* ICYMI: Chicago Bears to announce plans Wednesday for new domed stadium on lakefront. Tribune…

-The Chicago Bears have set noon Wednesday to announce plans for a new domed stadium on the lakefront.
- The team said it plans to present a “state-of-the-art, publicly owned enclosed stadium, along with additional green and open space with access to the lakefront for families and fans, on the Museum Campus.”
-The team has pledged to spend $2 billion in private money for the project. The cost of the stadium is estimated at $2.5 billion to $3 billion, plus $1 billion for associated roads and other infrastructure.

* Related stories…

∙ AP: Chicago Bears schedule a Wednesday announcement on new stadium near lakefront
∙ Daily Herald: Bears to unveil plans for domed stadium on lakefront Wednesday
∙ Crain’s: Reinsdorf offers to open wallet for new Sox stadium
∙ WGN: Illinois: We like our sports teams more than our jobs, study shows

At 11:45 am, Governor Pritzker will be at the Rockford OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center on his state-wide tour to promote the Healthcare Protection Act. Click here to watch.

* Sierra Club Chicago calls for new CTA leadership…

*** My top pick ***

* Tribune | Illinois residents encouraged to destroy the eggs of invasive insects to slow spread: The spongy moth, formerly known as the gypsy moth, has been in Illinois for decades and can strip leaves and kill trees, sometimes defoliating large swaths of land. Kathryn Bronsky, a national policy manager with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said while it’s important to stop spongy moths from killing trees in the 20 states in which they are currently established, it’s even more important to limit the insect’s expansion across the United States.

*** Statehouse ***

* STLPR | Pritzker, local lawmakers tout health insurance reform in Belleville hospital visit: Dr. Jennifer Neville, an internal medicine specialist based at BJC’s location in Shiloh, treats women with osteoporosis who have an increased risk of fracturing their bones. Often Neville prescribes a higher-tier medication to her patients, but it’s usually denied right away, she said. “Unfortunately, this process is the norm,” Neville said. “I spend an inordinate amount of time and resources fighting with the insurers to get the patients the care they need.”

* SJ-R | As Illinois weighs carbon dioxide pipeline moratorium, feds recommend technology: Following visits to Archer Daniels Midland facilities in Decatur and Springfield, U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Brad Crabtree touched down in the Illinois State Capitol on April 16. The state, he said, plays a major role in helping the Biden administration’s goal of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. Carbon capture can help in its aim, Crabtree added, while not hindering manufacturing.

* Capitol Connection | Keicher gives update on Republican priorities heading into final month of session: Lawmakers are preparing to head into their last month of the Spring Legislative Session. The budget will take center stage, as the state deals with a tight fiscal year. Representative Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) joined Capitol Connection to talk about the rest of session, the role Republicans will play in the final days, and a couple of his own legislative priorities.

* Center Square | Bill enhancing penalties for threats against librarians stalls: Long pauses were taken by state Rep. Anne Stava-Murray, D-Downers Grove, when she was questioned by a fellow Democratic representative on the House floor Friday. The bill would enhance penalties for those who transmit lewd or offensive behavior against a librarian in any manner. State Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-Chicago, said Murray didn’t have a clear definition for lewd and offensive behavior.

* High Times | Illinois Governor Cites Cannabis Reform While Campaigning for Biden: At a campaign stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Saturday, Pritzker said that cannabis policy reform can have significant economic benefits in states that legalize marijuana for adults. “I wanted to come up here on 4/20, because we, too, legalized cannabis in the state of Illinois, and I know that’s been a boon to not only state revenues but also to business and job creation in the state of Michigan,” said Pritzker, according to a report from Michigan Advance.

* Daily Herald | Congressional primary winners vastly outraised and outspent their opponents: The fundraising front-runner of the group, Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Naperville, already has raked in more than $2 million and spent more than $1 million to retain his 11th District seat. Foster’s primary challenger, fellow Naperville resident Qasim Rashid, was the only defeated candidate in either district to spend in the six-figure range. Even so, he lagged far behind Foster.

* Capitol Connection | Rape Crisis Centers in dire need of life raft from the state: The Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault is asking the state for $20 million dollars, which is more than double what they get from the state currently. They need additional money because the federal government cut down the amount of money going to a fund for victims of crimes. Several facilities have already closed their doors because of the shortfall.

* Austin Weekly News | Rep. La Shawn Ford spotlights opioid crisis with Harm Reduction Solidarity Week: At a news conference in Springfield April 17, Ford was joined by the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, Sameer Vohra, and the Illinois Harm Reduction and Recovery Coalition, along with other advocates, to spotlight the crisis and efforts to stop it and to save lives. “We were educating the Springfield members, and all those that listen, about how important it is to have what you call harm reduction tools in our community,” Ford said.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Senators show confidence in Johnson’s O’Hare rebuild plan: Johnson wants to change the sequencing of construction on the long-awaited Global Terminal and two new satellite concourses. That idea had initially drawn pushback from the congressional leaders when first reported earlier this month. But Durbin and Duckworth rallied behind the plan Monday. “We’re in a better place. There’s been an effort to increase the conversation,” Durbin said at a groundbreaking for a separate O’Hare redevelopment project. “I think we have a proposal that will reach our goal of 25% increased capacity.”

* Sun-Times | Makeover of O’Hare’s Terminal 3 takes off as airlines mull deal on expansion, Global Terminal: The project calls for wider concourses, renovated restrooms, a revamped baggage claim area, more concession space and a host of other passenger amenities. Transportation Security Administration security checkpoints will also be reconfigured into a single screening area.

* Sun-Times | Chicago police union files notice of appeal in case that would open serious discipline cases to the public: At the Police Board’s meeting Thursday, President Kyle Cooper announced that the board would hold off on making final decisions on disciplinary matters in anticipation of an appeal. Cooper noted that 16 officers with pending disciplinary cases have filed motions to transfer their cases to arbitration.

* Sun-Times | Chicago police release photos, video of person of interest sought in probe of Officer Luis Huesca slaying: A community alert asks for help in identifying the male “subject,” noting that he “should be considered armed and dangerous.” Meanwhile, those who knew Huesca have been left reeling. Rocio Lasso said she leaned on Huesca after her own son, Andres Vásquez Lasso, was killed in the line of duty last year.

* Illinois Review | Steve Boulton Says he’s not Running for Chicago GOP Chairman After IR Exposes his Past Comments Comparing Trump to Hitler, Blames “Far Right” for his Downfall: The embattled chairman lost his election to save his 27th Ward Committeeman seat this past March after he was originally knocked off the primary ballot for submitting an “insufficient number of valid signatures.” Boulton then tried to run as a write-in candidate, but only received 24 votes – falling far short of the 111 required to remain a committeeman.

* Sun-Times | Judge OKs $12.25 million class-action settlement over Hilco’s Little Village dust storm: One resident, Elizabeth Rodriguez, told U.S. District Judge Young B. Kim that her husband still has difficulties breathing four years after the event. She and her family were left out of the agreement because she was just outside of the agreed boundaries for payouts. Rodriguez said she lives directly across the street from residents eligible for payments for either property damage or personal injury. Kim told Rodriguez that although she cannot benefit from the agreement, she is not bound by its restrictions, meaning that she can individually sue the companies because she’s not part of the class action.

* Crain’s | Raising Cane’s in talks to lease Fulton Market space: The Baton Rouge, La.-based fast-casual restaurant chain is in talks to lease the space at 820 W. Randolph St., formerly home to the Little Goat diner, according to people familiar with the negotiations. A Raising Cane’s spokesperson confirmed that the chain has “a deal moving through out process, but it is still very early to share timeline or anything involving the lease.”

* NBC Chicago | Are cicadas already emerging? Images, videos show large sightings in Chicago area: Sightings of cicadas, many still in the ground, have already been reported in numerous parts of the city and suburbs. A wall of what may be cicadas was spotted over the weekend on Wisconsin Avenue in Chicago’s Lincoln Park and Old Town Triangle neighborhoods. In Downers Grove, gardeners reported seeing several just underneath the surface in the soil.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* WBEZ | Toni Preckwinkle is unanimously re-elected head of the Cook County Democratic Party: In a brief victory speech, Preckwinkle touted how well Democratic Party-backed candidates did in the March primary, winning 21 out of 23 races — the best “win ratio” for the party in at least 25 years, she said. She acknowledged some narrowly defeated candidates, including Clayton Harris, III, whom she and the party backed for State’s Attorney. He lost to retired judge Eileen O’Neill Burke. Preckwinkle also made a nod to the preparation the party will take on for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, and November’s general election.

* Daily Herald | DuPage County clerk won’t attend board meeting to discuss no-bid contracts: DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek says she will not attend a Tuesday meeting to answer questions from county board members about two no-bid contracts, totaling more than $250,000, for materials related to the April primary. In a letter sent Monday to DuPage County Board Chairwoman Deborah Conroy, Kaczmarek said she is not an employee of the county board and that she has the authority to make decisions about how she spends her budget. She also suggested that a courtroom, not the county board room, is the proper venue to discuss the issue.

* Tribune | Logistics Campus at former Allstate headquarters off to slow start, with plans for lab-grown meat plant on hold: The slower-than-expected start for the $500 million project, one of the largest urban logistics developments in the U.S., may reflect both waning post-pandemic demand for warehouse space and perhaps an overly optimistic bet on when lab-grown chicken would be ready to land on your kitchen table. In October 2022, Allstate sold its longtime north suburban corporate campus for $232 million to Dermody Properties. The Nevada-based developer is turning the 232-acre property, which was annexed by Glenview, into a 10-building, 3.2 million-square-foot industrial park dubbed The Logistics Campus.

*** National ***

* Route Fifty | Justices debate whether cities can make sleeping outside a crime: But much of Monday’s hearing centered on whether the city’s law punished people for who they are or for what they did. That’s because in 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that people could be punished for a discrete act, but not for their “status.” The 1962 case involved a California law that punished both drug use and drug addiction. The Supreme Court ruled that the Eighth Amendment prohibited people from being punished for their addiction because it was a status.

* USA Today | Contact restored with NASA’s Voyager 1 space probe: For the first time since November, the spacecraft is now returning usable data about the health and status of its onboard engineering systems, NASA said in a news release. The 46-year-old pioneering probe, now some 15.1 billion miles from Earth, has continually defied expectations for its lifespan as it ventures further into the uncharted territory of the cosmos.

* Illinois Humanities | Can the Public Humanities Help Prepare Us for Global Warming?: For many, Katrina was the first large-scale extreme weather event clearly borne of global warming. It also highlighted the trademark points that so many had predicted: the vulnerability of low-lying coastal communities; the heaviest burden falling on the poor; the economic disruption; the displacement that results and in many cases becomes permanent. But also the powerful role of grassroots groups and organic networks in response.