* WBBM…

President Trump’s numerous executive orders over the past two weeks include actions on the environment, which has Illinois environmental advocates worried. […]

Laura Goldberg, senior director of Midwest Regional Impact at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said it’s all a concern, but there’s hope.

“Illinois has a real opportunity with the movements on the ground here as well as our elected officials to ensure that we continue climate progress,” said Goldberg.

[Jen Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council,] said, while she has concerns about Trump’s moves, Chicago will stay on its current path.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Rep. Carol Ammons and Sen. Kimberly Lightford | A clear way to sustain our public universities: Adequately fund them: This January, Western Illinois University announced it would be launching a furlough program, its latest effort to address a budget crisis. In other parts of the state, public universities including Northern Illinois University and SIUC are reckoning with budget concerns as well. The impact of the state’s ongoing status-quo approach of inequitably and inadequately funding our public universities has been slow burning for more than two decades. Regrettably, it is our students who have been shouldering the cost of that shortcoming by shelling out more money to attend school at great personal or familial expense, or by sitting out the college opportunity altogether to avoid the debt they’d have to incur to attend.

*** Statewide ***

* SJ-R | Freezing rain expected for much of Illinois on Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know: Central Illinois can expect some freezing rain during their morning commute Wednesday, while northern Illinois is predicted to see freezing rain Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service. Southern Illinois will see only rain. […] The Springfield area can expect to see patches of freezing drizzle by 5 or 6 a.m. Wednesday. Rising temperatures there should be just warm enough to change the freezing drizzle to simply rain in the late morning, said Chris Geelhart, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

* NPR Illinois | More Illinois colleges are offering full tuition scholarships. Are they too good to be true?: More and more Illinois colleges and universities are offering full tuition scholarships. “The Huskie Pledge,” “The Rockford Promise,” “The Illinois Commitment” — everyone’s got one now. But as nice as zero tuition sounds, is it too good to be true? […] [Saida Bajrami is a junior at Dixon High School she] says it’s helped her get to know her community. And, it also helped her earn a full-tuition scholarship at Sauk Valley Community College through their Impact Program.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Howard Brown picks next CEO: Dr. Travis Gayles, 45, will take over the top role at the LGBTQ+ health care provider March 3 after more than 200 other candidates were considered for the top role. Gayles comes to Howard Brown from school-based telehealth company Hazel Health, where he was chief health officer. He replaces David Ernesto Munar, who left Howard Brown about a year ago. Since then, Dr. Robin Gay has been serving as CEO on an interim basis. She will now return to her prior role as Howard Brown’s chief dental officer.

* Block Club | Former CTA Boss Dorval Carter Jr. Likely To Get Major Salary Bump At Saint Anthony Hospital: Carter’s tenure as the highest-compensated employee in city government ended when he stepped down as CTA president on Jan. 31, giving up his $391,108 salary. But in a few weeks, he’ll start receiving a $137,000-a-year pension, according to the CTA. As a longtime federal employee, Carter also likely qualifies for a federal pension. Federal officials did not answer questions about Carter’s federal benefits.

* Crain’s | ADM cutting up to 700 jobs as it keeps a close eye on tariffs: Agriculture giant Archer Daniels Midland is watching tariffs closely as it heads into an already uncertain environment in the global market for commodities. The Chicago-based company, which is facing its own challenges related to accounting woes and profit pressure from rising supplies of grain, said today it’s eliminating 600 to 700 jobs, including 150 vacancies. Tariffs announced by the Trump administration only add to its challenges.

* Block Club | Chicago Brewers Fear Trump Tariffs Will Hit Canadian Suppliers: ‘I Can’t See Any Good For Us’: “Electricity is cheaper there so that’s where we make aluminum,” said Robert Gulotty, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Chicago who studies tariffs. “When you have an integrated U.S.-Canada-Mexico market … there’s not going to just be a waiting competitor to fill the gap.” Klein said he turned to Canada for cans after American companies serving larger competitors declined to ship the small brewery small quantities. He doesn’t have enough space to store truckloads at a time.

* Sun-Times | ‘A day without immigrants’ in Chicago saw businesses close, CPS students stay at home: The movement encouraged participants to skip work and school and refrain from shopping for one day. The initiative spread across social media in response to Trump’s immigration crackdown. In Chicago, that began last week with highly publicized raids, sending ripples of fear throughout the community.

* Sun-Times | Chicago police commander violated rules in raid on unlicensed strip joint, report says: Tyrone Pendarvis, commander of the Calumet District on the Far South Side, retired in August 2024, more than a year after one of his officers came forward to complain about those searches. During the early morning raids, that officer was recorded on his body-worn camera asking a fellow cop, “Is this illegal?” “No, we good, we with 500,” the other officer replied, referring to the code number for Pendarvis.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* NBC Chicago | Illinois I-PASS users report more Illinois Tollway scam, phishing texts: Illinois tollway officials first warned of the phishing scam in the spring of 2024, with some reporting on social media that they had received text messages from an out of state number, claiming they had unpaid tolls owed to the agency. The latest messages appear to be from a 219 area code, according to screenshots of texts sent to users this weekend.

* Daily Herald | Public EV charging stations being installed at Rolling Meadows city hall: The six 48 amp charging stations will be accessible 24/7 free of charge to Rolling Meadows residents and nonresidents alike, though there will be a 4-hour time limit to prevent misuse of the spaces and discourage overnight parking, said City Manager Rob Sabo. A seventh charger — this one at 32 amps — will be reserved for city fleet use. The less powerful charger is suited for smaller cars, and the city’s sole electric vehicle is a Chevy Bolt used by a building inspector.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Champaign school board hears from candidates for open seat; no decision made yet: The Champaign School District took steps towards filling an important position Monday night. They discussed who will step into a board seat that has been empty since December. The board did not reach an agreement tonight on who should take over the seat yet. However, they did get a chance to meet with the three people vying for it.

* WCIA | Champaign city councilman apologizes for ‘historical context’ swastika post: The City of Champaign released a statement from Davion Williams Tuesday morning, in which he wrote a “sincere and heartfelt” apology. He said it was never his intention to cause harm, but he acknowledged the pain he caused and said he takes full responsibility for the impact of his words.

* WGLT | From day one, Illinois State University assistant coach Rob Judson has lived a basketball life: “As far back as I can remember, with my dad coaching and me following him to the gym and the Hebron legend that surrounded him all the time, basketball has been a very big part of my growing up experience and my life,” Judson said.

*** National ***

* The Atlantic | The Doctor Who Let RFK Jr. Through: Ron Johnson may be the most anti-vaccine lawmaker in Congress; he’s the kind of guy who says he’s “sticking up for people who choose not to get vaccinated” while claiming without valid evidence that thousands have died from COVID shots. This morning, at the Capitol, Johnson walked over to his Senate Finance Committee colleague Bill Cassidy, a doctor and a passionate advocate for vaccination, and gave him an affectionate pat on the shoulder. The two of them had just advanced Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services to the Senate floor.

* WSJ | The Super Bowl Has Never Seen Anything Like These Five Gigantic Humans: Offensive linemen are typically the largest players in football, but even by those standards, the Eagles are positively ginormous. Their five starting linemen, on average, stand at 6-foot-6 and weigh 338 pounds. By comparison, they’re more than an inch taller, and 26 pounds heavier, than their counterparts on the Kansas City Chiefs.

* AP | Waffle House adds surcharge to eggs as massive bird flu outbreak leads to soaring prices: The Waffle House restaurant chain is putting a 50 cent per egg surcharge in place temporarily due to the biggest bird flu outbreak in a decade. The Georgia company said that the resulting egg shortage has led to a dramatic increase in its costs. Bird flu is forcing farmers to slaughter millions of chickens a month, pushing U.S. egg prices to more than double their cost in the summer of 2023. And it appears there may be no relief in sight with Easter approaching.