* Subscribers know more. Dave Dahl at Capitol City Now…

A village near Joliet has hired a lobbyist whose name you might remember: Rod Blagojevich. The online Capitol Fax reports Homer Glen has hired the disgraced ex-governor to help with legislation in Springfield. Gov. JB Pritzker was asked about it Tuesday.

“Certainly, who represents you, whether it’s as a lobbyist or in any other way, matters. And so, to the extent that the impeachment and disgrace of a former reflects on a place that would hire him, then I guess it might harm their ability to get something done.”

Among the Capitol Fax reporting: Homer Glen made a $9,999 payment to Blagojevich, apparently to avoid a bidding process a $10,000 payment would trigger.

*** Statewide ***

* Inside Climate News | States Say They Need More Help Replacing Lead Pipes. Congress May Cut the Funding Instead: The EPA released 2025 funding allocations in November, months late, obligating nearly $3 billion across the country. Illinois, the state with the most lead pipes in the nation, received the largest share. Another $3 billion was slated to be disbursed this year, the last for the funds. The slashed $125 million would be repurposed for wildland fire management. Safe drinking water advocates and some lawmakers have called for the funds to be restored, calling them critical for health and safety. Because lead pipes are a public health hazard, the EPA has mandated that all states replace them within about a decade, with some extensions for states with many pipes, like Illinois.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Tribune | Ex-ComEd CEO convicted in scheme to bribe Madigan joins onetime colleagues in federal prison: Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore has joined her former colleagues in federal prison nearly three years after they were convicted in a scheme to bribe then-House Speaker Michael Madigan. Pramaggiore, 67, reported Monday to a minimum-security prison camp in Marianna, Florida, about an hour’s drive west of Tallahassee, where she will serve her two-year sentence, records show. A release date has not yet been calculated, but federal prisoners typically have to serve 85% of their time.

*** Chicago ***

* Block Club | Chicago’s Domestic Homicides Surged Last Year Even As Overall Violent Crime Dropped: While homicide totals and most other violent crime figures dropped in Chicago last year, homicides that resulted from domestic violence increased by 15 percent, according to the city’s violence reduction dashboard. The dashboard tallied 52 domestic violence homicides in 2025, which doesn’t count 11 people included in police data Block Club obtained through a public records request. The dashboard, run by the Mayor’s Office, categorizes domestic crimes differently than the Chicago Police Department. Dashboard data also shows domestic fatal shootings alone spiked by more than 50 percent, the highest single-year increase since 2020.

* WBEZ | Southeast Side residents face Friday deadline for lawsuit over horrible smells: Johnson said the smells were particularly intense just before Christmas. Even with the windows closed, the odor is so strong she said she has to spray air freshener and burn incense. “It’s not the money,” Johnson said. “We want to live a comfortable life. We would really like them gone.”

* Tribune | Chicago video gambling legalization in flux as aldermen, Mayor Brandon Johnson weigh changes: Top Johnson advisor Jason Lee said the legalization of gambling machines in bars and restaurants across the city “requires more time and some judicious collaboration,” the clearest sign yet that it’s not a settled matter at City Hall. “There are a number of aldermen who are uncomfortable with the VGT expansion, particularly in the way it was done,” Lee told the Tribune. At the time the budget passed, all sides agreed the unprecedented aldermen-backed plan quickly passed to avert a city government shutdown would be a “living document.” And as talks emerge, millions of dollars are on the line.

* Tribune | As Chicago Harbor Lock faces federal cuts, Illinois senators push for more funding: President Donald Trump proposed a funding cut of more than 90% for the Harbor Lock in his fiscal year 2026 budget request. The Tribune reported last fall that the Army Corps of Engineers, which runs the lock, had requested $3.85 million for its operation and maintenance this year. But Trump’s proposed budget allocated less than $300,000 to the lock, which is one of the nation’s busiest. Funding for the harbor goes through the congressional appropriations process, and is part of the energy and water appropriations bill.

* WTTW | Family Fighting to Have Father With Seizure Disorder Released From ICE Custody: “They had guns and had one pointed right at me,” the woman recalled in an interview conducted in Spanish. “I remember my husband telling them, ‘We aren’t resisting,’ but they kept banging on the car window. They treated us like we were some delinquents, and I was just going to work. We weren’t doing anything bad.” […] “They asked me to sign this document so I could go get my kids,” the woman recalled. “I refused because I didn’t trust them to bring my children back or take them somewhere else. I told them I wouldn’t sign anything.” The family’s attorney, Angelika Charczuk, said agents were trying to pressure the mother of three to sign a form aimed at deporting the entire family.

* Block Club | Blue-Collar Worker Finds Fame As ‘Cheese Grater Guy’ In Bears’ Iconic Playoff Win Over Packers: On the way to the tailgate Saturday, Martinez picked up beers and a $8.99 cheese grater with a plastic cover from Jewel-Osco. Security at Soldier Field didn’t stop him. A confident Martinez said he was loaded up on steaks, sushi and “Miller Lattes” as he strolled through metal detectors. “Not even a beep,” Martinez said. “I didn’t even think anything of it.” Martinez was also strapped with four cheese chunks that his wife put in Ziploc bags and stuffed into his pockets.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark absent from first meeting in two months; City Council approves budget, tax levy: Fifth Ward Ald. Dominique Randle-El, who chaired the meeting, defended Clark from criticism regarding his absence, saying for all the audience knew the mayor could be dealing with sickness or a loss in his family. “He’s not running, he’s not hiding, he’s not afraid,” Randle-El said. “He’s human.” Monday’s meeting was only the second City Council meeting in Harvey since the city declared a state of financial distress and a partial government shutdown last October. In that time, the city has instituted mass layoffs, including at the Police and Fire Departments, to address the emergency.

* Tribune | Chicago among 5 Athletes Unlimited Softball League franchise locations announced for 2026 season: The teams announced Tuesday are the Carolina Blaze, Chicago Bandits, Portland Cascade, Texas Volts and Utah Talons. The Oklahoma City Spark had been previously announced as an addition to the league. The season will start June 9. […] The Bandits will play home games at The Stadium at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont. The Chicago Bandits name goes back to 2005.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | CUPHD’s administrator retiring after more than three decades with the agency: Julie Pryde has devoted almost her entire professional career to Champaign County. She said that she’s loved coming to work at the health department every day for the last thirty years. However, Pryde added that a part of leadership is knowing when to hand over the reigns, and she feels like CUPHD is in a great position, and it’s time for her to watch them grow from the sidelines.

* Press Release | Illinois, Daktronics Install Largest Video Display in College Football: he Fighting Illini turned to Daktronics (NASDAQ-DAKT) of Brookings, South Dakota, to design, manufacture and install the largest main video display in college football, totaling 17,300+ square feet. The project includes 16 LED displays that combine for more than 26,750 square feet and 30 million pixels at Gies Memorial Stadium on campus at the University of Illinois in Champaign. The project will be completed ahead of the 2026 college football season.

*** National ***

* NYT | Six prosecutors quit after push to investigate ICE shooting victim’s widow: After Good was shot, the Justice Department decided to forgo a civil rights investigation that would establish whether the ICE officer’s use of deadly force was justified. That decision led several career prosecutors at the department’s civil rights division in Washington to resign in protest, MS Now reported Monday. Instead, the Justice Department launched an investigation to examine ties between Good and her wife, Becca, and several groups that have been monitoring and protesting the conduct of immigration agents in recent weeks. Shortly after Wednesday’s fatal shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem referred to Good as a “domestic terrorist.” Becca Good said in a statement last week that she and her wife had “stopped to support our neighbors” when they got into a tense confrontation with ICE agents that led to the shooting. “We had whistles,” Becca Good wrote. “They had guns.”

* MPR News | Trump administration moves to reverse mining ban near Boundary Waters: The Trump administration and northeast Minnesota Republican Congressman Pete Stauber are taking action to end a 20-year mining ban near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area that was imposed three years ago under former President Joe Biden. The move could pave the way for Twin Metals Minnesota, which is a subsidiary of the giant Chilean mining firm Antofagasta, to re-apply for state and federal permits to open a proposed underground mine for copper, nickel and other metals outside Ely and just a few miles south of the federally protected wilderness area.

* 404 Media | Police Unmask Millions of Surveillance Targets Because of Flock Redaction Error: Completely unredacted Flock audit logs have been released to the public by numerous police departments and in some cases include details on millions Flock license plate searches made by thousands of police departments from around the country. The data has been turned into a searchable tool on a website called HaveIBeenFlocked.com, which says it has data on more than 2.3 million license plates and tens of millions of Flock searches.