Stories by amanda vinicky

“More focus on learning will bring even greater success for kids across the state,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. “Furthermore, cyberbullying has expanded at alarming rates, and it’s time for Illinois to take measures to protect our kids.”

A pharmacy benefit manager negotiates prices with wholesalers, sets reimbursement rates on drugs and compiles the lists of which medicines an insurer will cover. But critics describe the industry as focused on self-enrichment and in need of regulation.

Whether it be tariffs that make Illinois soybeans less attractive to China or cuts to funds that prop up things like rural firefighting services, conservation-minded farming techniques and tree assessments after major storms, Illinois farmers are worried.

Instead of going to a casino to play poker or a bar to play the slots, so-called iGaming participants could play on their tablets or phones, a change that backers told lawmakers at a Springfield hearing on Wednesday could bring in another $1 billion annually.

Chicago is home to a plateful of iconic foods. But more than anything else, Chicago is known for its hot dogs and its pizza. WTTW News explains.

Now, Attorney General Pam Bondi is seeking to join the legal fight, in alignment with President Donald Trump’s mission to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion practices designed to end discrimination and lift underrepresented groups.

Illinois is giving municipalities the ability to reinstitute the 1% grocery tax locally starting in January, when the state one disappears. Municipalities are now asking the state to give them more taxing authority.

“We don’t have kings in America, and I don’t intend to bend the knee to one,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. “If we don’t want to repeat history, then for God’s sake, in this moment, we better be strong enough to learn from it.”

Pritzker’s budget team provided a rosier projection of an extra $1.5 billion in revenue growth, meaning he has to cover a $1.7 billion budget gap to balance the budget, rather than the $3.2 billion deficit previously estimated.

As Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency team muscle through Washington, D.C., on a mission to cut spending, a Republican state legislator said Illinois could take a cue.

In a statement, Gov. J.B. Pritzker called the verdict an “important message to anyone in government” that “if you choose corruption you will be found out, and you will be punished.”

“By applying the sales tax only to goods and a small number of services, Illinois is missing the ability to tax much of the spending within its borders,” the nonpartisan Civic Federation said in its latest report.

“I support President Trump in many ways,” state Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) said, “but I don’t think he understands that this just signals that the corruption in Illinois is just accepted, rather than it has to stop.”

The federal government is the second largest employer in Illinois, with 82,000 federal workers in the state.

The Chicago Stars FC will be under new legal obligations as part of a groundbreaking settlement that requires the National Women’s Soccer League to create a $5 million restitution fund after substantiated claims of mistreatment and abuse.

An American Airlines plane that was landing in Washington, D.C., and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on a training flight collided Wednesday night. Both aircraft crashed into the Potomac River, and authorities report no one survived.

State Rep. Sonya Harper (D-Chicago), sponsor of the Enslavement Era Disclosure and Redress Act, said it’s a way for corporations that profited on the backs of enslaved people to help repair the legacy of harm caused for generations of Black Americans.

Illinois was one of 22 Democratic-led states that filed suit Tuesday asking a federal court to block the sudden pause on funding, which was announced Monday evening. The freeze threatened to hold up trillions of dollars in funding for basic government functions like health care, infrastructure and support for children and veterans.

Medicaid, the health care program for low-income people and families, is jointly administered by the federal and state government, which also share costs.

The freeze on federal funding and grants has wide-ranging implications and impacts everything from funding for child care, university research and roads and bridges.

“I am the first paraplegic to be elected to state office in Illinois history,” said Dan McConchie, who suffered a spinal cord injury during a 2007 hit-and-run crash. “I recognize some needs of things that needed to be done.”

A ribbon cutting was held Monday for the Lookingglass Theatre Company's new multi-purpose lobby at its home in the Water Tower Water Works building on Michigan Avenue.

In the face of a Trump administration directive to investigate state and local officials who don’t toe the line on the president’s orders on immigration, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said they will stand up for law-abiding residents regardless of their legal status.

Illinois is suing to block President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship, while state leaders brace for potential raids aimed at removing individuals in the U.S. without legal documentation.

Many in the hemp industry said not everyone in the hemp space uses deceitful and dangerous practices, and that Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s approach will kill their responsible businesses along with the bad actors.

Under the new bill, Illinois would increase the age for mandatory behind-the-wheel driving tests from 79 to 87. The proposal also creates a mechanism for relatives to report family members of any age they believe are unsafe drivers.