Get the latest news from around Illinois.
KHQA: Illinois gas tax rises to 47 cents a gallon on July 1
Illinois’ second highest in the nation gas taxes will go up again July 1 as the state motor fuel tax hits 47 cents per gallon.
That means the average driver in Illinois will pay $184 more in state gas taxes each year than before Gov. J.B. Pritzker doubled the tax in 2019, according to the Illinois Policy Institute.
RealClear Education: Chicago Teachers Union Boss Fails at ABCs: Accountability. Believability. Competence.
“Conservatives don’t even want Black children to be able to read.”
So sayeth Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, who oversees the union responsible for nearly 3 in 4 students being unable to read at grade level at the same time it has nearly doubled costs for their parents and other Chicagoans.
The Center Square: Kane County Climate Plan raises concerns for businesses, taxpayers
The Kane County Board has approved a 144-page Climate Action Plan, but questions about the price tag remain unanswered.
Kane County Republican Chairman Andro Lerario said supporters of the Illinois county’s climate plan wouldn’t say how much it will cost taxpayers.
The Chicago Tribune: Chicago Public Schools launches free summer lunch program at schools across the city
About a dozen children sat around a cafeteria table outside Newton Bateman Elementary School in the Irving Park neighborhood Monday, talking and giggling as they ate their oranges and sandwiches. Most came directly from Bateman’s FORGE summer camp, a three-week program offering art, theater, fitness, robotics and chess activities. This was the first day of Chicago Public Schools’ free summer lunch program, offering midday meals to local children at no cost.
Through the district’s “LunchStop” program, any child 18 and younger can receive a free meal at one of 15 locations across the city. A map of these locations can be found here.
Chicago Sun-Times: 47 candidates file for Chicago school board elections
Chicago’s first-ever school board elections will feature 47 candidates vying for 10 seats, a number surpassing most expectations and including parents, former teachers and principals, nonprofit workers and a rapper.
The window for hopefuls to submit their minimum 1,000 signatures to get on the ballot closed Monday afternoon with more than two dozen final-day submissions wrapping up the week-long process that kicked off the elections.
The Daily Herald: Algonquin approves plan for 249-home subdivision
A subdivision with 99 single-family homes and 150 townhouses near Westfield Community School is moving forward in Algonquin.
Homebuilding company Lennar is looking to transform about 80 vacant acres into a new subdivision called Algonquin Meadows. The property is north of Longmeadow Parkway, west of Westfield Community School, south of the Willoughby Farms subdivision and east of Randall Road.
WCIA: Champaign ranked among top 100 American cities to live: Livability
The city of Champaign has been ranked as a top place to live.
Champaign was ranked in Livability.com’s 2024 edition of their annual Top 100 Best Places to Live list.
The Chicago Tribune: Illinois’ landmark credit card fee law prompting strong opposition
Illinois lawmakers in the closing hours of the General Assembly’s spring session last month became the first in the nation to ban banks and credit card companies from charging retailers a seemingly small fee on sales taxes and tips.
But since Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the ban into law, financial institutions that opposed the measure have ratcheted up their opposition and amplified their rhetoric, saying the move isn’t just bad for them but will also cause headaches for consumers.