By Peter Hancock A bipartisan group of governors from seven Midwest states, including Illinois governor JB Pritzker, issued a joint plea Tuesday for residents of their states to take precautions against the spread of COVID-19 over the upcoming holiday weekend, even if that means avoiding travel and family get-togethers. “This
By Sarah Mansur Four restaurants in Sangamon County that continued to offer indoor dining in defiance of governor J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 mitigation plan were ordered to shut down temporarily Tuesday. The order from a Sangamon County judge states that the four restaurants, Charlie Parker’s Diner, D&J Cafe, Sweet Basil Cafe,
By Sarah Mansur An appeals court has handed down a favorable ruling to governor JB Pritzker in a legal challenge to his administration’s restrictions on bars and restaurants to curb the spread of COVID-19. The 2nd District Appellate Court overruled a Kane County judge’s decision to temporarily block Pritzker’s indoor
By Jerry Nowicki With no signs of slowing, key metrics measuring the spread of COVID-19, including hospitalizations, continue to push numbers not seen since April and May. The 4,742 individuals hospitalized in Illinois due to COVID-19 as of Monday night marked the highest number since May 8, which was right
By Jerry Nowicki Although nearly 3.6 Million Illinoisans had already voted by Monday morning, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections, nearly 2.3 Million ballots were still to be cast if the State is to match the 70.56% turnout of 2016. As of Monday, there were 586,709 mail-in ballots
By Jerry Nowicki Two more of the 11 regions of the State’s COVID-19 mitigation plan have reached a threshold necessitating increased restrictions, joining two other regions which remain above the key metric. Will and Kankakee Counties in Region 7 and DuPage and Kane Counties in Region 8 will be closed
By Jerry Nowicki The longest-serving State legislative speaker in U.S. history will have a challenger from his own party in January. The Thursday announcement that representative Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, would challenge Chicago Democrat Michael Madigan as Illinois house speaker came just an hour before Republicans called a news conference to
By Raymon Troncoso Several State-regulated utilities have voluntarily extended a moratorium on disconnections into next year after requests from the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). The ICC announced that Nicor Gas and Liberty Utilities have agreed to halt shutoffs due to missed or late payments for all residential customers until March
By Sarah Mansur Illinois House Republicans on a special committee investigating House speaker, Michael Madigan, in his role in a bribery scheme involving Commonwealth Edison sought to tie the longtime leader directly to the $1.3 Million in payments over nearly a decade made by the utility giant to his associates.
By Rebecca Anzel Four Republican lawmakers implored the co-leaders of a bipartisan, bicameral and multi-branch panel designed to present ethics and lobbying reform proposals to restart meetings that have stalled since the novel coronavirus outbreak. The call, made during an online news conference Monday by the Joint Commission on Ethics
By Rebecca Anzel Ten frustrated Republican Party senators demanded governor JB Pritzker allow State offices tasked with processing unemployment claims to reopen in a letter sent exactly five months after Illinois’ first stay-at-home order was issued. The Department of Employment Security was widely reported to struggle with the historic influx
By Raymon Troncoso The Illinois Department of Human Services said the State is poised to have one of the top census response rates in the country despite two tumultuous months of changing deadlines as determined by the Donald Trump administration. Illinois sits at a 69.1% self-response rate as of Thursday,
By Rebecca Anzel Statues of two slave-owning men with historical ties to Illinois will be moved from the Statehouse grounds in Springfield to a secure storage site, a panel of four officials voted Wednesday, Aug. 19 morning. The decision comes almost six weeks after house speaker Michael Madigan asked the
By Peter Hancock A legislative panel that oversees the State’s administrative rulemaking process voted along partisan lines to allow governor JB Pritzker’s emergency rule to enforce mask-wearing and other public health orders to move forward. That decision came from the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, or JCAR, a
By Rebecca Anzel A group of Commonwealth Edison ratepayers asked a federal judge Monday to force the utility company, House speaker Michael Madigan, and others to pay “at least” $450 Million to be split among all those affected by an alleged extortion scandal. The number of affected ratepayers could rise
By Peter Hancock Financial aid is about to start flowing for Illinois businesses that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity published emergency rules this week to implement the Business Interruption Grant program, or BIG. Those rules took effect July 21 when they
By Jerry Nowicki COVID-19 cases are on the rise throughout the State and governor JB Pritzker is hoping a new $5 Million State advertising campaign will help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus by encouraging use of face coverings. Pritzker announced the campaign, which has the tagline “It only
By Jerry Nowicki The State Wednesday, July 29 released new guidelines for youth and recreational sports that will drastically limit allowable activities based on the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus. Governor JB Pritzker announced the new guidelines at a COVID-19-related news conference in Chicago Wednesday, calling it a “situation
By Jerry Nowick The Illinois Department of Public Health announced another 1,076 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Illinois Tuesday as the rolling, seven-day test positivity rate remained at 3.8%. IDPH reported that the rolling positivity rate in Region 4 of the state’s COVID-19 mitigation plan, which includes the Metro East
As one who scribbles largely about things Illinois, I feel almost obligated to observe on the bombshell, certainly for the small fraternity that follows Illinois politics, news that utility ComEd has agreed to pay a $200 Million fine for bribery of Illinois officials. The announcement by the U.S. attorney’s office
