* Alice Yin…

* Tribune…

Mayor Brandon Johnson said Wednesday the city will move ahead with evicting an unknown amount of migrants from city shelters for the first time, rejecting the latest outcry from a group of aldermen opposed to the policy.

Johnson told reporters at an unrelated West Side event an unspecified number of the thousands of migrant shelter residents who were issued 60-day notices to vacate by Saturday will receive “exemptions.” However, others without those privileges will be forced to leave and restart the process for temporary shelter. […]

It was unclear how many migrants previously required to exit will qualify for city-issued exemptions allowing them to instead stay. Johnson’s administration previously estimated as many as 5,600 could be removed, but exceptions will be made for those in the process of securing housing or out-migrating, as well as people with extenuating health circumstances, including pregnancy, he added. […]

Ald. Andre Vasquez, 40th, began circulating a letter among aldermen calling on the mayor to replace the “60 Day Eviction Policy” with a policy that addresses shelter stays on a case-by-case basis. The majority of shelter residents are not allowed to work because of their asylum seeker immigration status or cannot access rental assistance, he wrote in the letter.

* Riverfront Times…

Jeffrey Ricker and his partner Michael Wallerstein lived happily in the City of St. Louis for 18 years. […]

In February of 2022, Ricker and Wallerstein moved from their home in Botanical Heights across the river to Collinsville, Illinois. […]

Some of the reasons for the move were mundane, Ricker says: Houses are more affordable on the other side of the river and they wanted to escape the hustle and bustle of the city as they grew older. But the tipping point was the Missouri legislature and its regressive actions. […]

Ricker and Wallerstein represent just one example among many couples, families and activists who are making the decision to leave red states in pursuit of a place where they have more political safety. Nearly half (47 percent) of respondents to a 2022 survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality considered or were considering leaving their state because of laws targeting the transgender community. […]

The good news is that, unlike many other residents of deep blue cities stranded in red states, for St. Louisans, fleeing is relatively simple: You can leave the state without even leaving the metro area. And Illinois could not offer a greater contrast to Missouri.

* Loyola Chicago Center for Criminal Justice…

Statewide, pretrial jail bookings fell 17.5% between summer 2023 (i.e., pre-PFA) and fall 2023 (i.e., post-PFA); based on historical patterns, we would have expected them to fall roughly 11.5% during this period. Thus, pretrial jail bookings fell 6 percentage points more after the PFA than we would have expected, which translates to roughly 3,000 fewer people admitted to jails statewide in the three months from October to December 2023.

These decreases were evident across different types of counties: the decrease in Cook County was 3 percentage points larger than would have been expected; other urban jails experienced a decrease that was 6 percentage points larger than expected; Illinois’ rural jails collectively saw a decrease that was 8 percentage points larger than expected.

A more substantial decrease potentially attributable to the PFA was evident when changes in the pretrial jail ADPs were examined. Statewide, pretrial jail ADPs in Illinois fell 14% from summer 2023 (i.e., pre-PFA) to fall 2023 (i.e., post-PFA); historically, we would have expected them to only fall an average of 3% during this period. Thus, pretrial jail populations fell 11 percentage points more after the PFA than we would have expected . Based on these patterns, it is estimated that the pretrial jail ADP across all counties in Illinois combined decreased by roughly 1,500 individuals due to the PFA. In other words, it is estimated that the statewide pretrial jail ADP in Illinois was roughly 12,200 in the fall of 2023 but would have been roughly 13,700 without the PFA.

* Here’s the rest…

* Tri States Public Radio | West Prairie policy change raises ‘scary thought’ about possible book bans: But board member Honey Zimmerman suggested several changes, which included striking a line about complying with rules set by the Illinois State Board of Education. Zimmerman said she’s concerned about an outside agency such as ISBE telling the district what to do.

* Press release | Illinois Farm Bureau ACTIVATOR endorses State Representative Adam Niemerg: Illinois Farm Bureau ACTIVATOR issued the following statement of support for Representative Adam Niemerg. “State Representative Adam Niemerg elevates local voices from the 102nd district in Springfield. As the grandson of a farmer, he understands the needs of Illinois’ agriculture community. Choose Niemerg on March 19th.”

* Daily Herald | Two seek Democratic nomination for DuPage County coroner: “It’s a totality of issues with the current coroner,” said Jeffrey Jacobson of Downers Grove. He is running against Judith Lukas of Winfield. […] Jacobson and Lukas both spoke about using information to try to prevent death, particularly suicides and drug overdoses. Preventing death is not listed as one of the duties of a coroner in state law.

* WGLT | County Board to vote on contentious grant for Bloomington rape crisis center: A Bloomington-based rape crisis center’s request for shared sales tax dollars reserved for mental health will go to the McLean County Board for a vote Thursday. This, despite questions surrounding the request for $100,000 in stopgap funds and whether it should have been brought to the county in the first place.

* WGLT | McLean County behavioral health council meetings suspended indefinitely for not fulfilling their ‘mission’: The BHCC is the advisory board created in 2016 in conjunction with the Mental Health Action Plan (MHAP). Members — including Bloomington-Normal area social service and health stakeholders — meet quarterly to discuss how to spend shared sales tax dollars dedicated to mental health and public safety. At the meeting, County Administrator Cassy Taylor said reserves in the fund total around $3 million. [Chair Catherine Metsker] said at the meeting that the purpose of the BHCC is to “improve the behavioral health of McLean County residents and create systemic change through innovative programming and strategies.” Currently, she added, it’s failing.

* WCIA | Former Springfield charity treasurer pleads guilty to defrauding own organization: Federal prosecutors said LeAnn Shirley, 57, pleaded guilty to wire fraud relating to funds from the Illinois State Police Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation is a 501(c) charity committed to preserving the history of the Illinois State Police and Shirley was its Treasurer when the fraud occurred in 2019.

* Crain’s | CPD eyes DNC security funds to purchase new helicopter, but there’s a catch: Though CPD says it can get an expedited order in, it remains unclear if a new helicopter could even arrive before the convention this August. If the helicopter doesn’t arrive in time, CPD wouldn’t be able to access those federal funds, according to the Department of Justice.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Chicago Public Schools wants ideas for how to improve outcomes for Black students: The public meetings are part of the district’s new Black Student Success Working Group, which CPS created in the fall to provide district leaders with recommendations for its upcoming “Black Student Success Plan.” That blueprint will then be folded into the district’s overall five-year strategic plan, which is expected to be finalized this summer.

* Tribune | Visa program allows Mexican grandparents to visit Lake County-area relatives: ‘I couldn’t believe she was in my arms’: Alvarez and Aguirre were two of 16 grandparents participating in an Abuelitas family reunification celebration Sunday at Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep in Waukegan, where they met the two men primarily responsible for the short-term visa program. Originally started in 2005 by former U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Highland Park, when he represented the 10th Congressional District, Abuelitas — the Spanish word for “grandmothers” — was restarted this year by U.S. Rep Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, with the help of Kirk and officials on both sides of the border.

* Crain’s | City files response to building owners’ appeal on ‘Bring Chicago Home’: In a March 12 response to that appeal, the city’s deputy corporation counsel urged the Illinois Supreme Court to deny BOMA’s emergency motion for expedited consideration of its petition for leave to appeal. “There is no emergency,” Myriam Zreczny Kasper wrote in the response. “In the only paragraph of their motion that purports to explain why expedited consideration is necessary, plaintiffs assert that their challenge to a referendum concerns issues ‘that apply to the process itself and must be considered before the March 19 election.’ That is not a valid reason.”

* Sun-Times | Civic Federation questions volatility, structure, fairness of ‘Bring Chicago Home’ referendum: The 25-page analysis doesn’t comment on the legality of the binding referendum on Tuesday’s ballot — though the question of whether those votes will be counted is now before the Illinois Supreme Court. But the Civic Federation is raising questions similar to the ad campaign real estate interests are waging to defeat the referendum, which asks voters to support a graduated tax on property sales.

* WTTW | Chicago Architect John Ronan Selected to Design First National Memorial in D.C. Dedicated to Fallen Journalists: The local design firm John Ronan Architects, led by architect John Ronan, will be working to establish a final design proposal to be presented to various agencies over the coming months, according to a Wednesday news release from the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation, tasked with establishing the memorial. “It deals with what I think is a global issue, freedom of the press, not just an American issue,” Ronan told WTTW News. “The role of the journalist has never been more important, and the ideals of a free press never more consequential than it is today.”

* Crain’s | WBEZ eyes younger, more diverse audience in shift toward digital programming: WBEZ rolled out a new lineup of midday programs on March 4, days after announcing it would cut its two-hour local news talk show, “Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons,” to one hour. The change would allow the National Public Radio affiliate to focus on its digital audience, it said. But the new lineup does not have the local focus that “Reset” brings. It includes two one-hour nationally syndicated NPR programs: news magazine “Here & Now” and “Fresh Air,” co-hosted by Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley. In trimming “Reset,” the station seems less focused on local programming, but Tracy Brown, chief content officer for Chicago Public Media, says that’s not the case.

* Tribune | Illinois will soon be cicada central when 2 broods converge on state in historic emergence: In the United States, there are 15 broods of periodical cicadas, each of which dig their way out from underground on different 13-year or 17-year cycles. Other broods have emerged at the same time in the past decade but not in the same place. Experts consider this year unusual because two broods are co-emerging in neighboring areas in Illinois for the first time in more than two centuries. “This contact area will see all seven species at once,” said Martha Weiss, a professor of biology at Georgetown University who researches cicadas with Lill. “So evolutionary biologists are going to be very interested to be at this zone of contact because that happens very rarely.”

* Crain’s | Illinois craft breweries venture into murky waters of THC: “Consumption of beer has been declining. . . .(We) have to continue to find different channels of revenue or innovation,” said Mike Condon, co-owner of Noon Whistle Brewing. “We’re all looking at it as untapped potential — a new beverage space, if you will.” The potential reward comes with risks. The often-effervescent drinks are not part of the state’s recreational marijuana economy because the THC added into them does not come from weed. It is extracted from hemp, which is less regulated in Illinois than its more potent cousin.

* Crain’s | Bike trail connecting Chicago to Michigan gets another green light: Construction on the Marquette Greenway Trail’s Michigan strip, which will span 4 miles from the northern Indiana border to downtown New Buffalo, Mich., is slated to begin early next month. A groundbreaking celebration is set for April 3 at the eastern terminus of the trail.

* NBC | Nearly 30% of Gen Z women identify as LGBTQ, Gallup survey finds: Parsing each generation, the gender story gets more interesting. In the three younger generations surveyed — Generation Z, millennials and Generation X — women are more likely than men to identify as LGBTQ. However, in the two oldest generations — baby boomers and the Silent Generation — it is reversed. (The gender breakdown does not account for nonbinary respondents, who represented about 1% of those surveyed.)

* Sun-Times | 2024 Pitchfork Music Festival lineup features Alanis Morissette, Carly Rae Jepsen: Black Pumas, Jai Paul and 100 Gecs lead the schedule for Friday, which also includes artists such as Jeff Rosenstock, Yaeji and Sudan Archives. […] The festival will wrap up Sunday with a headlining set from Morissette, the Canadian-American songwriter best known for her 1995 hit album “Jagged Little Pill.”