Some ten days after lawmakers left town following a brief legislative session held along strict public health guidelines, three state representatives on Wednesday called for for a “special emergency legislative session” to address “the rebuilding of our communities and the pursuit of justice and equity.”

In a letter to state House Speaker Mike Madigan and Senate President Don Harmon, the three members of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus – state Representatives Kam Buckner, Curtis Tarver and Lamont Robinson – wrote that both the COVID-19 pandemic and the “national uproar against the killing of an unarmed African-American by law enforcement” have instigated a “state of emergency” that the state Legislature needs to address.

While parts of the state clean up broken glass or ash from burned buildings after several nights of civil unrest, some lawmakers are looking for open ears as part of the cleanup process.

From Chicago to Decatur and from Rockford to Peoria, daytime peaceful protests in response to the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis last week gave way to several nights of vandalism and looting.

Illinois road builders and Chicago transit operators are big winners in a new multiyear federal surface transportation bill that U.S. House Democrats are unveiling today. So is outmoded Union Station.

But the plan won’t get far unless at least a few Republicans join in. Democrats are hoping to achieve that by selling the bill as a COVID-19 economic stimulus measure, something President Donald Trump has talked about.

Illinoisans can now get their favorite cocktails to go.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation that allows bars and restaurants to sell cocktails for pickup and delivery, but it may not be enough to save ailing establishments hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and Pritzker’s stay-at-home order, which closed restaurant dining rooms and bars across the state in mid-March.

The Chicago Police Department has opened an internal investigation into a video that shows an officer chasing down and punching a protester following a demonstration Monday night in Uptown — a scene a civil rights group called “horrific.”

The investigation comes after a downtown protest Saturday over the officer-involved killing of George Floyd devolved into chaos following a clash between police and demonstrators. Since then, continued protests have cropped up as a wave of gun violence, vandalism and looting has gripped the city.