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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Friday, Apr 24, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller
Illinois is paying the price for 340B medicine markups. Through the federal 340B program, nonprofit hospitals can buy medicines for pennies, then charge huge markups – even on life-saving medicines. Those markups have become big business for large hospital systems, driving higher costs for Illinois patients, employers and taxpayers. And the problem is getting worse. The program’s lack of oversight has allowed 340B to become a revenue stream for hospitals, PBMs, private equity firms and big chain pharmacies — with no requirement that the money be used to help patients afford medicines. It’s time for Washington to hold hospitals accountable and fix 340B. Read more. * Crain’s…
* Chicago Reader | How fire is reviving Illinois’s vanishing prairie: Part of that is due to the efforts of the stewards and local community members, as well as to a wider understanding of what happens when a fire-dependent ecosystem does not receive it. McCabe says that, as much as people were trying to stop the Forest Preserves from doing their work, in turn costing taxpayers more and making preserve workers’ jobs harder, the stewards were actively pushing against those neighbors by calling their alderpeople, showing up to community meetings, and regularly printing a magazine to inform the public. * Capitol News Illinois | Illinois launches online resources for households on federal food assistance: “We were working very closely with (IDHS), because it was DHS who was setting what those parameters, those guidelines, like what a program had to be, in order to meet the standards,” Bruce said. “What we have online with Job Ready IL is something that’s carefully crafted with DHS’s guidance.” The groups also agreed it should be a public-private partnership to remain sustainable. The state was concerned its workforce system wouldn’t have the capacity to serve the number of people who would now need a work program, Bruce said. * CBS Chicago | Hearing will decide if special prosecutor investigates possible crimes during Chicago’s Operation Midway Blitz: “What we’ve seen in Cook County is that the elected state’s attorney has abdicated her duty to the people of Cook County be refusing to investigate those crimes, by refusing to bring prosecutions in the face of incredibly well documented crimes,” said Steve Art, an attorney with Loevy & Loevy, who are representing the coalition in court. * Chicago Reader | Chicago mayor visits Illinois prison, meeting with Northwestern Prison Education Program students: The mayor spoke of two of his brothers, who had struggled with addiction and spent time in prison. “This is personal for me,” he said. “I’m here to learn and ensure that my responsibility as a leader of the city in Chicago, that you all know that you will always be front and center in all of the decisions that I make.” Student Patrick Comi asked the mayor the best advice he received from Reverend Jesse Jackson. The mayor responded that the reverend always told him that he “was someone, and to never give up, and to always keep moving forward.” Knowing the struggles the reverend had gone through, Johnson said, that advice stayed with him. * Crain’s | Ford City Mall shutdown gets reprieve despite deterioration and sinkholes: The dilapidated Ford City Mall on the Southwest Side can stay open for at least another three weeks after a Cook County judge gave its owner and tenants more time to prepare for a possible shutdown over the property’s hazardous conditions. Judge Leonard Murray yesterday signed off on an agreement between the city of Chicago and the owner of the shopping center at 7601 S. Cicero Ave. to delay a hearing on the city’s emergency motion to vacate the property. The approval came after a successful test last week of the mall’s faulty fire suppression system, which Murray had deemed an “urgent” safety issue and warned of a potential order to shutter the building. * Block Club | Can This Wellness Center Help West Siders Live Longer? Sankofa Village Aims To Do Just That: “This center was built for the residents and is designed to meet their needs while serving as a space where people can connect, grow and thrive,” said Drea Slaughter, Garfield Park Rite To Wellness executive director. “The resources offered here are just the beginning, and we look forward to continuing this work and building on our mission to strengthen opportunity and improve quality of life across West Garfield Park.” * Tribune | CTA service resumes after train derailment near Rogers Park station: hicago Transit Authority service was up and running Friday morning after a Yellow Line train derailed on the city’s Far North Side during the evening rush hour Thursday, according to the city agency. Rail service had been temporarily suspended Thursday evening along the entire Yellow and Purple lines, as well as along the Red Line between the Howard and Thorndale stations, the CTA said. Both the CTA and the Chicago Fire Department said there were no reported injuries. Normal service resumed shortly before 11:30 p.m. Thursday, the CTA said. * Sun-Times | JCPenney to exit Ford City as city pressures mall’s owner: JCPenney said it will close the store in a month or two. In an email, the retailer’s media relations department said, “Despite our best efforts to remain at Ford City Mall, we have been required by the city of Chicago to close this location along with all other remaining tenants at the property, and will be exiting the property in the next 30-60 days. We are actively exploring opportunities for a new store location in the surrounding Chicago area and look forward to sharing updates as plans develop.” * WBEZ | Chicago area bookstores are set to host their biggest celebration yet for Independent Bookstore Day: All 84 participating stores offer their own specialties and curate selections that reflect the interests of their neighborhoods, said Ryvre Hardrick, organizer of the crawl and owner of Goblin Market in Lake View. The number of participating shops nearly doubled from last year, a shift Hardrick said reflects owners’ desire to keep building connections with their neighbors as well as growing interest in “analog hobbies.” * Shaw Local | Plainfield passes resolution opposing state taking away local zoning control: Worried that a proposed statewide initiative could take power away from municipalities, the Plainfield Village Board has passed a resolution urging state leaders to not take zoning authority away from municipalities. * ABC Chicago | Wauconda High School career advisor charged with grooming, solicitation of two students: police: Authorities took Faulkner into custody during a traffic stop for driving on a revoked license on Thursday, just before police and Lake County K9 Enzo executed a search warrant at a home in connection with the case. There, police said, they found evidence that Faulkner groomed and solicited two Wauconda High School students. Faulkner, who provides college and career services at the high school, has been charged with two counts of Solicitation of Child Sexual Abuse Material, two counts of Grooming, and two counts of Indecent Solicitation of a Child. * Fox Chicago | Chicago Stars FC return home to Evanston with themed match days: The Chicago Stars FC preview their upcoming home stretch in Evanston, highlighting affordable fan experiences, special game themes, and a roster featuring World Cup and Olympic champions. * Daily Herald | News seniors can use: High school journalists publish newspaper for retirement residents: The students recently sent out their fourth issue of Windmill Weekly, a 12- to 16-page tabloid size printed newspaper with larger type size for easier reading. It’s the business project they chose through the national program led at Batavia by Dennis Piron, the popular and successful football coach at the school. * WCIA | Champaign County passes year-long moratorium on data center: Champaign County has been looking at implementing a temporary moratorium on data centers since February. After making its way through several county committees, the county board had the final say Thursday night. People were outside the Bennett Administrative Center an hour before the meeting started. It was a packed house with people standing, kneeling and even sitting on windowsills. All this to make sure they were in the room to see whether or not the county board would press the pause button on data center construction. * WCIA | Springfield EMS worker pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 2022 patient death: One of two Springfield EMS workers accused of murder in the death of a patient in 2022 has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Peter Cadigan pleaded guilty to the charge Friday morning in the killing of Earl Moore in December 2022. In police body camera footage, Cadigan could be seen strapping Moore face-down on a stretcher while Moore was experiencing a hallucinatory episode. He later died from asphyxiation. * WJBD | Salem Police Chief Todd Boles No Longer Employed By City: Salem Police Chief Todd Boles is no longer employed by the city. Boles was placed on paid administrative leave on April 8th for what the city called an ongoing investigation. In today’s news release, the city says that due to the nature of the situation, no further details will be released at this time. At the time of the original release, the city said that paid administrative leave was required for any allegation of a potential internal policy violation. * AP | US soldier charged with using classified intel to win $400K on Maduro raid is being released on bail: Federal prosecutors say Van Dyke used his access to classified information about the operation to capture Maduro in January to win money on the prediction market site Polymarket. Van Dyke, who is stationed at Fort Bragg near Fayetteville, North Carolina, was charged Thursday with the unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud and making an unlawful monetary transaction. * NBC | Justice Department drops investigation into Federal Reserve and Jerome Powell: The Justice Department on Friday dropped a criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve and its chair, Jerome Powell, regarding a renovation project at the central bank’s Washington headquarters. “This morning the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve has been asked to scrutinize the building costs overruns – in the billions of dollars – that have been borne by taxpayers,” U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said in a post on X.
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