* Subscribers can click here and here for a refresh. ICYMI: The RTA is running ads while riders and legislators are running out of patience. Rep. Kam Buckner…

There’s a $750,000 campaign running across northeast Illinois right now — from TV to radio to billboards — asking the public to “Save Transit Now.” The Regional Transportation Authority says it’s meant to raise awareness about the $1.5 billion funding gap threatening our transit system’s future. But here’s the thing: We don’t need more awareness. We need leadership.

Let me be clear: The funding gap is real. As a legislator who has been working on this specific issue for two years, I know how critical this moment is. Chicago is a world-class city. Northeast Illinois is a global economic engine. And our transit system is the connective tissue that holds it all together. We’ve lagged behind other states for too long in both funding and foresight. The so-called fiscal cliff isn’t new; it’s the result of years of delayed decisions and deferred maintenance. This work should’ve started long before the pandemic. It didn’t. So here we are.

But to cry broke with one hand and drop three-quarters of a million dollars on a PR campaign with the other is wrong, and frankly, it’s irresponsible.

People don’t want more marketing. They want more buses that come when they’re supposed to. They want trains that feel safe, are clean and run on time. If your train shows up late every morning, a radio ad won’t make you feel better. If you’re scared to ride after dark, a hashtag won’t fix that.

* BlueRoomStream.com’s coverage of today’s press conferences and committee hearings can be found here.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Capitol News Illinois | After-school programs continue push for state aid: “There are decades of research that supports that after-school programs improve school day performance, grades and attendance, helps reduce violence, and also supports working class families,” Rep. Aaron Ortiz, D-Chicago, told a House budget committee Tuesday. Ortiz is the lead sponsor of House Bill 3082, which calls for $50 million to be distributed by the Illinois State Board of Education through a competitive grant program to entities that seek to provide tutoring and other enrichment services in high-poverty schools, where 40% or more of the students come from low-income households.

* WGN | Mayor Brandon Johnson heads to Springfield with a revised fiscal wish list: The mayor wants to generate $12.5 million through a tax on prepaid cellphone and calling cards, raise $27.5 million by extending the $5-a-month 911 surcharge, get more funding for the city’s unified shelter system and improve state reimbursement rates for various services including education.

* Sun-Times | Trump targets sanctuary cities like Chicago with new orders: ‘This administration already has it in for us’: One of the orders signed by Trump orders state and federal officials to publish lists of jurisdictions often referred to as sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with federal officials’ efforts to arrest immigrants in the country illegally. A second order signed by Trump calls for increasing access to excess military for state and local law enforcement. It also calls for bolstering legal support for officers accused of wrongdoing while carrying out their official duties. Trump also directed the office of Attorney General Pam Bondi to set up a system that would provide legal aid and financial protection to law enforcement officers “who unjustly incur expenses and liabilities for actions taken during the performance of their official duties to enforce the law.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* KWQC | IL Board of Higher Education questioned by lawmakers: The Legislative Audit Commission is calling for stronger internal controls at the Illinois Board of Higher Education. The commission found that the board made late voucher payments to schools 90% of the time in fiscal year 2023. Republican State Senator Chapin Rose noted that the Legislative Audit Commission made 17 compliance recommendations, nine of which were repeat findings.

* Daily Herald | Community colleges renew push for four-year degrees, but universities push back: The proposal was boosted by the endorsement of Gov. JB Pritzker during his State of the State address in February, when he said the plan would help fill the needs of regional employers and create a pathway to jobs for more people. Since then, Proctor — who will head the Illinois Community College President’s Council starting in July — has made advocating for four-year degrees a top legislative priority during the General Assembly’s current spring session. The House bill that would authorize baccalaureate programs at community colleges, sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Tracy Katz Muhl of Northbrook, now has 52 bipartisan cosponsors.

*** Statewide ***

* Tribune | The State of Illinois has a new Poet Laureate and fellow poets rejoice: This is an honorary position, “tasked with promoting access to literary arts and raising awareness through statewide community engagement.” It comes with a yearly salary of $35,000 and $10,000 for expenses. Many in the poetry community applauded the choice. Turcotte sent his friend poet/artist Tony Fitzpatrick a text earlier on Tuesday telling him the news. “I cannot think of a better choice for this honor,” Fitzpatrick told me. “I met Mark in the early 90’s when we both got to read poems in honor of Gwendolyn Brooks. We were thrilled. I read a poem about Satchel Paige and Mark read one from his then upcoming book, ‘Exploding Chippewas.’

*** Chicago ***

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Trump administration launches investigation into Chicago Public Schools’ Black Student Success Plan: That long-awaited plan was unveiled in February and challenged the following day by Virginia-based conservative group Parents Defending Education, which filed a similar complaint against a Los Angeles Unified School District initiative. The group alleges that the CPS plan violates Title VI, a provision of federal civil rights law that bars discrimination on the basis of race or shared ancestry.

* Sun-Times | CPS plan to help Black students in crosshairs of Trump’s Education Department: CPS moved ahead with the initiative last week despite the federal complaint by the Virginia group. The school board launched the Black Student Success Committee to oversee the plan and tapped board member and longtime activist Jitu Brown as chair of the committee.

* WTTW | Chinatown Business Owners Brace for Impact of Trump’s Ongoing Trade War With China: “We’ve started importing a lot in the last two weeks to deal with the tariff increases, so we’re stocking up on what goods we can for now,” Grace Grocery Store owner Leo Li said through an interpreter. Li opened his shop nine years ago shortly after moving to Chicago. He estimates about 95% of his products are Chinese imports, which range from daily necessities like snacks and toiletries to gift shop items for tourists.

* Block Club | South Side Neighbors Want Housing Protections Before City OKs ‘Luxury’ Hotel Near Obama Center: Activists aren’t opposed to the hotel “in abstract,” but organizer Dixon Romeo said that it would be unacceptable for City Council to quickly advance a “luxury hotel” while renters and other South Siders await action on the housing ordinance. “There cannot be luxury hotels in our neighborhood until we have protections for all of these people here who make our neighborhood great,” Romeo said.

* WBEZ | UIC student has legal status restored, but only after leaving US: “What is going to make it hard for me to choose to come to the U.S. is that anything like this can happen again,” said Lev, an alias WBEZ is using to protect the student’s identity. “I want to make sure that my future is secure, that I am able to study, work and then move onto the next goal that I have in life, instead of having these abrupt situations where I have to completely change tracks.”

* Tribune | One mile, more than a dozen Latino-owned cafes: How Pilsen’s coffee culture is growing across 18th Street: A caffeinated tour of Pilsen might start on the east side, slightly off 18th Street at the vibrant La Malinche Coffee & Tea House on Halsted. There, with pink prominent and a bountiful menu, patrons sit and work and chat over sweet Cubano coffees with turkey pesto paninis. Turn onto 18th Street and get a cardamom or panela latte from Anticonquista and take in the leather, wood, revolutionary Central American literature and coffee-roasting equipment.

* Sun-Times | Chicago’s Doc10 returns to champion top films as pressure mounts on industry: Chicago’s Doc10 film festival — one of the only documentary-exclusive film fests in the country — is celebrating its 10th anniversary at a high-pressure time for the art form. The festival programs a highly selective list of 10 films and screens them through Sunday. Yet filmmakers say the surge of streaming sites like Netflix and Hulu has shifted demand away from more complex or highly political docs and toward commercialized films featuring cults, pop stars and celebrities.

* Tribune | Angel Reese aims to expand her shot profile in Year 2 with Chicago Sky — while continuing to dominate the boards: Two days into the Chicago Sky’s training camp, Angel Reese still hadn’t posted up. It was a distinct shift from Reese’s prior function in Chicago, but the second-year forward knew it was coming. In the first week of camp, new coach Tyler Marsh is tackling one of the most important challenges of his system — how to create enough offensive balance for both of his frontcourt stars to succeed.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Naperville Sun | Naperville advisory board debates how to fill $6.5M budget hole from loss of state grocery tax: Staff presented two possibilities: adopt a 1% city grocery tax or increase Naperville’s home rule sales tax by 0.25%. The board backed neither. Rather, by consensus, members sought more information from staff and agreed to continue the discussion at a special meeting tentatively scheduled for next month.

* Daily Herald | ‘Get it done. Please’: Father of teen killed by train implores Barrington officials to install safety gates: “Get it done. Please,” Michael Lacson told trustees at Monday’s committee of the whole meeting. “Somebody already died. It was a ticking time bomb, and unfortunately my daughter was the one who paid for it.” But Barrington officials said progress is being made toward getting the gates put in at the Hough Street crossing and the nearby Main Street/Cook Street crossings.

* Daily Herald | Six things you need to know about the Route 53 road construction project: IDOT is dividing up the work in segments. First up is a section from south of Kirchoff Road to south of Rand Road (Route 12), in Rolling Meadows, Palatine and Arlington Heights. Workers will reconstruct and resurface the 6.4-mile stretch, update traffic signals, lighting and drainage. Overnight lane closures will occur between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. but one lane in each direction will be kept open.

* Daily Southtown | New owner plans to transform 68-acre property and horse training facility in Crete into men’s rehabilitation center: O’Connor hails from Evanston, but said he fell in love with the south suburbs after entering alcohol abuse recovery in 2016. It took him losing his relationships — his family, friends and employer — to admit he was an alcoholic, O’Connor said. But once he did, he entered a 28-day, in-patient program in Hazel Crest that eventually led him to the horse farm that inspired him to buy the 2400 East Bemes property. He said he plans to flip the farm into a picturesque recovery center where up to 14 men can live and work for as long as they need.

*** Downstate ***

* Sun-Times | Testimony begins in ex- Jan. 6 defendant’s murder trial: ‘It was only supposed to be me’: Moments before driving his GMC Sierra the wrong way onto a downstate highway in 2022, Shane Jason Woods complained he’d been in an argument, he faced a decade in prison, and he just wanted to “end it,” a police officer testified Tuesday. […] After the crash, jurors were told, Woods complained “it was only supposed to be me.”

* WGLT | Bloomington council passes housing incentive plan, recognizes outgoing members: The incentives will waive some city fees — 50% as a baseline and up to 100% for projects utilizing tax credits. Projects with affordable housing will be allowed extra density, and some may receive a five-year waiver of property taxes. Jurgens said the program will help attract the many types of housing the city needs.

* WCIA | Champaign judge reaches verdict in Sooie Bros. lawsuit: One chapter of a legal battle between the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District and a local restaurant has come to a close. On Tuesday, a judge ordered that Sooie Bros. BBQ Joint must stay closed until they either comply with the food service plan from 2023 and obtain a walk-in freezer, or until they apply and receive approval for an amended food service plan by CUPHD.

*** National ***

* Democracy Docket | Federal election panel chair opposes counting ballots that arrive after Election Day: “There should be a deadline for absentee or mail ballots prior to Election Day and then they should be returned by Election Day,” Donald Palmer, the chair of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), said in a House hearing Tuesday on California’s ballot counting process. Palmer’s comments come after President Donald Trump has repeatedly called on states to no longer accept and count ballots that arrive after Election Day, and signed an executive order last month directing the EAC to withhold federal funding from states that continue to do so.

* RTDNA | Good News: TV salaries beat inflation … but just barely: After making up a fair amount of ground a year ago, the latest RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey found local TV news salaries held their own and then a little more this past year. Salaries rose by 3.2%, edging ahead of inflation, which hit 2.9% for the year. Salaries were up 7.5% in 2023. Median — or typical — salaries are the best gauge, and they show that 14 of the 20 newsroom positions tracked are up in salary compared to the 2024 Survey. Only managing editors, news writers and social media producers/editors decreased in salary. News reporter, MMJ and assignment editor salaries all stayed the same.