* WBEZ…

And a new state law that took effect in January makes it easier for landlords to call the police and vacate squatters without a lengthy eviction process, putting migrant households like Daniela’s at risk for homelessness.

Since the law took effect in January, [Michelle Gilbert, legal and policy director at the Law Center for Better Housing,] said her organization has heard of cases in which police back off once tenants show rent receipts or leases. In those cases, landlords proceed with standard eviction procedures, in which a court hears the circumstances of both sides and decides whether the tenant has a right to stay. A legal process also could provide tenants with access to emergency rental assistance programs.

Gilbert said new property managers could misuse the squatter law by calling police on tenants they don’t recognize without finding out more information.

“You can’t just buy a building and clear it out by calling the police,” she said.

* Capitol News Illinois…

The Illinois Republican Party has launched a membership program seeking to convert one-time and infrequent small dollar donors into recurring contributors through a series of tiered perks. […]

“The truth is that we are up against a powerful political machine with endless resources,” Illinois Republican Party chair Kathy Salvi said in an email launching the program. “But we have something stronger: people who care and who believe. Each one of us is the face of the Illinois Republican Party.”

The party is offering four monthly membership tiers: “Prairie State Patriots” for $10, “Grassroots Guards” for $25, “Land of Lincoln Defenders” for $50 and “Constitution Circle” for $200.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Subscribers know much more. Capitol News Illinois | Illinois ‘not going back’ on SAFE-T Act, Black Caucus leaders say: In a lengthy statement released Monday, the 22-member caucus said in part that they’re “not going back to a system where penalty enhancements, jailing more people, ignoring root causes and underinvesting in our communities were treated as public safety policy.” “That system was not just. It was not smart. And it did not make us safer,” they wrote. “We will not support legislation that carries the remnants of the system we left behind, because those approaches are adversarial to this work, adversarial to fairness, and adversarial to real public safety.”

* WGN | Celebrating 10 years cancer free, Illinois attorney general makes case for prostate cancer screening: “I lost my father to prostate cancer,” he said. “I lost both of my grandfathers as well, so I knew from the warnings of my grandfather and my father that it was incumbent upon me to start screening earlier than they even advised.” According to a 2025 report from the American Cancer Society, Black men are almost 70% more likely than white men to develop prostate cancer, and they are twice as likely to die from the disease.

* WCIA | ‘It’s important we recognize people’s right to have a safe place to sleep at night’: Illinois bill could change homelessness enforcement: House Bill 1429 was amended last week, narrowing its focus to what Illinois communities can and can’t do when a person experiencing homelessness is staying on public property. The bill — or the Local Regulation of Unsheltered Homelessness Act — said local governments wouldn’t be able to establish or enforce a rule fining or criminally punishing homeless people for participating in “life sustaining activities.” Those activities are defined in the new amendment as things like sleep, rest, protection from the elements and storage of personal property.

* Wall Street Journal | Humans Are Stepping Up Their Fight Against Flying Fish: The state’s Department of Natural Resources has undertaken a marketing push to rebrand the fish as Copi, short for copious, to distinguish them from the bottom-feeding common carp and make them sound more appetizing. Fishermen and chefs report that Asian carp are actually delicious, though they are so bony they don’t make good filets. Chefs often grind them up and turn them into fish cakes. Illinois officials have handed out samples of Copi cakes at the state fair, and set up a website, Choose Copi, to encourage restaurants, fishmongers and consumers to embrace the fish.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson tapping transportation veteran to take over department: Mayor Brandon Johnson wants to put city government veteran William Cheaks on the frontline of the struggle to move drivers, public transit riders and cyclists through Chicago’s streets as the new head of the city’s Department of Transportation. Cheaks plans to focus on spending equity across neighborhoods and ramping up communication with the public as projects such as bridge renovations move forward, he told the Tribune.

* Sun-Times | Johnson picks new deputy mayor of community safety, transportation commissioner, and seven more new hires: Mayor Brandon Johnson announced a big round of new hires Wednesday morning, including a replacement for Garien Gatewood, who was fired last month from his post as deputy mayor for community safety. […] Emmanuel Andre is the new deputy mayor for community safety. A news release from the mayor’s office calls him a “leader in Chicago’s restorative justice movement.”

* Crain’s | Johnson’s standoff with the Chicago Housing Authority, explained: The fight has been building for almost a year, with Johnson having repeatedly urged the board to approve former Ald. Walter Burnett for the post. Burnett, who served on the Chicago City Council for three decades, resigned last summer in anticipation of taking on the job of leading the CHA, and is a political ally of Johnson. But in March, Burnett was unceremoniously shoved aside when the board surprisingly voted to hire former Washington, D.C., housing chief Keith Pettigrew, after CHA board members grew frustrated over not having a full-time CEO since the departure of the last permanent chief executive in October 2024.

* Crain’s | Barings loan for Loop office tower breaks big lender drought: While loan terms like interest rate and upfront commitments are unclear, the financing stands out as a major financial player backing a large office purchase in Chicago at a time when most deep-pocketed investment firms aren’t touching the market. Remote work’s assault on demand, hard-to-predict property taxes and banks still reeling from loans backed by office buildings with decimated values have scared away many institutional lenders from big Chicago office bets.

* Sun-Times | White Sox option Opening Day starter Shane Smith to Triple-A Charlotte: That “sense of urgency” described by manager Will Venable on Tuesday in addressing Shane Smith’s early ineffectiveness was set into action Wednesday morning, when the White Sox announced they had optioned the 2025 All-Star pitcher to Triple-A Charlotte.

* Block Club | Cesar Chavez Post Office To Get New Name After Sex Abuse Allegations: Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García’s office has started the process to rename Pilsen’s Post Office. The post office at 1859 S. Ashland Ave. is currently named for Cesar Chavez, a famed farmworkers’ rights activist. But The New York Times published an expose last month revealing Chavez has been credibly accused of raping and sexually abusing women and girls, leading to local calls to rename the post office.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | ‘Older people are moving out’: Buffalo Grove planning discussion raises concerns about senior housing: Trustee Lester Ottenheimer said there should be more attention to senior housing, which he called woefully deficient in the community. “It explains why a lot of older people are moving out of the community,” he said. Trustee David Weidenfeld said seniors or empty nesters who want to downsize are often forced to buy aging ranch houses, gut them and pour large sums into renovations.

* Crain’s | Over 200 for-sale homes coming to Highland Park’s long-empty Solo Cup factory site: The firms also announced that the 227 townhomes will be for-sale housing. As recently as February, Habitat had not yet publicly committed on going with for-sale or for-rent housing on the site. No prices for the townhouses were announced. “After the city approved our plan,” Matt Fiascone, president of Habitat, said in the press release, “we took into account current market conditions and the multiple conversations we had with Highland Park residents and council members, all of which guided us to determining a vibrant for-sale development . . . would provide the best long-term benefit.”

* WGN | Chris Gonzalez, south suburban trustee who blew the whistle on spending, dies: Chris Gonzalez was often the sole voice of dissent, questioning the spending and management of former Thornton Township supervisor Tiffany Henyard. Trustee Gonzalez died of a heart attack, friends and the township confirm to WGN. “He approached his role with integrity, compassion and a genuine desire to make a difference in the lives of others,” current township supervisor Napoleon Harris said in a statement. “His passion for the community, his steady leadership and his willingness to always put people first earned him the respect of everyone who had the honor of working with him.”

*** Downstate ***

* PJ Star | Why Peoria hired a new, more expensive law firm in fight for casino: Despite spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees paid to the firm, Peoria was left with neither a settlement agreement or successful lawsuit after the Peoria City Council moved to reject a settlement, leading Boyd Gaming to switch plans for a casino on a barge, making a lawsuit null and void as wel. According to invoices billed to the city by Taft, Stettinus and Hollister, which were obtained by the Journal Star via the Freedom of Information Act, Peoria paid $395,475.97 to the law firm for services rendered between December 2025 and February 2026.

* WTVO | Freeport School Board votes to eliminate dozens of staffing positions: The Freeport School District 145 school board voted to cut dozens of positions, including 32 certified staffing positions and more than 20 classified staff positions. “We’re incredibly sad. We’re incredibly angry. We’re incredibly anxious. This will impact our day-to-day function as we move into the 2027 school year,” shared Freeport Education Association president Kelly Everding, who spoke before the vote.

* WCIA | Decatur City Council passes 3-year revitalization plan: On Monday, the council unanimously approved a new community revitalization plan spanning the next three years. It gives a framework for how the city will attack home rehabilitation, property demolition and more. […] “Every year, we say that neighborhood revitalization is a top priority for the City Council,” Horn said. “What this plan does is it provides specific objectives of how we’re going to improve the city economically and our neighborhoods.” Horn added that Decatur is planning to spend more than $3 million on fixing roads across the city.

* WCIA | Champaign Mayor meets the Pope in Rome on diplomacy mission: In a press release Wednesday, the City of Champaign said Mayor Deborah Feinen joined other Illinois leaders in the Illinois Mayors Public Diplomacy Mission, Papal Visit and Cultural Exchange which was held in Rome. This mission was coordinated by the Illinois Municipal League (IML) and brought together a small group of mayors and community leaders for a program focused on international engagement, cultural exchange and diplomacy.

*** National ***

* AP | Route 66 at 100: America’s Main Street then and now: Route 66 is littered with abandoned buildings and faded signs, but one example of the highway’s resilient spirit stands tall in Sapulpa, near Tulsa. The restored Tee Pee Drive-In Theater offers a step back into the 1950s, when the booming car culture helped spawn thousands of drive-in theaters nationwide. Built in 1949, the drive-in officially opened in the spring of 1950 with a screening of John Wayne’s “Tycoon.” It was one of the few drive-ins at the time to have paved pathways. Over the years, it survived a tornado, a fire that destroyed the concession stand and break-ins before being shuttered for more than 20 years. It reopened in 2023.