Illinois

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday unveiled an unusual plan to encourage Chicagoans to participate in the U.S. government’s once-a-decade push to count every U.S. resident: a cowboy on a horse.  The mayor was speaking at a press conference when... Read More

WASHINGTON — Election officials have just weeks left to ensure that their states can handle a surge of mail-in votes in November in the face of fierce opposition from President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress. With just a little... Read More

J.B. Pritzker certainly knew what he was getting into when he ran for governor of debt-laden Illinois in 2018, a position once dubbed the worst job in American politics. But the billionaire scion of the Hyatt hotel fortune could not... Read More

CHICAGO — When the temperature finally cracked 50 degrees last month, Carolyn Ioder opened the gate at her back door and let her six goats trot through the Austin neighborhood toward an empty field where they would nibble on hay... Read More

In the wake of complaints that Illinois' news automatic voter registration system is riddled with problems, Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill, last week convened a congressional listening session to get a handle on the problem many fear is compromising voters' rights.... Read More

CHICAGO — Customers spent $39.2 million on recreational marijuana during the first month of legal weed sales in Illinois, and operators say they don’t expect sales to slow down any time soon. Sales to Illinois residents totaled more than $30.6... Read More

CHICAGO — Since recreational weed went on sale in Illinois three weeks ago, long lines have formed outside dispensaries, stores have established buying limits, and some have run out of product. All that was expected, based on what’s happened as... Read More

CHICAGO — A Rockford, Ill., woman is suing the Illinois secretary of state in an attempt to change a state rule requiring those who wear a religious head covering in their driver’s license photo to also certify that they do... Read More

CHICAGO — One hundred years ago, 7-year-old Juanita Mitchell should have been playing with other children in the streets during that summer’s heat wave and getting to know her new home on Chicago’s South Side. She and her younger sister,... Read More

WASHINGTON - Representatives Rodney Davis, R-Ill., and Angie Craig, D-Minn., proposed Wednesday to create a low-interest loan program administered by FEMA for states to fund projects that reduce the risks and costs of natural disasters. “Helping communities prepare for disasters... Read More

CHICAGO — Over the Fourth of July holiday, Felix Kombwa brought the children he mentors to a festival where a law-enforcement exhibit allowed visitors to sit in a squad car, try on police gear and chat with officers. But the... Read More

CHICAGO — After a lengthy and emotional debate, the Illinois House passed a controversial abortion rights bill Tuesday that opponents characterized as extreme but supporters say is necessary to protect women as several states enact more restrictive laws. The bill... Read More