Jones, 46, whose father, Emil Jones Jr., led the state Senate for years before orchestrating having his son replace him, goes on trial Monday on bribery charges alleging he agreed to help a red-light camera company alter legislation in exchange for $5,000 and a job for his legislative intern.

State Sen. Karina Villa, who reintroduced the bill, said she anticipates municipalities will push back because the current crime-free ordinances allow officials to go around eviction court.

Republican political operatives “call it like it is” on Tuesday’s election results: “Center-right candidates got demolished on Tuesday night while the Democrats walked away as the ultimate winners. Former red areas like DuPage County and Barrington Township went blue while center-right mayors in Orland Park, Aurora, and Rock Island lost (among many others). No matter how it’s spun, this is a big deal and bad for Republicans.” Video here.

“There’s no question that the mere mention of nuclear power sends chills down the spines of some — perhaps many — people still spooked by nuclear’s undeserved-but-enduring bad reputation. But people should bear in mind that nuclear power generates 50 percent of the energy in Illinois.”

Big money is on the line in a debate that has highlighted a rift among Democrats across Illinois. Hemp leaders say the $800 million industry has created a vital economic avenue for people who weren’t able to snag coveted social-equity pot dispensary licenses in the state’s troubled licensing rollout, while cannabis leaders say unregulated delta-8 sales are cutting into the legal weed industry, which generated $490 million in tax revenue last year. Both sides have directed major campaign contributions to politicians wrangling over the issue.

The bill would create a commission that would look at ways to keep the next generation of farmers from leaving. It would also look at ways to attract first generation farmers into buying land. Some strategies the commission could approve is more money from the state government to support young farmers first years as land owners.

Connie Mixon, professor of political science and director of the Urban Studies Program at Elmhurst University, said the corruption cases are frustrating to her as a political scientist and to people who care about good government. “There are legislative things that could be done to curtail some of this corruption, and yet our General Assembly doesn’t seem interested or doesn’t feel any urgency in pushing through legislative reforms,” she said.

Differences among states are tied to variations in natural resources, policies and investment decisions.

Illinois joins a growing list of states considering sweepstakes casino bans, including New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, and Maryland. … What stands out from this list is that those states either already have real-money online casinos (New Jersey and Connecticut) or have been actively discussing them over the past few years (New York and Maryland). This overlap suggests that lawmakers may view sweepstakes casinos as competition to regulated iGaming markets.

Officials from the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics say they inform the school’s athletes of their responsibilities but acknowledge they do not enforce compliance, despite the Illinois law requiring athletes to disclose all deals to their schools. The officials downplayed those failures by asserting that reporting is spotty nationwide.

Joe Ferguson, of the Civic Federation of Chicago, and David Greising, of the Better Government Association: “Our state’s extraordinary number of local governments contributes to increased costs, overlapping jurisdictions, duplication of effort, a lack of transparency and accountability and, often, outright corruption. Other states manage to deliver services effectively without this bureaucratic sprawl, and Illinois should do the same.”

Senate Bill 2086 seeks to raise the income limit for the Low-Income Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption to $75,000 for taxable year 2025. Under current law, seniors can apply for their assessed value to be frozen, but the income parameters are “low,” according to state Sen. Chris Balkema, the bill’s sponsor.