* Crain’s…

State Sen. Bill Cunningham, a retiring Democrat who is leading stadium negotiations in his chamber, said the final details are being hammered out on a bill allowing municipalities to create authorities to issue bonds to build publicly owned stadiums. The structure was approved in the Senate on the final day of the spring session without being taken up in the House. […]

Both Cunningham and his negotiating counterpart in the House, Rep. Kam Buckner, have met with Johnson and his top staff in recent weeks, telling them to prepare for the stadium authority model to be approved and “Chicago needs to be ready with a proposal that would fit within that structure,” he said.

Coming forward with four distinct ideas, none of which have the tacit support or involvement of the Bears, may work against the city’s interest, but it hasn’t stopped developers from meeting with state officials and other potential partners, including organized labor, to pitch their plans.

“I think if a developer or the city itself went back to the Bears with a proposal that makes sense, you could have the Bears settle on a Chicago stadium, but it’s really incumbent on the city and whichever developer controls a site to make that pitch,” he said.

* The Tribune…

Planners keep drawing new homes for the Chicago Bears, with renderings of football stadiums full of bells and whistles. But a common thread to the proposals is that the Bears aren’t involved.

The latest would put the Bears in Bridgeport, on the site of the White Sox’s Rate Field. But like some of the proposals before it, this one was drawn up without participation from the team. The Bears have said previously that they are focused on pursuing a $2 billion stadium across the state line in Hammond or in suburban Arlington Heights, and that the Rate Field site was unsuitable, citing in part its limited size. […]

At least one key lawmaker is open to the Bridgeport idea, though he acknowledged several caveats. State Sen. Bill Cunningham, a Chicago Democrat and one of the General Assembly’s lead negotiators on a Bears stadium, called the proposal “very intriguing,” though he said many details would need to be worked out, with significant community input.

Cunningham said he first heard about the concept a couple of years ago through organized labor, when the White Sox were considering building their own stadium on a swath of land known as “The 78,” just south of Roosevelt Road near the Chicago River. In what he called “idle chitchat,” he discussed with a local labor leader whether the Rate Field site, at 35th Street and Shields Avenue just west of the Dan Ryan Expressway, would make a good home for a new Bears stadium. […]

“It would be way more transit accessible than any other Bears stadium proposal out there by probably a factor of 10,” Cunningham said, adding that much of the land is state-owned. “Ultimately, you know, at the end of the day, it’s up to the Bears. I’ve said this before, what we are committed to is a privately financed stadium.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* US Department of Education | U.S. Department of Education Demands Revisions to Illinois Guidance on Conducting Mental Health Screenings without Parental Consent: SPPO is demanding ISBE revise their policies to be FERPA and PPRA compliant immediately to avoid the need for enforcement actions. ISBE has until November 13, 2026, to produce revisions to its guidance. ISBE’s response will guide the Department’s next steps, if needed, to ensure compliance with federal law.

* WTTW | Trump Administration Demands Changes to Illinois Policies on School Mental Health Screenings: SBE spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. Illinois is set to begin offering mental health screenings for students in grades 3-12 across all school districts at least once a year beginning next school year. But the feds claim that, as written, those policies may violate the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

* Tribune | Feds say Supreme Court should deny ex-Speaker Madigan’s petition to review corruption conviction: Lawyers for the federal government told the Supreme Court in a brief this week that former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s corruption conviction was on solid ground, saying he was “not a low-level or novice official” and noting he testified himself that it was illegal to exchange benefits for official action. Madigan, who turns 85 in April, is asking the high court to take up his case in what is his last hope to overturn his 2025 conviction and 7½-year sentence. He’s been in prison for more than a year and currently is not set for release until October 2031, when he would be 89, prison records show.

*** Chicago ***

* Block Club | Chicago Avenue Bridge Reopening Delayed To Next Spring As Alderman Fumes: “Completely and totally irresponsible and a massive bureaucratic failure are the words I would use to describe your department’s mishandling of the bridge repair project and staging,” Reilly said on Thursday. The Chicago Avenue bridge and Halsted Street viaduct closed to vehicles and pedestrians last year. The scope of work includes replacing the former temporary bridge with a permanent one, full replacement of the viaduct, a new riverwalk and other improvements.

* Sun-Times | Billions of gallons of raw sewage is pouring into the Chicago River after storms: And it’s a lot of sewage. This year, the Racine station, which is nearly 90 years old, has dumped more than 10 billion gallons of sewage into the river. That’s more than it has since 2019. In Chicago, storm water and wastewater go into one big sewer.

* Sun-Times | Chicago judge says she was a victim of extortionist who posed as cocaine king Pablo Escobar’s son: Wrenn — whose late uncle also was a judge and whose sister was a chief of staff to former Mayor Rahm Emanuel — hasn’t been named in the court proceedings related to Fakroune. But she acknowledges she once had a relationship with Fakroune, telling the Chicago Sun-Times in a brief interview in her courtroom, “I’m a victim.” She referred any questions to Todd Pugh, her lawyer, who wouldn’t say how they met, the nature of her relationship with Fakroune or how she was a victim.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Southtown | Competing slates file for mayor, clerk and trustee in Homer Glen: Joining Neitzke-Troike on her ticket are incumbent clerk Candice Bielski, incumbent trustees Bartholomew “Bart” Holzhauser and Robert Schaller, and newcomer Deidre “Deide” Fischer, who is running for trustee. Incumbent Trustee Curt Mason did not file for reelection. Trustee candidates running with Pacella are Michael McGee, John Booras and Ruben L. Pazmino. Pazmino, a local restaurant owner, was a trustee from 2019 to 2023, but lost reelection in 2023 and a bid in 2025.

* Sun-Times | Northwestern physicists trapped an antimatter particle in a lab for months: Their discovery could make or break a longstanding theory in physics about how our universe was formed, Gerald Gabrielse the study’s lead author and the director of Northwestern’s Center for Fundamental Physics said. “[Our work] has really captured a tremendous amount of scientific and public attention,” Gabrielse said.

* Daily Herald | DuPage leaders team up to address deadly cases of domestic violence: It was with that in mind that criminal justice system leaders in DuPage County, led by State’s Attorney Bob Berlin, this week announced the launch of a Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team. The team brings together prosecutors, police, advocates and representatives of the coroner’s, public defender’s and probation offices. They’ll meet at least four times a year to examine how the system addressed fatal or near-fatal incidents of domestic violence from the recent past.

* Evanston Roundtable | Two Evanston residents among group who met Pope Leo XIV this week: Members of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership (CSPL) met briefly with Pope Leo in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City at his weekly general audience, according to Evanston resident Peter Jones, who is on the CSPL board of directors and a professor at Loyola University’s Institute of Pastoral Studies. Jones spoke to the RoundTable Thursday from Rome.

*** Downstate ***

* WCBU | Peoria eyes regulations for electric bicycles, scooters: The city staff has drafted an ordinance that would update Peoria’s city code to align with updated state law that’s set to go into effect next year. “The main point of emphasis for regulation is how fast these vehicles go, particularly for the e-bikes,” city attorney Patrick Hayes said this week before the Peoria City Council voted to receive and file the proposed changes.

* WAND | Federal Railroad Administration awards nearly $50 million to 2 Illinois railroads: The Decatur and Eastern Illinois Railroad will receive nearly $42.6 million, and the V&S Railway will receive more than $7.3 million. The grants come from the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program, which finances projects aimed at improving rail safety, efficiency and reliability. The Decatur and Eastern Illinois Railroad moves grain from local farmers to Decatur for processing, and the award will fund upgrades for the railroad, including new rail and ties, upgraded switches and sidings, improved crossings and the rehabilitation of a key bridge, according to Budzinski’s office.

* WGLT | Eastland Mall likely to come down for open-air retail center: While there is no official redevelopment agreement in place, and the deal to purchase the property has not closed, Bloomington city staff are planning for the buyer to demolish most of the existing structure. After years of stagnation, the deal and development process is moving quickly. “This mall property… is probably the one we get the most interest in and the most complaints about,” Deputy City Manager Billy Tyus said at an Oct. 26 council meeting where the city approved a few measures aimed at moving the project along.

*** National ***

* Bloomberg | Rivian beats estimates as R2 SUV becomes its top-selling EV: Although Rivian did not specify how many R2s it delivered last quarter, it said the midsize SUV became its top-selling model in its first full quarter on the market. That helped revenue jump 38% to nearly $2.2 billion, more than Wall Street expected, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

* WIRED | The $6.3 Billion Binance Hack Was Pulled Off in Just 20 Minutes: Multiple crypto-tracing firms say notorious North Korean hackers TraderTraitor may be behind the largest digital heist in history—with billions of crypto likely gone for good.