* Crain’s…

A day after the Chicago Bears said Indiana lawmakers took “the most meaningful step” in their pursuit for a new stadium, Gov. JB Pritzker said the team needs to make abundantly clear if they are still interested in negotiating a deal to move to Arlington Heights.

The Indiana House Ways and Means Committee unanimously approved a bill that establishes an authority that would issue bonds to build a new domed stadium in Hammond, just across the state border.

The Bears praised the approval without mentioning the team was still in talks with state lawmakers, to Pritzker’s “dismay.” […]

“The Bears really do need to step up and be public about what it is that they really want,” Pritzker told reporters today at an unrelated press conference. “The Bears need to make their intentions known. Those intentions could be that they want to continue to talk to both states, but I think they need to clarify that.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Battle over data centers in Illinois pits consumer costs vs. state competitiveness: “We don’t want them to overwhelm our electrical capabilities and our water resources,” Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Caledonia, said. “If we’re going to allow them and track them, how can we make sure it benefits Illinois residents and rate payers in the state?” These are the same issues and tensions legislators hoped to address in their fall veto session. But no broad consensus was reached, and instead, Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, adding new air regulations for backup generators used by data centers. Lawmakers in Springfield have already begun negotiating a new round of data center regulations.

* Chicago Reader | Illinois officials decry proposed cuts to HIV care: Channyn Lynne Parker, the first Black transgender woman to lead Equality Illinois—the state’s oldest and largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization—tells the Reader that the cuts are obvious political retaliation. “This government has been very transparent about their hostility towards the LGBTQ community, so I see this as the fulfillment of a promise that they made,” Parker says. “This was a clear priority of Project 2025, so there’s no surprise here. This is exactly what they said they were going to do.

* Rep. Lisa Davis | Marked decline in homicides, robberies proves critics wrong about Pretrial Fairness Act: Judges are now receiving more information and spending more time on decisions regarding pretrial release and detention. And most importantly, the law is working. In Cook County, the vast majority of people on pretrial release are succeeding. In the two years since the Pretrial Fairness Act took effect, 94% of the more than 130,000 people released pretrial have not been charged with new offenses against a person, according to summary data compiled by staff at the Cook County chief judge’s office.

* Daily Herald | Woman’s hospitalization following Bailey campaign launch stirs questions within GOP: The woman informed police she believed she had been drugged, and told the Daily Herald she suspects something was put in her drink. Oak Brook police filed the report as informational and did not investigate the allegations. They advised the woman to contact the Chicago Police Department if she wanted to pursue anything further, a spokesperson said. The Bailey campaign on Wednesday called the accusations “false, baseless, and reckless.”

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Johnson’s press secretary leaving to join NYC’s Zohran Mamdani: Cassio Mendoza, the press secretary for Mayor Brandon Johnson, is leaving Chicago to join New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s communications team. Part of what makes Mendoza’s move to New York interesting is he will report to Joe Calvello, another former communications aide to Johnson, who is now Mamdani’s lead press secretary.

* Tribune | Federal jury finds ex-CPD detective Guevara coerced confession in 1988 murder case, awards $750,000: The jury rejected, however, the request from plaintiffs’ attorneys for a whopping $40 million in damages, awarding only $750,000 in compensatory damages, which the city must pay, and no money in punitive damages against Guevara himself. The same panel ruled in favor of Guevara’s former colleague, retired Chicago police detective Michael Mason, on all counts against him.

* Crain’s | Pickleball company buys West Loop ice rink near United Center: The facility, which hosts adult and youth hockey programs, is 30 years old, and continuing to operate it as an ice rink would require capital investment that doesn’t meet the operators’ long-term business goals, the email said, though they’re leasing back the facility from the buyer until June 15 and will continue to operate it until then.

* Crain’s | Nearly 300 apartments planned for former Lakeview senior housing building: “It’s not often that a building of this scale comes available in Lakeview,” Annenberg said. “It’s exciting to bring [almost] 300 new units to a neighborhood that is lacking in supply and one of the highest rent growth neighborhoods in the city.” The firm paid about $30 million for the building, according to sources familiar with the deal. Annenberg declined to confirm the sale price or name the firm’s partner in the deal, a local investment group. But he said they bought the building at a basis that allows them to put in top-of-the-line amenities, including a large fitness center, coworking space and a podcasting studio. Still, the rents will be significantly below new construction properties due to the building’s age, he said.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* The Athletic | Are the Bears really Indiana-bound or will they follow the money to Arlington Heights?: In theory, the Bears moving into a stadium across state lines isn’t really that big of a deal. It happens in the NFL, and Hammond, Ind., where the project would be located, is around 20 miles south of Soldier Field. The Arlington Park site that the Bears bought three years ago is further away and is a significantly traffic-congested ride from the heart of the city. Neither site has the view or the built-in energy of playing on the lakefront of Chicago. Both would be a downgrade in terms of vibes. Lake Michigan is a bit more scenic than Wolf Lake. But the Bears will gladly sacrifice outside aesthetics for a state-of-the-art stadium surrounded by a “mixed-use development” that will line their collective pockets.

* Daily Southtown | District 218 still $7 million behind with Cook County property tax delays: District 218 includes Eisenhower High School in Blue Island, Richards High School in Oak Lawn and Shepard High School in Palos Heights. Following the months-long delay of last year’s fall property tax bills, Cook County leaders announced this week that spring property tax bills would go out when they are supposed to, and that local government bodies would receive their revenue on time. County leaders said first installment bills will be mailed out this year on March 2, and be due April 1, a month later than usual, to give taxpayers “breathing room.”

* Daily Southtown | Cook County judge orders Dolton to create plan for paying $33.5 million judgment: Village officials presented concerns Tuesday that Judge William Sullivan would force the Dolton board to pass a bond that would drastically raise property taxes, as requested by attorneys for the plaintiffs in the police chase lawsuit. Sullivan said the village has three options to pay off the debt, which has accrued 6% per year through interest, or about $2 million per year per the lawsuit petition: issue a bond, issue a tax levy increase or increases costs of services. As of Friday, the village owes $40.6 million to the families of John Kyles, who died following the 2016 police chase, and Duane Dunlap, who was left severely injured.

* Tribune | With Lincolnwood Town Center sold, village leaders hopeful about moving soon on redeveloping the languishing mall: “The village is very excited to see an entity that is investing in the mall,” said Lincolnwood Village Manager Anne Marie Gaura. “There’s been a severe decline in the number of businesses operating in the mall, so to have an established developer that is investing in the mall is great for the community.” Last year, the reported vacancy within the mall was 54%. But when Gaura walked the mall last month, she said vacancy has seen another decrease – with retailer Kohl’s the only remaining anchor tenant.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Waubonsee Community College to increase tuition slightly starting in the fall: Starting with the fall 2026 semester, the college’s in-district and online tuition rate will be increasing from $141 to $146 per credit hour, the news release from Waubonsee said, following approval from the college’s Board of Trustees. The student fee will remain the same at $8 per credit hour.

*** Downstate ***

* WGLT | McLean County begins search for new director of Behavioral Health Coordination: Marita Landreth provided the county notice of her resignation from the director position of Behavioral Health Coordination after over two years at the helm. Previously she was a behavioral health nurse in the FUSE, or frequent user system engagement, program in the department. “I had accepted the director position with specific professional goals in mind and have been able to achieve those goals, so I am moving forward to pursue a different avenue of professional development,” Landreth said in an email to WGLT.

* NPR Illinois | Former Trump campaign advisor publishes film criticizing University of Illinois’ Chinese international students: Sharon Nguyen is a sophomore at U of I and is Vietnamese American. She thinks it is sad to hear people say immigrants are “taking” opportunities away when they enrich their communities. In Nguyen’s case, U of I’s global population is giving her the chance to research differences between international speakers of Vietnamese and those born in the United States. “I actually had a friend that came from Vietnam down here. Those types of research will be eliminated or endangered if there’s not a lot of international students,” Nguyen said.

* Capitol City Now | Jacksonville Center for the Arts decides not to purchase Illinois Theatre: The Jacksonville Center for the Arts (JCA) says in a news release it is suspending its fundraising campaign, and will not exercise an option to purchase the Illinois Theatre. “Although this decision is disappointing, it reflects our commitment to fiscal responsibility and stewardship,” said Larry Kuster, JCA board president, in a news release. “We are deeply grateful to the donors, partners, and organizations who supported this effort and believed in the vision for the Illinois Theater. The center had hoped to raise nearly $9 million to rehab the theatre. But, despite a $1 million donation pledge from a philanthropist, the fundraising has so far come up short, despite what was said to be an initial groundswell of support.

*** National ***

* Bloomberg | FAA resources ‘insufficient’ to oversee safety risks at United: The agency’s travel budget, inspector staffing levels and workforce planning “are insufficient to oversee safety risks,” the Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General concluded in a report dated Feb. 18. In addition, the FAA still hasn’t implemented all the recommendations made since 2019 to improve its reviews of airlines’ safety management systems and data. The watchdog opened an audit into the FAA’s oversight of United’s maintenance practices in 2024 after a series of mishaps that included lost wheels, engine failures and emergency landings.

* WIRED | DHS Wants a Single Search Engine to Flag Faces and Fingerprints Across Agencies: The agency is asking private biometric contractors how to build a unified platform that would let employees search faces and fingerprints across large government databases already filled with biometrics gathered in different contexts. The goal is to connect components including Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Transportation Security Administration, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Secret Service, and DHS headquarters, replacing a patchwork of tools that do not share data easily.

* CNBC | Fourth-quarter U.S. GDP up just 1.4%, badly missing estimate; inflation firms at 3%: For the full year in 2025, the U.S. economy grew at a 2.2% pace, down from the 2.8% increase in 2024. “The Federal government shutdown clearly sent the economy careening off its strong growth path in the fourth quarter which is a one-off that won’t be repeated in early 2026,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds. Just before the data release, President Donald Trump warned that the GDP number would be soft, blaming it on the government shutdown that ended in November.