Get the latest news headlines from around Illinois.
WGN: Illinois and City of Chicago preparing for full reopening Friday
The state, including the City of Chicago, will be fully reopened for business starting Friday as Phase 5 is set to go into effect. that’s when phase five of the state’s reopening plan goes into effect.
Phase 5 brings with it the reopening the third largest hotel in the city. The Hilton closed its doors 15 months ago but guests will be able to stay there again starting Thursday. Only five floors of the hotel will be used for the soft opening.
FOX 32 Chicago: Illinois Republican leaders sue to block Democrat-drawn legislative maps
Illinois Republican leaders filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging new legislative district boundaries that were drawn and approved by Democrats who control state government, saying residents were “robbed” of a fair and transparent process for creating maps that will be used for elections over the next decade.
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation last week establishing the new maps, despite pledging as a candidate that he would veto any maps drawn by politicians.
FOX 32 Chicago: Illinois expands no-cost, low-cost COVID-19 testing to elementary schools across the state
The Illinois Department of Public Health announced on Wednesday that it is expanding access to no-cost and low-cost COVID-19 testing to elementary schools across Illinois.
IDPH says schools can choose to utilize the saliva-based covidSHIELD test developed by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).
KFVS: Southern Illinois businesses prepare to fully reopen Friday
Restaurants and other businesses in Illinois can begin operating at full capacity this Friday.
Governor JB Pritzker said his state is ready to lift COVID-19 restrictions. Some businesses locally are ready to have those restrictions lifted.
SportsHandle: Illinois Posts $537.1 Million In Sports Betting Handle For April
There was a bit of a shuffle atop the leaderboard for sports betting handle by state in April as Illinois officially claimed the No. 2 spot nationally Wednesday after the state’s gaming board reported a traditional handle of more than $537.1 million.
Illinois’ reports lags behind other states in terms of disclosure due to accounting rules and a longer period for operators to disclose their numbers. While the April figure was 15.2% below March’s record handle of $633.6 million, Illinois was one of only two states to clear one-half billion dollars in wagers for the month. New Jersey lapped the field at just shy of $748 million.