The long-sought reform took effect on Monday and abolished cash bail as a potential condition for release, changing the way pretrial hearings are conducted. State Republicans who mostly oppose the measure still have concerns about the legislation.
J.B. Pritzker signed a bill this week requiring public school districts to establish full-day kindergarten by the 2027-28 school year. The bill also requires a half-day program.
To avoid putting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, some companies are using pipelines to inject the gas underground. But environmentalists and landowners are concerned about gaps in health and safety regulations.
The city’s Board of Education unanimously approved a $1 million contract to purchase X-ray machines that will replace approximately 70 existing machines in 108 elementary and high schools.
Heat diffusion into the ground creates high underground temperatures, which makes the ground swell, causing buildings to sink and crack, leading to tremendous upkeep and retrofitting costs.
The $3.8 billion flood-control project recently had to activate many of its overflow pipes and a sluice gate to manage the quickly gaining waters. As storms become more severe due to climate change, they will continue to outmatch the region’s infrastructure.
The city spends roughly $1 of every $5 on pensions while more than 80 percent of property tax dollars go towards retirement payouts. In November, the city had no junk ratings for the first time since 2015.
Nearly one million residents get their drinking water from municipal wells contaminated with toxic forever chemicals. For the 1.4 million that depend on private wells, individual well owners must take on the onus of testing their water.
According to the air monitoring website IQAir, the city had the worst air quality out of 95 cities worldwide on Tuesday, June 27. Alerts were issued for parts of the Great Lakes, Lower Mississippi and Ohio valleys.
A letter from state Superintendent Tony Sanders alleges that the district violates a variety of state laws, ranging from untrained staff restraining students unnecessarily to failure to notify parents and the State Board of Education of incidents.
For many lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender workers, having to stand up for yourself is nothing new, making unionizing the logical next step. By the end of last year, union filings were up more than 17 percent in the Chicago area.
Small-town advocates argue that some communities that have been written off as dead are really just in the midst of change. Lack of population increase is often not because of dwindling interest, but fewer housing choices.
The Democrat-controlled Senate approved the budget with a 34-22 vote on Thursday evening, which will allocate an additional $100 million to higher ed, $85 million for homelessness and $200 million toward pension plans.
While some have predicted economic returns of $150 million or more, economists predict that those numbers are inflated. Last time the Democratic National Convention came to Chicago, the city spent $60 million to prep for the event.
The program that provides state-funded health insurance to adult undocumented immigrants was first estimated to cost $220 million. But three months later, that price tag has ballooned, complicating the state’s budget debates.
Anthony Driver Jr. was one of the 9,000 Chicago residents who were robbed last year. But he’s also the president of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability and will help elect the city’s next police superintendent.
