* Tribune…

A federal judge has taken the highly unusual step to order prosecutors and their supervisors into court Thursday to explain why they redacted portions of grand jury transcripts in the “Broadview Six” case against Operation Midway Blitz protesters.

U.S. District April Perry’s order, which was posted to the public docket in the case Wednesday afternoon, called for any prosecutor “who participated in the decision to redact portions of the grand jury transcripts, whether on the trial team or at the supervisory level” to appear before her at 11 a.m. Thursday.

It was unclear who will be forced to appear in court, but Perry’s inclusion of “supervisors” in her order could include high-level people in the office, up to U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros, given the high profile of the case. […]

The proceedings will be conducted under seal “due to the anticipated discussion of grand jury materials and in an effort to avoid tainting the jury venire” in the upcoming criminal trial, which is slated to begin with jury selection Tuesday, according to Perry’s order.

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* Illinois Times…

Legal proceedings between the owner of the vacant Wyndham Springfield City Centre Hotel and the hotel’s insurance company may be nearing resolution, but no details about what that resolution may look like have been made public.

The lawsuit between plaintiffs Full Service Hospitality LLC and Tower Capital Group — entities both associated with Wyndham owner Al Rajabi — and defendant Affiliated FM Insurance Co. has been reported as settled by the involved parties, according to an April 15 court filing with the Central District of Illinois.

The parties have until June 15 to file an official dismissal agreement, according to the filing. No details of the settlement were included with the filing.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Crain’s | Pritzker downplays rift with mayor over Bears but defends tax break proposal: “Do we want to spend $2.5 billion of taxpayer dollars on the Chicago Bears, or do we want to spend a lot less than that in order to keep the Chicago Bears in Illinois?” Pritzker said when asked about Johnson’s comments at an unrelated press conference this morning. “My response is: I think it’s about your values. It’s about what you really care about in life and who you’ve focused on. I’ve focused on the middle class, the working class and people most vulnerable throughout my career.”

* Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice | Scooping for Success: Ice Cream for a Cause at State Capitol: Ben & Jerry’s will join the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice to serve ice cream and talk with legislators about essential investments in the Pretrial Success Grants program. Prior to the ice cream social, the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice will join legislators for a press conference.

* Darren Bailey made an appearance at city council…

GOP candidate for Gov @DarrenBaileyIL at City Council: “To this city… I owe you an apology. I said some things about Chicago (called it a hell hole) that were wrong. What I meant was that the political class is failing us, and I should have been more clear. @ABC7Chicago pic.twitter.com/cLh5YZCbjP

— Craig Wall ABC 7 (@craigrwall) May 20, 2026

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | Lake Michigan, Chicago River polluted with harmful microplastics: A test sampling of Lake Michigan, the Chicago River and other waterways across Illinois found tiny plastics present, posing potential threats to human health and damage to the environment, according to an advocacy group. In all, 31 test sites, including multiple samplings along Lake Michigan, showed broken-down plastics in the water. Known as microplastics, these small particles are being studied by government and academic researchers for possible links to illnesses, including cancer. Plastics don’t easily break down in the environment and also threaten fish and wildlife.

* Crain’s | Chicago-area home listings will stop showing up on Zillow: Escalating the battle over which homes for sale will get seen, the Chicago-area multiple-listing service cut off its data feed to Zillow. For people who are buying or selling a home this spring, today’s move by Lisle-based Midwest Real Estate Data means the visibility of listings will be greatly curtailed on one of the most popular places to shop for a home. For the real estate industry, it’s a complicated issue with many moving parts that may shape the future of the business.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Harvey relies on fire mutual aid from surrounding communities through fiscal crisis: Ever since Harvey laid off more than half its Fire Department due to an ongoing fiscal crisis, the city has made use of mutual aid supplied by surrounding municipalities, including Dolton and Hazel Crest, without being able to reciprocate. About 40% of Harvey’s city staff was furloughed in October following the city’s declaration of fiscal crisis, including about half of the Fire Department. Four more firefighters were laid off in a second round of layoffs in late November. Harvey Firemens Association Local 471’s secretary said at the time the Fire Department was down to three firefighters on most shifts, when they should have a minimum of seven.

* Aurora Beacon-News | After receiving more than 500 votes from the community, Aurora unveils names for baby falcons: After asking for community input, the city of Aurora has unveiled the names that will be given to the four baby falcons that recently hatched outside City Hall. Residents got the chance to submit nominations for the names through May 11, then the top 10 submissions went to a vote that was open through Monday. After nearly 400 nominations and over 500 votes, four names rose to the top: Aurora, Sky, Hope and Vern, according to a city news release.

* Daily Herald | District 203 wants to put the brakes on rideshares during school hours: With the rising popularity of teen rideshare services, Naperville Unit District 203 wants to put some guardrails in place for students. School board members on Monday got a first look at a proposed policy that would prohibit the use of rideshares during school hours for students under the age of 18. The proposed policy, believed to be a first in the area, would allow the use of rideshares during emergency situations if a parent or guardian has signed a waiver.

*** Downstate ***

* NPR Illinois | LLCC Truck Driver Training Program expands to Litchfield: Governor JB Pritzker joined the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC) Wednesday to announce plans for expanding the school’s Truck Driver Training Program. The State of Illinois will provide $2.6 million for design and implementation of infrastructure improvements, which will create a new training site in Litchfield. This investment will help meet the growing need for licensed commercial drivers, support local economic development, and provide stable career opportunities for Illinoisans.

* Illinois Times | “Electrons instead of ethanol”: Major solar development proposed for farmland near New Berlin: “It’s a big project,” said Sangamon County Board member Craig Hall, a Republican whose district includes New Berlin. “There are a lot of people who have concerns with it.” Hall said residents fear the project could depress nearby property values and discourage residential growth in an area where Springfield’s westward expansion already is reshaping rural communities. “You have something adjacent to someone else’s property and it affects their quality of life or the value of property,” Hall said. “Is that good zoning? I don’t think it is.”

* WGLT | Developer wants to add ‘passive’ homes to Bloomington-Normal’s housing mix: Rebecca Johnson, or DJ, is CEO and founder of COII, a company looking to design long-term, cost-effective homes focused on sustainability and wellness. “The concept is a modern, sustainable living development,” DJ said in an interview on WGLT’s Sound Ideas. “So that means that this concept is going to be all native landscaping, starting from the ground up, and then our homes are high performance, passive house-designed homes.”

* Illinois Times | Local cannabis businesses receive state funding: Four Sangamon and Logan County marijuana businesses received a total of nearly $2 million in direct forgivable loans last month from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity as part of the Cannabis Social Equity Loan Program. Two craft grow businesses received $750,000 each in forgivable loans – Lincoln Labs and Rt. 66 Rec. Lincoln Labs, owned by Justin Condor, is located in Springfield, while Rt. 66 Rec, owned by Jeff Fulgenzi, Gary Alexander and Wilbur Day II, is located in Lincoln after a failed attempt to get zoning approval in Springfield.

*** National ***

* WaPo | These 5 charts show how ChatGPT has flooded our lives: The number of e-books published each week has nearly tripled since ChatGPT was released, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research study of English-language books offered for sale at Amazon. By the end of last year, more than half of all new books have AI-generated text, according to the study. This surge is unlike previous technological shifts, said Joel Waldfogel, an economist at the University of Minnesota who co-wrote the study. The internet also brought increases to the number of books published, giving great writers a platform to become best-selling authors.