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Top Illinois Stories
Illinois diesel already sits at $6.50 a gallon and Chicago gasoline at $5.14, leaving consumers little buffer if the outage extends into weeks. A prolonged shutdown could push parts of the Midwest above $6 gasoline while widening refining margins for Exxon and other operating refiners.
Lincoln College closed in 2022 after 157 years of operation. The campus has sat largely vacant since then.
"What is really telling is where people want government to step in and protect them. Deepfakes and impersonation top their priority list, cited by 62%, followed by privacy and personal data at 59%. Half want greater oversight of AI in financial decisions, use by children and copyright and creative work. Two in five said the deployment of AI in hiring and employment needs oversight."
American Federation for Children Senior Fellow Patrick Graff said the Education Freedom Tax Credit scholarships would take no money from the public school system. Gov. JB Pritzker has not yet announced whether Illinois will opt in or opt out of the federal program that is set to take effect Jan. 1.
Real adjusted hourly wages in Illinois shrunk 0.02 percent a year on average from 2018 to 2025, making the state one of only seven that saw a dip in that time. Even if paychecks — nominal wages — are going up on average, rising pricing makes the gains basically a wash.
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Del Mar acknowledged making the remark but did not apologize. When asked what he would say to Black Illinoisans who were offended by his comments, Del Mar shifted the discussion to public safety and said he would work to address violence in communities across the state.
And at the center of the debate stand questions over whether one particular recent U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting police use of cell phone location data should also be read to flip the script on federal courts' longstanding permissive take on license plate reading cameras, too.
Bears’ executive vice president of stadium development and chief operating officer Karen Murphy's meetings with Deputy Gov. Andy Manar are further evidence that despite Bears President Kevin Warren’s claim that the organization’s “sole focus” is building a new stadium in Northwest Indiana, the team is still engaging Illinois officials.
“We see the potential for industrial reuse of our high-quality reclaimed water to protect our fresh drinking water supply and potentially generate additional revenue,” the district said in a statement. It potentially eliminates the need for fresh Lake Michigan water to be used to cool the massive data centers, which can exceed 1 million square feet in size.
"One might wonder why legislators wouldn’t want to know the real cost of bills they sponsor or why their colleagues wouldn’t want the same. God only knows, but it’s standard practice here — just another example of 'The Illinois Way.'"
Jail staff are supposed to report any “extraordinary or unusual occurrences” to the Jail and Detention Standards Unit (JDSU) within the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). But jails have been haphazardly reporting for years, and some incidents were never disclosed
Not even 2 percent of the Service Employees International Union State Council’s spending in 2025 was on “representational activities,” according to its own accounting. That could be why one in five workers has rejected union membership.
Almost half of all defendants arrested in Cook County cannot be legally detained after their first court appearance. When comparing similar defendants, more were released, and more were charged while on release, after cash bail ended. Overall crime has dropped, but that is in line with national trends.
Jim Dey: "That’s hardly a profile in courage — a governor who constantly laments what he calls Republican efforts to suppress voter turnout acknowledges it is a problem in his home state and says he’ll do nothing about it."
Under Gov. JB Pritzker, Illinois’ rate has typically been above the national average. Illinois has only two job openings for every three unemployed people, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Progressive Policy Institute found eight of the 10 lowest-scoring states for reading had strong labor unions. Maine, New York, Illinois, Hawaii, Washington and Rhode Island, blue states, were among the worst.
Illinois enacted a new law in 2025 allowing the State Board of Education to award grants to districts to encourage reorganization feasibility studies. Initial legislation would have gone further with a requirement that the state board identify neighboring districts that could be good candidates for consolidation studies, but lawmakers ultimately approved a voluntary grant program.
The state spent about $43.17 billion during the 2026 fiscal year that ended July 31. Spending was up $6.11 billion from FY 2024, according to state comptroller data. For every dollar spent by the state on Medicaid, the federal government reimburses about 51.82 percent.
In lieu of prosecutions, plaintiffs are suing agents under the Federal Tort Claims Act, a civil law that allows people sue to federal agencies to recover compensation from property damage, injury, death or emotional distress caused by negligence of federal employees.
The labor union representing hundreds of employees at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center has filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s planned downsizing of the facility, arguing Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration failed to follow state laws governing reductions in healthcare services, the closure of state facilities and the preservation of psychiatric beds.
The TEAACH Act was unfunded when it first passed, but in 2025, Illinois committed $2 million to inclusive K-12 history mandates. But a standardized statewide Asian American history curriculum still hasn’t been established.
DCFS is required to conduct initial and regular background checks for people who work in childcare facilities within 45 days. Months-long delays in processing means childcare businesses, at times, have been forced to reduce class sizes because they don’t have enough employees to meet the state’s required staffing ratios. Some centers are at risk of losing federal funding due to not keeping up with enrollment requirements.
“Anytime a tax is tried for the first time ever, you’ve got to wonder why the other 49 states aren't doing it. It probably has to do with the fact that they think that it's illegal,” State Rep. Travis Weaver said.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said, “Chicago will not stand by while the federal government forces immigrant families to choose between putting food on the table, taking their children to the doctor, or protecting their ability to remain in this country."
There are 1,400 townships in the Land of Lincoln, which levy more than $750 million in property taxes annually. “I think that most of these services provided by townships are easily absorbed by other units of local government,” Illinois Policy Institute’s Bryce Hill said. “Every time we see local government consolidation bills crop up, they very people whose jobs would be consolidated lobby state elected officials to prevent those bills from gaining traction."
Last year, 21 jails had insufficient personnel. Of those, at least nine only had one officer on duty at various times, inspections found. Additionally, 22 jails violated standards related to security. In Menard County, sliding doors to individual cells “were inoperable and always left open.”
"These obligations violate core constitutional protections of freedom of speech and religion," Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich said. "To be clear, the Church’s objection to this statute is not an attempt to impose Catholic teaching on non-Catholics; it is an effort to stop the State from compelling Catholic health care providers to violate their conscience.”
Illinois' Kwame Raoul was among a coalition of Democratic attorneys general who filed a lawsuit challenging the rules. In August, a federal judge in Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction blocking the rules, but the Supreme Court overturned that injunction on procedural grounds because the Postal Service had not yet finalized the rules.
David Risley, who previously worked as an investigator under former Legislative Inspector General Carol Pope, was an assistant U.S. attorney for Illinois’ central district, and he served in the U.S. Regime Crimes Liaison Office investigating crimes against humanity in Iraq. Risley is also a former ethics officer for the state Department of Transportation, and he has hosted a podcast on crime and criminal justice policy since 2019.
Top Chicago Stories
"The state's Auditor General report recommended officials keep closer tabs on the hours these companies bill. The report also urged the Illinois Emergency Management and Homeland Security agencies to review contractor invoices before doling out tax dollars. You know, like a real business would do."
The truth is that the exoneration mania now under a microscope in Philadelphia is bush league compared to the frequency and suspicious nature of exonerations under Foxx in Chicago.
The Reinsdorf and Wirtz families, who co-own the United Center, formally broke ground on the 1901 Project’s $500 million initial phase in June. The music hall, park and garage are all slated to be finished by 2028. The initial phase also includes a 180-room hotel planned on the venue’s south parking lot.
In social media posts, the CTU said: "For years, 'where's the audit?' was used as a weapon against our union. The court just answered that question. ... At no point have the independent auditors CTU retained, nor the Department of Labor, nor the Republican-led Congressional Committee made any finding that any funds were missing, misallocated, or misused."
Included in the deal is a proposed profit-sharing arrangement equal to 5 percent of net income. That is expected to produce $376.2 million for the city over the course of the agreement, which expires in 2083. That larger payment will also be earmarked for underfunded city pensions. More Highlighted Chicago Area Stories
Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration forecasts a $401 million price tag for settlements and judgments tied to lawsuits in 2027. The figure marks a $266 million increase in the city's expected settlement spending, though critics have long argued the city's budgets have perennially undershot the true yearly cost.
While the candidate Mayor Brandon Johnson picks would have to be confirmed by the City Council, the police superintendent in Chicago serves at the pleasure of the mayor, meaning his choice might be out of favor in a manner of months if Johnson loses his re-election bid and a new mayor wants to install someone else to lead the Chicago Police Department.
"On Sunday you did more than announce your campaign to be reelected as mayor of Chicago. You used that platform to target a local Jewish business and philanthropic leader, and a national advocacy organization with no role in local politics. Singling out Jewish people or Jewish organizations as symbols of political influence or control carries a dangerous history that should be understood and rejected — not repurposed as a political rallying cry."
"The outcome sets up a peculiar situation in a deeply split council with thin vote margins: two ambitious pieces of conflicting legislation seeking to address overwhelmingly important and complicated housing rules, teed up simultaneously after months of scrutiny."
In the new lawsuit, RSUI Indemnity Company said Thornton Township agreed that their policy doesn't provide any coverage for injuries suffered by people who are physically accosted by the township supervisor, her boyfriend and other township employees after criticizing the township supervisor during a public meeting.
Tracii Randolph told Council members that real estate was her family’s way to get out of poverty. “For anybody that’s trying to make it out of the hood to get better and stand on their own and not depend on the government system, you guys are making it extremely hard, and then we have no choice but to add it to our tenants. We can’t afford it,” Randolph said.
“Our residents tell us they are left with little to no choice to either reduce water consumption to a barebones minimum or move away from the village because of the water and sewer rates,” said Homer Glen Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike. “How could this possibly be America?”
"Readers of alternative media know the hard facts. You dear readers are in possession of knowledge regarding crime in the city necessary to effectively participate in government. Tribune readers and those who consume only mainstream media do not (yet they are the supermajority of voters.) That’s how we’ve gotten into this failing situation."
Alderman Bill Conway said debt is a silent killer of the city budget. “This year we’re going to spend about $2 billion, a little more than that, on debt service, which by the way is about as much as we spend on the entire Chicago Police Department,” Conway said.
Only four U.S. neighborhoods made the list and while Los Angeles's Chinatown may rank highest in fourth place, Chicago's West Town neighborhood made the top 20 at number 18. They praised it for its culinary, art and cultural scenes, and said it's known for honoring its history while constantly reinventing itself.
"(Interim school superintendent of Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Eric) Witherspoon's argument? Students are not served by wasting money on empty buildings and the ghosts of enrollments past when the resources are better spent on teaching and learning for the 5,900 students actually there for an education."
Social media is erupting over a viral video of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson showing off his dance moves, with social media users call the performance embarrassing. "Chicago does not need another influencer with a title," wrote popular X account True Patriot Voice.
Arrests stemming from street sideshows remain relatively rare, and when they do happen, the suspects almost always come from the suburbs. Moises Sandoval II and Joshua Ferguson, both 21, drove even farther.
“I would like nothing better than if Cook Country did not have a tax system that would put us in the position of having to do this,” Orland Park Mayor James Dodge said. “You can make a strong argument that 6 and 7 tax incentives are there because of how disproportionally heavy Cook County is on businesses."
If City Council were to pass Protecting Renters Ordinance, the administration said it would take three years to implement and it would be funded by an estimated $22 million in fees collected annually from landlords.
"Where is the break on that egregious 35 cent 'technology' fee added to the rates every time we park for under two full hours and use an app that now is virtually compulsory in practical terms. Where are the minor breaks for our street fairs or block parties? Where is the modest reduction in hours of paid parking?"
Current board member Jessica Biggs, former Chicago Teachers Union political director Hilario Dominguez, ex-board vice president Sendhil Revuluri and trial attorney Victor Henderson are the four candidates seeking to become the next board president.
"When people call 911, it's one of the worst moments of their lives. They need help,” said retired Chicago Police Department Chief of Detectives Gene Roy. "The concern is that calls will be lost or as they call them dropped, that they'll be misrouted to the wrong side of the floor, the police side, the fire side, or that they'll just be dropped entirely and be missed or dispatched to the wrong address."
Despite campaigning against them in 2023, Mayor Brandon Johnson added 50 speed cameras in Chicago last year. That led to a nearly 26 percent increase in tickets but still didn’t generate as much additional revenue as the city estimated, highlighting the problem with relying on unpredictable sources to balance the budget.
Funded in part through a grant from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority's Violent Crime Witness Protection Program, the program now covers all violent misdemeanor and felony cases, including domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual assault and sexual abuse cases. Assistance may include hotel stays, food, moving expenses and rent.
Lawyers for the city and defendant police officers are continuing their pursuit of answers to fill in the blanks left by Kim Foxx's testimony concerning how and why the Cook County State's Attorney's Office under Foxx decided to allow so many people formerly convicted of murder secure certificates of innocence they needed to sue the city for millions.
Eight city vehicles have the license plate readers and cameras, while six buses on the CTA’s No. 20, No. 36 and No. 66 bus routes have cameras, said Sean Wiedel, deputy commissioner for the Chicago Department of Transportation. Cameras will be installed on more than 50 CTA buses by the end of the month.
"We need to find a solution for that because I want everyone to feel safe, I want women to feel safe riding the public transport alone,” said Aisha Khan, a Wicker Park resident.
"This past week, the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) — also known as the Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry since the billionaire donated to it in 2024 — unveiled a $22 million renovation that will not only obstruct the building’s beautiful façade but will permanently alter the museum we’ve known and loved for over a century."
"Throughout this election cycle, you can expect to hear a lot about an ‘affordability crisis.’ It’s not hard to understand why: thanks to our inability to build, rents in Chicago are now growing faster than every other major city in the country. That also drives up other costs – because many other large household expenses, like daycare, education, and healthcare, are driven in large part by the local cost of housing for those workers."
Wirepoints Research and Commentary
Ballots start going out next week and Stratton has yet even to attempt to show that she’s qualified for the Senate. She has assessed that Illinois' media environment and one-party political culture will let her get away with hiding. 
State investment totals have skyrocketed since 2015 from about $10 billion to over $41 billion and political abuse of the money has been common. The money is currently returning just 3.7% per year. SIGN UP HERE FOR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
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Most of Illinois' local municipal pensions are distressed and hundreds are deeply distressed, imposing a costly drag on the towns and cities that sponsor them. 
There's an irony surrounding the battles over solar farms in Illinois. Residents are being forced – through mandatory surcharges in their electric bills – to pay for the very subsidies that help make solar projects profitable. Their own money is being used to finance solar farms that many residents don’t want. That’s exactly what’s playing out in Effingham today. 
Summary and audio 
Much of the routine trade and investment between China and America is entirely appropriate and in America's interest. But inserting the Chinese Communist Party into America's pay-to-play system and its economic development strategy isn't just crossing a line. It's a leap into an abyss of stupidity. 
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