Detectives are aware that this shooting is likely linked to a number of shootings and murders that have been recently occurring in the Champaign-Urbana metropolitan area.

It was reported two weeks ago that about 13,000 part-time Illinois National Guard soldiers and airmen, and more than 1,000 full-time civilian employees of the Guard, could lose two months of pay if Congress failed to act by Aug. 1 to reimburse the guard for security provided in Washington DC in January. Congress ended up taking action July 29.

“So far, the state has paid out more than $185 million to over 22,000 renters and landlords, the state reports. In June, Illinois was the second-highest provider of rental assistance nationwide, according to Treasury Department data…Even so, Illinois still has over 73,000 applications yet to be processed. Chicago has a backlog of over 25,000.”

“The problem is by the time their infrastructure bill is passed and the tax credits are implemented, it does not help the nuclear fleet in the state of Illinois,” state Sen. Sue Rezin said. “What we can do though, which would make sense, is when we write this bill is to write the bill as a bridge.”

State Sen. Emil Jones III filed Senate Bill 1730 back in February to identify corporations that want to promote qualified LGBTQ people to serve on their leadership boards. Jones said the measure is an important step to help move the state forward and to develop policies that reflect the state’s diversity.

You see a lot of Illinois license plates at gas stations just across the state line in both Missouri and Indiana, said Robert Forsyth, president of Moto Inc. “It’s politically expedient to say you care, but when you pass regressive taxes like this it shows you do not really care about the rest of the state or your poor.”

Illinois’ flawed pension funding system weighs heavily on the ratings of some struggling local government ratings and legislative action to date has made little headway in solving the quagmire, S&P Global Ratings warns.

State legislative action consolidating suburban and downstate public safety funds and moving Chicago to an actuarial-based contribution help but they fall short of alleviating the pressures bearing down on municipalities to achieve better-funded ratios.

From Truth in Accounting: “The IRS migration data reveals that older citizens are moving the most taxable income by billions of dollars. In fact, Boomers moved $12.3 billion from California, Illinois, and New York, while Millennials moved $7.7 billion…Moreover, since businesses are often owned by persons in this demographic, most likely not just retirees are leaving, but business owners as well.”

“Kinzinger has said he understands the fear that grips his colleagues in the Republican Party who refuse to speak out against the Trump fanatics, but this is the job he signed up for when he took the oath of office. He is defending his country and the Constitution no matter the personal cost.”

In briefings last week, CPD leaders told aldermen high-crime districts would get more manpower as rookies graduate from the academy and complete their probationary periods. It would take about two years to get South and West Side police districts — where shootings and drug dealing are worst — the levels of manpower they need.

Pritzker could have used the independence that comes with bankrolling his own campaign to govern as a pro-business, centrist Democrat looking to spur economic growth so that his state could meet its liabilities and retain its tax base. Instead, he has continued down the path of high taxes and union control that will send even more citizens packing for other states. California and New York have more space for bad governance because they can afford to live off the capital of Silicon Valley and Wall Street; with no comparably powerful economic engine, Illinois is already in dire straits. In Pritzker,

The new laws strengthen the TRUST Act and make Illinois the second state in the nation to require local officials to end partnerships with ICE. In addition to the laws, Gov. Pritzker signed an executive order creating the Welcoming Illinois Office, to coordinate, develop and implement policies and practices to make Illinois a more welcoming and equitable state for immigrants and refugees.

Currently, three Illinois counties — Kankakee, Pulaski and McHenry — have such agreements at local jails and house roughly 260 immigrant detainees overall, according to ICE.

The legislation also strengthens existing state law requiring communities with limited stock of affordable housing to create plans to address their local housing needs, according to officials.