Stories by Amanda Vinicky

The killing of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins is drawing attention to a small state board responsible for deciding when prisoners can be released on parole.

Should the former governor succeed, a nonbinding referendum would ask Chicago voters on Nov. 5: “Shall the people of Chicago provide any taxpayer subsidies to the Chicago Bears or the White Sox in order to build a stadium or a real estate development?”

Tuesday marks the first day board of education candidates can begin to gather the minimum 1,000 signatures they need from neighbors in order to make it on the ballot.

The cause was an outage in the “national network that connects driver’s license facilities,” a network run by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. That outage resulted in the system having to shut down across the country.

At least two sitting members of the Illinois state legislature – including the longest-serving member of the General Assembly – won’t be returning to Springfield next year after losing their primary races Tuesday.

Justice Joy Cunningham was appointed by the court to fill the seat ahead of Justice Anne Burke’s 2022 retirement. Cunningham’s opponent in Tuesday’s race, Appellate Judge Jesse Reyes, was striving to be the first Latino on the state’s high court.

Under the new law, voters will elect 10 members in Novembers while Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson will appoint 10 members of his choosing, plus the board president. That leaves the board under mayoral control until 2027, when the city would move to a fully-elected school board.

An independent report identified Illinois’ Stateville and Logan prisons as outdated and in need of costly repairs.

According to Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis, the spike in appeals is the “biggest challenge” to the judicial branch’s implementation of the pretrial justice system.

Illinois has laws to protect against gender discrimination in pay, but it can be difficult for workers to know whether there’s a pay discrepancy. That may be easier to figure out starting next year.

State Rep. Bob Morgan said banning guns at polling places is necessary given rising security concerns surrounding elections. Gun rights advocates said the proposal is an answer in search of a problem.

A plan headed to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk will allow voters in November to choose half of the Chicago Board of Education. Johnson will appoint the other half, plus its president.

Chicago is on the path to getting the hybrid school board preferred by Mayor Brandon Johnson, with the Illinois Senate’s begrudging approval of legislation Tuesday finalizing the transition to an elected school board.

A recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling is raising questions about IVF. In Illinois, the Reproductive Health Act protects the increasingly popular path to parenthood while establishing people’s right to make decisions about their own reproductive health.

Illinois shoppers would save a dollar when they buy $100 worth of groceries under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposal to eliminate a state sales tax on groceries.

Illinois signed a contract for $640,000 for a report that could help legislators determine the value of the state’s recently defunct private school scholarship program, but a lack of data makes its findings “inconclusive.”

Illinois’ insurance code prohibits discrimination, but state Rep. Will Guzzardi said there’s a difference between impact and intent. Even if insurance agents aren’t doing it maliciously, Guzzardi said, algorithms end up perpetuating inequities and punishing people of color and low-income drivers.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he’s “reluctant” to use taxpayer funds to help the White Sox move from Bridgeport to the South Loop.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday unveiled a $52.7 billion budget that he described as filled with “hard choices.” The plan builds on priorities like funding preschool, supporting Black residents, funding the neediest schools and caring for asylum seekers.

The White Sox have played in Bridgeport for more than a century, but owner Jerry Reinsdorf and developer Related Midwest proposed building a new stadium in the South Loop as an anchor to a 62-acre site dubbed The 78.

If Illinois continues spending next fiscal year as it has been this year, the state will face an $891 million deficit. Gov. J.B. Pritzker is set to spell out exactly how he plans to address that on Wednesday, when he delivers an annual combined state of the state and budget address. 

Voting machines must be updated after a local judicial candidate was knocked off the ballot by an appellate court.

The online portal of entertainment options serves as a reminder of the opportunity for local establishments seeking a bite of the estimated $150-200 million pie the Democratic National Convention is expected to bring.

Illinois’ assault weapons ban passed after a July 4, 2022, mass shooting in suburban Highland Park. The law banned the sale of AR-15s and scores of other guns beginning in January 2023. People who previously owned guns subject to the law are allowed to keep them, but the weapons must be registered.

“Some people feel it’s a stigma, and I don’t want people to feel like it’s a stigma,” state Sen. Cristina Castro said. “There’s great treatment out there. We’re just trying to help lower the barrier to that treatment.”

It’s been seven days since Lurie Children’s Hospital first cited a “network outage that impacts internet and phone service.” The systems have been offline since Jan. 31, and there’s no telling when they’ll be back up and running.