* Subscribers know more. ICYMI: Judge tosses 4 of 9 counts in ComEd bribery case in wake of Supreme Court ruling. Sun-Times…

Four ex-ComEd officials and lobbyists remain convicted of a criminal conspiracy involving former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, despite a judge’s decision Monday to toss four of the nine counts in the case in the wake of a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision. […]

What happens next is unclear. When pressed by the judge after Monday’s ruling, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu noted that sentencing guidelines for the four defendants still call for life in prison. He said a new trial on the four vacated counts might be “somewhat fruitless.” […]

Meanwhile, four remaining counts are tied to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Defense attorneys in the ComEd case have cited an executive order from President Donald Trump calling for a pause and review of enforcement of that law.

[U.S. District Judge Manish Shah] declined Monday to put the ComEd case on hold while the consequences of Trump’s order are sorted out. However, Bhachu made clear to the judge “our office will comply with whatever instructions we receive” from the Justice Department when it comes to the FCPA.

* Related stories…

∙ Crain’s: ComEd Four get some counts thrown out in light of Supreme Court bribery ruling
∙ Tribune: Judge grants retrial on four bribery counts in ‘ComEd Four’ case involving Madigan
∙ Capitol News Illinois: Judge grants retrial on most bribery counts in ‘ComEd 4’ case nearly 2 years post-verdict

* BlueRoomStream.com’s coverage of today’s press conferences and committee hearings can be found here.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Lake County News-Sun | Robert Crimo III pleads guilty to Highland Park parade shooting; Mayor calls it ‘1,000%’ better than a trial: It had been a strange day for Turnipseed, 43, one of the dozens wounded in the shooting. Upon hearing discussion of Crimo, she got down on one knee and wrapped an arm around her daughter. She and her husband previously had told the little girl that Turnipseed was going to talk about “the bad man who hurt Mommy” in court. But now, she explained in front of the checkout counter, Crimo had said he’d done it.

* WBEZ | Chicagoans urged to stay current on measles vaccinations amid national outbreaks: And although no cases have been reported in Illinois so far this year, those in Texas and other states are a reminder for people to stay vigilant, Tan said. “What people need to recognize is measles can be a serious disease,” she said. “And the vaccine for measles is the most important and effective preventative measure for protecting their child against measles.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* Gov. JB Pritzker | Up to a million Illinoisans will lose health care coverage with slashing of Medicaid: One in four Illinois residents — more than 3.4 million people — are covered by Medicaid. Who are they? Medicaid provides health care for nearly half of our state’s children. It’s the largest insurer for people who live in nursing homes and for people with developmental disabilities. Farmers and rural farm workers will lose the ability to see a doctor when they’re ill. This is also a broader economic issue. Illinois hospitals and health systems support 445,000 full-time jobs and anchor many rural communities. Hospitals will close. People will lose their jobs.

* WSIL | Comptroller Mendoza announces new website for finances and credit ratings for Illinois: The new webpage now features information on budget-related bonds which are issued by the state and the progression on paying them off. Mendoza says the total outstanding bond debt stands at $40,424,563,000, as of December 31.

* CBS | How Illinois’ first lady and Willette Benford are giving second chances to women leaving prison: “I am what it looks like to give someone a fair chance, not a handout but a hand up,” Benford said. In 2022, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot wanted to brand the city a place for second chances. She tapped Benford as the city’s first director of reentry for people leaving prison and reentering society. In the role, Benford helped to reform background checks for 2,500 city jobs so that some convictions would not disqualify candidates from getting employment.

* Tribune | Judge dismisses lawsuit alleging violations in lucrative Illinois vendor program: A Cook County judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging a company violated the terms of a lucrative state contract in ways that included failing to inform the state that a pair of political insiders profited from the deal. In a one-page order issued without commentary on Feb. 21, Judge Jerry Esrig dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it can’t be amended or refiled.

*** Statewide ***

* SJ-R | Sexual and racial harassment investigations among those halted in Illinois schools: What investigations remain on hold? 201 investigations remain halted. Some of those listed are labeled as “racial harassment”, “sexual violence” and “sexual harassment”, and “Title IX athletics,” to name a few.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | GSA moves to close some SEC regional offices, including Chicago’s: The GSA plans to terminate the L.A. and Philadelphia leases, the SEC’s Chief Operating Officer Ken Johnson told staff in an email Monday that was reviewed by Bloomberg. The administration is also looking to terminate the lease of the Chicago regional office, though SEC said it had informed the GSA that terminating the lease at 175 W. Jackson Blvd. could result in significant financial penalties, the email said.

* Heh…

Man some of you people on here obsess about long gone Mayor Rahm Emanuel more than I think about bars.

— Chicago Bars (@chicagobars) March 3, 2025

* Crain’s | As Trump tariffs move from threat to reality, these Chicago industries brace for the impact: “It’s going to affect everybody, but it will be different magnitudes,” says Don McNeeley, president of Chicago Tube and Iron, a steel supplier in Romeoville, who also teaches at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering. “If you’re seller, you love it. if you’re a consumer, you hate it.”

* Sun-Times | Swiss cement giant Holcim spinning off North American business in Chicago, calling it Amrize: Switzerland-based Holcim is the largest provider of cement in the U.S. and Canada. It currently employs roughly 400 people in the greater Chicago area, as well as about 60 in the city. It plans to add 50 jobs in Chicago, through the spinoff. The company has roughly 65,000 employees worldwide. Amrize will operate more than 1,000 sites with more than 19,000 employees.

* WBEZ | Art Institute of Chicago returns ancient Nepali sculpture, after researchers learned it had been stolen: As part of “ongoing research into the provenance of its collection,” researchers discovered that the sculpture had been stolen from Guita Bahi in the Kathmandu Valley, an Art Institute statement said. The institute then shared its findings with Embassy of Nepal in Washington. The sculpture is now in the hands of the Nepali government, said Jacques Schuhmacher, executive director of the museum’s Provenance Research, adding it will eventually return to its place of origin, but that timing has not been confirmed.

* Block Club Chicago | Zac Brown Band To Headline 2025 NASCAR Chicago Street Race: NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race Weekend returns July 5-6 for the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series along the same 12-turn, 2.2-mile street course as in previous years. Tickets for the race weekend went on sale in January. They’re cheaper this year, and kids under 12 get in free on both days with the purchase of a general admission ticket.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* ABC Chicago | Dolton board takes action as Mayor Henyard skips 1st meeting since her landslide primary loss: Trustees at the meeting approved an amended collective bargaining agreement for Dolton firefighters as well as a contract for police records technicians. The board also cleared the way for the approval of a liquor license for one Dolton bar almost a year after the owner sued the village, alleging in a federal lawsuit that Henyard refused to renew the license after he declined to give her a campaign contribution.

* Daily Herald | Des Plaines council cutting city clerk’s oversight of staff: Clerk Jessica Mastalski and her eventual successors no longer will have the ability to “exercise general administrative direction and control over employees,” according to language that could be added to city code. Instead, workers in the office would be supervised by the city manager. Additionally, the clerk no longer would be allowed to coordinate the work of office personnel or have the power to delegate responsibilities to staffers. Rather, the clerk would have to work with the city manager or to determine what duties can be handed off to city staffers.

* Tribune | La Grange board challenger makes her case as only nonincumbent in race: Thursday night Carter talked about what she felt was needed to continue to attract business to the village. “I think the first thing we have to focus on is changing some of these antiquated regulations to allow more business diversity,” she said. “Because more business diversity equals more revenue. And we’re going to have some revenue issues with some big infrastructure projects that are coming.”

* Daily Northwestern | Northwestern’s lobbying spending balloons to more than $1 million in 2024: NU’s lobbying expenditures in the second half of 2024 totaled more than $800,000, significantly more than any of its total annual spendings in the last decade. Out of the eight recorded lobbyists, double the previous year’s amount, NU appeared to have enlisted a new throng of lobbyists from Harbinger Strategies, composed mostly of former staffers to Republican congressional leadership.

*** Downstate ***

* STLPR | $500 million expansion of Metro East copper plant to be complete in 3 years: Executives at Wieland Manufacturing, an international producer of copper and copper alloys, said the investment to a facility that employs 800 will make it sustainable for the long term. […] Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, leaders from Illinois’ Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and Wieland announced the expansion plans last year, which include $231 million in state incentives under a program for clean manufacturing.

* Illinois Education Association | Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville faculty and staff demand to bargain over proposed cuts: “We strongly believe that the work and intellect of faculty and staff are cornerstones of the strong public university education our students deserve. The proposed campus reorganization and academic prioritization are mandatory subjects of bargaining and could result in the loss of student services and jobs. We look forward to discussing these issues at the bargaining table, including hearing from the administration regarding their concerns about the overall financial health and welfare of the institution. In this time of political and economic turmoil, it is important to remember that public universities and colleges across the state are significant engines for economic and cultural growth and offer opportunities to students that would otherwise be unavailable,” IEA spokesperson Bridget Shanahan said.

* BND | SIUE will start layoffs, cuts this spring to address $10.3 million deficit: To combat a $10.3 million deficit, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville will turn to layoffs and drop academic programs later this spring to cut costs, a university spokeswoman said Friday. “We have made important budgetary adjustments in recent years and are committed to making additional changes to ensure that the institution’s excellence continues,” SIUE spokeswoman Nicole Franklin said in a statement. “Unlike so many higher education institutions across the nation facing enrollment and financial challenges, SIUE remains in a strong position, and is acting to ensure that we are better positioned to compete in this challenging environment, innovate, and thrive.”

* WMBD | Washington latest Central Illinois community to discuss implementing local grocery tax: A similar tax has been implemented in Pekin, and East Peoria Mayor John Kahl stated that his city is looking to do the same. No action was taken at the meeting, as the city looked to gauge the opinions of aldermen. The city says it stands to lose around $500,000 each year, without the grocery tax being replaced on the local level.