The Illinois House unanimously approved a bill making Juneteenth a holiday in Illinois, and it now awaits the governor’s signature.
Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Center Square: Democrats revise legislative maps
Democrats put out revised legislative maps for redrawing the state’s political boundaries Thursday afternoon that they say factors in feedback from residents and advocacy groups.
“After 50 public hearings across the state and listening to hours of testimony, the House and Senate Democrats have put together a product our state can be proud of,” said state Rep. Lisa Hernandez, chair of the House Redistricting Committee. “What should stand out about this proposed map is how similar districts look compared to our current map.
Associated Press: Former state senator pleads not guilty to new tax charge
Former Illinois state Sen. Annazette Collins pleaded not guilty Thursday to new charges linked to an ongoing federal bribery investigation connected to Commonwealth Edison and state politics.
A lawyer for Collins entered a not guilty plea to a charge of filing a false individual income tax return for the calendar year 2018. Prosecutors allege Collins falsely claimed $31,830 in travel expenses for that year.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Lawmakers send Juneteenth bill to Pritzker, marking day as annual Illinois state holiday
Senate Bill 1965 would make June 19 an annual state holiday to commemorate the day that enslaved people in Texas learned they were free — over two years after President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Chicago Tribune: Carryout cocktail laws are set to expire next week in Illinois and Chicago. Here’s what’s being done to extend them.
With the clock ticking on carryout cocktails in Chicago and Illinois, restaurant and bar owners who used the temporary laws to stay afloat amid the grueling COVID-19 pandemic are getting anxious.
“My entire business is carryout at the moment, but I would say we’re around 70% (of that coming from) carryout cocktails,” said Julia Momose, the award-winning mixologist who co-owns Bar Kumiko in the West Loop and spearheaded the Cocktails For Hope campaign last year. “What are we supposed to do? We need that guidance, and we need it now.”
Chicago Tribune: Editorial: Pro-union lawmaker pushes bill that would crush an Illinois success story
One of the strongest cogs in Illinois’ economic engine is an industry that isn’t necessarily a household name. Data centers.
They pretty much do what their name suggests. They’re climate-controlled buildings that warehouse massive tranches of gigabits inside clusters of servers and data storage systems. Data centers play a role in everything from email and e-commerce to gaming and data backup and management. In an increasingly online world, data centers are far from bit players.
Capitol News Illinois: Energy working groups continue amid new indictment
Nearly 50 legislators identifying as the Illinois Legislative Green Caucus signed a letter Wednesday asking leadership to make equity and utility accountability the foundation of an energy overhaul bill expected before the General Assembly adjourns May 31.
“For too long, utilities have dictated energy policy in Illinois. It is imperative that this time around, any energy package is driven by climate, communities and consumers,” the letter read.
CBS Chicago: https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2021/05/27/unemployment-claims-rise-illinois/
CBS 2 is Working for Chicago closely watching trends in the economy, which appear to be getting back on track.
But taking a close look, the weekly unemployment claims in Illinois, there were more than 19,000 filed just last week.
Daily Southtown: Column: Yes, Democratic maps in Illinois are unfair. Fix the problem at the federal level.
Residents of the south and southwest suburbs may be wondering how new legislative and congressional district maps might affect them.
Many people will shift districts when the remapping process is completed. Those changes will affect representation in the General Assembly and Congress beginning with elections in November 2022.
Chicago Tribune: Illinois schools secluded and restrained children thousands of times this year despite pandemic closures
Illinois school workers physically restrained or secluded nearly 2,400 students more than 15,000 times this school year, a period when many schools were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, new state data shows.
The data, obtained Thursday by the Tribune and ProPublica, shows that even with new rules put in place early last year, schools continued to use physical restraints and isolated timeout thousands of times. The data includes public schools, private schools and regional cooperatives that exclusively serve students with disabilities.