Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday that “nothing has changed” from his previous stance that public funding for sports stadiums is not something he, or the public, has much of an appetite for. But he did signal the teams’ bids for state help building new football, baseball and soccer stadiums, respectively, would be better off if they all got on a level playing field.

The rate cut, the Fed’s first in more than four years, reflects its new focus on bolstering the job market, which has shown clear signs of slowing. Coming just weeks before the presidential election, the Fed’s move also has the potential to scramble the economic landscape just as Americans prepare to vote.

The White Sox have played in Bridgeport for more than a century, but owner Jerry Reinsdorf and developer Related Midwest proposed building a new stadium in the South Loop as an anchor to a 62-acre site dubbed The 78.

Metra, Pace and the Chicago Transit Authority collectively expect to be $730 million short come 2026 and are seeking a lift from state government.

American consumers and home buyers, business people and political leaders have been waiting for months for what the Federal Reserve is poised to announce this week: That it’s cutting its key interest rate from a two-decade peak.

United said it will begin testing the service early next year and begin offering it on some flights by later in 2025.

The data underscores the gravity of America’s home-affordability crisis: Not only has buying a home become prohibitively expensive for many Americans, but so too has renting one.

A Starbucks is set to open at the Little Village Plaza — an area once filled with local vendors and businesses before it was sold to developers. Some residents said this is just the beginning of what will lead to gentrification, while others said the community should embrace the investment.

Advocates in Illinois are pushing for higher wages and better benefits in an effort to retain child care workers. The effort comes after a center in Bronzeville recently shut its doors, the CEO says, due to a lack of staff. 

The Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners approved a special event permit for Riot Fest on Wednesday, a decision that did little to bridge the divide between residents of Lawndale who welcome the fest and those who want to oust it from Douglass Park.

Wednesday’s report from the Labor Department showed that consumer prices rose 2.5% in August from a year earlier, down from 2.9% in July. It was the fifth straight annual drop and the smallest since February 2021. From July to August, prices rose just 0.2%.

Disney channels, including ESPN and ABC-owned stations in nine markets, have been off DirecTV since the evening of Sept. 1. That meant DirecTV customers were blacked out from viewing most college football games and the final week of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, including the women's and men's finals.

Resurfacing of DuSable Lake Shore Drive between Lawrence and Hollywood avenues will continue in the upcoming week. Fewer lanes will be open to traffic, and Sunday’s full closure of northbound lanes starts mid-afternoon.

Both the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and the state’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability released new reports Wednesday.

Though consumer sentiment is slowly rising, a majority of Americans in some surveys still complain about elevated prices, given that the costs of such necessities as food, gas and housing remain far above where they were before the pandemic erupted in 2020.

DuSable Lake Shore Drive between Lawrence and Hollywood avenues will be shut down overnight this week for resurfacing. Start planning your alternate route.