The Senate moved closer to passing a $1 trillion infrastructure package Saturday after lawmakers from both parties came together and voted to clear a key procedural hurdle, but the action soon stalled out as opponents tried to slow the rush to approve one of President Joe Biden’s top priorities.

The governor institutes a full pre-K through 12 mask mandate. The city’s casino process gets delayed. The governor’s race could get a new entrant. And fire sale Cubs take on the surging Sox.

The process to get a Chicago casino is taking longer than originally anticipated. Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Friday the city would extend the deadline for interested parties to submit proposals to build and operate the casino.

Former President Barack Obama has scaled back his 60th birthday bash set for this weekend at his Martha’s Vineyard home off the Massachusetts coast due to the surge of infections blamed on the delta variant of the coronavirus, his office said Wednesday.

Opponents of the Obama Presidential Center’s construction in Jackson Park suffered another legal setback Thursday in federal court.

A proposed two-story triangular DraftKings Sportsbook addition to Wrigley Field still requires a heavy lift from City Council, but the Commission on Chicago Landmarks won’t stand in the way of Cubs ownership.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said a new information and resource hub will bring city resources together under one roof so they can more readily address and prevent violent crime. Chicago has seen more than 2,000 shootings and 450 homicides so far this year.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation Thursday that makes feminine hygiene products available for free at homeless shelters and at public universities and community colleges throughout Illinois. 

Masking will be universally required in Illinois schools, and some state employees must get vaccinated for the coronavirus, according to mandates handed down Wednesday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker — a move that immediately drew rebuke from friends and foes alike.

After a federal eviction moratorium was allowed to lapse this weekend, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new moratorium Tuesday on evictions that would last until Oct. 3.

With classes for students in pre-K through 12th grade set to resume across Illinois in the coming weeks, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday announced a mask mandate for all students and staff at public and private schools.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new eviction moratorium that would last until Oct. 3, as the Biden administration sought to quell intensifying criticism from progressives that it was allowing vulnerable renters to lose their homes during a pandemic.

Nearly 600 million birds are killed annually in North America due to collisions with buildings. A new Illinois law mandates bird-friendly design for state buildings.

COVID-19 infections are again rising in Chicago following Lollapalooza, which drew hundreds of thousands of people to Grant Park last weekend. But the city’s top doctor says the four-day event is not to blame.

With possibly just a few weeks left before Exelon shutters a nuclear reactor in Byron, feuding and politically powerful interests have failed to reach a deal that would keep the plant open and otherwise move Illinois toward its renewable energy goals.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday signed new legislation expanding background checks on all gun sales in the state starting in 2024, a step he touted as “commonsense” and with bipartisan support.