Chicago Bears
Until Wednesday, I had never felt the urge to hug an anonymous source. Then I read Tina Sfondeles’ story in the Sun-Times about the hurdles the Bears face in potential talks with Gov. J.B. Pritzker on a new downtown stadium.
Pritzker has been skeptical about public money being used to feed teams’ lust for shiny stadiums, including the $1.2 billion in bonds the Bears want the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority to issue to help pay for a replacement for Soldier Field. That money would come from a 2% tax on Chicago hotel rooms that was used to help build Guaranteed Rate Field in 1991 and renovate Soldier Field in 2002.