* ICYMI: Trump funding cuts and threats to Illinois reach $61.5B and counting. Crain’s…

- To illustrate the raw amount of political drama: Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has filed or joined approximately one lawsuit per week against the White House over the course of 2025.
- The strong-arm approach by Trump has meant regular threats to a range of federal funding streams, which add up to a minimum of $61.5 billion over the coming decade, according to a review by Crain’s.
- While much of that funding has already either been restored or kept in place by lawsuits, economic and political experts called the presidential animosity of the past 13 months “unprecedented,” and warned that Illinois residents will be hit hard in the pocketbook for years to come.

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* At 10 am, Gov. Pritzker will announce that DMG MORI Federal Services, Inc. is expanding in Illinois with a new R&D facility and a workforce development program. Then at 1 pm, he’ll head to Pullman Park to announce plans to revitalize the Hotel Florence at the Pullman National Monument and State Historic Site. Click here to watch.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* WTTW | Illinois Residents Oppose ICE Activity at Schools, Support Pay Raises for Educators: New Teachers Union Study Finds: IEA President Karl Goeke said this year’s report found three main themes — respondents see education as a top priority, reject the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations near schools and believe all students have a right to a public education. […] According to the report, 57% of respondents said they were worried about ICE detaining themselves, a child or school employees at their school in their local community, compared to 38% of respondents who said they were not worried.

* IPM Newsroom | Illinois schools counted on federal grants to ease a shortage of school psychologists. After cancelation and a year of court battles, the future’s uncertain.: Last year, the Trump administration canceled the grant. Illinois and other states have filed a federal lawsuit to retain more than $2 million in funding. “The most recent information I heard was that the federal judge had said that the Department of Education had improperly stopped those funds,” said Lisa Becker. She’s a former school psychologist and now works as an administrator in the DeKalb School District, which is also part of the NIU grant.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Tribune | Gov. JB Pritzker renews call to ban cellphones in schools across Illinois after effort fell short last year: “There’s real harm being done and it’s interfering with our ability to give children the most productive educational environment possible. It’s time to get the cellphones out of the classroom,” Pritzker said in his State of the State address to bipartisan applause. The tweaked version of the bill would require every Illinois public school district and charter school to adopt a “bell-to-bell” policy prohibiting K-12 students from using cellphones from the start of the school day until the final bell. The measure marks a shift from last year’s proposal, which only focused on banning phones during instructional time. Private schools would not be required to implement a phone ban under the bill.

* Sun-Times | Former state representative recounts harrowing moments at gunpoint with Mexican cartel in Puerto Vallarta: Jonathan “Yoni” Pizer was on his way to a whale-watching trip when he was forced out of his car at gunpoint, he told the Chicago Sun-Times. His rental car was set ablaze and his party fled to safety as government forces killed a Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader nearby.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | $1,600 in fines for 4 city sticker violations? City must refund millions for ticket overcharges: Thousands of Chicago motorists ticketed and overcharged for more than a decade for parking, city sticker and other compliance violations could be in line for nearly $104 million in refunds at City Hall’s expense. Circuit Judge William Sullivan put cash-strapped Chicago firmly on the hook for $69.6 million in overcharges and $34 million in interest on more than a million tickets issued by the city between 2012 and 2022, after determining that the city violated state law by applying penalties that exceed a $250 cap on such fines.

* ABC Chicago | How CTA, CPD working together to improve safety after feds threatened funding: According to CPD crime numbers reviewed by the ABC7 Chicago Data Team, violent crime on the CTA is up 4.3 percent in the last 12 months over the yearly average of the past three years, as overall crime citywide has fallen. […] “We do have officers riding trains. We have officers on buses. We’ve also increased our canine patrols, our threat and security patrols,” CTA Vice President of Security Kevin Ryan said. The I-Team obtained a copy of the CTA security enhancement plan sent to the FTA. It said the CTA would surge staffing of CPD across its system by 67 percent.

* Nadig Newspapers | First challenger to Ald. Gardiner in 2027 race announces candidacy: A challenger to incumbent 45th Ward Alderman James Gardiner has announced their candidacy. S Gronkiewicz-Doran said that an alderperson’s top responsibility is handling service requests and making sure city services are delivered to residents. “You are the people’s first line of contact with city services and that’s a serious responsibility.”

* WTTW | Heartland to Close Three Chicago Shelters for Unaccompanied Children, Lay Off About 145 Employees: Due to federal funding cuts, the nonprofit Heartland Human Care Services is closing three Chicago shelters that have been used to house unaccompanied minors coming to the U.S. Those cuts come from the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), which contracts with Heartland for their “unaccompanied alien children” program. At Heartland, immigrant children who have crossed the U.S. border receive residential and medical care, education and legal services before being connected with permanent homes.

* WGN | WGN-TV lays off eight on-air reporters and anchors Monday in massive downsizing: Sean Lewis, a nearly two-decade veteran at WGN-TV who has anchored the weekend morning broadcast since 2010, got the bad news Monday afternoon. “This afternoon, I filed my last report for WGN on the noon show,” said Lewis, 50. “ A lot of really good people lost their jobs today, and it’s a shame.” A union steward at WGN, Lewis was sitting in on a meeting in that role where a colleague was being laid off. When that meeting was over, his bosses asked him to stay, adding his name to the list. By Monday evening, the final tally of layoffs reached eight.

* WTTW | Community Violence Intervention Investments Have Helped Reverse Chicago’s Shooting, Homicide Trends: Report: GASC agencies — which include Chicago, Cook County and the state of Illinois — have collectively awarded $248 million in CVI funding since 2022, according to the city, serving more than 27,000 people over that time, a majority of whom are young Black men who live in communities with the highest levels of gun violence. The largest amounts of funding, which helps provide employment and mental health supports, went to priority areas with the highest need.

* Crain’s | Uber is acquiring parking app SpotHero: Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but SpotHero will remain based in Chicago and operate as a standalone unit within Uber. It’s the latest twist in a 15-year journey for the parking app company that became one of the best-known Chicago startups. “There’s no better place for SpotHero than Uber,” said co-founder Mark Lawrence, who will continue to run the company.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Preckwinkle, Reilly tussle over IT upgrade that delayed Cook County tax bills: Fallout over the county’s contract with Tyler Technologies was front and center during an exchange between the four-term county board president and 19-year Chicago alderman that took place before the Daily Herald Editorial Board. Reilly, who met recently with suburban school district superintendents and librarians, said implementation of the new property tax billing system has “wreaked havoc” on local taxing bodies. They have had to take out loans with interest while waiting to receive their share of property taxes from the county, he said.

* Daily Southtown | Harvey City Council elects Ald. Shirley Drewenski as acting mayor: “Chris Clark was a very dear friend of mine,” Drewenski said. “It’s very difficult to accept this role because we were so close, and he should be standing here.” Drewenski will serve out the remainder of Clark’s term, which will end in spring 2027. She said she had not yet given thought to the question of appointing someone to fill her 1st Ward seat.

* Daily Herald | Kane clerk candidates discuss election security: “We have plenty of security measures (for voting),” Pollock said. He says that with vote-by-mail, there is always at least one Republican and one Democratic election judge present when the ballots are received and processed, that there are security cameras, and oftentimes poll watchers are present. Rodgers said, in a candidate questionnaire, she was “secure” in her knowledge that elections are secure.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Amy Johnson, Salvador Rodriguez vie for Democratic nomination for Kane County sheriff:
The seat is open in the 2026 election, as current Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain said last spring that he would not be running for a third term. Hain, a Democrat, was first elected in 2018. Whoever wins the nomination in the March primary will go up against either current Elburn Village Trustee Luis Santoyo or former Kane County Coroner Rob Russell, who are in the running for the Republican nomination for sheriff.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Sangamon County will not adopt 6-month moratorium on data centers: Sangamon County Board member Dave Mendenhall said his concerns are focused on what the data center could mean for local agriculture. “What I do oppose is taking prime agricultural land out of production. And there are many, many other places that they could build the data centers,” Mendenhall said. Now, there is only one hurdle left for the project to clear: a final vote during the March 23 county board meeting. Mendenhall expects that vote will pass and the project will begin soon after.

* 25News Now | Peoria Housing Authority CFO fired, CEO resigns following alleged ‘financial irregularities’: Although details about the alleged financial irregularities are sparse, board members said the severity of the matter required, “immediate termination” of the CFO. Due to the case being an active investigation, the PHA cannot provide any more information, including how long the alleged financial discrepancies have been happening, nor how many members of the nonprofit were implicated. Additionally, in what the board called an unrelated matter, Armeca Crawford, the PHA’s chief executive officer, resigned from her position. In her place, the board appointed Damon Duncan to take over as interim CEO.

* WMBD | Doctors say multiple respiratory viruses circulating across Central Illinois: Physicians at Carle Health Methodist said they are seeing a steady stream of respiratory illnesses in Central Illinois, with several different viruses circulating at once. Dr. Ravi Kashyap, a physician at Carle Methodist, said influenza A and influenza B are among the most common viruses right now. Doctors are also seeing seasonal coronavirus strains, rhinovirus, enterovirus and RSV.

* WGLT | ISU president recaps university response to first year of Trump’s 2nd term and ongoing new budgeting model: He said backing off on DEI rhetoric does not send a message that ISU does not value those principles. Based on what has happened at institutions that have incurred the “ire” of the administration, Tarhule said it’s important to consider the impact on students who benefit from Pell Grants and other federal support that could be cut if ISU spoke out too loudly. “You don’t want to be sticking to rhetoric that you know will put your students in jeopardy. There are many ways of maintaining your values without taking a bull by the horns and screaming about what it is you’re doing. Our first and most important responsibility is to our students,” said Tarhule.

* WCIA | Springfield Housing Authority employees hold picket over contract dispute: The previous union contract with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3982 officially expired last month. Workers said they have met with SHA leadership five times since December, and have made little progress in reaching an agreement. Besides wages, the group also brought up 13 proposals on non-economic issues. AFSCME said SHA leadership has also refused to bargain with them on these concerns beyond saying “no.”

* WCIA | Macon County calling for more Republican election judges ahead of March primary: Macon County Clerk Josh Tanner said that not enough people are signing up. He also said he has seen a decline in those registering for the last few years. Ahead of March 17, his goal is to have enough judges to have an even mix of each party. “So, there are always a lot of turnovers with election judges; some of them retire and decide they are not wanting to do it. Or, they move out of town or to a different location. So there is always a turnover, and we’re always recruiting new election judges,” Tanner said.

*** National ***

* WaPo | Former ICE instructor says agency slashed training for new officers: Ryan Schwank, who resigned from his job at an ICE academy in Georgia last week, told congressional Democrats at a hearing that the agency eliminated 240 hours of “vital classes” from a mandatory 580-hour training program, including instruction about the legal boundaries for the use of force, how to safely handle firearms, and the proper way to detain and arrest immigrants.

* AP | Tariffs paid by midsize US companies tripled last year, a JPMorganChase Institute study shows: The additional taxes have meant that companies that employ a combined 48 million people in the U.S. — the kinds of businesses that Trump had promised to revive — have had to find ways to absorb the new expense, by passing it along to customers in the form of higher prices, employing fewer workers or accepting lower profits. “That’s a big change in their cost of doing business,” said Chi Mac, business research director of the JPMorganChase Institute, which published the analysis Thursday. “We also see some indications that they may be shifting away from transacting with China and maybe toward some other regions in Asia.”

* Gizmodo | AI Added ‘Basically Zero’ to US Economic Growth Last Year, Goldman Sachs Says: Briggs’ colleague, Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius, said in an interview with the Atlantic Council that AI investment spending has had “basically zero” contribution to the U.S. GDP growth in 2025. “We don’t actually view AI investment as strongly growth positive,” said Hatzius. “I think there’s a lot of misreporting, actually, of the impact AI investment had on U.S. GDP growth in 2025, and it’s much smaller than is often perceived.” Hatzius said one major reason is that much of the equipment powering AI is imported. While U.S. companies are spending billions, importing chips and hardware offsets those investments in GDP calculations.

* NYT | The Looming Taiwan Chip Disaster That Silicon Valley Has Long Ignored: A confidential report commissioned in 2022 by the Semiconductor Industry Association for its members, which include the largest U.S. chip companies, said cutting the supply of chips from Taiwan would lead to the largest economic crisis since the Great Depression. U.S. economic output would plunge 11 percent, twice as much as the 2008 recession. The collapse would be even more severe for China, which would experience a 16 percent decline.