Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Center Square: Industry analysts predict what 2024 holds for Illinois' real estate market
What is in store for the Illinois housing market in 2024 is uncertain, but inventories and interest rates are expected to be a major factor.
One industry analyst says the U.S. is short by 5 million homes. That is one reason many homeowners chose to stay put in 2023, leading to a seller’s market.
The Chicago Sun-Times: People say they were taken for a ride by alternative energy suppliers. How you can protect yourself.
When Ella Allen and Diashawn Wright got an unusually high gas bill for their home in West Pullman toward the end of 2022, the parents of five young children thought it was a fluke.
But when the monthly charges skyrocketed during winter — reaching a whopping $1,030.77 for their bill due last March — they took a closer look. That’s when they noticed an entry on the last page of the bill that said “alternative energy supplier service.”
The Chicago Tribune: Johnson administration fired staffers who complained about mistreatment by officials
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration fired three city staffers after they complained about how they were treated by high-ranking officials, records show.
The episode unfolded early in the administration, and its fallout continued into the autumn. It offers a window into the bumpy transition in the mayor’s office from Lori Lightfoot to Johnson.
WTTW: Analyzing Ex-Ald. Ed Burke’s Conviction: Feds Proved Corruption — But Why Did Accountability Take Decades?
One of the last recordings played by prosecutors in the landmark corruption trial of former Ald. Ed Burke didn’t include any of the indelible turns of phrase now enshrined in Chicago’s political corruption hall of shame.
But the June 2017 conversation between Burke and Gery Chico, who once led the Chicago Board of Education, is perhaps more revealing than the former alderperson’s infamous inquiry about whether the tuna has been secured.
The Center Square: Pritzker issues 18th 30-day migrant disaster proclamation
Illinois has been under some form of a gubernatorial disaster proclamation for most of the past four years, giving the Pritzker administration sweeping emergency powers to spend taxpayer dollars. Some are looking for a change.
Since September 2022, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has issued 30-day disaster proclamations addressing the ongoing migrant crisis. His most recent proclamation expired Monday. Friday, he issued his 18th disaster proclamation.
The Chicago Tribune: City Council ethics package could face uphill fight without Johnson in the lead
In the wake of former Ald. Edward Burke’s blockbuster racketeering conviction, his onetime colleagues on the Chicago City Council are faced with a choice: whether to hold themselves to tougher ethical standards.
They’re largely weighing that decision without input from Mayor Brandon Johnson, who, unlike his predecessor, is taking a hands-off approach to anti-corruption reforms.
NBC Chicago: Harvey residents demand answers after tenants allege they were trapped in apartments
Residents at an apartment building in south suburban Harvey made a plea for answers on Sunday following allegations multiple units were boarded up, trapping residents inside.
Genevieve Tyler, who resides at the building near 145th and South Halsted, said she heard workers outside on Friday and quickly realized they were nailing pieces of wood to windows and doors.
Daily Herald: Migrant influx: What suburban communities are doing as buses carrying asylum-seekers stop in their towns
Days before Christmas, Aurora’s Deputy Mayor Guillermo Trujillo received a call.
Buses with migrants seeking asylum had arrived at the Aurora Transportation Center. The first one dropped off its passengers so they could catch the train to Chicago, but by the time Trujillo got to the center, a second bus already was there.
WCIA: New Illinois law allows 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote
When you turn 16, you might head to a DMV facility to get your driver’s license so you can get behind the wheel and hit the roads on your own.
But that’s not the only thing teens can do when they go to get their license. Now, 16-year-olds in Illinois can prepare to exercise their civic duty and pre-register to vote because of a new state law that went into effect Jan. 1.