* ICYMI: Illinois House approves megaprojects bill, but the Bears want changes. Capitol News Illinois…

- After more than three years on the legislative backburner, the Illinois House on Wednesday approved a major economic development bill that would clear the path for the Chicago Bears to build a new domed stadium in Arlington Heights.
- The Bears said in a statement they “welcome” the progress but want to see more changes. The Senate will return next week, and further amendments to the bill are likely.
- “As we do with every bill the House passes to us, we will evaluate the legislation, get input from senators, and then decide what the best path forward is,” Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, the Senate Democrats’ top negotiator on the megaprojects bill, told Capitol News Illinois.

* Related stories…

• Sun-Times: Bears exit from Chicago closer to reality as House passes bill helping Arlington Heights bid
• WGN: Bears stadium bill passed by Illinois House, advances to Senate
• Tribune: Illinois House approves latest proposal to help Chicago Bears build stadium in Arlington Heights
• Daily Herald: Illinois House finally approves megaproject bill, but Bears still seek infrastructure funds

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* Gov. JB Pritzker has no public events scheduled today.

* BlueRoomStream.com’s coverage of today’s press conferences and committee hearings can be found here.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Sun-Times | Feds plan to use protest chants to prosecute Broadview ICE protesters — but balk at free speech defense: Federal prosecutors say the remaining members of the “Broadview Six” should be barred from making arguments about free speech rights when they go to trial next month — though the feds also plan to use protest chants caught on video as evidence against the group. Prosecutors also argued there should be no references to the October shooting of Marimar Martinez by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago, nor of the fatal shootings this year of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration authorities in Minnesota.

* Illinois Times | Tourism is up, but downtown is hurting: Still, this year may be different. Data from Visit Springfield, the city’s official destination marketing organization, shows that visitor numbers are high as anticipated events such as the Route 66 Centennial and the opening of the Scheels Sports Park this year are expected to boost foot traffic. According to Visit Springfield director Scott Dahl, the city expects a record year in travel expenditures, forecasted to exceed $650 million. Business owners in downtown Springfield, however, say they aren’t seeing or feeling those numbers, citing their struggles to bounce back from the pandemic and a recent fire on Adams Street that left several buildings vacant, compounding a trend of tourists flocking to other parts of the city following the closure of downtown’s largest hotel.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Capitol News Illinois | House approves redistricting amendment, fearing federal Voting Rights Act will be eliminated: The House voted 74-38 along party lines to pass an amendment that creates a priority list of rules state lawmakers would have to consider when drawing legislative maps that is aimed at ensuring minority representation in the legislature. The Senate has until May 3 to vote to put the measure on the ballot in November. Constitutional amendments do not need the governor’s signature. The amendment would establish a priority list stating what factors lawmakers should consider in the redistricting process. It states they should draw districts “to be substantially equal in population; to ensure that no citizen is denied an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of his or her choice on account of race; to create, where practical, racial coalition or influence Districts; to be contiguous; and to the extent practicable, to be compact.”

* Capitol City Now | The speaker’s victory lap: Listening to members of his caucus, Welch said, is what made the “mega projects” bill a resounding bipartisan success — and what made him decide not to call the proposed constitutional amendment for a three percent surcharge on incomes in excess of $1 million. Welch said based on what other lawmakers have told him, the bill still needs work — and thus is all but assured to miss a deadline to get onto the November ballot.

* WAND | IL students bring special projects, inventions to 2026 STEM Showcase: “The community was really fun, everyone [here] was really fun to interact with and hang out with. We made some pretty good relationships [here],” said participant Yandel Leyva. These programs have seen significant cuts over the past year. Advocates with Act Now want the Illinois General Assembly to invest $20 million in state funding for full-service community schools to protect these programs from any further disruption.

*** Chicago ***

* WTTW | CPD’s Increasing Use of Force Requires a ‘Full-Scale Review’: Illinois Attorney General: Chicago police officers used force against members of the public 3,044 times during 2025, an increase of approximately 6.4% as compared with 2024, according to CPD data provided to Pallmeyer. […] Assistant Attorney General Mike Tresnowski told Pallmeyer during an April 14 hearing that there are “concerning trends regarding the increases in use of force” by CPD officers that merit additional scrutiny.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | New Chicago Schools Chief’s Contract Makes It Easier For District And CEO To Part Ways: A new, partly elected board granted King the three-year contract after she served in an interim capacity since last summer. The new contract reviewed by Chalkbeat Chicago requires only a 60-day notice if King is terminated without cause — or possibly even less if she is offered a payout in addition to the severance of 20 weeks pay stipulated in both her and Martinez’s contracts. On the flipside, King must give 90 days notice if she chooses to resign, compared to 30 days under Martinez’s contract.

* Sun-Times | Lunchroom workers plan to block traffic as contract talks with CPS stall: Lunchroom workers, who are among the lowest-paid full-time workers in CPS, want to be paid $40,000 a year. But the cash-strapped district hasn’t agreed to that minimum and is asking a federal mediator to step in.

* WBEZ | How has the Black Chicago accent retained its Southern roots?: This answer goes back to the Great Migration, roughly between 1915 and 1970, during which a half-million Black people moved from Southern states to Chicago, creating a Black Chicago English you can still hear in the dialect of their children, their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. How Black Chicagoans speak is a variation of African American English, which also has Southern roots.

* Fox Chicago | Edison Park businesses see Bears’ potential stadium in Arlington Heights as boost: In a statement to Fox Chicago, Metra’s communications director, Michael Gillis, said: “We have thought about the potential impact, and we would look to add service to the UP Northwest Line should the Bears end up in Arlington Heights. What that service would look like is not yet defined, but it would likely involve a combination of express and local trains to and from the area. We have not, however, done any station-by-station analysis so I could not tell you what potential impact there could be at Edison Park or any other station on the line.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Sun-Times | West Suburban Medical Center property owner files suit to take control of hospital: The suit was filed against Dr. Manoj Prasad, CEO and majority owner of Resilience Healthcare, the private company that owns West Suburban Medical Center and Weiss Memorial Hospital. The minority owner of Resilience and sole owner of Ramco is Rathnaker Reddy Patlola. Ramco owns the hospital property. In the lawsuit, Patlola accuses Prasad of “financial mismanagement and malfeasance.” The complaint also seeks financial damages for back-rent Prasad allegedly owes Patlola.

* Daily Herald | Mount Prospect enjoying high sales tax revenues, aiming for top bond rating: Finance Director Amit Thakkar told a joint meeting of the village board and the Finance Commission Tuesday, the village is one of the highest sales tax-generating municipalities in the state. The village recorded $4.42 billion in total sales for 2025, while the village collected $44.2 million in sales tax revenue from in 2025, a more than 17% jump over the prior year. The news was greeted enthusiastically by one village trustee, Colleen Saccotelli, who gave kudos to village staff and the business economy. “We’re the third largest economy in the state for sales tax. I would like T-shirts printed up so that we can wear them,” she said.

* Daily Southtown | United Way collects 65,000 pounds of food for 10 south and southwest suburban pantries: United Way’s April food day included donation collection, awards and a luncheon with keynote speaker Bobby Simmons, an Olympic and NBA basketball player from the south suburbs. More than 200 volunteers sorted donations to be delivered to the south suburban pantries, where advocates say there is critical need. Kimberlee Guenther, United Way Chicago’s chief strategy and development officer, said the nonprofit often sees the highest number of people calling for food assistance from the south and southwest suburbs.

* Daily Herald | Presidents Cup team presents giant check for Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans in Wheaton: A four-story apartment development in downtown Wheaton will give his fellow veterans just that — stability. At a kickoff celebration at the future site of the building, organizers of the Presidents Cup golf tournament on Tuesday announced a $150,000 donation in partnership with the George and Cindy Rusu Family Foundation to support the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans.

*** Downstate ***

* WGLT | Rivian celebrates as first R2s for customers come off the production line: Two years after announcing a new model would be built in Normal, the first Rivian R2s built for real customers rolled off the production line on Wednesday. The R2 is a smaller, more affordable SUV that the company hopes will break through with mainstream car buyers. The first R2s will start at $57,990, although cheaper $45,000 versions will be available by the end of 2027. R2’s launch is high stakes for Rivian, which has faced major headwinds on its journey to becoming McLean County’s second-largest employer, including COVID, supply-chain disruptions, trade disputes and now a Trump administration that is openly hostile to EVs. Rivian invested $1.5 billion on a major expansion in Normal to accommodate R2 production.

* WAND | New supportive housing apartments open in Springfield: Residents will have access to on-site supportive services provided by Fifth Street Renaissance and Helping Hands of Springfield. The help can be as practical as how to balance a budget for the first time. Residents will be referred by homelessness-focused organizations in Springfield. The Springfield Housing Authority is providing project-based vouchers to residents. Powell believes residents will be charged 30% of their income under the program.

* Sun-Times | Families file wrongful death lawsuit in downstate Chatham crash that killed 4 children, teen counselor: The lawsuit claims the camp was built in violation of safety codes prohibiting permanent youth camps from being located within 100 feet of a highway. It also claims the building did not have adequate means installed to prevent a vehicle from striking the building. The lawsuit also accuses Akers of negligence for failing to stop the vehicle before crashing into the building. Akers was not injured in the crash and no charges were filed.

* WGLT | Need rises sharply at Bloomington-Normal’s Community Health Care Clinic: The Community Health Care Clinic in Normal has seen a big increase in need over the last nine months. Director Holly Wayland-Hall said in a Sound Ideas interview that overarching demand for service has risen about 75% through the first three quarters of this fiscal year. “We’re pretty maxed out in terms of the number of patients that we are serving, and so we are looking now at the opportunity to grow that clinical team,” said Wayland-Hall. […] The current patient load is about 550 people, though that is fluid. The average number of active patients for the 2025 calendar year was 393. The clinic serves lower income uninsured people who do not qualify for Medicaid.

*** National ***

* WIRED | US Senate Candidate Caught Insider Trading on Kalshi Says He Did It on Purpose: Moran claims he was inspired to pull off the stunt after observing what he believed was market manipulation on Polymarket related to the New York mayoral race in 2025. The intended goal, he says, was to raise awareness about how prediction markets are “contributing to the further devolvement of our society.” Describing his decision, Moran framed it as a kind of avant-garde campaign tactic that tested the limits of the “all press is good press” credo. “I’ve been waiting for months for attention to come,” Moran says. “Because in politics, money buys attention, but I know how to get it organically. It only cost $100 to get you on the phone, right?”

* NYT | F.B.I. Said to Have Investigated Times Reporter After Article on Patel’s Girlfriend: Agents interviewed the girlfriend, queried databases for information on the reporter, Elizabeth Williamson, and recommended moving forward to determine whether Ms. Williamson broke federal stalking laws, the person said. Those actions prompted concerns among some Justice Department officials who saw the inquiry as retaliation for an article that Mr. Patel and his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, did not like, and who determined there was no legal basis to proceed with the investigation, according to the person briefed on the matter.

* Slate | Who Killed the Florida Orange?: In 2003, the mighty Florida orange industry produced 242 million boxes of fruit, with 90 pounds of oranges per box, most of which went on to become orange juice. Now, not even 25 years later, the United States Department of Agriculture was forecasting a pitiful 12 million boxes of oranges, the least in more than 100 years, the worst year since last. A decline of more than 95 percent