Get the latest news from around Illinois.
CBS News: More Democratic governors ease mask requirements: "We have to learn to live with COVID"
Illinois, New York and Rhode Island on Wednesday became the latest Democratic-led states to announce forthcoming changes to their statewide mask requirements, as more blue states begin to lift restrictions nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic.
The announcements from Governors J. B. Pritzker in Illinois, Kathy Hochul in New York and Daniel McKee in Rhode Island came just after California, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon governors said they would be easing some of their masking requirements in the coming weeks.
NBC 5 Chicago: Where Will You Still Need a Face Covering After Illinois' Mask Mandate Ends Later This Month?
Though Gov. J.B. Pritzker plans to lift Illinois’ indoor mask mandate by the end of the month, some places will still require face coverings until further notice.
According to a press release from Pritzker’s office, the mask mandate will be repealed for most indoor spaces by Feb. 28, assuming that COVID metrics continue their rapid downward trajectory.
Chicago Tribune: Mayor Lori Lightfoot text to Illinois attorney general over police reform: ‘Do you really want (a) public fight with me over the consent decree?’
After Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot downplayed her administration’s slow implementation of police reforms during a speech in 2020, a lawyer for the Illinois attorney general responded in court by criticizing the city’s handling of the consent decree.
Lightfoot fired back by texting Attorney General Kwame Raoul directly that his office took a “cheap political shot” by questioning her administration’s handling of police reforms instead of calling her first personally to discuss it.
CBS 2 Chicago: Restaurant Owner Says End To Illinois Mask Mandate Will Be Good For Business
Chicago Tribune: State audit finds lax fiscal controls at board where former fiscal officer was accused of falsifying OT reports
The State Police Merit Board, where a former financial officer is charged with padding her paychecks with extra overtime, came under sharp criticism in a state audit highlighting a litany of lax fiscal controls.
The audit found vulnerabilities in the merit board’s technology and inadequacies in the handling of contracts, vouchers, timekeeping and even its petty cash fund.