* ICYMI: IL tourism chief out amid ethics probe. Capitol City Now…

Daniel Thomas, head of the Illinois Office of Tourism, a bureau within the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, was accused of a massive conflict of interest by doing state business with Time Zone One, a company he owned.

Asked about the situation at an economic development event in Jacksonville Tuesday Gov. JB Pritzker called it a one-off: “The challenges with the gentleman that was fired by DCEO are ones that will not happen again. The (Illinois) Office of Tourism, frankly, has helped us to enhance tourism all across the state of Illinois. Our numbers have been going up every single year, but that one gentleman broke the rules, broke the law, and he’ll be held accountable.”

* Related stories…

∙ WGN: Illinois tourism agency hit with scandal
∙ Tribune: State development agency accused of mismanagement for handling of deputy’s conflict of interest

* The Governor will be in Decatur today at 11:30 to celebrate the opening of TCCI Clean Manufacturing Hub. Click here to watch.

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

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* WCIA | West Nile bird testing suspended in Illinois to prevent bird flu spread: Usually, County Health Departments in Illinois begin collecting dead birds and testing them for West Nile Virus between May and October. This year however, the ongoing spread of bird flu has put that on pause. […] The Illinois Department of Public Health said that to prevent a risk of exposure to bird flu, they are temporarily suspending the collection and testing of dead wild birds for West Nile virus. […] But, the IDPH added, the department will continue to collect and test mosquitoes, which will serve as a way to track the virus in Illinois.

* WAND | Advance Illinois asks for an additional $350 million for FY2026 amid potential federal cuts: Advance Illinois’ Director of Government Relations Jelani Saadiq said even though the federal government hasn’t cut funding yet, the state needs to be prepared to step in. “While we recognize the budget is tight and are grateful for the consistent investment over the years, we continue to recommend the state invests more than the $350 million in EBF for Financial Year 2026,” Saadiq said.

* WaPo | Whooping cough cases surge as vaccine rates fall: The U.S. has tallied 8,077 cases of whooping cough in 2025, compared with 3,847 cases in the same period last year, the CDC’s data shows. The bacterial illness, formally known as pertussis, spreads easily and is especially dangerous for infants. […] In 2024, the number of whooping cough cases in the U.S. climbed to the highest level in a decade. The latest figures show the disease’s spread continues to accelerate — and indicates that the country is backsliding in keeping children from dying of preventable diseases, said Paul Offit, an infectious-diseases physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who directs its vaccine education center.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Press release | Healthy Illinois holds Springfield rally to maintain healthcare for all: Hundreds of supporters of health care for all will rally in front of the Illinois State Capitol to support 33,000 Illinois residents who are at risk of losing essential health coverage on July 1, 2025. WHEN: Wednesday, April 23, 2025, at 10:30 AM

* WAND | IL Secretary of State shares new video highlighting dangers of texting and driving: All people looking to receive their learner permit in Illinois will be required to watch the video. It lasts 1 minute and 30 seconds, showing how eating, texting or generally being distracted while driving can cause fatal accidents in seconds. Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said distracted driving is an epidemic and the drunk driving of this generation that causes 3,500 deaths per year in the U.S.

* WAND | Illinois House committee debates consequences of Trump’s SAVE Act for married women, disabled voters: Trump and congressional Republicans hope to require Americans show a passport or their birth certificate when they register to vote or renew their registration. Yet, many nonpartisan organizations have criticized the idea due to the fact the vast majority of Americans don’t have those documents and the plan would prohibit online voter registration. Over 2.5 million women in Illinois would also be blocked from voting under the SAVE Act because they changed their surname when they got married.

*** Statewide ***

* ABC Chicago | Illinois, Indiana college students celebrate temporary victory after judge orders visas reinstated: More than 100 international students are celebrating a victory Tuesday after a lawyer representing the students says the Trump administration complied with a Georgia District Court Judge’s order to reinstate their student visas for now. That group includes students from the University of Illinois, Western Illinois University, and the Indiana Institute of Technology.

* SJ-R | ‘It just seems so unfair:’ Illinois families brace for possible Medicaid cuts: For Marilyn Webster of Jacksonville, Medicaid means being able to work, as opposed to probably having to quit her job to look after her 20-year-old daughter, Rebekah, who has autism with high support needs. Camilla Nicoletta, 23, of Springfield, who has Down’s syndrome, is trying to enter a day program that offers routine, independence, and community. Louis Pisani, 27, who has autism, has found a job that he has held for five years with the help of job coaching and transition programs. Here’s what potential cuts to Medicaid could mean for them and for others in Illinois.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson takes aim at Rahm Emanuel, ex-mayor’s ‘neoliberal agenda’: Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday he was watching an interview with Rahm Emanuel recently and was “incredibly bothered” by the former mayor’s “temerity.” “The playbook that Donald Trump is running is a playbook that Emanuel executed in this city,” Johnson added.

* Crain’s | Bally’s is juggling both Chicago and federal politics with its revised casino IPO: Under the original plan, Bally’s sought approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO targeting women and minority investors and collected deposits from more than 1,500 accounts as of late last year. That structure was challenged in multiple lawsuits in January by white would-be investors alleging the offering violated federal anti-discrimination laws. And while a judge refused to block the IPO, the SEC — which is now in the grip of President Donald Trump’s administration — never gave Bally’s clearance to issue shares, prompting the company to temporarily scrap the offering in February and return deposits.

* WBEZ | ‘This is real rehabilitation’: A Chicago program that keeps young men out of prison is expanding: The program gave him the basic necessities he needed to gain stability — shelter, work and community — in a state where close to 40% of people released from prison return within three years. […] Alonzo Waheed, a program director at Equity and Transformation, a group focused on formerly incarcerated residents on the West Side, said the work of the legal center “has been foundational in providing much-needed resources to the community.”

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Chicago Public Schools CEO Martinez picked to lead Massachusetts schools: Martinez, who was fired from CPS without cause in December, was one of three finalists for the Massachusetts job and one of 42 people who had applied. If he takes the job, he will be responsible for overseeing and providing state support for Massachusetts’ roughly 400 school districts. He would also become the first Latino to have the job.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Lake Zurich among the latest communities to approve local grocery tax to replace expiring state measure: Shoppers won’t notice a difference as the local grocery tax will remain 1%, allowing the village to maintain a “critical, stable revenue stream needed for municipal operations.” Lake Zurich has six or more large grocery stores and receives about $1.3 million annually. That revenue goes into the general fund, which supports core village services including police, fire and public works.

* Daily Southtown | Area’s ancient landscape and human impact showcased at Orland Grassland: Sandhill cranes and other migratory species now use the reserve for stopovers during spring and fall migrations. Grassland birds such as bobolinks, dickcissels, eastern meadowlarks and Henslow’s sparrows consider the reserve a prime breeding area. Native amphibians, reptiles and insects also have returned.

* Daily Herald | 80 years ago this week, a Cook County forest preserve was converted into a POW labor camp: There’s likely only a few still around who remember the time — 80 years ago this week — when the U.S. Army commandeered the site and converted it into a German prisoner of war labor camp to help farmers in the area harvest their crops. “It kind of sounds worse than it was,” said Kathleen Fairbairn, a volunteer researcher at the Des Plaines History Center. “The prisoners, they weren’t very interested in going home anyway as it turns out most of their homes had probably been destroyed in the bombings and they were being better fed than if they were still on the front lines.”

* Daily Southtown | Andrew High School musician named state’s top young composer: When Dash Wilson composes a new piece of music, it’s not just the notes that are important but the story they tell, and his creativity earned him first place this year in the 2025 Illinois Young Composer contest. His composition “Echo of a Raindrop – From Within the Cave” also received an honorary mention at the Illinois Music Education Association Student Composition Contest in the Senior Instrumental Large Ensemble Category.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Pritzker goes to Jacksonville to announce money for downtown revitalization projects: The projects are focused on either improving infrastructure or building out housing options “Our state government treated these towns across the state as a relic of the past rather than a key part of our future,” Pritzker said. “Main streets and downtowns were losing their small businesses, in part because they needed upgrades and improvements that local governments sometimes could not afford.”

* WCIA | City of Urbana finalizes last property tax payment to Carle Health: A 20-year legal saga in Urbana is coming to a close. City leaders approved a settlement agreement on Monday night to pay off the remaining balance in the lawsuit involving Carle Health and property tax exemptions. It’ll cost the City of Urbana, Cunningham Township and Champaign County more than six million dollars.

* WGLT | Heartland Community College Board to vote on $6.4 million in spring construction projects: The proposed developments include new classrooms and networking labs, a student center and an extension of the Constitution Trail. The combined cost of the projects is estimated at $6.4 million. The second phase of Heartland’s new student center is projected to cost $2.75 million and aligns with the college’s 2020 facility master plan, according to Heartland staff. The proposed space will include a wellness room, a multipurpose food pantry and clothing closet, updated areas for student counseling and esports and a student lounge overlooking the atrium.

*** National ***

* WaPo | DOJ cancels grants for gun-violence and addiction prevention, victim advocacy: The grants sent millions of dollars to organizations that support intervention programs for nonviolent youth offenders; programs to avert opioid-related deaths in Newark; programs aimed at identifying community-based approaches to preventing hate crimes against Arab, Jewish and Asian Americans; and a confidential hotline run by the National Center for Victims of Crime to inform crime victims about their rights. The Boston-based Community Resources for Justice, for example, lost $37 million spread over several grants. Some of those funds were used to provide crime data analysis and other services to local governments, according to government grant data.

* WSJ | Tesla Profit Sinks, Hurt by Backlash Over Elon Musk’s Political Role: Tesla’s TSLA 4.60% net income slid 71% in the first quarter, as the company struggled to overcome competitive pressure overseas and a reputational hit from Chief Executive Elon Musk’s polarizing role in the Trump administration. Musk said he would be devoting significantly less time to his federal cost-cutting work at the Department of Government Efficiency starting next month, but struck a defiant tone against critics. “I believe the right thing to do is to fight the waste and fraud and try to get the country back on the right track,” Musk said on a call with analysts after the quarterly earnings report Tuesday.