Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Mackinac: ‘This is my home and I’m going to fight for this thing’
Matt Paprocki is the president of the Illinois Policy Institute, a free market think tank. He’s got a lot to do to convince his fellow Illinoisans that free market ideas are a good idea. Even so, he and his colleagues have had a lot of success. I speak with him about it for this week’s Overton Window podcast.
“I don’t want to start with talking about the negative. I think Chicago is one of the greatest cities in the world,” Paprocki says. “This is still a world-class city, and there’s huge opportunities that we have here. This is worth fighting for.”
The Center Square: Pritzker signs more than 130 bills, including allowing non-citizens to be police
More than 130 bills were signed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker Friday.
Pritzker held a bill-signing ceremony for a measure bringing about mandatory supervised release for the state’s criminal justice system. He also announced in a news release he signed a measure prohibiting the use of electronic cigarettes in public spaces.
Chicago Tribune: For interim Chicago police Superintendent Fred Waller, stepping in to help new mayor pays off in salary-pension double dip
Mayor Brandon Johnson is on the clock.
He faces an Aug. 12 deadline to select the next leader of the Chicago Police Department from a list of three finalists handed to him earlier this month. If he decides none of the candidates fit the bill — a long shot, but not impossible — he could order the vetting process begin anew.
Chicago Sun-Times: A new school year means new education laws on the books
Every new school year brings new hopes, new challenges, new friends and, yes, new rules.
This guide looks at one factor affecting families’ educational lives: laws.
Daily Herald: Suburban office market continues to face challenges, change in 'a time of reset'
The vacancy rate in the suburban office market continues to rise as companies seek smaller, higher-quality space, putting pressure on landlords to repurpose what’s no longer wanted.
“It’s a time of reset,” said Andrea Van Gelder, senior managing director of real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle. “It’s going to be painful.”
NBC Chicago: Lollapalooza street closures begin ahead of annual festival
Street closures in downtown Chicago are beginning this week as preparations continue for Lollapalooza in Grant Park.
The annual festival will get underway Thursday, with Billie Eilish taking the stage, but street closures will get underway in the days before she begins her set.
WCIA: Pritzker signs bill banning public indoor e-cigarette use
It is now prohibited in Illinois for someone to use an e-cigarette in an indoor, public place.
Governor Pritzker signed into law on Friday a bill that added electronic smoking devices to the 2008 Smoke-Free Illinois Act, which banned smoking in most public spaces in the state. The law took effect prior to e-cigarettes becoming prevalent, but the amended act now bans them from being used in those same indoor spaces.