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Top Illinois Stories
"This is the moment for bipartisan discipline."
The city is in a tough spot, and it’s a warning sign for other cities that could be on the brink of the same. The state must provide cities the tools they need, not stand in the way.
The least popular option is the one reports suggest Illinois leaders are considering, offering the Bears a deal with more public funding than that proposed by Indiana. Interestingly, these results hold throughout the regions of Illinois with one exception: Chicago residents want the Bears to stay at Soldier Field far more than other residents.
More Highlighted Illinois Stories
"Again, kudos to the House for passing a Bears/megaprojects bill. It wasn’t easy by any means. As with the Senate’s mass transit bill last year, it was one of those 'whatever it takes' tasks. And it was a good time for House Speaker Emanuel 'Chris' Welch to start conditioning his members to vote for some tough bills as the session progresses. On all that, Welch succeeded."
This plan ensures utility companies and contractors can access service lines located on private property at no cost to the property owner. It also expands who can authorize and perform the replacement.
State Sen. Robert Martwick told the Illinois Senate Revenue Committee it is time for businesses to pay high taxes just like his neighbors do to fund public education. “Can’t you just do the same thing? Can’t you invest in my children’s education?” Martwick said. Martwick said Illinois is not properly funding education because it is crushed under massive pension debt.
To address the long-term issues the state faces, there are different approaches lawmakers can take. One solution is to reign in spending on initiatives not core to the function of the state, and bringing more legislative focus to economic growth and development, according to Paula Worthington, senior policy advisor for the Civic Federation. Another possible path forward is to again increase the tax base significantly by making changes to the core state taxes, like the 2018 increase.
State Sen. Don DeWitte said Illinois would face penalties due its error rate for missed or mistaken payments. “Do you have any idea what that payment is going to cost the state of Illinois? I have the answer for you. It’s going to cost the state of Illinois $700 million,” he said. DeWitte said Illinois’ error rate of nearly 12 percent has not changed.
The bill was filed last year after an incident in Taylorville where a 10-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a 14-year-old male student on the bus, who then chased the girl from the bus stop and raped her. The student was removed from the school for the rest of the semester but later returned. State Sen. Steve McClure said similar incidents have happened in other districts, including an assault on a 4-year-old girl by a 15-year-old boy in western Illinois. The issue, he said, is that state law lacks clear guidelines on what schools should do with sexual assault
"While Northwestern president, Schapiro pandered to the left and showed little support for free speech on campus.... Now the mob has come for Schapiro."
The youngest juvenile arrested this year in Springfield was an 11-year-old boy charged with aggravated battery with the use of a weapon. Other reported cases in the new report range from weapons-related charges to criminal damage to property costing more than $500.
With long-living smoke detectors on the market and required to be installed in Illinois, public safety officials want cheap, less reliable devices off retailer shelves. A previous law, passed in 2017, changed the requirements for what smoke detectors could be installed in homes and buildings. A smoke detector must be hard-wired to a home and have a tamper-proof battery with a 10-year lifespan.
"The desire to preserve the look and feel of a neighborhood is understandable, but property rights have been trampled in the process, resulting in little construction for the neighborhoods most in need."
The decision came in a case lodged by named plaintiff Tiara Thomas against Cornerstone Services. Thomas accused the company of violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by requiring her and other workers to use a fingerprint-scanning time clock while she worked there from 2020 through 2022.
While the governor’s plan would require municipalities statewide to allow denser housing, the Illinois Municipal League’s bill, introduced by state Rep. Will Davis, makes participation voluntary by dangling state money as an incentive rather than wielding state authority as a hammer. Local leaders have spent months objecting to Pritzker’s plan as an unprecedented state intrusion into their authority to shape their own communities.
Of Illinois’ 102 counties, all but one saw an increase in the unemployment rate.
Gov. Pritzker released a statement Thursday, condemning the inclusion of the money and arguing it should be used to help working families and small businesses who have been impacted by President Trump's reciprocal tariffs, which the Supreme Court struck down in February.
Ramiro Hernandez, vice president of public policy and strategy with the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, said the tax would not only affect big tech.
The one point of agreement between all involved parties is the need to address the current state of housing in Illinois.
The legislation would provide compensation of up to $50,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment, including time spent in pre-trial detention or a juvenile detention facility before a wrongful conviction, and $25,000 per year wrongfully spent on probation, parole or the sex offender registry.
"Apologists for the SAFE-T Act, some of whom are lawyers such as Pritzker, are quick to point out, even in tragic outrages like the (officer John) Bartholomew murder, it is the judges who are responsible for thugs like (Alphanso) Talley roaming free on electronic monitoring after being accused of felonies, not the controversial law. But the judge who put Talley on EM, John F. Lyke, cited the SAFE-T Act as a reason for setting him free."
At these parties, SPD Chief Joe Behl says they've seen shots fired, confirmed shootings, large fights, and people being hit with bottles. Police say four arrests were made in the late-night hours of April 25th and the early hours of the 26th. Police seized four guns in these arrests; at least two of the guns did not have serial numbers.
This plan states detention and processing facilities cannot be located within 1,500 feet of any home, apartment complex, school, daycare center, public park, or church.
According to the Auror retail crime intelligence platform, one in eight retail crimes now involve firearms, blades or physical threats.
Jim Dey: Revenue manager Eric Noggle noted that income-tax revenue continues to provide an increasingly large share of state revenues. He said it is expected “to account for approximately 60 percent of total FY 2026 revenues,” saying that represents a significant shift from prior decades. “As recently as FY 2004, income taxes made up roughly 30 percent of all revenue,” he said. “This growing reliance reflects a combination of income-tax rate increases, most recently in FY 2018, and the relatively stagnant or declining performance of other revenue sources.”
Retired Chief of Police Tom Weitzel: "This year, as of April 1, more than 82 police officers nationwide have been shot, according to the National Fraternal Order of Police. Ambush attacks continue to rise, with offenders deliberately targeting officers without warning. These are not random events. They are the direct result of a culture that has spent years undermining law enforcement and, in some cases, empowering offenders."
“You’ve set real benchmarks in the formula, as far as what you expect on spending,” said state Rep. Rep. Blaine Wilhour. “We need real benchmarks on what we expect on student outcomes in conjunction with that spending. Because it looks to me like there’s really nothing.”
Gerard C. Moorer, 42, of Chicago, is accused of submitting fraudulent certifications of his unemployment for 16 months — reaping $31,887 in benefits. Moorer has served as deputy district director for Davis since August 2013.
Top Chicago Stories
A review of hundreds of pages of city records and dozens of interviews with residents, organizers and experts shows that the city’s promises often fell short of reality as it failed to spend enough money to run some programs, provided little supervision and abandoned others. One home, built in 2019 on a lot that used to be owned by the city, is currently listed for more than a million dollars.
“All of us are bracing for cuts,” said one elementary principal. “How could there not be? The money has to come from somewhere. Robbing Paul to pay Peter is what it feels like at this point.” More Highlighted Chicago Area Stories
"Tuesday’s stunning revelations about former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s abuse of Certificates of Innocence (COIs) may finally force Chicago’s political and media establishment to confront an uncomfortable reality: The city’s wrongful-conviction litigation system has become a lucrative enterprise in which violent criminals, along with their lawyers, are extravagantly enriched at taxpayers’ expense, all in the name of criminal justice."
Apartment conversions continue to look attractive to groups that can buy office buildings at severe discounts. Downtown apartment rents are soaring amid a dearth of new supply and many renters putting off homebuying longer than they have historically.
A Chicago man who gained notoriety after being charged as an adult when he was 13 years old in a gang-related shooting death and later used part of a $25 million settlement from his wrongful murder conviction lawsuit to help rebuild his street gang is facing legal trouble again after being charged with gun offenses.
April’s activity contraction was driven by a reduction in order backlogs, new orders, supplier deliveries and production. While employment improved from March, it remained below 50 (according to the Chicago Business Barometer), signaling continued contraction in work opportunities.
"Some appropriate field trips for Chicago students would consist of the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium, and Brookfield Zoo—not protest marches attended by activist groups and unions such as the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda or the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)."
David Greising, of he Better Government Association: "But when I asked the governor’s staff this week if Johnson or his emissaries have been involved in the megaprojects talks over the last few weeks, here’s what spokesman Matt Hill emailed back: 'The working group on the megaprojects bill has been the Governor’s Office, Bears, House, Senate, and Arlington Heights.'"
After meeting with Johnson Tuesday, Democratic state Sen. Lakesia Collins, of Chicago, said she’s sympathetic to funding needs for local governments. But “it’s just all about like, can we get it done right now? We’re reeling in toward the end of session,” she said.
The investigation was prompted by a request last week from the police department of Franklin Park, where Silverio Villegas González was fatally shot Sept. 12, 2025. Shortly after Villegas González dropped off his children at school and daycare that Friday morning, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulled him over and, in the altercation that followed, shot him in the neck.
Evanston is one of more than 100 U.S. cities that have launched "no-strings-attached" cash pilots since 2018. However, it sits in a region becoming a stronghold for the policy. Cook County made headlines by moving to establish the nation’s first permanent guaranteed income program. While Evanston’s program is currently reliant on expiring federal one-time funds, Cook County officials have allocated $7.5 million in their 2026 budget to keep their "Promise" program running indefinitely.
The district has been dealing with ongoing financial troubles. CPS is projected to end the school year with a $45 million deficit and may have to contend with a $529 million deficit next year. Recently, CPS was caught up in a disagreement with the Archdiocese of Chicago over whether the district was holding back federal funding meant for students with disabilities who attend private schools.
Further in the deposition, Foxx admits the decision in 2022 and 2023 to not oppose the certificate of innocence petitions from a number of people convicted in cases investigated by former Chicago Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara and his partners came after high-level meetings with representatives from the Exoneration Project, a Chicago group tied to lawyers who have secured millions of dollars in payouts from the city on behalf of people who claim they were wrongfully convicted.
In response, Ald. Ray Lopez asked, "Where was that anger when the stores in our communities were under years and years of assault by criminals allowed to shoplift, vandalize, and destroy neighborhood institutions? Many leaders say it is simply an insurance matter. They are wrong. There are real-world consequences for crime running rampant. This closure is the perfect example of that effect."
For Illinois residents, tickets are discounted: $26 for adults and $15 for children 3 to 11. For an extra $75 per person, you can get a 90-minute tour of the Obama Presidential Center campus, which includes stops at the Home Court athletic center and the Presidential Suite.
The Department of Finance and the Department of Water Management have not consistently shared information about faulty meters, estimated bills, or account adjustments — leaving some customers with huge spikes in their water bills. "The range of that was from approximately $1,000 to one case study where the individual, the spike was approximately $23,000," said interim Inspector General Tobara Richardson.
"For Chicago, the result has been a steady erosion of one of its most prominent corporate anchors — shrinking office space, relocating employees and the departure of a billionaire who once poured hundreds of millions into the city’s institutions and politics. It also meant fewer high-paying finance jobs downtown and the disappearance of a major civic and cultural benefactor."
An investigation into the fatal shooting of Silverio Villegas González, who was killed by federal immigration agents during a traffic stop in Franklin Park early on in “Operation Midway Blitz,” is underway after the Franklin Park Police Department asked the state police’s Public Integrity Task Force to investigate. “When complete, the case will be turned over to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office,” a spokesperson said.
A panel of federal appeals court judges continues to agree that a Chicago federal judge overstepped his authority in ordering the en masse release of hundreds of illegal immigrants detained by federal agents in and around Chicago. The panel sharply disagreed over whether federal law gives federal immigration enforcement agencies the power to detain illegal immigrants without bond, if those immigrants are found anywhere in the country other than at the border itself.
The Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General will also be evaluating the deployment of active duty troops and National Guard members to Los Angeles, Memphis, Portland, Oregon, and Washington, D.C., according to an agency memo published Monday. It was unclear exactly what the inspector general would use to measure the "effectiveness" of the deployments.
Prosecutors said Brandi Wright, 44, allegedly obtained more than $41,000 in pandemic small business loans as part of the Paycheck Protection program for a bakery that did not exist.
Dabrowski, Wirepoints president emeritus, said the stories are extreme, they recur constantly, and the chain of decisions that allowed them to happen is traceable and documentable.
“I don’t know why any Chicago legislator would vote for anything that doesn’t benefit the people that they represent,” said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, before hinting that he may propose a new home for the Bears within the city limits.
A City Council committee determined to maximize revenue from video gambling terminals and eliminate competition for them moved Tuesday to ban sweepstakes machines over Mayor Brandon Johnson’s objections.
Speaking about the bill now before the Illinois Senate that would allow developers of large projects, including the Bears, to make payments to local taxing bodies in exchange for long-term freezes on property taxes. Mayor Brandon Johnson said, "Without, you know, a clear pathway to provide certainty, as well as equity for everyday working people, I believe that is a mismatch there."
At another point in the four-plus hour deposition, Foxx revealed that when she announced during a luncheon that she would not run for a third term, the presentation was entirely ad-libbed and she had no factual basis for telling the crowd that Marilyn Mulero “went to prison for a crime which she didn’t commit” and “was wrongfully convicted.” Mulero is now using Foxx's off-the-cuff statements as evidence of her innocence.
But the court’s records are missing addresses for nearly 10,000 of the cases filed between April 2022 and September 2025; the landlord’s address is absent for 98 percent of the cases.
Wirepoints Research and Commentary
Everybody needs a side hustle these days, and mine is Ukraine, where I am now.
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
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Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do. 
The state's existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis. 
Illinois lost another 54,000 tax filers and dependents, net, according to the IRS. Since 2000, fleeing taxpayers have taken $94 billion of annual adjusted gross income with them. 
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