Margaret Vaughn, government affairs director for the Illinois Funeral Director’s Association, said the bill would correct a law forcing thousands on Medicaid in nursing homes to cash in life insurance policies prematurely, for pennies on the dollar.
Prosecutors say one of the gun-detecting dogs was on duty Monday afternoon when Derrick Latham, 23, walked into Neiman Marcus. Security officers stopped Latham and allegedly found a loaded 9-millimeter handgun in his waistband. They also recovered the stolen merchandise worth $995, five suspected Xanax pills, and 16 counterfeit $100 bills, Assistant State’s Attorney Loukas Kalliantasis alleged.
The legislation directs state pension funds to eliminate any investments in Russian-based companies, prepares the state to accept Ukrainian refugees and sets up a group to study Russian money-laundering in Illinois real estate.
Some advocates are still calling for more reforms at DCFS, including enhanced training, and sending frontline workers out in teams of two.
The news conference was the third in as many session days held by Democrats to tout public safety proposals.
If union leaders don’t like a specific state provision – such as background checks for government workers – they can simply contradict the law in the union contract. Whatever language is in the union contract wins out.
“…(I)n a straightforward question as to whether Chicago has too few police, the right amount, or too many, 64% said we have too few, 19% said we have the right amount, and just 10% said we have too many. Breaking out the results by race, Blacks were most likely to say we don’t have enough police.”
Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert said the department is in violation of the B.H. consent decree. That’s a a federal class action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against DCFS back in 1988.
Hosted by the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, “Makers Madness” is a bracket-style online tournament in which voters get to decide which product is The Coolest Thing Made in Illinois. The competition celebrates the work of manufacturers across Illinois. More than 400 products were nominated for the 2022 title.
Chicago aldermen called on the Illinois General Assemble to pass a bill introduced to the House Friday. The aldermen said they are working on their own resolution on the local level.
Governor JB Pritzker has officially signed legislation giving vaccinated public school teachers and staff members paid time off if they contract COVID-19. The bill was a compromise piece of legislation born from the Chicago Teachers Union walkout in January.
The poll shows minority-owned businesses are having more challenges with the increase in gas prices, as 74% reported a very significant negative impact on their business growth. However, veterans aren’t far behind with 70% of those businesses also struggling with high gasoline prices.
When the Local Reparations Housing program passed in 2021, it prioritized residents who could qualify as “ancestors,” defined as African Americans currently living in Evanston that could prove they were residents between 1919 and 1969. People whose families were hindered by Evanston’s housing discrimination, causing them to move and not return, would not qualify.
For the fourth time in five days, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is offering a multi-million-dollar giveaway to Chicago residents in advance of a mayoral election that’s now less than a year away.
Out-of-school suspensions are on the increase, but the number of clinicians to deal with student emotional problems has decreased, according to comments at an Evanston/Skokie District 65 school board committee meeting.
A letter sent to the State Board of Elections by campaign attorney, John Fogarty acknowledged the violation and blamed it on the printer who sent the mailing. Fogarty’s letter said the placement of the postal permit used on the piece covered up the required disclosure of who paid for the mailing.
“Yet for all her unforced errors in office, Ms. Lightfoot has proved useful as a distraction for the dysfunction of the Chicago City Council. Once a deliberative body, the city’s legislative chamber has been debased and increasingly taken on the appearance of a theater production in which its members perform far fewer legislative duties than ever before.”
According to the latest data, gas prices have gone down by six cents per gallon in the last week, dropping to an average of $4.431 a gallon in Illinois. That’s still higher than the national average, which currently stands at $4.189 per gallon.
“People would love to see the Bears come, but they don’t want their property taxes to increase, and they don’t want traffic nightmares,” Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes said. “We’re still in the process of evaluating what we might be able to do from a financial perspective. … We want to make this happen, so we’ll have to see what their needs and our abilities are, and try to balance the two.”
POBs are bad for a slew of reasons, but the biggest one is that they help shove Illinois’ decades-long overpromised pension mess entirely on to taxpayers. Pensioners get protected and taxpayers get left holding the bag.
We’ve reached a breaking point on crime in Illinois. In response, lawmakers have introduced legislation to create a Crime Reduction Task Force that would “develop and propose ways to reduce crime across the state.” But they will be studying the symptom, not the disease.
“I say this as the parent of a 14-year-old, we have to make sure that we know where our kids are, that we are telling them right from wrong at the earliest possible age,” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Mark Konkol: “The DGA is spending Gov. Pritzker’s money to help fund political attacks against Irvin that sound like they’re coming from folks who wear MAGA hats, and the billionaire says he’s fine with it.”
Jim Dey: “It matters not — at least not now — that Illinois has a myriad of financial problems. Politics always trumps policy here. It will, of course, be back to reality after the election, and that could be a real bite…In its March report, COGFA predicted the state will face severe budget challenges for the next three budget years.”
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