SPRINGFIELD – Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker thanked lawmakers Thursday for passing legislation to address an issue that has eluded the General Assembly for nearly seven decades – consolidating hundreds of suburban and downstate police and firefighter pensions into two unified systems.

SPRINGFIELD – A pair of ethics reform bills passed both chambers Thursday at the Illinois Statehouse despite claims from Republicans that the measures were watered down, partisan and diversionary.

SPRINGFIELD – A cleanup bill written to ensure a smooth rollout of the legalization of adult-use marijuana in January passed both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly on Thursday.

SPRINGFIELD – A bill to consolidate 649 suburban and downstate police and firefighter pension funds into just two cleared the Illinois House Wednesday after negotiators agreed to remove language that just a day earlier had prompted local government officials to withdraw their support.

SPRINGFIELD – Republican lawmakers added to their pile of recently-filed ethics legislation Wednesday, promoting two bills aimed at limiting conflicts of interest on the Illinois State Board of Elections.

CHICAGO — An arctic air mass that brought snow and ice to an area stretching from the Rocky Mountains to northern New England on Monday was poised to give way to record-breaking cold temperatures.

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois House Republicans unveiled another package of proposed ethics reforms Thursday that they say are prompted by the wide-ranging federal probe into alleged corruption by some high-profile Chicago-area Democrats.

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier tendered notice this week he will resign his seat on the bench effective Dec. 6. 2020.

CHICAGO — State Rep. Luis Arroyo, a Chicago Democrat charged by federal officials with bribery, officially resigned from office Friday just hours before a special investigative committee was to begin considering whether he should be expelled from the General Assembly.

JERRY NOWICKI

SPRINGFIELD – Many Illinoisans who suffer from Type 1 diabetes would see a significant reduction in their out-of-pocket costs for prescription insulin under a bill that cleared the state Senate on Tuesday.

SPRINGFIELD – Hundreds of clean energy advocates gathered Tuesday at the Capitol to show support for the Clean Energy Jobs Act, a carbon-cutting reform package that has stalled at the state government level amid ongoing federal investigations.

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois State Board of Education has suspended the licenses of nearly 50 educators who have been charged with sex crimes, violent felonies or certain drug offenses, implementing a new law that seeks to strengthen student safety protections.

SPRINGFIELD – Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday gave his support to a proposal that would allow college student athletes in Illinois to be paid for the use of their likeness.

SPRINGFIELD – Amid an ongoing flurry of federal investigative activity pertaining to state government, a bipartisan group of lawmakers called for the creation of a task force to recommend greater ethical safeguards during a Statehouse news conference Monday.

CHICAGO — President Donald Trump used a conference of police chiefs on Monday to slam the host city as "embarrassing to us as a nation" under the leadership of its top cop, who skipped the event over disagreements with Trump's immigration policies.

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois is “showing progress” toward the state Department of Public Health’s three-year goal of reducing opioid deaths by one-third by 2020, an official told lawmakers this week.

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois’ new reproductive health care law is a “blatant violation” of residents’ religious and conscience rights, a pro-life law firm official said.

CHICAGO — Chicago teachers went on strike Thursday, marching on picket lines in defense of their union’s “social justice” agenda after failing to reach a contract deal in a dispute that canceled classes for more than 300,000 students.

SPRINGFIELD — Aunt Martha’s Health & Wellness, the only Illinois organization participating in the federal family planning program, was awarded more than double its initial grant after several providers across the country declined their funding in response to a Trump administration rule change.

CHICAGO — Parents and community groups are scrambling to prepare for an expected strike by Chicago teachers that prompted city officials to preemptively cancel Thursday’s classes in the nation’s third-largest school district.

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his wife, M.K. Pritzker, reported more than $6 million in gross income last year, about $5.5 million of which was federally taxable, according to a nine-page summary of 2018 state and federal tax returns released by his campaign Tuesday.

NORMAL — Thousands of people attended an event to see prototypes of electric vehicles a central Illinois startup plans to create, an effort that already has the backing of officials through promised tax breaks and incentives.

SPRINGFIELD — A Republican lawmaker has filed legislation to reinstate the death penalty in Illinois, calling it an “effective tool” to dissuade violent crime.

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity introduced a five-year economic plan this week, focusing on six industries that can boost the state’s economy and a variety of programs to build its workforce and encourage population growth.

SPRINGFIELD — A National Public Radio station licensed by the University of Illinois is objecting to a requirement that its reporters tell school officials about confidential complaints of university-related sexual harassment they receive.

U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, the dean of Illinois’ House Republican delegation, said Thursday he no longer supports President Donald Trump because of the president’s decision to withdraw U.S. military forces from Syria and allow Turkey to attack America’s Kurdish allies.

EUREKA — The mother of a 9-year-old Illinois boy who is charged with murder in connection with a mobile home fire that killed five people says the child is "not a monster."

REBECCA ANZEL

PETER HANCOCK

SPRINGFIELD – A task force that Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker formed in February is recommending the state consolidate 649 suburban and downstate police and firefighter pension funds into just two, saying that would generate billions of dollars in additional earnings over the next 20 years w…

CHICAGO — Chicago’s law department on Wednesday released for the first time the city watchdog’s full investigative reports into the 2014 fatal shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald by a white police officer — a move the mayor has championed in her push for transparent government and to …

SPRINGFIELD – A package of bills aimed at transforming the state’s energy landscape appears unlikely to move during the upcoming fall veto session after Gov. J.B. Pritzker was less than optimistic on the subject this week at an unrelated Chicago news conference.

CHICAGO — A jury on Friday convicted a man who prosecutors said plotted then tried to cover up the 2015 slaying of a 9-year-old boy who was lured into a Chicago alley with the promise of a juice box.

SPRINGFIELD — An Illinois lawmaker is sponsoring a bill to allow college student athletes to sign endorsement deals, hire agents and benefit financially from the use of their likeness after California became the first state in the nation to pass such a law earlier this week.

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. J.B. Pritzker has appointed former U.S. Transportation Secretary and retired Republican Congressman Ray LaHood as the new chairman of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Board of Directors.