* ICYMI:State Sen. Emil Jones III heads to trial on bribery charges. Tribune…

- Sen. Emil Jones III goes on trial Monday on bribery charges alleging he agreed to help a red-light camera company alter legislation in exchange for $5,000 and a job for his legislative intern.
- it’s the first case from the sprawling red-light camera probe to go before a jury, and will feature testimony from FBI mole Omar Maani.
- An undercover video taken by Maani allegedly shows him and Jones eating at another downtown restaurant when Maani asked point-blank how much Jones wanted in exchange for his assistance.

* Related stories…

∙ Sun-Times: ‘His day in court’: State Sen. Emil Jones III finally heading to trial on 2022 bribery charges
∙ WGN: State senator in red light probe: ‘Raise me five grand – that’d be good’

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

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Tribune | Sean Morrison stepping down as Cook County GOP chair: Sean Morrison announced Saturday that he will resign effective April 14 as Cook County Republican chairman after nine years, saying it was time to infuse “new energy” into the GOP leadership in a county dominated by Democrats. Morrison, a Cook County Board member from Palos Park, said his decision to step down from the GOP post was “not a new decision” but had been planned in consultation with family and friends to take place after the November general election and last week’s local elections.

* Patch | ‘Lawfare’ Text Harassment Case Against Ex-Aide Dropped: Attorney: The Illinois Attorney General’s Office this week opted to drop the case against a former political aide facing harassment charges linked to texts sent to a state legislator. The charges against Timothy Pawula, 32—including harassment through electronic communication and transmission of obscene messages and obscenity—followed a purported text message scandal involving Pawula and Sen. Mike Hastings (D-Frankfort). Pawula was accused of sending messages containing fabricated, sexually explicit images depicting Hastings, Gov. JB Pritzker and Rep. Bob Rita (D-Blue Island). […] Separately, Pawula is also currently being sued by State Sen. Michael Hastings, who alleges Pawula and several others deployed a “smear campaign” against him in the November 2022 election.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WBEZ | Abrupt $1 million loss for Illinois Humanities after Trump cuts funding tap: The Trump administration this week canceled $175 million in grants made by the National Endowment for the Humanities, which funds programs in 50 states. The agency is also undergoing deep staff cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency, as first reported by the New York Times. Among the Illinois organizations that received federal humanities funding in the past three years are the Adler Planetarium, the Newberry Library, the Field Museum, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, the Art Institute of Chicago, several colleges and universities and even the city’s newest cultural institution, the National Museum for Public Housing, which formally opened Friday.

* The Crusader | Attorney General Raoul files lawsuit to protect libraries and museums: Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 21 attorneys general, is suing the Trump administration to stop the dismantling of three federal agencies that provide services and funding supporting public libraries and museums, workers and minority-owned businesses nationwide. In March, the Trump administration issued an executive order that would dismantle federal agencies created by Congress that collectively provide hundreds of millions of dollars for programs in every state. As a result of this executive order, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) – one of the targeted agencies – has placed almost its entire staff on administrative leave and will cut hundreds of grants for state libraries and museums. The lawsuit filed by Attorney General Raoul and the coalition seeks to stop the targeted destruction of the IMLS and two other agencies targeted in the administration’s order that millions of Americans rely on, especially those in underserved communities.

* Capitol News Illinois | It’s not just Chicago. Downstate public transit agencies face funding challenges: A 17-year-old formula in state law requires about 7.5% of sales taxes collected in areas served by transit agencies to be deposited into the state’s Downstate Public Transportation Fund. The fund provides downstate agencies with funding for up to 65% of their operating expenses while local funding sources such as property taxes, rider fares, bus advertisement sales and cost-sharing contracts cover the other 35%.

*** Statewide ***

* Sun-Times | Illinois still tops nationally in nuclear energy, No. 3 in carbon-free electricity: Thanks to generating more nuclear power than any other state, Illinois ranks third nationally in producing carbon-free electricity, according to analysis by Inside Climate News of data from the Energy Information Administration. The national leader in carbon-free electricity is Texas, which has a huge lead in renewable energy, followed by California. Pennsylvania, which is second in nuclear generation, also ranks high for production of carbon-free electricity.

* WAND | Federal staffing cuts to LIHEAP will negatively impact local programs: In an effort to reduce government spending, the Trump Administration eliminated 10,000 jobs within the Department of Health and Human Services, including positions responsible for managing LIHEAP. Local leaders are concerned about the future of the program due to the lack of federal personnel. Tara Murray, the Executive Director of the Empowerment Opportunity Center in Decatur, said although they still have access to their funding, they now are trying to solve what happens when the fiscal year ends, and the funding runs out.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | How a plan to streamline Cook County, state computer systems led to massive costs and delays: In a three-year window starting in 2015, executives of a little-known Plano, Texas, corporation — Tyler Technologies Inc. — persuaded all three to give them the crucial job. The collective price tag was initially $75 million and what officials called the “go-live” deadlines were three to five years out. But since then, an Injustice Watch and Chicago Tribune investigation found, the cumulative projected cost swelled to more than $250 million while execution was dogged by slowdowns and shortcomings. Two of the projects have yet to reach their declared finish line, and the third is still in need of fixes.

* Daily Herald | A time for change: Meet the class of new mayors in DuPage, Kane suburbs: In his successful bid for Aurora mayor, John Laesch drew a stark contrast with two-term incumbent Richard Irvin on a host of issues in the state’s second-largest city. As a city alderman, Laesch criticized Irvin for a deal to provide millions of dollars in donated property and loans to the owners of Hollywood Casino. Laesch painted a picture of two Auroras: one of big businesses and developers and the other of residents and small businesses.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora Mayor-elect John Laesch says City of Lights Center project ‘pretty much dead’: The 4,000-seat theater and 600-person event space called the City of Lights Center proposed for downtown Aurora, which Laesch previously spoke out against and said Thursday as a project is “pretty much dead” under his incoming administration, would have cost the city between $100 million and $120 million, according to past reporting. “Nobody’s made a compelling argument to me,” he said. “I haven’t seen any concrete plans that say this is going to be a success.”

* Tribune | Backyard chickens might not crack high egg prices, but Chicago-area owners say they’re worth it: In west suburban Winfield, residents are banned from raising livestock. Amid soaring egg prices, however, the town held an advisory referendum April 1 on whether the village should rethink its policy on backyard chickens. The non-binding measure to allow chickens lost by just 51 votes, according to unofficial results. Village President Carl Sorgatz said Winfield put the question on the ballot because the issue has inspired a lot of passionate debate in town.

* Tribune | New film ‘How Lucky Can One Man Get’ captures the magic of John Prine in concert: [“How Lucky Can One Man Get”] is a joyful film, capturing Prine during a 2010 concert at Proviso East High School in Maywood, Prine’s alma mater (class of 1964) and, between songs, hearing conversation peppered with stories of family, young love, working as a mailman and memories of vanished neighborhood hangouts of his deeply influential youthful years. That concert, just like one in 1999 and this event, was a fundraiser for the Maywood Fine Arts Association, headed by Lois Baumann, a classmate of Prine’s. The association provides arts instruction to the children of Maywood and surrounding communities.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Chicago Housing Authority paid out more than $787,000 over the last five years to 9 exiting senior leaders: Nine Chicago Housing Authority senior leaders received more than $787,000 collectively in separation agreement payouts over the last five years, including two who had received written warnings from Tracey Scott, the agency’s former CEO. A Tribune analysis of CHA records shows that each of the nine received at least two months of compensation at the salary level they had on their last day of work. Six of the agreements were signed between August 2024 and early March 2025. CHA “acknowledge(s) the volume of these recent transitions” and is working to “identify inefficiencies within our structure and make decisions that will best support our residents now and in the future,” said CHA spokesperson Matthew Aguilar in a statement to the Tribune. CHA did not respond to questions and instead provided the statement, saying it could not comment on specific personnel matters.

* Crain’s | With Sterling Bay surrendering a big slice of Lincoln Yards, what happens next?: But despite a situation Boatright described as “not ideal” for the future of the proposed 14.5 million-square-foot campus, she said the default notice is mostly a formality as the city seeks clarity from Bank OZK about its intentions for the property. For now, the City Council-approved planned development for the northern portion of Lincoln Yards and the deal to use TIF money to pay back its developer for public infrastructure work remains in place.

* Crain’s | United Airlines makes a play for O’Hare’s road warriors: United and American have long been fierce competitors for corporate travel, where frequent-flyer status is critical. The campaign urging customers to switch to United’s loyalty program is another example of how the Chicago-based carrier is trying to take market share from American at home. And winning over lucrative frequent-flyer clients is a key pillar of that strategy.

* Edward Keegan | Wrigley Field is losing some of its magic with demolished historic buildings: For a decade, I have characterized the Rickettses’ remodeling of Wrigley Field as a metaphoric poached toad: The changes have been incremental and small, but eventually the temperature has been raised high enough that the frog is dead.

* WBEZ | What’s That Building? National Public Housing Museum in the former Jane Addams Homes: The three-story brick building where the National Public Housing Museum is opening isn’t only the last of the 32 buildings that once made up the Jane Addams Homes, Chicago’s first public housing development. It’s also a remnant of its time when public housing was meant to be human-scaled and homey. The Jane Addams homes were built in the 1930s and early 1940s, before the pressure to build giant high-rises that would overshadow the earlier developments, both literally because of their height and figuratively because of their devolution into badly maintained warehouses of the poor.

*** Downstate ***

* 25News Now | Proposed $625K lawsuit settlement shines light on Peoria County Sheriff’s sergeant’s 1970 murder: The Peoria City Council is scheduled to decide on Tuesday whether to pay $625,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the estate of a man suspected of killing a Peoria County Sheriff’s deputy almost 55 years ago. The estate alleged Cleve Heidelberg’s constitutional rights were violated when he was arrested for the murder of Peoria County Sheriff’s Deputy Raymond Espinoza during an attempted robbery at the old Bellevue Drive-In movie theater in May of 1970. Heidelberg was found guilty of Espinoza’s murder, but the conviction was vacated in 2017.

* WSIL | Pope County officials and volunteers to fill sandbags as Ohio River rises: Authorities in Pope County will be filling sandbags on Monday to help keep floodwaters from the Ohio River away from homes and businesses. They also ask residents to help. The Pope County Rural Fire Protection District said they will start filling sandbags behind the ambulance base off of Eddyville Blacktop starting at 7:30 a.m. on April 7.

*** National ***

* Pew | Competing Forces Complicate State Education Funding: As policymakers grapple with these more immediate questions, the question of declining enrollment still looms over all long-term conversations. Even as per-pupil spending and other cost drivers increase nationally, enrollment has been on a downward trajectory, a trend that can create larger issues for school funding that may not be fixable with a formula change.

* CNN | Measles vaccination rate may be even lower than estimated, leaving kids vulnerable amid outbreak: As the United States faces one of its worst measles outbreaks in decades, with at least 569 reported cases in multiple states, a new analysis finds that nearly a third of young children who were eligible to be vaccinated against the disease did not get their first shot on schedule.

* NYT | Supreme Court Lets Trump Suspend Grants to Teachers: The grants at issue in the case helped place teachers in poor and rural areas and aimed to recruit a diverse work force reflecting the communities it served. In February, the Education Department sent grant recipients boilerplate form letters ending the funding, saying the programs “fail to serve the best interests of the United States” by taking account of factors other than “merit, fairness and excellence,” and by allowing waste and fraud.