Get the latest news from around Illinois.
The Center Square: Illinois' 'equitable' funding report seeks $1.4 billion more for higher education
Democrats unveiled a report that ultimately calls for Illinois taxpayers to pay $1.4 billion more to fund public universities. A Republican legislator questioned if that will help keep students from finding higher education outside of Illinois.
The Commission on Equitable Public University Funding, created by law in 2021, released a report that finds an additional $100 million to $135 million annually to public universities would allow the state to bridge the reported funding gap in 10-15 years.
The Chicago Tribune: Johnson to choose from 15 candidates for civilian police oversight board
A brand-new group of elected officials on Friday named 15 finalists to serve as the first permanent members of a civilian body overseeing city public safety decisions and operations of the Chicago Police Department.
The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, created under the 2021 Empowering Communities for Public Safety ordinance, plays a central part in selecting and removing the police superintendent, police board members and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability’s chief administrator. Angelica Green, one of 22 police district council members who led the selection process for the commission, said 120 people applied for a seat on the seven-member board.
Chicago Sun-Times: With shelter evictions looming, migrants worry about access to housing, work permits
Dozens of activists gathered Saturday in Pritzker Park in the Loop with a message for Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. J. B. Pritzker: “No evictions, no more.”
That was one of several phrases chanted by the crowd, standing just across the street from a migrant shelter at the former Standard Club on South Plymouth Court. They held signs reading “housing for all” and “housing is a human right.”
WTTW: 2nd Case of Measles Confirmed in Pilsen Shelter, Chicago Health Officials Announce
A second young child living at the shelter for migrants in Pilsen was diagnosed with a confirmed case of measles and is hospitalized in good condition, city health officials announced Sunday.
A team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is on its way to Chicago to assist the Chicago Department of Public Health respond to the apparent measles outbreak, Chicago health officials said.
The Daily Herald: How much of state’s capital improvement dollars are targeted for suburbs?
Nearly $200 million worth of state capital improvement grants are earmarked for hundreds of projects throughout the suburbs.
Some grants are worth millions of dollars, while others are just a few thousand dollars, according to the most recent report from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Office of Management and Budget.
Chicago Sun-Times: Biden uses feisty State of the Union to contrast with Trump, sell voters on a second term
President Joe Biden delivered a defiant argument for a second term in his State of the Union speech Thursday night, lacing into GOP front-runner Donald Trump for espousing “resentment, revenge and retribution” and for jeopardizing freedom at home and abroad.
Reveling in the political moment, Biden fired multiple broadsides at “my predecessor” without ever mentioning Trump by name — 13 times in all — raising his voice repeatedly as he worked to quell voter concerns about his age and job performance while sharpening the contrast with his all-but-certain November rival.
WCIA: Proposal to end required religious and political workplace meetings in IL passes committee
Workers may be able to decline participating in political and religious meetings in Illinois workplaces without consequences with a bill advancing in the statehouse.
In 2022, the National Labor Relations Board announced a memorandum to advocate for ending penalties employees face when they opt out of attending meetings whose main purposes are discussing political and religious topics, often called “captive audience meetings.” The agency’s general counsel wanted to reverse a previous court ruling.