THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Bears investigating new stadium site on the lakefront?...Solis may finally appear at Burke trial...Pritzker signs bill allowing small nuke projects
December 11, 2023
Good morning, Illinois.
We are inside 100 days to our next election.
Today marks 99 days until the March 19 primary. (WGN-TV’s great political producer Jordan Muck just lost consciousness for a minute.) Buckle up.
(That said, if there are any petitions we need to be looking at before challenges are filed, drop me a note at patrick@theillinoize.com.)
There’s nothing on Governor Pritzker’s public schedule today.
If you’re enjoying our free content and the stories we post on the website, we’d ask that you join us as a paid subscriber going into 2024. A subscription gets you our subscriber-only emails on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Click below to join us!
Let’s get to it.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets, because good journalism isn’t free)
Could Bears stay on lakefront? Team is researching Soldier Field parking lot for new stadium (Chicago Sun-Times)
The Bears’ decision to have a surveyor examine the south parking lot of Soldier Field, as a source confirmed Thursday, is the latest example of the team exploring options for a new stadium beyond Arlington Heights.
This is not necessarily a sign of progress toward a decision — surveying is typically part of a rudimentary information-gathering process. It is, however, the first time since Arlington Heights emerged as an option that the Bears have looked to the lakefront as a possible new venue.
“As we stated in September earlier this year, we want to appropriately explore all opportunities across Chicagoland for the development of a world-class stadium,” the Bears said in a statement Thursday.
The Bears closed escrow on their $197 million deal to buy the 326-acre Arlington International Racecourse site in February. By June, shortly after receiving permission to demolish the racetrack, the Bears were pushing back against property taxes at the site. They said their plan for a $2.5 billion domed stadium — plus adjacent hotels, restaurants and shopping — was at risk. Arlington Heights no longer remained their singular focus.
Soon afterward, the Bears met with Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Waukegan also offered to pitch the Bears on building a stadium there.
In a letter to season ticket holders in September, new Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren — who agreed to join the Bears just weeks before escrow closed — said the team was “thankful for the vision” provided by Johnson in meetings and remained engaged with Arlington Heights.
The Bears are renters at Soldier Field, which is owned by the Chicago Park District. The team’s lease runs through 2033. The stadium was renovated in 2003 for $632 million.
The answer remains the question: who is paying for it? There are practically $0 of principal paid down on the 2003 Soldier Field renovation, the state and city aren’t flush with cash, and the McCaskey family isn’t sitting sitting on $5 billion to do it themselves.
Until something dramatic changes, I hold firm on the belief that in 2033, the Bears are still playing in Soldier Field.
Related: Friends of the Parks: No new Bears stadium on lot south of Soldier Field (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Buckner: Soldier Field shuffle offers an opportunity to Chicago and the Bears (Chicago Tribune)
Calling FBI mole Danny Solis to testify could be risky, ‘blow back’ on ex-Ald. Ed Burke’s defense in corruption case, experts say (Chicago Tribune)
In video after video, jurors in Ed Burke’s federal corruption trial have gotten an unfiltered view of a Chicago powerhouse.
Burke, pink-faced and impeccably dressed, swears and swaggers and schmoozes. He waxes eloquent about Chicago history. And, federal authorities allege, he speaks about extracting private law business from people with issues at City Hall as casually as if it’s the weather.
Daniel Solis, the man wearing the hidden camera, is seen only in flashes: jittery close-up views of his wristwatch, his fidgety fingers, the zipper of his jacket.
But [this] week, jurors could finally meet him.
Burke’s own attorneys could call the alderman-turned-FBI mole as a witness as early as Monday. The decision to put him on the stand will shape the rest of Burke’s racketeering trial.
It would be a chance to try to undermine Solis’ credibility, and by extension the highly damaging recordings he made. But that strategy could blow back on Burke just as easily, experts told the Tribune.
“It’s a bit of a chess game,” said Nancy DePodesta, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice. “The government made the first move and decided not to call Solis … If the defense doesn’t call Solis then they’re left with the tapes, (and) you don’t get to cross-examine the tapes.
“It’s obviously risky, and it could backfire that they’re calling Solis,” she continued. “But on the other hand, maybe it’s a bit of a Hail Mary.”
Related: Feds play recording of call with Gery Chico as they allege Ed Burke used threats over permits ‘to extort benefits’ from businesses (Chicago Sun-Times)
Defense: ‘Computer mistake,’ not pressure from Ed Burke, caused delays in Burger King work (Chicago Sun-Times)
Pritzker signs law lifting moratorium on nuclear reactors (Associated Press)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation Friday lifting a three-decade moratorium on development of nuclear reactors in the state.
Smaller nuclear reactors — those producing less than 300 megawatts of power — will be allowed beginning January 2026. Morris Republican Sen. Sue Rezin, the proposal’s sponsor, argued that nuclear power is a critical part of the state’s renewable energy portfolio.
“Illinois has a long, successful and safe history of nuclear energy generation,” Rezin said in a statement after the Democratic governor’s action, which she said “will ensure that our state can remain a leader in the energy sector by offering us the ability to utilize the amazing advancements in new nuclear energy technology.”
The Illinois proposal is largely the same as one that earned overwhelming legislative approval but was vetoed by Pritzker last spring. It adds a study on the risks of new nuclear technology and puts a state agency in charge of oversight, issues missing from the original plan.
Environmentalists argue that wind and solar power are sufficient to replace the burning of fossil fuels. But supporters of the law point out that the state’s plan for closing coal-fired power plants by 2045 relies in part on state subsidies to keep two unprofitable nuclear plants in operation to meet energy needs.
Related: Pritzker signs measure allowing new small-scale nuclear technology in Illinois (Capitol News Illinois)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs measure lifting Illinois’ moratorium on new nuclear power plants (Chicago Tribune)
LAST WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
‘Such a force’: Remembering late Champaign state senator Scott Bennett a year after his death (WCIA)
Rep. Mary Miller endorses Darren Bailey over incumbent Rep. Mike Bost (The Southern Illinoisan)
Johnson administration begins filing lawsuits against operators of ‘rogue buses’ of migrants (Chicago Tribune)
State senate candidate from Rockford faces forgery, gun charges (Rockford Register Star)
Chicago utility pushes back against state oversight, asks for further rate increase (Capitol News Illinois)
At a pivotal moment for Chicago’s left, North Side alderman tries to bridge socialism and pragmatism (Chicago Tribune)
Chicago police Sgt. John Poulos, whose fatal shootings of 2 men led to about $2 million in City Hall payouts, now running for judge (WBEZ)
Editorial: Candidates should include an email address in their statement of candidacy (Daily Herald) [pp note: This editorial is incredibly naive and lazy.]
Quigley: If we don’t approve more aid for Ukraine, the conflict in Europe will grow (Chicago Tribune)
McGraw: The crisis at the border has come to Illinois (Rockford Register Star)
Opinion: Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. J.B. Pritzker can be at odds as long as they do their jobs (Chicago Tribune)
JOIN US