* Sun-Times…

The so-called Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, has listed seven leases in Illinois as being marked for imminent termination. At the DOGE website, the administration claims it will save the government more than $2.4 million a year by shuttering federal facilities in rented properties in Chicago, Hoffman Estates, Rockford, Rock Island, Champaign, Springfield and O’Fallon.

The office that would be shut down in Chicago belongs to the Federal Transit Administration and the move would save more than $471,000 a year, according to the DOGE website. The FTA’s office for a six-state region is in downtown Chicago, at 200 W. Adams St.

According to the DOGE website, the lease is being terminated for a Social Security office in Rockford and a National Archives facility in Hoffman Estates. The website does not provide further details about the leased space in the northwest suburb, but the government has rented an old furniture showroom in Hoffman Estates to store papers for the presidential library of former President Barack Obama.

That lease was scheduled to end this year anyway, officials had said, because the library will become completely digital. DOGE credits its decision on the Hoffman Estates property with saving almost $1.5 million.

* Congrats, Jaclyn! Stomping Ground Strategies…

*** Statehouse News ***

* Shaw Local | Focused on Trump, Pritzker blasts administration’s actions in Kane County speech: While giving a speech Sunday evening in St. Charles echoing the pomp and sentiments of a presidential campaign, Gov. JB Pritzker denounced the actions of President Donald Trump and rallied voters to take action against their liberties being taken away. “We’ve got to tell people not just what we’re against, but also what we’re for, and then we’ve got to deliver on it,” Pritzker said during his speech. “Democrats are for making it easier to get childcare and to send your kid to preschool. We’re for making it more affordable to get quality healthcare and for seniors to grow old with dignity. We’re for raising the minimum wage so no family goes hungry without a roof over their heads. We spent the last six years doing that here in Illinois.”

* WTVO | Rep. McCombie reintroduces bill to repeal Illinois pro-abortion laws, faces activists in Pecatonica: McCombie stopped by the Pecatonica Library to discuss issues with her constituents and said she was surprised by the protests. […] She also acknowledged the bill had little hope of passing. “We’re in the super minority. This bill will sit like it does every year. It’ll sit where it is, and it’ll just die in rules,” she said.

*** Chicago ***

* The Atlantic | Migrants Prepare to Lose Their American Lives: One recent morning on Chicago’s southwest side, the manager of a Mexican grocery store began the day posted at the front door, rehearsing the phrase “I wish to exercise my right to remain silent” in English in case immigration agents showed up asking about employees. At a Mexican restaurant, the owner stashed newly laminated private signs under the host stand, ready to slap on the walls of the kitchen and a back dining room where workers could hide if agents arrived without a proper warrant.

* WTTW | 250 Jobs Charged With Implementing Court-Ordered Police Reforms Are Empty, Chicago Officials Say: Approximately 250 positions charged with implementing a court order that requires the Chicago Police Department to stop routinely violating Black and Latino residents’ constitutional rights are vacant, even as Chicago officials are facing increasing pressure from a federal judge to “accelerate” the reform effort, records show. A department spokesperson told WTTW News police officials are “actively” working to fill the vacant positions charged with implementing the court order known as the consent decree and reforming CPD, which has faced decades of scandals, misconduct and brutality.

* Sun-Times | CTA launching ‘Frequent Network’ bus service on some routes that will arrive every 10 minutes or sooner: The CTA said buses on eight routes will arrive every 10 minutes or sooner between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends beginning March 23. Twelve more routes will be added later this year.

* Sun-Times | What is Pulaski Day? Here’s what’s closed and the history of this Chicago holiday: Pulaski Day, observed on the first Monday of March, honors Pulaski’s role in the American Revolution and celebrates the contributions of Chicago’s Polish American community. The holiday is held around Pulaski’s birthday, March 6. Illinois established the holiday in 1977 under Gov. James Thompson. In 1986, the Chicago City Council passed a resolution introduced by Mayor Harold Washington to officially recognize it, following strong advocacy from local Polish organizations and community leaders.

* Sun-Times | She had a deal to run a coffee bar inside the Englewood Save A Lot, but Yellow Banana ghosted her: The Ohio-based company offered the Auburn-Gresham native a low-risk, low-cost opportunity: She’d pay them 5% of her shop’s monthly sales in exchange for using the space, as well as equipment Whole Foods left behind in 2022. But Simmons has since walked away from the deal, disgusted, after spending thousands on inventory. Her coffee bar never opened for business. The 38-year-old blames Yellow Banana, saying the company didn’t keep its end of the deal to provide working internet and equipment and then stopped responding when she spoke up. She describes a chaotic situation during the 16 months she showed up to prep for opening and run her online business.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Aurora Beacon-News | Fear of ICE arrests keeping customers at home, immigrant-owned businesses in Aurora say: ‘The streets were so lonely’: Just off the Metra tracks on the East Side of Aurora, Elotes Gus, a food truck, sits in a parking lot. It’s open every day, according to its owner, Gustavo Salmeron, 47. When he’s not working as a Spanish teacher, he’s probably there, serving tacos to the passersby and witnessing the hustle and bustle of the streets around him from his truck. On a recent Friday evening at just before 6 p.m., Salmeron’s truck has no line. He said on a typical day, even in the winter, there would regularly be three or four customers waiting for their dinner by now. But business has been slow lately, Salmeron said.

* Crain’s | Schaumburg reaches deal with Zurich in tax break dispute: The village and the insurance company were at odds over whether employees had to merely be “assigned” to a location or physically be onsite to meet the contractual requirement for the number of workers necessary to qualify for the tax break. At stake were millions of dollars a year. Under terms of original agreement, created two decades ago, the village offered to reimburse Zurich up to $100 million in property taxes over 23 years for building a gleaming $325 million headquarters on a 39-acre campus at Interstate 90 and Meacham Road, which would employ a minimum of 1,700 workers.

* Daily Herald | As U.S. sees rough flu season, what’s happening in the suburbs?: At Endeavor Health Edward Hospital in Naperville, it’s been a “very busy flu season,” says Dr. Jonathan Pinsky, medical director of infection control and prevention. There were 1,345 lab-confirmed influenza cases in the emergency room and in the hospital throughout the entire flu season in 2023-24.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Opening of Kane County Flea Market an early sign of spring for Aurora-area shoppers: With spring in the air, it wasn’t surprising to find Geneva resident Matt Jania looking for some baseball memorabilia on Saturday on opening weekend of the Kane County Flea Market in St. Charles. “I’ve been to a flea market a few times and this one is nice,” he said as he looked over some framed pictures of professional athletes. “I haven’t bought much, but when I find something that I like I’m a pretty good negotiator. I knew this weekend was coming, and I’m going to check out some other stuff like maybe a few jerseys and stuff to hang up in my room in the house.”

* Evanston Round Table | Picturing Evanston: 45 Paczki in 5 minutes: In honor of Guy Downer — the patriarch of Bennison’s who passed away this year five hours shy of this 101st birthday — portions of prune paczki sales are going toward “Folds of Honor,” an organization that provides academic scholarships to the children and spouses of fallen or disabled military members and first responders. Each competing team received 30 paczki, and the group that ate the most in five minutes won. Cups with warm water were a crucial component for the speedy and successful intake of the pastries.

*** Downstate ***

* SJ-R | Major construction underway on I-55 near Springfield. Here’s what to know.: Builders began widening the bridges last week as a step towards adding a northbound and a southbound lane to the bridges, as well expanding a stretch of the interstate. The bridges are just north of the northbound RailSplitter rest area. The project will also add safety and capacity improvements to the interstate, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.

* WICS | Illinois Fire Service Institute to host Discover IFSI events in Champaign: Participants in the Discover IFSI events will gain insights into the requirements and process for becoming a firefighter in Illinois. The program includes guided tours of a fire service training facility and up-close observations of live fire and technical rescue fire training.

* BND | This $1 million road project is starting soon in St. Clair County: A $1 million road work project is expected to start this spring on a portion of Sullivan Drive, which runs through Belleville and Swansea. Crews will be repairing Sullivan Drive between Huntwood Road in Swansea and Illinois 161 in Belleville. This section of the road has an average daily traffic of 8,250 cars, according to data from the state transportation agency.

*** National ***

* STAT | HHS review of a vaccine contract sparks worries about preparedness for a potential bird flu pandemic: Most flu vaccines are currently made using a decades-old approach where viruses are grown in hen’s eggs, then inactivated — a process that can sometimes result in mutations that undermine the vaccines’ effectiveness. Production is slow and reliant on huge quantities of eggs — the supply of which could be threatened by outbreaks of H5N1 or other bird flu viruses, as is happening now. Wide-scale outbreaks of H5N1 in poultry are occurring in multiple parts of the country, forcing the culling of flocks and driving egg costs to historic highs.

* Politico | Top HHS spokesperson quits after clashing with RFK Jr.: The top spokesperson at the Health and Human Services Department has abruptly quit after clashing with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his close aides over their management of the agency amid a growing measles outbreak, two people familiar with the matter told POLITICO. Thomas Corry announced on Monday that he had resigned “effective immediately,” just two weeks after joining the department as its assistant secretary for public affairs.