Good afternoon! A Girl Scout sold her 100,000th box of cookies in Chicago. Here’s what else you need to know today.

1. Kim Foxx reflects on her legacy as her successor remains unknown

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said the close Democratic race to replace her shows there is “not a mandate, if you will, to roll things back.”

“Is this a referendum on something?” she asked. “I don’t think it’s a referendum on an individual.

“I think we have, over the last eight years, begun a really robust conversation around what criminal justice reform looks like in Cook County. And I think the electorate, even the small electorate that voted, are engaged in that discussion.”

Votes are still being counted in the Democratic primary election between Clayton Harris III, the preferred candidate of the Cook County Democratic Party, and Eileen O’Neill Burke, a former Illinois Appellate Court judge who is leading by about 8,100 votes.

Foxx said she has “no concerns about whomever comes in and does this work” because she believes part of her legacy is that “we are no longer questioning whether or not our system was broken, and instead we’re actively working to fix it.” [Chicago Sun-Times]

2. Chicago had the second-worst air pollution among U.S. cities last year

That’s according to IQAir, a Swiss technology company specializing in air quality products.

The company said last summer’s wildfires in Canada were a major source of pollution. At one point, Chicago saw the poorest air quality recorded among 95 cities worldwide, according to IQAir.

“Wildfires in Canada devastated air quality, not only in Canada itself,” IQAir global CEO Frank Hammes told the Chicago Tribune. “But [they] caused a hazardous level of air quality in the United States, where multiple cities in the Midwest and Northeast saw significantly increased levels of polluted air.”

The most polluted major U.S. city was Columbus, Ohio, according to IQAir. And following Chicago in third place was Indianapolis. [Chicago Tribune]

3. Chicago changes how it funds individual public schools

Chicago Public Schools is officially moving away from a funding formula based on how many students attend a school, a system critics say undermined schools as they lost enrollment, my colleague Sarah Karp reports.

Instead, schools will be funded based on the needs of students, such as socioeconomic status and health.

But it’s unclear how the transition will play out as the school district faces a $391 million deficit. Education officials have offered little information about how they plan to fill the budget hole, which comes as federal pandemic aid expires. [WBEZ]

Meanwhile, CPS officials say they can’t guarantee buses for selective enrollment and magnet school students next fall. [Chicago Sun-Times]

4. Pritzker will pitch Illinois to Hollywood

Gov. JB Pritzker will travel to California on Sunday and plans to promote Illinois to business and film leaders, my colleague Tina Sfondeles reports.

“Pritzker, along with Illinois film officials and stakeholders, plans to meet with major studios and distributors to discuss business and film industry investment in Illinois and to tout the state’s film industry tax credit, which helped rake in $700 million in film production expenditures in 2022,” Sfondeles writes.

Pritzker will also be fundraising for Chicago’s Democratic National Convention and two key abortion initiatives. [Chicago Sun-Times]

But going back to Hollywood, states have spent $25 billion over the past 20 years to win over the industry, The New York Times reported this week. And Wisconsin and Michigan are looking to turn up competition for production in the Midwest. [New York Times]

5. Obama worried he would be a one-term president after the Affordable Care Act

Columbia University today released a new set of oral histories that document the behind-the-scenes push to revamp the nation’s health care system, The New York Times reports.

In late 2010, after the Affordable Care Act passed and Republicans took control of the House, then-President Barack Obama told an aide, “This is shaping up to be a one-term presidency.”

The release of the oral histories comes as the Affordable Care Act marks its 14th anniversary tomorrow. And they show how Obama was determined to tackle a thorny issue that infuriated previous presidents. [New York Times]

Here’s what else is happening

• China and Russia vetoed a U.S. resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. [AP]

• House lawmakers approved a plan to avert a partial government shutdown this weekend. It now heads to the Senate. [NPR]

• Catherine, Princess of Wales, said she was diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. [CNN]

• Colin Farrell’s The Penguin, a Max series in which he returns to his role as the Batman villain, released a trailer. [Hollywood Reporter]

Oh, and one more thing …

More than 200 students in recent weeks have taken part in Chicago’s largest and longest-running youth poetry festival, which holds its big finale today at the Ramova Theatre, WBEZ contributor Michael Gerstein reports.

The Rooted and Radical festival, formerly known as Louder than a Bomb, helped nurture the stylings of some of Chicago’s biggest hip-hop artists, including Chance the Rapper.

But for many young writers, the festival offers a venue to be brutally honest.

“Writing to me, it’s therapeutic,” said Sky Sims, 15, a freshman at Carver Military Academy.

“I feel like I’m getting out everything I need to say, everything I want to say, everything I didn’t even think I was feeling. If someone asks me how I’m feeling, I can’t tell them. But I can tell them in a poem.” [WBEZ]

Tell me something good …

What’s something you’re excited to do this spring? (If you can’t think of anything, my colleague Courtney Kueppers put together this guide of noteworthy events going down this season.)

Jay Wu writes:

“I’m excited for the eclipse in just a couple weeks! My partner and I are heading to Indianapolis to be in the path of the total eclipse.”

And Jerry Levy writes:

“I love to walk in the Chicago Botanic Garden in all seasons (yes, winter too), but you have to witness spring in the garden if you haven’t been. It can be spectacular!”

Thanks for all the emails this week. It was nice hearing from y’all!