* Subscribers know more. ICYMI: Pritzker puts a price tag on federal cuts looming over Illinois budget. Crain’s…

- The sobering warning issued this morning from the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget comes less than two weeks before Pritzker introduces his budget for the upcoming fiscal year in Springfield.
- Spending reductions of about 4% already in place, and unexpected increases in other revenue sources, should keep the current budget balanced.
- The revenue shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1 will be reduced by about $250 million from the current year in large part because some impacts of the federal tax cuts have been blunted.

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*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Tribune | With Super Bowl approaching, Illinois warns illegal online casinos to shut down operations: The Better Business Bureau also recently reported that more illegal gaming sites are scamming consumers out of their money and exposing their data to hackers. Gamblers lodged more than 10,000 complaints to the BBB from 2022 to mid-2025. The bureau advises gamblers to beware promises of big payouts, tempting ads with no details, sweepstakes-style games, overseas business locations and payment through cryptocurrency.

* Sun-Times | ‘No good time for you’: The recordkeeping snafu keeping some Illinoisans in prison longer than they should be: A new study examining time credit laws allowing incarcerated people to earn time off prison sentences found that Illinois isn’t alone. Outdated technology and fragmented recordkeeping systems routinely keep incarcerated people across the country locked up longer than they should be.

*** Statewide ***

* CBS Chicago | Illinois led the nation in tornadoes in 2025 as Tornado Alley shifted into Midwest: “We’ve had some of the most incredible tornado years in Illinois history happen just in the last few years,” said Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Dr. Victor Gensini, a severe storm expert with two decades of experience studying where tornadoes happen. He said, over the last 40 years, the number of tornadoes has gone down in states like Texas and Oklahoma, in what’s known as the nation’s Tornado Alley, while in areas further east, like Tennessee, Indiana, and Illinois, have seen an increase in tornadoes.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Politico | Harmon slows Pritzker’s pension push: Illinois Senate President Don Harmon tapped the brakes Thursday on Gov. JB Pritzker’s latest push to overhaul the state’s pension system, saying he supports the governor’s long-term goals but isn’t convinced the spring session is the moment to move on it. In a wide-ranging interview at The Hideout, followed by him playing guitar and singing Springsteen, Harmon said the governor’s proposal to move Illinois to a fully funded pension system by 2048 is sound policy — but potentially risky timing. With Washington looming large over state finances, Harmon suggested lawmakers may need to keep their powder dry.

* Sun-Times | What to know about state legislative races in Illinois’ March 17 primary: After two terms in the Illinois House, Hoan Huynh jumped into the race to succeed Rep. Jan Schakowsky in Congress, leaving a wide-open race in the 13th district on the North Side. Five candidates are vying to replace Huynh, including Adam Braun, Ridge Knapp, Sunjay Kumar, James O’Brien and Demi Palecek. In the 9th Senate district, Patrick Hanley and Rachel Ruttenberg are competing to succeed state Sen. Laura Fine, who also is running in a crowded field of candidates to replace Schakowsky. The district dips into the North Side but mostly represents North Shores suburbs.

* Sun-Times | Illinois endorses American Academy of Pediatrics vaccine schedule despite changes to federal guidance: The recommended vaccines mirrors what the Illinois Department of Public Health was already recommending for immunization. The state’s endorsement means that the immunizations will continue to be covered by private insurance companies, Medicaid and a program known as Vaccines for Children, a federally-funded, state-administered program that provides free vaccinations for children, according to the state agency.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Chicago Housing Authority backs off ban on contracts with commissioner’s daughter: The Chicago Housing Authority reversed course after moving to permanently block the daughter of longtime CHA Board Commissioner Debra Parker from continuing to do business with the agency, records show. Lovie Diggs faced what the CHA calls permanent debarment after she was arrested, charged and entered a guilty plea in Cook County Circuit Court, according to court records and CHA documents. But her lawyer appealed to CHA executives, and documents obtained through an open-records request show that the agency has cleared Diggs to get more public contracts from the country’s third-largest housing authority.

* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson heads to budget opponent’s ward to continue fight over 2026 package: The fiery meeting at the South Shore Cultural Center began with local Ald. Desmon Yancy, a progressive who voted with mayoral opponents, questioning why Johnson was still attacking the budget for allegedly being short $163 million. The mayor and his team then broke down their issues with the final spending package, a sign that last fall’s grueling fight shows no signs of simmering down over a month into 2026, even as both sides say the budget could still require midyear changes to make it work.

* Crain’s | City to award what it calls the biggest U.S. airport concessions deal ever: Chicago received more than 100 bids for concessions in the main domestic terminals at O’Hare International Airport, and it expects to begin awarding contracts by the end of March, Aviation Commissioner Michael McMurray said yesterday. McMurray didn’t disclose a dollar value for the program to operate food, beverage and retail concessions at 110 locations in Terminals 1 and 3. But he said the package, which has been anxiously anticipated by the industry for years, adds up to the largest domestic concession opportunity ever put out for bid by a U.S. airport.

* Crain’s | United moves to buy 2 O’Hare gates from Spirit: The move follows American Airlines’ decision in December to acquire two gates in Terminal 3 from Spirit, which is restructuring under bankruptcy protection. It’s the latest twist in an escalating battle for market share between O’Hare’s two biggest carriers, which are aggressively adding flights this year.

* ABC Chicago | Education Secretary Linda McMahon visits Chicago private school to promote US history: “Not every student felt like this was the best program to participate in, or didn’t feel as comfortable being part of it. And that’s OK. I think it’s a great learning experience for our community,” Chicago Hope Academy Principal Ike Muzikowski said. The assembly stuck to talk about history, with politics put on pause. The assembly stuck to talk about history, with politics put on pause.

* WBEZ | David Byrne took me on a mind-bending tour of his ‘immersive’ new Chicago theater show: The show, which opens March 11, will allow 16 people at a time through a series of rooms led by a tour guide named David. This David will be clad in a wardrobe consisting of a seersucker shirt, shorts and sandals with socks. The outfit is identical to one worn by a 2-year-old Byrne in a photo on the wall of the installation. When I mention to Byrne that people may expect the “Davids” to wear one of his more iconic big, square suits, he laughs and says, “I don’t know if they’ll go for this one.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | South, West Side officials back Pat Hynes for Cook County assessor over Fritz Kaegi: Among those who joined Hynes at a news conference was a major defection: former Rep. Bobby Rush, who previously endorsed Kaegi over then-Cook County Democratic Party chair and incumbent Assessor Joe Berrios. Back in 2018, Rush said the assessment process under Berrios “unfairly penalizes Black and brown communities. Some homeowners in the 1st District are losing their homes because of a system that is designed to fail them.”

* CBS Chicago | Early voting begins for some Illinois counties; DuPage County delayed to next week: DuPage County was to open up the polls at five locations beginning at 8 a.m. However, “due to unresolved candidate objections currently pending before the Appellate Court,” the start of early voting and vote by mail has been delayed for “early next week.”

* Daily Herald | Geneva Chamber president: ‘I do not intend to cancel Swedish Days’: After the big buildup that Geneva’s iconic Swedish Days festival was in jeopardy without city funding, a meeting last week resulted in not much — publicly, anyway. Chamber Treasurer Susan Huang took the city council to task at its Jan. 20 meeting, asserting that its festivals were at risk without a financial commitment from the city. The Chamber gets a portion of the city’s hotel-motel tax for promotions and advertising of its festivals.

* WGN | Evergreen Park native aiming for gold at Milan Olympics: Olympian Abbey Murphey is no stranger to the spotlight. The Evergreen Park native is already a two-time world champion gold medalist and a 2022 Olympic silver medalist, but this year, she and the rest of the ladies on the U.S. Olympic hockey team are ready to win it all. But the road to her career as an Olympian began back at Crewstwood’s Southwest Ice Arena. After mastering the rollerblades, Murphey had her heart set on playing hockey, something her mother and father had never tried themselves.

* Aurora Beacon-News | East Aurora School District changing elementary dual language program to opt-in model: Currently, all families with incoming students in the district are automatically enrolled in the dual language program, and are placed in either English-dominant or Spanish-dominant classrooms based on a series of criteria, per the district’s website, unless parents opt-out of the program. The change will make it so parents, at the time of registration, are given the choice to opt-in for their children to participate in the program, rather than be automatically enrolled. At Monday’s meeting, East Aurora School District 131 Superintendent Bob Halverson said the district is “absolutely committed” to providing students the opportunity to become bilingual in English and Spanish, but is also committed to “honoring family choice.”

*** Downstate ***

* Illinosi Times | Valente versus Cahnman: Miguel Valente, a 25-year-old budget analyst in the Illinois Governor’s Office of Management and Budget is running in the March 17 Democratic primary for the Sangamon County Board’s 18th District, pitching himself as a fiscally minded candidate focused on affordability, transparency and government efficiency. Despite Valente being on Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker’s staff, his opponent in the primary, incumbent Sam Cahnman, contends that Valente is really a Republican posing as a Democrat.

* WAND | Champaign County moves forward with moratorium on ‘big data centers’: There are already four data centers in Champaign County, including the National Petascale Computing Facility at the University of Illinois and Colocation Plus, a.k.a “The Fortress” in Rantoul. “None of them were more than 2000ft² in area. So we’re anticipating a new hyperscale data center could be easily, 50,000ft² of processing area,” said John Hall, planning and zoning director for Champaign County.

* WAND | Vermilion County moves closer to approving solar farm: The five megawatt facility will be east of Rankin and about 21 acres in size. The board said Vermilion County is expected to receive substantial tax revenue from the solar farm. “They intend to pay a very good sum of money to the landowners upon whose property these projects are built. And our benefit is that we are able to tax the solar farm operator,” said Vermilion County Board Chairman Steve Miller.

* WAND | Leland Grove police chief arrested on DUI, domestic battery charges: Leland Grove Mayor Mary Jo Bangert confirmed Chief Daniel Ryan’s arrest to WAND News. She said Ryan was immediately placed on administrative leave while the incident is investigated. Illinois State Police told WAND News that it assisted the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office during a disturbance call just after midnight Thursday along the 1000 block of Elliot in Springfield.

* WSIL | Deaconess Illinois Becomes First in State to Partner With VA on External Provider Scheduling: Deaconess Illinois and the Marion VA Medical Center have announced a groundbreaking partnership that makes Deaconess Illinois the first hospital system in the state to collaborate with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on external provider scheduling for Veterans. The new initiative modernizes how Veterans receiving care through the Veterans Health Administration’s community care network schedule appointments with non-VA providers. With support from U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the partnership is aimed at improving access to care while reducing delays and administrative burdens.

* WCIA | False armed person alert prompts EIU to take serious action: One Central Illinois university has revamped its emergency alert system. These upgrades have come after a false alarm at Eastern Illinois University in November, claiming there was an armed person on campus. University officials said that they got a lot of feedback from students that day and were quick to start making changes. “We realized things did not go exactly as we’d hoped that day, and so we immediately sprung into action to to make things better,” Vice President of Student Affairs, Anne Flaherty, said.

* WAND | Unused CWLP bridge over I-55 to be removed in February: IDOT said the CWLP bridge is over I-55 at milepost 94. The removal will start Monday, Feb. 16, and is expected to take two months. IDOT stated that during this time, there will be overnight lane closures from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday night through Friday morning. There will be complete closures from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday night to Friday morning, beginning in March.

*** National ***

* WIRED | ICE and CBP’s Face-Recognition App Can’t Actually Verify Who People Are: ICE has used Mobile Fortify to identify immigrants and citizens alike over 100,000 times, by one estimate. It wasn’t built to work like that—and only got approved after DHS abandoned its own privacy rules.

* NYT | Kennedy Makes Unfounded Claim That Keto Diet Can ‘Cure’ Schizophrenia: He went on, “There are studies right now that I saw two days ago where people lose their bipolar diagnosis by changing their diet.” Mr. Kennedy was apparently referring to Dr. Christopher Palmer, who in 2019 wrote about “two patients with longstanding schizophrenia who experienced complete remission of symptoms” with the keto diet. He said both patients “were able to stop antipsychotic medications and have remained in remission for years now.”

* AP | Meet the man behind the Super Bowl’s annual confetti blizzard: Artistry in Motion trucks 300 pounds (135 kilograms) of two-colored confetti for each of the teams to the Super Bowl. They bring confetti cannons onto the field with about 4 minutes remaining, and line them up around the stadium walls. Even if the teams stream onto the field before the clock runs out, the confetti waits until the timer shows the game is officially over. And the winners’ colors get the go-ahead.