WBEZ24%
The Rundown: An unprecedented budget play from CPS board 24%
By Esther Bergdahl87%
7/31/2026, 2:25:36 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 22 faulty reasoning types, including Pessimism Bias, Appeal to Emotion, and Framing Effect, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 10.5% saturation with 144 hits. Analysis detected 1,060 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,368 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 33.1% and a BS Rank of 24% (18,266 of 23,886 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 76.50% of the article peer group.
Good afternoon!
It’s Friday, and while I’m not at Lollapalooza, I loved Sasha-Ann Simon’s interview this morning with local Chicago talent performing at the fest.
Here’s what else you need to know today.
1.
Chicago School Board approves budget that reverses layoffs, but counts on shaky state funds
The Chicago Board of Education made the unprecedented decision to reject the budget proposed by Chicago Public Schools’ superintendent Thursday and instead approved a revised plan that cancels more than 1,000 layoffs.
To do that, school board members are counting on the state to provide $150 million in state money that has yet to be committed — a move school district officials said was illegal and in violation of board members’ duties, my colleagues Sarah Karp and Emmanuel Camarillo report.
The board passed the amended budget 11-7.
Board member Yesenia Lopez was the lone abstention.
Board members who supported the amendment said that mass layoffs would be harmful to children and the warnings were overly severe.
All the board members who voted in favor of changing the budget are aligned with the Chicago Teachers Union.
The vote came after a day of drama that included an unheard of two-hour recess.
Board members said school district officials pressured them mid-meeting to abandon their plan to change the budget.
[ WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times ]
Meanwhile, the board postponed a vote that would have provided extra funding for the school formerly known as the Chicago High School for the Arts, putting its vaunted professional arts training program in limbo a few weeks before the start of the school year.
[ Chicago Sun-Times ]
2.
Cook County predicts charity care will soar to highest level in more than a decade
Cook County Health expects to provide around $485 million in free or discounted care next year, returning to an era before the Affordable Care Act insured millions more Americans than it does today.
That’s about $100 million more in what’s known as charity care than the county expects to provide this year, my colleague Kristen Schorsch reports — and the largest amount in more than a decade.
Next year, big cuts to Medicaid public health insurance for people who are poor or have disabilities take effect.
New work requirements kick in as well as more frequent checks to make sure people qualify.
In Illinois, around 1 in 4 people have Medicaid.
More than 400,000 people could lose coverage, and around half of them live in Cook County.
The pressure compounds.
Cuts to other government-funded programs like federal food assistance could lead to poorer health, while other hospitals and clinics facing the same stress could cut back services or close — potentially sending more patients to the county.
“That’s going to have, I’m really concerned, a devastating impact on the current hospitals that are struggling,” said Dr.
Erik Mikaitis, CEO of Cook County Health.
“Those patients have to go somewhere, right?”
[ WBEZ ]
3.
Women’s pro baseball comes home to Illinois, paving the way for next generation of ballplayers
I fell in love with the 1992 film “A League of Their Own” at a very formative age.
Now, as my Sun-Time colleague Violet Miller reports, players for the Women’s Professional Baseball League — the first nation-spanning U.S.-based professional league in the sport for women since 1954 — get to live “Dirt in the Skirt!”
but better.
U.S. national team player Jill Albayati, a first-round pick for the San Francisco Firebells, said she was excited to play in Rockford, home of one of the most iconic women’s teams, the Peaches of movie and single-season TV series fame.
At the international competition, she managed five strikeouts while pitching three innings.
Her goal now in the WPBL is “obviously making the playoffs and winning it all,” but no matter who wins, she wants the season to be a success.
“Hopefully we can grow the name of women’s baseball and reach even more fans,” Albayati said.
Opening Day is tomorrow in Springfield.
[ Chicago Sun-Times ]
4.
Trump administration stops work on Great Lakes Asian carp project near Joliet
Contractors at the Brandon Road Interbasin Project received a work stoppage order on July 24 stating the project is under administrative review, despite about $2 million worth of material already on site.
Work was slated to begin this week, with shaft drilling scheduled for September, my Sun-Times colleague Tina Sfondeles reports.
Jobsite trailers were also already set up at the project, according to Will County officials.
The $1.15 billion project in the Des Plaines River near Joliet is seen as a crucial way to stop invasive Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes.
Without a barrier, the carp could wreak havoc on the $20 billion fishing and boating industries and upend the freshwater ecosystem, experts say.
The species already has made it into the Illinois River from the Mississippi River.
Fishermen contracted by the state of Illinois have removed more than 78 million pounds of invasive carp from waterways.
Gary G.
Perinar III, president of Carpenters Local 174 in Joliet, said the project delays “not only endanger the safety of the Great Lakes but also negatively affect the working men and women who have supported this project locally.”
The U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
[ Chicago Sun-Times ]
5.
After decades behind bars, Ivy Kelly was given a choice: Walk free, or keep fighting to clear his name
Kelly, 51, wears his hair short, parted and styled into waves.
He wears eyeglasses with a dark browline.
He looks bookish.
No-nonsense.
A deal offered by prosecutors would have required Kelly to admit guilt following a murder trial tainted by a corrupt detective and ineffective counsel.
My WBEZ colleague Chip Mitchell met Kelly inside the Cook County Jail to hear about his decision.
He has always insisted he’s innocent of the 1999 killing that led to his decades-long prison sentence.
He ended up first at Menard Correctional Center, 340 miles south of Chicago.
That maximum-security prison, built in the 19th century, is known for poor conditions.
“I want to go home.
I miss my kids.
I’m estranged from my kids now.
But at the same token, I know I’m innocent,” Kelly said.
“If I got to sit, I got to sit.”
[ WBEZ ]
Here’s what else is happening
President Donald Trump is claiming credit for a major peace deal in Gaza, but both Hamas and Israel say the other side must stand down first.
[ NPR ]
The Great Lakes are hiding a secret underworld of tardigrades and rock-eating fungi.
[ Gizmodo ]
A SpaceX rocket is on course to accidentally collide with the moon.
[ The Guardian ]
Singer, writer and fellow Chicagoan Patti Smith met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican.
[ AP ]
Oh, and one more thing …
It’s hard to miss Chicago’s rich culture of murals, especially if you spend time on the CTA.
We are a large city, though, and it’s difficult to spot everything on your own.
That’s where the Sun-Times’ Murals and Mosaics team comes in — and if you haven’t already signed up for their weekly newsletter or checked out our interviews with some of the city’s most talented artists, there’s another venue where you can admire these works.
Navy Pier hosts a free in-person gallery of some of our favorite works, captured on camera by our amazing photo desk.
If you want some public art of your public art, head down to the Festival Hall and browse to your heart’s content.
[ Chicago Sun-Times ]
Tell me something good …
What is your favorite act you’ve caught at a Chicago-area music festival, whether it was at a street fest or one of the larger productions?
“For favorite Chicago musical experience, not much can top a summer or fall Saturday afternoon at a courtyard bar [example: Sheffields] with the Polkaholics.
It has been a while since I have been to one of their concerts but they were truly unique and enjoyable.”
Thank you so much for all your responses!
What’s very clear is that Chicago street fest season truly can’t be beat.
Analysis
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