-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Two vintage loft office buildings downtown have sold to a developer who plans to convert them to apartments, and another office building marketed as a residential conversion candidate is moving toward a sale.
Among the key drivers of the health care affordability crisis is the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program. The 340B program was created in 1992 to help safety-net hospitals and clinics stretch limited resources by purchasing outpatient drugs at deep discounts. In theory, those savings would be used to expand care for low-income and uninsured patients. In practice, the program has evolved into something different — and much more costly.
CPD officials told U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer that reported use-of-force incidents fell sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic but have gradually increased each year since 2022. In 2025, CPD officers reported 3,044 such incidents — 800 more than were reported in 2023.
Sponsors said the bill also allows survivors to request a remote order of protection hearing so they don’t have to be in the same room as their abuser.
Two weeks ago, a teen takeover in Hyde Park turned destructive. Cell phone video shows a seemingly endless rush of teenagers jumping on parked cars.
“Let’s try a simple thought experiment. Imagine, for one moment, that the CTU had gone in the opposite direction. Imagine they had become a conservative union. Imagine they were organizing a May Day walkout in support of Donald Trump. Imagine preschoolers making pro-Trump signs and high schoolers studying a curriculum titled ‘Why Trump Was Right.’ The outrage would be instantaneous — and justified.”
Bailey said the president’s posts were totally inappropriate. “There’s no doubt about that. Secondly, we all make mistakes. We say things in the heat of the moment, and I know that firsthand. A simple apology and a little humility can go a long way to fixing that,” Bailey said.
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals directed the federal government to release former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore on bond pending a new trial. The appellate court also ruled that codefendant Michael McClain is entitled to bond because “he is not likely to flee or pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community” and because the appeal raises “a substantial question” that will result in an order for a new trial.
State Rep. Adam Niemerg, who serves as a Republican spokesman on immigration issues, argued the policy creates inequities for U.S. citizens living in neighboring states. “You have students from Indiana who are citizens of this country who can’t get in-state tuition, but someone here illegally can,” he said. “One question we’re looking into is whether foreign nationals could use this same pathway.”
The only cost of the program is minimal foregone income tax revenue to the federal government. There is no cost to participating states, only the benefit of more help flowing directly to students. A number of taxpayer-participation scenarios show that “even modest taxpayer engagement could translate into significant resources,” according to an analysis from Education Reform Now.
The department allowed employees to earn overtime hours while working during paid leave, violated state purchasing rules and failed to maintain a list of paroled inmates who moved to other state facilities, according to the audit. “I don’t know why the two worst-run departments in the state are the ones that deal with lives of people … We are being fleeced – the taxpayers,” said commission co-chair Sen. Chapin Rose.
Director Raven DeVaughn said the 9 percent increases have been due to several factors, including growth in the state’s workforce. Since 2019, she said, the state has added about 10,000 employees. She said the health plan now covers about 470,000 lives, including employees, retirees and qualifying dependents.
IFT spent a total of $52.3 million in 2025. Just $14.4 million of that was on representing teachers — not even 28 percent of the total. In total, IFT spent $13.4 million on its own officers and employees’ salaries.
The poll of 800 likely voters shows nearly 70 percent support the bill after a short description. That number rises to 75 percent when people hear more details. In some areas, data centers make up about 1 percent of electricity demand but are linked to a 595 percent increase in certain capacity costs. That cost pool totals about $1.7 billion, with most of it being passed to other customers.
Other large companies are also listed on the state’s most recent WARN report, including 101 workers from the Saks Fifth Avenue department store on Michigan Avenue, which is set to close. Others include employees at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, which will close at the end of the academic year due to financial challenges, and more than 100 Walmart employees when the Matteson distribution center closes.
Bowman and Johnson have a great deal in common: they’re both Black former educators known for their unapologetically leftist politics who just turned 50 years old and have faced their share of negative press. Guests paid between $50 and $7,000 for a ticket enjoyed rum punch and hors d’oeuvres.
Sendy Soto was candid about one of the central limitations of her 137-page, five-year “Blueprint on Homelessness.”, namely, that there remains no dedicated funding source for homelessness services in Chicago. The city draws from a patchwork of federal grants, philanthropic dollars and line items in the corporate budget, none of them guaranteed year to year.
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle is directing management and execution of the Brandon Road project to be “immediately” transferred from the Corps’ Rock Island District in Illinois to the Detroit District in Michigan. “Our partners in the Great Lake States can’t allow one state to have undue influence and use it to play more games,” Telle wrote. “This is great news for every state in the region, including Illinois.”
Pritzker, who visited with the pope earlier this year in Rome, said that Leo has a “higher calling” when it comes to speaking out on moral issues, and that his remarks on the Iran conflict fit with that calling.
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
This comes seven months after the Trump administration filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking the state from lowering the cost of college for undocumented immigrants.
LaHood, a Catholic and ally of Trump, said in a statement: “Faith teaches us to show grace and respect, even when we disagree. The President’s comments toward Pope Leo fell short of that mark.” Other prominent Illinois Republicans, including gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey, were also critical of Trump’s remarks.
The Will County Board will soon consider the 600-megawatt Manhattan solar farm proposal – across 45 square miles of prime Illinois farmland – and a similar 260-megawatt facility in Crete. They’ll also reconsider six smaller projects they’d already rejected. They’re doing so after the solar operators involved sued, and a judge ordered the county to issue the