* ICYMI: Illinois department streamlines online licensing system. Capitol News Illinois…

- “I’ve been around state government for over 15 years now, and I really am hard pressed to think of a turnaround like this,” Rep. Bob Morgan said.
- In late 2023, IDFPR Director Mario Treto, Jr. said applicants were experiencing “historic wait times” and officially called the situation a “crisis.”
- During his testimony in the committee meeting Wednesday, IDFPR Director Mario Treto, Jr. said the department has outlined six specific phases in order to fully implement a complete, comprehensive online licensing system. The CORE startup in October completed Phase 1.
- Phases 2 and 3 include the continuous rollout of the rest of the license types, which Treto said will come in rollouts of small numbers of license types until all types have been launched online.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Tribune | Chicago-area housing organizations see HUD grants abruptly cut or in limbo: Chicago-area housing organizations are facing funding cuts from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, with some recently receiving termination notices for grants while others are in limbo as they wait for overdue contracts or to see what happens with expected awards. The groups say the disruption in funding could potentially halt their work, which includes providing services to the homeless population and people facing housing discrimination, as well as supporting community revitalization efforts.

* Illinois Answers Project | City Reaches Tentative $11.5 Million Settlement With Companies Of Woman Dubbed ‘Worst Landowner’: The city of Chicago has reached a tentative $11.5 million agreement to settle its legal battle against the companies of a north suburban woman that city attorney’s have dubbed Chicago’s “worst landowner,” who has accrued millions of dollars in unpaid fines for hundreds of weed-strewn and garbage-filled lots across the South and West Sides. The settlement would resolve the city’s ongoing legal claims, which are estimated at $49 million, and speed up the process of selling off the vacant lots owned by the businesses of Northbrook resident Suzie B. Wilson and her sister, Swedlana Dass.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Democratic lawmaker grows concerned with use of AI in health care: “Artificial intelligence is here, whether we like it or not,” Morgan said in an email to Capitol News Illinois. “When it comes to health insurance, the stakes are simply too high to allow unchecked automation to dictate decisions that could determine whether someone receives life-saving treatment or faces financial ruin.” One of Morgan’s sponsored bills — House Bill 1806, which deals with the use of AI in online mental health services — passed unanimously out of the House Health Care Licensing Committee on Wednesday.

* 21st Show | IL Latino Lawmakers unhappy with Pritzker’s plan to cut healthcare for Immigrant Adults: One of the big proposals from Governor JB Pritzker’s office for Fiscal Year 2026 would eliminate programs that allow some middle-to-older age non-citizens to receive healthcare coverage. That drew the attention of the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus. We talked with the co-chairs of the caucus about this proposal and other issues facing Illinois’ Hispanic residents.

*** Statewide ***

* Chicago Reader | Banning paper from prisons is a bad idea: This spring, the Illinois House is set to take up a bill that would make all prisons in the state paperless. This legislation is sponsored by Republican lawmakers and supported by American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 31, the public-sector employee union that represents corrections officers. If it passes, new rules will ban all mail to prisoners until it is digitized, as well as books and newspapers. Why would they do this? Ostensibly, it’s necessary in the name of public safety: keeping Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) employees and residents safe. A common refrain is that paper is a conduit for illegal drugs.

* Center Square | Illinois stands to become leader in the production of sustainable aviation fuel: Sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, is made from non-petroleum feedstocks that reduces emissions from air transportation. It takes about 1.5 gallons of ethanol to make one gallon of sustainable aviation fuel. All conventional aircraft are capable of flying on a maximum 50% blend of SAF and jet fuel. However, by 2030, it is expected that a large portion of airplanes will be capable of flying with up to 100% SAF. At this week’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel and Beyond Conference in Rosemont, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the state is positioned to be a major player in the aviation fuel producing market.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Unions waging turf battle to organize Uber and Lyft drivers: As they fight against a Chicago rideshare ordinance, Uber and Lyft have found themselves in the middle of a battle between politically powerful unions competing to organize their drivers. Despite Uber signing a neutrality agreement with a separate union, a pair of unions are teaming with an advocacy group to ramp up pressure on the companies while vowing to organize the industry themselves.

* ABC Chicago | Chicago police officer’s gun found unattended in bathroom at Cook County courthouse, officials say: Sheriff’s deputies reported that a firearm was found in a women’s bathroom on the sixth floor of the building, a spokesperson for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office told ABC7. Authorities determined the weapon belonged to a Chicago police officer, and it was later returned to the officer, officials said.

* Crain’s | Chicago Sun-Times editorial page editor leaving as buyout deadline looms: Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Page Editor Lorraine Forte is taking a buyout offer as the deadline for Chicago Public Media employees to voluntarily leave the struggling nonprofit nears. Forte, who began leading the editorial page in 2021, announced the decision in a LinkedIn post yesterday. The move comes days before certain staffers have to decide whether to take the offer that was given in January.

* Sun-Times | Rogers Park tax preparer admits arranging $3.6M in phony PPP and EIDL loans for himself and others: Farooq Khan, 31, faces a possible sentence of four to five years in prison for defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. He admitted he submitted false applications for himself and other people who paid him kickbacks of up to 20% of the money they got. Khan pocketed more than $1 million in fraudulent loan proceeds, prosecutors said. He also arranged about $2.6 million in loans for people who used fake or insolvent companies to get loans from the corruption-riddled PPP and EIDL programs, which were overseen by the Small Business Administration in 2020 and 2021.

* Tribune | Scientists study fish behavior during dyeing of the Chicago River for St. Patrick’s Day: Last year, an extensive scientific study of fish behavior in the Chicago River system led by researchers from the Shedd Aquarium, Purdue University and the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant offered a clue. In mid-March, as researchers studied aquatic activity they found a handful of the over 80 fish they were tracking were in the main branch downtown. On the day of the 2024 St. Patrick’s parade, none of the tagged fish rushed to find shelter from their suddenly green surroundings. “(It) was the first time that we could actually track how individuals behave when the river is dyed green,” said Austin Happel, a research biologist at the Shedd. “We didn’t see changes in what they were doing that day, or even the next couple of days afterward, so it doesn’t seem to be causing them to be agitated.”

* Crain’s | Plans for Lakeview hotel focused on LGBTQ+ community move forward: Plans for a boutique hotel in Lakeview with a focus on serving the LGBTQ+ community took a step forward this week. The City Council signed off on zoning for a proposed five-story project at 3257 N. Halsted St. yesterday, as first reported by Block Club Chicago. Situated in the busy Northalsted entertainment district, the 51-room hotel with a rainbow-striped facade will also feature a restaurant and speakeasy-style lounge, as well as a rooftop pool

* Tribune | ‘This experience is very traumatizing’: Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot testifies about death threat she received in 2022: Lightfoot, who served as Chicago’s mayor from 2019 to 2023, took the stand at the Leighton Criminal Court Building to testify against William Kohles, a Michigan man who is charged with two felony counts of threatening a public official. Cook County prosecutors alleged during opening statements that Kohles emailed a threat that said he had a “bullet with her name on it” if crime and violence in Chicago didn’t stop. His attorney, though, countered that Kohles was just spontaneously venting after watching a Fox News segment about violence, and did not have any real intent behind the missive. He also said Kohles has learning disabilities and has suffered brain swelling from meningitis.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | ‘On the right path’: Hayes thinks Bears will choose Arlington Heights: In his final state of the village address, Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes said Thursday it would be a “dream” for the Bears to build their next stadium in his town, and he thinks that dream will come true. “I believe in my heart of hearts that we’re where we’re meant to be in this project, and that it’s going to happen,” Hayes told an audience of community leaders and business owners at the Metropolis Ballroom. “I’m very encouraged about where things are at. I actually feel better now than at any point in the past four years that this is actually going to happen.”

* Daily Southtown | Group of ‘Friends’ forms to foster ancient landscape at Gensburg-Markham Prairie: A group of about 70 volunteers and representatives from the Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves and Nature Conservancy kicked off an effort last weekend to restore and preserve the Gensburg-Markham Prairie in Markham. Surrounded by expressways and suburban homes, the prairie escaped waves of suburban development in the 20th century and was dedicated as an Illinois Nature Preserve in 1980.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Rantoul Superintendent discusses Dept. of Education Cuts: Rantoul City Schools Superintendent Scott Woods said he disagrees with these cuts. He said the agency gives money to the states for education and then makes sure it’s being used correctly. For his district, 22% of their budget comes from federal dollars — although not all of it is from the Department of Education. He’s worried about who would make sure states are using their money correctly without the federal government.

* WIFR | Winnebago County Board votes for five-year proposal with BMO Center starting in 2027: Two million Winnebago County tax dollars will be used by the Rockford Area Venues and Entertainment (RAVE) Authority over the next five years to ensure the BMO Center is a top facility. After more than an hour of heated discussion among board members, the Winnebago County Board voted 12 to 9 in favor of the proposal Thursday night.

* Bloomberg | Nobody Wants to Drink Sparkling Wine From the Midwest: Tariffs on products from the Champagne region of France will not make products from the Champaign-Urbana region of Illinois more appealing.

* Daily Herald | Telephone town hall meeting spurs protest at Bost’s office: “Normally he doesn’t show up in person. He just talks on the phone, and the calls are monitored,” Ashby said about Bost. “He doesn’t just listen to everybody, and so he doesn’t show up. So we said, ‘Okay, we’ll come to his office here in Murphysboro and let them know what the rest of the world thinks.’” Ashby said that she felt like Bost does not respond to his entire constituency and questioned what he does in office.

* WTVO | Boone County board member charged with stealing money from a church: Marion Thornberry, 77, faces charges of Theft of Less than $500 from a House of Worship. […] Board Chairman Karl Johnson released a statement Thursday, saying: “This is an ongoing investigation and therefore we cannot comment on it further. However, we do stress that these charges are not related to Mr. Thornberry`s role as a County Board member. Board members do not have access to any County funds and the County has worked hard over the years to implement policies that help ensure that County funds are protected.”

* J. Hanley | Recruiting, retaining staff has been key for Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office: First, we sought to create the best culture of any prosecuting office in the State. At the heart of our culture is a shared value and a shared mission. The mission- to seek justice- was already present when I took office. It united the prosecutors that stood before me in late 2020 and, I’m proud to say, is shared by every prosecutor that has walked through the door since. What was lacking, however, was the shared value that has since come to define our office. That value is trust: the trust we place in each other and the trust we earn in our community and with victims. We emphasized trust, and celebrated those who embodied it.

* WAND | Vermilion County Animal Shelter facing a crowd crisis, over 100 pets up for adoption: “We’ve had an overabundance of animals come in recently…” explained Kasey Snyder, Director at the Vermilion County Animal Shelter. Snyder and her team taking to social media this week, sharing they are completely out of space. “Within the last two weeks, we’ve actually had 66 dogs and 38 cats come in now up for adoption…” Snyder added, sharing that since the January they’ve had 490 animals total.

* BND 2025 Voter Guide: Belleville candidates running for mayor, city clerk, school board: The News-Democrat has contacted the candidates running in contested seats and asked them to complete a candidate questionnaire. While this article has information about candidates in municipal and school board races in Belleville, you can go to this page at bnd.com to get links to read about candidates running for local and school board positions across the metro-east.

*** National ***

* NYT | Dr. Oz Became Famous Giving Health Advice. Was It Any Good?: Much of Dr. Oz’s advice is rooted in strong science and conventional wisdom: Eat well, move more, prioritize sleep. But he has also frequently pushed products and hacks that have little to no scientific evidence showing that they stave off disease, drawing scrutiny from members of Congress and from researchers. In some cases, he has had financial ties to the products he has promoted.