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Whether the subject is traffic safety or transit funding you can almost always count on the right-leaning Illinois Policy Institute think tank to get the story wrong when it comes to livable streets issues.

• Capitol Fax: "Roundup: Trump administration asks US Supreme Court to allow National Guard deployment in Illinois"

This post is sponsored by The Bike Lane.

• Housing advocates: 1, NIMBYs: 0: "Broadway Rezoning In Edgewater, Uptown Gets City Council OK After Months Of Neighbor Debate" (Block Club)

This fall, Metra has been testing its prototype Café Car on most of its highest-ridership rail lines and stations. It has coffee shop-inspired counters, tables, and seating. During the first week, September 30 to October 6, it ran on the Rock Island line. This week, the Café Car ran from Tuesday to today on the BNSF Line between Union Station and Aurora. It's the busiest route, and some runs stop in Riverside, the historic west-suburban village where I live. See next week's schedule for the pilot at the bottom of this post.

By Alex Baum, Regional Director – ERA-co

• Another report on the rally in Horseshoe Sandwich Land: "100s Rally at State Capitol Urging Lawmakers to Prioritize People Over Polluters (Capitol Fax)

On Tuesday, I hopped on my bicycle and high-tailed it from Chicago to Springfield, Illinois, the state capital, in an effort to sample my first-ever horseshoe sandwich. In case you're not familiar with that delicacy, it's an open-faced sandwich composed of thick-sliced toast, a protein (often hamburger patties, but there are several other options), cheese sauce, and french fries. It's an indigenous dish of Flower City and, as far as I know, it's no longer available in the Windy City.

Last Friday's transit talk, "Averting the Cliff: The Road to Regional & High-Speed Rail" was supposed to feature State Rep. Kam Buckner, co-leader of the House's Public Transit Working Group, but he couldn't make it. So the question of who would take his place was a bit of a cliffhanger: Who would fill Buckner's Nikes?