| Good afternoon, Chicago. The Chicago Bears will proceed with plans for a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana, the organization announced today. “Yesterday, the Chicago Bears Board of Directors met and voted to advance our stadium development project in Hammond, Indiana, with the exact site to be selected,” the team said in a joint statement from Chairman George H. McCaskey and President and CEO Kevin Warren.
“We believe a world-class stadium project in Hammond will transform the region, connecting Northwest Indiana to the South Side of Chicago through the Loop and across neighborhoods and suburbs stretching north of the city. It will bring Chicagoland together and deliver new opportunities to its residents and businesses.” The board’s decision comes less than a week after the Illinois legislature adjourned, without taking up a last-ditch Senate bill that would have allowed Arlington Heights or Chicago to enter into a public-private ownership deal with the NFL franchise. Such legislation would have given the team a path to
build a new stadium without paying property taxes on the facility, bill sponsors said. Here’s what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices. Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History news Gov. JB Pritzker, center, walks in with Senate President Don Harmon, left, and House Speaker Emanuel
"Chris" Welch, right, for a news conference hours after the end of the spring legislative session at the State Capitol in Springfield on June 1, 2026. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) A nearly $56 billion state spending plan is headed to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk after the Democratic-controlled Illinois legislature approved it in the early-morning hours of
another overtime spring session. The Democratic governor called the budget package one that would make “people-first investments while maintaining our positive fiscal trajectory and protecting working families from paying new taxes” at a celebratory news conference Monday at the Illinois State Capitol. Here’s a look at tax changes it includes for the state budget year that begins July 1. More top news stories: business Known as Grey Walls, the mansion at 25w451 Plamondon Road in Wheaton is for sale for $3.3 million. The mansion to its side, which was constructed at the same time, is for sale for $2.4 million. (Michael LaFido) Two adjoining mansions located at the end of a long, private lane in Wheaton – and that were built at the same time – are on the market for $2.4 million and $3.3 million. More top business stories: sports Bears leadership left to right: Brian McCaskey, Kevin Warren, and George McCaskey listen as general manager Ryan Poles speaks with the media at Halas Hall on Jan. 21, 2026, in Lake Forest. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune) It’s past time to use football analogies to describe
the Chicago Bears’ long-running quest for a new stadium. Fourth down. One-yard line. Precious few seconds remaining on the clock. All of that has been used repeatedly. What became salient this morning was the Bears moved a step closer to leaving Illinois for an undetermined site in Hammond, Ind., after announcing the club’s board of directors voted Thursday to proceed with plans in the Hoosier state. More top sports stories: eat. watch. do. An attendee poses for a photograph at Miche Fest at Oakwood Beach in Chicago on July 13, 2024. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) The cancellation comes just three weeks before the festival was slated to take over Union Park with three days of Latin pop, R&B, Mexican regional and reggaeton music, including by the expected headliners Latin Mafia, Jhayco, Jessie Reyez and Sean Paul. More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories: nation & world Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., pauses for questions from reporters before votes on the immigration enforcement funding package, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) The Senate passed legislation to fund President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies early this morning, after weeks of delays
and fierce backlash to an unrelated $1.776 billion settlement fund that threatened to derail the bill. Senators voted 52-47 to pass the $70 billion legislation to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol for the next three years, through the end of Trump’s term, after Democrats have blocked the money for months. The bill will now head to the House, which is expected to take it up next week. More top stories from around the world: | 
