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“Do you know how great it is to go to dinner and people talk about their children, and they talk about their future, and they do so with excitement and enthusiasm?” he said. “We lost that in Chicago in the last 10 years.”
A Chicago federal judge has barred federal agents from U.S. Border Patrol and ICE from conducting crowd control actions anywhere in northern Illinois as part of ongoing immigration enforcement operations, unless the federal agents can prove so-called “protestors” are posing a danger to their lives or the lives of others, or could result in a “catastrophic outcomes.”
Johnson blasted the ShotSpotter technology as a “walkie-talkie on a stick” before he discontinued its use in September 2024; He had previously campaigned promising he would remove it, arguing it led to overpolicing in South and West side neighborhoods. Proponents, including many Black aldermen from those same neighborhoods, argued the tool sped up police responses after shootings and ultimately saved lives by getting wounded people medical attention more quickly.
Little Village, a neighborhood with a predominantly Latino population, generates nearly $900 million a year in business. However, business owners are now reporting losses in sales of between 50-70 percent since the start of escalated federal immigration operations. “I feel that it’s the pandemic one more time,” one restaurant owner said. “The only difference is that back then, there was support from the government.”
California voters approved new congressional maps that Democrats hope will give their candidates an advantage in Congress. Illinois, with maps civic groups have given failing grades, could be next. Pritzker this week said they continue to evaluate what Republican states will do.
“Look, they had 33 proposals last year for progressive revenue. They got three across the finish line. Now, as a public school teacher, I will give credit to anyone who makes an attempt at completing their assignment. There’s a little bit more work to do there, right?” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.
During veto session, state Rep. Martin McLaughlin introduced House Bill 4162, the House Speaker Portrait Act, to prohibit the use of state funds to finance a portrait of any person who has served as Speaker of the House of Representatives of Illinois and who has been convicted of a felony relating to his or her service as an elected official.
The Chicago Teachers Union urged members to use a “release day” to leave their classrooms and lobby state lawmakers for more funding during the veto session. CTU members already miss a significant number of days. With member attendance in schools at its lowest point in 10 years, CTU member attendance is 10% lower than the rest of the state.
The second thwarted unannounced inspection attempt happened in July, as the OIG tried to search a city office for items that investigators believed were being stored there in violation of city policy. A city attorney allegedly told a city employee using that office to not admit investigators during the OIG’s initial visit.
The rating agency cited the city’s persistent budgetary structural imbalance, its weakened reserves after years of deficit spending and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s decision to cut back supplemental pension contributions in his proposed 2026 budget. S&P also raised concerns around political gridlock and social capital risks, like inequities in health care, public education and housing, that could drive population loss.
“Time and again, it seems, we have to remind Illinois Democrats that voters deserve to make choices and do not deserve to be disenfranchised.”
“If you’ve never been in a position to have to choose whether or not you’re going to have lunch for your children or rent, then you may not ever fully understand the impetus behind this budget,” he said.
“It has become the modus operandi of Federal agents operating in Chicago to abdicate responsibility for the people they snatch and deny having custody of our citizens for hours before ultimately releasing them, often without criminal charges,” Duckworth wrote in a letter addressed to FBI director Kash Patel.
“People that I represent in the greater Peoria area got absolutely robbed on this,” state Rep. Travis Weaver said. “Historically, the Road Fund split has been about 55 percent downstate, 45 percent for Chicagoland. Now that’s 85 percent Chicagoland and only 15 percent for downstate where the vast majority of our road miles are.”
In March 2024, Gov. JB Pritzker announced a $900 million plan to rebuild the Logan and Stateville correctional centers. The IDOC website states, “IDOC intends to continue housing individuals in custody at Logan, as long as it is safe to do so,” and adds, “the exact location of Logan Correctional Center’s rebuild has not yet been determined.”
“Greg Bovino allegedly told the court that this is his F’ing, or blank, city. No, Greg, it’s not. The city belongs to Chicagoans. Your agents have broken laws. They have acted with impunity. But at the end of the day, we will hold you accountable for the crimes you have committed against our people,”Mayor Brandon Johnson said.
“We did that without new taxes on ridesharing, on food delivery, on streamlining services, or on homes,” Welch said. “We improved public transit in Illinois with reforms and funding.”
“I think what it says is that the city is not on a good financial trajectory right now when so much of the net appropriations are going towards things that don’t improve the city, don’t improve its economy,” said Illinois Policy Institute policy analyst Ravi Mishra.
Before he left Congress in 2023, longtime Illinois Democrat, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, was also spending $999 monthly to lease a Lexus, records show. And former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger wasn’t sure why his $95,000 reimbursement over four years were listed as private auto mileage because he was being reimbursed for flying his personal plane from Rockford to D.C. and on other business-related trips.
At least four teachers unions in Illinois have threatened to strike since the beginning of the current 2025 school year. Only two of the four contracts that were ratified and approved have been released to the public.
IFT members should be alarmed: Davis Gates’ tenure as Chicago Teachers Union president has caused a major rift between the union and community. According to a 2025 poll, 60 percent of Chicago voters have an unfavorable view of the union. More than 55 percent have an unfavorable opinion of Davis Gates herself.
He’s spending the week of Nov. 4 visiting the communities of Jonesboro, Thebes, Mounds, Marion, Pinckneyville, Murphysboro, Harrisburg, Shawneetown and others. The tour, he said, is allowing him learn more about the issues that affect Illinois’ residents.
Established in 2023 and initially announced in Venice, the Illinois Grocery Initiative is a multipronged policy designed to mitigate and eliminate food deserts across Illinois. The initiative consists of two key grant programs—the New Stores in Food Deserts Program and the Equipment Upgrades Grant Program. To date, DCEO has awarded a total of $18.1 million statewide, which includes $16.5 million for new grocery stores and $1.6 million for equipment upgrades.
Loved ones have paid their respects to members of gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey’s family at a celebration of life in southern Illinois. Darren’s son Zachary Bailey, Zach’s wife Kelsey, and their children, 12-year-old Vada Rose and 7-year-old Samuel died in a helicopter crash Oct. 22 in Montana.
“An awful lot of people want us to consider redistricting and I have to say we’re watching what Indiana does. You know, we’ve been looking at pairing with different states,” Pritzker told reporters in Alton.
Among several other requirements, each Detainee shall be furnished with adequate supplies of soap, towels, toilet paper, oral hygiene products (including toothbrushes and toothpaste) and menstrual products for women Detainees; Defendants shall provide showers for each Detainee at least every other day; and each Detainee will be provided at least three full meals per day that meet the U.S. recommended dietary allowances.
“Johnson of all people should understand when you saddle residents with fines, fees and regressive taxes, it creates more problems. As a candidate, the mayor owed the city $3,357 in water and sewer bill costs and $400 for unpaid traffic tickets. … If Johnson could not afford to pay his debts, how can Chicago residents afford the proposed new taxes in his budget?”
Tolls on the Illinois Tollway will increase 45 cents for passenger cars and 30 percent for commercial vehicles. In total, that’s expected to raise up to a $1 billion a year — a concession to labor groups for losing a sales tax on motor fuel. The bill allows tolls to increase every two years to match the consumer price index. That’s expected to bring an additional $100 million per year.
Sources tell ABC News the FAA will begin cutting four percent of flights Friday and will ramp up to 10 percent through the weekend if the shutdown persists.
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