* Sun-Times federal courts reporter Jon Seidel…

* Wyndham update: These signs have been put on the hotel’s doors. Credit to WCIA…

* WCIA…

The 30-story hotel in downtown Springfield is closed after police say someone damaged the property. […]

Police said they have collected and processed evidence and are investigating. […]

Springfield Fire Chief Ed Canny told WCIA Friday the hotel does not have functioning sprinklers, fire alarms or elevators. While employees are allowed to work inside, no guests are currently allowed to stay overnight.

City officials are working with the Springfield Hotel & Lodging Association and other tourism partners to make contingency plans for affected conventions, meetings, and events in the future.

* Tribune…

Weeks after tapping a former Chicago alderman to help lobby for the city in the state capitol, Mayor Brandon Johnson is adding a Springfield alderwoman to his once-skeletal state team.

Johnson’s office confirmed Thursday it intends to hire Lakeisha Purchase, a current Springfield alderwoman and registered state lobbyist, on a contract basis, saying she came “highly recommended from lawmakers in Springfield.”

Before she became a lobbyist, Purchase was employed as a support services specialist for the Illinois Department of Transportation, where she was once faulted for “abusing” government time. She left the IDOT job in 2023.

Purchase’s hiring is part of a broader shift in Johnson’s intergovernmental affairs efforts in Springfield, where since taking office nearly two years ago he’s had minimal success working with Gov. JB Pritzker and some lawmakers. Johnson this month hired former Ald. John Arena, 45th, full time as one of his intergovernmental affairs deputies over the objections of some of Arena’s former colleagues who clashed with Arena on the City Council.

*** Statewide ***

* Capitol City Now | Survey says: Public education has much support in state: Against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, the state’s largest teachers’ union says Illinois families back what is going on in the classroom. A survey indicates 71 percent of respondents believe public education needs more money, 78 percent say they are concerned about the teacher shortage, and 81 percent says the curriculum should include slavery.

* WBEZ | We asked hundreds of people in Illinois prisons how they define ‘rehabilitation’: But when we asked hundreds of people in Illinois prisons and jails how they define “rehabilitation” – which is supposed to be a core tenet of Illinois’ criminal justice system – many more responded like Stacy Erica, inside Illinois River Correctional Center. “I do not believe it exists in [the Illinois Department of Corrections],” she wrote. “I see guys come in, go out, and come back repeatedly. … A few may get rehabilitation, thousands do not.”

* Press Release | Rare Gold Coins, Piece of Joe DiMaggio’s Bat Part of Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs I-CASH Auction: An 1881 U.S. $10 gold coin, an 18-karat yellow gold chain link bracelet, and a baseball card with a piece of Joe DiMaggio’s bat are among the unclaimed property items being auctioned online from March 28 through April 6. The spring online auction also includes vintage pocket watches, currency notes from various countries, and 25 1 oz. 999 fine silver rounds.

*** Chicago ***

* WBEZ | Power struggle delays hiring of the city’s top tourism official, one of Chicago’s highest-paid jobs: Several sources familiar with the marathon search said there’s more to it than that. They asserted that Johnson allies spent months lobbying behind the scenes for Merritt, deputy mayor for economic and community development. The search process dragged on because there was heavy resistance to Merritt on the smaller search committee and on the full, 34-member Choose Chicago board that includes heavyweights from business, labor and government, and appointees of both the mayor and Gov. JB Pritzker.

* Sun-Times | Feud between CTU, SEIU threatens Mayor Johnson’s political future: The host committee for an upcoming fundraiser for Brandon Johnson doesn’t include the Service Employees International Union or any of its affiliated unions. That’s a potent signal that the union helping to bankroll and staff Johnson’s 2023 campaign is disenchanted with Johnson, and may not support him for a second term.

* Crain’s | Johnson officials blast CPS chief Martinez in letter on pension stalemate: The letter, written by Budget Director Annette Guzman and CFO Jill Jaworski, was a response to demands from some on the City Council for more transparency, and potentially more authority, over how the city would cover the shortfall in the city’s 2024 budget caused by the school district not making the payment by March 30. Guzman and Jaworski reassure the City Council the city’s “strong liquidity” will allow the city to “manage this issue in the short-term and will continue to work with the Board of Education, City Council, and the State on solutions to both responsibly disentangle our finances and bolster the School District’s finances.”

* WTTW | Chicago Teachers Union Bargaining Team Meeting Monday to Weigh Possible Contract Agreement: In a social media post on Friday afternoon, CTU confirmed the union’s big bargaining team — comprised of rank-and-file members — will meet Monday afternoon to weigh the potential deal. If that body approves, the proposal would then be sent to the union’s House of Delegates for a vote. The deal, however, would still not be finalized, and won’t be until the CTU’s 30,000 rank-and-file members vote to approve the contract.

* More federal funds rescinded…

* WTTW | While Some Southwest Siders Want Protected Bike Lanes, Others Have Gentrification Concerns: Residents of the 25th Ward, which includes Little Village and Pilsen, are being asked to participate in a survey to rank their main infrastructure priorities. The survey allows neighbors to influence how the ward’s annual $1.5 million in discretionary funding, known as “menu money,” is allocated. Options include improvements to alleys, sidewalks, lighting, street resurfacing and protected bike lanes. Among these, bike infrastructure is one of the most contentious topics. While some see bike infrastructure as necessary for public safety and mobility, others worry the introduction could accelerate displacement in the predominantly Latino communities.

* Sun-Times | As Trump wages war on Tren de Aragua, little evidence links Venezuelan gang to violence in Chicago: But the three dozen-plus men flagged by the Chicago Police Department as possible Tren de Aragua members have mostly faced only drug and traffic cases, the Chicago Sun-Times found, based on arrest records and other data. The Sun-Times also reviewed dozens of other arrest reports for Venezuelan nationals charged with violent crimes in Chicago in recent years. Those separate reports show only one man whose tattoo is considered a symbol of the gang.

* Sun-Times | Over 150 flights delayed at O’Hare and Midway as storms persist and temperatures rise to low 70s: Over 150 flights have been delayed at O’Hare and Midway airports as showers and thunderstorms were expected to persist and affect the Friday morning commute. Ground stops at both airports expired about 8 a.m. after being ordered around 5 a.m. Friday, impacting departures to both airports, according to the FAA. As of 8:05 a.m., over 130 flights at O’Hare have been delayed, according to FlightAware. Over 30 delays were reported at Midway.

* Tribune | National Association of Realtors cutting nearly 12% of staff as a part of a ‘strategy to reduce costs, streamline operations’: The Chicago-based National Association of Realtors is laying off nearly 12% of its staff and eliminating 20 open positions, according to a news release posted on the organization’s website Friday. The cuts affect 41 of NAR’s 344 employees and, with the elimination of open roles, hit various departments including public relations and communications, creative and content strategy, digital strategy, meetings and events, member development, human resources, member engagement, member experience, research, finance and IT.

* WBEZ | ‘Everyone deserves clean air,’ says a Chicago EPA worker who fears her job will end: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employees gathered in downtown Chicago this week to protest plans to cut its staff and budget as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal government. Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, has said he wants to cut the agency’s budget by 65%. “We don’t need the money,” he said in an interview with Fox News.

* Tribune | DePaul to begin national search for next women’s basketball coach after Doug Bruno steps down: Bruno missed the 2024-25 season while on a medical leave. The team announced prior to the season that he was dealing with a “medical complication,” and Jill M. Pizzotti served as interim coach in his absence. Pizzotti has been with the Blue Demons for 14 seasons and finished her 11th year as associate head coach. DePaul was 13-19 this season, including 8-10 in the Big East.

* Daily Herald | ‘Second holiest day’: Sox fans back for home opener: “Wreck-It” Ryan McCann of Geneva and his tailgating friends found it in a parking lot across the street from what is now Rate Field two hours before game time. McCann was among the tens of thousands at Thursday’s opener hoping for better times. He attended four home games last year; the Sox lost all of them.

* Tribune | 100 concerts for Chicago summer 2025 — starting with music this weekend: This summer may not have the biggest of the big blockbuster concerts compared to last summer — farewell, Eras Tour — but that still leaves Beyoncé, AC/DC, The Weeknd, the recently announced Lady Gaga and lots more. It begins with the most concert-packed May in memory: Along with the first three of the aforementioned, Paul Simon is playing what’s likely his farewell Chicago show at Symphony Center, Post Malone is at Wrigley and Sueños returns to Grant Park.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Slate that opposed COVID rules took over Huntley 158 school board in 2023. New group aims for new direction: Despite the election formally being nonpartisan, political parties have been wading into local elections. In the school board race, Burns, Martin and Wiley have the support of the Grafton Township GOP. […] That slate had campaigned on a platform including lowering taxes, emphasizing test scores and removing what they felt were political agendas from the classroom. Some candidates elected two years ago had been critical of COVID-19 school closures and mask mandates, and Murray was among two parents who sued Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker over mask requirements.

* Daily Herald | Longtime Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld faces challenge from Brady Chalmers: Parking in Homewood’s downtown, or the apparent lack of it, is a concern of candidates running for mayor and trustee in the village leading up to Tuesday’s election. Rich Hofeld, first elected mayor in 1997, faces a challenge from Brady Chalmers. Hofeld said to help address the parking issue, the village is working on a jurisdictional transfer with the Illinois Department of Transportation for a section of Harwood Avenue, between Ridge Road and the railroad viaduct at Dixie Highway, just west of the downtown business district.

* Daily Herald | Copycat crackdown? Hemp-based THC getting scrutiny from suburban communities: A loophole in regulations that legalized hemp production in 2018 has opened a path for gas stations and smoke shops to sell an unregulated hemp-derived intoxicant, Delta-8 THC, packaged to look like popular snack foods. The fallout has left some communities scrambling to craft regulations without waiting for the state to act. The growing list of communities passing their own regulations includes Rolling Meadows, Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Wheeling, Des Plaines, Lake Zurich, Elgin and Antioch.

* Forest Park Review | Key Roosevelt Road site likely to remain military reserve facility: The Armed Forces Reserve Center building on Roosevelt Road will likely see a new military tenant this year in the Illinois National Guard. The Illinois National Guard is confident that the Army Corp of Engineers, which owns the property at 7402 Roosevelt Road, will process its request and license the land to the Illinois National Guard indefinitely. “We don’t anticipate any problems,” Rich Munyer, director of the construction and facility management office for the Illinois Army National Guard, told the Review.

* Crain’s | GOP leaders target Northwestern law school in growing antisemitism probe: In a letter sent to the school, congressional leaders highlight a Northwestern Pritzker School of Law legal clinic they say is supporting “illegal, antisemitic conduct” by providing free legal representation for organizers of an “anti-Israel blockade” of highway traffic to O’Hare International Airport.

* Daily Herald | Arlington Heights Starbucks becomes 12th to unionize in the suburbs: Employees at the 115 W. Rand Road location voted 11-3 to join Starbucks Workers United in an election held in the café Tuesday, according to the union and National Labor Relations Board. All 20 full-time and regular part-time baristas and shift supervisors are set to become part of the bargaining unit, pending certification. Store managers and clerical employees are not included.

*** Downstate ***

* Rockford Register Star | New medical supply company picks Pekin for first U.S. production facility: The Singapore-based medical supply manufacturer Epic Medical chose Pekin as the site for its first production facility in the United States. The Pekin City Council on Monday unanimously approved an agreement authorizing the $500,000 sale of 66.5 acres of land in the city’s Riverway Business Park to Epic.

* BND | Somebody turned to ‘dirty tactics’ in Shiloh mayoral race, but nobody is saying who: Shiloh Mayor Robert Weilmuenster, his supporters, and a prominent businessman are calling out whoever has resorted to “dirty tactics” against his reelection campaign against two-term village trustee Julia Warchol-Black. Specifically, they want to know who sent inflammatory campaign flyers through the mail and passed out decks of cards at a local restaurant containing derogatory and misleading statements.

* Daily Egyptian | International SIU student has visa revoked, confirms university admin: Southern Illinois University administration confirmed on Friday, March 28 that an international SIU student has been notified that their student visa has been revoked. It is unclear why the revocation is taking place, and there are no further details about the student nor their status at this time. If a visa is revoked, it becomes invalid, meaning that it cannot be used to enter or re-enter the United States. A visa revocation can lead to severe consequences, including potential deportation or restrictions on future visa applications.

* 25News Now | Environmental group working to make Bloomington-Normal a greener place: The Ecology Action Center in Normal is expanding its efforts to go green in the Twin Cities, with plans to plant 10,000 more trees across McLean County in 2025. Over the past three years, the EAC’s Tree Corps initiative has already planted more than 30,000 trees, benefiting both the environment and local communities.

* WCIA | U of I researcher developing 3D printed materials to heal bones faster: U of I researchers are changing the way broken bones heal by 3D printing materials to make the recovery process faster. Shelly Zhang, an assistant civil and environmental engineering professor, leads the project with a team of engineers. “Our goal of this research is to realize the programmable materials that can be smart and intelligent can respond to various different types of external environments,” she said.

*** National ***

* WIRED | DOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Codebase in Months, Risking Benefits and System Collapse: Social Security systems contain tens of millions of lines of code written in COBOL, an archaic programming language. Safely rewriting that code would take years—DOGE wants it done in months.

* NYT | Remedy Supported by Kennedy Leaves Some Measles Patients More Ill: Parents in Gaines County, Texas, the center of a raging measles outbreak, have increasingly turned to supplements and unproven treatments to protect their children, many of whom are unvaccinated, against the virus. One of those supplements is cod liver oil containing vitamin A, which Mr. Kennedy has promoted as a near miraculous cure for measles. Physicians at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, say they’ve now treated a handful of unvaccinated children who were given so much vitamin A that they had signs of liver damage.

* AP | Musk changes reason for visiting Wisconsin to hand out $2 million ahead of Supreme Court election: Billionaire Elon Musk on Friday clarified his reasons for visiting Wisconsin two days ahead of its hotly contested Supreme Court election after deleting a social media post saying he planned to “personally hand over” $2 million to a pair of voters who have already cast their ballots in the race. Musk later posted a clarification, saying the money will go to people who will be “spokesmen” for an online petition against “activist” judges. After first saying the event would only be open to people who had voted in the Supreme Court race, he said attendance would be limited to those who have signed the petition.