House Bill 2627, sponsored by state Rep. Joyce Mason, D-Gurnee, would regulate the mink industry at the state level, creating mink farm licensing and requirements. But proponents and opponents have two vastly different opinions on what the bill really aims to do.

“Look, we have inherited quite the mess,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said, emphasizing that many of the lawsuits allege misconduct that occurred decades ago.

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg recommended the employee, who was not identified in keeping with the city’s rules, be terminated. But leaders of the Department of Water Management reprimanded the construction laborer, according to Witzburg.

State councils have been working on programming for America250, an initiative marking the milestone anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. But the Republican administration’s deep cost-cutting effort across the federal government has led the National Endowment for the Humanities to cancel its grants.

Illinois hosts one of the largest international student populations in the nation, ranking fifth, with more than 55,000 international students, according to a 2024 Open Doors report.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas plans to invoke a rarely used rule at Wednesday’s Chicago City Council meeting to force representatives of Mayor Brandon Johnson to answer questions publicly about their plan to handle police misconduct lawsuits.

Trump administration officials emphasized that Abrego Garcia, who was sent to a notorious gang prison in El Salvador, was a citizen of that country and that the U.S. has no say in his future.

A final vote on both proposals, which would create 104 units of affordable housing, by the full City Council is set for Wednesday.

A review by Illinois Answers Project of publicly available payroll data for 259 ward and committee staffers found that 65 council staffers received increases in their salaries between October and December 2024, representing more than $260,000 in taxpayer funds for bonuses. At least 20 staffers saw temporary bumps of at least $5,000 in one-time payouts.

The Trump administration abruptly revokes visas for students at local universities. And state elections officials look into the Illinois Senate president’s campaign fund.

In a rare rebuke of a Democrat-sponsored bill, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers voted against House Bill 3332, causing the bill to fail on a 49-51 vote. Bills require 60 votes to pass the House, and numerous Democrats voted against the bill or skipped the vote.

A bill that would reform the Prisoner Review Board passed the Illinois Senate on Thursday, aiming to protect victims and increase transparency about prisoner releases following years of controversy surrounding the board’s decisions.

President Donald Trump on Friday urged Congress to “push hard for more Daylight at the end of a day” in his latest dig at the semiannual changing of clocks.

The 7-percentage point increase in the level of full compliance with consent decree CPD reached between July and December is the largest increase in the nearly six years that the federal court order has been in effect.

The rejection of the proposed settlement means the federal lawsuit filed by Reed’s family alleging that the city violated Reed’s civil rights will now head to trial.

On Monday, alderpeople approved Anthony Quezada with a 32-11 vote as the new alderperson of the 35th Ward, despite some opposition from City Council members over an anti-Black slur he wrote on a social media post in 2014.