“To work for UPS in Illinois, it’s mandatory to be a part of the Teamsters union. After being there for about four-and-a-half years, the Teamsters just created a very toxic environment, especially for a female to work in, so I quit.”
Chicago’s second-longest-serving alderman became the third sitting Chicago City Council member to come under federal indictment. She faces bribery charges.
On July 8, Illinois will begin the “All in for the Win” lottery with $10 million in federal funds used as prizes to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations. Three weeks after the shot lottery announcement, vaccination rates have dropped by more than half.
Illinois ranked 9th worst in the nation for offering students access to full-time in-person learning between September 2020 and April 2021 – less than any other Midwest state.
A recent study by the Fordham Institute critiqued Illinois’ education standards for U.S. history and civics education. Illinois’ standards lacked mention of historical concepts and did not offer goals for what each grade should learn in civics and U.S. History.
The minimum wage for residents working in Chicago and Cook County is increasing July 1. Research suggests the rise in wage rates will benefit the working Chicagoans at the expense of the city’s vulnerable unemployed.
Illinois schools will be treated more restrictively than any other public venues, threatening students’ educations across the state. Superintendents are demanding up-to-date, commonsense COVID-19 guidance to prep for the upcoming school year.
For nearly 80 years, Illinoisans have voted against the state fireworks ban by crossing state lines each July to buy fireworks, despite threatened penalties. The state is now one of four nationwide to prohibit celebrating Independence Day with fireworks.
WalletHub just ranked U.S. states for patriotism and put Illinois at No. 45. Voter turnout, number of veterans and volunteerism were among the measures used to rate Illinois so low.
When Illinois state lawmakers and Gov. J.B. Pritzker doubled the state gasoline tax in 2019, they built in automatic annual increases to avoid voting for future hikes. The tax increases another half cent on July 1.
Illinois lost jobs in May as the state’s workers found themselves facing a tougher job hunt than workers in other states.