* ICYMI: Raoul says ‘I do not want to go to Washington,’ rules out bid for U.S. Senate. Capitol News Illinois…

- Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said Tuesday he is not interested in running for Sen. Dick Durbin’s job, or any other elected position in the foreseeable future.

- “I do not want to go to Washington. I want to stay here,” Raoul told a luncheon audience at the City Club of Chicago. “And this is no knock on Sen. Durbin or Sen. [Tammy] Duckworth. I truly believe what I do on a day-to-day basis [as attorney general] has more impact than what I could do as U.S. senator.”

* Related stories…

∙ Tribune: Illinois AG Kwame Raoul warns legal community against ‘being complicit’ with Trump
∙ ABC Chicago: Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul files lawsuit against HHS, RFK Jr. for cutting $12B in grants

No need to worry about the lack of election stories—I’ll have a campaign roundup ready later this morning!

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

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | Sentencing dates set for ComEd officials convicted of plot to influence Madigan: Summer sentencing dates have been scheduled for four former ComEd officials and lobbyists convicted of conspiring to illegally influence former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan. […] Hooker is set to be sentenced on July 14, Pramaggiore on July 21, McClain on July 24, and Doherty on Aug. 5.

* University of Illinois System | March Illinois Flash Index increased slightly: In Illinois, inflation-adjusted individual income tax receipts increased by more than 10 percent compared to the same month last year, while corporate receipts declined slightly after a period of underperformance. Sales tax receipts fell by 2.7 percent. The Illinois unemployment rate decreased by a tenth of a percentage point to 4.8 percent, while the national rate rose slightly to 4.1 percent. Similar to the Flash Index, the Illinois unemployment rate has remained stable over the past year.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Sen. Robert Martwick | Tier Two pensions are a crisis of our own making. Here’s a viable fix: So, what is the solution? The state’s public sector unions have put forth a proposal that seeks to balance fiscal responsibility with fairness. They are not asking for a return to the pre-2011 Tier One system, but rather a reasonable middle ground — what one might call “Tier One Light.” Their proposal is not extravagant; it simply aims to provide a pension that meets the basic standard of retirement security. As an employer, the state should see this as the bare minimum responsibility to its workforce.

* Pantagraph | Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton stresses progressive record amid Senate speculation: Stratton said she has not yet identified candidates or causes to support through Level Up. And with the Senate race frozen until Durbin makes his decision, she said she is planning on having events through the PAC that facilitate “dialogs across the state where we’re doing more listening.”

* Brownfield Ag News | IL Farmers Union takes priorities to Springfield: Cheyanne Bristol says recent visits to Springfield have been highlighted by discussions on the need for strong conservation programs. “In our meeting with Representative Harper, who is the Chair of the Agriculture Committee, we had talked about good stewardship of the land.” She says, “We believe in climate smart practices, and of course she was very for that.”

* WCIA | Pritzker signs trade agreement between Illinois and Mexico: The MOU comes at the start of a delegation trip from Illinois to Mexico City with the purpose of deepening economic cooperation and opportunities between the state and country. This specific agreement emphasizes the strong ties between Mexico and Illinois with a specific focus on bilateral trade in industries including manufacturing, agriculture and finance, according to a media release from Pritzker’s office.

*** Statewide ***

* Center Square | Illinois gun rights group asks U.S. Attorney General to review state’s gun laws: Illinois State Rifle Association’s Ed Sullivan said they’ve been in talks with the Trump administration. “I think it’s timely that Attorney General Bondi would want to come in and talk to us,” Sullivan told The Center Square. “She should tackle kind of the most onerous states in the nation when it comes to anti-gun laws and so we certainly welcome anything that they want to do to kind of look at this process.”

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | Chicago’s murder drop ‘mirrors a lot of big cities,’ a leading crime data analyst says: Chicago finished the year’s first quarter this week with 96 murders, a drop of more than 15% from the first three months of last year. New Orleans-based data analyst Jeff Asher closely follows crime numbers in Chicago and other U.S. cities and spoke with WBEZ. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

* Sun-Times | Johnson calls special City Council meeting next week to confirm new 35th Ward alderperson: During his weekly City Hall news conference, Johnson said he has “not made any announcement on who” will replace Ramirez-Rosa. However, City Hall sources say Quezada is Johnson’s choice for the job, and that the appointment will be announced Wednesday. The announcement will come as no surprise. Quezada spent six years as Ramirez-Rosa’s neighborhood services director and was Ramirez-Rosa’s choice.

* Tribune | Lawsuit claims Chicago approval for cannabis store in Streeterville was illegal: The suit, filed last week by a neighborhood resident, Beth Padera, claims that the city Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) improperly approved a special use permit for G.P. Green House, doing business as Guaranteed Dispensary, at 620 N. Fairbanks Court. The complaint notes that the city zoning administrator had recommended denial of the application because the dispensary would be slightly within 500 feet of Guidepost Montessori at Magnificent Mile, at 226 E. Illinois St., in violation of Chicago zoning law.

* Tribune | Debate resumes over 8 p.m. curfew for teens downtown after boy is shot during ‘teen takeover’ in Streeterville: Johnson has resisted calls in the past for an earlier curfew, including last summer after a group of teens attacked a couple in Streeterville. On Tuesday he told reporters he was more interested in how to “invest in young people and create more healthy safe spaces for them.”

* Block Club | City Opens Applications For More Than 400 Vacant Properties To Boost Redevelopment: The city began accepting redevelopment applications Tuesday for more than 400 land parcels, including 54 “Missing Middle” lots. Those lots are being offered through a program from the city’s Department of Planning and Development launched last fall to help revitalize the city’s middle class through affordable home ownership.

* Tribune | George Freeman, a trailblazing jazz guitarist who enjoyed a late-career renaissance, dies at 97: That was typical for the ever-adventurous Freeman, who died in Chicago on April 1. He was 97 years old. His death was confirmed by his nephew, Mark Freeman. While still in his teens, Freeman was among the first musicians in Chicago, and one of the first jazz guitarists anywhere, to champion the bleeding-edge bebop of his idol, Charlie Parker. He eventually got to play with Parker, in now-lauded performances at the Pershing Ballroom in the early 1950s.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* WBEZ | Chief judge takes over electronic monitoring for Cook County, but questions remain about staffing: The Cook County sheriff’s office is ending its decades-old electronic monitoring program, handing it over to the chief judge amid questions about who will arrest violators and how extra staff will be funded. Beginning Tuesday, anyone placed on electronic monitoring after being found to be a flight risk or a danger to the public will be overseen by the Adult Probation Department, administered by Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans.

* Daily Southtown | Orland Park comedian Tim Cavanagh back to laughing after pancreatic cancer nearly took his life: Cavanaugh, 71, is a nationally known comedian from Orland Park who at one time was backed up by Drew Carey, co-headlined with Dennis Miller and backed up Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld among others. He opened 2021, however, being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on Jan. 2. He went through hell, having a bunch of internal organs taken out and spending 26 days in a hospital. But he survived a disease that, according to pancan.com, carries a survival rate of 13%.

* Daily Herald | COD history professor explores DeKalb County’s role in Underground Railroad April 17: On Thursday, April 17, join College of DuPage Associate Professor of History John Paris for “Never Pursued: J.F. Glidden and the Underground Railroad.” The presentation, held in honor of former COD History Professor Carter D. Carroll, is free and open to the public. Paris will explore the significant role DeKalb County played in the Underground Railroad, highlighting the actions of J.F. Glidden, inventor of barbed wire, and DeKalb County sheriff during the network’s most active period.

* Daily Herald | Severe weather expected to develop overnight, continue throughout Wednesday: Thunderstorms are expected to develop late Tuesday night with the potential for hail stones up to 1 inch in diameter, gusty winds, frequent lightning and heavy downpours at times. Additional severe weather is likely to continue through most of the night and continue throughout Wednesday for most of the suburbs, according to forecasts from the National Weather Service bureau in Romeoville.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Two people arrested by ICE at Champaign Co. Courthouse: Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman confirmed the arrests with WCIA Tuesday afternoon. Champaign County Public Defender Elisabeth Pollock identified the two arrested as Fernando Lorenzo-Raymundo and Carlos Gomez. Both have pending court cases. Heuerman said he spoke with the ICE agent in charge when he heard that officials were in the courthouse. The agent told him that they were there with administrative warrants for two men who had court. Those warrants are administrative rather than criminal, and allow federal immigration officials to detain people pending deportation hearings.

* SJ-R | Springfield alderwoman has a new gig: lobbying for Chicago mayor: Ward 5 Ald. Lakeisha Purchase has been a registered state lobbyist since 2023. Purchase said she will remain on the city council. “This is helpful to Chicago having someone here in Springfield,” Purchase told The State Journal Register March 29.

* Press Release | Woodward Communications, Inc. Expands Springfield Footprint with Acquisition of Four More Radio Stations: Woodward Communications, Inc. (WCI) is pleased to announce the successful acquisition of four radio stations (WNNS-FM, WQLZ-FM, WMAY-FM, and WMAY-AM) from Mid-West Family, serving the Springfield, IL marketplace. This acquisition follows WCI’s recent purchase of four Springfield, IL radio stations (WXAJ-FM, WFMB-FM, WCVS-FM, and WFMB-AM) from Neuhoff Media completed in October of last year.

* SJ-R | ‘He knew everything.’ Renowned Lincoln scholar and author dead at 101: Wayne C. “Doc” Temple, the indefatigable Abraham Lincoln scholar who wrote more than 20 books and hundreds of articles and book reviews, died in Chatham on March 31. Temple was 101 and still writing and reviewing manuscripts towards the end of his life, said his friend and historian, James Cornelius.

*** National ***

* Nature | ‘One of the darkest days’: NIH purges agency leadership amid mass layoffs: The layoffs will challenge the longstanding status that the NIH’s institutes and centres have had within the agency — as semi-autonomous entities. Legislative, communications, IT and other administrative workers within each institute received termination notices early on 1 April, a move designed to consolidate power under the NIH director. “NIH will cease to function after the RIFs [reductions in force]; it will take months to get things back online administratively,” says another NIH official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the press.

* Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Elon Musk group removes video from $1M winner after she says she got money to ‘vote’: “My name’s Ekaterina Deistler, and I’m from Green Bay, Wisconsin,” she said in the new video. “I did exactly what Elon Musk told everyone to do: sign the petition, refer friends and family, and now I have a million dollars.” It’s almost exactly the same, except the word “vote” has been removed. She is no longer saying she was paid, in part, to vote in the Supreme Court race.

* Columbia Journalism Review | Center for Public Integrity Is Shutting Down: The Center for Public Integrity, a thirty-six-year-old nonprofit newsroom in Washington, DC, that won acclaim for its investigations but has endured financial and organizational turmoil for much of the past decade, has ceased publishing and is in talks to turn over its archives to the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), an anti-corruption watchdog group.