Daywatch: Illinois lawmakers have mixed results in efforts to rein in AI

Good morning, Chicago. Illinois lawmakers have so far achieved mixed results in efforts to regulate the burgeoning technology of artificial intelligence, a task that butts up against moves by the Trump administration to eliminate restrictions on AI. AI-related bills introduced during the spring legislative session covered areas including education, health care, insurance, and elections. Supporters say the measures are intended to address potential threats to public safety or personal privacy and to counter any deceitful actions facilitated by AI, while not hindering innovation.

Although several of those measures failed to come to a vote, the Democratic-controlled General Assembly is only six months into its two-year term and all of the legislation remains in play. But going forward, backers will have to contend with Republican President Donald Trump’s administration's plans to approach AI.

Top Stories

Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: the latest on a Logan Square stabbing and fire, what a Supreme Court ruling on birthright citizenship means for immigrant families in Chicago, and how Pete Crow-Armstrong’s impromptu thank-you speech brought the Wrigley Field community closer.

Onlookers review the damage along the Guadalupe River caused by recent flooding, July 6, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez) Risk of further floods in Texas during desperate search for missing as death toll tops 80. With more rain on the way, the risk of life-threatening flooding was still high in central Texas today even as crews search urgently for the missing following a holiday weekend deluge that killed at least 82 people, including children at summer camps. Officials said the death toll was sure to rise.

Ebony Payne, right, speaks to her sister on speaker phone as her mother, Jacqueline Davis, feeds her at Payne’s new apartment in Woodlawn, June 30, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune) Illinois nursing homes ranked among the worst in the nation; residents call for action. U.S. News & World Report ranked Illinois 47th out of 50 states for nursing home quality, based on federal reports of health inspections, staffing, and other quality measures. A 2019 analysis by Families for Better Care, a nonprofit advocacy group, ranked Illinois 49th. And a Tribune search of records kept by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services showed Illinois has some 250 homes with a quality rating of just one star out of five.

Chicago police and investigative services officers work the scene after a house fire in the 3600 block of West Palmer Street Friday, July 4, 2025, in Chicago. At least five people, including three children, were transported to area hospitals stemming from a domestic incident and resulting fire. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) Woman faces murder and arson charges in Logan Square stabbing and fire. A Logan Square woman now faces more than a dozen felony charges — including murder — in connection with a Fourth of July stabbing and fire that left one of her children dead and two others injured, authorities announced yesterday.

Wendy Tolbert, 45, was charged with murder, attempted murder, aggravated arson, and several other felonies after she allegedly stabbed her three children — killing her 4-year-old son — and set their residence on fire Friday in the 3600 block of West Palmer Street, according to Chicago Police and Cook County prosecutors.

A Chicago police officer investigates a mass shooting where four people were killed and 14 were wounded late Wednesday night in the 300 block of West Chicago Avenue in the River North neighborhood on July 3, 2025. (Peter Tsai/Chicago Tribune) ‘This wasn’t some random shooting’: Police dig in after drive-by attack at River North album release party kills 4, wounds 14 others. Late Wednesday night, assailants armed with at least one rifle rolled up outside an album release party for a local drill rapper in River North and opened fire on a crowd gathered on the sidewalk. Within a matter of seconds, police Superintendent Larry Snelling said, the attackers were able to shoot an astonishing 18 people, killing four in a spot close to the center of the city as Chicago is preparing for the holiday weekend and playing host to a high-profile NASCAR road race.

The shooting was among the city’s worst in recent years and served as a warning that even though violent crime has fallen in recent years, gun violence — especially that fueled by rivalries on Chicago’s splintered gang landscape — remains stubbornly persistent.

The sun sets over the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 10, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) Supreme Court ruling means ‘harder work’ for Illinois and others fighting Trump administration actions. A Supreme Court decision limiting federal judges from issuing nationwide injunctions is expected to make it more difficult for blue states fighting President Donald Trump’s executive orders to get widespread relief and could further stretch the resources of Illinois’ attorney general’s office as it pushes back against the administration.

Michelle, who came to the United States from Mexico six years ago, worries about the future of her unborn child following the recent Supreme Court ruling that could affect her child’s birthright citizenship. She stands near her children’s day care center on July 2, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune) Supreme Court ruling casts doubt on birthright citizenship for immigrant families in Chicago. Pregnant and living in Chicago without legal immigration status, Daniela Sigala has spent the last several months thinking of names for her soon-to-be-born son and imagining him receiving something she’s yet to attain: U.S. citizenship. But Sigala’s hopes for her child became cloudier a little more than a week ago following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that touched on the issue of birthright citizenship.

The building, right, at 420 E. Superior St., which houses the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, is seen on Aug. 27, 2024. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune) Northwestern sued over suicide of professor targeted in China investigation. The estate of a Northwestern University professor, who died by suicide last year after being investigated in a controversial federal probe, is suing the school for allegedly discriminating against her and evicting her from her lab — blaming the university, in part, for her death.

Aaron Moy looks for drivers walking through Grant Park before the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165 on July 6, 2025. (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune) Rains hold off until after NASCAR race but outcome is the same as Shane van Gisbergen wins again. Racers zoomed around the streets of the Loop under cloudy skies yesterday. A brief shower passed through the area shortly after the race concluded. The weather may have been different for this race but not the outcome. Shane van Gisbergen of New Zealand swept the Chicago Street Race weekend, winning his fourth of six eligible races. Behind the scenes, crew members keep NASCAR Chicago Street Race running smoothly. Fans reflect on NASCAR’s (possibly) final street race in Chicago.

Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (4) celebrates toward fans in the bleachers after a Cubs victory over the Cleveland Guardians at Wrigley Field in Chicago on July 2, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) Column: How Pete Crow-Armstrong’s impromptu thank-you speech brought Wrigley Field community closer. On a sweltering morning at Wrigley Field, hours before the Chicago Cubs’ 8-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, the daily pregame meeting of ushers and security guards was interrupted by a guest speaker who needed no introduction. Pete Crow-Armstrong ambled up to the mic and held it like he was giving a toast at his best friend’s wedding, writes Paul Sullivan.

3 takeaways as the Cubs have fun hitting home runs against the St. Louis Cardinals in a big series win. Cubs looking at in-house options for now with starter Jameson Taillon likely out for a month.

Jamhal Johnson, left, and Anthony Sherod Bell, two of the founders of Moor's Brewing Co., at Diversey House on July 2, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune) Making a mark in culture and craft beer, Chicago-based Moor’s Brewing wins Samuel Adams competition. “I think it was important for us to be Black,” said Jamhal Johnson, co-founder of Chicago’s local Moor’s Brewing Co. “We put a Black man on the beer can.” For Johnson and longtime friends Damon Patton and Anthony Bell, that’s been one part of a well-considered growth and branding strategy for Moor’s Brewery Co., the Chicago Black-owned brewery the trio co-founded in 2021. Last month, they won the Samuel Adams 2025 Brewing the American Dream competition and will receive a year of financial assistance and mentorship from the brand, a key player in the craft brewing space.

Erica Baker teachers her grandson, Messiah, 6, how to ride his bike outside their home, June 10, 2025, in Dolton. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) Long after the fuss over Pope Leo XIV, the village of Dolton will still be here. The village of Dolton, which is where you may find yourself if you’re traveling south through Chicago and run out of Chicago to travel through, which we have heard more about in the past 30 days or so than since it was established 130-odd years ago, which is now best known to the world as the hometown of Pope Leo XIV, is like a lot of Midwestern places. Or a lot of the blink-and-you-miss-it boondocks, backwaters and wherevers other popes have come from. You never give it a second thought, until you do.