Tom Weitzel, retired chief, Riverside Police Department: “Officer Preston grew up in the city. Her college professor stated she stood out in class as ambitious and professional, and she wanted to advance. She was homegrown, educated locally, female, young, African American, and stayed in the community she served — that should mean something to every Chicagoan.”

State Rep. Dan Caulkins explained he couldn’t support the hard deadlines for the mandated wage increase for disabled workers. “Let’s have the task force. Let’s get together. Let’s work on trying to find a way. Let’s look at federal programs that we can bring here for every sheltered care workshop. But before we do that, let’s not force this minimum wage on our sheltered care workshops.”

Dawn Blackman, who works as the steward of Randolph Street Community Garden in Champaign, which feeds more than 40 families, said, “Green spaces keep people calmer, getting to know your neighbor before there’s a problem helps to keep neighborhoods calmer. It’s a win-win situation, and it feeds people in a food desert.”

Two pension-related measures await action in the legislature. House Bill 4098 would discontinue the General Assembly Retirement System (the worst funded of the state’s five systems) and the Judges’ Retirement System and would allow for future members to be offered enrollment into the existing State Employees’ Retirement System. House Bill 4099 would adjust the pension age for individuals who provide various security duties for the state of Illinois.

The measure phases the policy in over two years so schools can garner funding for the change, which is more than half the state’s schools, according to state Rep. Patrick Windhorst.

The measure requires Illinois school districts, excluding private religious schools, to create and maintain at least one written policy prohibiting discrimination and harassment against students based on race, color or national origin. “A November 2021 report found that hate crimes in schools increased by 81% from 2016 to 2018,” state Rep. Maurice West said.

With Illinois being one of just 14 states that does not have a federally recognized American Indian reservation, the bill establishes that students in elementary school begin learning about Native American history including Native American contributions to art and politics. In the case of older students, darker parts of that history, including the “genocide of and discrimination against Native Americans,” are also required to be part of the instruction.

Illinois citizens wanting to sue the state for alleged violations of the constitution would only be able to file their complaints in Sangamon or Cook counties with a bill advancing in Springfield. Two high-profile cases, the challenges against the state’s no-cash bail law and the state’s gun ban, resulted in temporary restraining orders against the laws. Those cases, filed in Kankakee County and Macon County, respectively, are still pending before the Illinois Supreme Court.

Tony Sanders said the pandemic was a critical point in recognizing the importance of meeting the needs of students, and not just at the academic level. “I’m more worried about the social-emotional gaps that we’re seeing versus the academic gaps,” he said. “I actually think it existed before the pandemic; we just were not as attuned to it as we are now.”

Little Liberty, a 34-foot replica of the Statue of Liberty, originally stood atop a warehouse in New York City. After some restoration work in Illinois she’ll stand at the entrance to the National Building Arts Center, facing Eero Saarinen’s Gateway Arch. “We’re putting it up, so it’s going to be over 50 feet in the air,” said Michael Allen, of the National Building Arts Center. “It will be visible from the Gateway Arch Observation Deck.

“There are about 75,790 pieces of property in (Champaign) county, and the total tax take by various taxing districts — school districts, cities and villages, park districts, community colleges, fire protection districts and others — this year amounts to more than $451.7 million. Last year, it was $419 million. Six years ago, it was $332.6 million.”

The Illinois State Senate approved legislation introduced by powerful Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, that would rewrite the rules on where Illinois residents are allowed to file lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of state laws or seeking court orders blocking state officials from enforcing such laws or taking constitutionally questionable actions. The legislation further makes clear that it would not matter how far away from Chicago or Springfield plaintiffs may live, or the difficulties involved for those attempting to press their constitutional rights claims, as the legislation states that “the doctrine

Both measures passed the House and Senate without opposition and require signatures from Gov. J.B. Pritzker before becoming law.