Arlington Bears Countdown

The manufactured theater is ready to wrap up!

• In the fight for a new Chicago Bears stadium, the mayor of Arlington Heights is counting on a last-minute score this week.

  Sunday is the last day of the spring legislative session in Springfield, so they have under a week to pass the bill that could keep the Bears in Illinois.

  "I'm very optimistic. I believe that it's going to happen. I think that our governor and legislators in Springfield are working really hard to make it happen," said Mayor Jim Tinaglia. "I'd like to make sure we get it done. And so, if it takes till 11:59 p.m., that's what it takes. I'm good with that."

What we've heard is that the site in Indiana would require two years and over $100 million dollars to decontaminate it to the point that every player, coach, vendor and attendee wasn't at a high risk of assorted environmental cancers. That and what we posted almost two years ago about all those businesses relocating to the I-290 / /I-294 / Route 53 business corridors in anticipation of a Bears move. They knew what was up before anyone else noticed.

And it certainly looks like Conehead is waving the white flag:

• Although Johnson wants the Bears to stay in the city, on Monday, he said his current priority in Springfield is progressive revenue. "It's unfortunate that corporate interests have dominated this particular session. The digital ad tax, there's still time to pass that, a millionaire's tax," Johnson said.

With the Bears leaving, Conehead's budget shortfall just went from "huge" to "monstrous" and he's still talking about raising taxes. Econ 101 was definitely NOT his strong suit.