Some GOP-led states are taking the same approach as Illinois in denying the DOJ’s request for sensitive voter data. @stateline.org reports. https://loom.ly/0sE_Kio

Political Scientist & University of Chicago Professor Susan C. Stokes joins Peter Hancock to discuss her new book, The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies, on this week’s Capitol Cast. https://loom.ly/zQKwOIQ

Former Gov. Jim Edgar lies in state in the Illinois Capitol rotunda on Sept. 19, 2025. Edgar’s memorial service will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday at Central Baptist Church in Springfield. https://loom.ly/Iso1_NM

Electricity prices spiked this summer. Lawmakers in Springfield are reigniting debate over a bill meant to lower them. @drewjayadams.bsky.social has been following along for months. Here’s the latest. https://loom.ly/MxrCfmg

Political scientist and Univ. of Chicago Professor Susan C. Stokes joins Peter Hancock to discuss her new book which examines the erosion of democratic institutions. Take a sneak peek before the full #CapitolCast episode drops Friday.

An Illinois newspaper company has sold to a Kentucky publisher, apparently without providing groups with 120 days’ notice as required by a new state law. @benszalinski.bsky.social reports. https://loom.ly/33VXdC8

Turmoil at CDC prompts Illinois, other states, to issue their own vaccine guidance. Story by Peter Hancock. https://loom.ly/UoHCEHE

Funding for EV charging stations is coming to Illinois after initially being blocked by the Trump administration. @benszalinski.bsky.social reports. https://loom.ly/syw0xZ8

Immigration enforcement is ramping up in the Chicago area. @benszalinski.bsky.social runs down the latest federal action and how Illinois officials are responding.

A legislative panel formally objected to emergency rules that allow the Illinois Department of Corrections to withhold mail from incarcerated people. Peter Hancock reports. https://loom.ly/l8XZJxM

President Donald Trump is failing to calm the country’s nerves over political violence, Pritzker says, prompting backlash. @benszalinski.bsky.social reports. https://loom.ly/kXSvgqM

Former Illinois governor Jim Edgar, who served two terms in the 1990s, died Sunday of pancreatic cancer. He was 79. @hannahmeisel.bsky.social and @nowickipress.bsky.social report. https://loom.ly/_KDmmoI

The list of potential Republican candidates for governor grew this week and the Illinois Supreme Court announced Justice P. Scott Neville will become the next chief justice in October. The CNI news team talks about these developments and more. https://loom.ly/kGt9C-U

“Everything’s stacked against” farmers transitioning to rice crops, said Jonathan Coppess, a former USDA official and current farm policy expert at the University of Illinois. “Nobody says no, but the system doesn’t know how to say yes.” https://loom.ly/nh1eDug

One of the top Democrats in the Illinois Senate announced his plans to retire, just as negotiations over an energy reform package he is shepherding heat up. @drewjayadams.bsky.social has more. https://loom.ly/7hrOc6E

The head of a conservative research publication announced Friday he will run for governor. @benszalinski.bsky.social reports on Ted Dabrowski’s message entering the race. https://loom.ly/8Qth_oE

Illinois is facing a surge of lawsuits over its outdated tax sale laws. Advocates warn that homeowners are losing properties while lawmakers stall on reform. Will 2026 bring long-overdue change? @illinoisanswers.bsky.social reports.

The Illinois Department of Corrections has begun scanning prisoners’ mail to safeguard against drugs and other contraband. Beth Hundsdorfer reports. https://loom.ly/5STblpY

As Steve Williams waited for federal funds to take his flooded farmland out of use, his bills didn’t stop. His family could do nothing and watch their farm operation fail, or keep trying to grow crops on land they knew would yield little. https://loom.ly/7fwQQUk

TAKE A LISTEN: Molly Parker explains why some farmers in southern Illinois cannot access a federal program intended to help them take farm land in flood-prone areas along the Mississippi River out of production. #CapitolCast https://loom.ly/TY2Ptp0

Justice P. Scott Neville was elected by his colleagues to become the state’s next chief justice, beginning in October. Peter Hancock has more. https://loom.ly/8py3rsY

Sources say former State Sen. Darren Bailey plans to run for governor again after losing to Pritzker by 13 points in 2022. This time he will have a new running mate. @benszalinski.bsky.social reports. https://loom.ly/edPsy9U

Climate change is shifting where rice can grow. Long considered a southern crop, it has crept north into Missouri, and Blake Gerard’s operation has now given rice a foothold in Southern Illinois. It’s a crop that can thrive where others can’t. https://loom.ly/nh1eDug

Red states have been hit hardest by the Trump administration’s efforts to block public health funding after a coalition of blue states won an injunction, a @kff.org analysis shows. @stateline.org reports. https://loom.ly/_3jLfF4

Tensions are high in Chicago where President Trump has threatened to send in federal troops to control crime and step up immigration enforcement. The CNI news team discusses what is known about the situation and where it could lead. https://loom.ly/TY2Ptp0

While farmers have struggled to access funds to help them get off flood-prone land, federal programs to keep their crops in the ground have long been the safer bet — even if it means futilely trying to farm in soil that’s been ravaged by floods. https://loom.ly/7fwQQUk

For Blake Gerard, a fourth-generation farmer working the flood-prone fields of the Mississippi River bottomlands in Alexander County, Ill., there was no sense in fighting nature. “I could grow something that would grow in water,” he said. Or quit. https://loom.ly/nh1eDug

After 2019 Mississippi River flooding drowned farmlands in Southern Illinois, the USDA offered to pay area farmers to retire flood-ravaged fields. But funds weren’t enough to help all who applied, and the process has continued to drag on for years. https://loom.ly/7fwQQUk

Citing privacy concerns, the state declined to comply with the Department of Justice’s demand that it release voter data including social security numbers. Peter Hancock reports. https://loom.ly/CPV2ldc

NASCAR returns to Illinois this weekend for a race sponsored by the state. How much is the state spending on NASCAR races? @benszalinski.bsky.social takes a look. https://loom.ly/owe6fE4

As ICE plans to ramp up immigration enforcement in Chicago this week, President Trump confirmed he will deploy the National Guard as well. Gov. JB Pritzker responded by saying crime is down and reiterated there is no emergency requiring federal troops. Get the full story: https://loom.ly/3B0_usA

Gov. JB Pritzker encourages Chicagoans to peacefully protest as Trump says National Guard will come to Chicago. @benszalinski.bsky.social reports. https://loom.ly/3B0_usA

Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood joined former Commerce Secretary Bill Daley on Capitol Cast to discuss their renewed “fair maps” push. Get a sneak peek, then stream the full episode wherever you get your podcasts: https://loom.ly/_eGr5mY

Bill Daley and Ray LaHood discussed their renewed remap effort on the latest episode of the Capitol Cast podcast. https://loom.ly/_eGr5mY

A national gun rights organization is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Cook County's ban on assault weapons. Peter Hancock reports. https://loom.ly/qZt63gk

A decade ago, Illinois began what would become a two-year budget impasse. Since then, human services have recovered, albeit unevenly, thanks in part to COVID-era federal funds. @illinoisanswers.bsky.social https://loom.ly/o80xxOY

Flock Safety, one of the largest license plate reader companies in the U.S., broke state law by sharing data improperly, according to the Secretary of State. @drewjayadams.bsky.social has more. https://loom.ly/OeU5wmo

As President Donald Trump considers deploying the National Guard to Chicago, Governor JB Pritzker says there is no reason for them to come to the city. 👉 Get the full story: https://loom.ly/ijBFLg8

It’s not clear how Trump’s executive order threatening funding to Illinois because of its cash bail law will impact the state. @benszalinski.bsky.social reports. https://loom.ly/DcoRHb0

Illinois leaders push back on Trump’s desire to send the military to Chicago as data shows a decrease in crime this year. @benszalinski.bsky.social reports. https://loom.ly/ijBFLg8

The tug of war continues between the DOJ and Illinois election officials over access to the state’s voter registration database. Story by @pqhancock.bsky.social. https://loom.ly/pWQBhOY

A timeline for Mackenzi Felmlee, for died in 2024 in a Fairview Heights foster home, shows she had 10 caseworkers in five years. @bhundsdorfer.bsky.social reports. https://loom.ly/PX04UHA

🎧 On the next Capitol Cast podcast: • Proud Boys billboard sparks outrage • Senate Pres. Don Harmon appeals $10M fine • Expanded protections against SLAPP suits • New push for independent redistricting Listen wherever you get your podcasts: https://loom.ly/8UMZZlo

The Proud Boys sign near Breese came down this week after community uproar. Now, the United Methodist Church has purchased the space, bringing a different message. Molly Parker reports. https://loom.ly/3E1my2k

Gov. JB Pritzker signed the final bills for the spring session this week, including bills to continue access to abortion medications and banning fines as discipline for students. https://loom.ly/WHPF3bM

A state law designed to prevent lawsuits that curtail public participation in government now explicitly protects the news media. Story by @nowickipress.bsky.social. https://loom.ly/d5Z2aNA

Insurance officials blamed factors such as inflation and climate change for recent homeowners insurance rate hikes in Illinois. @pqhancock.bsky.social reports. https://loom.ly/s9OLQw0

Senate President Don Harmon appeals fine for breaching fundraising limits. @benszalinski.bsky.social reports. https://loom.ly/G4LjEok

A billboard advertisement near Breese in Clinton County, Illinois, for the right-wing hate group the Proud Boys came down at noon Tuesday after swift community backlash. Molly Parker has the story. https://loom.ly/Ax1NXF0

Democratic & Republican governors are considering redrawing maps to give one party an advantage. But some former federal officials are pushing to make gerrymandering harder in state races in IL. @drewjayadams.bsky.social has the story. https://loom.ly/LLxLAy0