Official leaving Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration for Obama Foundation

Mayor Brandon Johnson's chief operating officer, John Roberson, is leaving the administration, ending weeks of speculation — and pushback — over his potential appointment to lead the CTA.
Roberson is exiting the mayor's office to join the Obama Foundation, according to two sources with knowledge of his plans. A member of the administration since the freshman mayor assumed office, Roberson is the last official within Johnson's inner circle with previous City Hall experience.
A source close to the mayor said Roberson is also no longer being considered to lead to the CTA.
Roberson, as well as a spokesperson for the Obama Foundation, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
Roberson's transition into the nonprofit sector comes after wearing multiple hats over the course of his government career, including commissioner of the Aviation, Buildings and Sewers departments under Mayor Richard M. Daley. He stepped down from city government in 2005 after he was named as a cooperating witness in a federal investigation into fraud in city hiring and promotions, though he denied that his role in the probe was behind his decision.
Afterward, Roberson served as a top aide under Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Ald. David Moore, 17th, before returning to City Hall to join the Johnson administration in May 2023. As COO, his main task has been overseeing the nuts and bolts of city operations and ensuring that government services run smoothly.
The most visible role Roberson took on in that respect was managing the behind-the-scenes preparations for the Democratic National Convention's arrival in Chicago last August, when the mayor was thrust into the national spotlight and concluded the made-for-TV week of events with relatively high marks for how the city was portrayed on the national stage.
For the last several weeks, Roberson has been the subject of opposition from transit advocates who feared that the Johnson administration was angling to install him as the next president of the CTA, which has been left without a permanent leader since late January, when embattled president Dorval Carter retired. Those activists sought a thorough search process for the agency's new head, whom they hoped would have previous experience leading a mass transit system.
A former organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union, Johnson took office after running as a firebrand progressive and had appointed Rich Guidice and Roberson as the two City Hall veterans among his top deputies. Their hires were seen as reassurance to the business community who worried the new mayor would shake up city government too much by only bringing in allies from his activist grassroots coalition.
Guidice left as Johnson's chief of staff in April 2024 after less than a year on the job and was replaced by Cristina Pacione-Zayas, who rose up among the Northwest Side progressives and served as a state senator before joining the Johnson administration in 2023.

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New York Post

3 hours ago

• New York Post

The plan to turn 34th Street into a ‘busway' is a road to nowhere

The next unwelcome upheaval coming to Manhattan's streets has nothing to do with congestion pricing. The Department of Transportation's latest strike against motorists is a 'proposal' to turn 34th Street, from Third Avenue to Ninth Avenue, into a 'busway.' There are quotation marks around 'proposal' because the scheme is certain to be a done deal by August. The DOT always gets its way, never mind a rubber-stamp City Hall review. 6 Despite its potential to cause havoc and chaos for millions of daily NYC commuters, the DOT wants to transform a major slice of 34th Street into a 'busway' and boost sluggish public transport. deberarr – Advertisement The 34th Street project's purpose is to speed up buses — currently cruising at a mere 3 mph on the major crosstown artery — by 15%, the DOT said. But banning 34th Street to through car traffic is of a piece with the insidious agenda the DOT has inflicted on New Yorkers for years: limiting or disallowing auto traffic at any particular location in the name of reducing congestion — but with the unstated, actual goal to increase congestion on neighboring streets and avenues. The purpose: To prove that cars are evil and bikes are better. Now, if cars can't use most of 34th Street — duh — they'll have to go somewhere else. Once the change takes effect, expect presently crowded 32rd, 33rd, 35th and 36th Streets to bear the brunt of the spillover. Advertisement 6 The goal of the 'busway' scheme, says proponents, is to increase bus speeds from its current snail-like 3mph. Corbis via Getty Images The 34th Street diktat stinks even on its own supposedly mass transit-friendly terms. As The Post's Gabrielle Fahmy reported this week, regular, actual bus users argued before Community Board 5 that the new busway will do little or nothing to make bus travel faster. That's because the MTA, which works in lockstep with the DOT, won't do what's needed most: provide more buses. The passengers weren't mistaken. I counted precisely two so-called Select crosstown buses, one in either direction, on a half-hour stroll along 34th Street's commercial heart between Fifth and Seventh avenues Wednesday afternoon. Of course, simply adding buses would remove the supposed need to warp a thoroughfare that's a critical part of the city's commercial DNA. 6 Despite the outsized influence of the city's 'bike-lobby,' a mere 61,000 commuters arrive to New York City each day on cycles. Gregory P. Mango Advertisement Although 34th Street won't have a bike lane, the gridlock points that inevitably pop up when cars are diverted are cited by the DOT's bike-lobby stooges as proof that the problem is too many cars, and by Gov. Hochul and former governor and mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo, who inflicted 'congestion pricing' on us. But the cycling lobby, led by an uncompromising organization called Transportation Alternatives, cowed elected officials into ignoring the reality of how most city dwellers reach their jobs. According to the latest US census, 1.87 million Big Apple residents take public transit to work. Just over one million more go by car, either as drivers or as part of a car pool. 6 In tandem with the MTA, the New York Department of Transport is likely to approve the 'busway' plan, even if it is not in the best interest of Tri-State commuters. Advertisement In contrast, the number of city dwellers who get to their jobs by bike was 61,600 in 2023, as per the DOT. That's a 'whopping' 2.2% of total city residents: a percentage that would be lower still if the data included commuting patterns of the tens of thousands of suburbanites who pour into Manhattan each day. Yet the relatively tiny bike-riding cohort enjoys special privileges at everyone else's expense. Metastasizing bike lanes, which now stretch 1,500 miles in the five boroughs, are the largest reason for the nightmare that streets are today for ordinary motorists, taxi and truck drivers — and, even, yes, for buses. Other tricks the DOT has up its woke sleeves are 'plazas' inserted where there's no need for them; no-left-turn rules that trap hapless motorists on 23rd Street for blocks on end; and Third Avenue traffic lights from East 60th to East 96th streets re-timed to reduce speeds from 25 mph to 15 mph, the latter speed ideally suited to cyclists. 6 The pro-bike non-profit Transportation Alternatives is behind the plan to reconfigure the 34th Street corridor. When bike lanes, barriers and 'plazas' reduced Broadway to a single auto lane south of 34th Street, was it surprising that the traffic merely spilled over to surrounding avenues and streets? Congestion pricing? Hah! Notoriously gridlocked West 47th Street between Sixth Avenue and Times Square remains a horn-honking horror ever since Broadway south of West 48th Street was closed to cars several years ago, forcing them to turn left onto Seventh Avenue. 6 Even with the most optimal outcome, there is little doubt that the 34th Street 'busway' plan will shift traffic congestion to adjoining side-streets. Andriy Blokhin – Advertisement The DOT, enabled by spineless mayors, was hijacked by anti-auto, climate-obsessed ideologues with little interest in the agency's traditional mission to simply make streets as safe and sane as possible. Little wonder DOT commissioner Ydanis Rodríguez touts the city's 'bike infrastructure accomplishments as a climate-justice solution,' City & State reported. Let's hope the next mayor will have the guts to make the DOT return to its core mission. But given the candidates' pro-cyclist sympathies, the Dodgers will return to Brooklyn sooner. scuozzo@

Los Angeles Times

6 hours ago

• Los Angeles Times

How the LAPD's protest response once again triggered outrage, injuries and lawsuits

Bridgette Covelli arrived near Los Angeles City Hall for last Saturday's 'No Kings' festivities to find what she described as a peaceful scene: people chanting, dancing, holding signs. No one was arguing with the police, as far as she could tell. Enforcement of the city's curfew wouldn't begin for hours. But seemingly out of nowhere, Covelli said, officers began to fire rubber bullets and launch smoke bombs into the crowd, which had gathered to protest the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement campaign. 'No dispersal order. Nothing at all,' she said. 'We were doing everything right. There was no aggression toward them.' Covelli, 23, grabbed an electric bike and turned up 3rd Street, where another line of police blocked parts of the roadway. She felt a shock of pain in her arm as she fell from the bike and crashed to the sidewalk. In a daze, she realized she was bleeding after being struck by a hard-foam projectile shot by an unidentified LAPD officer. The young tattoo artist was hospitalized with injuries that included a fractured forearm, which has left her unable to work. 'I haven't been able to draw. I can't even brush my teeth correctly,' she said. She is among the demonstrators and journalists hurt this month after being targeted by LAPD officers with foam projectiles, tear gas, flash-bang grenades and paintball-like weapons that waft pepper spray into the air. Despite years of costly lawsuits, oversight measures and promises by leaders to rein in indiscriminate use of force during protests, the LAPD once again faces sharp criticism and litigation over tactics used during the past two weeks. In a news conference at police headquarters last week, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell promised 'a comprehensive review when this is all done,' while also defending officers he said were dealing with 'a very chaotic, dynamic situation.' Police officials said force was used only after a group of agitators began pelting officers with bottles, fireworks and other objects. At least a dozen police injuries occurred during confrontations, including one instance in which a protester drove a motorcycle into a line of officers. L.A. County prosecutors have charged several defendants with assault for attacks on law enforcement. Behind the scenes, according to communications reviewed by The Times and multiple sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, tensions sometimes ran high between LAPD commanders and City Hall officials, who pushed for restraint in the early hours of the protests downtown. On June 6 — the Friday that the demonstrations began — communication records show Mayor Karen Bass made calls to LAPD Capt. Raul Jovel, the incident commander, and to McDonnell. In the days that followed, sources said Bass or members of her senior staff were a constant presence at a command post in Elysian Park, from where local and federal officials were monitoring the on-the-ground developments. Some LAPD officials have privately grumbled about not being allowed to make arrests sooner, before protesters poured into downtown. Although mostly peaceful, a handful of those who flooded the streets vandalized shops, vehicles and other property. LAPD leaders have also pointed out improvements from past years, including restrictions on the use of bean-bag shotguns for crowd control and efforts to more quickly release people who were arrested. But among longtime LAPD observers, the latest protest response is widely seen as another step backward. After paying out millions over the last decade for protest-related lawsuits, the city now stares down another series of expensive court battles. 'City leaders like Mayor Bass [are] conveniently saying, 'Oh this is Trump's fault, this is the Feds' fault.' No, take a look at your own force,' said longtime civil rights attorney James DeSimone, who filed several excessive force government claims against the city and the county in recent days. A spokesperson for Bass didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. McDonnell — a member of the LAPD command staff during an aggressive police crackdown on immigrant rights demonstrators on May Day in 2007 — found himself on the defensive during an appearance before the City Council last week, when he faced questions about readiness and whether more could have been done to prevent property damage. 'We'll look and see, are there training issues, are there tactics [issues], are there less-lethal issues that need to be addressed,' McDonnell told reporters a few days later. One of the most potentially embarrassing incidents occurred during the 'No Kings' rally Saturday, when LAPD officers could be heard on a public radio channel saying they were taking friendly fire from L.A. County sheriff's deputies shooting less-lethal rounds. Three LAPD sources not authorized to speak publicly confirmed the incident occurred. A spokesperson for the Sheriff's Department said in a statement that the agency 'has not received reports of any 'friendly fire' incidents.' Some protesters allege LAPD officers deliberately targeted individuals who posed no threat. Shakeer Rahman, a civil rights attorney and community organizer with the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, said he was monitoring a demonstration snaking past LAPD headquarters on June 8 when he witnessed two colleagues who were demanding to know an officer's badge number get shot with a 40mm less-lethal launcher at close range. In a recording he shared of the incident, Rahman can be heard confronting the officer, who threatens to fire as he paces back and forth on an elevated platform. 'I'm gonna pop you right now, because you're taking away my focus,' the officer is heard saying before raising his weapon over the glass partition that separated them and firing two foam rounds at Rahman, nearly striking him in his groin. 'It's an officer who doesn't want to be questioned and knows he can get away with firing these shots,' said Rahman, who noted a 2021 court injunction bans the use of 40mm launchers in most crowd-control situations. Later on June 8, as clashes between officers and protesters intensified in other parts of downtown, department leaders authorized the use of tear gas against a crowd — a common practice among other agencies, but one that the LAPD hasn't used in decades. 'There was a need under these circumstances to deploy it when officers started taking being assaulted by commercial fireworks, some of those with shrapnel in them,' McDonnell said to The Times. 'It's a different day, and we use the tools we are able to access.' City and state leaders arguing against Trump's deployment of soldiers to L.A. have made the case that the LAPD is better positioned to handle demonstrations than federal forces. They say local cops train regularly on tactics beneficial to crowd control, including de-escalation, and know the downtown terrain where most demonstrations occur. But numerous protesters who spoke with The Times said they felt the LAPD officers were quicker to use violence than they have been at any point in recent years. Raphael Mamoun, 36, followed the June 8 march from City Hall to the federal Metropolitan Detention Center on Alameda Street. Mamoun, who works in digital security, said his group eventually merged with other demonstrators and wound up bottlenecked by LAPD near the intersection of Temple and Alameda, where a stalemate with LAPD officers ensued. After roughly an hour, he said, chaos erupted without warning. 'I don't know if they made any announcement, any dispersal order, but basically you had like a line of mounted police coming behind the line of cops that were on foot and then they just started charging, moving forward super fast, pushing people, screaming at people, shooting rubber bullets,' he said. Mamoun's complaints echoed those of other demonstrators and observations of Times reporters at multiple protest scenes throughout the week. LAPD dispersal orders were sometimes only audible when delivered from an overhead helicopter. Toward the end of Saturday's hours-long 'No Kings' protests, many demonstrators contended officers used force against crowds that had been relatively peaceful all day. The LAPD's use of horses has also raised widespread concern, with some protesters saying the department's mounted unit caused injuries and confusion rather than bringing anything resembling order. One video captured on June 8 by independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg shows a line of officers on horseback advance into a crowd while other officers fire less-lethal rounds at protesters shielding themselves with chairs and road signs. A protester can be seen falling to the ground, seemingly injured. The mounted units continue marching forward even as the person desperately tries to roll out of the way. Several horses trample over the person's prone body before officers arrest them. At other scenes, mounted officers were weaving through traffic and running up alongside vehicles that were not involved with the demonstrations. In one incident on June 10, a Times reporter saw a mounted officer smashing the roof of a car repeatedly with a wooden stick. 'It just seems like they are doing whatever the hell they want to get protesters, and injure protesters,' Mamoun said. Audrey Knox, 32, a screenwriter and teacher, was also marching with the City Hall group on June 8. She stopped to watch a tense skirmish near the Grand Park Metro stop when officers began firing projectiles into the crowd. Some protesters said officers fired less-lethal rounds into groups of people in response to being hit with flying objects. Although she said she was well off to the side, she was still struck in the head by one of the hard-foam rounds. Other demonstrators helped her get to a hospital, where Knox said she received five staples to close her head wound. In a follow-up later in the week, a doctor said she had post-concussion symptoms. The incident has made her hesitant to demonstrate again, despite her utter disgust for the Trump administration's actions in Los Angeles. 'It just doesn't seem smart to go back out because even when you think you're in a low-risk situation, that apparently is not the case,' she said. 'I feel like my freedom of speech was directly attacked, intentionally.' Times staff writers Julia Wick, Connor Sheets and Richard Winton contributed to this report.

Politico

a day ago

• Politico

Who Pritzker could pick for his No. 2

TGIF, Illinois. Stay safe this weekend. It's gonna be hot. TOP TALKER POLITICAL CHESS: With the state budget signed and the D.C. immigration hearing behind him, Gov. JB Pritzker is focusing on a few big decisions. Will he run for president? Will he seek a third term as governor? And who would his lieutenant governor running mate be if he runs again? Don't expect an answer anytime soon about a presidential run. But in the coming weeks, Pritzker will decide whether to seek re-election. What's next: Democratic candidates for statewide office in 2026 will ask for endorsements from the Cook County Democratic Party during its slating meetings July 17 and 18. As for his No. 2: Even if Pritzker announces he'll go for a third term — and all indications are that he will — we hear he wouldn't name a running mate right away. But that hasn't stopped the buzz about who might step up to the pos that Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton has held since taking office with Pritzker in 2018. Now that she's running for U.S. Senate in 2026, she wouldn't be able to be on the governor's ticket, too. So, Pritzker would have to name a new running mate. Names that have popped up: Deputy Gov. Andy Manar, state Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, former Deputy Gov. Christian Mitchell and Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia. They all bring something to the table: Manar is the budget maestro in the governor's office. And the central Illinois native is someone Pritzker trusts to carry out his vision for the state should he leave for D.C. Gordon-Booth was a House budgeteer. Mitchell is a former state lawmaker who served during Pritzker's first term, overseeing public safety, energy and infrastructure issues. And Valencia is a City Hall veteran who, like Stratton, is a good retail politician. RELATED Republican Congressman Darin LaHood doesn't rule out a run for governor, by Catrina Barker for The Center Square THE BUZZ La VETO Loca: The Chicago City Council approved a curfew ordinance to control 'teen takeovers,' but Mayor Brandon Johnson said he would veto the measure. 'It would create tensions between residents and law enforcement at a time when we have worked so hard to rebuild that trust,' he said after the vote, adding the measure 'is counterproductive to the progress we have made in reducing crime and violence in our city.' The veto would be the first by a Chicago mayor since 2006, according to WBEZ's Mariah Woelfel. The other side: Ald. Brian Hopkins spoke passionately ahead of the vote about his concern that more needs to be done to stop violent acts that have occurred in his downtown ward. The measure passed 27-22, short of the 34 needed to override a mayoral veto. The Tribune's Jake Sheridan reports Hopkins plans to keep making the case for his ordinance but added he won't be heavy-handed about it. RELATED — The next big battle in City Hall will be about the mayor's plan to raise the grocery tax: Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) had hoped to delay the measure this week, but before the Council realized it, the legislation was introduced without calling it a 'grocery tax,' by Crain's Justin Laurence. If you are Brendan Reilly, Playbook would like to hear from you! Email: skapos@ WHERE'S JB No official public events WHERE's BRANDON His schedule didn't make it to our inbox. Where's Toni At Idlewild Country Club in Flossmoor at 5:30 p.m. for the Southland Dinner with the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association Have a tip, suggestion, birthday, new job or a (gasp!) complaint? Email skapos@ IN THE SPOTLIGHT — Former Illinois Congressman Rodney Davis survived political violence. Now he carries a gun 'to fire back:' The Illinois Republican has been both a victim of political violence and a key player in overseeing the protection of elected officials. 'A survivor of the 2017 congressional baseball shooting where Majority Leader Steve Scalise was badly wounded — Davis was at home plate when the gunman opened fire from behind third base — the former Illinois congressman [now head of government affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce] later became the top Republican on the House Administration Committee, which oversees security arrangements for members of the House of Representatives,' by POLITICO's Ben Jacobs. — The Supreme Court decision to uphold Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors drew criticism from MWRD Commissioner Precious Brady-Davis, the first Black openly trans woman appointed and elected to public office in Cook County history. 'I am outraged,' she said in a statement. 'This ruling puts trans children at risk by allowing politics to overrule medical expertise. No court should come between a doctor and their patient. Stripping doctors of their ability to provide life-saving, affirming care is not just bad policy, it's a direct threat to our community's health, safety, and dignity.' BUSINESS OF POLITICS — More confirmation: Rahm Emanuel says 'of course' he's looking at a presidential bid, by Crain's Greg Hinz — FIRST IN POLITICO: The Congressional Black Caucus PAC — which operates with the goal of increasing the number of Black members in Congress — is jumping into the race to replace retiring Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin with an endorsement for Congresswoman Robin Kelly. 'We're excited to continue to grow our representation in the Senate with one of our own,' New York Rep. Gregory Meeks, who chairs the PAC, said in a statement. He added that Kelly is a 'fierce advocate on gun violence prevention, maternal health and health care.' Kelly is locked in a crowded race for the Senate seat along with fellow Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton. — In IL-02: Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller's formation of an exploratory committee to run for Congress in the 2nd District has been getting support from elected officials. Here's a list. — Pastor Anthony Williams of south suburban Dolton is gathering support for a 2026 U.S. Senate bid as a Democrat. Williams, who is a trustee at South Suburban College, is a familiar name to the political scene, having run for U.S. Senate in 2022 as a Republican. He says his priorities are to 'bring needed resources to the state of Illinois and address the issue of violence [through] the tools of civility.' — Erin Chan Ding, a twice-elected Barrington school board member, is running for state representative as a Democrat in Illinois' 52nd District. The seat is held by veteran Republican state Rep. Martin McLaughlin. Chan Ding wants to 'invest in public education, make child care affordable, fight for livable wages, protect the environment and steward taxpayer dollars responsibly in Springfield,' according to a campaign statement. — Sports betting powerhouse DraftKings is jumping into electoral politics with a new corporate PAC, by POLITICO's Caitlin Oprysko in our Influence newsletter THE STATEWIDES — Plano, the first Illinois town to recognize Juneteenth, had to move this year's party to Yorkville due to low turnout and social media criticism, by the Tribune's Rebecca Johnson and the Aurora Beacon-News' Molly Morrow — University of Illinois soybean lab took a big hit from Trump cuts, by Miles MacClure for The Hechinger Report — Largest air-supported sports dome in the world is inflated in Springfield, by the State Journal-Register's Claire Grant — 'Starved Rock killer' loses bid to overturn 1961 conviction,: by the Sun-Times' Frank Main CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson didn't conduct formal national search for CTA head despite claiming otherwise, records show, by the Tribune's Talia Soglin — Gale Street Inn, a Jefferson Park institution, closes for good without any advance word to customers, by Bob Chiarito for the Sun-Times COOK COUNTY AND COLLARS — Chicago Heights crematory shuts down permanently after accusations of mishandling bodies: 'Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, who regulates crematories, announced Tuesday she has permanently revoked Heights Crematory's license through a consent order,' by the Sun-Times' Cindy Hernandez. — East Dundee allows golf carts on village streets, by the Daily Herald's Alicia Fabbre TAKING NAMES — WBBM Newsradio political reporter Craig Dellimore is retiring: His last day in City Hall is today. Here's a looks back at his career, by CBS 2's Jeramie Bizzle. — Ellen Bromagen announced she'll retire from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The first vice president and chief operating officer, will step down in February after 36 years of service to the bank. — Lou Sandoval, the president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, will receive the Cuauhtémoc Leadership Award by the National Latino Education Institute at its Fund It Forward fundraiser. — Pope Leo XIV joins White Sox chant in Vatican City, by the Sun-Times' Mitchell Armentrout Reader Digest We asked for must-haves on a picnic. Denise Barreto: 'Charcoal-grilled food, melon/berry melody bowl and strawberry shortcake with fresh whipped cream.' Mark Gruenberg: 'Hot dogs, beverages and people to consume them.' Henry Haupt: 'Family, friends and food! (And no rain!).' Charles Keller: 'When I was young, it was beer, my girl and whatever food she brought. Now, it's just beer, cigars and grilling meat on the driveway.' Ed Mazur: 'Deviled eggs, paper plates and cups, and cold liquid refreshments including 'bug juice.'' Kathy Posner: 'A large suite at the St. Regis, George Clooney and Diet Coke.' Jaimey Sexton: 'Wine. A wine bottle opener. Non-breakable wine glasses. The End.' Patricia Ann Watson: 'Chilled melons, sandwiches, ice teas.' Jennifer Welch: 'Rose' wine, farmers market produce and free movie, music, or theater at a Chicago park.' NEXT QUESTION: What skills make a good lieutenant governor? KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION — ICE imposes new rules on congressional visits: The policy says that ICE field offices are not subject to a federal law that allows members of Congress to make unannounced oversight visits to immigration facilities that 'detain or otherwise house aliens.' The news comes after four Illinois lawmakers tried in vain to enter an immigration processing facility near Chicago, by The New York Times' Michael Gold. — Congressman Brad Schneider said leaders he met with in Middle East don't want Iran to have a nuclear weapon, by the Lake County News-Sun's Steve Sadin THE NATIONAL TAKE — Trump says everything is coming 'in two weeks,' video via Bloomberg — Appeals court blocks Newsom's bid to reclaim control of National Guard from Trump, by POLITICO's Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney — Megabill could derail hundreds of planned clean energy projects, by POLITICO's Kelsey Tamborrino and Jessie Blaeser — Black church leaders pressure companies over Trump's anti-DEI push, by POLITICO's Cheyanne Daniels IN MEMORIAM — Former Des Plaines civic leader Rosemary Argus has died: She was a former member of the Mount Prospect Park District board and the Des Plaines City Council, by the Daily Herald's Russell Lissau. EVENTS — Sunday: Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton headlines the Lake County Women Democratic Women gala where Anna Williams will receive the 'Insist Resist Persist Award.' Details here TRIVIA WEDNESDAY's ANSWER: Congrats to Roger Flahaven for correctly answering that Eugene Debs formed the American Railway Union on June 20, 1892, and within a year, it had 150,000 members. Also: Playbooker and author Richard Joyce has details in his book, 'Spring Valley Is a Mining Town.' TODAY's QUESTION: What Illinois town's name was inspired by the writings of Washington Irving? Email skapos@ HAPPY BIRTHDAY Today: State Rep. Sonya Harper, state Rep. Maurice West, Cook County Circuit Court Judge James Shapiro, communications consultant David Prosperi, former U.S. Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy and Benjamin Marshall Society's Jane Lepauw Saturday: Deputy Director of External Relations for DCEO Dan McManus, Acacia Consulting Group President Morgan Harris, Portal Innovations VP of Operations Mike Faulman, government relations pro Chris Kane, Agency H5 CEO Kathleen Sarpy, gallery owner Monique Meloche and former Homeland Security official Timothy Thomas Sunday: Former state Sen. Chuck Weaver, Aileron Communications Account Exec Carlie Hansen, restaurateur Michael Kornick -30-