* Daily Southtown…

Prairie State College leadership announced Tuesday it will no longer plan events at Victory Apostolic Church in Matteson after the Daily Southtown published concerns from students and community members over the church’s opinions of same-sex marriage.

“Prairie State College is committed to finding a new venue that respects and honors the rights of all individuals without any religious affiliation for all future events,” a statement from the president’s office reads.

Victory Apostolic Church does not recognize marriage that is not between a man and a woman, and believes the Bible teaches that homosexuality is a sin and does not “condone the homosexual lifestyle,” according to its website.

These comments led Rebecca Fassbender, a graduating student from Park Forest and the president of the school’s Pride Club, to file a complaint with Prairie State College’s Department of Equity and Inclusion.

* South Side Weekly…

When mayor Brandon Johnson announced in February that Chicago would stop using the gunshot-detection system known as ShotSpotter by year’s end, local activists were elated. […]

But ending the contract may not be enough to remove the company’s more than 2,500 sensors from neighborhoods on the city’s South and West Sides, where they’re disproportionately located. Internal emails reviewed by South Side Weekly and WIRED suggest ShotSpotter keeps its sensors online and, in some instances, provides gunshot detection alerts to police departments in cities where its contracts have expired or been canceled. The emails raise new questions about whether the sensors in Chicago will be turned off and removed, regardless of Johnson’s decision. […]

An organizer who’s been active in the push to cancel ShotSpotter’s contract in Chicago wasn’t surprised the company has continued to work with police behind the scenes in cities where contracts have ended.

“I think it’s exactly what cops and corporations do,” says Nathan Palmer, an organizer with the Stop ShotSpotter Campaign and Black Youth Project 100. “Especially when we’re thinking about Chicago, it would benefit ShotSpotter to keep the mics up and working so that they can also throw lobbying money at whoever’s gonna oppose mayor Brandon Johnson in the next election.”

* Sun-Times…

Maybe you’ve noticed some little cicada-like creatures on the ground while gardening or after flipping over a log lately. […]

“They are preparing to emerge,” said Negin Almassi, a resource management training specialist with the Cook County Forest Preserve District. “I have not seen any reports, nor have I myself seen any adults yet. The soil is not warm enough yet for that.

“It’s a fun wait-and-see game right now to see when the firsts start to emerge, so they’re getting ready, and they generally do that about three weeks before they start coming out.”

The periodical cicadas should start to appear once the soil reaches 64 degrees, which is expected by late May.

*** Statewide ****

* WICS | Senator urges residents to ‘hog’ all the bacon on new Illinois Bacon Day celebration: On May 1st, the Illinois Pork Producers Association will gather at the Illinois State Capitol to celebrate the commemoration of Senate Joint Resolution 50, sponsored by Senator Tom Bennett (R-53), designating May 1st as Illinois Bacon Day. Illinois pig farmers, IPPA staff, and FFA state officers will be handing out BLT sandwiches to legislators at the Illinois State Capital to discuss the role that pork production plays in Illinois.

* Center Square | Measure to provide freed prisoners with naloxone advancing in Springfield: The Illinois House recently passed House Bill 5527 that would provide naloxone to people leaving incarceration if they were behind bars for drug-related charges or have a substance abuse problem. The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Justin Slaughter, D-Chicago, said studies have shown overdose is the leading cause of death for people recently released from incarceration. He said funds from Illinois’ share of the nationwide opioid settlement will cover the cost.

* Center Square | Illinois federal judges rescind ‘discriminatory’ policies after complaint: The rules that gave newer, Black female attorneys more time in oral arguments were discriminatory and illegal, he said. “Oral argument is not something the court has to give somebody, but the standing orders of the judges said that they will give oral argument to litigants that have either a female or minority lawyer, pretty much illegal,” said Shestokas.

*** Chicago ****

* Tribune | Lawyers for indicted Ald. Carrie Austin say she’s medically unfit for trial, plans to retire in March: In a motion Friday afternoon, Austin’s attorney, Thomas Anthony Durkin, asked that her case be severed from Wilson’s and that she be declared medically unfit for trial due to chronic and worsening heart failure, as well as a breathing condition “that makes her feel like she is drowning when she lays down, so she can only sleep in a recliner.” Durkin wrote that the request was made “out of an abundance of concern that Ms. Austin simply will not make it through the stress of trial or the difficult pretrial preparation.”

* Tribune | April Perry nominated for federal judge, nixing bid to be Chicago’s first female U.S. attorney: Perry is being nominated to fill a seat being vacated by U.S. District Judge Nancy Maldonaldo, who has been nominated to the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago, the White House announced Wednesday. Meanwhile, the search for Lausch’s replacement will likely have to begin anew and almost certainly won’t be decided until after the 2024 presidential election in November.

* Sun-Times | Family of Dexter Reed files federal civil rights lawsuit over his killing by Chicago police: The lawsuit accuses Chicago police of promoting “brutally violent, militarized policing tactics,” and argues that the five officers who stopped Reed “created an environment that directly resulted in his death.” Reed, 26, was driving in the 3800 block of West Ferdinand Street in Humboldt Park on March 21 when tactical officers in an unmarked car stopped his GMC Terrain. Video footage released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability shows the officers drawing their guns as they yelled for Reed to lower his window and open his door.

* Crain’s | Foxtrot, Dom’s facing lawsuit one day after shuttering stores: The proposed class-action lawsuit was filed this morning in federal court in Chicago. It alleges that Foxtrot, Dom’s and parent company Outfox Hospitality violated the federal and state Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification acts. The WARN acts, as they are commonly called, require companies to give employees 60 days’ notice of a mass layoff or plant closure, and provide compensation during that notice period.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ****

* Lake County News-Sun | Waukegan’s mayor says invitation to Bears was worth a shot: ‘We have to explore every opportunity for economic development’: As the Chicago Bears embark on a plan to build a new stadium near their current Soldier Field home, Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor said she has no regrets about having invited the team to relocate 50 miles north to her city’s lakefront. Taylor said she knew when she invited the Bears to explore putting a stadium on undeveloped lakefront property in June it was a longshot, but the team responded and she also heard from other developers who wanted to be part of any such project.

* ABC Chicago | Des Plaines’ St. Zachary School closing after more than 60 years: St. Zachary School in Des Plaines reportedly had only 20 students enrolled for next year, and the school will be closing at the end of this year. A spokesperson from the Office of Catholic Schools called the news “heartbreaking,” saying the decision “only came after thoughtful exploration of multiple options to keep the school sustainable.”

* Daily Herald | Judge: Accused Highland Park shooter gets some phone privileges restored: Rossetti ordered Robert Crimo III be allowed to speak by phone with his parents and siblings. The defendant’s phone privileges were suspended last year after authorities say he violated jail rules by using another inmate’s PIN number to call his mother, after his phone privileges were suspended for threatening corrections officers.

* Daily Herald | With new campaign contributions in tow, Elk Grove mayor announces reelection bid: Already Elk Grove Village’s longest-serving mayor, Craig Johnson announced Tuesday he will seek an unprecedented eighth term in next year’s election. At the same time, longtime Trustee Chris Prochno — who has been Johnson’s right hand on the village board as long as he’s been mayor — announced she won’t seek another term, wrapping up a 28-year tenure a year from now.

*** Downstate ***

* Crain’s | Tech entrepreneur Tom Siebel gives U of I another $50M to fund data science: Tom Siebel, one of the most famous tech entrepreneurs to graduate from the University of Illinois, is doubling down on his support of the school’s computer science program as it gears up to handle the next big thing: artificial intelligence. Siebel, 71, is giving another $50 million to the school, bringing his total donations to $110 million, the university says. The U of I is naming its computer science department the Siebel School of Computing & Data Science.

*** Sports ****

* Tribune | 2024 NFL draft: Everything you need to know, including when the Chicago Bears pick and how you can watch: It’s all happening in downtown Detroit, where top prospects will walk the red carpet at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza before Round 1 — and the traditional booing of Commissioner Roger Goodell — starts at 7 p.m. Thursday CDT. Rounds 2 and 3 will happen Friday beginning at 6 p.m., with Rounds 4-7 kicking off at noon Saturday.

*** National ****

* Business Insider | Threads just dethroned X, according to this key metric: Meta’s newest app, launched last summer on the back of Instagram’s tech, has seen daily active users grow consistently since November, according to usage estimates from Apptopia. Threads is a direct rival of X, formerly Twitter, which has struggled to maintain its user base since Elon Musk acquired the platform about 18 months ago.

* Missouri Independent | Bill ending Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood clears Missouri Senate: A bill that would make Planned Parenthood ineligible to receive reimbursements from the state’s Medicaid program passed out of the Missouri Senate early Wednesday morning after an 11-hour Democratic filibuster. The bill now returns to the House, where it can be sent to Gov. Mike Parson to sign into law.

* AP | Airlines will now be required to give automatic cash refunds for canceled and delayed flights: The Transportation Department said airlines will be required to provide automatic cash refunds within a few days for canceled flights and “significant” delays. Under current regulations, airlines decide how long a delay must last before triggering refunds. The administration is removing that wiggle room by defining a significant delay as lasting at least three hours for domestic flights and six hours for international ones.