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Today's monthly CTA board meeting took place as Illinois lawmakers are getting ready to return to Springfield for the fall veto session, scheduled for October 14-16 and October 28-30. Let's keep our fingers crossed that they will finally pass a transit funding/reform bill, permanently saving our region from previously projected 40 percent service cuts and 3,000 layoffs.

This post is sponsored by Keating Law Offices.

Yesterday, I visited the site where a northbound minivan driver fatally struck Juslene Akeza, 4, as she was crossing Talman Avenue (2630 W.) westbound on the north side of Granville Avenue (6200 W.) in West Ridge. That tragedy happened along the recently installed Granville Avenue Neighborhood Greenway. But as I noted in my writeup of the crash, the new east-west street design was basically irrelevant to the motorist's failure to hit the brakes in time, the reason why police cited them for failure to reduce speed.

The organizers of the annual Sadie Hawkins Style Ride describe the event as "an all-skill-level, self-guided, scavenger-hunt-style bicycle ride, open to anyone that wants to ride." They add, "We dress in costumes or high-style gear, and bicycle decorations are encouraged as well. The ride is as long or as short as anyone wants to go, with an excellent afterparty and prizes afterwards."

• Don't mess with Illinois! "Texas National Guard arrives in the Chicago area" (Tribune)

Tragically, a 72-year-old minivan driver fatally struck Juslene Akeza, 4, as she was crossing the street last Wednesday during the evening rush in the West Ridge neighborhood. The motorist was cited for negligent driving.

• Feds claim ICE agent shot driver, 30, because agents were "rammed by [drivers] and boxed in by 10 cars" near Pershing/Kedzie (Block Club)

The USDOT announced it is blocking $2.1 million in previously approved federal funding for the Red Line Extension and the Red & Purple Modernization Project.

• "RTA lowered the projected 2026 fiscal cliff facing mass transit by over $500M today, but the deficit is set to rise again in 2027 to nearly $800M." (Crain's)