* Swinford Media Group…

Williamson County Sheriff Jeff Diederich recently announced that 100 offenders have been sentenced to jail or prison in the past several months. […]

The SAFE-T Act, a law meant to reform the criminal justice system, has changed how arrests and pre-trial detentions are handled. Some critics refer to it as a “catch and release” system, arguing that it allows people accused of crimes to go free before their trial.

However, Sheriff Diederich says the final outcomes of cases have not changed—people who are convicted still face sentencing.

“This law changes what happens between arrest and trial,” Diederich explained. “But in the end, if someone is guilty, they still face punishment.”

One concern, he noted, is that people who might have stayed in jail before trial are now released sooner, sometimes leading to new crimes before they go to court. However, he added that repeat offenders often receive harsher sentences because their crimes add up by the time they face a judge.

* Shaw Local…

A man has admitted in court that he falsely reporting there was a bomb in the Crystal Lake Public Library, for which he was sentenced to two years of special probation.

In exchange for his guilty plea to one count of disorderly conduct, a Class 4 felony, an additional count against Jacob N. Spiro, 24, was dismissed, according to the court order filed in McHenry County court. Spiro, of Skokie, also was ordered to pay more than $1,600 in fines and fees, and to have no contact with the library, court records show.

After learning of Spiro’s plea deal, Becky Fyolek, executive director of the library, said that when the library received the bomb threats, it was “very upsetting for patrons and staff.” […]

Authorities have said it was suspected that Spiro could have been connected to multiple “swatting” calls throughout Chicago suburbs. He was charged in Kane County in 2023 for allegedly making similar threats to a grocery store in Des Plaines and at Aurora library branches. Online Kane County court records show Spiro later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in the Aurora case and was sentenced to community service and two years of probation, on which he remains.

* USA Today…

Initial filings for unemployment benefits in Illinois dropped last week compared with the week prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.

New jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 10,057 in the week ending March 1, down from 11,066 the week before, the Labor Department said.

U.S. unemployment claims dropped to 221,000 last week, down 21,000 claims from 242,000 the week prior on a seasonally adjusted basis.

New Hampshire saw the largest percentage increase in weekly claims, with claims jumping by 124.0%. Rhode Island, meanwhile, saw the largest percentage drop in new claims, with claims dropping by 67%.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Associate professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois Chicago Kate Lowe | Labor has a solid plan for public transit, but lawmakers must address funding: Without tackling the growing $771 million operating shortfall this legislative session, our region must start planning for devastating service cuts that would most hurt low-income riders and transit workers, with ripple effects to our environment and economy ($2.6 billion less in GDP, according to the RTA). Labor’s bill is a good alternative to proposed legislation that would eliminate Pace, the Chicago Transit Authority and Metra, which have different union contracts and service constraints. The bill has strategies for better accountability and coordination, along with (overdue) regional fare integration.

*** Statewide ***

* WAND | Illinois bobcat season finishes with 649 harvested: A total of 415 (61.6%) of bobcats were taken by hunting, while trapping accounted for 234 (34.7%) of the harvest. 25 (3.7%) were salvaged by permit holders from circumstances such as roadkill. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources issued 2,000 bobcat permits in the 2024-2025 bobcat lottery out of 9,200 applicants.

* Tribune | A flag football first in Illinois: History will be made Saturday as sport continues to grow nationally: Benedictine and Rockford will compete in the first women’s college flag football game in Illinois when they meet at 6:15 p.m. Saturday inside the Chicago Bears’ Walter Payton Center on the Halas Hall campus. The Bears expect about 300 fans, including family and friends of the athletes, high school and college coaches and Bears staff. Bears player personnel coordinator Ashton Washington is slated to speak with both teams before the game.

* Shaw Local | Will federal cuts to national parks lead to more state park visitors? Travelers are monitoring effect: The cuts to 10% of the National Parks staff come just as the National Parks Service announced almost 332 million visitors in 2024 – a record year in attendance. About 1,000 probationary National Park Service employees were fired Feb. 14 and about 700 National Park workers are expected to participate in the buyout program. In theory, staff reductions and reduced operations at the national parks could result in an influx of visitors at Starved Rock and Matthiessen state parks. So far, however, Matthew Kosch isn’t seeing any signs of a surge at the state-run parks.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Chicago victims of credit card scam warn others to be on guard: ‘I was just blinded by my naivety’: Eliazar Rodriguez was running errands in Roscoe Village when he was stopped by two men with a laminated flyer outside a Starbucks. They said they were raising money for their little brother who was killed in a drive-by shooting and told Rodriguez that they were struggling to gather funeral funds. […] He gave the men $15 through Apple Pay and wrote his name down on a sheet pledging his donation. One of the guys took Rodriguez’s phone to make the transaction, showed him the screen to confirm that Rodriguez donated $15 and the two men went on their way. Next thing Rodriguez knew, he got an instant notification from his bank telling him he had a $3,000 charge for a carpet purchase.

* Bloomberg | Opinion: Private equity’s $24 billion Walgreens bid is wild: Walgreens’ market value had shrunk to less than $8 billion from more than $100 billion in the past decade before Sycamore’s interest emerged in December. The pharmacist has endured myriad problems, which are ongoing. Selling consumer health care products from stores is a low-growth business facing competition from Amazon.com and Walmart. Those challenges are exacerbated by high theft rates. And Walgreens’ foray into health care services, providing access to physicians in clinics, has proved a costly mistake.

* Tribune | Illinois Holocaust Museum will close for renovations, with a temporary location opening downtown: In the meantime, a satellite location will open with some of the museum’s more popular exhibits at the former site of the Museum of Broadcast Communications (360 N. State St.) in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. The IHMEC first opened in Skokie in 2009 in a $45 million building designed by Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman — the project of what was the Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois, founded in 1981 in the wake of a threatened march by neo-Nazis in Skokie.

* Crain’s | Kim Kardashian’s Skims to open first Chicago storefront in Gold Coast retail corridor: Skims, the shapewear and apparel brand co-founded by influencer and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian, plans to open a store at 1000 N. Rush St., sources familiar with the deal said. Chicago-based L3 Capital paid $21.5 million for the retail space last month, according to online property records.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Sun-Times | Lake County’s top prosecutor says detective lied on witness stand in murder case: Now Rinehart and Owens are presenting evidence that a North Chicago detective lied in his police reports and on the witness stand at trial. The detective, Olander Warner, claimed an informant initially identified Williford as a suspect, but Warner had typed Williford’s name into a police database five days before he says he met with the informant, according to the petition. Also, Warner and Williford were having an affair with the same woman, casting the motives for the detective’s “targeted investigation” into doubt, according to the petition.

* Daily Herald | Attorney jailed for missing start of trial in DuPage County: But Chicago attorney Cierra Norris, who has nearly 500,000 followers on TikTok, found herself posing for a different kind of camera Wednesday — capturing her booking photo at the DuPage County jail. DuPage County Judge Margaret O’Connell found Norris in indirect criminal contempt of court, and ordered her to a five-day stay in jail for failing to show up for the start of a jury trial Tuesday.

* Daily Southtown | Federal subpoena seeks Dolton records for bar and grill subject of Tiffany Henyard lawsuit: The subpoena, provided by the village via a Daily Southtown Freedom of Information Act request, seeks inspection reports and communications between village officials, former and current building tenants and property owners as part of a criminal investigation. Dolton Trustee Jason House, who beat Henyard in the Feb. 25 Democratic primary for mayor, said Monday he was unaware of the details of the subpoena but said the village will comply with the federal investigation.

* Sun-Times | Family wants answers after ‘life of the party’ fatally struck by Cook County Sheriff’s officer in Glenview: Mercedes Smith, 28, was fatally struck by a Cook County Sheriff officer’s vehicle about 5 a.m. Tuesday in the 9800 block of Milwaukee Avenue, according to Glenview police. She was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where she was pronounced dead at 4:05 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office and Glenview Police Department.

* Daily Herald | Candidates for Hanover Park president debate bringing back 1% municipal grocery tax: Both candidates for Hanover Park village president see a different answer to the question of how to address the state’s decision to stop imposing a 1% grocery tax on municipalities’ behalf now that each has the authority to have its own. Incumbent Rod Craig, who’s held the office for 18 years, is being challenged by Mark Elkins, a 30-year member of the Hanover Park Park District’s board of commissioners and its current president.

* Crain’s | Skokie hotel developer hit with $24 million foreclosure lawsuit: X-Caliber alleged in the lawsuit that E&M defaulted on its mortgage by failing to get the lender’s consent to increase the project’s budget by almost $17.3 million, among other infractions. The project went awry when the actual construction costs turned out to be far higher than an initial estimate from Russell “to the point where the project simply did not make fiscal sense,” said E&M General Partner Mark Meyer. Cook County property records show a slew of liens in 2023 against the developer from subcontractors alleging they weren’t paid for their work.

* Shaw Local | What these city council candidates say about Joliet’s future development: In election questionnaires sent out to Joliet City Council candidates, The Herald-News asked What is your vision for the city’s future development? What you would like to see in the city’s comprehensive plan being developed?

*** Downstate ***

* The Southern | SIU’s Paul Simon Institute to host discussion on expanding educational equity: Melissa Connelly, CEO of OneGoal, will join Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute for a virtual conversation on Tuesday, March 18, to discuss the barriers facing first-generation and low-income students in achieving a college education. Connelly will speak with John Shaw, institute director, about her work leading OneGoal, a national nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that all students have an equitable opportunity to achieve postsecondary success.

* WCIA | CONO holding Decatur candidate forum this weekend: The non-partisan group will hold a forum at the Decatur Public Library on the second-floor auditorium Saturday afternoon. From 1-2 p.m., city council candidates will take the stage and from 2-3 p.m., school board candidates will respond to their questions. […] “Our goal is to inform voters on the stance of the candidates about local issues,” CONO President Kathy Williams said. “These office holders decide our tax bills and so much more! We also want to see as many people as possible vote.”

* Muddy River News | United Way of Adams County, Quincy Public Schools partner to support student mental health: “Our mission is to connect as many residents as possible with the vital services available in our community. Quincy Public Schools has offered an opportunity that exemplifies our ongoing dedication to making resources more accessible and fostering a stronger, more supportive Adams County.” Participants will be engaged in a discussion on gaps in available mental health services. Attendees have the opportunity to meet with participating organizations to gain insights and explore additional solutions for student mental health support in their schools.

*** National ***

* WTTW | It’s Time to Spring Forward an Hour This Weekend, But Is the Clock Ticking on Daylight Saving?: A 2021 poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that indeed more Americans are in favor of permanent Standard Time or Daylight Saving, with 43% opting for the former and 32% for the latter. Another 25% prefer the status quo of switching back and forth.

* Crain’s | As ‘rule of law’ becomes a partisan talking point, what do bar associations have to say?: “Why would we go down the political route and alienate half of our membership?” asks John Sciaccotta, president of the Chicago Bar Association. It recently emailed a rule-of-law appeal to its 17,000 members, which did not mention President Donald Trump by name. William Bay, president of the American Bar Association, put his name on three statements, beginning last month. Still, says a spokesman for the Chicago-based group, “members generally want us to do more.”

* Politico | Sex, Drinking and Dementia: 25 Lawmakers Spill on What Congress Is Really Like: To get an inside look at what it’s like to serve on Capitol Hill — after years of gridlock, government shutdowns and now another Donald Trump stampede through Washington — we sat down with 25 lawmakers who were ready to dish. We talked about what they hate and love about Congress, why it’s broken and how to fix it (one suggestion: bring back the powdered wigs). They also told us what would really shock the public if they knew the truth about life as a lawmaker (it’s what’s for dinner).