* ICYMI: With TV ads heating up in Durbin Senate race, Dems try to show off their differences in second debate. Sun-Times…

- The three leading Democratic candidates took part in a calmer second televised debate as they tried to place a laser focus on their policy differences.
- The one-hour forum hosted by ABC7, the League of Women Voters and Univision focused on domestic and foreign policy issues and is the second of at least seven debates the candidates have agreed to in the final weeks ahead of the March 17 primary.
- U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly and Stratton both said they would not confirm any nominations made by President Trump, while Krishnamoorthi offered a more middle of the ground response.

* Related stories…

• Tribune: Illinois Democratic hopefuls for US Senate agree Trump poses constitutional crisis but other differences emerge
• CNI: 2nd Senate debate: Democrats talk fighting Trump, restoring trust in government
• Daily Herald: Minimum wage question highlights differences among Democrats in Senate race

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Sponsored by the Association of Safety-Net Community Hospitals:

Our Healthcare Backbone At Risk.

Safety-net hospitals are the backbone of Chicago’s Black and Brown communities. They provide emergency and lifesaving care for families who rely on them. They also support thousands of good, local healthcare jobs, serving as economic anchors in neighborhoods that have faced decades of disinvestment.

With federal support being reduced, safetynet hospitals need more resources – not less – to avoid further strain that could irreversibly damage local health systems and weaken the essential services our communities rely on.

Now, these hospitals are under threat.
The so-called Safety Net Moonshot would close or shrink hospitals in Black and Brown communities, cutting access to care and putting thousands of healthcare workers at risk. Fewer hospitals means longer wait times, overcrowded emergency rooms, reduced services, and worse health outcomes for vulnerable patients.

This is not reform. It is a sell-off of community healthcare, driven by outsiders – not by the needs of patients, workers, or neighborhoods.

Save safety-net hospitals. Protect our care, our jobs, and our communities.

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* The Governor will be in Lena today to celebrate the facility expansion for Savencia Cheese USA. Click here to watch at 11:30.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* WCIA | ‘For once, the system did not look away’: IL officials react to Sean Grayson sentencing: “The defense asked for a slap on the wrist. The court rejected that minimization and chose real accountability,” the commission wrote in a news release. “When the sentence was delivered, the courtroom exhaled and there were collective sighs of relief. Not because justice had been fully served, but because, for once, the system did not look away. For once, the loss of a black woman’s life at the hands of law enforcement was not discounted, deferred, or diminished.”

* WGN | Illinois AG Kwame Raoul says he was ready for Trump court fight: “We saw it coming way before Election Night,” he said. “A group of state attorney generals started getting together, I’d say in the spring of 2024. At that time, Joe Biden was still the presumptive candidate, Democratic candidate for president as a sitting president. And we were all, aware of Project 2025, Agenda 47. … And so we gathered and started preparing for the possibility of Donald Trump being elected.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* WAND | Giannoulias launches e-bike safety awareness campaign, calls for legislative action regulating high-speed vehicles: “Last fall, a Mount Prospect teen was killed when the e-bike he was riding collided with a pickup truck,” Giannoulias said. “And in 2022, an Illinois State University official died after he was struck by an e-bike rider in Bloomington-Normal.” New technology has enabled micromobility devices to travel at more than 50 miles per hour, far beyond the speeds addressed in current state law. Giannoulias is working with the Illinois High School and College Driver Education Association to develop new programming and curriculum to address micromobility across K-12 education and high school driver’s ed courses.”By pairing education with commonsense safeguards, we can make sure innovation on our streets doesn’t come at the expense of public safety,” said Sen. Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago).

* Fox News | The Democrat James Carville thinks is worth watching in 2028 will surprise you: And Carville, who first gained national attention over three decades ago as the chief strategist for former President Bill Clinton’s 1992 White House victory, argues that former Vice President Kamala Harris doesn’t have a shot at winning the next Democratic presidential nomination. […] “If I had to say one guy… I’d take JD Pritzker,” Carville said this week in a sit-down interview with Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo on his ‘Arroyo Grande’ podcast. Carville was asked which Democrat he could see carrying the flag into 2028.

* WTTW | Illinois Accountability Commission Should Probe Senior Trump Administration Officials, Pritzker Says: “For too long, Gregory Bovino and his rogue federal agents have terrorized communities in Illinois and across the country, violated our people’s constitutional rights and unleashed violence at every turn,” Pritzker said. “Greg Bovino, Kristi Noem and Donald Trump’s other lackeys should find lawyers because they must still be held responsible for the killings and the damage they’ve done to our country.” The commission will consider Pritzker’s request at its meeting set for Friday morning, former U.S. District Court Judge Rubén Castillo said.

* STLPR | Dabrowski believes he’s the only Republican who can beat Pritzker in November : “We’re the only campaign that can build the coalition to beat Pritzker, and so I think we’re going to steal the support from the other candidates,” Dabrowski said on the latest episode of Politically Speaking. “But that’s the challenge, of course.” […] President Donald Trump has not endorsed a candidate in the race. While he’s not courting the president’s support, Dabrowski said he wouldn’t turn it down. Trump endorsed Bailey the last time he ran for governor.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson may take another stab at passing Bring Chicago Home referendum, top mayoral aide says: Cristina Pacione-Zayas, the former state senator now serving as Johnson’s chief of staff, said the second time could be the charm for a referendum likely to gain steam amid the political rush to confront the affordability crisis in Chicago and around the nation. “If you look at the research, [referendums do] not get passed the first time around. And actually each time you are able to get it out and continue to build on the educational foundation for the voters, you do end up finding success,” Pacione-Zayas told the Sun-Times. “That’s what California has been able to prove [by] how many times they’ve brought things forth that they brought forth in the past.”

* Crain’s | Bond investors weary as Johnson and City Council continue budget fight: The weighted average of Chicago’s general obligation bonds has dropped from 130.8 on Dec. 24, four days after the City Council approved a 2026 budget over Mayor Brandon Johnson’s objection, to 117.2 on Jan. 22, according to an index kept by the Center for Municipal Finance at the University of Chicago. “Since the beginning of 2026, Chicago has gone in completely the opposite direction of the market as a whole,” said Justin Marlowe, the center’s director. “It may not have an impact on the city’s finances today, but it certainly suggests that it might be more difficult for Chicago to sell bonds in the future.”

* Sun-Times | CTU wants to bargain with CPS over remote learning options: The CTU’s vice president said the union will make a formal demand to bargain with the district over the effects of immigration enforcement on schools, anticipating “more vicious” federal operations in the spring.

* Sun-Times | Chicago business leader launches Bear Down Community Investment Group to spur regional economic development: The nonprofit, Bear Down Community Investment Group, was founded to expand housing options, construct mixed-use developments, strengthen local businesses and build a skilled workforce across Illinois. The nonprofit is based in Chicago, with an initial focus on Chicago Southland. The Southland includes five counties in Illinois and Indiana, spanning from O’Hare and Kankakee to Valparaiso, Ind.

* Crain’s | Billionaire Wacker Drive landlord explores sale in test of Chicago office market: Real estate tycoon Donald Bren is eyeing a sale of one of his company’s three downtown Chicago office skyscrapers, an offering that would test investor sentiment on top-performing, trophy office buildings downtown at a precarious time for the city’s office sector. Newport Beach, Calif.-based real estate firm Irvine is moving toward selling the 50-story tower at 1 N. Wacker Drive, according to sources familiar with the matter. The company recently interviewed brokers and tapped real estate services firm Eastdil Secured to explore a potential sale, teeing up what could be Irvine’s first sale in Chicago since entering the local office market in 2010.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Cook County loses road money suit as judge rules $243M misspent: The Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Alliance, a trade group representing construction, design and maintenance firms, originally filed suit in 2018 opposing that policy. They hoped to bar the county from using tax revenues it expected to collect from gas, parking lots, garages, and car purchases on anything but direct transportation projects. The county’s diversion of those dollars threatened their livelihoods, they argued. In a Wednesday interview, John Fitzgerald, the attorney for IRTBA, declared the order “a total and absolute victory” that “shows the county never even came close to meeting its constitutional obligation to spend these transportation funds” in line with the Safe Roads amendment. “It is a victory not just for the roadbuilders but for everyone who uses roads, streets and public transit in Cook County.”

* NBC Chicago | Teen accused of stabbing pregnant mom to death in critical condition, sheriff says: Around 5 p.m., Nedas Revuckas sustained injuries in his housing unit at the DuPage County Correctional Center, authorities said. He was immediately treated by Correctional Center medical staff and transported to a local medical facility for treatment. Authorities said he is in critical condition and preliminary investigation suggests his injuries were self-inflicted. No other individuals are believed to be involved.

* Daily Southtown | Orland Park Mayor Jim Dodge says Amazon ‘full steam ahead’ with planned development despite nearby retail closures: Oak Lawn Mayor Terry Vorderer said Wednesday he heard about the planned retail closures through the news media and had no details about the future of the Oak Lawn storefront. Amazon said in a news release it has seen “encouraging signals” in its Amazon branded grocery stores, but the company hasn’t “created a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion.”

* Crain’s | Why Lurie is building up in the suburbs as some hospitals shy away from pediatrics: Since 2012, more than 20 community hospital pediatric units in the area have closed. Most recently, Prime Healthcare’s St. Joseph Medical Center shuttered its pediatric unit, stating they had a very low volume of patients. Likewise, Northwestern Medicine closed a small pediatric unit at Palos Hospital in 2024. […] The hospital sees opportunity to build more integrated care there, closer to suburban residents home, as it is doing with a new, 75,000-square-foot outpatient center in Schaumburg that will draw families from the north and northwest suburbs.

*** Downstate ***

* WAND | Springfield church official arrested for producing child pornography: The attorney’s office said that 54-year-old Michael Mohr of Springfield was charged with one count of producing child pornography. Mohr is president of the Central Illinois District of the Lutheran Church –Missouri Synod in Springfield. A search of Mohr’s Springfield home found storage devices with videos of three juveniles in the bathroom.

* WGLT | Bloomington’s police accountability board to review Care for Victims report: The board has struggled to draw public participation, with its strongest attendance drawn for discussions on pertinent issues involving police, such as the 2024 fatal shooting of Sonya Massey by a Sangamon County deputy. The board unanimously approved the formation of a subcommittee to select topics for each quarterly meeting, which take place in the evenings and offer opportunities for open discussion with the public. Board member Ashley Farmer and youth member Yvett Hernandez will serve on that subcommittee.

*** National ***

* WaPo | RFK Jr. picks promoters of debunked vaccine-autism claims for key panel: “It undermines decades of progress toward evidence-based policy,” said Alison Singer, president of the Autism Science Foundation. Singer, who is not a member of the panel but has previously served on it, said the advisory group has historically reflected a wide range of perspectives on autism but has now been effectively “hijacked” by individuals advancing positions inconsistent with established scientific research.

* NBC | Trump strikes deal with Democrats in government shutdown funding fight: The agreement would fund all of the government except for the Department of Homeland Security through September. DHS would operate on a two-week stopgap bill, according to five sources familiar with the agreement, in order to buy time to negotiate changes sought by Democrats following public outrage over the DHS killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. Senators had hoped to vote on the deal Thursday night but couldn’t resolve a handful of minor issues; the chamber will now aim to vote on Friday. The House, which returns to Washington on Monday, would then need to pass the legislation and send it to Trump’s desk for his signature.

* Electrek | Musk admits no Optimus robots are doing ‘useful work’ at Tesla — after claiming otherwise: We documented last month that Tesla never came close to producing thousands of Optimus robots in 2025. There was no evidence of even hundreds being built. During the earnings call, Musk was specifically asked about how many Optimus robots Tesla has, and he didn’t answer. What Tesla has demonstrated publicly are robots performing simple tasks like handing out water bottles, and even then, they relied heavily on teleoperation (humans remotely controlling the robots) rather than true autonomy.