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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Friday, May 22, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * WTTW…
* Capitol News Illinois | 10 provisions in the latest Illinois cannabis omnibus bill: Identical bills have been introduced in the House and Senate, though neither has been assigned to a substantive committee. It’s unclear if they will move before lawmakers adjourn May 31. […] “Rumors of the demise of House-Senate collaboration have been greatly exaggerated,” said Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, in a statement. “I’m proud of the partnership that’s gone into drafting this bill, and I’m proud of the end product — legislation that will help keep our cannabis industry among the most vibrant and diverse in the nation.” * WCIA | Illinois farmers weigh in on bill updating farm wagon regulations: Wednesday night, WCIA reported on a new bill that would allow heavier farm wagons to still qualify for exemptions — allowing them to drive on the road. The previous regulations have been in place since the 1970s, and one farmer in Central Illinois said he’s glad they’re catching up with new technology. * Tribune | What’s behind the push to make the Italian beef Illinois’ official sandwich? Thank ‘The Bear.’: Despite its deep roots and existing legendary status, over the last few years, Mr. Beef has become the city’s most famous Italian beef purveyor thanks to its prominent feature in “The Bear,” an FX show that follows a fine dining chef who returns to his family’s Italian beef stand. So when House lawmakers downstate passed a bill to designate the sturdy yet soggy Italian beef the official state sandwich of Illinois, Zucchero’s brain had to be picked. “Did they ask the other counties in the state?” Zucchero asked the Tribune over the phone. He was 70 miles south of the Canadian border in Minnesota, where he lives when he’s not in Chicago. “I think it’s great that Italian beef is getting recognized, but does it just represent the city of Chicago, which has a tendency to overshadow the whole state of Illinois? There’s still 101 other counties,” he laughed. “I think I would feel better if I knew that every county got to vote.” * Illinois Answers Project | After Chicago Cop was Shot, Frantic Search for Car Keys Delayed Care, Newly Obtained Video Shows: In an interview with COPA months after the shooting, Baker said he carried Rivera down the first floor of the building, laying her against a wall and giving the keys to his squad car to another cop. […] One newly released video shows an officer crossed the street behind Baker’s SUV and walked down a fenced-in sidewalk that leads to the steel front door of the apartment building[…] During that window, officers spent just over a minute shouting for keys and for officers and others to move their cars. Baker later told investigators he had the keys. […] Once the SUV carrying Rivera got on the road, it caught fire on the way to the hospital. Radio traffic shows a dispatcher asked about the car fire and that an officer responded about a minute later that another squad car was needed to carry Rivera to the hospital. * Tribune | Hundreds attend funeral services for Chicago firefighter Steven Decker: Decker was a fire engineer with CFD, according to city human resources data. He had spent nearly 30 years on the job and was assigned to Engine 71 in the West Ridge neighborhood, fire officials said. “Steve gave everything in service to the people of Chicago and his courage and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” CFD Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt said in a statement. “Our deepest condolences go out to the Decker family, fellow firefighters and paramedics and all who cherished him.” * Sun-Times | Bears coaches have a simple message to QB Caleb Williams this offseason: ‘Do less’: The Bears aren’t trying to turn Williams into Goff. The clockwork precision and timing of Goff’s game, though, reflects Johnson and Barrett’s deeply rooted belief of what efficient, winning quarterback play should be. They want more of that in Williams’ game as he grows. That starts with completion percentage and Johnson’s insistence that Williams is at 70%. Not only did he fail to reach that number in any single game last season, but he finished last in the league at 58.1% overall. That sunk his yards per pass to 6.9 and his passer rating to 90.1, whereas Goff completed 68%, averaged 7.9 yards per pass and registered a 105.5 passer rating. * Block Club | Atelier, Lincoln Square’s Michelin-Starred Restaurant, Has Closed: Owner Tim Lacey, himself an acclaimed bartender and Lincoln Square resident for over 20 years, announced the closure in a note posted to the restaurant’s website and social media. It’s not clear when the last day of service was at Atelier, 4544 N. Western Ave. Lacey didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. “It pains me tremendously to say this but, we’ve had to close Atelier. This was not a decision made lightly, but due to financial issues closing was our only option,” reads the note signed “Tim.” * Crain’s | Neighbors say Northwestern University lets empty houses deteriorate: Six of the 14 houses are unoccupied: four on Colfax and one each on Noyes and Haven. The house on Haven has holes in the eaves and on the porch roof that are visible from the sidewalk. One house on Colfax has a work permit in the window whose date is 2016. The concrete steps on the house are crumbling, the cast-off bits of stone scattered around. “We don’t want this to become a demolition-by-neglect scenario,” said Clare Kelly, the Evanston City Council member whose ward the houses are in. She believes all six houses have been vacant for at least five years. Some appear from a sidewalk view to be in good order, though no details are available on their interiors. * Daily Herald | Judge rules South Barrington Park District’s land sale to religious group was improper: * Beacon-News | Indian Prairie D204 board OKs new support staff contract and raises for administrative, non-union employees: The Indian Prairie School District 204 board has OK’d raises for administrative and non-union employees for next school year, and formally approved a four-year contract for support staff, which includes pay hikes in the coming years. First, the school board approved, as part of the consent agenda at its meeting May 18, 3.9% pay hikes for some of its employees for the 2026-27 school year, according to district documents. The hikes are meant to be in line with the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, per the district. * Press release | Gov. Pritzker Announces Des Plaines River Bridges Replacement on I-80: The new $164 million Des Plaines River bridges are the centerpieces and most complex elements of the overall I-80 improvements, currently IDOT’s largest active project. Originally built in the 1960s, the existing bridges will be replaced with two wider, concrete structures 300 feet to the north. The new bridges are expected to be completed in 2028, with the old bridges demolished in 2029. * Pioneer Press | Oak Brook mayor lauds response to ‘anxious and rowdy’ crowd amid Swatch release at mall: But according to Oak Brook village President Larry Herman, it would have been impossible for Oakbrook Center management to plan for this. “This release was unannounced to the mall management and our police department,” he said. “I commend our police department for an immediate and orderly response to de-escalate the crowd that had gathered for a limited Swatch timepiece. The actions taken by the officers on duty, and officers from nearby departments that assisted, ensured there were no injuries from a crowd that was becoming increasingly anxious and rowdy.” * Aurora Beacon-News | Kane County Cougars’ bus set on fire in Canada, police say: Upon police arriving, two teenagers were taken into custody in connection with the incident, the Winnipeg police said. Investigators from its major crimes unit believe the fire was deliberately set, police said, and one of the teenagers — a 15-year-old girl — is facing charges of arson causing damage to property and possession of incendiary material. She has since been released and turned over to a responsible adult, the Winnipeg police said on Thursday. […] The team ultimately came back to defeat the Goldeyes 12-5 later in the day on Thursday. * Illinois Times | Sangamon County wrestles with land use issues: The Zoning and Land Use Committee also did not take any action on a recent proposal by District 7 board member Craig Hall, who represents the area where the Double Black Diamond Solar Farm opened last year and where the CyrusOne project is slated to be built. Hall’s proposal would attempt to circumvent the state’s latest laws that prevent local governments from having stricter authority on zoning for renewable energy projects. A 2023 law specifically “requires counties to allow commercial, utility-scale solar and wind energy conversion systems to be sited in areas zoned for agricultural or industrial use,” according to a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign fact page. “A county can have more lax requirements than called for in state law, but it cannot have more restrictive requirements,” though no mention of rezoning land so its not sited for agricultural or industrial use is outlined. * WCIA | Over 100 people at public hearing in Decatur for proposed power plant: If the construction permit is approved, the facility would contain piping to transport carbon dioxide from the carbon capture plant to ADM’s nearby existing sequestration wells. That’s what many people there on Thursday were focusing on. Illinois People’s Action Group was well represented at the hearing. One of their big fears is carbon escaping from the sequestration wells and carbon going into Lake Decatur. “If we are not heard by the EPA, and they don’t want to protect us, and accidents do happen, and they will eventually, it could totally destroy this community,” said Verlyn Rosenberger, an IL People’s Action Group leader. “There could be absolutely no Decatur and no outlying areas that also rely on their wells, their farm ponds, their farm animals, the wildlife. It’s all going to be affected. Nobody is going to escape.” * IPM Newsroom | Yankee Ridge students head to Sola Gratia Farm for the last time this spring – with the program’s future uncertain: “Best strawberries I’ve ever had,” said fourth grader Hanna Sanmartin Hernandez. “I usually don’t like strawberries, but these are too good. I can’t stop eating them. I’m trying to save some for my family and I can’t do it.” The students visit the non-profit, urban farm every Friday after school to learn about plants, get their hands dirty and breathe the outside air. […] But when the Trump administration restarted the program in the fall of 2025, the recipients of the cancelled grants applied alongside new applicants. There were over twice as many applicants for fewer grants that would each allocate more money – a change put in place by the U.S. Department of Agriculture with the relaunch of the program. * IPM News | Chancellor Charles Isbell reflects on his first year at U of I, looks ‘towards the future’: Isbell also noted that this academic year, the university admitted the highest number of freshmen in U of I’s history, a total of 9,207 new students. This brought total enrollment to the largest number in U of I’s history as well, reaching 60,848 students. U of I also had the highest number of students from Illinois more than any previous academic year. 6,587 freshmen students enrolled at the university are from Illinois, bringing the total of undergraduate Illinois residents to 27,978. * WCIA | Big Boy No. 4014 train coming to Springfield in July: The train is set to start its Eastern tour early next week, with a few stops in Illinois. The historic locomotive is set to stop and be available at the Amtrak Depot in Springfield on July 18 from 10:45-11:15 a.m. On this specific tour, Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 will be traversing parts of the country it hasn’t seen in more than 80 years. * CNBC | Consumer sentiment hits fresh record low in May as Iran war fuels inflation worries: “Consumer sentiment fell for the third straight month as supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz continue to boost gasoline prices. Sentiment is now just below the previous historical trough seen in June 2022,” Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu said in a statement. “Critically, consumers appear worried that inflation will increase and proliferate beyond fuel prices, even in the long run.” * NYT | Your Memorial Day Travel Forecast: Heavy Traffic and Pricey Gas: AAA predicts that a record 45 million people will travel from Thursday to Monday. Despite the continued pressures of rising gas prices, which are the highest they’ve been since the summer of 2022, most travelers — 87 percent — are likely to drive, AAA said. At the start of the week, the national average for regular unleaded gas was around $4.56 a gallon as of Thursday, according to AAA data. The price was $3.18 at the same time last year. * AP | Companies join a deep-sea mining rush after Trump executive order, as regulators fast-track permits: At least nine companies are in talks with the government for access to seabed minerals, according to an Associated Press review. Sections of the seafloor from American Samoa to Alaska could be auctioned for offshore mining this summer and through the fall. All the action suggests the U.S. may soon give the green light for companies to commercially mine the seabed — something that’s never been done in international waters.
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