Soon, some Illinois colleges may have more staffers than students. In 2016, the freshman class enrollment at Chicago State University numbered just 86 incoming students. Meanwhile, the university employed 980 staffers.

Illinois home prices, especially in the Chicago area, appreciated at the slowest pace in the nation last year, growing just below the rate of inflation. One of the fastest-growing areas in the nation, according to a new report, was right next door to Illinois.

The in-flow of Chicagoans is one of the key reasons behind the Gary area’s 7.9 percent increase in home prices year-over-year, according to an analysis of home price indices from the third quarter of 2019 by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, higher than all but six areas nationwide.

Granite City, Illinois, a rust-belt town of 30,000 people on the Mississippi River, is facing a $130.8 million pension shortfall and has put part of its sewer system up for sale to raise funds. I

Alton, Illinois earlier this year sold its wastewater system to Illinois American and used the entire $53.8 million to chip away at its $134 million in pension liabilities. Godfrey, Illinois also sold a system this year that desperately needed upgrades to Illinois America. Mayor Mike McCormick says he’s stashing the money in a rainy day fund.

“When we made equity the core of the state’s new adult-use cannabis market, we wanted to ensure that social equity entrepreneurs had access to capital to get their businesses off the ground, and we’re proud to announce that interested applicants can start this process today,” said Pritzker.