. “Individuals are allowed to protest. They are allowed to speak. That is guaranteed by the First Amendment to our Constitution, and it is a bedrock right that upholds our democracy.”

* AP | Illinois urges judge to stop National Guard deployment after Trump administration ‘plowed ahead’: [U.S. Justice Department lawyer Eric Hamilton] said some people were wearing gas masks, a suggestion they were poised for a fight, but U.S. District Judge April Perry countered it might be justified to avoid tear gas at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Broadview, outside Chicago. “I, too, would wear a gas mask,” the judge said, “not because I’m trying to be violent but because I’m trying to protect myself.”

* WGN | Judge to rule on Illinois’ attempt to block National Guard deployment: Attorneys for the state said “it’s clear this appears to be about preventing crime, any crime not just committed crime that’s unconstitutional.” During a five minute, break Mayor Brandon Johnson made a brief appearance in the courtroom and greeted Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Center on Budget and Policy Priorities | States Should Close “Drop-Kick” Loopholes That Allow the Wealthy to Dodge Real Estate Transfer Taxes: Thirty-three states and Washington, D.C., as well as some localities, impose a one-time transaction tax on the transfer of real estate when it’s sold. Most of these taxes apply only on direct transfers of real estate from seller to buyer. The ultrawealthy and large corporations can easily avoid such taxes by making their property sales indirect: a seller can “drop” the property into a shell company and then “kick” (sell) that company to the buyer. By skirting this tax, drop-kicks reduce state tax revenue to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, according to some estimates. Fortunately, states can easily close this drop-kick loophole through “controlling interest taxes,” which tax the sale of the shell company that’s used to avoid real estate transfer taxes.

* NYT | JB Pritzker Has Had It With Democrats Who Won’t Stand Up to Trump: “This is exactly the moment for people to stand up. And do I see enough people doing it? No, I don’t,” Mr. Pritzker said at a forum in Minnesota on Tuesday, as national guardsmen from Texas awaited deployment in Chicago. “It shouldn’t be that there are Democrats that are afraid, because you know what? We’re the targets. We need to be strong, we need to fight back.”

* WGEL | Frank Watson Records Hole-In-One At GCC: The middle threesome featured Mike Eaton, Brad Perry, and retired State Senator Frank Watson. Through 11 holes, it was a fairly typical round for this group—Perry was booming drives straight down the fairway, Eaton was his usual model of consistency, finding greens in regulation and rolling in easy pars. Watson, however, was having a bit of a rough go… until the 12th hole. Hole 12 at Greenville Country Club plays 128 yards from the tee Frank uses, a picturesque par 3. Frank teed up his hybrid, caught it flush, and absolutely crushed his tee shot. The ball never wavered, holding its line directly toward the flag. It landed just short and left of the pin—the perfect spot for this day’s pin placement.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | French quantum company bringing American HQ to Chicago: Pasqal, a French startup, will set up its U.S. headquarters at the quantum park that’s being built on the sprawling former U.S. Steel South Works on the far South Side. It joins Silicon Valley startup PsiQuantum and Boulder, Colo.-based Infleqtion among the growing roster of companies that have announced plans to build quantum computers at the IQMP.

* Sun-Times | Chicago Fashion Week is back. Here are the don’t-miss events and designers to watch: Now in its second year, this year’s annual series kicks off Thursday and runs through Sunday, Oct. 19, with 60-plus shows, talks and shopping markets located in venues from Hyde Park to Highland Park. All are open to the public, with some requiring registration or a paid ticket.

* The Daily Beast | Trump and White House Busted Using Red State Footage to Show ‘Chaos’ in Chicago: However, the Daily Beast can reveal that much of the footage was actually filmed in April in Florida, the state home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence—with a big giveaway being that it features palm trees, which are not known to grow in Chicago. … The governor’s spokesman, Matt Hill, told the Daily Beast: “We are proud that Chicago was just ranked the best big city in the United States. We are proud of its beautiful beaches, booming businesses, and decent people. However, we cannot claim credit for many palm trees here.”

Click here for the White House video.

* Tribune | Kristi Noem says Homeland Security ‘purchasing more buildings in Chicago’: Noem did not elaborate on where the building purchases would take place. But during the Friday visit, a video showed her speaking with ICE and federal Customs and Border Patrol agents at the Broadview facility and pointing at a nearby structure and saying, “We’re going to try to buy that building today.” “So, give you more space. Let you spread out and tell everybody and send a message: We’re not just here, we’re here to stay, and we’re expanding and we’re going to make this city safe again,” Noem said last week.

* Stop The Presses | The press steps up as Trump targets Chicago: With local news in a severe tailspin for decades, there was a real question about whether Chicago’s media would meet the moment. But they have indeed. “I think the local news has really been fantastic,” said Jennifer Schulze, a former news director for Chicago’s WGN-TV who now writes the Indistinct Chatter newsletter. And the strong reporting hasn’t come only from legacy outlets such as the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune but also from newer independent media such as Block Club Chicago, the TRiiBE, Borderless, Unraveled, and South Side Weekly.

* The Triibe | South Shore raid triggers past traumas and sparks new conversations about divisions between Black and Latino communities: Rod Johnson will never forget federal agents zip-tying his hands behind his back. The 67-year-old military veteran already suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. The night of the raid, Johnson said he was detained for two hours outside his apartment at 7500 S. South Shore Dr., where he’s lived for several years. “I’m an American citizen with no warrants,” Johnson said. He never thought the presence of federal agents in Chicago would impact him. When asked why, he said, “Because I’m a Black man.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Northwestern | Former D65 Superintendent Devon Horton federally indicted: Former Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Superintendent Devon Horton was federally indicted Thursday, the district announced in a message to families. The U.S. Attorney’s office filed charges against Horton for alleged actions while serving as District 65’s superintendent, Board President Sergio Hernandez and Board Vice President Nichole Pinkard wrote in the message.

* Daily Southtown | Will County puts off immigration resolution vote as leaders seek compromise: The board’s Executive Committee, which is made of board leadership and committee chairs, said Thursday the resolution needed to be reworked and postponed it indefinitely. The board will not take up the immigration resolution at its regularly scheduled meeting Oct. 16, the Executive Committee decided. Legislative Committee Chair Destinee Ortiz, a Romeoville Democrat, introduced the resolution Tuesday to declare Will County’s commitment to ensure communities can live and work without fear.

* Aurora Beacon-News | East Aurora District 131 school board members denounce board member Mayra Reyes’ comments about dual language program: Then, last month, the NAACP, Quad County Urban League and other local Black leaders voiced their concerns with the district over Reyes’ comments and called on her to resign at the district’s Sept. 15 school board meeting. Those concerns continued at Monday’s meeting, and some of the criticism again extended to the board as a whole for its handling of the situation. “Your silence tells this community that discrimination is acceptable, that it’s fine to deny opportunities for some children so that others can have an advantage, or keep an advantage,” longtime educator Cynthia Latimer, who also spoke at the previous meeting calling for Reyes’ resignation, said about the board on Monday.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Champaign Co. village dissolves police department amid backlash: After a tense back and forth meeting this week, a Champaign County village is choosing to get rid of its police department. On Monday, Thomasboro’s Board of Trustees voted to approve a contract with the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, forcing the village’s police department to dissolve. Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman said the contract will start Nov. 1 and go through the end of 2026. He said they also have similar deals with Ivesdale and Philo, but residents are worried this change isn’t for the better.

* IPM News | U of I’s Soybean Innovation Lab expects $1.5M grant will help address food insecurity across Africa: Though the Soybean Innovation Lab was forced to cease operations in 30 countries, the donation allowed the lab to continue its work in Malawi in hopes of registering new soybean varieties in the country. “It was kind of a light in the end of the tunnel for us,” said Julia Paniago, product lead of the Soybean Innovation Lab.

* WGLT | ISU researcher: Mixed messages from federal government increase distrust in vaccines: Kelly Clemens, a professor in the Department of Psychology, studies people’s beliefs and attitudes toward vaccines. She said vaccines are safe and effective but that the federal government’s skeptical approach helps create “an ideal environment for a lot of the psychological barriers to vaccination” that she and others have researched. “Right now, we see medical organizations – the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association – going not completely in opposition, but making different recommendations than the CDC and ACIP, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices [ACIP]. And so that creates a lot of confusion for people, and then that brings up thoughts and feelings for people. ‘Well, are vaccines safe, and are they effective? And if they are safe and effective, then why is there all of this disagreement?’” said Clemens.

*** National ***

* South Dakota Searchlight | Governor squanders his credibility on civil discourse with ‘eat a salad’ comment: But Rhoden wasn’t finished. He followed Noem onto the low road and went even lower in his attack on Pritzker. “Maybe he should clean up Chicago,” Rhoden said. “Or at least eat a salad.” […] It’s disappointing that Rhoden would write those words or allow them to be written on his behalf. It’s also hypocritical coming from a hat-wearing cowboy who’s been on a high horse lecturing South Dakotans about civility ever since he pledged, upon becoming governor, that it would be “one of the pillars of my administration.”

* AP | US opens Tesla probe after more crashes involving its so-called full self-driving technology: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a filing dated Tuesday that it has 58 incident reports of Tesla vehicles violating traffic safety laws while operating in full self-driving mode. In reports to regulators, many of the Tesla drivers said the cars gave them no warning about the unexpected behavior.

* The Times | ‘I’ll be around for another 60 years’: John Lennon’s lost interview from 1975: The tapes, presented in an interview with Horne on Boom Radio, reveal not just the paranoia of the American administration of the time, they also serve as a portrait of one of the world’s most famous rock stars as he tried to live something resembling a normal life at the Dakota Building in New York with Yoko Ono.

  15 Comments      


Catching up with the congressionals

Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* 7th Congressional District Democratic candidate Richard Boykin is up on TV with an ad spotted today during WGN’s midday news


* 314 Action Fund endorses Dr. Thomas Fisher for the 7th CD. Press release…

Today 314 Action Fund, the nation’s only organization dedicated to recruiting, training and electing doctors and scientists, endorsed Dr. Thomas Fisher for Illinois’ 7th Congressional District. As a board-certified emergency medical doctor, Dr. Fisher is a Guardian of Public Healthcandidate. He’s answering the call to serve his community as 314 Action works to elect more doctors, nurses and health care professionals to office.

Through Guardians of Public Health, 314 Action is working to 100 new doctors, up and down the ballot and across the nation by 2030, raising and spending over $25 million in the effort.

* Citizen Action/Illinois…

Citizen Action/Illinois, the state’s largest public interest coalition, continues its statewide series of candidate forums with the next event TODAY, Thursday, October 9, focused on the Democratic candidates for Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District. The forum will take place from 6:00 – 8:00 PM at Kennedy King College – U Building, Great Hall (740 W 63rd St, Chicago, IL 60621).

All Democratic candidates who filed with the FEC were invited to participate in this forum. Candidates attending this Senate Forum include: Robert Peters, Eric France, Adal Regis, Yumeka Brown, Donna Miller, and Willie Preston. […]

This forum will be livestreamed on Citizen Action/Illinois’s Facebook page, with additional events scheduled across the Chicagoland area and suburban communities through November 18. Details and RSVP information can be found here.

* The American-Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee endorses Sen. Mike Simmons for the 9th Congressional District

The American Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee (AEPAC) today announced its endorsement of Illinois State Senator Mike Simmons for the U.S. Congress representing Illinois’s 9th Congressional District. AEPAC praised Senator Simmons as a trailblazing leader whose record of integrity, inclusion, and results makes him uniquely qualified to represent the people of Illinois in Washington.

Senator Simmons currently serves in the Illinois State Senate representing the 7th Senatorial District, where he has authored and passed fifty bills into law over four years. His work includes establishing a state child-tax credit, helping erase medical debt for hundreds of thousands of residents, expanding affordable housing, banning hair discrimination in schools through the Jett Hawkins Act, and eliminating “forever chemicals” from drinking water. […]

“As the first American of Ethiopian descent to serve in the Illinois General Assembly, I know the power that comes with authentic representation. The people of this district deserve leadership that reflects the true diversity and strength of this country - especially at a time when immigrants of all kinds are under attack. I am committed to becoming the first Ethiopian-American in Congress and working to ensure I am not the last.” - Mike Simmons

* More…

    * WRAM | Julie Bickelhaupt Running for Illinois’ 17th Congressional District: A lifelong Illinoisan, farmer, mother, and community leader, Julie Bickelhaupt is running for Illinois’ 17th Congressional District on the Republican ticket in 2026, which is currently held by Democrat Eric Sorensen. Bickelhaupt shares her top three priorities for running: “The cost of living, clearly the cost of living is an issue for a lot of people in the area; mainly some being energy costs, healthcare, putting food on the table, food costs, and a big one for me that I have really noticed, especially through the county board and locking in rates and hearing what experts have to say is that those rates are going up and those needs are going up. With that, we need to figure out how to use all sources of energy within our country and our state and unleash that energy opportunities in order to lower some of those bills for constituents for the district.”

    * Brownfield AG | Congresswoman questions support for competing soybean exporter amid farm aid talks: Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski tells Brownfield, “Why would this administration be providing financial taxpayer incentives to a country that is our competitor when we’re trying to sell our own domestically grown soybeans?” China recently purchased around 7 million tons of soybeans from Argentina, and Budzinski says… “China’s not buying our soybeans.” She says, “Why would we be providing any kind of financial bailout to Argentina right now, at the potential detriment of our own growers?”

    * Press Release | IL Congressional Democrats statement on Trump’s threats to jail Gov. Pritzker and Mayor Johnson: “Donald Trump’s continued and escalating threats against his political opponents should alarm everyone—especially since he’s proven they aren’t just idle threats. Our Constitution was designed to protect our country from tyrants who think they have ultimate power—and right now, our country’s founding principles are being tested. “With his public threats to jail political opponents—this time against the Governor of Illinois and the Mayor of Chicago—who’ve done nothing but protect the rights of Illinoisans in the face of his egregious and unconstitutional actions, it’s as clear as it’s ever been that Trump believes he can pick and choose which laws to follow and who is guilty or innocent.

    * NPR | Illinois congressman talks about the deployment of the National Guard in Chicago: NPR speaks with Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley of Illinois as 500 National Guard troops prepare to touch down in Chicago against the wishes of state and city officials.

  Comment      


MLB post-season open thread

Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I heard somewhere about a baseball game yesterday. What happened?

  18 Comments      


Republican governors, bipartisan group of former governors file dueling amicus briefs in Illinois v. Trump (Updated)

Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Several Republican states have asked a federal court for leave to file an amicus brief supporting the federal government’s argument against Illinois’ lawsuit seeking to stop national guards from being deployed here. Iowa, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas and West Virginia all joined in

Prohibiting the deployment of the National Guard to ensure ICE agents can fulfill their duties safely and effectively comes at an immense cost to the States. The undersigned States recognize the important roles and balance played in the National Guard system by both the states and federal government. But Plaintiffs fail to respect that balance here. […]

ARGUMENT

I. Violent Rioters in Chicago Are Harming Federal Officers and Property and Impacting the Federal Government’s Ability to Carry Out Federal Laws. […]

Given the prevalence of violence aimed at federal law enforcement, in Chicago and around the country, it is unsurprising that the President deployed National Guard resources to protect them from obstructions in their attempts to follow the law.

II. President Trump Certainly Has a “Colorable Basis” For Federalizing the National Guard to Protect Federal Agents and Property from Violent Rioters in Chicago. […]

There has been a continuous and growing threat outside of the ICE building in Chicago. Hundreds of protesters have gathered, assaulted ICE agents, and actively worked to block agents from accessing the building. See DHS supra, https://bit.ly/3IP2Rvi. And the President’s order to send approximately 300 National Guard members, contrasted with the thousands deployed in California in Newsom, shows that there is a measured response here. That is not to say that the President cannot federalized more members, but this response certainly shows that it was a reasoned decision based on the facts as known at the time. The President’s response here was certainly “within a ‘range of honest judgment.’”

III. The Harms Incurred If Violent and Destructive Protests and Riots Are Allowed to Continue in Chicago are Borne by All States.

The President’s decision to federalize the national guard to protect federal officers and property in Chicago has effects beyond the borders of Illinois; states and cities across the U.S. are benefited by this decision. […]

States are at risk of even more costs if violent protests are implicitly endorsed in Illinois. Antifa-aligned groups seek to undermine the federal government as it works to redress this significant problem by causing damage to federal property, harming federal agents, and in some cases, damaging the city in which the riot is located—causing significant damage to the state and its citizens. […]

Accordingly, the President’s action of federalizing the National Guard furthers the public interest because it allows ICE agents to continue to perform their statutory duties of identifying, apprehending, and removing illegal aliens, which is the only way to protect the States from the harms caused by illegal immigration. And it protects states from the costs incurred by violent protests and riots. Further, allowing the federal government to quash this type of behavior at its outset sets a precedent discouraging similar behavior in other States.

*** UPDATE *** Oklahoma’s attorney general signed on to the brief, but the state’s governor opposes the deployment

Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, a Republican and the chairman of the National Governors Association, on Thursday criticized the deployment of Texas National Guard troops to Illinois as a violation of his beliefs in federalism and “states’ rights.” […]

Mr. Stitt on Thursday said, “We believe in the federalist system — that’s states’ rights,” adding, “Oklahomans would lose their mind if Pritzker in Illinois sent troops down to Oklahoma during the Biden administration.”

Gov. Stitt appears to be taking the wise course of “be careful what you wish for.”

[ *** End Of Update *** ]

* Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of former governors, including Jerry Brown, Steve Bullock, Arne Carlson, Mark Dayton, Jim Doyle, Parris Glendening, Jennifer Granholm, Bill Graves, Christine Gregoire, Jay Inslee, Tony Knowles, Gary Locke, Terry McAuliffe, Janet Napolitano, Martin O’Malley, Deval Patrick, Marc Racicot, Bill Ritter Jr., Kathleen Sebelius, Steve Sisolak, Eliot Spitzer, Ted Strickland, Tom Vilsack, Bill Weld, Christine Todd Whitman and Tom Wolf have asked for leave to file their own amicus brief

Our constitutional order depends on the dispersion and careful balance of authority among the federal government and the states. The contours of that balance were established at the Founding and are embodied in the United States Constitution. “[T]he Framers rejected the concept of a central government that would act upon and through the States, and instead designed a system in which the State and Federal Governments would exercise concurrent authority over the people.” […]

Throughout our history, and notwithstanding our nation’s political, social, and geographic diversity, the federal government has rarely and only under the most extraordinary circumstances imposed military authority on the citizens of a state against the wishes of the state’s executive. The structure of our federalist system, and the language of the relevant statutory provisions at issue in this case, impose legal constraints on the president’s authority to take such extreme measures. Indeed, over the course of our nearly 250-year history, the president has attempted such military imposition only a handful of times, and only in times of significant exigency. […]

ARGUMENT

I. Federalism is enshrined in the Constitution and entrusts the states—not the federal government—with general police powers.

“It is incontestible that the Constitution established a system of ‘dual sovereignty,’” in which the states “retained ‘a residuary and inviolable sovereignty.’” Printz, 521 U.S. at 918–19 (quoting The Federalist No. 39, at 245 (James Madison) (Clinton Rossiter ed., 1961)). This division of authority is evidenced throughout the Constitution, which grants Congress only “discrete, enumerated” powers. Printz, 521 U.S. at 919. The Tenth Amendment makes that division explicit by reserving all other powers “to the States respectively, or to the people.” […]

Within this framework, states retain broad “police powers” to protect public health and safety—authority the federal government lacks. … Although the federal government may override this authority with a clear directive from Congress, the presumption remains that states—not the federal government—bear primary responsibility for maintaining civil order within their borders.

II. The National Guard plays a critical role in assisting governors in protecting the public. […]

In amici’s collective experience, incidents requiring a federal military response are nearly unprecedented—state and federal officials have worked together in good faith to avoid the use of federal forces in situations normally handled by state and local law enforcement. […]

III. Only in the most exceptional circumstances has the National Guard been federalized or active-duty forces deployed in a state absent consultation with state authorities. […]

Federalization without gubernatorial consent has occurred only in exceptional circumstances where, for example, governors openly defied federal law. For instance, in 1957, President Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and deployed active-duty troops only after Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus openly refused to comply with a federal court order to integrate Little Rock Central High School. Similarly, in 1965, President Johnson federalized Alabama’s Guard, but only after Governor George Wallace refused to follow a court order requiring that state officials protect civil rights marchers in Selma. In neither instance, it should be noted, did the president rely on 10 U.S.C. § 12406 to federalize the state’s National Guard. In both instances, the president at the time had invoked the Insurrection Act, given governors’ refusals to either protect peaceful marchers from violence or students from riots. No such invocation has been made here with respect to federalization and deployment of troops in Chicago. […]

IV. The administration’s interpretation of 10 U.S.C. § 12406 conflicts with this history and tradition of federal-state coordination. […]

It is implausible that Congress intended to grant the president sweeping authority to federalize the Guard without geographic or temporal limits even when a state is maintaining order through civilian means. … Section 12406 provides conditional authority—triggered only by rebellion, invasion, or the inability to enforce federal law using regular forces—that limits federalization through a fact-based inquiry, and it instructs that federal authorities work with, rather than around, “the governors of the States.” […]

V. The administration’s interpretation of 10 U.S.C. § 12406 threatens public safety. […]

If federalization of the National Guard is unreviewable, a president motivated by ill will or competing policy priorities could divert Guard resources away from critical state needs, including natural disasters or public health crises. […]

VI. The courts play a critical role in protecting this balance of federal-state authority.

The president claims unreviewable authority under 10 U.S.C. § 12406 to federalize the National Guard. That assertion conflicts with the Constitution, the judiciary’s role in upholding our federalist structure, and long-standing principles of state sovereignty. Judicial review is especially critical where one sovereign encroaches on another’s authority to police domestic unrest.

“It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is,” Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137, 177 (1803), including “determining the limits of statutory grants of authority.” Stark v. Wickard, 321 U.S. 288, 310 (1944). […]

When Congress intends to grant the president (or others) unreviewable decision-making authority, it does so with unmistakable language. In Trump v. Hawaii, for example, the Court held that 8 U.S.C. § 1182(f) “exudes deference to the President in every clause” and “entrusts to the President the decisions whether and when” to exercise the authority granted by the statute. 585 U.S. 667, 684 (2018). […]

Section 12406 contains no such sweeping language. And unlike in the immigration or foreign policy context—where executive power is at its apex—the Constitution contemplates a shared structure of authority over state militias. […]

This Court need not define the outer limits of presidential authority to conclude that the action here—federalizing the National Guard without clear statutory justification or state consent—is subject to review and incompatible with federalist principles.

* Also, nine former military service secretaries and retired four-star admirals and generals filed an amicus brief in the case. Click here to read it.

Discuss.

  31 Comments      


LIS really needs to get its website’s act together

Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Next week’s committee hearings were posted right before the site went down. I finally gave up at about 11 o’clock last night…

  24 Comments      


Illinois Press Association CEO resigns after board orders him to withdraw from lawsuit filed to protect journalists (Updated)

Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Mary Randolph with the Northwestern University Medill Local News Initiative

The CEO of the Illinois Press Association, who had joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration for actions toward journalists outside a Chicago-area ICE facility, resigned this week following a dispute with the IPA’s board over the litigation.

Don Craven, who had led the IPA since 2021, added the organization to the lawsuit Sunday alongside other Illinois news outlets and advocacy groups. The IPA board disagreed with the decision and told him “to do whatever necessary to dismiss the IPA as a Plaintiff in that litigation,” which Craven did before submitting his resignation, according to an email Craven wrote to an organization of other press associations Wednesday. […]

The IPA board did not respond to a request for comment. It released a statement to the association’s members Wednesday afternoon, which read that a six-person executive team will oversee operations as the board begins recruiting candidates. […]

The IPA is a part of the Newspaper Association Managers, a fraternal organization of press associations across the country which organizes discussions among members on relevant industry issues. Layne Bruce, the executive director of the Mississippi Press Association who serves as the volunteer clerk for NAM, said this news will “without a doubt” be on the agenda for NAM’s next meeting in December.

“As far as I’m aware, this is the most significant development in a press association in the current political climate,” he said.

* I was able to obtain Craven’s letter to the national Newspaper Association Managers group…

Yesterday, I submitted my resignation as President/CEO of the Illinois Press Association. I made a decision as President/CEO and counsel on Sunday to add the IPA to litigation seeking to preserve and protect the First Amendment rights of journalists covering the protests at the ICE facility in suburban Chicago. Journalists reported being singled out for detention, being shot by rubber bullets, and being exposed to gas pellets, all because they were doing their jobs. A minister, in clerical garb, was shot at and gassed, while praying in front of the facility.

The IPA Board obviously disagreed with my decision and felt strongly that I should have either polled the Board, or perhaps polled the entire membership, and instructed me to do whatever necessary to dismiss the IPA as a Plaintiff in that litigation. I made the decision on Sunday night, to allow for a Monday morning court filing.

I followed the Board’s instruction, telling the attorney for the Plaintiff group to dismiss the IPA from the litigation, and submitted my resignation to the Board.

[Redacted friendly personal stuff.]

The Board has not yet decided what to do with this vacancy, so moving forward please contact Ron Kline directly with any NAM issues involving Illinois.

I am returning to the practice of law with my son, and if you need me, please call my cell [redacted].

Cheers,

Don

The IPA is a newspaper publishers’ association. Craven has been the group’s lawyer since the early 1980s. He stepped in to run the day to day operation a few years ago.

I’m just saying, but the only way a guy like Craven gets pushed out is if some of the state’s biggest publishers demanded it.

He’s a good guy and I wish him nothing but the best.

* The plaintiffs prevailed, by the way

Judge To Grant Temporary Restraining Order Protecting Northern Illinois Journalists from Federal Agents

The Chicago Headline Club and other local media outlets and organizations hailed a victory from a federal judge for upholding the right for journalists to do their jobs without facing unprovoked attacks from federal agents. The club took legal action following multiple examples of federal agents assaulting journalists who were covering recent protests at an ICE facility at Broadview, Ill.

“The Chicago Headline Club stood up for the First Amendment, and the judge delivered a significant victory for press freedom,” the CHC board of directors said.

Judge Sara Ellis said she planned to issue a written temporary restraining order Thursday that will apply to the entire northern district of the Chicago area federal court and not limit the Temporary Restraining Order to Broadview only. Ellis said she needed more time to craft the wording in the written order that is as “clear and direct as possible.”

*** UPDATE *** The order has now been issued…


  16 Comments      


Mendrick: ‘These ICE raids are JB Pritzker’s raids’

Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Republican gubernatorial candidate

Hello everybody. This is James Mendrick, DuPage County Sheriff running for Illinois Governor.

We’re here again today to talk about the ICE raids. It’s heating up, it’s heating up big time in the city. The gang populations are putting up messaging now saying that they’re going to resist the federal authorities as they come in to try to enforce their laws.

And once again, I have to emphasize, this is all JB Pritzker’s raids. This has nothing to do with the federal government. He still is not letting the federal government access our correctional facilities to do the business in a safe area. This is why all these raids are happening.

I’ve been a cop for almost 30 years. This is the first year that ICE raids have ever occurred, and that’s because there was a four-year period of open borders with Joe Biden, we were influxed with every single person who wanted to come across for a four-year period of time. And when Donald Trump won, he said he was going to fix the problem, get rid of the rapists, the murderers, the illegal aliens that are hurting people that are committing crimes, and that’s what they’re doing.

But as soon as he did that, out comes a sanctuary state. You don’t have access to the jails, and they’re forcing these feds, these poor feds, into streets and into houses and places where it’s dangerous for them. It’s dangerous for the illegal immigrants.

The immigrants should be just as mad at JB as the federal government and as the citizens for letting this anarchy play out in our streets instead of in our correctional facilities.

Don’t be snowed, people. You’re being lied to by the mainstream media. These ICE raids are JB Pritzker’s raids. We should be demanding of our governor to allow federal units of government to once again cooperate with local government and be in our correctional facilities, handle this there. That’s how it’s been since I’ve been a cop. This last year, it’s been JB Pritzker’s game.

And hey, look who the gang bangers took the side of - they took JB’s side. So good job. You got the gang members with you, JB. Mr. Governor, they don’t want ICE out here either. They don’t want their drug businesses getting disrupted. So you’re helping crime. Time to follow the law. Follow the law, Mr. Governor.

I will make Illinois safe again. This is James Mendrick, DuPage County Sheriff. Thank you.

The Trust Act was signed into law in 2017.

* Also, this letter was sent yesterday by Glenbrook High School District 225 Superintendent R.J. Gravel …

Landscapers.

* More…

    * Block Club | Chicago Restaurants Struggle Out Of The Spotlight As ICE Fears Mount: Early Saturday morning, Dave Miller of Lincoln Square’s Bagel Miller got a text from one of his employees saying she didn’t feel safe coming into work. Living in the Logan Square and Humboldt Park area — where federal agents have smoke bombed and tear-gassed people on the streets — she was afraid to leave her house, she said. After hearing from other employees expressing similar feelings, Miller, who was out of town at the time, told them to stay home. While the neighborhood’s popular Apple Fest was in full force, the restaurant at 4655 N. Lincoln Ave. locked its doors and accepted only online orders to be picked up at its to-go window. Employees would still be paid, Miller assured them. The business has since reopened fully.

    * Block Club | Hundreds Could Be Freed From ICE Custody After Warrantless Arrest Ruling: Cummings concluded that attorneys for the National Immigration Justice Center and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois provided enough evidence to show that ICE arrested 22 people without a warrant in violation of the consent decree and federal law. The 22 people, who were arrested in the early days of President Donald Trump’s second term, were all released on bond and are no longer in custody. Cummings ordered ICE to reimburse all of their bond payments and to lift any imposed conditions of release.

    * Sun-Times | Chicago judge cites South Shore raid, Supreme Court controversy while ruling against ICE: The new commentary from U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings appeared in a footnote to a 52-page ruling in Chicago’s federal court. It extended, into February 2026, restrictions on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s ability to make warrantless arrests in Illinois and nearby states. Cummings declined to rule on more recent claims stemming from President Donald Trump’s “Operation Midway Blitz.” Rather, Cummings found that ICE arrested 22 people without a warrant and in violation of what’s known as the Castanon Nava settlement agreement.

    * Illinois Times | Threat of ICE raids shadows every shift in Chicago’s food warehouses: Companies have laid off hundreds of people after Trump revoked some work permit programs. In suburban Schaumburg, more than 500 people were laid off in April from Nestlé USA’s Nation Pizza, the maker of DiGiorno and other popular frozen pizza brands. The end of DALE underscores a broader shift. Once seen as a tool to encourage workers to come forward about labor violations, its cancellation signals the administration’s possible intent to not investigate workplace violations.

    * Block Club | Chicago Protesters Take To The Streets To Denounce National Guard Deployment, ICE: Ald. Jesse Fuentes (26th), who a federal agent handcuffed Friday at a hospital, spoke at the rally to cheers. “As your alderperson, not just of the 26th Ward because every Chicagoan matters, I will make sure that we utilize every legislative tool at our disposal to slow ICE down to protect our neighbors,” Fuentes told the crowd.

    * Daily Herald | ‘Great fear and uncertainty’: Lake County leaders speak out against escalating ICE operations: “The recent immigration enforcement operations taking place in Waukegan and in our region have caused great fear and uncertainty,” Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham said during a news conference at Veterans Memorial Plaza, just down the street from city hall. “But I want to be clear again — in times like these, Waukegan must remain calm, united and focused on supporting one another.”

    * Shaw Local | Joliet banquet manager asked ICE to leave parking lot and agents complied: Banquet Manager Ivette Nunez said she called police after getting phone calls notifying her that ICE agents were in the parking lot. There was no event taking place at the time at the banquet hall at 1013 Collins St. “I wanted them to be removed from the parking lot,” Nunez said. Nunez said she was concerned that ICE was using the private property as a stationing area without permission despite no-trespassing restrictions on the property.

    * Tribune | Without the Texas National Guard’s help, Broadview protests are calm Wednesday night: With the Texas National Guard training nearly 50 miles away, Broadview police maintained control of protesters outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center Wednesday. Local authorities ordered about two dozen protesters to leave the village’s “free speech zone” — an area specifically designated for demonstrations against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement mission — about 20 minutes after the city’s 6 p.m. curfew passed. As the police counted down the time left to depart, officers threatened citations and arrests. The demonstrators begrudgingly retreated to the street corner.

    * STLPR | A second man dies in ICE custody at a Missouri detention center: Leo Cruz-Silva, 34, originally from Mexico, was being detained by Festus police after his Sept. 30 arrest for public intoxication, according to a statement released late Wednesday by the federal agency. He was transferred to ICE custody on Oct. 1 and sent to the Ste. Genevieve Detention Center two days later. After one day in the jail, Cruz-Silva was dead. He was found unresponsive in his cell on Oct. 4 in what ICE said appeared to be a suicide. Jail staff attempted CPR until paramedics arrived, but neither group was able to revive him. The Missouri State Highway Patrol is investigating the death. The Ste. Genevieve County Sheriff’s Office, which operates the jail, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    * WaPo | A quarter of FBI agents are assigned to immigration enforcement, per FBI data: Nearly a quarter of the FBI’s roughly 13,000 agents across the country are currently assigned to immigration enforcement, with the number climbing to upward of 40% in the nation’s largest field offices, according to data from the FBI obtained by Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) and shared with The Washington Post. The large number of reassignments — about 3,000 agents — reflect a vast reshaping of the nation’s premier law enforcement agency, which has focused on national security threats since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The intense focus on immigration has raised alarm among current and former FBI agents who say morale is low across the bureau as agents have less time to dedicate to the often complex cases they were hired to work on.

    * AP | ICE plans to boost its surveillance on social media using contractors in Vermont: According to federal contracting records, which were first reported by the technology magazine Wired, ICE plans to hire at least a dozen contracted workers for the effort at its National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Center, which is located in an unassuming business park in Williston. In addition, the agency would hire at least 16 contracted workers at a similar intelligence-gathering facility in Santa Ana, Calif.

  38 Comments      


Say No To Anti-Competitive Transmission Legislation

Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

Voters and the Governor already rejected lawmakers’ push for anti-competitive “Right of First Refusal” (ROFR) legislation that hands transmission contracts to incumbent utilities.
Now, the same principles that would raise costs on ratepayers are back. They are trying to rebrand ROFR and pretend it’s about protecting Illinois.

Gatekeeping legislation with the principles of ROFR limits competition and raises the barrier for other qualified transmission operators – all which increases the power of ComEd and Ameren while passing on higher rates to consumers.

The new approach won’t fool voters. Let’s remember:

    82% say rates are already too high and legislators should lower costs, not raise them.
    76% say anti-competition laws only strengthen utilities, not citizens.
    75% say ending competition drives up prices and kills savings.

The message is clear: voters want more competition, not less.

Voters’ concerns about higher energy prices are rising fast. Since this poll, they’ve endured a sizzling summer with skyrocketing prices, and a new report says the cost of heating a home this winter is expected to jump nearly 8%.

Illinois families are feeling the squeeze of energy bills. Competition is the key to relief

Voters have made their voice clear: Say no to energy inflation. Don’t hand more power and control to ComEd and Ameren. Say no to ending cost-cutting competition.

  Comments Off      


Group revises its transit revenue forecast upward

Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Earlier this year, the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois projected the RTA would receive an unexpected $150 million in sales tax and state matching funds due to a broadening of the online sales tax. TFI has now updated its projection for 2025 to $200 million. Next year’s $225 million forecast has not changed…

The following statement may be attributed to Maurice Scholten, President of the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois:

The Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois now projects the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) will finish 2025 with at least $200 million in additional sales tax and matching State of Illinois revenues than what the public transportation system expected in December 2024.

Coupled with other RTA cost control maneuvers and outstanding emergency cash reserves, these funds allow northern Illinois public transportation service boards to backfill structural deficits and delay the looming “fiscal cliff.”

Our latest projection is based on data recently available through the Illinois Department of Revenue and the Illinois Office of the Comptroller. We presume steady economic conditions and no disruptions to ordinary tax collections, processing and distribution practices. We also appreciate the budgetary revisions shared Oct. 3 with the RTA Ad Hoc Committee on Transit Funding that more accurately consider a new state sales tax law that took effect on Jan. 1.

If there are no further changes to the Illinois tax structure and present economic trends continue, we still project the RTA will receive in 2026 more than $225 million in sales tax and matching State of Illinois revenues than what was distributed in 2024.

The RTA’s recently revised revenue projections for 2025 are essentially in sync with TFI’s new number.

* More…

    * Evanston Now | Gabel says transit solution still needed: Speaking with Evanston Now at a Wednesday evening event in Evanston, Gabel said House Democrats “still feel it’s important to pass” a funding measure that would address the projected $790 million fiscal cliff come 2027 and the $200 million budget gap the transit agency faces next year. RTA said it achieved the drastic reduction in its upcoming gap by “stretching every dollar, managing costs, applying a reasonable 10% increase to fares and finding tens of millions in efficiencies.”

    * WTTW | Advocates Say Black Communities Are Left Out of Regional Transit Reform Debate: Denise Barreto, former chief equity and engagement officer for the CTA, said many Black residents on the South and West sides don’t have accessible public transit in their neighborhoods, making them more car dependent. She said she saw stakeholders in transit meetings overlook the lack of access in predominantly Black neighborhoods. “I would see the ways in which Black people in authority were immediately either shut down or not even speak up,” Barreto said. “Black voices get shut out of these conversations because there’s this qualification that you have to ride the system to be able to speak about it. It’s unfair because if I live in South Shore, I don’t have the same access to the system.”

    * WTTW | CTA ‘Fully Committed’ to Red Line Extension Despite Trump Administration Move to Pause Funding: “I want to be very clear that CTA is fully and entirely committed to the Red Line Extension project,” CTA Acting President Nora Leerhsen said at a meeting of the agency’s board of directors. CTA was notified of the “temporary pause” in funding for the Red Line Extension and the Red-Purple Modernization effort on the North Side this past Friday. Leerhsen told directors that the agency has a 14-day period that began Tuesday in which to respond to federal officials, and said the CTA will do so in full.

    * Tribune | Bernard Joseph Ford, former CTA executive director, dies at 89: Ford started out in the CTA’s personnel department, and later oversaw operations and then was the executive director of the Regional Transportation Authority before returning to the CTA as its operating chief. “Bernie was the ultimate adviser,” said Stephen Schlickman, the former CTA director of government relations and legislative counsel and a former colleague. “What he said needed to get done was done — he had total credibility. And he was the ultimate professional adviser — he surrounded himself with bright people, and he worked with politicians to solve problems.”

  6 Comments      


Vote YES to 340B Legislation That Protects Healthcare Services in Your Community

Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department

[The following is a paid advertisement.]

There’s a lot at stake for Illinois hospitals participating in the federal 340B program: first and foremost, it’s their patients. The program, which dates to 1992, has helped hospitals serving uninsured and low-income patients expand access to care and provide more comprehensive healthcare services. Drugmaker restrictions have made it difficult for hospitals to offer the services and discounted prescription drugs that underserved communities deserve.

Nearly 20 states have passed legislation to protect 340B contract pharmacy arrangements. Illinois has an opportunity to return the 340B program to its original intent through legislation before the General Assembly, House Bill 2371 SA 2, the Patient Access to Pharmacy Protection Act. While Big Pharma has legally challenged similar laws passed in other states, the courts have repeatedly sided with healthcare providers.

Most recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit last month upheld a lower court ruling that refused a drugmaker request to stop enforcement of a Mississippi law protecting 340B pricing in pharmacy contracts. It was the second appellate court ruling to uphold state law protecting 340B contract pharmacy arrangements, adding to the eight district court cases decided in providers’ favor.

Over 100 Illinois hospitals and the patients they serve benefit from 340B savings. Vote YES on HB 2371 SA 2 to safeguard the 340B drug discount program—and help hospitals care for low-income and uninsured patients. Learn more.

  Comments Off      


Isabel’s morning briefing

Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Texas National Guard troops now protecting federal property in Chicago area, official says. AP

    -An “element” of 200 Texas Guard troops were working in the Chicago area, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Northern Command.
    - The troops are in the city to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement buildings and other federal facilities and law enforcement personnel, Northern Command said online.
    - The troops, along with about 300 from Illinois, had arrived Tuesday at a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Elwood, 55 miles (89 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. All 500 troops are under the Northern Command and have been activated for 60 days.

* Related stories…

***************** Advertisement *****************


Sponsored by Ameren Illinois

The summer of 2025 has been a tough one for residents and businesses in the Ameren Illinois service territory. Supply constraints, extreme hot and humid conditions, and increased energy usage have led to a significant spike in electricity prices and higher-than-normal monthly bills for residential, commercial and industrial energy users. We appreciate and thank legislators, regulators and stakeholders who are working hard to address the energy challenge in Illinois. Energy policy is complex, and we’re encouraged that there are some creative ideas being proposed and a willingness to work together to find answers.   

While Ameren Illinois cannot control the price or availability of energy, we can ensure that the system that delivers energy to homes and businesses — electric poles, wires, and technology; and natural gas distribution pipelines and storage fields — is equipped to operate at peak performance to withstand severe weather events, facilitate business expansions that grow local communities, and enable the transition to renewable generation.

We have an opportunity to build an energy system that is smarter, cleaner, reliable, resilient, and affordable for Illinois families and businesses. As discussions on short- and long-term legislative solutions occur this fall, we will continue to advocate for our 1.2 million customers.   

If you know of someone who is struggling to pay their energy bill, please encourage them to visit www.AmerenIllinois.com/PathToSavings for information on available financial assistance and energy saving programs. 

*************************************************

* At 11 am, Governor JB Pritzker will hold a press conference to discuss Illinois’ role in quantum technology research. Click here to watch.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Chicago Reader | Illinois rideshare drivers organize for labor rights: Over the past decade, rideshare apps have failed to respond to issues of driver safety, shrinking pay, secrecy around fare breakdowns, account deactivations, and a work experience where there’s no one employees can reliably contact when they need help. In response, drivers across the country are battling Uber and Lyft state by state, urging local governments to regulate the rideshare industry. In Illinois, it’s illegal for the 85,000 drivers in Chicago and the 100,000 across the state to unionize. But that is not stopping thousands of drivers with the Illinois Drivers Alliance from fighting for fair working conditions.

* Sun-Times | Students for profit? University of Illinois campuses pay company per online student: The University of Illinois Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and University of Illinois Springfield are paying a for-profit company for each student it recruits to online programs — a practice that would be illegal if done by the universities’ admissions offices, and one that has been banned by another state, a WBEZ investigation has found.

* NPR | At the Supreme Court, the case of the candidate who sued, even though he won: At the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, conservative and liberal justices alike appeared to have little use for either side in a case that tests Illinois voting regulations. The often fractious justices teamed up to have a bit of fun at the expense of two seasoned advocates. At issue was a suit by Rep. Michael Bost, R-Ill., challenging the constitutionality of an Illinois regulation that allows ballots mailed in by Election Day to be counted for up to 14 days after polls close. The lower courts ruled against Bost after finding that he failed to show he was individually harmed by the ballot regulation since he won.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Center Square | IL House GOP leader: Pritzker ‘deliberately lied’ to score political hit: Pritzker said he called state GOP legislative leaders and asked them to speak out about social media influencers he said were embedded with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel in Chicago. […] McCombie, R-Savanna, said she has consistently and publicly denounced political violence at events, on her platforms and directly to the governor himself. “In the video now circulating, he admits that he asked me to ‘post something’, something I had already done repeatedly,” McCombie said in a statement to The Center Square.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Chicago Public Schools creates command center to monitor ICE activity: Chicago Public Schools has set up a command center to help schools navigate ICE activity near them as the school district faces increased pressure to do more to help schools and families navigate the situation. Chicago schools were in the crosshairs of activity over the last week. Rapid response and teachers in Albany Park say ICE agents were out in force around schools last Wednesday, prompting school staff and residents to take to the streets to get scared students home safely.

* WTTW | 521 Chicago Police Officers Still Using Gun Federal Judge Says Should be Banned, CPD Says: U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer said in a written order issued Sept. 30 that she agreed with leaders of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 that officers who have an alternative service weapon that “meets appropriate standards should be required immediately to use that alternative weapon.” CPD Range Master Sgt. Wasim Said told Pallmeyer that 521 officers were still carrying the Sig Sauer P320, a popular weapon with police officers and members of the military that has been the subject of dozens of complaints that it can fire without the trigger being pulled, in an affidavit filed with the court Tuesday.

* Daily Herald | ‘The situation appears to be deteriorating:’ O’Hare is back to normal but for how long amid shutdown?: “Normal operations continue Wednesday at both O’Hare and Midway International Airports,” the Chicago Department of Aviation stated. “While several dozen delays have been reported over the past 24 hours, more than 3,100 aircraft took off or landed safely at Chicago’s airports on Tuesday, which is consistent with regular daily activity. “The CDA remains in regular communication with officials from the FAA regarding potential impacts of the federal government shutdown. As of noon Wednesday, there are no operational disruptions at either airport.”

* Sun-Times | Federal workers in Chicago ‘emotionally exhausted’ from government shutdown, year of uncertainty: A life scientist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Pasqua is still working despite the federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1 after lawmakers failed to pass a funding bill. His department within the EPA Region 5, which covers Illinois and five other Midwest states, was fortunate to have carryover funds from the previous budget to continue operating. But Pasqua said he’s unsure if the carryover funding “means we’re going to get paid.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Sun-Times | Preckwinkle unveils $10 billion budget for Cook County, warns of future ‘turmoil’ from federal cuts: “We’re in a good place at the moment, but there’s a lot of turbulence in front of us,” Preckwinkle told reporters Wednesday afternoon. “We’re headed into pretty tough waters here, turmoil. … We’re going to be in a very difficult place as the federal government reduces its support for health care.” Each year, health care makes up roughly half of the county’s budget. For 2026, Preckwinkle projects $5.2 billion will go toward health care, the most of which goes toward Cook County’s Medicaid insurance plan, CountyCare. But federal funding cuts to Medicaid threaten the county’s stable budget for health care, Preckwinkle said. In response, the budget includes a 10% reduction in expenses to “maintain operations with reduced Medicaid resources.”

* Shaw Local | Over 450 pages of emails unsealed in public records destruction case against retired DeKalb County exec: But hundreds of records, containing 466 pages of emails that Hanson received or sent between 2019 and 2021, were unsealed to the public on Sept. 25, according to the filing. A Shaw Local News Network review of all 466 pages connected to the indictment found that most of the emails appear largely procedural in nature

* Daily Herald | Mount Prospect’s e-bike ordinance sails through village board: Class 1 and 2 e-bikes are allowed on roadways, bike lanes and shared-use paths. Class 3 e-bikes are permitted on roadways and bike lanes. E-bikes are banned from sidewalks, except unless directed by a village bikeway sign or to access the pedestrian signal push button at signalized intersections. They’re also banned in parking decks except when using the entrance to gain access to a bike rack. Operators of Class 2 and 3 e-bikes must be 16 or older or accompanied by a parent.

*** Downstate ***

* NBC CHicago | Illinois school district superintendent allegedly shared student vaccine records: KWQC, the NBC affiliate in the Quad Cities, reported Timothy Farquer, the superintendent of the Mercer County School District, was charged with felony official misconduct as well as unauthorized access to medical records and computer tampering, both misdemeanors. […] Prosecutors alleged Farquer accessed student vaccine records, put them into a database and shared them, violating student privacy, according to court documents filed Sept. 25. Authorities haven’t said who Farquer shared the records with or provided a reason as to why he accessed them. The Mercer County School is based in Aledo, approximately 30 miles south of Moline.

* WCIA | UIPD drone program gives officers birds-eye view of emergencies during Illini football games: UIPD Special Events Captain Joe McCullough said the drones create a quicker response time for officers since the machines can fly over large crowds and give them a birds-eye view of emergencies as they’re breaking out. “Could be a medical issue, an altercation, a missing child; it allows us to get there as fast as we can,” McCullough said. “That drone can just fly straight there and sometimes in just seconds give us a view in real time of what’s going on.”

* WCIA | Central IL students learn about government with state senator: Students across Central Illinois got a taste of being a state lawmaker at University of Illinois Springfield’s campus on Tuesday. Around 80 students participated in the program organized by Senator Steve McClure (R-Springfield). They heard from several speakers and then simulated the legislative process.

* WSIL | Carbondale’s SIH offers new robotic lung cancer detection: SIH Memorial Hospital of Carbondale recently performed the first Ion® robotic-assisted bronchoscopy, a minimally invasive lung biopsy procedure that enhances precision and safety while enabling earlier detection of lung cancer. “Early detection means early survival,” said Gurpreet Bambra, MD, an SIH pulmonologist. “Ion helps us find and diagnose disease much sooner, when treatment is most effective,” Bambra said.

* WGLT | Van Leer Memorial Bell Tower in Normal plays music after decades of silence: The Van Leer Memorial Bell Tower was built at the request of Margaret Van Leer in honor of Bird, who passed away in 1933 from pneumonia. The tower was completed in 1940 and rises 110 feet. A spiral staircase of 100 steps leads to the top. At the time, the tower cost $40,000 to build — equivalent to $1 million today. It is recognized by the National Register of Historic Places as the only privately-owned bell tower in the United States.

*** National ***

* UnHerd | Bluesky civil war shows free speech is harder than it looks: Last week, a joke familiar from X circulated on rival platform Bluesky: “(bluesky user bursts into Waffle House) OH SO YOU HATE PANCAKES??” It was obviously a jab at the moral intensity that now seems to define the site, and indeed much of the rest of the social media landscape. On most platforms such a joke might go viral for a day then fade. On Bluesky, it metastasised into something resembling a crisis.

* The Hill | Almost 6 in 10 say armed troops should only be sent to face external threats: Poll: Nearly 60 percent of Americans say the U.S. government should only deploy the military when faced with external threats, according to a new survey. The Reuters/Ipsos poll, released Wednesday, found that 58 percent of respondents said they believe the military should only be utilized for external threats, while 25 percent said they think the military can be used for other purposes and another 18 percent were unsure.

* AP | Man charged with sparking the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles history: Investigators said Wednesday that Rinderknecht was working as an Uber driver on New Year’s Eve, 2024. After dropping off a passenger in Pacific Palisades, he parked and walked up a trail. He took videos at a nearby hilltop area and listened to a rap song with a music video showing objects being lit on fire, prosecutors said. Shortly after midnight, he lit the fire, they alleged. He fled the scene after starting the fire but returned to the trail to watch it burn, acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said.

* 404 Media | Libraries Can’t Get Their Loaned Books Back Because of Trump’s Tariffs: “There are libraries that have our books that we’ve lent to them before all of this happened, and now they can’t ship them back to us because their carrier either is flat out refusing to ship anything to the U.S., or they’re citing not being able to handle the tariff situation,” Jessica Bower Relevo, associate director of resource sharing and reserves at Yale University Library, told me.

  10 Comments      


Open thread

Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on? Keep it Illinois-centric please…

  3 Comments      


Selected press releases (Live updates)

Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

  Comment      


Live coverage

Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Click here and/or here to follow breaking news on the website formally known as Twitter.

We’re experimenting this week with a new app which feeds Bluesky posts. Still tweaking it…

  1 Comment      


« NEWER POSTS PREVIOUS POSTS »
* Reader comments closed for the weekend
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup (Updated)
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - News update (Updated)
* Musical interlude: 'I’ve Been Everywhere in Illinois'
* Catching up with the federal candidates
* Critical 340B Program Needs Federal Reforms
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Campaign news
* It’s Time To Bring Safer Rides To Illinois
* Republican state legislator: 'I don't trust billionaires'
* Keep ROFR And Anti-Competitive Language Out Of The Energy Bill
* Chief US Border Patrol Agent: Pritzker has 'more in common' with 'terrorist drug cartels than he does with American citizens'
* Vote YES On HB 2371 SA 2 To Protect The 340B Program And Invest In Low-Income Chicago Communities
* Isabel’s morning briefing
* What Illinois Can Learn From Texas On Battery Energy Storage
* Good morning!
* Selected press releases (Live updates)
* Yesterday's stories

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