* ICYMI: Illinois lawmakers file bill to keep Chicago Bears in state as Indiana lawmakers advance their bill to lure team to Hammond. WGN…

- The bill is expected to be brought up in a committee meeting on Thursday morning in Springfield
- In Illinois, a tweaked bill would allow a 20-year property tax assessment freeze for mega-projects like a new stadium, with the team making what lawmakers are calling a “special payment” to the local government.
- Meanwhile, in Indianapolis, Indiana lawmakers are expected to send Senate Bill 27 to their governor on Thursday, setting up the financial framework and clearing the way to fund a stadium in Hammond.

* Related stories…

• ABC Chicago: Illinois lawmakers file amended bill in effort to keep Chicago Bears ahead of key meetings
• MS NOW: ‘Not going to be shaken down’: Pritzker on Bears stadium showdown

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*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* NBC Chicago’s Mary Ann Ahern…

Clearing the field? ⁦@Giannoulias⁩ announces another 9M in contributions from labor & business
No official #ChicagoMayor27 announcement yet. pic.twitter.com/KU8gCI358e

— Mary Ann Ahern (@MaryAnnAhernNBC) February 26, 2026

The A-1 is here.

* Tribune | More than a week of celebration and funeral services for Rev. Jesse Jackson begins Thursday in Chicago: Thursday is the beginning of a three-city, nine-day memorial tour, of sorts, that will also end in Chicago. After he lies in repose Thursday and Friday at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, Jackson, who died earlier this month at age 84, will lie in state on Monday at the South Carolina state capitol in Columbia. He was born about 100 miles away, in Greenville, S.C., in 1941.

* NPR | ICE won’t be at polling places this year, a Trump DHS official promises: “Any suggestion that ICE is going to be present at polling places is simply disinformation,” said Heather Honey, DHS assistant secretary for election integrity, according to a participant on the call who spoke to NPR on the condition of anonymity. “There will be no ICE presence at polling locations.” […] “We’re going to have ICE surround the polls come November,” said former Trump adviser Steve Bannon on his podcast earlier this month. “We’re not going to sit here and allow you to steal the country again.” Shortly after, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about those comments and she responded that she “can’t guarantee” that an ICE agent wouldn’t be around a polling location in November.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Tribune | As primary looms, Illinois Republican governor candidates say they oppose abortion-is-murder bill: Darren Bailey, Ted Dabrowski, Rick Heidner and James Mendrick have all positioned themselves as pro-life and criticized Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker’s efforts to make Illinois a haven for women seeking abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, leaving the legality of the procedure up to individual states. But the four say the package of bills introduced by downstate Republican state Sen. Neil Anderson goes too far, as it would classify a fertilized egg as a “person” and criminalize the disposal of eggs used in in vitro fertilization with no exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the woman.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Johnson and City Council trade blame as Chicago’s credit is downgraded: The downgrade reflects mounting concern about the city’s reliance on borrowing and one-time revenue — and serves as a “wake-up call,” said one municipal finance expert, that political infighting is compounding Chicago’s long-standing structural deficit. Despite the warning, Johnson and the City Council coalition that passed a budget over his objections sought to shift the blame to the other, a clear sign the 2027 budget process will be just as combustible as last year.

* Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson defends choice to lead city’s Animal Care and Control, despite conditions at city-run shelter: Cappello described the pressure the high-volume municipal shelter is under as “real and constant.” Dogs and cats arrive every day, “often in crisis.” No animal gets turned away. “Our doors are open to everything that comes in. We do take sick animals on a regular basis. Sometimes, sick animals stay here too long and can get sick. We don’t have the option of closing our door and saying, ‘We’re not going to take those today,’“ Cappello said. “We do our best. … But with that sheer number of animals, you’re going to have illness. It’s going to happen. Our medical staff is on top of that. They look at it as much as they can.”

* Tribune | A little-known program allows CTA and Metra to suspend riders. Most of them are Black.: And of the 40 riders suspended from the CTA, 90% were Black and 10% were Hispanic, according to the agency’s own data. Only 27% of the CTA’s riders are Black, according to data from the CTA’s oversight body, the Regional Transportation Authority. Metra issued 134 suspensions for incidents in 2024 and 2025. Roughly two-thirds of Metra’s suspensions involved Black riders, though only 13% of Metra riders are Black. Most suspended riders were facing criminal charges, according to agency data.

* Sun-Times | Jury awards $5.7 million to family targeted in botched police raid on Chicago’s South Side in 2018: SWAT officers stormed Ebony Tate’s home without knocking, aimed guns at the children and forced their grandmother outside in her underwear. “I’m just praying that this will put a stop to the wrongful raids,” Tate said after the verdict.

* Tribune | Obama Foundation readies for uncertainty of development near presidential center: With construction now nearly finished, Obama Foundation officials are touting the thousands they hired for the work by setting the names in stone at the site, marking them in a release as “essential partners in building a world-class institution rooted in community, opportunity, and shared prosperity.” The next phase of the center’s impact will be less concrete and more difficult to measure, though: whether it sticks to the foundation’s guiding principles of attracting private investment, strengthening the local economic climate and helping longtime working-class neighbors build wealth without pushing them out.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | ‘We’ve got a lot of questions’: Lisle seeks details on work at data center property: Last week, Lisle ordered that construction be halted at the Centersquare data center. However, town officials learned during a follow-up visit that work was continuing at the site along Western Avenue, prompting the village to seek a court order. “Anyone who is in the village has to comply with the rules that are in place, and if you’re not going to do that, we’re going to intervene,” Lisle Mayor Mary Jo Mullen said after the village filed court papers for a temporary restraining order to block the work.

* Tribune | ‘Terrifying and tortuous’: Former Oswego High School students sue district for allegedly failing to stop sexual harassment by teacher: According to the lawsuit, Staffeldt worked at the district for 12 years until he resigned in 2020 after students and staff members came forward with reports of sexual harassment. However, in 2017, the suit said, the district issued Staffeldt a written warning directing him to “maintain professionalism” and prohibiting him from hugging and touching students. Casper said the district “took no meaningful action” to prevent abuse moving forward. He said that, to his knowledge, there’s been no criminal investigation into Staffeldt’s alleged actions.

* Aurora Beacon News | Democratic primary for Kane County Board seat in District 11 features Juby, Forbes:
Juby, 64, of Geneva, is running for her second term on the board and said residents are concerned about the state of our democracy, supporting the community in areas ranging from mental health support to housing and food, and also the local economy and services that are provided. “As I walk and talk to people, honestly, the thing people talk about and are afraid of the most is the state of our democracy,” she said. “People are really scared and they don’t understand it on the local level but they are afraid the guard rails, nationally, are eroding.”

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Farmer, firefighter react after Sullivan extends water emergency: Public health and safety commissioner Chuck Woodworth oversees the water plant and said since the first announcement, the town’s water consumption did not decrease at all and aquifer levels remained nearly 16 feet below where they were before the drought started. “After we did the first one we noticed there’s not really been that much of a decline in what the consumers are using,” Woodworth said.

* Illinois Times | Economic development efforts expand: It’s uncertain whether the 42-year-old Gregory’s rhetoric and emotion, and initiatives by the three-member Aldermanic Black Caucus he leads, are likely to move Abraham Lincoln’s hometown forward in reducing some of the nation’s biggest economic disparities between Blacks and whites. But Gregory said the caucus’ efforts are worth a shot, and there are signs that progress is happening, even if some egos are bruised along the way.

* Illinois Times | Police chief fights to keep license: John Sharp, Ryan’s attorney, filed a motion to rescind the statutory summary suspension, a state law that automatically suspends anyone who tests over the legal limit, or refuses to test, for substance impairment while driving a motor vehicle. The law, which is a civil penalty rather than a criminal charge, automatically leads to a driver’s license suspension for a minimum of one year should the driver of a motor vehicle refuse chemical DUI testing. “The arresting officer failed to properly warn the defendant,” Sharp wrote in a Feb. 9 filing. “Secondly, the officer had no probable cause to stop or arrest in this cause. Thirdly, the defendant did not refuse and/or fail the breath test.”

* WSIL | Carbondale Mayor Among Honorees at State Treasurer’s Black History Month Celebration: Harvey received the Outstanding Commitment as an Elected Official award, recognizing her leadership and dedication to the Carbondale community. As mayor, Harvey has focused on strengthening neighborhoods, supporting economic development, and fostering opportunities for residents and families throughout the city.