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Isabel’s morning briefing
Wednesday, May 20, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * ICYMI: ‘I’ve spoken to the governor’: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell offers Bears stadium update. WGN…
- “There was a report on all of the stadium projects. We’re in the midst of what we would call a very significant stadium construction period and/or significant renovations,” Goodell said. “There was a specific update on the Bears with respect to the two sites that they are evaluating that are viable in the Bears’ mind and others, in ours. One in Illinois and one in Indiana. - “I’ve spoken to the governor recently. I think there’s a focus on trying to get something done there, and then they’ll have two viable sites that the Bears can make their decision from,” Goodell said. * Related stories… Sponsored by PhRMA  * At 10 am, Gov. JB Pritzker will speak during a Lincoln Land Community College truck driving announcement. At 12:30 pm, he’ll deliver remarks for the IRMA Retail Challenge Award Ceremony at the Executive Mansion in Springfield. Click here to watch. * BlueRoomStream.com’s coverage of today’s press conferences and committee hearings can be found here. * Daily Southtown | Thornton Fractional officials ‘scrambling, trying to figure it out’ amid federal gender ideology probe: Williams said at that point, leaders of some of the other 36 Illinois school districts named in the investigation began texting each other, hoping to gain more insight into why the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division was targeting them. The only link they could find was having received a grant helping to fund weapons detection systems and other school security measures, Williams said. * Capitol City Now | Session nears home stretch: “I have no doubt that we’re going to get the Springfield Downtown Redevelopment Plan across the finish line,” said State Sen. Doris Turner (pictured, left) (D-Springfield). “It’s going to be phenomenal for not only the city of Springfield but also for the downstate region. McClure says the idea of a publicly subsidized hotel as part of that plan leaves him short in two ways: hotels and motels would collect tax revenue to support a hotel which would then compete against them; and McClure believes resolving the problem of the shuttered Wyndham hotel should be the top priority. “The Wyndham needs to be torn down,” said McClure. * WBEZ | More Latinos are homeless in Illinois, spurred by Texas busing migrants to Chicago, report finds: Homelessness rates increased among Latinos in Illinois in recent years, exacerbated by the influx of migrants bused to Chicago by the governor of Texas, according to a new report. But experts are worried that potentially tens of thousands more people without permanent housing are flying under the radar. Titled “Latine Homelessness in Illinois: Structural Drivers of Inequality,” the report found that on any given night in the past decade, more than 1,000 Latinos were staying in Illinois homeless shelters, with another 200 living on the streets. Another 30,000 Latinos were “doubled-up,” meaning they didn’t have stable housing and were temporarily staying with family or friends. * Daily Herald | Backpacker, accountant, ‘civil right’ member: New GOP chair steps up to lead fractious team: But, “I do believe in the average common sense of the Illinois voter,” Grogan said. “At some point, one by one, discussion by discussion, door knock by door knock, Facebook post by Facebook post … they do see that Republicans’ answers to some of these everyday life problems are better. “We need to speak a little bit more loudly and a little bit clearly, and I think that’s how you overcome all the structural disadvantages that the Democrats have dealt us.” […] His takeaway is “it’s either the conservative, moderate coalition that runs the state or the liberal, moderate coalition that runs the state. If (Republicans) have any interest in advancing our agenda, we have to embrace both conservatives and moderates. We cannot purge our way to 51%.” * Sun-Times | Former high-ranking Chicago cop sues city, claims he was wrongfully placed on ‘don’t hire’ list: The lawsuit highlights a memo sent to Snelling on April 26, 2025, by Joy Brown, another defendant in the case who serves as director of human resources for the city’s Office of Public Safety Administration. The memo recommended that Barz be added to the do-not-hire list, focusing on two disciplinary investigations that purportedly led to recommendations for 15-day suspensions. However, Barz never faced a sustained disciplinary complaint over his career, including in those two cases, the suit holds. And those suspensions weren’t imposed. * NBC Chicago | How would a sale of Chicago’s parking meters affect drivers?: “There’s not a way to really change this thing unless it’s to essentially add more meters or increase prices,” said Ald. Scott Waguespack, who was a “no” vote on the original deal in ‘08. One possible impact Waguespack does see from the sale is parking rates and app fees could increase. * Fox Chicago | Video shows suburban man fatally shot by ISP during struggle in Chicago: Illinois State Police released video Friday from a fatal officer-involved shooting on Chicago’s South Side last month in which officers shot and killed a suburban man during a struggle after responding to a reported domestic battery incident. […] According to the footage provided by ISP, the mother of the woman who called police for help said the deadly confrontation occurred after Carpenter and her daughter had been arguing. “He (the officer) had to shoot,” the mother is heard saying in the video. “He pulled a gun on the police.” * ABC Chicago | Chicago-area residents getting paid to ‘like’ social media posts lose thousands: ‘Put me in a hole’: Erica says she later deposited another $15,000 into the crypto platform over the course of a year. She and others say deposits helped them move up in “tiers” to hopefully make more money by “liking” more posts. But last August, consumers say, the company shut down, and they were unable to cash out. Erica estimates her losses at nearly $37,000. Willie says he lost $3,000 in crypto deposits. * Lake County News-Sun | Delays could open door to carp invasion of the Big Lake: Illinois began stocking millions of salmon and trout species in the late 1960s in an attempt to cut down on alewives, a nuisance bait fish that salmon have taken a liking to. A bonus to adding predators to the lake to eat invasive alewives was the growth of the sport-fishing industry on Lake Michigan from Chicago north to Winthrop Harbor and into Wisconsin. All that could be lost, like a coho throwing a lure in a spectacular jump, as federal bureaucrats have dallied over implementing a defensive line to keep invasive Asian carp — mainly silver carp — from entering Lake Michigan. Last month, the Army Corps of Engineers finally awarded the second contract. * NBC Chicago | Arlington Heights mayor discusses Bears stadium as legislative session wanes: Arlington Heights Mayor Jim Tinaglia echoed reporting from the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday while discussing that site located in Hammond. He raised questions about the proximity of the proposed site to the BP refinery along the lakefront, the company’s largest in the world, and to a Superfund clean-up site. “It’s a challenge. It’s a real challenge,” he said. “People know I’m an architect and I work for people all the time. Does it have proper management for environmental protection and stormwater management? If it doesn’t, it’s dollars to (fix it).” * Daily Herald | Arlington Heights mayor promises public input on Bears project — after vote in Springfield: “I think we can all agree this (Bears project) is going to be a decision that changes Arlington Heights one way or another more than any other decision in our history, and I don’t feel like the residents have had a voice,” resident David Korney said at a village board meeting Monday night. Village officials have said public meetings about the NFL franchise’s proposed redevelopment of the 326-acre former Arlington Park racetrack are coming, but Korney argued now is the time to get those forums scheduled. He also called for formal polling of village residents and a referendum on the November ballot. * Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora investigating cyber attack that led to fraudulent payments from city accounts: The city discovered the fraudulent activity on April 30, the day after it happened, according to Aurora Mayor John Laesch. He called it a “very sophisticated cyber attack,” but said the city currently believes its internal systems were not compromised. Laesch declined to give a dollar amount, or even a ballpark estimate, for how much went missing from city accounts. The Aurora Police Department and other partners are trying to figure out the actual amount, a city spokesperson said. It is an active investigation, the spokesperson said, and do not want to compromise its integrity. * Lake County News-Sun | Waukegan expecting $600K budget surplus next fiscal year: Planning to spend $11 million less than a year ago, the city is projecting expenses of $281.7 million with anticipated revenue from all sources, including property taxes of $282.3 million, yielding a $600,000 surplus. “We set the tone early, toeing the line with no more than a 2% increase from last year to this year,” Mayor Sam Cunningham said. “We have a good idea of the projects we want to complete. Compared to years past, we believe this helped us.” * ABC Chicago | Marijuana DUI case dropped over ‘erroneous evidence’ from UIC drug testing lab: The I-Team reveals the latest aftershock from flawed marijuana DUI test results, learning prosecutors in Lake County, Illinois, are dismissing charges against a man accused of DUI and causing a fatal crash. Calling it “scientifically erroneous evidence,” the state’s attorney in Lake County told the I-Team he had to drop charges against a driver involved in a 2023 crash that killed a Skokie man. The case was hinged on faulty lab results from the same lab the I-Team exposed more than a year ago. * Daily Herald | Mayoral tiebreaker propels Mount Prospect pedestrian bridge forward: The 200-foot-long bridge spanning Northwest Highway and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks is expected to begin construction in July and finish in 2027. Right until the end, the village board was split on the need for bridge, with Mount Prospect Mayor Paul Hoefert breaking a 3-3 deadlock. Hoefert said he was enthusiastic about the bridge’s potential for fostering connectivity within the village. * Aurora Beacon-News | Still seeking ways to solve looming shortfall, Kane County Board OKs some 2027 budget measures: Kane County has been facing a looming budget shortfall in its general fund in recent years, which its board has been solving since 2023 by dipping into the county’s cash reserves. But, county staff has cautioned that doing so won’t be an option forever, and that the county must make significant cuts or find new revenue before 2027 to avoid dipping into its required 90-day reserves. * KSDK | Residents of southern Illinois city demand action over repeated flooding in neighborhood: People living in the Holiday Terrace neighborhood in Centralia say their street floods anytime the area gets more than a light sprinkle. “You can just watch the water start rising,” Robert Smith said. “Then you’ve got to worry about the white caps.” […] When a reporter stopped by Centralia City Hall to see whether city leaders were aware of the ongoing flooding issue. The reporter was redirected to the public works department, where no one answered the door. Multiple calls and emails to the Centralia Public Works Department have also gone unanswered. * WAND | Springfield doubles parking fines for overstaying downtown spots: Parking will remain free, but if your car is caught in a short-term spot longer than allowed, you’ll be fined. Alderman hope increasing the fee from $10 to $20 will encourage downtown employees to park in garages and other locations. Fees will also increase for parking in a “No parking zone” on private property and other so-called improper parking. * WCIA | Macon Co. police department aims to increase the number of women with badges: “Women bring something unique to the job. Often times, women are more compassionate, they’re more caring. Sometimes they’re slower to jump in a dynamic situation, which sometimes those situations require a slower, more patient approach and sometimes it takes a woman to back that situation off and go at it with a different perspective,” Flannery said. She added that Decatur Police has 15 women employed out of a department of 150. Flannery also said that it’s a number she has only seen grow in her 20 years at the department. * Nomination Notes | Eight Democrats vote to confirm a lifetime judge who wouldn’t say Biden won in 2020: Clarke is the first judicial nominee in more than three months to receive bipartisan support on the Senate floor, earning the affirmative votes of Democratic Senators Dick Durbin, John Fetterman, Ruben Gallego, Maggie Hassan, Martin Heinrich, Jack Reed, Jeanne Shaheen, and Sheldon Whitehouse. Senator Chris Coons, who recently voted to advance Clarke’s nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, voted against her confirmation today. Nine Senate Republicans missed the confirmation vote, meaning Senate Democrats — had they all voted ‘no’ — could have blocked confirmation and forced a later vote. * NYT | Meta Begins Laying Off 8,000 Employees Amid A.I. Transformation: In April, they were told that 8,000 of them, or 10 percent of the work force, would be laid off on May 20 as Meta remade itself for the artificial intelligence era. On Monday, they learned that another 7,000 employees would be reassigned to new A.I. initiatives. The ax started to fall in Singapore, where at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday emails went out to workers who were being laid off. Employees in Britain, the United States and elsewhere will be notified early Wednesday morning in their respective time zones. * Reuters | US regulator sues to block Minnesota’s first-in-nation ban on prediction markets: The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Tuesday filed a lawsuit seeking to block Minnesota from enforcing a newly enacted law that made the state the first nationally to outright ban prediction markets like those run by Kalshi and Polymarket. […] In Tuesday’s lawsuit, the CFTC argued that Minnesota’s novel law violated the U.S. Constitution by criminalizing at the state level the operation of derivatives markets governed by federal law.
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- Earnest - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 8:21 am:
I can’t get my head around that Durbin vote to confirm Clarke, not that I’ve ever had high expectations of him. “Institutionalist” doesn’t get me there and I don’t see another path.
- Bridges - Wednesday, May 20, 26 @ 8:22 am:
With reference to the tie breaking vote in Mount Prospect:
In recent years, there have been more than a few bridges built for cyclists and walkers that are almost parallel to existing bridges in Chicago and Cook County. If money is tight, I do not follow the logic of constructing new bridges that are duplicative.