Konkol On 'JB Bucks' / Free Gas Details / Cherry Blooms / Wilco

I believe Illinoisans of all political persuasions aren't suckers.

Everybody can see Gov. J.B. Pritzker is putting 50 bucks of taxpayer cash in the hands of perspective voters right before election day.

With all this inflation, buying our votes should be way more expensive than that.

KONKOL COLUMN: Not Enough Cash Back To Buy Pritzker's Election-Year Budget Gimmick

Electrified. High: 55 Low: 54.

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• Get yourself prepared for Willie Wilson's gas giveaway on Saturday. Lorraine Swanson has the details. (Patch)
• If you can get around the snarled traffic near the Obama Presidential Center, check out the cherry blossoms in Jackson Park. They're nearly in full bloom. But seriously, be prepared to get stuck in Obama traffic. (Patch)
• A mom shared details on the night in Lincoln Park carjackers pulled her husband from the driver seat and got away with their SUB with her kids inside. “It happened in seconds," she said. (NBC5)
• Federal prosecutors told a judge that former Ald. Danny Solis deserves the unprecedented deal they offered him, which calls for dropping bribery charges against him in exchange for wearing a wire for the FBI. “Mr. Solis chose a more difficult path. When we asked him to meet, he did so. When he was asked to make a recording with a third party, he did it, ” Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu said in court. (WTTW)
• The White Sox lost to Cleveland, again. On the bright side, the Pirates beat the Cubs.

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For A Good Time, Click:

• Melanie Fiona at City Winery (7, 10 p.m.)
• Trevor Hall, Gone Gone Beyond at The Vic (7:30 p.m.)
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• Lorde, The Solar Power Tour at Chicago Theater (7:30 p.m.)
• Wilco at Auditorium Theater (7:30 p.m.)

Just The Links:

• The Chicago Latino Film Festival is back for its 38th year.
• Lincoln Park Zoo's renowned chimpanzee expert Dr. Steve Ross.
• VIDEO: Mike Tyson punched someone on a Jet Blue plane.
• There was another shooting on the Dan Ryan Expressway.
• "My goal is to be the best linebacker in the league." Bears star Roquan Smith said.

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— Mark Konkol

About me: Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, wrote and produced the Peabody Award-winning series "Time: The Kalief Browder Story." He was a producer, writer and narrator for the "Chicagoland" docuseries on CNN and a consulting producer on the Showtime documentary "16 Shots."