Springfield News
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Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday said he supports Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s effort to review the 81-month sentence handed down earlier this month to former Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke for the second-degree murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014. The Pritzker administration also said Monday that AFSCME members who had been denied step increases since 2015 will begin seeing their pay rise starting April 1. Meanwhile, the new head of the Department of Agriculture shares Pritzker’s desire for an expansion of broadband service in Illinois, calling it a top priority.
Gov. JB Pritzker talks to reporters in Springfield last week. [BlueRoomStream]
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The Illinois Supreme Court on Friday found a 14-year-old boy was “aggrieved” when Six Flags Great America took his fingerprints in 2014 without the consent of a parent — a decision that will have major effects on dozens of other cases pending that hinge on the interpretation of Illinois’ strongest-in-the-nation biometric privacy law.
The "Superman" rollercoaster at Six Flags Great America. [Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]
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A sign urging Gov. Bruce Rauner to keep negotiating on a contract with AFSCME is displayed in the window of the union's Springfield office on February 23, 2017 — the same day the union authorized a strike, which never ended up happening.
After dedicating his first full day on the job to repairing the damage caused by former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration with state labor unions, Gov. JB Pritzker late Thursday asked for more time to decide his administration’s next step in a long-running lawsuit. -
Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday ordered a review of state spending on immigrant services, alleging there was reason to believe former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration had intentionally held back funds earmarked to help immigrants. Meanwhile, a new report from Columbia University found that Black “emerging adults” are “incarcerated at a rate 9.4 times greater than their white peers in Illinois.” The state has also fined 117 nursing homes for violations during the last three months of 2018, the Department of Public Health said Thursday.
Gov. JB Pritzker signs an executive order on immigration spending at an Aurora immigrant welcoming center on Thursday. [Hannah Meisel/The Daily Line]
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Gov. JB Pritzker’s ninth full day on the job included signing yet another executive order designed to set the stage for his progressive vision for the state and rebuke of President Donald Trump. At the same time, Pritzker’s administration is also dealing with its first crisis as a resident of the Veterans’ Home in Manteno has died after contracting Legionnaires’ Disease. Gov. JB Pritzker talks to reporters in Springfield on Wednesday. [BlueRoomStream]
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A six-year battle against a Chicago ordinance targeted at food trucks is on its last legs as the Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in a case that food truck owners have already lost twice.
The Illinois Supreme Court building in Springfield on Nov. 29, 2018. [Hannah Meisel/The Daily Line]
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The State Board of Elections unanimously voted Tuesday to end Illinois’ participation in the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program, a system designed to prevent alleged voter fraud, and one that has grabbed headlines in recent years, accused of putting voters’ data and voter eligibility at risk.
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New State Reps. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) and Rabbi Mark Kalish (D-Chicago) were appointed and sworn in over the weekend.
The Illinois House has two new members as of this weekend who were appointed to replace former House members Christian Mitchell (D-Chicago), who is now serving in Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration, and Lou Lang (D-Skokie), who left the General Assembly earlier this month to join statehouse veteran Nancy Kimme’s lobbying firm.
