Get the latest news headlines from around Illinois.
NBC Chicago: Illinois Offering $10M in Lottery for Residents Who Get COVID Vaccine
A new vaccine lottery in Illinois will offer a total of $10 million in total prize money to residents who get vaccinated against COVID-19, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Thursday.
The “All In for the Win” lottery will give out the $10 million in the form of $7 million in cash prizes for adults and $3 million in scholarships for youth, all distributed through weekly drawings, Pritzker said.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a $42 billion spending plan for Illinois on Thursday that includes $2.5 billion in spending from a multiyear federal relief package.
“Illinois has taken a giant step forward toward true fiscal stability,” Pritzker said during a celebratory news conference Thursday, a day after legislators approved a correction on effective dates in the plan that he deemed were “inadvertent.”
Northern Public Radio: State Government Offices, Sec. Of State Driver Services Facilities Closed For Illinois’ First June
State government offices — including Secretary of State driver services facilities — will be closed Friday in observance of Juneteenth National Freedom Day after it was made both a state and federal holiday this week.
Gov. JB Pritzker earlier this week signed legislation making Juneteenth a paid day off for state employees every year June 19 falls on a weekday, which isn’t until 2023. But after President Joe Biden on Thursday signed a measure making Juneteenth a federal government holiday, Pritzker announced state government offices would be closed on Friday to align with the new law.
CBS Milwaukee: Foam containing 'forever chemicals' used against Illinois plant fire
Government officials say a company hired to extinguish a fire that gutted a northern Illinois chemical plant used foam containing toxic compounds that have contaminated many U.S. waters.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the company sprayed foam made with PFAS chemicals onto the fire Tuesday at the Chemtool factory near Rockton, near the Wisconsin line.