Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Toxic traces: Read the investigation on lead in water at Illinois schools
Most Illinois public schools that tested samples from sinks and fountains for lead as required by a 2017 state law found traces of the toxic metal lurking in children’s drinking water, a Tribune investigation has found.
But although the testing identified thousands of potentially problematic fixtures in schools, flaws in the law and weak state oversight have interfered with the goal of protecting children from the brain-damaging metal, the Tribune found.
Chicago Sun-Times: Firefighters’ pension bill could cost Chicago taxpayers $3 billion, city official says
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration is sounding the alarm about a pair of firefighters pension sweeteners poised for legislative approval that, mayoral aides warn, could saddle Chicago taxpayers with $3 billion in additional costs.
The companion bills are co-sponsored by Lightfoot’s legislative nemesis, state Sen. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago) and by Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas, the progressive champion who will serve as deputy chief of staff to Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson.
Chalkbeat: Illinois lawmakers release first draft of Chicago’s elected school board map
Under a draft map released Friday, Chicago’s elected school board would eventually be drawn from 20 districts reflecting the demographics of the city overall.
The proposal from Illinois lawmakers is a long-awaited development in the school district’s shift away from mayoral control. If the draft were adopted, the school board would likely end up skewing whiter than the students it would be representing.
Capitol News: Assault weapons ban back in place for now after appellate court’s order
The assault weapons ban that Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law in January is back in force after a federal appeals court on Thursday blocked a temporary injunction that a lower court judge in East St. Louis issued on April 28.
In a one-page order, Judge Frank H. Easterbrook of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago granted a motion from Attorney General Kwame Raoul to stay the injunction pending an appeal of the lower court’s order.
Chicago Sun-Times: Mayor-elect Johnson forges ‘Unity Plan’ to reorganize the new City Council
Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson has forged a compromise to shrink the number of City Council committees from 28 to 20 and replace Finance Committee Chairman Scott Waguespack (32nd) with Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), whose endorsement of Johnson was a turning point of his mayoral campaign.
The plan will also install Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), chair of the City Council’s Democratic-Socialist caucus, as chair of the powerful Zoning Committee.
WAND: Electric vehicle charging expansion plan heads to Pritzker's desk
Illinois is one step closer to requiring new or renovated homes and multi-unit residential buildings to include chargers for electric vehicles.
Democratic lawmakers hope this plan will significantly expand the market for electric vehicles and reduce emissions.