* John Pletz for Crain’s…

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun’s bid to lure the Chicago Bears across the state line is shaping up as more than a publicity stunt. It comes with legislation that could hand the team a publicly financed stadium.

But whether Braun can deliver — politically or financially — is far from clear. […]

“Gov. Braun is not a very savvy politician,” observes Jim Shella, a retired journalist who covered Indiana politics for more than three decades. “He lost a lot of political capital on the redistricting fight and he needs a big win. This would give him one.”

Even so, Indiana lawmakers who embraced deep budget cuts last year may be reluctant to spend billions on a publicly financed stadium for one of Chicago’s wealthiest families.

From last year…

The controversial Indiana Economic Development Corporation saw a non-adjusted 30% decrease. Several line items were zeroed out, including career connections funding, direct flight subsidies, industrial development grants, manufacturing readiness grants and a skills enhancement fund.

The Department of Workforce Development was dealt a non-adjusted 27% reduction — and will absorb the work of the eliminated Governor’s Workforce Cabinet. The Indiana Destination Development Corporation was also slashed.

That prompted the [Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute] to ask: “What is the State of Indiana’s economic strategy in light of this divestment?” alongside questions about business leader attitudes, higher-wage job opportunities and innovation.

Irony.

* WIFR…

The Pecatonica Community School District 321 school board voted Wednesday night not to approve the hire of an elementary school music teacher. […]

Some parents spoke in support of the teacher, saying their children had already benefited from the return of a permanent music instructor after months without having one.

“She came home so excited to tell me that the school finally hired a new music teacher,” said Matthew Dodd, a Pecatonica parent. […]

Other parents raised concerns about the teacher’s use of pronouns in the classroom during public comment and asked the board to reconsider the hire.

“Those students are 5 to 10 years old and for me I just think that confusion needs to be left out of the classroom when it comes to certain topics,” said Megan Kraft, another Pecatonica parent. “The fact that she has asked to be called ‘Mx. Ross’ is in fact bringing ideology into the classroom.”

*** Chicago ***

* South Side Weekly | City Council Pauses on Curfew, Bans Some Hemp Products: Quinn’s measure could change depending on what happens at the federal level. Buried in the bill that ended the government shutdown last year was a provision that closed a loophole on small amounts of THC in hemp products, effectively banning most hemp products by November 2026. The legislation also dealt a blow to Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to tax hemp products last year, which was projected to deliver $10 million in revenue annually. A bipartisan push this month from U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Rand Paul (R-KY) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) aims to delay the federal ban by two years.

* Block Club | Chicago’s 1st Reentry Support Center For Formerly Incarcerated Women Opens In Pilsen: The city chose the Pilsen-based Women’s Justice Institute, a national organization based in Chicago, to run the community reentry support center that will help women find housing and employment and provide trauma-informed counseling and mental health services, said Joseph Mapp, director of the mayor’s Office of Reentry.

* Sun-Times | Video shows man fatally shot in head by Chicago police ‘posed no threat,’ family’s lawyers say: Roberto Calvario Jr. was killed Dec. 9 as he struggled with a police officer responding to a call of a stolen car in West Ridge. His family’s attorneys argued that body camera video released Thursday contradicts the police department’s initial claim that the officer fired the deadly shot after being dragged by the car Calvario was driving.

* WTTW | State Law Allows Chicago’s Police Misconduct Agency to Investigate Fatal Police Shootings, Judge Rules:The Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 7, has objected to COPA investigators probing police shootings since the agency’s creation in 2017, amid the outcry over the 2014 murder of 16-year-old Laquan McDonald by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke. In the less than nine years COPA has existed, its investigators have probed 138 deaths caused by Chicago police officers, records show. Union President John Catanzara Jr. did not respond to a request for comment from WTTW News.

* Crain’s | Indie music venues drive $2.8B to Chicago’s economy, new report finds: Most of Chicago’s roughly 150 independent music venues are in financial peril despite producing a combined $2.8 billion economic impact and supporting almost 17,000 jobs in the city, according to a new report from the Chicago Independent Venue League and Choose Chicago. The State of Live report — based on a survey of the city’s smaller independent music venues — found that just 22% of such concert halls were able to turn a profit in 2024, an indicator that many of them could be forced to shutter, said CIVL co-chair Jimalita Tillman.

* ABC Chicago | Chicago weather forecast: Extreme Cold Warning Friday as dangerous polar plunge nears: The warning was upgraded from a previous Extreme Cold Watch; it will go into effect from 3 a.m. until noon Friday for the Chicago area. ABC7 meteorologists said that although the warning expires at noon on Friday, it will be dangerously cold all day.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Orland Park robocall attacks Village Trustee Cynthia Katsenes, former Mayor Keith Pekau: A robocall calling out Orland Park political figures including Trustee Cynthia Katsenes and former Mayor Keith Pekau was not sent by the American Federation of Labor political action committee despite its claims, according to the Chicago Federation of Labor. The federation, which represents 300 unions and more than 13,000 union members in Orland Park, denounced the robocall in a news release last week. Federation President Bob Reiter said no registration for the American Federation of Labor PAC exists in Illinois, and “the messages were not created or commissioned by the Chicago Federation of Labor, the Illinois AFL-CIO, national AFL-CIO or any related entities.”

* Daily Herald | Hersey High School wrestling coaches dismissed amid probe of student residency, recruiting: The probe identified residency eligibility issues and determined that “several” students who wrestled at Hersey didn’t reside within the Arlington Heights school’s attendance boundaries, district officials said Wednesday. Officials declined to say how many athletes are involved since the matter involves student eligibility and remains under review by the Illinois High School Association.

*** Downstate ***

* WMBD | Former school secretary allegedly stole $168K from Illinois grade school: Purchases linked to youth baseball appear to have triggered a larger investigation that led to the discovery of $168,000 found missing from a rural Tazewell County school. According to documents filed in Tazewell County Circuit Court, the superintendent for Spring Lake Elementary School noticed about $281 spent on the school’s credit card at two local sports complexes, as well as to a prep baseball tournament company. […] Rawlings allegedly used the school’s credit card in 2024 and through August 2025 and spent $75,103 for “numerous purchases at various locations for items not associated with the school.” The detective also found that Rawlings allegedly connected the credit card to her Google Pay account.

* WCIA | Strengthening labor leadership: East Central Illinois AFL-CIO elects 9 new officers: The East Central Illinois AFL-CIO swore in nine new officers on Wednesday night. They represent more than 18,000 union members across 11 counties in Central Illinois. They advocate for their members and their families as far north as Iroquois County and as far south as Jasper. Luther Baker is the new president, and he said, in his new role, his goal is to make sure all of the members feel supported.

* WGLT | Extreme Cold Warning issued for Central Illinois with ‘dangerously cold wind chills’: Central Illinois is on the northern edge of a massive winter storm that’s expected to sweep across much of the eastern and central United States this weekend as cold air from Canada is expected to mix with warmer air from the south, causing significant snow and ice across the southeastern U.S. and the East Coast.

* WSIL | Mounds City Council Votes Against City-Wide Security System:The decision came after the council listened to public comments expressing concerns over the initiative. The proposed system would have been funded by adding a $15 public safety fee to residents’ water bills. More than a dozen residents attended the council meeting, eager to voice their opinions. Many raised questions about the cost of the security system and its impact on their monthly water bills.