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Isabel’s afternoon roundup (Updated)
Wednesday, Apr 29, 2026 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Crain’s…
Illinois is paying the price for 340B medicine markups. Through the federal 340B program, nonprofit hospitals can buy medicines for pennies, then charge huge markups – even on life-saving medicines. Those markups have become big business for large hospital systems, driving higher costs for Illinois patients, employers and taxpayers. And the problem is getting worse. The program’s lack of oversight has allowed 340B to become a revenue stream for hospitals, PBMs, private equity firms and big chain pharmacies — with no requirement that the money be used to help patients afford medicines. It’s time for Washington to hold hospitals accountable and fix 340B. Read more. …Adding… From Rich: The sports talkers convinced themselves that today would be the day that Indiana finally beat Illinois. Nope…  * Gas prices just keep going up…
* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois retailers celebrate early successes of state-funded apprenticeship program: Tribin is one of 11 apprentices in the early stages of the program, which comes during a time of significant workforce investment in Illinois. A little over a year into the program, which was formally announced in February but began recruiting last year, organizers and participants already claimed individual success stories, touting a 100% apprentice retention rate as they focus on sharpening the skills of current retail employees. * Daily Herald | Bears megaproject bill takes baby steps in Senate, but ‘lots of work to be done’: “There’s lots of work to be done,” said Murphy, a member of the Assignments Committee. “We’re going to take our time and analyze everything that’s in the bill. We have one chance to get this right.” […] “We’re going to review what the House passed, gather input from senators and stakeholders and assess the path forward,” said John Patterson, spokesman for the Senate Democrats. * WTTW | Overtime Cost Chicago Taxpayers $544.4M in 2025, Including $285.8M for Police, Down 6.3% From Last Year: The $544.4 million includes approximately $77.3 million in holiday and compensatory time and more than $467 million paid directly to employees who worked more than eight hours a day or 40 hours per week, according to data published by the city’s Office of Budget and Management. By comparison, the city spent $581 million on overtime in 2024, according to the data. * Tribune | Chicago progressive leaders remember organizer Amisha Patel: Leaders of the city’s political left credited Patel with uniting community groups and labor unions by fostering deep personal relationships. Her work helped create the working-class movement that made Mayor Brandon Johnson’s election possible, they argued. Johnson, who is expected to eulogize Patel at her funeral Saturday, praised her work as a senior adviser to his mayoral transition committee, calling Patel a “dear friend” and her death “a profound loss.” * Block Club | Pete Kastanes, Vanished Chicagoland Founder Who Uplifted City History, Dies At 62: For a decade and a half, Pete Kastanes highlighted Chicago’s history online through his website, Vanished Chicagoland, and associated social media accounts. He died from prostate cancer on Saturday at 62. Kastanes’s passion for Chicago’s history spanned from the North Side to the South Side, as the historian would share photos and stories of the city’s yesteryears. He launched his first of 30 Facebook pages for various closed businesses in the early 2010s. “A Tribute to Kroozin’ Music II on W 79th St Ashburn Chicago” celebrated a record store across from Bogan High School, where Kastanes attended. * Sun-Times | Davis Martin’s hot start to a potential breakout season is built on trust with White Sox: Manager Will Venable might’ve called it a night for other arms on a young pitching staff that has produced uneven results early in the year — but not from Martin, who got two more outs en route to his fourth win of the season. It’s a sign of trust the second-year skipper has in the veteran righty, who has put himself on the map over the first month of the season with a 1.95 ERA that was tied for eighth in MLB entering play Wednesday * NBC Chicago | ‘Does not work’: Cook County State’s Attorney decries electronic monitoring system as broken: Burke on Tuesday lashed out at the system that she said made it possible for Alphanso Talley to disregard his monitor and allegedly continue a crime spree that ended in the shooting death of Chicago Police Officer John Barthelomew and the severe wounding of his partner. “Electronic monitoring is not an alternative to detention. It does not keep people safe,” Burke said during a late afternoon news conference in the lobby of the Leighton Criminal Courthouse. * Daily Southtown | Blue Island residents speak out against possible data center, mayor says comments are premature: Mindeman and nine other Blue Island residents told the City Council Tuesday they still feel connected to the former hospital, even seven years after its closure, and they oppose the property owners intentions to build a data center. Although Mayor Fred Bilotto assured residents the city has not received a formal proposal for a data center, residents said it’s not too early to worry that a place that once healed them could bring harm into the heart of the city. * Daily Herald | Schaumburg extends TIF district to Loeber Farm for controversial residential development: Three months after approving the controversial 33-acre Loeber Farm development, Schaumburg trustees approved a tax incentive extension to fund public improvements. The expansion of the tax increment financing district along Meacham Road aims to cover utilities, a bridge over Salt Creek and flooding solutions. The Loeber Farm has seen various residential proposals in the 21st century. This January, the Elmhurst-based Nitti Group’s plan for 43 single-family homes, 37 row houses, and 42 townhouses was approved. It replaced a withdrawn plan for 357 rental units, which faced strong opposition from Rolling Meadows residents. * Pioneer Press | Chicago Stars’ Bannockburn site is only for training. So is Evanston’s Ryan Field still in play for games?: Evanston and Wilmette residents who opposed the Chicago Stars playing games at Ryan Field might not yet want to breathe a sigh of relief — even though the Stars recently announced they plan to build a new performance center in Bannockburn. A spokesperson for the club clarified that the planned Bannockburn facility will function solely as a training center and not a stadium where games will be played. The National Women’s Soccer League team has not yet announced where it will seek to play games in 2027 and beyond, and it’s not known whether they might request to use Ryan Field. * WCIA | Macon Co. farmers no longer worried about drought — too much rain is now the concern: Here’s why: When rain comes down as hard and as fast as it did Monday night, it can pack the soil down, hardening it and making it difficult for the corn to poke through and grow. Eads said that they have to be careful what they wish for, because over the last several months, they were concerned about the drought conditions. * WSIL | Jackson County clerk weighs new Carbondale ballot drop box: Frank L. Byrd, Clerk and Recorder of Jackson County, Illinois, announced Tuesday that his office is evaluating the potential placement of an additional ballot drop box in Carbondale, Illinois. The move is part of ongoing efforts to ensure voting remains secure, accessible, and efficient for residents. As the county’s Election Authority, Byrd is responsible for determining ballot drop box locations. Carbondale, the county’s largest municipality, serves a diverse and significant population, making accessibility and geographic coverage key considerations in the decision-making process. * Inside Radio | Ex-FCC Officials Push Court To Break Agency Silence On News Distortion Policy.: A bipartisan coalition of former Federal Communications Commission chairs, commissioners, and senior staff filed a petition last November calling on the FCC to formally rescind its news distortion policy. It has been met with silence in the months that have followed, and now the group is asking a federal appeals court to order the Commission to act on their request. The former FCC officials, along with the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), filed a petition for a writ of mandamus Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The rarely-used maneuver asks the court to order the Commission to issue a final decision within 90 days. If the court agrees to intervene, it would not only compel the FCC to take a position on the future of the news distortion policy, which the bipartisan coalition believes current Chair Brendan Carr has abused to chill press freedoms. * AP | Push for raw milk intensifies across the US, despite illness outbreaks and scientists’ warnings: More than three dozen bills supporting raw milk have been introduced in statehouses across the nation, The Associated Press found. A growing number of states are making it legal to sell. Dairy farmers say they can barely keep it in stock, even though prices can exceed $10 or $20 a gallon. Top government officials and internet influencers are helping drive this momentum. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. downed shots of raw milk at the White House last May and previously promised to halt “aggressive suppression” of the product. On social media, posts about raw milk have surged in recent months, often touting unproven claims about its health benefits. * Tribune | Gregory Bovino finds a new mission in retirement: Trolling DHS: In a April 15 post, the Department of Homeland Security posted the disputed claim that “each illegal immigrant costs the American taxpayer nearly $8,776 every single year” and vowed to put “the American worker FIRST.” Bovino responded: “Then restart mass deportations and quit messing around with it.”
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