* Crain’s…

Gov. JB Pritzker says Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s veiled threat earlier this week to withhold customs-processing resources at O’Hare because of Chicago’s sanctuary city rules will hurt the Chicago economy.

“We ought to continue to demand Republicans fund TSA and fund things we need to keep the economy running,” Pritzker said today during an unrelated press conference. “If they take this away, they’re going to hurt the economy even more.”

Mullin suggested the federal government may be forced to “start prioritizing” which cities receive resources, framing the issue as a question of partnership with the Department of Homeland Security. “We need to focus on cities that want to work with us,” he told Fox News on Monday.

* Hmm…

At least through the NBA finals, Illinois FanDuel customers will be able to place bets without the company’s $0.50 per-bet feet.

The sports betting titan announced the decision to its Illinois sports betting customers through email and its social media channels, noting its per-bet fee will be done away with until Friday, June 19.

A request for comment from FanDuel regarding the decision was not returned.

FanDuel instituted a $0.50 surcharge on every bet placed by Illinois sports betting customers as a solution to driving costs in the Prairie State. The fees began on Sept. 1, 2025, in direct response to the state’s decision to impose its own $0.25 or $0.50 fee on every bet placed with its licensed operators.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois House approves ban on junk fees, Pritzker’s abortion fund proposal: Rep. Morgan said the bill was like the one that passed a couple years ago, but ambiguous language was tightened up to make it easier for businesses to comply and the Illinois Attorney General’s office to enforce. Nine Republicans joined supermajority Democrats in supporting the amended bill. However, the changes weren’t enough to remove opposition from the state’s top business, banking and hospitality organizations.

* WAND | Gov. JB Pritzker and Illinois Arts Council announce public art projects: The Illinois Arts Council and Office of Governor JB Pritzker and Illinois Humanities awarded more than $325,000 to 22 public art projects across the state in honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The grants are part of a statewide effort led by the Illinois America 250 Commission. Governor Pritzker said, “Illinois is proud to support new public art projects in communities across the state as we celebrate our unique place in the story of America. Thanks to these IAC grants, we’re helping Illinois’ talented creatives bring vibrance to our public spaces, celebrate our local history, and energize our cultural communities.”

* Capitol News Illinois | What does Trump’s EPA reversal of landmark climate change ruling mean for Illinois?: Cate Caldwell, senior policy manager at the Illinois Environmental Council, said that while the state’s Clean and Equitable Jobs Act puts the state on a strong path to limiting pollution — the act calls for closing the plants by 2030 — it can’t provide enough incentives for clean energy without support from federal action. She said the ruling could create temporary economic incentives for the continued operation of coal-powered plants.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Advocates file lawsuit against Chicago Housing Authority over appointment of new CEO: They say the CHA board’s decision March 17 to appoint Keith Pettigrew, who was executive director of the District of Columbia Housing Authority, violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act, which requires public bodies to give advance notice of meetings and prohibits them from taking action on items not listed on the publicized agenda. The final item on the agenda was “Approval of Personnel Matters,” which did not sufficiently inform anyone about Pettigrew’s appointment, according to Loevy & Loevy, the law firm representing the plantiffs in the suit.

* Innocence Project | Exonerees and Advocates Come Together in the Nation’s Wrongful Conviction Capital: For the first time, the annual Innocence Network Conference is being hosted in Chicago — a city whose history is deeply intertwined with both the causes of wrongful conviction and the fight to end it. Each year, the conference brings together attorneys, advocates, researchers, and exonerees working to address one of the most urgent and glaring failures of the criminal legal system: wrongful conviction. The gathering serves as a space to examine and strengthen the global innocence movement.

* WTTW | CPD Brass Inconsistently Stripped Officers of Police Powers, Failed to Document Actions: Watchdog: CPD brass always relieved officers arrested on suspicion of criminal misconduct of their police powers, but did not always act when officers were being investigated for other kinds of serious misconduct, Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said. CPD should adopt a formal policy detailing when officers can be stripped of their police powers that also requires officials to document those decisions and communicate regularly with the officers involved, Witzburg recommended.

* Block Club | Black Chicagoans Weigh In At City’s 1st Reparations Town Hall: ‘This Didn’t Happen That Long Ago’: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office launched the Repair Chicago community engagement series last month, which saw its first town hall Thursday evening at Kennedy-King College, 6301 S. Halsted St., in Englewood. About 25 neighbors attended the two-hour event in the college’s auditorium to engage in a dialogue with city leaders.

* Legal Newsline | Salvation Army rehab ‘enrollees’ who work at thrift stores aren’t ‘employees’: A few days after agreeing to let them proceed with their class action against one of America’s most prominent charities under labor and wage laws, a Chicago federal judge has ruled people who work in the Salvation Army’s thrift stores while enrolled the organization’s rehabilitation programs aren’t actually employees and can’t sue for allegedly unpaid wages. On March 31, U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah granted judgment to the Salvation Army on that question, shutting down the legal action that has continued against them for nearly four years.

* Sun-Times | Chicago man accused of threatening Trump, Secret Service agents: That prompted the visit from a Secret Service agent and two other officers. Then, on March 19, according to the U.S. attorney’s office, Kovco sent another message to the official White House website, and it included a threat against the Secret Service agent who had come to his door. “I’m going to buy a small concealable firearm and go shoot up his place of work,” the message said, according to the release.

* Tribune | Magnificent Mile lands nation’s first Candy Hall of Fame as retail district continues recovery: The Magnificent Mile got some good news Thursday when the National Confectionery Sales Association said it will open the first Candy Hall of Fame Experience next year at 830 N. Michigan Ave. The attraction will occupy 60,000 square feet on three floors just across the street from Water Tower Place. It’s one of the biggest leases signed in years at a North Michigan Avenue retail property, a sign that business is picking up in a district hit hard by the pandemic and the rise of online shopping.

* Tribune | Starbucks unveils new ‘uplifted’ store designs in Chicago with more couches, cozier coffeehouse vibes: On Thursday, Starbucks unveiled one of the first Chicago stores to be “uplifted” under its “Back to Starbucks” restructuring plan, a campaign to improve performance and the in-store experience across the chain. The stand-alone store at 4155 N. Cicero Ave. in the Old Irving Park neighborhood features leather couches, cushy chairs, throw rugs, drapes, coffee-themed art on the walls and a decidedly cozier feel than many of the 17,000 Starbucks locations across the U.S.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Dolton interim fire Chief Quentin ‘Q’ Curtis takes leave amid union concerns: “I have heard the voices and concerns of our residents, clearly and sincerely,” Mayor Jason House said in a news release Thursday announcing Curtis’ leave. “This step is intended to allow our community space to refocus, heal and move forward together.” House said Curtis will “conclude ministerial duties to ensure no administrative tasks are left outstanding” during his leave. The Dolton Professional Firefighters Association picketed Village Hall ahead of a board meeting Monday, after filing a lawsuit last month asking that Curtis be discharged for failing to meet requirements for his position.

* Daily Southtown | Homer Glen OKs agreement to put some limits on license plate reader use: Homer Glen will store data obtained from its license plate reader cameras for seven days in an effort to balance public safety with some residents’ concerns over an intrusion of privacy. The village will also only limit information collected from the cameras to be shared within Illinois, according to a memo of understanding between the Village Board and the Will County sheriff’s office.

* Tribune | Abbott Laboratories must pay at least $53 million in cases over infant formula, jury decides: Abbott Laboratories must pay $53 million in compensatory damages in four cases in which Chicago-area babies developed a dangerous intestinal disease after consuming the company’s formula for premature infants, a Cook County jury decided Thursday evening. After a monthlong trial and a little more than a day of deliberation, the jury found Abbott liable on three counts for each child. The jury found that the formula was defectively designed, that Abbott failed to adequately warn about the dangers and risks of the formula and that Abbott was negligent.

* Daily Herald | ‘Risk a lot to save a lot’: Addison firefighter to receive state’s highest honor for daring rescue: When his crew pulled up to a business engulfed in flames May 21, Addison Fire Protection District firefighter/paramedic Gino Casciola was given what he calls the “mundane” task of standing outside the burning building and feeding a hose to colleagues fighting the blaze from the inside. What happened next was anything but mundane, and Casciola’s courage in the moments that followed might have saved several of his peers from the ultimate sacrifice. “After it was over, we started hearing from the guys that were in there, ‘We almost died in there,’ ” Deputy Chief Chris Mansfield said. “ ’And if it wasn’t for Gino, we probably would have.’ ”

* Lake County News-Sun | Visit Lake County names new president from within: ‘I’m stepping into a well-oiled machine’: “The timing is right for me with the organization in a really solid place,” Riedy said. “We have more community partners than we’ve ever had and very engaged stakeholders. We have a veteran and professional staff and a very committed Board of Directors.” Maguire said he is comfortable moving into the presidency because of the work done by Riedy over the past 22 years. He plans to build on the foundation that is already in place.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Sullivan still asking residents to conserve water as emergency continues: The City of Sullivan’s well levels have not seen any improvement, despite a water emergency being enacted since February, according to Public Health Commissioner Chuck Woodworth. Woodworth also said people in town are using the same amount of water every day, and the city hasn’t seen the decrease in water being pumped it was hoping for with the restrictions.

* WCIA | Village of Kincaid warns of increased lead levels in water: Village officials, led by Mayor Tony Pezze, sent a letter to all residents this week saying that elevated lead levels were found in the water of some homes and buildings, but not all of them. They said that if a tap water test from a building indicates a lead level of 15 parts per billion or higher, people should take the following precautions:

* WICS | Hundreds run in presidential half marathon with weekend underway: Springfield is preparing for what’s promised to be a record-breaking year for tourism…as the nation celebrates Route 66’s centennial. That includes this weekend, as one decades-old tradition is underway. Runners will be winding through more than 13 miles of Springfield history this Saturday for the Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon—a decades old tradition.

* WSIL | Officials Break Ground on Julia Harrison-Bruce Prairie Museum at JALC: According to the foundation, the new museum will serve as a lasting extension of Julia Harrison Bruce’s vision, bringing together historic exhibits and local art to tell the story of the region. Organizers say the space will focus not only on preserving artifacts, but also on amplifying community voices through oral storytelling. The museum is expected to provide a place where memories can be shared, recorded, and honored, while also serving as a hub for gatherings, education, and cultural events.

*** National ***

* WSJ | Insurers Take Bigger Risks Than Before 2008-09 Crisis, Report Warns: “We’re significantly worse off,” said Erik Miller, A.M. Best senior director. “The chance of not being able to pay your claims is just higher.” The study looked specifically at the reserves insurers set aside to make payments on annuities, the savings vehicles that promise guaranteed income in retirement. In its examination, A.M. Best compared the 2024 investment portfolios that backed those annuities with a snapshot of a similar universe of portfolios in 2007.

* Fortune | The US government is spending $88 billion a month in interest on national debt—equal to spending on defense and education combined: The net interest payments on public debt are also increasing at a pace. For the same period last year, the Treasury paid $497 billion to service its debt. The difference from last year to this is a $33 billion leap—or 7% more than before. The CBO report notes service payments increased “because the debt was larger than it was in the first half of fiscal year 2025 and because of higher long-term interest rates. Declines in short-term interest rates partially mitigated the overall rise in interest payments.”

* Reuters | Bessent, Powell warned bank CEOs about Anthropic model risks, sources say: A third source close to ⁠the matter reiterated Anthropic’s outreach, saying the company proactively briefed senior U.S. government officials and key industry stakeholders on Mythos’s capabilities ahead of its release. The Treasury-hosted meeting ​in Washington ​on Tuesday was aimed at ensuring ​banks are aware of the risks ‌posed by Mythos and similar models and are taking steps to defend their systems, one of the sources said.

* AP | Soaring gas prices leads to biggest monthly inflation spike in four years in March: Consumer prices rose 3.3% in March from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Friday, up sharply from just 2.4% in February and the biggest yearly increase since May 2024. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.9% in March from February, the largest such increase in nearly four years. It’s the first read on inflation to capture the effects of the Iran war.