Said Rep. Tim Butler, “But when the rubber meets the road, the draft map that they’ve put out there is going to be a very [politically] gerrymandered map to try to elect more Democrats to protect Nancy Pelosi…Just because political gerrymandering has been determined to be ok by the U.S. Supreme Court, which it has in a previous decision, that doesn’t make it right.”

The White House reportedly told Gov. J.B. Pritzker to start preparing the state to vaccinate children 5 and older by early November. Many school districts held vaccination clinics for children 12 and up, so they had a chance to work out the kinks.

When lawmakers passed two different rounds of new legislative boundaries in the spring and summer, community groups and Republicans criticized what they said was a rushed process. Those legislative maps are now in the court’s hands with the Democrat’s plan enjoined from being enforced. It’s expected before the end of the session Thursday the final congressional map won’t be released until just ahead of final approval along party lines.

September sales hit just over $120 million, making it the seventh month in a row in which sales exceeded $1 million, Marijuana Moment reported. Last month’s sales are an 80% increase over the same month last year, the article stated.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a new executive order Friday that requires people who work in licensed day care centers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing. He previously issued executive orders requiring vaccinations for state employees who work in the congregate facilities, including those at the Illinois Departments of Human Services, Corrections, Veterans Affairs and Juvenile Justice; Pre-K-12 teachers and staff; higher education personnel; higher education students; and health care workers in hospitals, nursing homes, urgent care facilities and doctor offices.

“In fact, most states don’t even address labor-related issues in their constitutions. A very small minority of state constitutions include language granting labor rights to workers in the state – yet even most of those allow for restrictions on union power. No other state in the nation prohibits right-to-work in its constitution.”

“Fortunately, COVID continues to largely spare the lives of Illinois children,” Wirepoints said in its analysis…Wirepoints’ analysis results was in line with what American Academy of Pediatrics Vice Chair Dr. Sean O’Leary said in a Time news store published in August, that “there is no evidence that the Delta variant is causing more severe disease than previous strains.”

“Rockford is ranked as the 17th largest cargo airport in the U.S. and the fastest growing in the world, with business up 300% over the past five years, officials say. The cargo expansion — a cornerstone of the airport’s strategic plan — was cleared for takeoff years ago, backed by federal funds, and is barreling down the metaphorical runway. “

Jim Dey: “While partisan advantage is a legal redistricting goal, it’s illegal to discriminate based on ethnicity…One factor that’s been ignored is the statutory requirement that legislative districts be “compact and contiguous.” Both maps make a joke of that mandate, with district lines being moved hither and yon to lock Blacks, Hispanics and White Republicans into areas that confer a partisan advantage to map-drawing Democrats.”

“Rather than continuing to litigate the validity of the September Map now pursuant to the Federal Rules (including through discovery and dispositive motions), the Court has designated the current phase of proceedings as “the remedial phase” that follows the Panel’s finding that the June Map is invalid,” attorneys wrote. “Second, Defendants request the Court’s clarification that the September Map has not been held invalid.”

There is a wide variation in how far each state’s rainy day funds could stretch, from enough to run government operations for 301 days in Wyoming to less than one-tenth of a day in Illinois. The median amount at the start of this fiscal year could cover 28.5 days worth of general fund spending.

Morton is home to a Libby’s pumpkin canning plant, and that plant cans 82% of the world’s canned pumpkin. And the USDA says that in 2020, the state of Illinois yielded 564 million pounds of pumpkin, which is equal to the total of the other top five states combined.

The unclaimed funds held by the state currently add up to an estimated $3.5 billion – with many Illinoisans unaware they’re owed that money, some now with interest after Thursday’s settlement.