Illinois oil production slumps during pandemic – Capitol News

According to the industry website oilmonster.com, Illinois crude oil was trading at $21.25 per barrel on April 3, well below the roughly $35 per barrel most producers need to turn a profit. But as most states have asked their residents to limit nonessential travel, demand for oil in the United States has plummeted, and on May 7, Illinois crude was down to $10.50 per barrel.

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Romanian Churches Sue IL Governor for Discrimination – Illinois Review

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s executive orders do not allow worship services that include more than 10 people, regardless if participants meet or exceed the appropriate social distancing and hygiene guidelines. This 10-person limit applies to all churches, including large churches that have multiple meeting venues, like these two churches.

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How COVID-19 Could Hit Chicago’s Budget – WBEZ (Chicago)

Before the pandemic hit, city officials had already projected budget shortfalls beyond 2020’s historic budget gap. Assuming a stable economy and little to no changes in revenues and expenses, budget documents predicted a $1.187 billion deficit for 2021 — one of the largest in city history.

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Lightfoot eyeing ‘range of revenue-generating options’ to recover money lost to coronavirus – Chicago Sun-Times

She would only say, “The reality is that, when you have to have revenue, it’s going to impact someone — and probably someones plural. But we’re looking at efficiencies that we save internally first. I still believe that you can’t go out and talk to the taxpayers about sacrifice if you’re not making commonsense sacrifices within city government.”

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Mayor’s office closes Cook County Forest Preserve golf courses within city limits for the remainder of May – Chicago Tribune

“Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office last week allowed Illinois courses to open under ‘strict safety guidelines’ that include 15-minute intervals between tee times, no access to driving ranges, no groups larger than twosomes and no carts without a doctor’s note or handicap placard. Why the disconnect between the mayor’s office and the governor’s office?”

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Illinois Is Spending Millions To Fix And Expand A Troubled Unemployment Benefits System – WBEZ (Chicago)

On Thursday, Pritzker focused on the issue of unemployment claims during his daily briefing. IDES had processed more than 1 million claims for jobless benefits from the start of March to May 2. The first-term Democratic governor also suggested that he inherited some of the problems at the unemployment agency, saying IDES has suffered from a lack of funding and now has 500 fewer employees than it did during the Great Recession a decade ago.

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