* ICYMI: $27 million fallout? Cost of tollway bid misstep piles up. Daily Herald…

- The costs of awarding a major construction contract to the wrong company are adding up for the Illinois tollway.

- Tollway staff missed applying a 4% in-state bidder preference, which made Walsh Construction’s $327 million bid lower than Judlau’s $323.9 million offer under state law.

- The agency settled a lawsuit with Judlau Construction in 2024, paying about $10 million in damages after abruptly canceling its contract to reconfigure the southbound side of the I-88/I-290 interchange.

- Then in April, the board approved a $16.5 million change order for replacement contractor, Walsh Construction Co., to expedite the delayed project.

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Illinois business leaders overwhelmingly agree: Early childhood services are a fundamental economic priority, to be preserved and strengthened. Our FY26 state budget should reflect that, investing further in affordable, high-quality child care for working parents. We desperately need to improve early childhood teachers’ compensation and shore-up Early Intervention therapies for young children with developmental challenges, whose families face lengthy service delays. At the federal level, it’s crucial that we protect Head Start’s vital, comprehensive services for kids from birth to age 5, and for their families — an important piece of our early learning system.

In a recent poll of 400 Illinois employers and managers, two-thirds of respondents reported that child care insufficiencies have hurt their employees and business productivity. Four out of five noted their struggles to recruit skilled workers. And to tackle these challenges, 91.5% of business leaders said they support “greater public investments in high-quality child care and early childhood education” for their proven power to stabilize today’s workforce as well as help prepare a better-skilled workforce for tomorrow.

There’s a reason 93% of surveyed business leaders believe our state’s multiyear approach to improve birth-to-5 services — based on the recommendations of a bipartisan commission — will “positively impact the workforce in Illinois.” Let’s stick with that plan; it’s good for business.

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*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Crain’s | Pritzker shuts door on state funding for revised One Central megaproject: “With billions of dollars requested for the project, it’s critical that the state ensures any large-scale proposal is a good deal for Illinois’ taxpayers prior to moving forward. In this case, the independent study made clear that the risks far outweigh the benefits under the current proposal,” Pritzker spokesman Alex Gough said in a statement. “We are grateful to the many community leaders, officials, and organizations who participated in the study.”

* Crain’s | Laura Ricketts to co-chair Stratton’s finance committee: Laura Ricketts and her wife, Brooke Skinner Ricketts, are among the co-chairs of Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s finance committee in her campaign for U.S. Senate. Also co-chairing the committee are Kimi Ellen and Lee “Rosy” Rosenberg. Vice chairs include Gloria Castillo, Les Coney, Betsy Dirksen Londrigan, Tamar Newberger, Andy Schapiro, Brian Rice and Smita Shah.

* Sun-Times | Funeral services for former Gov. George Ryan to be held this week in Kankakee: Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Schreffler Funeral Home in Kankakee, according to Ryan’s obituary. A memorial will be held at Asbury United Methodist Church on Thursday at noon.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Sun-Times | Pot business owners seek relief from strict and costly regulations on legal cannabis industry: There is currently no legislation in the works to address these demands, but Ford told the Sun-Times he intends to draft a bill that includes those issues. “We are actively working to find common ground to pass legislation that supports cannabis social equity businesses, current non-social equity businesses, and conditional license holders in the cannabis industry,” Ford said.

* Capitol News Illinois | Former Gov. George Ryan dead at 91; remembered for corruption conviction, halting death penalty: In his 2020 interview with CNI, Ryan said the majority of his staff tried to dissuade him from making moves on the death penalty, which wouldn’t be officially abolished in Illinois until 2011. But Ryan said the uncertainty of decisions made under the death penalty system bothered him, especially in the wake of the exoneration of death row inmate Anthony Porter in February 1999, when Ryan was a month into his term as governor. Porter was freed after journalism students at Northwestern University uncovered evidence of his innocence.

*** Statewide ***

* Cook County Record | IL FOID gun owner licensing law constitutional, appeals court says; Dissent: Ruling ’stands 2A on its head’: Even though the state law effectively bars people from owning guns without first obtaining permission from the state to do so, a divided state appeals court has ruled Illinois’ gun owner licensing law doesn’t violate the right to keep and bear arms protected by the Second Amendment. A dissenting justice on the court, however, said the ruling essentially “stands the Second Amendment on its head,” by requiring people to first prove they are allowed to own a gun before the state allows them to exercise a supposed fundamental constitutional right. On April 29, a three-justice panel of the Illinois Fourth District Appellate Court in Springfield ruled 2-1 to reject a challenge to Illinois’ unique Firearms Owner Identification (FOID) law.

* Tribune | With the state’s grocery tax set to end, many municipalities are adopting their own, even as food prices climb: Chicago officials have yet to decide whether to impose their own tax. The state grocery tax generates an estimated $60 million to $80 million for the city, said Ald. Pat Dowell, chair of the Committee on Finance. “It’s a not insignificant amount of money,” she said. Whether the city will impose its own grocery tax will be decided in upcoming budget hearings across the city.

* Sun-Times | Here’s how Trump’s order to cut federal funding to NPR and PBS could impact Illinois: [M]any downstate outlets rely more heavily on federal money. Among them, based on her data, are WQPT TV in Moline and WEIU TV in Charleston, with federal shares of 50% or more. These stations also divvy up about $1.6 million from the state, an amount the council would like to see raised. But it’s a tough request for what analysts say is a cash-strapped budget year with other interest groups that have hands out.

* Daily Herald | 416 miles in 10 days: Wheeling man runs length of Illinois, from Cairo to Wisconsin border: Bandolik ran Illinois’ entire length from south to north — 416.44 miles from Cairo, Illinois, to Beloit, Wisconsin, over 10 days from March 29 to April 7. Why? Because Bandolik, 28, hadn’t heard of anyone else doing it. “I wanted to be the first one to claim my home state before anyone else could claim it or document it,” said Bandolik, a Mount Prospect native and former Hersey High School football star. He documented the trip on TikTok, Instagram and through his YouTube channel.

* Advantage | Ameren Illinois issues Mylar balloon warning: With graduation and birthday parties you will often see Mylar balloons. If the party is being held outside, Ameren Illinois asks you do everything you can to keep those balloons from floating away, as they can conduct electricity, resulting in surges that can cause power outages, start fires, and cause significant damage to the electric grid.

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | Casino dumpsters ditched at Bally’s Chicago site as state officials blame Bally’s for allowing them: “Unlike active casinos where gambling operations are occurring, there are no agents stationed at the construction site,” a gaming board spokeswoman said, referring to the site of the Bally’s permanent casino being built in River West where the Chicago Tribune used to have a printing plant. “It is the casino’s responsibility to ensure vendors are disclosed to and approved by the IGB,” which is part of state government answerable to Gov. JB Pritzker.

* Crain’s | As small business worries rise, Chicago offers a rare bright spot: A survey of small business owners by Chase showed optimism dropped to 65% in March from 79% in January. Chicago small business owners were more hopeful than average, with 80% reporting they were optimistic about the future of their business despite macroeconomic headwinds.

* Crain’s | Art Institute president takes leave amid in-flight misconduct probe: Unnamed sources told WBBM that passenger was Rondeau, and the incident occurred after he drank alcohol and took prescription medication. A spokesperson for the Art Institute confirmed to WBBM that Rondeau has since returned to Chicago and that the museum is investigating the incident.

* Tribune | Auburn Gresham campus that composts and creates energy aims to redefine waste management: At a once-vacant brownfield on the South Side of Chicago, a semitruck backed into an unassuming warehouse and unloaded a colorful batch of food scraps and spoiled products. The discards soon ended up in a massive tank that mimics a cow’s digestion — minus the release of gassy byproducts — where they were turned into compost and renewable energy. The anaerobic digester represents the culmination of a combined effort by the Auburn Gresham community, politicians and scientists to change Chicago’s approach to keeping food waste out of landfills, which are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the country.

* WBEZ | A young family risked it all to save iconic music venue Fitzgeralds. Can they make it work?: A traffic jam led Duncan to Fitzgeralds, but soon after the couple signed the papers on March 15, 2020, it felt more like a 10-car pileup. The two were not independently wealthy, and Duncan was giving up a fat check and profit-sharing from his employer, the hospitality group 16 on Center. King worked on a Chicago public school salary. To come up with the $1.7 million purchase price, they did a cash-out refinancing on their home, sold a Ukrainian Village two-flat, secured loans totaling about $1 million from the Small Business Administration and coaxed eight investors — friends, family and colleagues — to throw in another half-million of equity.

* Crain’s | Michael Miner, eloquent journalist and journalism critic, dies at 81: Michael Miner, a prolific and penetrating media critic for the Chicago Reader and before that, a shoe-leather reporter for the Sun-Times, died on May 1, according to a posted death notice. […] “He has the wit and skill of the fabled Mike Royko but is more cerebral,” author Steve Boriga wrote in the publication in 2011. “He does lack Royko’s switchblade: he’s willing to offend, but his hating instinct is underdeveloped.”

* Sun-Times | Lori Healey, former McPier CEO and Daley chief of staff, dies at 65: Former Mayor Richard M. Daley called Lori Healey “a brilliant leader whose tireless spirit and deep commitment to public service set her apart.” She oversaw development of Wintrust Arena, the Marriott Marquis Chicago and most recently the Obama Presidential Center.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Sun-Times | ‘Broken system’ of property tax appeals put extra $2 billion on Cook County homeowners, treasurer says: Chicago had some of the worst disparities in the county, with businesses’ tax bills dropping nearly 20% while residential bills increased by more than 16% during the 2021 to 2023 reassessment cycle.

* Sun-Times | U.S. Department of Education investigating Evanston-Skokie school district for racial discrimination: The complaint alleges the school district directs students and staff to participate in “privilege walks,” pressures educators to “acknowledge white skin privilege” and encourages students to be “activist[s] and … actively anti-racist.”

* Tribune | Arlington Park’s rebirth: Finalizing the deal with the Bears in the coming months, or years, presents a challenge he believes he’s built to handle. He has run his Arlington Heights architecture firm for 34 years, steering it through the late-2000s financial crisis that decimated his staff and shut down several projects. Then came a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2016 and the quick removal of the tumor. “It just knocks you to your knees when you hear those words,” he said. He’s a survivor. These days, business is good and Tinaglia sometimes lets loose in his band Exit 147, named in honor of the family’s cottage in Wisconsin. He plays the guitar, with one of his sons on the drums and another as the vocalist. They play a lot of ’80s and ’90s hits.

*** Downstate ***

* BND | AmeriCorps workers in metro-east told to stay home after DOGE cuts to funding: “Our AmeriCorps Program has been ordered to stop all work until further notice by the Illinois Dept of Human Services and the (Illinois Serve Commission),” the email stated. “Do not report to your school until further notice. Your principals have been notified.” The 32-year-old program apparently is the latest casualty related to cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE. Gillham, 19, of Belleville, an AmeriCorps worker since February 2024, called the news “devastating.” Beyond tutoring, she also has helped with Mount Hope Cemetery clean-ups, Art on the Square crafts for kids, Cities in Harmony and other community projects.

* WGLT | Rivian executive Julie Hoeniges named to ISU’s Board of Trustees: She leads development of trade policy, customs import compliance, export control operations, and ensures compliance with international trade regulations, according to the governor’s release. Hoeniges previously oversaw $50 billion in import and export activity at Caterpillar Inc. She is a licensed U.S. Customs Broker and longtime member of the American Association of Exporters and Importers, where she serves on the board of governors. She also served two terms on the Illinois District Export Council.

* WAND | DeShawn Williams sworn in as new Urbana mayor: DeShawn Williams was officially sworn in as the mayor of Urbana on Saturday. He is the first black mayor in the city’s history. […] Williams beat out candidate Annie Adams during the elections in February. He started his career as a bank teller, and worked up to becoming the Chief Deputy Treasurer of Champaign County.

* WGLT | Child care in McLean County can cost more than rent or mortgage payments: A look at federal and state data and an EDC survey suggested the average cost of child care in the Twin Cities is $1,600 a month. Economic Development Council President and CEO Patrick Hoban said that’s behind only suburban Chicago. Home providers charge around $800 monthly. “70% of the cost of child care is in the wages. So, you combine that with the requirements for education and licensing that they have to keep up and it has pushed the price above $2,000 a month in some instances,” said Hoban.

* WCIA | Six Illinois women honored with 2025 Order of Lincoln: Champaign-born Bonnie Blair was the first American woman to win five gold medals at the Olympic Winter Games. Her first Olympic appearance was at the 1984 Sarajevo Games. Four years later in Calgary, Blair earned her first gold medal in the 500 meter speed skating event. In the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville Blair added two more gold medals, and in 1994, Blair stood atop the podium and received another two gold medals at the Olympic Games in Lillehammer.

* PJ Star | Successes, tragedy, politics: Gary Manier reflects on 24 years as Washington mayor: Holding the record for longest-running mayor of Washington, Manier will officially retire from his role May 5, passing the torch to mayor-elect and former Ward 1 Alderperson Lilija Stevens. In more than two decades, Manier said, he missed only four meetings of the Washington City Council. When he was first elected, he traveled 100 days out of the year to do business with Caterpillar, where he worked even after becoming the city’s mayor in 2001. He retired from the manufacturing company in 2015 to focus on his mayoral duties.

* WGLT | Illinois State’s cilantro will soon be grown on campus, inside new Vertical Farm: The farm, which officially launched Thursday, will operate out of a converted shipping container outside ISU’s Office of Sustainability on School Street. The 320-square-foot unit is equipped with a hydroponic system and LED lighting to grow the equivalent of 1-2 acres of traditional field production with a fraction of the water required to cultivate up to 4,600 plants.

*** National ***

* The Atlantic | ‘The Worst Internet-Research Ethics Violation I Have Ever Seen’: [W]hen members of a popular subreddit learned that their community had been infiltrated by undercover researchers posting AI-written comments and passing them off as human thoughts, the Redditors were predictably incensed. They called the experiment “violating,” “shameful,” “infuriating,” and “very disturbing.” As the backlash intensified, the researchers went silent, refusing to reveal their identity or answer questions about their methodology. The university that employs them has announced that it’s investigating. Meanwhile, Reddit’s chief legal officer, Ben Lee, wrote that the company intends to “ensure that the researchers are held accountable for their misdeeds.”

* The Guardian | World may be ‘post-herd immunity’ to measles, top US scientist says: The US is enduring the largest measles outbreak in a quarter-century. Centered in west Texas, the measles outbreak has killed two unvaccinated children and one adult and spread to neighboring states including New Mexico and Oklahoma. “We’re living in a post-herd-immunity world. I think the measles outbreak proves that,” said Dr Paul Offit, an expert on infectious disease and immunology and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

* WaPo | Justice Department lawyers face skeptical judges upset by ‘shoddy work’: In recent hearings and rulings, judges appointed by presidents of both parties have criticized the statements and behavior of administration officials, accusing them of defying court orders, submitting flimsy evidence, providing inadequate answers to questions and even acting like toddlers. The cases involve lawsuits challenging everything from President Donald Trump’s push to increase deportations to his efforts to punish law firms. Most are in the early stages of litigation. But the judicial pushback suggests a break from the goodwill courts have traditionally shown toward assertions by government lawyers.

* WIRED | DOGE Put a College Student in Charge of Using AI to Rewrite Regulations: Sweet—who two sources have been told is the lead on the AI deregulation project for the entire administration—has produced an Excel spreadsheet with around a thousand rows containing areas of policy where the AI tool has flagged that HUD may have “overreached” and suggesting replacement language. Staffers from PIH are, specifically, asked to review the AI’s recommendations and justify their objections to those they don’t agree with. “It all sounds crazy—having AI recommend revisions to regulations,” one HUD source says. “But I appreciated how much they’re using real people to confirm and make changes.”