* Naperville Sun…

For the fourth time in just over six weeks, police have made a firearm-related arrest in or near the Naperville Topgolf parking lot.

Juan Ricardo Gomez, 43 of Griffith, Indiana, was taken into custody Tuesday night outside the 3211 Odyssey Court facility and charged with one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, a class 4 felony. His next court appearance is scheduled for May 1, according to DuPage County Circuit Court records.

Officers were patrolling the Topgolf lot at about 10 p.m. Tuesday when they observed a handgun in plain view inside a parked black Kia, according to Naperville police spokeswoman Kelley Munch.

Officers watched the vehicle until Gomez returned, Munch said. Police recovered a loaded handgun with an extended magazine, which Gomez allegedly possessed without a valid concealed carry license or Firearm Owner’s Identification card, Munch said.

Apparently, the DuPage court clerk has not updated the title of the offense to unlawful possession of a weapon.

* Belleville News-Democrat…

In light of a $10.3 million budget deficit, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville administrators have proposed phasing out the physics major and minor over the next few years.

“This proposal has been carefully considered and developed in accordance with our policy and procedures and in coherence with the relevant collective bargaining agreements,” SIUE spokeswoman Nicole Franklin said. “The process for feedback and additional steps is currently underway.”

The proposal would allow all students currently declared as a physics major or minor — and those starting this fall — an opportunity to complete the program. It also does not eliminate all physics courses “given the important role these courses play in service to other majors,” Franklin said.

Students majoring in biological sciences, chemistry, engineering and pharmacy are all required to take physics courses.

* Governor JB Pritzker…

Today, Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) announced 88 awards totaling $57 million through the Community Solar Energy Sovereignty Grant Program ($7.7 million), Equitable Energy Future Grant Program ($10.3 million), and Energy Transition Community/Zion Grant Program ($39 million) - initiatives under the landmark Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). These programs will catalyze energy efficiency and renewable energy projects that will help clean energy businesses grow and utilize Illinois’ clean energy workforce. […]

Through the Community Solar Energy Sovereignty Grant Program, $7.7 million is being awarded to 11 grantees to more equitably grow the clean energy workforce. The program supports community-based organizations and technical service providers in low-income and historically disadvantaged communities to plan, develop, and execute community solar projects. […]

The Equitable Energy Future Grant Program is delivering awards totaling $10.3 million to 12 grantees to provide seed funding and pre-development funding opportunities to equity eligible contractors to work on renewable energy projects in low-income and historically disadvantaged communities. The goal of the Equitable Energy Future Grant Program is to help remove barriers to projects, community, and business development in communities that have been historically left behind due to lack of available capital.

* From a friend: “Former state Rep. Cindy Soto unfortunately passed away last night in the hospital succumbing to cancer. … Cindy was a wonderful person and a force in the Capitol who got things done behind the scenes.” More information to come.

*** Statewide ***

* Center Square | Clash continues around federal ag funding impacts in Illinois: “We don’t have what right now looks like about $11 billion that we will lose to the state of Illinois. We don’t have $11 billion to fill in the gaps on education, health care,” said Pritzker. “Again, I want to remind everybody what the purpose of all of that is, of taking all that away is, it’s to give big tax cuts to people who don’t need them.”

* Sportico | Big Ten media deal must be revealed, Illinois AG says: This decision follows the university’s denial of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made two years ago by Michael LeRoy, a U of I law professor who studies college sports. To date, the Big Ten’s seven-year, $7 billion deal with Fox, CBS and NBC, which took effect in July 2023, has remained undisclosed, despite numerous attempts by journalists and others to obtain the agreement through public records requests made of Big Ten universities.

* Tribune | HUD Midwest director, other longtime Chicago staff retiring early amid Trump administration threats, cuts to agency: Eight Chicago-based U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development staffers with more than 180 years of service collectively have retired or are retiring later this year as the agency undergoes scrutiny and faces cuts from billionaire Tesla founder Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and President Donald Trump. Jim Cunningham, who oversaw the entire Midwest region from HUD’s Chicago office, is retiring early after nearly 34 years of service. Cunningham told the Tribune he had planned to retire at the end of 2026. Instead, he worked his last day Friday as he said he was concerned he might be terminated given the recent upheaval at HUD and, therefore, lose benefits such as health insurance.

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | Tense City Hall meeting on CTU contract, CPS budget vote ends with ‘handful of issues’ still unresolved: Feeling the crunch ahead of a pivotal Board of Education vote Thursday on the Chicago Public Schools budget dispute, Mayor Brandon Johnson summoned key players to his office Wednesday to try to settle the Chicago Teachers Union contract negotiations. Unlike past mayor’s office huddles that helped close out CTU talks, this one didn’t land a deal. It instead was another tense gathering that ended with teachers union and school district officials both walking out visibly angry.

* ABC Chicago | CPS Board of Education meeting Thursday to vote on $175M pension payment: “So, today’s conversation, the convening of today’s conversation, was to get both sides of the table to discuss the differences within settling in this contract with just a couple of issues, just to understand that. Today, I got that understanding, and as a part of our conversation, there are pathways to settle those differences,” Johnson said.

* Block Club | Lolla 4-Day Tickets Already Sold Out As 2025 Daily Lineup Announced: After selling out of four-day tickets in under an hour, Lollapalooza dropped its daily lineup Thursday morning. The mega music fest returns to Grant Park with 170 bands, eight stages and four days of music Thursday, July 31-Sunday, Aug. 3.

* Sun-Times | Comparing 3 Bears stadium proposals in Arlington Heights, Bronzeville and the lakefront: The Bears and public officials have not come to terms yet on any stadium deal, but developers and the team are pushing bold (and expensive) ideas. All of them involve moving the Bears into a world-class stadium with a dome. Here’s how each of the three most prominent proposals — Arlington Heights, the museum campus lakefront and the former Michael Reese hospital site in Bronzeville — size up.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | State regulators block shutdown of psychiatric unit at Arlington Heights hospital: Corporate owner Endeavor Health’s request to close the 52-bed NCH Behavioral Health Center, 901 W. Kirchoff Road, failed to gain approval from the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board. The panel deadlocked 4-4 Tuesday on the hospital system’s formal application to discontinue the inpatient acute mental illness category of service on the Arlington Heights campus. Next steps, including whether Endeavor might appeal the decision, were immediately unclear.

* Daily Herald | Where’s my Metra train? Railroad updates progress of installing digital signs, ticket machines: So far, 285 signs have been installed at 110 stations, and the commuter railroad’s goal is to have one at every stop by the end of March 2026. An upgrade from Metra’s traditional LED displays, the latest versions show when trains are coming in real time using GPS technology on railcars and at stations. They also issue travel alerts.

* Daily Herald | Buffalo Grove approves selling Lake Michigan water to Long Grove: Long Grove is expected to approve an intergovernmental agreement Tuesday allowing the village to buy water from Buffalo Grove. Buffalo Grove trustees on Monday approved their end of the bargain, which calls for Long Grove to receive up to 260,000 gallons per day for up to 20 years. Buffalo Grove officials estimate initial revenue at $80,000 annually.

* Tribune | $45 million bond issue in Western Springs would fund infrastructure projects: Voters in Western Springs will be asked to approve a $45 million bond issue in the April 1 Consolidated General Election, funding village officials hope to have available to complete projects addressing aging infrastructure such as sanitary and storm sewers, water mains, roadways, sidewalks and street lighting. Village officials are hopeful the referendum will be successful. “We’re already doing engineering for some projects, projects that we’ve jumped ahead because we know that we need to do them,” said Casey Biernacki, deputy village manager. “One project in particular is Woodland Avenue.”

* ABC Chicago | NWS confirms tornado touchdown in Gary; storm cleanup underway in south suburbs: The National Weather Service confirms an EF-1 tornado touched down in Gary, Indiana. NWS teams are surveying the area to see if there were any other tornados. Residents across the south suburbs and northwest Indiana will be getting a closer look at the damage. “It was really something that can’t be put into words,” Gary resident Goityra Chamberlain said. “Last night sounded like a thunderstorm times 100.”

* Daily Southtown | Severe weather tears through New Lenox, rips roof off Steger building: Fire Chief Michael Long said the building was once a macaroni factory but was in the process of being converted to self-storage facility. The Fire Department was called about 5:30 p.m. and found large portions of the roof had blown onto adjacent railroad tracks, prompting officials to close to tracks until the railroad responded to clear debris, Long said.

*** Downstate ***

* Daily-Journal | School board candidate charged with misdemeanor battery: A candidate running for a seat on the Kankakee School District 111 board, Dajon Casiel, has been charged with Class A misdemeanor battery following an incident last year involving a current Kankakee High School student. It is punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500. Due to the incident, the 19-year-old Casiel has been temporarily banned from Kankakee High School during school hours.

* WCIA | Champaign County Sheriff’s Office looking to correct a hiring issue: If you’re looking to break into the criminal justice field — there’s new opportunities right here in Champaign County. The Sheriff’s Office is making a push to hire about a dozen people in their corrections department to fill an increased need. Sheriff Dustin Heuerman said they need more people to effectively open the renovated Champaign County jail. Inmates who are currently in other counties will be moving back in soon. Which means more correctional officers and behind the scenes personnel will be needed.

* Smile Politely | Potawatomi Band voices support for U of I’s new mascot: Last week, the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi released an official statement addressed to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Chancellor, Robert J. Jones. This statement voiced strong support for university students’ efforts to replace the retired, outdated, and offensive chief mascot with a new one, highlighting the Kingfisher’s successful appeal to the U of I community. The Band acknowledges that the chief is technically retired, but points to the fact that, without an official replacement, its image has continually been used. The caricature of Native peoples that is the chief still appears on U of I sports merchandise and, of course, is still heralded as U of I’s “true mascot” by alumni and people who have no university affiliation alike. While implementing a new mascot may not completely halt some community members’ white-knuckled grip on the chief, it would mark the completion of the old mascot’s overdue demise.

* NBC Chicago | ‘Gustnadoes’ reported in severe thunderstorms in central Illinois: According to the National Weather Service, there have been “gustnadoes” forming out in front of a line of severe thunderstorms that led to a severe storm warning in Livingston County on Wednesday afternoon. Blowing dust is also being reported ahead of the storm, which could pack wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour as it moves to the northeast, according to forecasters.

* WSIL | SIU’s Maple Festival set for this weekend: It’s an annual tradition that helps ring in Spring and celebrates a local tasty treat. It’s the 2025 Maple Syrup Festival, at Southern Illinois University’s Touch of Nature Outdoor Education Center, and it’s happening the weekend of March 22-23. The festival happens Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

*** National ***

* NPR | With Trump’s crackdown on DEI, some women fear a path to good-paying jobs will close: Sugerman, who later tended to elevators and escalators at Sears Tower, then the tallest building in the world, wonders if the small forays that women have made in the construction trades since the 1980s will simply vanish. […] The Labor Department did not respond to NPR’s request for comment on the impact the dismantling of EO 11246 may have on women and people of color.