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“These are not complaints coming from hard-core conservatives. This is Lakeview, precisely the kind of neighborhood that votes for progressive candidates by overwhelming margins. Yet even the most progressive citizen begins moving toward the law-and-order end of the political spectrum when they are repeatedly confronted by violent offenders who seem immune to consequences.”
A Venezuelan man whom prosecutors said was a suspected member of the Tren de Aragua street gang received an 18-month sentence after pleading guilty to selling firearms last summer to undercover ATF agents in Chicago, court records show. But Jose Vasquez Hernandez, 31, did not spend any time in an actual prison once the state applied its standard 50 percent sentence reduction and gave him credit for time already served in the Cook County Jail.
In fact, the application for a mayoral appointment to the board still doesn’t exist. “Given the nature of recent immigration enforcement, the Mayor’s Office is working to develop a process that allows community members to participate safely and confidently,” said mayoral spokesperson Griffin Krueger.
“Too much delay causes conspiracy theories to fester and undermines voters’ trust. The Land of Lincoln provides up to two weeks after Election Day for mail-in ballots to make their way finally to election boards. … Even Alaska, where mail service is more challenging than virtually any other state, provides just a 10-day grace period after Election Day.”
There were 10 on June 2 alone — with a single burglary reported in or near Alsip, Beecher, Chicago Heights, Chicago Ridge, Cicero, Crete, Monee and Tinley Park, and two in north suburban Niles, public records show. So far this year, nearly 50 heists saw $10,000 or more taken by thieves who made off with more than $1.5 million in total.
“A number of factors have led to a mistrust of police,” said Vaughn Bryant, executive director of Metropolitan Peace Initiatives. “There are policies and procedures that you know cities have that the law enforcement, like police, are enforcing that can be racist.”
“The problem we were trying to map was trying to understand the extent extent to which local governments rely on court and law enforcement revenues to fund their governments,” said Vittorio Nastasi, of the Reason Foundation. “And that can obviously create some perverse incentives when you have courts funding themselves by imposing penalties on people or attaching fees to cases that are, you know, unrelated to the severity of an offense and the way that penalties usually are.”
Evidence suggests higher minimum wage levels lead to fewer jobs. This is particularly true for low-skill jobs, often the first to decline in response to a minimum wage increase. The purpose of raising the minimum wage is to increase take-home pay for low-income families, but doing so can result in limited opportunities for younger workers who need entry-level jobs.
New Trier’s problem reflected the state’s: 28.3 percent of all public school students in Illinois were chronically absent in the 2022-23 school year and 26.3 percent the following year. New Trier’s success in combating absenteeism comes as the rest of the state still faces a crisis. In 2025, one in four students in the state were chronically absent.
With more than 400,000 lead water service lines, Chicago has the largest known inventory of lead pipes of any city in the country. Officials say replacing each one costs about $31,000 on average — more than six times the Environmental Protection Agency’s national estimate of $4,700 a line.
So far, at least six counties and nine cities in Illinois have approved data center moratoriums or regulations. Advocates and local officials worry data centers will strain the electrical grid and deplete Lake Michigan and rural well water faster than rain, runoff and groundwater can replenish them.
Three years ago, then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot convinced the City Council to ratify her choice of Bally’s to secure $40 million in upfront payments from Bally’s to keep police and fire pensions solvent and stave off a pre-election property tax increase.
Since 2022, Court of Claims awards to wrongful conviction claimants have totaled $25.4 million, according to one analysis. The compensation per year of incarceration after conviction averaged about $17,000, the analysis found. But what the Court of Claims has paid to exonerees is far less than what Illinois cities and counties have shelled out under settlements and verdicts since 2022. That sum exceeds $810 million.
The crew and the two witnesses say a white or Hispanic man with a dog got out of a tow truck first and then moved aggressively towards the crew while shouting racial slurs targeted at one of our journalists. The man ordered the dog to attack, but it did not, Chicago police said.
