Good morning, Chicago.
With 11 days remaining in their spring legislative session, Illinois lawmakers are considering legislation that would create a state panel empowered to review the costs of prescription drug prices and whether medicine is inaccessible to those who need it the most.
The bill to establish a Prescription Drug Affordability Board is part of a broader push by Democrats to address an affordability crisis that has rocked Illinois and the rest of the country. But opponents argue the panel would do little to actually lower prices while creating new layers of bureaucracy in state government. The bill passed 8-4 along party lines yesterday in the House Executive Committee and now awaits a vote by the full House.
Supporters see the board as a vehicle to rein in runaway drug costs, a politically charged issue that the federal government has also begun to address through Biden-era provisions taking effect this year.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Jeremy Gorner.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including raises for Chicago tipped wage workers being frozen by a City Council vote, a column from Paul Sullivan on Stephen Colbert’s signoff and what to expect on TV this summer.
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Key lawmaker says suburban Bears stadium deal is dragging due to hopes team will reconsider Chicago site
A key Illinois lawmaker spearheading negotiations on legislation to keep the Bears playing their home games in Illinois said last night he’s facing fresh opposition from some legislative colleagues who believe the team has expressed newfound openness to building a new Bears stadium in Chicago.
Democratic state Sen. Bill Cunningham of Chicago said in an interview that he and some legislative colleagues learned a few weeks ago that the Bears had expressed a willingness to revisit a lakefront stadium with Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office, before the mayor’s team told Chicago-based lawmakers about that conversation.
- Gov. JB Pritzker says he updated NFL commissioner as Arlington Heights, Indiana sites remain at forefront
- What to know about the Chicago Bears’ possible move from Soldier Field
Prison sentences for retail theft doubled in 2025, according to report studying policies of State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke
A court-monitoring group that studied policy changes during the first 500 days of Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke’s leadership found in a new report that prison sentences for retail theft more than doubled last year, alleging that the top prosecutor returned “to the tough-on-crime prosecution that weakened Cook County communities for decades” when she took over from former State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.
Raises for Chicago tipped wage workers frozen by City Council vote
Aldermen voted to freeze Chicago’s “One Fair Wage” ordinance yesterday, halting required raises for tipped workers like waiters who now get paid below the city minimum.
The City Council’s move stops the increases for at least two years. The veto-proof majority — just one alderman voted against the change — hardly marks an end to the fight, instead foreshadowing likely future pushes by the restaurant lobby to fully end the raises. The outcome is also a major blow to a key win for Mayor Brandon Johnson and his working-class agenda.
City Council measure bans Chicago police with ties to Proud Boys, other extremist groups
Aldermen passed a measure yesterday banning officers with ties to extremist and hate groups from working in the Chicago Police Department.
The City Council voted 28-to-21 to approve the ordinance that requires the Police Department to fire officers with ties to groups like the Three Percenters or Proud Boys. It also prohibits the department from hiring people with ties to such groups, and creates new investigative powers to vet police employees and applicants.
CPS schools, principal earn magnet school excellence honors
Eleven Chicago Public Schools magnet schools were nationally recognized for excellence, the district announced, a record number honored in a single year honored by the Magnet Schools of America association.
Name the eaglets: Chicagoans vote to name the city’s first bald eagles born in a century
Perched high in the trees above South Deering, two bald eaglets spotted last month represent a major ecological milestone: the first bald eagles born in Chicago in more than 100 years.
Now, it’s time to name them.
To celebrate the historic births, the Chicago Park District has launched a “Name the Eaglets” competition, inviting Chicagoans and beyond to vote for their favorite names for the two hatchlings.
Chicago Sky fail to overcome loss of Rickea Jackson in a 99-89 home opener against the Dallas Wings
Despite the anticipation surrounding yesterday’s home opener at Wintrust Arena, the game took on a bittersweet pall as the entire roster wore Rickea Jackson’s jersey into the arena to show support for their injured teammate, who was not present as she prepares for surgery. And with an increasingly short-handed roster, the Sky couldn’t defend an early lead over the Dallas Wings as they dropped a 99-89 loss.
- Natasha Cloud vows to prove herself — and continue activism — with Sky after tumultuous free agency
- Photos: Dallas Wings 99, Chicago Sky 98 in home opener at Wintrust Arena
Column: Stephen Colbert’s signoff reminds us of the days the Chicago Cubs were a late-night punchline
Stephen Colbert was fortunate enough to have started his stint as host of “The Late Show” on CBS when the Cubs began their renaissance in 2015, and he was part of a kinder, gentler skewering of the team during its championship run in 2016, writes Paul Sullivan.
William Pullinsi, the founder of Candlelight and inventor of dinner theater, dies at 86
William Pullinsi, the founding artistic director of the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse in southwest suburban Summit and widely regarded as the founder of dinner theater in America, died on May 17 at home in Dyer, Indiana, from natural causes. He was 86.
His death was announced by his longtime partner at Candlelight, Tony D’Angelo. “We worked together for 70 years,” D’Angelo said. “Everybody who worked for him, he considered family.”
TV for summer 2026: Larry David teams up with Barack Obama, ‘The Bear’s’ final season and the return of … ‘Ted Lasso’?
Before streaming changed everything, the summer TV season used to be awash in reruns.
To some extent, that’s still true, with TV executives rerunning through old ideas — be it a remake of “Little House on the Prairie,” yet another “Big Bang Theory” spinoff, or the return of “Ted Lasso” years after the series more or less said its final goodbye.
But we’ve come to expect this. No sense in complaining. And there are some spots of originality on the schedule as well, plus new seasons of proven winners.
