John Pletz

And when it comes to sheer patent quality among large corporations, insurance leader State Farm took the top spot, holding nearly 3,000 active patents ranging from autonomous vehicle alerts to generative AI.

You can read John Pletz's full story on the region's innovators at chicagobusiness.com. An iconic downtown Chicago office tower is on the market, not because the owner is looking to turn a profit, but because its lender decided taking the keys wasn't even worth the trouble.

Crane's Danny Ecker reports real estate firm CBRE is now taking bids for 55 East Jackson Boulevard, a historic 22-story high-rise in the loop.

The move comes after lender Ready Capital voluntarily walked away from a $62 million foreclosure lawsuit earlier this year.

United Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocellis says flight restrictions imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration will likely remain until O'Hare's massive terminal construction project finishes, which isn't expected until the early 2030s.

Crane's John Pletz reports the FAA currently limits United to around 600 flights a day at O'Hare to curb operational delays.

While those caps were officially extended through late 2027, Nocella warned on an earnings call today that airfield bottlenecks and ongoing construction mean the restrictions will have to stick around much longer.

The FAA declined to comment, but the Chicago Department of Aviation pushed back on the timeline, calling it premature to assume limits will last through 2034.

Governor J.B. Pritzker is expressing fresh optimism that Illinois lawmakers can strike a deal to keep the Chicago Bears from moving across the state line.

But as Crain's John Pletz reports, time is running out and hurdles remain.

Speaking during a debate Tuesday on WTTW, Governor Pritzker told viewers he believes a bipartisan solution is

within reach.

Cannabis sales in Illinois are bouncing back after a prolonged slump, offering a much-needed boost to the state’s multimillion-dollar marijuana industry.

Crain’s John Pletz reports that newly released state data shows adult recreational cannabis sales hit nearly two hundred forty-nine million dollars across July and August, an eight percent jump compared to the same period last year.

Total unit sales surged even higher, climbing twelve percent.

The past year has brought falling prices and an oversupply of product.

Tech giant Google is bankrolling a $4.3 billion upgrade of Constellation nuclear facilities across the regional PJM power grid.

As Crain's John Pletz reports, roughly half of that money, about $2 billion, will stay right here in Illinois.

The investment will modernize and upgrade turbines, steam generators, and digital control systems at four major state nuclear plants: Braidwood, Byron, LaSalle, and Quad Cities.

The end result? An additional 450 megawatts of clean electricity generation capacity added directly to the grid.

[upbeat music] A federal judge has delivered a major victory to prediction market platform Kalshi, ruling that its event-based contracts resemble federally regulated financial swaps rather than state-regulated gambling.

Crain's John Pletz reports that US District Judge Martha Pacold issued a preliminary injunction Friday blocking Illinois officials from enforcing state gaming regulations against the company.

The legal battle began when Kalshi, alongside crypto exchange partner Coinbase and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, filed a lawsuit against Illinois.

The coalition challenged state plans to regulate and tax prediction market contracts, including those on sports events under Illinois gambling laws.