* ICYMI: Chicago Bears considering second Hammond, Indiana stadium site. NBC Chicago…

- Sources familiar with negotiations between the Bears and Indiana officials told NBC Chicago Political Reporter Mary Ann Ahern that the team is eyeing a second Hammond site.
- Ahern’s sources indicate the second site is located near Wolf Lake, but did not offer specific details about the areas the Bears are eyeing up for a potential stadium project.
- Indiana officials have been riding high in recent days after the Bears announced they were making a northwestern Indiana site a priority for their stadium negotiations. That news came just days after the Illinois General Assembly failed to pass legislation aimed at keeping the Bears in the state, though there is still a chance the project could be revisited down the road.

* Related stories…

• Post Tribune: Lake County Council thrilled with Chicago Bears stadium news, but still waiting to pass taxes
• Crain’s: For Chicago suburbs, Bears’ Indiana play presents a new kind of limbo

* At 3:30 pm, Gov. JB Pritzker will give remarks at the 130th anniversary of La Rabida Children’s Hospital. Click here to watch.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois seeks two Crest Hill prisons, leaving Lincoln out of Logan Correctional Center rebuild plan: The announcement drew criticism from local and state Republican leaders who say the choice to move Logan instead of rehabbing the facility could cause further economic harm to the city of Lincoln and Logan County, after the closure of two private colleges in the area. IDOC said it will provide transfer opportunities for Logan employees — but current employees and union representatives say packing up and moving presents a hardship for families.

* WICS | Area school district talks combatting educator shortage: Jey Owens, the human resource director for Champaign Unit 4, says, “Recruitment has really turned into an all-year thing. There’s never a recruitment season. Those days are long gone.” […] “When individuals decide to exit the profession, it’s not the profession and it’s not the students that they’re leaving. Lots of time it’s the workload. Lots of times teachers and staff members have very long days and they feel that they’re missing out on family,” says Owens.

*** Statehouse News ***

* NBC Chicago | Illinois lawmaker to reveal new plan in effort to keep Bears out of Indiana: “This entire debacle has exposed the serious flaws in our property tax system….My legislation will help keep the Bears in Illinois while lowering property taxes for everyone,” said Rep. Dan Ugaste from Geneva. Details on the new plan are expected to be released later Tuesday morning, but Ugaste said it will give both the Bears and homeowners and businesses in Illinois property tax relief.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | 22 alderpersons say they’ll reject parking meters sale, accuse Johnson of holding back info about the deal: In a sharply worded letter to the mayor delivered Monday, the coalition of alderpersons said their decision to block the transfer of city parking meters from Chicago Parking Meters LLC to Stonepeak Partners is not based on the merits of the deal, but “on the fact that your administration has systematically withheld the information necessary for proper evaluation.” […] The letter was signed by many of the same Council members responsible for rejecting Johnson’s proposed corporate head tax before approving an alternative 2026 budget that includes replacement revenues opposed by the mayor. Stonepeak declined to comment on the Council members’ letter.

* Crain’s | Lawsuit targets Chicago broadcasters over ads for financial planner accused of fraud: The secretary of state barred Ellington from offering or selling securities in Illinois on May 13. The state action came following a WLS-TV (ABC 7) news investigation. Before the temporary order, lawyers representing the plaintiffs said in a press release, Ellington marketed himself “relentlessly” on Chicago TV and radio, billboards and social media. The complaint says the media outlets went beyond running paid advertising for Ellington by producing “Mr. Finance” segments in their own studios, with their own news anchors interviewing and personally vouching for him as an expert.

* Block Club | Michelada Fest Canceled Again, But Will Return As Free Street Fest This Fall: It’s “a return to our roots,” the Michelada Fest team said. “No tickets. No barriers. Solo nuestra comunidad.” There will be a suggested donation to La Casa Norte, which serves Chicagoans facing housing insecurity. Vendors who were part of the 2026 festival will also have space at Windy City Margarita Fest, which takes place in Pilsen Aug. 6-8. That event is also being produced by Windy City Events Management.

* Tribune | The perfect spot for a farm? Vacant office buildings in downtown Chicago: Steinberg is the founder of Farm Zero, one of a few vertical farming companies around Chicago. Nearly a decade ago, vertical farming became part of an agricultural technology craze, introducing a new way of growing crops indoors using stacked trays set up under artificial lighting, hydroponics and tightly controlled environments. But since then, the industry has seen mixed success. A handful of companies have shuttered because of unsustainable business models amid high energy and infrastructure costs, urban agriculture experts say. Despite that, Steinberg believes Farm Zero has one major advantage: the location of his farm.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Despite village approvals, legal action expected against Grayslake data center: In the pending suit, opponents want approvals declared invalid and vacated, arguing they are inconsistent with the village’s own adopted policies and were issued through an apparently deficient process. Opposition emerged this spring. As of Monday afternoon, for example, a Facebook group created in March had 3,396 members and thousands of posts and comments.

* Daily Herald | Arlington Heights mayor urges Pritzker to ‘coach’ legislators on Bears stadium deal: “He is the one who needs to coach his whole group of elected officials,” Tinaglia said of Pritzker. “If you’ve got one guy trying to run a football down this way, another one running the football down that way, we’re going nowhere. And that’s what it kind of feels like.”

* Harvey World Herald | ‘This is now home’: S2 Express Grill revives local dining in Ford Heights: Wilson was persuasive in courting the elevated soul food and American fanfare eater, working with the couple to deliver “a nice sit-down restaurant and a nice place that hires people from the village that are there to pay taxes,” he said. “S2 is a win-win all the way around.” […] Customer turnout has been consistent, a hit with the older crowd, and has also attracted customers looking for an event space, including birthday bashes. S2 is “where you can go and watch the game, or just sit down and eat and relax,” Robinson beamed.

* Aurora Beacon-News | With a new location on the way, Hollywood Casino in downtown Aurora to close on June 10: The new land-based Hollywood Casino in Aurora, set to open on June 24, is located along Farnsworth Avenue and Bilter Road, across the street from Chicago Premium Outlets mall and near the Interstate 88 interchange. Not only will the new location offer a casino floor fit for around 1,200 people actively engaged in slot machines or table games, but it also will have a hotel, several restaurants, an event space and a spa.

* Crain’s | Developer and bank warned to ‘stop playing games’ while River Forest condo site sits empty: Targeted by village officials for redevelopment in 2016, the site was approved two years later for developer Marty Paris’ proposal to build a five-story, 30-unit condo building called RF. The units, priced at $600,000 to about $1.4 million, and the building’s first-floor retail spaces would “be a statement building for Lake Street and River Forest,” Paris told Crain’s at the time. Move-ins were slated for 2019. But five years went by and in 2023, with only a small portion of the structure completed, village officials revoked the developer’s building permit. Paris told Crain’s at the time that he’d been having trouble lining up capital in the poor market of the early 2020s but that he expected to arrange financing soon.

* Southtown | Documentary covers two decades of Peotone airport fight to open with free screening June 13: Director Tom Desch has worked on the movie since 2003. He said the first time he ever heard about Barack Obama, before he was elected to national office, was in the context of working on the documentary. “It has not been a straight line process by any means. We’d film, we’d let it sit on a shelf, we’d go film more, numerous edits over the years,” Desch said.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Urbana City Council expected to discuss controversial apartment building during Monday’s meeting: The proposed building would have 32 units and would be located at 413-419 West Main Street. At a previous meeting, some community members argued that this project would bring much-needed housing to the area. Those against the project think it’s the wrong type of building — in the wrong part of the city.

* NBC Chicago | Dozens to be laid off as Illinois auto parts manufacturing plant closes: Dana Incorporated announced in April it would cut 81 positions beginning June 15 due to the closure of its plant in Robinson, the notice stated. Robinson is located roughly 110 miles southeast of Champaign. Mayor Mike Shimer called the layoffs “a huge loss and very disappointing for the City of Robinson,” telling NBC affiliate WTWO the city is looking at ways to help employees in the short term.

* 25News Now | North Pekin residents told old AMC theaters will not be data center: Although a vote on rezoning the now abandoned AMC theaters in North Pekin from retail to light industrial won’t be taken until Tuesday night, residents in the area are concerned that rezoning could open the possibility of a future data center. North Pekin leaders assured the public Monday night that won’t happen. Residents showed up in “NO Data Center” t-shirts to fill the room where usually just a small gathering of residents attend. According to North Pekin residents, this was the first meeting they’ve attended, and it was because of data center rumors.

* Sun-Times | Kankakee basketball star Lincoln Williams picks Illinois: Lincoln Williams, who has been the top uncommitted prospect in the state for months, graduated May 21 from Kankakee. The All-Area guard followed that up with a commitment Monday to Illinois. ‘‘I chose to stay home,’’ Williams said of choosing Illinois over his other two finalists, Virginia Tech and UNLV. ‘‘There is a bond I have with the assistant coaches and coach Underwood, so I decided to stay home.’’

* WAND | 6,000 cars anticipated at HOT ROD Power Tour in Rantoul: The world’s largest traveling car show will draw more than 6,000 classic cars, hot rods, and performance vehicles, from across the country. This tour will cruise along Route 66, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary, starting in Joliet and ending in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hot rodders will be coming into Rantoul off US-136 and working through the Village to reach the former Chanute Air Force Base. The show will be free and open to the public from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

*** National ***

* WIRED | Threats Against Politicians Skyrocketed After Meta Changed Its Speech Rules: The researchers analyzed about 8 million Facebook comments and found that abusive and racist comments targeting both Republican and Democrat lawmakers tripled in the six months after the new rules were put in place. Some categories of abusive comments documented by the researchers saw even sharper rises, with violent threats and hate speech quadrupling during the same period.

* Cook County Record | Tariff refund class actions lodged vs Ikea, Mondelez, Abercrombie & Fitch: The lawsuits represented the latest in a growing raft of litigation filed in courts in Chicago and elsewhere in the U.S. accusing retailers and other companies of allegedly attempting to claim “windfall profits” from consumers following the end of the tariff regimes established by President Donald Trump in 2025 under the federal International Emergency Economics Act. […] The lawsuits all rest on similar allegations: That the companies hiked consumer prices in response to cover their increased costs from the tariffs, but, after the tariffs were rescinded, have not lowered their prices or offered consumers a refund, even as they pursue legal action to obtain refunds from the government for the illegal tariffs they paid throughout much of 2025.