A central Illinois congressman’s exchange on Twitter with the state agency in charge of handing out aid to the unemployed highlighted public frustration with a system under scrutiny as everyday people struggle with the economic fallout of COVID-19.

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis’ back-and-forth last month with the Illinois Department of Employment Security began with a video of the Taylorville Republican in his kitchen describing his personal experience with a fraudulent unemployment claim being made in his name and his attempts to contact the state about it.

Within three months time in 2020, cannabis in Illinois went from being illegal to essential, and it is big money.

Illinois started the new year with the first legal adult-use cannabis sales. On Jan. 1 in Springfield, David Watson, standing next to a cop car, was among the first to buy the legal product.

State Rep. Sonya Harper was among the most vocal critics of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s attempt to distribute cannabis dispensary licenses through a lottery.

The scoring put minority applicants at a disadvantage, said Harper, a Chicago Democrat who is the new chairwoman of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus.