Meta Funds Illinois Democrats, US Soldiers Remembered & More – Chicago Tribune

Good morning, Chicago.

Social media giant Meta is pouring money into Illinois’ Democratic statehouse primary races as the company behind Facebook and Instagram faces a wave of state-level proposals that could likely affect its bottom line.

After putting $45 million into a super PAC last year to influence state elections in favor of tech-friendly candidates nationwide, the company has begun spending specifically on state races supporting Republicans in Texas and Democrats in Illinois.

In Illinois, Meta is bankrolling $750,000 for a new super PAC, Making Our Tomorrow, according to state campaign disclosure reports. In less than two weeks, the super PAC has spent nearly $340,000 on mailers and digital advertising to support four Democratic state House primary candidates.

Read the full story from the Tribune’s Jack O’Connor and Olivia Olander.

Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: what to know about the race in Illinois’ 2nd District to replace US Rep. Robin Kelly, why the vice president of the Chicago school board is set to step down and a look at the Chicago Symphony’s next season.

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This combination of images provided by the U.S. Army taken on May 16, 2025, shows, from top left, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of Des Moines, Iowa, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Lakeland, Florida, and Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska. (Sgt. Brent Newton/U.S. Army via AP)

US soldiers who died in the Iran war remembered for their service and devotion to their families

Sgt. Declan Coady had been checking in with his family from Kuwait every hour or two after the U.S. and Israel launched their military campaign against Iran, even as Iran launched retaliatory strikes against Israel and Gulf Arab states that host U.S. armed forces.

When he didn’t respond to messages Sunday, “most of us started to wonder,” Coady’s father, Andrew, told The Associated Press. “Your gut starts to get a feeling.”

Adal Regis, from left, state Sen. Willie Preston, state Sen. Robert Peters, Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Yumeka Brown attend a forum for candidates running in the Democratic primary for the 2nd Congressional District at St. Paul and the Redeemer Episcopal Church in Chicago on Jan. 17, 2026. (Troy Stolt/for the Chicago Tribune)

Crowded Democratic primary emerges in Illinois’ 2nd District race to replace US Rep. Robin Kelly

The candidates are as varied as the Democratic Party itself: a legacy name shadowed by controversy, a big-money-backed moderate, a dyed-in-the-wool progressive and seven more.

But the crowded field in the March 17 Democratic primary vying to represent the Illinois 2nd Congressional District agrees on much. They promise to expand health care access, recruit investment to the Southland and fight President Donald Trump with everything in them.

Chicago Public Schools Board of Education Vice President Olga Bautista, left, listens to board members during a meeting at the Loop office, March 4, 2026. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Vice president of the Chicago school board to step down

Olga Bautista, the appointed vice president of Chicago’s school board, announced that she will step down from her role after receiving an award to continue her work in environmental justice.

Nicholas Iwaniuk reunites with his dog, Shadow, in an alley near North Lakewood and West Oakdale avenues on March 3, 2026, after the Markay’s Castle of the Dogs van that Shadow and other dogs were in was stolen. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

Austin man facing multiple felonies after eight dogs stolen outside Lincoln Park pet salon

An Austin man faces several felony charges after Chicago police said he tried to steal a sprinter van carrying eight dogs inside from the front of a Lincoln Park pet salon earlier this week.

Colleen Bagley, 50, was stabbed to death at the Elk Grove Village hotel where she lived on Feb. 21, 2026. (Family photo)

Man accused of stabbing girlfriend to death and discarding her body in Elk Grove Village hotel dumpster

The argument Arturo Taylor got into with his longtime girlfriend began with words. But the fight inside a northwest suburban hotel room soon turned violent, Cook County prosecutors alleged in court this week.

They accused Taylor of strangling his girlfriend, 50-year-old Colleen Bagley, and fatally stabbing her twice in the chest on Feb. 21 with a butcher knife. He later threw her body near a dumpster, prosecutors said.

Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz is carried off the field on Jan. 2, 1989, in Tempe, Arizona, after the Fighting Irish defeated West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl to win the national college football championship. (Rob Schumacher/AP file)

Lou Holtz, the college football legend who coached Notre Dame to its last national title, dies at 89

Lou Holtz, the Hall of Fame coach who led Notre Dame to the 1988 national championship and won 249 games over 33 seasons at six schools, has died. He was 89.

Notre Dame announced yesterday that Holtz died in Orlando, Florida, surrounded by his family. Spokesperson Katy Lonergan said the family did not provide a cause of death.

Tigers broadcaster Jason Benetti hangs out on the field ahead of the Sox-Tigers game on opening day on March 28, 2024, at Guaranteed Rate Field. Benetti left the Sox following the 2023 season after eight years as their TV play-by-play voice. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

Column: Jason Benetti’s new gig as voice of ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ yet another blemish for Chicago White Sox

The Detroit Tigers released a statement yesterday saying they were “incredibly proud” of announcer Jason Benetti being named the new voice of NBC’s “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcasts.

In only 10 years, the Homewood-Flossmoor graduate has gone from budding Chicago White Sox play-by-play man to the top of the business, landing one of the most coveted announcing jobs in sports, writes Paul Sullivan.

Audience members take their seats in Orchestra Hall before a concert by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Center on Oct. 31, 2024. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Symphony’s next season: More Mäkelä, less new music and a bunch of Beethoven

The Chicago Symphony announced its 2026-27 season today — the last before music director designate Klaus Mäkelä assumes his post at the organization in fall 2027.

The Brady Bunch House, the two-story single-family home that served as the main setting for the television series “The Brady Bunch” in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles, shown on March 4, 2026, is now designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

‘Brady Bunch’ house, used in exterior shots for the popular sitcom, gets LA landmark status

Here’s the story … of how a modest mid-century home became a Los Angeles landmark.

The LA City Council voted unanimously yesterday to designate the the so-called “Brady Bunch” house in the San Fernando Valley as a historic-cultural monument.