State law requires students to complete 176 days of school to move on to the next grade. With the minimum calendar days of class being 185, 10 days missed would put a student’s grade level promotion in jeopardy. But according to information from the Federal Office of Civil Rights Data Collection, almost a quarter of Illinois’ teachers missed at least 10 days of school during the 2013 school year.

Rivian Automotive is in talks to buy the entire 2.4 million-square-foot plant and manufacture there, bringing 500 jobs by 2021 and 1,000 when at full production, according to a release from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Mitsubishi shut down production at the plant in November 2015 and laid off the last employees in May. The plant employed 1,200 before closing and about 3,000 at its peak.

A forty hour work week, workplace safety task forces, merit pay bonuses and other terms are on hold for state employees as the AFSCME union challenges Gov. Bruce Rauner’s “last, best and final offer.” One labor expert suggest the dispute may end at the state Supreme Court.

A new report by ATTOM Data Solutions on homes that are valued at least 25 percent under their outstanding mortgage debt reveals that more than 500,000, or nearly 20 percent, of homes in Illinois fit that description, only a couple points better than Nevada.

The U.S. Department of Energy grants will pay for a project to research the feasibility of commercial-scale underground storage of carbon dioxide. The work will build on a pre-existing project in the Mt. Simon Formation in Decatur.

The issue of bonuses emerged during the campaign. In October, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office announced merit bonuses for over 1,000 non-union workers totaling up to $4 million.

Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration and Republican leaders are delaying a planned legislative leaders meeting Thursday in Chicago, saying they’ll reconvene when Democratic leaders are prepared to present a budget proposal.

Only 25 percent of residents in debt-riddled and least-trusted Illinois expressed confidence in their state government, while 81 percent of residents in low-unemployment, most-trusted North Dakota expressed confidence in their state government, according to the Gallup survey of 500 people conducted over nine months in 2015.

While forfeiture (taking assets with no showing of guilt) is lucrative for law enforcement, it can be devastating to the people from whom property is taken. Motor vehicles, because of their high value, have become particularly popular targets of seizures. But losing a vehicle even temporarily can precipitate a cascade of negative consequences in a person’s life, including the inability to maintain employment or even to attend court proceedings to try to reclaim the seized property.