* ICYMI: Illinois cannabis sales hit record high 4th year in a row. WAND…

- Illinois dispensaries reported that more than $2 billion of cannabis product was sold in 2024, a 2.5% increase from last year.
- ales taxes collected at Illinois cannabis dispensaries totaled more than $490 million in 2024.
- In total, a record-setting 56,318,082 cannabis items were sold to customers in 2024, which shattered the previous record set in 2023 by more than 13%.

* Tribune | Illinois Gaming Board cements ban on certain NFL wagers: Licensed sports wagering operators will now continue to be prohibited from offering bets relating to player injuries, fan safety, player misconduct, penalties, replay results, officiating assignments, the first play of the game, a player missing a field goal or an extra point, the quarterback’s first pass to be incomplete and any other wagers that can hurt consumers, players and game integrity.

* Capitol News Illinois | Judge declines to extend ‘swipe fee’ injunction to credit card companies: Leaders of banking organizations said Thursday they will continue to fight the law. “Today’s ruling illustrates the fundamental flaws of this misguided state law that will inflict chaos on all participants in the Illinois payments system and the customers they serve,” Ben Jackson from the Illinois Bankers Association and Ashley Sharp from the Illinois Credit Union League said in a joint statement. “We will continue our efforts to ensure that all consumers, businesses and financial institutions are spared the mayhem IFPA will trigger.”

* Tribune | No tea leaves from silent Madigan jury as deliberations head into 8th day: The jury’s deliberations kicked off the final phase of a landmark four-month trial. Its discussions have lasted longer than those in two other recent high-profile corruption cases: The jury in the “ComEd Four” bribery case, which featured evidence that overlapped significantly with some of the evidence in the Madigan trial, reached a verdict after about 27 hours. And jurors in the racketeering trial of former Ald. Ed Burke found him guilty in about 23 hours.

* Crain’s | Proposal aims to tie public funding for new Chicago stadiums to team success: “Our primary goal with this bill is not to punish teams, but to ensure that Illinois taxpayers’ dollars are spent responsibly,” Morgan said in a statement today announcing the proposal. “No one wants to see taxpayer dollars wasted by billionaire team owners that are not investing in their teams’ competitiveness.” The Chicago Bears, White Sox and Stars, all of whom had losing records in their last respective seasons, are among the teams looking for public funding for a new stadium. The White Sox had a particularly tough season, setting a single-season record for modern baseball with 121 losses. Despite this, the team is proposing a new ballpark as part of The 78 project in Chicago’s South Loop.

* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois locked in legal battles with Trump administration over immigration policy: “What’s coming out of Washington, D.C. can be summed up in one word: fascism,” House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, said during a speech on the House floor as he chastised Republicans for walking out. “They should be here to speak out against fascism. We cannot be silent.” Speaking at their own impromptu news conference outside the House chamber, however, Republicans accused Democrats of ignoring more urgent issues facing the people of Illinois.

* WIFR | ‘Absolutely, positively stupid’: Stateline lawmaker shares reasons behind Republican walkout during legislative session: “What they did was absolutely, positively stupid,” Cabello said. “Those resolutions were nothing but bashing the President of the United States, Donald Trump,” […] State Representative Dave Vella, D-68th District, however, explains Democratic lawmakers were acting as the voice of concerned constituents. He says Democrats believe the president is making decisions that are not in the best interests of the American people.

* WAND | IL House Dems approve resolution condemning Trump for Jan. 6 pardons, GOP walk out: “There’s no good reason to pardon somebody who’s going to take a shield and try to cut some law enforcement officer’s head off,” said Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Highland Park). “There is no reason. There is no reason. There is no reason to ever pardon someone who is going to attack a police officer.”

* Tribune | Illinois braces for impact of new and potential tariffs: ‘Who will feel the consequences? Everyday Americans.’:
Trump on Monday put off imposing 25% tariffs on all Mexican and Canadian goods for 30 days to allow more negotiations after the countries agreed to do more to halt the flow of illegal drugs and people entering the United States without legal permission. But Tuesday, Trump went ahead with a 10% tariff on all Chinese products. The new tariff on China will take a toll on trade between Illinois and China. It could really complicate matters for farmers in the state, who worry more retaliatory tariffs could be placed on the agricultural products they export if the nations’ trade war escalates. The new and proposed tariffs could also increase the cost of appliances as well as building supplies, inflating the price of everyday home repairs as well as large building projects such as the one at O’Hare International Airport.

* Illinois Answers | The Promises and Pitfalls of Quantum Computing in Chicago: Developers promise a quantum hub will bring good paying jobs to South Chicago and revitalize the community. The state is investing hundreds of millions. But some wonder if a commercial quantum computer can even be built and if the jobs will really be for South Siders.

* Tribune | Illinois SEIU passes resolution declaring itself ‘under attack’ by CTU: The teachers union has been negotiating its contract with Chicago Public Schools since April, and as part of its proposals has pitched language that SEIU 73 said would allow certain classroom assistants who are CTU members to do work that is currently done by special education classroom assistants. Special education classroom assistants are represented by SEIU 73, not CTU.

* WBEZ | CPS needs an educator as its leader, says School Board member Che ‘Rhymefest’ Smith: “It’s time for us to have leadership that is education-focused, not business-focused, looking at schools as business or children as commodities,” Smith said. He expects the board to consider a resolution at the next school board meeting on Feb. 27. If it is supported by the majority of the board, Smith says he believes state lawmakers will be open to making the change. State Sen. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago) says he’s open to exploring the idea. “The advantage of a superintendent is that they ask, ‘What do we need to do to educate our children and what resources do we need?’ “ he said. “While a CEO might say, ‘What resources do we have and how can we use them to educate children?’ It is somewhat of a different focus.”

* Sun-Times | Save A Lot grocery stores’ struggles threaten hopes for Chicago food deserts: Since its highly anticipated reopening in September, the renovated Save A Lot grocery store in West Garfield Park has angered neighbors because of its overflowing dumpsters and insufficient rodent prevention measures — problems that have resulted in new city citations and fines. Meanwhile, expired produce and jugs of milk a week past their sell-by date sit on the shelves. The Save A Lot, at 420 S. Pulaski Road, is the first of six city-funded stores that promised to offer quality groceries in neighborhoods historically lacking fresh food options.

* Tribune | Trump, Musk move to oust EPA staff in the Great Lakes region, including dozens responsible for protecting drinking water for 30 million in U.S. and Canada: The EPA’s Midwest office traditionally has been one of the agency’s biggest and busiest, prosecuting companies that pollute the air, water and land in Illinois, Ohio and four other states around the Great Lakes. Trump purged dozens of career officials in the Chicago office during his first term. His latest attempt to cull the workforce is led by billionaire Elon Musk, whose companies Tesla and SpaceX have been fined by the EPA for multiple violations of environmental laws.

* Crain’s | Bears succession plan beckons as new ownership era begins: The death of longtime team owner Virginia McCaskey this week at age 102 brings to the forefront questions that have hovered over the franchise for years as National Football League team valuations have soared by the billions: How will ownership stakes change among her several generations of living progeny? What will that mean for the family’s control of the team? And how might it impact the Bears’ pursuit of a new stadium?

* Block Club | 26 Ways To Celebrate Black History Month In Chicago: From groundbreaking museum exhibitions and neighborhood tours to family craft sessions and scholarly lectures, these events honor African American heritage while fostering dialogue about identity, resilience and progress through February and beyond.

* Evanston Now | Chow calls for lobbying ban in jab at Suffredin: Ald. Tom Suffredin (6th), of being a “walking conflict of interest.” Chow accused Suffredin Thursday of “cutting Springfield backroom deals” that benefit private corporations and other organizations over the City of Evanston while in office. But her proposed solution — a city ordinance to ban lobbying by elected officials — would apparently be illegal under state law — which bars any municipality other than Chicago from adopting its own lobbying regulations.

* Daily Herald | Police are using AI to write reports. Is it a high-tech time-saver or cause for concern?: The Elgin Police Department thinks it’s found that magic wand — or at least some of it — through the power of Artificial Intelligence. The department in 2024 became the first in Illinois to test new technology enabling a handful of officers to produce AI-generated police reports. It went so well that the Elgin PD is expanding the capability to all its officers in coming weeks.

* Daily Herald | New affordable housing development opens in Palatine: Development partners, including Northpointe Development, Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Inc. and the Housing Opportunity Development Corp., attended a grand opening Tuesday. […] The development is intended for people who work in the area but can’t afford the region’s housing options.

* Crain’s | Bolingbrook clinic owner to pay $2.2M, serve three-year sentence for Medicaid fraud: LaTeena Smith, 38, former owner of Power Positive Youth Development, a clinic in Bolingbrook, pleaded guilty in December to submitting fraudulent bills for psychotherapy services for Medicaid managed care patients, according to a press release from Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office. Following sentencing by DuPage County Circuit Court Judge Mia McPherson, Smith was immediately remanded into custody to begin serving her sentence, the release said. She also paid $1.5 million of the restitution after being sentenced, it said.

* WCIA | ‘Just a lot of uncertainty’; Federal funding orders leaving some Central IL cities concerned: Both Champaign and Urbana count on millions of dollars in federal funding. Champaign’s budget for the last fiscal year had about $10.7 million in grant revenue. Urbana’s budget for this year has about $7.4 million planned.

* WSIL | Organizers sell ribs ahead of the Superbowl to raise money for charity: On Friday, February 7th, and Saturday, February 8th, the organization will be outside of the Sam’s Club in Marion from 10 a.m. to close, or until supplies last. The team will offer hot and ready or pre-cooked and ready-to-reheat ribs. Ribs will be $25 a slab or $23 if you buy two or more.

* WCBU | Plans for new East Peoria TIF district in riverfront area around Par-A-Dice casino take shape: East Peoria is moving forward with the process at least several months in the making to create a new tax-increment financing (TIF) district along its riverfront surrounding the Par-A-Dice Hotel and Casino. The move comes as the city of Peoria is openly courting Boyd Gaming on building a new land-based casino across the river after the company announced plans to expand to the Illinois Gaming Board.

* Chalkbeat | Trump executive orders on DEI and schools big on drama, but impact will take time to emerge: Taken together, these actions show the Trump administration is ready to lean on various levers of power — from the bully pulpit to federal investigations to threats of withholding funding — to convince or coerce schools to comply with its worldview, whether or not the federal government has the legal authority to do so. Disappointing national test scores and state-level wins for Republicans could also be fueling Trump’s ambitions to stake a greater political claim on K-12 education.

* Reuters | Exclusive-US food purchases for foreign aid halted despite waiver, sources say: The freeze in purchases of wheat, soybeans and other commodities produced by U.S. farmers could hinder or halt the operations of organizations that provide millions of tons of food each year to help alleviate poverty in countries such as Madagascar, Tanzania and Honduras, the sources said. It also means added pain for U.S. farmers, already facing low commodity prices and uncertainty from potential tariffs in an emerging trade war, and who see foreign aid programs as opportunities to promote their farm products abroad, four of the sources said.