* ICYMI: Jury foreman grew up thinking Madigan was ‘good person,’ but in the end was convinced of his guilt. Sun-Times…

- Jury foreman Timothy Nessner and other jurors interviewed by the Sun-Times said the jury managed to keep its cool as they reviewed months of testimony and evidence, including video secretly recorded by the FBI.
- “We re-listened to the tapes over and over, ad nauseam,” one juror, a 44-year-old suburban educator, said.
- Another juror said she was “shocked” when Madigan was called to the stand, but in her eyes, it “really humanized him” in both a “good and bad way.”

* Subscribers received more details about the trial this morning.

* Related stories…

∙ Tribune: ‘Wow, we were part of something really big’: Madigan jurors on how they reached their verdict
∙ Tribune: Democrats try to move on after ex-Speaker Michael Madigan’s conviction as GOP calls for greater state ethics reforms
∙ Capitol News Illinois: Madigan guilty of bribery as split verdict punctuates ex-speaker’s fall

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* NYT | A Lost Silent Film About Lincoln Was Unearthed by an Intern: Standing in the vault during the final week of his internship last August, Martin could have picked his next stack of films from any number of shelves. The one he happened to select included a remarkable discovery: five film cans containing 16-millimeter film of “The Heart of Lincoln,” a 1922 picture that was one of more than 7,000 silent films considered lost by the Library of Congress.

* WIRED | The GSA Plans to Sell Hundreds of Its Federal Government Buildings: According to the list, the buildings destined for the block include the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building in Chicago, which houses satellite offices for the Department of Labor, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, a probation office, and offices for Democratic Illinois senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin. The building also has broader cultural significance—it was designed by renowned architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and features an iconic Alexander Calder sculpture. … Many of the federal buildings on the list of non-core real estate are fully occupied, sources tell WIRED. This includes buildings like the Senator Paul Simon Federal Building in Carbondale, Illinois, which houses offices for the Federal Aviation Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Social Security Administration

* WCIA | IL Manufacturers’ Association hosting 6th Annual ‘Makers Madness’ contest: Nominations for “The Coolest Thing Made in Illinois” are now being accepted at makersmadnessil.com. Voting will also take place here, beginning March 4. Any product that is manufactured in Illinois can be nominated for the tournament. Additionally, while qualifying products must be made in Illinois, the manufacturers’ headquarters don’t have to be in the state.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Naperville Sun | Man charged after allegedly threatening to ‘blow up’ Naperville-based state rep: A Downers Grove man has been charged with threatening to “blow up” state Rep. Anne Stava Murray in a phone message he allegedly left for the Naperville Democrat. William Dzadon, 71, of the 100 block of 55th Street, turned himself in to the Illinois State Police Tuesday after an arrest warrant on two counts of threatening a public official was issued Feb. 7, a news release from DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said.

* Daily Herald | Transit funding crisis coming to a head in Springfield: “We’re really at a critical point,” RTA Executive Director Leanne Redden said at a Transit is the Answer Coalition meeting. “If the General Assembly does not find a funding solution for the fiscal cliff by the end of May” it will result in a budget gap and 40% service cuts to Metra, Pace and the CTA, Redden cautioned.

*** Statewide ***

* Illinois Times | Student MAP grants lower than expected: College students who receive Monetary Awards Program grants are seeing an 8% cut in their spring semester assistance after a higher-than-expected number of eligible students enrolled in classes this school year. The cuts represent a $12 to $336, or 8%, reduction compared to students’ previously estimated MAP grants, according to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which administers the grant program.

*** Chicago ***

* WTTW | Acting CTA President Pledges Outreach, Engagement as Agency Works to Tackle Budget Gap and Draw Back Passengers: A key way for the CTA to learn about rider priorities is the agency’s chatbot launched last spring, which allows people to submit complaints about issues on the system. Leerhsen said she asked the team behind the chatbot to look for trends, and that baseline things like cleanliness and smoking quickly emerged as common themes. “The smoking issue does come up as a primary complaint,” Leerhsen said. “Not all rule violations are created equal, and I think smoking really has an ability to really set a tone for a rider that is not indicative of what we want them to see.”

* Block Club | Mayor’s Office Releases ‘Gift Room’ Log, Video Following Inspector General Investigation: A dedicated city webpage now hosts the full log of gifts received by the city dating back to when Johnson took office in May 2023. The city has also posted a brief video of the room to YouTube, which it plans to update quarterly. The protocols now require all gifts be logged within 10 days of receipt and reported to the city’s Board of Ethics and comptroller. The gifts will be posted on the city’s website and will include a description of the gift, the date it was received and the name of the donor “to the extent provided,” among other criteria.

* WBEZ | Parents demand answers on the fate of Acero charter schools: Nearly two months after the Chicago Board of Education voted to save five of the seven Acero charter schools slated for closure, Chicago Public Schools officials and the schools’ private operator still have not landed an agreement for the schools to remain open. School board members joined Acero teachers and parents in asking for the status of those talks at a board meeting Wednesday and voicing their impatience at the lack of clarity on the future of the privately managed, publicly funded charter schools.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez one of six candidates for superintendent job in Clark County, Nevada: The school board voted to fire Martinez without cause in December after growing hostility with Mayor Brandon Johnson. His contract allows him to stay on as CEO until June and he is currently suing the Chicago Board of Education. But according to an agenda for a special meeting posted online, Martinez was one of 46 people to apply for the job leading the Nevada district, which is the fifth largest in the nation after CPS. The Clark County Board of School Trustees will meet Feb. 18 to discuss the slate of six candidates vying to be the next superintendent.

* Block Club | ‘The Bear’ Looking For Babies, Chefs And Average Chicagoans To Be Extras In New Season: Filming starts as soon as Feb. 25, according to local casting agency 4 Star Casting, which posted a call for extras on social media. That includes a 2- or 3-year-old body double for Richard “Richie” Jerimovich’s (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) daughter, Eva. There’s also a 4 Star Casting call for an infant under six months old for March, according to the agency’s Facebook.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Hayes endorses Tinaglia to succeed him as Arlington Heights mayor: After initial reluctance to make an endorsement, Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes Wednesday threw his support behind Trustee Jim Tinaglia to succeed him in the village’s top elected post. At the same, Trustee Robin LaBedz — Hayes’ president pro tem — backed Trustee Tom Schwingbeck to be the next mayor.

* Daily Herald | Supervisor Tiffany Henyard absent from Thornton Township Board, trustees push back budget vote: From her Thornton Township office, Henyard recorded and posted a live video at around the time of the meeting where she said she chose not to attend due to security concerns. Tuesday marked the first regularly scheduled meeting since a brawl broke out Jan. 28 involving Henyard, her boyfriend, community activists and others. “I was not going to be in jeopardy of being attacked or anything of that nature,” Henyard said in the video. She claimed trustees changed the layout of the board meeting last minute, “which was very concerning and alarming.”

* Daily Herald | Schaumburg trustees approve village’s first residential conversion of office building: The project’s anticipated 16- to18-month time frame includes replacing the original facade with an aluminum surface with a wood appearance. The interior work will carve out a mixture of 19 studio, 63 one-bedroom, and 16 two-bedroom apartments. Each unit will have its own balcony, laundry machines and temperature control.

*** Downstate ***

* The Southern | ‘This is our moonshot:’ Marion approves issuing first STAR bonds: It was then that the Marion city council voted unanimously to pass an ordinance approving the issuance of series 2025 STAR bonds, the first such bonds issued by the city since legislation was passed in 2010 allowing Marion to do so. In short, STAR bonds, short for sales tax and revenue, uses the state and local sales tax generated in a specific area to pay for projects developed in that area.

* WAND | UIS hosts ‘Hackathon’ to solve real-world challenges using tech: “The goal is they work in these teams and they really begin to see how what they’re learning in the classroom can be used to for real world problems for populations that maybe many aren’t thinking about or aren’t thinking about how technology can be the solution,” said Travis Bland, interim dean of the College of Health, Science and Technology.

*** National ***

* Mediaite| ‘Costs And Chaos!’ Ford CEO Warns Trump Tariffs Will ‘Blow A Hole’ In Auto Industry: Ford CEO Jim Farley warned that President Donald Trump’s tariff threats will “blow a hole” in the auto industry and manufacturers faced a spike in “costs” and “chaos.” Speaking at a Wolfe Research conference on Tuesday, according to Axios, Farley warned that Trump’s tariff-heavy trade tactics, whether targeting neighbors like Canada and Mexico or raw materials like steel and aluminum, are poised to wreak havoc on his industry.