Former Illinois state Sen. William Samuel McCann Jr. is heading to federal prison.

A judge sentenced McCann, 54, to 42 months, or about 3.5 years, in prison on Tuesday. The judge also ordered the one-time candidate for governor to pay $683,816.61 in restitution for fraudulent use of campaign funds, money laundering and tax evasion.

Chicago Public Schools’ budget deficit for the upcoming school year ballooned to a half-billion dollars, officials said Wednesday, and has largely been filled by cutting administrative costs, laying off central office staff, restructuring debt and leaving vacancies unfilled.

The balanced budget proposal released Wednesday is only a first step as another deficit looms: CPS has not yet accounted for expected raises from new collective bargaining agreements with the Chicago Teachers Union and a newly recognized principals’ union that will likely be settled in the coming months.

In a show of political and private force after a horrifically violent extended holiday weekend in Chicago, civic leaders joined Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Mayor Brandon Johnson and state legislative leaders to announce progress in their commitment to funding community-level violence prevention programs.

The Chicago business community has raised $100 million to support on-the-ground programs, which typically take the form of nonpolice interventions in communities at risk of violence, in a first-of-its-kind effort from the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago. In addition, $175 million in state funding for those programs has begun to be distributed, Pritzker said.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation Wednesday that puts new controls on the state’s health insurance industry, including bans on certain practices companies have used to reduce costs by controlling the amount of health care services a patient receives.

The Health Care Protection Act, House Bill 5395, was among Pritzker’s top legislative priorities during the just-completed legislative session.

It was standing room only in a downtown Chicago committee hearing Tuesday as activists, transit experts and lobbyists hung on the words of the region’s transit agency chiefs.

Public transit has become an increasingly contentious issue as the Regional Transportation Authority – the funding body which oversees Pace suburban bus routes, Metra and the Chicago Transit Authority – has reported a looming fiscal cliff in 2026.

As of July 1, Illinois has reached the $1 billion mark in marijuana sales for 2024, Governor JB Pritzker announced Wednesday.

218 dispensaries are currently licensed in Illinois. The six-month sales total includes more than $850 million in adult use and nearly $150 million in medical sales. The $1 billion milestone was hit almost two weeks earlier this year than last year, when it was reached on July 10.

“Tiny homes” have been popping up across the United States as an option for young couples who can’t afford high mortgages, retirees who want to downsize, military veterans and homeless people. That has prompted Belleville city officials to propose zoning changes to regulate such developments.

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