• Chicago police say murders are down in 20 zones where rookie officers are walking the beat.
• The city of Chicago plans to phase out health care subsidies for 30,000 retirees.
• Benghazi, the IRS, and the Justice Department seizing the phone records of reporters. The Sun-Times' Natasha Korecki writes the cloud over President Obama's head could last for weeks or months to come.
• R.J. Vanecko, ex-Mayor Richard Daley's nephew, could go on trial in early 2014 in connection with the death of David Koschman.
• Guess who said this: "I don't want to be braggadocious." Donald Trump, of course.
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]]>• The Near South Side seems to hold the hottest hand for a Chicago casino. This all unfolds after Michael Sneed's exclusive that Mayor Rahm Emanuel and DePaul University want to build a new basketball arena at McCormick Place using public and private money.
• The head of the City Council's Black Caucus says 13 of the 54 schools to be closed should remain open. Ald. Howard Brookins warns the mayor there could be a political price to pay for closing the schools.
• Ald. Brendan Reilly says he's exploring a plan to buy back the city's 36,000 parking meters.
• Donald Trump is on the witness stand today in federal court. An 87-year-old woman claims she was conned into buying two units in the Trump Tower.
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]]>• A state investigation into a $98 million construction grant awarded to UNO has investors on Wall Street nervous.
• The Sun-Times' Dan Mihalopoulos first reported that state money was paid to companies owned by brothers of a top UNO executive. The executive in question -- Miguel D'Escoto -- resigned and construction of a new Southwest Side UNO school has been halted.
• A new push is under way by supporters of same-sex marriage in Illinois.
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]]>• Sun-Times transportation reporter Rosalind Rossi talks about the upcoming reconstruction of the CTA Red line between Cermak and 95th Street.
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]]>• Prosecutors have charged a woman with arranging 1979 murder of her husband, commodities trader Carl Gaimari.
• Ald. Ed Burke says Juan Rangel is a "man of honesty, integrity and good purpose" and wants the state to resume UNO charter school funding. The Sun-Times' Dan Mihalopoulos has uncovered how Rangel's organization, UNO, awarded more than $8 million in state construction contracts to relatives of a top UNO executive.
• Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposal to swap free parking on Sundays in some neighborhoods for extended nighttime hours in others got a less than enthusiastic reception from the city council.
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]]>• Ten Chicago public schools slated to be closed should be spared according to a report issued by a group of former judges. A final vote comes May 22.
• A bill headed to the Chicago City Council will increase penalties for reckless bicyclists and motorists.
• Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown writes Cicero is making its own pitch to host the Cubs if the team can't work things out with Chicago.
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]]>• The CTA Red Line between Chinatown and 95th Street shuts down for repairs in less than two weeks.
• Illinois GOP chairman Pat Brady is stepping down.
• The Illinois Senate has approved its version of a new pension plan, one that's at odds with one approved by the House.
• There does seem to be agreement in Springfield on prohibiting anyone under 18 from going to a tanning parlor.
• On the Bulls victory, Rick Morrissey writes: "I'm sure there have been uglier displays of basketball but most of them involved blindfolds and shackled ankles."
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]]>• Reconstruction is complete on the Wells Street bridge.
• The CTA is replacing 450 unarmed private security guards with customer-service workers.
• Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says he will propose his own version of a concealed-carry gun ordinance.
• Are you brave enough to rappel down the outside of the Wit Hotel? Some did to raise money for the Respiration Health Association.
• It's the Bulls versus the Heat tonight.
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]]>• Sun-Times columnist Bill Zwecker talks about his favorite actress Meryl Streep and about the passing this week of Chicago entertainer Jimmy Damon.
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]]>• Is the pension plan pushed by House Speaker Michael Madigan the real deal?
• The Senate has passed a new gambling bill and it includes a casino for Chicago.
• The Sun-Times' Fran Spielman reports Mayor Emanuel is meeting behind closed doors to persuade aldermen to accept his renegotiated parking meter deal.
• Mayor Emanuel says the Cubs' threat to leave Chicago unless Wrigley gets its Jumbo-tron isn't real. Rick Telander calls it "a dangerous ploy" that could turn against the Cubs. And Gordon Wittenmyer wonders where's the money for signing better players.
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]]>• The Cubs unwrap a $300 million plan for Wrigley Field, a hotel and open-air plaza.
• Three people were killed and at least 16 wounded overnight in Chicago. It comes as police tout a 42 percent decline in murders January through April.
• Johnny Borizov's trial for allegedly plotting a triple murder in 2010 is the first time photographers have been let into a courtroom in the Chicago area. The Sun-Times' Rich Hein is among them.
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]]>• Well, a parking meter deal has been struck. Mark Brown writes this "lousy deal is difficult to improve on" but Mayor Emanuel offers the good news with the bad.
• Payton and Brooks high schools will play ball after all.
• Bill Zwecker hears a film is in the works about the courtship of Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham while at Yale Law School in the 1970s.
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]]>• Payton College Prep canceled its baseball game with Brooks College Prep over concerns about safety.
• The Emanuel administration is announcing a compromise over the testy issue of free water for charities and non-profits.
• ChicagoGrid.com reports summer jobs for teens are on the rise.
• Chicago crooner Jimmy Damon died over the weekend. He was 75.
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]]>• Thirty years ago he asked the question: "You want Harold?" Harold Washington was sworn in as mayor of Chicago on April 29, 1983. The Sun-Times' Mary Mitchell talks about Washington's legacy.
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]]>• What's an injured ankle worth? This Cook County Jail guard -- who allegedly calls himself the "duty injury king" -- got $76,000. The sheriff wants him brought up on criminal charges.
• A city council ordinance to require public hearings on privatizing city assets is stuck in committee and apparently going nowhere. Unlike parking meter rates.
• Hillary Clinton's coming to town in June to headline a fundraiser to find a cure for epilepsy. It's sponsored by Susan and David Axelrod. He masterminded Barack Obama's victory over Clinton in 2008.
• The Bears get the 20th pick in tonight's NFL draft. Will the team pick linebacker Manti Te'o?
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