As of Monday, there had been 95 confirmed incidents of shots fired in 2020 in Champaign. That compares with 100 for all of last year. There were two shooting deaths in 2019; there have already been two in 2020.

Pritzker also argued there are constitutional grounds to trash Shakman: “During the protracted life of the decree, this case has become unmoored from the Constitution. Plaintiffs are two private lawyers who, regardless of how they came to be litigants in 1969, now in no respects satisfy this constitutional minimum. They simply are not affected, let alone injured, by the State’s employment policies — they are not State employees and have no desire to become State employees.”

Because the governor has repeatedly said he wants ethics laws toughened, the Republicans are turning up the heat on the Democratic governor.

“Due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and national stay-at-home guidance, the reduced consumption of gas is expected to cause a decrease in motor fuel tax revenue that would be deposited into the state’s road and state construction fund,” according to IDOT’s summary of the plan. “It is not yet known what the actual decrease will be. Therefore, no adjustments were made to the (multi-year plan).”

State positivity rate ticks to 3.1%, apparently driven by Metro East surge

During the fall veto session last year, instead of enacting substantive legislation, lawmakers formed a special commission to study reform proposals and make recommendations to the 2020 General Assembly. That commission met several times and received extensive public testimony from reform advocates, but never produced a final report.

Like the allegations that implicate Madigan for using his power to push through favorable legislation for Commonwealth Edison, Silver used his position as speaker to push through legislation to benefit a real estate group working with a law firm that paid Silver.

Householder’s arrest marks the third time in a week that federal agents acted against a state’s speaker of the house. While Householder has significant sway over the business of the state legislature, he is bound by some restraints while Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is not.

Shoppers can add businesses to the app, and check boxes for the COVID-19 safety measures they’re taking. Are grocery stores requiring masks? Are restaurants people distanced? Are they wiping down tables?

Lawmakers last year passed a law to use both, but only a handful have been installed. Civil rights advocates have raised privacy concerns.

“It is especially important now, with the surge in FOID applications as a response to recent civil unrest that has included looting and violence. Illinois residents expect efficiency, not excuses, and they haven’t been getting it,” said Second Amendment Foundation founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb.

“(E)ven if he falls, some of the power structures Madigan has built could remain – specifically, the parliamentary rules which govern the Illinois House of Representatives. Unless members of the House resolve to change the House Rules, the next speaker could exploit them to build a similar political empire.”

Health care and pension payments rose much faster than teacher salaries did and, as a result, benefits are eating up a growing share of teacher compensation. Teacher health care costs rose by 27.6 percent over the course of the decade, well above the rates for wages or inflation, but the real culprit was teacher pensions. Over the last decade, teacher retirement costs soared by 126.4 percent.

A national republication of our Wirepoints article.

Mark Konkol: “Despite the governor’s alleged anger, Pritzker didn’t demand his $10 million campaign contributions back. He didn’t urge the state Democratic Party to oust Madigan as chairman. Pritzker didn’t even order state lawmakers to get moving on the ethics reform he promised but never delivered on because Madigan won’t have it.”

The region that includes Bond, Clinton, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair and Washington counties test positivity rate rate at 7.1 percent as of July 17 and is approaching 8 percent, the point at which Governor JB Pritzker previously said reopening measures would likely be rolled back.