Vice President Kamala Harris sought to rally Democrats — and raise money — for the upcoming election on a visit to the Chicago area Thursday.

“It’s time to roll up our sleeves,” she told a group of about 100 people at a fundraiser in north suburban Glencoe. “We are not fighting against anything, we are fighting for something.”

Harris spoke for about 15 minutes, touching on abortion rights and what’s at stake in the upcoming election.

“Every cycle, we have talked about the critical importance of the presidential election,” Harris said. “This one, I absolutely believe, is the most consequential of any we have been involved in, in recent times.”

Her appearance raised more than $670,000 for the Biden Victory Fund, according to Lauren Rosenthal, chair of Invest to Elect Illinois, which organized the event.

The Biden-Harris ticket is set to be nominated at the Democratic National Convention this summer in Chicago. During Harris’s remarks, she did not use the name of the presumptive Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, whom Biden defeated in 2020. But Harris did allude to the “chaos” of Trump’s four years in the White House.

The event was hosted by Karen Citow, a member of Invest to Elect Illinois, and her husband, Jonathan Citow, at their Glencoe home. Guests snacked on veggie rolls and steak kebabs on a covered terrace overlooking Lake Michigan.

Harris offered a hopeful perspective on the 2024 election. “We are winning,” she said, repeatedly, citing successes for reproductive rights in state elections.

Attendees paid from $1,500 to $50,000 to attend the event, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by the Sun-Times.

“We are being challenged as Americans, to fight for our country and to realize, and if nothing made that more clear than the Dobbs decision, that we can’t take anything for granted, ever, if we’re not prepared to fight.”

Before the stop in Glencoe, Harris was in Milwaukee Thursday morning, where she spoke with small business owners as part of her Economic Opportunity Tour.

Contributing: Lynn Sweet

Chicago has so many fun things to do during this time of year. However, one spot has been crowned the “most overrated” and I have some thoughts.

I honestly wish I had the guts and money to spend more time in the Windy City. It may not seem this way to many, but I think the city has so much to experience and do. Regardless of the weather, I always hear about fun spots to check out.

Although I’ve never been to this place, I was shocked to hear it being labeled as the “most overrated tourist attraction in Illinois.” To me, it looks like a place I’d like to visit at least once.

And no… I’m NOT talking about the famous Cloud Gate!

Despite the many beliefs I’ve heard about this spot, I’d still go there! But, contrary to what many may think, it wasn’t the spot dubbed as overrated.

Most Overrated Tourist Attraction in Chicago – Navy Pier

Yep… according to Cheapsim, the famous Navy Pier has been labeled not only the most overrated tourist attraction in Chicago, but in Illinois.

This place looks like so much fun to me, so I had to go to Google Reviews to see why it might be “overrated.” Despite my interest in the spot, I can see certain people’s points.

Neat place to visit …Everything is super over priced and overcrowded… – Jory Fish

Pricing in Chicago is pretty hefty, which is a fair judgment especially if you’re bringing people or have kids.

Unique Walking Tour Unveils Chicago’s Biggest Architectural Mistakes

What do you think? Do you agree? We all know places that are certainly over-hyped, what are some of yours?

The Illinois Gaming Board reported $99.4 million in adjusted gross sports betting revenue for March on Wednesday afternoon, as sportsbooks narrowly missed a nine-figure haul for the fifth time in state history.

Revenue was up only 2.3% compared to last March despite a 17.9% surge in traditional handle to $1.26 billion. The 7.9% hold this year was 1.2 percentage points lower, leaving operator winnings $580,000 shy of $100 million.

March’s handle was the fourth-highest in 47 months of wagering in the Land of Lincoln and came within $21.7 million of January’s total for third. The $3.62 billion in accepted bets for the first quarter of 2024 is up 20% from last year.

The state received $14.9 million in tax revenue, and the $47.7 million collected in the opening three months of 2024 is $8.5 million ahead of last year’s pace, as year-to-date revenue is up 21.6% from 2023.

Operator taxes are a point of discussion in Illinois after Gov. JB Pritzker called to more than double the rate to 35% in February for the upcoming fiscal year that starts July 1.

Had that rate been in effect for the first three months of 2024, the state would have received $111.4 million — an increase of $63.6 million. Pritzker’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget estimates an additional $200 million in tax revenue with the 35% rate in place.

Cook County received close to $1.1 million in tax revenue from a 2% levy placed on the $54.7 million in adjusted gross revenue generated within its borders, which includes Chicago.

The city itself collected $910 in taxes from its 2% levy placed on the $45,500 in revenue generated at the DraftKings at Wrigley Field, which began taking wagers in March.

Plenty of March Madness action

Running March #SportsBetting handle by state:

1 New York $1.85B
2 New Jersey $1.33B
3 ILLINOIS $1.26B
4 Ohio $809.3M
5 Penn. $800.7M
6 Nevada $785.3M
7 N.C. $659.3M
8 Mass. $654.9M
9 Virginia $635.6M
10 Colorado $593.1M#SportsBettingX #GamblingX

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) May 15, 2024

The Illinois Gaming Board does not break out handle between NBA and college basketball, but total wagering on the sport totaled $633.7 million for March — an all-time monthly high and an increase of 23.4% from last year.

It did note that total wagering on college sports for the month, which would be overwhelmingly on basketball given the time of year, totaled $394.8 million. In-person college wagering totaled $16.2 million.

Operators claimed $26 million in revenue from all basketball bets placed, good for a 4.1% hold. That was the largest single source of revenue from a specific sport, while winnings from parlays and same-game parlays accounted for more than half the overall amount at $56.8 million. Illinois bettors wagered $349.7 million on multi-leg bets, resulting in a 16.2% win rate for the house.

Tennis was a distant second when it came to operator revenue at $5.1 million, as the house had a 6.6% hold on $76.6 million in handle. Soccer was the only other sport to produce more than $3 million in revenue, clearing that mark by $88,000 as handle totaled $43.7 million.

FanDuel tops in revenue; DraftKings leads in handle

Betting via the state’s eight sports betting apps accounted for 97% of the total handle at $1.23 billion.

FanDuel took top honors for revenue with $41.4 million, fashioning a 9.5% hold from $433.8 million in completed events handle. The $435.3 million in traditional handle was within $1.3 million of its all-time high set last December.

DraftKings also narrowly missed its top mark for wagers at $461.5 million, $2.4 million shy of its best total. It collected $32.8 million in winnings — the fourth consecutive month over $30 million — while attaining a 7.1% win rate.

BetRivers joined FanDuel as the only mobile book to top an 8% hold, landing at 8.1% in collecting $6.5 million in revenue from $79.8 million worth of bets placed.

The fourth through seventh spots for handle were separated by $9.7 million, with ESPN BET the best of the bunch at $62.7 million, followed by Caesars ($61.9 million), BetMGM ($60.4 million), and Fanatics Sportsbook ($52.3 million).

ESPN BET also took the No. 4 spot for revenue with $4.7 million, while Caesars rounded out the top five with just over $4 million. Fanatics pipped BetMGM for sixth by $419,000. Circa Sports set a record for revenue with $324,200 while posting an eight-digit handle for just the second time since launch with $11 million worth of wagers.

DraftKings at Wrigley draws college hoops fans

Bettors who had been waiting nearly a year to place bets at the DraftKings location adjacent to iconic Wrigley Field put a notable chunk of their action on basketball wagers, with almost $494,100 — nearly 70% of the total completed events handle — bet on pro and college basketball. That percentage eclipsed 90% when including the $151,400 in parlays.

Perhaps more impressively was that bettors came out nearly $14,000 ahead on their parlay bets in contrast to the 8.1% hold on basketball that netted DraftKings $40,100 in revenue.

DraftKings’ other retail sportsbook on the other side of the state — at Casino Queen near the Missouri border — enjoyed a solid March with $563,900 in winnings while crafting a 7.2% hold.

Rivers Casino paced all brick-and-mortar venues with $875,200 in revenue thanks to a 7.4% win rate from $11.8 million worth of bets. Argosy Casino in Alton grossed $592,700 in revenue while notching a 15.7% hold, with $397,300 eligible to be taxed.