The Latest Breaking News from Arlington Heights

After closing on the Arlington Heights property in February, Kevin Warren said it remains the main focus for Bears' stadium development.

New Bears president/CEO Kevin Warren said that the team’s focus remains on building a stadium – in addition to hotels, shops, restaurants and more — in Arlington Heights.

CHICAGO — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot won’t rule out using public funds to keep the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field as the NFL team continues to pursue a new stadium in Arlington Heights.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has been barred until now from talking with the Chicago Bears about staying at Soldier Field, sees an avenue to communicate with the team.

The Chicago Bears embarked on a new era Wednesday with the purchase of a site in Arlington Heights where the team hopes to build a new enclosed stadium with a massive entertainment and residential development.

Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.

The team said it has completed its purchase of the 326-acre site for $197.2 million as it continues negotiations for state and local tax subsidies.

It sounds a lot like what the Bears want to do in Arlington Heights, doesn’t it?

More than half of the 625 Chicagoans who took part in the telephone survey said they don’t want to see the team ditch its iconic lakefront colonnades for a new stadium in Arlington Heights.

“We’re an outside team,” he said. “Our fans like it. The teams that come play us don’t like it.”

No legislation has been filed and no sponsors have been named for a measure that would create a new class of tax incentive that would allow the Bears to pay to Arlington Heights a negotiated sum for the property taxes on the 326-acre site of the old Arlington International Racecourse.